Kitty Pryde, Pete Wisdom, Excalibur, the X-Men and all characters therein 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 copy write to me.

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

mshakespeare@callnetuk.com

Notes

This story is based on events in Excalibur #92 - when Peter almost killed Pete. There have been several fanfic "What ifs" about what might have happened if Peter had killed Pete, but the question here is - what if Pete had killed Peter....................

Prepare for a little doom and gloom, people!

* * indicates telepathy

< > indicates thoughts

What If Pete had killed Peter

Moira sighed. There was nothing more she could do. With all the technology at her disposal, she had failed. She went outside to tell the waiting members of Excalibur the news.

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

Kitty sat in a daze. The night had begun so well. Pete and she had told the rest of the team about their feelings for each other, and Kurt had agreed that he could stay. The night had been a great success, as they'd all managed to relax for the first time in weeks. They'd returned to Muir Island, and she'd gone to her room - Pete had stayed outside for one last cigarette, before he was to join her for the night. Then she'd sensed something wrong - Brian had thought he'd heard something - and she'd run outside to check on Pete. She'd found him down on the ground, being attacked. But his attacker hadn't been some old enemy like the Marauders, but a former friend - her former boyfriend - Peter Rasputin, Colossus. Kurt had tried to stop him from attacking Wisdom, but Peter had simply tossed him aside. She'd tried to reason with him, tried to talk him down, but he hadn't listened. Then the moment she couldn't forget - Pete had levered himself up off the ground with his last strength, must have thought Peter was about to attack her, and had fired off the biggest hot-knife he could manage. It had struck Peter in the back of the neck, burning there for a few seconds with a bright red glow; then , slowly but steadily, Peter's head had fallen away from his body, falling to the earth.

Kitty felt stunned. Her boyfriend, her lover, the man who had first taught to be a woman, had been attacked by the man she had first fallen in love with, and had killed him to protect her. She didn't know what to feel. She wanted to rage against Peter for his attack, but what use was raging at the dead? And did she now hate Pete for killing Peter, even if it WAS in her defense? And what could she say to the X-Men? Especially Storm, who had called Peter her 'little brother'? How could she face them after this? Would they blame her?

Kurt laid his hand upon her shoulder. "Do not blame yourself, Katzchen; you are not to blame for what happened." He sighed. "I will tell the X-Men. I would not want you to have to do so. Please, Katzchen, rest - you need it". "Kurt, I can't. I'll stay up with Pete, I need to see he's okay". She wiped away the tear that had fallen from her eye. "Oh God, Kurt, first I lost Illyana, now I'm the cause of her brother dying!". "NEIN, Katzchen, I cannot allow you to feel that. If anyone is responsible for tonight, it is Peter. Herr Wisdom was merely protecting you, as he saw it. Perhaps if the others had spent more time helping Peter to cope with all his losses, it might not have come to this. But, of all of us, YOU are not to blame. You tried to help him when Illyana died; you cannot blame yourself now."

"Watch me, Kurt, just watch me" Kitty whispered, as the tears began to fall in earnest. She put her head in her hands, as the sobs became more than she could control. The door opened and Meggan came in. She didn't speak, merely sat down next to the younger girl, and put her arm round her, holding her close as she cried. Kurt stood looking at them for a minute, indecisive, then turned away towards the communications suite. He was not looking forwards to the next hour.

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

"WHAAAT?!?"

Kurt winced. It was going to be as bad as he'd feared. Scott, Jean, the Professor - they all looked stunned and shocked. But Ororo looked furious. "I said, Herr Wisdom killed Peter. He must have thought that he was going to attack Katzchen and...". "Kurt, why would ANYone think Peter would hurt Kitten?! And this Wisdom creature, Moira has told us all about him, how could you let him stay in Muir with you? And why has he not been handed over to the authorities as a murderer?". Kurt sighed. "Because, liebchen, he is one of us now, one of the team. Kitty asked us to accept him, tonight. Because he and she have..... feelings..... for each other". The others looked amazed. Ororo shook her head in disbelief. "No Kurt, you are mistaken. Kitty and Peter were MEANT to be together, she could not betray him so, by looking at another man." The Professor interrupted her, "Kurt, I think it would be best if you told us what happened, from the beginning".

Nightcrawler took a deep breath, and started to tell the others of the evening out down the pub. Ororo shook her head in denial when he told them of the announcement Kitty and Pete had made. Then the return to Muir, late in the evening. "Kitty and Meggan went inside, as did the rest of us. Herr Wisdom stayed outside to finish his cigarette. Brian thought he heard a noise, Kitty felt ..... something was wrong with Wisdom. I 'ported outside to see what was wrong, and found Peter standing over Wisdom in his armoured form, beating him, even though Wisdom was down, not even defending himself. I tried to reason with him, stop him, but he would not listen. He picked me up and threw me aside. Katzchen tried to speak to him, but he ignored her words, ranting and raving at her. Then Herr Wisdom levered himself up, and saw Peter moving towards Kitty. He must have thought her in danger. He fired off a hot-knife, and it struck Peter in the back of the neck, decapitating him instantly. Moira used some new technology she has developed to try to help Peter, but he didn't respond. I'm sorry , liebchen" he added, to Ororo.

Storm shook her head again. "She betrayed him so, how could she do that? Has she become so callous, so indifferent, since we parted? She betrayed Peter, she must have." "Nein, Ororo, it is not..". "I have heard enough, Kurt. Kitty has betrayed Peter, caused his death. We will come for his body shortly - and I will speak to Kitty then".

Kurt groaned. This was NOT looking good.

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

"WHAT did you think you were DOING? How could you so quickly turn away from Peter, betray him with another man? How could you turn your back on what you had so..". "Yes, HAD, Ororo! In case you'd forgotten, it was Peter who broke things off between us, NOT me! I've seen him face-to-face, what, once since Dallas, at Illyana's funeral? And then he cold-shouldered me, refused to let me grieve with him. But when he wants me back, just like that I'm supposed to drop whoever I've found in the meantime, just like nothing had ever happened? And now you're trying to blame me for what happened, trying to say it's my fault Peter's dead?" Kitty's face was wet with tears, tears a mixture of grief and guilt and anger. Grief for the man she'd once loved, now dead and cold; guilt, for she truly DID feel the blame for what had happened, felt that if she hadn't been with Wisdom Peter might still be alive; anger, because Storm, and the Professor, were making her feel even worse about what had happened, blaming her for Peter's death. Storm even said she didn't really care. And she didn't know how to react, what to feel. Moira had told her Pete would live, though he'd be in a wheelchair for some time. Now she had to deal with the X-Men's feelings over the incident. Of them all, only Logan seemed to be taking her side, the rest seemed simply stunned at what had happened. Scott seemed perpetually shocked, and Jean was struggling to cope. The majority of Excalibur seemed as undecided as the X-Men, as they didn't really know or trust Wisdom, though they did seem more prepared to accept that Kitty was blameless of the trouble. Only Kurt, who had seen at least some of the incident, and Meggan, who had been prepared to accept Pete faster than the rest of them, were supporting her. And the conflict was driving the two teams apart.

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

There were no fond farewells when the X-Men's Blackbird left. For Kitty, the heartbreak of seeing Peter die was compounded by Ororo's parting words; "I cannot forgive you for this, Kitty; your actions are a betrayal of the man who loved you; you take the side of his murderer; you do not even seem to feel guilty for what you've done. One day I may be able to forgive you, but not yet. I once thought of you as the daughter I never had; now I am glad you never were".

Kitty sat on the cliff edge, staring out at the Ocean. Tears stung her cheeks. She had lost the man she once loved with all her heart and still cared for, and now the woman who had been a mother to her, as her real mother had not, had turned her back on her, had disowned her, just as her real parents seemed to have done years ago, abandoning her when they divorced. And it was tearing her heart, her very soul, apart.

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

Given time the rift might have healed. But there was no time. Black Air, the secretive organisation to which Pete had once belonged, had laid plans for a takeover of Britain, and Europe as a whole. Excalibur had to fight them. And there was no chance to settle things between them.

Pete and Kitty's relationship was strained. Even though she had turned her love from Peter to Pete, Kitty still felt the guilt for what had happened, and they couldn't recover the old easy ways with each other, no matter how hard they tried. When the battle with the 'Devil Under London' was finally won, they had to come to terms with Professor Xavier's transformation into 'Onslaught'. Pete might never have known him, but to Kitty he was almost a surrogate father, along with Logan. Now he was gone, like her surrogate mother. And Kitty and Pete drifted apart, slowly but inexorably. Kurt couldn't help. Though he was probably best suited to do so, he had other concerns, which he saw as more pressing. Without the added strength of Colossus in the battles with Black Air, the team had been hit hard - Amanda had used her last strength beating the demon, and now lay in a coma; Rahne had been shot and badly injured by the insane Black Air guards. And Kurt felt responsible. So wrapped up was he in what he saw as his failure to properly lead the team, he missed the warning signs.

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

"Pete, please! Don't!". "Look, Pryde, it's bleedin' obvious you ain't really got over the Russkie, right? And you don't want me around 'cos I remind you of what went down, right? So, the best thing to do is for me to leave. So, I'm leavin'. You'll hear from me some time, just dunno when. See you, Pryde." And Wisdom left on the next boat from Muir, leaving Kitty heartbroken.

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

Black Air had been beaten, true, but not completely destroyed. They were rebuilding. And without Pete's links to the intelligence services, Excalibur didn't see it coming. The attacks caught them by surprise.

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

" MEGGAN?! NOOOOO!!" Brian threw himself over to the fallen body of his fiancee. Kurt teleported himself and Kitty onto the roof from which the shot had come. The two men armed with the heavy calibre sniping rifle tried to shoot them - but didn't stand a chance. The two mutants stood over the fallen bodies of their foes for a moment, then quickly searched their bodies for clues as to their identities. Not that they didn't already have a good idea. Their suspicions were soon confirmed.

But it was already too late. The .50 calibre bullet had hit Meggan in the back of the head, killing her instantly. Brian crouched over her body, the tears streaming down his face.

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

"Kurt, it's no use. I can't get through to him, YOU can't get through to him. We HAVE to call Betsy, see if SHE can break him out of his depression - though I don't hold out much hope. And it's not just his depression - I think he's started drinking again". Kurt sighed. "I know Katzchen, and you are right - we MUST try Betsy. I just hope she will agree to help." Just then the phone rang, and Rahne answered it. "Kurt, it's for you - the hospital, about Amanda". Kurt took the phone from her with a distracted "Danke", and listened to the other end of the line ."Ja, that is correct, I am her foster brother. Her mother? I don't know where she is now. Why, what is......................... NEIN! WHEN?? HOW???". "Kurt, what's wrong??". Wagner waved the two girls away, his grip on the phone tight enough to almost break it. "I will be there as soon as possible". He put the phone down, his face contorted with grief. "Kurt, what's wrong, what's happened?". He turned to face them, tears trickling from his pain-filled eyes. "Last night, somebody entered the hospital and switched off Amanda's life-support machine". Kitty and Rahne gasped in horror. They all knew who had done it.

Black Air.

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

That left Kurt, Kitty, Rahne and Douglock. They tried to find the other, past members - Feron, K'ylun, Micromax and the rest - but failed. No trace could be found of them. It was as if they had disappeared from the surface of the earth. And Black Air had rebuilt much of their strength. When the attack hit Muir Island, the four members of Excalibur left fought as hard as they could. But the heavily-armed storm troopers massively outnumbered the defenders, and knew their strengths and weaknesses. Moira died, and Rahne was killed attacking her murderers. Kitty killed as many as she could, now not holding back her rage and fury, breaking necks and spines, phasing out hearts and lungs and brains, but was gassed into unconsciousness, and taken prisoner. Kurt fought with his swords, killing those threatening the young woman he saw as a sister, those who had killed his long-time love, his friends. The fun-loving swashbuckler became a vengeful fury, a killing machine. So they killed him, shot down from behind. Douglock they overcame with a logic virus specially created for the task. Lockheed alone escaped, fleeing when all was lost, heartbroken to abandon his Kitty, even if no good would have come of his continuing to fight. And then Black Air looted Muir Island of everything they could take.

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

"Load them onto the transport. The machine-boy we'll keep on ice. High-ups have plans for him. The girl, well, by the time Threadgold and the others are through with her, she'll think that Wagner and Sinclair were the lucky ones". The troopers did their job with swift, ruthless efficiency. The bombs destroyed what was left, leaving no evidence of who was responsible.

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

Douglock became the operating system for Black Air's takeover plans. Kitty was handed over to Threadgold to be broken for Black Air's future use, as K'ylun and Micromax had been. Feron had simply been eliminated. Moira's research was to be the basis of future bio-weapons aimed at destroying mutants.

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

Brian's visions of 'Days of Future Present' were coming true. And there was no-one left to stop them.

FIN