This time, I'll be focusing on the Original Five X-men for this fanfiction series. Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Iceman, and Beast will each get an entry for this round of Supreme Reflections. The world of X-men Supreme was built around these five original X-men that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created all those years ago and I wanted to wait until some significant events had passed before digging deeper into their personalities. It's an important time for these characters because X-men Supreme Volume 2 affected each of them and X-men Supreme Volume 3 will explore those effects. The first entry will begin next week and focus on Cyclops. I've prepared a brief preview to give you a taste of what you can expect from this latest round of Supreme Reflections:
It was a rare moment for Scott Summers. For once he wasn’t hard at work keeping up with his classes or training in the Danger Room or refining his leadership skills for future missions. Every day of his life was serious and he treated every day as a work day. He rarely took breaks and rarely set aside time to just be alone with his thoughts. Tonight was one of those nights where his thoughts finally caught up with him. It had been happening a lot more lately and it was never easy for him, but he didn’t avoid it. He had avoided one too many harsh realizations in his life and wasn’t about to avoid any more.
So with no tasks of vital importance before him, he allowed his thoughts to drift. Night had fallen and the moon was full, shining brilliantly over the lake. He sat silently on the bench overlooking the clear waters below, taking in the crispness of the air and the calmness of his surroundings. It allowed him to contemplate that which he so rarely dwelled on.
My whole life has been a test of discipline. That’s the kind of mindset you develop when you spend most of your childhood in an army base. Everywhere you look, you see a ridged hierarchy. You see commanding officers giving orders to their squads and if those squads don’t obey those orders, then the unit fails. My dad was kind of like that and so was my mom. They stressed discipline more than most parents. But I’m not talking about the kind of discipline that earns a kid a good beating if he steps out of line. My parents could barley hug me, let alone ever raise a hand to me. I’m talking about the kind of discipline it takes to do the right thing even when it’s not easy. Sometimes it requires you to take chances, make mistakes, and humble yourself. But that’s the kind of discipline that will make you a better person.
I always had a lot to live up to in my family. The Summers clan sets the bar pretty high. We come from a long line of soldiers and military men. That’s part of why there are so few of us left. My grandfather, Phillip Summers, was the model my dad emulated and he encouraged me to do the same. What made him such a powerful character was his leadership. He was a Colonel in the United States Military who made a name for himself in the early days of the Cold War. There were a lot of war-mongering hawks back then, looking to start World War III for whatever reason. It wasn’t because they were cruel or bloodthirsty though. It’s because they were scared. My grandfather had the discipline and the courage to never be scared and stand up to the fear that consumed so many.
Phillip Summers was a man who lead by example. He was disciplined in his own right, standing tall against a long list of powerful forces looking to oppose him in any way. Alone, he probably wouldn’t have succeeded. But because he was such a strong leader, he got people to follow him. Some called him stiff and unyielding. Were he alive today everybody in the X-men would say he has the same stick up his ass that I do. He didn’t make a lot of friends with his methods, but what he lacked in friends he made up for in respect. He stayed focused and disciplined. He never lost sight of his goals.
My father would always end up smiling when he talked about him. He said it was rare for my grandfather to show much emotion, but anybody close to him could see that he put more passion into his work than anyone ever gave him credit for. That passion extended to his family. He didn’t have to say how much he loved them. That was always clear in everything he did. My father was kind of like that, but to a lesser extent. He never hid the fact that he was a bit more adventurous than my grandfather. In fact, he said I emulated Colonel Phillip Summers more than he ever did. And I was just seven at the time. I had no idea how he could know something like that, but I would eventually find out first hand when life decided to test me in the worst possible way.
Scott stoically looked up at the night sky as a string of cursed memories floated in front of his mind’s eye. Even for someone with obscured vision, every minute detail was as clear to him today as it was when it happened all those years ago. He could still smell the burning jet fuel. He could still sense the cold air brushing across his face. But more than anything else, he could still feel the sheer terror and sorrow of that fateful night. It was the night when father’s plane crashed and his whole world came crashing down with it.
X-men Supreme will undergo some important changes in the events to come, but before I get to those changes it's important that this fanfiction series flesh out these characters. I hope to get them out fairly quickly so stay tuned for more updates on when I'll be posting them. If ever you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at any time. Until next time, take care and best wishes!
Jack
