Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, except for those I invent. I invented a character named Marie. I realize that is the real name of Rogue, but I will always refer to Rogue/Marie as Rogue, and Marie/Marie as Marie. No infringement is intended.
For details on Marie and her friend Jean-Pierre, please read "An American Ka-Boom! in Paris." chapter one through eight.
D.C. is also a character I invented. For details, see "D.C. and the CN Tower." chapters one through five.
"OK. Here's our position. We are trapped in a giant underground prison complex. Here with us is every mutant in 15 states, which includes children. Outside the front door is an army that is preparing to blow us up as soon as we emerge. That army has guns, tanks, and jet planes. The only thing that's keeping us alive right now is the ventilation system, which is being supplied with power by myself. I can't keep it up much longer. OK, that's the situation, so what's the solution?"
Everyone in the room look thoughtful. Suddenly a man stepped from behind a woman. D.C. raised an eyebrow. The man's skin was blue, and his hands and feet had claws on them. He looked like a big blue ape.
"Can we reason with them?"
"I don't think so. There's a microphone up there with the camera, and listen to what the army's saying."
D.C. pressed a button. Immediately a harsh loud voice filled the room.
"SURRENDER MUTANTS! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP! YOUR AUTHORITY IN THAT COMPLEX HAS BEEN SUPERSECDED-!"
D.C. turned it off.
"See what I mean? As soon as we go out there they'll start shooting because for all they know we could blow them all off the face of the earth. They know I can, if I wanted too."
"Then why don't you?"
A heavyset man in his forties stepped forward.
"I mean, why can't we fight back? They go around the country and tear families apart! We should make them pay for what they have done to us!"
"With all due respect, what are you thinking? We have children here with us! If we go out there and start killing soldiers left and right, what's keeping them from blowing up the whole complex? Not to mention that a big fight is bound to attract public attention. The last thing the mutant community needs is for the army to say that mutants attacked them for no reason."
"But that's not true!"
"Who is everybody going to believe, them or us?"
The ape-man spoke again. "I'm afraid we may have no choice but to fight. As much as I'd like to settle this peacefully, I've run out of possibilities."
"All right. But we'll have to think about the people here. I propose that we find the people with the best fighting skills, then we move the rest back to the main stairway. The people we select will fight the army out there. Then, if we defeat them, everybody else can get out of here. All in favor?"
A few minutes later, D.C. gravely picked up a small microphone on a desk.
"Attention, attention please. I'm sure you are all wondering what the holdup is. A few people in here thought it best to keep the truth from you, but the majority thought it best for you to know what was going on. The military had brought a small army here, and they have surrounded the main entrance. It is the only way out. We cannot reason with them, so we have decided to raise an army of our own in here. We will ask certain people to join. If you are asked, you are free to refuse. Before the battle, all the children and elderly will be sent downstairs to the lowest level for their own safety. All others who won't be fighting will go as low underground as possible. I implore you, do not come up to the top three levels during the battle. If we win, messagers will be sent to notify you, and you will be free to go. If we lose…I won't talk about that.
"Good luck to all of you. We will start to ask people about the army now. If you pray, pray for us now. That is all."
The next morning, everyone prepared for the battle. Nearly every person asked to join the mutant army had said yes. D.C. preferred to call the army a posse because that is what it most resembled.
It consisted of about 600 people. A lot of the students at the school were in it, including Bobby, John, Jean-Pierre, Marie, and Jubilee. Gambit had also joined it, and so had the ape-man. (D.C. didn't like that term very much, so at the first opportunity he had asked for the man's name. It was Hank.) Sheila had joined, even though nobody had asked her.
D.C. of course was in the posse, as well as Cyclops, Storm, and Wolverine. Jean and Professor X would stay to keep watch over the people staying behind, as would Rogue.
All the rest of the people in the posse D.C. didn't know. However, he had seen all of them through the security camera. The woman who controlled sound waves was in, as was the old man. D.C. didn't know what his power was. He just hoped it would be useful.
The posse was in a yet another large room, but time it was full of metal detectors, offices, and several checking points. It had been used to interrogate captured mutants. At the front of the room was a door large enough for three people to go through at the same time. That was the entrance. And the army the military had brought was on the other side.
It's almost time. D.C. walked to the front of the room and called for silence. The gloomy conversations slowly quieted. Six hundred sober faces looked at D.C. who stood just feet from the front door.
"In a few minutes the battle for freedom will begin. We will all rush out and try to disable as many units as we possibly can. It's estimated that there are about 9,000 troops out there. It looks as if we will immediately be overwhelmed, but that won't be the case. We have a few key players in here that will be able to protect you at all times. If at any time you need help of any kind, just start yelling for help. One of us will hear you and come help you." D.C. paused for a moment, then continued. "Also, if it is at all possible, only kill if you have too. I'm pretty sure that as soon as they see our powers, they'll run away. So, in short, this battle will be mainly demonstration and will turn to war only if we have to. Got that? OK, win the war!"
Once everybody was ready, D.C. turned around and blew the door and several yards of wall away. Everybody ran forward. The battle had begun.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOOOOOM!
BOOM!!!!!