Isabel looked around as she and her father entered the last plant. So far, there was no opposition unlike the last few. "Ok, what the fuck are they planning? There's no guards, no tigers…"

"You know this last one is a trap."

"Could they make it any more obvious?" She walked up to the console and started working through the startup procedures. "Watch my back, please Dad. I don't want to get caught off guard."

"I would've thought this would bring out your Vampiric Instincts, dear!"

"Not a chance. I am not a psychopath. I'm a scientist."

"Eh. Tomato, to-mah-to."

"Seriously, who the hell says-gah!"

"Rrragh!" Father and daughter gripped their heads as the power came on and a device they hadn't noticed in the room until now started up. With their enhanced hearing, this was torture for them. Their only solace was that the machine wasn't running on enough power to rupture their insides.

"How do you like the USW," asked a modulated voice in front of them. From behind the device walked out the Commander. "Ultrasonic Weapon. Normally, these things are only deployed outdoors. But when I learned you were here I couldn't help bringing this thing out. I'd hoped to wait to use it, but you've killed a lot of my men." He stood in front of them, his mask blocking out the brunt of the sonic waves and echoes. "Isabel Daniels and the infamous Alucard. My Sonic Cannon here should be on a setting low enough that this won't kill you. But you still should be able to hear me." He knelt down in front of Isabel. "How are you feeling?"

"FUCK YOU!"

"Language, missy. A lady shouldn't be speaking in such a way." He moved in front of Alucard and kicked his pistols away from the man. "The Crimson Monster. I've heard of you. Your reputation is a literal sea of blood. Nice to know even a devil made monster like you can be brought to his knees. But just in case…" the Commander aimed a familiar looking weapon at Alucard and fired twice, taking out his kneecaps.

"Holy bullets…" said Alucard with a wild grin. "Someone's been making deals with Iscariot."

"They're not the only ones who know how to make them."

"WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU GET THAT," shouted Isabel as she eyed the gun.

"This? I picked it off the body of a dead soldier in Vietnam. Guy was burnt to a crisp. He wasn't going to need it anymore."

"Oh," said Alucard with a grin as his wounds slowly healed. "You pressed the Elijah button. You shouldn'ta done that." The Commander turned to Isabel and saw bullets of blood shoot out at him. He dove to the side and heard the projectiles collide with the USW.

"GIVE THAT BACK," shouted Isabel as she lunged at him. Alucard grinned and slowly stood up, his knees back to normal.

"There's Daddy's Little Girl! Have fun sweetie! Hehehehehahahahahahah!"

(Evacuated office building- First Son FOB)

Cole climbed up to the roof, careful to avoid any window on the ten-story building. "Monsieur Cole," came the call on his modified cell phone. "Be careful up there."

"I'll be fine, Inspector," replied Cole. "My powers make sure a fall from this height won't kill me."

"I'm not willing to bank a report on your death if you fall on hearsay."

"Don't worry. Listen, you and the GIGN drive those bastards up after I send a surge throughout the building to knock out the lights from top to bottom. I'll start converging down and taking care of people that try to hole up."

"Will you be ok? Harry told me how your abilities work."

"I'll be fine. When I started working more indoors with the NSA, Harry built me a small portable generator to keep me stable. Lights out in three, two…" Cole sent a surge through a fuse box at the top of the building and used his magic short out all of the energy in the building. On cue, Inspector Vermillion nodded to the GIGN team next to him and they made their way into the building. The lights throughout the building had been knocked out by Cole, leaving only the natural light flowing in from the windows. Cole watched the anti-terrorist unit storm into the building and grinned to himself. "Show time."

First Son Charlie Squad had been ordered to use the office building as a Forward Operating Base at the beginning of the assault. Sergeant Riviera didn't like what they were doing, but after the Commander shared with him what exactly the future held, any reservations he had vanished. Only he and Echo Squad were given this privilege as well as any of their Technokinetics. Why this was the case was unknown to him, but what wasn't was their objective. Create chaos and draw out the children Kessler marked as Beacons for the future. Riviera looked up at the ceiling as the lights went out. "Dammit. Charlie Squad be ready for enemy combatants. Charlie-2, Charlie-4, return to base."

"Posez vos armes et vos mains sur votre tête," came an exclamation from the stairway to the floor they were on. The shout was met with gunfire aimed at the doorway. Inspector Vermillion nodded to the GIGN captain and flashbangs were tossed through the doorway before the counter-terrorist unit charged in. Strobe flashlights at the end of modified shotguns disoriented the First Sons who rushed to engage the intruders. Riviera turned to the single Technokinetic next to him.

"How are you feeling?"

"The Commander's upgrade isn't progressed enough for the lack of energy to affect me fully, but I do have a slight migraine," replied the woman next to him.

"Good. If it looks like we're losing ground, get as many of our men out of here as possible. Even if I'm not one of them."

"Sir?"

"We may be committing terrorist acts, but I'll be damned if I don't see my team get out of harms way."

"Huh," said a gruff voice behind him. "Touching." Riviera turned around and came face to face with the Demon of Empire City, Cole MacGrath. "Guess you guys aren't total monsters."

"We've been flanked. Get our men out!"

"I don't think so." Cole fired a Lightning Bolt at the woman's head, only for it to just be absorbed. She glared at Cole before leveling her weapon at him. A concussive wave of sound hit Cole in the chest and sent him through a wall.

"He should be down for a while," said the woman. "Sergeant…"

"I gave you an order, Carlyle. Follow them. Me and a few others need to stay back and cover your retreat. Besides, Commander gave me a few toys to use against Cole MacGrath. I can handle my own long enough to deal with your device. Get going!" Corporal Carlyle hesitated before saluting to her Sergeant and gathering as many of their squad as she could before pressing a button on a device hanging on her hip. Those gathered looked around as a large metal ring surrounded them and electricity pulsed through each of them before they all disappeared.

"That was a neat trick," said Cole as he climbed back through the whole. "Mind telling me where they went?"

"How about you pry the information from my mind, Technomancer."

"Works for me." Cole shot a Lightning Bolt at the man's chest and saw the electricity dissipate into a pair of gauntlets the Sergeant was wearing.

"Yeah. Won't be as easy as that, Demon."

"Good, been wanting an interesting fight for a while now." Cole brought out his Amp and extended it to the full length. Cole swung at the Sergeant and found the Amp deflected before receiving a strong jab to the chest followed by a strong left hook, both strikes draining his electricity. Cole back away slightly before shaking his head and grinning at the Sergeant. "Now that's what I'm talking about. Let's see how long those things can last." Cole swung the Amp in an overhead arch and switched to a straight kick to the First Son's chest as the Amp was avoided. The kick didn't have any electricity but was still hard enough to wind the soldier. Riviera glared at the Alpha Technomancer and tackled Cole into the wall again, knocking the Amp from his grip. Riviera landed a knee into Cole's kidney and landed a few consecutive punches at his face before Cole kicked the man off of him.

Cole Flashstepped behind Riviera and landed his own combination before landing a kick at the back of his head. Riviera grunted before bracing himself before hitting a desk. Hearing a buzz, he blocked quickly and felt the gauntlet on his left hand shatter and break, his bones breaking as well. Cole charged his leg and landed a Shock Kick at the man's chest, knocking him into the desk. Cole placed the Amp around the downed man's neck and prepared to shock the man only to be blasted in the back with another blast of sound and sent out a window. Riviera looked up and saw Carlyle standing over him. "Orders from the Commander. Anyone who can regroup report to the tower. That means you, sir." The two disappeared in the same fashion as the other First Sons and a block of C4 destroyed the device as the GIGN officers stormed the room. Cole groaned as he stood up and dusted himself off as a flash of blue light shone above him.

"What the flying fuck was that?"

(Downtown Lyon)

Harry maneuvered over and through the debris left behind after the First Sons assault. Wrecked cars, fallen pieces of building and knocked over streetlamps as he avoided bullets, or his armor deflected the incoming projectiles. Harry kept the attention of the terrorists on him for the most part as he aimed his staff at the grouped-up men while they fired on him. Every shot he took was absorbed by the tigers that hadn't moved from their circling pattern around the First Sons. This entire repeating encounter had been going on for approximately five minutes as Harry tried to pick out who among the men was controlling the tigers while Daphne stayed at a distance, waiting to freeze the tigers for Harry to either implant Holly or manage to get off a green Lightning Bolt to take control of one of them. Harry had tried the later at the beginning of the encounter only to find it required a second-long charge up and the tiger was able to avoid the shot. "Starting to get tired here," he said as he hid behind an overturned car. "Please tell me you've observed something from my circling."

"Yes," said Holly. "The man closest to the furthest tiger has been making subtle hand gestures each time the tigers' movements changed drastically to compensate for your attacks while the man next to him has been watching the rooftops, more than likely watching for another attack from above."

"So he's an Artificial, got it. You got that?"

"Loud and clear," came Nyx's reply. Harry watched as a bird-shaped flame slammed into the man controlling the tiger and one of the tigers as well. The mechanical beast was engulfed in flames and was unable to put them up. The First Sons moved away from the flames, giving Daphne an opening at the remaining tiger.

The young Cryomancer sent a stream of Icy Wind at the tiger, freezing up its servos and halting its movements. Harry took the opportunity to aim his staff at the tiger and charge up a green bolt before landing the shot at the tiger's head. For a second, the tiger turned green and turned on its former allies, swiping at them and cleaving through the ballistic armor of one of them. The First Sons, stunned from the change in circumstances, hesitated for a moment before turning their guns on the tiger, aiming for the joints after switching out the magazines in their assault rifles. Harry took notice and looked at Holly. "They switched their ammunition?"

"To armor piercing rounds," said the A.I.. "Odd. I'd have thought they would use those against you initially."

"So would I. Something's off." One of them pressed an ear to their ear and nodded before getting one of the other's attention as the rest took out both tigers. One pulled out an RPG and fired it into the air. Harry watched as it started veering off to where Nyx was. "Sonofabitch, Nyx, watch out. No flames, it's a goddamn heat seeker."

"Already figured that out," replied Nyx before Harry heard a crack on her side of the radio. Harry watched as the rocket aimed itself from Nyx's former position off in a random direction.

"Shit!"

"Where's it going," asked one of the First Sons.

"Who cares," replied the group's Sergeant as they Dismantled the RPG. "MacGrath is right in front of us, but we can't get anywhere near him. With Williams down, we can't fight him, or that girl he showed up with. With luck, he'll try and stop the rocket from hurting others and give us a chance to regroup with the others. Commanders dealing with that fucking monster who took out Bravo like they were nothing, we have orders to converge on a new area. Get moving." Harry growled softly before he and Daphne went after the rocket.

"Why are we letting that thing just fly off?!"

"We have our orders."

"Innocents will get hurt!"

"O'Malley. I get your reluctance, but everything we're doing is for the future. When the operation is done, go to the Commander. He'll tell you our plans for the future. It's that, or we put a bullet in you here and now." PFC O'Malley took one glance at the rocket before nodding to his Sergeant. "Good. Move out. New orders from the top. Redemption is alone. We nab him, Progress, Acceptance and Ambition will follow to help. Echo-3, move out." With no more opposition, Echo Squad of the First Sons converged with other squads outside of combat on the edge of the city, towards the storm and Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson.

(Final Power Plant)

"RRRAAAGH!" Isabel form blood daggers in her hands and slashed away at the masked man. He evaded with practiced ease and holstered the pistol before pulling out a Kbar Straight Edge and blocked one of the blood blades while kicking the other away. He kicked her away and tossed a flashbang at her feet. Isabel growled and covered her eyes as it went off, her ears still ringing from the USW. The Commander swept her legs out from under her and stabbed the combat knife into her shoulder. She screamed in pain and used her Sanguimancy to control his blood and push him off of her. She pulled out the knife and tossed it aside as she grabbed hold of his jacket, her eyes completely red as her anger controlled her actions. She tossed him aside and into a wall before charging after him and landing a kick in his side, knocking him into the wall again. She landed punch after punch into his face, cracking the mask.

The Commander kicked her off of him and drained power from the plant around them to heal himself. "You can't beat me in here. There's no use trying."

"DIE!" She used her Sanguimancy to lift him into the air and start slowly pulling his limbs apart as she walked over to him. She took the holster from his hip and hovered his masked face in front of her own. "You made a big mistake, Commander. You decided to fuck with me and use the very weapon I bought for the man I loved against me. Now you're going to suffer before I kill you. Funny, Dad's been trying to bring out this side of me all day, and all it took was seeing this. Guess Eli still has a firm grip on my heart. Firm enough that if anyone tarnishes his memory, I get angry. Guess I should thank you Commander, for making me who I really am… Now I need to know who you are, how you recruited your men, and how you got every piece of equipment you've used against my Apprentice and protégé. And your blood should give me just that."

Isabel bit down on the man's neck and a flood of memories rushed into her mind. Memories of the First Sons, Robert Kessler, and a white-haired girl. Shock forced her to let go as her eyes turned back to normal and step away from him as she stared at him. "You…"

Isabel lost control of her magic for a second, long enough for the Commander and slam his head into hers, knocking her out. The cracked part of his mask gave way, revealing a dark brown eye with black and red circuit lines covering his iris under a white eyebrow. He pressed two fingers two her temples and erased the memories she just saw from his mind. He pulled out his radio and turned it to a certain frequency. "Echo-3. Reports came in on Subject Redemption moving towards the storm, more than likely to set up a rendezvous and establish a power-up station for the Technomancers. Incapacitate the girl with him and bring Redemption to the tower alive and in one piece. Now's not the time for failure, gentlemen. The first step depends on this."

"Well, I don't know how you did it, but you managed to beat my daughter in her blood rage," said Alucard behind him. "Not many would be able to do that."

"Not many know how to combat your kind. By the way, those bullets have…"

"12 grams of liquid silver at its core. I know. I can feel it running through my veins right now. So, tell me… who are you?"

"The man who's beaten you." The Commander dropped a silver grenade next to Isabel's body. "Pleasure meeting you, Tepes. This won't be the last time we meet." Silver wires shot through the ground and stabbed through Alucard's legs, pinning him in place. Alucard snarled and tried aiming his guns at the Commander. White red and black lightning shot from the broken part of his mask and shocked the guns from his hands and across the room. "I told you. I've beaten you." The Commander Charged away as the grenade lit up and started beeping. Alucard growled as he pulled himself from the holy silver restraints, his natural healing slowing down from what the Commander used against him. He managed to block the grenade and push his daughter a dozen feet away from the grenade, covering it with his own body as silver shrapnel flew through his body and silver and white ash dust filled the air and holy water crashed on his body, tearing the First Vampire apart.

(Lyon Outskirts)

Draco and Pansy aimed their scopes at the incoming storm, trying to pick out the figure again. "Are we sure Potter is right about this," asked Pansy.

"MacGrath. And who else knows as much about dragons outside of a preserve," replied Draco. "If he thinks a Storm Dragon is heading for Lyon, we should listen. There, six degrees to your right." Pansy adjusted her aim and spotted a brief glimpse of white veined wings and a sky-blue scaled tail swerve into the clouds.

"Damn, just missed it. I thought they'd look darker."

"Maybe it's conditional with the sky."

"Draco Malfoy," said a voice behind them. They turned around and found a team of First Sons behind them, rifles aimed at their heads. "Down on your knees, and you and your friend don't get hurt."

"How the hell did they get close without us knowing," asked Pansy.

"I don't know, but we need to get out of here," said Draco.

"I'm giving you one last warning," said the First Son Sergeant. "Surrender. Now."

"Not gonna happen." Draco lobbed Shock Grenades at the group, forcing them to dive away before they detonated and the two Technomancers tried to Charge away, only to hit an invisible obstacle. "What the hell?" Pansy activated Schematic and cursed as she looked around them.

"A firewall," she asked.

"What?"

"It's like a digital firewall is blocking our normal paths out!"

"Crap." Draco glanced at the First Sons and saw they were starting to stand up. "Hold on!" Draco picked up Pansy bridal style and jumped off the roof, taking them through the firewall with a significant amount of pain to their heads as they did. Draco landed and groaned as he set her down.

"Let's never do that again…"

"I hear you…"

"Open fire," shouted the Sergeant above them. Draco created a Static Wall to block out the incoming projectiles from above.

"Look out," shouted Pansy as she tackled Draco to the ground. A bullet missed Draco's arms as another First Son squad arrived from inside the building they were on. Pansy's leg was hit by a dart and she screamed as yellow lightning covered her body and drained her energy into the dart itself.

"Pansy!" Draco sent an Overload Burst at the street level First Sons and sent a Shock Rocket at the roof when that group started firing again. "Come in, anyone," he shouted in his radio. "I need help! First Sons have ambushed me and Pansy, she's drained, and I'm flanked! Get to us now! I can't hold out!"

"We're on our way," shouted Harry. "Two minutes away!"

"I'm not going to last two minutes!" Draco stood over Pansy and kept the Static Wall up as more bullets kept him pinned. All at once, three darts of the same design as the one in Pansy's leg hit him in the chest. Draco shouted out as he felt his lightning being drained but kept the Static Wall up as much as he could.

"Cease fire," called one of the First Sons on the ground. "Target is hit with Reduction Darts, no longer a threat." Draco grunted as the shooting stopped and dropped his arms as he started losing consciousness. He heard the Sergeant land on the ground and speak up before he fully passed out.

"Notify the Commander. Subject Redemption is down. Bringing him to the tower and leaving a Calling Card for Progress. Echo-3, move out!"

After Harry heard Draco's signal cut out, He and Daphne regrouped with M and Noir at the triage area where Lena was Recharging. "What's wrong," asked Lena as Tonks finished healing a little girl who'd scrapped her legs running with her parents away from the fighting.

"First Sons ambushed Draco and Pansy. Their GPS signals cut out in their last known location."

"We haven't seen any First Sons in the last thirty minutes," said Tonks. "And your angel friend took care of the last of the helicopters not long before that."

"Hold on," said Noir as she placed her fingers to Harry's temple. Harry blinked as the Digitized helicopters were Uploaded to his brain. "Evidence for the apprehended pilots."

"What are we gonna do about Scorpio and Aries," asked Tonks.

"Who," asked M.

"Scorpio is Pansy, and Aries is Draco," said Harry. "Our classmates decided to give us nicknames based off of the zodiac after they learned about Luna's Gift. And we need to get to them. But first, we need to find where they went. We need to get to their location. They were at the edge of the city checking out the storm and seeing if my theory was correct." Harry turned his radio on and looked at an overhead view of the city. "Guys, any sign of the First Sons?"

"Things have been quiet for a few minutes," said Fred. "They fell back not too long ago."

"Why did I hear from a GIGN officer that there was a rocket," asked Cole over the radio.

"We handled it. It's sitting safely in my database."

"That explains the blue flash I saw earlier."

"Sorry, if I don't agree that that's safe," said Cindy over the radio. She had opted to help with civilian evacuation with very discrete use of magic. Harry cringed as he heard the disapproving tone in her voice. "Harry James MacGrath, get rid of it right now!"

Get rid of it where, Sis," asked Cole. "It's a live rocket. He needs to keep that thing contained as data until he can get rid of it safely. Kid, I'll meet you where their signals went dark."

"Has anyone heard from Isabel," asked Padma. "All of the power is back on, but she and Mr. Alucard haven't returned to the jet."

"I'll go check it out," said Harry. "Cole, Luna will meet you there instead."

"Don't speak on my behalf," said Luna. "But yes, I will meet you there, Cole."

"Mom, can you meet me at the powerplant?"

"Just come pick me up and we'll go together," said Cindy.

"Alright, coming to you."

"We'll hold down the fort," said Tonks. "Good luck." Harry nodded and Charged to his mother before taking them to the powerplant. Harry breathed a sigh of rejuvenation as his magic interacted with the energy generated by the place.

"That's a breath of fresh air."

"Focus," said Cindy. "We don't know if Isabel is in trouble or not."

"She's perfectly fine," came a strained voice behind a corner. Harry and Cindy went to the voice and found Alucard, blown to pieces and slowly regenerating, laying at their feet. I could use a drink… not used to seeing this much of my own blood anymore…"

"Where's Izzy," asked Harry. Alucard nodded behind him and Harry spotted the dhampir genius unconscious a few feet away from Alucard, shrapnel littering the floor around her but not her directly. "What happened?"

"She fought the Commander. He won and when she tried learning of his secrets, he erased her memories."

"Why not just kill her," asked Cindy. "That would've been the smarter play."

"Did anything else happen," asked Harry as he looked Alucard in the eye. Alucard held his gaze for a moment before replying.

"No," said the First Vampire. "Nothing else except me blocking a grenade from killing my daughter." Harry narrowed his gaze before generating green lightning in his hands before Pulse Healing Isabel. The dhampir groaned softly as she woke up. Her hand continued to clutch the holster she took off of the Commander to her chest as she sat up.

"My head hurts…" she muttered.

"Having memories erased the way the Commander probably did to you will do that," said Harry. Isabel remembered her fight the leader of the First Sons and looked at her prize before hugging the gun to her. "What happened?"

"I… I don't fully remember everything."

"You went into a Blood Rage," said Alucard. "I'm surprised you managed to keep a decent control of your mind."

"I am a genius, Dad…" Cindy helped her friend up before turning to Alucard.

"Do you need anything," she asked.

"No," said Alucard. "A few pints of Priest and I'll be right as rain."

"You're not eating anyone," said Isabel. "Just get one of the blood bags I know you have on the jet."

"But I wanna," whined Alucard. "Stop acting like a child." She turned to Harry. "How's the fight going?"

"Draco and Pansy are abducted. First Sons have gone dark before that, we think they're setting up a trap…"

"That would be the obvious thing."

"Kid," said Cole over the radio. "We're at their last location, you need to see this."

"What is it?"

"Holographic receiver," said Luna. "One-way communication device. It's addressed to you."

"Again, flattered if not for the implications."

"Sounds like you need to get going," said Isabel.

"I'll stay with Isabel and get her back to the jet. …And Alucard I suppose"

"Alright." Cindy waved her wand over Isabel to see if there were any injuries as Harry turned to Alucard.

"There's something you're not telling us."

"Am I?" Harry glared at the carefree grin Alucard was showing him before starting to walk to a powerline. "Be careful, boy. I think there's more to the Commander's magic than you can handle."

"How would you know?"

"Call it a feeling." Harry ignored him before Charging away. Alucard frowned slightly before righting himself and melting into shadow beneath his feet as Cindy tried to do something to help with the ringing in Isabel's ears.

Harry arrived at the location and found Luna and Cole looking at the storm. "It's about two hours out," said Cole. "Are you sure there's a dragon in that thing?"

"Storm Dragons have distinct roars. It reverberates on the thunder of a lightning storm and carries for miles. It's the call of an apex predator to let other carnivores to stay away from a hunting ground. But why it's here is a mystery. Storm dragons stick to areas with high electricity to help its magic. Lightning valleys are where they normally stick to. Whenever they venture out, they stick to storms to hunt so they can easily hide. They're creatures of habit, though. They almost never change hunting grounds if they can help it."

"So why is the storm moving with this one," asked Luna.

"More than likely, its magic is causing it. I read they can produce storms to mask their movements when claiming hunting grounds."

"Is it just one?"

"I think so. That's another strange thing. They live in groups. So if it is alone, why?"

"Questions for another time," said Lucy as she and Nyx landed next to them. "We just flew around the entire city, not a single First Son or Tiger in sight."

"Almost like they turned tail and ran," said Nyx.

"I doubt it," said Cole before handing Harry the holographic receiver. And image of the Commander appeared from the device.

"Hello again, MacGrath's. Miss Lovegood, Agent Kuo and Miss Cassidy, a pleasure. Now that we're at this stage of operation, let me get straight to the point. I have one of the Beacons with me now, and another one of your friends, Pansy Parkinson. I will return Pansy to your group, but in exchange, I want you and the other Beacons to come to me. We want the same thing, Harry. Stopping the Coming Darkness and bring the world together in order to do so. We can achieve that together. No one else needs to die. We can end all of this. You four just need to work with me and my men. We can do exactly what you want, Harry. We have four of the five Beacons. Together, we can find the last and unite the world against the Darkness. We'll meet as equals at the top of the tallest tower in Lyon. Take your time, MacGrath. I'm sure there's only so much pain they can take." The device deactivated and Harry dropped it as it exploded in his hand.

"His mask was cracked," said Cole. "If we can somehow get a good vantage point…"

"He picked the highest point for a reason," said M. "No way to get a good vantage point without helicopters and with the storm as close as it is, there's no chance of that."

"I think I have an idea," said Harry. "Cole, you were working with GIGN, right?"