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 Kealey Shinbo on May 26, 2010 23:43:11 GMT -6
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Jules
Self defense training. Kealey looked around the room again, this definitely looked like the type of place a person would go to do such a thing. She studied Shin, sitting across from her, still as serious as Kealey had ever seen him. With those feelings, Kealey couldn’t help but feel the same way and she nodded her head.
”As good a time as ever.” she said, a small smile turning up the corners of her mouth. It wasn’t a laughing matter, but Kealey was excited. Maybe if she knew how to defend herself, just a little, she wouldn’t have to be so scared anymore. The next time someone like Roland came around, she could handle it on her own instead of needing someone else to risk their safety for her.
Kealey shifted slightly, and realized there was a small problem. She’d dressed to work in the library all day.
The outfit wasn’t horrible, but the shirt was a long button-up affair, almost a dress that she’d donned over a matching cami and black leggings. ”Hold on a second, though, I’m not really dressed for this.”
In a few moments, the outer shirt was gone and Kealey was settling back down on the floor in the purple camisole and leggings. Convenient that she’d worn something that could double as work out clothes. The blond filed the idea away for later…business wear that could be quickly accessorized or used for athletics. It was summer vacation, but the ideas would be useful for next year in school.
Ready to focus again, Kealey grinned across the empty space of the floor at Shin, ”So, what’s my first lesson?”
Posted by Tetsuya Shinbo on May 28, 2010 16:14:19 GMT -6
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>>”As good a time as ever.”
"I realize I'm not the greatest teacher," Shin stated, thinly, "But I'll do my best."
He met her small smile with one of his own.
If training with Twyla and Kasumi had taught him anything, it was that he had to have confidence in himself. Even if he wasn't sure how good a job he was doing, teaching them what he knew, he had to believe he could help. Maybe teaching skills would come with practice. He hoped she'd bear with him until he got better.
He'd try not to spend several hours practicing rolling, until then.
First things first, though. Kealey was onto something with the outfit. What was he wearing... hmm... and would it work for working out? Shin looked down at himself. He was wearing a pink tank top under a white and pink polka-dotted hoodie. He also wore a pair of tan cargo pants with blue and white polka-dot cut-outs along the sides. Shin followed Kealey's example, and took off his shirt. The tank and the pants would have to do.
Dressed for success, Kealey asked him what next.
"Which would you rather learn about first?" He replied. "Jujitsu or boxing?"
Posted by Kealey Shinbo on May 28, 2010 16:53:54 GMT -6
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Jules
Shin was still a little more serious than Kealey was used to, but he was confident. Because of her powers, that made Kealey confident as well.
Once they were both in the most proper attire possible considering the fact that they hadn’t really prepared before they left, Shin looked at Kealey and asked her a question. That induced a new emotion.
Confusion.
Truth be told, Kealey didn’t know a single thing about fighting, jujitsu or otherwise. She frowned and tilted her head slightly at Shin, suddenly feeling a little apprehensive. Hopefully he’d be willing to be patient.
”Whichever you think. I’ll warn you though, athletics have pretty much always been the furthest thing from my mind. I‘m clumsy as an ox.”
Posted by Tetsuya Shinbo on May 28, 2010 17:02:50 GMT -6
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"An ox?" Shin asked. Some of the seriousness fled as he imagined Kealey meandering in a pasture. "That's okay. I can help with that," He said with a dash of humor and a dollop of pride. "Well, with jujitsu you can focus more of using finesse to take down opponents. Jujitsu aims less to overwhelm, and more to use an opponent's force against them. There's throwing, joint-locks, pinning..." He counted on one hand as he listed things. "It isn't as focused on striking techniques as some of the stuff you see on TV."
"Boxing, on the other hand... that's as much about outlasting an opponent as it is about overwhelming them when their guard is down. I'm more of an out-boxer myself. That means, I focus on keeping my distance, and hitting an opponent with ranged blows. A famous out-boxer was Muhammad Ali. You know what his famous saying was?" Shin lectured with eyes closed, and one finger pointed to the heavens.
A pause, for her to answer. Shin opened one eye and focused on her with a small smile.
Posted by Kealey Shinbo on May 28, 2010 17:48:50 GMT -6
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Shin lightened up a little bit, but closed his eyes before Kealey could grin in approval. Even if they were doing serious teaching and learning, the point of all this was to take their minds off the serious stuff. He explained, and Kealey listened closely.
Shin described himself as an out-boxer and again Kealey struggled to picture Shin as any kind of fighter. Just like she had the last time they’d been here. It wasn’t that Kealey thought him incapable of such a thing, it was just that he was so calm, so nice. Kealey remembered Shin telling her that he’d been an underground fighter. He’d worked from here, and it didn’t seem like the kind of place that took in people who weren’t serious.
Shin had asked her a question, and Kealey’s attention jerked back to the task at hand and she found herself grinning back and shaking her head, ”What was his saying?” she asked, then thought of what Shin had said about each fighting style.
The blond looked at her arms, then her legs, then shook her head. ”I don’t think I’m going to be overwhelming anyone any time soon….too scrawny. So let’s go with the Jujitsu.”
Posted by Tetsuya Shinbo on May 28, 2010 20:34:27 GMT -6
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>>”What was his saying?”
The lecturing finger snaked out to lightly tap Kealey on the nose. Shin smirked. "If we were to put it in Pokemon terms," terms Kealey was all-too aware of, he was sure, "The man's catch phrase was 'Floats like a Butterfree, stings like a Beedrill."
Shin winked, then paused. That wasn't weird at all.
"Basically, he was saying 'keep out of the way of their punches, then hit them hard when they least expect it.' That's out-boxing. You wear your enemy out, then you finish them." He faked an uppercut. "With a good punch."
Kealey checked herself. She didn't have burly muscles, and she didn't think she'd be able to finish anyone. Shin put the lecturing finger up against his bowed forehead, in understanding.
"Jujitsu, it is. Hmm... now, where to begin... in jujitsu, there are five arts to master. Those arts are... Blocking, fulcrum throw, non-fulcrum throw, escaping, and striking." He counted off on one hand. "There's also knowing how to fall. That one's super important."
She'd want to know how to fall. That was just common sense.
Posted by Kealey Shinbo on May 28, 2010 21:09:22 GMT -6
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Shin reached out and touched her nose and Kealey found herself grinning as he put Mohammad Ali’s words into language she could understand. She nodded her head, cheeks pinking up a little bit as she nodded her head. A hand rose to push a stray curl of hair into its place in her ponytail and Kealey returned her focus to the task at hand and Shin’s emotions. Definitely not as serious anymore. They’d retreated into the comfortable bundle of warm comfies Kealey had grown to associate with him. There was still a sense of seriousness underlying everything else, and the confidence that had began when they’d started to talk about training. The worry and confusion, the feelings from earlier were gone though and Kealey took a deep breath releasing it with most of the tension from earlier. Now she was ready.
Shin explained the technique further and Kealey nodded her head in understanding. If an opponent wore themselves out trying to hit you, they would eventually give an opening that could be exploited. ”You have to be strong enough to finish though. I made the right choice.” she said with a smile.
Next came a basic explanation of the jujitsu they were going to start working on. Kealey did her best to pay attention, and didn’t struggle too much. Shin’s emotions were very centered at the moment and it helped. It helped a lot.
Five areas. Blocking, throws, escaping and…..
”Falling?” a blond head tilted to the side.
”You’re going to teach me how to fall?” she laughed out loud, ”I think I’m already an expert in that.”
Posted by Tetsuya Shinbo on May 28, 2010 21:32:04 GMT -6
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"You'd be surprised, Kealey, just how many people think they can fall, when really, they're doin' it wrong." Shin replied.
"There are several things you want to do when you fall, to reduce the amount of injury. When practicing throws, and the various take-down maneuvers of jujitsu, one needs to know the proper way to fall. It's pretty easy to get hurt, otherwise. There's actually an entire style for falling, called 'ukemi'. It's used in aikido, judo, and jujitsu."
Posted by Kealey Shinbo on May 28, 2010 22:02:18 GMT -6
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Falling. It really was an important skill. Kealey’s expression when from joking to enlightened in the span of a few moments and she looked steadily back at Shin. His explanation was succinct, but insightful and the blond took it all in, digesting what her teacher said.
”That makes sense.” Kealey said, committing as much of the information to memory as possible.
Now that she knew the philosophy, it was time for action. Slowly, Kealey rose to her feet and stretched. ”Let’s do it.”
Posted by Tetsuya Shinbo on May 28, 2010 23:17:24 GMT -6
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"Alright," Shin rose with her. It was time to get started. "But first, we should do some stretches to warm up..." He stopped himself. Shin sat down again, and demonstrated a stretch. He bent his knees, and put the soles of his feet together, grasping them with his hands. He kept his back straight, pulling up his toes and sinking down. "This stretch is good for loosening up the hips. Just bounce your knees up and down on the mat for a bit."
After they'd done that for a while, Shin showed her another stretch. It was a simple variation on the same pose, pushing the knees down into the mat. They held that for about 30 seconds.
He demonstrated a few more stretches. When he felt they'd stretched enough, Shin moved on to demonstrating a breakfall.
"Watch this closely," Shin said. Still seated, he demonstrated a forward roll. He put one hand by his knee, and focused his weight on his shoulder into the roll. As he rolled, he kept his head in, to avoid contact with the mat. He did it slowly, describing it as he went. "Place one hand out. The other hand, you tuck underneath, by your knee. tuck your chin to your chest. While you roll, your ear should be towards the mat, but your head should keep from touching it, to avoid injury... Your opposite leg should raise as you roll. Your arm by your knee should help lead you into your shoulder as you roll, keeping your head off the mat. Like so," He finished the roll, landing on one knee at the other end of it. Shin turned, and demonstrated. "Once again."
When he was done demonstrating it a second time, he looked to Kealey. "You roll with your shoulder, and the larger muscles in your back, to absorb impact. Think you've got the concept? We can try front rolls from a seated position, starting out. When you get better, I'll show you how to do it standing up."
Posted by Kealey Shinbo on May 29, 2010 0:03:46 GMT -6
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Shin instructed, and Kealey followed. The flexibility wasn’t something she had any problem with, but she didn’t ask what to do when her knees already easily touched the ground. Pulling her heels closer in seemed to intensify the stretch, so the blond did that and soon enough they were done.
Once the stretching was out of the way, Shin demonstrated the shoulder roll. Kealey watched closely, it didn’t look too difficult. Chin tucked, ear at the mat, roll on the shoulder to avoid injury. Shin demonstrated again, Kealey watched closely. Then it was her turn.
Shin spoke, and Kealey looked at him with slightly wide eyes. ”Larger back muscles….What back muscles?” she said, shaking her head slightly as she arranged herself the same way Shin had been before he’d rolled the first time.
Kealey sat that way for a moment, gathering her thoughts and trying to get rid of the self-consciousness she knew came with trying something for the first time. It was hard, especially when you cared about the opinion of the person you were showing.
Kealey rolled. It was not as well done as Shin’s. The side of her head and ear burned a little, which probably meant she’d scraped them on the mat as she rolled and the ungraceful thud she had made when she landed meant she hadn’t managed to regain her feet at the end like she was supposed to.
Pushing up and getting her feet back underneath her, Kealey took a deep breath, let it out, and tried again….and again….and again….oh, and again.
The fourth time, she rolled down the arm by her knee, just like Shin had said, her head tucked. Kealey knew when her head cleared she was on to something and for just a moment at the end she managed to land on her feet. Then she fell backwards onto her rear.
Posted by Tetsuya Shinbo on May 29, 2010 13:13:14 GMT -6
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>>”Larger back muscles….What back muscles?”
Shin leaned forward, and pointed to his own. He offered her a good-humored smile, and no words.
Then, the rolling practice began. They practiced it many times. Whenever Kealey needed another example, Shin shared one. Practice was important, so they kept it up, even when Kealey fell on her backside. Why?
Because that's how they rolled.
>>”I was so close.” Kealey said.
Shin gave an understanding nod. "Try again. I'm sure you'll get it down eventually."
And on the fifth try, it was better.
Eventually, Shin decided they'd had enough of that. He was sweating a little, and tired.
"Alright. We can take a little break from this. I'll tell you about the five major arts," Shin announced.
He'd mentioned the five major things of jujitsu earlier. There were various types of throws and joint locks and disciplines... but he hadn't described them in detail for her.
"The first is blocking. The name says it all. With the art of blocking, you avoid damage by redirecting the force of the blow into a less-sensitive area. Say someone is aiming a punch at my head." Shin said, raising up his arms as he spoke. He mimed recieving the attack, guarding the side of his head with the side of his arm, and aiming a cross-counter. When he was finished, he lowered his arms. "I blocked the attack with my arm, and aimed a counter-strike. That's one good thing blocking's good for. Another is leading you into a joint lock or a throw. If you catch their arm, you can use the mechanics of their own body against them." Shin noted with confidence. "It is very difficult to fight one's own physical weaknesses. If you have someone with their arm bent behind their back, they won't be as apt at fighting back. Sound cool?"
Posted by Kealey Shinbo on May 29, 2010 14:41:21 GMT -6
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Jules
It was absolutely incredible to Kealey how much work it was to learn to fall. Shin continued to demonstrate, and Kealey continued to practice with somewhat less success than her instructor. A few times with marginal success reverted to a few more times no success at all.
Soon, Kealey was sweating, the moisture causing loose hair from her ponytail to curl up around her face. It kept getting in the way, she kept pushing it back, it kept falling again. Falling, like she was supposed to be doing. Another roll, another near success.
Shin said it was time to rest. Kealey nodded gratefully, pushing her hair back again and sitting down, legs curled beneath her. More information on the five major arts.
Blocking.
Kealey watched as Shin demonstrated, trying to picture the way a fist would move if it deflected off the block he had thrown up. She mimicked him, still listening as Shin explained.
Using the body against itself.
”Kind of like I can use a person’s own emotions against them.” she said. The more Shin spoke, the more Jujitsu sounded like it was the way to go. It was a good fit.
Posted by Tetsuya Shinbo on May 29, 2010 18:38:47 GMT -6
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Mugen
>>"Kind of like I can use a person’s own emotions against them.”
"Yeah, hey." Shin smiled. "Would you look at that?" She was right. And maybe with her power, if she ever got somebody struggling against his own physical limitations in a joint lock, she could use her power to ramp up that relevant feeling of helplessness. It was a good match.
Kealey seemed to like it.
Shin nodded, and continued. "The second art is the fulcrum throw. With a fulcrum throw, you use your body like a fulcrum, to throw the opponent. If you've ever seen the move where a guy comes up on another guy from behind, and tries to grab him, only to find himself on the floor," Shin mimed throwing someone over his back. Once the invisible opponent was on the floor, he looked up at Kealey sheepishly. "This'd be a lot better if I had a dummy to practice on, huh? ... Well, anyways. You use your body as a fulcrum to move the opponent over your back, lifting him kind of like a lever... most of these fulcrum throws involve contact. The non-fulcrum throw... does not."
"The fourth is the art of escaping... it's crucial in many forms of jujitsu, because if you enter a grapple, it makes sense you'll want to know how to maneuver within it, and get out of it. And the fifth... is the art of striking. Self-explanatory." Nuff said.
"Once you get more practice with breakfalls, we can get into the rest of this stuff. Do you want to meet a few times a week in the Danger Room, or...?"