Fooling around with Canva again and made another mock brochure, this time for the Academy.
For the logo, I looked at the one done in-game for the Justice Friends and military ones for references. I really liked the mechanical winged-look of the double 'FF.' If anyone wants to use it for fan stuff, feel free!
I think I’ve finally gotten to the point where I’m running low on a lot of the main topics for the OG version, so I’ll go ahead and add the Academy version. (Please note in advance that, due to conflicts these two versions may have, I’ll be sticking to info from the OG primarily and seeing what I can incorporate from the latter from there.) For now though, let’s just discuss the Academy itself.
At the beginning of the war, there was no real sense of structure to the Fusion Fighters as a whole; only within the separate groups that had joined together. While much of that is still an issue simply do to the massive scale of the war and number of differing forces involved, Earth was eventually able to organize enough to turn this odd bunch of soldiers into more of a true, unified army. Part of this included restructuring how new recruits were added in, training them in a controlled area as opposed to how many were thrown into the battlefield beforehand. Therefore, the Academy was created.
There were three main groups involved in the Academy’s creation: Providence, the Plumbers, and the AWSM. Providence already had experience quickly organizing in a crisis situation thanks to their work handling EVOs. The Plumbers had the greatest knowledge of Fuse and ability to maintain some structure of a large scale. The AWSM was able to rally even more heroes to the cause and keep track of each other in the event of another issue like the events of Dexter’s guide missions, in which several heroes went missing thanks to Demongo and his Fusion. More importantly, all three groups were able to offer training, room, and board.
The Null Void and Providence HQ were both prime locations to take fusion monsters for study and have new recruits battle them in a controlled environment. The base at Mt. Neverest (in the same range as Super Summit) was already being constructed as an HQ as more heroes were admitted into the AWSM following the events of the PPG episode “Members Only” and was repurposed for the war. Recruits are taught different tactics and levels of combat at each location, with the Plumbers and Providence agents relying on more structure and the AWSM heroes teaching more varied, flexible types of fighting. Mt. Neverest also tends to be where recruits get their first assignments after graduation.
For a lot of people, the initial dive into the Null Void for training is jarring to say the least: Compared to the lush life on Earth, it’s glaringly inhospitable and with the number of intergalactic criminals that have been dumped there, there’s more to worry about than whatever the instructors have you fighting on any particular day. This is what makes it so ideal, separating the true soldiers from the likes of those who only joined the fight to get in on the deal with Grim’s Resurrect ‘Ems. The fight for Earth is still bad enough that there’s always a place for someone in the army, and the Plumbers make sure to keep the newbies as safe as possible, but it’s a good test nonetheless. People find the training at Providence much easier by comparison thanks to the better atmosphere alone.
Occasionally, heroes like Ben, Lance, and Rex visit these locations to check on the recruits and assist in training. This also includes soldiers who fought in some of the roughest battles, like those who spent time in the Darklands. A handful of independent agents who would have otherwise ended their service signed on as instructors as well, so newbies will hear a wealth of war stories between training sessions.
Restructuring the Fusion Fighters also meant drawing in additional funding for them. As a result, new recruits were able to get better equipment early on.
Graduating from the Academy itself isn’t celebrated as much as meeting Earth’s various heroes and finding out which ones you’ll be working under. The ceremony is short, with more focus given to going over all necessary info with the recruits one final time before they leave. It’s common for many of them to keep autograph books and photos as souvenirs. So long as nothing they do risks security, most heroes don’t mind this as they’re used to the fanfare.
