Jupiter [Marvel Phase I]

twenty-three.

An invisible burst of energy rocked the flat. Their heavy, wooden living room chairs slid back across the floor. Clocks, lamps, and other metal fixtures around the room began to lift off the ground as if gravity no longer had a hold on them. The lights, which had been blinking occasionally before, were now flashing chaotically out of time. Harry was forced to take a step back.

Standing at the epicenter of the blast was Jenn. The fury in her eyes alone would've been enough to make him nervous, but that wasn't all. Harry knew all the strange phenomena was her doing - he'd seen her do it before. Every hair on his body stood on end and Jenn's own hair floated around her head as if it were electrified.

No, it really was electrified. Even the ozone-scented air felt charged. This was, in Harry's rather expert opinion, bad.

"Jenn..." Harry spoke slowly around the waver in his throat. "You have to calm down."

She barked a harsh laugh back. "I've spent the entire afternoon flashing back through all your lies. No, I am not going to calm down."

"You need to," Harry repeated, keeping a careful eye on the still-flashing lights. "You might be strong enough now to overload the Limiter completely. If you break it, then who knows what will happen? I won't be able to help you. Just try to control-"

"Control?" Jenn cut in. Her brows were raised in anger. "That's what this has been about the whole time. Limiting my powers, taking away my memories - all you were doing was finding new ways to control me!" The air pressure rippled again, as if responding to her emotions. Jenn didn't even seem to notice she was doing it. "Is that why you didn't 'save' my sister? Was I the only one you could manipulate? You couldn't control them like you could control me-"

"Sister? You mean 235?" Harry could feel his own volume rising. "You shared genetic material, but you were by no means sisters. 235 was the most effective soldier C.E.N.T.R.E. ever created. A brutally efficient killing machine like her would never be capable of overcoming her foundational programming."

"She was a child!" Jenn cried. For the first time this fight, Harry heard emotions besides anger in her voice. "We all were! You and the other C.E.N.T.R.E. scientists only ever saw us as weapons!"

Harry pointed a finger right at her. "Because you were weapons! It's what you were created for. 235 was C.E.N.T.R.E.'s crowning achievement. I was the one who allowed you to be human!"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he heard it. Saw the way he had turned that finger, pointing at his own chest. Watched as Jenn's mouth dropped open, eyes blown wide in shock.

"I...I didn't mean-" Harry tried, guilt already creeping up the walls of his stomach.

"No, I know exactly how you meant it," Jenn shot back, fire returning to her gaze. "You're no different from any other scientist at that facility!"

Suddenly, a light bulb burst, throwing sparks across the room. Harry looked between it and Jenn, but she didn't even notice. How quickly he'd forgotten what she was capable of. He shouldn't have let it progress to this point.

"Jenn, the Limiter," he warned.

"I don't care about your bloody Limiter! I just want it off," Jenn threw her hands in the air. Another bulb burst, and then one more.

"It's not coming off because you can't control your power," Harry remained resolute.

"Yes," Jenn ground out. "I can."

Something flickered in front of her; a greenish ripple of energy. She really was charging the air. This was only the first sign. Harry knew what would happen next if he didn't halt this soon. Thankfully, he also knew Jenn.