United Nations Headquarters, New York 1:30am
At the gates to the towering UN building, the protestors still packed the street outside as grim faced NYPD riot police kept them back and US Marines watched from behind the new banded steel fence, topped with razor wire and reinforced with titanium and military grade armour plating. There were hundreds there, clutching banners and placards, some demanding answers, others justice, the words 'Remember Volterra' and 'We want the truth' the most common slogans.
As a South Korean Blackhawk helicopter roared overhead, searchlight sweeping the grounds and street beyond, snipers leaning out of the sides with high powered anti material rifles, the crowd's frenzied protest only got louder. But what really set them off was the sight of a black limousine, unmarked except for a small Union Jack flying from the bonnet and escorted by two green Humvees, that came sweeping past and up to the armoured gates, where two M1 Abrams battle tanks sat, gunners leaning out of the top hatches.
"Murderers!" screamed a female protestor as she hurled a water balloon over her head. But it wasn't water which hit the lead Humvee.
It was blood.
Although only animal blood it was still enough for four black uniformed Ultra Vector soldiers to rush forward and push her to the ground, slamming a pair of handcuffs on her and pushing the protestor into the arms of two speechless riot police, batons extended and daring anyone to attack them.
The rest of the crowd recoiled in disgust from the bloody protest, as its cackling architect was hauled into a nearby police van, but some positively enjoyed it.
Right in the centre of the crowd, hood over his pale features, grinning at his own audacity, Caius lurked. Glancing left and right to see others amongst the mob with crimson eyes, he slowly began to walk forward.
Pushing past four screaming girls clutching Starbucks cappuccinos in one hand and placards in the other, he made his way to the front of the crowd. Instantly two NYPD officers rushed to block him, M4 carbines at their sides.
"Look pal, just move on back there." The first one declared, holding up a hand.
Caius smiled underneath his hood.
"But of course gentlemen…"
Without another word, and with a casual smirk, he stepped forward and reached for both officers, snapping their necks in a heartbeat.
The sound was like a gunshot as the two officers hit the ground but Caius ignored them.
"Amun, the flag." He ordered and the swarthy Egyptian scuttled forward, handing him a deep crimson flag rolled up.
Hefting the spear-like pole in his left hand Caius studied it.
"Amun." He said coldly as a platoon of Ultra Vector soldiers spilled out of the gates and moved to surrounded them. "Are you ready?"
"As always my lord…" Amun said nervously as the soldiers surrounded them, aiming their rifles straight at the two vampires.
"Good." Came the casual reply, not even looking up as the crowd stared at them. "For tonight…"
"Put your hands behind your head!" the Ultra Vector sergeant at the head of the platoon demanded and Caius smiled.
"Of course." He said amicably, placing his hands behind his head and pulling the hood down.
"Oh my…" the sergeant began, all colour draining from his face as Caius revealed himself.
"Tonight gentlemen." He said, addressing the dumbstruck soldiers before him.
"We are Volturi!" he roared, unfurling the crimson flag to reveal the Volturi crest and, with a wink at the surrounding soldiers, leapt into the air and over the fence.
"Take him…" the sergeant ordered, but the command was lost as the rest of Caius' army sprinted forward, tearing the throats from the soldiers in seconds and carrying on to jump over the fence after their master, the eyes of everyone on them.
Caius fell to earth, flag in one hand, fist pointed downward as, below him on the ornamental lawn, US Marines and black Ultra Vector troops rushed out, aiming upwards.
"Surprised?" he shouted aloud with a laugh, a second before he struck the ground, the force sending every man in a ten metre radius to the ground.
As others raised their weapons in his direction, the rest of his army fell, striking the ground and smashing into the Ultra Vector ranks with bursts of crimson and the screams of their victims. Caius didn't let any of the soldiers get up, impaling the nearest man upon the spiked end of the flag before hurling it to one of the other vampires, and turned, eyes ablaze and hands contorted into claws to address his army rallying to him, a mass of crimson eyed pale figures, all staring at him as more soldiers spilled into the courtyard and aimed their weapons, surrounding the vampires.
"Let the slaughter begin." He declared and rushed the soldiers around them, tearing the head off a screaming US Marine before sinking his teeth into the neck of an Ultra Vector soldier as his army followed behind.
"Enjoying yourself?" he said to Amun with a laugh as the Egyptian tore out a marine's throat with a flick of his hand.
The Egyptian didn't answer and turned to him, a look of confusion on his face.
The next thing the Volturi leader knew there was a deafening explosion and the vampire was gone, replaced by a crater filled with brown rags.
Turning his gaze past his blood-stained allies as they carved through the shocked military forces Caius saw the sand coloured armoured bulk of one of the Abrams tanks, firing its main gun into the mass of vampires, its gunner rattling away on a heavy machine gun.
Caius turned towards it with a smirk, cracking his knuckles.
"This is going to be fun…"
Then he was running, a blur of death slicing through two shocked police officers, tearing them apart without breaking stride and then past the screaming protestors outside the fence to the tank itself.
Drawing his arm back Caius slammed his fist straight into the armoured vehicle, crumpling the front armour like paper and, as the gunner above turned his weapon downward, leapt five metres into the air and came back down on the turret, crushing the tank into a twisted heap of metal and blood before re-joining the battle inside the now overrun perimeter.
Tearing through another squad of Ultra Vector commandos with a grin, the vampire lord was in his element, twisting men's arms till they snapped from their sockets, crushing guns and machetes into scrap metal and punching straight through two soldiers at once with little more than a laugh as their blood splashed onto his face.
Ducking a swung machete from a grim faced Navy SEAL he simply swatted the man aside as if he were an insect, feeling a savage joy at the sound of the man's ribs cracking.
But, halfway through snapping a marine's neck with a flick of his wrist, Caius suddenly felt something.
He had never been a vampire with special abilities but, like all of his kind, he possessed a small ability to detect his kin wherever they were. He had never had cause to use it before but now he was hearing a simple, if quiet, as if it were from very far away, message. 'Help me' it said simply, but Caius couldn't find where it had come from.
"Strange." He said to a howling soldier at his feet as he reached down and tore out his throat. "It can't be…"
Walking away from the mutilated remains of his enemies Caius surveyed the battlefield for some clues to the weird mental message he was hearing.
Ignoring the explosion of a Blackhawk going down in flames or the wail of alarms from the burning Secretariat building in front of him Caius slowly walked across the lawn with a confused look on his face, trying to detect the source of the message.
"Kill him!" came the roar of a nearby blood-stained Ultra Vector corporal, rallying a group of battered soldiers who aimed their weapons at Caius.
Lazily dodging the bullets the vampire leapt forward, still searching for his mystery messenger even as he ripped apart the humans around him.
"Now where are you…" he said thoughtfully, idly backhanding a marine so hard he flew out into the harbour.
But then he felt it again, stronger and louder than before.
Laughing softly Caius leapt up into the air, above the battle raging below, lit by helicopter searchlights and the burning corpses of dying vampires lit up by flamethrowers, then, angling his body straight downward plunged to earth.
But this time he didn't slow his decent, merely let himself power down through the packed soil and earth until, with a slight twinge of surprise, he emerged in a wide open space underground.
For a second Caius had a glimpse of a floodlit hangar type building, with soldiers rushing into positions and scientists running for cover, whilist at the centre of it all was a large metal container covered in warning signs.
Slamming into the concrete with an explosion of grey stone, Caius stood up, instantly dodging the hail of gunfire sent his way and cutting a path through the shocked soldiers to reach the capsule as the others retreated.
Without another thought he tore through the side of the capsule and reached inside, feeling another hand take hold of his.
For a second he was about to rip that hand from its socket, but then he recognised the person's touch.
"Jane?" he said with a raised eyebrow as he pulled the figure out gently, ignoring the soldiers rushing to stop him, and finding himself face to face with Jane, still dressed in the same cloak from the airbase raid, who smiled up at him weakly.
"What have they done to you?" he said with a blaze of anger, dodging a STAKE rocket with a simple step forward and letting Jane slowly get to her feet.
"They…" she began but Caius was already filled with rage, ready to go face the horde of troops spilling into the room, but then Jane gently put a hand on his arm.
"Let me." She said with a weak smile.
Caius grinned as they stepped out to face the Ultra Vector troops, who were desperately retreating back now, closing the huge steel doors at the end of the room behind them, leaving the two vampires alone.
"Ready for some revenge?" he said as they walked towards the thick steel doors, knowing that, on the other side, an entire battalions worth of enemy forces waited.
Jane nodded slowly as they stepped towards the imposing doors, Caius placing his hands on its steel frame, ready to tear them apart.
"I'm ready." She said softly, her eyes glowing red at the thought of more slaughter.
With a slight grunt of exertion Caius pushed the two doors apart with a screech of metal and, for a second, there was silence as the soldiers on the other side watched on in fear, weapons at the ready.
"Now!" Caius ordered as they stepped through the open doorway, over a hundred soldiers gathered there with guns aimed straight at them, about to fire.
Then Jane smiled and every man fell to the ground in fits of indescribable agony.
Instantly Caius grabbed one of the soldiers by the neck.
"Where's your leader?" he demanded, but the man only laughed between fits of pain.
"Like I would…"
Caius snapped the man's neck before he got any further, then grabbed a skinny scientist, whose face paled at the sight of the vampire lord.
"I won't repeat myself." He said as his crimson eyes bored into the man.
"He's upstairs!" the man shrieked. "But please don't k…"
He never got any further as the vampire snapped his neck.
"Thank you for your cooperation."
One man at the end of the corridor slowly crawled towards the lift doors, and a large red control panel on the wall, reaching for the 'Purge' button in one last act of defiance but, when his outstretched finger was centimetres from the small red circle, he felt a cold hand take hold of it, and a patronising voice behind him.
"Oh no don't worry yourself sir, I'll get that for you, Caius said with a grin, before hurling the man aside.
Looking up the lift shaft he turned to Jane, his hand hovering over the button.
"How fast can you jump up there?" he said thoughtfully.
"Fast enough to outrun the firestorm that your about to unleash." She replied with a laugh.
Caius shrugged and, taking one last look at the dozens of soldiers laid around them said with a smirk.
"Let's end their suffering."
Slamming his fist into the button, Caius and his new ally were already halfway up the empty shaft as fire consumed the rooms below in a blaze of flame and agonised screams.