Hopkins House for Gifted Individuals

Hopkins House for Gifted Individuals, otherwise known as simply Hopkins House, was a central location from The Saviors of Sunset City and a key point of interest of the town of the same name.
== History ==
=== Martin and Mindstretch ===
After the death of Martin's family, he got in contact with his old college friend Mindstretch to build a safe haven for young Supers with either dangerous powers or to house super-powered orphans unfit for a normal home, to try and rebuild his adoration for superheroes.
=== The Rise of the Operator ===
Being surrounded by Supers was growing to be too much for Martin, and as such he sought to end his life, finding out that he himself was a Super, cursed with immortality. He enlisted the help of Detective Norman Mann to try and remove this power, but it did not work. This drove Martin off the deep end. He enlisted the help of his new flame, Madeleine Geiger, the school's janitor, Rusty Samuels, and six of the school's pupils, past and future, being Lochan Chaudhary, Ryder Fleming, Wilfred Christmas, Malachi Martel, Finn Kodar, and Seth Chase to enact his plan.
At an unknown point in time, Martin made a deal with the Aces and Dollface to get investments.
=== The Saviors of Sunset City ===
The school was first seen when Martin invited the newly-formed Echelon Eight to give a pep-talk to the Supers of the future. Spinflux started the speech by telling the kids and young adults not to let evil invade their mind, and to focus on having a good life. Strongarm gave every student money before 10 continued the speech, telling them not to do drugs, and that they’re all special. Strongarm continued with the next segment, telling the students that they are not just the future of Sunset City and the Superiors, but they’re also the future of America. Void Empyrean told them they are on the right track to being the next step to improve the city and make it what they strive for, and to be proud of themselves. The Alchemist told them to stay in school, and to do drugs, before Void amended this, saying for them to not do drugs. Oracle chimed in, saying that knowledge is power and knowing is half the battle, before Big Red told the kids that although the world is crap, and people will be scared of them, but the students shouldn’t be scared of each other, and should work together to make the world better.
Hopkins House wasn't revisited until shortly after 10 cured Matter Man, after which they brought him back to his home school. Martin thanked the Eight for bringing back one of his missing pupils, and asked what happened to his affliction. He was elated to find out that 10 cured him. Martin explains to the Eight that other kids are missing, and gave them the files on the missing kids. Martin reassured the Eight that if anything were to happen to the school, Martin would be there to protect them, pulling out the same shotgun he used to attempt suicide with to jokingly threaten them.
After the defeat of Golden Boy and the discovery of the Operator's tape on his person, the Eight left to investigate Hopkins House to figure out what the Operator meant by its "poor foundation". 10 figured the basement may be hiding some skeletons, phasing into it with Big Chill. Trying to gain a useful power to aid 10 in the investigation, Spinflux spun his wheel, landing on God's Wrath, using it to resurrect the recently-deceased Hot Rod and teleporting him to his mother's hospital room. Descending into the basement, 10 asked "Hello?" to no response. He quick-changed into Swampfire and lit his finger like a candle to light his way, finding carpentry tools and workbenches. The Eight soon asked Martin about the tape's eerie line, to which Martin was shocked, having no idea what the Operator could mean. He mentioned the carpentry equipment in the basement, but stated that that was simply for its construction, which was overseen by Mindstretch.
Big Red soon asked Martin about the history Mindstretch and Martin shared, with Martin stating that he and Mindstretch were college roommates, with Mindstretch going into an intellectual field that he didn't specify, and Martin going into teaching. When Big Red asked about Mindstretch's family, Martin suspected he did not have one, due to his wife leaving him over the superheroing, soon going into Mindstretch's backstory of his family dying to a robber that couldn't kill him. When Big Red asked if Mindstretch left with the other Superiors to fight Sheh L'Grath, Martin reaffirmed that the whole event was televised.
Martin kept going, telling the Eight that Mindstretch's ex-wife, Deborah, worked with the Daily Trumpet, a local newspaper. Spinflux, trying to get a useful power to get more information, spun his wheel again, landing on Power 52: Necromancy, which he could not use in that situation. After further searching, 10 found a note in one of the drawers about a woman named Madeleine, telling the reader to find her.
Oracle attempted to prod Martin's mind for more information, being blocked out by some presence. Big Red asked if Martin knows Soulshaker, and Martin did not remember for a moment, until suddenly unlocking a memory of the janitor, Rusty. Oracle speculated that Hindsight may be behind these blockages, and that his powers may have been evolving as Oracle's were, giving him a new ability that was allowing him to steal memories from people. Oracle calmly dropped the bombshell on Martin that five of his missing kids had ties with the Operator, prompting Martin to explode with anger, promising justice at any cost. Big Red speculated that Soulshaker may have recruited them, prompting Martin to want to shoot Rusty if he ever set foot on the property again. Oracle calmed Martin down, telling him that Rusty's on their side, and that they did not know what his role was in this. 10 reunited with the Eight before Martin took them to Rusty's room, finding various drug paraphernalia. 10 found a message from Madeleine in Soulshaker's drawer, prompting him to make the conclusion that they were for Soulshaker.
10 radioed Soulshaker and asked about Madeleine, recognizing her as a coworker he worked with once, presumably while working with the Operator's goons. Big Red asked if Soulshaker's name really was Rusty, to which he verified it, stating his full name to be Rusty Samuels. Soulshaker confirmed to the Eight that he didn't recruit the missing kids, claiming to be the last one the Operator brought into his scheme. Martin remembered Madeleine suddenly, remembering her as a woman he used to date that was a stewardess. Whenever Martin would ask if Madeleine has powers, she would always deflect the question. He remembered that Madeleine went on extended leave 2 weeks ago, presumably for mental health reasons, the same time the majority of the kids went missing. He remembers that Madeleine's last name was Geiger, and that the kids loved her very much.
Martin started to ponder why his coworkers and pupils were involved with the Operator's scheme, and shortly after Soulshaker remembers Madeleine's power of opening gateways. He remembered that Madeleine has not been seen in a long time. Oracle made the connection that Madeleine is likely Egress. The Eight decided to pay Madeleine's room a visit, finding that it was clean and almost empty in a way. 10 found a locket in Madeleine's drawer, a picture of what is presumably her and Martin. Martin had forgotten the picture, but questioned how he could, saddened because he loved that woman and forgot the memories they shared, almost as though they were selectively pruned from his head.
After interrogating Dollface about the Operator, the Eight learned that one of his outlets was the Hopkins House Foundation, confirming to them their suspicions as to who the Operator was.
Shortly after, the Eight arrive back to Hopkins House to find it ablaze and finding Martin absent, something wildly out of character. Particular havoc was being caused in the cafeteria and the gymnasium. The Eight split up, with Big Red, Terraformer and the Alchemist going after Savant and Golden Boy in the gym, and 10, Spinflux, White Lion and Kickbutt going after Life-Form and Hindsight in the cafeteria.
In the gym, the students were found cowering under the bleachers, but two students stood strong for their friends, Build-A-Boy and the Gentleman. Both of them join the fight as Big Red began his transformation. Terraformer called upon Hofferson's help before Big Red threw Savant around like a ragdoll, revealing the 11 year-old Malachi Martel after he was thrown through a basketball hoop. Golden Boy attempted to fight back before being given a new hairdo from the Alchemist's sticky potion, followed swiftly by a blow to the spot on his head where his shield ran out, rendering him inert.
In the cafeteria, the Eight were aided by Gus and Hudson, otherwise known as Gust and Stone. Spinflux attempted to calm Life-Form down, but this is to no avail, as Life-Form let out a primal scream of fury. Spinflux spun his wheel, landing on Nanomachines, using this power to fling tables at Life-Form before giving him a swift middle finger. White Lion devastated Hindsight with his whip, using it to trap him. Life-Form charged at Spinflux, missing before 10 transformed into Eye Guy, using him to blast Life-Form with ice before switching to Brains and doing the same with a psychic blast. Kickbutt knocked Hindsight out with a hammer before Gus put on a pitiful display of his powers, even by Barry Bluster standards. Stone flings yet another table at Life-Form before Spinflux hits him with some nano blades, soon respinning his power and getting Earthbending. White Lion whipped Life-Form before the latter flung a table out of anger, knocking out Gus. 10 transformed into Magnetude, using him to magnetically lift a table at Life-Form before Kickbutt finished the fight with a swift kick to the balls.
After this, an old-timey radio was found by a student, which said: "Remember the big day I was talking about? It begins tonight. Best part? It means I can finally see my kid again. Until we meet again, for the final time."
After this, Hopkins House burned to the ground, never to be rebuilt.
== Known Denizens ==
* Martin Hopkins
* Madeleine Geiger
* Rusty Samuels
* Lochan Chaudhary
* Ryder Fleming
* Wilfred Christmas
* Malachi Martel
* Finn Kodar
* Seth Chase
* Build-A-Boy
* The Gentleman
* Gus
* Hudson
* Countless unnamed, unfeatured students
== Trivia ==
* Hopkins House is a reference to the Xavier Institute from Marvel's X-Men comics.
Category:Locations
Category:The Saviors of Sunset City
Category:Destroyed/Defunct Locations
Category:Hopkins House