The X-men of X-Corporation strive to protect a world that does not want them in it due to their extraordinary mutations. However, the world proves to be a cruel one, with some families not accepting their children as they are.

Bobby Drake has experienced this recently during a family outing with his parents and grandparents the night of his fifteenth birthday. That evening, the youngest member of the X-men came out to his family as gay; his parents not having a most positive reaction to it.

However, one thing that the X-men cannot help but worry about is what Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants are planning. Despite having Rogue under their belt as a member, the Southern mutant is unable to give them the answers they seek due to her having ran away from the Brotherhood before she could learn more.

Issue 36: Savage Land, Savage Hearts Part 1

The Morlocks Lair – One Day Ago

The murky, damp, muggy underground sewers of the Morlock tunnels were silent as a dorm house. But, for Callisto, she sat on her throne in the main part of her lair, leaning her head back.

Ever since losing to X-woman, Storm, the leader of the Morlocks had reluctantly agreed to a peace treaty of sorts between the Morlocks and the X-men. She wasn't the least bit pleased with it, but, some of her softer members such as Leech, Shatter and Marrow wanted to keep the peace, including X-woman Storm's younger cousin Spyke. However, Callisto was also more than willing to stay off the X-men's turf if they stayed away from hers.

Just as she was about to get some shut-eye, Callisto noticed Berserker and Scaleface coming forward.

"Callisto, we come to you with a rather urgent message," Scaleface said, in her full reptilian form.

"What is it, Scaleface? You know that I do not like to be interrupted at this hour of the night," Callisto said in a tone that was no less than annoyed.

"Well . . . we're here because someone here wishes to speak with you," Berserker said to her.

"Let them in. Thank you, you two," Callisto said. As Berserker and his lover backed out of the room, another person floated into the room, someone she hoped to never have to see.

"Magneto!" Callisto growled behind a clenched jaw.

"Now, now, now, Callisto, I come here in peace. I do not mean any harm to you or to your people," Erik Lehnsherr said in his soft tone.

"What do you want?" Callisto asked. "Because I can tell you that none of my Morlocks want anything to do with you or your surface dwellers."

"Funny, Callisto, you do know that we are essentially the same. I am merrily just looking to create a home of sorts for mutants, similarly to what it is that you do down here in this rather . . . lovely place," Magneto told her.

"Whatever home you're planning on creating for us, I'm pretty sure I'm not the least bit interested in it!" spat Callisto. "You know none of us can live on the surface, unlike you, who stands here high and mighty because you can pass off as a human!"

"I am not by any means a human, Callisto. No mutant is human. We are the superior to the human race; I think that you of all people can appreciate what it is that I am trying to achieve."

"I know of your exploits, Magneto. I know what your Brotherhood did to try and assault Senator Kelly all those months ago. I am also thoroughly aware that you released the Brotherhood from Alpha Flight's custody. But, what the hell is it that you are planning? Because as far as I can tell, the assault on the senator, and then you releasing that Juggernaut and the Brotherhood out, nothing adds up! What is your ultimate goal for mutantkind? Because I am really interested to hear it, and most definitely, I am interested to hear of some consistency."

"You see, Callisto, I've been planning something out for these past five months or so. Ever since the downfall of Cameron Hodge and Obadiah Stane on the island that they called Genosha, I've been working hard at a plan. And, I finally completed it. I am turning Genosha in to a safe haven for mutants, a place where all mutants can live in peace! Don't you want to be part of something such as that?" Magneto sounded quite persuasive. "I know for a fact that you are tired of being bullied, Callisto, for one thing. I know that you are beyond as sick of humanity as I am. Don't you want the chance to live on an island that can be your own country?"

Callisto sat there, taking it all in. "Well, what's the catch, Magneto? Because this all sounds rather tempting to me. It would be rather tempting to my other Morlocks such as Caliban and Berserker. I do not know so much about Shatter or Leech . . . after all, the two of them are up X-man Angel's ass."

"There is no catch, dear. Believe me when I say that this plan that I have is one that I feel could unite all mutants together against the tyranny of Senator Edward Kelly. I know for a fact that you do not want to see that man become our president. If he becomes president, then we might as well have our own country at this point! Do you want to be forced to register? Because if you do end up registering under the government, then all of your personal information will be at the hands of the government," Magneto told her.

"Of course I know of that! You think I do not know of that? But, Magneto . . . reason why I am hesitating to agree with you on something like this is because if you end up screwing me over," Callisto said.

"You won't be screwed over, Callisto. I can promise you that. We mutants have been screwed over by humanity for far too long. It's time that we create a new world," Magneto said. "So, are you and your Morlocks in?"

Callisto nodded. "What do you wish for us to do?"

The Danger Room – Present Day

The weeks after Rogue's recruitment into the X-men have passed by, and life continued on as the winter melted away into spring. However, there were things that did not change. Logan was still tough on Rogue, especially as he was coming around more and being at X-Corporation more often. If anything, Logan's visits were showing that he could write the book on holding grudges.

It was Saturday morning, and Logan had everyone in a Danger Room session at six A.M before Hank and Warren had to leave for work that morning and get down to the offices at Stark Pharmaceuticals. The fact that Logan had them up at the ass crack of dawn was proving that he was pushing them all harder than he usually did. And now, he was insisting that Forge and Cecilia Reyes joined in on the session, claiming that they had to stay sharp too when they were out in the field.

Currently, Logan had them in a scenario they were fighting the Brotherhood and the Juggernaut. It wasn't anything too difficult, given that the X-men proved that they could handle Cain Marko just fine. However, he added in Magneto and he added in his own enemy, Sabretooth, for good measure as well. Plus, Logan wanted the excuse to tear into a hologram of Sabretooth at that moment, because he found that he hadn't been able to track him for weeks.

Logan sniffed the air, using his nose to try and track down the hologram of Sabretooth, as he heard the voice of the feral mutant who seemed to follow him everywhere and make his life a living hell.

"C'mon, runt . . . time to come out and play!" the holographic image called out to him, taunting him.

Scott and Rogue were currently working together against the Blob while Jean was protecting Ororo and Bobby against the Juggernaut and Magneto. However, it was proving to be difficult on her considering that she was pushing her mind beyond its previous limits.

"Warren, we can use some back-up here!" Jean groaned as she felt her nose beginning to bleed and her head starting to pound. However, that was the moment Juggernaut smashed his overly-large fist into a nearby wall, causing the bricks to come tumbling down on top of her, Storm and Iceman.

"Storm!" Rogue yelled, flying over to the three of them as soon as she and Scott were done taking the Blob down. She went in, shoving the weather witch out of the way.

"Alright, team, Danger Room session for the morning is over," Logan announced to them. "Ya all completed the task at hand. Good work, everyone."

All of the X-men nodded, and they proceeded to leave the Danger Room to retire to their bedrooms, or in Warren, Hank, Cecilia and Forge's case, work. Ororo, Rogue and Jean rode in the same elevator upstairs.

"You okay, Ro?" asked Rogue as they rode the elevator together. "Ah mean . . . Ah did push ya outta the way. It's not like ya have the durability Ah've got."

"Yes, I'm okay, Rogue," Ororo replied back with a smile.

"Good to know, sugah," Rogue said with a nod of her head when they finally reached their floor where their bedrooms were located. Storm headed to her room to tend to her plants that she had added in there, while Jean escaped to the privacy of her own room so that she could work on looking at colleges that she could apply to in the fall. The fact that she was looking to become a doctor just like her late mother meant she had to enter the best medical school in New York. That was especially since she didn't want to be too far away from her new home. Just as Jean was about to sit at her desk to research medical schools in the area, she heard a knock at the door as Scott came into her room.

"Hey, Slim," she said as he sat on her bed.

"So, that session was something," Scott said to her.

"Yeah, tell me about it. I mean with Rogue, Logan is writing the book on holding grudges. But, you and I both know why he's so untrusting of her," Jean said.

"And who can blame him?" Scott asked. "But, I do hope he lightens up soon. Because the tension in the air is so thick right now; between Warren and I trying to counsel Bobby on his family problems, and you and Ororo trying to get closer to Rogue," he said.

"Come on, Scott. If we can survive years in an orphanage and a mental institution, we can survive through anything," Jean pointed out. "Besides, I know for a fact that Tony wants to talk to us about him and the professor supporting us through school. I mean, there are not too many kids out there who are fortunate to have anyone supporting them through school."

"Damn straight," Scott said. "Besides, I've been looking into potentially working with Stark Industries, or joining Alpha Flight. I mean, I want to be involved in the military, somehow, to make both my parents proud. I mean, I was reading this book the other day written about this guy named Jack Freeman who is a Green Beret. It talks about how he overcame all this shit in his life from needing to essentially raise himself, to being a drug dealer in his high school years, and eventually, he becomes a Green Beret. Just reading that book, I was thinking to myself: holy crap, I want do that. But since mutants can't be in the military since the United States has a Don't Ask Don't Tell policy for mutants, I'm going to have to figure out how I exactly want to serve my country. Honestly, at this point, I'll take a position as an agent for SHIELD."

"Follow in your mother's footsteps?" Jean asked him.

"Absolutely; you know that's what I'd want to do. I talked about that nonstop since I came here in the first place, Jean," Scott said. "Though, I do know for a fact that my father and my mother being in the military, they probably saw some weird stuff. My dad once told my brother and me this story about how he and several of his operatives had this mission where they went to this place called the Savage Land. I mean, this is a place in Antarctica of all places, which has real-life dinosaurs. I remember me and my brother begging Dad to take us there, and he was like, "I'll take you boys to Universal for the Jurassic Park River Adventure, because the Savage Land is no place you two would want to go"."

"I can't believe a place like that exists," Jean said.

"Believe me, my dad showed me pictures as a kid. It's real; he ended up getting stuck there and he had to live off the meat of a T-Rex," Scott quipped. "And at the time, my mother was pregnant with me when he had been on that mission. Place that on top of pregnancy hormones, when my dad got home, my mother, she wanted to kill him over it."

Jean and Scott both laughed, unable to contain themselves. Jean had to wipe a tear from her eye.

"Oh God, I still can't believe it," she said.

Scott grinned at her, punching her shoulder lightly.

Stark Pharmaceuticals – Hank's Lab

The afternoon went by for Hank McCoy and Warren Worthington III. So far, over the course of the past month, the two found that their work at Stark Pharmaceuticals was moving along. They had managed to successfully produce mutant-friendly allergy medications, and now, they were hard at work creating mutant-friendly birth control.

Warren walked into Hank's lab, adjusting his tie which was around his neck.

"Okay, how are we looking here, Hank?" Warren asked.

"We're making progress, but, it's going slowly. But, patience is a virtue, my friend," Hank said with a smile.

"Well, good news is that our sales in the allergy medicine are boosting. And that's a great thing, because I can already feel my nose stuffing up," Warren said, gesturing to the windows outside.

"Yeah, we all are feeling that," Hank said as he continued to work.

Warren ran a hand through his hair. "Though, I can say, Hank, as far as our personal matters go, Logan is killing us with the six o'clock Danger Room sessions. Though, I can tell on Rogue, he's still tough," he said.

"Well, you know that Logan can write the book on holding grudges," Hank pointed out. "Though I do hope with Rogue, that he finds it in him to trust her, but, it will take him more time."

"How much time does the guy need?"

"They do not call him the Wolverine for nothing." Hank flashed a toothy smile in Warren's direction.

Warren chuckled. "Very true . . . but, Rogue's fitting in with us fairly well. And so far, she's not showing any signs of stabbing any of us in the back. And Jean and Ororo enjoy her company, and I can admit I can't get enough of her. She cracks me up she's the sassiest thing I've ever met. Well, I better get back to my office. Enjoy doing your research."

"Well, I do find researching for mutant-friendly medicine to be a better form of catharsis than ripping the walls out like an actual beast," Hank said with a smile again. "And later on tonight, I have to get to the eye clinic. My assistant, Alec, and I, we are close to finding a way to cure blindness."

"Hank McCoy you're already one step closer to making the world a better place," said Warren with a grin as he exited the lab to make his rounds that afternoon. However, just as he was about to enter his office, he was receiving a telepathic message from the professor.

'Calling all X-men . . . meet me in the planning room in twenty minutes.'

'Professor, Hank and I are at work –'

'No, Warren, I need everyone here . . . Logan included.'

Warren let out a sigh as he switched off his image inducer, knowing what he had to do. Entering his office, he opened his window and jumped out to soar towards X-Corporation Tower. When he and Hank arrived, they entered the war room to see Tony and Pepper in there along with the rest of the X-men, who were all in uniform, as well as Cecilia, Logan and Forge.

"What's the situation, Professor?" Warren asked, fluffing out his wings.

"Check out the news," Jean said as they turned their attention to a television that was there. The news footage showed Magneto and his Brotherhood, as well as a few Morlocks which included Clarice Ferguson, attacking a chemical factory.

"Oh shit!" Beast growled.

"Hank, did you just swear?" asked Bobby in shock. "And this is the guy who constantly tells me to watch my mouth!"

"Yeah, I know, Hank McCoy cursed, it's not the end of the world," said Forge.

"Guys, this is serious!" Scott snapped, giving them all a look that they knew not to argue with. Already, Scott had been acting like a leader for the X-men, which meant that over the course of the past few months, he'd been growing more uptight than usual. Even Tony took notice to it.

"Indeed, Scott. We need to get to that chemical factory; you all know what to do. Get the civilians out of there, and watch yourselves as well. I'm coming with you," the professor said, wheeling out of the war room.

"Professor, are you sure about this?" Scott asked as he followed.

"Positive, Scott," the professor told them.

"Well, old man, I'm just telling you that if you guys find yourselves in a scuffle, don't expect me to come and save your asses," Tony said.

"Shut it, Tony!" groaned Rogue as they made their way to the jet. Scott got into the pilot's chair and took the wheel with Hank and the professor sitting at either side of him. Jean sat right behind him next to Cecilia and Rogue. Before they knew it, they were at the chemical factory located in Brooklyn.

Upon their arrival, they could see that the Morlocks and the Brotherhood were causing quite the scene, Clarice, who was going by the codename of Blink, was opening portals every which way allowing for Quicksilver to jump through at super speed. On top of that, they had Mystique in their arsenal as well.

"Damnit!" whispered Jean, unstrapping herself from her seat as she pulled her mask up and over her face.

"Alright, X-men, you have your objective. Let's go!" Cyclops announced, lowering the ramp to allow Marvel Girl, Rogue, Storm and Angel to fly out of the plan. Shortly after all of their fliers were out, he landed the jet down. Cyclops, Wolverine, Iceman, Cecilia, Forge and Beast got out of the jet the old-fashioned way. Immediately, Wolverine wanted to go into the fray towards the Blob. However, that was the moment he saw someone else there. He saw someone who was muscular, blonde, and even more feral-looking than he was.

"Sabretooth!" Wolverine growled. He looked towards Marvel Girl and Cyclops. "MARVEL GIRL, FASTBALL SPECIAL LET'S GO!"

Marvel Girl nodded, using her powers to toss Wolverine towards Sabretooth.

"HHHHRRRR!" growled Wolverine, claws popped out as he landed on top of Sabretooth – Victor Creed. The two feral mutants proceeded to brawl right there.

"I'm guessing that's Sabretooth . . . I can see why Logan hates him," Marvel Girl said.

"Well, I guess that leaves us to clean up the mess, Red." Cyclops fired a concentrated optic blast as Blink, watching as Iceman and Angel went in to take out the Scarlet Witch. However, Magneto was proving to still be an issue. He was taking down the foundation of the whole chemical factory, seemingly with just a snap of his fingers and a cold glare on his face. Magneto allowed the bricks to topple down, but, unfortunately, Storm was nearby.

"ORORO!" Rogue shouted; flying in to shove Storm out of the way before the bricks could collapse down on her. "You alright, sugah?"

"Yes, I'm fine, Rogue, thanks to you," Storm said along heavy breaths as they saw Cecilia and Marvel Girl working against Avalanche and Kid Omega. Marvel Girl already had blood trickling down her nose as she found herself in a psychic battle against the purple-haired telepath, clearly pushing herself hard. Rogue flew in to take out Callisto, who was about to get the jump on Wolverine. Wolverine noticed this and gave Rogue a slightly gruff smile, but, that did not mean that it was all water under the bridge between them. Finally, by the time Beast managed to take out Mystique, everyone was standing around, panting for breath. However, they did not notice that Blink and Magneto were not alone.

"You're done, Magneto!" said Cyclops. "Storm, fry him!"

"Really? I thought you'd pay more attention in sophomore year science class, Cyclops. Electricity hitting a metal conductor?" asked Magneto in a smug tone.

"Magneto whatever ya have planned out Ah swear to God Ah didn't plan on stickin' around with the Brotherhood to find out!" Rogue shouted, glaring daggers at him.

"It really was a shame that you left, Anna-Marie, because you had so much potential. You could have been great in my little club," Magneto said with a bitter smile.

"Kiss mah ass!" spat Rogue, standing there tall in her green and yellow X-man uniform, still wearing her signature hunter green hooded jacket that she refused to be separated from.

"Not really a wise choice of words, Rogue," Magneto said. "But, it's funny enough that you all think that this is my ultimate plan. Believe me, it isn't."

"So what the fuck is yer plan, Mags?" shouted Wolverine.

"Oh you will find out, Wolverine . . . just not today. Gateway! Blink!" Before they knew it, a small, elder-looking man appeared, white-haired with a beard, and took his place beside Blink. "I thought I'd be generous enough to treat you X-men to a little last-minute getaway . . . including you Charles," Magneto said in a gloating tone as Professor Xavier came to be by his X-men. Before they all knew it, Blink opened up a portal, and one by one, all the X-men were grabbed unexpectedly by the mutant known as Gateway.

"HEY WHAT ARE YOU –?" shouted Marvel Girl in surprise as soon as she was grabbed. Before they all knew it, all of the X-men, including Professor Xavier, Wolverine, Cecilia Reyes and Forge were atop a snowy hill somewhere up north. There was a strong, freezing breeze that hit them immediately, smacking them in the fact with what felt like a burst of ice.

"Where the hell are we?" Iceman asked, the freezing air doing him a service as he kept his ice form around his body.

"I don't know. But I can tell you guys that this weather won't do my wings any good," Angel said, taking his mask off of his face as a shiver came over him.

Marvel Girl wrapped her arms tightly around her body, as if to protect herself against the cold. Her teeth chattered as she felt Beast's arms wrapped over her.

"T-Thanks Beast," she whispered behind chattering teeth that felt as though they were smashing into one another.

Suddenly, that was the moment they could hear Cyclops shouting the word, "FUCK!" at the top of his lungs.

"Scott, do you know where the hell we are right now?" asked Rogue.

Scott was looking down over the mountain, to see that down below them were a river and about a thousand, lush green trees, as well as a brachiosaur eating away on the crisp vegetation. The treetops were perfectly green and absolutely beautiful. There were stunning flowers that were vividly colorful. Triceratopses were drinking out of the sparkling river. There were pterodactyls flying through the air, letting out loud screeches. It was a sight that was breathtaking and awe-striking, but for Cyclops, he knew better than they did what this meant. He knew that if they were stuck here, it was a test of survival.

"I know exactly where we are! We're in the Savage Land!" Cyclops said in realization.

Up next: Savage Land, Savage Hearts Part 2

A/N: The reference to Captain Jack Freeman is a reference to an OC created by MarvelMaster 616 for his X-men Supreme Series. He's generously given me his blessing to use his characters he's created, and for that, I'm forever grateful. He gets full credit for any OC mentioned, unless of course, if the OC is created by me in the future.