Break out Katrina Van Horn calmly ripped a piece of the cell floor up, the redhead crushing the material into a ball with her immense strength. Then she flicked it towards the energy barrier that sealed her away, watching as the force screen rippled under the impact, studying how it reacted to the blow and filing away the data for later. "Amazon, cut it out," the guard called irritably from where he sat in the hall, his green armored uniform bulking him up considerably. The half helmet hid his eyes and hair, but the shape of his mouth showed his irritation. "Just keeping busy," Katrina replied calmly, her brown eyes amused as she sat back in her mostly bare cell. He straightened up in his chair, "Find something else to do." His voice dropped dangerously, "I'd hate to have to taser you again." "I'd like to see you try it," Katrina sneered at him as she pointed out, "you just got lucky the first time." "Why you..." he started to get up. "What do you think you're doing, officer?" the voice asked mildly as he walked into view. Simon Williams, the hero known as Wonder Man, strode down the corridor in black and red, the black haired man's eyes glowing with unearthly energies. "Sir," the officer stiffened. "If you went in a cell with her," Simon said dryly, "she would have overpowered you, took your keys and scooted. You should know better than that." "Spoil sport," Katrina sighed. Simon walked in front of her cage, studying her silently a moment. "It could be so much easier for you," he finally said, "as a former member of the Thunderbolts they'd let you go once you agreed to register." "I bet the Germans said the same things to the Jews right before they branded them," Katrina answered dryly. "It's not the same..." Simon started. "No," Katrina agreed, "with Stark in charge maybe not. But what happens after he's gone, hmm?" She sneered, "Do you really trust having your name and the names of your friends held in government hands?" "I trust Tony," Simon answered flatly. "Well good for you," Katrina laughed, "that and a buck'll get you a cup of coffee." Simon turned, his back visibly stiff. "Don't let her get to you,' he pointedly instructed the guard, "you'll regret it." "Yes sir," the man saluted as Simon strode away. "Have fun selling out your own kind," Katrina called before he was out of sight, glad for the chance to stick another needle into him. Time passed damn slowly in the calls, the artificial lighting the only way to tell if it was day or night. Calmly the one guard left and another went on shift, settling into his spot at the desk across the hall, monitoring the captives in this wing. Once again Katrina carefully dug out material from the floor, compressing it in her fingers into a small, yet heavy projectile. 'Now,' she mused, 'let's see if all my practice will actually pay off.' Raising her voice she called, "Guard!" "Now what?" the young woman asked, striding over to the cell, seemingly safe on the other side of the force field. "Sorry," Katrina said as she flicked the pebble with her superhuman strength. The energy shield stopped the blow, but not before warping outward and not incidentally striking the badly off balance guard. There was a flash of energy as the hapless woman was shocked, and Katrina seized the moment to act. Pressing with all her might she howled in pain as the weakened shield tried to stun her, then in a flash of light she was through. Clothes smoking and body aching Katrina forced herself up, standing on legs barely able to hold her while she tried to catch her breath. Bending down she grabbed the guard's key-card, then looked around as she tried to decide what to do next. "Shit," a voice from the next cell over called, "let us out!" Sweeping the room Katrina realized the corridor was lined with cells, and all of them held superhuman's being held captive by the government. Lady Deathstrike was in one cell, the skull masked Taskmaster in another, while other non-costumed figures waited in others. Debating only a moment Katrina used the card to open the cells, releasing the men and women into the hallway. "Anyone remember how we got taken in here?" she demanded. Lady Deathstrike smiled grimly, the mostly human looking female cyborg pointing to the door at the end of the hall, "My internal systems say there." "Then let's check it out," Katrina said boldly, striding forward to unlock the door. Outside another passage way stretched off into the distance, and lights flashed red from where they were mounted on the walls. "Looks like they know we're out," Taskmaster said grimly, "wish I had my weapons." "If you want," Deathstrike purred, "you can go look for the weapon's locker." "Heh," Taskmaster sounded amused, "I'll pass." "The guard has a billy club," Katrina noted, "it's something, at any rate." "Can you get us out of here?" a blonde haired woman asked nervously as she stood by Katrina. "I mean to try," Katrina said honestly. She looked the girl over, "Haven't seen you around. Did they just bust you for having powers?" "I call myself Fixer," she said with a nod, "I can heal people. A bunch of cape-killers brought be in when I refused to join the Initiative's super-fascist training ground." Katrina fought back a chuckle, wondering how many other people in this place were in a similar boat. "Come on," she swept the seven kids and two adults with her eyes, "let's see if we can get out of here." "I'll take point,:" Deathstrike said as they hurried down the corridor. The doors opened into a larger chamber, one sadly occupied. "Open fire," the leader of the guards yelled. Instinctively grabbing Fixer Katrine shoved her behind her, yelping in pain as the first bolts burned her skin. Even as they fired Taskmaster leapt into action, copying a Daredevil attack and sending his borrowed billy club bouncing amid their foes and knocking them out. Right behind him Deathstrike raced in, her fingers extending into deadly blades as she chopped laser weapons to ribbons. "I'd kill you," she said to one terrified guard, "but you're not worthy of my blades." Grabbing a still conscious guard Katrina demanded, "Where's the way out?" "That way," he pointed to the far door, "but it won't help you." "Why?" Katrina shook him. "You're in the Negative Zone prison," he gasped, "even if you open the gate, you'll have to fight your way through a Initiative guard unit!" "Oh lovely," Katrina knocked him out with a casual blow to the head. Fixer looked up at Katrina with fearful eyes, "Is that true? Are we stuck?" Katrina shrugged, "Maybe." "I don't care," a young man with gleaming, chrome like skin said, "I intend to fight." "I ain't going back to my cell easily," Taskmaster agreed. "Better to die on our feet," Deathstrike said calmly, "than live on our knees." A young man stood up straight, "I may have lost my costume as Prodigy, but I will do my best to help." Katrina faced her group of unlikely allies, "Everybody on board?" When she heard a chorus of agreement from the others she smiled slightly and said, "Good, because I think I may just have a plan." "Is it a good plan?" a dusky skinned girl asked. "No," Katrina shrugged, "but I figure it'll give us a shot." 0o0o0o0o0o0 The Initiative base in Alaska was bustling as SHIELD agents and superheroes guarded the Negative Zone portal and defended the state from the forces of evil. Of course, there wasn't much evil in Alaska, but either way they were ready. "What did I do to deserve this?" Patriot asked no one in particular. American Angel sighed, the blonde playing solitaire. "We drew states out of a hat," she noted, "just our luck we got stuck here." Just then a warning chime rang out. "Negative Zone portal opening in five seconds," a SHIELD officer called out. "Isn't it early for a guard rotation?" Rocket Racer asked as the gate shimmered open. "There's been a riot," a tall, female guard yelled as she helped wounded guards through, "the superhumans are out of their cells!" "What?" Patriot leapt to his feet, bristling with energy, "We've got to help!" "But sir...," a SHIELD agent started. "Alaska Avengers, Assemble!" Patriot yelled as he lead his two comrades and most of the SHIELD agents through the portal. "Are you all right?" one of the few remaining SHIELD agents hurried over to help out the apparent leader. With astonishing casualness the tall woman knocked him out with one punch. "Just fine," Katrina tossed the helmet she had borrowed to disguise herself as a guard, "thanks for asking." Taskmaster calmly smashed the portal controls, "That should buy us some time." "Who wants to play?" Deathstrike extended her claws and smiled at the few SHIELD agents trying to gather their nerve to attack. In moments the men fled, leaving them all alone in the base, for now. "I'll be damned, it actually worked," Katrina grinned as they all headed outside, "let's grab some vehicles and get out of here." As they grabbed cars and other craft she thought, 'This isn't over, of course. Stark and his goons are still going to be after us.' She looked over as Fixer climbed in the cab beside her, 'But at least we'll give 'em a run for their money.' End. Notes: I really wanted to write a prison break, so there ya go. American Angel and the girl Fixer are original characters, everyone else is from Marvel comics.
Back to Opportunities: A Tale of Civil War Index - Back to Non-Anime Fanfiction Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction