TwilightEL
Well-Known Member
If I were running the Initiative, I would sort the recruits by their powers or what their powers could do. Here are a few of my categories:
Each and every student would attend lectures and classes on tactics. They would be trained on the most or least effective teams in history, watch videos of old battles that would be analyzed blow-by-blow by their teachers, learn about heroes and villains, and basic Marvel cosmology. ("This is a Brood. They do XYZ. Kill them at the first hint of aggression and don't let them near civilians. This is a Skrull. Skrull vary in motivations, so talk to them first. This is Galactus. If you see him, try not to piss your pants while screaming for the Fantastic Four.")
They would also get a few normal classes--science, math, history--but most classes would have a lecture or unit on how their subject relates to superheroes. There would be two mandatory classes related to this: a class on the psychology of supervillains and a class on law. The law class would tell when it's legal to kill someone, when it's legal to attack someone, working with the police, how to protect your reputation while maintaining a secret identity, and such. The philosophy classes would talk a lot about the morality of killing.
After learning the basics of their own powers, they would concentrate more on working as teams. They would still attend training on their powers, but it would be less extensive. Teams who had already worked well together--the Young Avengers, for example--would be kept together and encouraged to develop the dynamic of their powers. There would be special team lineups for each threat. For example, if Electro attacked a bank, you'd want a flyer because they wouldn't be grounded. In order to attack him from long-range, you might want a energy blast person, but not someone whose powers are also electric. Or, let's say a mysterious ship crashes to earth. Out comes a bizarre being that's large, likes to smash things, and is yelling unintelligibly. Maybe you want to send a technology-based guy to check out the ship. The creature has armor and doesn't seem to have human-like anatomy, so you'd send a super-strong person to slug it out rather than a hand-to-hand fighter. If AIM attacked, you'd put hand-to-hand fighters in place to battle their footsoldiers and someone with telepathy or magic to fight MODOK. They use robots and cyborgs a lot, so a tech guy would go. You'd send more people based on whatever threat they'd cooked up. Basically, for every threat you'd get a list of what powers and skills you need to beat it, come up with a team that could defeat it and have a good dynamic, and ring them up. Ideally, you would pick people who had trained together in the same Initiative facility and were familiar with each other's powers.
- People with super-strength and agility that are only enough to enhance their combat abilities. They can't throw a truck at your head, but they can break bones with a single punch. People who have abilities like Wolverine or Marrow, where they have weapons attached to their bodies, would be sent here. They would get intensive training in a variety of martial arts.
- People who have "energy blast" abilities like Cyclops, Havok, and others. They would be trained individually by the source of their powers (sonic, concussive) and together. Target practice would be common, as well as showing them how much strength to use and how to use their powers in unconventional ways.
- Flyers. Flyers would be sub-divided into those with wings and those who just hover. They would be taught stealth, how to use wings as weapons, and maybe trained in weapons that they could use in mid-air battles or drop on people from above.
- Super-strength--real super-strength, like lifting up trucks and throwing them super-strength. This would be focused the most on control, on how to avoid environmental damage, and taking villains down quickly rather than trading blows and smashing into buildings, cars and people.
- Magic-based heroes, like Wiccan or Nico from Runaways. These could be people who use magical tech or whose abilities are magic-based. They would also be taught individually. These guys would get the most training and be encouraged to study and learn the most. Iron Man would grovel before Dr. Strange's feet and beg in order to get him to come and check out the new recruits' artifacts and powers to make sure they and their equipment isn't secretly evil or demonic.
- Technology based heroes. This could be people who got brains with their brawn and can manipulate machinery, people whose powers are based entirely around technology or suits, or normal people who want to join the Initiative as tech-based heroes. If the heroes have an alien artifact or something they don't know the origin of, Iron Man or Reed Richards would check it out. If someone creates a suit or artifact and a different person is using it, they would both come to this training.
- Electromagnetic powers. There's an insane amount of stuff people could do with this. They would have to learn the science behind their abilities and figure out different ways to use them, both in combat or with machines. They also need to learn control not to zap people and learn how to expand their area of effect.
- Super-speed. It always amazes me that super-speedsters ever, ever lose a fight. They would be taught to their full potential. Tommy Shepherd would be the first student to become a teacher with his lecture on "Blowing **** Up."
- Telepaths. This is pretty self-explanatory.
- Miscellaneous. Now, naturally every hero would go to several different classes in order to release the full potential of their whole range of powers and everyone would have to take martial arts classes. However, I don't think there are enough shapeshifters (for example) to justify a class for them. So, someone like Hulkling from Young Avengers would get an older mentor, either someone who's a shapeshifter or who has worked with a shapeshifter, and have special training with them.
Each and every student would attend lectures and classes on tactics. They would be trained on the most or least effective teams in history, watch videos of old battles that would be analyzed blow-by-blow by their teachers, learn about heroes and villains, and basic Marvel cosmology. ("This is a Brood. They do XYZ. Kill them at the first hint of aggression and don't let them near civilians. This is a Skrull. Skrull vary in motivations, so talk to them first. This is Galactus. If you see him, try not to piss your pants while screaming for the Fantastic Four.")
They would also get a few normal classes--science, math, history--but most classes would have a lecture or unit on how their subject relates to superheroes. There would be two mandatory classes related to this: a class on the psychology of supervillains and a class on law. The law class would tell when it's legal to kill someone, when it's legal to attack someone, working with the police, how to protect your reputation while maintaining a secret identity, and such. The philosophy classes would talk a lot about the morality of killing.
After learning the basics of their own powers, they would concentrate more on working as teams. They would still attend training on their powers, but it would be less extensive. Teams who had already worked well together--the Young Avengers, for example--would be kept together and encouraged to develop the dynamic of their powers. There would be special team lineups for each threat. For example, if Electro attacked a bank, you'd want a flyer because they wouldn't be grounded. In order to attack him from long-range, you might want a energy blast person, but not someone whose powers are also electric. Or, let's say a mysterious ship crashes to earth. Out comes a bizarre being that's large, likes to smash things, and is yelling unintelligibly. Maybe you want to send a technology-based guy to check out the ship. The creature has armor and doesn't seem to have human-like anatomy, so you'd send a super-strong person to slug it out rather than a hand-to-hand fighter. If AIM attacked, you'd put hand-to-hand fighters in place to battle their footsoldiers and someone with telepathy or magic to fight MODOK. They use robots and cyborgs a lot, so a tech guy would go. You'd send more people based on whatever threat they'd cooked up. Basically, for every threat you'd get a list of what powers and skills you need to beat it, come up with a team that could defeat it and have a good dynamic, and ring them up. Ideally, you would pick people who had trained together in the same Initiative facility and were familiar with each other's powers.
