Jupiter [Marvel Phase I]

thirty-one.

"When I throw this, hold on tight," Jenn's sister told Dev right before they entered the electromagnetic field. He still wasn't sure what to call her. A set of numbers felt too cold and he wasn't keen on using C.E.N.T.R.E.'s terminology. Maybe just Serah, since she was supposed to be the poster child for the project and all.

Nevermind that, though. She didn't need to tell him twice about holding on. The second they passed through the field, Dev clutched onto Serah for dear life.

After throwing the sonic grenade, she pulled them away quickly. Even from the outer edges of Jenn's magnetic field and shielded within Serah's own, Dev still felt the impact. He would be proud of himself if he wasn't so preoccupied worrying about his life and Jenn's own.

Actually, maybe he did have time to feel proud. Almost immediately, the green field began to fade out. The roar died down, sparks were no longer showering down around them - even the large chunks of metal stopped flying about.

"It worked," Dev muttered in the hopes that hearing it aloud would somehow overcome his disbelief. "It wor-"

Which was all he managed to get out before Serah was flying them off again. She dropped him on one of the few stable-looking catwalks left, then raced away. Dev tracked the path of her flight and spotted Jenn, unconscious and falling slowly back to earth. Serah didn't quite catch her; her arms were held out in a bridal carry as Jenn hovered above her.

While they floated down, Dev took the time to look around. A kilometer-wide crater had been carved out of the earth. It extended upwards through the remnants of the abandoned glass factory and down into the bedrock below. On every side were exposed labs and corridors.

Never in his life had Dev seen destruction so absolute. He didn't know what the hardest part was to reconcile; that Jenn - who brought jaffa cakes to lectures and left her dirty laundry all over her bedroom floor - was capable of this all along, or that this wasn't even the full extent of her powers. Maybe it was the simple fact that Jenn had done this at all.

When Serah touched down a few meters away, Dev ran to meet her. As he ran, he watched Jenn fall into her arms. He nearly let out a sigh of relief when he saw that Jenn was still breathing. Dev really should've known better by now.

The moment Serah caught Jenn, she let out a pained cry. Her muscles seized up and she nearly fell over. Dev's walk became a run.

"What's wro-"

"Don't come any closer!" Serah shouted. Then she winced, gritting her teeth. "Get yourself somewhere grounded!"

Before Dev could ask a second time, Serah shifted her weight and lifted an arm to the sky. Red-tinged lightning leapt from her hand. It was like watching a full-sized tesla coil in action, from the ear-splitting crack, to the strong smell of ozone.

By the time it was finally over, Serah was panting like she'd just run a marathon. "She was holding on to that much electricity?" She whispered to herself, staring down at her sister's unconscious form. Serah looked back up when she spotted Dev heading her way. "Don't," she warned when Dev held out a hand to her. "Even now, she's still generating electricity. I can barely hold onto her as is. And you...well-"

Another thunderous crash. Dev flinched, covering his head. Turning around, he spotted the large steel beam that had just fallen nearby. Both he and Serah looked up at the same time. A breathless swear fell from Dev's lips as every muscle in his body locked up. All the metal that had been picked up in Jenn's electromagnetic field was suddenly subject to gravity once again. And several beams were right overhead.

"Hold on!" Serah shouted, hand reaching skywards once more.

Swirling shades of red wrapped around the pair, and not a second too late. The first beam collided with the forcefield, then another, and then all of them at once. The endless rattling above, the violent shaking of the catwalk beneath his feet; it was like feeling a train pass overhead.