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Weights clanked on metal as Jacob sat up from the bench covered in sweat. He pulled a couple times at the soaked workout shirt he wore, allowing cool air to rush over his chest. The wolf looked over at the clock hanging on the wall. It was barely six o'clock. Satisfied, he got up and headed over to one of the treadmills to cool down a bit before he would move on to a more rigorous part of his workout.

As much as he enjoyed the weights, running was one of Jacob's favorite exercises to do. It was mindless. He didn't have to concentrate nearly as hard and thus he could think about other things. For now, Jacob reminisced of the reason he was down here so early in the first place. Gavin had been right; the only way to master the art of combat was to work at it every single day. It would be a hard grind, but from what he had seen, the payoff would be well worth it. So Jacob had taken it upon himself to get up early and come down to the gym to train. For today, he would keep it simple and stick with melee combat.

Jacob finished on the treadmill and found a formation of punching bags. He put on some gloves and, assuming a fighting stance, delivered two hard blows to the bag.

BOOM! BOOM!

_ _ The sound was oddly satisfying as it echoed throughout the large chamber. Jacob continued the routine, throwing in a few kicks in between punches. The bag shuddered and swung with the blows and Jacob began to move with it, dancing around in a circle and throwing in a fist or a foot to strike the heavy bag of sand.

A couple minutes into the routine, Jacob heard a huff off to his side. Glancing over, he found Brent standing there in his black shorts and Sanction t-shirt, arms crossed and looking bemused. Jacob scowled and returned to his punching bag, throwing in a few punches to let the German Shepherd know that he wasn't in the mood.

Brent didn't seem to get the message. "You're doing it wrong. Your form is clumsy."

"Yeah well, I didn't come here for your advice," Jacob snapped without taking his eyes off the bag. "So fuck off."

Brent rolled his eyes. "Here." He placed his water bottle on the floor and moved to place his paws on Jacob's sides.

The wolf jerked away. "Get off me!"

"I'm just trying to help."

"Well, I don't want your help!" Jacob moved to the next punching bag and resumed his routine.

"Too bad." Brent followed him and continued. "We're both stuck here now, so you're going to have to learn to deal with me."

"I am. I'm ignoring you."

"Then why are you still talking to me?" Brent scoffed with he saw the wolf's grimace. "Look, you can't push me away forever. We need to work together and you clearly need help."

"Since when did you care about my wellbeing?"

"Since a certain feisty fox knocked me out and dragged me over here. Now let me help."

Jacob glanced over at the dog again. There was a look of genuine concern in his eyes. As far as he could tell, Brent really seemed to want to help. "Fine. What am I doing wrong?"

Brent moved to stand behind him again, placing one paw on Jacob's shoulder and one on his side. The action pressed areas of the wolf's workout shirt into his sweat soaked fur, providing some extra coolness over his skin.

"Straighten up a little. You're leaning too far forward," Brent instructed. His voice was a low rumble from behind the wolf's head. "And place your feet shoulder-width apart."

Jacob did as he said while doing his best to stay perfectly balanced.

"Good," said Brent. "Now try a few punches."

With the dog's paws still holding him, Jacob threw his fists into the bag a couple times. He found that with his new posture, he was able to put more power into his punches.

Brent released him and stepped back nodding. "Good. Now try again without my help."

Jacob continued to pummel the bag while still maintaining that balance Brent had helped him achieve. Brent still offered some verbal advice every now and then like "spread your feet" or "angle to the side a little bit." Jacob threw everything he could into his strikes until he couldn't anymore. He stepped back from the punching bag and panted while Brent watched silently.

Jacob straightened as he caught his breath and inquired, "How do you know so much about boxing?"

"Took some classes during college," Brent replied.

"Boxing, huh? Thought you'd be more of a powerlifter kind of guy."

"Nah, that's boring," said Brent. He grabbed his water bottle and offered it to Jacob, who took it after some hesitation. "That being said, I do lift quite a bit. Building that muscle makes some things a lot easier."

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Like wooing the ladies?"

Brent flicked an ear. "Perhaps."

Jacob eyed the water bottle again before taking another swig of the refreshing liquid. Feeling the cool water washing down his throat before pooling in his stomach seemed to bring more life into his body, making him ready for another go. He stepped toward the punching bag again before he felt a paw on his shoulder.

"Wait," said Brent. "Now try those moves on me."

Jacob looked at him as if he were insane. "You want me to...punch you?"

"The punching bag will help you only so much," Brent elaborated. "You're not going to learn proper melee combat without a live opponent. Besides, you need a training buddy."

Jacob stared at him and the dog grinned smugly.

"Are you really going to turn down a chance to hit me?"

That did it. "Fine," Jacob said quickly, reminded of his contempt for the dog.

They went over to the arena that sat on an elevated platform. Brent hopped up first before offering a paw to Jacob. The wolf took it and pulled himself up with Brent's help. They both took their places at opposite sides of the ring.

Brent grinned and beckoned tauntingly. "Come at me, pup."

A sudden surge of anger flared from within. There were no words that could describe how much he hated that nickname. From Gavin it had made sense, but coming from Brent...it made him furious.

Jacob charged straight at Brent, slamming into him with enough force to bring them both down and drawing a winded "oof!" from the dog as they made contact. They fell to the floor with Jacob on top, Brent grinning that annoying smirk again when he recovered.

"You're too easy," he remarked, forcing the wolf off of him. Jacob landed on his back and before he could get up, Brent was on top of him already. He sat on the wolf's stomach and grabbed his paws, shifting his grip so that he held both on them in just one paw. The wolf's legs were useless, thrashing about behind where Brent sat, well out of their reach.

Brent brought a paw up to the wolf's throat. He didn't squeeze or even really do anything, just laid it there for now. "Imagine this is a knife," Brent rumbled, stroking a couple fingers against Jacob's Adam's apple. "You've already lost. Just like that."

Jacob growled savagely as he struggled against Brent's hold. It was no use. The dog had the advantage of sheer bulk over him. "Is this what you came for? Just to have more fun at my expense?"

"No, I came here to help. But messing with you is always fun," Brent grinned.

"You're an asshole."

"Why? Because I know how to get under your skin?"

"Because you insist on doing it constantly," Jacob replied, still struggling with all his might. "Get off!"

"Nope." Brent shifted so that more of his weight rested on the wolf's stomach, pushing more air out of his lungs. "You'll have to force me off. Your opponent won't play by the rules, so why should I?"

Hearing that familiar phrase again made Jacob groan. "Gavin sent you, didn't he?"

"We've talked," Brent admitted. "But I came here on my own. Didn't think I'd see you here this early."

"I wanted to train alone." Jacob tried raking his claws across the dog's paw holding him, but Brent didn't seem to react. "I didn't want anyone to come in and help me, least of all you."

"Well, too bad. You've got me. Or I guess, I've got you," Brent taunted, nodding toward the paw holding both of the wolf's wrists. "You know, I'm starting to see why I always beat you at training."

"Fuck you!" Jacob spat a wad of saliva into Brent's face, causing him to flinch and loosen his hold slightly. It was enough to allow Jacob to free himself and push the dog over. Brent landed on his stomach with a grunt. The dog wheezed as Jacob pinned him down, interlocking their legs and grabbing both wrists to keep him from getting up. The wolf could feel the muscles in the dog's back flexing as he struggled due to his position flush against Brent's back.

"There. Got you, you -"

Brent suddenly reared back his head, catching Jacob in the muzzle. The wolf winced in pain and toppled over when Brent powered himself out of his grasp. He growled lowly as he grabbed Jacob again, trying to pin the wolf down as he did last time, but Jacob was ready. He rose, grabbed the dog, and pushed him over. Brent grappled onto him and kept them moving. The two rolled around some growling and snarling at each other like feral wolves. Soon Brent managed to gain some footing and pulled Jacob up into a choke hold.

The German Shepherd had him in a death grip, but Jacob wasn't about to give up so easily. He tried elbowing the dog hard in the stomach. "Oh, no you don't!" Brent wrapped one arm around the wolf's torso and bent him over, pinning his arms against his sides and rendering them useless.

Brent's grip tightened and Jacob actually found himself running out of air. He struggled desperately, but the dog's hold was just too strong. In his attempts to suck in air, a pitiful whine actually made its way out by accident.

Brent heard this and chuckled darkly. "Had enough, pup?" He whispered in one ear.

The nickname angered him, but there was nothing he could do. Feeling he was close to suffocating, Jacob finally slammed his paw on the floor three times. Brent released him and he collapsed onto all fours gasping for breath.

Brent stood and smirked. "I win...again."

"Still sloppy, but an improvement nonetheless." Both furs looked up. Gavin had entered the gym and was watching them both, stoic and resolute as ever. As he got closer, Brent and Jacob hopped down from the arena to face him. He looked thoughtfully between the two before speaking to Jacob. "How long have you been down here?"

"About an hour," Jacob answered.

"An hour." Gavin sounded almost surprised.

_ _ "Yeah."

Gavin stared at him for an agonizing few seconds, glanced at Brent, and back to Jacob. "Okay." Without another word, he moved past them and headed to one of the treadmills. Brent followed him.

A little unsettled by the encounter, Jacob went to the showers alone.

After showering and changing into a fresh set of clothes, Jacob decided to go to the rec room to decompress. His encounter with Brent had left him bitter and tense, and he needed to simmer down lest he lash out at anyone else. As he approached the door, he heard sounds from the television. Someone was up rather early; shouldn't they be at breakfast? Then again, Gavin had decided to go to gym instead of eating...

Jacob entered the room as quietly as he could. The rec room wasn't much. It was only about the size of a garage, half of the space taken up by a pool table at the far end. A single dartboard hung on one of the walls and the rest of the space was populated by a small television with a couch facing it. On one end of the couch sat Nick. He fumbled with a game controller in his paws, his eyes fixed on the television screen, although they did flicker in his direction when the wolf came in.

"Hi," Jacob greeted as he sank onto the other end of the couch.

"Hey," Nick mumbled partially distracted by the game he was playing. It appeared to be some sort of high-speed racing game. His character drove wildly through crowded streets and around buildings, the occasional explosion or colored text offering random and sporadic distractions. "Missed you at breakfast."

"Wasn't hungry," said Jacob absently as he watched the game. "I'm used to skipping breakfast, it's fine."

"Where were you?" Nick asked.

"At the gym."

Nick nodded, frowning when an NPC zoomed past his character. "That's where Gav figured you were. He went off to find you after he finished eating. Did he?"

"Yup," replied Jacob. "Came in just as Brent and I finished up."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot he was here. You were working out together?" Nick asked curiously. "I thought you said you two hated each other."

Jacob gave a huff of laughter. "Trust me, that hasn't changed." A small musical cue sounded as the race ended declaring the fox as the winner. "I was alone, but then Brent came in and tried to teach me how to box."

"I'm guessing that didn't end well."

"Nope," Jacob responded. "He tried being the smug bastard he usually is and I decided I was done putting up with him...so we ended up holding a wrestling match in the arena."

A corner of Nick's muzzle curled up in a smirk. "Wrestling, huh?"

"Yeah...why?"

"Nothing." Nick avoided his eyes as he started a new game. The grin did not falter. "So who won?"

Jacob tensed. "Why is that important?"

"It's not."

Seeing the grin on the fox's muzzle, Jacob decided the change the subject. "What did Gav want last night? When he said he wanted to chat?"

The fox's face fell a little. "Not anything...important, really. He really just wanted to grill me for getting drunk."

Jacob grimaced in sympathy. They all knew Gavin was always a bit gruff, but no one wanted endure the brunt of his fury; he knew that firsthand. Gavin was the kind of person you never want to make angry.

"How bad was it?"

Nick didn't say anything at first, with nothing but the game to defuse the silence. Then he began with hesitation, "He...said some things that...really hit home...but...let's just say it won't happen again."

Jacob was genuinely worried for his friend. He couldn't imagine what kinds of things could have been said. "Are you okay?"

The fox gulped. "Let's just drop it, okay?"

Nick didn't seem to want to talk about it, so the wolf relented. "Okay." He went back to watching the game. "So, what game is this anyw -"

"Meeting! Three o'clock! Conference room!"

Both furs started and whipped their heads toward the doorway, where Gavin Masters himself stood completely still. The large husky watched them silently for a moment, as if daring them to comment, then left without a word.

Jacob and Nick both remained staring at the door, still shocked at Gavin's sudden interruption.

The wolf spoke first. "Do you think he was a drill sergeant in a past life?"

Nick waved a paw dismissively. "Naw, I just think he really enjoys striking fear into the hearts of others."

"I heard that!" Gavin's voice echoed from down the hallway.

Both furs smirked a little.

........................

"Right, so our next mission is coming up. Here's the short version. The Sealbreakers will be field testing their new so-called Ultium serum at the mall next Friday, likely undercover. It will be our job to intercept them and stop their efforts. Understood?"

The members of Legion sat around the conference table listening intently to Gavin's summary. After the utter catastrophe that had been the previous event, they were determined to make sure that everything went right this time. Some of them fiddled with bits of clothing or drummed their fingers silently on the table surface, but no one else spoke. Even the usually boisterous Brent sat completely still in his chair, his stoic gaze on the table unwavering.

Gavin finished the initial briefing and put down his stack of papers. His eyes roamed the room. "Any questions?"

Jacob raised his hand. "If they're going to be undercover, shouldn't we just engage instead of waiting for something to happen?"

"We don't have a choice," Gwen spoke up. "Without knowing outright where the event is taking place, we can't just barge in asking questions. And without being explicitly supported by the government, we don't have any real authority. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves until we have to."

"And we will have to," Gavin nodded in agreement. "We're only undercover until we find the Sealbreaker representative and confront him. Assuming he doesn't cooperate - and he likely will not - we can expect a fight to break out. Take any violence outside the building if you can. We want as little collateral damage as possible."

Gavin pulled out several sheets of paper and handed them to Gwen, who took one and passed it along. When Jacob acquired one, he saw that it was a map of the mall, marked with X's in three places.

"We'll be patrolling the area in groups of two, with one group of three," Gavin explained as they each studied their maps. "We will switch off periodically every thirty minutes so as not to raise suspicion. I have Jacob and Nick down for one group, Gwen and Brent on another, then me, Sly, and Jasper in the last group. Ashton, you're staying in the van and watching the cameras. We'll have Nick switch off with you periodically as well."

"Hang on," Jacob interjected. There was something very wrong with this plan. "I want Jasper to stay in the van, too."

Silence fell upon the table. Each fur, particularly Jasper, appeared very confused at the proposal.

"That is not your choice to make, Jacob," Gavin said slowly with eyes narrowed.

"Please. If we're going to be fighting, I don't want him getting hurt." Jacob reasoned. "There's going to be a lot of people around, and he's only had his Brand for a few days. Someone could get seriously hurt! He doesn't need that!" Not again...

Jasper gaped at his brother in astonishment. With a shaky laugh, he protested, "Jake, I'm sixteen! I can handle myself -"

"No!" Jacob snapped, the younger wolf flinching. "You're not ready for this yet!"

Nick, who had been watching the exchange with growing disbelief, turned to Gavin. "If it's expertise you're worried about, I can just stay in the van the whole time. I'm good with computers, and that way both Ash and Jasper get to do their part..."

Gavin shook his head. "They are doing their part." He looked at Jacob with a stern expression. "I don't care how old or young he is. We need all the help we can get on the field. As long as Jasper can help, he stays in."

"But he's too young!" Jacob was beginning to get very frustrated, his voice steadily rising. "And he's not nearly experienced enough to be in that environment. It's too dangerous for him. Sly," he turned to the short raccoon desperately. "Do you think he could hold his own in a fight?"

Sly looked ready to give an angry retort, but then stopped. He closed his mouth again, gulping silently.

Seeing the raccoon's reaction, the smaller wolf looked like he was close to tears. "But Sly's only eighteen!" He blurted out. "He's barely an adult and he gets to go?! What about me?"

The other members of Legion only observed the argument silently, not daring to get in the way of the verbal explosion that they thought was bound to occur. However, it did not occur. All eyes were now on their leader, the large wolf appearing torn. Gavin contemplated for a moment and then finally gave his answer.

"I hate to say it, but...Jacob's right." Gavin glanced around the room. "It's probably not the best idea to have a person brand new to combat in the thick of the action. He hasn't even gone through the orientation course yet." He now raised his voice with a sense of finality. "Jasper will stay in the van with Ashton, no switch offs. Nick will stay with Jacob."

"What?! No, come on!" Jasper protested, slamming his paws down on the table. "I want to do something! I had to sit here and do nothing on the last mission! I want to help!"

Nick set a paw on the wolf's shoulder. "We just don't want you getting hurt, that's all. Don't worry, you'll get your chance, we promise."

Jasper roughly shook off the paw and swiftly stood from his chair.

"Jasper, wait -" Jacob's pleas were ignored, his brother angrily storming out of the room. All eyes were on him now, as if waiting for the wolf to get up and chase after him. Jacob ignored them, unable to shake the heavy weight of guilt settling in his chest. He only wanted the best for his brother. He had done the right thing...right?

Gavin cleared his throat, demanding their attention again. "I'll talk to him later. Are we clear on what to do on Friday?" After receiving the nods of the other members, he continued, "Good. Now back to work, everyone. We have a very important mission to prepare for."

Everyone rose from their seats and began making their way out of the room. Oddly, Brent was the first one to leave despite being farthest from the door, purposefully striding across the room and through the doorway. Nick wasn't far behind him, leaving the room just a second later.

Jacob caught Sly just before he left. "Hey Sly, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," the raccoon said, hanging back to let everyone else leave first.

After the room had emptied, Jacob addressed him again. "So...how is Jasper doing with his training? Is he learning, at least?"

Sly bit his lip and looked away. "He's doing fine."

Jacob tilted his head skeptically and pressed. "You don't sound so sure."

Sly gave him a sad look, as if pleading him to drop the subject. The wolf stood firm, and he sighed resignedly. "He's...progressing. Slowly, but he is learning. He's just having some trouble controlling his magic, that's all."

"What kind of trouble?"

The raccoon opened the door and glanced out into the hall to make sure no one was within earshot. Satisfied, he closed it again and fixed the wolf with a serious look. "Listen, what I'm about to tell you, don't tell it to anyone else. It'll only make his case worse."

Jacob frowned. What could be that bad, to have to swear to secrecy? "I...can't promise that. I want him to be safe."

Sly sighed again, clearly not up to trying to change the wolf's mind. "Fine. Look, it's just..." He took a deep breath. "Remember when I said his Brand was unusually volatile? I still stand by that. There are times when we train that his magic just kind of...lashes out unexpectedly. Sometimes it works in his favor, sometimes it doesn't. It's completely random and almost entirely unpredictable."

"But isn't that normal?" Jacob inquired curiously. "It has only been a few days. Maybe he's just still getting a grip on things?"

"No, you don't understand," Sly said shaking his head. "Accidents this drastic should never be happening, not even at the early stages of learning. Brand magic shouldn't be active unless the user wills it. But Jasper's Brand is just..." He paused to find the right words. "Things just spin way out of control sometimes, and we have to take a break. I try to help him out as best as I can, but it changes nothing."

"Huh. That is...strange." Jacob had never heard of something like that happening. "Is there any way I can help?"

"Honestly? I don't think so," Sly replied, scratching his head. "You could watch our training sessions and offer advice, but that's pretty much it. Jasper is just too...different for you to truly understand what's going on with him. I'm a Dark at least, so I can help him a little bit."

The wolf's heart sank. His brother desperately needed help and there was nothing he could do. Would he ever be let on the field now?

Sly noticed his distress and gave him a pat on the arm. "Listen, I understand that he's your brother and you want to keep him safe, but you need to learn that you can't always do that. By sheltering him like this, you will only make things worse. After all," the raccoon continued. "How can you expect him to get better in the field if you don't give him the chance to?"

.........................

"He's right, you know."

The comment made an ear flick in annoyance as the wolf watched the customers walk to and fro. On the day of the mission, Jacob and Nick sat on a bench in front of a clothing store not far from the food court. Gavin had stationed them at three different places in the mall to watch for any suspicious activity. Without any sort of entertainment besides each other, the two furs were quite bored.

"Jasper is way too young to be fighting," said the wolf tiredly. He watched as a customer paid at the register of a nearby video game store. "He's only sixteen. It's not good for him."

"It's not good for any of us. You think we enjoy this?"

"I dunno, you seemed to be having fun last time."

The fox's expression hardened at the jab. "Not funny. Look, all I'm saying is, maybe you're being a bit too hard on him. You're right, he's only sixteen. But he's got a point: Sly's only eighteen and he does just fine. If Jasper wants to help out, why not let him?"

"Sly has a lot more experience," Jacob pointed out. "And he said it himself: he doesn't think Jasper could handle himself in a fight anyway."

Nick started to reply, but was interrupted by Gavin's voice in their earpieces.

"Alright everyone, time to rotate. Nick and Jacob, you'll be at the food court now. Pay extra attention and -"

_ _ "Alert you if anything happens. We know," Nick interjected, rolling his eyes.

"Thin ice, Nick."

_ _ The two got up from their bench and began moving in the direction of the food court.

"At least give it some consideration, okay?" Nick said, resuming their conversation. "Jasper was really upset after the meeting the other day. He thinks we don't want him on the team."

"What?!" Jacob exclaimed, taken back. "That's not -"

"I know it's not true, Jake! But that's what he thinks!" Nick said, gesturing wildly. "Me and Brent tried to tell that to him, but he won't listen! He needs to hear it from you."

The wolf did not respond immediately. He had no idea that the decision was having such an effect on his brother. Had he been too harsh? Did Jasper really think he wasn't wanted?

"I'll talk to him," he said as they approached the food court.

The area was bustling with activity, people of various ages and species walking across the crowded floor or eating at one of the many tables in the dining area. Several popular fast food branches populated the food court, as well as a few that were lesser known but just as good. The area was arranged in a wide "U" shape that opened up towards the rest of the mall. A huge multi-tiered fountain made of stone stood in the middle of the area, water cascading down into a large pool lined with smooth black and brown stones. In addition to bright fluorescent lights, the room was further illuminated by the bright sunlight reaching through a domed glass ceiling.

At first glance, the place seemed fairly innocent. No one would have thought that there was a secret operation led by malicious technology experts occurring right there in the sunlit food court; though nothing had happened so far. Legion had arrived in the morning, and it was now close to late afternoon, nearly three o'clock, and the Sealbreakers had not yet made themselves known. Either the experiment had occurred already before they had arrived, and they had missed it, or the Sealbreakers were still waiting to make their move.

"Good, you do that. Just, I'd wait a while after the mission is finished. He probably needs some space right now," Nick suggested as they idly paced along the edge of the fountain. "He really looks up to you, you know. You're his big brother. You're all he's got."

Jacob's fingers traced along the stone wall surrounding the pool as they passed. "What about his Uncle Nick?"

"I don't count. Not really." The fox eyed some of the food options longingly. They had been strictly forbidden from eating anything at the mall for risk of accidentally consuming some of the Sealbreakers' "experimental salt" that they were supposed to be testing. They had eaten a large breakfast to make up for it, but after several hours they had gotten hungry again. "I'm there for him when I can be, but you're practically his father at this point. It's got to be you."

Jacob gave a small growl that only culminated to a rumble in his throat. "If his actual father had never left, this would never have happened in the first place."

The fox pressed his lips together, staying silent. It wasn't true. Even if Richard Baxter had not left the wolf's family, Jasper still would have become a Dark...or would've he? Brands were manufactured to reflect the personality of the bearer, but could the person's state of mind hold any weight in the outcome? It was certainly possible... but he knew that Jacob's father was a touchy subject and opted not to get involved.

"Fucking coward..." Jacob growled, louder this time. Just the mere thought of his would-be father made his blood boil. "He had a baby son, for fuck's sake..."

Nick nervously tried to distract himself by observing the customers. Jacob had always been quick to anger, and the subject of his father seemed to always do the trick.

"Where even is he? What's he doing right now?" The wolf muttered irritably to no one in particular, kicking a crumpled up napkin that had been left on the floor. "Probably with someone else by now, I bet. I swear, if I ever see that sorry son of a bitch again..."

Nick cleared his throat loudly. He needed to pull his friend away from such a dangerous topic. "Hey, um. Why don't we -"

He was interrupted by a shrill scream sounding from one of the food counters. All heads turned to investigate the commotion.

"Hold that thought," Jacob said, moving toward the noise. At one of the condiment stands, a middle-aged golden eagle woman lay crumpled on her hands and knees, shuddering violently.

"I don't know what happened!" A female otter cried as they approached. "She was eating her fries when she just screamed and fell over!"

"The salt..." Jacob muttered, crouching down and putting a comforting paw on the woman's shoulder. She flinched at the contact, but the wolf kept his paw there, speaking urgently. "Ma'am? Ma'am, are you alright?"

"I - I don't..." She sobbed, unable to form a coherent sentence. A stronger shudder shook her body. "It hurts!"

"Don't worry, ma'am, you're going to be okay," Jacob said, mind racing as he tried to comfort her. "Just stand up if you can -"

Another violent shudder ran through her body before her brown-feathered head rose to face him, eyes unnaturally clear. "Get away!"

_ _ An arm suddenly slammed into his chest with abnormal strength, sending him skidding across the floor and into a table. Rolling onto his hands and feet, Jacob groaned as he regained his bearings. Nick was there in a heartbeat, reaching a paw down to help him up.

Jacob allowed himself to be pulled up, using the table as a support. "Call the others," he said, brushing himself off. The woman was now writhing on the ground, a strange light rippling through her golden brown feathers.

Nick spoke into his microphone. "Guys, it's happening. Someone ate the salt. I think we're gonna need backup real soon."

"We're on our way."_Gavin's voice rose to a commanding shout. _"Everyone to the food court, now! You too, Ashton. Jasper, you stay where you are. Jacob and Nick, you need to clear area ASAP!"

_ _ "Got it," Jacob answered. He began shouting at the top of his lungs. "Everyone, get out! Leave the building! Get somewhere safe!"

Most of the many patrons in the area heard his warnings and immediately dashed for the nearest exit. Some had stayed behind and seemed ready to fight.

An explosion of bright white light emanated from the direction of the woman, accompanied by another bloodcurdling scream. She knelt on her knees, screaming up at the ceiling with her arms outstretched from her sides. That eerie white glow rippled through her body as her feathers began to change from their normal golden brown to pure white. Two enormous white-feathered wings burst from her back, flapping powerfully and lifting her body into the air. Her entire body grew to fit her wings, clothing ripping as her torso became too large to fit. Bright white energy crept around her body and materialized into tight fitting black leather armor that covered only her breasts and hips, leaving her legs and midriff exposed. Her feet became huge with terrifying razor sharp black claws. A shaft of light grew outward from a clenched clawed hand, solidifying into an eight-foot-long metal spear tipped on both sides with sharp glass blades.

In just a few seconds, an ordinary middle-aged woman had transformed into a terrifying white-feathered angelic creature wearing black leather and wielding a deadly glass spear. Jacob and Nick both stood watching the creature in awe.

"Jesus, what is that thing?" A voice sounded from Jacob's other side. Gwen had arrived at the scene, staring up at the strange creature. Brent stood alongside her, his fists clenching and unclenching in anticipation. "Where the hell did that spear come from?"

"I don't know," Jacob replied without taking his eyes off the angel. "Must be a defective Brand or something."

"Your efforts are worthless," the angel seethed. Her voice echoed eerily throughout the room. It sounded as though there were several other voices audible behind her own, only adding her already cacophonous tone. "You will not triumph!"

She brought back an arm as if preparing to deliver a backhanded strike, folding a wing in front of her body.

"Get down!" Jacob pressed himself down to the ground just as the angel struck, flinging her arm out and sending razor sharp feathers made of light flying down in a cone in front of her. The feathers became stuck in the floor and walls before disappearing. The wolf heard those powerful wings take her higher in the air before suddenly dive-bombing right for them!

Jacob rolled away to avoid her, but heard Brent cry out behind him. The angel had the German Shepherd pinned beneath her huge clawed feet and was preparing to impale him with her spear!

"Get away from him!" Nick made a beeline for the creature, but only got backhanded into a table. The angel raised the spear, ready to strike -

But not before a searing ball of fire collided with her face, searing the feathers there. She screeched loudly in pain before snarling at her new opponent.

Ashton Monroe stood underneath one of the archway entrances. He held a blazing ball of fire in each hand, poised and ready to strike again.

The angel grinned and cackled menacingly. "Four Original Brands? This will be easy."

_ _ "Think again!"

Gavin and Sly had arrived. Black smoke curled off the raccoon's person and clouded the air around him. Beside him, Gavin was tense, his eyes of deep blue glaring pointedly at the angel. In each paw, he held a spitting ball of bright energy akin to stars. His magic caused his surroundings to ripple as if giving off a strong radiation.

The angel snarled at her predicament. The entirety of the Legion team now had her cornered in the food court, Originals and Gen 2s alike, and she was outnumbered seven to one.

"It appears I have a challenge after all. So be it." Her eyes narrowed with a devious glint. "Why don't we find somewhere with a little more space?"

_ _ KEEEERRRAAAWWWWW!!!

She let out an earsplitting screech akin to a hawk's cry that shattered all the windows and the domed glass ceiling. Glass littered the floor like thousands of tiny coins, and Jacob had to duck and close his eyes to avoid getting some in them. He heard those wings flapping again, and he looked up to see the angel rocketing up toward the now broken ceiling. A struggling Brent was still held in her clenched claws. She broke her spear in two and the broken halves morphed into two short swords that she used to slice right through the metal connectors of the ceiling and rise into the open air.

"After her!" Gavin shouted, racing for the exit. Everyone else followed him, barreling through the double doors and into the parking lot.

There she was, floating a couple dozen feet in the air with her swords and grinning wickedly down at them. Jacob couldn't help but feel sorry for the owners of all the cars that would likely get destroyed. Luckily, they had parked their van on the other side of the mall, but there was still potential for considerable damage to be done.

"Give it up!" Gavin shouted at the angel. "You're outnumbered!"

"That may be so,"_the angel sneered, tightening her grip on the struggling German Shepherd, who was frantically beating her leg with his fists, seemingly not fazing her. _"But I hold more power than you will ever know! It is time you -"

She was interrupted by a pillar of rock that thrust upward and into the underside of her chin. She screamed in pain and fury, dropping Brent down the remaining couple dozen feet onto the top of a car. The German Shepherd's body hit the car hard, creating a sizable dent on the top and leaving him groaning in pain.

"It appears you wish to see my power for yourself. Very well." She inspected the group as if selecting from a menu. Her eyes settled on Gavin, and she grinned menacingly. "I think I will begin...with you."

The feathered angel swooped down upon the leader of Legion, the large husky swiftly spinning out of the way and launching one of the balls of energy from his paws. The orb easily made contact with one of her wings, exploding into white flame. The angel's beak opened again in another painful scream as some of the feathers were burned off her body. She landed roughly, claws digging into the asphalt.

She sent more spectral feathers his way, which Gavin easily blocked by breaking off a large slab of asphalt with his mind and using it as a shield. The slab spun towards the angel and was sliced into pieces by her twin swords. The angel rushed the husky, both swords slicing downwards in a dangerous arc. Gavin dodged the attack, hastily countering with a swipe of his paw. As his paw neared her middle, he conjured a sparkling blue disc that solidified into a hard metallic material. The angel blocked the disc with one of her own blades and countered with the other, only to be blocked by the husky with a second disc, bringing them to a stalemate.

Now face to face with one another, Gavin growled deeply as a strange dark vortex appeared behind the angel. Inside it was nothing but a swirling dark chasm, resembling a miniature black hole of sorts. It began to pull the angel backward, and pulling the husky with her. Gavin narrowed his eyes challengingly as if daring her to try and move. Only a few feet separated them both from the swirling dark vortex, and the pull was getting stronger as they drew closer.

The angel snarled and suddenly pushed forward _hard,_grabbing Gavin's shoulders and flinging him behind her and toward the black hole. Gavin hastily dispelled the vortex and tumbled to the ground relatively unharmed. The angel then swooped in on top of him, pinning him to the ground with her claws.

"Gav, hold on!" Jacob shouted as he hastened to aid his leader.

Before he could reach him, however, two bolts of dark energy whizzed toward the angel, harmlessly dazing her for a moment. She froze and frowned as if a bug had just bothered her, and looked up in the direction of the aggressor.

Jasper stood about twenty yards from the scene, nervously watching the creature after having just provoked her. He appeared even more frightened after she saw him. What's he doing here? Jacob thought. We told him to stay in the van!

The angel chuckled darkly and stepped off the husky underneath her, moving toward Jasper.Oh no you don't! Jacob rushed after her.

"Hey!"

Successfully distracted, the feathered creature turned back toward him and snarled. She stalked toward him, her grip on her swords tightening.

Oh shit.

But then she got sidetracked again, this time by a jet black bolt of energy slamming into her face. The angel flinched and looked back in the direction of the attack. Off to the side, Sly's smoky form rippled as he stood resolutely; he had fired off some of his own magic in an effort to distract her.

The angel, seemingly tired of the diversions, charged straight for Sly, the agile raccoon rolling out of the way just in time to avoid her blades. He rolled straight underneath a large truck and disappeared from sight. The angel gripped the truck's frame, and with amazing strength, flung the vehicle across the parking lot and into other parked cars, crashing into them and setting off several car alarms as they collided.

The angel snarled when she found the space empty, only finding bare asphalt where Sly had just been.

"Over here!"

She spun around to see the raccoon had just rolled out from underneath another vehicle. That's right. They can teleport through shadows.

This time Sly tried a different tactic. He spread his arms, and more jets of shadowy darkness swirled around him to shroud his form in a dark cloud. He then thrust both paws forward, channeling the black smoke down his arms and out toward the angel. The dark energy swirled around her form as it reached her, creating another larger cloud that almost completely blocked her from sight. She thrashed around in frustration as the cloud effectively blinded her.

Before the angel could move again, Gwen ran up and leaped at the creature, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and neck and attempting to strangle her. The angel was too strong though, as she used her powerful wings to propel herself upward out of the cloud, taking the vixen with her.

The angel's feathers began to ripple with that strange light again, and she soon faded almost completely from sight. All they could make of her was odd ripples and distortions in the light, making her form hard to follow as she careened through the air. Gwen could only hold on for dear life as the angel tried to shake her off.

Nick and Sly were now sending wind and darkness at the creature, careful not to hit the vixen that was amazingly still clinging to her neck. Gavin, Ashton, and Jasper all sent their own projectiles flying, but it still didn't seem to faze their opponent. No matter how often she got hit, the angel didn't seem to want to go down. At one point, a dark bolt just barely grazed Gwen's arm, actually turning a spot of her fur black before it went back to its usual orange. The impact made her flinch and almost lose her grip.

"Watch it!"

"We're trying!" Nick shouted, letting loose another gust of wind. "We can barely see her!"

Brent, having recovered from his fall, walked up alongside Jacob, also staring up at the near-invisible creature flying through the air.

"She's not going down," he rumbled. "We need to try something else."

"But what?" Jacob asked incredulously. "We don't even know what she is. And she doesn't seem to have any weaknesses."

"Everyone has a weakness." Gavin dusted himself off, directing his fierce glare up at the creature. "I've seen something like this before. It's Sealbreaking gone wrong. They tried to change her Brand, but this happened instead."

"How do we fix it?" Brent inquired.

"We don't. We have to destroy it." Gavin's eyes narrowed, his glare becoming impossibly more intimidating. "And the only way to destroy a Brand is to overload it or replace it."

"Okay, so we can't replace it. They've just tried that, and it didn't work," said Jacob in contemplation. "So how do we overload a Brand?"

"Leave that to me." Gavin's discs reappeared in his paws, the conjured metal shining with blue Star energy. "Just find a way to keep her on the ground. I need to get close."

"Got it." Jacob cupped his paws around his muzzle. "Gwen! You need to try and bring her down to the ground!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do?!" Gwen yelled irritably, struggling not to fall as the angel continued to spiral through the air.

Hearing his instructions, Jasper now doubled up his efforts to harm the angel, black jets of smoke flying spasmodically through the air.

"Jasper! Get back to the van!" Jacob shouted. "We told you to stay there!"

"No! I want to help!"

In his distraction, the young wolf's concentration slipped just enough for him to make a mistake. Long black tendrils sprang from the wolf's paws and slipped underneath a nearby pickup truck. Black smoke and tentacle-like tendrils curled around the car and lifted it up into the air.

"Jasper, stop! Whatever it is you're doing, stop!"

"I'm not doing anything! It's not me!"

Jacob could only watch in horror and slight admiration as the shadowy tendrils gripped the car and lifted it higher and higher. Once it had reached about twenty feet, the car was launched straight into the front of the feathered angel, narrowly missing Gwen. The creature fell to the ground, screeching in pain and shock.

"Well, that's one way to do it," Jacob muttered. Then he got an idea. Running back toward the entrance they had come out of, he shouted to Jasper, "Go back to the van! We'll meet you there!"

"But I -"

"Go!"

Without looking to see if his brother had obeyed, the wolf stopped just outside the mall entrance. He conjured a mental image of the fountain inside, the water rippling gently as it smoothly cascaded down into the pool. Now he imagined it bubbling up and over the stone barrier, flowing towards the exit where he stood...

Water crashed through the double doors and into the parking lot, avoiding the cars and the people fighting there. The stream twisted and turned in a serpentine fashion through the air and collided with the angel. It wasn't enough to completely submerge her, but that wasn't his goal. The water soaked into the bird's feathers and hindered her ability to fly, causing her to slowly descend to the ground.

Now that they had an advantage, everyone redoubled their efforts to bring her down. They pelted her with darkness, fireballs, and miniature star orbs that seemed to have more of an effect on her now that she wasn't able to dodge as easily. Brent summoned large chunks of rock from underneath the ground that he bombarded her with, the heavy boulders dazing her and keeping her distracted with even more pain. Jacob kept the water flowing around every inch of her body, making sure to keep her soaked so she couldn't fly off again. Gwen dropped off of the angel's body to avoid getting hit.

Keeping the flow moving, Jacob redirected part of the stream back into the food court entrance. Still keeping contact with the angel, the other end of the stream crawled up the wall and poked into an electrical outlet. The result was terrifying. Back outside, the angel screamed as the electrical current ran through her body, shaking violently and instantly dropping another few feet closer to the ground.

The moment her feet touched the ground, Gavin held up a paw. "That's enough!"

Everyone ceased their efforts. The angel collapsed onto her hands and knees, fully visible now and panting exhaustion from the assault. Gavin walked toward her and stopped just a few feet away.

The angel looked up at him, eyes burning with fury. "You...will not...win," she croaked.

Gavin glared right back down at her. "We already have," was all he said before he dismissed his discs, closed the remaining distance between them, and knelt, clutching both sides of her bird-like head in his paws. He growled deeply as his body began to pulse brightly with a blue-white glow. The ripples traveled down his arms to his paws, and into the angel's body.

The feathered angel screamed louder than ever before, her own body rippling with a pure white light. It pulsed brighter with every passing second, her screams seeming to echo eerily in their minds. Gavin's own eyes shone brightly with his Star energy as his growl escalated to a furious yell, which even still nearly got drowned out by the angel's cries.

It all quickly came to a close, the angel's body giving one final pulse and exploding into millions of white sparks. They floated gracefully down to the ground like tiny fireworks. On the ground where the angel once stood was the golden eagle woman as she was before, naked and lying unconscious in the puddle of water.

Gavin panted from the exertion, his feat having truly sapped him of all energy. He tried to stand, but instantly stumbled and fell to his hands and knees. Gwen hastily came to his side and put an arm over his shoulder, whispering something no one else could hear.

"We did it...we really did it," Jacob muttered in amazement, surveying the damage. The parking lot was in ruins, cars overturned, chunks of asphalt lying all over the place, broken glass littering the ground; not to mention the utter catastrophe that was the food court.

Several police cruisers and ambulances arrived at the scene, furs pouring out of the vehicles and rushing towards them. Jacob and the others stood back to try and stay out of their way. Most of the officers ran into the building to survey the mess while the paramedics stayed and talked to them to make sure they were okay.

"No, I'm fine!" Nick was heard amidst the ruckus. "Go talk to her, she needs help!"

"I'm okay, really," Jacob said to a couple paramedics who insisted on taking his vitals. "Excuse me, I need to talk to him over there."

Jacob pushed past them and made a beeline for Gavin, who was struggling to his feet using Gwen as a support.

"You stupid old man," Gwen said with a sigh. "You've gone and exhausted yourself. Why didn't you let us help?"

"I'm not old," Gavin said tiredly as he leaned on the vixen for support. "Besides...only a Gen 2..."

"You could have let me do it," Sly said as he approached. Then with a smile, he added, "Now how are you going to drive us back?" Gavin promptly fished the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to the raccoon, who caught them with a chuckle.

Glad to see that his leader was okay, Jacob turned to watch the authorities work. People rushed in and out of the building while taking copious notes. A few paramedics came over to inspect the eagle woman who still remained unconscious. While he watched, a Doberman in a police uniform approached them.

"Good afternoon gentlemen. And lady," he added, with a polite nod to Gwen. "I'm Officer Stryker. We understand that you are a group dedicated to fighting the Sealbreaker cause?"

Gavin nodded. "We do what we can."

Stryker nodded in assent. "Do you have an appointed leader or authoritative official that I may speak to?"

The large husky shifted on his feet in an attempt to straighten his posture, only partially succeeding. "That would be me."

A black and tan paw was held out. "Pleased to meet you, mister..."

"Masters. Gavin Masters."

"Pleasure." The Dobie cleared his throat. "Do you perhaps have time to answer a few questions?"

"He's a bit tired right now," Gwen cut in, shifting a little underneath the husky's weight. "You can ask me instead -"

"No, Gwen, it's best if I do it." Gavin addressed the rest of the group. "Go ahead and wait in the van. This shouldn't take long."

Jacob glanced around the scene, noticing that one member of the group was missing. "Where's Jasper?"

Nick looked around as well and shrugged. "Probably back at the van. Let's go."

The remaining five of them walked back around the mall to the opposite parking lot and sure enough, Jasper sat alone in the van looking dejected. Nick placed an encouraging paw on his shoulder, "Hey, you did good," but it only made his ears go down further.

True to his word, it didn't take long at all for Gavin to finish talking to the officer. Not even ten minutes later, he too approached the van and climbed in with Gwen's help.

"What did he want?" Brent inquired.

"Not much. Just asking about what we saw, what's Legion, what we do, et cetera," Gwen replied as she climbed into the passenger seat.

"Iss nothin' harmful," Gavin said, now beginning to slur heavily. He settled back in the back seat with his eyes closed. "The public 'sposure's good fer us..."

Ashton glanced backward at the husky. "Are you sure you're okay, Gav?"

"He'll be fine," said Gwen as Sly drove them away from the mall. "He's just tired. A depleted Brand will do that."

"He depleted his Brand to pull that off? That must have been rough." Jacob cocked his ears are the sound of heavy snoring coming from right next to him. "Did he just fall asleep?"

"Yep. I told him he should have let someone else help." Gwen shook her head in disbelief. "What the hell happened back there anyway?"

"Not sure," said Jacob. "Gav said they tried to change her Brand and it didn't work. Well, I guess it did, in a sense."

"I know, but why?" the vixen wondered. "They've already got the Ultium serum in liquid form. It's what they've been selling to clients this whole time. Why crystalize it?"

"Maybe they want to hide it," Ashton suggested. "If they're trying to disguise the serum as salt, then that means they don't want clients - victims, rather - to know they're ingesting it."

"Well, yeah, but why would they want to _forcefully_change people's Brands?" Gwen sighed. "It makes no sense..."

"It's hard to tell," Brent said gruffly. "But can we discuss this after we get some food? I'm starving."

A buzz came from Jacob's pocket. He took out his phone to find a text from Nick.

About time >.<

Jacob suppressed a chuckle and made to respond, but was interrupted by a different text from an unknown number.

Hello, Jacob Grimm. Impressive performance this afternoon ;)

Jacob frowned. That certainly wasn't anyone from Legion, and he hadn't given his number out to anyone else. He glanced around quickly to make sure no one was watching and tapped out a response.

Who is this and how did you get this number?

That doesn't matter.

Jacob didn't even get a chance to respond before the next text came.

What does matter is that we are going to talk very soon.

Why can't you say it now?

Not a good time. Just want to make my presence known ;)

Why should I listen to you?

Because if you don't, bad things will happen ;)

The vague and oddly cryptic nature of the texts he was receiving was seriously putting him on edge, not to mention the abundance of winky faces.

What do you want?

You will call this number tomorrow at noon sharp. No telling and no excuses or there will be consequences.

'Or there will be consequences.' Jacob didn't want to know what that meant. Still, the question remained: how had this mysterious person gotten hold of his number? And what else had he gotten access to?

The next message answered one of those questions.

Something for you to think about ;)

What followed caused the wolf to freeze in his seat and made his heart skip a beat. The unknown caller had just sent him a photo. Filling his screen was an image of the interior of the van from the vantage point of the radio inside. He could see the Sly and Gwen sitting in the front row closest to the camera. Brent, Nick, and Ashton were in the middle row; Jasper, Gavin and Jacob sat in the back. He could see clearly the look of fear etched on his own face as he sat in the back seat, staring down at what he knew to be his phone.

One more message.

Talk to you soon.

.........................

Erwin sighed as he sank into his folding chair, his feet propped up on a footrest above the ground. The cool sea breeze felt heavenly as it blew across his leathery skin. A glass of chilled lemonade rested in his hand, from which he sipped occasionally. Today was his day off, so he had decided to venture to one of his favorite quiet places to relax. It was a beach, but not one of those manmade ones with 'perfect' flat sand and 'perfect' waves for surfing. This was a natural beach, one with more pebbles and small shells than sand, and large rocks that jutted to and fro.

It was because of these imperfections that most people avoided this place. And that was why Erwin loved it. It was peaceful and quiet, away from the noise and bustle of Sanction. No boring paperwork to fill out, no clueless rookies to look after...everything was good. Nothing could bother him here -

The chorus from Bittersweet Symphony sounded from his left pocket.

Except that.

Kicking himself for not having turned it off, the rhino dug out his phone and answered it. "Hello?"

"Mr. Erwin sir?" Said a panicked voice on the other end.

"Yes, this is he. I thought I told you this was my day off?"

"You did, sir. But I'm afraid I have some bad news -"

"Are we on a secure line?" Erwin interjected.

"Yes, sir, of course," the caller responded quickly.

"Fine," said Erwin with a sigh. "Then go ahead."

The caller then launched into a rapid speech. "You remember that meeting we arranged at the Silver Veil, right? Well, Legion caught onto our trail and showed up at the meeting and we never finished! But they found out about our field test today and took down our test subject. We need to reschedule -"

"Stephenson, slow down!" Erwin interrupted quickly. He had just barely caught the caller's words with how quickly he was speaking. "I know all about what happened at the Silver Veil and at the mall. I'm the one who sent the Sanction squad to calm things down the night of the meeting."

"Oh." Stephenson sounded almost embarrassed. "Then you know what's at stake! If Legion succeeds -"

"Then they'll be playing right into our hands," Erwin finished for him. "We knew that Legion would likely try to stop our efforts at the mall. In fact, we were counting on it."

There was a pause on the other end. "Wait, what?" Stephenson questioned. "I thought we wanted to keep them away from our work. Why would we want them to intervene?"

"Because we're depending on them for results," Erwin said simply. "Legion was always part of the experiment. To try and dodge them at this stage would be counterproductive."

Another pause from Stephenson. "...I don't understand, sir."

"That's fine. Let's keep it that way." Erwin sipped from his glass impatiently. "There's a reason we don't tell everything to the new hires. So for now, don't worry about the risks and stick to the plan. Is Bounty still onboard?"

"Yes, of course, but -"

"Good. Continue as planned. Now unless there is an emergency, please do not call me again today." Erwin ended the call and this time, powered off the phone before slipping it back into his pocket.

Rookies...