Chapter 2 - Breaking the Seal
Chapter 2: Breaking the Seal
Velvet rope, let us pass
Drop on olive in your glass
Put it on, a disguise
It's an opera of lies
Everyone on the run
Fifty feet all on the gas
Take him out, take him out
Gonna take him out
_ _
We're the only theory they can't prove...
And we don't have anything to lose!
- Stromae, "Meltdown"
__________________________________________________________________
It took Jacob a moment to process what he had just heard.
"...A Sealbreaker?" Jacob muttered in disbelief. "No...he wouldn't..." He glanced behind him at Jasper.
Jasper quickly shook his head. "I didn't do anything! I swear!"
"Don't lie!" Dr. Sanders snapped. "There's no other way this could have happened."
Jacob shook his head. "He's not a Sealbreaker. He wouldn't do this. I sure this is just a natural, innocent mistake."
"Dark Elemental's aren't natural!" Thomas retaliated.
That took Jacob by surprise. "Dark - what?!"
"That is none of your concern," said Sanders. "The only thing you need to worry about is that he will be imprisoned for this." She took a step toward them. "And you too if you don't back down."
Jacob growled. An odd rumbling sound could be heard from the walls. "I said stay away!"
Both doctors continued to advance toward them. "Please step aside, Jacob."
"No!"
The rumbling in the walls increased significantly, followed by the sound of creaking metal. Suddenly water burst out of the walls and quickly began to flood the room. The water gathered at the doctors' feet and rose up to form a large glob around them. Thomas and Sanders thrashed around, trying to escape, but Jacob growled and concentrated harder. The water then froze around them, leaving them encased in a large chunk of ice.
Jacob lowered his trident and glanced around the room. The floor was wet and there was still water spraying from the pipes in the walls. Thomas and Sanders were frozen just a few feet away from the chair.
"Come on," Jacob instructed, walking quickly to the other room.
Once in the other room, he retracted his armor and weapon, leaving him in his jeans and hoodie. As he examined the room, he noticed a clipboard with various notes on it beside one of the computers. He took the notes, crumpled them up, and shoved them into his pocket. He glanced behind him at Jasper. Now that he was closer, Jacob could clearly see Jasper's Brand. It was two short, curved swords crossed against each other. Both of them were black.
So this was the Brand of a Dark Elemental.
"Here," he said, taking off the hoodie and handing it to Jasper. "Put this on. We don't want anyone to see your Brand."
Jasper nodded wordlessly and put it on. They quickly made their way back through the hospital and to the car.
"Are you okay?" Jacob asked as they headed home.
Jasper took a moment to think before responding. "I don't know."
Jacob shook his head in disbelief. "I'm sorry about all this. We'll figure this out. I promise."
Jasper pulled back his sleeve and examined his Brand. He seemed to be deep in thought.
"I can't go back to school, can I?"
Jacob's ears dropped against his head at the realization. "Sure you can," he said unconvincingly, "You'll just have to keep this a secret."
"But I can't. It'll come up eventually," Jasper responded, looking straight ahead now. "And besides, we're both criminals now."
Jacob frowned. "No we're not. We -" He stopped himself once he realized what he was saying.
"Yes we are," Jasper continued. "You froze two people in a block of ice, destroying most of their equipment in the process and I -" He paused to think for a moment. "Well, I'm a so-called Dark Elemental, so I'm a criminal by default."
"You're not a criminal!" Jacob stated firmly. "You did nothing wrong!"
Jasper let it drop and just continued staring out the window. Jacob focused most of his attention on the road, still trying to make sense of what had just happened.
....................................
That night, Jacob's soft snores were the only sound to be heard in his bedroom. Despite the events of the day, Jacob was able to sleep peacefully. That is, until he was rudely awoken by something heavy crashing into him from above.
Jacob struggled for a few seconds before roughly shoving whatever it was aside and off the bed. He heard a small yelp followed by a loud thump as something hit the floor hard. He sat up and turned on his bedside lamp.
"Jasper?"
Jasper groaned as he got up, wincing from the pain of being shoved off a bed.
"What are you doing?"
Jasper brushed himself off and replied, "Practicing."
"Practicing what?"
"Being a Dark Elemental."
"...What?"
Jasper shrugged. "On the way home yesterday, you said we'd figure this mess out, so," he spread his arms and let them fall back to his sides. "I'm figuring it out."
Jacob blinked a few times, trying to get the sleepy feeling out of his eyes. "Okay...but why at five in the morning?"
"Couldn't sleep," Jasper replied.
Jacob frowned. "So how long were you practicing?"
Jasper shrugged again. "I don't know, really. A few hours?"
Jacob sighed. "Well, you must be exhausted, then. Wait for me downstairs and we'll go ahead and eat."
Jasper nodded and left the room. After getting dressed and taking a quick shower, Jacob went downstairs and made coffee. After frying some eggs and preparing toast, he joined Jasper at the table.
"So, what kinds of things were you practicing?" Jacob asked.
Jasper took a bite of toast and swallowed before answering. "Mostly just little things. I found out I can create these weird shadowy clouds with my mind. Kind of like smoke. I haven't figured out what to do with them, though. Mostly they just float around."
Jacob nodded. He was genuinely interested to see what a Dark Elemental could do.
"Also I can teleport through shadows," Jasper continued. "I'm not sure how it works exactly, but I need to be someplace dark for it to work. So I've been trying it out in my room, only the last time I tried it, I...missed. That's kind of why I fell on you."
"You didn't try to do any combat did you?"
Jasper gave a small chuckle. "No. I didn't want to break anything. Although my armor and weapons look super cool," he finished with a smile.
"Weapons?" Jacob echoed. "As in plural?"
"Yup, two short swords."
Just like his Brand. He supposed he probably should have expected that.
Jacob began, "Listen, I've been thinking -"
Jasper gave a small grin at that.
"I think it may be possible for you to go back to school."
Jasper was smiling wider now. "Really?"
Jacob nodded. "Yeah, I think you could. No one but Brand specialists know what a Brand like yours would look like, so you could say it's just a tattoo. Lots of kids get fake Brands these days." Rolling his eyes, he continued, "Of course, you could just wear long sleeves, but the point is I don't want your life to be ruined by something you have no control over."
Jasper's wagging tail could be heard thumping on his chair. "Thanks!"
Jacob smiled. "It's nothing. And you're not drinking that," he said, sliding Jasper's coffee mug away from him. "After breakfast, I want you to go get some sleep and then finish up your homework. You've got school tomorrow."
Jasper smirked as he got up to get some milk, muttering "jerk" as he passed by. Jacob sat back, sipping his coffee.
This is going to be a good day, he thought.
.............................
Later in the morning, Jacob was watching his favorite television show when he heard a loud pounding on the front door."
"JPD! Open up!"
Eyes widening and heart pounding, Jacob turned off the television and made his way to the door. Outside he found a bull, a golden retriever, and two otters waiting for him.
The bull spoke up. "Jacob Grimm?"
"...Yes?"
"Jacob Grimm, you are under arrest for -"
SLAM!!
Jacob slammed the door shut and tore through the house, searching for Jasper. How could he have been so stupid? Had he actually thought that they were going to leave them alone after that incident?
"Jasper!" Jacob shouted. Opening his bedroom door, he saw that Jasper wasn't in bed. "Jasper, where are you?!"
He turned around and made it about halfway down the hallway before the officers appeared at the other end. Jacob froze in his tracks.
"Put your paws behind your head!" The dog shouted. "Slowly!"
"Why are you doing this?!" Jacob inquired. "He's just a kid! He can't have done anything wrong!"
A bathroom door next to Jacob opened and Jasper stepped out.
"What's going on, Jake? Why are you shout -" Jasper froze as well when he noticed the police in their hallway.
"Paws in the air!" The dog ordered again.
Jasper complied, but Jacob held his ground.
"We're not doing anything until you explain what the hell is going on!" Jacob retaliated.
"Jake..." Jasper warned, worry clear in his voice.
"Everything will be explained at the station," the bull replied. "Just come quietly and we won't have to use force."
Jacob narrowed his eyes. "Now listen here -"
Jasper suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him sideways into the bathroom. He slammed the door shut and Jacob heard him lock it. The officers could be heard shouting outside. Before he could even ask his brother what he was doing, Jasper's grip returned on his wrist, tighter this time.
Suddenly any light coming from behind the door seemed to have been sucked from the room. The floor seemed to drop from under his feet and before he knew it he was falling. There was nothing but darkness all around him; he couldn't see anything. The only thing he could sense was Jasper's vice-like grip on his wrist, pulling him through the dark abyss.
Not a few seconds later, Jacob landed in a small enclosed space, unceremoniously thumping his head on a wall. It was still very dark and the cold hard floor was very uncomfortable under his body.
"Where -"
"Shhh!"
He could feel Jasper shifting around next to him. He heard the sound of a doorknob being turned and a door being opened. Light entered the small space and as his eyes adjusted, he realized that they were in...
"The broom closet? How -?"
"I can teleport through shadows, remember?" Jasper said as he checked that their path out of the house was clear.
Checking as well, Jacob said, "Go. Now."
They both quickly made their way out the door and to the car as quietly as possible. Knowing that the police inside had likely discovered by now that they were gone, Jacob started the engine and raced away from the house, slowing down after they were out of the neighborhood.
After a few minutes of silence, Jacob spoke up.
"Are they following?"
Jasper looked behind them. After a moment he replied, "No." He continued with his own question. "Where are we going?"
The answer came to him easily. "Nick's. We can't do this alone; we need someone else's input on this."
Jasper nodded and resumed staring out the window. Jacob continue to drive toward their destination, occasionally glancing at the rearview mirror.
It didn't take them long to reach Nick's apartment. As they approached his door, Jacob began to have his doubts on the integrity of his already desperate plan. Did Nick have a roommate? He had never mentioned one when they talked at work. Or perhaps he had and Jacob just hadn't been paying enough attention. And if so, what would they do then?
Jacob pushed these thoughts aside though. This was not a good time to be having second thoughts. He swallowed his fears and loudly rapped his knuckles on the door. A few moments passed before the door opened, revealing the fox in khaki shorts and a plain white t-shirt. His eyes widened slightly in surprise.
"Hi, Jake. You didn't tell me you were coming." He offered a light smile to Jasper. "Hey, kiddo."
Jasper gave a small smile back. "Hi, Uncle Nick."
Nick leaned on the doorframe and addressed Jacob. "What's up?"
Jacob scratched the back of his head and replied, "It's...complicated."
Nick rolled his eyes and said jokingly, "When isn't it? With you, I'm not surprised." He headed back inside. "Come on in."
As they followed the fox inside, Jacob noticed that the apartment had changed significantly since the last time he had been there. It hadn't been a total mess, but there had been the occasional bit of dirty laundry on the floor and there hadn't been the slightest bit of organization in the place. Now though, the counters in the small kitchen were spotless, there were no clothes on the floor, and the living room had undergone a definite change of layout.
"Wow," Jacob commented. "You've really tidied up the place."
Nick pulled two sodas out of the fridge and handed them to the two wolves. "Well, my roommate was...a slob to say the least. He finally left about a month ago. Since then I've been doing my best to keep the place in order."
Jacob felt relief at that statement, but still tilted his head in confusion. "You had a roommate?"
Nick frowned. "Well, yeah, but I always made sure he was out when you came over. Still, I thought it would've been obvious." Nick tilted his head as well. "You really didn't notice?"
Jacob shook his head. "I've just never been very observant I guess."
"You're telling me?" Nick chuckled. "But anyway, back to the matter at hand. What's wrong?"
"We're in trouble," Jacob began.
He proceeded to inform Nick of the events of the past day. The further he progressed in his tale, the more the fox's eyes seemed to widen. After Jacob finished, Nick only stood there in stunned silence, his muzzle hanging open slightly.
Nick finally broke the uncomfortable silence with a barely audible whisper. "That was you?"
The wolves exchanged puzzled glances. Jacob inquired, "How do you know about this?"
"Who doesn't know?!" Nick exclaimed louder than he'd meant to. Lowering his voice, he continued, "It's all over the news! They didn't mention any names, though."
Of course they hadn't. They never did.
"Doesn't mean they don't have any, though," Jacob replied. "I stole their notes, but I'm certain Jasper's still on record somewhere."
Nick just stared at the floor, eyes closed and taking deep breaths to calm himself. Jasper shuffled nervously next to the fridge while Jacob waited for Nick to respond. Finally, Nick looked up.
"And you're here, why?"
Jacob replied with hesitation, "...we thought you could help."
Nick exploded. "How?! How am I supposed to help?! You attacked two Brand specialists and then proceeded to run from the police. And you're still doing it! Why me of all people?!"
Jacob was ashamed. In his desperation to protect Jasper and to elude the authorities, he hadn't been thinking straight. He had immediately fled to the one person he could trust, with no consideration of the consequences for Nick.
He opened his muzzle to respond, but nothing came out. After a few more attempts, he finally managed to whisper, "I'm sorry."
Nick stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. "Whatever. I'm a criminal by association now, so I might as well do what I can."
The fox made his way to a small desk where his laptop sat. He opened it up, started a program, and began typing furiously. Lines and lines of code appeared on the screen.
"...What are you doing?" Jacob asked nervously as he and Jasper looked over his shoulder.
"Trying to see if I can delete those records," Nick replied, eyes locked firmly on the screen, fingers still dancing across the keyboard.
"You - you'd do that?" said Jacob in disbelief. "Wouldn't that put you in even more trouble?"
Nick stopped typing for a moment to glare at the wolf. "Do you want help or not?"
When he was only met with silence, he continued typing again. "This might take a while, so if I were you, I'd just sit back and enjoy the ride."
..................................
An hour later, Nick sat back in his chair and surveyed his work. He just hacked into both the hospital's and the JPD's networks and deleted Jasper and Jacob's records. It had taken him a while but he'd done it. Out of spite, he had also written a small virus that would reside in the JPD's network and periodically delete a random file. Not enough to cause devastating damage, but enough to impede their investigations.
"Done," he announced.
Jacob, who had been discussing the situation quietly with Jasper on the couch, looked up and regarded the fox with an expression of gratitude.
"Nick..." Jacob began, but decided to keep it simple. "Thanks."
Nick grimaced. "Don't mention it." He stood and stretch his arms around his head. Then he relaxed and said, "What next?"
Jacob shrugged, "Not sure. We've got nowhere to go."
"Could we just...leave?" Jasper suggested. "I mean, I know it's expensive, but we've got the money for it."
Jacob shook his head. "Too risky. Someone might recognize us, even if the media's not releasing any information on us."
"Well, that's a risk no matter what," Nick commented. "How about -"
He was interrupted by a loud pounding on the door. Jacob knew who it was even before he heard the shouting on the other side.
"Don't answer it!"
"Jacob and Jasper Grimm, we know you're in there! Answer the door or we're coming in!"
"How did they find us?" Jasper inquired, searching frantically for an escape.
"Probably your license plate," Nick answered.
"What do we do, what do we do?!" Jacob was also searching desperately for a way out. "Nick, help us out!"
Nick crossed his arms. "Why should I? You attacked two innocent people. I should turn you in."
Jacob's response was immediate. "But you're not going to."
Nick glared at him for a moment before he turned to face the door, "You're lucky we're friends."
The door swung open and four police officers entered the apartment; the same ones who heard tried to arrest them previously. Nick thrust his hands out in front of him, fingers splayed. A strong gust of wind was sent their way, knocking them back several feet and disorienting them. Jasper conjured what appeared to be a ball of pure shadow and hurled it at the officers. It exploded on impact, shrouding them in a large cloud of darkness.
Without speaking, they raced out the door and into the parking lot.
"Give me your keys," Nick instructed.
"Why?"
"We need to leave the city. And I know my way around better than you do."
It was true. Jacob tossed him his keys. "Fine."
Nick got into the driver's seat with Jacob beside him in the passenger side. After Jasper had gotten into the back, Nick started the engine and began to quickly drive away. It hadn't taken the police long to notice that they had gone, and now they were right behind them in two police cruisers.
"Where are we going?" Jacob asked.
"Don't know yet," Nick replied, his eyes flickering back and forth between the road and the rearview mirror. "We have to lose them first."
"They're shooting!" Jasper shouted.
CRACK!!
Everyone instinctively ducked as a large crack appeared in the back window. Someone had loosed an arrow with such power behind it that it actually did a decent amount of damage to the glass. Jasper turned around and began periodically conjuring dark clouds behind them as they progressed down the street. Jacob looked up when he felt the car drive over a small bump; they were now on a bridge.
Looking behind them, Jasper's clouds didn't seem to be helping all that much. Their pursuers weren't shooting as often, but they weren't slowing down either. If anything, it was only causing more chaos with the other traffic.
"Can't you go any faster?"
"My foot is flat to the floor," Nick said irritably as he expertly dodged the other cars around them.
Something else had to be done, but what? Jasper was doing everything he seemed to know how to and Nick was driving, so it was up to him. Taking a brief note of their surroundings, they were surrounded by countless cars that were desperately trying to move out of their way, horns blaring. The two cruisers were still chasing them. And they were on a bridge...driving across a lake...
Jacob knew what to do.
Still facing the back, Jacob closed his eyes and tried to block out all distractions.
"Jake..." Nick muttered nervously. "What are you doing?"
Jacob ignored him. He continued concentrate hard on the water underneath them, reaching out with his mind and attempting to take hold of it.
"Jake, whatever you're doing, stop it..."
He almost had it now. He began to pour his entire consciousness into it, becoming one with the water. It would be only a few seconds before -
"Jake, stop!"
Jacob seized control, pooled all that energy into his fist, and thrust it upward.
A huge pillar of water hit the underside of the bridge with more than enough force to punch its way through, easily snapping it in two. Any vehicles that were too close to the edge were rolling backwards and off the bridge, including one of the cruisers. A deafening groaning sound could be heard as the rest of the bridge began to fail.
"HOLY SHIT!" Nick fumbled with the steering wheel, making for the exit.
The pillar came crashing down and the car was hit with a large deluge of lake water. They were disoriented briefly, but a few swipes of the windshield wipers remedied that. They just barely made it off the bridge before the rest of it went crashing down into the lake, carrying with it those unfortunate enough not to escape.
"Oh my god," Nick muttered in disbelief as he surveyed the devastation through the mirror. "Jake, what have you done?"
Jacob was hit with a wave of exhaustion and he slumped in his seat. It had taken a lot of energy to perform that act alone.
"I was...helping..." Jacob whispered, struggled to keep his eyes open. It was extremely difficult not to just fall asleep right there.
"You call that helping?!" Nick exclaimed. "Look what you did!"
Jacob shook his head to keep himself alert. "I didn't...know it would...be that bad..."
"That's because you don't think before you act!" Nick countered, "I mean, holy fuck, Jake! You just killed countless innocent people!"
Jacob didn't have the strength to argue, nor did he want to. Glancing behind him, Jasper was also observing the damage caused by Jacob's stunt. After a moment he turned back to look at his brother. Jacob couldn't meet his eyes; he turned to face the front again.
The was a moment of silence before Jasper said quietly, "They're still gaining on us."
That seemed to bring everyone back to the immediate issue.
"I can't do anything," Jacob replied. "Do your cloud thing again."
"On it."
Jasper began using his dark clouds again to obscure the police's view of the car, causing the remaining cruiser to slow down slightly. Nick was finding it harder to steer now that they were back in the congestion and confusion of the city.
"Their shooting again!" Jasper warned.
CRASSHHHH!!! CRACK!!!
The air was filled with the sound of breaking glass as the first arrow broke the back window. The second shot hit the inside of the windshield and cracked it.
"Fuck!" Nick jerked the wheel in surprise and the car spun out of control.
Jacob, sensing what was about to happen, closed his eyes and braced himself. He felt the car skid, then hit something and begin to flip. His center of gravity was lost as the car rotated and then collided with something. He heard a deafening crash followed by more breaking glass. He hit his head hard on something, and then everything was still.
Jacob tried to move, but found that he was still restrained by his seat belt. He unfastened it and fell...upwards? The car must have been resting upside down. He could hear someone groaning; he thought it sounded like Jasper, but he couldn't be sure.
"Ja...Jasper...?"
The ceiling was stained with fresh blood. A lot of blood. Someone was bleeding. Was it him? He couldn't tell. Jacob tried to open his door. His entire body ached terribly, but he still managed it. He tumbled out of the car. More broken glass. And blood. Lots of blood. He could hear people talking. What were they saying? He needed to get to Jasper.
The wolf tried to get up. A sudden bout of dizziness overcame him and he collapsed on the ground. His vision was suddenly very blurry. More talking. Everything was muted now. So quiet...blood...Jasper...
As he lay on the ground atop broken glass, he could just barely make out a white-furred figure approaching. It stopped a few meters away. It just stood there. That was the last thing Jacob saw before he lost consciousness.
..........................................................
Jacob woke up on something very soft. Opening his eyes slowly and glancing around, he was in a bed with plain white sheets. The room he was in was small with walls that were painted white as well. There was a dresser on the opposite wall; it was basically the equivalent of a small bedroom.
How had he gotten here? Where were Jasper and Nick? The last thing he remembered was crawling out of his wrecked car after they had crashed.
Jacob pulled off the covers, got to a sitting position on the edge of the bad, and stood with surprising ease. His vision was back to normal and he felt only a slight dizziness when he stood. After reestablishing his sense of balance, he went to the door and opened it. He found himself in a narrow hallway with a door either side. Without thinking he picked the one on the right.
As he reached for the doorknob, however, he heard voices inside.
"...too deep to leave it alone." The voice was male. "But I'm not sure it's a good idea to keep them here."
"We can't just abandon them!" Female this time. "They need to know the truth! We owe them that much. Especially Jasper!"
So the others are here, Jacob thought. But how do they know our names?
"I say kick 'em out!" This voice was deep and definitely male. "We can't afford more people to account for."
"You can afford anything you want," someone replied. His voice was softer yet it screamed authority. "The question is: are you willing to face the consequences?"
"What do you think we're trying to figure out, genius?!" The deep voice retorted.
"Guys, guys. Let's not fight," said the first male softly. "Ash, what do you think?"
"...I think we can use them," someone, presumably 'Ash,' replied. "I mean, you should have seen what Nicholas did to the JPD's file system. The guy's got skills."
"Still, though, it's risky," said the female. "What if he decides to use those skills against us?"
Ash gave a derisive snort. "You underestimate my abilities, Gwen."
There was a soft shuffling noise.
"Where do you think you're going?" The deep voice grunted.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," someone replied softly, suddenly very close to the door. "But it appears our guest is awake."
Before Jacob could retreat, the door swung open to reveal a white-furred wolf. He stood at about Jacob's height and had brilliant golden eyes. He just stood and stared at Jacob for a moment, then with a knowing smile, stepped aside to let him inside.
With a little hesitation, Jacob entered the room. He saw several furs sitting at a long table: a wolf, a grey-furred tiger, a vixen, a raccoon, and a German Shepherd. For a few moments, everyone just stared in silence. Eventually the tiger got up and approached him.
"Ashton Monroe. Data analyst, hacker, lover of all things tech," he said, holding out his paw. "You can call me Ash."
Jacob shook his paw nervously. "Hi...um...how do you know me?"
The tiger raised his eyebrows. "How can we not, after the racket you and your brother have caused over the last few days? It's our job to know about these things."
The tiger gestured to the wolf at the table. "Please allow me to introduce you to our leader, Gavin."
Gavin stood and shook Jacob's paw as well. "Gavin Masters, leader and founder of Legion."
"Legion?"
The grey wolf nodded. "It's what we call ourselves. A small band of misfits fighting against the Sealbreakers."
Jacob tilted his head in confusion. "But I thought the Sealbreakers were just defective Brand specialists?"
Gavin shook his head. "They're way more than that. But more on that later." He gestured around the room. "This is Gwen, Sly, and Brent," he said, pointing to the vixen, the raccoon, and the dog in turn.
"What about me?" The white wolf spoke up.
"You don't count!" Brent snapped. "You're just here to screw with us." The wolf snickered at that.
Jacob was once again confused. "...Huh?"
Gwen sighed. "He's...not from around here. Says he's some kind of god. Unfortunately, he's proven as much on multiple occasions. Your miraculous recovery from your car accident, for example."
"Old God, jeez. There is a difference, you know." The white wolf approached Jacob, offering his paw.
"D6 the Defiant." The wolf smiled. "But you can call me Drake."