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.
Inquiring about other people's mutant abilities was always a delicate issue. Javier did not want to pry, but she'd already offered up the information, and it was clearly related to her claims of quality. She made silk. Somehow.
>>"I literally make silk, yes. I'm not prepared at the moment to whip out some of the stuff I make these silks out of. Takes a while to get ready for that process. But, I can show you this~"
Silk from the mouth. Oookay then. Javier tried to keep a polite pokerface. It was not the weirdest mutation he had ever seen, but it was... questionable hygiene. The thread looked flexible and durable, and then ooooookay it went right back in her mouth.
>>"I can make silk a variety of ways, both from my own body and externally?... I can also ingest and re-use the silks I personally make. A never ending supply, if you will."
"Fascinating." Javier was indeed fascinated. He was also more than a little grossed out. Was that even legal? Selling body products like that to people?... Was there even a precedent?
>>"Tell me, Javier... are you afraid of spiders?"
"What?... I mean, not..." was this a prejudice thing? She was a shocking person, but he was not going to tell her he was afraid or anything. Mutations were all unique, and sure, hers would have triggered more than a few phobias, but...
SPIDER ACTUAL SPIDER
>>"Parker! No, no bad boy. Back in the room!... Sorry, he's new to my life and being a little obstinate brat. Parker! Go lay down! Go!"
Booker would have been so much better at this. Then again if Booker mad been nearby the spider might not have even existed.
Javier, in general, did not have a flight or fight response. He had a deer-in-the-headlights response. He stared as the HOLY SH*T THAT'S LARGE spider scurried around, and then was chased back out the door. His jaw was starting to hurt from trying to keep a straight face.
She was really leaning into the spider theme.
>>"Pets, right? He figured out how to open doors and now it's damn near impossible to contain him with company over. Anyway... what was i saying?"
"Did you... uh... was that..." how did one politely inquire whether one's prospective business partner hatched giant mutant arachnids in her free time? "Is Parker... a part of your mutation?"
Thanks to everything holy, Miss Rova did not force the issue of shooting at the vest. Javier let out the breath he had been holding.
>> "Ah, trigger shy then. Alright, how about this."
Javier watched as she leaned down, then changed her mind halfway. What was she going to do? Shoot herself? He sure hoped not...
>>"Nevermind."
"I believe you" Javier said, looking at the wear and tear on the vest. It wasn't perfect, and it had been tested a lot, but Javier's practiced eyes could tell that it was very good quality. Especially for silk. He could really do something with it, if he worked on turning it into vigilante costumes.
>>"Like I was saying, my designs obviously aren't perfect. So somebody with actual talent at putting clothes together would have a grade a garment on their hands. They can even be stab proof if you do it right."
"That is... quite incredible." Javied nodded, touching the vest and admiring the fabric "So... you said you make this? Like... literally, you can make silk? Like a... um, like a spider? Or a silkworm?"
Lady, do you wrap yourself in saliva, or do you make butt ropes?...
Some people were more comfortable with letting others into their personal space than... others. Javier himself was not exactly a touchy-feely person either (except with a very select few), but his work required him to get up close and personal with his clients, measuring them so that their clothes would fit properly. From the looks of it, this man did not like the idea of being measured. In fact, he tried to make a run for it.
>>"Y'know, maybe I'm good, you know?"
"I'll just..."
Rrrriiip.
Javier winced at the telltale sign of fabric giving up on life. Suddenly, there was a lot less spandex and a... lot more muscle. Honestly, it was a wonder that suit had lasted this long at all. Javier stared for a long, horrified moment before clearing his throat and looking away.
>>"Okay... I guess I need a new one."
Javier made a little choking sound as a laugh and a horrified yelp collided in his throat, then grabbed for the nearest length of leftover fabric, tossing it in Saphirus' direction.
"Yes, you'll... um. Yeah. You'll need a new one." thank god "Shall I see if I have some clothes lying around that would fit you in the meantime?"
Some abilities were easier to explain than others. In Javier's case, the explanation was "I am sometimes super strong, randomly, and sometimes not." In Saphirus' case... well. The more Javier heard the more fascinated he was by the whole thing. And especially a challenge. Two different, literal sides to a power? That was going to be fun to design an outfit for...
>>"Yeah. I'm sure you kinda felt somethin was off when we shook hands... Right hands. Force don't transfer into my right side like a normal person... Gets sucked up. Kinda feels like touching nothing... Pushing into a wall that gives no resistance but still doesn't move. Had some real hard hitters call the feeling damn near haunting in the past, but you get used to it when it's attached to you."
Yeah, okay. So the strange handshake had not just been the social anxiety. Good to know.
>>"From there, that force gets stored in my left side... Fills up like a battery, cool, jittery feeling that crawls up my arms the more it gets full... And I, I dunno, make it even bigger somehow, amplify it, and boom, push it out. The effect it even greater when I transfer that force through an object, like those crowbars I use. Though, it's rough on the fabric where I shoot the energy out. I blow out finger tips and knuckles like nobody's business."
Javier nodded, taking some notes. Right side in, left side out, with a vengeance. Storing energy. Force. And then dealing it out, preferably through objects. Researchers would have had a field day with this kind of stuff.
>>"ehh... So... How's this all work, then? You gotta, like, measure me and stuff?"
"Yes. Uh... yeah, that's a good place to start." Javier nodded, setting the notepad down, and grabbing a pencil and measuring tape. "Do you... um, change size or shape when you project the force you have stored? Is there a temperature change?"
The silks looked amazing. Javier carefully ran his hands over some of the samples. It was unlike anything he'd worked with before. Silk, for sure, but... different. Mesmerizing in color, and even more so in texture. The researcher in him wanted to take a much closer look.
>>"If I can toot my own horn a little, i'd say they were the most durable in the city at this moment, unless you wanna get involved with straight up government issue Kevlar. I can prove exactly how durable they are, too. If you care for a demonstration."
"Sure" Javier nodded, curious to see how the fabric actually held up to tear and wear... but then Ms. Rova walked over to a desk, and casually pulled out a gun. The sight of the weapon made Javier tense up. Weapons always made him tense up, even if they were handed with the confidence of this strange woman.
>>"See, I can gab away all day about how great what I make is, and all the funny little details, but until you see it in person You'll think i'm lying through my teeth."
She surely was not going to shoot that gun... was she? Javier fidgeted with his cup. Was that even safe, shooting a gun inside an apartment?
>>"I make all my silks myself. I'm a mutant, it comes with my power. A few years back I discovered that if I slapped enough layers of my silk together I could make my own knockoff bullet proof vests. I'd not saying I perfected a method or anything, but in experienced hands like yours? Just think of the possibilities."
Wait... she made the silk? That information almost made Javier forget she had a gun in her hand. That was downright fascinating. Mutant produced durable silk? It was not something he'd ever worked with. Possibly not something anyone had ever worked with. The possibilities were endless. Javier stared at the vest she strapped on.
>>"You wanna see if it really works before investing in this, so I present to you the ultimate test. Shoot me."
It was bulletproof?!
"Uh... huh?" Javier blinked, tense like a violin string. "Oh. No!... I mean, thank you, but no. I don't... I don't even know how to shoot a gun." Holy hell, definitely not. He was not going to shoot at a person! What if he hit her somewhere she was not covered with the vest? His aim was not that good. Or what if he did, and the bullet ricocheted? Or the vest had a fault, and she actually died?
>>"Yeah? Who have you done this for already, then?"
"A few people on your team" Javier responded tactfully. Saphirus came here though recommendation from the X-men, so there was not much need for secrecy, but he liked to be discreet anyway. "I assume Cold Steel was the one who directed you to me."
>>"You know, it's sort of a secret, so if you tell anyone what I tell you right here and now, it doesn't leave this room, got it?"
"Absolutely." Javier nodded. He was not going to be foolish enough to blab on the X-men. Anxiety was good for keeping secrets.
>>"If you look at all of the fan sites, they speculate stuff, right? They figure I got super strength, increased endurance, and I can fly. Hell, if you ask some of em I'm damn near unstoppable, with weird inconsistencies. Lotta questions... But... Well, It ain't like that at all."
Fan sites rarely were. Javier nodded patiently. He had only been in one accidental high-profile fight... well, two, if one counted both the cosplay convention where the ceiling came down on him, and the fight with the giant lemurs at Central Park Zoo. But even though his identity stayed unknown, the Interwebs were already full of chatter about his potential powers.
Saphirus threw a cup, changed its direction, and then caught it and crushed it. It was a small feat, but still a demonstration of an impressive power that seemed to break all the laws of physics. Javier blinked. "Whoa."
>>"There. Kinetic energy. I mess with the energy that makes things move. One one side, I absorb it. On the other, I dish it out. That work for an explanation?"
"Um... yes. It's a very impressive power." Javier nodded. He wasn't sure about all the intricacies of such a power, but it was a start. "Wait, what do you mean, one side? Your... the two sides of your body don't do the same thing?"
>>"Well, I mean... Like, what's not to like, right? Spandex, stretchy, strong, lightweight... Heroic, y'know. All them heroes in the comics always wearin spandex..."
"Yeah, that's... yeah they definitely do." Javi could not argue with that. He had made enough cosplay pieces since he started dating Booker to know the basics. But none of those were supposed to hold up in an actual fight.
>>"But I... Guess if you got another thing in mind... I'm open."
Javier nodded, and got out his notepad and measuring tape, and a few samples of fabric that he thought might work better. (Basically, all of them).
>>"So uh... How long you been at this... Tailorin thing?"
"A few years, since college" Javier smiled, omitting the fact that he'd quit college halfway though. "But I only started working with... superpowered people in the last year." He didn't want to say vigilantes or X-men. It would have been too bold.
"So... the best way to do this is for you to tell me how your powers work. Then I'll know what your outfit has to withstand in a fight."
>>"Ah, Mr. Moreno. Good to meet you. Please come in. I've pulled quite a few of my samples out for you to inspect."
They shook hands, and Javier was invited into the apartment. It was all professional so far, and he was immediately distracted by the fabrics displayed all around. They looked... unusual.
>>"Would you like anything to drink? I've got a fresh pot of coffee on, or black or green tea if you like. Or some spirits, if you'd rather pick your poison."
"Black tea is great, thank you." he nodded, just to pick one of the options. He sure as hell was not going to drink liquor while on business, and coffee and green tea tended to kick his anxiety into high gear. But declining the offer altogether tended to send most people into an awkward ritual of offering things over and over again in need of being good hosts.
>>"I hope you found the place alright? I know i'm in a bit of an obscure location."
"It was no trouble" Javier hurried to assure her, taking a hesitant step closer, finding a place to sit among the displayed fabrics once he had his cup of tea. "So... I understand that your silk fabrics are especially durable?"
Expanding into the superhero costume business required several updates. Javier needed new work ethics, new work schedules, and it was getting to the point where he was starting to consider a new work space as well. He was not there yet, financially, and it would need more than a few random X-men to get the cash. As things stood now, Javier needed an update to the materials he was working with. Vigilante outfits did not only need to be durable and flashy, they also had to be able to fit the unique requirements of the powers people used in them. Using his background in chemistry, Javier had been returning to old habits of designing and experimenting, and he kept an eye out for new opportunities.
Like... very high quality durable silk.
It was a strange idea, not one he was sure about. But it was worth a try. Dressed in a smart teal shirt with and a dark grey vest and pants, Javier lingered in the doorway of the building for a few minutes, too early as usual, before he allowed himself to ring the doorbell, right on time. Inside, he soon found himself on the doorstep of a very confident-looking woman, with a room full of silk.
"Ms. Rova?" he ventured with a friendly smile, like he had been practicing in his head on the way up "My name is Javier Moreno. I am here to look at the special silk fabrics you mentioned on the phone."
The handshake was... light. Javier did not get the feeling of the man holding back out of courtesy, but he sure as hell was; never certain when his powers would kick in, he was generally cautious about handshakes. At least this time it was not painfully obvious.
>>"eh... I mean, Yeah, I guess. Who said that?... I mean, yeah, like, it's not too bad, right? But I, eh, You know, a little updating wouldn't hurt... You know."
Javier, despite his usually shy nature, couldn't help but arch an eyebrow at that understatement. Maybe someone higher up on the X ladder sent Saphirus for the wardrobe update, and he didn't even notice the need?... How did he miss that?
>>"So, I dunno, They said you were creative and stuff... Any ideas you got in- Eh, In mind?"
Start. From. Scratch.
"Uh. Yes." Javier nodded slowly, motioning to Saphirus to follow him into the workshop in the back. "But it works best if I work with what you need, and what you want it to look like. Are you... very attached to spandex?"
Javier walked out of the workshop in the back when he heard the bell chime. He had been expecting someone - another member of the X-men - for an appointment, although he was aware that sometimes the superhero types missed their appointments due to... half the city falling apart. What he did not expect was for the man to show up in a full suit made of... spandex?... Javier was not wholly comfortable with fully costumed superheroes walking into his shop in broad daylight, but he was too polite to bring that issue up. Maybe he should just start doing house calls to Xavier's...
"Um. Hello. Nice to meet you." he offered a hand to the taller man with a friendly smile "My name is Javier." he looked over the spandex suit, which was definitely showing some wear and tear up close... much like the man who was wearing it.
"So... I'm told that you need an update to your... work attire?"
It was a very awkward faux pas to commit, assuming someone was a hooker. Javier would chew on that guilt for many days to come, even if she shrugged it off with a laugh.
>>"Don't worry about it. Honestly it doesn't bother me. And I'm a tattoo artist."
Genuine interest lit up Javier's face.
"Really? That's cool!" he blurted out. It really was. Artists of any kind were interesting people, and tattoos were something that fascinated Javier, even if only from afar. And it had nothing to do with hooking, which was a relief. "I mean... I'm a tailor. I'm just interested in... things that have to do with style, and art. What kind of tattoos do you do?"
Luckily, Javier's brush-off of the X-men question did not spark any follow-ups. He kept working on measurements, taking notes, and steering the conversation towards another topic. That last one was the most exhausting, for an introvert like him.
>>"You ever feel...like deep within your soul that you had to do something with your life? And not just because you were good at it? Or had skill just handed to you essentially? But because you feel like life would be wasted if you didn't take a certain path?"
"Uh..." Javier admired people with a sense of purpose. He really did. When he'd found out he was a mutant with super strength, he even felt like he was expected now to use his powers for the greater good. It was just... more of an outside pressure, rather than an inner motivation. He enjoyed his work, but he never felt like he needed to change the world. Or even save it.
>>"I'd be a waste if I didn't use what I can do to make the world a better place. Sure, I can say it is the right thing to do. While it is, it wouldn't be my entire answer. Not truthfully. My abilities came at the great personal cost that can never been given back. Not using them...means the cost didn't matter. Which would be a lie."
Backstories. Everyone had one. Javier nodded, feeling too awkward to pry into someone's painful past.
"That's... it makes sense, yes." he nodded, finishing up the measurements. "So... maybe we could talk about what all you expect this new outfit to withstand?"
>>"Incoming joke: If you were a tailor with a spy shop I would be mildly concerned. Hi, everyone calls me Red, Javier."
They shook hands. Or rather, Javier shook a few fingers. Geez, the guy was large. But at least he was friendly? "Nice to meet you, Red."
Now that the initial scare was over, Javier felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe he would make a friend this time? Maybe Red could help him work out his powers.
>>"You wouldn't happen to be one of those super famous and rich, reclusive fashion designers that happens to secretly be a mutant would you?"
"Um... no." Javier smirked "I mean, I'm not rich or famous. I am a designer, though. And... kinda reclusive?"
>>"Do you often corner people after displaying feats of unusual capability and trying to flee sed scenes?"
"No." it would have been weird to say yes, wouldn't it? Javier led Red to his shop, and opened the door with his keys, letting him inside the small space. "I just... strength seems to be a basic power, as far as powers go. It just doesn't make much sense to me to see others use it and I... well, I kinda suck at it."
>>”You’re just too damn pretty. You lot attract all the trouble.”
Javier chuckled a little as Booker moved closer. He always felt safe around Booker, which was ironic, since he was the only person who could literally take his powers away. The smile, the touch, the kind words... if he could have anyone at his bedside when he was hurting, Booker was the best choice every time.
"That doesn't make sense. Then you'd be in trouble all the time too."
It was nice Booker thought he was pretty, but really, the librarian was... kind of perfect.
>>”Sorry Javi. I know you don’t like the whole superhero thing. But you’re a good person and you try to help anyways. Unfortunately, it’s one of those trials good people have to face. Being good isn’t always easy, Javi. But I’m still proud of you every day.”
Javier had a shaky hold on his emotions, thanks to the events of the day, and the painkillers they had him on. His eyes teared up a little as he smiled at his boyfriend, holding his hand.
"Couldn't do it without you" he admitted with a sigh "I just... I thought you'd... I thought about what you'd do if you had my powers, when I was there."
