Sooner or later, it was going to happen. He could see it plainly in the way that the men stood. In the way they breathed. And in the way that they held their weapons. It was only a matter of time. In just about any other instance he would seize upon this temporary calm and put down the men before they could pose a real threat, but he wanted to give Dinah as much of a head start as he possibly could before things got ugly. And so with an impossibly casual demeanor given the situation, he shook his head and repeated himself, mindful all the while to stay within reach of the commander.
"Look officer I mean you no disrespect, but I watch the news. I've seen and heard about your goon squads shooting up buildings in the pursuit of these mutants and that will not be happening here. Period. I can't trust you or your men. Not with my students at stake."
The commander did not like that, and he made a show of standing over Danny. "Our intel is accurate, and I have my orders. This is the law. Period. Now step aside before someone gets hurt."
"Someone getting hurt is exactly what I am worried about", Danny said coolly. "But if you like I will have my lawyers get in touch with you in the morning to arrange some sort of inspection. Beyond that, my doors are closed to you."
When the commander glanced at his men, Danny sensed the escalation before it happened. The bigger man shook his head roughly, lowered his shoulders and attempted to barge right on past Danny. "Out of my way, ri-"
Danny placed a hand on the chest of the commander, but that only halted him for a moment.
The commander responded by slugging him in the gut out of frustration. "Now move, or I will arrest you too."
Danny had doubled over from the blow, and as he straightened he nodded several times. "Yeah... yeah.. yeah.. that's not going to happen."
Even as the mixture of outrage and shock registered on the face of the commander, Danny was springing into action. With no more than a breath between them Danny sharply turned his wrist upward as he coordinated all of the muscles in his arms, shoulders, and legs into one powerful blow that sent the commander sprawling backward to the ground.
As the scene played out, one of the other officers raised his weapon and fired.