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.
Posted by vampyremage on May 28, 2010 22:31:35 GMT -6
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The vampire was fast, faster than Meld had even realized at first. Not only was he currently dealing with two seasoned and very skilled fighters but he was doing so, seemingly without effort. It had been such a long time since she could remember having any sort of a challenge, let along a challenge of this caliber. The only disadvantage of having bladed metal limbs is so few people posed a threat. She smiled, a truly dark and sadistic expression.
Meld's tail true first blood, a glancing blow that didn't seem to phase her enemy in the least. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Aura graze the silver eyed mutant with her drill though it was little more than the merest of scratches. She was Aura's plan to fight their mutual enemy on separate sides, having fought by her side so often that the knowledge was almost second nature; even if her mind did not remember the countless battles, her body did. She was also aware of her enemy's possession of Aura's sword, a fact which caused Meld to growl in anger. Her friend had told her the story behind that sword, that Meld had made it for her and that made it special. No human sympathizer should be allowed to put his traitorous hands on it.
Meld saw the sword aimed at her head and, instead of trying to dodge it or block it with her shield as he was probably expecting, she brought her tail around in an attempt attempt to wrap around the blade and pull it from his hands. Unfortunately at the last possible second the direction of his blade was reversed, changing targets from her to Aura and the grab attempt failed. Barely taking the time to register the failed attack, however, Meld continued to move, attempting to bring the bladed edge of her shield up and into the vampire's chest. With a solid hit, her blade was sharp enough to cut through both flesh and muscle and even if the wound wasn't enough to incapacitate, the pain from such a wound would surely be more than enough to slow the vampire down to closer to human levels.
Aura had to give this guy credit, he was dealing with her and Meld at once, a feat almost no one she had encountered could do. It was beautiful in a way Aura did not have time to consider, it was shame the guy was so deluded however. Still Aura kept her Ace in the back of her mind. They ahd cut him, but the wound's barely seemed to matter to the man at all, and Aura feared to stop him their blow might well have to be fatle if his healing was to fast and since with his speed Aura considered it might well be hard for them not to kill him in order to stop him.
Aura kept her eyes on the Mutant hero while her Aura reformed her drill into a sword, shorter then the one the thief had taken, but it would have to do. Aura kept her anger in the back of her mind, the sword meant quite a bit to her, but anger would lead to mistakes and those they could not afford right now, as she had no idea this guy would not kill. Aura formed a second blade on her foot, she was forming a plan that she hoped would work.
Aura dove forward bringing her sword in a swing against the Mutant hero's left side, she barely had time to see the sword comming down at her suddenly, and already in the air, their was nothing she could do. Aura never saw weather her blade hit or not, she felt the impact of the sword, send her to the ground hard, if not for her Aura she knew the blow likely would killed her, as it was, Aura felt the drain upon her Aura, she stood back up, but knew she would only be able to take one or two more blowes like that before she was done for. Aura had to mentally admit, in terms of power she was completely outmatched, still she had to try. Aura adjusted her Aura to maintain her defense letting the foot blade melt back into her Aura. Aura took a few steps back from her opponent putting a bit mroe distence between them to better see his next attack.
Hunter was well aware of Meld’s innovative use of her tail from their sparring match last week. Here she had tried to wrap up the sword with it leaving her right arm free to take a swing at him. Fortunately he changed direction to attack Aura at the last second. This meant that she missed the katana and he was already dodging the bladed shield. He wasn’t quite fast enough however. Meld managed to clip him in the right side as he turned to attack Aura. The gash was probably around four inches long and maybe a half inch deep. While it sting like hell it wasn’t incapacitating and so ignored.
Aura had made two blades with her aura, one in her hand and one from her foot. Both were shorter than the katana and that coupled with the fact Hunter was about nine inches taller gave him a large reach advantage that he intended to use. Aura was bold however and met his attack head on with one of her own. Her blade connected with his left side but before it could cut deeply his sword collided with her aura with full force. Hunter wasn’t holding back and put all his strength into the blow. Aura was knocked to the floor and she’d only managed a long shallow cut on his left side, almost mirroring the one Meld had given him. He noted that her aura diminished with the blow and guessed that two or three more would extinguish it providing it didn’t return too fast.
Hunter took a fraction of a second to take stock. He had a graze that was almost healed and three minor gashes that were healing. In that past none of these would have concerned him but things had changed. Before he could afford to and even enjoyed taking all sorts of wounds as he fought. The sight of him covered in cuts and bullet holes and pressing on regardless demoralised an opponent. But it also cost blood. The girl who he had feed on was already dying, that was why he’d chosen her. But it also meant that her heart gave out before he could drink a large amount of blood. His body had healed the damage to his left hand from days before the moment the blood touched his lips and he was healing the wounds he received in the fight as they happened. This cost him time. The faster he burned through the blood in his system the sooner he would need to feed again. He wasn’t sure he could resist the urge to feed again. This fight needed to be wrapped up quickly so he could find help to stop him hurting anyone. He had no idea how he was going to do that, but first he had to win this fight.
Aura was pulling back. While his blow hadn’t caused her any physical damage it had reduced the size of her aura and she’d had to dissolve her foot blade to keep up her defence. Meld on the other hand was closing in and still fine. Spinning to face Meld Hunter swung the katana single handed aiming to get it caught between the blades of her shield. His free hand would be used to fend off an inevitable counter attack from a kick or her tail. If he managed to lock the sword in her shield blades he intended to pull it up and aside and then knee her in her bruised ribs. Where the shot to connect it would almost certainly break her ribs and force Meld to at least slow down if not back off. He didn’t want to seriously hurt her but she couldn’t feel pain, was a competent fighter and he was on a time limit. Pain couldn’t be used to subdue her and with Aura not yet out of the fight he couldn’t focus enough on Meld to subdue her without serious injury. This was the only real option. As he made his move he kept careful track of Aura’s position by singling out her footsteps. She wasn’t likely to leave him alone for long.
Posted by vampyremage on Jun 2, 2010 11:43:51 GMT -6
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Meld wasn't happy at all about how things were going. It seemed the vampire, whoever he was, was no only physically superior to both herself and Aura and, judging by the wounds he had taken so far in the fight, able to heal himself as well, but he was also plainly highly skilled. Although she had yet to take any significant damage in the battle so far, she could see that Aura's aura was starting to look a little thin which meant that Meld would have to split her efforts between trying to attract more attacks towards her and trying to deal damage to her enemy. She would not allow the risk of her friend to die while fighting at her side if there was the least thing she could do about it. It was bad enough that she had let her sister down, she wasn't about to do it again.
When Meld's bladed shield connected with vampire flesh, she did not allow herself to feel the thrill of elation that she had caused yet another wound. The wound, after all, was minor and, as with the others, didn't appear to slow her opponent down in the slightest. Aura, likewise, managed another shallow cut on their mutual enemy but like the others he didn't appear to even feel it. Perhaps, like Meld herself, he was impervious to pain? It would explain a lot.
Going in for another attack, her opponent did something unexpected, wedging his sword in the small place between her razor sharp shield and her metal arm, rendering her arm if not impossible to move then certainly impossible to use effectively until freed and there wasn't time to free it. In times past she would have used the blades on her other hand to take advantage and do some real damage, but she no longer had her metal hand, instead having a much less dangerous mutant hand. She was far from weaponless, however.
Instead of trying to pull back from the vampire, Meld went in closer, bringing up one of her bladed feet. Rather than doing something expected from a normal opponent, however, Meld did not attempt a kick but rather attempted to wrap her taloned toes around her enemy's leg, digging the blades deep into his flesh. Unfortunately, however, she failed to see the knee of his other leg come up and it collided solidly with her bruised ribs causing a cracking noise which she knew, even if she couldn't feel it, was the sign of serious damage. At the least she had fractured a rib and at the most it was downright broken, in which case any action she took ran the risk of puncturing a lung.
This was going poorly and it did not take the strategist in Aura to see, they would not be winning this fight and that was before she heard the cracking of Meld's rib. Aura herself was to slow to land a good blow this guy was easily twice her speed and healed whatever damage they did as if no more then nuisances. Meld a war machine of beauty in her own right seemed to be keeping hunter busy, better then she herself could but she still looked to be loseing as well, a direct fight was not going to work, but the man weather he knew it or not may have given her the blade she needed.
Aura backed up further, a sly smirk on her face, she had atleast fifteen feet between herself and hunter and was almost back in the church. She could see their were still people in the church, ay to scared to leave, yes their mutant tormentors were now fighting another mutant, but they had no way of knowing he might not kill them to, after all they had watched him feed on a girl. Aura grinned and darted into the church, her eyes sweeping quickly threw it at the people, Her Aura blade was out and she used it to ward off any bravery that dared gleam in the people eyes.
Making her way to a group of people Aura briefly considered just doing what she had come for and draw hunter away by killing more people, but no, this called for a finer touch. Grabbing a teenage girl's arm she shortened the blade on ehr hand but thrust the blade into her back anyway till her fingertips could use her as a handle which of course made her let out an ear splitting shriek of pain. Now all she had to do was wait. SHe knew this guy was fast but as she formed her Aura drill within the girl, careful not to hurt her further, to much anyway she figured he would not be fast enough to take her out before the death of the girl, which meant he would either have to let them go to spare the girl, if he was the hero Aura pinned him as, or let her and Meld catch their breath a bit before engaging hunter again.
Aura loved the dance and wished she, meld and hunter could Finnish it, but here was not the place. Still she could ahve fun and smiled whsipering in the girls's ear. "The time of Human's is over, pink or me, like the pig you are. The girl in pain complied and Aura considerd having bacon for dinner as she waited.
Hunter’s attack had worked. Meld’s shield arm was currently out of action and he’d at least fractured her ribs. However Meld was pressing on true to form. A taloned foot came up and went for a grab on his leg. Hunter was only barely quick enough to avoid the grab but not some serious damage. He had three deep gashes in his calf and she’d managed to cut deep into the muscle. Not even his healing factor could fix that fast enough not to notice it. He’d be limping for a good few minutes while he body knitted the muscle back together. However in the grand scheme of things he still considered himself ahead. Aura was pulling back and Meld had a very serious injury.
Wait, why was Aura pulling back? She couldn’t throw her aura at him and didn’t seem the type to run away. He soon had his answer as a scream issued forth from the crowd of terrified humans. This wasn’t a scream of terror but of pain. Hunter had been causing both long enough to tell the difference. Keeping the sword lodged in Meld’s shield Hunter backed up as far as he could and got ready to defend himself. He deliberately kept his injured leg behind him. Snapping his head round quickly he took a fraction of a second to spot Aura and her hostage before returning his eyes to Meld.
Aura was a good twenty feet behind him now. He singled out the hostage’s breathing through the chaos. Unsurprisingly she was hyperventilating. But now he could keep tabs on her without looking. “Let the girl go Aura,” he said. Aura no doubt had demands that would go along with the release of the girl. If it was just to let them go he would agree. It prevented further blood loss and thus was an expectable outcome. If it was for him to walk away then it was no deal. While Meld was far from subdued all three of them knew that one on one she couldn’t beat him. So now it was time to talk and see if this could be resolved without anyone else dying.
Posted by vampyremage on Jun 4, 2010 20:14:58 GMT -6
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Even in the midst of such a battle as this, Meld was aware of Aura pulling apart from herself and the vampire. She took the briefest of moments to blink her tail eye at her friend, knowing that she must have something in mind. She knew that Aura would never surrender and never retreat, especially with Meld still in harm's way. Death would be the preferable outcome. Her suspicions were confirmed as her brief glimpse showed Aura holding onto a teenager, pink knife to the girl's neck. It was good thinking and the taking of hostages had worked well for them in the past. Having compassion for by standards was a weakness to be exploited.
Although Meld failed to completely grab Hunter's leg she could see the blood from the deep gashes to dealt to it. Whether he was able to heal or not, she knew those would be painful and they would slow him down and anything to slow him down was a positive outcome. It was also the first significant would he had yet taken in the fight although she and Aura were still in worse shape. Meld knew she couldn't afford to allow her ribs to be struck again although she had no concept of how injured she might actually be.
Taking advantage of Hunter's distraction, Meld brought her tail up in a lightning quick flash, aiming for her enemy's neck and shoulder. Some might call her a coward for acting when the eyes of her enemy were not upon her, but to her mind it was taking full advantage of the situation. She knew she and Aura were outmatched. Aura had presented a distraction and an opportunity and she could do nothing less than take full advantage of it. This fight needed to end and it needed to end very soon.
Aura had fully meant for the battle to end, Aura viewed this not so much as a surrender, but a retreat. Whoever this guy was, could easily keep them both at bay if he wanted to, had the man been of they min set Aura believed they would both be dead or dieing already, retreat, even more so when one had no actual orders not to was acceptable as you stayed alive another day. "I Plan to let the pig go, i believe the pile of bodies has already proven our point as well" she said, smiling as Meld continued her attack, it served a purpose, Aura knew, Hunter could hardly move against her if he had to defend himself.
"I don't know who you are my silver eyes friend, but we will be leaving without you. I would love to continue this fight, even until the life ran out of me and i joined, my friends in the heavens, but i won't fall yet, I Made a promise to Meld, to help her rescue her sister, and we can't do that dead" She said evenly, not letting go of the girl quite yet. The girl barely moved which was good as Aura was quite close to being able to kill her with a twitch. "Oh, my blade will leave with me as well" she said, the blade having social meaning to her.
"Agree to let us leave free and unimpeded and this will end, fail this, and im sure many more of these people could die, before you kill me. However i must ask, is their a reason you drank th girl's blood?" she said recalling what the man did earlier. "It was beautiful to watch as you did that, in fact i would not mind watching it again. I Have eaten Human organs before both alone and in stew but the blood was never somthing i tried" she said admitting her own curiousness about it, even as she tried to pull herself and med out of this alive and not in jail cells.
Aura was in a mood to talk. That was good as the sooner this ended the better for everyone. However Meld was as persistent as ever and the moment he took his eyes off her he heard her tail whistling through the air. He just managed to grab it in time to stop her completely impaling his neck. The blades were about a quarter inch in. Much more and they’d reach vitally important things. Keeping a firm grip he tried to push the tail back.
“Here’s how this is going to play out,” he told the murderous pair, “Meld and I are going to back away from each other on the count of three. Then both of you will walk out of the church. I’ll toss you back your sword once you are both outside. You may take the girl as security but you will release her without causing her further harm before I return your sword to you. Then you walk away. I won’t follow. Are we agreed?”
The question of drinking the blood bothered him. He’d done it to save everyone here. While he might have had a chance against one of the pair without his powers he couldn’t take them both without the use of his abilities. Now things were calming down the magnitude of the decision hit him. He’d not managed to drain much and had maybe four hours once all his current wounds had healed. Not much time. Having given in to his cravings he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t be able to resist once the blood in his system was used up. He would need help go clean. All of that would have to wait though until he’d gotten everyone here safe.
Posted by vampyremage on Jun 5, 2010 9:28:52 GMT -6
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Meld's tail managed to strike her enemy's neck but not, it appeared, solidly enough to cause any real damage. The vampire's senses, reflexes and strength were all nothing short of amazing. It was his senses that were of most interest to Meld, the idea that he could perceive almost anything at far above human levels. Could she use that in her own flesh melds? A question for another time when her life and the life of her friend were not both in dire danger.
Aura began speaking and Meld came to the realization that this was more than just an act of distraction but an act that would allow the two of them to escape alive and in one piece. She did a quick mental tally in her head of everything that ha occurred and finally came to the conclusion that even if they were forced to retreat, which seemed inevitable at this point, they could still count this as a victory. Numerous humans had died in bloody, violent and public fashion and dozens of others had been injured by Aura's pipe bombs. The message had been sent and received loudly and clearly. When you mess with mutants, they mess back.
"I agree to your terms," Meld told the vampire in a deadpan voice. She took no further acts of aggression, though her body still remained tense in case he should be the aggressor. While she might have no issues with fighting dirty, once she gave her word of something she wouldn't break it for anything.
"Those terms are acceptable" she said as they were exactly what she desired to happen. It was sad they would not get to exterminate the rest of the rodents, but that to would serve a purpose. Living rodents could spread messages, a message it was painful to gather for mutant hating rallies. Aura just hoped this would ensure they would not be so foolish as to try it again, even animals could learn it was just that humans often learned at a slower pace then other animals who were dominated by simple survival.
Aura moved out of the church her movements slow but she made no move to harm the hostage further. She would be lucky, Aura loved to fight and would have loved to fight this silver eyes man longer, but getting killed for self indulgence was foolish. Aura, retracted her blade from within the girl and stepped back, the girl hesitated not quite understanding the Aura took another step back and the girl still looked almost to scared to move.
Aura was taking him at his word, she knew he could very well likely follow them, not that she felt it would get him much. She would avoid going right home anyway and was planning to go to her warehouse. Aura kept her Aura up just in case he was not as trust worthy as the situation was making him seem. Folding her Arms, Aura awaited the silver eyed man's part of the deal, sh e even let her blade flow back into her aura to help prove she was honest.
Hunter could feel the change in Meld’s stance as she shifted from offence to defence. “On three,” he said locking eyes with Meld, “One. Two. Three.” On three he released he tail, dislodged the sword and stepped back allowing her to do the same. They’d both agreed to his terms and while he knew that Meld kept her word he didn’t know about Aura.
Fortunately for all concerned she stuck to her word as the pair cautiously backed outside with their hostage. Hunter moved to the door of the church but no further and didn’t take his eyes off the pair. Once Aura withdrew her blade and backed up Hunter beckoned the girl too him, though she remained frozen in terror for a moment. When he judged that Aura was far enough back that he could get to the girl before she did he kept his word and tossed her the sword. His aim was true and it sailed through the air right to her hand.
Hunter beckoned the girl again and this time she moved stumbling up the steps and into his arms. He took a quick glance at the wound in her back. Aura hadn’t done any permanent damage. This girl would be fine, which was more than could be said for many others. Holding her steady he remained in the doorway and would not move until the pair were out of sight. He didn’t need to follow them, he knew the way to the sanctuary.
What had happened to Meld? She’d spent a week living with Hunter and working to resolve her violence issues. They were making real progress and she’d passed her first big test when they went out to lunch. He knew that a relapse was possible, especially if Aura was involved, but she’d been missing for two days. Meld wouldn’t just disappear. All her stuff was still at Spiritual Balance. Something else was going on here and he had a feeling that the Order had the answers.
But that was far from his only problem. Roughly four hours from now he would need to feed again. Even if he restrained his powers he didn’t know if he could resist the cravings now that he’d given in to them. Now that things were calming down he was beginning to question his decision. Had he made the right choice? Sure he’d saved a lot of lives here today but if he relapsed he’d kill so many more. He’d killed that girl. She’d been dying and was beyond help but that didn’t give him the right to kill her. Her death had saved so many lives and had he explained she might have agreed willingly but there hadn’t been time. Aura and Meld were killing too many too fast. He’d had to make a choice. Now he would find out if he could live with it.
Posted by vampyremage on Jun 6, 2010 10:20:00 GMT -6
Guest
Meld could feel the tension and it wasn't just the tension of a dozen dead humans and countless others injured. As the battle drew to a standstill her awareness of the world around her began to expand and she began to hear, once again, the shrieks and the cries of the terrified and wounded all around her. Battle required a pinpoint focus in which everything else was tuned out but now that the battle appeared to be closing, that focus expanded. She had the vague sense that she should be horrified at the terror and blood all around her, both of which she and Aura had been the direct creator of, but she wasn't. She felt completely disconnected from the acts she committed; after all, these people earned their fate through their actions and she and Aura were here only to put for a message. They deserved their deaths.
Meld watched Hunter very closely as he counted down, unsure whether or not he was a man of his word. His hero mentality said that he probably was but one could never be too certain and she wasn't about to risk her life on a hunch. However, as 3 was reached he moved back, releasing her tail and shield just as promised, and she moved back in turn, returning to Aura's side.
Meld began walking to the exit of the church, tail remaining fixed squarely on the man who had so recently been her enemy. Who was he and why did he feel so familiar to her? The eyes, the blood drinking, even down to the way he fought, all of it triggered some memory that lay buried and inaccessible in her mind. "I am going to find out where I know you from." She hadn't meant to say that out loud, but was unable to take it back. Besides, it was the truth. Somehow she would discover who he was and how she knew him and maybe things would make more sense after that.
Aura raised her hand quickly as the sword came to her, letting the blade slip through the aura between her fingers, until the hilt tapped her fingers, It was a well thrown weapon, and Aura sheathed it right away to make sure their would be no wrong interpretations of her motives. The last thing she wanted was for things to flare up again, they could not afford that in her opinion, whoever this guy was, was powerful, way more then either of them alone.
"he is no one i recall, my friend" she said with shrug, had she known who he was and what his power was, she would have avoided the battle earlier. She had enjoyed it, she admitted to herself but it had not been a real battle, as they had barely slowed him down. it botherd her more that od the three she could easily see she was the weakest of them, unable to keep up in speed or strength, she recalled when she and meld were almost even.
"We should head back to the warehouse first" she said softly to meld believing going directly back to sanctuary was a bad idea. Leading heros to it's doors was likely not a good move, and could get them killed later if they found one less true to form then this silver eyed man. She often did this, to confuse anyone following her, more so police then anyone else, although they likely knew already where she lived, as she enterd and exited quit e abit.
Once the murderous pair was out of sight Hunter turned his focus to the girl Aura had used as a hostage. She was in shock and had a bad cut in her back but would live. Gently he escorted her to the bottom of the steps. He could hear the sounds of sirens closing in, minutes away. Much as he would like to not be here when they arrived someone needed to help the wounded here now. Sitting the girl down he quickly headed back inside.
“Anyone who can walk go outside and wait around the bottom of the steps,” he instructed, “Help is on the way and will be here soon.” Some of the nodded mutely and headed for the stairs. Others were too stunned to move. However one man was very angry and decided that he wanted to take it out on Hunter.
“What did you do to my daughter!?” he fumed and he grabbed Hunter by the collar. Hunter frowned briefly before he realised what he meant. The girl who he had drunk from. He’d killed this man’s daughter. Not Aura, not Meld but him. The fact that she would have died anyway didn’t matter, not to him and not to her father.
“Paul,” said a woman as she put a comforting hand on the man’s shoulder, “He saved us from those monsters. Let’s just go outside and wait for the police to arrive. I’m sure they’ll sort everything out.”
“He killed my daughter!” the man raged as he threw of the woman’s hand and punched Hunter full in the face. Hunter didn’t do anything to stop him. The force of the blow fractured his cheek but also broke the man’s hand. Recoiling in pain the man let go of him and he moved over to those who couldn’t go out under their own power. The man tried to come after him but those who could still walk held him back and took him outside trying to comfort him and let Hunter help those he could.
Standing in the centre of the carnage Hunter closed his eyes and listened intently. He could pick out each individual in the room. Some had heartbeats that were weak and fluttering, likely to be dead before help arrived and there wasn’t likely to be much he could do about it. Others he could tell were too badly hurt to move but weren’t going to die before help arrived. Then there were those who hung in the balance. They wouldn’t live to see the help arrive without intervention from someone.
Hunter managed to single out those he could help. His eyes snapped open and he went to work. There was a woman who’s side and been ripped open. Aura’s work. She was losing a lot of blood and would be dead soon unless it was stemmed. Pulling the top section of his white robes off he began to tear it into strips. Using s wodge to stem the bleeding as best he could and instructed the man who was next to her to keep the pressure on until paramedics arrived.
Next he went to A woman with three puncture wounds in her back that he was certain would match up with one of Meld’s taloned feet. Quickly making three smaller bundles of cloth he pressed them into each wound to stem the bleeding. They needed to be held in place but there was someone else who needed his help. The problem as soon solved by a young woman who suddenly appeared at his side and took over. Giving her a thankful smile he moved to the next one.
One of the pipe bombs had caused a partial roof collapse and buried three people under a massive wooden beam. Squatting next to it he grabbed one end and heaved it upwards. None of them were in a state to move themselves out from underneath and this beam was too big and heavy to risk throwing away without hurting anyone. Just then the first squad car arrived. Two cops rushed in weapons drawn and immediately pointed them at him.
“Don’t move,” the man shouted at him.
“Fine,” he agreed tersely, “But would you mind moving these people out from under this so I can put it down?” The both paused and looked at one another for a moment. Then the woman holstered her weapon and moved forward to help. With an annoyed sign the man did the same. Once they’d gotten the people out from underneath he put the huge beam back down carefully so as to avoid further collapse.
Turning around he was greeted by the male cop’s gun in his face again. Hunter simply stood there with his arms at his sides, palms towards the cop to show he was unarmed. “Rick,” said his partner, “He was helping those people. Looks like he helped those two women as well.” She pointed at the women with his improvised bandages. “So maybe we can stop pointing guns at him.”
“He’s a mutant,” Rick replied as if that explained everything.
“And?” she said somewhat confused. Hunter remained silent.
“And this was a mutant attack,” answered Rick.
“If he was attacking then why is he helping people?” she asked.
“He fought off the mutants who attacked,” the woman who was helping Meld’s victim added.
Rick seemed undecided as paramedics started entering to help the injured. Finally he lowered his weapon. “If you’d like to come with me,” his partner asked, “I need to take your statement.” Hunter nodded in compliance and followed her outside. More police had arrived and were making a perimeter and taking statements. As he stepped outside he got a general cheer from the crowd of people who he had saved.
The cop took him to one side and pulled out her notebook. “Alright, I need to you to tell me what happened,” she said with her pen poised. And so Hunter told her what had happened. He left out where he had been going before he had heard the explosion and that he knew Meld. While it was probable that others would remember him calling her name at the start he wouldn’t implicate Meld if he could help it. He didn’t explain why he’d feed on the girl, but didn’t leave it out. “Right,” she said, “Now you’ll need to come to the station so we can sort things out.” She seemed confused that he’d admitted to killing a girl.
“I’m sorry officer,” Hunter said, “But I can’t come with you, not just yet. I need to follow this up. That and in about four hours I’m going to become a danger to everyone around me and if you take me in you’re going to get a lot of good cops killed. I know people who can contain me until this passes. Then I will come into the station and answer any and all questions you want to ask me.”
She just stared at him dumbfounded. He didn’t blame her, he doubted that she’d heard any explanation like that before. As she regained her composure her partner came over with a look of thunder on his face. “You’re under arrest pal,” he told Hunter as he pulled out handcuffs, “for suspicion of murder. We have witnesses saying you killed a girl before the fight started.”
“As I told your partner,” he said calmly, “You can’t take me in. I’d put you all in terrible danger. Once I’m no longer a threat to you I’ll turn myself in.” He turned to walk away. The sound of a gun being cocked caused him to stop.
“You’re a murder suspect. You don’t just get to walk away.” Looking over his shoulder he could see the gun levelled at him. His partner was standing there not sure what to do. Turning back he continued to walk away. “Stop right now or I will shoot,” the cop warned.
He didn’t.
The cop fired.
His partner cried out and lunged at him.
The second shot went wide.
Rick threw her back and went to aim again.
Hunter was gone.
While his partner distracted him Hunter slipped away. The first shot had hit in the left shoulder. He wouldn’t get much use of the arm for quarter of an hour and it would be at least thirty minutes until it was fine. However his right arm was fine. Hunter had jumped straight up and caught the bottom of a fire escape with his right hand. Quickly and quietly he pulled himself up and one to it and made his way to the roof.
There he took a brief pause to allow his shoulder to begin healing. He really hated being shot. It wasn’t the same as being stabbed as the bullet was often still lodged in him and unless it was removed it greatly slowed the healing process. Fortunately this shot had gone right through him. He would stick to his word and once he had detoxed from blood he’d turn himself over to the police. But right now he had more pressing matters. Swiftly and silently he started to make his way across rooftops towards the Sanctuary.