The Franklin Academy For Exceptional Youth

The basic premise is like the New Mutants' first 20 issues or the Massachusetts Academy, where young Paranormals (8-17) will learn to use their powers and (eventually) save the world. Or perhaps destroy it; there's plenty of time for it to go either way. The system is Champions (more or less), and the setting is the World of The 400 (© Carl Rigney).

The Franklin Academy is a small private school just outside the town of Franklin, MA, about 30 miles from Boston. It used to be a prestigious prep school for rich snobs destined for Ivy League universities, but recently "suffered financial difficulties" and is now run by the enigmatic Miss Lee and her factotum Mr Jones, who appear to have turned it into a center for the rigorous training of the next generation of paranormals. So far, they only have 7 students, but that's still a significant fraction of the world's paranormal children, and whoever is backing the Academy is apparently devoting considerably resources to the project: not only are all the staff world-class experts in their fields, but the cafeteria serves good food. This is clearly no ordinary school.

Our Heroes

• Ick! Petersen
  The world's first super-intelligent seven-year-old anaerobic superhero.
• Deb "Champagne" Mulholland
  Strong and bubbly. Very strong and very bubbly.
• Peter "Foil" Debus
  His body is from Akron, but his heart is from Paris.
• "Spike" Grusser
  Cool Berlinese industrial-biker-punk. Really. Just ask her.
• Dianna "Tsunami" Brethos
  Daughter of the US Senator in charge of paranormal oppression, and a soggy freak.
• Allegra Winters
  A perky all-American speedster from the Midwest.

Dropouts

• Vicki "Twilight" Alexander
  A real juvenile delinquent and veteran troublemaker, now a supervillain.
• Maureen "Foxfire" St Michaels
  A glowing freak, withdrawn from the Academy by her parents after she mutated horribly.
• Doug "Reentry" Powers
  Doug ran into a lot of people and made a lot of enemies, which apparently took up so much of his time that he failed out of the Academy.
• Michael "Nightmare" Hernandez
  A dreamboat from the wrong side of the tracks, Michael left the Academy feet first after being mind-controlled into attacking his teammates and then breaking free to sacrifice his life to save Spike's.
• Larisa "Alchemy" Tikhonova
  A radioactive expatriate Russian Mafia princess and glowing freak who got turned into a panther and then lost her powers as part of the cure.

The Story to Date

1. The Great Game
   The obligatory fight when paranormals meet for the first time.
2. "This Sock Hop Is Ours!"
   The town of Franklin gets to meet its new neighbors.
3. Snowblind
   Our heroes face a squad of government goons and a thorny moral decision.
4. Ick! or Treat!
   The Halloween Party and Ick!'s seventh birthdy.
5. "Iraqi Attack Pack, Attack!"
   A visit to the hospital proves less than conducive to someone's good health.
6. Running Toward Fires
   Notorious supervillain Great Chicago Fire offers our heroes $10 000 000 to not mess with her.
7. Snow Enough and Time
   Our heroes track down Great Chicago Fire and Vicki, but find an unpleasant surprise.
8. Doctor Fenris' Fabulous Fimbulwinter Factory
   Maybe they really are heroes...
9. The Mountaintop
   Network comes to each of our heroes in their dreams and makes them an offer.
10. A Snowless Christmas
    Santa Claus brings the Academy a new student.
11. Ring in the New!
    Our heros start off the new year with a bang.
12. The Red Queen's Gambit
    Maybe it wasn't Santa Claus after all.
13. Storm Warning
    The government is plotting against personal freedom. Film at 11.
14. Black February
    The notorious Japanese supervillain Black August turns out to be stupid as well as crazy.
15. The Language of Love
    Our heros spend Spring Break on the French Riviera. France may never recover.
16. War and PEACE
    Giant-size Annual Crossover Special (also UNPEACE #12)
17. Distant Thunder
    Another handsome face stirs up trouble at the Academy.
18. Sweet Sixteen
    Spike and Dianna hold a joint birthday party, with surprising results.
19. Empress of Akron
    Our heroes visit Peter's family in Akron and meet up with an old acquaintance.
20. Ick Meets The Pope
    Oh, and Vicki, Tengu, and Weaselgirl show up again.
21. A Mission of Mercy
    Our heroes rescue a damsel who's worth twice her weight in gold.
22. Summer School
    The Turks show up to teach our heroes a lesson.
23. Alarming Trends
    Our heroes resuce a damsel who's worth ten thousand times her weight in gold.
24. Affairs of the Heart
    Peter and Emoticon both go after Le Chat's heart.
25. Knee Deep in Doom
    Force 10 vs the Legion of Doom, round 1.

Next Issue: Force 10 vs the Legion of Doom, round 2. Stay tuned!

Credits