Brainchild and his fellow Savage Land Mutates watch how Leash, a new member tries to keep Rogue under control. Usually she has no problems to bind the psyches and souls of her victims to herself, however while she works on Rogue‘s astral form she faces problems. The X-woman‘s unique situation of having multiple residue personalities in her head, popping up at random, makes it impossible for Leash to get a real grip on Rogue. Brainchild thanks Leash for at least trying, and orders the tied up Rogue to be brought back to her quarters. He then asks Lupa to report on her progress. She states that she has complete control over the Beast; her own bodily pheromones, paired with the scent of the blood lotus put him under her spell. Lupa demands to know why Brainchild doesn’t kill the X-Men, as already four of them are within the city, but the Savage Land Mutates‘ leader replies that there are many more X-Men and he doesn’t want them investigating. So when the X-Men will die, it must look like an accident and not draw unwanted attention. Lupa says that this won’t provide a problem, and Brainchild is satisfied, if there will be any problems he will hold Lupa responsible.
Brainchild then checks on Storm, who has been strapped into a machine. Her powers have been negated and Brainchild gloats that she will become his queen. Ororo refuses, but Brainchild says that she won’t have a choice, and that when he is finished with his manipulations she will love blood and murder.
Later, Thunderbird observes a developing confluct between a group of Saurids and some humans. They eye each other suspiciously and Neal thinks that it’s another case of unresolved hatred and bigotry, but it turns out to be nothing else than a game of soccer. Neal thinks to himself that maybe there is reason to hope, and suddenly Rogue and Beast join the game. He is happy to see his teammate in good shape, as she was reported to have been injured earlier on, and then she is filled in on what happened. Apparently they are the sole survivors, they haven’t heard from Storm or the Blackbird carrying Bishop, Sage and many Saurids. When last seen, the plane was on a trajectory straight into the arctic wasteland. Rogue’s reaction is that they should depart immediatly and start searching, however Hank made a commitment in the X-Men’s name, he promised that they’d help this Savage Land community against some attacks. Rogue gets angry, as “family“ should have priority, when Delage and C’rel arrive.
Delage, as the community’s leader, makes a formal speech to the troops. C’Rel, the leader of the Saurid race, is at his side. Delage reminds everyone to be cautious, but they have no choice but to fight. Their city is a haven for everybody regardless of origin or species, but the old saurian races within the Savage Land fail to acknoledge their ways and try to kill them, as their recent attacks proove. Without the aid of the X-Men they will surely get defeated. During the speech Rogue understands that they have to stay and help protect the city, though she knows that something doesn’t add up. The Beast wonders off during the ceremony and he is again enthralled by Lupa behind the stage. Rogue asks C‘Rel if she is sure of her decisions, but apparently the saurians have taken some of her Saurid’s hostage, so she has no other choice than to oppose them.
In his base, Brainchild watches events unfold and is happy. Whatever the outcome of the upcoming battle, he will win.
The Blackbird has crashed in the snowy wastelands. It’s passengers, mostly Saurid children, are cowering together to keep themselves warm. Bishop has been injured and lies unconscious. With no power to the ship’s systems, there is no way to tell how serious his wounds are. Sage is making repairs to the Blackbird, with the help of some of the older Saurids. Having finished rerouting some power lines, she asks Jimi to enable main power, but it doesn’t work. Sage calls up the Blackbird’s blueprint, which is no problem for someone with perfect memory, and compares the layouts, till the error is found. Meanwhile the children start to panic, it‘s cold and dark, but M’kai tries to reassure them. Right as a fight is about to start among the kids, Bishop wakes up and tells them to stop. Tessa and Jimi try their luck once more, and this time the plane’s main power returns.
In the Savage Land, the troops are now preparing for the battle. Lupa and Beast are the scouts, taking the lead, but when Hank spots some pterasaurs ready to attack, Lupa convinces him not to alert the others. While they kiss each other, the reptils attack Neal and Rogue, leaving the army of soldiers open to get attacked by a herd of velociraptors. In the skies, Rogue gets nailed by one of the attacking beasts and is knocked into a mountain. Neal tries to help her, but suddenly the Pterasaurs are flying in formation, leaving him no room to maneuver and he goes down the hard way, crashing into some trees. The combined army of humans and Saurid are panicing and running away. C’Rel shouts orders, but nobody listens, yet she at least stays to help Delage, who has been caught by a raptor. Beast leaps in, now too helping in the fight, with Lupa coming in right after him. But they all pause in awe as a few T-Rex’s arrive, one rode by Khadar, C’Rel’s second in command and apparently allied with the saurians.
Beast and Khadar start to fight, and Lupa’s wolves help to keep any other saurians off their backs. Meanwhile Rogue emerges from the crashsite, and flies back to the battle, angrily smashing some of the bigger dinosaurs. Delage‘s militia follows her example, they regroup and join the battle, as they suddenly see more saurians running towards them. Yet they are not running towards them, but running away from Thunderbird, who radiates solar plasma, looking like the sun recast in human form. C’Rel stops the battle between Beast and Khadar, asking why her friend is on the other side. He says that he was told that C’Rel and the other Saurids were made slaves inside the community, but Beast and C’Rel can convince him that it’s not true. They shake hands, and Khadar is welcomed into Delage’s community as well.
Again they are watched from afar by Brainchild, who laughs at them all for their wasted effort. He knows that there will be murder and war thanks to his new emissary – Storm. Ororo has been transformed by his machine into something savage. She now has claws, fangs and pointed ears, while one of Brainchild’s servants is wearing her costume.
