Warren Ellis takes over writing Excalibur. And where there’s Warren, there’s the occult. And also humor–we start with that. Forge is unpacking an important delivery, and in it Jubilee gets some clothes from Kitty.
It’s an exchange, and Kitty is not as happy as Jubilee…
This actually serves a greater purpose–to attach Excalibur to the greater X-verse, whereas to now it has often been relegated to a secondary position except when it tied in for events.
For the main story, Margali Szardos tells her daughter, Amanda Sefton, that a bad magician named Gravmoss is looking for the Soul Sword.
Someone else is looking for it, too.
That’s Shrill.
Kitty’s not acting like herself and she draws the sword–triggering Shrill (who feels agony whenever the sword is drawn) and attracting Gravemoss, who attacks Nightcrawler on Muir Island.
The sword is driving Kitty insane.
Note that the summary of Illyana’s past is completely wrong. It says that the sword made her crazy (when it actually saved her life) and suggests that she died as a result of that madness (but she was a victim of the Legacy Virus). Hm.
Gravemoss possesses Nightcrawler and tries to get him to take the sword. Shrill and Amanda Sefton go to Muir Island–Shrill to try to kill Kitty/neutralize the sword, Sefton to help the X-Calibur team. Possessed Nightcrawler (Gravemoss) is able to trick the team into leaving, isolating Kitty, but she uses karate she learned from Wolverine to take him out. The Sefton takes the sword and takes out Gravemoss (she stabs him, but he’s not dead). And then Amanda gives the sword to her mother(?) for safekeeping.