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.
Cora reached a hallway, and was turning to ask a waitress what way to walk when the loud crash roared behind her. Crash seemed like an understatement for what occurred, however. There was glass, and screaming, and cold... Sam!!! Cora released her powers and focused on the one important thread. He was there, it was solid, and the cold meant others would be safe, right?
Someone to her right was yelling, and Cora turned, spotting the cooks in the kitchen. The door had been knocked off its hinges, and a large stove had been pushed back by the impact from a giant spear of ice. One of the main chefs was trying desperately to turn a valve while another was yelling they had to leave. “One spark it’ll all go up on flames! We gotta get out of here, call the fire department!”
“But Meggy is still in the walk-in! We can’t leave her behind!”
Cora wasn’t sure what made her move, but she was climbing over the stove and running toward the walk-in. The smell of gas was strong, permeating the air and making her cough. She could see the door, just in reach, when someone else yelled. “The burner is still on! Look out!”
The next thing she knew there was an explosion. As flames rushed toward her her mind momentarily registered a thought of not again....
Cora get the growing sensation of déjà vu multiple times that morning, but tried to tune them out. Unlike most people, she did not ignore the feeling of concern completely. Cora had found her instincts were generally fairly accurate. When she felt worried, it seemed to be for a reason. But today, she wasn’t sure why. Was something wrong with Sam? Was something wrong with the diner? She ordered her food and exchanged jokes but couldn’t decide what was wrong.
"I may have cut too deep on that one..." she touched the thread. The sensation of forgetting something made her check her own threads. Had she cut something on accident? On purpose?
”I...I’m going to run to the bathroom...” she changed her mind. No use worrying Sam. She stood, turning to find the bathroom. It was just another breakfast, another day.
For a moment, they were just a normal couple having breakfast together. Cora was opening her mouth to tell a joke when there was a crash. Ice and glass intermingled, raining through the diner. Cora didn’t remember if she screamed, she only remembered her powers latching onto Sam’s thread like an impossible lifeline, as pain hit.
She saw crimson. There was blood, and ice, and the dark thread she was desperately wrapping her hand around. Forgotten breakfast, heart thundering with an effort to work but it couldn’t. Flatline, darkness, her name sounded farther and farther away....
———————
Cora felt a kiss and a smile answered in response. It was a calming touch pulling from what must have been a fitful sleep. Her heart was racing suddenly, her powers lashing out and making the thread between her and Sam visible, like they were trying to force the thread to be real, tangible. Well, for her it was. She could feel the comforting connection as she rolled and pulled Bruno close, filling the emptiness where Sam had gotten up.
Cora glanced at the thread again, focusing a bit more of her powers on it. Other than being dark, it had a strange sort of translucency typical of older threads. It was negative, old enough to stay around even after time. Strong enough she only frayed it and didn’t sever it completely. Most negative threads didn’t resist. She chewed more bacon and thought about it.
”It gives you nightmares sometimes. Something that happened a while back but still kinda haunts you. I think....I think it is Amanda. I just, I don’t think I was supposed to make it noticeable if I cut it...”
Cora knew they didn’t want Amanda to notice tampering, although the reasons were still a little vague. There was mind control involved, and the family Sam sometimes still thought he had. Cora mentally cursed herself and kept eating. It would be fine. It was just a bad connection from the past. Why would someone pay attention to their memories of Sam that closely anyway?
Cora never thought of herself as a kid person, but she had dealt with her share of them at the gym. While that was a bit more of a commercial venue verses what the mansion offered, there were some procedures she could fall back on. True, she was here to sort of balance what could have been an awkward amount of alone time between the two teachers, there was the risk of it being just as awkward with Cora and Sam having their uh, time.
They needed a fourth wheel. They really should have made this more of a group outting to stop all the strange tension in the air.
Focus on the tasks. Right. "I can give you the number of my activity director back at the rock-climbing gym. She has a couple of books on camps and stuff. She always kept a notebook for each camp with activities and stuff." when in doubt, turn to someone with experience. She had experience with climbing and business, not necessarily with kids.
She grinned at Sam, making a note to at least enjoy some of the time out here.
Cora never felt worried when she cut threads in the past. Generally she just regarded her own sense of justice as enough to warrant her actions. But with Sam, he mattered. She felt very anxious when she altered any threads, especially when they seemed to have a more lasting impact than just helping his sleep. What had this thread been? Why did it upset him so much? And what could it mean if that person noticed the thread had vanished...
"I'm not sure if you've realized, but all we ever seem to find is trouble..." Cora mused.
She drank deeply from her cup and listened to his suggestions. She nodded to herself in agreement, "We thought about trying to hire on an earth specialist. It would be more beneficial in the long run to repairing the walls. We have used some plastic in the past, a mix of metal, but actual rock would be more realistic."
She tried not to dive in too quickly when the food was placed in front of her. She ate ferociously regardless of the amount of time it had been since last eating. There was always that sort of rush to finish food and get on the move, and she never quite got the nack of slowing down when she ate. Three slices of bacon vanished without much effort. She forced herself to slow only at the main portion of the dish.
Cora didn't have to attend birthday parties to get out of tickets, given she usually just erased memories of her high speed escape. But, traffic cameras could be a bit harder to escape. If she ever went speeding, that would be what caught her. She wondered who they would have to bribe in that case.
Too sleepy to consider it much, she started drinking her coffee. The question about the rock wall required more of her focus. "It might actually be to your advantage. Since mutants are a large part of the customer base, this one is designed as a sort of 'create your own handhold'. Sort of in the testing phase though. First time a kid tried to fashion rock handholds it busted the base and we spent a month revising it." Cora rambled a little then drank more of her coffee. Mutant proof materials were hard to come by, and the goal wasn't to make it unbreakable, exactly, just, flexible? The wall had to hold up to some use of powers but also allow mutants with claws and spikes to make it up the surface. She generally left those complications to the pros.
She listened to the couple arguing and tried to tune out the baby crying. But her eyes were following a few threads running between them. Ah, that was a soap opera. Wife didn't like the mother-in-law, son probably didn't have much time alone with wife given he kept forming lust threads to anything that went by....Cora did a glance at Sam, finding it hard to suppress the sensation of paranoia things gave her. There were still a few frayed threads he had from the night before. She frowned again.
"I may have cut too deep on that one..." she remarked, touching the thread that was reforming. It was dark, one of the darkest he had. But it was causing the nightmares the previous night, and just cutting them a bit seemed to lessen his discomfort. Given it was reforming this late made Cora wonder if she overdid it.
Cora had gotten used to the sensation of her stomach lurching when Sam used his powers to take them somewhere. It had a thrill similar to a roller coaster. Which, of course, she didn’t mind. Heck they would never need to waste cash on theme park tickets if they didn’t do it someday just to say they did.
”I only need to check work later to see how the new rock wall is coming along. So no rush.” The staff knew better than to plan something first thing in the morning anyway.
The restaurant was one Cora knew pretty well. Honestly it was a personal favorite, since they had generous portions and thick, hickory smoked bacon. Good bacon was a must for any breakfast joint, in her opinion. She rolled her eyes at the traffic, ”I mean, since I am a much more traffic law abiding citizen now I guess that could have been me... I try not to race cops tooooo often to get through rush hour,” she nodded.
Inside, they got a table and Cora got her promised coffee. She waited for Sam to order and got her own waffles and bacon with extra bacon. And eggs. And toast. You know, the usual breakfast fixings.
Cora tried to smile at the ice pun, but it was still early, and she didn’t have coffee yet. She made a little face at the memory of the last time he returned from a class after being hit by the stink bomb—or whatever that kids power had been. ”Mutant kids can create a whole new category for smells, sorry.”
Making a dramatic display of leaving the bed, she finally joined him for the shower. It had, in fact, been worth it. Changing into the clothing she brought she dried her hair, leaving it sticking up in all directions until she managed to brush it back down. ”We can leave it here for now. As ‘cool’ as your ice sidecar looks, it’ll probably be easier to take your shortcuts,” she decided quickly. She made no promise to stay again but that was enough to hint at it. Sometimes life needed a little mystery.
Cora wasn’t always a fan of staying at the mansion, but it did beat waking up in her empty bed. Between the animals and having the contact of her boyfriend, she was willing to tolerate being surrounded by so many other mutants. She kept to the room in the morning, having learned her morning demeanor was not ready to encounter the stray staff member or student before she had caffeine in her. Especially since Evelyn had caught her once in the past, and loudly declared EXACTLY what she knew Cora had been there doing.
Nope, she didn’t need that first thing when she woke!
But, there was a kiss today, and a compliment that made her smile. Bruno was like a cuddly heater until he disappeared, then she had more reason to venture from the bed to the promised shower.
”You didn’t get stink bombed by any students today, right?” Cora opened one eye and lowered the blanket. Her hair stuck up in all direction, and she gave a reading sniff. No skunk smell. Seemed safe. She yawned and sat up the rest of the way, wearing a lose T she had stolen from Sam.
Cora found it amusing at this point that the two coworkers were trying to figure out this trip together. From what she had seen, Liz was a much more professional teacher, using this as a genuine educational outing. Sam was, well, Sam. It was a classic case of book smarts vs street smarts and she wasn’t sure the kids would survive this in the ling run. Some would come out knowing how to throw knives and the other how to pick flowers and befriend animals. Or something. Cora doubted there were any s’mores on previous trips to this location.
”Narrowing down a lesson plan Seems smart. Give the kids a few options. Some may be excited to learn to fish and clean their catch and others would probably prefer not having that experience. And heck yes to any good rock climbing!” Cora grinned. She had to shake the mental image of some poor traumatized child seeing a fish gutted for the first time. Then she wondered if Evelyn would be like that. Oh, Evelyn would be the first to mope out of fitting anything...
”Most camps seem to have age ranges for reasons. Keep similar kids together to avoid too many conflicting activities,” she noted.
Cora wondered what it said about her that she hadn't been as concerned about bathrooms and plumbing. Maybe she spent too much time outdoors and scrambling across mountains with her dad. But, kids were a little more mortified if you told them to go find a bush to go behind. Although, that was a life lesson they could use.
Vacation. Cora laughed and rolled her eyes as she found a spot for her own bag. She didn't have the ability to sense wildlife, which was probably for the best. Knowing a ton of mice were monitoring them and sharing their feelings with Liz would have been a bit much for her brain to handle. Cora was doing her best just to remain cool about this whole thing. Because she had that jealousy thing under control! Right!
"You guys teaching fire skills? Is the log cabin insured?" Cora mused, only somewhat joking. "Although, I'm sure the ice can handle a few misplaced flames. Optimism?" she concluded.
Cora had mixed emotions being invited on an adventure to the wilderness. It was with Sam, so that was a positive, but there was another female teacher, which crawled faint threats of jealousy she had to subdue. Jealously was a...strange feeling for Cora. It took a lot for her to accept a relationship in general, let along come to terms with emotions like possessiveness that could come with it.
The thing that kept everything at bay was the threads being able to see Sam had no interest in his fellow teacher was good. Being able to see her own solid red thread made her relax. All she had to focus on was the cabin, the woods, and imagining what a bunch of kids could do out here.
Survival, but in a more humane way. Cora has some experience from running the rock climbing gym, but this would probably involve less legal safety wavers and more risk. ”How much of the surrounding area have you mapped out? Any poison ivy, toxic plants? If one of the kids tried to run off are we talking snakes as well as big game? Maybe I’m a pessimist but I like to sort out the first aid resources quickly.”
Posted by Threads on Sept 22, 2020 16:05:59 GMT -6
Delta Mutant
darkslateblue
217
2
May 6, 2022 8:17:25 GMT -6
Mati
Cora backed away from the kick, which wasn't exactly graceful but it kept her from getting hit. The mitt through her off balance but she countered quickly, and only the conversation with Evelyn started to distract her more. It was odd hearing about Evelyn's past life, especially when her brain started piecing things together. Gawain/Maya...baby shower, ohhhhh.....
She barely countered the jab to the stomach and grinned at Sam to show she was paying closer attention now. Evelyn was listening to Sam so she didn't seem to take in the fact Cora was eavesdropping. Or, she didn't care.
After a bit more practice, Cora called it and put her hands behind her head to get her breathing even. She had healed, true, but her body was still recuperating from all the chaos earlier.
Evelyn had tried one more time to spar, which was as accurate as ever, and maybe a little improved on strength. But real progress would be slow, something Evelyn was not good at waiting for.
"We'll keep practicing. I'm sure one of these days you'll have a leg up on me anyway," Cora tried encouraging. Evelyn resisted making a face, but that a step in the right direction for her.
"Maybe next time Sam will let us use weapons..." Evelyn muttered, although she already doubted Sam would let her swing Sai at anyone but him.
Posted by Threads on Sept 11, 2020 20:31:37 GMT -6
Delta Mutant
darkslateblue
217
2
May 6, 2022 8:17:25 GMT -6
Mati
Cora listened carefully to Sam's response. She didn't push the mitt into his face like she may have had he actually insulted her, but she did playfully swing toward the side with more force to try and unbalance him. She could see Evelyn's crossed arms in the corner of her eye and knew even without Echoes that the child did not like losing at anything.
"Every power can have it's advantages, you just have to know..." Cora pushed energy into her powers, and suddenly all the threads around Sam became visible. Using it like a smoke screen, she ducked behind him and tried to jab that way. "How to use things to your advantage." Cora finished.
Evelyn, for her part, was studying Cora, even while complaining. The adult had a way of moving that was different from Sam. There wasn't the perfect form, heck, a lot of what Cora did may even seem illogical or 'wrong', but Cora used moments of unbalance or mistakes to her advantage. There was more to learn there. Adapting, maybe. Evelyn had only really accepted Sam as a teacher, but she knew Cora seemed to just go with him now.
Maybe, she could accept another teacher.
"When I was older, was it the same?" Evelyn seemed to hone in on something in Sam's expression. Had older her been good with form and not stength? Maybe she needed to fix that this time around.
