Trying to absorb life force energy from the X-Man Storm, Karl Lykos has transformed once more into Sauron!
The primary story is a reprint of The X-Men #115 - Visions of Death! (November, 1978), with new pages illustrated by Kieron Dwyer, offering a brief prelude to the Phoenix Saga, as Jean Grey has a lapse of control. The secondary story, "First Love," illustrated by John Bolton, ties into The Uncanny X-Men Annual #12 - Ressurrection as Colossus experiences love in the Savage Land with Nereel. Both the Art Adams cover, as well as the Bolton back piece, are original to this comic.
Backup story summary:
First Love
Colossus is hanging out in the Savage Land going bananas about how hot it is and wishing he was back in Siberia where it was nice and cold.
Away in the distance he thinks he sees his brief love Anya and his sister Illyana waving to him. Not only is he astounded that either of them are in the Savage Land to begin with, but what's more his young sister looks about ten years older than he remembers her ever being. Rubbing his eyes he realizes that it was just a trick of the light brought on by the extreme heat, and actually just some of the Fall People waving to him on their way into the forest.
His thoughts drift back to Anya, his feelings for her, and the disappointment he felt when she rejected him for being a mutant. But suddenly he hears screams coming from the direction that the Fall People went, and runs to investigate.
He finds that the Fall People have become the prey of a giant tyrannosaurus and instinctively tries to change into his mutant metal form, only to find that he cannot. Not willing to leave the villagers to the fate of the tyrannosaurus, he hurls a boulder at the dinosaur and hits it in the face. The dinosaur responds by whipping him with it's tail into a nearby bog, and as he recovers, he sees that one of the three girls has run out to distract the beast from the others. Not wanting to see her hurt, Colossus races up a tree and leaps onto the dinosaur's head, but not before it can grab the girl in it's great mouth.
Colossus howls in horror and bashes the beast in the eyes and face with an ax, eventually throwing it's balance off enough to topple it into the bog. When the beast doesn't rise, he goes to check on the girls; two of them are fine and they thank him for his bravery, but tragically he could not save the third that had been snatched up by the tyrannosaurus' bite.
That night, the tribe holds a funeral pyre for the girl, to release her spirit back into the jungle. Afterwards, Colossus tries to sleep, but is haunted by nightmares. He awakes to find the two girls he saved, Fahe and Nereel have come to visit him, saying that there is one more ritual he must help them perform in honor of their fallen friend.
As they lead him out into the moonlight, they pass Wolverine, sewing on a rock. Colossus invites him to join them, but Wolverine slyly declines, saying that he doesn't want to crimp Colossus' style. This only seems to baffle Colossus, and he continues to let the girls lead him to a small boat and then a small island, near where he felled the tyrannosaurus. The girls tell Colossus that the final ritual is for him to simply be with them, which at first he doesn't understand, but when he does he becomes shocked, thinking it disrespectful on the night of their friend's death. They reply that it is the most respectful course, arguing that where life ends, new life should be given a chance to form.
Colossus contemplates this different cultural perspective, but still doesn't feel right about it. Suddenly, the tyrannosaurus emerges from the bog and attacks. Colossus tells the girls to run, that it's him the beast wants, though he's terrified to face it again, this time without any rocks or his ax to use as weapons. But as the beast snatches him up, he finally is able to change into his metal form, snapping it's jaw.
Hearing the shock in the girls' voices at the sight of his mutant form, his thoughts return to Anya, and he fears they too will reject him. As he finishes the beast off with his bare hands, he muses "by Lenin, would that I could put an end to such unreasoning fear.. as easily as I do ..this beast!"
Returning to the girls, he's surprised that they do not reject him. He explains what happened with Anya, and they tell him that she was a fool. He says that when the X-men leave, he must go with them, and Nereel replies that they must then make this time count. The three embrace on the jungle floor, and for the first time in his young life, Colossus knows romantic love
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