X-men Supreme Issue #127: Terror Sell PREVIEW!

Given all the amazing abilities that some mutants have, it’s easy to forget sometimes that they’re still human. It’s something the X-men constantly have to remind themselves and others in their fight for peace and understanding. In a famous scene from the X-men Animated Series, a Sentinel flat out determined that mutants are human, much to the shock of the humans who hate them. The humanity of the X-men is a big part of what makes them so appealing. I’ve tried to capture that in any number of ways in the X-men Supreme fanfiction series.

Sometimes that means tempering some of the more extreme elements of the X-men mythos to make the narrative of X-men Supreme more engaging. Charles Xavier’s paralysis wasn’t a result of supernatural conflicts. It was a result of cancer, a disease that affects real people. Madelyne Pryor isn’t a clone of Jean Grey in X-men Supreme. She’s Jean’s devious older cousin who fell in with a bad crowd, namely Sinister and Selene. And before Magneto’s plans escalated to throwing asteroids at the planet, he tried to start small by leading an uprising in a country. They still have the essence of X-men, but there are more human elements in the mix.

These sorts of elements are uniquely appropriate for the X-men because they’re a metaphor for minorities. Real life minorities have to deal with human issues. Minorities have to deal with cancer, renegade family members, and uprisings. Once hate and injustice enters the equation, the stage is set for a very dangerous situation. That situation began to unfold in X-men Supreme Issue 126: Heart Attack. Now, the X-men have a new challenge in this fanfiction series and it goes by the Mutant Liberation Front.

This new team of mutant renegades is led by Toad. Yes, I mean THAT Toad. The events of X-men Supreme Issue 110: Supreme Justice have left him empowered, bold, and very dangerous. He now has a new team of mutants who have also suffered injustice and inhumanity. They’re now attacking a world that is already vulnerable after Sinister’s plot with the Legacy Virus. But they’re not the same as Magneto. They’re not the same as the Brotherhood of Mutants. They have a very different approach to dominating humanity.

That approach is still unfolding. You saw hints of it in the previous issue. Now, Toad and his team of mutant radicals are set to do something even bolder and their timing couldn’t be worse for the X-men. At the same time they’re making their presence known, the X-men are dealing with some internal issues that have been brewing since the end of X-men Supreme Volume 5: Dark Truths. Once again, it’s Charles Xavier who is tasked with leading the X-men into this battle. But is he up to this task? Is he as capable as he’s always been? He’ll have to find out the hard way as the X-men prepare to face the Mutant Liberation Front head on in the next issue. As always, I’ve prepared a preview of the kind of chaos the X-men can expect from this new threat.

“GET OUT OF MY WAY! I’M TAKING THEM IN!” yelled an enraged Swiss soldier in German.

“LIKE HELL YOU ARE! I DESERVE THE BONUS! YOU HAD THE LAST ONE!” yelled another.

“TO HELL WITH ALL OF YOU! I’M GETTING THE CREDIT FOR THIS EVEN IF I HAVE TO BEAT EVERY ONE OF YOU WITH MY BEAR HANDS!”

“I’D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!”

Stryfe’s psychic talents saved them the trouble of taking down the vast army of armed guards that stood in their way. His ability to turn any weak mind into an irrational fury of rage made their approach as simple as a walk in the park. The only obstacles were various gates and walls, which Caliban and Callisto easily blew through. It was an unceremonious way to begin this attack, but the rest of the team wasn’t complaining.

“I thought these guys were supposed to have psychic dampening gear,” commented Callisto as she watched two guards strangle each other.

“They did. Someone must have sent them defective hardware by accident,” Toad wryly.

“How did you manage that again?” asked Caliban.

“I know some people who know some people,” he said with a confident grin, “There’s a reason we’re making so many friends in between terrorizing humans. Somehow guys like Magneto never learn the benefits of being both loved and feared.”

“Doesn’t one make the other redundant?” said Reignfire.

“Not if you do it right,” said Toad, “Which reminds me, go easy on the homicidal rage, Stryfe. We need to…”

“I know the drill, Toad! We’re to minimize casualties,” said Stryfe, not hiding his frustration, “I’m still not seeing the benefit of such mercy.”

“You will, my favorite disgruntled cynic! You all will!”

Toad cracked his knuckles in anticipation as they made it past the final gate. Behind them the Swiss soldiers were oblivious to their intrusion. Alarms were going off, but no one was paying attention to them. They were too busy beating each other to a pulp. The final barrier was an extra thick wall. It required Reignfire and Kamikaze to use a little firepower to loosen the locks. The Klienstocks did the rest, shoving the gate open and revealing their target.

It was no ordinary structure. Behind all these gates was the entrance to a facility that had been carved deep into one of the many mountains of the Alps. It was so big that it was easy to miss the main entrance at the base. Around the entrance was a large plateau manned with planes, helicopters, and various combat vehicles. It was a stronghold unlike any other and the Mutant Liberation Front had the arduous task of destroying it.

“My fellow liberators, welcome you to Gstaad, Switzerland’s most infamous landmark!” proclaimed Toad.

“This is our target?” said Sauron as he looked up at the mountain.

“What exactly are we looking at, Toad?” asked Strobe.

“Well according to the undercover operatives at Wikipedia, this is the Swiss Fort Knox! It’s supposed to be one of the most secure vaults in the entire world.”

“What’s it secure? Gold? Diamonds? Non-fat chocolate?” scoffed Stryfe.

“Oh it guards something much more valuable!” grinned Toad, “You see, back when Google was just an obscure math term, a bunch of paranoid humans figured it would be a good idea to make a universal back-up of humanity’s digital tech. For every computer ever used, a working database was created. That way if someone figured out a way to wipe out every system on the planet, there would be a way to get it working again.”

“Sounds like a glorified Radioshack,” commented the Klienstocks.

“It gets better! After the Y2K scare, the Swiss scaled it up. It added a second area to the complex. This one acts as a universal backup for all major data, public and private alike. So if every single computer on the planet shorted out at once, there would be a back-up to get humanity back into the 21st century. That’s why we’re going to turn this place into a glorified ski lodge!”

“Thus leaving humanity more vulnerable and without a backup,” surmised Callisto, “I like it!”

It was a deviously logical plan. Before they completely crippled humanity, they would make sure there was no backup. Even Stryfe seemed to agree. This would be a serious blow that would empower the Mutant Liberation Front and leave the world completely vulnerable.

“But what if there are other backups besides this?” asked Sauron.

“They’re all small-time compared to this. It ain’t gonna matter once we finish the final step!” said Toad as he stopped about halfway towards the complex.

“So if all we’re doing is destroying this place, why do we need to be here in full force?” asked Kamikaze, “Surely we don’t require this much firepower for a simple act of demolition.”

“You’re right. We all don’t need to be here. If we were only going to destroy this place, most of us would just be stuck watching Stryfe make a fool out of the Swiss army,” said Toad.

“Then what else are we doing? Why do you insist on keeping us in the dark?” asked Caliban.

“That’s to make sure nobody’s mind spills the beans to a certain bald-headed psychic with a super-psychic enhancing machine,” said Toad, “Now that we’re all out in the open like this, it’s only a matter of time before Xavier sends his X-people to herd us back to Leavenworth.”

“I thought you said we had sufficient psychic defenses from the X-men!” said Caliban.

“We do. I just lowered them,” said Toad casually.

“Wait…you want the X-men to find us?” said Callisto, “Do you have any idea how foolish that is?!”

“It would be if I didn’t have a plan,” explained Toad, “That’s why you all need to listen closely because this is about more than striking a blow to humanity. We need to humiliate the X-men! We need to show them that this is a fight they aren’t going to win!"

While the situation for mutants is declining in the X-men comics, expect a very different set of challenges for mutants in the X-men Supreme fanfiction series. This isn’t an extinction plot. This isn’t a sterilization plot. This a very different, but equally daunting challenge for the X-men and the mutant race to face. I sincerely hope that this fanfiction series will provide X-men fans with a viable outlet, especially since there is no more alternative like Ultimate anymore. I want to make X-men Supreme a viable world for X-men fans and I can’t do that without the continued support of such fans. So please take the time to review and provide feedback. Either contact me directly or post your comments directly on my site. Either way is fine and I’m always happy to chat. Until next time, take care and best wishes. Excelsior!

Jack