Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 #203: "Crossroads"
I don't know why, but in this issue we get to see the fight between Rogue and Ms. Marvel that caused Rogue to lose her mind and Ms. Marvel to have her entire personality erased.
This issue opens with a flashback. The flight between Rogue and Ms. Marvel that we never got to see. We see Rogue narrating the event. Even though Ms. Marvel is punching Rogue, Rogue says that on the golden bridge in San Francisco is where she killed Ms. Marvel. It is sort of true.
Rogue explains that ever since Danvers moved to San Francisco she stopped being a superheroine. Back then, she didn't know why and she didn't care. She attacked Danvers when she was outside of her apartment, hands full of groceries and looking for her keys. But Danvers was Ms. Marvel and she was half-Kree. Despite being taken by surprised, she put on one hell of a fight, one that Rogue has never been in before, and didn't have ever since. I think she did though, but the dramatic effect is nice.
Despite the struggle, Rogue managed to touch Ms. Marvel's bare skin. Rogue absorbed Ms. Marvel's powers, memories, and skills – her entire personality basically. Usually this transfer is temporary. However, something went wrong. The change became permanent. All of Carol Danvers became part of Rogue, and Carol Danvers' mind became empty.
Rogue tried to kill Danvers after that. She threw her body into the water. She thought that that will be the solution. That without Danvers' body, the part in her mind that is Danvers' will be silenced. She was going insane, but that particular solution did not work. Now she does not know where Rogue ends and Danvers begins.
In a way Rogue also died that day. She could no longer be the wild child that was when she was part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. She was losing her mind as she was two people inside of one body. Professor Charles Xavier was the only one that could help her. He was an X-Men, one of the good guys, and now so was she. But she feels like she could never make up for the bad things she did.
Now Rogue is back in San-Francisco and she is not happy about it. The Beyonder teleported the X-Men there and created lethal sentinel to kill the X-Men, but the X-Men won. Now they need to repair the city. Although, it's not too bad as the people in town are surprisingly friendly.
Rogue finds Kitty Pryde just sitting in the dark. Pryde is in trouble, Illyana Rasputin's armor is now attached to her skin, like it was attached to Rasputin's. She also has the soul-sword. Something is seriously wrong. Rogue doesn't remember Illyana at all or the New-Mutants. Pryde thinks that the Beyonder is to blame. That he erased them from existence. But, Pryde and Illyana shared a special soul connection, that's why she remembers her friend and no one else does. She believes that the X-Men will be erased next.
Suddenly, Rachel Summers appears. She is Phoenix, enhanced by the powers that the Beyonder himself gave to her. Now that the X-Men are no longer in danger, she means to try and destroy him. As he promised her that her new powers can do. She intends to restart the universe. She is going to need help to do that. But she intends to sacrifice herself and X-Men for the world. She absorbs the life force of Pryde and both Rogue and Danvers is already within her. Jessica Drew is also in the neighborhood (she is the one who found the empty body of Carol Danvers) and she wants to do her part in stopping the Beyonder as well.
She absorbs the souls of the other mutants in their sleep. Colossus, Wolverine and Magneto. Storm is awake and she is not cooperating. She thinks that what Rachel is doing is wrong, but Rachel takes her life force by force.
Rachel Summers becomes a powerful Phoenix. She uses her new powers to go home – to the stars.
She comes across the Starjammers ship. They are shocked. Xavier asks Rachel to stop, but she has no intention of doing so. She takes their life force as well. I have to mention that Carol Danvers' Binary is not with them.
She goes for the M'Kraan Crystal, just like the X-Men once did. The rumored place of creation itself and with the power destroy all of reality. Once inside the city that exists within the crystal, she can communicate with the souls she has absorbed. Basically, Rachel Summers plans to destroy all of reality with the crystal and she hopes that the Beyonder will be destroyed as well. That's a lot to sacrifice for a "maybe". I mean the universe will be reborn, but it won't be the same. Ororo tries to reason with Rachel, but she is beyond the reach of reason.
Summers reaches out and feels all of the different people out there in the big universe. She hears another voice speaking to her, telling her that she plans to kill everyone. People who have no idea what she is or who she is fighting, people who have nothing to do with her cause will die.
It is too much. Summers cannot kill so many people. She collapses back on Earth in Ororo's arms. Ororo explains to her that preserving life is not a failure. Also, Summers gave the souls back to their bodies and sent everyone back to Earth so they are all back in their previous position.
Suddenly, the Beyond shows up. He wanted the X-Men to end themselves. Now that they didn't he will do it himself. He wanted Summers to break the crystal, the universe would have been destroyed and that way only the Beyonder would have remained. As she have failed to do what he wanted her to do, he demands that she will return her new powers to him. Obviously Summer uses this as a chance to attack the Beyonder.
Everyone around her are not impacted by the radiant light. The Beyonder is. He cannot make her stop or turn away. She does not hurt him, but simply gives him a hard lesson about life and reality. Suddenly the Beyonder realizes that if he will destroy the universe and all life in it, each person and potential will be lost. Yet he does not know what to do with himself. Pryde tells him that in Nightcrawler's faith, Christianity, God gave up his only son to save humanity. An example for him to follow. All of the X-Men would do the same, save humanity and people. It is also a small reminder that Pryde is Jewish. It is Nightcrawler's faith, nor her own. The Beyonder has no concept of faith or value for individual life, only now he begins to learn.
The Beyonder appreciates the lesson and leaves. Envying their humanity. But nothing has changed, even though he is gone, maybe for good and maybe temporarily, bur the New-Mutants are still gone.
This is the story of the Phoenix's fight with the Beyonder. Carol Danvers has no real part in it. But we do get to see how exactly the fight between Rogue and Ms. Marvel went down. It wasn't petty and it changed them both forever. However, it wasn't really relevant to this issue so I don't know why they put it here.
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