The X-men run missions and work together with the NYPD, striving to maintain a peaceful balance between humans and mutants. When it comes to a fight, they won't back down from protecting those who need their help.
Haven presents itself as a humanitarian organization for activists, leaders, and high society, yet mutants are the secret leaders working to protect and serve their kind. Behind the scenes they bring their goals into reality.
From the time when mutants became known to the world, SUPER was founded as a black-ops division of the CIA in an attempt to classify, observe, and learn more about this new and rising threat.
The Syndicate works to help bring mutantkind to the forefront of the world. They work from the shadows, a beacon of hope for mutants, but a bane to mankind. With their guiding hand, humanity will finally find extinction.
Since the existence of mutants was first revealed in the nineties, the world has become a changed place. Whether they're genetic misfits or the next stage in humanity's evolution, there's no denying their growing numbers, especially in hubs like New York City. The NYPD has a division devoted to mutant related crimes. Super-powered vigilantes help to maintain the peace. Those who style themselves as Homo Superior work to tear society apart for rebuilding in their own image.
MRO is an intermediate to advanced writing level original character, original plot X-Men RPG. We've been open and active since October of 2005. You can play as a mutant, human, or Adapted— one of the rare humans who nullify mutant powers by their very existence. Goodies, baddies, and neutrals are all welcome.
Short Term Plots:Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
The Fountain of Youth
A chemical serum has been released that's shaving a few years off of the population. In some cases, found to be temporary, and in others...?
MRO MOVES WITH CURRENT TIME: What month and year it is now in real life, it's the same for MRO, too.
Fuegogrande: "Fuegogrande" player of The Ranger, Ion, Rhia, and Null
Neopolitan: "Aly" player of Rebecca Grey, Stephanie Graves, Marisol Cervantes, Vanessa Bookman, Chrysanthemum Van Hart, Sabine Sang, Eupraxia
Ongoing Plots
Magic and Mystics
After the events of the 2020 Harvest Moon and the following Winter Solstice, magic has started manifesting in the MROvere! With the efforts of the Welldrinker Cult, people are being converted into Mystics, a species of people genetically disposed to be great conduits for magical energy.
The Welldrinker Cult
A shadowy group is gaining power, drawing in people who are curious, vulnerable, or malicious, and turning them into Mystics. They are recruiting people into their ranks to spread the influence of magic in the world, but for what end goal?
Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
Adapteds
What if the human race began to adapt to the mutant threat? What if the human race changed ever so subtly... without the x-gene.
Atlanteans
The lost city of Atlantis has been found! Refugees from this undersea mutant dystopia have started to filter in to New York as citizens and businessfolk. You may make one as a player character of run into one on the street.
Got a plot in mind?
MRO plots are player-created the Mods facilitate and organize the big ones, but we get the ideas from you. Do you have a plot in mind, and want to know whether it needs Mod approval? Check out our plot guidelines.
Posted by Liz Sundance on Jul 22, 2010 20:03:50 GMT -6
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It was evening time. Outside the sun was hidden by poofy light-grey clouds, the temperature was just right, and the day was just beautiful. Many students were outside soaking up the lovely weather and enjoying the thrills of being teenagers with nothing to do and not wanting to be inside. In fact, Liz was pretty sure that there were twice as many people outside as there were inside. Every time she passed by a window she would see groups of mutants everywhere, doing their thing, whatever that was. In other words, the TV in the living room was likely to be open for anyone to use at their pleasure.
And she was right. When she entered the vast room, she quickly glanced around to see all the people in it. At the moment, there weren’t any. Students, at least. Liz smiled triumphantly and plopped down on a humongous couch in front of the television. She grabbed the remote and turned it on, tapping in the channel for Animal Planet. A commercial was playing right then but that worked for her. She snuggled and slouched down into the overly soft couch, drawing her feet and legs up beneath her. With the remote only a few inches from her knees, she was content.
But then the actual show started and Elizabeth’s eye went wide with horror. They announced the name of the show, Monsters Inside Me. The narrator of the show began talking about little creatures that would’ve been only disgusting to most people but had a special place in Beth’s nightmares. Screwworms. Tapeworms. A couple other types of parasitic worms. Worms. WORMS! The video clips shown reminded her all too vividly of five particular (giant, evil, slimy, devil) worms she’d met in the park the other day. The ones that seemed to have lived inside that man.
Before they could finish the introductory sequence to the show, Liz had the remote up in a flash and switched the channel. It was a random talk show that she had no interest in. She pressed some buttons on the remote and switched the channel to the History Channel. Ah, yes. Nothing like a good Vlad the Impaler documentary to get your mind off creepy li’l worms.
Amber yawned and stretched, awakening from her usual afternoon nap. Looking out her window through the curtains, she saw that it was still light out, just turning to dusk, which meant she had about another hour before she could safely leave and return to Sanctuary. Not quite sure what else to do for an hour, Amber decided that she may as well make a trip to the living room and see if there was anything on tv to watch. It wasn't something she did often, preferring books, but every once in a great while it was entertaining.
It was still difficult, sometimes, not being able to go outside and play like the other kids. During the winter it wasn't so bad because no one really wanted to go outside anyway, but during summer everyone was outside enjoying the sunlight and Amber couldn't help but feel a little left out. It really wasn't there fault and she knew it, nor would it be fair to expect them to stay inside on her behalf, but she still couldn't help but feel just a little bit hurt. At least at the Mansion she was starting to learn that many mutants had similar types of problems, due to their powers. She hadn't met anyone who wasn't able to go outside during the daytime, but she knew that many mutants had unique dietary requirements, or unusual weaknesses towards certain substances. Apparently mutant powers also translated into mutant weaknesses. It was a rather interesting phenomenon.
Walking into the living room, Amber wasn't surprised to see it almost entirely abandoned. However, sitting all alone on the humongous couch was Elizabeth, whom Amber had met at the same time she had met (and proceeded to scare away) the horrible worm man. The worm man who she had, unfortunately, found out also happened to live at Sanctuary. Ick. "H-hello? D-do you mind if I join you?"
Posted by Liz Sundance on Jul 23, 2010 11:56:49 GMT -6
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Elizabeth watched with interest as a computer simulation showed the way Vlad impaled people. It was…weird, and pretty gross, but it was still sort of fascinating. And it was so much better to watch than anything dealing with worms. She soon lost herself in the program, learning quite a bit about the historical origins of that guy that spawned all the Dracula myths and legends, the real vampire novels, not the silly stories about the sparkly kinds.
As engrossed as she was, Liz never noticed anyone else enter the room until she heard a stuttering voice ask to join her. “Sure thing,” Liz replied, not taking her eyes off the monitor for a moment. She liked the historical backgrounds to things. They normally made stories seem better. In fact, she all but ignored the other mutant until the commercials came back on, advertising for some type of sleeping pill. Then, Liz just happened to take a glance as the girl.
It was the same girl from that night I the park! Amelia, no, Amanda, no…something to do with dinosaur and fossils. Oh! Amber! “Oh hi, Amber,” Liz said with a genuine smile on her face. “Sorry, I was a bit engrossed with the show. Vlad the Impaler. Gotta love him.” She smiled again, despite the coincidence of the show playing on Animal Planet. But at least Liz could do something about these worms. Changing channels effectively got rid of them. “So, what are you up to?” the blonde asked, trying to start a conversation and pass the time until the documentary returned. She lowered the volume on the TV.
Amber had been hoping that she might run into Elizabeth again, after the whole park incident. For one thing, she still felt horrible about almost eating her when she had been a lizard and for another, well, she just seemed like she might be an interesting person. Maybe she was completely wrong, but it kind of felt like they had bonded that evening, both of them coming out of the worm man incident all in one piece.
"Thank you," Amber answered, sitting on the other side of the couch. "I d-don't really watch a lot of TV. Normally I p-prefer books." It was true enough although hopefully Liz didn't take it as some sort of spite in her direction. Teenagers were sometimes like that, coming to completely irrational conclusions based on flimsy if any evidence. Or maybe it just seemed that way to Amber. She never had been very good at understanding people.
"I'm g-going home soon, b-but not doing much now." If there was one thing tv had over books, she decided, it was some rather impressive visual effects. Maybe she would have to watch tv a little more often after all. "I w-wanted to apologize again. You know, f-for almost eating you. I d-didn't know anyone could turn into a lizard. M-maybe I could make it up to you s-somehow?" Ever since that incident she had vowed off hunting lizards, concentrating on mice and insects instead. Hunting as a larger dinosaur sounded interesting too, but it wasn't very practical in the city. Maybe one day she'd take a trip to the country and practice hunting deer or something.
Posted by Liz Sundance on Jul 25, 2010 21:13:34 GMT -6
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So Amber liked books over movies. A pretty good idea, considering most movies ruined the books during the transference from print to film. “Normally, I do too. But I like watching documentaries instead of reading about the stuff in a boring old reference book,” Elizabeth remarked, mentally giving Amber another point. She seemed like a pretty cool person. 1, she was a mutant. 2, she had saved her life (despite trying to take it). 3, she liked books, something that was getting rarer and rarer these days. 4, she was nice and polite.
Then the conversation seemed to turn toward Amber apologizing again for nearly eating her. Liz smiled. Amber was already making up for her only flaw with List Item #4. “Aww, that’s okay. No harm done. I forgive you, but you don’t owe me anything,” she said, dismissing the very notion of a debt. Then she realized what she’d said. Waitaminute! What did I say? Uh, there was a lot of harm done that night, including the frantic fear caused by nearly dying! Ugh, I need to start thinking before I talk! Fortunately, none of her internal conflict showed on her face. The only thing that did was a friendly smile.
Then something else clicked. “Wait, hold on. You’ve got the wrong idea. I can’t turn into a lizard. I can’t turn into anything.” Even though she wished she could. It would be awesome to actually be able to turn into animals, instead of just taking them over. Then she wouldn’t be helpless again. She’d be able to face people if she could turn into a tiger, or even the giant rhino-dino that Amber had turned into during their former brief encounter. Instead I’m left with freaking out and losing control of my power so all the animals around me go crazy. Just lucky I guess. The sarcastic thread snuck through her mind quickly.
"I always l-liked Animal Planet," Amber said, a little embarrassed to be admitting it. She hadn't gotten to watch it very often because none of the other kids ever wanted to watching a show they could actually learn from, but sometimes, late at night when no one else was awake, she would turn it on. The fact that Elizabeth also like documentaries was definitely another mark in her favour. It spoke of actually having a brain and that was a trait that anyone Amber decided to spend time with had to have, no questions asked.
"Are you s-sure?" Amber asked. Because it was important for Liz to be sure of that statement. Amber wanted to be friends with her and if there was any possibility of that, there couldn't be any hard feelings between the two of them. Hard feelings ruined friendships or, in this case, would probably prevent an actual friendship from forming in the first place. But she did seem genuine in saying it was all right and Amber offered a shy smile.
"Wait, you d-don't transform?" Amber blinked at the other girl in confusion. "B-but I thought you were the lizard." It wasn't possible for her to be quite that horribly mistaken, was it?
Posted by Liz Sundance on Jul 25, 2010 23:15:54 GMT -6
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A small nervous laugh escaped Elizabeth’s mouth. Animal Planet, right. “I like it too, but I don’t think we should watch it now. I think it’s a bit too close to reality, for me. Once was enough.” She didn’t really expect Amber to guess what her cryptic statement was supposed to mean. She just hoped the other girl caught the warning. It wasn’t like the show was horrifying, it just brought back memories for Liz, ones she would have liked to forget. I hate the combination of a good memory and a creative imagination.
The dinosaur-shifter stuttered out a small question. Was she sure? Well, now that she mentioned it, no, she wasn’t sure. But Beth had a pretty good idea that Amber was talking about owing her something, and not the “no harm done” thing. “Yes, I’m sure,” Liz said matter-of-factly. “Why wouldn’t I be?” A faint quizzical look lodged itself on her face. She’d said she’d forgiven her with no strings attached. Most people would’ve accepted it without a word, hoping that she wouldn’t change her mind. Which she never did. Liz didn’t like lying.
She saw confusion all over the other girl’s face. When she thought about what she’d said, Liz realized how what she’d said could be confusing. “Okay, I’d better back up a bit. Yes, I was the lizard, but no, I don’t shift. My main power is different. I can take control over the mind and body of any animal I touch. It’s pretty cool, but still very creepy and weird,” Liz explained, rambling on and on. She smiled, betting on the chance that Amber would be confused by what she said. When she started rambling, she usually tripped herself up somehow.
“Oh, by the way, I’m sorry about the guy pulling his gun on you. That was kinda my fault,” Liz said with a sheepish expression. She hunched a bit, getting ready for Amber’s reaction.
Amber wasn't quite sure what Elizabeth meant by 'a little too close to reality' but something in her tone of voice led her to believe that it was probably best not to ask. Maybe it had something to do with the events of the other day? If so, then she was more than happy never to revisit those particular events again and had to suppress a shudder just thinking about them.
With a nod towards the other mutant, Amber accepted the fact that her forgiveness was genuine. Some people were hard to tell, when they said they forgave you they might not actually mean it, but Liz seemed to be the honest and genuine type. It made things easier when one could actually trust another person and although Amber had never been the distrustful type, it was still nice to have some sort of confirmation, just in case.
"So you k-kind of borrow the b-body of an animal for a bit?" Amber asked. It was a little confusing but if it worked anything like the was imagining it working, then it was also one of the most cool sounding powers she had heard of yet! "So if I g-got a pet iguana you c-could, I don't know, c-control him or something?" Oops, had she really just mentioned her secret desire to get a pet iguana?
"Its n-not you're fault the man p-pulled a gun on me, even if you did do something. H-he was a creep, plain and simple. Besides, it w-was kind of funny watching h-him run away wasn't it?" Amber grinned at the other girl. Of the entire incident, that was the one part that she didn't mind reliving.
Posted by Liz Sundance on Jul 27, 2010 17:21:37 GMT -6
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Borrowing an animal. “Yes, that’s exactly what it is!” Elizabeth said a bit enthusiastically. That sounded so much better than “possession” or “mind control”. It still made it out like she was some type of animal thief but the euphemism at least made her sound like a thief with good intentions. Even though most people probably wouldn’t think of it as stealing, Liz did and she apologized countless times to animals after doing so. Although sometimes she hadn’t been able to make up and other times she was unable to because people would look at her funny. And it wasn’t like the animals could understand her at all. She just hoped the little bursts of joy she gave the animals afterwards was enough in return for using their bodies.
Amber proceeded to ask about her power by suggesting a hypothetical situation including another lizard. Liz nodded. “Yes, I could control it. Not that I would, of course, without your permission. That would feel so wrong,” the empathy added quickly. She’d also ask the iguana’s permission, but again, the language barrier. Although it was the thought that counted. “I can possess other animals too, not just lizards,” Beth informed the dinosaur-shifter. The mentioned iguana had made her wonder if perhaps Amber thought that her powers only worked on lizards. She was glad they didn’t. Then she would’ve been beyond useless in a whole new level of worthlessness as a mutant.
The smile of her face twisted a bit when Amber decided that it hadn’t been Elizabeth’s fault and asked about the level of humor in the retreat of the monster-man. “Uh, I really didn’t find it so funny. Terror, actually. I thought you were going to kill him and then, I don’t know, lose control of the form and attack me,” Liz said hesitantly. The memories brought up a ghost-fear in her mind, making her feel like she was scared, even though she knew she wasn’t.
And Amber didn’t seem to understand that it really had been Elizabeth’s fault, however indirectly, that the guy had nearly shot the black-eyed girl. In an effort to clear her conscious, Liz returned to the subject. “And, well, it’s not true. It had been my fault. I had been trying to stop his worms from attacking you, just in case, and so I made them feel very calm and full. They had been so hungry and excited that I felt they wouldn’t hesitate. And that made him mad, as I’m sure you can remember.” Beth’s conscience felt better, as if a weight had lifted off her.
Amber wasn't really sure how she should feel about the fact that the other mutant could possess non-lizard animals. On the one hand it was a really cool power, no doubt about it, but on the other hand, what if she accidentally tried to eat her again? Eating a small rodent wasn't morally a bad thing, but eating a small rodent with the mind of a mutant? Much much worse. For that matter, she didn't even really know if there would be any damage done to Elizabeth if she happened to eat whoever who host was at the time. "Um, w-what happens if I accidentally eat a m-mouse that you're inside?" Definately a good thing to know, just in case.
It bothered Amber just a little bit that her actions in scaring away the worm man had also frightened Elizabeth. She honestly hadn't meant to do anything other than get rid of the threat to both of them, which she had done rather successfully, plus no one had actually gotten hurt so no harm done. "I d-didn't mean to scare you. I w-wasn't going to hurt him anyway, I j-just wanted him to run away. Which he did." The last part she tacked on a little defensively. "If I hadn't w-what if he had hurt one of us?"
"You d-don't need to feel guilty," Amber told Elizabeth. "It w-wasn't your fault. You were t-trying to help." She didn't even really know why she felt guilty. After all, it was all about good intentions and no one had gotten hurt anyway. The worst that came out of the whole experience was, maybe, a few nightmares and that was it.
Amber decided that a change of subject to something far less traumatic and depressing might be in order. "So d-do you know where I might f-find an iguana?" The other girl seemed to know a lot about animals, probably not surprising given what she could do. "Money's n-not an issue." Due to the fact that her adopted father Abyss was, apparently, loaded and willing to give her pretty much anything she wanted.
Posted by Liz Sundance on Jul 27, 2010 20:44:27 GMT -6
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Amber’s question made Elizabeth freeze. Death? That’s something she’d never even thought of. It was one of those things she’d taken for granted, you know? She was guessing that if the animal she was possessing died, than she’d die too. At least her mind would. She wasn’t so sure about her body. “Uh, I’d guess I’d die too, like you would if you were a dinosaur. It’s not really something I’d like to test.” The thought left a bad taste in her mouth, suddenly making her frightened to ever possess a bug or anything smaller than an elephant.
Amber’s apology for the fright as a dinosaur made the blonde empath stop and think. The relic-shifter had a good point there. Liz had no idea if the man would’ve decided to shoot either one of them if Amber hadn’t changed. But Liz wasn’t blaming the girl. What was done was done and couldn’t be changed unless one of the two girls spontaneously developed time-travelling powers. But that wasn’t happening and Liz decided that she didn’t want to sit around all day apologizing and then forgiving each little mistake that one of the two had made that night. She listened to the rest that Amber had to say and merely said, “Good point.”
As if Amber had suddenly developed mind-reading powers, the robed girl switched the topics. Elizabeth smiled in relief. “Ah, so you’re saying that your hypothetical situation was actually planning ahead? Heh,” Liz smirked playfully. “I think I’ve seen a couple of pet shops around town. I guess any of them could be selling iguanas. Unless you want to take a trip to the Amazon?” Actually, a trip to Brazil sounded rather nice. No danger I don’t have some control over down there. How bad could it be if she could possess anything that attacked her or made everything horror-stricken around her?
Amber really didn't like the idea that she might accidentally kill Liz if she decided to hunt the wrong critter. Well, hopefully she'd just have to hope that the other girl would do something to make herself not seem so very animalish if it came down to that. Maybe she could start jumping up and down or something equally ridiculous. Because Amber was starting to discover that she actually liked hunting. It was challenging and fun and no one really got hurt in the end at least that was the idea. Nature required both predators and prey and, even if she didn't think of herself as a predator when she was human, she liked the feeling of being a predator when she was a dinosaur.
"I think w-we should go to the nearest pet store and f-find me an iguana," Amber announced grandly. It was the perfect activity to end an evening off and was just what she figured they both needed to fully distract them from their darker sorts of thoughts. "M-maybe you can let me know which one's b-best to get. You know, b-because of what you do." Well, maybe she was a little fuzzy on the details of exactly how that worked and on if she actually would be able to tell her which one was the best one to get, but it sounded good in her head if nowhere else.
"If you c-can somehow bring us to the Amazon, consider me there," Amber grinned. As much fun as that sounded (she was pretty sure she could take care of herself even from giant crocodiles) she wasn't quite certain how they might actually get there. Unless Elizabeth could teleport long distances in addition to borrowing animals?
Posted by Liz Sundance on Jul 28, 2010 20:36:11 GMT -6
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“I think that is a marvelous idea,” Elizabeth agreed with her new friend. “Well, it’s all set then. Let’s go now, while we still have a couple hours of daylight, okay?” Elizabeth checked with Amber, to see if she agreed with the time and everything. Her smile broadened and her mood lifted. This would make for a fun trip out and there would be nothing to worry about as long as Amber could still turn into that super-dinosaur she’d seen before. I pity the fools that’ll mess with us now, she thought with mock bravado.
Then she stopped and cocked her head, much like she’d seen Nico do when confused. “What do you mean, I’d know best? I’m not a telepath or anything.” Beth smiled anyway. Amber seemed to be a really cool person and Liz had a gut feeling that they’d get along just fine. Unfolding her legs out from under her and standing up, Liz grabbed the remote and used it to wirelessly disable the television. She put the controller back where she’d found it. “Okay, Amber. I’m going to make a quick run to my room and leave a note for my roommate telling her that I’ll be gone, okay? I’m a danger-magnet and I’m trying to take as many precautions as possible.”
Regardless of Amber’s approval on the idea, Liz made the quick dash up to her room to scribble down the note and leave it on Haylee’s bed. In the few minutes that it took to do all of that, Liz was able to come up with a semi-witty response to Amber’s last comment. She grabbed her purse, said good-bye to Nico, then returned to the living room.
“Okay, let’s do this!” the blonde said, trying to psych herself up for leaving the mansion’s grounds. She hadn’t left the estate since that one time with Carrick, Kai, and Haylee. “Oh, and I think I can figure out a way to get to the Amazon. As long as you’re paying for our flight tickets,” she said, smiling playfully.
How exciting that Amber's new friend had agreed to go with her to find herself the pet she had always wanted. So maybe she and Elizabeth hadn't exactly met in the most ideal of circumstances, it seemed like their first unique encounter wasn't going to stand in the way of a burgeoning friendship. If nothing else, it was a shared memory of interesting, if not exactly pleasant, times.
"B-but you know animals," Amber stated with a sure nod and a smile. "L-like I know dinosaurs. Well sort of like that anyway." So maybe it wasn't exactly the same, but it was close enough, wasn't it? "So if you ever w-want to find a dinosaur pet, I'm your g-girl." She grinned, showing her new friend that she wasn't being serious. Obviously she knew that they weren't about to find any living dinosaur pets, unless one counted birds of course.
Amber waited for Elizabeth to return from her room, anticipation growing in her. She had expected to get her iguana at some time, but not quite this soon. Still, she wasn't complaining. "Oh, I c-can probably find a way to get the m-money," she said playfully once the other teen returned. She had never asked Abyss for a sum of money that large before but she knew he had a lot of it and he seemed inclined to give her just about anything she wanted. But for the time being she wasn't actually planning on going to the Amazon. Probably.
Posted by Liz Sundance on Aug 8, 2010 21:11:15 GMT -6
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“We start by going this way,” Elizabeth said with an impish smile as she led the way toward the foyer of the mansion. She was surprised that she didn’t get lost. The mansion was still a huge place for her, but she guessed that if she was able to find her way around a public high school in only a few days last year, she’d probably be able to find her way around this labyrinth of rooms and mutants. Even if the rooms didn’t have handy-dandy little room numbers on most of them. Constantly checking to make sure Amber was keeping up, Liz opened one of the massive double-doors and stepped outside into the beautiful day. Dim sunlight hit her and but she slipped on a pair of gold-reflecting sunglasses anyway; they looked great with her outfit.
The trip from the mansion to a location Liz had only seen twice took only about ten minutes, as it wasn’t too far from the institute. She was pretty well aware of the spot, having passed by it on her way to the movies before and having gone past it on her way shopping with Haylee one time. But she wasn’t so sure they sold iguanas. Standing outside of the shop, Beth took a nervous glance around her. The entire trip to the store, she had nearly been glued to Amber’s side, but she hoped the dinosaur-shifter hadn’t noticed. Liz had jumped whenever people suddenly appeared by her and had scrutinized every face she saw. At every intersection and street they’d had to cross, Liz had looked both ways twice before crossing the street. She had avoided crowds to the best of her ability, but didn’t shy away from using small groups to shield her from the sight of most people. Liz had basically been trying her best to be stealthy. Instead, Amber probably thought she had a psychological problem.
But they were at their destination. The Amazon Shoppe, Exotic Pet Store. “Guess we didn’t need those flight tickets after all,” Elizabeth remarked. It was a complete coincidence that the store had been named after the Amazon rainforest. She certainly hadn’t remembered the name. All she had recalled was “Exotic Pet Store”. And iguanas were exotic, right? The empath pushed the glass door open and some tension left her as the air conditioner began cooling her down from the walk. Okay, there weren’t likely to be anybody with guns in a pet store. Or anybody who was out to get her. And there were plenty of people around if anything happened. In fact, she had seen a cop car outside a donut shop just down the street. That alone made her feel so much better.
“Well, here we are! Welcome to the Amazon!” Elizabeth said happily, forcing enthusiasm and eagerness into her voice. “See any iguanas yet?” She needed to do something. The walk through the city had set her paranoia off and the longer she did nothing, the longer she had to dwell on every possible danger, like the macaw to her left spitting fire at her, or the good-looking employee cleaning out a python cage had a sniper rifle hidden in the miscellaneous terrain in the cage. She took a deep breath to calm down.
