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 Pharoah Dynasty
An ancient sorceress is on a quest to bring her long-lost warrior-king to the modern era in a bid for global domination. Can the heroes of the modern world stop her before all is lost?
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.
>>"There might come a time when you'll need to know how to defend yourself. What I said to that woman, about it being dangerous out on the streets for people like us, it wasn't a lie." Chris nodded, but didn't really look encouraged by the words. "I know, but I'm just... not that good with the whole self-defence part." Unless you count running away and hiding as self-defence, he added for himself. He wondered for a moment what it would be like to be like Meld - to have a mutation that actually could be useful when you had to defend yourself.
Then he listened when Meld and mr Davids when they talked. Fighting for mutants cause? Revolutions? Right movements? It was probably nothing for him, he decided right away. He couldn't fight with neither words nor blades.
>>"Now, what's a fearsome shark like you doing scaring little girls, anyway?" Chris turned toward Davids with a shocked expression, not really sure what the other mutant meant. Was he making fun of him? Probably not, Chris guessed, but he still was a bit fazed. He wasn't used to people mentioning his mutation in such a lightly way. And by the way, shark? What was up with that? "I... I wasn't..." he blurted out, and then took a deep breath and told himself to keep it calm. "I wasn't trying to scare her," he said, sounding a bit defensive. "I was actually looking for that pigeon you have there." Chris nodded toward the bird that still was safely tucked in under Davids's arm. And since he still was very hungry he couldn't help adding: "So... are you going to eat it or not?"
Posted by vampyremage on Dec 26, 2009 11:21:24 GMT -6
Guest
"Revolutions need guns. Rights movements need words. Any group with more of the former is the former, not the latter. Ask yourself which your cause is, and which you'd rather be part of. Me? I don't do revolutions... Though, a girl as good looking as yourself could always change my mind. "
Meld was getting almost used to people flirting with her by now, after Garrett and Pluto both. She was fairly certain that this wink from this furry mutant wasn't quite the same. She gave a casual smile and a wink in return. See, nothing to dealing with such things.
"Are you so certain this isn't a revolution? Consider all the hardship and oppression that our people have gone through. I would do anything to improve the lot of our people, anything. If that requires a few guns to be fired then so be it." As always when speaking of her cause the passion in her voice was evident. "But I don't think more guns are what's needed right now. What's needed is individuals to fight from all angles and fight with things other than weapons, and those guns that we do have need to be more discriminating in who they aim their guns at." She was, of course, referring to certain individuals in the Order, although she had no idea whether either of these two would get the veiled reference. Certainly she didn't think the grey skinned boy would.
Meld tried to smile reassuringly at Chris, attempting to give the impression that she understood. Being a bladed mutant cyborg meant that many people, children and adults alike, were frightened of her for no other reason than because she was different. It rarely bothered her anymore but she had first hand knowledge of what it felt like to be scorned for not fault of her own. "Of course you didn't mean to scare the child, Chris. And that is what I am fighting for; for a future that will allow people like you and I to walk the streets freely without having to worry about little children screaming in terror because of the propaganda fed to them by their mothers and by the media." She wasn't about to mention that occasionally the media's propaganda was true or any of the propaganda about her, true and false both, that had been on the news in recent months. It was probably better that they not know just how far she had gone in the support of her cause. Or just how well known her name was in police circles.
Posted by arrowatch on Dec 27, 2009 15:18:07 GMT -6
Guest
"So, are you going to eat that or not?"
"Me? Eat Dilbert? The thought never crossed my mind."
Anthony raised the pigeon to eye level and stared at it. The pigeon stopped cooing and looked back. There wasn't much meat on the pigeon... Nope. Not much at all. Of all the insolent things you could think of, but eating me? Besides, I wouldn't taste good. And feathers. I have much too much feathers. Anthony chuckled at his inner dialogue.
"No, Dilbert is not food." He affixed Chris with a red eyed stare. "And I'll thank you not to try and eat him whilst my back is turned." Subsiding, he laughed. Then he realized Meld intended to pursue their previous topic of conversation.
"Are you so certain this isn't a revolution? Consider all the hardship and oppression that our people have gone through. I would do anything to improve the lot of our people, anything. If that requires a few guns to be fired then so be it. But I don't think more guns are what's needed right now. What's needed is individuals to fight from all angles and fight with things other than weapons, and those guns that we do have need to be more discriminating in who they aim their guns at."
"Of course you didn't mean to scare the child, Chris. And that is what I am fighting for; for a future that will allow people like you and I to walk the streets freely without having to worry about little children screaming in terror because of the propaganda fed to them by their mothers and by the media."
Anthony almost laughed. Those very notions were almost hilarious. A revolution? The mutants would lose. Walking the streets free of discrimination? The very notion.
"Chris, you didn't need to intend to scare the child. You notice, you just startled her. She seemed all right with you to me. She even waved. I'm going to let you in on a secret." He mock leaned and theatrically whispered "You aren't normal." He stood back up. "So don't feel to baddly if you startle someone. It happens. Why, I imagine Meld here has a much larger problem with that." Then he took a breath and turned to Meld. He hooked his free hand in his waistband, elbows akimbo.
"A revolution that cannot be won. For every mutant, there are more people. And I know it's a tendency to see them as weaker then us, slower, unable to fly... But they are infinitely clever. And free of discrimination cannot, and will not ever happen. Have you seen this planet? Take mutants out of the equation, and they hate based on country. Take country out, Politics. Then religion. Race. If you only have one people, then wealth and social status. Even based on age! They are humans. We are humans, too. And that's the first step. It isn't them and us. It's we."
He had started gesturing with Dilbert again, like some confused pointer. He stopped for a second and heard the memories of screaming. He heard the howls of angry mutants and saw the flash of claws. He saw a woman most dear to him lying on the ground, dying. He remembered mutant flesh between his jaws as he vainly tried to save her.
"How many innocents have died in your pursuit? How many soldiers and officers have your brothers killed? These were men who did their jobs and lie in the grave. How many children are orphaned? How many widows?" He looked directly at her and stepped up inordinately close to her.
"I've seen your revolution up close, and I've lost to it. Being a mutant isn't a handicap, but it's not a ticket to godhood either. How many Jennifers have been turned to her mother because you, yourself, and these cold, finely honed weapons? If you can, with complete honesty, tell me that your actions have never caused such a thing, I will join you and yours. I will. But something tells me that, even if you were just defending yourself at that point, your actions previous to them were still your own fault. After all... You weren't always a living weapon."
Dilbert? Uh-oh. Antony wouldn't have named the pigeon unless it was some kind of pet. Chris had never understood the point with pets, but experience had learned him that people tended to be very protective over their pets. >>"And I'll thank you not to try and eat him whilst my back is turned." Chris quickly shook his head. "'Course not, mr Davids," he muttered.
Then he listened to the debate. This was serious stuff, and it felt like he didn't understand it all. Frankly, he didn't know where he stood himself. He wasn't a soldier, he couldn't even fight for himself. Of course he wanted to be able to walk the streets without feeling threatened or startling people, but it was as Anthony said: he wasn't normal. It wasn't his place to speak, so he stood quiet looking from Anthony to Meld.
Posted by vampyremage on Dec 28, 2009 15:05:34 GMT -6
Guest
It struck Meld as a little strange to hear the conversation about eating Anthony's bird until she realized that Chris probably hadn't had a lot of food lately. That sometimes happened with visible mutants, especially those who didn't have the skills to make themselves useful to those who would look past their mutations. Meld had been lucky, her mutation had allowed her to be of use and those the first couple years had been lean, she had never starved and always had a roof over her head. Of course, it was also the start of her downward fall, but that was the price for it all. "I know a place where you can get some food and shelter," Meld told the grey skinned mutant. "I stay there myself, its a place where mutants can go that need help and acceptance." Sanctuary didn't seem like the best place to recommend the kid so she didn't mention it He would be eaten alive there.
"A revolution that cannot be won. For every mutant, there are more people. And I know it's a tendency to see them as weaker then us, slower, unable to fly... But they are infinitely clever. And free of discrimination cannot, and will not ever happen. Have you seen this planet? Take mutants out of the equation, and they hate based on country. Take country out, Politics. Then religion. Race. If you only have one people, then wealth and social status. Even based on age! They are humans. We are humans, too. And that's the first step. It isn't them and us. It's we."
Meld shrugged. "Nothing can happen all at once. One small step at a time, so to speak, but no steps can be taken unless someone is willing to actually take them. Just because the cause is difficult doesn't mean that it isn't worth fighting for. I will not accept things as they are just because its hard to change things." It baffled her, sometimes, the defeatist attitude that some people had. What was the point of living if not to make some sort of difference in the world? And when was making that sort of difference ever easy?
"How many innocents have died in your pursuit? How many soldiers and officers have your brothers killed? These were men who did their jobs and lie in the grave. How many children are orphaned? How many widows? I've seen your revolution up close, and I've lost to it. Being a mutant isn't a handicap, but it's not a ticket to godhood either. How many Jennifers have been turned to her mother because you, yourself, and these cold, finely honed weapons? If you can, with complete honesty, tell me that your actions have never caused such a thing, I will join you and yours. I will. But something tells me that, even if you were just defending yourself at that point, your actions previous to them were still your own fault. After all... You weren't always a living weapon."
The words struck Meld close to home, though she didn't allow her feelings to show upon her face. These were the things she struggled with daily, knowing the children the had orphaned, the husbands she had taken from wives and the wives she had taken from husbands. But she also knew that they were necessary and that it was her role to make those difficult decisions and to live with the moral consequences so that others would not have to.
"Do you think I enjoy killing?" Meld asked, her voice hard and cold. She wasn't about to mention that she did, actually, enjoy the act of taking a life in a way that she was ashamed of, even if she had come to accept it. Still, she wished she didn't enjoy it and wished even more that it wasn't necessary. "I don't enjoy it, I wish it weren't necessary. Some of the lives I've taken have been for the betterment of the mutant cause and I do not regret them and I make no apologies for them and some have been in my own self defense. I am sorry to know that there are innocents that suffer because of what I have to do, but there is always a price. These things never come easy and they never come free. I believe that I work for the betterment of our kind and for all the evil that comes from my acts, there is more evil by far that comes from doing nothing. A few must suffer for the greater good of the many." The words were spoken with utter conviction.
Posted by arrowatch on Dec 29, 2009 0:36:42 GMT -6
Guest
Anthony was almost laughing at the dead pan conviction she spoke with. Each phrase was almost like rhetoric, parroted from mutant to mutant, and it had somewhere along the lines become the truth to them. And it was like they never looked at history. But...
"It isn't my job to dissuade you from your chosen course. If you believe that mayhem and murder will somehow make life easier for mutants like Chris, then by all means. But each drop of blood will stigmatize mundane humans against the mutant ones. They won't see you as people, but as monsters. If you want someone to accept you, you don't murder their neighbor. You build them a park." Anthony scratched his head for a second, unhappy with his analogy. "Or something to that effect... I am not really ready for a serious argument. Yeah, actually, I'm hungry too. We could totally get sushi, my treat, eh Chris? You like fish, not just Dilberts, right?"
Anthony looked at Meld, entirely expecting some kind of denouncement or continuation of the argument. Her kind (femme fatales) never did agree with him. Too bad, so sad, no losing any sleep. His challenge was written all over his face.
Chris turned his attention to Meld when she mentioned "a place where you can get food and shelter" - she was talking about the Xavier School, wasn't she? She had to be. In that case his luck had definitely turned - he'd been looking for someone who knew the directions all day and now he'd met someone who actually lived there!
But even though he should have felt overjoyed, he instead had a sinking sensation in his stomach. The two mutants in front of him were skilled speakers and he could clearly see their different point of views... but he couldn't feel that he agreed with any of them. Anthony's remark about "It isn't them and us. It's we." didn't really work for Chris. He had always known that there indeed existed a "them" and an "us" - and it probably always would be like that. People who were too different, who didn't have anything in common, couldn't coexist. This belief had been cemented into his core being and he was unable to feel that it could be in any other way. And Meld... Chris was thankful to her for helping him out and calming the girl down, but now he felt kind of... naïve. At first he'd been intimidated by her appearance, but her calm way to speak to the human child and her words about her blades being for self defense had sort of lulled him into thinking that she wasn't as violent as she looked. But when she spoke about "lives I've taken have been for the betterment of the mutant cause" and "a few must suffer for the greater good of the many"... Chris wasn't stupid. He knew that humans and mutants were fighting and that the number of casualties on both sides kept growing, but he had never met anyone who admitted to taking another person's life. The thought was not very calming. His own reasons for being in New York was purely selfish, he realized - he was there because he was hoping for a better life for himself. Chris couldn't imagine himself fighting or killing or sacrificing himself for a specific cause. Sure, he wanted a better world, just like everybody else - he just didn't know if he wanted a part in creating it.
>>"We could totally get sushi, my treat, eh Chris? You like fish, not just Dilberts, right?" Chris looked up from his hands to Anthony, a bit surprised. He'd never had sushi before, but he'd read about it over the net. Raw fish served with rice and different Japanese seasonings? It certainly sounded like a dish for him, especially that raw fish part, and the suggestion brightened up his mood visibly. "Yeah, I do! I've... I've heard about it, and I definitely wanted to test it, but I didn't think an opportunity would come so soon." His curiosity clearly showed on his face, but when he turned to Meld he was a bit more reserved than he had been before. "You were talking about the Xavier School earlier, right? I've been looking for it for a while, but I... got kind of lost. It would be great if you could give me the directions." He was still very thankful for her help, and would be even more thankful if she could point out the way, but he still had her speech in fresh mind. That in combination with the cold anger she'd shown during the debate with Jennifer's mother actually scared him a little, and even though he tried not to let this new carefulness show in his face and his words his hands were nervously fidgeting in front of him.
Posted by vampyremage on Dec 31, 2009 11:25:19 GMT -6
Guest
"It isn't my job to dissuade you from your chosen course. If you believe that mayhem and murder will somehow make life easier for mutants like Chris, then by all means. But each drop of blood will stigmatize mundane humans against the mutant ones. They won't see you as people, but as monsters. If you want someone to accept you, you don't murder their neighbor. You build them a park."
It was clear to Meld that Anthony either wasn't understanding her or was intentionally misinterpreting her words. She knew that social and oratory skills weren't among her best skills and yet she couldn't help but feel that he was intentionally hearing only what he wanted to hear and nothing else. That, and Meld didn't appreciate anyone trying to guilt her into changing her actions or beliefs. "You don't massacre people on the streets and you don't torment the innocent. But you defend yourself and your people to the death and you elimite threats to your cause, preferably quietly. But obviously I'm not about to change your opinion. My cause isn't for everyone and as long as you stay out of my way I can accept that." It was a shame really. The mutant cause could use someone who could speak so well as he could but everyone made their decisions.
"It would certainly be my pleasure to show you to the Mansion," Meld said, turning to Chris with a smile. In her mind the discussion about the mutant cause was over, she had said her piece and it was time for the two of them to make their decisons regarding it, it wasn't her place to force action on anyone. She hoped they'd make the right choice in the end but woudn't begrudge them if they didn't.
Meld looked back towards Anthony, unsure if the invitation to sushi extended to her as well. For good measure she gave him a smile as well and a casaul shrug of the shoulders. "I hope you won't take our differences in philosphy badly. I don't take these things personally and I hope you don't either." It wouldn't do to alienate any future potential allies. Besides, despite his views he was a mutant so as long as he didn't actively work againsther he was worth treating with respect.
(OOC: Sorry for accidentally posting this for the wrong character)
Posted by arrowatch on Dec 31, 2009 16:20:55 GMT -6
Guest
"Yeah, I do! I've... I've heard about it, and I definitely wanted to test it, but I didn't think an opportunity would come so soon."
Anthony chuckled. Sometimes he forgot that he was over privileged. It might be worth sticking around Chris, just to keep himself humble. As for Meld, well, he was pretty sure she wasn't talking about the school. He'd been doing research, after so many people mentioned it. And he'd learned a couple of things. The school had a reputation for being the buffer point between violent mutants. And that most violent mutants seemed to be part of some kind of undefined group, location unknown. He had the vaguest notion that she did know.
"I hope you won't take our differences in philosphy badly. I don't take these things personally and I hope you don't either." Anthony changed his opinion of her towards the end of her... placating statement. It certainly wasn't an apology.
"Okay, well, we are about a block and a half from a mostly empty Sushi place. I stopped to look at it, which is why the bird outran me, and I had to flank it. If the three of us hurry, I think it'll still be empty. Besides, the woman might have called the cops," Anthony's eyes slid over to Meld "so it might be best we make ourselves scarce."
Anthony put words to action, and began to walk towards the end he had entered the alley from. Anything to keep that Bergman chap from staring at me like the cat and the canary. I swear, Tony, you happen upon the weirdest people. And they are dangerous. Anthony had an idea about the fish gentleman. He wasn't joking about the shark thing. He was convinced that he wouldn't want to fight that man in the water.
>>"It would certainly be my pleasure to show you to the Mansion." Chris felt relief mixed with some anxiousness. Meld would help him find the place... but 'mansion'? It sounded a bit too big and classy for him to feel comfortable with it.
Anyway, he could digest that later (hopefully together with a generous portion fish). His stomach was growling slightly when they started to walk towards the restaurant. The thought about the police worried him slightly - during the conversation between Meld and Anthony he'd almost forgotten about the angry woman, but the aspect of her calling the cops didn't sound far-fetched in his ears at all. As they walked, a question that had been laying in the back of his mind for a while begged for his attention. Chris wasn't normally a conversation starter but he decided to ask it out loud - he was curious about it. "So... you both looked normal before you... didn't? What happened when you... you know. Turned? I was kind of assuming that most mutants were mutants from birth." He remembered that both Meld and Anthony had mentioned that they had looked like regular humans when they were talking to the woman. That would be the case for Meld - after all, normally people wasn't born with metal arms, hands or feet - but since he himself had been born with a visible mutation he had guessed that it was so for everybody else and what Anthony had said about turning mutant during a violin concert had really interested Chris. "If it isn't rude to ask about such things," he quickly added before realizing that it probably was. He'd never talked to other mutants, so maybe it was a big faux pas to discuss 'turnings' openly. "...it is, right?" he asked glumly.
Posted by vampyremage on Jan 1, 2010 13:59:11 GMT -6
Guest
"Okay, well, we are about a block and a half from a mostly empty Sushi place. I stopped to look at it, which is why the bird outran me, and I had to flank it. If the three of us hurry, I think it'll still be empty. Besides, the woman might have called the cops,"
Meld definately did not like the idea of the cops being called on them and now that Anthony had mentioned it, the possibility did seem like a good one. She had had too many encounters with the cops in the past and her face as well as mutations were well known. Even if they had the good luck of encountering cops that were sympathetic of the mutant cause and were willing to let Anthony and Chris go, they were not likely to be so understanding with her. For that matter, mere association with her could probably be dangerous if they happened to show up. Leaving quickly was seeming like a better idea every moment.
"So... you both looked normal before you... didn't? What happened when you... you know. Turned? I was kind of assuming that most mutants were mutants from birth. If it isn't rude to ask about such things."
The concern tacked on the end of Chris' statement would have been amusing if it wasn't so sad. What an unfortunate world they lived in that mutants had to be so unsure of themselves. "Its not rude at all," Meld smiled encouragingly at him. "At least I don't find it so. Genuine interest is far better than words of judgement." Which she had gotten far to much of, from both humans and mutants alike unfortunately. "But to answer your question, yes there was a time when I looked human. My mutation manifested somewhat later than most, not until I turned 17. You can guess how much of a shock that was."
It was a memory she didn't want to go into detail about. Even years later it was still painful, now more than ever after having discovered that her sister, thought dead all these years, as actually alive. Not something to discuss with strangers.
As Meld walked towards the sushi place Anthony had pointed out, she had to stop herself from cringing at the sound of a distant siren. Luckily it didn't appear to be coming in their direction, but for once she didn't intend upon a confrontation with the police. She'd gotten out of such things relatively unscathed in the past, but that could always change.
Posted by arrowatch on Jan 1, 2010 20:02:16 GMT -6
Guest
"But to answer your question, yes there was a time when I looked human. My mutation manifested somewhat later than most, not until I turned 17. You can guess how much of a shock that was."
"I can. I was a terribly arrogant fiend, and I was 17 too. Let's see... I was doing my portion of a recital, but as always I turned it into a full blown concert. My only saving grace was that I was incredibly rich and I could play the violin to beat the devil.
"It was just at the crescendo, when I started playing faster and faster, right? It kicked the dormant gene in, and I collapsed. I'm afraid even in tragedy I managed to be melodramatic. Anyway, apparently I began to sprout hair and my bone structure stretched a little. I went from an annoying little prat to a fuzzy annoying little prat."
Anthony did some theatrical primping and preening as they walked. "And I'm beautiful and intelligent and so very humble. And while we can't talk about me nearly enough, what about you, Chris? Tell us about your life? Why aren't you in the tropics somewhere, swimming in warm waters and such?"
He listened to them both, trying to imagine what it would be like when your normal, everyday world suddenly changed into something new and chaotically, frighteningly different. It couldn't be easy when your appearances changed overnight, when the old face you were used to see in the mirror every day suddenly looked like the face of a complete stranger. He guessed the same thing could happen to humans as well, if they got one disfiguring disease or were in an accident or something; but a human with an altered appearance was still a human. To realize that you wasn't human anymore - in a way he was glad that he hadn't had to go through such a shocking transformation.
>>"And I'm beautiful and intelligent and so very humble." Chris looked at Anthony's theatrical preening with a questioningly quirked eyebrow (or rather with the area where his eyebrow would have been if he'd had any quirked). He thought that he was starting to understand Meld's and Antony's personalities a little better - in a way, he guessed that they were total opposites. Meld was a very serious person; and with Anthony you didn't know when he was joking or being serious. Chris's grandfather had never been much of a joker, so it wasn't too easy for him to distinguish the difference. This time, though, he was pretty sure Anthony was joking. "Yeah, I bet your astonishing humbleness is part of your mutation," he said seriously.
>>"And while we can't talk about me nearly enough, what about you, Chris? Tell us about your life? Why aren't you in the tropics somewhere, swimming in warm waters and such?" Chris scratched his chin, thinking over the question. Then he shrugged. "Well, mostly because I'm more adapted to the cold. When it gets to hot I dry out." He looked down at his webbed hands again. "I was born this way, and my... my grandfather took care of me. We lived in Wisconsin, not far from Green Bay. I grew up swimming in the lake next to our cottage and sneaking around in the woods, it was a pretty isolated life. I think I was... ten or eleven when I saw humans for the first time, except for Gramps of course." He stopped and scratched his chin, a bit ashamed. It was embarrassing to admit that he was the king of Secluded Yokels, but he guessed it was pretty obvious that he wasn't a native here in the city or something. "He died a month ago and... well, I decided to come here. I read about the Xavier School and it seemed to be... you know. A good place to start at. It was either that or spending my life back home, going mad because of isolation; I guess it wouldn't have taken too long before I would start to talk to myself and forget to wear clothes. The official neighbor mutant nut-case." The aspect gave him a bit moping expression and he sighed heavily. "Anyway, my genes has granted me the gift of being like a... like a... like a fish on dry ground. I'm a good swimmer, can hold my breath very long and have really good senses in water... but on the other hand I dry out if I'm out of the water too long. I get rashes and my eyesight gets really dim." As if to prove his point, he squinted toward the sign of the restaurant in front of them. He thought he could make out the words "sushi" and some Japanese name, but he wasn't entirely sure. "The glorious case of Chris Berg," he said in a bit ironic tone. The speech had been unusually long for him, and it had felt weird to talk about himself for so long. He turned toward the others again. Genuine interest is far better than words of judgement, had Meld said. He decided to take her on her words."So... what are your mutations like? I think I have the general idea, but..." He shrugged again.
Posted by vampyremage on Jan 2, 2010 12:11:11 GMT -6
Guest
Mutations were fascinating things and if there was one thing Meld had learned during her time in the city it was that they were also widely varied and you could never make predictions about a person based exclusively on their mutation. It seemed that, despite his visible differences from the humans around him, Anthony was remarkably well adjusted and embraced his mutant existence more than most visible mutants she had met. It was a good and far too rare thing to see.
"No need to be ashamed of uncomfortable of anything," Meld assured Chris, seeing the look in his face. Even for someone like her who didn't read people very well, it was plain to see. "At least you had someone to take care of my, my parents disowned me the moment they found out I was a mutant." It was a little more complicated than that, actually, given that she had run away from home the moment she discovered it and they had thought her dead for several years. It wasn't until she came back to confront them that they had actually disowned her, but the two of them didn't really need to know the full story.
Now talking about her mutation was something else entirely and Meld was happy to elaborate on what she could do. "I create and merge with flesh melds." By way of demonstration she lifted her metal arm. "I made this myself. Designed and then forged it. My mutation allows me to replace my limbs with limbs of my own creation." She swiveled her tail to look at Chris and blinked her ruby red tail eye at him. "My tail is my newest addition."
"I made this myself. Designed and then forged it. My mutation allows me to replace my limbs with limbs of my own creation." Meld swiveled that jeweled looking nightmare towards Chris. Then it blinked. Of course it did. Like it wasn't creepy enough. "My tail is my newest addition."
"Takes nerves of steel to decide to replace your body with an artificial one. I imagine one day all that will be left is your brain." Anthony pantomimed robotic stiffness. "Resistance is futile."
In truth, it ran a couple times around Anthony's mind. Humor aside, he realized he had been all too right, earlier. This woman had turned herself into a killing machine. You don't go out of your way to build utterly lethal weapons, then install them in, on, and around yourself, unless your intending to kill.
Chris had been born a mutant, in a secluded place. He had never had his chance to be normal. Anthony hadn't had a choice, his (relatively) normal life taken from him. But Meld? She didn't even use her given name anymore. She had become her mutation. And that it might take her over... Resistance is futile.
"What I forget is that some people didn't grow up rich and powerful. Things like sushi, I take for granted. Luckily, I know how to cook. I buy chicken or beef, marinade it, add some garlic salt, and roast it. Bake a potato, I like mine overdone, and add butter." Anthony was trying to distract himself. He didn't know Meld well enough to speculate about her, and liked her enough not to pry into what was probably a sour subject. He turned to Chris. "Best thing you can do is learn simple to make foods that you'll enjoy, and buy the ingredients raw. Or you can always chase a pigeon, most people hate them anyway."
Closing in on the sushi shop, he jauntily ran forward to the door, and opened it with a flourish. He then held it open and stepped to one side, with a bow, Dilbert almost brushing his knees, and held position there.
"Ladies and Gentlemerman, I present... Umm..." Anthony stole a glance at the door. "The House of Sushi. House of Sushi? How quaint. Next we should visit the Place with Ice cream and maybe We Have Coffee." He straightened up, sighed, and held the door.