Disclaimer- Wow, these things get old quick.  All of the characters of
Excalibur and the like are Marvel’s characters and not mine, but this story
is copyrighted to me.  This is just for fun, so don’t sue!  

MY BLUE EYED GIRL
Part 4: The Fight for Power

  "Hello, Illyana," the woman said.  "I am here to kill you."  She raised the
soulsword and held it towards me, threateningly.  

 I gasped.  

 I stood, glaring at Margali.  Holding onto my amulet, I leaned against the
wall behind me.  Why did she want to kill me?  What had I done to her? "Who
are you?" I asked.  

 "Who I am will not matter to you in awhile," she said.  "But I will tell you
nonetheless.  I am Margali Szardos," she told me.  Having only briefly seen
the woman Belasco kidnapped, I hadn’t recognized her when I first saw her.   

 "What do you want with me?" I asked.  She didn’t answer, she only lunged at
me with the sword.  Luckily, before the old woman could get me, I managed to
dodge out of her way and she got the sword stuck into the wall I was leaning
against.  My amulet glowed while a burst of flame erupted from it and headed
towards Margali.  It caught her by suprise while she was forcing the sword
out of the wall, and she screamed in pain.  Using her magic to heal herself,
she turned to me, already casting a spell.   

 I backed up quickly, casting a magical shield around me with my amulet.
 "Stay away from me, witch!" I shouted.  Her magic spells fizzled against my
shield.  With a bright, white light, I teleported across the room and behind
her, where I jabbed at her neck from behind.  She turned around, quickly
punching me in the gut.  I hadn’t expected her to react so quickly!   

 Keeling over, I gasped for air.  Choking, my eyes teared.  Before I knew it,
she had me in her magical grip.  Levitating in front of her, I felt helpless.
 I couldn’t access my mutant power.  My mind raced with ideas.  What spell
could I cast that would help me get out of this?  I knew of none.   

 Margali grinned.  "Finally, I have you, and I’ll get you with the
Soulsword!"  As she turned around to pick up the dropped sword, I noticed her
body was changing.  She was slowly becoming a demon.  Horrified, I stared at
her slack-eyed.   

 Margali raised her sword.  She would have to lower the shield for a moment
to stab me, and perhaps in that second I could teleport away….. 

 Margali lowered it, and as soon as the sword was a foot away, I began to
fall into my teleporting disc.  Breathing a sigh of relief, I stood behind
Margali with the upper hand.  A large gust of wind came at my summoning and
blew Margali around, beating her around to the point where she couldn’t
concentrate.  My brow furrowed with concentration and I began to feel the
strain of my powers.   

 Knowing I had to end this soon before I "ran" out, I turned to her.
 Grabbing the Soulsword that was on the floor, I picked it up.  I grabbed it,
raised it against Margali who was cowering against the wall, and lowered it
into her.   

 Margali screamed, and her demonic appearance disappeared completely.  She
fell to the ground, unconscious and unharmed.  Confused at what the Soulsword
had done, I remembered that this was no normal sword.   

 Oh, well.  At least Belasco had no weapons left.  I had Margali, myself, and
the Soulsword, and we were all okay.  He had nothing left to use against us
and my friends.   

 That didn’t stop me from wanting revenge.   

*** 

 Illyana teleported back to her room, where the rest of Excalibur was not
only suprised to see her, but also busy fighting off a horde of demons.
 Illyana raised her arms, and all of the members of Excalibur and herself
were teleported away with spinning discs.   

 Sitting in a forest, Meggan’s expression glowed.  "I know this place!"  she
glowed.  Upon inquiry, she explained to the others what had happened to her
when she first wound up here and fought the demons off from hurting the tree.
 The others chuckled at her humorous adventure.   

 "So, Storm is still here?" Kurt wondered, walking up to the tree.   

 "She showed herself to me, yes," Meggan glowed, joining her friend under the
tree and sitting down at it’s base.   

 "Interesting," Peter commented as he crossed over to sit next to Meggan.   

 Rahne and Douglock stood in front of Peter and Meggan, while Pete and Kitty,
both still doing some healing from their previous fight, stood back a bit.
 Neither were ready to join the group.   

 "So, what do we do next?" Rahne asked.   

 "Good question," Illyana agreed.   

 "What happened back there, Illyana?" Kitty worried.   

 "I was kidnapped by Belasco and forced to fight Margali here," Illyana
pointed to the body at her feet.  Everyone gaped at it, noticing it for the
first time.  "She’s not dead, just unconscious.  This Soulsword has some
unusual results."   

 "Yes, Illyana," Kurt agreed, "it most certainly does.  It is a weapon of
great power and mystery, but from what we know of it, it disrupts spells and
cleanses souls and possessions.  The Illyana we knew created it and owned it,
and from then on it was given to Kitty, then Margali, and then Belasco stole
it, as you told us."  

 "Ah," Illyana said.  "But the question still stands, what next?"  

 Looking around, Kurt’s expression saddened.  "Well, I don’t see Amanda among
us.  I suppose that should be our first avenue of search," Kurt said.  "All
right, does anyone know where or how we could find her?"  

 "I know of where she is," Douglock informed.   

 "You do?" Kurt asked, surprised.  "That’s right, she would show up on your
sensors, wouldn’t she?  Can you take Illyana to her?"  

 "I certainly can," Douglock smiled and took Illyana’s hand.  He told her
where Amanda was, and they disappeared into the spinning disc.   

 "What now?" Meggan asked.   

 "Well, if and when they come back with Amanda, I suppose it’s more than time
to pay Belasco back," Kurt decided.  With a bright light, Illyana and Doug
returned with an unconscious Amanda.  She was hurt, and hurt badly.   

 "Oh, my god!  Is she okay?" Rahne blurted out.   

 "She should be alright, but I’d like to take her back to Muir Island for you
guys," Illyana said.   

 "Please, do," Kurt said.  The others stayed quiet while Kurt worried about
Amanda.  Lately, she’d been distant.  Kurt knew why, and he didn’t mind, he
was just mad at her for leaving.  Sick of being mad at her for petty reasons,
he wanted to go and take care of her at Muir Island.  But he knew what he had
to do.  First, it was payback time for the man that did this to her.   

*** 

 Belasco sat in his throne room, worried.  Margali had not returned to him
yet, and he knew it would not take her this long to finish the job.  At least
it shouldn’t take this long.  He was almost hesitant to conjure a scrying
pool, but finally he gave in.  Viewing the area he had ordered Margali to
take her to, he saw it was empty.  Steadily growing more and more angry and
more and more worried, he let the pool disappear.  Belasco pondered whether
this meant that she had won or lost, while Illyana teleported them all into
the throne room.   

 "Belasco, this is the end," Illyana shouted.   

 Belasco jerked his head up to see his servant, tall and beautiful, grasping
her amulet in one hand and the Soulsword in the other.  Behind was the entire
team of Excalibur, Colossus in his invulnerable metal incarnation, Rahne as a
wolf, Douglock, Meggan, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, and the newest one, Pete
Wisdom.  Gravemoss was not among them, and Margali’s body lay at Illyana’s
feet.   

 "Now, to take care of you," Illyana said.  Belasco was not a fool, he knew
when he was beaten.  Nonetheless, he wanted to first see whether they could
ensnare him or whether he could escape.   

 Illyana approached him with the sword.  Confident that he could teleport
away in time, he sat in his chair.  Finally, she stood in front of him.
 Belasco tried to teleport, but instead found that he couldn’t.  He glanced
around, and found he couldn’t moved.  He realized that Shadowcat had him
phased in a state where he couldn’t move, and Meggan was using her powers to
block his own.  Illyana, a mere foot away, raised the sword.   

 It was too late for Belasco to give in.  

 Illyana stabbed him with the sword, and a blinding light encompassed
Belasco.  Shining and growing, the light absorbed his every living pore.
 Finally, Belasco disappeared.   

 "That takes care of that," Illyana said, turning to the others.   

 And it certainly did.  

 To Be Continued in Epilogue: To Join or Not To Join? 

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