Black Lightning

Age
 Status
 Weight

**Jefferson Pierce** is a high school teacher, and the vigilante known as **Black Lightning**. He fights for the ideals of Justice with his electricity-based powers.

## Biography

### Early Life

**Jefferson Pierce** was born with a dormant Meta-Gene which would come forth in his years at Garfield High in Metropolis. With the help of Peter Gambi, a tailor and old friend of Jefferson's family, Jefferson was taught how to suppress his inborn Meta-Human abilities so that he would not accidentally hurt any of the people he cared about. With his powers under control, Jefferson sought to keep them hidden, so that he may resume his ordinary life. As a high school student, Jefferson was apart of several athletic teams, which would earn him a scholarship to Kent State University. After graduating from college, Jefferson earned a teaching degree in physics and would work at the same Garfield High that he graduated from years ago.

### The Spark of Heroism

He kept his distance form his home town for a time because his father, renowned journalist Alvin Pierce, had been killed their. Guilt over this event was a factor in his decision to stay away from the city of Metropolis for as long as he did. Eventually returning home to the Southside of Metropolis following the death of Superman, Jefferson found that it was being torn apart by local organized criminal gangs, shady corporations, and crooked local politicians. Not long afterwards his friend Peter Gambi suggested to Jefferson that he should use his powers to help the neighborhood, and refers him to a plaque with the paraphrased Milo Sweetman quote which stated "Justice, like lightning, should ever appear to some men hope, to other men fear". Despite his friends wishes, Jefferson still wanted a normal life, but everything would change when drug gangs would begin setting up shop at Garfield High. When that happens, Jefferson wastes no time in getting into trouble with a gang of drug pushers, trying to clean the school of the thugs. In a fight, a student named Earl Clifford helps Jefferson and is later killed for his efforts by the gang leader.

### Black Lighting

Appalled by the public murder of Earl Clifford, one of his more promising students, Pierce felt a need to avenge him and protect the rest of the schoolchildren. Knowing that the gangs objected violently to any interference, Jefferson chose to use his powers and create a costumed identity to conceal his identity, an identity that would be known as the "**Black Lighting**". From that point on, Jefferson using his alias of Black Lighting enacted a one man war against the gangs of Southside, and he frequently stated to the criminals of the corrupt that he "wanted to make sure everyone knew who they were dealing with".

## Powers and Abilities

**Electrokinesis**: Jefferson can generate raw electricity which courses through his body, which he has learned to manipulate, and control to sense sources of electric energy, and administer it as a wide range of attacks with several uses; he can charge devices with electricity, and alternatively drain the energy from them into himself.

* **Electric Absorption**: He can also absorb the energy of electrical equipment such as a power plant to increase his powers further.
* **Electric Projection**: Ability to project his electricity through his hands to stun his enemies. Pierce can further increase his electrical projections by simply ionizing the hydrogen atoms in the atmosphere so in effect creating ultra-high level static discharges and having the potential to create electrical storms that have hundreds of lightning strikes per minute (the average lightning strike contains a billion volts of electricity).
* **Electrical Tracking**: He is able to track the resonance of a broadcast frequency to a location of where its coming from, but if its too subtle then he won't have much success.
* **Flight**: He can fly by charging his lower body with electric energy. Pierce can theoretically fly at the speed of light.
* **Force Field**: He can also produce highly concentrated electric force fields that are powerful enough to deflect bullets and very high levels of impact such as oncoming vehicles, physical attacks from metahumans, grenades, explosives, artillery fire, missiles, fire, and most energy attacks.
* **Electrical Form**: He can even assume an electric form which he can use to travel quickly and discreetly. He can also glide over power lines by using the electricity contained therein for propulsion, and has on occasion been shown to actually ride on lightning bolts.
* **Lightning-Fast Reflexes**