The X-men run missions and work together with the NYPD, striving to maintain a peaceful balance between humans and mutants. When it comes to a fight, they won't back down from protecting those who need their help.
Haven presents itself as a humanitarian organization for activists, leaders, and high society, yet mutants are the secret leaders working to protect and serve their kind. Behind the scenes they bring their goals into reality.
From the time when mutants became known to the world, SUPER was founded as a black-ops division of the CIA in an attempt to classify, observe, and learn more about this new and rising threat.
The Syndicate works to help bring mutantkind to the forefront of the world. They work from the shadows, a beacon of hope for mutants, but a bane to mankind. With their guiding hand, humanity will finally find extinction.
Since the existence of mutants was first revealed in the nineties, the world has become a changed place. Whether they're genetic misfits or the next stage in humanity's evolution, there's no denying their growing numbers, especially in hubs like New York City. The NYPD has a division devoted to mutant related crimes. Super-powered vigilantes help to maintain the peace. Those who style themselves as Homo Superior work to tear society apart for rebuilding in their own image.
MRO is an intermediate to advanced writing level original character, original plot X-Men RPG. We've been open and active since October of 2005. You can play as a mutant, human, or Adapted— one of the rare humans who nullify mutant powers by their very existence. Goodies, baddies, and neutrals are all welcome.
Short Term Plots:Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
The Fountain of Youth
A chemical serum has been released that's shaving a few years off of the population. In some cases, found to be temporary, and in others...?
MRO MOVES WITH CURRENT TIME: What month and year it is now in real life, it's the same for MRO, too.
Fuegogrande: "Fuegogrande" player of The Ranger, Ion, Rhia, and Null
Neopolitan: "Aly" player of Rebecca Grey, Stephanie Graves, Marisol Cervantes, Vanessa Bookman, Chrysanthemum Van Hart, Sabine Sang, Eupraxia
Ongoing Plots
Magic and Mystics
After the events of the 2020 Harvest Moon and the following Winter Solstice, magic has started manifesting in the MROvere! With the efforts of the Welldrinker Cult, people are being converted into Mystics, a species of people genetically disposed to be great conduits for magical energy.
The Welldrinker Cult
A shadowy group is gaining power, drawing in people who are curious, vulnerable, or malicious, and turning them into Mystics. They are recruiting people into their ranks to spread the influence of magic in the world, but for what end goal?
Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
Adapteds
What if the human race began to adapt to the mutant threat? What if the human race changed ever so subtly... without the x-gene.
Atlanteans
The lost city of Atlantis has been found! Refugees from this undersea mutant dystopia have started to filter in to New York as citizens and businessfolk. You may make one as a player character of run into one on the street.
Got a plot in mind?
MRO plots are player-created the Mods facilitate and organize the big ones, but we get the ideas from you. Do you have a plot in mind, and want to know whether it needs Mod approval? Check out our plot guidelines.
For a moment Paul hesitated. He had been expecting the question about the age but just that fast he suddenly realized that perhaps he should tell Noel. Was she really trustworthy enough to have that information? Or was that even information that he needed to bother to keep secret? They were both mutants after all and even if she told someone his secret she'd have to explain how she found out and why he would trust her with that sort of private information.
"I'm 92." Paul answered as the cab came to a stop and they exited, once again returning to the busy New York streets. Breaking convention, Ms. Gage held the door open for him as they exited the cab but he was quick to return the favor by holding open the door to the restaurant. And who said chivalry was dead? Ha.
It was the typically boisterous lunch crowd though Paul could already see signs that things were beginning to die down. After a bit of silent communication between Noel and the hostess, they were taken two a booth at the back wall and given a place to sit. Not bothering to glance at the menu, Paul instead focused on the woman that was sitting across from him and was now taking the opportunity to lean across the table. They both knew that it was only so they could talk or shout and make themselves heard but someone watching from another location might not understand that quite as well.
"The food is good and it depends on how hungry you are. We can do it either way. If you just want one or two slices, we can order separate, or we can split a whole pizza if your hungrier." Paul called back in response, leaning in as well though he was careful to make sure that he didn't invade the other woman's personal space to much. After all, they were simply associates that had just met. He had made that quite clear to Lisa when they were leaving.
Moving back to the business side of things, Paul focused on the question that Noel had asked right after they exited the cab. It had taken him a few moments to figure out the best way to phrase it but he understood the woman's concern. She was going to be working for Lori and so she wanted to know something about her current employer. "Miss Faust is fair. If you do your job she treats you well. She can be nice but she can also be a bad-ass if the situation calls for it. Just like most employers."
That… was quite the compliment in Noel's book. The brunette wasn't sure a man of Mr. McCoy's age should be throwing around such vulgar words, but, that was up to Mr. McCoy, really.
She had an obvious follow up question to his age question, but it had to wait until she ordered her Diet Coke. Was Pepsi okay? No. But the waitress wasn't about to run out to the corner market to get her one so when she shouted the questions at her, Noel nodded her assent.
"How old do you feel?" Because most 92 year olds were in bed most of the day. Or in comfy recliners. Not running around with a 38 and shooting down targets.
There were very few pictures on the menu. That meant it didn't take Noel too long to glance over her options. She pointed at a pizza that didn't look poisonous. "This one okay?" She couldn't read the caption. It would have given her a headache to try it.
How old did he feel? It was a question that actually made Paul want to chuckle ever so slightly. Really, how he felt depended on how recently he had died. At the moment he felt extremely young but it had only been a month or two since his last rebirth. Let a few years go by and he'd start feeling some more aches and pains but right now he felt great, youthful even. "Prime of my life. In my twenties or something around there." He replied with a grin, "I can out pace a lot of guys that are one third of my age. Of course, the fact that I have experience to go along with my strength helps a lot. I've been doing distance running for years so I've got a lot of practice."
For a few minutes they fell silent as they looked at the menu and then Noel pointed to one of the pictures. Glancing over at her menu to see which one she was indicating, Paul raised an eyebrow ever so slightly. Meat lovers? He would have pegged her as being one of those women that wanted all sorts of veggies on her pizza so that she could feel at least a little healthy. "That works for me." He responded just as their waitress walked up and deposited their drinks on the table. A Diet Pepsi for the lady and a regular Pepsi for the gentleman. "And we'll have a medium meat lovers." He gave the order quickly and succinctly, not having to yell quite as loud now that a few more people had filtered out of the restaurant.
"Twenty minutes." The woman responded instant as she took their menus and then once again disappeared from view.
"So tell me about some of your missions." He threw out the option for conversation since he couldn't currently think of anything else, "Anything exciting that's not classified?"
Noel studied Mr. McCoy as he spoke. Really, he did look... not old, but not ageless either. He smiled easily, his eyes briefly flittered to a passing female backside and back without missing a beat and, though he possessed age lines, they weren't the cracked and dry sort. He wore wrinkles like some women wore satin or lace. He moved well and the crow's feet only served to better define his face into something amiable, laughing and comfortable.
By the time she had finished her visual assessment, he had already ordered for them. Meat-lovers sounded right up her alley. So far, she had discovered that her tastes ran a bit baser than was expected of her. But she liked what she liked.
And she did not like whatever the table next to them was bragging about. It sounded like bragging, but it tasted like skunk. Noel took refuge in her Diet Coke. When her lips touched the straw, she imagined briefly seeing the waitress pull the straw from her apron. Or maybe she remembered it.
Missions? Noel thought back, taking a draw of cola in with just about every breath.
"Hmmm. Not sure I can share much of anything that's liable to be juicy." Most of her time before was a blur. Thinking about it put a crease between her eyebrows and a pain in her mid brain. Despite the fact that she tried not to remember, some instances still stood out.
She remembered being afraid and alone with the taste of blood in her mouth.
Once, she had made some kind of scene at a lobster place...
"I'm sure 90 years is enough time to accumulate more than a few amusing stories." She hedged, hoping he would give her an easy out instead of pushing her to remember what came before.
It was comfortable and relaxing to simply sit and have a meal with someone of the opposite sex with absolutely no expectations or even the need to try for something more intimate. Paul was no monk by any standards and he was most definitely an admirer of the female form, which was demonstrated by his glance at a passing woman. The ultra tight jeans and hint of some very skimpy under garments peaking out over the top was definitely eye catching but the woman sitting directly across from him was far more interesting. Paul had experienced more than his share of conquests, after all he'd had some seventy plus years to work at it, but the time had also allowed him to experience what was truly important. Fulfilling the baser desires was necessary for good health but to be ruled by them like so many other individuals in the world wasn't healthy. No, physical relations might fulfill one need but they were sorely lacking in fulfilling much of anything else.
"There's been a few fun times." Paul chuckled softly as he thought back, trying to pick out one such instance that Noel might enjoy. For the moment he was willing to let her guide the conversation but he wasn't going to forget that she seemed to be avoiding talking about her own past. It was starting to seem that if he really wanted to know anything about Ms. Noel Gage then he'd have to do a little bit of digging on his own. Filing that thought away for later consideration, he launched forward with his own story. "I spend many years in France and I have to say, I was a little bit of a bad egg during that time. I didn't have any real skills so I chose to steal to survive. One time, when I was just starting out as a pick pocket, I settled my eyes on this rich looking woman as a target. The "New Look" as they called it was just starting to become the rage and as a staple of that the corset. It was probably the best friend a pick pocket could ever have because I have yet to meet a woman that could run for any length of time while wearing one of those."
The way fashion changed over the years was an interesting study. He had seen corsets regain their popularity, he had seen the time when women began to hate being objectified by such garments that they said were created only to make them look more attractive to men. Fashion was a fickle master but yet so many people still followed along with what it dictated. Amazing.
"Anyhow, I sauntered along the busy street to approach my mark. Only, as I got close I spotted another young man of the same persuasion as myself also closing in. At that time, all of us worked our own areas and so it was extremely bad form for him to be poaching on my streets. Anyway, I decided to try and teach him a lesson so I snatched the bag and then pulled out a small wallet while turning to toss the bag toward the other guy to frame him for the deed. Unfortunately, as I went to throw it the strap from the bag coiled around my wrist locking it in place and instead, the wallet slipped from my fingers and flew to the other boy. He snatched it out of the air and disappeared into the crowd while the woman turned to see me standing there with her purse in hand. Needless to say I shook the purse loose, dropped it, and took off running down the street as hard as I could." Paul finished the story with a slight grin, "That taught me never to try and pin my deeds on someone else. If I got caught for what I did, so be it, but I wouldn't try to get someone else in trouble."
Right then the waitress came back and placed plates on the table followed by the pizza with gooey cheese and steam still rising from its freshly baked goodness. "Ya'll enjoy!" She said before once again disappearing to take care of some other table.
"So... he was a mutant?" She had wanted to clarify because to her, it wasn't quite obvious. But it would be a mutant by her estimation. Mutants were always getting others into trouble because they used their powers for selfish reasons. Stupid mutants.
The pizza that arrived smelled absolutely divine. Grease dribbled freely from the slice she managed to pluck free of its neighbors. Perfect. Just the way she liked it.
Whatever Mr. McCoy answered was lost to her as soon as she had taken a bite.
Knuckles kneaded the dough, one finger came up to touch a runny nose before— the silver machine worked overtime to slice a fresh log of processed— Crushed under large metal masticators— Plastic packaging unwrapped from a block of white— Meat sizzled in a— Flour sprinkled— Rolling pin— On a truck— Tossed in the air— Grated— Slaughtered— Growing—
She got blasted with an assortment of images, sounds and different vantage points. All at once. All pizza related. Just from one bite. Her teeth remained connected through the doughy, saucy, cheesy, meaty goodness and her eyes unfocused, drifting slowly as one who had zoned out. The memories of the history of their pizza had come all at once, true, but sorting them out took brain power.
Inevitably, her eyes would came to rest in the most awkward place possible. Such was the way of things when zoning out.
((OOC: first full activation of Noel's tasting memories ))
"Actually, I don't know. It could be that the purse snagged my hand all by itself or it could be that the boy had an ability I hadn't encountered before." Paul responded with a slight shrug as he grabbed his own slice of pizza and slid it over to his place. Noel was a step ahead of him, already lifting her slice up to her mouth. "I never met him again so there was no way for me to find..." His voice trailed off as he watched Noel's eyes seemingly glaze over as they moved to focus in an unfocused sort of way toward another table where a couple in their late teens or early twenties was making out hot and heavy. Glancing over his shoulder, Paul spotted the couple but when he turned around to make some sort of comment he lost the words. Noel was looking toward the couple but if her eyes were any indication she wasn't actually seeing.
"Uh... Noel?" Paul asked in confusion, suddenly dropping the slice of pizza back on his plate like it was a hot potato. "Ms. Gage?" He asked again even as his head swiveled to focus back on the kitchen. Was someone slipping some sort of drugs into their food or was it a mutant out to take either him or Noel out. Paul had made his share of enemies but most of those had happened under other names and in different times. Could one of those grudges have carried over this long? Could one of those old enemies still be alive and employing help? Or maybe the lady at the table with him had pissed off some people during her mutant hunting days that were trying to take her out.
Everything looking normal in the kitchen. No one was acting strange or casting furtive glances in their direction in order to see if their plan was working. Paul couldn't even see any security cameras or hidden cameras that might be pointed in their direction to gather Intel. No trained operative would poison someone and them slip away without being able to monitor the events that transpired so that meant they were in the clear... didn't it?
"Come on girl... snap out of it!" Paul said as his head whipped back around to focus on the brown haired woman in front of him. Whether he liked it or not his protective streak was starting to come out and until he knew things were OK it wasn't likely to disappear.
After all the images, she had only one thing left to say.
"Do you know... where pepperoni comes from?"
She was horrified. And was now standing and didn't remember standing up. Noel dropped her piece of pizza like it bit her and grabbed her napkin and spit out her one bite. "There's parts of... and the floors... trucks... the blood..." She came off quite mad and gibbering. Noel was having a hard time voicing everything she had seen properly. Even more, she was having a hard time processing everything.
She had lost her mind. Noel tried very hard to think of something clear and present. Her eyes settled on Mr. McCoy. She was standing in proximity of the guy who had just helped her get a job and... They were going to take her back to the crazy house.
Noel sat down, white as a sheet.
"I saw the guy who made the crust." She tried to latch onto just one thing, one immediate thing. "He's sick. His nose is running all over the place. I wouldn't eat that..." That was the best she could do... everything else was a jumble that killed her appetite.
Paul sat, somewhat stunned, just staring at Noel as he tried to figure out where that had come from. He had been sitting here, thinking that she was being poisoned or manipulated somehow and the first words out of her mouth were about pepperoni? The next reaction was even more strange. She was dropping her pizza and spitting out what she had bitten off while babbling about the types of things that people liked to put in those animal abuse documentaries that he refused to watch.
"Come again?"
And now she was talking about the pizza crust and the man who had made it, apparently working with a runny nose. OK, so THAT was a little gross and suddenly Paul didn't feel all that hungry any more. Pushing his plate away with the untouched slice of pizza still sitting on it he watched the young woman as she apparently tried to compose herself.
"So... are all your lunch and dinner get together this interesting?" Paul asked with a somewhat forced smile as he tried to decide how he was supposed to react. Could this girl see the history of food or something? That was most definitely a mutant power that he did not envy in the slightest. He enjoyed the pure bliss of sipping at a cup of coffee while eating a fresh danish and reading the paper. He didn't need to know about turmoil in the land where the coffee beans had been grown or about the little something extra that had slipped into the dough of his danish. No, in that situation, the old statement was most definitely true. Ignorance is bliss.
Noel squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening. She didn't even have to say it to know that statement wasn't true.
"I erase memories. I taste lies. I don't taste memories. I don't erase lies." She continued to shake her head. These were things she knew to be true. It was as true as she knew. So… what had happened?
"Psychic? Why? Animals rights activist? Why me? Why pizza?" Her fingers went up to her lips and she nibbled at them as she muttered to herself with her eyes shut. A quick flash of her holding the slice of pizza interrupted her thoughts so she withdrew her fingers.
She had to reason this out. Something had just gone terribly wrong here. "If it's a memory, it will prove true."
Were all her lunches this eventful? Noel opened her eyes and looked at Mr. McCoy. "Aren't yours?" It seemed to be a lucid reply in a sea of mutterings. Having focused on the here and now, it seemed easier for her to remember that it mattered.
"Right. I have to find a snotty dough prep. Care to join me?" Since it didn't look like either of them would be eating… and she wanted to prove that she wasn't crazy. A witness would make it better for her, easier to believe.
What she saw was either true or false. She wasn't quite sure which one she was rooting for.
The woman was cracking up as he watched and it was bringing out a slew of different emotions within Paul. In one way he wanted to protect her and fix whatever the situation might be. In another way he wanted to study her to bring as much information back to Lori as possible. And in one, slightly twisted way, he actually wanted to watch her break down because in all his life experiences he had never seen someone go crazy before.
For a few moments he watched curiously as she repeated her own personal mantra with her eyes closed. Then she started talking out the the situation, going down a list of possible scenarios just like he had been doing only a moment before. "Guess she's not going crazy. She's to rational." Paul decided as she continued talking to herself. That was a relief though the one tiny part of him was slightly disappointed. Seeing someone go off their rocker would still remain as an item unchecked.
"Of course mine are, though my eventful meals normally lead to a trip to the morgue or a body dump, not vision suddenly appearing in my head." Paul replied to Noel, studying her now open eyes. For the briefest moment they still seemed unfocused but then the clarity returned as she apparently made her decision. Whatever she may be, she was an investigator at heart and so that was her obvious answer.
"Remind me to just cook for you at home if we ever want to eat together again." Paul commented as he slipped out of the booth and paused, waiting for Noel to take the lead, "I'd like to remain ignorant about most of the restaurants I enjoy."
Waving an arm toward the kitchen he offered a slight smile. "After you ma'am. You're the lead investigator on this one. So what's the play? FDA? Health Inspector?"
A trip to the morgue or a body dump? He hadn't been kidding either. "Here's hoping for an exception." She tried for levity, but probably landed more flatly around amused hopelessness.
Which faltered into a confused and hopeless expression when he offered to personally cook her a meal. At his place. Hadn't they gone through this already? She opened her mouth and then shut it. And shut it good. Sure, he qualified it with a 'if we ever eat together again' but... Nope. Not touching that one with a ten foot pole. "I don't cook." If this meant restaurants were out for her, she didn't know how she was going to eat.
> "After you ma'am. You're the lead investigator on this one. So what's the play? FDA? Health Inspector?"
The ex-agent frowned at him. She understood the supposed necessity of the lie, but she wouldn't be able to say any of them without a sour look on her face.
That didn't have to be a bad thing.
After her considerations were over, "Health Inspector. If I'm not crazy, we'll be able to scare the snot out of someone." The questioning of her own sanity was a daily thing. She didn't sound too put out by the idea that she might not be quite right in the head.
And, since he had told her to lead and since she couldn't help but think of this as yet another test of some kind, she lead the way.
The most obvious route of attack was the double swinging doors that the waitresses went back and forth through. She started there, striding through as if she had every right. She would have been more comfortable doing something like this if she were an agent of the FBI again... or ever.
[coloyellowgreen]"Health Inspector Gage."[/color] She tried to think of the words as not related. She was just saying them and they happened to work together. No luck on avoiding the foul taste of old feet for trying to deceive. She frowned severely at the wide eyed youths who were actually running the place. "I'm not here to cause a commotion, I'm actually off duty." Technically true. She didn't want trouble and she hadn't yet started her new job. "I just came across something suspect on my pizza and I wanted to be sure that..." She trailed off as she saw him. He was just as she remembered him. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, his hairy arms were covered in flour and as she watched, he sniffled.
"Are you sick, sir?" On closer inspection of his arms, there was a line of moisture on the back of his hand where flour had turned into a sort of dough... and a similar dough patch near his nose. Never before had she been so unhappy to be right.
Apparently Noel didn't exactly know how to take his comment about death but she rolled with the punches and kept moving forward. His offer to cook for any future meals seemed to fall on deaf ears though her expression definitely indicated she had heard him and more than likely she thought he was trying to make a pass at her.
"Smart Paul... real smart." He mentally berated himself as he shut his own mouth quite firmly. "You're her handler! Not her friend and most certainly not anything romantic. Stick to business and the friendliness that fits speaking with an aquaintance. She is an asset, nothing more!" It was something that he knew he would have to work on. For the most part, Paul was a cordial and even friendly person. To maintain more of a business approach was going to be difficult but definitely possible.
"Health Inspector should work as long as their are not experienced managers around." Paul agreed with a nod before falling into step behind the brown haired woman. Even after the distrubance that she had just experienced, her stride projected confidence and even her voice was nice and firm when she spoke to the first employee that came into view. Obviously she was skilled at compartmentalizing because even after experiencing wierd stuff she was still on her game. Maybe not an A-game but at least a B+.
Suddenly Noel's focus moved and she made her way over toward a man that was needing dough. From a distance nothing seemed obvious to Paul but as they go closer he heard the sniffle and saw the dampness that indicated something he didn't even want to think about.
"THAT has got to be a violation of some sort." He muttered in disgust while at the same time uttering a silent prayer of thankfulness that Noel's reaction had prevented him from eating the pizza. This place was definitely off of his list of establishments for a good meal. Sure, this was probably a rare occurance but still... everytime he saw this pizza parlor he would remember the man in the kitchen, kneeding dough with snot covered hands.
"How long have you been working like this? How many pizzas have you touched?"
"Let's call someone who's on duty." Noel caught Mr. McCoy's arm and made eyes for the exit. They couldn't do anything more than that unless they wanted to lie some more. She, for one, did not.
"You guys have got less than an hour to get this place cleaned up." Noel fished her phone from her pocket, but thought better of dialing information in order to get the number for the health department in front of everyone. She turned around and barked one last order. "And get him out of here."
They pushed back through the double serving doors, out onto the floor where a manager was making his way over toward them.
"Not crazy." She reaffirmed to herself and to Paul as she brought the phone up to her ear. Let her boss fence the manager. She had a health complaint to make.
Posted by Phoenix on Sept 20, 2011 10:46:47 GMT -6
Gamma Mutant
280
1
Apr 11, 2014 12:58:23 GMT -6
Paul simply stood, looking mad and as threatening as possible while Noel barked out orders. It was interesting to see her actually dealing with a situation, even if it was something as minor as a health code violation. Soon they were back out on the main floor of the restaurant with a middle aged man bearing down on them that was probably the restaurant manager.
"Not crazy." She commented, probably as much to herself as to Paul while she brought the phone up to her ear. Apparently she was going through with her thread to call the real health department which meant that it was up to him to deal with a ticked of manager.
"Excuse me, but we don't allow customers in the kitchen!" The manager spoke up before Paul could utter a word, "I'd like you to leave the premises before I call the police."
Turning, Paul maneuvered so that he was standing between the man and Noel, allowing her at least a touch of privacy for her phone call though it wouldn't completely shield the man from hearing what was being said. "The police won't be necessary but I suggest you brace yourself for a health inspection. My partner and I are off duty or we'd be shutting this place down ourselves but instead we're calling our office. You have a blatant violation of code 44-351 occurring in your kitchen right this moment. I strongly suggest you send that man home to recover and remake every pizza you have out on the floor at this moment so you don't get sued because someone got sick due to your negligence."
As he spoke, the manager's face and neck got red. It was clear that the man was extremely angry and from the way his fists were clenching it looked as though he might even take a swing at the gray haired man but apparently he wrestled his emotions under control and his hands relaxed. "I'll deal with the situation right way, and my apologies." He muttered as calmly as possible before turning to storm back into the kitchen. With a matter of moments his screaming voice could be heard, berating his employees for their lack of cleanliness and any other violations that he thought he saw.
Shaking his head Paul had to chuckle to himself as he turned and led Noel toward the door and out onto the sidewalk. "You are one of a kind Ms. Gage." He said, the quiet laughter evident in his voice, "It has been quite a while since I ever had a lunch so interesting and even longer since one was so amusing."