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.
It was a beautifully clear night. Kai virtually skipped as he and Carrick walked down the sidewalk, but of course he couldn’t because Carrick was right there. He would make fun of him endlessly for such behavior. He wasn’t sure exactly of their destination, just that both of them like to be outdoors and the warm weather was enough to persuade them to venture out that night.
“What a great night, huh?” Kai asked, carefree. “On nights like this, I wish I could fly.”
Something moved in the shadows, a tall, lurking figure. It moved towards them, cutting the two off. “Give me your wallets!” he demanded in a surprisingly smooth voice.
Kai, clueless, piped up. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t hear you. Is there something I can help you with?”
Walking alongside his roommate who was practically floating next to him Carrick was about to make an off hand comment about skipping down the yellow brick road to grab a burger from the wizards. He however didn’t get to because despite the warm weather out it was still a crowded enough night and he didn’t want to be seen skipping anywhere, flying yes but skipping… not so much. Turning to look at his green thumbed roommate Carrick was about to suggest some food for his stomach was growling and he still had a hundred left over from the guy he pick pocketed not to long ago before Lily caught him.
Needless to say she didn’t punish him that severely just several hours shopping… something he never wanted to repeat, ever! ”I can fly, Tree hugger” Carrick said with a smirk, ”And while I can fly you however can’t and I think you’d end up getting lost or mugge…” the figure popped up behind them and Carrick sighed and cursed when he heard the man say the words that were overly cliché in a mugging, but then again what could he say that would be original. ‘Yo mang, give me the bacon?’ yes that would be original but at the same time confusing as hell to most.
Looking up he rolled his eyes slightly when Kai asked if he could help him with something, ”This Hardchaw wants our money…” looking abck to the large man Carrick shook his head, ”What we look like? Your fostering with us!” the mugger blinked and looked out from his hazel colored eyes, “…. What?” he paused for a minute stepping out of the shadows making himself more visible in the dim lights, “Give me your wallets and all the money you have!” the man said in a stricter and less smooth tone.
”You give me your money and your wallet!” Carrick said his tone a bit harsher, he saw no immediate threat and unless this guy had a gun or a big knife there was no way he was going to be able to mug both Kai and himself. He had a feeling one would help the other if something did happen, even if they both weren’t the muggers size there was no way he could take two of them on. A slight movement of the hand and the mugger had a gun aimed at Carrick and he froze his knees locked and shaking now, ”Touche!” he said quickly as he raised his hands behind his in front of him as a somewhat sacred look appeared o his face.
A petite brunette ambled through the big streets of New York with her roommate, letting her lead the way. It had been a few days since her initial arrival at the mansion, and she decided it was high time to go see some of the city. Fortunately, Elizabeth was available for an impromptu girls’ night out at a nearby shopping mall, and she knew part of her way around town. As the girl followed her new friend, she reflected on their exploits for the day. Most of the stores they had been to were dead-ends, except one where Haylee had managed to snag a cute pair of half-off sandals. Steals always brightened up her day, and it was nice to finally get out of her room.
She smiled as she glanced at her companion, glad she had someone to hang out with. They weren’t best friends yet, of course, but it was nice to have a buddy around. “So, I had fun today,” Haylee said, the warm weather cheering her already cheery mood, “I haven’t been out in a while, and this was a good way to start up the habit again.” She hadn’t been out for the past month, to be exact, but she quickly shook unhappy thoughts out of her head. And to think the teen had been sulking just a few days ago…
“We’re going the right way back to the mansion, right?” The brunette asked, partly teasing and partly being serious, “Because I don’t particularly feel like getting lost tonight.”
Posted by Liz Sundance on Jul 8, 2010 13:58:09 GMT -6
X-Men
Metazoa
Chartreuse
Straight
949
9
Apr 12, 2024 15:17:35 GMT -6
Zek
Really, with her previous experiences out and about in public places in New York, Liz should’ve been checked into a mental facility at the moment. After all, her previous ventures had all started out as simple, everyday things. They just ended weird. But this time would be different, right? This time Liz was with another mutant, one who she hadn’t started off on bad terms with. She was no Meld of course, but Haylee was pretty cool in her own way. Mostly in her awesome shopping sense and seemingly secondary mutation to automatically know where the best deals were and how to get them.
“Yeah, I had fun too, surprisingly,” Liz said, a smile on her face. Then she realized how what she said could be taken the wrong way. “Oh, I didn’t mean that I wasn’t expecting it to be fun with you, I was just expecting something to happen, like a terrorist holding up the store we were in or something. I’ve had pretty bad luck on my forays into the city,” she explained, hoping that she hadn’t offended her friend. If she had, she’d need to patch things up immediately lest it grow into a problem that would make things very awkward and difficult between her and her roommate.
“We’re going the right way back to the mansion, right? Because I don’t particularly feel like getting lost tonight.”
“I think we’re going the right way,” she responded, completely serious. Her light-hearted mood had been dampened since they’d been outside. She was still expecting something to happen, if only so nothing would break her perfect record of accidental adventure and encounters. “Yeah, I recognize that building. We should definitely be back before curfew.” She led the older mutant down another street, peeking down every alley and glancing back every once in a while and keeping a tight grip on her own bag of purchases.
You plain farm hick! Kai cursed his inexperience with the city, as things got dicey rather quickly. He’d heard stories of people being mugged before, but just assumed that they were city-people stories designed, like fairy tales, to scare their fairer hearted country counterparts. It finally clicked for him that this was real when the dude pulled out a gun. Up until then, he’d thought Carrick was just playing along to fool him.
“Uh…” he raised his hands slowly, “I would love to give you all my money, sir,” Sir was alright, right? You addressed a mugger as ‘sir’? It seems the most appropriate title… “But I don’t have a wallet.”
He wanted to say something about the two of them just being kids, really, but he didn’t have time to explain.
“Stay where you are!” The robber man demanded, coming forward to pat down Kai’s jacket pockets and pants. Well this is awkward and uncomfortable… Kai thought as the mugger breathed hot breath down his neck. The gun swung wildly as the man performed his search of Kai’s person. He was obviously not that experienced with a gun. But that didn’t make him any less dangerous. He cast a glance around, looking for something that would get them out of the situation. A cop car patrolling, perhaps? Over the man’s shoulder, he saw two figures walking.
Maybe they can help? But his hopes were dashed when he made them out to be girls. Now, in his head, the whole situation changed. It moved from kinda funny, to serious in tone, to dangerous. This guy had better not hurt those girls! But how can I stop them from walking straight into this trap without getting shot?
He tried to make eye contact with Carrick, and cock his head indicatively towards the girls. Maybe his roomie would get the message?
Ah great the pat down and from the looks of it the mugger had in experience with a gun, he was holding it all wrong first off second off you use one hand for a pat down if your holding someone at gun point… even he knew this and he was still a kid. When Kai said he didn’t have a wallet it was obvious that this mugger didn’t know what he was doing. ”Oh no, kids don’t have any money!” he said as he waited to pat down.
Once he looked over he saw the gun flapping up and down on Kai’s side as the man searched his person. When he caught Kai’s glance he looked over and spotted two figures, he could see what they looked like just that they could possibly help him and his roommate out of this situation. ”If your going to pat me down I got to open my wings…” Carrick said as he opened it quickly make it easier on the man, ”And I have some money in my back pocket…” it was the truth and it was all the money he had left but if it came down between their lives and a hundred dollars he would gladly pay double that to keep his and his roommates life.
“Don’t try anything funny…” the mugger said as he stepped away from Kai and placed his massive hands on Carrick’s shoulders then slowly moved down. ”Oh there is some gum in my side pocket… you need it…” he said as his knees were still locked up. If he didn’t keep his comments going it would be obvious how scared he was and being scared was something Carrick didn’t like to show, it made people think differently of him.
Turning his wings slightly under the dim lights he hoped that those across the street could see them trying to signal them over. What’s more was that when the man reached down to his back pocket he patted it once and felt his raggedy wallet he reached inside and pulled it out. It was weird having a stranger pat his rear. It was weirder to have him go into his pocket. His mind flashed quickly to think how his better half would have responded to this situation. A mauling… simple enough that and he wouldn’t of had a wallet to pick out, his initial fear faded as he felt the gun move back to it’s former motion. The money he had wasn’t enough, which means he would let them go right? They were just kids after all.
”Gum, side pocket!” Carrick said again as he felt the hand pat down over it them continue after he removed it from his pocket, ”This is messed up you know that right Hardchaw? Your mugging a kid and an angel…” he felt the man tense up around his ankles then the hands moved back. “You talk to much kid… maybe I should shut it for you…” he blinked once and debated turning around but he didn’t his knees were shaking slightly and his tail was now wrapped around his leg. Weakly he said, ”Get in line, there are a lot of people that want to do that….” he mentally cursed himself for not knowing when to shut up.
>>>“Oh, I didn’t mean that I wasn’t expecting it to be fun with you, I was just expecting something to happen, like a terrorist holding up the store we were in or something. I’ve had pretty bad luck on my forays into the city.”
“Oh? That doesn’t sound too good. How many times have you even gone out? You’ve only been here for so much longer than me,” Haylee replied, a concerned look occupying her face. Her roommate hadn’t divulged this information before, leaving the older girl feeling a little offended and guilty at the same time. Offended because she hadn’t told her, and guilty because Haylee had dragged her out that night almost against her will. Now that she thought about it, Elizabeth had been acting quite uneasy and overly-cautious ever since they had walked out of the mall. She had been clutching her bags for dear life and taking a look-around every so often.
“Hey, I’m sure we’ll make it back to the mansion in one p–” the girl stopped mid-sentence, gasping at the sight of two huge wings protruding from a teenage boy’s back. They looked angelic in the glow of the streetlamp, except they were golden in color. Then she saw the rest of the picture. About a block away were three figures, one older man and two boys around her age. The two teenage boys were standing in awkward positions with their hands up in front of the older male, although it was too far for her to make out their expressions. The man, she noticed as her veins turned to ice, had a gun. His back was turned to the two girls as he proceeded to investigate the boys’ persons for cash.
“Liz, stay quiet,” Haylee whispered, motioning for her to get out of the streetlight and into the shadowy corner of the building next to them. Oh God, are they getting mugged? Are they mutants? God, we have to help them. Taking a glance at her roommate, the brunette knew that she wasn’t a fighter, and knew it would be best to keep her safe and away from the fight she was about to instigate. She wordlessly instructed Elizabeth to stay behind and started creeping towards the trio, not looking back to see how her friend responded. Oh God, what are you doing? This guys has a freaking gun! If you get shot don’t blame it on your brain telling you not to get involved! Haylee knew what she was about to do was stupid, but she hated it when idiots with flashy guns tried to take advantage of those around them.
She padded along the cement as quickly and as silently as she could, taking to the sides of buildings and shadows. The teen could hear bits and pieces of the exchange in front of her as she drew closer. Man that angel kid had a mouth. She tried to remember everything she had learned about fighting armed opponents, and focused on getting the gun out of the picture as soon as possible.
When the man had finished picking his two victims clean, he got up and carelessly held his gun at his side, an easy target for a disarming kick. With one last deep breath, Haylee did a downward angled jump-kick and slammed down on the gun-occupied hand, hard. He was in the middle of sneering, “Heh, thanks for your time boy–” before her foot connected with his hand. “Yeeeargh!” He yelled in surprise, staggering as the gun skidded off into the street. Before he had time to physically react, the brunette launched another low kick at the backs of his knees. It was a good thing she had decided to wear Chucks today instead of flats.
“Now, it’s not very nice taking advantage of two harmless young boys, is it?” She taunted the temporarily downed man while shooting an impish grin at the two boys. She waited for him to scramble to his feet; she wouldn’t fight someone who was on the ground.
((You all can godmod the fight from here, from your respective points of views. Just remember that she can't do any crazy triple-flip actions xP))
Posted by Liz Sundance on Jul 8, 2010 20:58:37 GMT -6
X-Men
Metazoa
Chartreuse
Straight
949
9
Apr 12, 2024 15:17:35 GMT -6
Zek
“Two times too many,” the shorter girl replied, grimacing slightly. Well, they weren’t completely bad. She had met some really nice people. But they weren’t really worth it. “Sorry I didn’t tell you, I was hoping it wouldn’t matter,” Liz apologized with a small smile. But it had really been nice to get out, especially with a person of similar interests. Either her luck was changing, or it was merely scared of Haylee because nothing had happened. Everything had gone okay.
Beth was so wrapped up in her thoughts she’d stopped her intense scrutiny of everything around her. Haylee started saying something, probably to cheer her up, but she cut off for some reason. “Hmmm?” Liz asked, stopping and turning around. Her eyebrows furrowed as she studied her roommate’s expression before following her gaze. What, were those wings coming out of that kid’s back? Giant golden wings? Check. Short guy? Check. Handsome? Check. Irish? Probably. “Oh my word! That’s Carrick! A guy at the school!”
But her voice probably fell on deaf ears as Haylee was already telling her to stay quiet. The question confused her. Why be quiet? But the senior was already taking off towards the group. She frowned as she stared a bit more. That man. What was he doing? Was he…? He was mugging Carrick and the other guy (who wasn’t bad on the eyes either)! With a gun! That’s why Haylee had told her to be quiet, even though it wasn’t like she was going to charge down the street shouting, “ATTACK!” in a very epic and dramatic way. Nah, she was content to stay where she was. Except Carrick was down there.
What is wrong with me? Liz slipped to the side of the sidewalk and mimicked Haylee’s actions, darting from shadow to shadow as silently as possible, remaining unnoticed. By the time she’d gotten close to the scene, Haylee had already taken the guy down in a few quick kicks. Smiling at her roommate, Liz was tempted to pump her fist and yell. But that wouldn’t do. She decided to remain inconspicuous as she slipped closer, in case the guy got the gun again. This time, there would be no Meld rescuing her hiney. If the guys were paying close attention to the street then they would have noticed her stalking closer.
They would have also noticed a pair of arms shoot out from the dark alley she was passing by and grab her, muffling her scream and forcing her to drop her shopping bag all in one clean move.
(ooc: If that’s not okay with you guys, I can change it. I thought it’d give the others something to do after Haylee take’s out the mugger.)
Carrick was being surly again and Kai was just about to tell him to make use of one of his new socks and shove it in his mouth when, out of the shadows, one of the girls flew towards the mugger. The gun went flying as the girl- was that a round-house kick to the back of the knee? Whatever maneuver it was, it was effective. The larger man dropped to the ground.
Kai scurried over, retrieved Carrick’s wallet and stuffed it into his pocket (to give back to his roomie later, he swore.) Then he skipped back, light on his feet but ready to rain his own set of crushing blows down upon their assailant. If it was necessary, of course.
Much to his disappointment, however, the guy seemed to have had enough. “Too much trouble for a few bucks!” he gruffed and stumbled up and away.
Kai was tempted to make his own sarcastic remark at his fleeing back like ‘Take that!’ or ‘Shows you!’ or some similar victory boast. He refrained only because, well… he hadn’t really done anything to help drive the man away.
“Thanks for rescuing- I mean coming to help us. Both of you…” He trailed off, for there was only one girl standing there. He had been so engaged in the small battle that he neglected to pay attention to where the other one went. “Hey, weren’t there two of you before?”
There were a few things Carrick was truly afraid of, and his fear of cats was quickly dissipating however the other two fears were things he was sure that would never fade. The two fears were enclosed spaces, something he had known of most of his life the other was something he had realized quite recently. Apparently he was afraid to die, which was why his tail was wrapped around his leg so tightly. He blinked and tried to breath but his breaths were getting shorter and shorter… was he going to die? Was Kai going to die…
There was a silence that scared him that quickly broke. He turned his head and watched the gun fly into the air and a girl roundhouse kick the mugger to the legs knocking him over. He didn’t know where she had got the stones to do something like this but Carrick had a feeling this girl was all attitude and as soon as the gun hit the pavement his tail unwrapped from around his leg and he suddenly wasn’t petrified by fear. Breathing became easier and then he even flashed a grin.
”Can we chalk that up to divine intervention?” Carrick asked Kai as his roommate picked up his money and his wallet. His eyes trailed over to the girl who opened a can of whooparse on the mugger and called them defenseless. Yeah, she was all attitude. He grinned, ”I don’t care what you say, chalking it up to the big guy saving one of his angels!”
The winged thief stared at the downed mugger for a second then wondered aloud, ”Would it be bad if I took his wallet?” Carrick asked taking a step closer to the mugger and pointing him out, ”Doubt I’d find anything though, must be desperate to pull a gun on a pair of kids…” looking over to the gun Carrick walked over to it and thought about picking it up till he realized what Kai had said.
”Yeah weren’t their two of you? Carrick asked as he turned to look for the second person hoping it wasn’t another girl. It was bad enough he got rescued by one girl but two of them? He doubted Kai would let it go and Carrick had no intention of ever letting it go.
Eyes trailing over to another figure he spotted a figure in a struggle the longer he looked at it the more he realized that there were two muggers… or worse… the shopping bag was fallen over and the contents spilt over the ground where the owner once was. She was going to save him, save Kai she was coming to help and she got put in danger because of them. Even in Carrick’s book there was honor and this was part of it. Fear left now his body now all that was left was adrenaline.
He took a step closer still trying to process everything and lowered his frame focusing on the girl only to realize it was that Elizabeth girl he met at school before, she had a parrot and was nice… Carrick fell to on all fours arching his back slightly, ”Leggo of her!” palms flat on the pavement and pushing on the balls of his feet. His tail flicked widely behind him as his wings opened slightly. If this guy wasn’t going to let go then he was about to get mauling like something fierce.
The girl beamed with triumph as the thug decided to walk away instead of fight. She had to admit she was a little disappointed though; she had gotten a little excited at the prospect of using her martial arts knowledge again. Oh well, at least no one had gotten hurt, right? One of the boys, the winged one, made a cheeky comment about divine intervention coming to save him. “Hmm, a little cocky there, calling yourself an angel. I’ll admit I probably wouldn’t have seen you without your wings, though...” She replied as she turned to face the two.
>>>“Hey, weren’t there two of you before?” “Yeah weren’t there two of you?” It took a moment for her to realize what they were asking her. Yes, there were two of them…? Haylee quickly whirled around and scanned the sidewalk for her roommate, the roommate she had specifically instructed to stay behind in safety. There was no sign of her. “Elizabeth?” She called out, her heart dropping to her stomach. Surely she knew that she could come out now? It was then that she spotted Elizabeth’s discarded shopping bag, fallen on its side with its contents strewn over the pavement. Her eyes drew upwards to the entrance of the shadowy alley where the bag lay, and she made out two struggling silhouettes.
No way… the seventeen-year-old thought as she started for the alley. The angel kid seemed to have also realized what was going on, extending his wings and tail in attack mode. Wasn’t this the kid who was cowering with his tail wrapped around his legs just a few moments ago? “Hey buddy, I’d advise you let go of her. Didn’t you see what just happened to your friend?”
Posted by Liz Sundance on Jul 10, 2010 16:27:27 GMT -6
X-Men
Metazoa
Chartreuse
Straight
949
9
Apr 12, 2024 15:17:35 GMT -6
Zek
Surprisingly level-headed, considering her circumstances and her history, Elizabeth nearly surrendered. Great. My record remains unbroken. Okay, from now on, I’m never leaving the mansion again! The damsel-in-distress tried biting the man’s hand, but it was too firm against her mouth. She could lick him, but that didn’t sound like a good idea. She tried smashing her heel down on the thug’s instep but the guy started dragging her backwards, making her lose her footing for a bit. She tried elbowing the guy, but his thickly muscled arms had hers pinned firmly against her body. She was powerless.
Then, even as they traveled deeper into the alley, like a warrior angel from heaven, Carrick stepped forward and then fell on the ground, like a bull about to charge. His wings opened a bit and his tail began waving around, making Liz assume that he was a little agitated or something. She was by no means a human empath. But he looked and sounded so adorable! Much the way an angry kitten did. And his voice, laden with an Irish accent sent chills down her spine even as he demanded her abductor to release her.
Then Haylee stepped forward. Haylee definitely did not look like an angry kitten. She looked more like a stalking tiger. And she sounded far from adorable. That’s right Haylee, you go girl! Tell ‘im! Liz thought. Surely Haylee could do something about this! From what she’d told Liz about her power, it seemed like it’d be able to stop these guys, even if her awesome fighting skills couldn’t. No offense to Carrick, but he just didn’t look like he could take the guy on. The man who had captured her gave no indication that he’d even heard the mutants. He kept dragging her back toward the end of the alley. Liz wished she could see her captor’s face, wondering what he must be feeling.
Then two things caught her eyes.
Even as Liz got farther away, another man stepped out of the shadows and took less then a second to aim and shoot at the tip of a feather at the end of one of Carrick’s wings. It was silent threat, mainly because the gun used had a silencer on it. The newer man stepped backwards as well.
Then, as she was picked up and thrown into a dark, generic van, Beth clapped her hands together, right before sprawling out on the floor. The man who had captured her and the gunman quickly hopped into the van and slid the door shut. As they set to work duct taping the blonde’s hands and feet together, as well as a strip over her mouth, the van lurched into motion and a third man, the driver, sent the vehicle roaring towards the entrance to the alley and toward the street.
Carrick and the warrior-karate girl raced ahead, yelling at the assailants. Kai was a couple of steps behind the other two as they hurried over to the fallen shopping bag and towards the sounds and silhouettes of the struggle. Now that his fear was fading from the near mugging- gone almost shooting incident, he felt incredibly guilty over putting his rescuers in danger. He had to save them now! (Reciprocity and honor demanded these things.)
In any case, those few moments of hesitation and the few extra yards that he was away positioned him perfectly to witness the giant, sketchy green van squeal around the corner and take off into the night. The only business that van had was the up-to-no-good kind. Kai had a feeling that they were too late in reaching the alley. The other girl was gone.
“A van!” He huffed as he caught his breath after the short sprint and rejoined the duo of mutants. Side note: I need to run more often, my lung capacity is like zero. “I think they took her. But they went thataway!”
He pointed, indicating the direction the van had taken. “What do we do now? How do we follow them?” Kai investigated his feet and knew that they would never be made to run fast enough to catch a racing van, not in a million years.
They were moving backwards and Carrick’s attention snapped to the feather that broke in half with from a fast moving object. He blinked once and his jaw dropped slightly, it didn’t harm him only pointed out how weak he was at this time. The tip of the feather swayed in the air and slowly dropped to the ground. The feather tip landed softly on the ground and he looked back to see Elizabeth getting dragged into the van. He saw her hands clap together as the men jumped into the van and slammed the doors shut. His heart sank… she was gone… gone but not lost he knew where one of his rescuers were she was still in that van. She wasn’t out of reach yet.
Carrick’s tail shot straight back as he tensed his muscles in his feet and in his hands. He looked to the van and let out a loud piercing screech that sounded like an eagle. His attention fixed solely on the van as it started to get further and further away. He didn’t have a lot of time, but luckily his shifts never took long. A familiar pain that signaled he was about to get bigger, faster and stronger, the familiar pain that meant he was about to become his better half.
Skin bubbling and his facial features stretching and altering as he let out another screech in pain, his tail stretched backwards as his fingernails started to dig into the ground he was on. The clothes and shoes on his person constricted and attempted to stop the shifting but they didn’t stand a chance.
The sound of his clothing tearing meant that the shift was nearly completed. His skin continued to bubble and ripple as his human skin started to become altered and hairy his feet turned into paws as his fingers that were trying to dig into the concrete became white and sharp. Seconds passed and his facial features started to look far more animalistic, his nose started to grow and stretch turning into a god color as it started to beak. His ears became furry and feathered as they turned out and stretched upwards as each of his wings extended a few feet outward.
The bubbling stopped and his pain ceased, the shift was now completed and he was in his second skin, another screech louder than before and his wings stretched out lifting dirt and dust. His bird head turned to the side as he looked at Kai then to the woman that had saved him and his roommate. He let out a string of chirps and flapped his wings once then twice and his lion like paws pushed off the ground and he was in the air.
Another flap of his wings and he set off after the van far faster than he could have hopped in his shifted form. Even though it already had a few minutes head start on him he caught up to the vehicle quickly, while the van was restricted to the roads and turns the roads presented Carrick had no need to follow the rules of the road. Where he was there was no traffic lights no rules of the sky. He was the only one there and had no need to slow.
Eyes locked onto the van under him Carrick flapped his wings and kept pace waiting briefly for the van to slow or come to a stop. Last thing he wanted was to hurt Elizabeth by putting her into a car accident but if they ended up getting to far away from Kai and the other girl then he would have to make a move, he only had a half hour in his shifted form after all then he would have to land and he wouldn’t be a ton of help to anyone then.
Haylee let out a shriek when she heard the gunshot, and abruptly stopped in her tracks. The angel kid… he had been shot at. Time seemed to halt for a second as one of his feathers floated to the ground. Then everything moved quickly again, and Elizabeth was forced into a shady van while Haylee could only watch; one of the men still had his gun out. She swore under her breath as the van started moving away, and turned to the two other boys. “We…we need to do something! Tell the police or—or,” but she knew by then it would be impossible to find Liz. New York was a huge, sprawling city; it could take days to find her if they delayed with something like that. They needed to help her now.
It appeared that the boy with wings had the same thoughts. He…he started changing. Something was happening to his skin, and it was causing him pain. The seventeen-year-old looked at his companion for answers, but there seemed to be no concern. Maybe this is part of his mutation. After a few screeches and the tearing of his clothes, he seemed to be done. He was… now a gryphon? With a few chirps he flew off. Without thinking, she discarded her belongings and started running, going in the same direction as the gryphon boy. Running towards where the van had driven off to. What are you doing? You’ll never catch up to a speeding van! But she shook off those thoughts as she ran towards the street.
As she ran, a guy driving a small, red car wolf-whistled at her, but she ignored him and ran on past until a light bulb thought struck her. It was reckless, it was illegal, and it was…genius. She swiftly spun around and started for the guy again, who apparently had set his sights on some other girl on the opposite side of the street. He was stopped at a red light, so Haylee acted fast. “Hey guy, I need to borrow your car,” the girl said as she opened his door and yanked him out by his cheap polo shirt. “What the—?” The man exclaimed as she clambered into his car and quickly shut the door. She had worked quickly, and the guy had no idea what had just happened until she started driving away. Abuse was shouted at her as she scanned the streets for the gryphon or the green van.
It suddenly occurred to her that she should probably pick up the other boy, the one who had been left in the alley. Hopefully he had followed suit and started moving too, so she didn’t have to drive all the way back to get him.
