In the Savage Land, the clouds darkened as Storm unleashed her powers.
"Rage, winds, your mistress craves more!"
A whirlwind appeared in the path of the heroes, who managed to get out of the way.
"Storm's out of her mind!" Wolverine cried.
"It's Sauron's doing." Ka-Zar said. "His hypnotic powers have taken away her self-control."
"Rain, lightning, thunder, your power is mine!" Storm boasted. "Come to me."
"How do we stop her?" Rogue asked.
"If Danny Phantom can stop Sauron, then Storm should be a snap." Jubilee looked to Danny.
Danny shook his head. "No, the only way for me to stop her is to hurt her, and I don't want to risk harming her too badly."
"Let the primal forces of nature continue to be unleashed!" Storm cried.
Zaladane bowed to a statue of Garokk. "By your command, I have released the weather witch."
"I feel myself growing stronger." Garokk said. "Her connection to nature feeds me. Soon I will have it all. And the entire world will belong to me."
A nearby strike of lightning destroyed the statue, making Zaladane scream in anger.
"No!" She then stopped as she saw the energy leave the statue. She then smirked, realizing everything was still going according to plan.
"It has begun."
The dinosaurs were fleeing from the environmental destruction Storm was causing.
"Alright, Lykos." Wolverine turned to Karl with his claws out. "What did you do to make Storm wig out of this?"
"I did nothing." Karl said. "Sauron took away her control. His powers of suggestion are far beyond those of normal hypnosis."
"I can vouch for that." Rogue said.
They all felt an earthquake.
"Has Storm added Earthquakes to her meteorological repertoire?" Beast asked.
"This ain't no earthquake." Wolverine stated.
They saw a group of dinosaurs running towards them.
"Stampede!" Rogue cried as they rushed to get out of the way.
"This way!" Ka-Zar told them.
They all went into a cave, with Danny carrying Wolverine and Jubilee in his arms.
"Boy, that rush hour traffic's murder, isn't it?" Wolverine quipped.
"If your friend continues, I fear for my people's lives and ours as well." Ka-Zar said.
"We must discover a way to calm her, so we might have time to undo Sauron's ruinous influence." Beast said.
"You wanna ask her to roll up her sleeve?" Jubilee replied.
"Danny can turn me invisible, so I can sneak up on her and absorb her powers." Rogue said. "That'll slow her down long enough."
"And have you messing up the weather from here to Barbados?" Wolverine said sarcastically. "I don't think so."
"It appears we are caught between Scylla and Charybdis, the proverbial rock and a hard place." Beast said.
"You could overshadow her." Rogue brought up to Danny.
Danny didn't think this was a good idea. "I feel like her state of mind would only worsen with another presence."
"I can do it." Karl offered. "Fly me close enough, and I can absorb her energy."
"And become Sauron again?" Wolverine snapped. "No way!"
"Do you think I want to?" Karl retorted. "He's a monster. I hate all that he is."
"I believe him." Beast said in Karl's defense. "Had he wished to regain Sauron's form, he could have used any one of us."
"Please, I beg you." Karl pleaded. "Allow me to set right the evil Sauron has started."
"Our fighting Sauron is preferable to this." Ka-Zar pointed to the hazardous weather. "I fear we have no other choice."
"Hail! Ice! Rage on!" Storm commanded as the elements obeyed her.
"Alright, I should be able to keep us invisible." Danny was about to lift Karl into the air. "Hold on."
"I'm coming with you, sugar." Rogue said.
Danny knew he couldn't get Rogue to change her mind, so he nodded as the two lovers grabbed a hold of Karl's arms, and Danny turned them invisible as they flew towards Storm.
Once they were close enough, Karl grabbed Storm's face as she tried to resist.
"No!" Storm shouted as she felt her energy leave her.
The raging storm then stopped.
"They did it!" Jubilee cheered.
"Lykos, release her before you transform completely!" Ka-Zar shouted.
"Never!" Karl refused, becoming addicted to Storm's energy. "Must have more." He then turned back into Sauron.
Danny and Rogue let go of Sauron as Rogue caught Storm.
"Got you." Rogue said.
"Sauron lives once more!" Sauron proclaimed.
"Okay, bubba." Rogue said. "Are you gonna help us fix up Storm, or are we gonna have to take you out?"
Sauron made a grab for Rogue, who snatched his arm. "Uh-uh." Rogue warned. "I wouldn't touch me if I were you."
He then grabbed her face as Rogue screamed.
"Rogue!" Danny cried as he pushed Sauron off of her. "Get away from her!"
"This is not over, outlander." Sauron vowed as he flew away.
"What happened up there?" Jubilee asked as Danny and Rogue landed with Storm.
"It was real weird." Rogue said. "I think our absorbing powers canceled each other out."
"Look's like you've got competition, Casper." Wolverine joked.
Rogue slapped Wolverine. "Don't you joke about that!"
"Let us bring her back to the village." Ka-Zar said as they prepared to get Storm some help.
Beast got a first aid kit from the Blackbird as he entered the hut that was nursing Storm.
The X-Men were waiting on word of Storm's condition when Beast walked out.
"How's she doing?" Rogue asked.
"I've given her a mild sedative." Beast said. "It should prevent her from regaining full consciousness and creating another maelstrom, for a time."
"The professor told me how hard Storm works to keep her powers under control." Jubilee said. "And I thought my powers were a pain."
Danny turned to Rogue. "Honey, when you and Sauron connected, were you able to read his thoughts?"
Rogue placed a hand on her head. "One word kept popping in and out of my head, Zaladane."
"She has proclaimed herself the High Priestess of Garokk." Ka-Zar informed them. "I wonder." He looked toward the statue of Garokk that the villagers were worshipping.
Wolverine was watching over Storm as she slept.
"Don't worry, Storm; we'll take care of Sauron for you." Wolverine told her.
"Not Sauron." Storm said. "Something else. Something very wrong." Storm walked out of the hut. "I sense nature out of balance. And evil within the land must be purged. This evil must be destroyed!" Storm destroyed the statue of Garokk with her lightning.
The villagers made a move to attack her when Storm summoned a wind to blow them back. "Stay back!"
"Come on, sugar." Rogue tried to steer her back to bed. "Let's get you back to bed."
"I said stay back!" Storm hit Rogue with the wind.
"Storm, what are you doing?" Jubilee cried as the X-Men approached her. She and Wolverine each grabbed an arm. "Hold on."
"Let me go!" Storm ordered.
"Quit struggling." Wolverine said.
"Quickly." Beast pulled out a sedative. "Constrain her."
"I'm sorry, Storm." Danny said as he held her by her shoulders. "But this is for your own good."
Beast then injected her with the sedative as Storm finally relaxed.
Beast felt her pulse. "Crisis contained."
Sauron flew towards Zaladane, who was standing in front of another statue of Garokk. "Zaladane, rally my troops. The invaders must pay for their insolence." He noticed that Zaladane was ignoring him. "Are you deaf, woman? I order you."
"No." Zaladane refused.
Sauron snarled. "You refuse me?"
"Lord Garokk has decreed you have outlived your usefulness." Zaladane said.
Sauron scoffed. "Lord Garokk is nothing but a lifeless stone." He tried to hypnotize her. "Perhaps you need some persuasion."
Before Sauron could finish, a group of vines wrapped around him and pulled him back.
"What sorcery is this?" Sauron demanded.
"Not sorcery, but nature itself in its most primal form." The statue said. "The form of Undergrowth!"
The statue then exploded as more vines appeared from the ground and wrapped around themselves, forming a humanoid body. It had red eyes, dark green hands, shoulder pads, a green cape, four spikes on its head, and a beak for a mouth.
Zaladane was confused. "You're not Garokk."
"Foolish flesh dweller." Undergrowth said. "I have arrived here to regain my strength. The Savage Land is one of the only places left untouched by the corruption of Man. Soon, I will have it, and then the rest of the world will be mine."
"What are you?" Sauron demanded.
"I am a ghost." Undergrowth explained. "An ancient spirit. When I first arrived here, I was weak. I noticed the power of the mutant known as Storm. Her powers awoke me, and I realized her connection to nature would allow me to be restored to my full strength."
Zaladane was shocked to realize that she had been fooled by this imposter.
"And I manipulated you both to do my bidding." Undergrowth continued. "It was no accident that you were drawn to Storm, Sauron. I gave you that yearning. Beneath the range of volcanoes that ring this hidden valley lies a source of planetary power. I intend to fuse with that energy. Once I do, no force on Earth will be able to stop me."
"Please, Danny." Storm begged him as he and Rogue were tending to her. "Restrain me, I beg you! Do not let me recover my strength."
"And I told you to let loose every now and again." Rogue said. "Shows what I know."
Danny then felt his ghost sense go off. He had a worried look on his face, along with Rogue, who recognized what that meant.
"This is bad." Danny said before they felt another earthquake.
They exited the hut and approached Ka-Zar.
Now what?" Rogue asked.
"The land is attacking." Ka-Zar pointed to Undergrowth, who was crawling towards them.
"Behold Undergrowth!" He cried. "Let the new age of nature begin anew."
Vines erupted from the ground as they started to attack the villagers. The vines impaled themselves in their necks as the villager's eyes glowed green.
"Great, it has mind-control powers as well." Danny bemoaned.
"If anyone's got a daring last-minute rescue in mind, now would be the time." Jubilee said as the X-Men fought against the possessed villagers.
"You know this guy, Danny?" Rogue asked.
"I've heard of Undergrowth before." Danny said, remembering how the citizens of the Far Frozen mentioned him when he was training his ice powers there. "And he has only one weakness." His hands glowed with blue energy.
"Go on, sugar!" Rogue encouraged. "Put that plant on ice!"
Danny went up to Undergrowth as he started to freeze the ghost, until a vine attached itself to his neck, enslaving him to Undergrowth's will.
"Not even the hybrid who sealed up Pariah Dark can stop me." Undergrowth gloated.
Wolverine charged towards a group of vines that were holding Ka-Zar and Zabu hostage. "Alright, you overgrown weed, let's see how you stack up to adamantium." He managed to free the two. "Wow! You got some rough shrubbery around here, pal."
A giant piranha plant appeared behind Wolverine.
"Wolverine!" Ka-Zar cautioned. "Behind you!"
It was too late, as the monster swallowed Wolverine.
Storm was tossing and turning in her bed. "He's free, corrupting the land." She saw vines invading the hut. "No! Get back! Let me breathe! No!" The hut exploded as Storm glowed with energy. "Evil must be stopped!"
She started blasting the vines with her lightning, frying them, including the piranha plant, which freed Wolverine.
The X-Men watched as Storm went to confront Undergrowth.
"Not a real good idea to make her mad." Wolverine said.
"I summon the bitter winter frost!" Storm unleashed ice from the sky, which started to make Undergrowth scream. The ice also destroyed the vine that was controlling Danny, freeing him from Undergrowth's influence.
Undergrowth glared at this mortal's defiance. "You dare challenge the will of Undergrowth!"
"Curious." Beast observed. "Undergrowth seems to be directing himself toward that mountain range." Beast pointed to the volcano.
"Those are the volcanoes that heat the Savage Land." Ka-Zar said. "They provide an energy that controls the climate here."
"Oh my!" Beast said in fear.
"What is wrong?" Ka-Zar asked, feeling uneasy.
"This is just a hypothesis, mind you, but based on what I observed, if Undergrowth absorbs the energy emanating from those geothermal pits, he could become supremely powerful." Beast theorized.
"We've got to warn them!" Beast said as he activated his communicator.
"Storm! Danny!" The two heard Beast's voice over their communicators, warning them. "You have to stop Undergrowth before he gets to those volcanoes. If he does, then he will be too powerful for any of us."
"I will stop this monster." Storm vowed.
"You think you can stop me?" Undergrowth challenged.
"She's not the only one!" Danny appeared next to Storm. "Mind if I join in on the fun, Storm?"
Storm smiled for a brief moment. "Be my guest."
Danny started to use his ice powers while Storm called upon her ice.
"Arctic winds I summon you; put an end to this malevolent spirit."
"No!" Undergrowth screamed in pain from the bombardment of cold. "You can't stop me! I am nature itself! I am life! Life always marches on, no matter what obstacle appears in its path. The Earth shall be mine."
Zaladane realized that Undergrowth needed to be stopped. She used her wand to free Sauron from the vines imprisoning him.
"Sauron, you must stop him." She said. "He will destroy us all."
Sauron had enough of Zaladane's orders. He used his hypnosis to put the sorceress to sleep.
Undergrowth was still resisting Danny and Storm's attacks. "I will not be vanquished."
"Silence!" Sauron flew towards Undergrowth. "Sauron, and Sauron alone, will rule the Savage Land."
He then grabbed onto one of Undergrowth's vines. "I will absorb the mutant energy you took from the weather witch. I can feel it, building, flowing through me." His happiness soon turned to concern as he realized this was too much energy. "No! It is too much! What is happening to me!"
"No!" Undergrowth shouted as Sauron started to grow in size until he was as big as Undergrowth.
The two titans then started to fight as the X-Men watched on.
"No one challenges Sauron and lives!" Sauron proclaimed.
"This evil must be destroyed!" Storm said, looking at Undergrowth with disgust.
She flew towards them, only for Danny to hold her back.
"Storm! Get away from them!" Danny yelled.
Rogue flew up towards Danny and Storm. "But how do we stop the giant bird?"
Danny didn't have an answer. "I don't know; it looks like we're just bystanders in this fight that looks straight out of a Japanese monster movie."
"Foolish creature!" Undergrowth managed to gain the upper hand over Sauron. Sauron was then blasted away as he turned back to Karl Lykos. "Nothing can ever stop Undergrowth! I am the ultimate force! I am invincible! I am immortal! Nothing can ever stop me!"
Danny then saw that Undergrowth was rooting his vines into the ground. He then got an idea of how to stop him.
He passed Storm over to Rogue. "Here, make sure she doesn't get herself hurt."
"I am life!" Undergrowth claimed.
"Yeah, well, let me tell you something about life, pal." Danny said to Undergrowth. "In the end, all life must bow before death."
He then phased through the ground as he started to freeze Undergrowth's roots.
"No!" Undergrowth begged as he started to feel himself weaken. He started to shrink in size. "Stop, please! I beg you! Have mercy!"
Danny didn't stop as Undergrowth slowly rotted away until he was nothing, but a small-looking weed-like creature.
"This is not over!" The tiny Undergrowth vowed. "I will return and make you all pay! The Earth and all of its filthy meat creatures will be mine!"
Rogue shook her head at the ghost as she landed back down with Storm, who was unconscious from all the exhaustion of the stress and use of her powers. "No wonder they tell you to eat your vegetables. If you don't, then they'll eat you."
Danny phased back up as he looked at Undergrowth. "Don't you hate it, Rogue, when you're gardening and you find a weed?"
Rogue nodded in agreement. "It really is annoying, sugar."
"Well, I've got the perfect weed whacker." Danny then pulled out his thermos and sucked up Undergrowth.
"NO!" Undergrowth tried to break out of the beam, but it was hopeless.
"Glad that's over with." Rogue said thankfully. "Nice job, spooky." She kissed Danny.
Storm! Rogue! Danny!" Wolverine came up to them with the rest of the X-Men, along with Ka-Zar and Zabu.
"Somebody, say something!" Jubilee cried worriedly.
Danny smirked. "Something." He then gestured to the motionless Storm. "Let's get back to the Blackbird."
The X-Men took off as Ka-Zar and his villagers took Zaladane into custody for her evil acts.
Ka-Zar then came across Karl.
"You are safe now, Karl Lykos." Ka-Zar assured him. "The nightmare is over. And with no mutant energy to tempt you, the presence of Sauron will haunt you no more."
"Thank you, my friend." Karl said gratefully as he took off the amulet of Garokk and smashed it to pieces.
Storm was in the Blackbird's infirmary as Danny and Rogue looked over her.
Storm felt guilty about her behavior. "About my behavior back there, how can I ask you to forgive me?"
"Hush, now you need to rest." Rogue said.
"I am frightened, my friends." Storm confessed.
"Listen, sugar, that wasn't you out there." Rogue placed a blanket over her. "Don't forget, Sauron messed with my head, too." She smiled at Danny. "I'm just glad my man's kiss snapped me out of it."
Danny chuckled. "Maybe we should've had Wolverine kiss Storm to snap her out of it."
Storm blushed at the idea. "Thank you for your understanding. All these years of caution and denial, to finally unleash my true feelings. I liked letting go. Never before have I felt so free."
"Well, don't worry, Storm." Danny grinned. "I think I can find a place in the Ghost Zone for you to let loose once in a while without having to worry about destroying anything."
"I would appreciate that very much." Storm then hugged Danny. "Thank you, my friend."