Marvel's Storm Single-Handedly Defeated the X-Men to Save Professor X

“‘Ororo, great goddess of the Storm,’ the voices cry, ‘come unto us and ease our burden.’ And with the hollow peal of thunder and the moan of lonely winds — the storm goddess comes!” The mutant goddess Ororo Munroe was in her element, riding the winds, when Professor Charles Xavier asked for her help rescuing the lost X-Men in 1975’s Giant-Size X-Men #1. 50 years later, Xavier has once again come to Storm for help: this time to save him from the X-Men.

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Storm #6, by writer Murewa Ayodele and artist Lucas Werneck, is part three of the seven-part X-Manhunt storyline, which sees the X-Men’s former mentor break out of Graymalkin Prison to save his daughter: Empress Xandra of the Shi’ar Empire.

Diagnosed with a terminal mutant brain tumor that’s affecting control of his telepathic powers, Xavier defeated Rogue’s team of X-Men when they tried to prevent his escape from Graymalkin (in Uncanny X-Men #11), and then turned to NYX to help him retrieve a Cerebro helmet under the guise of protecting the last remaining seed of Krakoa from the Sorcerer Supreme Emperor Doom (in NYX #9).

At the Storm Sanctuary, which transforms into the Thundercloud battleship floating in the skies above Atlanta, Xavier tells Ororo, “They will send men after me. Very bad men. They will be armed to the teeth with weapons made to hurt me. And I would deserve it. I broke out of prison, Ororo.”

Although Ororo is grateful for Xavier taking her in all those years ago, she responds that she has to alert her teammates on the Avengers about the fugitive Xavier showing up at her Sanctuary. If she’s found harboring a fugitive guilty of crimes against humanity, she says, she’ll be stripped of her licenses and diplomatic immunity.

“The Ororo Munroe I knew never needed legislation to save the innocent,” Xavier tells his former pupil. “She let the winds carry her whims like she was above it all.” To that, Ororo responds, “The Charles Xavier I once knew was neither a war criminal nor a fugitive. We all disappoint those closest to us in our own unique ways.”

As Ororo reminds him that there are no more mutant resurrections and the dead stay dead, he reveals why he’s truly there: “I want to raise the dead one final time, Ororo.” Later, in San Francisco, once site of the X-Men’s island home Utopia, Storm wears a Wakandan-made vibranium armor and stands with the mighty Maggott to defend her former professor from her teammates: Cyclops’ Alaska-based X-Men.

Xavier’s first student, Scott Summers, wants the Professor returned to Graymalkin in order for him to be held accountable for his crimes. When Ororo tells Scott that Xavier is under her protection, and Scott responds that the X-Men won’t back down, she says, “Give it your all, brother.”

Since she saw Cyclops’ X-Men last, Ororo died and was resurrected as Eternity’s avatar: the Eternal Storm. Already an omega level mutant, Storm’s new cosmic powers make her Earth’s mightiest mutant. Although she’s prevented from unleashing the full might of the elements lest she risk damaging Thundercloud.

Cyclops, expert strategist, devises a plan: Kid Omega will engage Xavier telepathically to shield the X-Men as the unstoppable Juggernaut trades blows with Maggott, and Cyke and Psylocke will retrieve Xavier and withdraw.

“Years of fighting shoulder to shoulder with powerful comrades, teammates who drafted countless alternate battle plans. Years of testing yourself against weak beings. You think your false strength is enough for every battle? You follow your heart brashly as though justice and kindness win wars. What is motif in the face of insurmountable defeat? You’ve assembled no truly dangerous weapons. You’ve failed to alter the battleground in your favor. You’ve set no traps. Nothing but heart and goodwill. Very well. Watch and learn, child,” speaks the cosmic goddess: the Eternal Storm.

The Eternal Storm withstands the power of Cyclops’ optic blast, then shatters his visor and freezes him over. An enraged Juggernaut pins Maggott, rips off his arm, and threatens to smear Storm into the pavement. As Eternity’s avatar, she summons the essence of the ancient spirit Eēgūn, which killed Storm in Latveria and led to her being resurrected by the Living Embodiment of the Universe. Eēgūn’s essence heals Maggott and makes him the Omega Maggott, and then the Eternal Storm stops the unstoppable Juggernaut in his tracks with an “immortal head smash.”

The X-Men, defeated, are left to lick their wounds in the ruins of their former home: Utopia.

Storm #6 is on sale now from Marvel Comics. X-Manhunt continues in X-Men #13, on sale March 12.