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Quote1 The X-Men thought enough of Professor Xavier's dream to offer up their lives. Is it so much to ask that we fight to preserve it? The sword, Excalibur, represented hope. It was light in the darkness of fear and ignorance and hate. Do we want-- Have we the right-- to snuff it out? Quote2
Phoenix[src]

Excalibur is a government-sponsored team of extraordinary individuals with special abilities. They fight for the people of the United Kingdom and their interests around the globe. Frequently counting with Captain Britain among their ranks, the team is usually formed by British heroes and former members of the X-Men. It was originally assembled with hopes to carry on Charles Xavier's dream and legacy following the apparent death of the X-Men.[4] Excalibur usually experiences interdimensional adventures and deals with magical crises normally linked to Otherworld.[5][6][7] Excalibur was reformed under Apocalypse's machinations as a mutant diplomatic organization operating in Krakoa, in the United Kingdom and in Otherworld.[8]

History

The Sword is Drawn[]

The supposed deaths of the X-Men during a war against the Adversary had a devastating repercussion in the lives of their friends, family and allies. The former X-Men Shadowcat and Nightcrawler, who were under the care of Moira MacTaggert on Muir Island due to injuries sustained during the Morlock massacre, were devastated by the incident, much alike Captain Britain, brother to the X-Man Psylocke, and his girlfriend Meggan. Meggan approached Shadowcat and Nightcrawler for assistance in helping Captain Britain, who, in grief, had succumbed to alcoholism. They were interrupted by the bounty-hunters of Technet, led by Gatecrasher and sent by Majestrix Saturnyne. Saturnyne targetted the former X-Man Phoenix, a cosmic-level threat to reality but dear friend to Shadowcat and Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler managed to escape Technet in a confrontation. At the time, Phoenix had escaped from the insane Mojoworld and found herself back on Earth in London, England, where she was pursued by Mojo's Warwolves. Even with the Warwolves' interference, Technet had the advantage, capturing Shadowcat, Meggan and Phoenix, prompting Nightcrawler and Captain Britain to team up to help them. Despite this setback, both groups of attackers were subdued; Technet teleported away and the Warwolves escaped to the sewers of London. The five superheroes decided to form a new team to continue the legacy of the X-Men. Phoenix named the team Excalibur after the magical sword of King Arthur and Captain Britain provided them headquarters in his Lighthouse.[4]

Excalibur (Earth-616) from Excalibur Special Edition Vol 1 1 0001

Excalibur is Drawn

Counting with sporadical support from the grumpy police Commander Dai Thomas in their mission, Excalibur found imperative to stop the Warwolves, who caused mayhem in London. Shadowcat masqueraded as Phoenix to ambush them, leading Excalibur to apprehend them and send them to the London Zoo.[9] Next, they tended to a prison break in the Crossmoor Prison, during which inmate Juggernaut crushed the team before being put down by Phoenix.[10] Next, the team's banker and Captain Britain's old flame Courtney Ross was kidnapped to the Murderworld by the sadistic Arcade, who wished to pester Captain Britain. Arcade had employed the Crazy Gang for his schemes and the dysfunctional mercenaries were able to change bodies with many members of the Excalibur. In the end, Ross and Shadowcat teamed up to help the team. Although Arcade was arrested, Ross met her final fate regardless since she was coldly murdered and replaced by her alternative reality doppelgänger, Sat-Yr-Nin.[11]

When Phoenix was dragged to New York City by sensing baby brother was in danger, Excalibur found themselves among the demonic Inferno that Madelyne Pryor, the Goblin Queen, had cast. Meggan was extremely susceptible to the vile atmosphere and immediately surrendered to N'astirh, becoming the Goblin Princess. Among much torment, Shadowcat exorcized Meggan using Magik's inherited Soulsword. Meanwhile, Phoenix managed to escape. The demonic invasion was over, but Excalibur had wounds to tend to, especially Captain Britain's and Meggan's unstable powers.[12]

Cross-Time Caper[]

Moira MacTaggert and her bodyguard Callisto were replaced by alternate versions of themselves from a world where the Nazi party had control over Britain. W.H.O.'s Brigadier Sandy Stuart and her scientist brother Professor Alistaire Stuart investigated the weird interdimensional incursions and had the interlopers under custody, contacting Excalibur for help. Meanwhile, that alternate reality's version of Excalibur, the Lightning Force, came to assess the situation as well and harmed Shadowcat's pet alien dragon Lockheed in the Lighthouse. After a fight, Shadowcat and Alistaire Stuart met the source of the incursions, the robotic sentient portal Widget, and studied way to revert the situation.[13]

During the research, Shadowcat was contacted by the X-Babies, child versions of the X-Men from Mojoworld, who were at the time resisting Mojo's cruel games. Counting with Excalibur's help, Shadowcat helped Ricochet Rita help the X-Babies.[14] After that, Excalibur was able to return the invaders back to their twisted Nazi Earth. They kept their Train, which was fueled by an enslaved other-dimensional dragon. However, the alternate Moira betrayed them just before returning, bombing the train.[15] As a consequence, the locomotive took Excalibur and Professor Stuart to travel between parallel dimensions.[16]

Their first stop was a fairy-tale world, where they helped the vibrant prince William in his quest to ascend to the throne. There, Captain Britain was gifted a new uniform, which stabilized his powers, while Shadowcat was forced into becoming William's consort princess by the Queen Mother. However, a young alternate version of Shadowcat attacked the throne for she had been in love with William. The immature girl was confronted, leading to Shadowcat's being released and William taking her hand in marriage.[17] With the train repaired and Widget powered up, the group found themselves briefly transported in a chaotic Earth, which had been rebuilt by the Impossible Man after Galactus had consumed it;[18] this was followed by numerous adventures across different Earths in a cross-time caper.[19]

Next, the train wrecked in a world out of science fiction, where the usurper Anjulie ruled with an iron fist the realm which was the birthright of princess turned pirate Kymri. With Excalibur subdued, Nightcrawler faced the challenge of liberating the world from Anjulie. With Phoenix's powers and Meggan's touch, the ruined Earth was restored.[20] In another Earth, ruled by the Global Grand Prix, Excalibur teamed up with the Dirty Angels to combat an alternate version of Captain Britain's eldest brother, Jamie.[21] Unbeknownst to Excalibur, Sat-Yr-Nin had got hold the insanely mad mainstream Jamie, who counted with reality-altering powers at quantum levels. Shadowcat was able to return to her home reality to stop the influence of the mainstream Jamie, while Meggan used the powers of the X-Men to defeat his alternate. In the end, Excalibur won, but Shadowcat was left home separated from her teammates.[22] Sat-Yr-9 took this opportunity to approach and manipulate Shadowcat.[23][24][25]

Excalibur arrived at a world ruled by imperial forces. The X-Men of the British Empire had Crusader X investigate the incursion of a train similar to those Excalibur had witnessed. He arrested Nightcrawler, believing him to be a Prussian spy. Meanwhile, Phoenix unsuccessfully attempted to save Jean Grey from being corrupted by the Shadow King. After freeing Nightcrawler, Excalibur helped Phoenix knock out the Shadow King's Iron Man.[26] Attracted by an alternate Shadowcat, Excalibur found themselves trapped in an Earth characterized by a polluted environment and a brutal totalitarian regime of justice. They were subdued by the ruthless enforcer Justicer Bull, but managed to earn respect by defeating the malevolent Darkchilde.[27]

Eventually, their interdimensional adventure was interrupted by Majestrix Saturnyne, who accused them of disturbing the space-time continuum. Excalibur hid Phoenix from Saturnyne by having her impersonate Shadowcat. In the Captain Britain Corps' Hub, Excalibur resisted the Corpsmen. Saturnyne fixed Widget's circuitry so it could lead Excalibur home and let them go by pretending she had not seen through Phoenix's silly ruse.[24] Back to their Lighthouse, Excalibur was shocked to witness the presence of the world-eater Galactus. Threatened by the power levels of Phoenix, Galactus had decided to scatter her energies in outer space. After a world-threatening battle against Galactus, Phoenix decided to surrender and sacrifice herself. Death itself showed Galactus that Phoenix played a role for the balance of the cosmos and he ultimately chose to spare her.[28]

Possessed by the devilish energies of the Darkhold tome, Meggan succumbed to madness and attacked her teammates. Thanks to Doctor Strange, she was exorcized.[29] When Nightcrawler finally considered the possibility of Shadowcat not being lost in an alternate Earth, he was unfortunately brainwashed along the rest of Excalibur by Mesmero, who had been facing problems with the government[30] and had been blackmailed by the Fenris Twins. Mesmero had Excalibur fight the Fenris, and the incident caught Shadowcat's attention. Lockheed broke Mesmero's influence, and Excalibur was freed, defeated the villains and finally had Shadowcat bank to their ranks.[31]

Reunion[]

When Earth mysteriously merged with that which was home of Lightning Force, Phoenix experienced immense distress with no counterpart to merge with. Excalibur resisted the merge and saw their reality becoming a Nazi-ruled society of oppression. They opposed the Fürher's lieutenants of terror Herr Xavier and the Red Skull, who attempted to rejuvenate Hitler. Phoenix led Xavier to madness and that separated the two worlds once again, restoring reality.[32]

Excalibur assessed rising tensions concerning the Darkmoor Research Centre, involved with allegations of illegal experiments. Silver Sable's Outlaws intervened, claiming their wishes to reacquire Symkarian technology. The two teams learned that one of Arnim Zola's robotic creations used Darkmoor to conduct vile cloning experiments.[33]

Soon after, Doctor Doom approached Shadowcat, wishing for the Soulsword to use the substance Promethium from Limbo to provide the world with renewable energy. Excalibur complied to help him, but they were betrayed. Doctor Doom ascended as the rule of Limbo. The Lady of the Lake summoned the West Coast Avengers to defeat Doctor Doom's plans of commanding an army of demons. With Darkoth's help, Doom was defeated before he could cause the collapse of Limbo.[34] However, Lockheed was left severely wounded by Doom's attack. The X-Men and X-Factor arrived at the hospital he had been treated. Soon, Dai Thomas led Excalibur to realize the friends they used to believe to be dead were in fact the Warwolves, who had escaped the zoo and targetted Phoenix again. After defeating the Warwolves, the Excalibur finally decided to keep in touch with the X-Men.[35]

Necrom[]

Gatecrash envisioned a plan to punish Excalibur for having ruined her mission on Earth of capturing Phoenix by creating the self-detonating Hard-Boiled Henry to explode Excalibur's Lighthouse. Technet attempted to capture them, but Saturnyne's agents interrupted the battle to analyze Widget and announce Technet's permanent exile on Earth. A desperate Gatecrashed vanished, leaving Technet with Excalibur to rebuild the ruins of the Lighthouse.[36] Their presence proved to be disruptive, especially for Captain Britain, who got angry with their nonsensical habits. This escalated to a burst of rage, causing Captain Britain to brutally injure Nightcrawler due to jealousy over his connection to Meggan. Meggan left in distress, being followed by Phoenix. Meanwhile, Captain Britain was put on trial by the Captain Britain Corps for misconduct.[37]

Phoenix and Meggan went on a self-discovery journey for both of them. Captain Britain was sentenced in Otherworld for not recognizing his superiors' authority, but protected by Omniversal Guardian Roma. Shadowcat studied strange cases with Professor Stuart and W.H.O.. With no Excalibur around, Nightcrawler had Technet to assist Commander Dai Thomas deal with crises concerning an invisible thief who had been collecting mystic artifacts. In his activities, Nightcrawler clashed with government's agent Micromax.[38] The thief was revealed to be Necrom, a dread lord who had ruined Ee'rath. The greatest champion of Ee'rath Kylun followed Necrom to Earth through Excalibur's Lighthouse. Kylun was, in fact, mutant who had been transported to Ee'rath by Widget as a child.[39] Moreover, another invader happened upon the Lighthouse by accident: the alien warrior Cerise of the Ghrand Jahr. Technet Earth left with their former leader, Wardog, after knowing about its imminent destruction. After having learned Roma had schemed for the creation of Excalibur, Captain Britain returned home simultaneous to Phoenix and Meggan. Kylun then shared the urgent need of tackling Necrom.[40]

Shadowcat summoned Excalibur after W.H.O. found a strange chamber underground with something living inside it. It was the Anti-Phoenix and it was accidentally released by Excalibur. Excalibur was then joined by Feron and the monks who had raised him to be Phoenix's host, as they had awaited for the rise of the Anti-Phoenix. The vampiric Necrom was able to absorb the Anti-Phoenix to empower himself. Meanwhile, back to their Lighthouse, Excalibur found Widget totally rebuilt, but apparently dormant.[41] Necrom caused a compression of multiple realities, with the Lighthouse being the nexus of it, wishing for the Phoenix Force.[42] Necrom wished to use the Phoenix Force to seize the power matrix from Otherworld, channelled through the Lighthouse, to empower himself as a god. Excalibur and Phoenix fought him. Necrom attempted to siphon the Phoenix, but the access to an unlimited source of power burned him out to death. With Necrom dead, a pretty much alive Merlyn revealed himself as the mastermind behind many events surrounding Excalibur. Before Merlyn could accomplish Necrom's plan himself, his daughter Roma asked Meggan to destroy the Lighthouse across the Multiverse, severing the stability of the matrix, which faded away. Established at Braddock Manor, Excalibur finally were free, no longer being anyone's pawns.[43]

Dark Truths[]

A comatose Phoenix was examined by Professor Xavier and his X-Men. After her connection with the Phoenix Force was explained, she departed to space.[44] Meanwhile, in an investigation carried out by Dai Thomas, Excalibur found the Crazy Gang in a Wonderland pocket realm created by Technet's missing member Joyboy and the Red Queen, which had been populated by ordinary townspeople who lived nearby. Deciding to leave the Crazy Gang in peace, Excalibur peacefully lost one of their opponents.[45]

When Excalibur threw a party for their friends and allies at the Braddock Manor, one of the invitees was Sat-Yr-9, who still impersonated Courtney Ross. Sat-Yr-9 had Jamie Braddock secretly gate-crash the celebration, which caused the death of Sandy Stuart. This caught Excalibur by surprise, and Jamie easily defeated all of those present. Sat-Yr-9 then revealed her true identity.[46] For being immune to Jamie's reality-shaping powers, Meggan gave Excalibur some advantage in the fight, and Psylocke telepathically defeated Jamie. A disappointed Shadowcat knock Sat-Yr-9 out, but the villain was able to furtively escape.[47]

Excalibur searched for clues about Sat-Yr-9's criminal empire and ran into incidents related to the mutant transmuter Tom Jones. Jones and his mother had been captured by Trolls, and he was forced to create gold for the monsters. The X-Men were contacted by Jones and teamed up with Excalibur to help him.[48] Nightcrawler pretended to be one of the Trolls to sabotage their plans. In the end, Jones was saved and the Trolls who were innocent were relocated to the Crazy Gang's Wonderland.[49]

Some allies of Excalibur, including Professor Stuart and Micromax, were secretly kidnapped by Warpies, orphaned children who had been morphed by Jaspers Warp.[50] Nightcrawler, Shadowcat and Cerise were captured under Agent Peter's orders. Since all of them were foreigners to the United Kingdom, Agent Peter used his powers as a federal agent to restrict them and officially dissolute Excalibur.[51] In the base of Cloud Nine, Agent Peter argued the Warpies suffered from genetic destabilization and needed treatment, with Excalibur being forced to help in finding a solution. Meanwhile, Kylun, Captain Britain and Meggan were also taken into custody.[52] In fact, Agent Peter wished to control superhumans in Britain. He had a shapeshifting Warpie impersonate Shadowcat to convince Nightcrawler of his ideals and pretended to have Meggan on stasis to ensure Captain Britain's compliance.[53] In the end, Captain Britain overcame his machinations, and Nightcrawler was able to rescue his teammates and lead a riot against Agent Peter, foiling his plans.[54]

Days of Future Yet to Come[]

During the incident in Cloud Nine, Phoenix returned to Excalibur. She claimed she was decided to down the mutant-hating rule that prevailed in the dystopic future she came from.[54] Widget was revealed to have been conceived in Phoenix's futuristic reality from future Shadowcat's consciousness. She had erratically travelled from the future to the present and was used by the vicious Ahab, who had enslaved Phoenix in the past, to recapture her with Sentinels. Ultimately, Phoenix and Widget were arrested by Ahab. Excalibur was drafted into the future during the ordeal and teamed up with the R.C.X. resistance to save them.[55]

Ahab wished to extend Sentinel oppression against mutants to other realities after realizing that Phoenix had been able to travel between dimensions. Excalibur seized control of a Sentinel unit to infiltrate Ahab's base and rescue Phoenix and Widget, who in turn reprogrammed the Sentinels to protect all life instead of exterminating mutants. As such, Ahab was stopped by his own machines, but managed to escape. In the end, Phoenix returned with Excalibur to the present.[56] Tragically, Captain Britain did not make it to the present, getting lost in between the timelines. Meggan was left in catatonic state due to Captain Britain's disappearance. Feron was dragged into her crisis and went missing by tapping into her elemental powers.[57]

When mourning the loss of Captain Britain, Excalibur was attacked by the Starjammers, who accused Cerise of being a dangerous criminal and put her under arrest. Her teammates secretly followed her to the prison-planet Krag in the Shi'ar Galaxy.[57] The team learned she had been forced to be a conqueror for a rogue mission of the Shi'ar Empire. Ultimately, she chose to stay with Empress Lilandra to compensate for her former crimes much to Nightcrawler's disappointment.[58] After that, Kylun and Micromax left the team to tend to personal matters.[59]

Shadowcat, Nightcrawler and Phoenix went to the Muir Island to protect Dr. Moira MacTaggert when Magneto threatened the world with his powers. Professor X then took the opportunity to have Shadowcat trick the defective X-Man Colossus into leaving Magneto's Acolytes and go to Muir Isle for therapy. Colossus still decided to remain with the Acolytes, however. Nightcrawler then re-established Excalibur on the Muir Isle, where they would assist Moira in her mission of finding a cure for the Legacy Virus.[59] The isle was subsequently attacked by the Upstart Siena Blaze[60] who wished to collect data on Proteus' genome. After being attacked, Siena Blaze teleported away. During her attack, Moira's new research partner Dr. Rory Campbell was washed up on the Muir Isle shores.[61]

At the Braddock Manor, Meggan was found in extreme distress.[62] Nightcrawler contacted his foster sister and lover, the sorceress Amanda Sefton, to analyze Meggan's condition. Meanwhile, Meggan noticed that Captain Britain had been attempting to return to the present through Phoenix. Since he would replace her existence, Phoenix ignored his interactions. Sefton cast a spell to retrieve Captain Britain. Phoenix ultimately decided to sacrifice herself and exchange places with him to give him an opportunity to live. However, he returned drastically changed, adopting the new alias of the unstable Britannic.[63]

Winding Ways[]

Sefton asked Nightcrawler for help in helping their adoptive mother, Margali Szardos, who had been blackmailed by D'Spayre into causing madness in Germany to empower himself. The horrifying villain was ultimately defeated.[64] Simultaneously, Britannic was summoned to America, bringing Meggan and Shadowcat with him for an undisclosed mission. They crossed paths with a technarchy version of Doug Ramsey, a late friend of Shadowcat, who had been revived by the Phalanx as Douglock. In fact, Britannic was attracted by Ramsey's ally, the robot Zero, who was being hunted by drones created by his former master Stryfe and had data about the Legacy Virus.[65] Zero ultimately sacrificed himself to give Excalibur an opportunity to escape Stryfe's terminal base. Before being destroyed in a self-destructing explosion, he shared his files with Douglock, who accompanied Excalibur. Meanwhile, Moira revealed to have been infected with the Legacy Virus.[66]

When the Phalanx started their conquest plans and captured the X-Men, Xavier summoned X-Factor, X-Force and Excalibur to the Acolytes' former monastery in France for help. Douglock was restrained in a dungeon due to his former association with the Phalanx, however his former New Mutants teammates Wolfsbane from X-Factor and Cannonball from X-Force found him. Douglock recruited them alongside the inventor Forge[67] to infiltrate and sabotage the Phalanx's Babel Spire in the Alps, which would summon the Technarchy to Earth.[68] The teams fought Shinar and, in the end, the Phalanx were destroyed.[69]

Margali Szardos alerted Amanda Sefton that a sorcerer named Gravemoss would attempt to take Magik's Soulsword and seize control of Limbo. Shadowcat was corrupted by the Soulsword while Nightcrawler was possessed by Gravemoss.[70] Shadowcat was subdued and fell onto a coma, while Gravemoss was able to incapacitate all of Excalibur. The Soulsword also caught the attention of Shrill, who approached Shadowcat.[71] When "Nightcrawler" interrupted them, Shrill revealed his true identity. Shadowcat was able to overpower him and exorcise his spirit from Nightcrawler. The Soulsword was given to Sefton, who gifted it to Margali Szardos. Tragically, that had been Margali's plan all along.[72]

Scicluna, an agent of Black Air, the organization that had replaced W.H.O., contacted Excalibur for help in calming down the political turmoil in Genosha concerning mutants and humans. The mutant agent Pete Wisdom accompanied the group in their mission.[73] Their aircraft was bombed by hostile rebels in Genosha. In their investigation, they learned a dark secret surrounded the process which turned mutants into enslaved mutates in Genosha. However, before they could uncover the truth, the Sugar Man destroyed any incriminating evidence.[74]

After taking a leave of abscence from X-Factor, Wolfsbane joined her adoptive mother Moira and Excalibur on the Muir Island.[75] With the team enjoying a night out,[76] Colossus arrived at the isle unannounced. He brutally attacked Wisdom for being jealous of the blooming relationship between the ex-Black Air agent and Shadowcat. Although Colossus was initially restrained due to his rampage, Nightcrawler offered him a position in the team to help him recover from his recent traumas.[77]

Professor Stuart informed Excalibur that Black Air represented a danger, raising suspicions. Simultaneously, the Black King of the Hellfire Club Shinobi Shaw contacted the former Captain Britain about the London branch of the club being involved in dark schemes, including the new membership of the deadly Mountjoy.[78] During their investigation, they learned both conspiracies were connected to each other with Black Air supporting the Hellfire Club's plans of political domination. Since Excalibur represented a nuisance, they were targeted. While the former Captain Britain investigated the Hellfire Club by joining them, Black Air's first target was Douglock, who got kidnapped.[79] Excalibur retaliated and unleashed their rage upon Black Air by destroying one of their bases. Although they failed in locating Douglock, Excalibur learned that Wisdom's former co-worker Scratch was behind the kidnapping.[80]

Meanwhile, the former Captain Britain was informed by the Hellfire Club's Scribe that a demonic creature was soon to be summoned to the streets of London under the Red Queen's command. In fact, the Red Queen was Margali Szardos, who used Douglock's systems to perform the spell that cast the demon and tap into its powers.[81] With London under direct threat, Captain Britain decided to resume his role as the champion of the United Kingdom. He learned that Scribe was in fact Mountjoy and combatted him and the Black Queen. At the Black Air building, Excalibur tried to stop the source of the dangerous incident, with Nightcrawler sword-fighting the Red King and Wisdom getting revenge at Scratch. Captain Britain knocked Mountjoy our, Nightcrawler bested the Red King, Lockheed finished Scratch, and Shadowcat restored Douglock. In the end, Margali Szardos was a victim of her own reckless ritual,[82] being captured by Belasco as her demon was banished.[83] Excalibur was then celebrated by the British people as heroes for saving London from the corrupted Black Air and the Hellfire Club.[82][84]

Some Dreams Never Die[]

Back to the Muir Island, Excalibur tragically learned that Charles Xavier had descended into madness and villainy as the entity named Onslaught. Moira decided not to intervene in the war against Onslaught in order to protect Excalibur of being killed and leaving the world unprotected.[85] She was proven right since the Avengers and the Fantastic Four perished in battle. Although antimutant sentiment rose in the United States due to this incident, Excalibur was still revered in the United Kingdom for heir heroic actions.[84] During the crisis concerning Onslaught, Moira learned Xavier had protocols designed to combat his own X-Men.[85] The terrorist Mutant Liberation Front invaded the Muir Island to have access to the files. However, Moira was able to entrap them, forcing a retreat.[86]

Due to raising tensions concerning the Onslaught incident, Captain Britain chose to retire from superheroic duty. He took the opportunity to propose to Meggan. They were interrupted by Spiral and the Dragons of the Crimson Dawn. The Dragons kidnapped Captain Britain to use his powers to bring the Realm of the Crimson Dawn to dominate Earth.[87] Meggan and Spiral contacted Excalibur for help, forging an uneasy alliance with the time dancer.[88] In Hong Kong, Excalibur rescued Captain Britain, but the Dragons' ritual depowered him. He decided to leave the group and focus on his life as a civillian.[89]

Stranded on Hong Kong, Excalibur asked Roderick Campbell to help them with transport. Campbell was revealed to be working with Sebastian Shaw, the former Black King of the Hellfire Club, which raised suspicions from Nightcrawler and Wisdom. Simultaneously, Shadowcat's former mentor and enemy Ogun took the opportunity to possess her and attack Excalibur. Wisdom threatened to kill Ogun even if that meant finishing Shadowcat's life, prompting the villain to vanish. In the end, Campbell arranged flights for them and Excalibur disassembled: Shadowcat and Wolfsbane returned to Moira and Douglock on the Muir Island, Nightcrawler and Wisdom went to Germany to look for Amanda Sefton and Meggan and Colossus travelled to Paris.[89]

Separated, Excalibur ran into many incidents. Lockheed disappeared, being tormented by Bamfs. Shadowcat looked for him and they briefly joined S.H.I.E.L.D. for a mission. Colossus and Meggan clashed with the High Evolutionary and Arcade. Wisdom had to confront his murderous ex, Sari St. Hubbins, in a fight that caused Nightcrawler to go missing. Moira decided to put herself under permanent quarantine in her laboratory to focus solely on curing the Legacy Virus, and Wolfsbane chose to accompany her.[90][91] Douglock eventually ended the quarantine against their will.[92] Nightcrawler had been captured and tortured by mutant Sidri, who blamed him for their condition. Excalibur was able to track him to Venice, where he was rescued. The Sidri departed after Douglock helped them restore their connection to their collective. Shadowcat and Lockheed returned to the Muir Island.[93]

Excalibur was reassembled and had to deal with the extradimensional infestation of Bamfs on Muir Island, who went from tormenting Lockheed to targeting the whole team. Their master was the dark oneiric entity named Nightmare. The group had to fight their own inner demons in the form of terrifying dreams. Wisdom was able to overcome his issues to weaken Nightmare, leading to the team getting freed.[94] However, this led Wisdom to question his relationship with Shadowcat, who seemed to be better without him. No longer seeing himself with her or the team, he departed.[92]

Mossad mutant agent Sabra recruited Excalibur to investigate problems concerning Professor Xavier's son, the omnipotent Legion. Meggan's empathic abilities were able to disperse Legion's erratic personalities who haunted Jerusalem.[95] In gratitude, Sabra provided Excalibur with information that could led them to a missing Charles Xavier, who had been apprehended by Bastion's Operation: Zero Tolerance. In Peru, the team found the power copycat Mimic instead, in custody of Prime Sentinels. The dangerously insane Mimic was subdued by Excalibur, ironically saving the Sentinels. Mimic was taken to the Muir Island for treatment.[96]

Simultaneously, Captain Britain returned to propose to Meggan.[96] During the preparations, the Crazy Gang invaded the Braddock Manor to cause a mess. They were led by Feron, who felt abandoned by the team. However, they were able to discuss the issue and make amends with him.[97] The wedding ceremony took place in Otherworld being celebrated by Roma and secretly watched by Merlyn. Following the wedding, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat and Colossus announced their intention of rejoining the X-Men[98] to recover Professor Xavier.[99]

New Excalibur[]

After saving Otherworld from the malfunctioning intelligence Mastermind, Captain Britain ascended to throne as the Omniversal Guardian, having Meggan at his side as his queen.[100] Additionally, Phoenix was able to return to the mainstream timeline[101] and eventually adopted the mantle of Marvel Girl as an X-Man.[102] Due to the distortion that enveloped Earth when the Scarlet Witch reshaped reality, Otherworld was severely hit. Captain Britain, Meggan, Psylocke and Marvel Girl found themselves in all-new existences, being part of the British Royal Family in a world where mutants were the dominant species. Together and teamed up with Juggernaut and Nocturne, they found an unstable dimensional rift threatened the fabric of reality. Meggan sacrificed her own life to seal the distortion prevent a catastrophe.[103]

The Scarlet Witch's façade reality was put down, but as a result the vast majority of the mutants in the world were depowered.[104] Moreover, Captain Britain had actually lost Meggan and his connection to Otherworld and realized that other people had no recollection of the crisis. In London, the X-Men Psylocke, Marvel Girl, Nightcrawler and Shadowcat put him in contact with Juggernaut and Nocturne, who had vague memories about what had transpired. The group was approached by Wisdom, now an agent of MI-13, about the apparent murder of the mutant performer Dazzler. Dazzler had been attacked by Shadow-X, a dark alternate version of the original X-Men. Their actual target was a contact of the Fraser's Bank, run by Courtney Ross.[105] Ross' associate, the former secretary of the Hellfire Club Sage joined the fight against Shadow-X. They kidnapped Nocturne for their master, Charles Xavier.[106] Wisdom knocked Shadow-X out and apprehended Xavier. He also decided to reform Excalibur after this incident, but Captain Britain refused to join them.[107]

Wishing to put his team together, Wisdom easily cleared Juggernaut's name for having caused damage to public property and being put on trial. The team was tackled by Warwolves, while Captain Britain was attacked by Lionheart, the former Captain Britain of the Avengers, who blamed him for having cursed her to be his champion and live apart from her children.[108] Lionheart worked alongside Albion, an equal to Captain Britain. With the two incidents intersecting with each other, Excalibur was complete with the addition of Captain Britain.[109]

In one of their first operations, Excalibur investigated a terrorist bombing performed by a depowered and mournful Scarlet Knight, during which Juggernaut's former ally Black Tom tormented the team under Scicluna's orders. She wished to restore Black Air to its former influence over MI-13. When Excalibur defeated Black Tom, Scicluna escaped with Black Air and the captive Shadow-X. Juggernaut then personally confronted Black Tom about his villainous ways.[110] The dark Xavier remained under custody and demanded to see Psylocke. He was revealed to be in fact a vessel for the Shadow King, who wished to punish Captain Britain as a revenge against Psylocke for having psychically locked him in the past. Captain Britain and Psylocke overcame a brainwashed Excalibur. She attacked the Shadow King, but vanished during the fight.[111] In fact, she had been summoned to join the multiversal Exiles.[112] The team then rescued a de-powered Chamber from Apocalypse's Clan Akkaba, which operated in the United Kingdom. Chamber refused to join them and Clan Akkaba vanished with no traces.[113]

Battle for Eternity[]

When the hero Black Knight was possessed by his ancestor, Captain Britain had Excalibur to approach his erratic ally.[114] The Black Knight from the past claimed that Camelot was under the threat of dragons in the medieval era. Excalibur journeyed to the past to help Camelot, where the Black Knight regained control over his body. Their first action was to protect Merlyn from being assassinated. King Arthur welcomed Excalibur to help them oppose the dragons.[115] Sage realized the dragons were Makluans and suggested Merlyn to combat them with the Formosan Herb. Camelot was safe for the moment and Excalibur returned to the present.[116]

The team struggled with an unstable leadership, since Wisdom and Captain Britain constantly clashed with each other about it. Meanwhile, Juggernaut faced problems with his powers and travelled to the Temple of Cyttorak to reconnect with the source of them.[1] Excalibur followed him, but the dysfunctional team had internal conflicts during the mission.[18] In the end, Juggernaut secured the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak in case he wished to totally repower himself as the destructive avatar of Cyttorak. Excalibur welcomed him back despite his violent past. Meanwhile, the Black Knight chose to depart, not fully integrating himself into the team.[117] Moreover, Nocturne suffered a stroke, with Excalibur helping her in a slow recovery.[118]

Albion and Lionheart joined forces with Scicluna and Shadow-X to destroy Captain Britain and Excalibur.[119] While Sage infiltrated Albion's army of Shadow-Captains as Britannia, Excalibur intercepted Shadow-X just after Lionheart had killed the Shadow King since he had planned to possess her.[120] Lionheart escaped and left Shadow-X at Excalibur's mercy. Meanwhile, Sage was corrupted by Albion when he trapped Great Britain with an anti-technology field.[121] Excalibur tended to the multiple crises regarding the shut-down of all technology in the country, forcing Shadow-X to assist them. Albion planned to conquer London with slaughter and met resistance in Excalibur. Shadow-X was exterminated by Albion's forces.[122] Unexpectedly, Lionheart turned against Albion due to his brutal ways against her nation and Sage recovered her own reason, which weakened Albion. Excalibur bested him in combat and ended his dark influence, restoring technology.[123]

After the war against Albion, Juggernaut succumbed to Cyttorak in order to fight the Hulk, who was attacking the X-Men, and permanently left the team.[124] In order to celebrate their victory, Excalibur threw a party. During the commemorations, they were visited by Psylocke and the Exiles. Tragically, Captain Britain was ambushed by the assassin Rouge-Mort and fatally wounded.[125] In the Exiles' Panoptichron, the two teams linked the attack to a crisis in Otherworld.[126] Through Merlyn's machinations, Jim Jaspers coordinated Furies to conquer Otherworld. Psylocke suggested Excalibur to recruit Albion to oppose them while the Exiles attacked Jaspers. Albion provided the necessary strike to allow Captain Britain to join the fight.[127] In the end, Captain Britain, Albion and the Exiles destroyed Jaspers. Roma was slain during the battle, Merlyn managed to escape and Albion was coronated as the new leader of the Captain Britain Corps. In the end, Excalibur was ultimately disbanded.[128] Captain Britain and Wisdom continued to fight for the United Kingdom with MI-13.[129]

Dawn of Excalibur[]

During the premature death of the multiverse due to the incursions, Otherworld and the Captain Britain Corps were obliterated. Saturnyne provided Captain Britain with enough power to resist.[130] The multiverse was ultimately rebuilt,[131] and Saturnyne tapped into the power of a Mapmaker to recraft Otherworld under her rule. As the Omniversal Majestrix of the Starlight Citadel, she organized Otherworld in courts.[132] In this setting, King Arthur was missing and Morgan Le Fay reigned over the court of Avalon.[133] On Earth, Professor Charles Xavier founded a nation in the mutant-environment of Krakoa.[134] All mutants were granted amnesty and citizenship in Krakoa, including the ancient warlord Apocalypse.[135] He made reuniting Krakoa with its lost half Arakko a priority, in order to meet his family.[136] As such, Apocalypse, renaming himself with the mutant name • --|A|-- •, tried to access Arakko through Otherworld. His attempted enraged Morgan. Wishing for a champion to break the portals to Otherworld, • --|A|-- • contacted Psylocke, who had recently rejected her name in favor of her successor. She contacted her brother Captain Britain and then marched to Avalon to assess the situation. With Captain Britain corrupted by Morgan as her knight, Betsy Braddock took the Amulet of Right to ascend as a mutant Captain Britain.[133]

On Krakoa, • --|A|-- • influenced the succubus Rogue to interact with the gateway to Otherworld in order to retrieve Captain Britain. They were watched by Rogue's husband Gambit and the explosive Jubilee. Rogue was trapped in a coma inside a coffin made of Krakoan vines, but her interaction with the gate allowed Captain Britain to return to Krakoa.[133] They transported Rogue to the site of the ruins of the old Braddock Lighthouse in hopes of reconnecting to Otherworld and rescue Brian Braddock, the corrupted Captain Britain. Rogue's coffin erected a new Lighthouse. There, they were attacked by Morgan's followers led by Marianna Stern and Reuben Brousseau of the Clan Akkaba, who reformed as the Coven Akkaba. • --|A|-- • defeated the interlopers and sent Captain Britain and her friends to Otherworld. In the process, Shogo, Jubilee's baby son, was transformed into a medieval dragon through the power of his imagination.[137] While Captain Britain briefly confronted Morgan's forces, • --|A|-- • recruited the earthquake-creator Rictor to help him craft his gateways in exchange of helping him control his powers.[138]

Simultaneously, Coven Akkaba influenced Pete Wisdom to look for Captain Britain in the Braddock Lighthouse under the British Crown's orders. Captain Britain discussed her new status as the United Kingdom's champion with the Queen, formalizing her team as a revival of Excalibur. As such, Excalibur became a diplomatic group of mutants who dealt with matters concerning the United Kingdom, Krakoa and Otherworld. Rictor and Gambit were sent by • --|A|-- • to retrieve special crystals made of ancient mutant bones from druids who lived underground to power the gateway to Otherworld.[8] However, Rictor wasted the power of the crystals to save Gambit during their theft. Meanwhile, Shogo's dragon-fire unexpectedly weakened the fabric of Otherworld, causing hordes of monsters to invade the United Kingdom. While Excalibur dealt with the invasion, Rogue woke up and assassinated • --|A|-- • to use his ancient bones to power up the gateway.[139]

Excalibur returned to Otherworld alongside a resurrected • --|A|-- • and Jamie Braddock. • --|A|-- • proposed to Morgan Le Fay a duel between his champion Betsy Braddock and her knight Brian Braddock. • --|A|-- •'s machinations led Brian Braddock to die in battle, leading to Jamie to be crowned as Monarch, the King of Avalon. Morgan was incarcerated and Brian was revived through Jamie's quantum powers. As a result, • --|A|-- • consolidated his power in Otherworld by having a court ruled by Krakoan mutants.[140]

X of Swords[]

To carry on his plans, • --|A|-- • assigned Excalibur to collect the skulls of Warwolves for his magical rituals. The Warwolves had been bought by the posh monster hunter Cullen Bloodstone, who was in coalition with Coven Akkaba. Excalibur had to agree to participate in a bizarre Warwolf hunt at Bloodstone's request. Excalibur refused to be part of his game and decided to gather the Warwolves by themselves, prompting Bloodstone to clash with them. Rogue knocked him out and the Warwolves were exterminated.[141]

• --|A|-- • was able to build a path to the Starlight Citadel using the Warwolves' skulls. Excalibur attempted to interact with Saturnyne, but she sent her White Priestesses to combat them. Jubilee unleashed her explosives upon them, getting separated from the team.[142] She was collected by the Green Priestesses, who did not answer directly to Saturnyne, and decided to stay with them to care for a wounded Shogo. Excalibur broke into the Citadel. Rictor built a gateway to link • --|A|-- • to the Citadel, while Captain Britain discussed the Corps' situation with Saturnyne.[143] On Krakoa, • --|A|-- • sacrificed some of the Externals with Rictor's help to activate the gate to Otherworld in the Eternal Caldera. Candra, one of the Externals, resisted being killed, since her soul was linked to a heart gem Gambit had stolen from Saturnyne. Ignoring Candra's pleads, Gambit ultimately decided to execute her and the External gate to Otherworld was opened.[144]

Notes

  • Their lake house is property of Captain Britain's sister, Psylocke. Part of the lake house is a training area where the team practice their combat skills.

Trivia

See Also

Links and References

References

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