Hound[]

Rachel Summers is the mutant daughter of Scott Summers and Jean Grey, the X-Men heroes known as Cyclops and Phoenix, from an alternate future, sometimes dubbed "Days of Future Past." Wielding the magnificent powers of the Phoenix Force, Jean Grey passed telepathic and telekinetic powers to her daughter.^[4] Raised at Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, the young Rachel experienced a fantastic childhood.^[36][37] She was close to fellow mutant youngster Franklin Richards, the son of the Fantastic Four members, Reed and Susan Richards. After her powers manifested, Rachel joined the New Mutants, a team of teenagers guided by Banshee who carried on Xavier's dream of a peaceful co-existence between humans and mutants.^[38][39]

At some point, Jean Grey was tragically killed in action, during a terrorist act carried out by Mastermind in Pittsburgh. The incident was used to push an anti-mutant agenda by the government.^[40] Matters escalated when the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants assassinated the anti-mutant politician Senator Kelly. The anti-mutant outrage rendered the X-Men fugitives. A Mutant Registration Act further resulted in mutant-hunting machines known as Sentinels taking over the country to implement absolute control and surveillance over the mutant population.^[41] Widespread public paranoia against mutants led the military to launch a devastating attack on the X-Men's school, exterminating many of the X-Men, Rachel Summers' very family.^[37]

During the raids against the X-Men, Rachel Summers was subdued and captured. She was initially manipulated by the members of the Hellfire Club, specifically the Shadow King, but managed to resist their macabre actions.^[39] At some point, she was tortured and brainwashed in the laboratory of the sadistic cyborg Ahab.^[40] Following extensive behavior modification, she became a mutant Hound, being forced to use her psionic powers to hunt down other mutants for the authorities. Her face was branded with a grotesque, irremovable pattern of tattoos to mark her as a Hound as she was forced to be restrained through a leash by her captors. As a Hound, Rachel occasionally located mutants herself, even people she loved in her previous existence, leading them to their deaths or worse fates. Her grief and shame at what she was forced to do and her anguish over the deaths of her parents and friends deeply scarred her soul.^[8] After long periods of torture sessions imposed by Ahab, Rachel used the pain to break the brainwashing. As she violently rebelled and attacked Ahab, she was able to permanently scar his face.^[40]

Days of Future Past[]

Such incident led Rachel to be removed from the Hounds program.^[40] Being placed in the South Bronx Mutant Containment Facility, she rejoined the surviving members of the X-Men, including Franklin Richards, with whom she became romantically involved, and her close friend Kate Pryde, who acted as a mother figure to her. Led by Magneto, the X-Men planned to end the Sentiles' reign by changing the past history. Within the camp, the X-Men, secretly assisted by a free Wolverine, found a way to deactivate their power-neutralizing shackles. As such, Rachel was able to use her psychic powers to send Pryde's consciousness and spirit to the body of her teenage self, as she existed at a time just before the attempt on Kelly's life. Their plan was to prevent Kelly's assassination and prevent the chain of events that culminated into the Sentinels' rule.^[41]

Despite Pryde being successful in the past, the X-Men were destroyed by the Sentinels in the future. Rachel was the sole survivor, hiding from the attackers in order to protect Pryde's body. After returning Pryde's psyche,^[42] Rachel sent her own spirit into the past as well in order to investigate why their efforts did not alter their dystopian reality. She learned the past comprised a different reality, running in an alternative timeline. This act caught the attention of the Phoenix Force, who had been linked to Jean Grey in the past. Attracted to Grey's child, a portion of the Phoenix Force was infused into Rachel and arrived in the future. As Rachel was unconscious following the ordeal, Pryde privately requested the Phoenix a fresh start for her friend.^[40] Pryde and Rachel planned a last strike against the Sentinels, hoping to stop the regime from executing Project Nimrod, for the creation of the ultimate anti-mutant murdering machine. Knowing the mission was inherently suicidal, Pryde interrupted it to give the command to send Rachel back in time using the Phoenix. Unaware of this agreement, Rachel vanished, crossing the timestream and arriving years in the past to a world she did not fully recognized.^[43] Unfortunately, Nimrod was activated and followed Rachel to the past as well by mechanically recreating time travel, establishing the extermination of the X-Men his prime directive.^[44]

Past of Future Days[]

Stranded in the past, Rachel went to the most familiar place she could be, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. However, upon arrival, she was horrified to find it populated by strangers, forcing her to flee without identifying herself.^[36] Wandering alone through the streets of New York City, Rachel became an easy target for the succubus Selene. Escaping to a nearby nightclub, Rachel was assisted by its owner Nick Damiano, who gave her shelter. While bathing, Rachel sensed something amiss, only to find Damiano withered by the actions of Selene. They engaged in a horrendous fight, with Rachel having no chance of prevailing. In desperation, she telepathically called for Xavier to get help. He assembled his X-Men to join the battle and protect her, forcing Selene to retreat. In safety, Rachel was granted sanctuary by the X-Men.^[19] The deeply traumatized Rachel could not cope with an environment so different from the one she had grown in.^[45] Upon learning Jean Grey was dead in this reality, Rachel revealed her origins to the X-Men and begged them not to give up on fighting for a brighter future for mutants, for her past was pure terror.^[37]

In the most recent member of New Mutants Magma, Rachel found someone with whom she could relate. Magma came from the lost society of Nova Roma and also struggled to adapt to Xavier's. Moreover, she also had had dark experiences with Selene. Wishing revenge, the two mutant girls infiltrated Selene's most recent base, the Hellfire Club, disguising themselves as maids. However, Selene easily subdued them and enslaved them. Her traumatic experience as a Hound enabled Rachel to overcome her control in order to free herself and Magma. Sensing the tumultuous interaction, Xavier intervened and had the X-Men deal with the crisis peacefully.^[8] Ironically, when the sorcerer Kulan Gath entrapped New York City into an illusion, Selene had to resist him. She allied herself with Rachel and Magma to recruit agents to defeat and depose the villain.^[46] Rachel succumbed to Selene's mercy as she dishonestly tried to usurp Kulan Gath's position after his defeat. However, the treacherous vampire was soon put out of commission.^[47]

Tagging along with the X-Men, Rachel soon forged a close friendship with Kitty Pryde, the teenage version of her best friend in the future.^[43] She also joined the team as the field telepath. However, her traumatic background caused her to have limited scope during missions.^[44] Her nightmares became even more real when the past version of her father and retired X-Man, Cyclops, was found to be in trouble during a plane crash piloted by his wife Madelyne Pryor. In their investigation, the X-Men went to Canada, where they crossed paths with Alpha Flight. Desperate to find Cyclops, Rachel recklessly used her powers against the Alphans, sparking rage in Xavier, who reprimanded her. The two teams found Cyclops in the Fire Fountain, which provided the crash survivors with mystical energies. During this encounter, Rachel asked Xavier to keep her identity a secret from Cyclops. Upon learning Pryor was pregnant to a child, Rachel became desperate, realizing her chances of being conceived in the past were null.^[48] She overcame the stress to telekinetically prevent the Citadel around the Fire Fountain from collapsing. After learning the Fire Fountain disrupted the local magical balance and was a machination of Loki, the X-Men and Alpha Flight chose to destroy it, despite its benefits. Although keeping the truth from her father, Rachel was able to reconcile with him.^[49]

Phoenix[]

The world was tormented by the omnipotent entity known as the Beyonder, who mobilized the super-hero community into being part of his petty games.^[50] Severely worried about his actions, Rachel decided to put a definitive end to his threat. She showed no tolerance for enemies, becoming strict in her motivations. When Pryde was attacked by humans, Rachel lethally stroke against the assailant, being stopped by Magneto, who had recently joined the X-Men to help them face the Beyonder. Deeply conflicted, Rachel left her teammates temporarily to reconsider her moral positions.^[51] Her destination was the Grey Family house, which she visited when Jean Grey's parents were absent. There, she found a Shi'ar Holempathic Matrix Crystal imbued with Jean Grey's essence. By communing with it, Rachel claimed the name and the power of Phoenix as her own birthright to redeem its legacy.^[4] Soon after, Cyclops' son was born. Rachel created a psychic rapport with her infant brother, promising to protect and watch over him as a guardian angel.^[20]

Phoenix took it upon herself the mission to rid the universe of the threat of the Beyonder. Her extremist approach worried the X-Men, who decided to follow her to stop her from becoming a murderer. On Alcatraz, Phoenix unleashed her power against her enemy, with no success. As part of his sick games, the Beyonder gave her the necessary power to either slay him or save the X-Men, as he had put them in life-or-death situations against Sentinels. She chose the latter.^[52] Wielding the Beyonder's energies, Phoenix decided to destroy the entire universe and restart it without the Beyonder. Having the support of some of the X-Men by consuming their essences, she travelled to the M'kraan Crystal to accomplish her plan. The leader of the X-Men Storm convinced her to abandon her annihilation. Realizing the Beyonder had set her up to do this act for him, Phoenix confronted him once again, using her power to overcome his psyche as a lesson.^[21] Eventually, the Beyonder's madness was interrupted.^[53]

Succumbing to the dark aspects of her mind, Phoenix struggled to find comfort.^[54] Her own hostility and animosity psychically tormented her fellow X-Men, earning their distrust, especially from a debilitated Wolverine. In affliction, Phoenix decided to definitely destroy Selene. Once again, she invaded the Hellfire Club and this time she was opposed by Wolverine, who had mentally sensed her plans. In order to put a stop in her revenge, Wolverine mortally stabbed Phoenix in the chest.^[55] Nearing death and fleeing to heal herself, Phoenix unleashed her rage against Wolverine. She attracted the attention of the X-Men, Selene's allies of the Hellfire Club, and Nimrod. The different factions fought each other, while Rachel laid low.^[13] Vulnerable, she was fooled by the interdimensional witch Spiral into entering the Body Shoppe in order to be revived as her best self.^[56] In fact, Phoenix was taken to the bizarre television-based realm of Mojoverse, where she was to become a slave of the macabre Mojo, forced to be the main star of his Wildways.^[39]

Excalibur[]

After a period of being tortured in Mojoverse, Phoenix eventually escaped to London, where she was tracked by Warwolves from Mojoverse. She was then captured by the bounty-hunter Gatecrasher and her Technet, who had been hired by Saturnyne to eliminate Rachel Summers as a cosmic threat to the entire multiverse. The combined efforts the former X-Men members Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler, as well as the elemental shapeshifter Meggan and the protector of multiverse Captain Britain resulted in her escape from Technet and the Warwolves. Since the X-Men were presumed dead, Phoenix suggested that the group of heros should stay together to continue Professor Xavier and King Arthur's dreams of equality and justice. This marked the foundation of the British-based team Excalibur, baptized as such following Phoenix's suggestion.^[6] The team eventually moved into Captain Britain's Braddock Lighthouse.^[57]

Excalibur hunted the Warwolves to prevent casualties and further problems. Pryde posed as Phoenix to attract them, being captured in the process.^[58] Phoenix used her vast psychic powers to locate and rescued Pryde as Excalibur apprehended the Warwolves.^[59] In one of their missions, Excalibur battled the Crazy Gang in the Murderworld to rescue Courtney Ross from Arcade. During the ordeal, Phoenix was possessed by Crazy Gang's member Executioner, but Pryde helped her overcome this influence.^[60]

Through her psychic link with her brother, Phoenix sensed he was in extreme danger, being a target of the demon, N'astirh, as part of a sacrifice ritual to cast an Inferno in New York City. At the top of the Empire State University, she marched to his rescue, only to meet a corrupted Madelyne Pryor, who cast her out to the demonic invasion down below. Phoenix was entrapped by the dark magics, being transformed into a lifeless mannequin.^[61] The lower demon Crotus sensed the Phoenix power within her immovable body. He orchestrated a wedding to bind the Phoenix to his will. The ceremony was prevented by Nightcrawler, and Phoenix freed herself as the demonic crisis vanished.^[62] Afterwards, Phoenix took the opportunity to secretly visit her brother, who now was under the tutelage of Cyclops and a revived Jean Grey, now members of the mutant group X-Factor. She still maintained her decision of keeping her true origins hidden from her parents' alternate selves.^[63]

Back to England, Excalibur was accidentally entangled in an interdimensional adventure which led them to different realities, being transported by the robot Widget through a train using the Phoenix Force as fuel, in hopes of returning to their home reality.^[64] During this adventure, Phoenix's powers interacted in odd ways with those of her teammate Meggan, causing them to repel each other. In one of the fantastic worlds they visited, Rachel was depowered when facing a monstrous threat who could destroy the planet. She took the opportunity of being rid of the Phoenix Force to connect herself with inner aspects of her soul. She enjoyed precious moments with a version of Jean Grey. However, this version of her mother was brutally murdered by a Slaver, with Rachel having little power to prevent it. She defeated the Slavers without her powers and returned to Excalibur as a mysterious masked swordswoman, in a plan to disrupt the ruthless regime Earth lived under. With Meggan's assistance and support, Rachel reconnected with the Phoenix to save the world.^[65] After crossing through other realities, Phoenix witnessed the tragic fate of another version of Jean Grey, who was corrupted by the Hellfire Club. Tragically, Rachel mercy-killed Jean Grey to protect her from being seduced by darkness.^[66]

After jumping across so many realities, Excalibur was contacted by the Majestrix Saturnyne, who was unamused by their interloping adventures. She still wished to restrain Phoenix and ordered Excalibur to travel to the Starlight Citadel. She impersonated Kitty Pryde to hide in plain sight, as Saturnyne pretended not to see through their foolish ruse. Afterwards, Excalibur finally returned to their home reality.^[67] Upon their Lighthouse, they were met by the world-eater Galactus. The cosmic entity had declared the Phoenix a threat to his existence and went to Earth to bring down her elimination. Following a world-threatening battle against Galactus, Phoenix decided to surrender and sacrifice herself. However, the embodiment of Death itself demonstrated to Galactus that the Phoenix played a role for the balance of the cosmos and he ultimately chose to spare her.^[68]

Days of Future Present[]

At some point in her tenure with Excalibur, Rachel fell victim to an illusory world, where she found herself in her home reality. In this setting, she was reunited with Franklin Richards. The illusion had been cast by Mastermind, who had originally corrupted Jean Grey, corrupting her into Dark Phoenix. Pryde and Meggan were able to assist Rachel break through the inconsistencies of the illusion. Feeling extreme rage, Rachel wished to capitally punish Mastermind for his transgression, but was convinced otherwise. Instead, he was given to the authorities, becoming harmless. She then reinforced a mental condition in which he became inert.^[69]

Some time later, the adult version of Franklin Richards from Rachel's future emerged in the present, in the Baxter Building. He displayed immense confusion when confronted by the Fantastic Four. Upon his arrival, Phoenix sensed his presence and went to his location.^[70] Unfortunately, Richards was followed by none other than Ahab and his deadly Hounds.^[38] The commotion Richards caused led the X-Men, X-Factor and the Fantastic Four to tend to his situation. They witnessed Phoenix arrive in New York City, where Richards' presence disturbed her very sense of self and memories. His reality-shaping powers put Phoenix out of commission. She was then confronted by Jean Grey, for the first time, about her origins. In a dramatic exchange, she revealed the truth about their connection. Jean Grey vehemently rejected Rachel, claiming she refused to accept her future was predestined. Cyclops also reprimanded her for keeping this information. Tragically, Rachel was brutally assaulted by Ahab before their conversation could go on. She incinerated his lackeys and ran away in turmoil.^[71]

Clouded by inaccurate memories and confusion, Rachel reunited herself with Richards. Amicably, they decided to carry on with their lives in the past. However, Ahab captured and brainwashed Cyclops and Susan Richards to torment his victims. Rachel was easily subdued, as she found herself depowered as Ahab attacked with his new Hounds. The heroes came to their rescue and Ahab was forced to retreat to the future to escape being defeated. Rachel's condition worsened after Ahab's departure. It was revealed that Franklin Richards was in fact deceased, and his existence was actually a mental echo who fed on Rachel's and his past self's life forces. Seeing the imminent doom he had brought, the simulacrum of Richards chose to sacrifice himself to preserve his loved ones. Back as Phoenix, Rachel reverted the process which turned Cyclops and Susan Richards into Hounds. After this incident, the fractured Rachel Summers departed, choosing to distance herself from Jean Grey.^[10]

Necrom[]

Back to Excalibur, Phoenix embarked on different missions, battles and adventures. Eventually, they were approached by the members of the X-Men and X-Factor, finally marking the reunion of old-time friends and teammates. In fact, the mutants were the Warwolves, who had escaped, and attempted to bring Phoenix back to Mojo. Excalibur saved her from their macabre kidnapping attempt. However, the experience of facing their former allies opened old wounds. In Phoenix's case, she suffered with thoughts of interacting with Jean Grey, Cyclops, and, specially, Wolverine.^[72] Gatecrasher and Technet also schemed to kidnap Phoenix one more time. This time, they were successful. However, oddly enough, Saturnyne herself decommissioned Technet and cancelled the mission, leaving Excalibur puzzled about her actual plans.^[73]

When providing support to Meggan during an emotionally fragile moment, Phoenix recognized their mental structure was similar, anchored in the present due to untrustworthy memories. This explained the weird interactions between their psyches. Together, they journeyed throughout the United Kingdom to investigate Meggan's past. When meeting Josie Scott, Rachel for the first time in a long time lowered her psychic defenses and kept the Phoenix Force completely dormant. During this time, Phoenix fought M.I.6 agent Micromax, who had attempted to arrest her on false accusations of robbery, which were soon dismissed.^[74] When looking for Meggan's family across Europe, Rachel chose to cease using her powers, for she had realized that not tapping into the Phoenix Force reconnected her with the physical world and could repair her fragmented memories.^[75] After finding a captive Neuri who made Rachel and Meggan commune with the Alshra plane, they found answers not only to Meggan's life, but also to Rachel's. Having better comprehension about themselves, the two women decided to return to the Braddock Lighthouse to Excalibur.^[76]

Back home, Excalibur learned their creation was the result of machinations performed by the ruler of Otherworld, Roma. The team also learned the imminent threat of the dread lord Necrom.^[77] Excalibur was summoned after W.H.O. found a strange chamber underground with something living inside it. It was the Anti-Phoenix, which was accidentally released by Excalibur. Excalibur was then joined by Feron and the monks who had raised him to be Phoenix's host, as they had awaited for the rise of the Anti-Phoenix for a long time. The vampiric Necrom was able to absorb the Anti-Phoenix to empower himself.^[78] Necrom caused a compression of multiple realities, with the Lighthouse being the nexus of it,^[79] wishing to use the Phoenix to seize the mystical power matrix from Otherworld to empower himself as a god. Making the difficult decision to access her powers again, Phoenix valiantly fought him. As Necrom attempted to siphon the Phoenix, the access to an unlimited source of power burned him out to death. With Necrom dead, a pretty much alive Merlyn revealed himself as the true mastermind behind many events surrounding Excalibur. Before Merlyn could accomplish Necrom's plan himself, his daughter Roma had Excalibur destroy the Lighthouse across the Multiverse, severing the stability of the matrix, which faded away. Reestablished at Braddock Manor, Excalibur finally were free, no longer being anyone's pawns.^[80]

As a result of the war against Necrom, Phoenix had her memories obliterated and fell into a profound coma.^[80] Professor Xavier, Cyclops and Jean Grey went to Braddock Manor to assess her situation. They communicated directly with the Phoenix Force, who informed them Rachel had been destroyed in the battle. Afterwards, she recreated and restored by the comics powers of the Phoenix, but her mind and soul still needed healing. Commanding Rachel's body, Phoenix departed to the stars.^[40] In her cosmic journey, Phoenix met Galactus once again, confronting him for his devastating actions against entire planets. During the combat, Galactus shared the Phoenix's true nature: her unlimited power derived from potential life that could never blossom after being consumed.^[81] The revelation had an impact in Phoenix, who got separated from Rachel by the embodiment of Death.^[82] Realizing her destructive nature, the consciousness of the Phoenix Force destroyed itself. Rachel Summers was fully reborn as Phoenix, having her memories restored, although without the unlimited access to the power of the Phoenix.^[83]

End of Time[]

Enjoying a healthy psyche, Rachel returned to Earth and to Excalibur. She wished to use the power of the Phoenix to make a difference in her home reality and decided to return to her dystopian future.^[84] When probing the future for her travel, she was inadvertently linked to Widget. This was a trap orchestrated by Ahab, who had turned Kate Pryde's consciousness into the reality-hopping Widget. Thrown into the future, Excalibur witnessed Phoenix be kidnapped by Ahab and his Sentinel masters.^[85] The Sentinels planned to invade other realities to exterminate mutantkind across the multiverse. Rachel telepathically communicated with Widget to destroy the Sentinel Hierarchy and its programming. As Excalibur and R.C.X. battled the Sentinel drones, Rachel and Widget rewrote the Sentinels' prime directive. From then on, they were to protect all life. However, Ahab managed to escape. Finally, Rachel Summers' world had a future to cherish. Having found a new home in the past, she returned with Excalibur.^[86] On the return journey, Captain Britain was lost in the timestream.^[87]

Back to the past, Rachel made amends with Jean Grey, who explained the motivation for her initial rejection and shared her intentions of marrying Cyclops. Moreover, Rachel met the extremist soldier Cable, with whom she felt a strange connection. In fact, Cable was the aged version of her lost infant brother. In face of changes for mutantkind, Excalibur resettled on Muir Island,^[88] where she found herself romantically interested in the resident researcher Dr. Rory Campbell.^[89] Despite many positive outcomes in her tragic life, Phoenix experienced the lingering essence of Captain Britain trying to replace her in the plane of existence. Refusing to give up on her own life, Rachel kept Captain Britain away, ignoring his calls for help. The difficult decision torn her apart with guilt, as she did not want to give up living.^[90] Eventually, she attended Jean Grey's and Scott Summers' wedding, celebrating her parents' union in the past. This moment marked Rachel Summers' life as one of the happiest of her life.^[91] At peace with her history, she ultimately decided to sacrifice herself to exile in the timestream, the very end of time, to restore Captain Britain. Rachel Summers was thought to be lost in time forever.^[22]

In fact, Rachel Summers emerged in the late 37th century, in a world ruled by Apocalypse. As a rebel fighter, she founded the Clan Askani to bring hope to the resistance, eventually becoming the legendary Mother Askani.^[92] As Mother Askani, Rachel was pivotal in guiding her young brother into becoming the warrior Cable and forge him into the destroyer of Apocalypse. She eventually met her demise after many decades warring against Apocalypse's forces.^[23]

After Cable destroyed Apocalypse in the present, his ascension as ruler of the world was prevented.^[93][94] As an apparent consequence, Rachel Summers was restored to her existence prior to arriving on the dystopian future ruled by Apocalypse. Diverging from her life as Mother Askani, she became a hostage of Gaunt, a cyborg prisoner from the distant future imprisoned at the end of time. In this situation, Rachel had her powers neutralized by the technological devices that kept Gaunt caged.^[95] In fact, Gaunt acted on orders of the Dark Sisterhood, a legion of sworn enemies of Mother Askani.^[96] Cable experienced calls for help from Rachel and, when telepathically searching for the origins of such calls, he was contacted by Gaunt.^[97] Determined to rescue Rachel, Cable travelled to the end of time to free Rachel from Gaunt, who in turn wanted to bribe them for his liberty.^[95] Working in unison, Rachel and Nathan Summers overpowered Gaunt and used their powers to return to the present. Upon arrival, Rachel had difficulties to cope with the recent events. She also declared she had faint memories from her time as Mother Askani. Deciding to lay low, she asked Cable not to share her return.^[96]

In her ordinary new life, Rachel enrolled at college. In this situation, she learned about the social organization known as Students Against Mutants, which directly attacked Cable's reputation. She investigated their activities led by Connie Moore.^[98] Rachel learned Moore was part of the Dark Sisterhood and found out they wished to spark anti-mutant hatred^[99] to support their plans of taking control over the country. Using telepathy to forge an identity as an FBI agent, Rachel exposed Moore and decided to look for Cable.^[100] She joined him in a final raid against the Dark Sisterhood's stronghold, to defeat their leader, Dark Mother.^[101]

Marvel Girl[]

At some point, Rachel Summers fell into the clutches of the mutant predator Elias Bogan, an ancient influence in the Hellfire Club, who mentally enslaved her his pet telepath to do his bidding.^[102] Bogan had an interest in the former White Queen of the Hellfire Club, Emma Frost, who now acted as one of the main staff members of the Xavier Institute. Through Rachel, he easily had access to the X-Men's mansion, especially the telepathy amplifier Cerebra and the Danger Room.^[103] However, thanks to Storm and her X-Men, Rachel was defeated and forced to retreat, although her identity was not revealed.^[104] Storm's X-Men planned a final strike against Bogan in Valle Soleada, clashing with Rachel in the process, who acted as his vessel.^[105] When Bogan was destroyed, Rachel Summers was freed, being taken care of by Kitty Pryde in the aftermath.^[102]

She moved to Pryde's apartment in Chicago, where Pryde was hunted by her former master, Ogun. Once again, Storm's X-Men intervened.^[106] Rachel tracked and battled Ogun's spirit, while the other X-Men faced the bounty-hunters known as the Galérer.^[107] Pryde attempted to prevent Rachel from falling into Ogun's mental trap. However, in the physical world, she fell victim to Galérer's member Beasty-Brute, who had been possessed by Ogun. Another Galérer's agent, Sanzu, tried to feast on an unconscious Rachel's powers, but found herself overwhelmed by it. The Wild Sentinel Scrap took the opportunity the released energies from Rachel to depower all the mutants in the area of Chicago.^[108] Even powerless, the X-Men prevailed, disrupting Scrap's effect. Being repowered, Rachel rose against Ogun, burning his soul to expunge his evil influence for good.^[109] After the Xavier Institute was destroyed by Xorn, Storm's X-Men decided to return to their former home. Now sanctioned as global marshals as X.S.E., they officially acted for mutantkind's best interest. In the face of Jean Grey's death at Xorn's hands, Rachel adopted her name to honor her memory, both as Rachel Grey and as the new Marvel Girl.^[110][11] She also retrieved an updated version of the Holempathic Matrix Crystal in order to commune with Jean Grey's essence.^[111] At the rebuilt Xavier Institute, Rachel demonstrated great disapproval of Scott Summers' recent relationship with Emma Frost, as both became headmasters of Xavier's school and lovers.^[11] This situation made her connect with Cyclops' brother, the X-Man Havok.^[112]

As an officer of X.S.E., Marvel Girl played a crucial role in different missions.^[11] At some point, the team was contacted by Captain Britain about a crisis. At Braddock Manor, they faced the deadly cybiote known as the Fury.^[113] After X.S.E. destroyed the creature, Marvel Girl started to experience sights of Captain Britain's brother, the insane Jamie Braddock.^[114] On suspicions of a reformation of the Hellfire Club, X.S.E. went to its abandoned mansion to investigate it. They were joined by Emma Frost, much to Rachel's disdain. During the mission, Frost and Rachel were separated from the other X-Men, being transported to Hong Kong. Initially, Rachel attacked Frost, blaming her for the situation. However, Frost stood her ground and ceased the hostilities. Using her influence as the former White Queen, Frost rebranded Rachel as the Warrior White Princess for them to enter the Hellfire Club society. They realized the Hellfire Club trafficked mutant slaves. While in the open, Frost telepathically taught Marvel Girl to render herself psychically invisible automatically in order for her to look for hostages in the Hellfire Club's catacombs.^[12] During her mission, she was joined by Red Lotus, who also was commissioned to dismantle the slaver business.^[115] They were ambushed by Selene, but Marvel Girl managed to overcome her dark attack. As a result, Frost and the Warrior White Princess managed to dissolve the horrible slave ring.^[116]

The X-Men were contacted about her former teammate, Betsy Braddock, the psychic ninja Psylocke, suddenly returning from death. Marvel Girl found her mind completely inaccessible, thus not being able to assert her identity. Amidst this situation, the group was targeted by the Hauk'ka, a race of saurid creatures living in the Savage Land.^[117] When establishing contact with the telepathic Hauk'ka Kaidan, Marvel Girl had her psychic shields destroyed and was brainwashed into joining the Hauk'ka with the fabricated identity of R'Chel. With R'Chel's betrayal, the X-Men were subdued and taken to the Savage Land.^[118] Deploying telekinesis on molecular level, R'Chel restructured her own genome, matching her physical appearance to her Hauk'ka mind, becoming reptilian body and soul. Her brutal attacks against the X-Men were interrupted by Psylocke, who had not been restrained in the initial raid.^[119] Next, by using her telepathy, R'Chel unleashed the powers of a captive Storm, as part of the Hauk'ka's plan of turning the world into a glacial hell, inhospitable to human society.^[120] The Hauk'ka were eventually convinced by the X-Men that dooming the planet would have drastic consequences. Meanwhile, Psylocke psychically restrained R'Chel, as the Hauk'ka convinced her to have Storm dissipate the environmental catastrophe. Communing with Storm not only saved Earth, but also restored Rachel Grey's humanity.^[121]

Grey's End[]

Back home, Rachel Grey found herself distanced from Kitty Pryde while still mourning the loss of Jean Grey. Pryde asked Betsy Braddock to help Rachel cope with her issues. As a result, Rachel and Braddock gradually grew closer to each other.^[122] Being together in a mission when the Scarlet Witch reshaped the fabric of the entire reality, Marvel Girl and Psylocke managed to escape to the White Hot Room, the heart of the Phoenix. There, they realized that both of them had had visions with Jamie Braddock, Psylocke's older brother. He cast them out of the White Hot Room, forcing them into the remade reality, a world created by the Scarlet Witch where mutants ruled in harmony as a superior caste.^[123] Caught in the interdimensional maelstrom, they were reformed. Psylocke became Lady Elizabeth Gloriana, the Princess-Royal of the Realm of England, and Marvel Girl was transformed into her bodyguard, Lady Grey. In this setting, they realized something odd in the fabricated and destabilized reality.^[124] When evading the Marauders, Marvel Girl and Psylocke found a dimensional rift tearing the fabric of reality apart around the Braddock Lighthouse.^[125] Meggan sacrificed herself to seal the fracture.^[126] Later on, the X-Men and the Avengers put down the Scarlet Witch's insanity and restored the world. However, as a consequence, the majority of mutantkind was depowered as a result.^[127]

At some point, Rachel was fully introduced by Emma Frost to Jean Grey's parents, John and Elaine Grey.^[128] In the wake of the mutant decimation, the X-Men became under strict surveillance of O*N*E's Sentinels.^[129] Expressing great rejection to being in a concentration camp, Rachel decided to move in with her grandparents. She enjoyed an ordinary life with great happiness by bonding with her grandfather, despite her grandmother's veiled sorrow and rejection. The Greys threw a part to introduce Rachel to her extended family.^[130] Tragically, with the intention of eradicating the Grey lineage due to its relation to the Phoenix, the Shi'ar Empire assigned its Death Commandos to attack the party. In a horror show, all of the Grey family was brutally exterminated, except for Rachel. Their leader Black Cloak branded Rachel with a death mark in order to have ways to track her.^[131] The X-Men and O*N*E Sentinels arrive on the Grey residence to defeat and arrest the Death Commandos. In disgrace, Rachel Grey swore revenge against the Shi'ar for her family's massacre.^[132]

O*N*E placed Rachel Grey under supervision at the Xavier Institute, assigning Doc Samson as her therapist. Unpleased with her situation, she ran away from the institute.^[133] Instead, she sought help from therapist Dr. Maureen Lyszinski in Chicago. Having escaped imprisonment, the Death Commandos tracked Rachel to Lyszinski's clinic.^[134] As Rachel resisted their attack, the fight caused a commotion. The X-Men intervened, but the Shi'ar planned to cover their tracks by all means. Rachel telepathically concluded they had fired a lethal weapon to obliterate Chicago. Together, Marvel Girl and Psylocke joined their telekinetic might, casting a protective dome over the city and repelling the blast back to the spaceship that had generated it, effectively destroying it. This put an end in the Death Commandos' attempt of eliminating Grey.^[135]

Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire[]

One of the mutants depowered by the Scarlet Witch was Professor Xavier. Along with this result, a dreadful revelation also resurfaced. Scott Summers had a lost brother, who had been thought to have been killed in action as a member of the X-Men, Vulcan. Seeking revenge against those who wronged him, Vulcan attacked the X-Men and marched to space to exact revenge on the Shi'ar.^[136] Being rejected by Cyclops and most of the X-Men, Xavier put a new team together to follow Vulcan and stop his quest for revenge. In need for a telepath, Xavier recruited Rachel, although bearing reservations about the effects the Shi'ar could have on her vengeful urges. Their partnership exposed Xavier's unscrupulous and authoritarian use of telepathy. Another key member of the squad was Havok.^[137] The X-Men went to space^[138] and a secret order of the Shi'ar soon identified the child of the Phoenix headed into their direction through her death mark.^[139] The assassin Korvus, a descendant of a former host of the Phoenix from the Rook'shir clan, was blackmailed into eliminating Rachel Grey. Wielding the Blade of the Phoenix, Korvus broke into the X-Men's spaceship. When the blade interacted with her, a portion of its powers was transferred to her as she exchanged memories with Korvus. She removed the explosive the Shi'ar had implanted in his brain to free him from his duty.^[140] Becoming infatuated with each other, Rachel and Korvus pursued a romance.^[141]

Upon arriving on the Shi'ar territory, the X-Men were welcomed by the Starjammers, led by Cyclops' and Havok's father, Corsair.^[142] Together, they battled the Shi'ar rebels Vulcan had aligned himself with. Rachel Grey displayed no mercy when finishing her opponents.^[143] In the heat of the battle, Vulcan married Deathbird, usurping the Shi'ar throne^[144] and murdering his own father, Corsair. The former Majestrix Lilandra sent the X-Men back home, except for Havok, Polaris, and Marvel Girl. Stranded in space, they joined the remaining Starjammers to lead the resistance against the new Shi'ar Empire under the control of Vulcan.^[145]

Working in coalition with Lilandra, Rachel learned that a secret order of the Shi'ar was responsible her family's demise. Amidst their war against Vulcan, the Starjammers found an enemy species of the Shi'ar called Scy'ar Tal, who wielded world-destroying weapons.^[146] They telepathically shared with Rachel how the Shi'ar destroyed their society and wished to retrieve their sacred M'kraan Crystal.^[147] Vulcan called a truce with the Starjammers to join forces and prevent the Scy'ar Tal from using the vast powers of the M'kraan Crystal for genocide. Havok accepted the deal, but, in horror, Rachel discovered that Chancellor Araki's bodyguards were the Death Commandos. She was convinced to work with them momentarily, despite being furious with them.^[148] Vulcan took hold of the Scy'ar Tal's weaponry, betraying the Starjammers. When trying to stop his plans of ending the Scy'ar Tal, Rachel was forced to battle the magnificent Gladiator to a standstill. She was interrupted by the traitorous General Ka'ardum, who attacked Korvus, forcing her to save him. The Starjammers were captured, forcing Rachel to retreat with Korvus and Lilandra^[149] to the Clench Worlds. Breaking the Starjammers from imprisonment was imperative.^[150]

From Gladiator, Rachel was able to learn they were kept on planet Kr'kn.^[151] Rachel covered the prison break, expecting Vulcan and his Imperial Guard to arrive. However, she was ambushed by the secret assassin Hodinn.^[152] When fighting him and other Vulcan's forces, Rachel felt her fraction of the Phoenix Force being summoned away, which left her vulnerable to be wounded by Pn'zo. This time, however, the Starjammers managed to escape.^[153] The Starjammers took advantage of Vulcan's reckless expansionism to seek asylum with the Kree Empire, then ruled by the Inhuman Royal Family. The Imperial Guard invaded Kree territory to kidnap Lilandra, officially starting a war between the two kingdoms.^[154] The Starjammers joined the war battles,^[155] finding support with the Guardians of the Galaxy and, ironically, a renegade Gladiator.^[156] Gaining advantage, the Starjammers escorted Lilandra to the Temple Sharra and K'ythri to reinstitute her to power. However, Vulcan deployed Araki's Death Commandos. The ensuing battle culminated with Lilandra's death.^[157] As Gladiator battled Black Cloak, Rachel Grey imploded the villain's head, fulfilling her revenge, but feeling empty with the result.^[158] The war eventually ended as Vulcan was defeated.^[159]

Five Miles South of the Universe[]

As heroes of the Shi'ar Empire, the Starjammers responded to a distress call coming from the Gul Damar Space Station. There, they found the Grad Nan Holt, a slave race to the Shi'ar, who rebelled in the doomed facility they had been forced to work in. The Starjammers joined the Grad Nan Holt against the Shi'ar.^[160] Desperate to find help, Rachel telepathically sent her astral form to contact Professor Xavier and the X-Men. She arrived just on Utopia when a rogue personality of Legion used its reality-altering powers to rewrite an illusory world. Rachel Grey's astral form was swept up in the reality warp and transformed into Revenant, a member of the Force Warriors. When reality was restored to its original state, and echo of Revenant survived for a short period, being able to expose herself as a mental manifestation of Rachel, who was still in need of help in deep space.^[161] Rogue absorbed Revenant's essence, learning in the process the Starjammers faced great danger in the defective space station, which was about to lose its gravitational stability and fall into a star.^[162]

Using one of Legion's personas powers, Rogue travelled with a squad of X-Men to follow Rachel's trail. Rachel was kept captive by the Shi'ar bounty hunters known as the Salvagers, who wished to take advantage of her vast psychic powers for profit.^[163] Coming back to her senses, Rachel joined Rogue while the X-Men, influenced by the Shi'ar, battled the Starjammers. Rachel attempted to stabilize the space station to give Rogue time to solve the crisis, but was attacked by another surprise attack by the Grad Nan Holt called Friendless, who had psychically put her out of commission. By telepathically attacking the villain, Rachel learned he had manipulated the Grad Nan Holt into warring the Shi'ar to destroy Gul Damar.^[164] As Friendless went missing, Rachel telepathically hunted him down, engaging in a psychic battle.^[165] Although Friendless' plans were ruined, Rachel was still at his mercy. Magneto used his helmet to cut Rachel's connection to the insane creature. Next, Rogue absorbed Rachel's psychic powers to probe into Friendless' mind and find a way to technologically teleport Gul Damar to Earth's orbit.^[166] This finally reunited Havok, Polaris, and Rachel with the other X-Men on Utopia. Korvus, however, saw no place for him on Earth, eventually departing with the Salvagers.^[167]

Jean Grey School[]

Rachel Grey returning to the X-Men coincided with their philosophical schism, which led Wolverine to depart and rebuilt the Xavier Institute as the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. She chose to follow his initiative, joining the teaching staff.^[168] In the institution that carried her mother's name, Rachel proved to be a hard worker, being in charge of teaching classes, protecting the students and the grounds and being specifically in charge of monitoring the problematic and anarchistic young telepath, Quentin Quire.^[169][170] Alongside Quire, Rachel sensed the arrival of the Phoenix Force to Earth.^[171] The coming of the Phoenix sparked a crisis between the X-Men and the Avengers; the former believed it to be hope to mutantkind's dwindling numbers, while the latter feared the destruction it could cause. Wolverine sided with the Avengers, joining an attack against Cyclops and his faction of the X-Men on Utopia.^[172]

As the conflicted escalated into a war, many X-Men defected to assist Cyclops and the X-Men against the Avengers. Having had personal experiences with the Phoenix, Rachel left the Jean Grey School to be with the X-Men and fight for mutantkind.^[173] The two factions searched for the prophesized mutant messiah, Hope, expected to host the Phoenix Force.^[174] During the quest for her whereabouts, Cyclops and other X-Men were possessed by the Phoenix. Using its power, they constructed a mutant paradise and helped the world however they could.^[175] Hope was still on the loose, and Cyclops assigned Rachel Grey to hunt her, despite her resistance to use telepathy to locate mutants due to her past as a Hound. At the Chaparanga junkyard, Rachel and other X-Men managed to locate Hope and defeat the Avengers who kept her hidden. Still, Rachel found herself to force Hope into custody, allowing her to escape.^[176] The Shi'ar intervened in the situation, sending the Death Commandos to hunt Hope and resist the rise of the Phoenix.^[177] Rachel unleashed her rage against the killers of her family.^[178] Eventually, the X-Men questioned the morality of the Phoenix hosts, gradually abandoning their mission.^[179] Ultimately, Rachel returned to the Jean Grey School alongside other X-Men,^[180] and chose to directly oppose Cyclops alongside Professor Xavier.^[181] During their final battle, Xavier fell as a mortal victim of Cyclops' power.^[182][183]

In the aftermath of the war, the Jean Grey School faced furtive attacks from the reformed Hellfire Club. Rachel directed most of her effort into finding the Hellfire Club's whereabouts.^[184] However, her hunt returned little fruits, as she and Wolverine raided several Hellfire Club hideouts.^[185] At some point, Quire ran away to the Hellfire Academy to protect his friends from the Hellfire Club himself. This led Rachel to focus her search on the Hellfire Academy,^[186] working through exhaustion to find her targets.^[187] Ultimately, Rachel Grey conversed with Krakoa, a Hellfire Club's creation who defected them and joined the Jean Grey School, gaining a major lead on the Hellfire Academy's location in the Pacific Ocean.^[188] This allowed the X-Men to attack the Hellfire Club directly and put an end to their vile schemes.^[189]

At the Jean Grey School, Rachel welcomed one of the X-Men's most formidable foes, John Sublime, who raised a white flag in hopes of getting help against his sister, the machine infecting Arkea, who took possession of Omega Sentinel.^[190] Storm put a team together to stop Arkea, considering to finish Omega Sentinel to stop the threat. Rachel did not tolerate such a course of action and prevented it, finding an alternative way to purge Arkea. During the mission, Rachel and Sublime shared a tender moment together.^[191] Such a decision led Rachel to question her leadership.^[192] When the drug-lord Ana Cortés became interested in Arkea, she formed a Sisterhood to retrieve her data, invading the Jean Grey School for it. Rachel Grey contacted Sublime about the situation, but he had already been in contact with Cortés.^[193] Rachel then interrogated him, demonstrating frustration for his attitude and expressing her potential romantic feelings towards him.^[194][195] In a final showdown against the Sisterhood, Rachel was knocked out by Madelyne Pryor. However, Storm convinced them to abandon Arkea, which led to the villain's defeat.^[196] Following Arkea's death, Sublime decided to fully cut ties with Rachel.^[197]

The X-Men squad Storm formed protected the Jean Grey School from threats and acted as a super hero team in different missions.^[198] At some point, when Deathbird emerged comatose around Earth's orbit, S.W.O.R.D.'s director Brand contacted the X-Men to investigate it, specially due to Rachel's familial connection to her. Aboard the Peak, Rachel probed into Deathbird's mind to learn she had been hunted by the Sidri.^[199] After protecting the Peak, Rachel had the X-Men follow the Sidri. Arriving to their location, Rachel was met by the Shi'ar captain of the fleet, D'Keth. The X-Men followed the Sidri's trail to an Acanti corpse-ship that served as a laboratory for horrible experiments that merged different alien genomes. There, Rachel learned D'Keth had suggested her family's slaughter.^[200] They called a temporary truce to combat the evil scientist behind the experiments, Sharada Darthri of the Providian Order.^[201] Deathbird awoke during Sharada's attack, but Rachel stopped her vicious attack to get information from the traitor Tyger.^[202] Attacked by a horde of Skrull-Brood hybrids sent by the Providian Order, the X-Men resisted at the Peak, being backed by D'Keth and his soldiers. The X-Men defeated their enemies and arrested Sharada. In the end, Rachel Grey showed mercy towards D'Keth, deciding not to kill him. Instead, she telepathically shared her memories of her family being massacred with him.^[203]

Inhumanity[]

After the death of Cyclops from the Terrigen Mist, Rachel left the X-Men to travel to London and did everything in her power to stay away from the X-Men while mourning the deaths of the mutants dying from the Terrigen Mists. She was encountered by Magneto who convinced her to help his team after he showed her how little people cared about the deaths of the mutants and to save the future of mutantkind.^[204] Thus, she helped Magneto assault New Attilan to kidnap Ulysses Cain because Magneto feared his predictions would be used negatively by the Inhumans against mutantkind. They decided to leave Ulysses in peace after he showed Magneto a possible future where mutants kill each other, and Rachel decided to leave soon after because Magneto proved to be too untrustworthy a leader.^[205]

During the war between Inhumans and X-Men, numerous Inhuman civilians were trapped in Limbo, the X-Men's then-current base of operations. When many of them turned out dead, Rachel helped Sabretooth find the Inhuman civilians to protect them. Unbeknownst to Rachel, the murderer was among the X-Men's ranks, as M was being secretly possessed by her brother Emplate.^[206]

Dark Prestige[]

In the aftermath of the war against the Inhumans, Kitty Pryde assumed the leadership of the X-Men and the direction of the renewed Xavier Institute, situated in Central Park. Rachel returned to the team and adopted the codename Prestige after Pryde's recommendation, in an attempt to promote an identity detached from the past to move on to the future.^[5] The X-Men were played by the anti-mutant activist Lydia Nance, who hired the mind-controller Mesmero to found a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and damage mutantkind's reputation. As the team's telepath, Rachel bested Mesmero in combat.^[207] In a following confrontation against the nanotechnological Sentinel Alpha, Rachel attacked it using telepathy, but the backlash knocked her into a blackout.^[208] By assuming the risks of embracing her potential, Rachel woke up and successfully neutralized Alpha, reaching a higher level of mental prowess.^[209] In fact, this expansion was the result of Mesmero's secret influence.^[210] This allowed her to sense Nightcrawler's infatuation for her, Rachel chose to engage in a romantic relationship with him.^[211]

The new power levels Rachel had caused her to experience flashbacks of her time as a Hound.^[212] While fending off an attack to the Institute from Negative Zone invaders, she was gravely hurt and slip into a coma.^[213] While comatose, her Hound face marks resurfaced.^[214] After recovering, she complemented her physical changes with a new costume that resembled the one she wore as a Hound.^[215] At some point, Rachel, Nightcrawler and Pryde were invited to the rebuilt Braddock Lighthouse by Meggan and Captain Britain to meet their newborn daughter, Maggie. The meeting was interrupted by Starhammer, a survivor of the D'bari exterminated by the Phoenix in the past, who sought revenge against Rachel. He transported the former members of Excalibur to alternate realities to punish them. Gifted with genius-level intellect, Maggie configured his machine to teleport him to a reality where the D'bari thrived. Back to the Braddock Lighthouse, Rachel, Nightcrawler and Pryde accepted the offer of being Maggie's godparents.^[216]

Mesmero escaped jail and reformed his Brotherhood to attack Nance's Heritage Initiative as a revenge plan. The X-Men intervened and Mesmero revealed himself as the cause of her recent changes, progressively corrupting her mind across the months.^[215] In fact, Mesmero had tricked the X-Men into protecting Nance, using his powers to make them fight the police instead. This placed the X-Men under arrest, being kept at the Robert Kelly Correctional Facility, a prison for mutants who violated the Mutant Deportation Act.^[217] In jail, Rachel succumbed to the consequences of facing Mesmero.^[218] Their tenure was short as they negotiated their release to fight the deity Scythian from the Negative Zone, who ravaged Paris.^[219] In liberty, the X-Men hunted Mesmero down, but he was able to psychically strike against Rachel before being restrained.^[220]

This act made Rachel partially revert her attitude to how she behaved as a vicious hunter in the future.^[221] After months of secret manipulations, Mesmero's interventions came to fruition. He was able to trap her in a hellish illusion, where she was a Hound again. Out of her senses, Rachel brutally attacked the X-Men, nearly killing them.^[210] After knocking out most of the X-Men, Rachel was able to overcome the mental trap, recognizing her effort in leaving her dark past, or future, behind. As a result, all traces of Mesmero's influence vanished.^[222] When recovering, Rachel questioned her identity. Wishing for some time to interpret her situation, she decided to break up with Nightcrawler, since their relationship had been a result of Mesmero's machinations.^[223] Remaining in good terms, their friendship was not scathed by the end of their romance.^[224]

Extermination[]

Jean Grey came back to life, being resurrected by the Phoenix and rescued by the X-Men.^[225] Visiting the Xavier Institute, Jean Grey reunited with Rachel. They flew together for Jean to meet the all-new Wolverine and to visit New Attilan to discuss with Black Bolt the repercussions of Scott Summers' death. Back to the Institute, Rachel was psychically ambushed by Cassandra Nova, who took control of her to use her against Jean Grey.^[226] Nova activated her control over Rachel after Jean Grey led an assault that destroyed her Sentinites, prompting her to abandon the Institute.^[227] Pryde contacted Jean Grey, who mobilized herself to confront her brainwashed daughter. On the ruins of Genosha, Rachel battled Jean Grey, but held back by resisting Nova's control. When Nova attempted to discard Rachel, Jean Grey promise to lower her defenses in exchange for Rachel being released. After sending Rachel to safety, Jean Grey was apparently destroyed by Cassandra Nova, but it was in fact a mental illusion.^[228]

Ahab resurfaced in the present day. His mission was hunting down the time-displaced original X-Men in order to eliminate the heroes of mutantkind from history. His attacked prompted the teenage version of Cyclops to look for Rachel Grey, since Ahab's Hounds bore similarities to her. Simultaneously, a mysterious assailant murdered Cable while he tried to protect the original X-Men from Ahab. Rachel mourned the loss of her brother as the X-Men organized a counterattack.^[229] The attacked was shockingly revealed to be a child version of Cable, who managed to kidnap the time-displaced X-Men. Ahab and his vicious Hounds raided the Xavier Institute, brutally wounding Rachel.^[230] Using the psychic twins Maxime and Manon, Ahab instantly brainwashed several X-Men into joining his Hounds, as Rachel gradually fell into his clutches again.^[231] As a Hound master, Ahab invaded X-Lantis, where Jean Grey protected the remaining original X-Men.^[232] As the time-displaced X-Men decided to return to their past, Jean Grey gained knowledge to restore those manipulated by Ahab, except for Rachel Grey, who had been gone through a more solid brainwashing. Ahab retreated, vanishing with his Hound slaves, including Rachel.^[233]

Having retreated to Transia, which experienced the rise of an anti-mutant government, Ahab was captured to provide the military with futuristic technology. Rachel Grey was kept caged. This coincided with the arrival of a teenage version of Stryfe, who pursued Cable to stop his mission. Stumbling upon the young Mother Askani, Stryfe returned to the future with her as his hostage. Under Stryfe's control, Grey was forced to attack Cable's allies in Clan Chosen.^[234] The young Cable hunted Ahab down to end his schemes and save Rachel Grey, being joined by X-Force in his mission.^[235] They were able to raid the military base where Ahab operated, only to learn Grey had been kept in the future.^[236] Cable surrendered as Stryfe's prisoner to return to the future. Stryfe's telepaths, the Cronen, managed to deprogram Rachel Grey's Hound conditioning. Using her image, they cast a message to the survivors of Clan Askani, faithful followers of Mother Askani, in order to trick them into revealing themselves. In Ebonshire, Clan Askani regrouped itself, being vulnerable to Stryfe's Mutant Liberation Army.^[237] X-Force arrived in the future to rescue Cable, joining the war against Stryfe. The battle caused the Cronen to lose grip over Rachel Grey.^[238] The spirit of the dead Mother Askani, Rachel's future self, was able to make contact with her. This reinvigorated Rachel Grey, allowing her to bring her full power against Stryfe.^[239] With Stryfe at her mercy, Rachel was stopped by Cable from executing their enemy, since he wished to protect the timeline by allowing it to follow its course. Finally free, Cable, X-Force, and Rachel Grey managed to return to the present in safety.^[240]

Askani[]

Mutant society drastically changed with the foundation of the island nation of Krakoa by Professor Xavier. In the paradisiacal environment, all mutants were granted amnesty, being united to resist and thrive. Krakoa was complemented by the establishment of the Resurrection Protocols, a ritualistic process that could bring dead mutants back to life through the efforts of the Five, and the teleporting system of instant access Gateways, allowing mutants to move freely across long distances.^[241] In this setting, Rachel Summers was reunited with her loved ones, especially the alternative members of her family, including Jean Grey, Cyclops, Cable, Havok, and even Vulcan, who all resettled at the Summer House, on the Blue Area of the Moon.^[242] She rekindled her bond to Betsy Braddock, who now wore the mantle of Captain Britain,^[243] providing sporadic assistance to the reformed Excalibur.^[244] Following one of her missions, Braddock gifted Rachel with the last survivor of the Warwolves. Adopting him as a pet, Rachel baptized him as Amazing Baby.^[245]

Mutant resurrection posited an issue regarding the possibility of duplicates being created. In order to confirm mutant deaths and license their resurrection, Krakoan mutants created X-Factor Investigations. In need of a telepath, they invited Rachel Summers to join their organization. Alongside Amazing Baby, she worked on missions to find dead mutants, using her telepathy and chronoskimming for forensic purposes. The team was based at the Boneyard skyscraper.^[246] With X-Factor, she found herself back to Mojoverse during an investigation, facing Mojo and Spiral again.^[247] Following Betsy Braddock's disappearance after X of Swords,^[248] Excalibur contacted X-Factor to guarantee her resurrection, but Summers claimed there was not enough evidence for it, despite her deep care.^[249] Eventually, Braddock was found, with Summers refusing to violate her mind to check her identity.^[250] She also was murdered alongside other of her teammates when the Boneyard was haunted and invaded by the ghoulish Morrigan, being resurrection afterwards.^[251] In between these events, she helped her teenage brother Cable rescue a group of mutant babies from the macabre Order of X, which had been manipulated by Stryfe.^[252]

Maintaining close contact with Betsy Braddock, Rachel Summers gave her emotional support during the Hellfire Gala as she faced problems with machinations in the United Kingdom and Otherworld.^[253] The crisis escalated to a potential invasion from Otherworld orchestrated by Merlyn. In fact, they destroyed any access to Otherworld from Earth to keep Krakoans away. Then, Captain Britain decided to use her powers to travel by herself to Otherworld. Before departing, with a desperate Summers being unable to stop her, Captain Britain asked for them to prepare reinforcements.^[254] Through a spell cast by Roma, Braddock was able to recruit champions and transport them to Otherworld. Summers was summoned to join the Knights of X and march to Otherworld on a quest to fight Merlyn by finding the Siege Perilous. In Otherworld, where all realities converged, Rachel Summers experienced stability in the divergent realm for being a multiversal anomaly.^[255] Her powers changed, as she became able to summon destructive psychic fire blasts from the Phoenix Force conducted through Multiverse^[256] and experienced prophetic predictions as the guardian of the Sacred Timeline of mutants.^[257] During the war, she coordinated her telepathy with alternate versions of Braddock from the Captain Britain Corps as the Knights of X wandered through the different courts of Otherworld.^[258] The citizens of Otherworld referred to Rachel as Askani, the fabled "bright lady of the flame."^[259] When the Knights of X were trapped in the spatial-temporal maelstrom of the Siege Perilous, which had become the court of Mercator, Rachel Summers embraced her role as Askani and protector of timeline able to skew around reality warps. Being able to rescue her allies, she was reunited with Betsy Braddock, and they embraced each other in a passionate kiss.^[2]

Having Askani by her side, Betsy Braddock was able assess the different timelines as a free agent no longer bound to the Starlight Citadel. Granting Krakoa access to Otherworld using the Siege Perilous, they won the war against Merlyn by bringing an army of mutants to fight with them. From then on, Askani acted alongside the Captain Britain Corps, guiding Braddock through the Multiverse.^[260] In between their role as patrollers of the Multiverse, Summers and Braddock resettled at Braddock Manor, starting a romantic relationship. On Otherworld, they faced problems with Furies attacking Corps agents in different realities; in the United Kingdom, Captain Britain was attacked by the press. Both crises were revealed to have been caused by Morgan Le Fay and her Coven Akkaba.^[256] Askani used her telepathy across realities to identify Lizzie Braddock as a potential victim of Morgan, who wanted to have her own Captain Britain. She and Captain Britain fought the evil sorceress, subsequently being attacked by a brainwashed Peggy Carter. Askani managed to disrupt Morgan's influence telepathically.^[261] However, Morgan's sorcery kept her hidden from Askani's interdimensional probes. Wishing to locate Morgan, Braddock considered contacting Saturnyne, much to Summers' disappointment and possible jealousy.^[262] Alternatively, Braddock turned to Iron Man and the Avengers, who battled the Fury who had taken up the Captain Britain mantle for Morgan.^[263] In Infuri, the Everforge, Summers managed to convince the Furies to cease their support to Morgan, which ultimately led to her defeat at Captain Britain's hands. Free from her dark influence, the multiversal champion Captain Britain and her girlfriend, the timeline guardian Askani, resumed their activities as heroes across realities for the Captain Britain Corps.^[257]

Fall of Krakoa[]

Away from Earth, Rachel Summers was not one of the victims of anti-mutant organization Orchis, which executed a massacre of most X-Men and a forced deportation of Krakoan mutants to the White Hot Room, performed by Mother Righteous. In addition to mutantkind's struggle the all-powerful artificial intelligence Enigma had risen up as a dominion.^[264] Professor Xavier recruited Summers to his Crew operating in a No-Place outside of time and space, thus hidden from Enigma.^[265] His plan consisted of searching alternative timelines to find a way to converse with Moira and prevent Enigma's rule. As such, Askani assembled a team of X-Men from the White Hor Room to scour the timelines.^[266][267] As No-Place was raided by Sentinels, Askani learned Xavier worked in coalition with the vile Mister Sinister and planned to execute Moira in the past. Rebelling against her leader, Askani was murdered by the treacherous Xavier.^[16]

Rachel Summers is a powerful mutant psychic and Phoenix host,^[4] having inherited enormous telepathy and telekinesis abilities from her mother^[18][37] as well as an intricate relationship with the Phoenix Force.^[40] She also is considered to be a unique individual across the different realities and timelines in the multiverse.^[123] As a result, she displays extreme stability as a time-traveler.^[2] Her telepathy can be used across timelines, reaching different points in the past and in the future.^[18] This allows Summers to chronoskim, i.e., probe into mental events from other time periods and universes.^[246][261] Moreover, as a former Hound, she has been conditioned to be a tracker,^[40] being an expert in locating specific targets.^[176]

• Telepathy: Rachel has been stated to possess virtually unlimited telepathic potential, similarly to her mother Jean Grey. She can read, control, and manipulate thought processes on near planetary scales, as well as project her thoughts into the minds of other sentient beings within a vast, potentially limitless radius. After fully recognizing her true potential, she started reaching new levels of telepathic power, capable of interacting and perceiving minds from thousands of miles away with ease. Storm once stated that Rachel's telepathy had grown to such an extent to the point in which "her psionic powers radiated off of her, to the extent in which others could feel her powerful presence within their minds".^[210] From years of training and telepathic tutelage, she has demonstrated the following specialized uses:
  • Telepathic Cloak: Can mask her presence from being detected by others. Her abilities can at times go undetected or be counteracted by other more powerful telepaths depending on their level of skill in using their own psi abilities. She can extend these defenses to others around her as well.^{[citation needed]}
  • Trauma Healing: The ability to heal mental trauma through "psychic surgery", the power to stimulate or deaden the pain and pleasure centers in a person's brain.^{[citation needed]}
  • Mind Control: Ability to control the minds of others upon mere concentration.^{[citation needed]}
  • Psionic Shield: Ability to erect a psychic shield for protection of herself and of others minds.^{[citation needed]}
  • Mind Transferal: The ability to transfer both her mind and powers into other host bodies should her own physical body somehow be destroyed.^{[citation needed]}
  • Neural Jumpstart: The ability to increase the speed of synapses in the brain, allowing her to increase another's powers to incredible levels, with a temporary effect.^{[citation needed]}
  • Telepathic Illusions: Ability to create illusions to make herself seem to be invisible, look like someone else, or make others experience events that are not truly happening.^{[citation needed]}
  • Mental Paralysis: Ability to induce temporary mental or physical paralysis.^{[citation needed]}
  • Mental Amnesia: Can erase any awareness of particular memories or cause total amnesia.^{[citation needed]}
  • Psionic Blasts: She can project psionic force bolts which have no physical effects but which can affect a victim's mind so as to cause the victim pain or unconsciousness and turning someone brain-dead.^{[citation needed]}
  • Astral Projection: Can project her astral form from her body onto astral planes or the physical planes. In the physical plane she can only travel in astral form over short distances. In the Astral Plane, she can mentally create psionic objects and manipulate the aspects of her environment. She can communicate with others astrally through her own will, or through contact with the thoughts and memories of others.^{[citation needed]}
  • Mental Detection: Can sense the presence of another superhuman mutant within a small but as yet undefined radius of herself by perceiving the distinctive mental radiations emitted by such a being.^{[citation needed]}
  • Psychometry: Rachel can use her telepathy to read the past from objects, people, and environments.^[240]

• Telekinesis: Rachel is a high-level telekinetic, meaning she has immense telekinetic powers. She can use her psychokinesis to levitate, propel, and manipulate objects at her will, create incredibly durable force-fields, and project destructive concussive blasts of telekinetic energy. She can even perceive and manipulate matter and energy, quite possibly on a subatomic level. Her telekinetic skill and aptitude is of such magnitude that she can easily affect and control molecules and particles, allowing her to fully control matter and energy for a variety of effects and purposes, including but not limited to:
  • Intuitive Aptitude: Can disassemble complex devices explosively (separating every last component, such as screws, nuts, circuit boards, etc.) and, just as quickly, easily assemble complex devices. This also has enabled her to even attain awareness and control over objects as small as individual electrons in an atom. For instance, Rachel could detect if a seal was hermetic or not by checking for the presence of penetrating oxygen molecules. Can even detect and discern individual oxygen molecules, and determine the atomic weight of molecules by the amount of atoms present.^{[citation needed]}
  • Matter Alteration: As Marvel Girl, has shown the ability to alter molecular and subatomic structures and the ability to alter molecular valances, or even rewrite her own genome.^[271] Rachel has also been able to create a micro black hole.^[111]
  • Force Field: Ability to create protective force shields that can deflect even the most powerful of attacks (even filter bacteria from the air, withstand Jovian atmospheric pressures, and even repel nuclear weapon attacks). The upper limits of this ability remain unknown. Rachel has also displayed such control over the fields as to shape them precisely, even to conform very closely to her body's form. There does not appear to be any correlation between field strength and the thickness of the telekinetic fields.^{[citation needed]}
  • Telekinetic Weapons: Quite similar to Captain Britain and Kid Omega, Rachel has demonstrated the ability to manifest her psychokinetic powers as psionic weapons and constructs, including but not limited to a telekinetic sword, axe,^[272] and even a a telekinetic hammer powerful enough to knock Thor off his feet.^[273]
  • Concussive Blasts: Can project telekinetic energies as powerful blasts beams directed from her brain that could apparently affect matter with concussive force.^{[citation needed]}
  • Telekinetically Enhanced Condition: Rachel is capable of telekinetically enhancing her physical abilities to superhuman levels.^{[citation needed]}
  • Flight: By levitating herself, she can "fly" for very long distances and at supersonic rate.^{[citation needed]}

• Time Manipulation: Rachel has displayed the ability to manipulate the timestream for a variety of purposes, and effects such as freely sending minds or physically traveling through time,^[274] traveling into other dimensions, and shielding herself and others from changes in the timeline. She can also use her temporal powers to pull Phoenix Fire from the multiverse powerful enough to destroy a Fury.
  • Chronoskimming: Rachel can send the awareness/consciousness/soul of herself or others to the past or future versions of herself, or possibly their ancestors/descendants.^[274] She can also use this ability to observe timeline, but needs to use her psychometry in conjunction to "anchor" herself to particular events and people instead of sifting through entire timeline.^[246][275]
  • Chrono-Shield: The unconscious emanation of a fourth dimensional pulse which creates a "chrono-shield" protecting her from changes in the timeline.^{[citation needed]}
    • Multiversal Anomaly: Rachel has no alternate versions in other timelines. Other offspring of Scott Summers and Jean Grey named "Rachel Summers" in the multiverse are not variants of this Rachel.^[123] Her uniqueness makes Rachel an unusually stable time traveler.^[2]
  • Dimensional Travel: Her chronokinetic abilities also allows Rachel to directly observe and travel to alternate realities.^[276]

• Empathy: Rachel is able to sense, interpret, and manipulate the emotions, sensations, and feelings of other sentient beings on varying degrees.^{[203][215][210]}

Former Powers

Phoenix Force Avatar: For a time, Rachel was also bonded to the Phoenix Force as "the one true Phoenix", and had its cosmic powers at her disposal. As Phoenix, Rachel's abilities are enhanced to their ultimate levels, limited only by her force of will and breadth of imagination. As Phoenix, she has manipulated matter on an atomic and universal scale, generated and controlled any form of energy in virtually any conceivable amount, absorbed energy from sources as great as a supernova, manipulated time and space, created space warps for instantaneous travel, and enhanced her strength to immeasurable levels. Rachel demonstrated heightened psi-powers as well as the ability to manipulate energy and lifeforces, and a limited cosmic awareness. Rachel's connection to the Phoenix power was lost in the distant future. Rachel's connection to the Phoenix power was lost in the distant future and did not return with her when she traveled back to the modern era. Recently, Marvel Girl absorbed a residual echo of the Phoenix Force left in the sword of a previous host, a Shi'ar named Rook'shir. Its full effects are unknown at this time. It was revealed that the power Rachel has is not the true Phoenix Force, but a shadow or echo of it, it was easier to control, but less powerful. It has disappeared along with the sword.

• Hand-to-Hand Combat: Rachel Summers has trained with Nightcrawler in hand-to-hand combat and furtherly trained by replicating Shadowcat's fighting moves.^[277]
• Lock-Picking: She learned lock-picking skills from Storm.
• Mechanical Aptitude: Rachel has some experience in vehicular repair and the use of advanced weaponry and technology.
• Swordsmanship: Rachel has displayed great skill with swords, being able to wield two at a time and throw them with great precision.^[277]

• Rachel Summers shares a psychic rapport with her brother, Nathan Summers, a.k.a. Cable.^{[20][61][278]}

• The creation of Rachel Summers came to be as an indication of the original plans writer Chris Claremont had for the conclusion of the Dark Phoenix Saga. Originally, Claremont and co-writer and penciler John Byrne had planned to have Jean Grey survive the ordeal regarding her corruption as Phoenix. However, due to editorial interventions carried out by Jim Shooter, Jean Grey was killed off by the end of the story, in X-Men #137. Had Jean Grey survived as originally planned, Claremont would have her and Scott Summers married in X-Men Annual #5 and their child would be born in Uncanny X-Men #175. Alternatively, in the dystopian reality where Jean Grey did not die, Rachel Summers was born, first appearing as a hint of this abandoned plot in Uncanny X-Men #141 and having her origin fully revealed in Uncanny X-Men #188.^[279]
• A Phoenix limited series was originally planned and promoted by Chris Claremont in the letter pages of Uncanny X-Men #209. Taking place in between the events shown in this same issue and Excalibur Special Edition #1, the series would explore Phoenix's situation in Mojoworld as an enslaved star of Mojo. The series would have ties with Longshot and his presence in the X-Men.^[56][280]
• Once identified as a "Class Omega" individual by Nimrod,^[13] Rachel Summers was not included in the list of Omega-level mutants later on.^[281]
• Rachel Summers has been identified by different monikers that reference her filial connection to Jean Grey, a.k.a. the Phoenix. These include "Phoenix" itself,^[4] "Young Phoenix,"^[13] "Baby Phoenix," and "Starchilde."^[6] She also adopted the name Marvel Girl after Jean Grey's demise.^[110]
• The name "Prestige" ([presˈtiːʒ] pres-TEEZH) refers to a widespread good reputation or high admiration. Kitty Pryde recommended such a codename in order for Rachel to distance herself from the sorrowful past and future connections informed by her previous aliases.^[5]
• "Askani" ([æsˈkɑː.ni] as-KAH-nee) is a term from the future language spoken in the far future which means "outsider."^[282] It was informally used to name those guided and protected by Rachel Summers in the future as she rebelled against Apocalypse. These eventually became known Clan Askani.^[283] "Askani" can be interpreted as a reference not only to Clan Askani or Mother Askani, but also to Rachel Summers' very nature as an extradimensional interloper, an "outsider."