Avengers Vs. X-Men (2012) #12

"Avengers Vs. X-Men (Part Twelve)"

72 hours before the final battle against the Scott Summers, the Dark Phoenix, Tony Stark was informing his teammates about recent events important for the situation they are going through now. He explains the connection between the events of the known House of M, the decimation of the mutant race and the Phoenix Force, which came to Earth in order to restore mutant-kind, being responsible for the birth of Hope Summers, who was destined to wield the power of the Phoenix. And finally that Wanda's Chaos Magic and the Phoenix Force are connected in a cycle, as they were Yin and Yang. Stark continues his explanation, stating that he had to look beyond the limits of science, and discovered that the Scarlet Witch and Hope must work together to overcome the Phoenix.

Meanwhile, Wanda tries to talk with Hope and console her for the guilt she feels for not being able to save her people, and tries to convince her to join Stark's talk. After she tries to calm down Hope, stating that she can not blame herself for what Cyclops and the Phoenix Five have done, Hope looks back to her, stating that she should blame Wanda, principally for the decimation, although she can not hold total responsibility for her actions due to being unstable at the time. When Iron Man and Captain America are about to approach them, they see the two powerful women fighting.

The scene moves to the present, when Scott Summers is already the Dark Phoenix, and the Avengers are almost defeated by his power. From the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning, the Stepford Cuckoos are telepathically informing the Avengers about the havoc the Phoenix Force has caused around the Earth, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and fire raining. From the Quinjet, Captain America announces to every Avenger and X-Man via radio that "the Earth doesn't die on our watch!"

Numerous teams of Avengers and X-Men are trying to contain the chaos in numerous cities of the planet, such as Paris and Beijing. The battle against Summers is finally moved to the Himalayas, where he blasts Thor away. After other Avengers arrive, and Captain America orders them to take Cyclops down, he creates a massive blast of fire, throwing them away. When Iron Man contacts for more help, Nova appears, and using his powers confronts Cyclops, who was leaving the fight, but is finally subdued. In that moment, Hope and the Scarlet Witch arrive, showing true determination to take him down.

The scene moves to when Hope and Wanda started fighting, they were stopped by Iron Man and Captain America, who convinced them not to fight against each other, but together.

Both women proceed to beat Cyclops brutally, while Hope remembers her training in K'un-Lun. The cavalry of Avengers arrive to join the fight. In that moment, Cyclops starts remembering his pasts, the values Xavier taught him, his friendship with Wolverine and the apparent death of Jean Grey. Soon after begging his death, the Phoenix possesses him again, and starts to incinerate everything around him. He has a vision of the Jean Grey asking him to stop, and he is finally defeated by a combined hits of Hope and Wanda, forcing the Phoenix Force to leave him.

While Hope remembers a talk she had with Captain America after the fight with Wanda, that if they managed to retrieve the Phoenix Force from Cyclops, she should become the Phoenix, the cosmic force engulfs her, and she quickly flies away, with Iron Man following her. She starts repairing the damage Summers caused using the Phoenix's power, and finally returns with the Avengers and X-Men. She says she would keep it, and become the savior she was meant to be. But Wanda convinces her that although she was meant to become the Phoenix, she was meant to let go of the power rather than wield it. Hope, feeling overwhelmed by the cosmic power, allows Wanda to help her undo the damage from the "No more mutants" spell. They hold hands when both pronounce the words: "No more Phoenix".

The cosmic force leaves Hope and disperses around the Earth. Back to the Jean Grey Institute, the Stepford Cuckoos notices something strange with Cerebra, the appearance of new mutants. One young girl rescued by Spider-Man in China is one of the first to manifest her powers. The Avengers and the X-Men are celebrating the victory and the reinforcement of mutant-kind when Cyclops recovers, guilt-ridden over the blood on his hands.

Later, an imprisoned Cyclops is visited by Captain America, the former taking full responsibility for his actions and those of the Phoenix Five. Rogers admits that the conflict was in partly his fault, because the Avengers did not do enough to stop the discrimination against mutants, and allowed the hate for them to grow. The consequences of the war are shown, as many X-Men are fugitives, and Scarlet Witch watches from a screen how Captain America is putting together a new group of Avenger composed of mutants as well, how Wakanda is recovering from Namor's attack, Iron Man accepting faith can be combined with science, and Thor offering Nova a spot with the Avengers.

Scott tries to convince Captain America the Phoenix Force arrival made a new age for mutants possible, that sacrifices where necessary. Finally, when Captain America walks away with Wolverine, and while Hope is preparing to fly away from Utopia, Scott says that "there always has to be destruction before the rebirth." Hope flies off in a jetpack while a single rose blooms in the wake of all the destruction in the island.

The events from this issue continue in Avengers Vol 4 #31, New Avengers Vol. 2 #31, Uncanny X-Men Vol. 2 #20, Wolverine & the X-Men #19, Uncanny Avengers #1, and Avengers vs. X-Men: Consequences #1

Regular Jim Cheung Cover