Alpha Courage
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The Backstory
Jesse Laureen was born into a loving albeit strict-in-morality home. Because her parents were assigned to a certain hero organization by the higher-ups, they were required to move away from the family. They put the eldest brother in charge of taking care of the family when Jesse was ten years old. Her parents are able to visit on holidays, but otherwise contact with them is limited, however Jesse does not find this to be her biggest concern.
Since the eldest already had achieved a superpower and Jesse's Autistic younger brother had psychic abilities, the boys ranked into the local hero school. The hero school her siblings attend have been taking care of the children, on behalf of a program the eldest has signed up for every year to work as a Squad Leader. Jesse, however, had been registered into public, as she had no superhuman abilities at the time. Even at a young age, she found herself an unwanted outcast by the other kids, despite her kind spirit and good intentions. The children tormented her with name-calling, lying, rude remarks, and toying until Jesse's weak-willed heart closed its doors with the most unbearable pain.
Cubby and the Undead
On a field trip to go camping, at the age of six, Jesse found herself a silver tabby shorthair kitten that was being menaced by a massive wolf-like monster, and barely managed to save it from the beast's clutches, with a few scratches in the process. Upon exiting the woods, the monster could no longer follow her. She returned to the camping site, hid the kitten away in her backpack, and took it home. It was discovered almost a week later by big brother Jared, and while he was angry for Jesse hiding the pet, he decided to let her keep it. Jesse decided to name the cat Cubby, and has kept her close for years.
However, five months after the field trip, Jesse was playing in the park when a brief zombie invasion went underway. It seemed to be that an infamous necromancer in the area had summoned his army to wreck havoc, and while the heroes at the time quickly shut him down, they weren't able to do it in time to save Jesse. She had no time to get home before the skies turned blood-red. When a horde of undead pulled her from the swings and attacked her, Cubby shapeshifted into a form later known as the Aurora Beast, and destroyed the attackers one by one. While Cubby had saved Jesse from death, Jesse was scarred mentally, physically, and emotionally--traumatized, with a scar on her shoulder so she may never forget. Her fear of social interaction worsened after this, and she began to fall into a depression. By the time Jesse was eleven, she was diagnosed with persistent depression disorder, and later also with social anxiety disorder (Social Phobia).
Willpower of the Heart
Jesse's hidden abilities manifested when she was twelve. On a regular day in public school, shortly after lunch, a test was due in the next class, and Jesse wasn't able to escape her cruel peers. They hadn't studied, evidently, and were demanding in the hallway that Jesse turn her study pages over. Things became physical when Jesse tried to leave, but only so far as the leader of the group trying to rip the paper from Jesse's hands. Jesse's emotions began to flood her as a mixture of panic, confusion, emotional pain, and rage, and she unexpectedly pulled the stack of papers with alarming speed. The movement yanked the opposing force into the lockers. When the rest of the clique's girls cornered Jesse, they were blinded with a strange light erupting from Jesse's body. The papers scattered on the floor, and terrified, Jesse fled from the scene as fast as her newly-found ability could take her. She couldn't bring herself to return to her classes that day.
Photon Cannon, or Jared, took his sister in to see a specialist and refused to let Jesse return to school until the matter was settled. Jesse was acknowledged for having a new--albeit unique--superhuman ability. The researchers studied Jesse over the next few months between her times of homeschooling. Once archived, a name and description was added to Jesse's ability: Willpower. Jesse was transferred to the hero schools, where she spent the next few years finishing her basic classes. Upon becoming a Freshman, Jesse was assigned to a hero training squad, which was lead by none other than Photon Cannon himself. Despite being transferred to the hero schools, Alpha Courage--the personally-chosen hero name Jesse had been given--is still an outcast from her peers, and remains a shy and quiet individual, unless Alpha herself has something to say about it.
The Will's Controls
Jesse’s Will of Emotion works in a triangular formation with her adrenaline and emotions. When her strongest emotions are displayed, her Willpower pulls itself forth from her core, producing the visible light. The Will triggers her adrenal glands, causing the fight-or-flight response, which in turn amplifies her emotions. When the Willpower grows strong enough, the light emits from the pores in her skin. Depending on how Jesse handles herself, she is able to harden the light in her palms into blades--and oddly enough, only a certain pair of blades. Whether or not Jesse chooses fight or flight, her WoE quickens her body into an inhuman state.
Key Points
Once the Will of Emotion takes hold, it sprouts from her sternum above the heart and branches out through her nervous system. While every part of her glows when the stakes are high enough, the brightest points will always be located in the sternum, head, palms, and feet.
Heart: The Willpower pulses in time with her heart, and may amplify the sound of her heartbeat if Jesse is stressed. Once the Willpower is able to circulate through her nervous system, it emerges the strongest from her chest and runs to the rest of her body.
Head: The Willpower will create a set of headphones on Alpha's head. The purpose for these are unknown, and they likely are not important, however muffled music will play through the headset at various times. As the headphones have no cord, it is safe to assume that various genres of music play as to match Jesse's mood. It may be that the music helps soothe Jesse and adjust her mood accordingly, and it only plays tunes which she has heard before. Further reason for the headset remains a mystery and is still being studied by the specialists.
Hands: The Willpower is able to shape long daggers of solid light in Alpha's hands. The Will tends to shape itself to Alpha's liking, so the design of the daggers is something that Alpha must enjoy in particular. Alpha still isn't sure why the pattern of her Will is a dragon, however. When the daggers are through being used, they simply vanish in a flash of her Will and crawl up her arm back to her sternum. If the blades are separated from Alpha Courage at any time, she is able to summon them back to her hands.
Feet: The Willpower has a habit of causing Alpha Courage to run about with inhuman speeds. This allows for Jesse to be harder to track, and is able to carry her long distances at a much faster rate. Any acceleration and control of her speed depends upon the strength of her Will at that time.
