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.
Having someone around was nice because it felt like a new phenomenon in Marisol’s life. In many ways, she attributed the change in her personality to Celeste. Her blonde best friend got Marisol to start opening up, and maybe she was realizing that, with some effort on her part, people would deal with her rough edges. And those people would then compliment her outfit and take her arm and boost her confidence. Friends were important.
Marisol was at a real party and she was going to take things in stride. At least, she was going to try, but the mention of a threesome stunned her for a second. She blinked rapidly as she processed the whispered secret, and she looked from Skye to the guy at the door back to Skye. Her tan cheeks slowly filled with red color. ”Oh. Oh wow. Really? Um, wow.” Her vocabulary game was on point. She raised an eyebrow and managed a smirk, still beet red. ”Exactly what kind of party did you bring me to?”
The two young women found a bar of sorts and Mari was handed a bottle of bubbly golden beer. The brunette assessed her drink. Her mother often had a beer after finishing a long day of work at her shop, but Mari never thought to try it. After popping her top and taking a hoppy, carbonated sip, she winced. ”That’s… mm, kinda bitter? And yet, refreshing?” It was underwhelming, which made sense in a way; her mother always used to joke that, when she was in college, the beer was weak “pisswater.” There were more dynamic bottles and mixers available, but Skye was right; Mari should ease into things first.
”Okay.” The second sip went down easier. ”So you’re guide to the crazy party scene. What’s first, Skye?”
It was convenient that Marisol was living at the school’s campus rather than with her uncle, because the last thing she intended to do was let her Tío Jorge know about her plans to attend a party and drink for the night. She never had reason to test whether he was a strict guardian or not, but with his background in law enforcement, she decided it was safe to assume he would have cautioned her against the plan. Logically, she understood why, but that would have meant saying no to Skye and, well, she just really did not want to do that.
Skye led the way, and Mari stuck close, to the point where she may have been hanging onto her friend’s arm for stability and so she would not run away. ”Trust me, sticking with you is the plan. I really like your outfit tonight, by the way,” she added cheerfully, wanting to give her friend a well-deserved boost.
They passed a young man who seemed friendly, and evidently wanted to spend some time with the girls tonight. Maybe Skye knew him? Or he was the friend of a friend, at least. The way Skye confirmed she was Mari’s for the night gave her a warm feeling, though she did feel slightly guilty for possibly being a burden on Skye for the night.
They walked in and Mari was taken by the sights, sounds, and smells. There were people everywhere, laughing and talking and playing games, but mostly, they were drinking. She could pick up scents of alcohol in the room, some strong and some sweet, and all new to her. The music was blaring, and it was what she probably should have expected from a party with young adults. She would shove any musical elitism out of her mind for the night if she could help it.
Looking around, she felt her nerves flaring up again. ”W-wow. This is a lot to take in,” she admitted. ”Thanks for being here with me for this. Though I promise, I’ll try not to cling to you all night in case you want to hang out with that guy at the door at some point.” Once she was there for a little while, it would be easier to hold her own, right?
Oh hey, more nerves. She needed to do something to calm those down. It was a party, and she was sure she knew how people relaxed their nerves at parties. ”Hmm. Um, maybe we should grab a drink? And maybe you should lead the way. I sorta know… er, nothing about alcohol,” she confided, feeling slightly childish surrounded by people who clearly did this often.
Marisol had no clue what to expect. She was terrified, but she had to admit, she was also excited.
When Skye brought up the idea to her, Marisol thought she was joking. After their chance meeting on the subway, the two girls stayed in contact, continuing to get to know each other. Marisol liked Skye, likely for the reasons she was different; Mari was a very controlled, organized planner, while Skye had a bold, spontaneous streak that made her exciting to talk to. She was sassy and the way she spoke was so blatant, in a way, she was like the blunt actress, just with more flair.
They were enjoying an evening phone call when Skye mentioned a nearby house party, (in an apartment since this was New York.) She mentioned that they should go and Mari laughed the idea off until Skye made it clear she was not joking. Mari shot back with her usual excuses: rehearsal, homework, the legal drinking age, (which made Skye laugh.) Eventually, Mari had to admit it: she had never been to a house party, and her exposure to alcohol was limited to a drink of wine with her mother.
Mari spotted Skye right away and her face lit up and she approached. They were friends, but they were still getting to know each other, so she was not at the stage of running over and greeting her with a hug. That was still a Celeste thing for the time being.
"Hi! I'm... not sure if I'm ready, but I'm doing it nonetheless!" She laughed off her nerves, which were clear in her voice. "What do you even do to get into a house party?" she asked, genuinely curious. "Is it the kind of a thing where you have to know someone who knows someone? Or is it something shady? Miss Sinclaire, are you a troublemaker?" She raised an eyebrow, grinning.
It was forward for Mari to hug someone she had just met, but she liked something about the vibe she got from Skye. Maybe she was forgoing some of the lessons about strangers instilled in her by her mother and Tío Jorge, but it was rare that someone seemed to click with the socially awkward “ice princess.” Marisol’s life was not a picnic, but her mother did everything in her power to give her the kind of life someone with a lot more privilege would enjoy. Skye did not have that, and in the absence of that, maybe Mari just wanted her to know someone was on her side.
It did comfort her to hear her uncle and his girlfriend had taken her in and treated her right. She hated her mother, which was hard, but justified. All Mari could answer that with was a reassuring squeeze while they were still in their hug. ”New York’s a great place for a fresh start, I can promise you that. Now let’s get some food,” she recommended, linking Skye’s arm with her own and leading the way into the diner.
The dining room had a small collection of customers. It was after the lunch rush, so things were quieting down, and the relief was clear on the faces of the waitresses in their blue fifties-style diner uniforms. Marisol was greeted with a two menus and a smile by the middle-aged owner, Barb. “I wasn’t expecting you today, Mari!”
Something about Barb put Marisol at ease. She was sassy, but she was a well-intentioned boss. Besides Celeste, Barb was probably her next favorite person at work. ”I know. I had a meeting that ended early and I wanted to grab lunch with a new friend, Skye,” she replied, gesturing her head to Skye, confirming they were at friendship level.
Barb knew Marisol well enough to know she did not often make friends out of the blue. “Pleasure to meet you, Skye. You two girls grab a seat wherever!”
Marisol nodded, her arm still interlinked with Skye as they made their way to a booth. ”If you like diner food, you’ll love this place. We can eat and maybe brainstorm getting you a job that doesn’t, you know, suck.” She sidled her way into the booth. ”We’re clearly in all this together now, right?”
Marisol had promised Chase that she would take her cousin shopping for clothes should the day ever come when they felt they wanted to explore their options. While Chase had not yet taken her up on it, but they were going to be at the mall together, so Mari was ready for the possibility.
The Mansion was planning a day trip to the mall and they were looking for people to keep an eye on younger students. Marisol was hesitant about the idea on multiple fronts: she was an adapted among mutants, and worried she would be a problem. Gemma, thankfully, assured her that she would be able to keep a safe distance from the few students who would have real issues around her. The other problem was the mall; shopping could be nice, but malls had a ton of people, and crowds were not Marisol’s forte.
Still, at the end of the day, it was a great excuse to find time to spend with Chase and the newly adopted doppelganger, Toby. She was very curious what the alternate version of Chase would end up being like. She did not know much, but she knew Toby had a rough life and a complicated past on the other side, so she decided she would be patient with him.
Looking around the group, Marisol spotted Chase and Toby approaching and smiled. ”Hey you two! Don’t forget to stay a few feet away,” she reminded. They did not need to cause a scene in the mall, and crowds could react poorly to two ropey-skinned mutant children. ”I’m ready! But it’s your trip! Do you know what kind of shop you want to hit first?”
It was funny to think of one of the few parallels between Marisol and Skye so far: both girls came to New York City to live under the care of an uncle. It was a funny coincidence for two girls who literally bumped into each other on the subway.
That was where the paths diverged, it seemed. Marisol came to New York City for school and Jorge was her de facto guardian while she lived on campus at the performing arts school. Skye came to live on her uncle's couch because her mother, (and Marisol would use the word generously and undeservedly,) decided to treat her daughter like some kind of plague upon the house. Marisol could not imagine being shuttled off because her parents either couldn't take care of her or did not want her there. Well, that was not entirely true; she never knew her father, but her mother always did a great job of minimizing that loss by putting in the work of two parents.
For Skye, though, it sounded like she was starting fresh and relying on the kindness of an uncle she kind of new. Even still, she seemed to keep a positive attitude. Marisol stopped walking and turned, putting herself in Skye's path. She wrapped her arms around the other girls waist and squeezed her tightly in a hug. She finally loosened her grip and met Skye's eyes. "I think your mom made a huge mistake and your uncle's the lucky one for getting you back in his life. I'm just some girl from the subway, and I believe that," she promised, smiling.
She held the smile and the eye-contact for a moment before a sense of familiarity hit her. She looked up and arond and noticed the sign next to them. "Oh! I guess we've made it to the diner. Er, I hope you're hungry?" she asked, still smiling shyly.
Marisol still did not like walking the sidewalks of New York; they had too many people packed too tightly. She was no longer as worried about getting lost if she was going somewhere familiar, but it was still a great way to feel a swell of anxiety. Fortunately, walking with Skye gave Marisol something to focus on and keep her mind off her surroundings.
They kept close as they walked, and Skye made an effort to make Marisol's decision seem lighter by divulging a fun fact about herself that left the dancer wide-eyed. "Really? Just out of the blue, you showed up and he took you in? He took you in right? Tell me he took you in." She got more nervous with each sentence, because she did not like the picture of Skye being tossed out onto the street with nowhere to go.
Marisol would need further explanation on the whole situation, but she could not ignore how sweet Skye was being to her. Her advice seemed genuine, and the way Skye smiled at her after saying she believed in her left a warm fuzzy feeling in Marisol. "You're too sweet for someone who's never seen me dance or act. But... I really appreciate it, Skye."
There was a moment where everything lingered as they walked before Marisol shook off the grateful, totally not blushing feeling and returned to the present. "Okay, we've talked a lot about me. You showed up to your uncle's at three in the morning. Why?" Really, Marisol should have been able to guess that the reason might not be particularly happy, but it had not yet crossed her mind.
It was odd talking about the future with someone who should have been a total stranger. Marisol was sure her mother had warned her specifically about talking to strangers on subways, but surely she did not mean teenage girls her own age, right? She had to make friends somehow, and really, it was a miracle things were going so well in the first place, given Marisol’s track record with… well, people.
Skye’s opinion sounded so sure, she made it sound like it was almost silly that Marisol was even weighing her options. The reaction caught Marisol by surprise, so she was very glad Skye was going to come along with her for a bite to eat. She held her arm in the doorway of the car so it would not close, gesturing to Skye so she would follow her. ”Come on, then; my diner isn’t too far from here.”
They made their way off the subway car and through the station until they wound up in the brisk early-spring air of New York. Marisol calibrated herself and remembered the way to her job; it was one of the six or so places in the city she could navigate to by memory.
Once they were off, Marisol could return to the topic at hand. ”So you really think the right thing is just to go for it? Isn’t that risky? Like, what if I suck? I could suck so bad they recast me before the show starts and then I don’t have a school to go back to.” How would her mother feel then? Having her daughter be a true blue high school dropout. ”It’s just scary to think about all the ways this could go wrong.”
Marisol was thrown off by the flirtatious comment from Skye, but she did not seem to be following it up, which the actress appreciated. She seemed like a nice woman, and it was possible Marisol was misinterpreting any signs she was picking up, since she was still hopelessly oblivious to attempted seductions. For all she knew, Skye was not even into girls, so it looked like they were moving past the comment, and that was quite alright.
They could move on to hopes and dreams, and Skye had dreams of being a journalist or a writer. Mari grinned, picturing Skye at a laptop or—heck, maybe she could even be a typewriter type of gal—writing late into the night to meet a deadline. Her eyes twinkled at the thought. ”I can see it. It’d suit you.”
And then the question was turned on her. ”Well, there’s the thing. I’m going to a high school for performing arts. And I could finish that up next year. But… I was kinda just offered this part in an Off-Broadway show. So I could take a chance on that and skip school next year or I could keep going on the path I’m on and play it safe. And I really have no idea what the right choice is.”
Bing!
Marisol looked up at the display and realized where they had gotten far quicker than she expected. ”And this is my stop,” she said awkwardly, stepping toward the doors getting ready to open. It was a shame, really. Skye was proving to be easy to talk to, and maybe she needed that.
”Hey Skye? she turned to look back at her new almost friend. ”You hungry?”
Marisol wondered sometimes just how many mutants there were in New York. She knew a few mutants during her time in California, though Jenna was the only one she would have claimed to spend significant time with. Marisol was not exactly a naturally social creature after all. Still, her life seemed to be filled with mutants during her first half year in New York. It really was the world's biggest melting pot, both culturally and genetically.
Her newest mutated acquaintance, Skye, was not going to let Marisol's verbal slip slide. The way she responded seemed to imply... yep, there was the wink. She was being flirted with, wasn't she? It was Alice all over again, minus the blue hair and British accent. Marisol shifted uncomfortably; she had never gotten a handle of how people handled being flirted with by someone they did not know. "Y-yeah, probably the kind of thing you'd want to do in private," she said plainly, trying to make sure she was not accidentally flirted, which she had recently found out was a possibility.
It was a gamble asking an emotionally honest question of an almost stranger, but Skye did not disappoint. It sounded like she understood what was going on in Marisol's head. She felt like she was stalling out on the way to her future. Marisol had her own issues to think over, but Skye had made her curious. She shifted slightly closer to her so they could more easily and quietly talk on the train of passengers. "What would you do? Like, if money wasn't an issue, what are some of your ideas?"
Marisol was unsure what to expect from the young woman she bumped into. Her tone implied an attitude, but it was important for Marisol not to judge, considering it was like the pot calling the kettle black. Marisol probably came across as rude to the blonde as well, so maybe they both needed to take a moment to chill out.
They were evidently both on the same page, because Skye sounded much nicer with her next attempt at conversation. Getting a smile from her did a lot to put Marisol at ease. She also noticed that Skye’s voice was not quite New York. Marisol was not one to talk, with a small amount of west coast inflection shining through, but Skye was from somewhere else.
The mutant continued to be unabashedly open about her powers, which was refreshing, even if some people gave her sideways glances. ”Sounds like quite the show,” Marisol replied, smirking. ”At least with me here, you won’t accidentally flash the train. Not that I’m going to stress or startle you,” she added, before reviewing her comments mentally and hastily tacking on, ”Flashbanging. Not the thing I said.” Her tan cheeks pinkened slightly.
Skye explained her work and Marisol pouted, wondering how she would feel if her diner had her working in some kind of skimpy outfit. Skye was a pretty girl, so Marisol was sure plenty of people would give her attention in an outfit like that, for better or worse. She tried to picture it in her head. It did make her want to blush, but was the thought something attractive? Marisol was still trying to figure herself out. She found Celeste attractive, so clearly girls were on the table, but she was still not quite clicking with other women. She still had a lot to piece together.
She was pulled from her thoughts when Skye asked about her deal. ”What do I do for work? Or what am I doing today? I work at a little diner in Hudson Heights, which you’re also welcome to drop by on the weekends.” It seemed like a fair trade.
”As for today…” What was the best answer to that? How honest and open did she want to get with a stranger? She sighed. ”Do you ever feel like you have no clue what your next step is?”
Marisol looked up and found herself at eye-level with the woman she ended up bumping into. She was nicely dressed with slacks, a blouse, and heels. It was hard not to think she was coming from or going to somewhere important. To be fair, Marisol was no slouch either. She had attended a meeting, not a rehearsal, so she went in a white buttoned top, a black pencil skirt, and black heels.
The other young woman had brown eyes and plain brown hair in a cute, trendy cut. Marisol's own hair still had blonde ends at the end as she was growing out the dye job she did during "Heathers." Marisol felt embarrassed for getting so lost in her own head, but the other woman was taking things in stride. Her tone was flippant and unaffected, which made it all the more surprising when she pointed out she was a mutant. Marisol looked around and some people looked at Skye suspiciously, though none in surprise. Was her mutation active before Mari showed up?
Whoever the woman was, she laughed, or tried to, and it earned a similar laugh from Marisol. It was a lot like the laughs she tried to force when she realized her tone was coming off a little "ice queen" for some. Surprisingly, Marisol was given a name-- Skye. All Marisol could think was that it suited her. "Marisol," she replied briefly, offering a small, two-fingered wave of greeting. "And yeah, sorry. I'm kinda the one who turned off the powers," she admitted, quieting her voice a little as people looked on.
Marisol grabbed one of the overhead rails to steady herself and claim her place. "So what do you do, Skye, all dressed up like that?"
In truth, she was in a subway station lost in thought. But the metaphorical crossroad was looming and it felt like she was being faced with one of those big life changing choices that could have huge consequences. It was a lot of pressure for a girl who was still seventeen (and a half, she would now point out.)
She could blame a lot on her roommate. Reagan thought they were focusing too hard on their projects. Reagan was one of the primaries in the big ballet production of the Spring and Marisol had snagged the role of Kathy in the two-person production of The Last Five Years. Between their productions and classes, the two girls had packed schedules.
So Reagan had a thought. They all followed the local auditions and Reagan pointed out a show that would be premiering off-Broadway focused around ballet, almost like an adaptation of one of those popular dance movies; classical dancer meets street dancer, romance ensues, etc. Reagan thought it’d be a fun experience for them to audition for the musical together. It would give them experience and be a nice little shakeup. Nothing to stress over since they were small fish to get tossed away by a casting agent.
Except Marisol had received a callback. And now she was returning from a meeting at the director’s office. He was interested in casting her as the lead. That was the last thing Marisol actually expected. Rehearsals were slated to start in the Summer and the show would be going live in the Fall.
That meant Marisol had a big choice: she could continue her life as a performing arts student, or she could take a break from school to perform in a show that could be her big break. She could continue down her stable path, graduate, and really hit the auditions when she had the rest of her experience under her belt, or she could take a big shot, see if she could arrange to return to classes after the show if they would have her, and see if she had what it took to make it on, quite literally, the big stage.
She heard the muffled announcement letting her know that the subway doors were opening and she absentmindedly walked onboard. She was so in her own head, she accidentally bumped into someone who was already on the bus!
”Oh, sorry! That was rude of me!” she said, still clearly in a fog, but not too rude or oblivious to apologize.
The more Mari thought about it, the more it made sense for a shapeshifter to question who they were and what gender they would feel comfortable “wearing.” Chase had a “default” human appearance, but how much did that really mean in the grand scheme of things?
It did not occur to Mari until Chase mentioned it, but if their powers involved picking up “appearances” from someone’s belongings, it stood to reason that something about her mutation-immunity might make her clothes clean of influence.
Apparently, her younger cousin was apparently watching a cartoon with what sounded like a genderfluid alien, (which Mari mentally praised as being pretty darn progressive for a kids show,) and it got them thinking about themselves in relation to the gender binary. He was starting to get ideas, so maybe it was a good idea for her to explain some of the real-world details.
”You know, Chase, there’s really nothing saying any person is one gender or the other. Especially you. It’s up to you if you end up feeling like you’re a boy or a girl or both or neither. Or even something in between.” Marisol placed a hand carefully on her cousin’s shoulder. ”And there’s no rush if you want to take the time to figure it all out. You don’t have to have it figured out by thirteen.”
Mari looked over to her pile of clothes, smiling softly. ”Let me know if you want to try anything on. My closet is at your disposal. And… if you ever decide you want to, of course… I would be happy to take you shopping. No pressure, though.”
The older you get, the harder it is to remember what it was like to be a child. The way someone thought as a kid becomes so entirely foreign to the adult they become and, with how much teenagers were constantly changing as people, someone at twelve and the same someone at seventeen might as well be entirely different people. Chase was seeing the world in a way Marisol had forgotten about, but if she really pressed herself, she could see the signs. There was a way the world was supposed to work because that was what everyone said. Things were supposed to work that way and if they do not, something wrong.
Marisol remembered feeling “wrong” for too long in her life. She watched herpeers around her developing crushes and entering their first relationships and she sat there, feeling like some alien trying to piece together the mystery. If there was something Chase needed to figure out, she did not want to see her cousin struggling with it alone, feeling wrong.
The way Chase looked at her left the impression that he did want some kind of validation, even if he was still wary. Processing the idea that he—well, maybe she(?) could wear girl clothes sounded wrong compared to what (s)he heard from the rest of the world. Still, when she offered her compliment, Chase smiled, albeit a small, nervous smile.
With the offer to sit together out there, Chase obliged Marisol and took a seat next to her. Marisol watched as tan skin gave way to the dark, rope-like skin of Chase’s “base” form. She handled it in stride; the last thing she wanted was to make Chase feel like she was uncomfortable around her cousin in any form Chase chose to take.
They were sitting together and the awkward pause that followed was evidence of Marisol not actually knowing where she was supposed to start. She was just figuring out her own sexual identity at seventeen; who was she to talk to Chase about gender identity?
The answer was obvious: she was the one who was there, so it had to be her. ”So have you tried on clothes like these before? Or was this your first time? And either is okay. Remember; you’ve done nothing wrong, sweetheart.” Marisol was seeing signs in her cousin of something that made sense to her, but she did not want to jump to conclusions based on something she only saw for a moment.
