CYCLOPS: Page 7 of 20

Publication Date: 14th Nov 2019
Image Work: sixhoursoflucy and Gremlin.
Biography

BIOGRAPHY - Page 7

After Jean Grey's funeral, Cyclops left the X-Men to take time to reflect on his life. He eventually arrived in Florida and found work on Lee Forester’s fishing boat. Over the next few months, the two got to know each other better and an attraction developed between them. One night, they washed ashore on a deserted island in the Bermuda Triangle after being thrown overboard during a storm. With his ruby quartz glasses missing, Scott had to blindfold himself and relied on Lee to be his eyes. Eventually, he told her of his mutant power and soon they found a strange alien city, which happened to be Magneto's new base. Once again, Magneto attempted to take over the world but the X-Men arrived on the island. With Cyclops's help, they defeated Magneto and returned to America. Scott began working with the team again regularly. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #145-150]

Soon, Corsair came to Earth, needing the help of the X-Men in a conflict between the Shi'ar, Lilandra's exiled elder sister Deathbird and an alien race called the Brood. When Scott recognized a certain medallion that Corsair was wearing, containing pictures of the Summers family, Scott demanded the truth from the space pirate. At first, he was very angry at Corsair and Phoenix for shielding his father's identity from him, but once Christopher Summers explained that he and Kate had thought the boys had died, and that he didn’t want to return to Earth after his wife's horrible death, Scott understood and forgave his father. He then took Corsair to visit Alex. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #154, 156, 158]

After returning from another adventure in space, Scott returned to Florida to see Lee. It had been months since they had last seen each other and Scott filled her in on recent events. Corsair had offered to take the brothers to their grandparents in Alaska, and soon, they departed. Lee wondered if Scott would come back, and, if so, full time or just for a visit. Scott was unsure. Lee told him she could not handle his superhero life and that, sooner or later, he would have to choose between her and the X-Men. When the Summers men arrived in Anchorage, they were greeted by a pilot their grandparents had sent to pick them up from the airport—a stunning redheaded woman named Madelyne Pryor, who happened to look exactly like Jean Grey. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #168]

Scott and Madelyne quickly fell for each other, and Scott soon admitted to have been together with a woman who looked like just her. Madelyne was surprised, but she agreed to continue their relationship and find out if it was only her face that Scott loved or the person behind it. When he confided in her that he was a mutant, Madelyne thought this trust proved his love. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #170] Soon, Scott started to notice little oddities, like Madelyne being able to guess his favorite breakfast or her having been the sole survivor of a plane crash that happened on exactly the same day that Phoenix died on the moon. He started to suspect that she might be a reincarnation of Phoenix. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #171-172]

As the Starjammers were getting ready to depart to space again, Corsair offered to let Scott tag along, but he was unsure about going as he felt happy with Madelyne. She told him not to hold back on her account but he, in turn, asked if she would be willing to accompany him if he left Earth. While still thinking about Corsair's offer, Scott proposed to his lover, and Maddie accepted. Without realizing it, though, the couple was being stalked by Mastermind, who wanted revenge for his earlier defeat at the hands of Phoenix. He amplified Scott's doubts to the point that he actually asked Madelyne if she was Jean Grey reborn. In response, a furious Madelyne socked him in the jaw. As Scott ran after her, however, he was hit by a blast of cosmic energy; Dark Phoenix had resurfaced—or so he believed. In reality, though, the couple was now fully trapped in Wyngarde’s illusion. Mastermind took his victims to the Xavier estate in New York, where he made it look like Dark Phoenix was attacking both Xavier and Cyclops. Shortly, the rest of the team started to fight the non-existent foe, much to Mastermind's glee. After noticing some odd quirks during the battle, Scott began to see through Wyngarde's illusion and made Rogue absorb the unconscious Xavier in order to use his telepathy and disrupt the illusion. Afterwards, Madelyne and Scott finally got married and held a big party at the Xavier estate. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #174-175]

During their honeymoon in the Caribbean, the happy couple were almost eaten by a shark and a giant squid. This prompted Scott to choose retirement, realizing he wanted to be happy and to have a family without having to wonder about the endless battles of the X-Men or the Starjammers. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #176] After saying goodbye to Corsair and his crew, the couple moved to Anchorage, the place where they had met, and Scott started working for his grandparents' charter pilot business. A few months later, Madelyne discovered that she was pregnant, much to the couple's delight. [X-Men / Alpha Flight #1-2]

Some weeks later, Moira MacTaggert contacted Cyclops, as she was concerned about Professor Xavier's condition. Because his mentor's ailing health endangered his life, Madelyne understood Scott needed to check on him [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #197], but when he did not return, Madelyne followed him to Westchester, as she wanted her husband to be present when their baby was born. With the X-Men, though, it was always one crisis after the other, and while both the X-Men and New Mutants were busy in Asgard and then stayed on in Paris for Magneto's trial, Madelyne was left alone in the mansion, where she went into labor. Upon the team's return she had already given birth to a beautiful baby boy.

Instead of apologizing and making up with his wife, Cyclops was more concerned about the X-Men's fate, as in the meantime, Xavier had been forced to leave Earth because of his health. Scott thought that Xavier's idea to leave the school in Magneto's hands was a bad choice, so he himself wanted to lead the team again. However, Storm thought that his responsibilities were to Maddie and that he could no longer properly focus on the job, so she dueled him for leadership, despite being powerless. The duel went in Storm's favor, as she managed to outmaneuver Cyclops before robbing him of his visor, leaving him helpless, unless he would have wanted to risk his uncontrolled optic blasts harming hypothetical innocent bystanders. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #200-201]

Scott and Madelyne returned to Anchorage, but there was tension between them. Scott kept brooding and refused to talk about his problems. Not before long, he received a phone call from Warren Worthington with astounding news: Jean Grey had been found alive at the bottom of Jamaica Bay. Instead of confiding in his wife, Scott kept this to himself and started packing. He departed despite Maddie saying that if he left her again, he should not even bother to come back. In New York, Scott was welcomed by Jean and the rest of the original team Upon learning that Magneto was involved with the X-Men, Jean encouraged her old friends to form their own team, with Scott being the leader. The plan behind X-Factor was to pose as mutant hunting humans and police evil mutants, while recruiting innocent mutants to help them learn how to use their powers. While operating as the "mutant hunters" X-Factor, they also functioned as "mutant freedom fighters" called the X-Terminators. Scott was tormented by Jean's return and the ramifications for his marriage, but he was swept up in the X-Factor idea and fighting for mutant rights once more. Still, he deliberately kept his marriage a secret from Jean, and swore the others to secrecy as well. [X-Factor (1st series) #1]