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.
Her brow furrowed. Vicente...? Why did the sound familiar? Tilting her head slightly as confusion set in, she watched him as he started to move. The think he had tacked onto his statement, as well as the admission that he had no clue where he was were worrisome facts. She couldn't very well help him if he could barely remember his own name, now could she? Pondering on that thought, she recalled that her phone was tucked into the little purse she had on her person, and she wondered if calling an ambulance for this Vicente was needed. If she did, it meant that she would need to make herself scarce by the time help arrived, and that he would be on his own with a new set of people to answer too.
She had just been about to open her mouth to ask him what he would prefer she do, when he finally managed to get a look at her. His reaction, while it earned a jump from her, wasn't all that surprising.
“Ow! Sonnavabit— W-What…are you?”
The Greek was suddenly, painfully aware of the fact that she had nothing to hide behind. Her sweater had no hood, her dress offered no protection, and she could practically feel every blotch on her skin itching. It had been a while since anyone had reacted to the sight of her in such a manner, and the hint of fear within his gaze only made it worse. Immediately, she swept herself onto her feet, and backed a safe distance away, tucking her hands into the pockets of her dress so he wouldn't see her wringing them.
"Sorry... I--... I did not mean to surprise you..." She manged a timid smile, but turned her chin to avoid looking directly at him.... even if he couldn't see her eyes through her glasses, anyway. "... I am a mutant... Um.. if you would like, I could call someone else for you? Someone more qualified to deal with this kind of situation might be of more help than I am..."
Why did her chest hurt all of the sudden? Silly thing... she should be used to this by now. All of her time spent hanging around Saph had caused her to forget how vastly different she was from normal people. It was always a painful thing to be reminded of... but, she really couldn't hold it against Vicente.
Oh dear... maybe he was worse off that she'd first thought. He groaned like he was coming out of a lengthy sleep, and the way he was moving just didn't seem right at all. Maybe some sort of head wound was what had laid him out in such a manner? "Shh... it is alright. You should not move anymore than necessary until we know if you are wounded." What was it people always said? Don't move someone, just in case there was some kind of neck, or spinal injury? Or.. was it the other way around?... no, that wouldn't make much sense. It had to be the first.
“W-What…happened…?” Well... crap. His guess was as good as hers at this point. She leaned in closer to hear what he was saying, since his voice was scarcely above a whisper. “Who...are you? D-Did you…do this…to me?”
"Heavens no!" Mortification hit her at the very thought of such a thing, and the gorgon shifted away from him. "...You were laying here when I spotted you a few moments ago... I did not see anyone else around, so I am afraid I do not know what happened to you." Pausing, her shielded gaze returned to his feet. "Though... due to your lack of shoes, I am inclined to believe that it was some kind of mugging..." The Greek frowned, and relaxed once more, reaching out to try and feel his forehead, to see if he was running any kind of temperature.
... People did that in situations like this, right?
Yeah... Of course they did! "My name is Andrea... Do you know where you are?" If he didn't remember what had happened to him, or who had done it, then she was at a loss for what to do to help him solve the 'crime'. But, that didn't mean she couldn't at least help him up back onto his feet and get him on his way safely back to wherever it was he lived. Assuming he lived somewhere, that is... Looking at his clothes, he didn't appear homeless... and he wasn't as scruffy as most of the people living at shelters tended to get.
There were a lot of things wrong with the world; greed, hate, murder... they were the most widely known. People tended to pitch fits about the most obvious things, the easiest things to stand against... but also tended to pointedly ignore the rest.
One thing that never ceased to sicken the Greek, was the way people could turn a blind eye on someone in need. She had seen it countless times since moving to New York. Those considered homeless were filth in the eyes of the working class. Those that could not help themselves were snubbed and swept under a rug as if they didn't exist at all. Every time she wandered across examples of this human trait, she walked away feeling sick to her stomach, and more than a little angry.
So, you can imagine the flood of emotions that hit her like a brick when the Gorgon happened upon an all too familiar sight. Someone's prone form laying half on the sidewalk, obviously in need of some sort of help, while pedestrians stalked past without so much as a glance. Quite riled up, Andrea shook herself and forced her body to move. The shock of stumbling across someone in such a position always left her feeling uncertain at first, but the few times she'd been able to help had been well worth it in the end.
Shouldering past a man who was loudly barking into a cell phone, the Greek hurried to the figures side. Kneeling, the realization that he was nothing but a kid hit her like a slap in the face. Sure, she could sometimes understand how, say, a lone woman would avoid helping a strange man out-- because she's rightly got to be a little paranoid this day and age-- ... but a boy? Someone no older than herself? It was inexcusable in her books. She deemed every single person that had walked past without a care as purely rotten, and turned her mind back to the task at hand.
"... Can you hear me?" Touching his shoulder as gently as she could, she leaned over him to get a look at his face. Aside from a few scrapes here and there, he didn't seem all that injured. "Are you all right?... Do you have any injuries...?"
Her serpents stirred behind her, tied back securely with a length of yellow ribbon. Andrea gave him another once over before deciding that if he was injured at all, it wasn't a visible wound, and therefore not something she could hope to help treat. From the looks of him, she figured he'd been jumped. The lack of shoes was an obvious sign if she'd ever seen one. Wrinkling her nose at the thought, she sat back on her haunches and folded her hands across her lap nervously.
Medusa... The Greek shot a half smirk the bone manipulators way, and uncrossed her arms, hooking her thumbs into the back pockets of her makeshift shorts instead. Few people had ever gotten away with calling her names, least of all something like that... but she respected Isabel just about as much as she hated her. Nicknames were easily overlooked, or ignored... by just about anyone bearing the title 'Amazon'. "Maybe she's gonna use him as target practice.... or a coat rack."
"Ladies, come on... You said it yourselves, I'm Maxine's 'catch' and if she hasn't told you anything yet, maybe it's because you don't need to know?"
"Yeah, you're right. I probably don't need to know why she's keeping you around... but you probably won't be needing that tongue of yours either. I can't imagine she's got you caged here because you're a great conversationalist." She eyed him once more and snorted. Taking a single step forward, she crowded the boys cage, leaning lazily against the bars. Sloth took that as a sign that he was allowed to slither forward himself, wrapping his thick body around one of the bone bars while a lengthy pink tongue licked at the air hungrily. The Greek couldn't stop herself from copying the snake, and ended up licking her own lips hungrily as well.
He'd smelled prey before... tasted it too. His mistress had allowed him, as well as the others, to indulge in a meal every now an then... scraps from various things. Andrea could feel their hunger as if it was her own. Licking her lips, she resisted the urged to reach in to try and snag him, turning her attention to the two others who had wandered over to join the merry welcoming party. The littlest amazon, gained her immediate attention, and she put a little extra effort into controlling herself. She'd known the girl since before the Fortress, or Maxine... even before the city had fallen. In a way she usually tried her best not to appear such a monster when Kaitlyn was around. If only by keeping a tight reign on her temper, and stopping herself from making rash, dangerous decisions.
The other, though, was someone she'd only met after. Another Amazon who she could only claim to respect due to word of mouth and through the few times she'd been out on missions with her. Andrea nodded to each of them in turn, before turning her shielded gaze back on the only male present.
She was getting bored, and boredom from her usually meant horrible things for other people. Fortunately for her current guest, she needed him alive. Unfortunately, she didn't need him whole. She'd just been toying with the idea of seeing how long it took the quiet man to scream like a child from her touch, when someone decided to join her.
... and promptly insult her.
She could feel her hackles rise, but bit back the anger. She was here first and foremost to find out who these people were. Once that was dealt with and she had enough information to bring home with her, she could take care of the loose ends. Once the newcomer had made himself known, she took a few moments to evaluate him. He knew her last name, or her former last name, anyway. Considering how well known her kind was, and while she wasn't all that surprised, it did point to the fact that he was more knowledgeable than a good majority of other city dwellers. "...What a gentleman. Please, why don't you have a seat?" Was that sarcasm in her voice? Yes, yes it was. Eyeing the stranger from under her hood, while he in turn eyed her, she sighed and draped her arms lazily over the sides of her chair while motioning toward another chair a good distance from her. "You must have run into a different breed of thug than i'm used to, then... Most of them hardly put up any fight at all."
"I must say, i'm a little disappointed myself. Here I was expecting an army... and I get one man." Turning her chin, she nodded to the scout beside her, then reached over to stroke his hair rather affectionately. "... I keeping this one alive so I could have a chat with someone one on one. Guess I didn't need to take that precaution after all." The hair hardened under her touch instantly and she earned herself a nice little cringe from her captive.
"... but since you're here now, maybe you will see fit to answer my questions. Mainly... who are you? What were these people doing so close to territory they should not be in?" She motioned to her seat, tapping her fingers softly on the arm she was using as an arm rest, and cocked her head at him. "I tried to ask the nice lady that was in charge here... but then she went and got on my nerves."
Abandoned hospitals were not at the top of her favorite places list. Being led into one by two armed men made that realization very clear to her. Unfortunately, she had no choice in the matter. A large number of people setting up shop (or so it appeared) in a hospital right along the border to Amazon territory needed to be investigated. She was sure that Maxine would want to know the details, and if it ended up being any sort of threat, that Andrea had taken care of it.
The further she traveled inside, however, the less sure she became. These people, whoever they were, were organized already. The two leading her on spoke not a single word, and though she was more than happy with the strained silence, it was more than a little disconcerting. She wasn't sure exactly what their impression of her was, considering the fact that most of her was hidden behind a dirty red raincoat, but she was sure the dried blood flecks that still clung to her boots had to have been spotted by now. From within the shadow of her hood, she watched the men's backs, orange eyes shifting from one to the other warily. They didn't act like scavengers, nor were they as boisterous and egotistical as the raiders she ran into every now and then.
...something felt off, and she wasn't sure what exactly it was.
It wasn't until she had been led to the third floor, that she realized her mistake. A handful of people greeted her, two women and three more men. Each was busy sifting through piles of collected medical paraphernalia to sort the accumulated mess. Though she had faced down a number of people like this before, this group seemed lucky enough to have gotten their hands on a few guns.... and gun's were tricky to get around without gaining a hole in the face.
"She demanded to see who was in charge, Ma'am." One of her escorts started, earning the attention of one rough looking woman in particular. "..That so?" The woman questioned back, turning her attention to the red-coated person standing among them. With a quiet 'hmph', she hooked her hand over the grip of a .45 holstered at her side.
"What do you want?" She questioned, stomping over to stand before the stranger.
Andrea eyed the woman as she moved, having already taken into account the positions of everyone else in the room, and what kind of weaponry they had within her field of vision. "I want to know what you are doing this close to Amazon territory." The Greek replied back, bluntly. The room instantly took on a more tense atmosphere, as those who had been sorting suddenly stopped, and reach for their weapons.
"Amazon, huh?" She snorted, and rolled her shoulders like she was preparing for a fight. "I don't really think you've made a wise choice, coming here. In case you haven't noticed, you're outnumbered seven to on-" Before she finished her sentence, a white blur streaked out from within the Gorgon's hood. Sloth's large maw snapped shut around the unprotected flesh of the woman's throat, clamping down hard enough that when he clenched his muscular torso he dragged his victim forward off her feet. The Greek took the moment of surprise to throw her hood back, and launch into the second part of her attack...
...Moments later, with her boot clad foot pressed firmly into the back of the man's neck, Andrea bent and held the radio down to face level for him. "Go on... Say it." She pressed a little harder with her heel, earning a grunt from her captive. With the press of a button, the radio line jumped to life. "... Scout team delta... suffered heavy casualties... need.. backup... Uurgh!" letting go of the button, Andrea stood and slipped her hood back up into place. "Good boy." She murmured, before turning to leave the bound man where he lay. She had quite a few things to do before any 'back up' arrived, and most of it was going to involve a lot of heavy lifting. But, if she wanted to be a good, gracious host to whoever these people were, and send along the right message, she was going to have to come up with some furniture somewhere.
Snatching up the limp arm of one of the former scouts, she started to drag him across the floor. When help arrived, it would be too late for all but one man, and if they wanted him alive, she was going to have to have a nice little chat with someone, one on one, in the comfort of her own hand-made furniture. Hopefully, they liked modern art. Once she was done with her work, she glanced out one of the windows at the setting sun, leaning back into her once-human make shift chair as she waited.
Her voice was calm, deathly quiet when compared to the viciousness of her actions. Bare handed, she twisted the man's arm further behind his back, pressing his face harshly into the hard, broken concrete. Three of the fingers she had a grip on here already ruined, nothing but hunks of stone-like matter. The man himself cried out, tears streaming down his gritty cheeks, and nodded his head as energetically as he could. "Yes! Yes, I swear on my life it is!"
After a moment of contemplation, she accepted it as the truth and let go of him. As soon as she stepped away, his wife and son rushed forward to sit at his side. The Greek ignored their questions about if he was alright, turning on her heels to march back toward the small pile of belongings they had dropped. Normally she wouldn't have bothered a small group of unarmed roamers... but this particular band had a cart with them. A cart that she had found to contain quite a few supplies. A small hoard of smoked meats, plenty of medical gear, and... alcohol.
Now, that was something she couldn't just pass up.
Unfortunately, two of the other people wandering with the group had thought to resist her. It had ended badly for them. The Gorgon glanced over at one pair of feet still peeking out from behind the cart she intended to take with her, and smirked. They always fought back... every single time. She couldn't blame them, really. It was a dog eat dog world, and she just happened to be a dog whose bite was worse than her bark. Stopping at the small pile of things the three remaining wanderers had dropped, she knelt to sift through them momentarily. Sometimes people hid useful things close to their bodies, sometimes things no one else knew they had.
Behind her, the son, only nineteen years old, looked up from where his father was nursing his ruined hand. Anger was written clearly across his features... "David... David don't you even think of--" His mother never got to finish her sentence. David climbed quickly to his feet before the woman could latch onto him, after having snatched up a length of splintered wood from his right. He ran at the mutant who had killed Nathan and Fredrick, hollering his rage at the top of his lungs. His mother screamed behind him, her hands flying to her mouth in horror, while his father shouted his name and tried to shakily get to his feet.
Andrea didn't bother turning around at first, not until he was nearly on top of her. The makeshift club arched straight toward her head, until Sloth whipped around and sank many little needle-teeth into the wood. The weight of the great snake alone sent the club careening off path, and that was when Andrea chose to stand. She turned in an instant and her bare hand latched onto the boys throat before he even knew what was happening.
"Stupid child..." Scowling, her fingers dug in until her venom had hardened the skin enough to physically stop her. Instinctively, he latched onto the appendage in order to pry it away, and ended up losing the use of a few fingers in the process.
"DAVID!" The heart breaking wail dragged the Greek's attention away from her suffocating victim to his parents. Her grip loosened and the boy dropped to the ground, clawing at his throat desperately. "Don't worry..." She muttered, stepping around the dying human with an air of nonchalance. "You will follow him soon enough..."
The shrieks that followed penetrated the air and carried on for a mile or more, echoing off into the distance. Then, all at once, they ended. Andrea stood above the body of the husband, inspecting the detail left behind in the fingernails of the newly detached hand that she gripped. The fact that her venom left behind such intricate things like cuticles and little flakes of what once had been skin never ceased to amaze her.
Sloth hung behind at her back, his lengthy body tensed as he held himself tightly around the neck of the weakly struggling wife. Every time she tugged, kicked, and gasped, he constricted just a little bit more... The Greek could feel bones and tendons popping against the pressure, until the woman finally stopped moving.
Her mutations had never been more of a gift, than right now. No one could withstand her gaze. Every single man and woman who laid locked eyes with her fell prey to her power. She abused it greedily, as she stalked toward the small group of raiders who had chosen to attack her home in the middle of the night. A few fell to gunfire as she moved ever closer, being unable to flee from danger. She ignored the bodies that fell, her gaze locked on those that were still standing.
It wasn’t until she was within arms reach of one man that she felt something snap within her, and with a snarl, she launched herself at the unconscious man. Both of them dropped to the ground while she wrapped her hands around his throat and squeezed as hard as she could. She knew, deep down, that she didn’t need to try and cut off his air with sheer strength alone. Just her touch would be enough... the venom sinking into his skin, turning everything once soft and squishy as hard and useless as rock. Within minutes she had ruined the main arteries in his neck, as well as destroyed his only means of sucking in air.
She didn’t bother sticking around to watch him expire, either... there were many more pests to take care of before her work was done. Leaving the man to die, she stood and hurried onward. Her eyes were sure to leave people comatose, she knew that much, but the length of time for each person varied greatly. She needed to act with haste, lest any managed to slip away from her before her revenge was completed.
Three more fell like the first, left to flail and claw at their throats before they ultimately died. She left another bunch to the gun fight, deciding to curve away and follow two that had decided to abandon the mission. One turned to look back at the wrong time as he fled, ending up with a face full of stone venom, courtesy of Vana. That man fell with a shriek, and Andrea was upon him in an instant. As the sound of gun fire died down behind her, she sat atop the struggling man, and wrapped her hands once again around the throat.
Each death brought her nothing. No happiness, no peace. She grew angrier and angrier, until she could feel her blood pumping throughout her body. Her eyes locked on the back of the last opponent, hurrying to escape a losing battle, and she snarled again.
No one was going to escape from this.
She was up on her feet in an instant, sprinting effortlessly after. The trail of bodies she left behind a distant memory as all of her hate, anger, and pain boiled to the surface. By the time she caught up, it no longer felt like she was in control of herself... and she didn’t care. Her target cried out in surprise as the Greek tackled her from behind, bare hands clenching as she locked onto a coat and forcefully flipped the woman around.
The face staring up at her, horror clearly written on her features, was one she knew well. Edna, the vile shrew of a woman who had been cast off from the group only three months prior, locked eyes with her and instantly went still as a statue.
The very sight of the woman sent Andrea right over the edge. Any grasp of control she had over herself vanished instantly. The cry that left her lips was feral and animalistic at best, and with fists clenched so tight that her nails dug into her palms, she proceeded to rear her arm back and plant it straight into the woman’s cheek. She didn’t stir, caught within Andrea’s spell, but before the Greek lifted her fist again... she paused. She could pummel Edna to death... she knew she had it in her, but that wasn’t enough in her mind. It was too quick... too merciful. No. She was going to have to make this vile creatures punishment much more painful.
Without waiting for Edna to wake up, she proceeded to drag the woman by her ankles into a more open area...
An hour later, she woke up. Groggily at first, and then panicked. Her hands and feet here bound. She was alone in the dark... and her face hurt like hell.
“Good... you are awake...”
A thick, lazy accent greeted her. An accent she recognized after a few hazy minutes of glancing around. She tried to scream, but quickly discovered that there was a wadded up rag stuffed in her mouth. The sounds of feet padding quietly toward her reached her ears, gaining her full attention. The vision that greeted her blurry sight was Andrea, who’s legs and front were stained with long since dried blood... and, there was something in her arms... What was it..?
“... Do you know what you have done..?” The Greek questioned quietly, finally stepped close enough that Edna could make out the form of a child in her hands. She recognized the boy as well... the one the mutant girl had doted on hand and foot as if he had been her own.
“You and your kind... you took away what was most important to me...” Carefully, she set Charlie’s body down next to the woman, an arms length away, before standing again and stepping around him.
“He was innocent... never did anything wrong, not a single thing...” The Greek stopped at the woman’s feet, her arms hanging casually at her side. Glasses had been slipped back onto the bridge of her nose, in order to make sure that Edna was awake for everything she had planned.
“"...I am going to leave you alive..." She muttered, stepping over the woman until she could comfortably straddle her stomach. “I am going to take away every piece of you that isn't vital... I will take away your eyes, your ears, your tongue...." She stared down at the woman, rocking slightly as she attempted to buck Andrea off of her. In the past it would have been an easy task for anyone bigger than her, but now, with all of the muscle she had packed on, she wouldn't be able to manage it in her current physical state.
"... and then, when I am done with you... when you are nothing more than a helpless, worthless stain on the world... I am going to leave you here, cast to the curb like the piece of S#!& you are. You are going to live everyday with the knowledge of what you have done... until wild animals come to eat you alive, or you slowly starve to death..."
Squatting, she plopped down harshly and leaned forward so she could look the terrified woman in the eyes. “You deserve so much more... so great are your sins... but I will make sure you feel everything. Every. Single. Thing. that I put you through... and if you pass out, I will wait for you to wake up again.” Dry, cracked lips peeled back in a feral grin, exposing yellowed tusks... and she reached out to grasp the woman by the chin. The instant pain that seared through her from just a mere touch curled the Greek’s grin further, until it stretched nearly ear to ear.
“... are we ready to begin...?”
Pressing up and in, she forced the woman to open her mouth, fished out the cloth gag, then immediately shoved her fingers inside. Edna gagged, attempting to thrash her head from side to side, but Andrea held steady to her chin. The moment her fingers came in contact with the woman’s tongue, it started to shift. Seconds ticked by into minutes, and when she was done Enda was unable to shut her mouth anymore. From her guns to the roof of her mouth, everything had been changed into her own special brand of stone. Forever locked in a wide, agonized scream.
With a gleam in her eyes, the Greek took a greedy moment to admire her own work, before she moved on.
“...and now, those eyes...”
***
Hours later, her task was complete. She had reduced Edna, a once mouthy, opinionated hate spewing sack of human trash, into a sightless, voiceless, earless husk of a creature. She wasn’t able to scream, only gurgle pathetically. She wasn’t able to cry, seeing as her eyes had been turned to stone in their sockets, and she could no longer hear anything of the world around her. She had only one thing left to do... and that was to rid the vile being of her arms and legs.
Lifting the axe from her side, she hefted it above her head high, before swinging with all of her strength.
WHACK...
WHACK...
WHACK...
WHACK...
The wounds left behind earned gurgles like some mutated animal slowly dying. Dropping her weapon, she knelt to press her bare hands against the gushing wounds, effectively sealing them shut. Cauterization, without flame.
She’d reduced the object of her hate, her anger, to nothing. A pitiful excuse for a human, who wouldn’t survive for very long without someone to take care of her. Of course, there would be no such person. She would leave Edna to her fate, alone and vulnerable... Unable to defend nor care for herself.
She imagined animals sniffing what was left of her body out, tearing in mercilessly. She imagined Edna being trapped inside her own head, unable to utter a single word, see a single thing, or even hear the sounds of her own death.
... The Greek smiled bitterly.
Gathering up her weapon, she secured it through her belt, and knelt to pick up her son’s body. She needed to find a place to bury him properly... somewhere away from scavengers and prying eyes.
And then... then she didn’t know what she would do. The camp held nothing for her now. With an uncertain path ahead of her, and no plans for survival, she started away from the camp. Determined to put as much distance between herself and that place as she could before sunrise...
... and as she walked, she heard howling of wild dogs in the distance. Her smile only grew wider.
Things were quiet for a while. People learned to leave her alone, but unfortunately that meant that Charlie was left alone as well. They grew closer together as the days passed, forced to take comfort in each others presence. Andrea saved her love only for him... her laughter only for him... her tears... only for him.
He was her world, her reason for living.
But... life was cold-hearted, and nothing good ever lasted. The peace that had settled over her life was shattered in an instant by one bullet. One small, deadly projectile. Before her very eyes, her world, her existence ended.
Charlie fell.
The screams of others barely reached her ears. The echoes of gunfire were distant thumps in her chest. The world around her narrowed like someone had slapped blinders on her, until she could see only his face. Feel only his hand in hers; his head cradled in her lap.
"Charlie!"
Bodies were falling everywhere... some dead by the time they hit the dirt, others shrieking and writhing in agony. The faces were people she'd spent a great deal of time with. Men, women... children. None of them mattered.
The child in her arms, laying prone while he gasped for breath, was more important. A slowly spreading stain started to crawl across his shirt, and she could only press down on the wound and stare. He was dying... dying... dying!
Her child was DYING!
He twitched, his body jerking of its own accord, and a sob broke through Andrea's clenched teeth. Tears pushed past, rolling down her cheeks in dirty streams. She stared into his eyes, horrified by how fast the light therein was fading. "...CHARLIE!" Drawing him to her chest, pressing his face into the crook of her neck, she shook him gently. "You stay with me, do you hear me?! Stay with me!"
... but he didn't respond. No words passed his lips. No gently mauled r's... no Andwea's. Nothing... Silence greeted her pleas. Bullets whizzed by as people tried to hold the camp. She didn't notice. She was painfully aware of how warm Charlie was... how limp he was.... like he'd fallen asleep in her arms again.
"Shhh.. Charlie, shhh..." Her voice cracked, softly hitching as she clenched her teeth together and curled her body over his. "It's alright... everything is alright. Mommy is here... Right here, baby..." Why did her chest hurt...? Like... someone was gradually ripping her heart out?
...everything would be fine...
"Hush little baby... don't say a word..." She could hear the screaming now. People dying all around her. "...Mommies gonna buy you a mocking bird..." Sloth tightened around her throat as tension rose in her body. The other snakes writhed within her hair, hissing and baring their fangs at anything they could.
"...and... if that mocking bird don't-... don't sing... Mommies gonna..." Why couldn't she hear him breathing?... Why wasn't he breathing? "... gonna...buy..."
The gunfire got louder, almost deafening. She pulled a hand to her eyes, pressing her palm into her glasses in order to try and stop the flow of tears. "gonna buy you..... " Slowly, the hand dropped. It brought with it the glasses. Orange eyes locked on the face of her child. Pale and placid. The color was leaving his cheeks, and there was blood matted in his hair.
She laid him down delicately, as if he were so fragile the he would shatter if she weren't careful. His shirt was ruined, more ruby than white. A hand rose to her own chest, where the fabric that covered it was darkened in a matching stain.
A metaphorical shot through the heart. Had she died as well, then...?
Her eyes rose, finally locking onto the scene before her, and she felt every muscle in her body tense. A wave of anger washed through her, igniting like a wildfire inside what was left of her heart. These people... they had taken away her child. They had stolen his flame, his light... for what?
Far ahead of her, she could see the backs of some of her comrades. They were hunkered down behind whatever cover they could find, and from what she could see at first glance, so were the people that had attacked the camp. Monsters. Filth. Vermin. They deserved no mercy... no kindness. They deserved pain, suffering, every torture she could imagine. Slowly getting to her feet, she dropped her forgotten glasses and started to peel her gloves off.
She would teach them their mistake... she would inflict upon them the pain she could feel clawing away in her chest.
Normally, things were pretty quiet around the fortress she'd grown to consider a home. She liked it that way, too. The less going on, meant that she had more time for sleep, and too spend patching up her gear. She didn't socialize too much, unlike some of the other 'Amazons', but she was a regular face when it came time for meals and missions. The rest of her time of her time was spent outside the walls, scavenging for things to bring back to the collective.
It was her self appointed duty, considering her lack of social skills, aside from destroying annoying animals who got in her way.
But... upon taking a stroll around the grounds, mostly for some fresh air, she stumbled upon something very curious. There was a boy, or man maybe, in one of their cages. Alive. Why? This was a most unusual sight for her, and only served to cause her confusion. Perhaps he was some sort of prize dragged back from the recent excursion she'd missed... or maybe he was dinner. She honestly didn't know, but decided to investigate all the same. She could see one of Maxine's dog constructs sniffing around, but paid it no mind as she approached the cage. Her snakes shifted around her shoulder in order to get a better look at the captive male, while she crossed her arms over her chest and stopped a few feet away from the prisoner.
"Well... Never thought I'd see one of you in here..." She muttered, her voice barely above a whisper. "Tell me, boy, why are you still alive?" Cocking a dark eyebrow, she peered at him from behind old, worn down glasses and tapped bare fingers on her arm. Unless there was some plan for him, something she didn't know about, she could see no reason for him to be wasting space and dirtying things up with his presence.
"You wanna look at stuff for you, first? I don't mind..."
"Well... I already kinda know what I want to get." She started, her eyes casting about nervously just in case any sales associates were lurking nearby, waiting to pounce upon her like in the last two stores. Tugging on his hand, she led the way into the women's department to get started. The first thing that caught her eye was a clearance rack, and (thankfully) after a few minutes of rifling through it she found a few articles of clothing that would work for her. (After a few brief tug-o-war matches with Saph over things he didn't want her wearing, of course.) Like baggy, comfortable looking sweaters. Hmph! The shirts she found would fit her new shape decently enough though, as well as a few blouses that were more than work appropriate, if a little showy when it came to the bust. She managed to snag two skirts, as she'd been instructed to purchase, that she was sure would make it hard to walk. How did women get around in heels when their cloths clung to their hips and knees so tightly like that? She was sure she'd never really be able to figure out the answer to that question, surely.
But! Within a few minutes she was completely done shopping, and she'd even found two pairs of new shoes! "I think I shall buy this for myself, if you don't mind..." With a smile, she folded her armful of clothing into a cart, and all but dragged Saph over to the mens section. She had a lot of ideas that she wanted to try out on him... but, was concerned about seeming too pushy. He didn't have the same taste in clothing that she did. "Now it's your turn to model some clothing." She grinned, and poked him in the chest gently.
Oh... Drat! She'd misunderstood! Andrea wiggled in her seat, and cleared her throat. "Oh...ah... yes, I am a girl.. er... I mean, ye-.. um, no... there is nothing wrong with that." She agreed, feeling the heat raise in her cheeks even further. Was talking with other people always so hard?! If so, she honestly couldn't fathom why people did it all of the time!... And then there was a Soda in question, and she felt herself lean forward in anticipation. "...I...I've never had a soda before..."
Mother would be absolutely mortified if she ever found out! The very thought made the small Greek want to shake her head and politely decline.... and yet... she also found herself outrageously curious and maybe, kind of, sort of... wanting to try it anyway.
After a moment of inner chaos, Andrea glanced from the kid, to the direction he'd pointed... and then she nodded. Rather energetically, too! "Yes, please... I do think I would like one." She slipped from her chair, and waited for him to lead the way.
“I would be happy to visit this charming place you spoke of, perhaps we can get a picture of us both on the wall?”
She grinned. "That would be just wonderful!" Something she'd realized too late was that spending time with people she liked was just as relaxing and entertaining as doing many of the things other New Yorker's seemed to covet. Just sitting in a coffee shop brightened her whole day, and doing it with a friend was the icing on the cake.
“ It certainly could be. You aren’t planning to take advantage of me are you?”
She darkened a few shades. While a joke like that would seem innocent to some, to Andrea the implications were great. Fiddling with her napkin, she attempted to remind herself that it was simply more of that brand of humor she had yet to get used to. It... didn't work... In fact, it was starting to feel like she was going to spontaneously combust, purely from the heat built up in her cheeks. She also chose to keep her mouth shut least she open her mouth and make the situation worse- as she often did. Instead deciding to nod and giggle nervously. It's like Venus was ten times worse than Saph when it came to dropping joked like that on her!
“Where else is on your list of places to see, not that we have seen enough of this particular sight just yet, but out of curiosity.”
Ah! A distraction! The Greek jumped on the chance to change the subject, pressing a finger to pursed lips in thought, and pondered on her list. There were quite a few places that she still hadn't been. Given all of her time wandering around the city, she'd simply been too busy, or too neglectful, to stop and take a look around. "I... I am afraid that my list is far too long for one day..." Another giggle, this one genuinely embarrassed, and she scratched her cheek. "But.. there is an art garden of some sort around here, by or in the Rockefeller Center... as well as the Empire State building. I had been planning on going to see the State building first... but managed to find myself here, rather than there."
With a lopsided smile, she lifted the soda and took a sip from it. "I suppose it worked out perfectly, though. If I hadn't have gotten lost, I never would have run into you!"
She wasn't paying attention, a mistake in a city like New York. Her phone had made some sort of strangled chiming noise, and she was busy poking at the darn thing to try and figure out what it wanted. Sometimes she wasn't sure she'd made the right decision in letting Saph choose a phone for her.
"...What's my password again?" She muttered to herself, while prodding at the screen. For some reason people liked having to scrawl a pattern over little dots before they could get into their own phones. It was probably easier and a lot less stressful when you could remember your pattern, but considering the fact that she was still discovering new and interesting things about the laptop she'd owned for seven years... she was having a difficult time adjusting.
She almost missed the interestingly dressed male moving around in front of her, so intently was she focused on her phone, but as it happened she'd just managed to get it unlocked. "Ha-ha!" Her celebration was short lived, as she walked head first into something that felt suspiciously like a wall.
The Greek toppled back, sent off balance as her cursed heels wobbled under her, and landed solidly on her derriere. Her phone landed off to the side, her purse to the other. She gingerly rubbed at the little growing lump on her forehead, as she silently puzzled over how she had managed to turn herself into a wall. Because, obviously, there were not supposed to be walls in the middle of the walkway.
What greeted her shilded gaze though, was the male dressed from head to toe in mime garb that she'd neglected to see, standing not to far from where she sat. "...Oh... I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." Heat lit up her cheeks with a soft brown, and she set about collecting herself from then pavement in the most modest way she could imagine. How did women live in these kinds of skirts?! Before she had so much as made it fully to her feet, she leaned a little too far forward to collect her phone, smacked into something hard again, and landed back on her rump. This time, though, she'd at least been able to see, or not see, what she'd run into.
A heel clad toe slipped forward experimentally to poke at the invisible barrier. Once she assured herself that it was really there, and that she had not, in fact, lost her mind on the way home from work, she relaxed a little. Her eyes traveled back up to the mime man, and she tilted her head slightly.
"Did you make... this?" She poked at the wall again, to emphasize what she was talking about, temporarily forgetting that someone dressed as a mine, would surely not reply back with words.
The Greek's face lit up with a huge grin, and she wiggled happily. Well, before she found herself sticking on the 'girl' part of what he had said. Girl friend?... But... how... she already was a..
...oh.
Oh
A blush swept over her from collar bone to brow, darker than she had ever blushed before, and she froze on the spot. "G-girl... friend?"
