Part 3: JSA vs ISA

Jesse's fists clenched tighter, black lightning crackling dangerously across her knuckles. She was seething with frustration, her team's words bouncing off her like rubber bullets. The symbiote's whispers intensified in her mind, urging her to act, to prove her superiority.

"They're weak. They don't understand your power. They're afraid of you. Show them."

Her eyes narrowed, and she took a step forward, the energy radiating off her so powerful that the ground beneath her cracked. "You don't get it, do you? I'm stronger now. I can end this. We don't have to hold back. We don't have to *let* them keep coming back."

Courtney, Yolanda, and Rick exchanged worried glances. Jesse was always intense, but this? This was different.

"We stop them," Jesse continued, her voice rising, "for *good*. No more games, no more playing hero. I'm done holding back for the sake of people who don't deserve it."

Courtney stepped forward, her staff held cautiously in front of her. "Jesse, listen to yourself. This isn't you. We don't kill—"

"Maybe *we* should." Jesse's voice cut through the night like a blade, sharp and unforgiving. Her eyes glowed with the power of the Speed Force, and the symbiote's influence was clear in the way her posture shifted, more predatory, more dangerous. "Maybe if we did, they wouldn't keep coming back, hurting more people."

Rick moved closer, trying to de-escalate. "Look, we get it, okay? You're powerful. Hell, you're probably the strongest of us, Jesse. But this? This isn't what we signed up for. You're crossing a line."

Yolanda, still visibly shaken by how close Jesse came to killing Tigress, stepped in front of Rick. "Jesse, you're not alone. We're your friends. Let us help you before—"

"Before what?" Jesse snarled, her patience snapping. "Before I become like them? I'm *better* than them! I'm better than all of you!"

Without warning, she blurred forward, moving faster than even Rick's enhanced reflexes could track. One moment, she was standing still, the next, she was in Courtney's face, glaring down at her.

Courtney tightened her grip on her staff, instinctively raising it as a barrier between them. "Jesse, this isn't you. You don't have to do this."

But Jesse wasn't listening anymore. The symbiote's influence had wormed its way too deeply into her mind, and the whispers had become deafening.

"They are obstacles. They are holding you back. Remove them. Be free."

Jesse's hand twitched, black lightning crackling along her fingers. For a split second, she considered it — just one strike, one swift move, and she could prove them all wrong. She could show them her power.

But something in Courtney's eyes stopped her. It was the same look she had seen in her mother's eyes the last time she visited home — worry, love, fear.

"Jesse, please." Courtney's voice was soft, pleading. "We need you. *I* need you. Don't do this."

For a moment, the symbiote's whispers faltered, and Jesse's expression wavered. She could feel her heart beating in her chest, and for the first time in what felt like forever, she hesitated.

But then the ground rumbled beneath them, and the moment shattered.

Across the battlefield, a portal of shadow opened, and Shade staggered to his feet, using the last of his strength to summon an escape route. Icicle, bruised and bloodied, crawled toward the portal, while Sportsmaster dragged an unconscious Tigress to safety.