Ever since Kitty Pryde first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #129, many comic book fans have become infatuated with the intangible teenage mutant ninja. Unlike intimidating bombshells like Emma Frost or Jean Grey, Kitty was depicted as an approachable, attractive teenager with some extraordinary skills. Her quick wit, genius IQ, and ability to phase through solid matter made her the type of girl most fans would love to date – if only she was real.
In the comics, however, Kitty’s love life was anything but smooth. She fell for her teammate Colossus who returned her affection only to break up with her multiple times. She became the unwilling bride of the Morlock Caliban who thankfully released her from her vows when he realized she didn’t love him back. And while traveling through alternate dimensions with her new team Excalibur, Kitty ended up fighting herself in one of the weirdest love triangles ever!
The story took place during “The Cross Time Caper” in Excalibur #12-14, during a point in Kitty’s life when Excalibur was riding a dragon-powered train being shunted into different dimensions by a sentient creature named Widget who turned out to be a future version of Kitty (yes, really). The alternate worlds Excalibur traveled through offered exotic backdrops for the team’s adventures – but none so much as one dimension that was a cyberpunk version of Arthurian legend.
While the world was technologically advanced, its people still practiced quasi-medieval traditions, including sending princes out on knightly quests. While out on one such quest, a young prince named Billy the Kid witnesses Excalibur’s violent entrance into his dimension and spots an unconscious Kitty Pryde being watched over by her dragon friend Lockheed. Immediately lovestruck, Billy challenges the miniature dragon to a duel – only to have Lockheed beat him unconscious.
Billy ends up befriending Excalibur – whose original lineup includes Captain Britain, his shapeshifting girlfriend Megan, Rachel Summers (daughter of Cyclops and Jean Grey), and Nightcrawler of the X-Men. The team aids Billy in some of his knightly duties, including rescuing a princess from the clutches of an ogre. When the princess throws herself at Billy, however, Billy rebuffs her – and proposes marriage to Kitty! While Kitty decides to turn Billy down gently, Billy’s grandmother – a powerful sorceress – secretly brainwashes Kitty into behaving and looking like a proper princess. Just as it looks like Kitty might be staying in the medieval dimension for good, demons begin attacking Billy’s kingdom. Excalibur retaliates, and Kitty manages to shake off the spell in time to discover the culprit is none other than the princess Billy saved – who turns out to be this world’s version of Kitty Pryde!
Capturing her alternate “Princess Kate” self, Kitty asks her dimensional twin why she attacked Excalibur. Kate replies that she had fallen in love with Billy and engineered her own “rescue” (the ogre who held her captive was actually her butler) just so Billy could save her and become her knight in shining armor. Billy immediately switches gears and proposes to Kate – allowing Kitty to escape this weird (and frankly messed-up) relationship.
Excalibur soon moved on to another dimension and Kitty and Billy never see each other again – but Kitty would go on to encounter numerous oddball romances and heartbreaks over the next several years. Still, at least she never had to fight against herself again… although in the world of comics, it’s very possible it’s only a matter of time before she encounters a similar love triangle.
