‘They say I’m the best there is at what I do. And right now, what I’m doing seems pretty darn weird’ Wolverine a.k.a. Logan thinks to himself as he tussles, mid-air with the mutant villain called Sauron inside a museum. Logan forces Sauron to the ground, and the land with a SLAM, shattering some of the tiles. Sauron blasts some fire from his mouth, and Logan grabs his tail, deciding that Sauron is as nasty as they come, flying, breathing fire, draining life energy and even hypnotizing people. Logan pulls on Sauron’s tail, and although Sauron may look like a dinosaur, he isn’t. But Logan decides that it doesn’t matter, for either way, he is about to become extinct. Suddenly, Logan picks up a familiar scent and it isn’t coming from Sauron.
‘Smells like candy… and gym class… smells like help is here’ Logan tells himself. Turning around, he sees four children standing ready for action. ‘Power Pack?’ Logan sneers. Alex, the eldest boy with blond hair, Julie, the elder girl with red hair, Jack, the younger boy with brown hair, and Katie, the youngest child with strawberry blonde hair are four ordinary siblings who were granted extraordinary abilities during an alien encounter. Now, as Zero-G, Lightspeed, Mass Master and Energizer, respectively, they are the world’s youngest super team - Power Pack!
All four children frown at Wolverine. ‘Yeah. Happy to see you, too. So, are you kids gonna lend me a hand… or are ya just gonna stand there?’ Logan asks them.
Suddenly, Sauron’s eyes glow red, ‘Answer him, my pets’ he calls out, as the Power siblings leap forward, mesmerized and under Sauron’s control. ‘I had to ask’ Logan mutters to himself. They may just be kids, but Power Pack are no joke. Zero-G controls the gravitational fields around objects - and people, and demonstrates this by lifting Wolverine into the air. Logan knows that Lightspeed moves - fast - and, discovers that she packs a mean punch, too, as she smacks him in the face, causing him to drop back to the ground. Mass Master turns to his cloud-like form, manipulating his body’s density, he becomes an intangible fog, or he can shrink into a super-dense form, and surrounds Logan, while Energizer… ‘Easy now, sweetie. You really don’t want to do this’ Logan calls out to the young girl.
But, sometimes the biggest surprises come in the smallest packages, as Energizer sends a powerful blast of energy slamming into Logan, knocking him into a wall. Usually, Power Pack are on Logan’s side of the fight - but not today. ‘You kids ain’t in control of yer actions, so I’m gonna let that one slide’ Logan tells the children, adding that he doesn’t know how Suaron suckered them into this, but it was a big mistake. He then pops his claws, a familiar SNIKT sound resonating through the museum, as he leaps towards Sauron, ‘Let’s get this over with…’ he snarls.
One hour earlier:
‘Can we get this over with already?’ Jack Power mutters as he and his siblings stand in front of a display of dinosaur skeletons at the museum. ‘Sorry, Jack. I’ve got a big report on the Cretaceous Period due on Monday’ Alex replies. Julie tells Jack that she thought he loved dinosaurs, to which Jack frowns and replies that he does - the ones in movies that eat people, and asks what is so cool about a bunch of stupid bones. ‘Maybe the fact that these guys actually roamed the Earth millions of years ago?’ Alex smiles. ‘Meh’ Jack mutters. ‘For real, Alex? This thing used to live?’ Katie asks, curious. Julie tells Katie not to worry, as they have been extinct for eons.
‘Actually, that’s not quite true’ a voice remarks. A man in a lab coat approaches the children. ‘What if I were to tell you there was a place in the world where dinosaurs still roamed the Earth freely?’ he asks them. ‘I’d say you’ve been watching a bit too much Sci-Fi Channel’ Julie tells him. ‘As would most of my colleagues’ the scientist replies, before assuring the children that this place - the Savage Land - is quite real. ‘Come to my lecture and I’ll -’ he begins, but Jack yawns, ‘No thanks, dude. I get enough lectures at home’ he remarks. ‘A shame’ the scientist replies, adding that if all goes as planned, they could’ve seen a real live dinosaur. Suddenly, Jack smiles, ‘Count me in!’ he exclaims. ‘Count me out’ Katie scoffs.
‘We’ll be there, Dr…?’ Alex announces. ‘Lykos. And you won’t regret it, son’ Dr Lykos tells Alex as he puts a hand on his shoulder, and it glows green. ‘I’m sure you’ll find everything have to show you - truly fascinating’ he claims, and the children start to walk off.
Soon, in a lecture theater, ‘…and this isolated sub-Antarctic region provides the perfect climate for these species to thrive’ Dr Lykos tells his audience. The Power children sit in the front row, as Alex busily scribbles down some notes, while Jack is slumped over in his chair, ‘Boring. When do we see the dino?’ he mutters to Katie, who suggests ‘Maybe he forgot. I hope he forgot’. Standing on a stage, images of dinosaurs displayed on a screen, Dr Lykos reports that his first encounter with the beasts of the Savage Land had some life changing effects on him, and since then, he has sought to explore their true nature as closely - and as frequently - as possible. He tells his audience that today they are all going to experience the majesty of these creatures, but that first, he needs a special volunteer.
‘Perhaps the young man in the front row?’ Dr Lykos suggests, pointing at Alex. ‘Me? Whoa…’ Alex utters, surprised. Julie smiles at her brother, while Jack grins, ‘Oh yeah! Here we go!’ he mocks, while Katie rubs her hands together, ‘Please don’t get eaten. Please don’t get eaten. Please don’t get eaten’ she whispers. Alex climbs onto the stage and thanks Dr Lykos for this honor. ‘The honor is all mine, son’ Karl Lykos replies. He smiles and tells Alex that when they met earlier, he sensed something special in him, a spark, an energy, not unlike his own. ‘And that is exactly what I need to help me unleash the savage beast within!’ he booms as his eyes glow red and his hands have a green energy around them, he grabs Alex by his head. ‘What is he doing?’ ‘Beats me…’ ‘It sure doesn’t look good!’ Julie, Jack and Katie exclaim as they leap up from their chairs.
What they witness is Dr Lykos transforming into a green dinosaur, and as Alex falls to the stage Lykos declares that thanks to his unusually strong life force, everyone will see that dinosaurs still rule the Earth. ‘Too bad you’re all destined to become a feast - for SAURON!’ he shouts as he takes flight towards the rest of the Power children, who leap into action, ‘Hey, ugly…FEAST ON THIS!’ Julie exclaims as she speeds forward, her rainbow energy signature trailing behind her, slamming Sauron into a wall. ‘No one hurts our big brother!’ Katie calls out. Sauron gathers himself, ‘A family of heroes? That explains why the boy’s life energy triggered my transformation so rapidly’ he realizes. ‘Care to join him on the menu?’ Sauron asks as he flies towards Jack and Katie.
‘Nah…I’m really not that filling’ Jack replies as he switches from his cloud form, and drops down on Sauron’s back, as Sauron remarks that it is a good thing he has a captive audience full of normal humans to cub his insatiable appetite. Katie blasts him with a beam of energy, while Julie smiles and points to the door, ‘Yeah…not so much’ she tells him as those humans attending the lecture are making a run for it. ‘No! They’ve escaped! But I needed to absorb their life forces to sustain myself!’ Sauron reveals. ‘Gee…I wonder why they didn’t wanna stick around for that’ Katie remarks, while Julie goes over to Alex and helps her brother up. Alex powers up and his white costume appears, as Julie tells Sauron that they are not letting him hurt anyone else. ‘Yes, you are. In fact…you’re going to help me’ Sauron tells them as he hovers before them. ‘And why would we do that, Jurassic Jerk?’ Jack asks. ‘Because I said so…’ Sauron replies as his eyes glow, and he hypnotizes Power Pack, putting them under his control.
Nearby, Logan is on his motorcycle, speaking with Cyclops via video-conference. ‘I know, Cyke. I said I’d be there soon as I can’ Logan tells Cyclops, who replies ‘You’d better, your students at the Xavier Institute are depending on you, Logan’. Logan suggests to Cyclops that he try balancing time as an X-Man with an Avenger and a solo career. ‘It ain’t easy!’ he points out, so Cyclops suggests to Logan that maybe it is time to reassess his priorities. ‘Hmmm…I think you may be right’ Logan remarks as he sees people running from the museum, ‘Help!’ someone shouts. ‘Some kind of monster!’ another declares. Logan parks his motorcycle and tells Cyclops via the video conference system to inform his kids that class is cancelled for today. ‘Something important just came up’ he explains. ‘But - Logan! Wait!’ Cyclops calls out. Logan pretends that the communication is breaking up and tells Cyclops that he can’t hear him.
Logan makes his way through the crowd of people running past him, ‘A weird flying dinosaur thing!’ someone calls out. ‘That poor boy!’ another remarks. ‘Excuse me, coming through’ Logan mutters as he pushes past everyone. However, as he reaches the entrance, a security guard stops him, ‘We need you to leave. We’re having…ummm…a pest control problem’ he claims. ‘That’s why I’m here, bub’ Logan tells him. ‘And you are…?’ the guard queries. ‘The exterminator’ Logan replies as he removes his jacket, revealing his Wolverine costume underneath. As he walks towards another room, Logan sees Sauron flying about amongst the dinosaur skeletons. ‘And here I thought I was in for a challenge’ Logan remarks to himself as he pops his claws and leaps off the balcony towards Sauron.
Now:
Power Pack continue to battle Wolverine. ‘Destroy him, children!’ Sauron calls out. Logan thinks to himself that when one has been in the hero business as long as he has, you learn to find an opponent’s weaknesses and use them to your advantage. These kids may be full of spunk and loaded with raw power - but they are still in experienced when it comes to combat. He leaps to one side to dodge Katie’s energy blast, avoids Jack dropping down on him, leaps over Julie when she speeds towards him, and then kicks Sauron in the face. Logan knows that he still must break free from Sauron’s control before they hurt anyone - namely themselves. Logan pulls a leg bone from one of the dinosaur skeletons, ‘Hey, Zero-G - fetch!’ he calls out to Alex, throwing the large bone towards him, it slams into Alex and he is knocked back. Jack, Katie and Julie look up as the rest of the large dinosaur skeleton falls onto them. ‘Oops. Did I do that?’ Logan remarks, knowing full well that he did, and hoping that it works.
As the dust starts to clear around the pile of bones, Logan pulls Katie from them, and tells the kids that he is sorry for the tough love, but that he had to do something to knock the sense back into them. ‘Thanks…I think’ Katie utters, before Wolverine suggests to Power Pack that they clip that loser’s wings together. ‘I say - POWER PACK ATTCK!’ Alex commands as he and his siblings and Wolverine lunge forward to wards Sauron. ‘Have you fought this weirdo before?’ Katie enquires as she fires some energy towards Sauron, though he dodges it. ‘Too many times to count’ Logan tells Katie, who asks how they take him down. Sauron flies through Jack’s cloud form as Logan tells the children that the first rule is not to look him in the eyes. ‘Figured that one out the hard way, thanks’ Jack mutters. Logan and Lightspeed move towards Sauron but he flies onwards, as Logan announces that the second rule is to not let him touch you. ‘I’d like to see him try!’ Lightspeed boasts. Alex lifts up a large bone with his zero-gravity control and smacks it into Sauron, knocking the villain off balance.
‘Last rule: if he wants energy so badly - give him everything you’ve got!’ Logan instructs Power Pack, and Katie releases a powerful close-range blast of energy at Sauron, while her siblings stand with her. ‘Can’t be defeated…must feed…’ Sauron utters as he collapses. ‘Sorry, Sauron…but you’re history!’ Alex declares as he picks up the dinosaur skeleton ribcage, and places it over Sauron, trapping him. ‘So… do they have a prison for evil dinosaurs?’ Katie enquires. ‘Not quite’ Logan replies, adding that he knows of a few places that will gladly keep Sauron locked up. Alex rubs the back of his head and looks up at Logan, ‘Thanks for everything, Wolvie’ Alex tells him, adding that he can’t imagine what they might have done if Sauron had kept them under his control. Logan smiles and tells Power Pack that they did real good today.
Logan adds that his students could probably learn a few things from them, and asks if they have any interest in coming back to the Xavier Institute with him once they get rid of dino-dork. ‘That would be so awesome!’ Jack calls out excitedly, but Alex frowns, ‘But it won’t be today’ he announces, pointing out that he has his report on prehistoric life to write first. As Logan and the Power Pack kids head towards the door, Alex looks back at the dinosaur bones and rubs a hand through his hair and frowns: ‘Too bad my teacher isn’t going to believe a word of it…’
