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.
"Okay, first, no, I don't care. Second, do you actually think I'm that stupid? You showed up, started mocking me, keep telling me how I'm just like you only horrible and pathetic and doing everything wrong while you're awesome, and then you drag me outside and punch me in the face, and come up with some bullshit excuse to keep punching me, and expect me to believe you like me? That's not paranoia, that's sanity."
Cafas wasn't quite sure when his frown turned into a smile, but somewhere near sanity.
"And third, I'm pretty sure that if being healthy was your actual concern, you wouldn't pick pizza."
Nope, back to a frown. "I'm going to start with the most serious accusation you just made and work from there. Never again slander the good name of pizza. Anyway, pizza is fine, it's a bit heavy on fats and sodium, but really, who cares, it tastes great. Don't eat it every day and you should be fine." Honestly, kids these days, no respect for pizza at all!
It's tragic really.
"Moving on, you were a smart ass, I retorted. That's how it goes man, it's part of the fun! I over reacted in dragging you out though. I was really dealing with a lot of stress between riot duty and the other crimes and stuff the X-men deal with, sorry." It really had been poor timing for Persi to derail the smartassery into self absorption. Cafas shrugged apologetically.
"And I didn't say you were horrible or pathetic, or that you were doing everything wrong, and I'm sorry you took it that way. I've never been great at giving advice, least of all when I'm stressed. I was just saying I've been where you are man."
Or at least, close enough.
He looked away, wondering where to start. Her frowned down at the console as he picked a point and started. "I was told my whole life that mutants were unnatural and dangerous freaks. My parents tried to kill me when they found out what I was. Got together a proper lynch mob, flaming torches and all. I know better than to hope they'll not try again if I go back. I hated myself for being a mutant. It destroyed my family. Again, not that I imagine you care for my life story that much." His voice carried a wistful melancholy, nostalgia for simpler times, when death wasn't a constant threat and family was something he had.
"That's kind if the reason I want to train you. I barely survived that night. I have only my training to thank for that. God knows I was dead without it. It probably saved me after that too." Cafas gave a rueful smile. and looked back at Persi.
"Funny how often you think about suicide when you're sleeping in a dumpster, or under someone's awning. Training gave me something to focus on, something that didn't let me think about anything else while I did it. I think it's about the only thing that stopped that downward spiral." A spiral that had been reversed by Calley, and that feeling like he was doing something worthwhile with the X-men.
"Knowing how to fight saved my life living on the street too. Boots are an awfully valuable commodity, especially in winter. How messed up is that? People trying to kill me for my shoes." Cafas laughed humourlessly. There really wasn't much else one could do with that.
He figured Persi wasn't listening at this point. "So, I guess, I'm sorry I've been an asshole, and I really am sorry I hit you. I don't expect you to think I like you Persi, and I don't suppose you understand why I care really, but I do. Anyway, let's get some food, we'll pick this lesson up some other time."
Cafas looked over and called out to Aiden. "Aiden, good work man, we'll pick this up some other time, I don't know about you, but I'm hungry, wanna go grab a bite to eat?"
Two men at a table, both in a suits. Cafas had insisted on that point. He glared across the surface at the young man in front of him. He looked back down at the notes in front of him, clearly disinterested at what he had just been told. He took a sip of his coffee and kept going. "Yes, alright. Now, I see on your record that you assaulted a police officer and used a mutant power on him. Those are both class D Felonies, Mr. Swartz. How can you expect the NYPD to employ felons?"
Further more, hahahaha, a lobster, classic.
He had another sip of his coffee and rearranged his papers. Really, there were some far better candidates here. People without criminal offences to their names. Granted they were made up people as far as he knew. He could see one halfway down that, on paper at least, seemed perfect. Calley, by comparison, was... Not.
Cafas had taken a whole ten minutes to find a basic record on Calley. It wasn't the best really. but it made him glad the X-men worked so close with the police.
He'd already made his decision, the rest of it was a formality.
His screen did not indicate breakfast. Nothing substantial enough to raise his blood sugar anyway. Yesterday seemed far more accurate. The Danger room agreed. "I care because I wouldn't be training you in the first place if I didn't. Also because it affects training, overall effectiveness, muscle recovery, energy recovery, lots of stuff I'm sure you couldn't care less about." Cafas shook his head and sighed. Persi really wasn't doing himself many favours.
Unsurprisingly...
"And I care about you passing out or throwing up because if you do those in the wrong order, you could die, and both are very bad for you in general. Before you mention it, I would much rather you be alive and annoying me than dead." Cafas really did have trouble believing that Persi could be so utterly deluded into thinking everyone hated him. "I don't want to punch you either. I'm an X-man, I tend to only punch people that are resisting arrest, or where it's needed to protect myself or others. In your case, it was accidental the first two times."
Man he is so...
"Honestly, why are you so paranoid? A word of advice, unless you make it so, noone in this mansion wants to hurt you. Most of us are runaways, most people are just glad to be safe and have people who can see past their mutation around them." Cafas was almost certain Persi wouldn't care, or listen, but you had to try some times.
He was not sure which kid he meant. Possibly both. Persi had triggered it, with his glaring, clear dizziness and the way that what little colour there had been was all kind of missing from his face. When Persi had made his way over, Cafas looked at the med screen, confirmed some hypotheses and looked back at Persi. He kept his voice low enough for Aiden not to hear. "When did you last eat?" It wasn't that weird of a question for a trainer... Not that Persi would know that at all.
silly kid.
The monitors indicated... Wow that was not a good amount of time to go without food. No wonder he was so dizzy. Shaking a bit too. It really was not good to do exercise in that sort of state, not unless you liked the taste of floor... or vomit. "Also, slow down, and remember to breathe. Much as I know you think I'm an idiot, you must at least admit that if there's one thing I would know, it's exercise. You are going to make yourself throw up and pass out if you keep working at that pace." Also some other effects he was sure Persi would neither understand nor care about.
It was honestly getting cold now... According to his screen anyway. Cafas didn't feel it.
Cafas struggled, and managed to pull himself together. Which was just as well, because having righteous anger levelled at him when he was feeling that bad for it in the first place might just have broken him otherwise. As it was, he gained control back, and lost in nearly immediately. back to the verge of tears. Damn.
Haha, that was priceless, go on, say something else Cafas.
"I'm sorry Calley. You're right to be pissed off. I should have told you, and I shouldn't have gone along with the fake relationship in the first place. I'm not going to do anything like that again, it was stupid, and it wasn't fair on you." They did NOT pay him enough to be hurting Calley like that. They couldn't pay him enough, not with all the money in the world, to make it worthwhile.
Well this is hardly as fun... Oh would you shut up?
"I'll tell you everything I can ahead of time, but I'm not going to know every stupid rumour ahead of time. I know you have trust issues, but could you try to give me the benefit of the doubt? At least until you talk to me?" He sounded pathetic and pleadingly apologetic, even to himself. It was not a tone he was used to in his voice. It had been a long while since He'd needed it.
Cafas set the box down and stepped closer to Calley, wrapping his arms gently around his boyfriend, whom he hoped could find it in his heart to forgive him. "You're more important to me than any amount of money, any stupid career. More important than anything I have." Cafas let the embrace slide back until he could look into Calley's eyes, a hand on either side of his waist. "Congratulations on finishing you finals. I'm proud of you Calley. You've done great, I know it."
Cafas eyed Aiden. He had a feeling he wasn't being told something here. Also he had to wonder about how oddly Aiden suddenly started behaving. The only thing he could pin it down to was Cafas suggesting he knew how to fight. "Well you move like a fighter, so you've either done some training before, or you're a natural. I've been training martial arts a long time now mate, I recognise a person with prior training when I see one." Persi pushed a few more punches into the dummy. Cafas frowned.
Is there a breeze in here? That’s pretty cold.
Cafas looked around for a second, and for the briefest moment thought he might have seen... No never mind. They were inside, after all. Cafas looked at Aiden again. "Good, keep going with that. I'm just going to check something." Cafas walked to the console and brought up environmental conditions in the room. The danger room was working on keeping the temperature stable, but it was dropping, that was for sure.
I didn't even know it had temperature controls...
Cafas brought up some medical read outs from the two boys. He looked at Persi's, as Aiden seemed, aside from some obvious embarrassment, fine. The readout showed a heap of stuff he didn't understand, but he brought it down to a simpler display. Persi, according to the danger room, aside from being not in peak physical condition, seemed to be lacking food.
He looked over as the blows turned into a flurry. He recognised that face too. He had his own version of it. That was not a good face, if one liked being upright. "Persi, could you come here a sec?"
Cafas held the box, very confused, as Calley walked away and rummaged through a box. He returned with what appeared to be, especially on closer inspection, a colour to emotion guide for Cafas' eyes. Calley indicated as much.
"Regret, shame, and surprise?" Glare "Am I supposed to believe regret, shame, and surprise?"
Cafas was a little hurt by that; more than a little in fact. He winced slightly at the ground. He knew Calley had pretty good reason to be mad at him. It didn't make him feel any better. Still, he had a question to answer.
Yeah, open your mouth! Do it!
"No, you're meant to believe your boyfriend. It's been nearly two years Calley, that ought to have earned me some trust, shouldn't it?" That convinced Cafas slightly more of his position. He looked up, the sadness still evident in his face. He looked Calley in the eyes. He could see the hurt there. It was all he could do to stop himself crying for shame. He held the box under one arm and took one of Calley's hands in his free hand.
"Calley, I love you, and I promise you, I have never and will never cheat on you. I'm going to come out and tell the truth, that Allison and I have never been dating, that it was an act. Publicists be damned, I wont put their stupid, s***y movie above you."
Aiden's stance was not what Cafas had shown him; And yet, it looked natural, comfortable, and practiced. Cafas did a brief circle around Aiden to examine it. He seemed stable, and his movements were still flowing well enough. Still, it raised a question. "What form of fighting do you already know? That stance is closer to my actual fighting stance than what I'm showing you right now." The movements kind of gave it away too. the kid knew how to shift energy through his body. That was pretty rare among people who'd never practiced.
Interesting.
And there was Persi, getting undressed. That was a little odd. He shouldn't have been that tired that quickly. Cafas made a point to check the read outs when Aiden was working with the dummy. Speaking of the dummy, he waved it over. It came and stood by him. "keep practicing those punches with the dummy while we talk. Punch the palms. It doesn't feel pain, but it will adjust your form if you're too far out. Actually," Cafas turned to the dummy, "His stance is fine, don't adjust it."
He spared another look to the exhausted looking Persi. "Persi dummy, slow it down a bit, he's looking pretty wiped out."
Cafas received a magazine. Well, received in the same sort of way pigeons receive your fries. It was tossed near him and he dived on it before it, or the person who had been carrying it, could disappear.
Well, that is a terrible photo.
The headlines were worse. As a side not, are they called headlines in a magazine? Cafas had no idea, nor did he waste any thought on it, but his brain tucked the question away for later, when he was not as busy.
Oh good job dude.
"Okay I'm going to cover the major one first, the kid is not mine. Allison was... Well there's really no nice way to put it, she was raped." He made for the door. His constant training had never come in so useful before. His, all things considered, pretty massive frame, helped as well.
Stunning work, really, I mean it.
"The kiss was part publicity, the studio wants everyone to believe me and her are dating, and partly to save me from the author of the book, who doesn't seem to know that no means no."
If there were awards for blowing a relationship, you'd win all of them.
He could almost predict that the next move would be window. He wasn't sure, but if it was, he couldn't beat Calley there. He might just be able to keep up with Calley, but he really didn't feel like having the conversation that was about to happen in full view of everyone at the Mansion.
We could call them the breakupies!
"I'm so sorry Calley, I should have told you, I shouldn't have let it come out like this. I know it's not an excuse but I didn't want to put you off your study, and... I kind of forgot." He looked just as sorry and miserable as he felt. There was that wave of shame that had washed over him after the kiss back, only... Stronger. Much stronger. "God I'm an idiot." that was mostly to himself.
"...Just how big a deal is this movie going to be, exactly?"
Cafas shrugged, he honestly didn't have much experience on the matter, except what he'd gained through studying just how many fans had sprung up. There were quite a few fansites out there too; He knew of at least 3. Still, he had some small idea how well they expected it to go. "They're confident enough to pay me somewhere in the realm of one point two million, after tax. Plus further publicity interviews, which pay as much as my store tends to make in a month or so." Not to mention the spot on CSI:NY.
Two years ago I was nobody. Oh yes, there are no X-men fans at all. Never signed a trading card, have you?
The waiter arrived back with the wine. It was quite clearly more expensive than anything of an alcoholic nature he had ever put in his mouth before. He had a feeling it was likely going to be just as expensive as the meal, at least. Not like he didn't have enough money though. Cafas thanked him and sipped from the glass he had been poured.
Cafas came to the immediate conclusion that money could, in fact, buy happiness. Someone had obviously found a way to bottle it. Happiness, as it turned out, was not the yellow colour his eyes might suggest, but in fact a rich and beautiful red.
"So, yeah, about what I said in the cab... I..." Deep breath Cafas, not like you're proposing marriage, nothing so massive, "I have quite a bit of money at the moment, and it got me thinking, about how I still live at the mansion. Don't get me wrong, the Mansion is great, but I moved there because I had no choice, and now I feel like I don't need my spot there, like it could be giving another mutant run away a home; someone that needs it."
Alright this is it.
"So I've thought about it, and I'm going to use the money from the movie to buy a place in the city. I was wondering... If you maybe wanted to move in with me... You know, in our own place." That had been rather difficult to work up the courage for. Cafas taking steps in the relationship had a mixed history. He took another sip of his wine to mask his nerves a little.
We already live together... Most of the time. It's not like it's that massive of a move. It's just getting your own place.
He would not be heartbroken by a no, he understood, at least to some extent, if Calley didn't want to. He made no promises of not being ludicrously happy if he said yes.
"A warnin' makes sense. Though, a vision alone is about as believable as a homeless guy with an 'End is Near' sign."
Michael raised his beer to his mouth. Cafas took that as a cue for a slight input, as was male custom. "Maybe, but I guess you work with the tools you have, right?" Cafas took a sip of his drink, as he was finished speaking.
"An' if it was it'd make more sense t' show more of what caused it instead of what happened after it went t' shit."
"Suppose maybe we weren't involved in how it went wrong, just caught in the blast of who ever sent the vision." Though Cafas did remember a fight at the mansion. Gut wrenching pain as his friends and comrades died around him.
He chose to simply laugh at the final comment. The thought that he had run out of hair dye was pretty ludicrous. How many people ran around with hair that colour? He sometimes felt he must be the only reason anyone stocked it at all.
Cafas held down a chuckle. They'd been working together long enough for him to recognise Allison in character. The producer, however, missed it entirely. He seemed like he thought his work was a masterpiece. Of course, this was likely the case. Television just didn't have the budget to hire people with any form of realism of true talent. Except maybe HBO. They weren't on HBO however.
What an jackass.
"Well, if the ratings demand it, we'd love to be back, everyone needs the cool recurring villains." especially when they were specifically written to be more popular than the main characters. Cafas smiled slightly wider and turned to Allison.
"Well we'd better be off I suppose, lots to do today. Publicists are killing us, though I suppose you know all about that." Movie star gratifying the TV producer, who clearly did not need anyone to inflate his ego any further.
Cafas got up and moved to the door, opening it and waiting for Allison to walk through before him. "Come on, we've got that photo shoot in about twenty minutes, and that's over the Hudson from here." Tell ALL the lies to avoid spending any more time with this slightly sleazy TV guy that necessary.
Cafas wasn't quite on par with Allison, in terms of acting talent. Faking pleasure at the show though, he could do that. It wasn't that it was bad. It was how cliched it was. How bland. It was to television scripting what boiled rice was to Chinese food. "You can thank the patriarchy for that one." He didn't shift his gaze off the credits, though he took in none of it.
Well, it's money I suppose.
This was far better than Dusk for his image too, though he had some idea that CS might not be amazingly happy that an X-man was playing criminals on television shows. Then again, maybe he wouldn't watch it.
"So, what do you think?"
Cafas looked at the producer for the show, fixing a smile to his face. "Great! Really dramatic ending, lots of action, what more could you ask for?" Except for some less cheesy dialogue and perhaps some resolution as to what happened to the backpack and its contents. They'd made such an effort to make sure everyone knew how pure their motives were. Did it go to the orphanage they grew up in, did the detectives find it? Seriously, lets not leave that plot thread just waggling around, or the whole thing might unravel.
Cafas turned to smile at Allison. It was still the same one he'd had for the producer. "Don't you think? Really cool chase, right?" Cafas winked, fairly certain his face was hidden from everyone except Allison. The lights in the room slowly faded on as an intern figured out the show was over.
"You're punching hard light constructs." Cafas did not bother to respond to the rest of that. He wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of expressing any opinions in retaliation. Cafas liked his brain cells for one, and was not about to subject them to the sort of nonsensical morality that was prescribed to by people who had never had to save their own damn life.
When he had decided that they had been stretching long enough (which amounted to probably five minutes) He switched into the actual simulation. The world faded out of existence for a second, then back in. The room they were in looked like it could have been the bridge of some star ship. Standing in it were two crash test dummies. Other than that, the room was empty. The floor looked to be made out of ten inch square tiles. Everything had slight sponginess to it. That was to protect people who fell over more than anything.
Cafas stepped away from the controls and into the room. "Righto guys, real training begins now. Persi, you know the basic punches, go practice over there." He pointed to a spot of the room about ten feet away. One of the crash test dummies sprung to life and jogged over to take position where Cafas had pointed, fell into the same stance Cafas would expect of Persi, and waited. "The dummy will catch the punches just like me, it'll show you the correct technique again, and it's not going to be as forgiving as I am about really sloppy technique, so do try to make it a little convincing."
Cafas turned to Aiden and smiled. "Right, I don't know what martial arts you know, if any, but I'm going to teach you some boxing punches and some proper ducking technique, which sounds stupid, but really is designed so you never lose sight of your opponent, so it's actually pretty important. Now, watch me, and try to do what I do." Cafas fell into stance and, just like he had for Persi, demonstrated the movements in slow motion.
"See how I'm not clenching a fist, that's to avoid breaking my fingers, you want open palm with fingers curled down like this. It'll stop you clipping anything with a finger and breaking it that way. Hit with the heel of the hand." Not that Cafas tended to use that technique as often as he should, but he had pretty dense and strong bones, where as the two boys looked like they had bird bones.
"My questions are what and why. What caused it and why? It likely wasn' jus' a dream. Things are never that simple, or convenient."
Cafas tended to agree. Convenience was not exactly something life was renowned for. Mutants seemed to be the logical answer, but he wasn't sure exactly how it had worked. "Probably a warning or something, someone who can see the future or something. Can't imagine why someone would subject everyone to that otherwise. That's the only thing that I can think of. How about you? Any theories?" Cafas took a sip, and made sure it remained a sip, of his drink to help him ponder.
"An' whats with the damn hair?"
Cafas smiled. Yup, hard to avoid that one sometimes. He figured the guy next to him was one of the few people who'd know for certain that it was dye, not mutation. "It's so I can find myself in the parking lot." Habit was another answer. He honestly had forgotten why he'd done it in the first place. For laughs seemed like the correct answer. Why did he keep it? Probably Sophie had said it looked good.
"From what I remember I ended up cutting it out because I kept getting shot at. Hard to avoid being noticed in general."