jesse

Jesse Rhett Luka was born to Hayley and Theo Luka, on April 10. He's wild and a bit uncontrollable, and his powers manifest at around age 10, when he falls down and turns into a cloud of smoke.

He meets Jade in elementary school, instantly becoming best friends. They live a floor apart in the same apartment building, so they hang out 24/7. In their freshman year at Paragon High, they meet Kara and Andrew! Jesse quickly develops a very obvious crush on Andrew, and asks him out. He's surprised, but overjoyed, to know Andrew returns the feelings. Jesse becomes good friends with Butcher, loving his rebel spirit and carefree attitude.

He's confident in his powers, but feels like he needs a greater purpose to use them for. He trains in battle a lot with Jade. In their sophomore year, they all meet The VKR. A big explosion happens after school, and Jesse rushes out to find The VKR causing chaos. He assesses the situation and starts funnelling people out of the way, and then joins the fight to help Jade. Soon enough, Kara and Andrew show up to fight by their side. They use what the learning training together, and become a really strong group, and scare The VKR off. After the fight, it becomes big news, and they start getting recognition. Jade officially starts calling them “The Paragon Four.”

Jesse sees his purpose in this fight -- he wants to be a hero. He obsesses over it, and keeps training. But, a second battle with The VKR comes out of nowhere and the team isn’t prepared, and they lose. This is an embarrassment for the team and Jesse is angry. He starts to get angry at The VKR for starting this whole mess. They train harder, and try to figure out when and where The VKR will strike next. Jesse masters his knife-wielding skills

In their junior year, The Paragon Four figure where The VKR will strike next: back at the school. They build up their defense and The VKR arrive, and this time it’s an almost equal battle. Towards the end, Klaus unexpectedly throws Andrew into a wall, actually hurting him pretty bad. Jesse and Kara rush to help him, and see that he'll be okay. But, Jesse becomes enraged and flies at The VKR. He blacks out and doesn't even remember defeating them singlehandedly. While Andrew recovers, Jade and Kara have to talk down Jesse from killing Klaus. Jade decides she doesn’t want to fight them if they don’t have to, but the rest of the group disagrees, Jesse is hellbent for revenge and Kara just wants to end this. So, they let Andrew decide, and he sides with Jade. Jesse isn't happy.

Their final battle happens, showcasing everything both The Paragon Four and The VKR have been training for. Andrew goes head-to-head with Rome, Kara fights off Valerie, and Jade and Jesse go after Klaus. Finally, The Paragon Four defeats them with mercy, and in the midst of rubble and wreckage, Jade stoops down and reaches out her arm. She lifts Klaus out of the mess and shakes his hand, inviting The VKR to come to school and use their powers for protecting people. Jesse is appalled, and refuses to be friendly to them. Everyone thinks the school is safe again, but he doesn't trust them.

the paragon four return

During his senior year, he slacks off a bit. He can manage his schoolwork fine, and he is in control of his powers, so he mainly hangs out with his friends or skates around the city. Jade and Klaus have become close, and it makes Jesse very frustrated, and he feels like he's been replaced. He lets tension build between them and doesn't want to interact with either of them. Klaus and Jade are known as the vague leaders of each group, so they try to blend the groups well, but it’s hard for everyone to get along perfectly. It takes some time, but towards the end of the year, they are somewhat close friends. And then Klaus dies.

His death is very ambiguous and sudden, and his body can’t be found. Jade had finally gotten their groups to become friends, and this event shoves them apart, and stirs up old emotions. Jesse confronts Jade about how his friendship was pushed aside, and they get into a big argument. Everything gets worse when Jesse is accused of killing Klaus. But, Jade stands by him and supports him, without hesitation. She apologizes for ignoring him, and The Paragon Four fight the claims put on Jesse. This changes the public view on The Paragon Four, the way the media covers it makes Jesse so tired. In the back of his mind, he still tought Klaus was kind of evil, but they had come to a point of agreement, and Jesse didn't want to fight him anymore. Jesse is exhausted to see how people really believe he could kill Klaus. He takes the support from his friends, but he shuts himself out to the world.

He doesn't help at all investigate his disappearance, but the trail goes cold anyways, and Valerie and Rome leave Chicago. Jesse just wants to finish high school and forget about it all. He spends time with The Paragon Four, hoping to feel some nostalgia, and he graduates with mediocre grades.

Jesse is miserable. He's lost his hope of being a professional hero, and doesn't know what he wants to do with his future. They get ready for college, as all of them attend the university together, and he feels like he's just following the group.

And then, Klaus comes back to Chicago.

dark days

(wip)

golden years

The Paragon Four, The Six Saviors, and Rome graduate college. Andrew and Jesse quickly get married, having a lovely service in the woods. Once everyone settles into their regular lives, they realize there are still big threats to face. As villains pop up around town, they get to work on being professional heroes -- Jesse's dream.

The Paragon Four’s “headquarters” is a shared apartment, but they quickly learn that all four of them aren’t very good roommates, so they rent out a little obscure office. Jesse becomes their weapons master and training coach.

All four of them have fully developed their powers, and Jesse is excited to show them off. Everyone sees them as idols for defeating Zurazoth, and Jesse is proud. He likes being a hero a lot, even though it can get very tiring. Eventually, he grows bored of the cookie-cutter villains and their routine evil schemes. He tries to hide it from the others, but they feel the same way.

Eventually, they decide they can’t be full-time heroes anymore. They are proud to pass on their legacy to The Six Saviors, who have been trying to be recognized as heroes for a while. Jesse and Andrew talk about their future together, knowing they obviously want to be together, but they don't know where or what they'll be doing. They consider moving out of Chicago to somewhere quieter, but they can't stand the thought of being far away from Jade and Kara just yet. Jesse feels sad his dream wasn't everything he wanted it to be, but he's okay with letting it go.

But, every year back at Paragon High, The Paragon Four give a speech at the seniors’ graduation. Coming back to the high school and university always makes them feel at home, and when Dean Mesmira asks them to be mentors to a troubled group of students, they accept with no hesitation. Jesse is intrigued, and hopes that this can be his new purpose.

the new kids

The Paragon Four meet The New Kids. Jesse is paired up with twins: Nix and Io Andromeda, both with super speed and cloning powers. When The Paragon Four start to train their students separately, Jesse jumps right into their battle training.

The mentors have two priorities when teaching: 1. teaching practical battlefield training, 2. and finding methods for healthy power regulation. Jesse sees that they have good physical control over their powers, but not much moral control. They are rambunctious and prone to causing trouble, so Jesses decides to teach them discipline. They drive him a little crazy at first, but they quickly learn to follow his directions and become great fighters.

Once everyone is ready to train together, Jesse is excited to show off what he's teached them. But, there is immediately a lot of arguing and tension in the group, especially Nix and Seba’s ongoing rivalry. Jesse is embarassed that his proteges cause a lot of problems, and he thinks it makes him look like a bad teacher. After a team effort, The New Kids slowly and laboriously become a working superhero team. The Paragon Four are really proud of how far all of them have worked to get there. Jesse is glad they have finally developed restraint in their powers without runing their personalities.

The New Kids don’t really have a typical superhero career like their mentors, but they defeat a few small villains, and become best friends along the way. After high school, the twins make sure to check in with Jesse every now and then. He is incredibly proud to watch Io work her way up the political ladder and eventually become president. Nix goes down his own self-destructive path, and Jesse tries to help him, but Nix shuts himself off from any help.

post-new

After the mentorship ends, Jesse and Andrew come home, finally feeling fulfilled. They decide they want to start a family, so they get a big apartment in the city and adopt a little girl named Devi. Jesse doesn't know if he's ready to be a parent, but he knows he and Andrew can get through anything together. He teaches her about loyalty and friendship, and Andrew stays home to take care of her. She is adored by her aunts Jade and Kara, and she really looks up to the both of them. Jesse still feels like he needs a purpose, so he works with the Department of Collateral Damage to clean up any messes made by heros or villains, since he still feels a responsible for the damages he did when he was younger.

But, The VKR have been fighting a minor villain terrorizing small cities across the globe, and all three of them die in a self-sacrificing blaze of glory. Jesse is sad, but knows this was the way they wanted to go out. He had long forgiven them, and is sad to see them go. The New Kids come to support The Paragon Four, and it’s a really great reunion of the two groups. The VKR’s funeral is funny, beautiful, punk, and bittersweet, and after it’s over, the two groups decide to go get drinks to celebrate The VKR’s lives. Jesse is thrilled to see that Nix is finally doing okay, and spends a lot of the night talking to him. He's kept up with Io's presidency, and also Stacy's work in the chemistry field. He loves Seba's candle and pottery business, and loves that Ressa loved Paragon High enough to go back and teach magic biology. He loves talking about Devi and shows everyone a million pictures of her with him and Andrew.

epilogue

The Paragon Four and The Six Saviors sit on the porch and front lawn of Jade and Kara’s farm house. It’s been a while since they’ve all gotten together, but they have abundant room for everyone. They play card games, drink wine, and laugh. From an outsider’s perspective, it would seem like not a day has passed between all of them hanging out, they are inseparable. Andrew and Jesse are excited to hang out with old friends, finally feeling satisfied with life. Jesse tells his various amusing stories and Andrew can't help but to play some old nostalgic music on his guitar.

Jesse laughs with his lifelong best friends, now knowing that he doesn't need a purpose to survive. He just needs them.

In the quiet hours of the night, The Paragon Four sit outside, stargazing in the dark, talking about nothing. They are connected, practically breathing deeply in unison. They are truly one person together, a family. When it all washes over them, they all let go, with no fear, together.