New Avengers (2010 series) #27

In Avengers Vs X-Men #8 the Phoenix-powered Sub-Mariner and his Atlanteans attacked Wakanda where the fugitive Avengers were based. They completely defeated him but his share of the Phoenix power was transferred to the others of the Phoenix 5. At the end the Avengers escaped to K'un-Lun where Wolverine had already taken Hope Summers.

But this issue begins with more of the story of Fongji in K'un-Lun centuries ago who last issue trained to become the Iron Fist in order to face an earlier visit to Earth by the Phoenix Force. She now stands with Yu-Ti, the August Personage In Jade, and Leonardo da Vinci (actually an android replacement) as the PF approaches. Yu-Ti had seen her in a prophetic dream which led him to seek her out for training. He now reveals that he had seen *2* dreams of her becoming the Phoenix. In 1 she became a force for good, in the other she was corrupted by the power. He tells her there are always 2 paths in life.

There follow 4 stunning pages of the Phoenix Force vs the Iron Fist dragon spirit.

And Fongji emerges victorious in an Iron Fist costume with a Phoenix emblem. She tells Yu-Ti, Leonardo and Lei Kung the Thunderer (plus assembled martial arts students) that she has learned of other people on other worlds. Yu-Ti and Leonardo envy her. She says she has control of the PF but it's fighting her. She says she must leave Earth. Yu-Ti asks if she'll come back and she replies that there are 2 paths. And then she flies off into the cosmos.

Now we see that the current Iron Fist (Danny Rand) is telling Hope about this. He has to admit that he doesn't know what happened to Fongji afterwards. He reminds her that she's in K'un-Lun to keep her safe from the X-Men but also to train her to become the Phoenix. She says that she's spent her whole life doing that but she doesn't know what she's supposed to do when she *gets* the power. And now everyone else is fighting her fight for her. Danny says it's not her fight and she asks whose fight is it then?

Yu-Ti joins them (and Danny has to explain that it's a ceremonial title and not the same guy from 100's of years ago). He says the real question is why is the PF is on Earth now and why is she in K'un-Lun? Hope asks if she's supposed to become an Iron Fist? Danny says there can only be 1 IF at a time, and currently he's it. Yu-Ti says maybe that's not true and suggests they find out.

He takes Hope to the pool in an enclosed garden that is the Scrying Vessel Of Bo-Ling (as seen in the previous 2 issue and also Immortal IF #8). They sit on either side of the pool and he tells her to empty her mind. But she keeps asking questions and he envies the earlier Yu-Ti who only had to deal with Fongji who was mute. At last she shuts up and a bubble of water rises up out of the pool as usual. But Hope can't resist a squinting glance and the bubble collapses. She says sorry and tries again. This time she sees the Phoenix but also a large spider. The scrying ends and Hope thinks it means she *will* be the Phoenix. But Yu-Ti says it told him she needs to be trained by the Spider.

Spider-Man is 1 of the Avengers in K'un-Lun and Yu-Ti takes Hope to meet him and Iron Fist. Spidey is as nonplussed as Hope to learn that he's expected to train her. He points out that she's already been trained by Cyclops and Wolverine, and she adds Cable, and Danny knows all about martial arts. But Yu-Ti says maybe he's here to teach her something else such as self-deprecation. He and Iron Fist leave them to it.

Hope kicks off by telling SM she's not going to wear a Spidey-costume. He's OK with that because there are too many Spider-Ladies already. But he can't off the cuff come up with anything better than asking her what Magneto's really like. Hope gets angry and rants about how everybody expects her to get the Phoenix power but when she does she's sure it'll all go wrong and she'll get the blame and she didn't ask for any of it. This is of course a cue for Spider-Man to trot out his mantra 'with great power comes great responsibility' which he says is what his uncle frequently said. Then he was given spider-powers and got blamed for every bad thing in New York City. And then his uncle was killed by a guy who he could probably have stopped if he wasn't so caught up in his own problems. So ever since that day he's tried to live by that mantra, and he can't think of anything better for super-powered people like them.

Then Spidey walks away and Hope runs after him asking if his uncle had any more wise words, and maybe she should get a new costume.