X-men Supreme Issue 152: Volatility Sensibility Part 2 PREVIEW!

In the world of X-men Supreme, it doesn’t take much to turn a difficult situation into a crisis. It happened with Impossible. It happened with Prison Break. It happened with Proactive Regression. These situations weren’t like Overlord or the Phoenix Saga, two events that started off as crises from the beginning. They started small and devolved quickly, eventually becoming pivotal turning points for this fanfiction series. In their current divided state, the X-men are vulnerable to a crisis in any situation.

The events that culminated at the end of X-men Supreme Volume 6: Liberation Decimation are still reverberating for many. Charles Xavier is still working tirelessly to make the Mutant Monitoring Initiative work. He has the strong, yet tepid support of General Grimshaw and President Kelly. He’s even managed to forge some significant progress, as shown in X-men Supreme Issue 149: Law Abiding Bind. This new form of X-men has done plenty of good, but they’ve done that good without having to deal with a difficult situation. That all changed in the first issue of Volatility Sensibility.

The X-men Supreme fanfiction series is about to give Charles Xavier and his new brand X-men a familiar challenge with a different set of complications. Dealing with a mutant who’s struggling with volatile powers is nothing new. The X-men have handled situations like this on my occasions, going back to Rogue’s initial recruitment in X-men Supreme Issue 6: Rogue Recruit and Jean Grey’s encounter with the Phoenix Force in the Phoenix Saga. In each case, the X-men were able to deal overcome the challenge. Now, they have to do so under the intense scrutiny of General Grimshaw and Captain Freeman.

The X-men have always prided themselves on being heroes, working within the system and sometimes outside it when necessary. Part of Xavier’s dream was to show that mutants could work together to help each other and mankind. More importantly, they could do this without a government sanctioning or supporting them. Now, they don’t have the option of working outside a system. They have to play by whatever rules that General Grimshaw and President Kelly prescribe. Can those rules work? Can they save lives when they can’t be the heroes they’ve always been?

Charles Xavier is willing to take that chance. Cyclops and his renegade brand of X-men, which he calls X-Force, is not. Whoever ends up being vindicated will likely shape the course for mutants moving forward in this fanfiction series. At the center of it all is a young mutant with a bad streak of luck named Nitro. He not only finds himself being born with mutant powers that literally make him a walking time bomb. He’s also a target of some very bad people that he managed to piss off, even before he found out he was a mutant.

Nitro’s fate is very much the fate of the X-men and X-Force. His fate will act as a major catalyst for the X-men Supreme fanfiction series moving forward. However it plays out, there will be consequences. There will be challenges. There’s more than Charles Xavier’s dream on the line now. It’s a volatile time for the X-men at every level and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. As always, I’ve prepared a preview of the next issue of Volatility Sensibility and all the chaos that's just starting to unfold.

“Will you quit driving like a pussy and step on it already?” shouted one of Boss’s body guards, “That light show behind us is getting too flashy for my tastes.”

“I’m going as fast as I can,” replied the driver, “This van wasn’t built for shitty back roads.”

“Forget about damaging the rims. Just gun it already!”

“Both of you, pipe down!” said Boss firmly, “Bickering will not make us go any faster.”

The two body guards and the driver fell silent, fearing Boss’s wrath almost as much as the explosion. He earned his title by taking big chances. Having a walking bomb on their side would have been a potent weapon and a lucrative resource. It was too bad Nitro had to be so stubborn with them. However, Boss was not deterred.

The mood inside the van remained tense as they neared the front gates of the mine. The light behind them continued growing, but from the looks of it they were going to outrun it. As the van picked up speed, Boss was already contemplating ways to make this work for them.

“This was risky venture for all of us. It turned out to be riskier than expected, but the potential is still there,” mused Boss, “We missed out today. Our friend, Nitro, is clearly going through some growing pains.”

“Those pains may turn our boys back there to bird chow,” commented his body guard.

“Well it’s their own fault for not being efficient enough. They should have handled Nitro more carefully. They don’t understand that he’s an immature child. Like any immature child, he’ll grow out of it. Then we’ll be able to make another offer.”

“You think he’ll change his mind?” asked his second body guard.

“I doubt it, but I’m sure we’ll find a way to convince him,” said Boss wryly, “He’s a mutant and mutants are the future, my friends. It’s an untapped market that’s ripe for the picking. I plan on getting in at the ground floor. Once the dust settles from this incident, we’ll be ready to…”

Suddenly, the van was brought to a screeching halt. Boss was thrown from his seat in mid-sentence and so were his body guards. It was like they just ran into steel column.

“Ungh! What the hell just happened?” barked one of the body guards, now rubbing his head.

“Uh…we just hit something, Boss,” said the driver in a daze.

“Then drive over it already!”

“That’s…going to be a problem,” he replied, his voice filled with dread.

From the front seat, the driver was staring at an obstacle that was not going to let him through. That obstacle was Warpath. Just as the van was about to reach the main entrance, the Native American mutant jumped out in front of them and dug his feet into the ground.

The van had no chance when it hit him. Now he had his hands firmly dug into the hood. If that show of strength wasn’t intimidating enough, the anger in his eyes only added to the driver’s fear.

“Your boys just shot my girlfriend. So I’m taking my anger out on you!” barked Warpath as he rocked the van with his strength.

“Ahhhhhh! What the hell are you talking about?” the driver exclaimed.

“I think he means to say we’re making our escape on foot!” said the Boss from the back.

Despite the shaking, Boss only had minor injuries and was able to open the side door. One of his body guards had a concussion and was in no condition to follow. Since the glowing light in the distance was getting worse, he was in no condition to aid him. So as soon as Boss was out of the van, he prepared to run.

“We’re really going to try and outrun this thing?” exclaimed the other body guard that wasn’t concussed.

“Unless you want to take that chance, you’re welcome to keep up!” said Boss.

With his eyes set on the main entrance, Boss took his first step. It ended up being his last because another obstacle literally fell from the sky in the form of large metal shards. They struck within mere inches of his feet. They were sharp as well, cutting his oversized trench coat in the process. It was enough to make him fall back towards the van.

“Oh no you don’t, Don Corleone! You’re going to stick around for the show and the after party,” said the menacing voice of Angel from above.

“By after party, he means your arrest or the cleanup of what’s left of you.” said Warpath, still gripping the van.

“More mutants…figures,” groaned Boss, “Surely ,we can be reasonable about this?”

“Save your reasons. Unless I need to remind you that these wings aren’t made of feathers,” said Angel.

The winged mutant flexed his techno-organic wings, forming dozens of sharp tips and arching them so that they were pointed right at Boss. He got the message and slowly inched back towards his van. His body guards stayed put, not testing Angel’s patience. Angel made sure they didn’t try and take the cowards way out. He kept his wings pointed at them, ensuring they would be here to face the consequences of what they instigated.

With each thug secure, Warpath smashed through the front of the van to take out the engine. It further stifled their escape while giving him a means to vent his anger. Moments ago, Emma Frost gave them a telepathic update on what was happening with Nitro. It wasn’t pretty. He was poised to explode again thanks to Boss’s thugs. The X-men showed up as well and Storm had been shot. It left him with plenty of reasons to be enraged in addition to facing another massive explosion.

“I’ll let Cyclops know we’ve secured our wannbe Godfathers,” said Angel.

“Any idea if he plans on preventing this mine from becoming a crater?” asked Warpth.

“He’ll figure something out. He always does,” assured Angel.

“If by chance he doesn’t, at least let me break some bones with these guys,” said the Native American, cracking his knuckles as he stared down Boss, “They deserve a little discomfort just for what they did to Storm. Never mind the whole putting an entire town at risk.”

“I can appreciate your feelings for assholes like this, but we’re not here to break bones. We have a mission and it hasn’t blown up in our faces yet.”

“But it’s about to,” quipped Warpath, “Mission or no mission, somebody back there better do something. This kid blowing up is gonna suck for both X-Force and the X-men!”

I still find it somewhat ironic how things in the X-men Supreme fanfiction series are so divided while the X-men comics are going in the opposite direction. At the moment, the X-men comics are returning to a more familiar state. Divisions, rivalries, and schisms are ending. The X-men, as fans have known them, are taking shape once more. Meanwhile, the X-men Supreme fanfiction series is throwing all sorts of divisions and complications into the mix. It’s a tough situation, one that I didn’t plan, but am trying to flesh out none-the-less.

I get that a lot of X-men fans are tired of the divisions, extinctions, and time travel plots. Granted, this fanfiction series has yet to use time travel or alternate universes to further a plot and I don’t plan to. I’m still plenty determined to make sure that X-men Supreme is as awesome as it can possibly be. That’s why it’s so important that people continue to provide feedback. Either post your comments directly in the issue or contact me directly. Either way is fine and I’m always happy to chat X-men. Until next time, take care and best wishes. Xcelsior!

Jack