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.
The spider stared at the offered hand for a moment, before turning to shoot a questioning body tilt at Megan. She nodded mutely at it in return.
Her spiders weren't used to crawling on people with out biting, or intentionally causing panic. He didn't understand for a moment, but that wasn't usual. He rarely understood what was going on around him. Had he a tail, it would have been flopping about happily as he extended his front feet and hoisted himself up onto the offered hand. He rather liked crawling on people, dragging himself against soft flesh that tickled when he got to the furry parts.
Megan watched the spider crawl, listening to the soft happy chittering in her head, before she sighed and plopped her chin back down into her palm. His situation was.. depressing. Enough so that she forgot about her coffee, and toyed with the laces of her shoes. "The missus is sick? " That added even more fuel to the fire, she supposed. Not only was he given a prediction that sucked, but other factors in his life were already dead set on proving it true. She was starting to feel really sorry for this man...
"Have you tried going back to the oracle? Maybe it'd help you figure out what to do... how to stop it and stuff." She watched as Freddy circled around the guys arm, clinging upside down and swinging like he was having the time of his life. Ah, sometimes she envied the little guys. " Or you could always start an uprising. Get a bunch of people to band together to help you."
It had been a while since she had ridden passenger on a bike, and even longer since she had opted to hold onto the person driving, rather than cling stubbornly to the back of the seat. Perhaps it was the drink, all five of them, making her a little less controlled. She stared pointedly at the back of Joes head, arching an eyebrow at being asked to hold onto his hat. That... was the first time anyone had ever asked her that...
"Hold on miss, Im not sure I have ever piloted anything with this much power"
Oh, Haha! Laugh it up, cowboy... but her scooter was the only thing between him and walking his outdated self back to his apartment. Instead of going on the offensive, Megan grinned widely and decided to humor him. She'd hold his hat for him, sure. "You got it, Joe." As the words left her lips, she plucked the hat from his head and deposited it on her own. Grinning and keeping it down with one hand. Problem solved, right?
"...And it's Charlotte, not Miss, Joeseph. Now hit the gas!"
Have you got the gonads to buddy up to a hoard of New York's finest misfits and unwanted? Do you want to partake in one of the most raging parties ever held?! Do you want to truly live for once in your shallow, pathetic life?!!
If you do, come on down! Our host this year is none other than the watch dog himself, Tony Bianchi! Bring your girl, bring your friends, bring your friends friends on Saturday, at 3pm!
[Warning!: Do Not check all weapons at the door! (If you did, what would you have left to show off?), Do Not drink all of the booze, or you will be shot and strung up as a warning!, Do Not be surprised if your rims, radio, or women are stolen! This is a party, not a Goddamn disco!, and lastly Do Not throw up on the Dj! He is tired of having to pay for dry cleaning!]
Normally, Megan didn’t get herself into such situations. Sure, fun was a must, but she rather liked doing it on her own and being in complete control of the situation...
Something, somehow, had gone terribly wrong. It had all started off nicely enough. A lively party, lots of drinks she didn't have to pay for, and plenty of eye-candy walking around. She had spent the first three hours wiling her time away on different arms, different bar stools and hogging up the karaoke machine. Everything had been fine... and then she had lost track of herself. She had danced with someone... a tall, dark, handsome thirty something who probably looked so good due to all of the Sunrises she had downed- but she hadn’t really cared. He had scar that puckered his top lip kind of cutely, and he had that whole ‘soft but dangerous’ thing going on. She was a sucker for the dark ones, her personal history was proof of that. She had laughed and chatted, clinked together shot glasses and jabbed each other in the ribs over lewd jokes... and then everything had gone to hell. Absolute. #@&%ing. Hell.
Mr. Dark n’ Dreamy, or Yahn... as he called himself, had friends. Males from various backgrounds that were of the same generation as he. While he had been great by himself, as soon as his buddies joined the party she had realized why her man candy had a dangerous vibe. He was a goddamn gang member! Had the twenty four year old been of the right mind she would have scoffed and excused herself, to find more evolved company... but with six or ten (she lost count...) drinks in her it was amazing she was still standing, let alone forming sentences. His buddies wanted to head over to another party, and he turned the offer on her to go. She had merrily accepted, with one arm draped over his shoulder even. Her band of five fled to the parking lot, where a ghetto red Camaro was waiting with the top down. One exciting and lengthy joy ride later, and Megan found herself in a rather uncomfortable position....
She was F-ing lost.
They had pulled up to some deserted looking ware house, with a gazillion cars parked out front, and her little adopted posse had escorted her inside. She had been in the damn building for a little under twelve minutes and had lost Yahn in the crowd... which she really didn’t mind all that much come to think of it... but it had left her alone. Alone, and surrounded by all sorts of undesirables. Frowning deeply, she sidestepped a couple of women who desperately needed to put on bra’s and made her way further into the building in search of her temporary friends. Heavy music thumped against the walls, rattling her bones as she got closer to one of the speakers set up around the giant building. People were crowded everywhere, packed into every corner! All ages, all sorts. She was pretty sure the people to cars ratio didn’t match up at all... There were men with scars and tattoos, obvious gang members, and shifty people who were crowded into the shadows. As much fun as all of that sounded in reflection, she was waaaay out of her element.
What the hell had she gotten herself into?! Tapping some guy on the shoulder, she waited till he turned then shouted a question at him over the music.”Hey... have you seen a guy named Yahn?” Her question received a blank stare from the guy she was asking and a growled out NO, before he turned back around and ignored her completely. She felt her teeth grind together angrily, and stomped away before she did something stupid. Like attack the guy with a dozen hungry black widows.
”Where’s the effing bar?!” That question/shout was answered far more readily, with gestures from many people, and she was pointed all the way across to the other side of the warehouse. The bar turned out to be an assortment of liquor bottles piled together on top of a lengthy makeshift table. Megan growled to herself, missing her sunrises, and snatched up a bottle of something clear that had the label torn off. It smelled like fruity candy upon further inspection. It passed her test, it would do. Carrying the whole thing off with her, she made her way back into the crowd, squeezing and pushing her way past people, until she had found a relatively quiet spot to collect herself. A few scattered groups lingered around her while she pressed herself to the cold cement wall, and set about putting her outfit and her thoughts back in order.
Compared to most of the outfits she saw the other women folk wearing, she felt kind of conservative. A simple crimson halter top that hugged her rips and left her belly button free, and a pair of black cotton shorts that were honestly more pocket that short. It felt odd, considering that it was usually the other way around. at parties.. Tapping a wedged heel on the floor while she wiped off the lip of her bottle, she surveyed what else was going on in the building... or what she could see, at least. There was a whole other level over her head and from the contrasting music hammering away from up there it was also the site of another party. Off in another corner, she could see a rather large poker game being held. Icy eyes lifted as she sampled the liquor- which turned out to be rum and tasted like candy!- and she rolled scar speckled shoulders to relax the tension in her back, and crossed scar speckled arms across her chest.
If she was stuck here for a while, at least until she found her ride, she was going to try to have fun. She just needed to figure out where, and how...
Unicorns.... She knew a girl who had a unicorn themed tramp stamp, but that was about it. Megan blinked, and brushed the thought away. No use getting herself distracted with cheap tattoos and fantastical creatures.
>>"Bad. After I kill a child and my wife dies I start a chain of events that leads to the end of the world."
...Oh. ...uh... Wow. That was... bad. She stared at the man, dumbfounded, and tried to think of what she was supposed to say to that. He was supposed to kill a child... and then his wife.... and then bring about the end of everything as they knew it. Megan didn't know if she liked that prospect very much.
"That... is very bad news." She would have laughed right in the face of someone who gave that prediction to her. Laughed, and laughed, and laughed. It was beyond belief... and more than a little scary. He mused about how to go about stopping it, and she drummed her fingers on her thigh. Throw yourself off a bridge? Naw... She wouldn't in his shoes. She'd hang on until the last moment, and probably end up taking everyone with her.
Yeah, that sounded like her alright. She frowned at the thought, and blew her bangs from her eyes with e little huff of a breath. "I'd go back and shoot that guy in the foot, for giving you such a crappy reading.... but that probably wouldn't help matters."
>>"If you want, I can heal that, I've got magical unicorn healing powers, you know."
"...what?" Blue eyes blinked, and she looked taken aback a little. Not about the healing part, she figured he could only be talking about one thing (unless she had managed to stab herself with something without noticing).. no, she was taken aback by the unicorn thing again. She glanced at his horn, and choked on a laugh. " You're a unicorn man? I thought you were part narwhal..." She was sitting next to a unicorn, who was doomed to bring about the end of days? Ah, New York would never stop surprising her... She rubbed at the back of her neck sheepishly, running her fingers over the little sore bumps. "You can if you want, but I don't mind them. They're part of my mutation."
Little blue eyes peeked out from the darkness of her hair as she sent out a mental call and a spider that would easily fit in her palm dropped into her lap, crawling up onto her thigh. It angled many blue eyes at unicorn man, and raised a hairy leg in mock greeting. She pointed casually at the spider, prodding its backside with her finger. "This is Freddy. He says hi... So, uh... you're wife know about this yet?" She could imagine that it was probably not a thrilling thing to have to discuss with ones partner...
He shut down. Crap. Megan fiddled with her coffee, and set the newspaper in her lap. It seemed that whatever had happened was something he really truly believed in. Bad move, Rova. Bad move.
She eyed him for a moment as he watched the road... or cars, or whatever it was that he was staring at, before sighing in defeat. She really was curious... Setting her coffee aside, she turned and crossed her legs on the bench, plopping her chin into her palms with her elbows on her knees. "Seeing it myself would probably help, but I dunno... i'm pretty stubborn so there is no guarantee that it would work..."
She tried to imagine what, if anything, could get her to believe that it was a supernatural act and not simply a mutant trick. Then again... if it was a mutant, who was she to say that it was purely a trick? If someone could see into the future due to mutated genes, it still counted didn't it? She pursed her lips and frowned.
"I guess I can't really say it's not possible though. I mean... I may not believe in god or ghosts, or other magical things and the like, but I guess it's a feasible idea when mutation is involved. After all.... you have a horn growing out of your head, and I live with a giant cockroach."
Yes, totally made sense now. To her at least... But thinking kind of made her head hurt.
She was starting to feel a little bad for the man. Which she didn't like. Caring about people was last on her mile long list of things to do... but she couldn't squash it back down into nonexistence. Her features softened a little, and she lowered her voice so people wouldn't listen in on them. "...How bad was what you saw?" Eh.. that came out more concerned than she had wanted. She attempted to fix the mistake by turning her attention to scratching at the healing spider wounds on the back of her neck. Nope, she didn't care at all. Not. A. Bit.
Huh. Now, that was a good question. What was fate?
Honestly, she rather avoided anything and everything of spiritual and philosophical roots. She had bad blood with it, and wanted to more or less forget that part of her past. "I don't believe in anything I can't see..." A good enough answer for her. She scoffed to herself about oracle visits and refrained from rolling her eyes, instead sucking in another mouthful of delicious coffee while he handed her a newspaper.
Her eyes scanned the paper, while he was explaining things. Future sight? Sounded like a scan to her, and a little bit cliche on top of that. The add might as well have claimed to create real and powerful love potions as well. You know, the kind that prevent cheating and divorce. It sounded like he believed it though.
"So... you went to see someone, and they showed you a bunch of things you didn't like. Isn't it more likely that it was a hoax? Some mutant messing with people's heads to pay the bills and put food on the table?"
Adjusting her leg so her foot was resting comfortably on her knee, she glanced back down at the newspaper, re-reading the ad. It was most assuredly a scam, in her eyes.
A slight smirk curled her lips, and she watched him, holding blinking at back until he was done wiping his eyes. She had never seen a man really cry before. Boys, yes. Twenty something's, yes. But not full grown men with pointy objects poking out of their foreheads. Wrinkling her nose, she sipped at her coffee some more, and licked her lips.
Megan was surprised with herself. She would have figured she'd like watching males cry.
"Future stuff. Got it." That left a lot to the imagination. Maybe he was getting canned at his job? Had to move back in with the parents? Baby mama was preggers? She blinked, tapping her foot in the air to an unknown beat, and hummed under her breath. So many possibilities, and Megan was a sucker for gossip.
"...so, like terminal illness future, ooor... divorce and huge alimony bill type of future?" Personally, she would have hoped for terminal Illness. At least if you were dead you wouldn't care who had all of your damn stuff.
Megan stared, a bit blankly. ...uhhh... what? The words he had just tossed at her, his manner, and the fact that she was suddenly reminded of a Victorian movie caused a temporary halt in her thought process. Instead of flat out asking him what the hell was wrong with him, she took a sip from her straw and raised one dark eyebrow.
Who exactly had she stumbled upon? His manners were from the freaking eighteenth century... or Europe. That's what she assumed Europeans were like, minus the over appreciated accent. She toyed with the decision to sit for a moment, before actually doing so. Plopping onto the bench and crossing a leg, while keeping a good distance between them. "... nice horn."
He looked... kind of out of it. Like his mind was just being drawn back from elsewhere. The twenty four year old copied his frown, not liking how much she was reminded of her recent loss of control in the gender shifters room. She also didn't like the guy's apology.
She wouldn't have apologized... in fact, she probably would have slung a few nasty words and flipped herself the smiley face tattooed on her middle finger. "...It's not a crime to cry. I'm just an ass." First truthful thing she had said about herself all day! Megan patted herself on the back, and tossed non coffee cup laden arm over the back of the bench.
Coffee was tasting especially good today. Her half-caf, no whip, double shot, extra large white chocolate frappachino- with caramel sauce!- was doing an excellent job at making life and the people around her more tolerable. Blinking blue yes, she meandered along, not really having a task or goal for the day... No work and no one to pester generally meant that she was left to her own devices.
Which was not always a good thing. Megan's eyes landed on the sight of someone sitting by himself at a bench. Hands clasped around his face. The very picture of despair. She blinked, and paused in her tracks. His hands moved, and her slight curiosity suddenly tripled. Was that a... horn? Had she inadvertently stumbled upon some mutant narwhal man?
...Nifty!
He looked sad. The flicker of good in her bubbled up, demanding she walk over and ask him if he was okay. Maybe offer a shoulder to cry on, or make herself an ear for him to spill all of his woes to. The very thought made her skin crawl... Purple painted nails clicked on her coffee cup as she tapped them impatiently. She was trying to be a better person, right?
So, here was her chance to do some good! She stepped closer, tilted her head at the man and blinked. "People usually do that sort of thing in private, you know. The crying, that is."
"Ya, I am good to go. Got any other fantastic adventures for us tonight?"
She hooked him with a soft squinted glare. "There you go with those plans of yours again." Tsk-ing him, she tapped her fingers on the handle bars of her scooter and glanced around. It was like she had stumbled out of New York and into a ghost town. The only thing keeping her rooted down were the looming buildings everywhere. "Rule number one of having a good time? Never make plans. Rule number two? Hoof it!"
The twenty four year old grinned and set her scooter back in motion, pulling out slowly onto the deserted road. "Im not sure you noticed, but I think I owe you a new helmet…"
Ah, her helmet. She did recall seeing it roll off into the street as they started their little escapade. One shoulder shrugged, and she peeked over her shoulder at him while stopping at a red light. "I did, and you do." She winked at him, and turned back to watching the light.
"I hope you don’t think this too forward of me, but I do have own a few motorcycle helmets that I never wear back at my apartment, and its not far from here. So that I can replace the helmet… that I lost… because…"
Oh... how painfully and delightfully awkward! Turning back with an eyebrow cocked, she let her smirk grow tenfold and simply watched as he ran himself into the ground. It was cute, in a way. The last time she had witnessed someone stumble over their words around her had been that annoying coffee boy who wouldn't leave her alone... She didn't miss him, but she sure did miss getting free coffee in the morning. Ah, the unfairness of life.
Megan felt honor bound to mention something about how taking a tour of his apartment was a bad idea... not only because she tended to come back unannounced and make herself at home, but also because she had an ex on her tail who could turn his home to plaster dust and wood chippings. With a soft, indecisive sigh she folded her arms across her chest and grasped for mental straws.
She ended up with the short one, go figure. "Being to forward is asking me why i'm still wearing pants when you introduce yourself... Don't laugh, that's actually a pick up line." Turning in her seat, she motioned him off her bike with one hand. "You do owe me a helmet though, so lead the way." Scooting back a little, she made room for him to take control of the bike and tapped her fingers on her jeans. Megan was not the type to take directions. She was more likely to ditch you in the middle of the city after getting irritated for missing a turn three times, than she was to follow simple orders.
"Just don't scratch the paint, Cowboy." She added in, with another lashy wink.
Her companion shouted something about a plan... Plan? Pfft. Who needed a plan when you were hot? Smirking, she shrugged a shoulder and cut another sharp corner. "Who needs plans?" The traffic around them picked up to the point that Megan was passing people left and right... which was not something she liked doing. It attracted attention. Icy eyes shot left and right, looking for an easy escape from the situation they were in.
Her eyes locked on the dark indent of an alley on the opposite side of the street. An alley, which looked wide enough for two scooter s side by side. The perfect escape... only problem: there was a lot of traffic heading their way.
Megan's lips pursed and she took a moment to consider which option as better. nearly getting them killed by driving recklessly through opposing traffic... or staying the course and running out of gas with a murder of bikers after them. Eh... she always did hate making decisions. "Hunker down, cowboy, and hold on!"
Megan turned her bike so sharply that she had to stick her leg out after the bike stopped skidding, to make sure it didn't topple over on them. Her alley of choice was longer than she had expected, and darker... but small. She'd like to see those jerks squeeze their shiny Harley's in after her! Half way in she was able to drop her speed until she could hear if they were following from a distance. She glanced around, lips pursed again and followed the winding corridor of the alley until it dumped that back off on a street.
A street she didn't recognize. "Huh... I think... we may be lost." With just a hint of humor in her voice, she pulled her scooter to a stop and listened. Not a trace of roaring engine on the air. Apparently she had lost them. Turning, she raised an eyebrow at her passenger. "Still alive back there?"
The rumble of motorcycle engines was growing closer... a sound Megan did not like. Her scooter could go fast, yes, but against a hoard of Harleys? They didn't stand a chance, unless she took to using a little fancy maneuvering. Her bike sped up as their pursuers started to close in. She could hear hoots and hollers over the wind whipping past them. Blue eyes squinted, red lips thinned and she ducked closer to the handle bars.
Fond memories of the last time she had done such a thing sprung to life, as well as a cheeky grin on her lips. A newly met gender shifter clinging on for dear life as she hauled ass down the roads toward the hardware store.Oh, those were good times. She shifted her weight, ripping past a car up ahead that had the audacity to actually go the speed limit. Her small red scooter left her more than enough room, where as the men on their decorated hogs had to take a little more time to move past traffic.
They were approaching a busier section of the city, which really just wouldn't do. She may have been booking it down the street at double the recommended speed... but she wasn't crazy! Taking on the full brunt of New York traffic would slow her down and get them killed. Or arrested. Both were equally bad. Without uttering a word of warning, she jerked her bike to the right, drifting a little as she turned down a side street that would lead them into a rather quiet neighborhood. She left black tracks in her wake and the larger bikes would have to slow down in order to make the turn without crashing.
The sound of screeching breaks, then metal scraping against pavement brought a grin to her face. someone hadn't slowed down. She chanced a peek over her shoulder, noticing that two of the bikers were missing.
"Two down! A butt load to go!" Absently, as she weaved haphazardly around a line of cars waiting for the street light to change to green, she wondered if she had unintentionally kidnapped the man who had his arm hooked around her waist. She decided it was possible, but that she didn't really care all that much...
"I trust you won't do something witchy, and send that to all the nice little telemarketers and dating services in town?"
She smirked back, eyeballing him with the glow from her phones screen shining in her eyes. She was tempted to take the number and run without returning the favor... she still could, technically.
"I supposed you will find out, won't you?"
She nibbled on her chicken while typing in his name with her thumb, then tapped at the keypad a few more times before slapping her phone shut and sliding it back into her pocket. Aurum Aurum had been added.
A few moments later her text hit his phone. She had sent her number. Her job was done for now. She continued enjoying her food, while turning her head to people watch a little.
“Miss? Is anything broken? Can you stand? Come on,”
Stand?... She didn't even want to think about that right now. Just holding herself up on her elbow sucked. She didn't want to think about what forcing herself upright would feel like. Copper knelt next to her and she blinked at him, holding back a sarcastic, biting remark as best she could. He was only trying to help, after all...
"I'm pretty sure everything is broken... Gimme a sec and..... " Her eyes ventured over his shoulder, to where dear old Henry was about to crush the small man. "..and I..." The cop noticed to, and turned away from her to do his cop-y duty.
Oh sure, just leave me here. Turn away! I'm not dying or anything... Her back screamed in pain as she forced herself a little higher. Megan winced and sucked in a breath through her teeth. Oh, that was going to leave a mark... she had been incubating a new batch of spiders back there... According to how it felt, not many were left. A whole new reason to hate the big ugly woman tosser. Lifting her eyes, she raised her palm to wipe at her eyes, an attempt to wipe away all of the makeup that was leaking down her cheeks. She succeeded in only making herself look Emo without knowing it.
Henry fell as she watched, little spurts of crimson pulsing out of his neck as he dropped like a log... and Megan felt like revenge had been served. The princess had been saved from the dragon, which had then been justly slain. All was right with the world...
Except the excruciating pain she was in, of course. That was not right. Not. At. All. The twenty four year old grumbled to herself, eyeballing the new figure as he walked forward to join them. Or rather, join the cop. Megan couldn't help but feel forgotten and mistreated. Laying sprawled out in god knows what, god knows where, with the worlds biggest headache and...oh, what was that? Sirens. She could hear sirens in the distance. Perfect. She listened to what the cop said, take you in, questions, questions, and rolled her eyes skyward.
"Just fine down here... really. Not in pain at all! Just peachy. Would someone mind getting me a strawberry daiquiri? ... with maybe a little pink umbrella in it? Oh... talking kind of hurt. She was going to stop now. Turning her grumbles inward, she turned her attention instead to figuring out what hurt most, and where. God... what wasn't hurting?