A/N: Ok, so, I got several questions in one of the reviews, so I thought I'd answer 'em. Yes, David's going to appear. And I imagine Jack would be fine in a very light rain, or if she had an umbrella, but if water touches over a quarter of the surface area of her body (on the outside) she'll go haywire. And yes, she can drink water just fine, because the human body is mostly water anyway. In order for water to draw out the electricity within her body, it has to be touching her skin, and connecting with the outside atmosphere at the same time. Yes, I'm a girl. No, I don't think the world is coming to an end in 2012. At least, I hope it won't. No, I can't solve Global Warming, I'm a writer, I'm not God! *kudos to anyone who caught the veiled movie reference!* Anyway, thanks for the awesome reviews from you guys, it's really inspiring me to write more!

As always, R&R makes me a happy clam!

Oh, and this is a short chapter, but I wanted this to mostly be about the fight.

Chapter Four

Griffin

The sun was well over the horizon at Griffin's lair, when he awoke, mercifully under his own will, and alone. The girl had obviously taken his 'don't wake me up early' warning to heart—a good thing, too, as he was starving, and wanted to eat before showing Jack just how little she actually knew about fighting. True, he didn't know just how much (or what kind of) training she'd had, and he tended to be rather over-confident in his own abilities, but he was positive that she wouldn't be able to best him when it came to fighting.

An hour later, it was nearing noon, and Griffin was sitting on his couch, playing one of his shoot-'em-up video games. He was wondering where the hell the girl was, when he heard the whoosh of an incoming Jumper. "You're late," he said, without looking up—he was just about to break his high score.

"What do you mean?" asked a decidedly masculine voice, and Griffin glanced up—realizing his mistake, he hurriedly looked back at the TV, but it was too late. The momentary lapse in concentration had cost him the game. He sighed, tossing his controller to the ground.

"Oh, it's you."

"Who else would it be?" David asked; as far as he was aware, no one but him and Griffin had the lair as a Jump-spot.

Yet another soft pop filled the air, as Jack finally Jumped to the lair for her 'lesson'—not that she thought she was about to be taught anything. She rather thought she was about to be the teacher. She was also dressed much more appropriately than she had been the night before—she wore a pair of hip hugging jeans and a white T-shirt, that showed off a lot less of her skin. "Her," Griffin replied, pointing—he was barely able to keep from laughing at the dumb look of shock now etched across David's face. There was a similar look on Jack's, and Griffin couldn't help the amused smirk sliding across his features.

"David, this is Jack; Jack, this is David. You ever read Marvel Team Up?" he asked suddenly, looking at Jack. The young woman shook her head, looking rather confused. "Well, David and I 'ave temporarily teamed up to fight th' Paladins." David was chuckling, but Jack was still lost. Griffin shook his head. "Never mind."

"Isn't Jack a boy's name?" David shot at her, as though just making the connection. Jack sighed, shaking her head.

"It's short for Jacklynn," she muttered, her voice almost a growl. Griffin really did laugh this time, as he grabbed two quarter staffs, throwing one to Jack. "Hope you're ready for an ass kickin', kid."

"I'm not a kid!" Jack shouted, but he'd already Jumped. She Jumped through his Jumpscar, and David followed, curious as to how this would turn out.

He found out soon enough. The instant Jack Jumped, something hard and fast hit her in the back of the knees, and she fell hard into the sand, her staff flying from her grip. "Hey, that was a cheap shot!"

"Do you think the Paladins are gonna be worried about fightin' fair, kid?" Griffin asked, taunting her.

"Stop calling me a kid!"

"Then get up and stop acting like one!"

Jack snapped. She lunged for her staff and Jumped behind Griffin, swinging her staff at his head—but before it could connect, Griffin's staff came up and blocked it. He turned around, smirking. "Gotta be quicker than that."

C'mon, Jack, keep it together, she thought, taking a deep breath and calming herself down. Before she knew it, Griffin's staff was moving, and it was taking every ounce of strength and speed Jack possessed to keep from getting several broken ribs. Griffin was vicious, relentless, and didn't seem to be tiring at all. Jack, however, was losing energy quickly. In a flurry of moves (of which Jack only managed to block about half), Griffin knocked the staff from her hands and pushed her down, so she landed on her back, sprawled in spread-eagle fashion, with the head of his staff pointing at her chest. Letting her head fall back against the sand, Jack sighed, trying not to wince in pain. She was going to be one big bruise tomorrow.

Griffin knelt beside her, though he still wasn't making eye contact. "Not bad, kid, but you'll have to be a whole lot better than that if you want to fight the Paladins and survive." Jack couldn't even muster up the energy to protest him calling her a kid again; she simply nodded. If he had a sympathetic bone in his body, it was voicing it's opinions, and Griffin's look softened slightly. "You want some ice and water?" he asked; Jack nodded again, though even that small movement sent ripples of pain traveling down her body. The older man stood and held out his hand; it took effort, but Jack managed to lift an arm to take it. She pinned the strange sensation traversing her spine at the contact to further bruising, as Griffin helped pull her up.

"Impressive," David said, following the two back into the lair.