Biography page 3
This was not the introduction to her fellow mutants that Hope would have liked. She faced the pressure of their expectations for the “mutant messiah,” and some even expected she would have the ability to magically bring Nightcrawler back. Hope held her own against the more confrontational and unimpressed members such as Moonstar, but privately she confessed to Nathan that she had lied. There was no great revelation or inner urge that told her it was time to return to the present – she had just been tired of life on the run and wanted to escape their trials in the dystopian future. She didn’t understand her brief flashes of power and had no idea what was expected of her.
Despite all this, Nathan still had faith in her. When Bastion enclosed Utopia in an energy dome and began feeding Nimrod super-Sentinels into the timeline from the future, Cable offered Hope a chance to run. He told her the time-jump mechanism could carry them into the future again, avoiding the mutant massacre to come. Hope considered the offer, but refused – Bastion was attacking because of her, and it was her responsibility to stay and end the fight however she 
could. Hope Summers met Scott Summers for the first time, and Cyclops was glad to have her back safely. Strategic matters got in the way of their early bonding, however. Cable and his time-jump mechanism were needed to transport X-Force into the future to stop the flood of Nimrods at the source. Nathan and Scott both knew it was a one-way trip, essentially a suicide mission. As Cable disappeared, Hope was quick to blame Cyclops for sending his son and her adoptive father to his death.
As the X-Men held the line against the Nimrods until X-Force completed their mission, Cyclops ordered Hope to remain inside and safe. She was too valuable to the future of the mutant race to risk on the front lines. Scott directed Rogue to look after Hope, but Hope refused to allow others to die for her. She pressured Rogue into taking her out onto the battlefield where she could do some good. As a result, she was there when the flood of Nimrods stopped. X-Force had completed their 
mission but, sure enough, were unable to return home. The time-membrane used by the Sentinels was calibrated to let only inorganic matter through. However, by letting his techno-organic virus take hold, Cable was able to interface with the portal and allow his X-Force comrades to pass back through to the present. The effort was too much for him to withstand, though, and a horrified Hope witnessed as the portal collapsed around Cable, leaving only his techno-organic arm behind.
With his plans foiled, a furious Bastion transformed his last two allies, Graydon Creed and Steven Lang, making them techno-organic Sentinels like him. He launched an attack on the X-Men at Golden Gate Bridge, targeting Hope again. In her grief and rage over Nathan’s death, Hope’s mutant powers triggered fully for the first time. She had used snippets of power from Nathan and 
Bishop before, but now she revealed the ability to summon the powers of any and all mutants in her vicinity at once. With ice, organic steel, optic blasts, psionic exoskeletons, geothermal power and something much, much more, Hope tore through the three Sentinels, obliterating Bastion and his ilk.
In the aftermath, Hope and the X-Men buried Nathan Summers. Hope devoted herself to the role of “mutant messiah,” believing she owed it to her father to make his sacrifice worth it. And, in the days that followed, the true ramifications of Hope’s mutant power manifestation became clear. The X-Men’s mutant detection system Cerebra had new lights on its screen for the first time since Hope’s birth. Five new mutants were beginning to manifest their powers, the only new mutants other than Hope since M-Day. [Second Coming crossover]
As Hope adjusted to her life in this new time period, she was insistent about being active and contributing, not just being protected to the degree Cyclops would have preferred. She personally got involved with the clean-up and repairs in San Francisco after the Nimrod attacks. As a sign of things to come, her very presence seemed to spark new avenues for Hellion’s telekinesis. [X-Men: Legacy (1st series) #242-243] Hope also told Cyclops she wanted to look into her roots. 
With a small team of X-Men escorts, Hope returned to Cooperstown, Alaska for the first time since the disaster following her birth. She found Louise Spalding’s grave and left flowers for the birth mother she had never known. She also managed to spend an hour with her grandmother (without explaining her true identity) to learn more about her mother. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #526]
Hope returned to action with the X-Men, helping them investigate the “Five Lights” representing the new mutants manifesting on Cerebra. These mutant manifestations were not like other mutants from the past. Their mutant abilities emerged as incomplete or unstable, ostensibly fighting through the Decimation spell of “No More Mutants” to come to fruition. Hope and the X-Men quickly discovered these Lights would only fully manifest their powers once Hope herself made physical contact with the new mutant. Hunting around the globe, Hope began to fulfill her destiny by helping each of these young mutants manifest in succession: Laurie Tromette of Canada, Gabriel Cohuelo of Mexico, Idie Okonkwo of Nigeria, and Teon Macik of Ukraine. Hope assembled her entourage with Rogue as their liaison, moving from one Light to the next. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #526-529]
The last Light would prove far more difficult than the others, unfortunately. Kenji Uedo of Tokyo experienced radical and unstable physical mutation as a result of his new abilities, marking him as a genuine threat. Cyclops and Wolverine were on-scene and tried to contain the situation, with Rogue ordered to keep Hope and her recruits away from danger. Hope disobeyed Rogue and 
Cyclops again, however, and led her soldiers (?) into the thick of things. Hope discovered that Kenji’s mass-production physiology was immune to the stabilizing effect of her touch, meaning she had to get in close to touch his original body for her power to work. It wasn’t easy, and it was hard to get Cyclops to trust her in the field, but Hope was eventually successful. Kenji’s mind was restored as his powers “rebooted” in a more stable state, allowing the X-Men and “Generation Hope” to flee Tokyo and return to Utopia. [Generation Hope #1-3]
Hope and her Five Lights returned to Utopia, facing tests and analysis by the science team over their connection. The Lights demonstrated a strong bond to each other, but especially to Hope. Each presented the bond slightly differently: Laurie and Idie proved easily influenced and devoted to her, Gabriel was strongly attracted to Hope, Teon imprinted on her like a trained animal and the artistic Kenji saw her as a muse. They all complied with Hope’s wishes, even unspoken. Hope recognized her influence (even reciprocating Gabriel’s affection), but chose not to dwell overly 
much on the consequences of it. Other mutants also responded to the “messiah” with varying degrees of loyalty, leaving Cyclops concerned over Rogue’s constant failures to keep Hope in line. Hope pressed for the Lights to be mission active, serving as a “Mutant Emergence Rescue” team to locate and aid any new mutant who activated. Cyclops agreed but with Kitty Pryde as the team’s new liaison and ensuring the other Lights got the field training they needed as time passed. [Generation Hope #4-5]
Hope and Scott continued to clash from time to time, though. Hope was insistent on making her role as “messiah” matter by being active and taking charge, while Cyclops was still concerned about protecting her (and therefore the future of the mutant race). They were in the middle of an argument when an explosion caused by the Science Team sent the two of them into the Negative Zone with Namor and Dr. Nemesis. Hope and Cyclops became separated from the others and, while Hope insisted Nathan taught her everything she needed to learn about adapting to a hostile environment, Scott pointed out who taught Nathan everything in the first place: him.
They were captured by Blastaar, who tried to ransom them back to Earth for the hated Reed Richards. Instead, Steve Rogers came through the Negative Zone gate on a search and rescue mission. Hope managed to free herself from her chains before Scott did, prompting him to declare she was totally better than him at everything before she freed him as well. Hope and Cyclops ran across Steve, but also a psychotic Namor who was nearly insane after being 
deprived of water in the alien environment. Hope was forced to copy his powers in order to become strong enough to hold him off until Nemesis got a portal to send them back to Earth. Afterwards, Cyclops promised to be less protective of Hope and more reliant on her abilities, while Steve Rogers was impressed that the “mutant messiah” was living up to her hype. [Escape from the Negative Zone crossover]