Work Text:
The Characters:
Gaia: The last remaining spirit of the Earth
Kwame: defacto leader of the Planeteers and the wielder of the Power of Earth. He is a gifted inventor with a love of farming. He is devoted to his people and wants to end world hunger. He tends to sow his worries into the ground instead of dealing with them, especially the worry that he may be falling in love with Gi.
Gi: a gifted Trans surfer with a love of sea creatures that surpasses her love of a good swell. For this love, she was given the Power of Water, which comes in handy when dealing with illegal fishing vessels. Gi tends to act implusively, driven by her emotions instead of common sense.
Linka: given the Power of Wind for her uncanny ability to make decisions quickly. She loves music, especially when she can make her own mixes on her computer. She's also surprisingly good at hacking, something that comes in handy from time to time. Because of her upbringing, she tends to act like she's better than the other Planeteers, which does cause a lot of tension between them, especially Gi.
Wheeler: his ability to keep getting up no matter how much life throws out him makes him the perfect wielder for the Power of Fire. Though he's not the most environmentally conscious one of the group, he has an urban know-how that makes him good at dealing with inner-city problems such as homelessness and drug abuse. He does have a quick temper and will often go off by himself when he has an argument with someone. Sometimes he'll go off just because. This happens a lot when he's trying not to deal with his sexuality.
Ma-Ti: The youngest Planeteer, at a whopping 7-years-old, may be blind, but he has a strong connection to the Earth and to the people and animals that live on the planet. He even has a special connection to the others, in a way that allows him to sense when they are in danger. Despite his age, Ma-Ti is very worldly, but still people treat him differently because of his disability. He also feels that he's treated differently because of his age, though sometimes he feels isolated from others.
Captain Planet: an elemental Homunculus that is formed when the Planeteers use all of their powers at the same time while in harmony with one another. Previously unnamed, they are given the name Captain Planet by Wheeler, though everyone - except Ma-Ti - objects to, but soon grown accustomed to. Wheeler is also responsible for calling themselves the Planeteers. Captain Planet is often quiet, but the more they interact with the Planeteers the more they learn to communicate and bond with the kids. Eventually, they develop a penchant for quips and puns that leave the Planeteers in groans.
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But before they were Planeteers...
Kwame has a gift for farming and inventing environmentally friendly ways to farm. He created a way to irrigate his family's farm using a minimal amount of water. His town gave him money to take his invention to the world's science fair where he hoped to patent it. But before he could make his presentation, his material was stolen, forcing him to return home empty handed. A year later, another up and coming young inventor revealed their invention of the perfect irrigation system which was an exact replica of the one Kwame had created. However, his pleas to the council went unheeded. To make matters worse, the rival, Arbor Ferguson, accused Kwame of slander and had him banned from the symposium for life. Disgraced, Kwame returned home home again, only to find that his town wanted nothing to do with him, thinking he was a fraud. While he is tending to his farm, there was suddenly a massive earthquake and a fissure begins to form in middle of his field. He tries to run, but he is swallowed up by the fissure and then everything disappears.
Gi only wants to spend her days out on the water, surfing. But she finds herself having to work odd jobs so she can eventually afford to move out of her parents' house and be herself - which just happens to be a trans-girl in a transphobic world. One day, while she's out on the waves, she sees a fishing vessel where a fishing vessel shouldn't be and they are dumping large metal drums over the side. One pops open and spills out a thick black liquid that smells so bad that she can smell it from far away. Concerned for the other swimmers, she surfs backs and tries to warn everyone about the sludge, but no one will listen to her. When the sludge starts rolling in, they finally realize that the threat is real and start to panic. They rush out of the water and get onto the beach, knocking over other people to get away. Gi surfs toward the shore, only to see a little kid still in the water, trying hard to swim to shore, but isn't strong enough to fight the current. She paddles to them and grabs them out of the water and pushes them on her surfboard to safety. But as the kid drifts to shore, Gi is pulled under and vanishes.
Linka is the daughter of a prominent Slavic official and is used to having a pretty good life. But when her father was tried for treason, their family had to make a quick getaway. Aided by foreign allies, they manage to get to the Russian border and are nearly free in Poland when they're ambushed. Linka was rescued and pushed into Poland but her family becomes prisoners. Determined to discover why he parents - who have always been loyal to the state - were suddenly deemed traitors and started to dive into the hacker world. She soon discovers false evidence against her father that shows that he was trying to overthrow the Russian government. The further she digs, the more plots she discovers and the more insidious they get, but she knows she's getting closer to the hacker that framed her parents. Unfortunately, the hacker knows she's after him and sends an elite team to bring her down. They attacked in the middle of the night, but she managed to find out in time and escaped. But as she was running, the wind began to blow hard and pulled her into the air before stopping entirely and leaving no trace of Linka.
Wheeler has been in and out of foster homes until he finally decided he had moved around enough and ran away. After living on the streets for a few months, he's eventually recruited by a gang. Wheeler thrived with the gang, feeling as if he had finally found where he belonged. But when the gang leader invites him along to a late night run, Wheeler discovers that he been secretly dealing drugs for a high-profile celebrity (played by Jude Law in my head for some reason). At first, Wheeler is reluctant, but keeps his mouth shut. Everything is going smoothly until they are invited onto Jude Law's yacht, where he pays the gang leader and gives him another shipment of a very potent new drug. As this is happening, Wheeler sees a bodyguard pulling a young woman onto the yacht. She sees Wheeler and cried out to him for help. When he finally speaks up, the gang leader slams him against the wall and tells him if he doesn't shut up, they'll kill them both. Wheeler speaks up louder until the gang leader stabs him in the stomach. Wheeler falls to the deck, bleeding out as police sirens sound. He watches the gang leader jump over board just as something explodes below deck and his world is engulfed in flame.
Seven years ago, a wildfire broke out in the Amazon rainforest. It grew fast and soon took over several acres. It burned for days and showed no sign of stopping until a heavy rain started and allowed firefighters to go in and put it out entirely. As they began surveying the damage, they found was an indigenous village that had been completely destroyed, save for a water well in the middle of it. Inside the well was an infant clinging to life. Ash had gotten into his eyes, permanently blinding him. He was adopted by a doctor who made sure that he would be taken care of and when he was old enough, the doctor told him the truth about what happened the day he was found. Ma-Ti, who was prone to taking longs walks in the forest with a chaperone and never felt disabled by his blindness, felt himself being pulled to the forest. But when he went in, he never came back out.
Somewhere in a hidden paradise, five young people walk into a beautiful garden where a twelve-foot tall woman is sitting on the grass, surrounded by lush green plants and playful animals. She beckoned the kids forward and they sit around her. She began to explain to them that her name is Gaia, and she is the last remaining Spirit of the Earth. And because she is the last of her kind, the Earth has gotten to big for her to protect by herself. She needs the help of five people who have shown want to change the world. She reaches out to each of them in turn and bestows upon them each a gift.
To Kwame, she gives the Power of Earth, for his love of farming and his devotion to his people. He is strong in his resolve and grounded in his determination.
To Gi, she gives the Power of Water. Gi has strong intuition that drives her to act. Though she does let her emotions lead her actions, she can harness those emotions to get the results she wants.
To Linka, she gives the Power of Wind. Linka's thirst for knowledge empowers her to work quickly and get what she wants. When something blocks what she wants, she finds a way around it.
To Wheeler, she gives the Power of Fire. Wheeler's life was constantly changing and through that change, he became a new and better person. He may be quick to speak his mind, but there is no denying his devotion to those his trusts.
To Ma-Ti, Gaia has no gift to give because she gave that gift to him when he was just a baby in a well. All those years ago, Gaia gave him the Power of Heart. Ma-Ti is compassionate and worldly, despite his age. Being blind doesn't hinder his ability to see the beauty in the world around him, giving him a deep connection to everything.
To symbolize these new powers, Gaia gives each of them a special ring that glow when their powers are activated. But before she can go more in depth, Gaia feels the Earth cry out and she collapses. She tells them that something horrible is happening somewhere in the world and they are needed.
A bright light surrounds them and they transported to their first mission.
Even with their powers, the kids find it hard to fight the eco-terrorists and are quickly losing the battle. Ma-Ti tells them that there is something that they can do. They have to use their powers all at the same time. Back to back and facing down the enemies, they throw their hands forward and unleash they're powers, simultaneously. Instead of attacking the enemies, their manifestations fly up into the air and begin to form a humanoid shape. The shape grows wings and a blue and green skinned giant flies down and destroys the enemies' machines while Wheeler tells the others to finish off the rest. He tries to use his powers but realizes they are useless, so he does the next best thing and punches the nearest enemy in the face. The others follow suit.
When all is said and done, the kids are tying up the enemies, the elemental creature lands in front of them. Everyone except Ma-Ti takes a step back. Ma-Ti runs forward and gives the creature a hug. They hug him back then looks at the others before dissolving into five parts and flying back into their rings.
Light begins to spill out of their rings and they are transported back to Gaia's garden.
Gaia explains that their powers have the ability to summon a creature made of pure elemental energy. When they are in harmony as a group and they use their powers simultaneously they can summon the Homunculus.
Wheeler thinks for a minute and decides to name them Captain Planet, which everyone (except Ma-Ti) objects to, but soon enough the name grows on them.
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Story Developmental Notes:
- the Planeteers don't need the rings to use their powers, but they don't find that out until later. "The Power is in You!"
- Kwame and Gi eventually develop a relationship
- Wheeler comes to terms with being gay when he's reunited with the gang leader and realizes that he was in love him, up until the point that GL tried to kill him
- Linka is a lesbian, but keeps it to herself. She desperately wants to start a family, but is afraid she won't find someone who feels the same way she does, so she takes to mothering Ma-Ti.
- Gi and Linka's relationship is rocky at first but it grows into a strong friendship when Linka learns to accept Gi as a woman and recognizes her transphobia and begins to work on it and move past it
- The more people they meet the more Planeteers they recruit. The more Planeteers the more powerful Gaia becomes and the more the OG begin to feel their bodies changing, especially Ma-Ti who thinks that they are slowly evolving into Spirits of the Earth.
- Captain Planet doesn't speak at first, but over time they start to pick up on puns and quips and dad-jokes.