Originally the Bratpack was a group of young inner city kids.  They lived in New York and played in the side-streets.  Mostly they enjoyed playing make-believe games of adventures in outer space.  Most of them were boys, with Darla as their only female member.  All of them were either pre or early teens.

However, the name Bratpack was stolen from them and used by some of the original Bratpack members with the New Mutants who had been altered by Spiral & Mojo.

History

Original Group

The Bratpack had been friends for years.  They'd grown up in the same area of New York, and all enjoyed the same comic books, films, cartoons and imagination.  One day when they were playing a imaginary game in outer space instead of doing their chores, they were suddenly interrupted by the appearance of a strange blond man.  He called himself Longshot, and immediately he caught the attention & fascination of the Bratpack.  He gave them diamonds which he had inadvertently stolen, and soon left.  All of the boys wanted to be just like Longshot, while Darla was smitten.

They tried their best to be heroes.  One of them happened to come across a handgun, and they thought they could use it to kill a monster.  When Gog'N Magog appeared, he had grow several feet tall with armoured spikes and a ferocious temper.  The Bratpack wanted to fight the fierce monster and so tracked him into a disused wear-house.  Despite being armed, they were still only children and were easily scared.  They were unable to defend themselves against Magog, but were saved by Longshot.  Although Longshot struggled to fight against his former friend, the Bratpack watched from a distance.  After Magog exploded, Longshot thanked the kids for their help and sent them home.

Adult Team

The Wildways was a new cartoon on television.  Children all over America were immediately captivated by it, including Butch, Alfie & Darla of the Bratpack, Karma's twin brother & sister Leong & Nga, and the New Mutants Sunspot & Wolfsbane.  What nobody realised was that the children were secretly being hypnotised by the show.  After weeks of watching their favourite cartoon, the kids called a telephone number which invite them to join the Wildways.  When they agreed they were instantly teleported away.

After they had been mystically kidnapped, all of them were altered.  Leong & Nga were prematurely aged into young adults.  Together they became known as Template who had the power to increase or decrease the age of others.  Template also increased the ages of the others.  Sunspot & Wolfsbane became older & more confident versions of themselves.  Alfie became known as Straight Arrow with high accuracy weaponry skills.  Butch was transformed into Snitch, with the power to cause everyone around him to bicker & fight.  Darla became Jubilee, and could dazzle & enchant everyone with her sparkling light show.  Template also de-aged the British superhero known as Captain Britain, who had been in search of his missing twin sister Elisabeth Braddock.

When the other New Mutants arrived looking for their missing friends, the new Bratpack soon defeated them.  Template increased the ages of Cannonball, Mirage, Magik and Magma.  However, Magma rejected their hypnotic influence, and therefore she was de-aged into a little girl who couldn't use her own powers.  The others who had been turned into adults were also hypnotised and became part of the new Bratpack.  Warlock & Cypher had escaped before Template could fully hypnotise them.  Together they teamed up with the very young Captain Britain.  He was sent to save Magma from the Bratpack, thereby causing a diversion.  Cypher & Warlock found Betsy Braddock and entered her psyche through Mojo's technological enhancements.  They were able to break her free from Spiral's influence, and subsequently restored all the others to their normal ages.  

Young Adventurers Again

Aflie, Butch & Darla returned to their original Bratpack friends.  When they went to see a play in the park they were surprised to see the sudden appearance of the New Mutants on stage.  Their friends were being attacked by brainwashed versions of the X-Men.  While hidden in the audience, the Bratpack schemed to help their friends.  However, they were over-heard by Mojo's keen senses.  Mojo then cast a spell over the entire audience forcing them to sit & watch as the two mutant teams attacked each other, and eventually turned on him.

Although the Bratpack hadn't taken part, they supported the New Mutants in spirit.