Some characters don’t get a chance to shine until others screw up or screw themselves over. The X-men are finding this out the hard way in the X-men comics right now. Marvel is screwing them over or having them screw themselves to make way for other characters, namely those whose movie rights they own. I don’t intend to be that petty in the X-men Supreme fanfiction series. That said, there are some characters in X-men Supreme that have been biding their time, looking for an opportunity.
Well, that opportunity came during the X-men’s six-week absence in wake of the Outer Limits arc. They left a lot of confused enemies and allies in their wake. A Warlock factory was destroyed, Wanda Maximoff was injured, Alex Summers is now calling the shots on Genosha, and President Kelly is prepared to take extreme measures. The X-men’s allies, including Emma Frost and General Grimshaw, have done their best to keep things from getting out of hand. Now that the X-men are back, they’ll need to do more.
In addition to the destruction and confusion left in their wake, another enemy of the X-men is plotting behind the scenes. When X-men Supreme Volume 6: Liberation Decimation began, the biggest threat to the X-men and human/mutant relations was the Mutant Liberation Front. Under Toad’s leadership, they attacked cities and infrastructure. Then, in the Natural Disorder arc, they attempted to deliver the killing blow. The X-men stopped them, but not in time to save the life of Polaris, which had a major impact on Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch, and Havok.
Beyond the scars left by this attack, the events Natural Disorder arc did not see the complete destruction of the Mutant Liberation Front. While Toad was apprehended, some managed to escape. Chief among them is Stryfe. He already made his presence felt back in X-men Supreme Volume 3: Ashes of Hope when he tried to start a riot during the Inauguration Day arc. He nearly ruined President Kelly’s first day in office, but the X-men stopped him.
That got him arrested, but he was later freed by Toad in X-men Supreme Issue 110: Prison Break. While he did follow Toad in the Mutant Liberation Front, they frequently clashed. Stryfe did not entirely share Toad’s approach to liberating their kind. Now that Toad is not in the picture anymore, he’s ready to strike with a new plan and he’s intent on avoiding Toad’s mistakes.
That means the Mutant Liberation Front is back and they’re preparing to strike at a time when both sides are vulnerable. Stryfe already has a collection of former Morlocks and allies, all of which are on the run and trying to avoid Toad’s fate. He also doesn’t have the luxury of playing the long game, wearing down the X-men and their allies. He needs to strike now. The Mutant Liberation Front is poised for a new attack and this one promises to be their most devastating. That attack will be the centerpiece of a new arc called Proactive Regression and its effects will shake the X-men Supreme fanfiction series to its core. As always, I’ve prepared a preview of just how major those effects will be.
“Tell me what we know about this mutant we’re tracking,” said Ororo, who kept looking around for signs of trouble.
“There ain’t much to know. Her name’s Joanna Cargill. Calls herself Frenzy when she’s collecting a paycheck from White Cell,” said Wolverine as he kept sniffing the air around him, “Mystique and Elf pulled her name from some data they stole from Department H. Hank and his girl identified her as the Mutant Liberation Front’s newest member. They think she’s their main link to White Cell.”
“Do you think Stryfe agreed to that?” questioned Ororo.
“Not a snowball’s chance in a Louisiana heat wave,” scoffed Gambit, “Stryfe be the kind of homme that don’t share well. Ain’t no way he would pass up a chance at leading his own crew.”
“Not unless White Cell gave him a compelling reason,” said Warpath, “From what I’ve learned, these guys aren’t in the business of simply screwing people over. They’re not the IRS. Pretty much everything they do is for mutual benefit.”
“So what kind of benefit could a pack of strays like the Mutant Liberation Front offer?” asked Rogue.
“Don’t know yet. That’s something we’ll have to beat out of Miss Frenzy, among other things,” snarled Wolverine.
Wolverine walked faster, leading the others to a busy intersection between a high end boutique and an overpriced salon. On the other side of the streets there were a string of restaurants. All were pretty busy. The traffic across the intersection was pretty constant. A large volume of cars and trucks passed by and spewed diesel exhaust into the air. It obscured the scent, but not enough for Wolverine to use it. He stopped right at the crosswalk as the light on the adjacent side turned red.
“Don’t tell me you’ve lost her trail, Wolverine. I’ll smash you with one of these cars if you’ve lost it!” said Warpath impatiently.
“Like you could, bub,” quipped Wolverine, “And I ain’t lost the trail. She was definitely here. I just can’t figure which direction she was going.”
“Maybe someone gave her a chance to do a little shopping. That would make her the lucky one,” commented Rogue.
“No, Frenzy is all business. I’m sure of it,” said Warpath strongly, “My brother mentioned this woman a lot in his journal. He singled her out as being deeply involved in some special wing of White Cell. He would’ve tracked her down himself if he hadn’t…”
“Calm down, James,” coaxed Ororo, sensing he was getting worked up, “We know this is personal for you. We’re trying to help you. It doesn’t help any of us if you let your emotions get the better of you.”
“If he did that, he would’ve felt up Miss Munroe back at the airport,” said Rogue under her breath.
“That ain’t funny, cherè,” grumbled Gambit, who still didn’t like the idea of Warpath being attraced to Ororo.
“All of you, shut up!” barked Wolverine as he sniffed deeper, “I’m smelling something new. The trail gets…messed up at some point. First it went down one street. Then it turned at another. Then it started moving faster.”
“Faster? Is it possible she was attacked?” asked Ororo.
“Nah, if that were the case there would be a lot more screaming. This is deliberate. It’s almost as if she stopped and…”
Wolverine paused as he followed the direction of the scent across the street. It took a moment for him to process. When his nose finally caught up with his brain, his eyes widened. At this same moment, the light across the street turned green.
From behind several cars, a large pick-up truck carrying farm equipment sped across at high speeds. Startled pedestrians got out of the way as fast they could. About halfway across the intersection, it swerved so that it was in a direct collision course with the X-men.
“Ah hell!” grunted the feral mutant.
“LOOK OUT!” exclaimed Rogue.
These are volatile times in the X-men Supreme fanfiction series. Charles Xavier may be back in action and walking again, but the X-men are going to undergo some serious upheavals. Granted, those upheavals don’t involve sterilization or the callous killing of major characters. I’d like to avoid that with X-men Supreme. I’d also like to make this fanfiction series as awesome as it can possibly be. That means any amount of feedback I get is vital. Make no mistake. I do take any and all feedback I get seriously. If I’m doing something wrong in this fanfiction series, I want to know about it. I want to fix it. So please take the time to send me your feedback. Either post it directly in the issue or contact me directly. I’m always happy to chat. Until next time, take care and best wishes. Excelsior!
Jack
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