Title: Wildcats: Beginnings.
Fandom: High School Musical.
Pairing: Troy/Gabriella, Chad/Taylor (some implied Zeke/Sharpay, Chad/Ryan)
Categories: AU, Action/Adventure, Angst, Romance.
Length: Epic.
Warnings: Off-screen character death (sort-of).

Author on LJ: queenitsy /temira
Author Website: Queenitsy.com

Author's Summary:
The Wildcats will go down in history as one of the greatest teams of superheroes ever assembled: Captain Bolt, super strong, invulnerable, and accidentally prone to creating serious property damage; Strawberry Sugar, who uses her telepathic and telekenetic abilities to take down badguys and cheat at carnival games; Go, who's super-fast and looks super-good in spandex; +ayl0r, an AI, but with emphasis on the intelligence, thanks; and Frappe, who doesn't let a lack of superpower stop him from being a total badass, and who doesn't let being a total badass stop him from baking delicious cookies.

But how did these heroes get started, and how did they come together as a team? And what about Chiaro and Scuro, the twin super villains (or are they just misunderstood)? And why the hell does Captain Bolt turn orange in direct sunlight..?

It's a long story, to say the least.

Review:
I've been saving this rec for this specific theme week since it was first posted for the hsmbigbang because to me it exemplifies the perfect combination for an AU: an interesting premise followed by great characterization. One of the main problems I have with AUs is that while many create interesting new scenarios and backgrounds, many fail to keep the characters true to their original selves despite the changes. While some minor changes can and should happen, I really don't see the point of reading a fic where all that remains from the original characters are their names.

Queenistsy's take on the Wildcats as a group of superheroes is brilliant because despite their powers (or lack thereof) and different backstory, the characters are definitely recognizable. The fic is a typical “origins” story: who are these people and how did they decide to come together as a team? The first four chapters aim to answer the first question, while the last is dedicated to the main action plot and the eventual creation of the Wildcats. Far from dragging the fic on, the amount of back-story only endear the characters more to the reader and make their eventual team up much more interesting.

The author has said she might write more fics set in this 'verse in the furture. I for one look very much forward to that.

Wildcats: Beginnings (Masterpost)