Welcome back to Elemental Crisis Book III. Last time, the teams converged again and recounted, at least in brief, their misadventures in recovering the Elements of Earth, Wind, and Electricity. Knowing what they have to do, the group splits up at D.E.O. Headquarters to work it out. Spyro is going with Supergirl and Martian Manhunter to teach them Earth and Electricity, with a little help from Black Lightning on the second one, Cynder is off to teach Superman what she knows about the Element of Wind with some help from Zari Tomaz, and the rest of the team is staying back to track the Dark Knights' location. We're picking up with Supergirl and Martian Manhunter first. So, how's this third round of training going to go? Read on to discover...
(Our scene picks up in one of the D.E.O. training areas where Spyro, Supergirl, Martian Manhunter, and Black Lightning are gathered.)
Spyro: This is admittedly one of the nicer dojos I've had to work with.
Black Lighting: Considering the other one was just the cargo hold of a time ship, there's not much needed to improve on that.
Spyro: (Shrugs) Fair point.
Black Lightning: But still, it is nice down here.
Spyro: Agreed. Now, let's get to the matter at hand. (To Supergirl and Martian Manhunter) Are you two ready to begin?
Supergirl: Ready as I'll ever be.
Martian Manhunter: Time is of the essence, so we'd best begin immediately.
Spyro: Straight to the point, J'onn. So we'll start with Electricity. Hope you're taking notes.
Martian Manhunter: I am ready to begin. What do I need to know.
Spyro: I'm trying to quote Volteer directly here, but he talks so fast that he's tough to understand sometimes. Electricity requires one to keep their wits about them at all times. Charged ionic forces are channeled at speed through the air, redirected over muscle, bone, sinew, and skin. The key to resist the charge is a solid art of wit and will. You need nerves of steel and an exquisite sense of timing to redirect that massive charge. Speed of thought in regulation of this force is critical.
Superman: Looks like you're just the guy for the Element, J'onn.
Spyro: (To Black Lightning) Anything to add?
Black Lightning: Just one thing really. You can't hesitate. Trust me, that left me with quite a few burns when I started as Black Lightning.
Spyro: That's a really good add on. Let me commit that to memory. So, to summarize, once you get all that down it really breaks down to surrendering to Electricity's erratic nature, allowing it's energy to charge through your body and anticipating it's movement so you can unleash it willingly.
Martian Manhunter: I think I can pull that off.
Spyro: Then let's give it a shot.
(Getting the hint, Martian Manhunter shuts his eyes and extends his arms, feeling the electrical impulses in the air around him and tries to anticipate it's movements. And for a moment it works. Little arcs of Electricity form between his fingers like Jacob's Ladders. But then, something goes wrong in his mind and immediately the sparks shoot out all over the place. Black Lightning throws up an electric shield around himself, Spyro, and Supergirl, protecting them from the charges until they dissipate. And when Martian Manhunter can't feel the charges anymore, he opens his eyes and looks around to see the electrical burns everywhere as Black Lightning dissipates the shield around himself and the others)
Martian Manhunter: That... did not go well.
Spyro: Being 100% with you, that went better than I expected.
Martian Manhunter: How?
Spyro: I was expecting there to be a massive bolt of electricity that started a fire or something.
Martian Manhunter: Good thing that didn't happen. I have a... thing... about fire.
Supergirl: Best not to ask.
Black Lightning: If I had to give you a grade for that, I'd call that a solid C+. Like Spyro said, it could have been way worse.
Spyro: Solid progress in the first move, though.
Martian Manhunter: That's... relieving.
Black Lightning: (To Spyro) Why don't I take over working with J'onn for a few moments while you and Kara sort out Earth?
Spyro: Probably a solid idea. (To Supergirl) Shall we?
(And as Supergirl nods that she's ready to begin, our tale ends for today)
And that looks like a good place to wrap up for now. I know, we didn't need to break this one up, but it didn't honestly feel right to jam Earth and Electricity into one chapter because they're in the same room, and that was actually the original plan. But the further I got into writing this, the more I realized that doing that would be doing the whole thing a massive injustice. So we will come back to Supergirl and the Element of Earth in another update. Next time, we switch training rooms to see how Superman learns the Element of Wind. So be sure to tune in for that! Same time... same channel!