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.
“If a name is all you need…” Rex breathed, narrowing his eyes at the short man. He began whispering, “And they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?"
Then Rex heard a sound, like a still, small voice speaking in his ear.
Atlas.
“His name is Atlas,” Rex told William. “Or at least that’s what he goes by.”
He had to switch mental gears quickly though, because the men in suits raised their hands and bolts of light flashed across the room toward him and William. Rex kept his arm raised and as each bolt struck his invisible shield, a new flash of light in the shape of a cross appeared even as the beams vanished.
“How well does that beast of yours listen to you?” Rex said, briefly noting the dog’s sudden re-emergence.
Meanwhile, the short man just shook his head slowly as Hercules charged him. “How predictable,” he said.
Then he hauled back and threw a punch at Hercules with enough force to stop a charging rhinoceros.
Rex faintly arched an eyebrow in confusion. Jesus Boy? Was that supposed to be him? Father Lorenzo was who Rex would’ve first assumed, but the man had clearly been speaking to Rex.
The firefighter shoved that line of thinking to the side. It didn’t matter. He blinked a couple of times as the cloud of filth being spewed from the man’s mouth, however. Rex wasn’t precisely a prude nor was he unused to being around people who did not abstain from cursing and vulgarities, but even he was surprised at the vitriol and…unique nature…of some of the words the man unleashed.
The diatribe was interrupted only by a man who seemed to be a universal irritant, as the well-dressed individual who’d lightly accosted Rex earlier seemed to have a few words for the gunmen as well, which only seemed to escalate the situation as now weapons were being leveled at them, as well as threats toward children.
Well, it just seemed that the right thing to do was to do what the people said. Better to keep lives from being lost than to try to hang onto worldly possessions. Rex slowly put the dishtowel on a table and reached for his pocket for his wallet, mumbling under his breath, ”Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.” The spell activated.
“Don’t be a fool and make this worse,” Rex said, his mouth moving but his words only able to be heard by the provocative man, that Devon, as if he were right next to the man and speaking right into his ears. “Just do what they say.”
Rex pivoted as one of the men addressed Hercules. That sounded menacing. The subsequent burst of energy did not come to much of a surprise with that kind of forewarning.
Rex didn’t bother formulating a reply about Hercules’s lack of legitimate deification - it wouldn’t do anyone any good and honestly, this wasn’t the time for those words. He was too busy whispering and moving.
“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked,” he quoted as he slipped over to William’s side. This wasn’t Rex’s first rodeo with Hercules - he knew the drill. The hulking man would break anyone who tried to hurt him or anyone else and he was far tougher than Rex himself. That was fine - Rex had no particular calling to test his physical might against other.
Invisible energy in the rough shape of a heater shield burst into being on his arm, but the only evidence that anything was amiss would be the horizontal positioning of his left arm, as if holding an invisible shield.
“I’ll cover you,” he said to William. “Go get him, Hercules!”
The beast retreated in a shadowy demesne and Rex closed his eyes as he lifted up a silent prayer of thanksgiving. The child was listening and thinking, even if he was crying.
“Nobody ever said faith was easy,” Rex said with a solemn nod. “Or that God moves on our timelines. He has a plan - a perfect plan, and he is a loving god - we just have to wait and find out what that plan is.” He reached into a pocket and pulled out a handkerchief which he offered to the boy.
Rex fell silent as Hercules took over. He pulled himself and stood to his feet so he could step back and give the two some space. The room was mostly empty now, so there was a lot of space to be had. Almost too empty.
He turned as William apologized. “I forgive you,” he said warmly. “You are fortunate to have Hercules in your life, someone who looks out for you even when you aren’t yourself. Lucky indeed.”
Rex nodded at Hercules and he offered up a second silent prayer. He had not had to fight Hercules after all. By the grace of God, his preparations for such an event had not come to pass.
There truly was a God and He still performed miracles.
Rex relaxed a single fraction of an inch as the man left him alone. Rex started moving toward the banquet area with purpose, even if he actually had none. He was mainly kitchen help and manual labor - he’d been on the crew that had set up all the tables and chairs and rearranged things according to the planning committee’s decrees.
Nevertheless, if all his years as a professional firefighter had taught him anything, it was how to get from point A to point B without being stopped.
Rex let himself relax as he made himself busy, checking in on a few of the community members he knew, either personally or professionally. Nothing major or in-depth, just a routine assessment. Get too deep and they’d see things in him he’d rather hide.
Then there was screaming and yelling and the crashing of people.
Another thing Rex had developed over the years was remaining calm under pressure. The suddenness of the excitement washed over him and he emerged from the kitchen where he’d been washing dishes, a towel still in his hands as he hurriedly dried them.
He saw the four menacing people and he noted their weapons. He grimaced, but then it turned to faint horror as he saw they had victims.
A steely expression settled across Rex. “Enough! Nobody move!” he barked loudly and forcefully. It was a voice that had taken control of many scenes of fire and chaos. He focused his gaze on the bigger man. “Think about what you're doing,” he said, his hands still drying themselves. "Then make a better decision."
Not at the beast that sought to tear him limb from limb.
Not at the glowing man who continuously pulled the beast back while talking to the child.
He stared at the child.
It was more than that though. He was staring at a loss so profound it had altered the child’s life permanently. A dead father, an injured mother, his own injuries. The rage trapped inside a wheelchair, relying on others to care for him and enact his will.
Rex’s heart broke.
Thoughts of concern and deadly beasts faded away and Rex took a few faltering steps forward. Let Hercules deal with the massive dog. Rex…trusted him.
He knelt several feet before William, fully sitting on his heels. He was around eye level with the child, even if neither of them was in arm’s reach.
“I cannot bring your father back,” he said quietly, a faint waver in his voice. “Nor can I heal you or your mother.”
Rex’s eyes were starting to shine, but it was not the result of foxfire or any particular glow. His eyes were simply accumulating water.
“I am not a healer,” he continued, still speaking softly. “I wish I was. I wish I had the power to repair your legs right now. To help your mother. To give your father back to you. I…I wish nobody, no man, no child, no person would ever have to go through what you have gone through.”
He spread his hands, palms up. “That’s not up to me, though,” he said, his eyes getting glassier. “It’s in the hands of my Father in Heaven. He is a healer, a savior, and I rely on him. He is strong when I am weak. I can pray for you, for your mother, but everything else is up to God.”
The man was starting to become a pestilence. Rex wasn’t that great at a lot of social nuance - that’s where his wife always stepped up and took over - but he could tell when a person didn’t want to talk. He was quite fluent in that dialect, actually. He also respected when people didn’t want to talk.
This man was cloying. Sickly sweet, the way his tone never shifted, regardless of the topic. The particular topics also ignited a small fire in Rex’s blood. He felt like the man was trying to manipulate him, using the word of God, no less!
Verses rose to his tongue in response, shifting from pillars of fire to burning coals, but Rex suppressed them. There was no reason to call down fire. Well, no reason he would be happy about later, at least. Instead he pressed his lips together in a firm line, in something vaguely like a smile if you’d only ever read about smiles and never saw one in the wild.
“I have other things to do,” he said with barely any inflection to his words. “Please enjoy the food and the amenities.” He gestured at all the items up for bid and then turned to walk away.
Father Above, please do something! Anything, to get me out of this situation!
Posted by Rex on Feb 5, 2023 20:08:30 GMT -6
Tempest likes this
The Veil
The Evocation Guild
Crucible
Orangered
Heterosexual
Gloria Vidales
355
9
Nov 9, 2024 13:02:06 GMT -6
Zek
Dawning horror began to settle on Rex’s shoulders as another glance at the man told him so many things. Namely, that this man liked to talk about feelings.
The whispered tones, discussing Rex’s comfort levels, even offering a “safe” conversation topic as an alternative. Rex knew what was going on. He already had a therapist, and a handful of other people dying to help him any chance they could (namely Hercules) - he didn’t need another, especially someone who didn’t know a thing about him.
Returning to his customary stern, expressionless face other than a slight frown that never seemed to go away, Rex shook his head. “Nothing to talk about,” he said. “You should talk to Father Lorenzo. He can answer your questions better than I could.”
The voice startled Rex and he blinked and turned his head slightly to see who was addressing him. A vestige of glimmering firelight vanished from his eyes. This was Rex’s equivalent to jumping six inches in the air in surprise.
Mortification flooded him and he nodded stiffly. “Ah,” he said. “My…apologies. I did not mean to…” To what? “...stare.”
Rex didn’t meet the man’s eyes at first, which meant he was looking in another direction and saw other people staring at him. The embarrassment got worse, swiftly replacing the irritance.
He shook his head. “No, everything is…” The word “fine” died on the tip of his tongue. Rex didn’t lie if he could help it. “It’s nothing to worry about,” he said instead. “Sorry for disturbing you.” Rex started to turn away from the table to do…anything. Anything at all that would get him away from that blasted calendar.
Rex emerged from the kitchen where he’d been volunteering his meat-handling skills for the banquet. The ribs and steaks were all done by him - he left the side dishes to other people.
With his station cleaned up and his apron hung up, Rex took a moment to loiter against a wall and get a grasp on what was going on. There were certainly more people at the fundraiser than he’d expected, and a ghost of a pleased smile quirked at the corners of his lips. Father Lorenzo had told him to have faith, and Rex had tried, but a certain modicum of doubt had still existed.
Still, it was refreshing to see the community come out in such numbers to help and provide opportunities for those who didn’t have the resources. It was a precious moment to REx, whose life so rarely had examples of good people helping others these days.
All traces of the smile vanished as his eyes fell on one of the tables. It was one of the plainest displays, yet it had one of the largest lists of bids. If it was for such a great cause, Rex would’ve been highly tempted to set it on fire right then and there.
It was a firemen calendar, published by his fire station. Rex himself wasn’t in it, but the entirely gratuitous nature of the calendar and risque aspect ground his gears hard. He still couldn’t believe his captain had okayed it! The calendar was signed by every model, but the real appeal? Winning that particular calendar also gave you a ticket to be there when the next calendar was photographed and made.
Rex was being forced to appear in that one, because he’d stupidly agreed to a bet that he’d been confident was impossible to lose. Well, he could cast magic. Impossible things weren’t so impossible nowadays.
Before he knew it, Rex found himself behind that table, glaring at the calendar, unaware of anyone else around him.
By now, bystanders had had enough time to make their decisions. Many had fled, assuming there would be danger and destruction. Some had stayed to watch but kept near the exits, excited by the possible thrills. A small number barely even bothered looking in the direction of Rex, Hercules, William, and the monster and just kept studying the art.
Okay, immediate crowd danger was gone. Now there was just a blindly angry boy with the power to call forth monsters.
The crowds had dispersed as Hercules tried talking William down. Rex momentarily took stock of the situation. If the kid could create one monster dog, why not two or three?
The hall they were in ws easily two stories tall and had massive columns reaching up to a vaulted ceiling. It was very well lit for the most part, and fairly roomy, taking inspiration from Art Deco and Greco-Roman designs, fittingly enough. It could allow hundreds of guests to cycle through without much impediment, but it would also mean the group was pretty much out in the open.
The bright side was that everything around Rex was made of some kind of stone, metal, or ceramic. Things that didn’t burn.
However, William wasn’t done talking.
Horror washed through Rex as the weight of William’s words hit Hercules like a wrecking ball.
“Son,” he said, “You do not know what you’re doing. I swear by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit that I have no knowledge of this tragedy. Do not endanger your soul, or that of Hercules. Please! Stop this at once!”
Rex’s focus was split between the man and the boy. For the moment he was locked in conversation with Hercules, which would prove to be a mistake.
“I thought you meant you were teaching him,” Rex said, although he belatedly remembered that Hercules wasn’t a great teacher. “Or that he was piecing things together himself, like I was.” To have a book that actually explained how this stuff worked? Cama’s grimoire was far more useful in many ways than Hercules’s “believe in yourself” mumbo jumbo, but it also presumed you already had an advanced level of knowledge of magical theory.
“My dad died from flames that took the shape of horses....”
Rex was too slow. He hadn’t been paying enough attention. His head started turning as those words registered in his ears, but mere seconds later a monster launched from nowhere, with only Hercules’s foresight and brawn safeguarding Rex.
“¡Sangre de Dios!” Rex swore as he leaped back in horror. He held a hand out to his side and began speaking, “For the word of God is quick…” but even as he reached out to that realm of power, Hercules had already thrown the red-eyed beast like a shot put. The spell died on Rex’s tongue as he quickly turned to track the beast with his eyes, glance at Hercules and William, and at the same time ensure the crowd was safe.
Rex gave the other man a level nod after he jumped in. “That is also correct,” he agreed, albeit stiltedly. He turned to Hercules for a moment to try to ascertain where he was going with the additional applications of fire. Was it for William or was it aimed at him? Regardless, it seemed like the ground Rex trode was somewhat shaky, even though he didn’t feel like there was actual danger present. Merely thorns on every side, like so many conversations he’d had with the other man.
The firefighter turned back to William and thoughts of fire went from his mind, as did the light in his eyes and mouth.
“You have introductory texts on magic?” he said, arching an eyebrow. He jerked his head around to stare in a not-quote-accusatory fashion at Hercules. “Why did you not tell me you had access to such things, or at least let me know they existed?” The sheer length of time stumbling in the dark, piecing together what he could from Hercules’s stories, Dr. Cama’s book, and the Bible could’ve been better spent using tried and true methods to help people.
His gaze only sharpened at the request from William and Hercules’s immediate softness. Rex frowned, fully aware that much was going on that he wasn’t privy to. More thorny ground.
“No, I can’t…” he began, then frowned harder. “Maybe. I don’t know. I’ve never tried.” Nor would he know how to begin trying. Would that put an end to William’s inquiry? “Why do you ask?”
Before Rex could blink, a clone of ice barreled through the room and crashed into one of the chanters. His mouth opened and he exhaled, a quick puff of flame vaguely illuminating the gist of the scene. The person broke off chanting and screamed at the sudden assault from nowhere. A note of desperation entered the voices of the other two chanters.
The snake-eyed man charged at Rex and the firefighter met him with a tackle and a breath of fire again in his face. The man recoiled, trailing smoke invisibly in the darkness. “Aagh!” he said before throwing a punch. Rex ate the blow on a forearm and tried to close in for another grapple, but the man slithered out of range. Rex blew more fire, but the man juked back again.
In the meantime, the one Rex had kicked glared with suddenly glowing eyes. “Lux nunc!” she snapped. The ceiling began glowing with white light, brightening the entire room. She whirled and pointed at the ice clone, shouting, “Vincire catenis!” Four chains made of green light burst out of nowhere and struck at each of the clone’s limb in attempts to entangle it.
Rex winced at the horrific Latin pronunciation and then winced as the snake-eyed man managed to strike his injured shoulder and dart out beyond Rex’s firebreath. Rex backed up again and decided he needed more firepower.
“Go in between the wheels,” he whispered, quickly reaching out and grabbing invisible coals. A fireball formed around each fist and he resumed his earlier stance.
In the brief moments of startlement, as Rex lay in the middle of a people pile in the middle of the five-pointed circle, he started moving. An elbow into a face, a foot lashing out into the stomach of a standing chanter, who promptly stumbled back out of the circle. A note of fury entered the chant and the remaining three got even louder.
Rex could hear Sam checking it, but he didn’t have the spare breath to respond. ”His breath kindleth coals…” he began saying even as he squirmed to lock down the arms of one of the two people he was grappling. A face turned to him and serpentine eyes glowered at him. An arm looped around Rex’s neck and yanked him back. ”...and a flame goeth out of his mouth!”
Rex twisted and rolled on top of the second cultist. By now they had knocked down the remaining candles and darkness fell, if only for the moment. Then Rex exhaled harshly in the face of the person beneath him.
Red-orange flames brushed the person’s face and they screamed. Rex cut off the stream before significant damage could be done, but he couldn’t afford to pull too many punches. A first-degree burn, if even that happened, would heal. It was more a psychological inducement of fear than anything.
Rex punched the person’s face and then rolled off and onto his feet. He sucked in a breath and then blew out and whirled in a circle, a small jet of flames following his motion like a circus firebreather. Nobody was in immediate arm’s reach and in that brief flash of firelight, Rex could take in the scene.
Three chanters were left, forming a triangle now instead of a circle. The person he’d kicked was recovering and standing up straight. The person with serpent-like eyes was rolling to their feet.
