Disclaimer: I do not own the DC characters of Hawk and Dove, whom I loosely based my main characters on.

Welcome to the beginning of the end.

There was a new gadget on Dan's combat suit. A tiny panel with three buttons: start, stop, and call. He just sort of stared at it as he and Phil hurried towards the yard. Phil had one too. He wasn't sure what the buttons were for, but he was a little afraid to press them. Just in case, Louise would say.

The PA system was on repeating Louise's message over and over all across their building. This is an emergency. Tiers one and two please report to training gym one for debriefs, ready for combat. All recruits are to remain in their rooms and wait for further instructions. So, it was safe to say that people were running around everywhere without being really sure what was happening. Only the four of them who saw the news reports were in on the problem at that moment.

Louise and PJ were waiting outside. The bus was parked in the circular driveway. They looked over when Dan and Phil arrived. "What's happening?" PJ asked quickly.

"We don't know anything beyond wolf hybrids terrorizing London. Zoe is telling the team about what's going on, and after that we're all leaving. We're going to stop those things before they can kill people, if they haven't already," Phil replied, pulling on his sleeve, "Once we get there, we'll just have to subdue them all somehow. I don't think trying to kill them would be the best way to go."

"Why not?" PJ asked.

Dan frowned. "Well, they were people once, weren't they? Those people could still be in there before they were forced to change," he said.

"So we'll have to knock them out," Phil finished.

"How are you doing that?" Louise asked.

Phil looked Dan. The latter said, "We were hoping you had an idea."

She looked at PJ. He shook his head, and then something beeped on his tablet. "It's Felix," he said, waving Dan and Phil over. They stood beside him and answered the call.

"Hello, Hawk and Dove," said Felix, his voice sounding much cheerier than his face expressed.

"Felix, what's happening?" Dan asked quickly.

"Dr. Pentland and the people of the internet were correct in their assumptions. Dan's blood caused the agents to mutate into animalistic versions of themselves, but the fur and claws and whatnot were add-ons by Page's special project. It's a huge conspiracy," said the former agent, waving his hand, "The new mutations weren't quite what Page wanted, but since that's what he got they had to roll with it. They turned those agents into monsters to be set free – even if a couple at a time – for the enhanced agents that they could control to capture, to make Page's army of manufactured mutants look like they're capable of defending the country. But they got out, and Page's mutants are too small in number to stop them."

"He's such an idiot," said Louise, who was standing just behind Phil.

"You can say that again," Felix agreed, "So what's your plan? You're coming to take care of everything?"

"We have to try. Even if we have no idea how to stop them," Dan said.

Felix looked pensive for a few moments. Then he snapped his fingers. "I have an idea. Meet me at the Thames Building, bring as many as you want. I'll see you soon."

"Felix, wait, what's your-" But he was gone before Dan could get the rest of his question out. He looked at the others. "Looks like we'll have to trust him," he said.

Phil nodded. "I trust him."

"Me too," Louise added and then looked at her watch, "Where is everyone? We have a city to save!"

She hurried back into the building, leaving the boys alone. "Hey," said PJ, "Did you notice your upgrades?"

"Our what?" Phil asked and Dan looked at his cuff. The buttons looked back.

PJ grinned. "Press the button that says call on it. Go on," he said, and was nearly jumping with excitement.

Dan and Phil exchanged a look and then pressed the buttons at the same time. For a few beats there was only silence, and then the distance hum of engines. Two motorbikes came tearing around a corner towards them, roaring in tandem and then coming to a halt beside the boys. They were the same bikes to the one Phil crashed in the junkyard, just shinier with little screens on the front. Helmets hung from a handlebar on each one.

"Any command you could possibly need is programmed in. They will only start at your touch or if you press the start button. The call button will bring them to you, and I think you understand the stop button," PJ said with a wide grin, "These will allow the two of you to go on ahead of the rest, and meet Felix at the Thames Building. Plus, aren't they cool?"

Dan climbed onto the bike closest to him and revved the engine. It was cool. Since Phil's crash, PJ had them out testing the prototypes in the meantime. It had been a while, but Dan had no idea he had finished them.

"And they're fully functional?" Phil asked.

"Completely," PJ replied, "I promised I would have them ready for the mission. Our mission's changed as of now, but we're still going in."

Dan smiled just a bit and reached over to clap PJ on the shoulder. "I don't know if I've ever told you. If we've ever told you," he said, glancing towards Phil for a moment, "Thank you, PJ. For making our lives easier."

"We'd never make it without you," Phil added with a warm smile.

PJ's cheeks colored and he looked down at the ground. He cleared his throat and then lifted his head again. He didn't say it, but they understood what the thank you meant to him. "Helmets on, boys. The people of London need you."

The roads leading into the city were barren. However, there was major traffic going out. According to Louise over comm, a state of emergency was declared and people were being evacuated. There was even a perimeter to prevent anyone from going into the unsafe area. That was going to be a dilemma.

The perimeter began once they crossed the bridge. Two motorbikes roared to a halt before a line of police tape, and a big yellow school bus behind them. Dan and Phil climbed down onto their feet and removed their helmets. No time to make a plan or find an entrance on the small hope that somewhere was unguarded. They were doomed to try and talk their way in.

The boys shared a look. "Diplomacy," said Phil.

"Irony," Dan retorted. A month ago he had wanted nothing more than to get out of London.

They approached the tape. The officers on the other side looked rather dumbfounded as two young men in black, one-piece suits approached them.

"We hear you have a pest problem," said Dan to the nearest policeman.

He looked back impassively, most of his expression hidden by dark sunglasses. "We've got it under control," he replied.

Louise chimed in over their comms. "No, they don't."

"No, you don't," Phil said calmly, "Those things are lab experiments gone wrong from the prime minister's very secret special program that he hid from everyone. Any units you have after them will get hurt or worse."

"Maybe eaten," Dan added.

The other nodded once in agreement. "Maybe eaten. You have to let us in, we are the only ones strong enough to subdue the wolves," he concluded. That was most likely true, although they still had no idea how they were going to stop them. Felix was kind of their lifeline for this.

A lady stepped up, clutching a radio. "We can't let anyone in, especially some kids, even with claims of being strong," she said firmly.

Dan and Phil looked at each other, at a loss. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of this before. Obviously there was no way to cross the river in time. Then Marcus spoke in their ears.

"That lady there's the captain," he said. Dan looked back. Marcus was standing at the front of the bus, beside Chris who was in the driver's seat. "If you can convince her, the rest of them will have to let us in."

Both the boys gave tiny nods, unnoticed by the others behind the tape. They both thought very quickly at what to do while the captain just sort of stared at them expectantly, when the bus doors opened. A girl hopped out, and she brushed her purple hair off her forehead while she approached. Dan and Phil took a step back.

Emma Blackery crossed her arms and evened her stare with the officers. "You're going to let us in, but make sure anyone else stays out," she said, calmly but very clearly.

Dan's heart leapt as the captain nodded once. She then gave the command to the rest of the officers. There were questions of dissent, but ultimately they really had no choice. The tape was removed and the cruisers were started up and then driven out of the way for the bus. Emma smirked while they waited, standing between the boys.

"Well done, Blackery," said Dan. He should probably be more conscious of the range of abilities they had on their side. He should have brought Emma out at the start.

She shrugged. "We have no time to waste," she declared and then headed back for the bus.

"She has a point," Phil said as the two of them donned their helmets and headed back for their bikes.

Dan nodded and revved his engine. "We really ought to commit some sort of list to memory, eh?" he said.

Phil lifted a shoulder. "We can add that to our to-dos once we get out of here," he replied. Dan nodded once in agreement and heard Phil give the okay through his comm, and then they were off again into the city.

Once the Thames Building loomed into his view, Dan's heart rate started to increase and anxiety bloomed cold as ice in his chest. The memories of being shocked, stuck with needles, and slowly running out of air were brought to the forefront of his mind. He didn't want to go back, perhaps the last thing he wanted to do for the rest of his life was go back into the Thames Building. He glanced at Phil quickly. His expression was set and determined, confident, and Dan decided right then he would leech some of that confidence. If he pretended he was ready, he would eventually become ready, right? That was his plan anyway. If Phil were there, Dan would be fine.

"Felix is around at the back gate, towards the lab entrance," PJ said in Dan's ear.

"Great," he muttered and sped around the corner, taking the familiar route that was unfortunately burned into his memory.

They stopped right outside the gate, at which Felix Kjellberg was standing in the open space. The door to the guard's booth was hanging open, but when Dan and Phil climbed off their bikes, left their helmets, and walked over they discovered no one was inside. Mostly everything was quiet, as a matter of fact. Felix waved as they approached.

"Glad you could make it," he said and offered each of them a fist bump.

"So, what is this about?" Dan asked.

Felix beckoned for them to follow, and then led them into the parking lot. It didn't look like they would be going inside at all. A black car was parked in a place that was definitely not a parking spot. The back end was already open, and inside were numerous black cases. Dan and Phil watched curiously as Felix went over to one and unlatched it, showing them what was inside. Two large weapons were pressed into foam lining, looking rather gun-ish.

"These are sound cannons," the agent told the boys, picking one out, "Turned up all the way, they'll make a human go deaf or pass out if hit. Completely non-lethal and ought to be just what you're looking for."

The boys remained silent, mystified, as he placed that case before them and opened another. "These are tranquilizers, with darts that could put a horse to sleep. With a couple of these, those wolf things will be out like lights. The other cases have more of these and also some trip wires and whatnot. I didn't know how much you needed."

Dan blinked. Phil said, "You didn't give us a whole lot of time to tell you."

Felix shrugged. "No time to waste. So, how many do you need?" he said.

Phil looked at Dan, and he looked back. Then they looked to Felix. "Hold that thought," Dan said and turned to jog back to the bus. He knocked on the glass of the door, and Chris opened it for him. He climbed up and stood before everyone. Joe shouted from the back, asking what they were going to do.

Dan cleared his throat. "Alright, here's the plan," he began. Time to make it up on the spot. "A friend of ours has provided us with government grade weapons. Anyone who doesn't have some sort of projectile power will get one, you know who you are, and everyone gets a tranquilizer gun. We are not going to kill these things, everyone understand? They were people once. If you happen to find one, shoot it with darts until it falls and then… we will let you know."

"How will you do that?" asked Troye Sivan from the front seat.

Dan pointed to his own ear. "The ear pieces, they're for communication. Press to talk, release to listen. Like walkie-talkies. However, watch what you say all the time, Louise and PJ back at headquarters can always hear you and have a direct line to the lot of us," he instructed.

Tanya Burr's hand went into the air. "Are we splitting up?" she asked.

"Yes, into small teams."

"What if we're outnumbered?" Caspar chimed in.

Dan sucked his teeth. "We are outnumbered."

Everyone looked apprehensive, and started to chatter amongst themselves. Dan huffed and waved his hand. "Look, I know this isn't much of a plan, but this is it, guys. This is what Jim, Phil, me, and the rest of the upper tier have been preparing you for. We will win. The entire city of London needs us. So are you going to keep asking questions, or are you going to go get your guns?" he said, pointing towards the door.

The first person to get up was Zoe. She gave him a smile, and then slowly everyone else rose to their feet as well. Dan nodded once. "Good," he said. He hurried out of the bus and led the line of his teammates behind him towards Felix and his cases of weapons.

Dan informed him of their numbers, and like an assembly line the weapons were doled out. Everyone got tranquilizers and trip wire, while those like Chris and Zoe got sound cannons as well. There was lots of chatter: nervousness mostly, but also confidence. If this mission succeeded, it could put them on the map. No more discrimination, and maybe they could actually be allowed to help people.

The teams were divided up a little haphazardly, as they had to account for certain powers. Dan and Phil led a team consisting of Zoe, Joe, and Marcus (they ignored suggestions for the duo to be split up). Alfie took point on another that brought Felix with them, and Charlie and Carrie led the other two. They fanned out from the Thames Building, since the creatures had originated from there anyway.

"So," Joe said, rather loudly, "What do we do first?"

Phil pressed a finger to his ear. "Do you have a visual anywhere, Louise?" he asked. There was silence as he listened to her answer. "She says the police cameras are all blank. The authorities did a good job clearing everyone or getting them somewhere safe."

"I suppose the first thing we do is find one of the creatures," said Dan.

"Or an MI5 agent," Zoe added.

He sighed anxiously. "Or that."

It felt like they walked for hours, but for some reason none of them thought to bring something to tell the time. Every now and then Louise or PJ will update them on the other teams. Carrie's team found a creature dead by a theater in the West End, and narrowly missed being shot by the agents who killed it. Apparently the enhanced agents are still under the impression that all mutants should be taken into custody. With all their own problems, everyone forgot about the laws that still ruled over their kind. Alfie and Charlie's teams crossed paths in a department store and ended up tranquilizing a couple agents, but none of the creatures appeared. It seemed to Dan is if their team was the only one without something to do.

They walked in pairs, with Marcus in the rear whistling. He stopped at one point to look in a bookstore window. "They have some interesting things on display here," he pointed at a white cover with red letters, "Forget Me Not: A Guide to Healing Retrograde Amnesia. Doesn't that sound like an interesting read?"

"Yeah, almost as much as Everybody Poops," Joe replied with a chuckle.

"That's a classic!" Zoe argued.

Dan was about to say they should keep moving when Phil joined the conversation. "Retrograde. That's a fun word," he chirped.

Marcus perked up. "Hey, that's something that happens to the mind. Maybe my nickname should be Retrograde," he said.

"Better than the one you have now," added Dan, resting his tranquilizer gun on his shoulder.

"I'm keeping it then."

Everyone agreed and then Dan waved his hand. "Come on, we have to keep going," he said, "All those creatures are somewhere, and I have a very eerie feeling."

Phil stood beside him once more to continue down the pavement. Everyone else fell into line, and Marcus started to whistle again. "Oi, we should go into a McDonald's or something. No one will be in there, and free food," Joe said.

"We can't," Zoe argued, "That's stealing, and our very existence is already against the law."

"No one will know-"

Suddenly their comms started to screech like a microphone being too close to the receiver. They all cringed and Joe even wrenched his out, but then Carrie's voice filtered in. "Can you hear me, Dan? Anyone? Please work, please."

"Siren, we can hear you," Phil said, his voice pinched.

"Thank God! We've been ambushed, there's a whole pack of them! One of them landed on a car and it exploded, I hoped they hadn't destroyed my comm-"

"Pack of what?" Dan demanded sharply.

"The creatures!" she replied shrilly, "That's why we couldn't find any, they were all traveling together."

Zoe swore, earning a stunned look from her brother. "Of course. Like wolves, they're pack animals."

"Where are you?" asked Dan.

"Trafalgar Square!"

"That's a few blocks away," Marcus said.

"Hold them off, Carrie," Phil said and they started to run down the street, "We'll be right there."

Dan still held his finger to his ear. A headache bloomed behind his left eye. "Smash your comm, it's not working well enough and it's giving us massive feedback," he informed her.

"Okay," Carrie replied, and the next second there was silence.

They ran for a while before anyone spoke. "This isn't going to be pretty," said Marcus.

"We know," Phil responded gravely. He glanced sideways at Dan. "Just don't die."

Dan avoided his look. They both knew it if it was between himself and anyone else, that person was going to live. "If you get hurt, walk it off," he said simply.

Joe scoffed. "This isn't primary school sport!" But no one else argued. Joe ran ahead at his top speed to sentry for them, and Marcus was right when he said it wasn't going to be pretty.

Trafalgar Square was a mess. And the agent-wolf-creatures were much larger and faster than Dan imagined. They ran quick like cats away from and towards his teammates, and they gave chase as if it was a game. Jim was on top of a lion statue trying to get a good shot at any of the animals as they fought his squad members, but it was hard with how fast they moved. At the base there were about six Troyes confusing the hell out of another creature, but he seemed to be without a gun. Somewhere Carrie screamed, her only real weapon; she must be fighting another one, or more. Dan couldn't say how many there actually were.

"I can still see in their heads," Marcus said, though his voice was strained, "It's madness. They only have base instincts; all their human thoughts are gone. They mainly need to hunt."

"That's horrible," Zoe said, her eyes trained on the fight before her.

Dan and Phil exchanged a look. "You both need to go and help. We're going to formulate a plan," said Phil.

They both muttered yes-sirs and took off into the square with guns drawn. The boys looked at each other.

"What do we do?" Dan asked.

"I don't know," Phil replied.

"Me neither."

"There are so many. They're wasting darts."

Dan chewed his lip. "We need to get them in one place. If they don't end up dead, they're going back to MI5. Even if they do end up dead they're going back."

"Agreed," said his partner. He bounced on the balls of his feet and groaned. "I wish we had a giant cage!"

Dan's eyes widened as a memory suddenly flashed into his head. He remembered watching Phil when he first tried on his combat suit, when the walls of the gym froze over and curved near the ceiling. Now that he thought about it, the structure looked sort of like a bowl. A bowl that could be just the right size for a pack of giant wolves.

"Do you have an idea?" Phil asked, noting his expression.

"Yes," Dan said, placing one of his hands on Phil's arm, "Could you possibly stand by one of the fountains and create a giant cage?"

His eyes darted towards the closest fountain. It was still full of water. "It's an odd shape, but the water will make it easier," he replied.

"Can you make ice that would hold those things?" Dan continued.

Phil's worried expression quickly morphed into one of determination. "I can," he said firmly.

Dan gave him a proud smile. "I knew you could. All we have to do is drive them into the fountain, and someone should be able to dart them from there," he said.

"Brilliant," Phil said with a smile of his own, "I'll let everyone who still has a comm know."

"I'll go and help, and spread the news." Dan was about to take off, but Phil grabbed his arm. "What?"

Phil didn't say anything and pulled Dan right in for a kiss. His lips seared, radiating heat and steam as the cold met the hot. Neither of them had been monitoring their temperatures all that well while their focus was elsewhere, and now their bodies reacted as if it were months ago. Dan reached up to cup Phil's face with both his hands, and the other boy didn't cringe or shy away. They both knew it had to end before either of them was ready.

Dan opened his eyes. "Phil, I…"

"I know," he nodded, "Now, go!"

And Dan did. He ran into the fray, looking for someone to help. He knew Carrie's comm was damaged, but he didn't know how many of them had also been affected. He decided to approach Troye first… or well, one of them. They were still closing in on one of the creatures, which kept swiping at the clones with its claws and growling when they passed right through.

"Troye!" Dan shouted.

They all looked his way, but only one of them raised his hand to wave. The real Troye was on the other side of the circle. The creature snarled and turned in circles in the center. Dan ignored it.

"Try to get it towards the fountain," he continued, pointing towards where he left Phil, "Dove is going to trap them all!" Troye nodded and gave him two thumbs up. He looked up to where Jim was still standing on top of the lion statue, looking like he was snarling himself. "Chapman!" Dan called.

"What?" the agent called back.

"Listen, we have a plan-"

"I know," Jim interrupted, "I still have a device."

"Then I have a special job for you. Once someone gets a creature in Dove's containment, I want you to tranquilize it," Dan told him.

Jim faltered just a bit. "I don't have enough darts to get them all," he said, "Even with help."

Dan unstrapped his own tranquilizer gun from around his torso and tossed it up towards Jim. He quickly reached out to grab it. "There. If you need more, let me know. I'll be fine," Dan said. Jim gave him a nod and Dan continued on his way.

On the other side of the stone in the center of the square was even more. Carrie and Joe were backing three of the monsters into a corner, which Dan could tell right away was a very bad idea. He noticed Tanya blinked in and out sight around them, trying to tell the other two where to push them and keep out of the creatures' periphery. They were going to spring at any second.

Before Dan could call out, it happened. Thinking fast, Dan threw his hands out. Heat swirled in the air from his limbs and past Carrie and Joe, then lit into a wall of flame between them and their attackers. The creatures faltered and whimpered, no doubt getting singed and burned as they were in mid jump.

"Dan!" Carrie shouted in relief.

He could hardly spare her a glance or he would lose focus. He could tell that her top was in shreds, baring her stomach, which was scratched and bloody. "Hi there," he said.

"You have a plan?" said Joe, suddenly appearing at his side so he didn't have to shout.

Warm breeze flowed from the fire towards them. Dan breathed it in, felt it feed his own fire, and it took a lot of will power to keep it from just swallowing him. He could see black smoke. It was filtering out of his nose and his mouth. "Yes," he replied, "Get them to Phil. He's caging them in ice."

He heard running footsteps, and he could see Tanya appear out of breath on his right side. "How are we doing that?" she asked, her chest heaving.

Dan swallowed, and then breathed out a puff of smoke. Flames licked the sky, almost as high as the building behind them. "I'm going to let go and the fire will disappear. Carrie, you ought to drive them around towards Phil. You'll be able to see what to do after that. Joe, you can use that sound cannon." They nodded. "And Tanya. Look around for more, they could be on the prowl outside the square."

"Got it," she replied with her own nod.

"On three. One… two… three!" Dan dropped his arms and at the same time the fire snuffed out in a gust of warm air. The creatures quickly caught on and started to growl again, but Joe had already scooped Carrie up into his arms and ran behind them. Carrie opened her mouth and screamed, and Joe produced his cannon and turned it on. Dan covered his ears, and the creatures started to wine and shy away from the onslaught of sound. Tanya was already gone. Dan turned and started to run, ready to find others.

He could barely register what was happening before something large knocked him painfully onto his front. He cringed and pressed his palms to the pavement to look up. One of those three creatures had chased him as he ran, and it was now before him, growling and stalking closer. Carrie yelled something while Dan stared at it, but he just held up one of his hands to tell her that he had this one.

The creature snapped its jaw. Heat pooled in Dan's palms, causing the air around him to shimmer. All he had to do was run fast enough so that it didn't catch him again and get it to the other side to Phil. He hoped he was now in good enough shape to do that. Dan jumped to his feet, and the creature growled threateningly. It stalked ever closer. The back of Dan's head throbbed. As he backed up slowly, he touched the spot. His hand came back red and shiny with blood. The claws must have caught him when it knocked him down. The sight of the blood seemed to spur the creature on, and it started to run at him. Dan whirled and sprinted around towards Phil.

He could hear growling and panting and the bounding of its feet as the creature pursued him. It was almost right on top of him already. Needing to buy time, Dan pressed his palms together, and when he pulled them apart a ball of flame grew between them. He turned for only a moment to throw it at the creature. The fire caught its front feet, and it yowled and stumbled, giving Dan time to gain some distance. He rounded a corner, and Phil's ice came into view.

It was magnificent. It did look like a giant bowl, swallowing the entire oddly shaped fountain. The cold radiated from it, and Dan could already feel it as he approached at a run. It glistened in the sun, and a blurry Phil could be seen on the other side through the translucent ice. His arms were raised, keeping it strong. There was already a handful of brown blurs inside the bowl, where tranquilized creatures had been placed. Their plan was working and that gave Dan a blossom of hope that they could do this.

Then there was a gunshot, then another. Actual gunshots. A bullet whizzed past Dan's ear and caught his creature in the shoulder. It fell on one leg, whimpering. He looked around Phil's ice structure, and a group of agents in black suits were approaching, guns drawn.

Furious, Dan stormed over. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded, his assailant forgotten and bleeding.

"Our jobs," answered the man in the front.

"Your jobs should be alerting the military or something. Or maybe shutting down the mutant experimentation program considering it created those things," he snarled, gesturing towards the tranquilized monsters.

The agent shook his head. "You and your buddies have no clearance to be here," he said evenly, "Our mission is to-"

Dan clenched his fists, which promptly caught fire. "Your mission should be to protect your country. That's what MI5 is supposed to do, isn't it? We are here doing what you couldn't. If any of you shoot a gun again I will see to it that you're all strapped to tables and turned into bonfires," he seethed, and then turned away to go back to his own job.

When the creature caught sight of Dan again, it seemed to forget that it had been shot and started to focus on him again. Dan supposed that the hunt was on, and it was set on him now. He was in too deep. He curved around to stand in front of the ice structure. "Come and get me!" he called, jumping up and down. That made the gash on his head throb. He peeked around at Phil.

His nose was bleeding. He was overexerting himself.

"Phil!" Dan gasped.

His gaze moved, and he shook his head. "Dan, I'm fine."

"You're bleeding!"

"You are too!" Phil retorted, "I'm going to give that thing an opening to jump through and you're going to move out of the way at the last minute."

Dan nodded mutely. Phil licked blood from his upper lip and focused again on his ice. Dan turned to face the creature, but then it wasn't there. Fear sparked in his chest. Oh no.

Again, too fast for him to realize it, the creature was on him, knocking him down onto his back. His head ricocheted off the pavement painfully, causing him to see stars, while the creature held him down and snarled above him. Claws pressed into Dan's chest and neck. Fuck, that hurt. Phil was yelling something, saying he would come help.

"No!" Dan shouted breathlessly, "I can do it!"

He swiped his hand at the creature's muzzle, lit with heat, causing just enough pain to allow Dan to wiggle out and back up to his feet. He started to run again when the creature snapped its jaws around Dan's right leg. He cried out and fell again, the pain blinding him from thought. The creature pulled and tossed its head, sending Dan careening into a parked car. He smashed into the side and the alarm started to go off. He fought to keep his eyes open as everything hurt. It was gone again. Then the growling came back, and he saw that it was on top of the car, crushing it beneath its weight. The beeping stopped the hood popped. He was vaguely aware of a plane shooting across the sky above them, right behind the creature's head. Were they finally getting military help?

To hell with not killing it, this son of a bitch had it coming, Dan thought furiously. Phil was yelling again, but Dan trusted he knew not to leave the other monsters without proper containment. This thing definitely wouldn't let him go until one of them was dead. Dan sniffed; a smell was wafting towards him. Gasoline. The car was leaking.

He turned his head. He could see the fuel running along the road. This was it, then. He supposed it was only fit for someone like him to go out in fire and brimstone.

"Dan, don't do it!" Phil cried. Of course he could practically read Dan's mind. Others had gathered around, watching in fear. Some of them were bleeding, limping, and they all looked filthy in torn clothes. He supposed Jim couldn't get a clear shot over the ice. No one seemed to know what to do.

Dan looked at Phil, passed a glance over his friends once, and lit the tips of his fingers. Then he flicked them towards the gas, sending the flames dancing over the spill and towards the car. Just as expected, it exploded.