Editing Cyclops (Marvel Comics) (section)

=== Manifest Destiny ===
During the interim period, Cyclops goes on a vacation with Emma to the [[Savage Land]] after refusing [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]]'s request to have the X-Men as part of the [[Fifty State Initiative]]. There, they are contacted by Warren asking them for assistance in San Francisco. Scott and Emma are successful in rescuing not only Warren and the other X-Men, but also in rescuing San Francisco as a whole. As a result, the Mayor of the city offers to help the X-Men reestablish themselves in the city.<ref>''The Uncanny X-Men'' #499</ref> After building a new headquarters, Cyclops sends word to all the world's mutants that San Francisco, which has welcomed the X-Men with open-arms, is now a safe haven for mutant-kind and that all are welcomed to join them.<ref>''The Uncanny X-Men'' #500</ref> The X-Men's presence is widely approved of by San Francisco, including the police, who now hire the team to aid them in cases that might be out of their area.<ref>''Astonishing X-Men'' vol. 3 #25</ref>

Cyclops dispatches Wolverine to track down [[Mystique (comics)|Mystique]] and revives [[X-Force]] as a clandestine black-ops team whose mission is to take down threats to mutantkind that they cannot deal with while under the public eye.  Cyclops places Wolverine in charge of the team and resolutely keeps X-Force's existence secret from the other X-Men, including Emma Frost (manifested as a psychic "black box" in his mind that Emma is unable to open),<ref name=UXM504>''The Uncanny X-Men'' #504</ref> also demanding that X-Force remain unknown to the public. However, Cyclops utilizes other X-Men for parts of the groups mission, including Beast and the Stepford Cuckoos. The team is sometimes less careful, leaving blood-stained clothing around, piquing Emma's suspicions.  The controversy of Cyclops's decisions as leader of the X-Men is further highlighted during the [[Secret Invasion|Skrull invasion of San Francisco]] when he readily utilizes [[biological warfare]] against the [[Skrull]]s by knowingly infecting them with an adapted version of the Mutant Legacy Virus created by Beast without first determining if there was also a cure.<ref>''Secret Invasion: X-Men'' #1–4</ref>

In another controversial decision, Cyclops sends X-Force to track down the [[Leper Queen]] who is infecting mutants with a strain of the [[Legacy Virus]] to use their uncontrolled powers in attacks against humanity in order to stir up anti-mutant hysteria. While on the mission, Beast locates Cable in the future and Cyclops orders X-Force to abandon the current mission and prepare for transport to the future to assist Cable and the baby, Hope. Despite knowing that the Leper Queen has kidnapped and intends to kill [[Hellion (Marvel Comics)|Hellion]], [[Surge (Marvel Comics)|Surge]], and [[Tabitha Smith|Boom Boom]], regardless of the protests from both X-Force and Beast that a few more minutes is all that is needed to kill her and save the students, Cyclops makes the difficult decision to activate the time machine. Though [[Domino (comics)|Domino]] is only moments away from killing the Leper Queen, the team is transported to the future and the Leper Queen appears to shoot Boom Boom in the head, while Hellion and Surge are injected and sent to the United Nations building for another attack.<ref>''X-Force'' #13</ref> Upon his return to the present Wolverine confronts Cyclops on the risks he took in making that decision.{{Volume needed|c=y|date=September 2010}}