When I look at her now, she's not the Phoenix. She's not even the high-and-mighty Jean Grey. She's just... me... and she's confused and scared, too. I can maybe... somehow... I can help her... spare her. Spare myself. 
Appearing in 1st story
Featured Characters:
- Marvel Girl (Jean Grey) (Past)
Supporting Characters:
- Phoenix ("Jean Grey") (Past) (Main story and recap)
- The Watcher (Uatu) (Past)
Antagonists:
- Terrax the Tamer (Past)
- Galactus (Past)
Other Characters:
- X-Men (Only in recap)
- Cyclops (Scott Summers) (Only in recap)
- Storm (Ororo Munroe) (Only in recap)
- Colossus (Peter Rasputin) (Only in recap)
- Professor X (Charles Xavier) (Only in recap)
- Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde) (Past)
- Jean Grey (Mentioned)
- Numerous unnamed aliens (Past)
- Heralds of Galactus (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
- Mutants (Past and present) (Main story and recap)
- Humans (Past)
- Sentinels (Referenced)
- Abstract Entities (Past and present) (Main story and recap)
- Unidentified alien species (Past)
- Landlaks (Past)
- Cosmic Beings (Past)
- Watchers (Past)
Locations:
- Vanishing Point
- Earth-616 (Past) (Main story and recap)
- Earth (Past) (Main story and recap)
- Italy (Past)
- Sicily (Past)
- Cefalù (First appearance) (Past)
- Flames Nightclub (First appearance) (Past)
- Cefalù (First appearance) (Past)
- Sicily (Past)
- United States of America (Only in recap)
- New York (Only in recap)
- New York City (Only in recap)
- Queens (Only in recap)
- Jamaica Bay (Only in recap)
- Queens (Only in recap)
- Westchester County (Only in recap)
- New York City (Only in recap)
- New York (Only in recap)
- Danger Room, X-Men HQ, Hightown, Madripoor (Referenced)
- Earth Orbit (Only in recap)
- Moon (Only in recap)
- Blue Area of the Moon (Only in recap)
- Moon (Only in recap)
- Japan (Only in recap)
- Honshu (Only in recap)
- Kyoto Prefecture (Only in recap)
- Kyoto (Only in recap)
- Kyoto Prefecture (Only in recap)
- Honshu (Only in recap)
- Italy (Past)
- Earth (Past) (Main story and recap)
- Earth-616 (Past) (Main story and recap)
Items:
- X-Uniform
- Cyclops' Visor (Behind the scenes in recap)
- Terrax's Axe (Past)
- Power Cosmic (Past)
Synopsis for 1st story
The young Jean Grey suddenly finds herself within the Vanishing Point. She eventually finds she's on a beach in Italy, and uses a wide-scale psychic "nudge" to hide her uniform from anyone who looks at her. After a quick mental sweep, Jean seemingly finds the older Jean Grey on the beach; however, the younger Jean realizes that this is not actually the older Jean, but rather, the Phoenix.
"Jean" informs her younger self that she can sense her there. Young Jean begins to ask "Jean" about the Phoenix Force, as it is coming for her in the present; however, "Jean" interrupts and, feeling hungry, takes her younger self to Cefalù for food, then to the Flames Nightclub, but the younger Jean won't stop trying to ask the older "Jean" questions about the Phoenix Force. Young Jean notices the man who came to "Jean" at the beach is also in the club, and that this is in fact the illusionist, Mastermind. "Jean" then decides to show her younger self what the Phoenix is all about, and they fly into space.
Minutes later, they arrive on another planet about to be consumed by Galactus. Phoenix declares that the planet is under her protection and easily deals with Galactus' herald, Terrax. Galactus takes notice, and begins to fight the Phoenix. Galactus using the Power Cosmic, begins to syphon energy from the Phoenix. Marvel Girl begins to draw telepathic energy from everywhere around her, including Terrax, Galactus, and the Phoenix Force itself. This results in Marvel Girl creating her own purple, Phoenix-like psychic aura, and punching Galactus in the face hard enough to knock him over. Terrax admits that his master is impressed and will spare this world, but he will obliterate them, should they get in his way again.
The Phoenix then claims that this is why she is here, to save lives, but Marvel Girl replies "no." The Phoenix can tell that there is something Jean is not telling her about their future, but then the Watcher arrives, appearing only to Marvel Girl, informing her that while he cannot intervene, the choice she makes to tell the Phoenix about the future would impact everything that comes after. Jean decides not to tell the Phoenix about the near future, and the Watcher takes Jean back to the Prime Marvel Universe before she can even say goodbye to the Phoenix. Yet, the Phoenix says that it's alright, and that they both know they will meet again.
Solicit Synopsis
• Teenage Jean Grey is willing to do whatever it takes to avoid the fate that befell her predecessor.
• But when Jean is cast through time and comes face-to-face with the newly possessed Phoenix, will she find the key to saving herself… or learn that her fate is sealed?
Notes
- To when in the past the younger Jean travels is unclear. It must be after Beast tells the older Jean (actually the Phoenix Force duplicate of Jean) in X-Men #114 that the other X-Men are dead, and she has not yet been seduced by Jason Wyngarde.
- Phoenix first exhibited cosmic powers in X-Men #108, when she saved the universe from the M'kraan Crystal, but needed help from others to do so. She is far more powerful by X-Men #134, after Wyngarde brainwashed her into the Black Queen upon her return to the United States from vacation and reunion with the X-Men.
- This story's Phoenix is capable of interstellar flight with a passenger, and facing Galactus. Such a being could have taken Empress Lilandra—stranded on Earth in #108—back to her empire. Perhaps Phoenix did not want to reveal her cosmic powers to Lilandra more than necessary, understandable given the Shi'ar reaction in X-Men #135.
- This story likely occurs after Bizarre Adventures #27, as Jean in that story becomes exhausted after reverting Attuma's transformation of her sister.
- A possible setting for this story is during Jean's European vacation in X-Men #117, Classic X-Men #24, and 119; perhaps Wyngarde's failure to meet her in this story caused him to take the more drastic steps in #24. But in that story, losing her purse and luggage inconveniences Jean in a way that the almost omnipotent Phoenix of this story would not be.
- Perhaps the Phoenix Force, knowing that the younger Jean is a time traveler, drops the pretense of humanity and openly displays its full cosmic powers. Such a reading would contradict Fantastic Four #286 and other stories, in which the Phoenix Force's duplication of Jean was so exact that it forgot that it was not human.
- The comic states that Jean Grey #8 is next in the story.
