Title: The Mutant Thieves: "Mother Nature Needs Us"
Author: Pirate Turner
Rating: PG
Summary: Will Storm be alone when she deals with the head of a railroad who is destroying her beloved forest?

I flew, a gentle breeze caressing my face. Suddenly, I heard a loud, painful cry -- a cry from Mother Nature Herself! A cry broke from my lips as the pain hit me: "Goddess!" I flew down, more dropping than gliding, to the trees to see what was going on. My eyes widened in anger at the sight below me -- a group of men stampeding through the forest, murdering every tree they came across! My anger grew as I watched a big, burly man swing his sharp ax at a defenseless sapling.

The sky grew dark. Lightning flashed from all four corners of the Earth. I swooped down at them. "Mother Nature, aid my hands!" I cried. "Help me help you! Help me teach these heartless monsters who would kill your children a lesson they shall never forget!"

The men looked at me, pure terror on their faces. Torrents of rain began to pour from the sky. The wind howled mournfully as it blew the axes out of their very hands. Streaks of lightning shot at the men; they let out yelps and began to run away. A tornado rose from my hands, and I sent it after the men. It picked them up and churned them around in its dark, ravenous bowels.

I flew after the tornado. It dropped them onto the Sheriff's roof and disappeared into the sky. I smiled briefly, imagining the men explaining to the Sheriff how they got on the roof to the jail before turning and flying away.

I arrived home to find Wolverine waiting for me. "Who made ya mad this time, Stormy?"

Some welcome, I thought to myself, anger still lacing through my very veins. Out loud, I asked with a pretense of innocence, "What makes you think I am angry, Logan?"

He looked at me as if I was underrating how well he knew me. "It was a beautiful day 'fore that hellacious storm blew up outta nowhere. It don't take a genius ta figure out ya had a hand in it. So what happened, Stormy?"

I sighed. "I was out flying when I heard Mother Nature cry out in pain. There was a group of men chopping down trees. I took care of them."

"Of course," Logan chuckled. Then, he snapped his fingers as sudden realization dawned on his handsome face. "That explains it!"

"What?" I asked him.

"I ran into this big businessman today," he explained. "Harold Sturn. He was tryin' ta trick a little ol' lady outta her dead husband's land fer his railroad to run through."

"What did you do to him?"

"Let's just say I thought he'd take the next train outta here."

"Well, he obviously hasn't."

"Nope."

We remained silent for a few minutes, looking at each other and thinking. "He'll leave," Logan finally spoke again, anger underlining his determination, as his claws popped out of his hands. "We'll see ta that."

I nodded gravely.

That night, Logan and I told the others about Harold Sturn and his railroad. Boomer and Jono had planned to spend the next day in town. Domino had promised Nathan she'd take care of the saloon so he could go visit his parents. Emma, too, had other plans.

"If they're messin' with the trees, they're messin' with the animals, too," Rogue said, "so y'all can count me in."

Jubilee nodded. "Me, too."

Gambit looked at Rogue and me. "If you're in, cheres, I'm in, too."

The next morning, the five of us rode into town. We found Sturn walking out of the bank with a broad grin on his face. We cornered him a little way down the boardwalk.

"We don' want your railroad in dis town," Gambit told him from where he leaned against the building, lit cigar in hand. He casually took another puff of the disgusting tobacco.

"You don't always get what you want," he said, glaring at Wolverine.

"We do," Wolverine said, walking up to him and popping his claws out to where they missed Sturn by only an inch, "one way or another."

He stammered out, "B-b-b-but it'll help the town!"

"Help the town!" I repeated, breaking off each word through gritted teeth. My blue eyes flashed furiously, and a rumble of thunder came from the nearby distance. I took a step toward him. "Perhaps. But at what cost? How many trees and animals must perish in order for your railroad to be built? How much must Mother Nature suffer?"

Sturn laughed. "Who cares?"

I lost my patience. "WHO CARES!" I thundered. "I'LL SHOW YOU WHO CARES!" I shot numerous lightning bolts at him, but he managed to dodge each one.

The townspeople fled into the buildings. Wolverine laid his hand on my shoulder and whispered to me. I nodded slowly, my narrowed eyes never leaving Sturn.

A shrill train whistle blew in the near distance before sliding to a stop. The passengers disboarded, and it began to take on new passengers. The sky grew dark with heavy rain clouds. Gusts of wind began to blow, howling like a banshee as they ripped through the streets of the town. Lightning flashed in the sky as angry thunder shook the entire boardwalk. The rain began falling in bucketloads from the sky.

Wolverine kept his hand on my shoulder. He looked gravely at Sturn while saying in a low, menacing tone, "Yer'd better get on that train 'fore I really let her loose, bub."

Sturn took one look at me, turned, and ran. "AND DON'T EVER COME BACK!" Wolverine yelled after him.

Sturn never stopped running until he was on the train. We watched the train until it was out of sight. Then and only then did I finally allow the weather to return to its previous peaceful state. The rain, thunder, and lightning vanished as suddenly as it had began. The black sky lightened to a beautiful shade of blue where not a single cloud remained. The wind reduced to a gentle, playful breeze.

"We did it!" Jubilee whooped. "We ran him outta town!"

I looked off into the distance where the train had gone. "Keep going, Sturn; keep going and never come back."

Logan squeezed my shoulder gently. "We did it, 'Ro."

Sturn's men soon found out what had happened to their boss. Instead of going after him or continuing with their work, they left Westchester to pursue their own dreams. We never saw them again.

The End