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.
Noel caught an elbow in her jaw that rattled her teeth. This guy just didn't know when to give up!
Limp fish. Noel blinked from her half pin. The crowd had quieted and, despite her aching head and sore jaw, the memorymancer felt like everything was going to be okay. Slowly the strain in her shoulders was releasing as she looked around for the source.
Cherubic was the word that came to mind for the little girl. She was all curls and dimples and soft looking skin. Yanagi sat up next to Noel and looked at her too.
"Where are we going?" Yanagi asked the girl before Noel had thought to ask. Where were they going? It didn't matter. This little angel wanted to go. Of course, Noel wanted to go with her.
"Home, silly." They would all follow her. They would all follow her home, help her stay safe.
Something moved in the crowd. A person took a step toward the angel. It was enough to help Noel start to break the spell on herself. It was a long way up to the surface and she broke through with burning lungs and blinks. Emotionmancer. And hekka strong to have this many people enthralled. Noel could still feel a sucking on her mind like wet sand.
"Do you need a ride?"
Black eyes turned to Noel. Hadn't they been blue before? And her hair... hadn't it been perfectly curly?
"Can I go in one with a siren?"
"Uuuhof course. Let's go. The four of us." Nod. Nod. Nod. Noel pointed out the four she meant.
He’d always kinda been one to look after the little ones or kids who seemed to get picked on. Protecting the newest little angel seemed perfectly natural to Kai. He vaguely registered that the danger was mostly from the mutant half pinned under him, but he seemed to be must more inclined to cooperate now. But there were unseen dangers everywhere, potentially. They all got to their feet. Even Yanagi wanted to help her, “Where are we going?” he asked. And would have scooped her up in his arms if they hadn’t been pinned behind his back.
“Home, silly.” Kai performed the honors as a ride was offered and nodded along with the request to ride with the sirens on. The lights, uh huh. It made sense.
>>"Uuuhof course. Let's go. The four of us."
Kai felt honored to be one of the four. He set the princess down, because that was clearly what she wanted and walked the prisoner over to one of the patrol cars. He went without a fuss and climbed meekly into the back seat.
The slam of the door awakened Kai from his calm stupor for a moment. He nudged the agent, “Maybe we should bring him in first?” Now that he could think clearly, he didn’t want to be anywhere near the pyromancer when the girl’s effect wore off. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash. Small flames began to blossom inside the car… Too late. Now it’s going to explode.
He went to grab the little girl again to haul her to safety, but got caught in her gaze, urgency lost. “We need to move back, okay?”
Her eyes widened as she saw the flames. Then they darkened with rage. Or was it rage? Kai whipped around a made the one leap to the car, wrenching the door off. As soon as it was open, Yanagi’s face, which was contorted with rage smoothed. The fire shrunk rapidly into nonexistence. What was the problem here, again? Kai elbowed Yanagi to scoot over and climbed in the back seat with him so that the princess could sit in the front seat.
She took the place of honor proudly. All beaming and innocence she asked, “Fast?”
The singed interior of the car didn't bother Noel. She flicked a wad of ash aside and smoothed the driver's seat down so that the spring would not bother her. Though it was quite probable that nothing would bother her ever again.
"That one is the sirens. Go ahead. Use them."
The sirens would let them go faster. They needed to go faster. On that, Noel and the girl agreed.
Delivery boy was right. Dropping off Yanagi first would be safest, but if they didn't appease little miss princess she could turn them all against each other. A steady breath out helped Noel keep her focus after the the little angel flipped the siren switch. The car was still running (somehow) and so all she had to do was drive.
So drive she did. A tide of serenity washed over her as often as the girl's attention did. Enough "Turn left here" commands mixed with intermittent trips to la la land meant after a time, the memorymancer had no idea where they were. And for once it wasn't her memory.
"Stop."
She did it without thinking rolling to an easy idle near a curb.
"Let us out."
Alarm bells! She needed Yanagi to-- get out. He really needed to get out now. Noel should help him since Police cars were equipped with child locks on their back doors. She popped out of the vehicle and was assaulted with the siren noise. She'd forgotten it was even running.
And... if the noise had broken the girl's hold on her... "Oh Shi--" Noel grabbed for the handle to the back seat.
Like a chime, her small voice rang out clear over every other noise, “Stop. Let us out.” The commands were impossible to ignore.
Or was it? There was nothing that Kai could do to stop the car, but as it rolled to a halt without his prompting, he felt a crack in the hold over his emotions. She had powerful control over their emotions, but all that seemed to be slipping. Perhaps manipulating three people for so long in such a highly charged atmosphere must be taking its toll. For the first time during that ride, he was keenly aware that he was sitting in the back of a police car with a deranged pyromaniac killer. He also knew that they weren’t at a safe place with any kind of reinforcements who could help restrain said psycho.
The door next to Yanagi was already opening. “Watch out!” he cried and lunged against his seat belt. But he was disappointed. The mutant got out peacefully, as did the little girl from the front seat. Apparently she was focusing all her energy on him, which must have been why Kai wasn’t affected anymore.
As Kai slid out of the car behind Yanagi… his being the only unlocked door, he tried to figure out where exactly they were. Non-descript buildings surrounded them. They were in front of a rather decent looking apartment building. Everything else blended in with the other buildings. With one notable exception.
Kai coughed behind his hand and leaned towards the agent. “Is that a police station across the street? That’s good, right?”
Every heart beat slammed out of her fingertips and echoed in her head where it'd been hit earlier. She was just sure the car was going to explode.
But it didn't. Which was fine, it just left her unnecessarily adrenaline infused. The bad man frolicked out of the back door to join the scary cherub child and Noel had the urge to tackle him or... roll over the car or run a very long way.
Delivery boy slid out next and didn't look nearly as enamored as he previously had. He even indicated a police station.
Noel was still scratching her head. Cherub girl was walking Yanagi away and toward a set of run down buildings.
"What does she want with him?" Noel whispered back. Maybe it was the adrenaline rush, but something about this situation was making her twitchy.
Hmm… What does she want with him? Maybe she needs his power to rob a bank or…? “I don’t know,” he answered, also in a whisper. Even though they were free from her spell, or whatever, they should probably still follow her. If not for her safety, for the safety of others when she lost control of him.
They turned a corner, moved down an alley, into one of the shabbier buildings. It was dim, barely even lit. But the little girl moved with a confidence and ease that betrayed her familiarity with the building. Yanagi also moved as though he owned the place, but maybe that was just his way. Kai crept along the wall as they went down a flight of stairs. And no, he was NOT cowering.
It was earthy smelling down here, as though the unfinished basement that ran the full length and breadth of the building had a dirt floor. Or so much dirt on top of it that the difference was minimal.
The girl moved aside a rough curtain that was hung from an exposed rafter, revealing a tiny… well apartment, for lack of a better word. There was a mattress on the floor in the farthest corner and clothes piled in another. Some metal pots and a small wood-burning stove indicated which part was meant to be the kitchen. It was difficult to tell if this was meant to be cheap housing or if the residents were squatters, homeless if not for the convenience of an open building. Of course that meant that security was nonexistent- but no one had anything to steal, anyway.
There’s no way anyone could actually live here. Kai thought to himself.
Though someone obviously did. One of the piles of rags moved and an old woman appeared. She greeted them silently by touching their hands or patting their faces, then motioned to Yanagi to inspect the stove. He moved to it and immediately started a fuel-less fire in its belly to warm the room.
The police car was low-jacked so they would trace it here with or without their bodies as evidence. Not dead sounded better than being a body, though. Noel fished her cell phone out of her pocket and kept it low and casual against her leg as they investigated where the girl was taking Yanagi.
Noel's throbbing skull said that this was a bad idea. The dirt in the basement made her think of Arsenic and Old Lace. How many bodies were buried here? Was that cynicism or a strong will to not get mauled by a pile of hag? She didn't want to get dead.
She found her eyes drawn to the flame in the stove. The second the little girl lost interest in this game that was them. This was so a bad idea.
"What is this place?" She hadn't spoken very loud, but somehow it felt loud coming out of her face. That was probably the bump on her skull complaining.
What just happened? He blinked to clean his eyes and tried to see through the dust. Could it really be- a crazy violent criminal could just hunker down and heat up a crapartment for an elderly woman and little girl?
>>”What is this place?” echoed throughout the basement floor area.
What’s-her-name was really not helping the situation with all this negativity. Kai elbowed her, but not too sharply, in the side.
“This is their home, obviously.” He semi-whispered through gritted teeth. “Make nice.” He really, really didn’t want anything to incite the situation. Who knew what was flammable in this area. Probably everything.
Her ribs. She looked at them. Watched in slow motion as delivery boy elbowed them. Frowned at said elbow. If there were not a psycho flame-mancer near at hand controlled by the whims of a tiny cherub she would... do something to that elbow.
Her palm was sweaty around the phone in her hand. Her life line.
She was confused. And for once, she was pretty sure it wasn't her fault.
"Oh." As a general rule, RUPERTS did not allow unknowns to touch their skin. Noel tried to only let rag-hag touch her on the clothes parts. Somehow they were sort of invited in. If there was an in to be invited to.
"Can I help... something?" Rag-hag motioned for them to sit. On the ground? In the dirt?
Goldie-locks was bouncing on the mattress, but her eyes were all for Yanagi who was now idling like any good smiling yes man in a corporate office. What. The. Heck?
"Why did you bring us here?" It was the million dollar question, one she was afraid to know the answer to.
He was ushered in past the dingy curtain and into the central space of the apartment. He awkwardly shuffled towards the mattress which served the dual function of a sitting/ entertaining space. Kai’s backside hit with a creak and a small poof of dust. He wouldn’t have thought there would be any dirt left in it after the girl was done bouncing on the mattress.
Kai coughed a little and nodded his head in response to the customary hospitality question. “Water?” he asked.
Yanagi looked at ease, though he now had nothing to do and was kind of rocking in place. Kai couldn’t say the same for the agent. She looked like she was about to freak out. >>"Why did you bring us here?"
And for the first time that day the girl’s confidence seemed to evaporate. She averted her eyes and refused to answer. But it was pretty clear that she was ashamed of having them all see her… home, and she wasn’t about to verbalize her shame.
Why am I allowed to notice? Kai wondered idly, Maybe when she loses control of her emotions, it affects her control over…. He shot a quick glance at Yanagi to make sure he was still pacified. There was not obvious reaction, but his fears weren’t put completely to rest. Maybe it was time to make a graceful exit.
The old lady spoke up, “We are so glad you come.” Her voice was creaky and endearing.
Kai shot a glance over to the agent. “Yes… Thank you so much for inviting us, but we have to go soon…”
Delivery boy didn't look like he was on a dingy mattress in a strange place outnumbered by powerful strangers. He looked like any old kid straight off a college campus and ready for a good time. Maybe she was taking this all the wrong way, but Noel had a hard time not showing what she was actually thinking. And she was actually thinking this place was a hot mess.
The old woman's accent surprised Noel. Did she... actually know English very well?
"Sweety." It was risky addressing the girl. Noel didn't want to distract her attention one bit beyond what she had to. She squatted and balanced on the balls of her feet in front of the golden curls. "Is this your home? Did you bring these people here?"
"We need to stay warm." It was as simple as that.
The old woman coughed into her arm as she scooped water out of what appeared to be a rain barrel with a chipped coffee mug. This was so not sanitary. Did the old woman know any better? Did she care?
"Did you know that there are places around town that would love for you to stay with them? They are warm and dry and clean."
There was no reasoning with the little girl. Her eyes flashed an iridescent silver and her hair fanned out behind her. “Warm and dry doesn’t want Nana!” she screeched. Her fists made little balls. She jumped up and down, furious now.
All else was forgotten. He didn’t feel any of his bruises any more or even remember what had happened earlier that day. He was blinded by rage and deeply sad and anxious. Then he didn’t know what to feel. He knew that her control had finally snapped or run out.
Kai was right next to her, near the mattress, so he tried to calm her down as best as he could. He took one of her hands and looked into her eyes. He tried to project ‘calm’, knowing how other people’s emotions could have an effect on her- especially when her own emotions were running wild. “Shh! It’s okay. No one’s trying to make you go anywhere without Nana.”
Tears ran in furrows down her face. He couldn’t tell if he was having any effect at all or if anyone else was trying to help. He was totally focused on her for the moment.
So when he finally had a second to look around himself, he realized that in the commotion the biggest threat had slipped away. “Where’d he go?!”
The urge to deck the cherubic girl was directly proportional to the amount of bratty jumping and screaming that was going on. Stupid brat was making a proper mess of things. Noel's blood was practically boiling.
And the cherry on top? > “Where’d he go?!”
Aw crap. Noel left her violent notions at the mattress side and slid open her phone. She stepped away a few paces from the old woman who was now helping delivery boy sooth the angry beast. Somehow, the extra space made Noel feel better. Stupid proximity powers.
"Dispatch."
"Federal Agent Gage, badge 24601. I need you to activate the low jack on a stolen police vehicle. There are two very dangerous mutants joy riding. An emotion-mancing child and a-CLONK."
She had wandered further than the sheets that made the walls of their little abode and guess who was there waiting with an empty wine bottle?
Noel didn't fall, but it was enough of a bonk to make her stumble, loosen her grip on her phone and erupt a volcano at the back of her skull. He should have hit her harder.
Yanagi grabbed for the phone as the operator was asking if anyone was still there. Noel let him have the phone, she went for something more tender. And grabbed. And squeezed. And pulled.
The phone dropped to the dirt floor right next to where Yanagi and Noel had fallen into a mess of claws and low blows. It was a proper cat fight, so viscous neither party remembered to use their powers.
Screaming and crying and yelling and running. It was all too much. He felt compassion for the near-homeless- Kai liked helping people out as much as the next person, but this was a lot to deal with. He reached his breaking point shortly after the little girl hit hers. The agent ran out of the room to chase after Yanagi, effectively leaving him to deal with the old lady and the girl throwing a temper tantrum.
He had tried as many ways of calming her down as he could think of, a set of skills that was fairly limited considering he was a teenage boy who’d been living on his own for a few years now. He finally snapped.
“I’m just a GARDENER!” He yelled over her screeching.
She stopped wailing immediately and blinked at him in shock.
“Okay. You stay there and I’m going to go find our… friends. I will be right back.” He spoke with authority. “And don’t mess with my emotions,” he added as an afterthought, though he was pretty sure that she had used up her quota of emotion-manipulation for the day.
Kai strolled past the curtain separator thingies to stumble on… a fist fight? Apparently all the mutants around him had run out of juice. Personally, he had just run out of patience. He didn’t relish the idea of prying the two fighters apart manually, but couldn’t feel any useful plants growing in the dirt beneath his feet. Weeds and moss weren’t study enough for what he had planned. Kai fidgeted with his necklace, thinking at lightning speed. He needed to act quickly before anyone got hurt.
Idiot! He chastised himself. The answer was literally at his fingertips.
A sharp yank separated one acorn from the rest on his necklace. Kai bent down, dug a little hole with his finger, and dropped the seed in. He’d never tried to grow anything this fast before. He would have to sacrifice quality for speed. The gardener sat on the dirt and spread out his power.
If her SKULL hadn't CAUGHT metaphorical FIRE and wasn't SPLITTING into at least FOUR different pieces and OOZING OUT OF HER LASER BEAM EYES, Noel would not have fought so viscously. As it was she'd had one or three too many bumps on the head today and he was SO getting the wiggly eye treatment of a life time.
She was going to wipe Yanagi until he was a drooling, brainless— The floor started wiggling like there were fingers under the ground pushing the dirt on top around.
It was enough to make both of them pause. Noel's hand in Yanagi's hair, her other clawed into his arm and raking the fire out of his arm. Yanagi had a hand in her hair and his other was at her neck. They were so close that the moment looked intimate, had their eyes not spelled hate, kill, destroy, devour with a dash of confusion.