DISCLAIMER
None of these characters were invented by me(big suprise), and I'm 
not making dime one off this, it's only done for the enjoyment of
myself and others.  Please don't sue.  All character places and
names are copyright to Marvel Comics, but this story is copyrighted
1998 LuNaTiC Publishing.


WARNING
This story contains adult content, including violence and adult
language.  If you would be offended by such content, well then, 
this story isn't for you, is it?


NOTES
Okay, be warned, this gets a little tricky.  This story is based on 
Luba Kmetyk's "Glow Of A Starless Night" and "Shadow Of A Starlit 
Dawn", with the major alteration that Pete and Kitty get together 
BEFORE Piotr shows up, and when he does, he attacks Pete (i.e. 
Excalibur #92) and kills him.  Time for a little doom 'n gloom,
boys and girls.



There are other worlds besides the prime reality.  Worlds where 
things that would not or should not happen do.  They are ElseWhens.



An ElseWhens story by DiScOrD;



The Unforgiven



Moira MacTaggert was looking over the charts for the sixth time when
she realized she couldn't put it off any longer.  Looking at the body
on the table, she took a deep breath to steel herself for the telling.
Then she stepped into the waiting room, where Excalibur was.

They were sitting in a small group, except for Kitty, who was 
pacing around the room furiously.  She stopped when she heard the 
door to the Medlab open, and turned towards it, a shining look of
hope on her face.  Then that hope disappeared as she saw Moira.
Immediately, all the color drained from her face, as several of 
Excalibur saw Moira as well, and realized what it meant.

"Kitty, lass....A lost him, A'm sorry."

Kitty was shaking her head back and forth rapidly, and then she 
phased right through Moira into the Medlab, but stopped short when 
she saw Pete Wisdom's body.  

"No."  Tears of pain and rage began flowing down Kitty's cheeks,
as her head kept shaking.  Moira came in behind her, and moved
close to the younger woman.  "NOOO!!!!  GOD, NO!!!!"

Any words after that were lost in a series of heart-rending screams
as Kitty turned away into Moira's embrace.  Moira was crying too.
She knew better than most how much Pete had meant to Kitty.

And Moira MacTaggert snapped awake.  She took stock of her 
sweat-soaked nightgown, her rapid breathing, and then lay back 
down, weeping, trying to force herself to be calm.


                 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *



Kitty Pryde was sitting in her room, crying.  It had been six
weeks now since she'd let herself care about someone again, and four
weeks since that someone had been brutally and senselessly attacked
and murdered.  That in itself would have been bad enough,  but the
murderer was the person who had hurt her the first time, Piotr 
Rasputin.  She knew that none of them would understand, none of them 
would realize how much she had loved Pete, and how much he had loved 
her in return.  She knew what she meant to do, and the rage she'd
been living with seemed to boil inside her as she phased her way down
to the holding pens.

"You bastard."  were her first words to the Russian sitting on the
cell's bed.

"Katya?"  Piotr Rasputin looked up at the sound of her voice.  "I-"

"You son of a bitch, I am NOT talking to you.  I wanted to let you
know what you did."  She was standing in the shadows, out of sight.

Piotr looked away.  "I know what I did.  I am sorry, Kat-"

"I said I wasn't talking to you.  That means you are not talking to
me.  You KILLED a man.  You killed someone I loved.  Someone that
loved me."  Her voice was taking on a chill timbre that was visibly
disturbing Rasputin.  "Don't you get it?  You've ruined my life
TWICE now.  After I lost our baby, did you ever try to comfort me?
Did you do anything except blame me?  No.  All you could think of 
was yourself.  And now, when I have a chance to be happy, you destroy 
it.  Because of you, my child and my lover are dead.  Understand?  
When you killed Pete, you killed me.  Kitty Pryde is dead, dead and 
buried.  All that's left now is ShadowCat.    I want you to suffer, 
the way you've made me suffer.  I want you to hurt.  You deserve to 
burn in Hell forever for what you've done.  And I'm going to make sure 
you go there."

Piotr's jaw dropped as she stepped into the light.  Her old blue
and gold costume was gone, replaced by a menacing looking black one,
with an array of small knives, shurikens, and other weapons belted on
various parts.  On her back were two scabbards, and he felt his throat
dry up as she took out one blade.  He recognized it instantly.


Illyana's SoulSword.


"I called this to me a few nights ago.  I managed to alter it.
Now it works VERY differently."  With that, she phased through the
bars, and swung the blade.  Piotr flinched, but started to breathe 
a sigh of relief as the sword began to pass through him.  Then he 
let out an scream of pure agony, as the sword struck his soul.  
He tried to hit the intercom, but Kitty brought the butt of the 
sword down on his outstreached hand.  

"It wouldn't do you any good, anyway.  I disconnected them.  Now,
it's time for you to run."  She phased him through the wall to the 
outside of the Center, then shorted out the inhibitor collar.
"Go on.  Run for your worthless life."

Piotr triggered his change into Colossus as Kitty sheathed the 
SoulSword.  "Katya, I am sorry for what I did.  But I am not going
to run from you."

Kitty's lip curled in a snarl, the hatred showing in her eyes a 
terrifying thing to see.  "Not good enough.  Lemme make it a little 
simpler for you.  Run, or die right here."

Piotr swung one massive fist, hoping to catch Kitty before she could
phase, and knock her out without hurting her.  But she had never
solidified, and as he recovered, she drew the other sword.

"Know what this is?  It's a katana.  A Japanese warrior sword.  Logan
taught me how to use one of these."  She raised it to strike him.

Rasputin was losing his fear, and becoming angry.  "A sword will
do little good for you, Katy-AAAAAGGGGGH!!!!!"

She had swung the blade, and sliced off one of his fingers.

"Unless it's adamantium."  She smiled, a terrifying look on her face
with her mood what it was.  She looked at the finger as she picked it
up.  "Hmp.  No blood.  I always wondered about that."  She pointed
the sword at the massive figure gleaming in the moonlight.

"I said run."


                 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *


Kurt Wagner and the rest of Excalibur were sitting in the TV room,
talking about Kitty.  She'd barely said a word to any of them in a
week, and she'd been making trips to London and back all that time.
As Brian brought up one topic, a bloodcurdling scream came from out
in the night, and they all recognized it as Colossus.  Excalibur
sprang into action, dashing outside to see what it was.


                 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *


ShadowCat was stalking Colossus, who was greatly weakened by the pain
from a multitude of shallow cuts and jabs the ninja-trained mutant
had made with the adamantium blade.  As he ran around the building,
he suddenly felt his legs go out from under him, and screamed as a
graceful cut of the sword sliced through the organic steel equivalent
of his knee ligaments.  She stood over him, triumphant, sword raised,
when Excalibur came upon this scene.

Wagner was shocked.  "Katzchen!  Nein!"

She spun around.  "Stay out of this, Kurt!  I'll kill you if you try 
to stop me."  Brian and Meggan were flying towards her.  

"Kitty, stop thi-YEEEAAAGGGHHH!!"  ShadowCat had leapt high in the
air, and run the sword along Brian's gut.  The former Captain Britain
fell heavily to the ground, bleeding profusely.  Meggan flew down
to her lover, and Moira ran over as well.

"Another inch-and-a-half, and you'd be putting his intestines back 
in later.  Stay out of this, all of you."  She turned towards the
Russian.  "This is between me and him."  

Nightcrawler tried to stop her.  But ShadowCat's highly trained 
ninja senses detected the teleport an instant before Wagner appeared,
and when he did, she ran the SoulSword up to the hilt in his chest
before pulling it out.  Kurt stood there for a second before he 
realized he wasn't bleeding, then fell to his knees screaming as
it hit his soul like a Mack truck.  She turned and flicked shurikens 
at the others.  Rahne was hit in the leg, and she quickly felt the 
effects of a poison that prevented her changing.  Amanda's was
tipped with a massive dose of rohypnol, which had the effect of 
rendering her useless very quickly.  Douglock's was actually a piece
of Phalanx tech she had recreated, a simple logic virus, which Doug
could purge relatively quickly, but which incapacitate him long
enough for her to finish.  Rahne ran forward anyway, trying to stop
her friend.  

"Kitty!  This's madness!"  Rahne's green eyes were full of concern.

Dispassionately, ShadowCat let fly a powerful spinning heel kick
that broke Rahne's jaw, knocking her to the ground.  Rahne became 
associated with unconciousness very quickly.

Colossus was still on his knees, as she raised the blade for the 
fatal strike.  He snarled up at her.  

"I will see you in Hell!"

Her face was expressionless.  "Probably."

Kurt Wagner was horrified beyond words when he saw Kitty thrust the
sword deep into Rasputin's chest, and twist it as he screamed in
agony.  Then, she pulled it out, and swung the blade down in a 
diagonal arc, neatly severing Rasputin's head from his body.  He 
crawled over, still weak, trying to get to her.

"Katzchen-"  He gasped in fright as she nearly brought the blade
down on his neck, then sighed in relief as she sheathed it.
"Katzchen,-"

"Katzchen, Kitty, Katherine Pryde....they're all dead, Kurt.  Like
I told him, when he killed Pete, he killed her.  All that remains
is ShadowCat."  She turned to walk inside, semmingly unconcerned with
what she'd done to them.  "I've got my things loaded in the Runner,
and I'm going back to the States.  I'll send it back when I get off.
Call Logan.  Tell him I said he'll know where to meet me."  And 
without another word, she walked inside, toward the hangar, leaving
a beaten and shocked Excalibur behind.


                 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *


Professor Charles Xavier and the X-Men couldn't believe what they'd
just heard, Storm in particular.  "She WHAT?"

Wagner was still hurting, but he had forced himself to do this.
"I said, she hunted Piotr down and killed him.  We have it on the
surveillance system.  She purposely recorded it."  He then played 
it for the X-Men, and by the time it ended several minutes later,
even Remy was deeply shaken, and Ororo and Betsy were close to tears.
Wagner sighed deeply.  "I do not know if she has simply snapped
because of Herr Wisdom's murder, or if this has been coming anyway.
But it is evident that she blamed Piotr for destroying her life."

"Why shouldn't she?"  That came from Logan, who'd never forgiven
the Russian for what he'd done to Kitty four years ago, and who had
had to be physically stopped from going to the holding cells when 
he'd gone to Muir after Wisdom's murder, to try and comfort Kitty.  
"That asshole got what he deserved."  

Ororo was outraged.  "How dare you say that, how dare you-"

"How dare you, darlin'?!?  He fucked her life up four years ago, 
literally, and just when she's finally startin ta get over it, and 
she's fallen in love with somebody who loves her, here comes the 
goddamn tortured ARTISTE who sees them together, throws a temper 
tantrum, and kills the poor sap.  Why should I feel sorry for him at 
all?  Wagner, 'd she say anything about what she was gonna do?"

"Ja, she said she was going to the States, and that you would
know where to meet her.  I strongly advise that you go alone."
He sighed.  "You saw how viciously she attacked us.  And you also
saw that she has the SoulSword."

Xavier spoke up.  "Is it possible that the SoulSword is controlling
her again?"

"Nein.  Amanda would have felt Illyana's dark side still in it."

Ororo could be quiet no longer.  "I simply cannot believe that Kitty
would do such a thing to someone she cared for-"

"Tha's enough!"  This came from Moira, who'd been listening.  "Ororo,
A'm gaunae give ye the benefit o' the doubt and give ye a chance
tae shut up, before A fly over there and punch yuir lights oot.
Ye were nae the one tha' took care o' Kitty when she was pregnant 
back then, ye were nae the one tha' tried tae help her get past losin'
her child, ye were nae the one tha' had tae-"  Moira was crying, 
remembering that night a month ago when Rasputin had arrived, "had 
tae tell her tha' Pete was dead...."  Moira was sobbing quietly now, 
shaking her head.  "Even ye, Logan, ye were nae here when A tol' her. 
The screams...."  She put her hands to her temples.  "A hear those 
screams ev'ry time A go tae sleep, in mah nightmares....A've been a 
doctor f'r years, an' A've had tae tell that tae plenty o' people, but 
A ne'er heard screams like tha' before.  'Twas like....like her soul 
was dead...."  Rahne Sinclair laid her hands on her adoptive mothers
shoulders.  Moira shook her head.  "Kitty was so happy bein' wi' Pete.
She loved him so much, an' he loved her too.  An' now it's all jist,
it's....no more."

Logan was sitting there deep in thought.  "I know where she is.  An' 
I'm gonna go see her, an' see if I can help her get through this.
None o' ya's gonna follow me, none o' ya's even gonna hear from me 
unless I get through to her.  Got that?"  He stood up and walked out of 
the mansion, not even glancing at the others as he went to the 
garage and took off on his Harley.


                 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *


To be concluded....