issue summaries

Excalibur The Sword is Drawn Writer: Chris Claremont Penciler: Alan Davis Inkers: Paul Neary and Mark Farmer Colorist: Glynis Oliver Letterer: Tom Orzechowski Assistant Editor: Terry Kavanagh Editor: Ann Nocenti Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco Date: April 1988

Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde) tosses and turns while sleeping, having an strange dream about being an actress in a movie about the X-Men. The X-Men had recently been reported to have been killed. At first, Kitty thinks it's real, but soon realizes it's a nightmare. As the X-Men all go off as the director (Professor Xavier) calls "Action!", Storm tells Kitty that she is going to be left behind.

Kitty laments having such a horrible dream, and Rachel Summers appears to her. She says that sometimes dreams are windows to other realities. Kitty doesn't understand. It feels so real, but it has to be only a dream. The director shouts at Rachel that she isn't in this production. She had her chance, but she blew it when she ran out on her teammates. As she rises in a Phoenix Firebird, Rachel says that was her mistake, but now she wants to make amends. The director tells her no one leaves without permission as the X-Men chain her.

Kitty shouts that it should be Rachel's choice if she stays. She reaches out to her and phases her out of her chains. The firebird erupts into the air and Rachel says she will be seeing Kitty maybe sooner than she thinks.

The director yells at Kitty. The "X-Men" transform into warwolves and attack her. Kitty wakes up, yelling at the warwolves not to bite her. She phases outside, and sees she is still on Muir Island. But on the horizon, she sees the Phoenix Effect.

Kitty isn't sure what to think. Was it a dream? Or a harbinger of something else? She feels bad about not having thought about Rachel in a long time. She goes back inside and finds Lockheed. She tries to pet him, but her hand goes right through him. Kitty now has to concentrate with all her might to become solid.

She returns to her room and finds the pictures she was holding when she fell asleep - a teamshot of the X-Men that includes Rachel and one of her and Professor Xavier when she first joined the team. She starts crying.

In the Celtic Sea off the coast of England, the shapeshifter Meggan swims with dolphins. She flies up to a lighthouse to see her boyfriend, Brian Braddock (Captain Britain). She finds his place a ransacked mess and a report on the television about the death of the X-Men, including Brian's twin sister, Betsy (Psylocke).

Meggan finds Brian downstairs, completely drunk, and upset that even though he calls himself a superhero, he couldn't save his own sister. She tries to console him, but he yells at her and tells her he wants to be left alone.

Meggan decides to do something to help Brian and flies off.

In the Muir Island equivalent of the Danger Room, a swashbuckling Nightcrawler faces numerous robotic opponents with swords. Instinctively, he tries to teleport, but it is severely painful for him. He tries to reach the control panel to stop the sequence, but Kitty phases through the wall and short circuits it. The robots all crash to the ground.

She yells at Kurt for doing a full combat exercises so soon after he was released from the hospital. He replies that he wanted to know if he has lost his edge. She wonders if he is trying to get himself killed because he wishes he had died with the rest of the X-Men.

They go outside and Kurt explains what he's been going through, waking up from a coma and realizing that his teammates are dead. He begins to tell her about a strange dream he had, and Kitty realizes they had the same dream. They wonder what it might mean.

As they go back inside, Kitty speculates that as a telepath, Ray could have been trying to send them some sort of message. She wonders if they should do something about it, but Kurt points out there is only two of them and they're crippled.

There is a knock at the door, and a strange alien creature called Gatecrasher barges in, along with her small crony Yap, want to speak to the mistress of the house.

Kitty tells them that Moira is gone and offers to take a message.

Just then, Meggan flies in and cheerfully greets Kitty. Kitty explains to Kurt that Meggan is Captain Britain's girlfriend and Kurt asks who Captain Britain is.

Meggan recognizes Gatecrasher and tells them to leave Captain Britain alone. Gatecrasher insists that they have in interest in him. Kitty asks why they are there, and Meggan says she is there to talk to Kitty. Gatecrasher says that Kitty was referring to her. She holds out a crystal that contains a video message from Saturnyne, Omniversal Majestrix. Gatecrasher's Technet are her authorized agents responsible for apprehending a threat to reality - Rachel.

Kitty asks why they want Rachel, but Saturnyne never told the Technet. Kitty says Rachel is still an X-Man and they won't take her anywhere.

Kitty, Kurt and Meggan find themselves surrounded by all of the Technet. Bodybag takes out Kitty and Meggan and swallows them. Kurt teleports away to safety.

In Mojoworld, a chained Rachel is falling and crashes into a film set. She thinks to herself that maybe she didn't escape after all. The various characters on the set grab hold of her chains so she can't try to escape again. They are then attacked by warwolves that Mojo sent after Rachel. They are immune to her telekinesis, but she can use her T.K. on all the objects in the room against them.

During the fight, one of the warwolves smashes a hole in the wall. Rachel is able to climb through and finds herself on a London street. She wonders if this is just another soundstage. The warwolves chase after her and she runs down into the London Underground and gets on board a train. The warwolves continue to chase after her, smashing their way into the train.

Rachel goes into a full Phoenix firebird and tells them that she is free now and no one is ever going to cage her again.

Yap tells Gatecrasher that he senses the Starchilde (Rachel).

Kurt arrives at Captain Britain's lighthouse to find him completely drunk. He tosses him outside into the ocean to sober up. Shocked, Brian flies back inside. Kurt tells him he needs his help and relays the story of what happened with the Technet. He can't take on the Technet alone. But Brian is indifferent, doubting that they can do anything. Kurt walks out, apologizing for bothering him.

Rachel walks down a London street, wondering what to do next. She ran out on the X-Men when they needed her, but they are her family and she doesn't have anywhere else to go.

She looks into the window of a shop that has fantasy swords, including one called Excalibur. She sees the reflection of the Technet standing behind her. Before she can react, Bodybag swallows her.

But the warwolves have also found Rachel and attack the Technet.

Nightcrawler has also tracked Rachel with a portal Cerebro sensor he brought from Muir Island. He's able to use a warwolf to rip open Bodybag, freeing Kitty, Rachel and Meggan. Kitty and Meggan remain unconscious, and Rachel is groggy, but wake. Kurt calls out for her to help him against a warwolf, but she tells him that her powers are useless against them.

Captain Britain arrives to help, but is immediately sent crashing throw a window. Kitty, Meggan and Rachel are all attacked by members of the Technet. Finally, the tide turns when Kurt sends a warwolf into the Technet member holding Rachel in energy rings. Rachel is able to free Kitty. Kurt and Kitty go after Gatecrasher. Defeated, the Technet teleport out and the warwolves flee.

Looking at the ruins of the fantasy store and the Excalibur sword in the window, Rachel says you can always tells where the X-Men have been by the wreckage.

Kitty asks if it really is Rachel. Kurt tells her they thought she was dead. She reminds them that she's Phoenix and if she dies, she's only reborn better and brighter than before. They all hug.

The five of them gather later in the Highlands of Scotland around a fire, sharing memories of the X-Men. Rachel explains that her memories are all scrambled and she doesn't know which ones are true. But that doesn't matter. She knows who she is and who she cares for.

Brian says it is getting late and he and Meggan should be going home. Rachel asks if that's it and they're all going their separate ways? What about Xavier's dream of a world where everyone - mutant and human - can live together in peace. Just because the X-Men are dead, should they just give up?

Kurt asks if she is suggesting that they take the X-Men's place. But she replies that no one can do that. She tells them the story of King Arthur and how his sword, Excalibur, kept alive his dream. The X-Men offered their lives for Xavier's dream. Should they just snuff it out? Rachel tells them she's tired of running and she wants to take a stand. Kurt says he will stand beside Rachel.

Meggan thinks Rachel's life sounds a like hers, and she doesn't want anyone else to have to go through the horrors she has. She likes this dream and asks if Brian will fight for it as well. Kurt asks Kitty what about her. Both Kitty and Brian agree and they official form Excalibur.