28 Minutes Later

[Niall]

No, 'back-up' wasn't all that much of an option, and really?  Who wanted to show up and deal with this situation?

Niall had appeared on scene completely unrecognized by any of his enemies, and that was exactly how he liked it.  He strolled through the chaos like a ghost, letting people brush past him untouched until Cerberus stepped up to his side.  That was when some semblance of organization hit, and Niall grabbed a passing fool, thrusting a nightmarish illusion on her, and then flung her backwards towards Cerberus.  The doberman passed her off to someone else, and Niall continued on, reaching and testing individuals until he found a specific one of interest.

"Ahh, look at that," he murmured, a slow smile passing over his features as he made the grab for that particular mind, and then gripped.  She had just what he needed, just what this situation needed, and once he'd loosened some of the bolts...there it was.  He could almost feel the controls give out in her brain, the careful programming falling apart under his touch, and the increased screaming from that direction only made him smile.  Perfect.

He snatched up a few more fleeing souls, letting the chaos continue without further interference other than the growing dread that his aura spreading out over these people was causing, and only when he got the distinct impression of nothing coming from his rampaging doll did he step it up a notch.

Fine, if they were going to bring her down, he would offer them something a little more interesting.  "Space, if you would," he told Cerberus, and the doberman gestured to anyone nearby of theirs to get out of the way while doing the same himself.  Niall ignored them, drawing in his power and piling it around himself, building and twisting it into a shape that he was very familiar with, one that he'd used countless times over the centuries to his own extreme advantage, and when he appeared to be scales, teeth and claws, he screamed.

He roared, and it shook the ground around them, throwing the enemies' attempt at organized fleeing into even more chaos.  That sound was fear and death, and when he advanced on them, they would be stupid to stay put.  They were his.

[William Garrett]

Nobody wanted to show up and deal with this situation, but someone did.  William had been forced to take a private jet to get to New York, which meant that he was slower to arrive than his compatriots, but that didn't put him out of the game.  In fact, it put him right where he needed to be pretty much right on time.  He was set to pass the neighborhood All Hallows was in when he got the message that the place was taking heavy fire and that there was word of a dragon, and nobody had seen a dragon in centuries.  That probably meant that it wasn't an actual dragon, so William was perfect for the job.

Sure enough, when he parked and made his way towards the screams and gunfire, there was no dragon.  He caught a shimmer here and there, just a suggestion that something was happening, and considering the direction that most of the horrified faces were looking, he could understand that they were seeing a dragon, but it was a vampire.  He'd give the guy credit, since he obviously had a hell of a lot of tricks up his sleeves, but William really had no fucks to give right about then. 

He realized that it was Niall, the new Master of Midnight, at about the same time he fired his rifle at the man's chest.  He still didn't care all that much, but they had just discussed the fact that they weren't out to reorganize Midnight.  Oh, well.  There was a loud shriek upon the air that even William caught, so it couldn't have just been part of the dragon illusion, and he wasn't sure what the 'dragon' did, but Niall twisted and clutched at a nearby car in an attempt to stop himself from impacting the ground.  It didn't work, which was satisfying (William's bullets were all heavily packed and designed to stay put when he planned on dealing with vampires), and though the vampire was still struggling along enough that his shimmery aura and quick reflexes had affected the jackal's aim, he wasn't getting out of there too quickly.  Someone else may have stood a chance of finishing him off, but once he'd made the shot, William was not going to be the one.  He'd been swarmed, as had Niall, by Midnight's people. 

Through a break in the bodies, he caught an image of Dante in demi form locked in combat with a huge bald man who was snarling back as the Lincei shrieked at him, their faces inches apart as they tore at each other.  For that split second, William gave whoever that fucker was credit - Dante was no pushover, and he looked pissed.  The next time the cowboy saw them, they were a lynx and the biggest doberman that he'd ever seen, and they were still tumbling around each other and tearing with claws and teeth, but he couldn't break them up until he'd taken down some of these bastards himself.  There were still people evacuating, the chaos trying to right itself since the dragon had been 'eliminated', but William wasn't needed to break them up.  The game changer came in the form of the last expected person on the scene.

Cerberus pitched away from Dante with a sudden, desperate move, and though the lynx pursued, he didn't seem to care.  William fought to follow his line of sight and found a young man spattered with blood wielding a shotgun and switching it out for some hand cannon that he seemed slightly unused to (though he must have adapted quickly) as he rushed through Midnight's people.  To what purpose?  He broke through and was leveled by the massive dog as he aimed the huge handgun at Niall himself.  William cursed, heading in the direction as fast as he could push through people, but Dante hit the doberman a second later, which prompted more shrieking, snarling and wrestling, but the kid was already down and Niall was on the move, albeit slowly.  Nobody expected him to falter and go down again when a shotgun went off...from the ground?  Once again, Cerberus broke free of Dante, but the cat was so determined to keep him away from the kid with the shotgun that the dog bounded away after taking another swipe over it. 

William reached them just as Dante was shifting back to a very bloody, panting human form to help pull the guy to his feet, and the doberman was back to an equally bloody, injured human form to drag Niall off.  The vampire would heal quickly, but William knew it was his round that was making it difficult.  Good.  "He's gone, get these people out of here," he instructed, and though he didn't outrank Dante in actuality, the young lincei had a part to play, and play it he would.  He nodded, pulling the other along with a quick, "Come on, Jason.  You okay?"

He didn't catch the answer, but he wasn't really interested in it as he helped send off the last of the girls and keep the last threats away.  Only when they were all on the move did he return to his own vehicle and a message to meet Stavros Arun and Loic for an offensive.  Perfect.