Storm floats in the air above the island nation Santo Marco, musing that as a girl she called herself a goddess and lived in the sky. Sometimes she wonders why she ever left. She’s a mutant with the power to control the weather. Here’s where she belongs, every nerve connected with the winds, the clouds, the vapor.
Henry McCoy tells her via comm the army hasn’t arrived in time. The village isn’t evacuated. Just a moment, she tells him. She can’t stop a tsunami! he protests. Actually, she can, she corrects him.
She muses that as a girl she would have. It would feel good to seize this wave and break it in two but that would just divert the water and drown a thousand people a hundred miles north. This needs a little finesse. With a lightning bolt, she changes into her uniform.
While the people below her run, she creates several cyclones to buffer the giant wave. While Ororo strains, the people in the houses behind her watch admiringly and she hears a young girl laugh in delight. Hi! Ororo greets her and the girl greets her back.
Soon after the wave is dispersed, the village saved. An exhausted Ororo kneels on the ground. The girl Silvia ignores her parents and runs to her and hugs her. The people thank her and take pictures. Ororo figures to hell with the sky. This is where she belongs.
Armed soldier arrive. One addresses Storm as Ms. Munroe, and tells her to back away from the children. He can call her Storm, she points out. Not in Santo Marco, he replies. Mutant names aren’t allowed and neither are mutants. Really? she states coolly. A small rain showers down on him.
Beast calls her and reminds her they don’t want an international incident. Who’s “we?” she retorts. He explains the situation in Santo Marco is delicate. They are working with the opposition party to defeat the president’s anti-mutant bill. They don’t want to agitate—
They don’t seem to need a bill to be anti-mutant around here, she snaps. Henry reminds her she was a queen. She understands politics. They are playing the long game here. These people need help now, she insists. He points out if she stays their lives will get even harder.
The militants carry meds and supplies. The soldier who argued with her tells Storm mockingly not to worry. Humans take care of their own.
Storm returns to the Jean Grey School, where Best welcomes her by announcing there is problem. She’s left Santo Marco, she snaps. What more do they want? He explains it is a problem at the school. It’s Marisol Guerra. She’s protesting. Protesting what? she asks. Beast is not quite sure. Has he asked her? She won’t talk to him. He thinks she’s waiting for Storm.
She enters the cafeteria where Marisol sits surrounded by creeping mold and mushrooms. She can call her Creep, Marisol announces. Storm thought her codename was Flourish. Kids picked another one for her. Which kids? Ororo asks and offers to speak with them. Marisol smirks. She likes the name. When she uses it, it makes them uncomfortable. And that’s what she wants? Storm asks. How they choose to react is up to them, Creep retorts.
Storm sits down. She knows it can be hard adjusting to the school. It wasn’t easy for her either. But the whole point is that this is a safe place where mutants are accepted and learn to use—
She doesn’t know what the hell she is talking about! Marisol interrupts her. What right do they have to pull kids out of their homes and communities and bring them here to indoctrinate them in mutant ideology?! They are just giving them the tools, Storm starts. Right, Creep scoffs. Giving. This whole thing is framed as people of tremendous privilege gifting things to the poor.
Bring the sentence to the end, Storm tells her. She said they are giving the tools, not the mission. She decides what to do with what she learns.
Is that what Professor Xavier told her? Creep mocks. And yet Storm is still here, years later. Doing whatever they tell her. She doesn’t belong here! Marisol shouts. She needs to go home. That’s where her community is. That’s who she should be helping. She’s not going to end up a sell-out like Storm!
Lightning flares and a downpour starts as Storm silently glares at Creep. C-crazy, the girl mutters frightened.
Beast and some students peer in wondering if everything is alright. Storm coolly announces Miss Guerra will clean up the cafeteria. They’ll have a disciplinary meeting tomorrow at noon.
Storm flies off in a rainstorm, Marisol’s accusations still eating her. She swears and lets the storm carry her all night. In the morning, she finds herself in Santo Marco.
The girl Silvia greets her happily. Storm lands, ignoring Beast’s questions over comm. She helps the people clean up and rebuild. Predictably, the soldiers return, this time with tanks. He thought they agreed she’d leave, one of them addresses her. She thought they’d take care of their own, she retorts. Oh they are, he replies and orders everybody out. This area is no longer habitable, he announces. For their own safety they are going to be relocated. These aren’t government vehicles, one woman shouts. They don’t have the authority. He replies Suncorps is providing them brand new homes in a safe—
Suncorp? The hotel! They told them before they can build their resort somewhere else. They own this land! He orders everyone to move. Silvia screams when one tank levels her home.
The soldier aims his gun at Storm and goads her to act. He’d love an excuse. Just what she was thinking, she replies and disarms him with a martial arts move. The soldiers fire at her and she uses winds to overthrow their vehicles and tanks.
The Jean Grey School:
Yes, he is aware of the severity of the situation, Beast groans in contact with some politicians. But to the best of his knowledge there is no proof an X-Man was involved.
The students tell him to pay attention to the news where, after a platoon of armed militants affiliated with Suncorps was delivered to local authorities, President Duarte has sworn to investigate. The new images show Storm standing among the people triumphantly after chasing away the militants. The kids are all impressed, with the exception of Creep.
Storm joins her later startling the girl. Surprisingly, she tells her she’s sorry. The girl smiles and the growths in her hair turn to blossoms.
Later, Storm and Beast return Marisol to her home in Mexico, where her family happily welcomes her. As Marisol runs toward her mother, flowers grow in her wake.
That seems to have been the right decision, Beast admits. For now, Storm tells him. She’s young. She’ll lose and find where she belongs a hundred times. Just like the rest of them, huh? he asks. She laughs and flies upwards.
When she was a girl, the sky called her home. Should be interesting to see what calls her next.
