Jax (Reckoners)
| Jax | |
|---|---|
| |
| Groups | Reckoners |
| Homeworld | Earth (Reckoners) |
“He doesn’t quit. He doesn’t slack. He doesn’t stop. ”
—Zeff describing Jax to Prof.[1]
Jax is a Reckoner. He trains at the Coop alongside Paige and under Zeff. He is determined to kill Wingflare.
After Dan dies, Jax takes his brother's class ring and his sword as mementos.[2]
Jax is a skilled mechanic. He routinely works on motivators[3], and when he was growing up, he put together antique muskets with Dan.[2] He is capable of repurposing a variety of electronic devices to suit his needs.[3]
Jax is a skilled swordsman. Often wielding Shiloh, Jax trained in sword combat with Zeff at the Coop. He had to block 100,000 times before he was allowed to strike once, ensuring that he has a very solid understanding of the basics.[4] After hours of training, Jax develops an instinctual understanding of where Zeff will strike while sparring.[3]
Jax is determined to be a hero: a person who helps others. He is determined to prevent others from feeling the loss he has felt.[2] He fights to protect nice things for others, realizing that not having those things for himself is the cost of being a hero.[5]
History
Dan’s Death
Jax visited his older brother Dan in Boston for spring break when he was eleven. He and Dad had a great time together, up until the Epic Lovestruck came to town and killed Dan by causing his blood to flow backwards and overload his heart. Afterward, Prof found Jax and cared for him, and Jax went and retrieved some of Dan’s belongings, including his sword and his silver class ring. Prof told Jax that Houston, where all his family lived, was destroyed by Obliteration. Prof took Jax across the country, and told Jax about the Reckoners. Jax decided that he wanted to be a Reckoner.[2][6]
The Coop
“I came here to be a hero. To save people. And try to make sure they get to live in a world that still has all that stuff. Even if none of it will be there for me. ”
—Jax when asked why he’s at the Coop[5]
Prof took Jax to the Coop, a Reckoner training facility in Texas. He put Jax under the harsh tutelage of Zeff, the head trainer at the Coop. Zeff put Jax through intensive and difficult training. Whenever Jax broke any of Zeff’s rules, he had to balance on the Post, a four foot tall wooden post, for hours. Zeff took Jax’s swords from him, and told him he could have it back when he knew how to use it. Zeff’s training methods were often cruel, such as making Jax lay down and have mice crawl over him and not be allowed to flinch. After Jax had been at the Coop for two years, a girl named Paige arrived at the Coop, who’s family was murdered by an Epic, just like Jax’s. Jax and Paige quickly formed a good friendship, united by their suffering under Zeff’s hand and their shared past. Every night her and Jax snuck out to work on motivator’s in the Coop’s workshop, and every day they both went through intensive training. Zeff told Jax that once he had blocked ten thousand practice sword strikes, he could strike back. One day, Jax struck at Zeff out of frustration, then said he had done the 10,000 strikes. That night, Zeff gave Jax his sword back.
As the years passed, they grew more adept in hand to hand combat, swordsmanship, and firearms. Zeff has them fight older more experienced kids, and often has them fight outnumbered, sometimes facing up to six or seven opponents at once. One day, Prof visited the Coop to check up on Jax’s progress, and Zeff locked Jax and Paige in the kitchen, saying that he was too embarrassed at their progress to present them to Prof. At Paige’s suggestion, they used the sonic snare motivator from the workshop to eavesdrop on Zeff and Prof’s conversation. Zeff told Prof that he was incredibly impressed with Jax, saying that he’s a “sparking prodigy.” Afterwards, Zeff discovered that Jax was spying on him, but was impressed rather than angry. The next day, Prof gave assignments to the Reckoners at the Coop. Abigail was assigned to take most of the Reckoners, including Paige, to Arlington to defend against a raid from Lux (city). Jax and Zeff were assigned to go to El Paso to meet with Knighthawk.
El Paso and Arlington
Jax and Zeff drove to El Paso, where a group of Epics had faced off against the city of Lux and lost. They met with Knighthawk, as well as a man who Knighthawk introduced as “The Californian”. They discussed motivator technology, and Jax impressed Knighthawk with his knowledge, but he unwittingly revealed valuable information to both of the men. Zeff was angry at Jax for revealing important secrets, and they quickly left El Paso, Zeff stealing a vial of Mitosis DNA as they went. As they drove to Arlington, they got a call from Abigail, saying that an Epic was he healing his soldiers, making them immortal. She requested help immediately, saying that they were being overwhelmed. As Zeff and Jax neared Arlington in their truck, the floating city of Lux began to leave. However, it then changed course and began following Zeff’s truck. When they couldn’t evade the city, Zeff and Jax had to drive into the city and ditch the truck. Ravens flew down into the city, and chased Jax and Zeff through the streets. Zeff was shot, and the Epic Wingflare arrived. Jax didn’t want to leave Zeff, but Zeff used Jax’s boomerang motivator to teleport him into a nearby building. Wingflare killed Zeff, and Jax went to meet up with the remaining Texas Reckoners.
Work with Motivators
Jax loved tinkering with his brother Dan, which sparked his interest in Motivators when he first arrived at the Coop. Zeff required he read all the books on microbiology and chemistry that they had there if he wanted to work with the motivators, which Jax did. Since Zeff didn’t allow him any time to work in the motivator workshop, Jax snuck out of his room every night instead. When Paige arrived at the Coop, she joined Jax in his nightly work. With her help, Jax invented coilers, which allowed him to reverse the effects of any motivator. He used the coiler on Boomerang’s DNA, and made a watch that could teleport him thirty feet in any direction, then teleport him back to his original spot. He also used the coilers to modify several other motivators, such as sonic snare and mitosis. During the infiltration of Lux, Jax had to jury-rig several motivators, such as boomerang watches. At one point, Jax also mixed the powers of two Epics, Glimmer and Sonic Snare, to make the shockwave gun. His discoveries were groundbreaking in the world of motivator technology, and Knighthawk was impressed by Jax’s knowledge. Both Lifeforce and Perrick were also interested in Jax’s skill and knowledge, and wanted to recruit him to help with their projects.
Relationships
Dan
Jax's older brother.
Zeff
Zeff trained Jax at the Coop. While the training sometimes felt like torture to Jax,[4] he eventually realizes it is all for a good purpose and comes to see Zeff as a friend and mentor.[citation needed]
Paige
Jax trains with Paige at the coop.[4] After a short while, they become extremely good friends. [3]
Trivia
Jax's best subject in school was science.[5]
Notes
- ↑ Lux chapter 9#
- ↑ a b c d Lux chapter 3#
- ↑ a b c d Lux chapter 8#
- ↑ a b c Lux chapter 7#
- ↑ a b c Lux chapter 6#
- ↑ Lux chapter 4#