While Scott wrestled with his
family issues, the rest of the team prepared for another difficult battle. Any
encounter with Magneto on Genosha was stressful enough, but this time they
faced even more pressure. Unlike previous encounters, failure would affect more
than their physical well-being or their cause. It could actually affect the
course of the election and seriously hamper Professor Xavier media efforts.
“We better get to Genosha soon.
That vein in Scott’s forehead is going to explode any minute,” commented Bobby.
“I’m surprised it already
hasn’t,” said Remy, “As if Scottie wasn’t ticked off enough at his brother. He
be pushing his buttons almost as much as Wolverine.”
“It’s times like this I’m glad
I’m an only child,” sighed Kitty.
The air remained tense as Cyclops
flew the jet in lower. He was a little rougher with the controls than usual,
pushing the afterburners and making sharper turns. It added to the already
heavy turbulence.
“Take it easy, Scott! We’ll get
there,” coaxed Jean, who was sitting behind him.
“I’m sorry, Jean. But in case I’m
being too subtle I’m pretty anxious to get to my brother!” said the X-leader
with burning determination, “I’m not letting him get caught up in Magneto’s
battles!”
“Funny, given how pig-headed he was
back in District X I figure he would fit right in with Mags and his buddies,”
said Logan.
“Not funny, Wolverine!” spat
Scott, jerking the plane’s controls again.
“Scott please!” Jean urged,
putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, “Try and focus on the mission. Don’t
let Alex distract you like this.”
“Hell, you might as well ask me
to quit drinking while you’re at it, Jeannie,” said Logan, “When you hate
someone’s guts, you’re gonna be distracted. Trust me, I know.”
Jean’s caring tone helped the X-leader
ease up a bit while Logan’s comment annoyed him. He took some deep breaths,
trying hard not to let Alex affect him too much. He couldn’t forget that they
still had a job to do.
“We’ll deal with him, Scott. But
our main concern are these spies,” said Ororo, who was also sitting next to
Jean, “Hank says he corroborated this with the Pentagon. The military is indeed
conducting spy operations on Genosha.”
“Translation, Mr. McCoy hacked
this from the government,” said Rogue.
“Big deal,” scoffed Wolverine,
“Guys like Magneto should be spied on. I hate the military, but if I were them
I’d keep tabs on everything down to his brand of underwear.”
“It’s still a major violation of
the peace agreement,” Jean pointed out, “And we can’t have that falling apart
at a time like this.”
“If he makes an international
spectacle out of this spy operation, it’ll undermine more than just the
election,” said Ororo, “And Hank says there’s a good chance he’ll expose it
tonight.”
“What makes him so sure?” asked
Scott.
“Because he also intercepted a
message from the CIA. A major operation is about to begin.”
“Double translation, he hooked up
with Tessa again to hack this out,” said Rogue.
“Wait...who’s Tessa?” asked
Warren, having not been in the loop for a while.
“Long story,” replied Rogue, “But
let’s just say she and Beast have been making time for each other in between
hackin’ government files.”
“If hacking really is the
right word,” said Bobby.
Ororo shifted slightly at the
mention of Tessa. She was aware that Hank had been talking to her again. Since
she was a major factor in their breakup, she still harbored her share of
resentment for that woman. But she set that aside for the time being.
“What kind of operation are we
talking about here?” asked Scott.
“A very ambitious one,” said
Ororo, “They’re sending in their largest force yet tonight. They’re not just
out to gather data. They’re out to sabotage Genosha’s infrastructure. It’s
their way of keeping Magneto in check.”
“After he came close to
destroying zhe whole vorld? Are zhey really zhat willing to provoke him?!”
exclaimed Kurt.
“They’re the government, Elf.
Being painfully stupid is practically a job requirement,” made Logan.
“That may be true, Logan. But
that’s exactly why we have to stop this!” said Jean, “And if at all possible,
we need to do it quietly.”
“Since when does it matter
whether or not we do a mission quietly?” asked Bobby, “Isn’t that pretty much
impossible when dealing with Magneto and the Brotherhood?”
“We’re going to have to make it
possible, Bobby,” said Ororo, “Remember, any incident that can undermine the
Professor’s media campaign will be exploited. So we have to be extra careful.
Beast has already put together a plan for us.”
“What kind of plan?” asked
Shadowcat anxiously.
“The kind that won’t satisfy
either side, but will keep the conflict in check.”
A number of X-men groaned at the
prospect. As if their jobs weren’t hard enough, now they had to worry about
media impact. It was almost as if they were running for president as well and
their every action was being scrutinized. It sort of took away from the heroic
aspect of their cause and made it political.
“Boy, when did playing hero
become so complicated?” groaned Kitty.
“When was it not?” argued Warren.
“Complicated or not, Storm is
right. We have to be careful,” said Scott as he gripped the controls, “I’ll
contact Hank to get the rest of the details. With any luck, we’ll catch them
before they start their operation. And I’ll have time for another chat with my
little brother.”
“And what if Magneto be the one
to find them first?” asked Remy.
“Then we’ll have two fights on our hands and a hell of a lot of damage control to worry about. That’s why we’re not going to let it get to that point. The Professor is doing his part with his interview tonight. Let’s make sure we do ours.”
In addition to the escalating tension in the X-men Supreme fanfiction series, I've still find time to update the pics section of this website. I know it's been a few issues since Storm and Wolverine got together and became a couple. Their relationship took another major step in Issue 56: Diary of the Fallen. It's one of the more mainstream relationships in the X-men so I created a section in the X-Couples section dedicated to the Storm/Wolverine pairing. If you have any other pics of them you would like to add to this or other sections, please contact me and I'll be happy to add it.
While I plan on having the new issue of the X-men Supreme fanfiction series ready by its usual date, please note that there may be complications in actually updating next week. I'll be going on vacation next week and while I'll try to have the necessary files on hand, I may or may not be able to post it online until late Friday or early Saturday. If an unforeseen issue arises, I will make an announcement on my blog or Twitter feed. It may delay my comic book reviews as well. However, I'll do what I can to avoid that. So if Friday comes and X-men Supreme is not updated as it usually is, you'll know why. As always, I deeply appreciate any feedback or comments for this or anything related to X-men Supreme. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Until next time, take care and best wishes.
Jack
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