From: tneeck@math.macalstr.edu (The sound of hoofprints 'cross the glade...)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics
Subject: Phoenix, Cable, and X-Conspiracy Theories
Date: 10 Apr 92 03:51:23 GMT
Reply-To: tneeck@math.macalstr.edu (The face behind the mask)


	More mad ramblings...

	I didn't consider Cable in the running for two reasons:  One, we see  
Jean calling for help and mentioning Cable specifically--which makes no sense  
if he's the traitor.  Two:  It hasn't been (to my knowledge) firmly established  
that Cable is any relation whatsoever to Scott and/or Jean.

	I think I'll clean up my theories a little here, and let me reiterate:   
chances are, I'm wrong here.  I just don't think the writers on the book(s) are  
good enough to pull this stunt off...

	PREMISE:  We know that, in her own timeline, Rachel was used as a  
"hound" to track down other mutants.  Recently in Excalibur, it was revealed  
that Rachel possesses unquantified time/space manipulation powers which allowed  
her to travel to the "present" time by Kate Rasputin's command.  This implies  
that these were powers KNOWN AT THAT TIME.  I see no reason why those who made  
her into a hound would not have known also.

	Supposing they did.  It might occur to them that a time-travelling  
hound/assassin would be an incredible asset.  It might also occur to them that  
such an individual might be a significant threat to them, for reasons obvious.   
It wouldn't be unresonable to think they might have implanted some sort of  
command to either go back and kill the X-Men, or kill them if she was ever in  
the temporal neighborhood.

	With me so far?  Things get convoluted from here on out.  At some point  
(I'm not clear on the whens and hows here) Ray is "liberated" and deprogrammed.   
Kate gives the command to Rachel in a last-ditch effort to fend off imminent  
disaster.  Now, assuming the "time-assassin" compulsion is in place, apparently  
the means by which she was deprogrammed were able to suppress it--but since  
whoever undid the conditioning was unaware of it, it's still there.

	Moving right along:  Ray acquires the Phoenix power during Secret Wars  
II.  Later on, she gets seriously injured and falls into Spiral and Mojo's  
hands.  This does not do wonders for her memory or psychology.  This combi-  
nation of forces as seriously fragmented her memories, as we have seen in  
Excalibur.  As time goes on, the rest of the Phoenix force is freed up (from  
the late Maddie Pryor), and continued use of the Phoenix powers takes its toll.

	The catalysts approach.  Bishop comes downtime from a period that looks  
suspiciously like a future point in Ray's timeline.  Meantime, her knock-down  
drag-out with Necrom has resulted in massive damage, physically and (possibly)  
mentally.  Now things get messy.  It is possible that the Rachel we see at the  
end of Excalibur 50 is actually a case of the Phoenix Force doing it again and  
replacing Ray while she heals.  Or it may really be Rachel.

	The critical point here is Ray meeting Bishop.  When she learns about  
events between her time period and Bishop's...boom.  Perhaps the memory of her  
mission is faulty, and she thinks she failed;  maybe a mispoken phrase by  
Bishop triggers a deeply-buried compulsion.  Whatever the case, Rachel cracks.   
Bad enough what she was when she came back to this time, now she has the  
Phoenix power to play with.  And maybe a mistaken idea from Kate's chosen  
trigger word.

	Can you say, "Dark Phoenix"?

	The result:  the NEW Dark Phoenix starts taking out X-Men.  Let's face  
it, folks, that won't be pretty.  The Professor's good, but well-used PK will  
still hose him.  (Especially a technique I lovingly call the "PK Quisinart",  
but that requires a working knowledge of human anatomy...but I digress.)  The  
rest are toast, except Gambit.  Gambit, as we have seen, has some sort of  
mental slipperiness to him which might allow him to escape Phoenix's attention.   
It seems fitting to leave Jean for last, in a way...

	Well, there's the new version of the tale.  That's how I would do it,  
anyway.  Bishop's presence throws the whole scenario off-kilter;  he'd be the  
only one able to go toe-to-toe with Dark Phoenix, provided he can bounce that  
kind of power.  Ironically, he'd be the one to trigger the whole scenario.   
That's the weakest part to the whole thing.  If we assume Bishop wasn't  
originally supposed to play a part in the destruction of the X-Men, that  
invalidates the scenario (unless Ray goes gaga for another reason).

	Besides, I'm a Rogue fan.  Leave her be.  :)

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