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.
She would have giggled at him, if she hadn't been just as uncomfortable as he appeared to be. "Four blocks... though, it will pass quickly. This side of town isn't usually too rowdy. A lot of old folks live here."
Which was half the reason she hung around here. Old people were far less likely to throw things at her, or call her names than some of the younger denizens of the city. Still... that knowledge didn't help with nerves. She still glimpsed fangs and fur every now and then from the corners of her eyes. Always got a jump out of her, too, if not an anxiety attack. Continuing on, she was at least grateful that all of the streetlights functions properly. It helped keep her demons away, if only a little bit.
The shadows and other dark lurk-y places Vicente was busy eyeing were the least of their worries, however. Trouble had a habit of showing up wherever, whenever, however in the New York Andrea was used too. That's why it really shouldn't have been a surprise when the sound of shattering glass broke the quiet night air, not too far ahead of them. Then came a high, screeching wail of a security alarm, followed shortly by the sound of running feet.
The poor Greek wasn't able to stop and think about anything logically. Instantly, fear overwhelmed her. Her snakes were on edge, orange eyes all locked onto the sidewalk that stretched before them. Andrea felt her whole body tense in anticipation, though she wasn't at all sure why, seeing as she'd rather turn and flee than pick a fight with anyone.
Thanks to the grip her fear had on her though, she didn't move an inch. Sweat was already forming on her brow, and she was having a hard enough time battling away a mighty panic attack. Two darkly dressed forms turned a corner at the end of the block ahead of them, sprinting full tilt away from the scene of a crime with backpacks stuffed full of jewelry bouncing on their shoulders. The Greek didn't notice them at first, since she'd squeezed her eyes shut, but her companion should have.
The two men halted a few feet away as the alarm kept on wailing in the distance, just noticing the Greek and Vicente after they had peeled their masks off. "Sh!t... Witnesses..."
A knife an a small firearm were withdrawn hastily, the gun aimed first at the large imposing Vicente... then swiveled to Andrea, and back. It's holder was nervous, clearly on edge. "Grab the girl... we can use her as a hostage if the cops catch up to us."
The knife wielding man took a hesitant step toward the still, quiet mutant with her hands clasped over her ears, eyeing the snakes that shifted restlessly and hissed at him. Sure.. he gets to grab her? The guy with the knife vs a freaky looking mutant chick with Medusa bedhead. Brilliant. Cursing his partner silently, he reached out for her while the other man aimed the gun fully Vicente's way.
"You just stay out of this, bub. We ain't gonna hurt her unless we have to."
>> "Four blocks... though, it will pass quickly. This side of town isn't usually too rowdy. A lot of old folks live here."
Vicente nodded. It was not so much the rowdiness around him that disturbed Vicente, it was simply the presence of darkness. There was so much hidden in the dark, things that were far worse than mere humans. It was a sensation, almost like the shadows was giving off a pulse that tingled the base of his skull and widened his eyes with fear. Dark, malevolent things stalked the darkness, that is where they belonged, right? Things with predatory yellow eyes, sharp fangs, and claws that could rend flesh from bone.
But the young man did his best to look past all wild and incoherent thoughts. His mind was playing tricks on him; tricks that he couldn’t afford to think about right now. He had to focus on Andrea, on getting someplace safe, then finding out just who the hell he was.
It was the sudden sound of glass shattering followed by sirens that suddenly put him on high alert. Vicente snapped to attention and tried to focus in on where the sound was originating from. He may not know a damn thing about his past, but he did know that that sound only came with robbery. His brows furrowed, the man tilted his head as he took a more defense stance with Andrea, trying to step in front of her and keep her at his back.
And not a moment too soon.
Men ran from the corner. Men with masks, bags that offered the smallest hints of glittering precious metals and jewels, and weapons. A gun was pointed at him and suddenly Vicente eyes focused on the familiar looking weapon.
>> "Sh!t... Witnesses..."
>> "Grab the girl... we can use her as a hostage if the cops catch up to us."
Vicente narrowed his eyes. Andrea seemed to be blocking out the situation and man with the knife was edging closer to her. The second man, the gunman, was shaky as he kept his weapon pointed directly at Vicente. He eyed him closely, staring at the gun, staring at him, and shifting his vision over to the man who crept closer to his newfound friend.
This was something he really could not allow. Andrea helped him, saved him from the gutter, and he was excepted to just hand her over to a couple of nutjob robbers? There really was no way that he could do that. God, if only he was just a little stronger…
>> "You just stay out of this, bub. We ain't gonna hurt her unless we have to."
Vicente suddenly snapped to attention. Something in his snapped into place, a muscle memory tinged his brain as he watched the knife move closer. When it was finally within range, he simply allowed his body to move.
Catching the gunman off guard, Vicente ducked before the man could squeeze off a shot. As the gunfire echoed on the street, the young man grabbed the knife holder’s wrist and twisted him around until Vicente had his arms firmly twisted up and the knife pointed at the robber’s throat. Vicente growled a little as he held the man up like a human shield, the knife digging into his throat. The man flailed, causing a nick or two on his throat while the other struggled with holding the gun up and aiming correctly.
In that half-second it took Vicente to move and pull off this move, he blinked twice and suddenly the hardness evaporated from his eyes. He looked as if he had no clue how he got to this position and seemed almost as genuinely freaked out as their two assailants.
“What the--?” he said as he started to straighten up.
“NO! LET HIM GO!”
BLAM!
Vicente snarled as suddenly he stumbled back, a gunshot taken into the shoulder and forcing him to drop the man he had twisted in front of him. Pain electrifying his body, Vicente fell to his knee, groaning and grimacing as blood began to soak through his t-shirt and fingers….
There was no alarm wail.. there was no knife, no gun... there most definitely wasn't two people casually chatting about how they were going to drag her off as a hostage. Nope.. not at all. Find your happy place, Andrea... find your happy--BLAM! To her credit, she managed not to shriek. The shock of hearing the gun go off snapped her out of her daze just in time for her to see Vicente holding one of the men. There wasn't blood, at least none she could see right off, but she could see the man with the firearm readying to take another shot.
“NO! LET HIM GO!”
She was too slow... She'd jolted forward to try and drag Vicente out of the way. To stop him from being the target the gunman was locked onto... but she was just too slow. The chamber emptied, a tiny, violent explosion propelling the bullet forward. It found purchase in her companions shoulder, and sent him to a knee. "NO!" The fear in her was quickly overwhelmed by anger. Rage that she'd led poor Vicente into such trouble to begin with. Fury that she'd been too slow to stop him from getting shot...
"ENOUGH!" Ripping her glasses from her face as her serpents whipped into a frenzy, hissing and striking out in every direction. The gunman turned his attention to her, noticed for the first time that she'd had glasses on before, and made the mistake of looking into furious orange eyes. He toppled over on unsteady legs a second later, gravity pulling him swiftly to the sidewalk.
Satisfied that the immediate threat was take care of, she dropped to her own knees before Vicente. Worry, with a tinge of fear, laced through her eyes, and she turned to inspecting how bad the wound was. "Are you alright....? We won't have to worry about him for a wh-"
"You @&%#!"
Oh..., her subconscious started, You forgot about the one with the blade... It took a little second for her to turn, nevertheless it felt like slow motion. The other man was back up on his feet, knife in hand, looking absolutely enraged. Little did she know that he thought she'd just killed his buddy. The anger that drove him to exacting revenge also drove the point of his knife straight through the fleshy part of her hand, as she reached back to try and stop him. Her hair obstructed her vision at exactly the wrong time, allowing her foe to sink the knife a half inch into her chest as well.
The pain was... familiar. It served as yet another way for nightmares she'd tried so hard to bury, to claw their way back to the surface. As the Greek fell over onto her side, slipping away from the knife that has injured her, Vana arched his head back and spat a stream of venom at the attacker. It raced by, splashing in a straight line across the front of the man's shirt.
"Ah! *@#%$!!" Turning, the thief moved to pounce upon his fallen friends gun...
Vicente groaned, sitting on his knees as she felt shaky from head to toe. He had never been shot before (well, at least as far as he could remember), so this pain and the sensations that flooded his mind were both new and strange to him. His nerve endings were on fire, but so localized was the pain from the gun shot that that was all he could focus on. His knees were cold and hurting, his hands were killing him, his head was throbbing, but all he could focus on was the red sticky stain that adhered his shirt to his body. There was…just so much of that crimson…
All from one little bullet.
>> "NO! ENOUGH!"
Vicente almost didn’t hear her but she shouted just enough to force him to tear his attention away from his shoulder. Looking up he watched as sudden his green-skinned friend ripped off her sunglasses and glare with the hatred of a hundred blazing suns. Vicente wanted to tell her no, to stop before she got herself hurt. But, just as he opened his mouth, suddenly he saw something fall like a sack of potatoes out of the corner of his eye.
The fall was hard to miss. The gunman, the one who had just plugged Vicente, stiffened up and then fell over with a thud. Obvious, the young man was shocked by this since he had no idea as to what happened. But Andrea, she seemed almost pleased with the results. As soon as the man was down, she dropped to her knees next to him.
>> "Are you alright....? We won't have to worry about him for a wh-"
>> "You @&%#!"
He nodded to signify that he was okay, but before he could really impart his thanks, he watched as the knife man suddenly cursed and stood. What followed was almost too fast for Vicente to follow! He saw the knife being use, the splash of red on green skin, heard the hiss and the spit of venom, all of which was covered in a cloud of obscenities.
>> "Ah! *@#%$!!"
Vicente turned to the fallen Andrea, a look of unprocessed fear and panic on his own features. His friend! His only friend in this insanity that he woke up to was harmed. It wasn’t right. It was not far for the universe to pile all this stinking mass on his head when he had absolutely no idea what was going on. The sight of her caused him to ground his teeth as the cursing of the other man echoed in his ears. The man was scrambling for something; something far more destructive than a simple knife.
It was as his anger boiled over that Vicente felt the shift, almost like something snapped so deeply inside of him, as if it had come from the very core of his DNA. Swiftly he moved onto his feet and began to stalk towards the struggling man. But before he could do anything, if anything to stop him, Vicente paused and gasped. Another pain, far worse than a mugging or a simple gunshot could provide shot throughout his person. A sound echoed in his ears; the sound of the cracking, breaking, and reshaping of bone…
“AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!” he snarled as he slumped against a brick wall, trying to hold himself up.
The pain, almost like a migraine, was throbbing so relentlessly that he wanted to tear his own skull apart. Little did he know that that was exactly what was happening. Bone reshaped itself until all familiarity of a human skull was erased. Instead, in its place was the shape of a vastly different creature. When the pain had finally subsided, the body of Vicente stood in place, while his head was that of a brown furred, sharp toothed Grizzly bear.
Black nose sniffing the air, Vicente turned and locked eyes with his assailant. A might roar flew from his muzzle as he charged at him…
The moment the knife left her hand, it became infinity harder for her to pay attention to everything else. It hurt!... A LOT! She'd felt similar pain before, sure... and it wasn't nearly as torturous as the painful sickness that had overcome her when she'd first gotten her snakes... but dear lord!
On the positive side of things, it helped to clear her head. the deep, bleeding wound was a shock to her system that fully dragged her out of the haze of nightmares. She was able to focus finally, which meant that she saw Vicente doubled over in front of her. Had he been shot again!? Anger ripped through her, spurring her to push past the physical pain and get herself into her feet.
She made it to a knee, before she realized he hadn't been shot... that something else was going on.
The thief, who'd just managed to get the gun, also noticed the... change... in Vicente. The man froze like he'd been left out in a blizzard, gun pointed uselessly at the ground, and dropped the knife from his grip all together. The transformation was horrific to someone not used to mutations. Even to Andrea, who was caught completely off guard by it, it was a gruesome sight.
"...You... you're a mutant?" Her words were barely even loud enough to register to her own ears, let alone Vicente's. She started to get to her feet again, to approach him and see if he was alright... if... if something was wrong. The sounds he was making... the way his body had shifted... It hadn't looked easy.
But, before she even got a foot up, Vicente charged the man. She was struck once more by the furious growl that escaped his maw, now that of a bear of some kind, and froze on the spot.
The man, on the other hand, screamed bloody murder and turned to flee, leaving his buddy unconscious on the ground without a second thought. All of the things he had learned way back in the scouts, about never turning your back on a predator, flew right out the window as a blind panic set in.
The words fell on deaf ears as blind rage began to take over the mind of the young man, now mutant, who charged at the person who dared to hurt his new and only friend. Vicente was a man on a mission as he charged after the knife man, snapping his jaws and roaring with such ferocity that it shook the windows of the nearby stores. There was no wonder that the man was running away, screaming at the top of his lungs to be saved.
“HELP HELP HELP!!!” he screamed as he ran away.
Vicente didn’t stop though as he growled at the top of his lungs, roaring and slamming his bulk into any obstacle that dared to get in his way. Barreling through, he knocked over trashcans as his target ran for his life. In such anger was he that he felt more pain ripping throughout his body. Both his arms shook and rattled with pain to an extent that he thought his bones were going to snap. And indeed they did!
So fierce was the pain that he slumped against the building again as he shook, growled, and looked down at his hands…to find a surprise. Both his hands were gone! Not that they disappeared or anything, but they had changed! One arm, from the forearm down was shifted into that of a blue furred paw, like that of a tiger. The other arm was changing to that of a writhing, red-skinned tentacle. Vicente breathed heavily, sobering up to realize that the man had run off and was long gone by now.
But, another thought forced itself into his mind…Andrea.
“Andrea…” he growled, moving onto his feet and moving back the way he came. He felt off center, his new limbs distracting him as his nose was assaulted by the scents and smells he didn’t know were out there. Most prominent, though, was the scent of blood… “Andrea!!” he growled in a worried, thick, bear-like voice.
He rounded the corner and moved slowly towards her, not wanting to freak her out because of his newfound transformation. He would deal with the fact that he just found out he was a mutant later, right now, he needed to make sure Andrea was okay.
"Vicente! Wait, don't--" Too late. He was already off on the chase, her plea went unheard. In an uncharacteristic move, the Greek swore quietly and hauled herself to her feet. She needed to go after him, stop him before he did something he'd regret... but first she needed to stop bleeding all over the place.
"...I liked this dress, too..." Grumbling, she swiftly tore a strip from the hem of her outfit. The length of cloth was then wrapped around the wound on her hand, after she tugged her glove off. Then, after freeing her other hand from it's glove as well, she set about dragging her fingers across the cloth until it had hardened into a makeshift bandage. It would provide pressure and a blockade to keep her from leaking anymore, but it hardly helped to ease the pain.
Tugging her gloves back on and snatching her glasses up off the sidewalk, she started after Vicente determinedly, hopping over the prone gunman on the ground who was surrounded by an incriminating scattering of stolen jewelry. She didn't make it very far before running into her companion again, as it appeared that he'd come back to find her. Taking a look at him, she really hoped he hadn't mauled the other guy or anything...
"I am fine... calm down, Vicente... we need to get out of here before police arrive." As if on cue, the distant wail of sirens suddenly appeared. Andy ignored the fact that his arms were no longer human-shaped, and latched onto the one closest to her in order to haul him away with her.
***
"Alright.... I... think we... should... be fine... now." Getting words out while panting and trying to catch her breath was proving harder than normal. Maybe it was the fact that she'd been stabbed... or maybe it was the fact that she couldn't seem to get Vicente's tentacle arm to let go of her. Damn suckers latched onto everything. "I should... really look at that... wound... of yours." With her cheeks flushed brown from over exertion, she righted herself from a doubled over position and tossed her snake-braid over one shoulder.
They were more than far enough away from any police officers who might have responded to the robbery, and at a bus stop to boot. They'd have to wait a little while for the actual transportation to show up, but with a bench close by and no one around to gawk at them, it was more than she'd hoped for. "I can patch it up temporarily, until we get to a doctor." With that, she started ripping off what was left of the hem of her dress. It was ruined anyway, and she'd need something to wrap around his shoulder to cover the wound. She eyed the feline looking arm of his while she worked, before sliding her curious gaze up to the... bear head.
He was a mix of a lot of interesting things, wasn't he?
Glancing down again to make sure she didn't tear her clothes any more than necessary, she finally managed to notice the half inch long wound just above the bust of her dress, which had helpfully been dribbling red all down the front of her the entire time they'd been escaping. Brow furrowed, nose wrinkled, and lips pursed, the Greek swore in her native language and prodded at the little wound.
...which she regretted instantly. The Yipe! that left her was both embarrassing and comical... well, to anyone but her, that is.
Thankfully, Vicente had found Andrea just fine. Bad news, though, was that she had been cut pretty bad by the knife when she was trying to defend him. The young mutant could have kicked himself for having let her get harmed in this manner. It was not right that she spend all this time, trying to help him, only to get stuck with a blade for all of her efforts. The very thought of it sent another wave of anger throughout his system, but Vicente did his best to stop it.
There were other things to worry about. Namely, cops!
The two had managed to run and duck away as best they could. With the oppressive night all around them, it was easy to find nooks and crannies in which they could duck out of the public view. Before long, after some masterful running and dodging, they managed to find themselves in an isolated spot, away from the sound of sirens and the sights of flashing lights. Huddled around the bus stop, alone, they finally breathed in relief.
>> "Alright.... I... think we... should... be fine... now…I should... really look at that... wound... of yours."
Vicente was far more worried about her own safety, but so far all his experiences with Andrea seemed to point to the fact that she was stubborn. She would make sure that he was okay first, despite his objections. So, silently, he nodded as he allowed her to look at the wound. The whole time, though, he grumbled. He was still shifted with a bear’s head, the arm of tiger, and the other arm of an octopus. What kind of mutation was this? Did this mean that he was different too? In the way that Andrea was different?
He sighed, not really caring for all this new information that was bombarding him.
>> "I can patch it up temporarily, until we get to a doctor."
Vicente nodded.
Hissssssssssssssss…
He blinked his great bit bear eyes and looked over to see the largest snake in Andrea’s hair flicking his tongue at him and slithering closer. Actually, it wasn’t after him, it seemed to take a great interesting it the writhing octopus arm that he was having a hard time gaining control over. Soon it seemed as if both snake and octopus were maneuvering in some strange, dance that was both odd and disturbing at the same time.
Finally, he opted to grab his own arm and hold it firmly with his tiger’s paw.
As he did so, though, he noticed that Andrea was ripping at the hem of her skirt, trying to grab makeshift bandages. Vicente blushed a little (though it couldn’t be seen under all the fur on his face) at the sight. She really was a pretty woman. Obviously, he would never act on such an impulse. He was more concerned with having a friend he could trust then possibly overstep boundaries.
He remained quiet as he let her work. That is until she started cursing in a language he didn’t understand. He had to admit that the large red stain down the front of her shirt was rather blatant. Instantly he was concerned but he knew that he was no doctor.
“Is there anything I can do?” he asked in his husky voice.
Turning back to the situation at hand, she nodded at his question. "Take off your shirt." She was unaware of Sloth's sudden interest in the wiggling tentacle arm.... or, for that matter, in the fact that Lust had been trying to free himself from her braid for the last half an hour or more. The little black snake had been smitten by the alley man, and once he discovered that he could produce food from where pink fleshy limbs used to be, he'd fallen head over torso for the male.
... Not that this was unique, since the snake lived up to it's name on nearly a daily basis.
Sloth on the other hand, was a little different. He only ever took real interest in things that were either dangerous, edible, or vastly interesting. This creature before him, with the scent of a powerful predator, was all three.
With the length of cloth in her hands and ready, she waited patiently for him to comply. Her own wounds, while annoying and painful, were currently being battled back by a burst of adrenaline. She figured she'd have a few minutes of blissful ignorance to the true severity, at which point she was sure she'd revert into a whiny, wibbling mouse once more.
Once he'd removed the article of clothing in her way, she set about checking the wound gently, and then winding the dress strip around his shoulder. "Try not to move too much, okay? My other... erm... power is pretty dangerous, and I do not want to accidentally hurt you while patching you up."
Gripping the fingertip of one glove between her teeth, she set about gently touching the cloth around the wound until it was hard enough to act as a patch and stanch the flow of blood. Looking at her word first hand, she was unsure of how effective, or comfortable it would be in the long run. Tearing another length off her dress, she wrapped the first binding again, and tied the ends into a quick little bow.
"There... that should keep you from bleeding everywhere." With a tired smile, she stepped away, and turned to her own problem. The little cut, which looked as if it were bleeding more that it rightly should have, was quickly patched by pressing the fabric of her sweater over the wound, letting a little blood soak in to make it stick, and then pressing her bare hand over the spot.
With her tasks complete for the moment, the Greek collapsed on the bench close by, and let her head hang slightly over the back rest.
"I suppose this is a little late, but... Welcome to New York City, Vicente. This place is always busy..."
He tilted his head as he looked down at the much shorter Greek and eyed her curiously. Did he hear her right? When he finally decided that he had, he shrugged and attempted to pull the shirt off. Unfortunately it was a bit unwieldy due to the fact that one hand was that of deadly claws and the other was an octopus tentacle. But, he eventually figured it out (after some cursing and wincing in pain), and pulled the shirt off for her.
He tilted his head, sniffing at the wound. It smelled of blood, obviously, and traces of gunpowder. A glance at it proved that it was not as bad as all that. At least the bullet had passed clean through. The other way, it probably would have been much, much worse.
>> "Try not to move too much, okay? My other... erm... power is pretty dangerous, and I do not want to accidentally hurt you while patching you up."
The marvel of abilities. Vicente was actually pretty surprised when he saw that Andrea possessed more than just having snake hair. Her very touch seemed to have the strangest effect. He saw the bandage followed up by it stiffening and taking on an entirely different texture. Suddenly, it began to feel pretty secure. Obviously it was not the best bandage, but at least it seemed to stop the bleeding.
>> "There... that should keep you from bleeding everywhere."
“Thank you,” he growled out.
>> "I suppose this is a little late, but... Welcome to New York City, Vicente. This place is always busy…”
Andrea slouched back against the bench and sighed, completely brown all over. His muzzle stretched into a smirk as he leaned back as well, bare chest chilled a little against the wind. Hmm, New York? That is where he was? Though he knew the name, he really didn’t have any sense of belonging here. It was just another city to him, a city that he happened to be in. At least it was good to put a name to his location.
Another cold chill ripped through and he glanced to Andrea in her tore up dress. It was pretty badly bloodied up. If they got on the bus like that, it was going to stir questions. Between the two of them, a shirtless man with a bandage could probably pass for more normal than one that didn’t.
“You should put that on,” he directed as he offered her his shirt. “It’s cold. And besides, it will cover up the blood better than your tore up dress will.” Whenever she decided to take the shirt, or not, Vicente would sigh and look back at his strange arms. “A-Andrea. I…know this isn’t your expertise. But…c-can you help? I’ve been trying, but, I can’t shift them back…”
[firebrick]“You should put that on, It’s cold. And besides, it will cover up the blood better than your tore up dress will.”[/color]
All at once, Andy realized that he was lacking a shirt. Yes, she knew that she’d asked him to take it off... but she’d been thinking about the wound. Now, he was shirtless... and sitting next to her... and not putting it back on. Her face darkened in color, and she meekly accepted the article of clothing. “...y-yeah...”
He had a point, she knew it. She’d been kicked off of buses before and knew just how fickle drivers could be. Still, the knowledge that it was necessary didn’t help with he flush of brown as she pulled the shirt on over her head. Tugging her braid out, she plucked at the shirt she was practically swimming in, and glanced at him.
“A-Andrea. I…know this isn’t your expertise. But…c-can you help? I’ve been trying, but, I can’t shift them back…”
Help him...?
Well, that was a pretty good question. She didn’t know much about other people’s mutations, especially not on how to control them. She could barely even control her own, half the time.
...but... she’d have to try, at least.
“Well... I do not know if this will help at all.. but when I find it hard to control myself....er, these guys, rather..” She lifted the great snakes head, and scratches him affectionately under the chin. “... I have discovered that calming myself helps greatly.”
The Greek, still attempting to smother a ferocious blush and get comfortable wearing his shirt, sat up a little straighter. Folding her hands in her lap, she tensed some of the muscles in her body, holding them each in turn for a few seconds before she let them relax once more. With a few deep breaths, she could feel tension slipping away.
...unfortunately, the more relaxed she got, the more her injuries started to hurt. It appeared that whining like a baby was going to come sooner than she’d hoped. Attempting to put a brave face on and not let it show how much pain she was in, she continued on.
“Breathing deeply... forcing the tension out of muscles... clearing your thoughts.” The snakes, true to her words, had visibly relaxed. Sloth was curled around her shoulders, snoozing while he soaked up her warmth, while the other snakes had ceased trying to struggle free from her braid. “It is a great way to calm thoughts, and raging within...” Blinking, the Greek flushed again and twiddled her thumbs in her lap.
“Uh... Perhaps it will work for you as well?” If not, well... anger, or perhaps fear, had put him in such a state. So... maybe the opposite emotion would revert him back?
Andrea seemed a fresh shade of brown, but Vicente didn’t comment on it. Instead he was thankful that she actually took his advice to put the shirt on. Though she was swimming in it, it made her look far less obvious than running around, wearing torn up clothing that was soaked in areas with blood. Though, of course, that left him shirtless and exposed to the cold of the night, he had to admit that he probably would have been more passible like this than with the shirt on.
When he asked for her help, Andrea seemed a little unsure. Though he had a feeling that no two mutations were the same (obviously), he figured there should be at least some commonalities about them, right? There just had to be.
That was when she began to talk about him relaxing and trying to breathe. Vicente nodded, figuring that it was probably his best hope right now considering the circumstances. She demonstrated and he watched as her writhing snakes began to calm down in the same manner that she was talking. Though they didn’t go anywhere (they remained firm on her head) at least she seemed to be more in control of them than she did when he first met her. If that was really all it took, then maybe he should try it.
A deep breath and Vicente closed his little bear eyes. He tried to focus on his breathing, his heart rate, the sensations of his body as they attempted to remain agitated at his current predicament. But, by following Andrea’s example, he indeed began to feel himself calm down. The octopus tentacle stopped writhing around so much, his tiger’s paw stopped revealing his claws, even the multitude of smells he was picking up with this bear nose were beginning to calm.
It was at the crescendo of his peace and serenity that Vicente first felt the twinge in his limbs and head. Hopeful, it ignored it and tried to remain as calm as possible. Unfortunately, the twinge was followed up by a blinding pain of bones popping and reshaping. Anyone else would have tried to sober themselves up so that they would have to not go through such a horrible transformation. But Vicente, he remembered that these were the exact same sounds and pains from when he shifted the first time. So, hoping that he wouldn’t change into something even worse, Vicente pressed on, grinding his teeth and focusing on the serenity in his mind that he found.
Soon, fur shrank away, bones looked more human, even his skull had shaped back into that of a man’s. When he could take it no longer, Vicente gasped and let out a long sigh of pain. Eyes flying open, he struggled to catch his breath as he looked down…and saw the pink slightly brown hue of his hands. Fingers grazing his face, he felt a human nose, a straight mouth, and absolutely no extra fur. He did it? He actually did it.
He smiled as he turned to look at Andrea, sweat dotting his brow as he tried to keep his composure. He was human again, and it was all thanks to her.
“Thank you,” he said with a small grin.
The upcoming lights ahead on the street past Andrea’s face drew his attention. The bus was coming…
The Greek cringed. He had looked as if he were finally starting to relax, even with all of those animal parts on him, until suddenly it looked like he was racked with pain. To his credit, it wasn't like the first time she'd seen him...er... transform? He didn't growl, or topple over... he just looked more than a little intense. She couldn't look away as he changed again, either. In a way, she was a little captivated by the whole process. Before her eyes fur vanished and didn't leave a trace. His arms shifted back to normal, not a hint of sucker or claw anywhere.
...in another way, she found herself a little, teeny bit jealous. She always did, when it came to people with mutations that could vanish completely like that.
Scolding herself silently, the Greek turned her attentions away from the negative to the positive. He was back to looking human again, and from the small smile on his lips she could tell he was happy. Smiling back, after swiftly wiping away the visible concern for him that had settled on her features, and set about trying to get herself to relax again. His shift had set her on edge again, but was easily remedied. "You are very welcome... It is very hard to deal with at first... when you find that you have abilities like that... but where we are going, everyone has gone through similar scenarios. There will be a lot of people willing to help you figure things out... discover yourself and what you are missing."
She thought of Shin, who'd been so helpful to her when she'd first shown up on the schools steps all those years ago. Maybe she would be able to track him down and get him to help Vicente as well? Hm... well, whatever ended up happening, she was sure that everything would end up alright. Whoever they ended up grabbing would no doubt be more than helpful, and Andrea herself wouldn't be far. Sliding her gaze from Vicente to the blinding lights of an approaching bus, she fished around in one of her pockets for enough change for two. As the bus squeaked to a stop in front of them and the door creaked open, Andrea stood and carried herself inside. As always, the driver barely batted an eye at her, or her companion. Once they were both paid for, she plopped herself into the nearest seat, casting a weary eye around the rest of the bus out of habit.
Nearly empty, save for a few slumbering souls near the back. It would be an average, quiet ride back to to the mansion.