In the Savage Land, Ka-Zar and his people were fighting against the tyranny of Sauron and his minions.
His fortress was being bombarded by fireballs. Skyriders dropped buckets of water to put the fireballs out as they advanced on the rebellion. Using trip wire, Ka-Zar's troops managed to knock the men off their pterodactyls and capture them.
Ka-Zar and his people kept attacking as they approached Sauron's fortress on rafts as Sauron's forces started to retreat.
"Cowards! Fools!" Sauron insulted. "Come back!"
"Faster!" Ka-Zar urged. "Sauron is weakening. Our people shall be free once more!"
Sauron returned to his fortress as his enemies started to invade.
He limped a bit before falling to his knees. He felt weak from a lack of energy. "Not yet!" Sauron bemoaned.
"It is over, Sauron." Ka-Zar was in the room with his men. "Your reign of terror over the Savage Land ends now!"
"Never!" Sauron made a grab for Ka-Zar's spear, only to be whacked with it.
"Ka-Zar, I warn you!" Sauron tried to caution him as Ka-Zar prepared to stab him before the man was hit from behind by a beam of energy.
Sauron saw his rescuer. It was a woman in priestess clothing holding a wand in one hand. "Who are you?"
The woman used her wand to create a passage that led downstairs.
"Quickly!" She said. "Before he revives. You must leave this place."
They headed down the stairs as the woman introduced herself.
"I am Zaladane, High Priestess of the Sun God, Garokk." Zaladane said. "I know you must absorb mutant life energy to retain your powers as Sauron."
Sauron was surprised by how well-informed this person was. "But how did you know?"
"Garokk is wise." Zaladane stated.
Sauron scoffed. "Garokk doesn't exist! He is a fairy tale, made up to scare children."
"Garokk is life." She pulled out an amulet that was shaped like Garokk's head. "I live to serve him." She then used her hand to create an exit out of the fortress.
"The outlander called Magneto brought this vehicle to our valley." She gestured to the flying jet that was outside. "Use it!"
Sauron slowly turned into a blonde man. "They hate Sauron." He said. "I am Karl Lykos now. I am safe. With no mutants left here, I will never become Sauron again."
"Ka-Zar won't take that chance." Zaladane said. "For your recent tyranny, Ka-Zar and his Fall People will hunt you down and destroy you. You must flee." Karl got into the jet as Zaladane told him to hurry. "Quickly, before Ka-Zar finds you!" She placed the amulet around his neck. "The power of Garokk will protect you!"
"I must leave this place at once." Sauron took off in the jet as Zaladane watched on.
Zaladane smirked. "It is as you commanded."
Danny was smiling as he rode horses with Rogue. He just enjoyed seeing Rogue so happy and having a good time. Plus, she looked so hot in her cowgirl outfit.
"Whoa!" Rogue stopped her horse. "I'll take riding over flying any day!"
Storm was also riding horses as she came up.
"At your pace, Rogue, I'm surprised you can tell the difference." Storm joked.
"A gal's got to let loose now and again." Rogue said. "Besides, Danny seems to be getting the hang of it."
"This is actually pretty fun." Danny admitted.
"Glad you enjoy it, sugar." Rogue pecked him on the lips.
"I admire your spirit, Rogue." Storm complimented. "But unlike you, I must keep my emotions in check, lest my powers rage out of control."
"I don't know, Storm." Rogue replied. "A little raging every now and again just might do you some good." She urged her horse forward.
"As long as you're not raging against us, of course." Danny joked as he went to catch up with his girlfriend.
Storm couldn't help but let out a small smile as she decided to go a bit faster.
A man was about to enter the subway when Karl grabbed him from behind to absorb his energy.
"Don't fight me." Karl said. "I'm not going to hurt you." He shook his head at his actions. "No, I mustn't." He looked down at the unconscious man. "I'm no better than a vampire."
He left the subway as he walked the streets. "Why did I come here?" He asked himself. "What am I searching for?"
"My friend, why the foreboding countenance?" Beast asked Logan as the two and Jubilee explored a museum.
"Staring at skeletons makes me nervous." Logan said.
"Well, it makes me bored." Jubilee said. "What could be more yawn-inspiring than a zillion-year-old canary?"
They left the museum.
"So whither now?" Beast asked. "How about the Guggenheim for the Magritte exhibit?"
"How about a chili dog with the works?" Logan pointed to a hot dog stand.
"Last one there's a fossilized canary!" Jubilee said as she and Logan went over to get some food.
Beast sighed. "As Shakespeare knew so well, how sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child."
Karl saw Logan and Jubilee. "Those two. I sense overwhelming power!" He hesitated about taking their energy before he justified himself. "I just need a little to live."
Karl got on his knees as he held his hand out to Logan. "Help me."
"Sure, pal." Logan tried to pull out some cash. "You look like you can use a hand."
Karl grabbed Logan's face as he absorbed his energy.
"It's mutant energy." Karl gasped. "No!"
Beast kicked Karl off as Jubilee approached Logan.
"Wolverine, you okay?" She asked.
"No!" Karl cried as he transformed into Sauron.
"Dear Lord." Beast said at witnessing the transformation.
"Uh-oh." Jubilee said.
"Free again!" Sauron boasted. "Sauron is reborn!" He flew into the sky.
"Lay off, lizard lips!" Jubilee tried to blast him, but she was pushed to the ground.
Beast activated his communicator. "Rogue! Storm! Danny! I believe the appropriate aphorism is a blast from the past."
Rogue stopped her horse as she saw Sauron fly by. "Holy cats! Beast wasn't kidding! Must have taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque."
"That is the creature Xavier said he encountered in the Savage Land." Storm said as she flew off after Sauron.
"Whoa!" Rogue tried to steady her horse.
"Man, I wish those things stayed extinct." Danny said of Sauron.
Sauron was flying when he noticed he was being followed. He turned to see that it was Storm. "The weather witch!"
"I summon the Arctic winds!" Storm cried.
Sauron screamed at the cold hitting his face.
"What's the matter, bird brain?" Rogue taunted as she joined them along with Danny.
"Look into my eyes, child." Sauron started to hypnotize her.
"No!" Danny shook Rogue. "Don't let him control you, Rogue!"
"That man in front of you." Sauron said. "What do you see?"
Rogue saw Danny, but his hair was made of flames, and his skin was blue with red eyes and sharp fangs.
"Rogue, snap out of it!" Danny cried.
Rogue tackled Danny as the two wrestled in the air.
"Wind!" Storm commanded. "Rise up! Protect me!"
Sauron was trapped in a whirlwind.
"We're coming, guys!" Jubilee cried as she ran towards them with Beast and Logan by her side.
"Monster!" Rogue threw Danny at the three X-Men on the ground.
"Shit." Danny said. "That Rodan rip-off has manipulated Rogue's mind. She's not herself."
"Thanks for the newsflash." Jubilee said sarcastically as she got out of a puddle.
Sauron appeared in front of Storm. "Look into my eyes, wind rider." He tried to hypnotize Storm.
"No! I shall not!" Storm tried to resist.
"You grow tired." Sauron said. "You must sleep."
"No!" Storm fell asleep and was caught by Sauron.
"Somebody stop bird boy." Logan said. "He's flying off with Storm."
"You go after them." Danny said. "I'll deal with Rogue."
He tackled her to the ground. He remembered the time he was under Ember's spell, and Sam broke it by kissing Dash. Maybe he could do something similar.
"Let's hope this works." Danny kissed Rogue.
Rogue moaned at the kiss as she looked at Danny. "Danny, what happened?"
"A Pteranodon put you under some spell that I broke with true love's kiss." Danny answered without a beat.
Rogue shook her head. "When did our lives get so weird, sugar?"
"Alright, flyboy." Logan said as he, Beast, and Jubilee were after Sauron. "I'm clipping your wings!"
Sauron shot a beam out of his amulet at the ground, causing it to explode. Sauron and the hypnotized Strom then took off in his jet.
"Due south." Logan said. "Give you one guess where he's heading."
"I was unable to contact our compatriots on Muir Island." Beast said as they got on the Blackbird.
"Move it, kid!" Logan said to Jubilee as she was getting on the jet. "We ain't got all day."
"Who died and made him Cyclops?" Jubilee said.
"I had my fill of that Savage Land the first time around." Rogue said as they took off.
"Well, next time Storm is kidnapped, I'll make sure they take her someplace nice." Wolverine said sarcastically.
"Can it be that Italian place down the street?" Danny also said sarcastically. "I really liked that place."
"Oh yeah, that place was great." Rogue agreed.
Wolverine rolled his eyes. "Lovebirds."
"Damn right." Danny and Rogue said in unison.
Sauron brought an unconscious Storm to Zaladane. "What is this treasure you bring?"
"You've done well, Sauron." Zaladane praised. "Deep within this weather witch lies untold power."
"What do you mean?" Sauron asked.
"One need only release her self-control, and boundless life energy will surge." Zaladane replied. "Energy to make you powerful beyond your darkest dreams."
"A limitless source of mutant energy." Sauron realized.
"Do you have the courage to try?" The sorceress asked.
Sauron moved her out of his way. "Step aside, woman." He had his guards pick up Storm.
Storm regained consciousness as she looked at her surroundings. "Where am I?" She saw Sauron. "You!"
"Do not resist me, weather witch." Sauron said as he hypnotized her again.
"No!" Storm tried to fight his control.
"The fury of the elements beats within your heart." Sauron said.
Storm refused to bend to his will. "No! I cannot allow it!" She couldn't let her emotions run freely. 'I must keep my emotions in check, lest my powers rage out of control.' She thought to herself.
"Release the tempest within." Sauron encouraged. "Set it free. Free! Free!"
"No!" Storm cried.
"Is she?" Zaladane's question was answered when Storm glowed with energy.
"I am free!" Storm laughed maniacally.
"Now, Sauron!" Zaladane said.
Sauron absorbed Storm's energy. "I've never felt such power! She shall sustain me forever!"
The Blackbird reached the Savage Land as the X-Men prepared to rescue their friend.
"I can't wait to see some dinosaurs." Jubilee said remembering how Wolverine told her he ran into a couple last time they were here.
"Dinosaurs are the easy part, so keep your guard up." Danny advised. "I don't think they work on the sight through movement logic of Jurassic Park."
Jubilee saw a mural of a face. "Who's the zit case?"
"That's Garokk." Wolverine answered. "Some legend Ka-Zar mentioned to me briefly the last time we were here."
"His worshippers believed his soul inhabited the very soil of this land." Beast said.
"If you ask me, that's a good place to leave." Rogue commented.
They then landed the jet.
"Alright, people, eyes open, minds sharp." Wolverine ordered as they exited the Blackbird.
Beast held out a scanner. "My scanner is set to Storm's genetic frequency. She is unquestionably nearby."
"We'll take a look-see." Rogue said as she grabbed Danny's hand as the couple took off into the air.
"I'll take a smell-see." Wolverine started sniffing for Storm's scent.
"You picked up anything?" Jubilee asked.
Wolverine smelled something. "I'm getting a scent, but it sure ain't Storm."
"What is it?" Jubilee asked.
It turns out Wolverine was smelling a dinosaur as it came out to snack on them. Jubilee tried to use her powers, but Wolverine pushed her out of the way before the dinosaur could eat her.
Beast jumped onto its back. "Your taste is excellent, but your manners are appalling."
The dinosaur then threw Beast off it as it prepared to eat him.
"Beast! Jubilee shouted.
Don't worry, darling." Wolverine pulled out his claws.
"Oh, dear." Beast said at the dinosaur's close proximity to him.
Wolverine cut down a tree. "No blue plate special today."
The tree landed in its mouth, which it threw out.
"Beast!" Rogue got him away from the dinosaur.
Beast thanked her. "Deft maneuver, my dear."
"This critter just don't know when to quit!" Rogue said as the dinosaur continued to chase the X-Men.
"I got an idea!" Danny possessed the dinosaur as it started moving away, accidentally hitting Jubilee with its tail and knocking her into the mud.
"Gross!" Jubilee complained.
Danny made the dinosaur walk into a clearing before leaving it.
"So what was it like being a dinosaur, honey?" Rogue asked curiously.
Danny shrugged. "It was alright, although I don't know how it can deal with its stubby arms."
Ka-Zar then appeared out of the forest to greet his old friends. "Welcome, my friends. What brings you back to my valley?"
"Long story." Wolverine said.
"Hey, guys!" Jubilee called out. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
Rogue pulled her out. "Yeah. A babysitter."
"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." Jubilee said before she saw Zabu. "Thank you very much." She said timidly at the scary animal.
Danny snorted. "Whatever you say, sis."
"Help." Jubilee squeaked as Wolverine started petting Zabu.
"Can I have a scoreboard so I can tell the extinct animals from the bad ones?" Jubilee asked.
It was nighttime when the X-Men were sitting by the fire with Ka-Zar. Nearby, a group of villagers were worshipping a nearby statue of Garokk.
"I didn't know your people went in for that Garokk stuff." Wolverine said.
"It started shortly after your first visit." Ka-Zar said as he told the story of what had happened since the X-Men left.
"Sauron raised an army and captured many of my people. He used them as slave labor to rebuild Sinister's fortress. We mounted a rebellion, but my people were outmatched. They had all but given up hope. Then a strange thing happened. One night, the statue appeared in our village. No one knows where it came from or how it got there. Though I was suspicious, to my people, it was a sign. They rallied, destroyed Sauron's army, and overthrew his tyranny. They believe Garokk gave them the strength."
"What do you believe?" Beast asked.
"I do not know." Ka-Zar confessed. "My people are liberated. I do not ask how."
"It'll take more than an old hunk of rock to lick Sauron this time." Rogue remarked.
"Not one word!" Jubilee said as she came out in tribal clothing, her regular clothes were filthy due to the mud. "It's bad enough I gotta smell like a driveway."
"Now I wish you were the one that fell into the mud." Danny whispered to Rogue, who giggled.
They then heard a sound and looked away.
"Come on, guys." Jubilee said thinking they were looking away because she looked hideous. "It's not that bad."
Ka-Zar shushed her. "Shh. They hear something."
"Heads up, people." Wolverine warned them. "Incoming!"
Sauron's men attacked while riding dinosaurs.
Jubilee was caught by one of them as they lifted her off the ground.
"Buzz off, you buzzards!" Danny roared as he went to rescue his foster sister.
"Beast, mix me up a fastball special." Wolverine said.
"Happy to oblige." Beast threw him into the air.
He punched a skyrider off his pterodactyl. "Thanks for the lift, bub."
Danny phased Jubilee out of the pterodactyl.
"To paraphrase Sir Isaac Newton, that which goes up must invariably come down." Beast stole a dinosaur from one of Sauron's men.
Rogue broke out of another pterodactyl's grip as she swung it around.
"So, anyone else want to wrestle?" Rogue asked before Sauron attacked her from behind.
"I defeated you in your own land, mammal." Sauron said. "You have no chance in my domain.'
"You can't beat me if you can't catch me." Rogue pointed out as she flew above the clouds.
"What's wrong, bird boy?" Rogue said, seeing Sauron shiver. "Forget your overcoat?"
Sauron fell down from the cold, only to be caught by Rogue.
Sauron then tried his hypnosis trick. "Look into my eyes, child."
"Oh, no." Rogue closed her eyes. "You ain't pulling that trick twice."
"Very well." Sauron threw Rogue off as she fell into Danny's arms.
"Getting weaker." Sauron muttered to himself. "Must re-energize."
Wolverine appeared in Sauron's path. "The only place you're going is down, bub!"
Sauron absorbed Wolverine's pterodactyl's energy as they both fell down.
"Pity you can't fly." Sauron taunted.
Beast managed to catch Wolverine as Danny chased after Sauron.
"Hey, Rodan!" Danny called out. "Chew on this!" He blasted Sauron as he fell.
"Your plan is reaching fruition, my lord." Zaladane said to a statue of Garokk. "Soon the Savage Land will be cleansed of all disbelievers, and the Age of Garokk will begin anew."
"The time has come." The statue said. "Release the weather witch."
Storm was chained up in Sauron's lair when Zaladane came to release her. "Allow me to help you. You are free now, weather witch. You are no longer food for Sauron. You can revel in the power of the elements!"
Storm flew up into the air, now free.
"Garokk's will be done!" Zaladane shouted.
The X-Men came up to Danny, who stood over Sauron.
"I clipped the bird's wings." Danny said.
Sauron then changed back into Karl.
Wolverine went to stab him when Ka-Zar stopped him by grabbing his arm.
"Wolverine, no!" Ka-Zar turned to Karl. "Karl? Is it really you?"
"You know this creep?" Wolverine asked.
"I know him to be a good man." Ka-Zar said.
"I was." Karl said. "Until Sauron took over."
"But how?" Ka-Zar inquired.
"Mr. Sinister used me as a guinea pig in his experiments." Karl explained. "Now I need to drain energy from innocent victims just to stay alive. If I absorb it from a mutant, I become the abomination you just defeated. I have no control over him, but I must answer for his crimes. I don't deserve to live."
"Do not despair." Beast comforted him. "The X-Men have vast experience in studying human mutation. Professor Xavier and I will combine our knowledge to aid in your quandary."
"Meantime, how about showing us where you got Storm hid?" Wolverine requested.
They then saw the sky flash brightly.
"On the other hand." Wolverine said.
"It can't be." Rogue recognized that it was Storm's work.
Storm screamed as she unleashed her power.