DISCLAIMER:

Excalibur and the X-Men are trademarks of Marvel Comics. This story is an unauthorised work done purely for my personal enjoyment, and is not intended to infringe on any of their rights in or their profits from these characters. But this story is copyright to me.

Comments, especially (constructive) criticism, always welcomed. Please e-mail me at

mark_shakespeare@lineone.net.

Notes:

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The powerful Captain Britain, the shapeshifting Meggan, the swashbuckling Nightcrawler, the intangible Shadowcat, the telepathic Psylocke, the Weregirl Wolfsbane, and Lockheed the dragon. Forged in the fires of their tragic pasts, they have banded together to fight a modern day crusade against evil!

Mark Shakespeare presents :

Excalibur Redrawn - Part 30.

Kurt held the body of the woman he loved tight to his chest. Once Belasco had disappeared from the scene of battle, Amanda had fallen to the ground, the mystical power animating her no longer present. Brian was staring at the place where Belasco and Kitty had vanished from, as was Otakai. The Devas which Doctor Strange had summoned to assist them were systematically destroying the demons which Belasco had conjured to aid him. Otakai's Undead horde stood motionless, waiting for instructions from their Master. The Sorcerer Supreme walked over to the blue-furred mutant. "Kurt. I'm sorry, but the life-force has fled her - there is nothing to be - "

"Really? And are you so naive that you cannot perceive what the obvious solution to the problem is?" Otakai's voice cut through Strange's sympathetic words, and the Doctor looked at the other mage. Kurt seemed oblivious to what had been said.

"And what do you mean by that? I am hardly naive, especially when it comes to magic."

The other mage sneered at Strange's words. His burning gaze locked with that of Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, almost in a battle of wills. Kurt paid them no attention. His childhood sweetheart, the woman whom he had loved for so many years, was growing cold in his arms. He felt his heart breaking as he looked down at her. "Dear Lord, have mercy on the soul of this woman. Forgive her sins, and grant unto her life eternal, May her soul reside with thee in Heaven, o Lord of Hosts. Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name ... "

"You, a mage, should at least be familiar with the concept of Necromancy." Otakai's words dripped venom, as the mage sought to demonstrate his superiority to the rival in front of him. Stephen Strange stiffened at the thought. Kurt stopped his prayers as he heard the words being spoken. Though Strange had himself once taken on the mantle of a user of black magic, he knew the costs involved in such an undertaking - not just for the user, but for the recipient of such 'aid'.

"I am fully familiar with the idea. I just don't like the cost which comes with it."

"And when the cost of not using it is the continuing death of someone associated with you?"

"If Necromancy is so effective, why have you not used it to restore your own lost love, what was her name? I'mai?"

Otakai recoiled as if struck, then his eyes seemed to burn with an inner rage. His eyes bored into those of Stephen Strange. "You truly are ignorant, fool! If you knew anything about the subject, you would know that Necromancy is limited by the time between the death of the subject and the performance of the necromantic rituals! Beyond a certain point, the rituals are unable to summon the spirit of the deceased back for any meaningful length of time! There are also ... things . ..... which can prevent the magic from working. Ahh, why do I talk to you?! You are a mere fumbler in the Arts Mystick! I have done what I intended to do, and Belasco is weakened. I owe the Lady Katherine no further aid, as she is not I'Mai returned to my side. Her fate is in your hands. Farewell!" The mage chanted a few words in a language unknown to any there except Doctor Strange, and vanished from sight, his remaining Undead minions following their Master.

"There will be no use of Necromancy, Herr Doktor." Kurt's soft words, spoken with iron in them, cut into Stephen Strange's thoughts. He turned his head to meet the glowing eyes of the young mutant. "Necromancy is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. You will not use such a disgusting skill to bring Amanda back, no matter how much I love her."

"Even though it means she stays dead, Kurt?"

His tone was implacable. "Ja. Even so."

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The ferry was steaming at full speed now, white wake trailing from her stern. The passengers had gone below, on the Captain's orders, to minimise the risk of any of them being killed by the ship's attackers. The bridge crew were silent now, except when necessity forced them to speak. Only the radio and radar operators regularly broke the silence, calling for assistance or updating the Captain on the proximity of the attacking ships. The rusting destroyer which had fired at them was still trying to range in with its forward guns, whilst the rest of the unnatural fleet attempted to close the gap.

And they were closing the gap, minute by minute. Somehow, the wrecked sailing vessels and rusting hulks were able to overhaul the ferry. The Captain turned to the radio operator. "Any news from the RAF, son?"

"No sir. Still trying to raise them."

"Keep trying."

"Yessir."

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The insistent beeping sound finally reached the ears of the talking friends. Logan was the first to hear it, and looked over at Betsy. "Hey Betts, what's that sound? Some kind o' alarm?"

The purple-haired Englishwoman raised her head to listen, but heard nothing at first. It was Rahne who next heard the sound. "Och, 'tis a warnin' sound indeed. Meggan, whit can it be?"

The blonde fey sparkled a little as she enhanced her hearing to find what the others were discussing. "Oh, that's an alarm system which we had installed. It listens to police and other radio frequencies, then tells us whenever something which we can assist with is detected. I wonder what it's heard?"

She got up from her seat and flew to the door, throwing it open and heading in the direction of the insistent sound. Now Betsy could also hear it, and the rest of the mutants made their way in the direction that Meggan had taken.

They found Meggan standing listening to a futuristic-looking radio of a design unfamiliar to them. Before any of them could ask what the problem was, they heard

"..... mayday! This is the ferry Eastern Endeavour, en route to Dover! We are under attack, I say again, we are under attack! Mayday, mayday, calling the Coastguard, calling the Navy, calling anyone! We are the ferry Eastern Endeavour, en route ...."

"What the hell?! Who'd attack a ferry?!" Logan swung round to look at Betsy and Meggan. "Any way we c'n get down there, pronto?"

Betsy nodded her head. "The Midnight Runner is out the back. I know how to pilot it. It'd be the fastest way of getting there - "

"Then what are we waiting for?"

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"Doctor? What's this?" Stephen Strange turned round at the approach of Captain Britain. He noticed the massive costumed hero was holding some sort of dagger - and there was something about it which caught his attention immediately. The Sorcerer Supreme took hold of the weapon, turning it over and over in his hands as he studied it intently. There was a definite magical aura about the dagger, and he murmured a few arcane words to try to determine what the source of the weapon's power was.

A faint red glow began to surround the dagger, and Strange's eyes narrowed as he stared at the mystic aura. Then he smiled and turned to look at Kurt, still holding the body of his love. "Kurt. There may be a way to bring Amanda back."

The blue-furred mutant slowly turned his head to look at the mage, and his yellow eyes held a glow which had been extinguished before. "What do you mean, Herr Doktor? Amanda is dead. What way is there that she might be brought back? She is dead. I have already told you - I will not allow the use of black magic on her."

Strange laid a gentle hand on Kurt's shoulder. "That you have, lad. But this is the dagger that Belasco used to kill her, and there is something about it which makes me think that it might allow us to bring her back to life." At the unspoken question in the yellow eyes, Strange held out the dagger and pointed to the runes engraved along the blade." These runes are ones of soul harvesting. Belasco must have used it to not only kill Amanda's body, but to also take her soul as he did so. There is a mystical trail which seems to indicate that her soul was placed somewhere nearby, presumably so that Belasco could use or torment it whenever he felt the urge. But that action could prove his undoing. If we can find where her souls is being held, then, after healing her body, it should be possible for me to bring her back to life by reuniting her body and soul, though - "

"Then what are we waiting for, Herr Doktor! Let us find the resting place of her soul immediately! If we cannot bring her back to life, then at least we can ensure that she finds eternal rest in Heaven!"

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"Who the hell does that bald old bastard think he is?!" There was the sound of something heavy hitting a wall. "I spent years learning how to control my magic powers, and that stupid old fool thinks he can train me, thinks he knows more about magic than I do?!" Another loud thud punctuated the outburst. "Why the hell should I put up with this shit?! After all, I'm only here for Piotr and Mikhail. I should just leave!!" The sound of something shattering put an end to that little tirade.

Ororo sighed. She knew just how badly the Russian girl was taking the Professor's stepped-up training program - after all, she was not happy with it herself. Nor for that matter was anyone else at the mansion. < If I did not know better, I would have to say that Charles is deliberately trying to drive us all away. Before, when he disbanded the X-Men, it was because he felt that there was an infiltrator within our ranks. But he has said nothing to me, nor, as far as I know, to Jean or Scott. Does he really not understand just how much experienced people like us resent being talked to as if we are novices? Obviously not, and now, perhaps, I understand just how much Kitty resented being demoted to the New Mutants all those years ago. > She knocked on the door. "Illyana? May I come in, please?"

"What the hell for, Storm? You going to chew me out like Chuckles just did?!"

"No, I merely wish to talk."

The door slowly opened, and Ororo found herself looking at the face of a very angry and annoyed Illyana Rasputin. "If you wanna talk about what just happened in the Danger Room, it's gonna be a short talk, Storm. I'm not in the mood for platitudes right now." For the blonde Russian girl, talking to Storm was always something of an ordeal. She remembered how she had been forced to slay Cat when she had been in Limbo, being tutored, or more accurately 'corrupted', by Belasco. She remembered how that dimension's Ororo had tried to teach her the ways of white magic to counterbalance the darkness in her soul - and how that Ororo had died. Such memories couldn't help but colour any conversation Illyana had with this Storm.

"As I said, I merely wish to talk. And I am hardly going to 'chew you out' when I am not particularly happy with Charles' actions myself." She watched the girl's face register surprise at that admission, as she walked into the bedroom, looking around before settling on the bed. She looked up at the little sister of her 'little brother', and Kitty's best friend, blue eyes meeting blue, and smiled. "Will you sit down, Illyana? Looking up all the time will give me an aching neck."

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"Nice plane ya got here, Betts." Logan drew in a lungful of hot tobacco smoke as he glanced out of the cockpit.. He had to admit, the Midnight Runner was a fine piece of work. It seemed to be a lot faster than the X-Men's Blackbird, as well as being quieter. And, unlike aboard the Blackbird, there didn't seem to be a no-smoking policy ......

Betsy smiled, catching the stray thought. "We don't have a no-smoking policy because the Runner has good enough air scrubbers not to need it - though protests may be registered by those wishing to make a point about people they dislike ...... And as for the plane itself, you should give your congratulations to Brian. He built the plane from the ground up, though Kitty did lend a hand with the onboard electronic systems ... "

"Yer brother built the plane??" Logan was astounded. Though he knew that Brian Braddock was supposed to be a brilliant engineer, he hadn't seriously thought that the man was capable of building a hypersonic plane from scratch. Braddock had always seemed too much of a stuffed shirt to be that good ......

"My brother, Logan, can be a little stiff-necked, it's true, but he's a good man. How else do you think Meggan could still be with him after all this time? True, he didn't always treat her well, but he changed his ways in time."

"Yes, and he would never hurt me now." Meggan's soft voice cut across their conversation, and Betsy at least blushed a little as she realised how freely and openly she'd been talking about her twin's defects.

"Aye, he's a guid man, ye ken. Are we close tae where the ferry is, yet?" Rahne came up and joined them in the cockpit, Lockheed draped across her shoulders. The little dragon raised his head, then flew from the Scots girl's shoulders to land on Betsy. "Och, I think ye've got yuirself a guard, Miss Elizabeth - "

"Betsy, please. 'Miss Elizabeth' sounds too much like a spinster schoolmarm for my liking."

Rahne laughed, shaking her head. "Aye, mebbe yuir right. 'Tis a verra old-fashioned soundin' way o' adressin' ye." She grinned a trifle sheepishly. All the time she'd spent with the new mutants, X-Force and then Excalibur, and she still didn't have the grasp of more modern idioms and ways of talking that many of her teammates did. Then again, she thought to herself, the years of 'teaching' from Reverend Craig were still ingrained in her, and would be for years to come. It took an effort of will to overcome the prejudices he'd hammered into her head. But she tried .... "Still, I think yon dragon's decided that the pregnant woman's the one fuir him tae look out for. I think Kitty would ha' agreed tae that herself, were she with us."

"Cooo!" Lockheed gently nuzzled the side of Betsy's face, reveling in her warmth and smell. The little alien had never quiet figured out just why he was so entranced by the smell and feel of female humans, given that he wasn't their size, or bipedal, or resemble them in any way. But he did like being around them, and touching them - though none of them came close to his beloved Kitty, of course ......

Betsy's face took on a wry smile. "The downside of being pregnant, Meggan, is that everyone wants you to take it easy all the time. They start getting suffocating after a while. After all, until you're close to actually giving birth, there's no reason why you can't still do things, is there?"

"Mebbe not, darlin'. But fact o' th' matter is, yer carryin' another life in yer, an' that's got ter be yer priority as much as fightin' the good fight. So if the dragon feels he's got ter take care o' yer, then that sounds about right ter me." Then the stocky Canadian straightened up his chair. "Looks like we're nearly there, people. There's ships on the horizon, an' one looks like a ferry all right. So, how we playin' this, people?"

It was Betsy who answered him. "I'll put the Midnight Runner into a holding pattern over the ferry, stealthed so that the attackers don't see us. Rahne and you can drop onto the deck, to fight any pirates, or whatever they are, who manage to board the ship. Meggan, you'll keep to the air and act as high cover for the rest of us. I'll coordinate things telepathically, and use the onboard weapon systems as needed." The plane dropped lower, and the side door opened, Logan and Rahne moving to stand in the doorway, Logan's claws out, Rahne in her half-wolfen form.

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