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.
Ah, now those other details made more sense for a manhunt. Rex assumed there was more to the story, but that seems a better explanation for all of this urgency. Experimenting on unwilling subjects and abuse of authority were serious indeed, even without involving a child. Rex grunted his acknowledgement of the argument.
The additional information just made Rex further...bemused wasn't the right word. Disbelieving? Puzzled? The attack on the X-Mansion happened nine months ago. Rex was there at Ground Zero. This wasn't a new case then. How was a man, even an ex-cop, able to evade the feds and the vigilante mutant group for most of a year? They knew he was hanging around the mansion, even!
What kind of imbecilic incompetence was in charge of this case or these organizations? Rex decided that after this, he'd reach out to his contacts in the NYPD and X-Men (both named Sam, ironically enough) to get a better idea of what was going on.
His part in all of this was over though.
"Good luck then," Rex said. "Sounds like you're going to need it." Because nobody involved clearly had the skills and abilities to handle this case, even if the case was indeed blown out of proportion. "You also need to go to the hospital and get your lungs checked out. You were up there for quite awhile and breathed a lot it. We still don't know what was happening to your body when got there. Have someone take a look at you. And for the love of God, stop antagonizing the EMTs!"
Rex waved the hovering EMT over but he didn't leave just yet. If Hunter was going to be a problem, Rex was going to deal with him.
The eyebrow inched higher. "The kid isn't injured, just can't use powers," he restated. "She's now at the mansion. Mutant mansion? The one with the X-Men?" That actually made part of Rex's mouth twitch in something like amusement. "But she's still in danger from a lone ex-cop." What on Earth were these people getting paid for? Rex suspected politics in play.
"So what was the crime then?" he asked, genuine curiosity and skepticism blended together in his voice. He wasn't a lawyer or a cop himself, but so far it didn't sound like anything had happened to warrant, well, a warrant.
By then Adkins had come back. He caught Rex's eye and gave a nod and an all-clear sign. Rex tipped his head slightly in acknowledgement. "Well it looks like you check out," he said, uncrossing his arms and reaching into his pocket to give Hunter the rest of the stuff from the table.
Rex stood even straighter, if possible. "I'm Lieutenant Rex Vidales," he said crisply and with an accent that he rarely brought out in English except when choosing to emphasize something. He wasn't concerned about blowback on any of this and even if there was, he'd face it head on. The Lord only knew he'd faced down more thana potential governmental agency spat.
He considered the man's explanation and imperceptibly arched an eyebrow a millimeter. Someone could take away mutations? Now that was interesting indeed. No wonder the government (if that's who this person truly was with) wanted to track him down. That would surely have all manner of uses for law enforcement. The genocide part was alarming.
"The kid in danger? Hurt?" Rex asked, his eyes furrowing in a deeper frown. He continued to keep his arms crossed, but now he was glad he'd helped the guy pick up whatever had been on the table. Rex was no fan of mutants, for it was far too easy for them to do unparalleled harm and destruction to entire communities, but kids were still kids. Even if it was troublesome that they were getting powers so young. But to kill them?
Rex stared stone-faced at Hunter. "Right," he said with little inflection. He reached out to investigate the ID and badge. He had no idea what SUPER was supposed to be. "Adkins! Over here!" he shouted at a passing fireman. The young man jogged over.
"What's up, boss?" he said.
Rex nodded at Michael Hunter. "Run this guy's ID and badge number by dispatch, okay? I want to verify who he is," he said. Adkins quickly went off to do just that.
Rex crossed his arms and stared down at the shorter man. "That doesn't give you the right to threaten EMTs," Rex said. "There was a fire here and I'm the ranking officer. This is my domain. If you have an issue with something, or you want to do something, you can address it to me and I'll decide whether or not to grant your request."
The last thing Hunter said made Rex's eyes narrow and his posture stiffened even more, if possible. Magic? "What exactly happened to a kid?" Rex said slowly and in a lower voice.
Rex emerged from the building once again. "All clear," he announced. Now it was time for his team to go in and start surveying the damage and begin the process of finding out what happened.
The fire had been contained fairly well, almost textbook-like. Looking from the outside, Rex was estimating only half a dozen or so apartments around the initial one were affected by the flames. No loss of life reported and the only injuries reported were from those souped-up security guys.
Then an EMT approached Rex and began relaying his directive. "Speak of the Devil..." Rex muttered.
It was several minutes later, after delegating a few more tasks, that Rex made his way over to the man with the obsession over papers. Rex barely glanced at the photo-taking. "I hear you're giving the EMTs a tough time and ordering them around like you own the place. Who are you and what's your problem?" Rex barked.
"We'll take care of that later, pal, right now we need to make sure you're going to be okay," Rex said as they exited the building. Smoke was billowing out of the apartment windows and the fire seemed to be a full blaze in that apartment. Another firefighter stepped up to Rex and announced there were no other occupants.
"All clear!" Rex shouted as he led the guy over to an ambulance that had just parked.
A torrent of water burst from a firehouse and into the air, where it blew through the windows of the apartment and began flooding the space within.
"Extensive smoke inhalation, possible burns," Rex said, skipping any preambles as he transferred the man to the EMTs. "Maybe concussed - seems to have a single-minded obsessions with minor minutia. Was possibly in a fight. Looked like an explosion. I'll check back later."
Then Rex turned back to assist in coordinating the efforts of his men.
The man was stubborn, that was certain. Rex could respect that. At least, under any other circumstance. Right now it was starting to interfere with his job.
Then again, there was apparently a child involved. Rex didn't know who the man was, why he was dressed in tactical gear, or why the room was on fire. None of that mattered at the moment. It didn't matter if the clutter was the man's or not. If it got him out quicker, so be it.
"O Father, be a shield unto us against these wayward flames.." he began praying quietly as he bent over to start stuffing the things that had fallen to the floor into the oversized pockets on his jacket. He focused his attention and his continuing litany of words on the flames nearest them and watched them start shrinking one by one as his prayer began work to quench the flames
He kept the prayer going, switching to different bursts of flame to burn them out, impeding the spread of flames within the room, but he could already tell the fire had spread to adjacent rooms. This was a stopgap measure.
"Okay, buddy, we're getting you out of here now," Rex said, allowing the fire-quenching prayer to end. He swiftly stepped up to the shorter man and grabbed at an arm in order to put it around his shoulders so he could support the man's weight and lead him out of the room. "We got the papers, we just got to get you safe too."
The muscular shifts seemed to come to an end as Rex channeled more energy into the man. "Thank you, Father," he said barely perceptibly as he slid his glove back on. Once again fully protected from surroundings, Rex turned his attention to what needed done next.
The man was stabilized. Rex didn't know if there was anything else wrong with him. Now they needed to clear out. Archer and Thompson were already trying to assist the other men out of the apartment. As long as the men cooperated, that meant Rex would be alone with this guy within seconds.
Then the guy mentioned something, something Rex could just barely make out over the coughing. He turned. Papers and some metal tools and various other miscellaneous supplies littered it. "They can't be that important," he said before leaning down to try to help the man up. "We need to get you out of here immediately."
Rex took in the room. One man was on the floor, surrounded by scorch marks, and various items in the room were on fire, including what looked like a solid metal chair. It didn't immediately look natural, and judging my the SWAT-esque outfits the men were wearing, it probably hadn't been.
Rex wasn't there to do forensics though. He was there to get people safe.
"Archer! Thompson!" Rex shouted to the two firefighters who had followed him up the stairs. Rex pointed at the two men who did in fact seem restrained. "Cut them loose or get them to the stairs." Rex turned back to the first man who'd spoken. "Can you walk?"
The two firefighters sprang into action, whipping out their spring-assisted knives and beginning to saw away at the weirdly tied clothing. Rex then moved in toward the man who was struggling to get up. "Sir, I need you to stop moving for a few moments." Then Rex broke protocol.
He didn't know why the man's body was contorting, warping, spasming in such horrific way, but as revolting as it was, Rex had a solution. “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word," Rex began muttering under his breath, as quickly as possible without messing up the verse as he laid his bare hand on the man's back. "By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.”
His hand began glowing red, something not easily noticed in the changing light of the fire-filling room, but healing energies and a gentle warmth began coursing into the contorting man in an effort to stop whatever was happening.
The fire engine was there in eight minutes flat. By that time, smoke was already beginning to stream from one of the building's windows and dancing lights could faintly be seen from t he ground outside.
"Looks like we might be able to get ahead of this one," Rex said before leaping off the truck. Twenty seconds later, he was charging into he building in his full firefighter regalia, colleagues and brothers in arms streaming in behind him while others set to work opening the fire hydrant.
Nowadays, Rex always made sure he was the first one into any fiery building. As his understanding of his magic grew, so had his worries over the safeties of his peers and those under his command. He now had new ways of protecting them, so his guilt would only grow larger if any of them fell before he did.
Rex charged up the stairs, automatically tuning out the fire alarm, and found one of the apartment doors were already open and had smoke coming from it. Convenient. Rex beelined for the apartment.
"Fire department! Clear the building!" he roared as he burst in.
To be honest, Rex didn't recognize the woman that approached him and Elizabeth. He understood that she had been present during the conflict (that was the purpose of this session afterall) but she didn't stick out. So few people did, and usually for the wrong reasons. It was a warzone he'd walked into and he'd known only five of the defenders.
He didn't regret it. He only regretted he couldn't have done more.
He gave the woman a stiff nod and then followed both women into the room as they were invited in.
After a brief look of mistrust at the bean bag chair, Rex beelined toward the armchair. He liked his seating to have character and discipline, not festering scoliosis and a total lack of conviction. "This is fine," he said politely, nodding at the small display of refreshments. In truth, it was more than he was used to at his AA meetings, which he suspected this would be close too. He was no stranger to seeing a therapist - he'd been seeing one for a couple of years now - but he'd even recommended Rex try this when Rex had mentioned it. Rex didn't know what to expect. He just felt very...out of place.
Rex sat as still as a statue as the boy began to speak. The firefighter continued to frown, but it was not in judgement or anger, merely seriousness as he took in the kid's words. Dark, troubling things were afoot and even their assailants knew William had the answers. Normally Rex wasn't one to pry into the lives of others, especially around trauma, but this was a life and death situation. His training and instincts took over.
You didn't stop fires by ignoring them and hoping they'd go away. You stopped fires by going to the source of the problem and extinguishing them. If there were murderous spellcasters targeting this boy to the point of hiring a magical hit-squad, they needed to respond fast.
So Rex continued to frown, his arms still crossed, as the story began.
Rex's own coffee sat there untouched. It was straight black, pure caffeine and no sugar whatsoever. He was not interested in coffee at the moment. He wanted answers.
"Forgive me if I do not share your bravado," Rex said levelly in Hercules's direction, "but I am not interested in tempting God. Do you not think they will come back, better prepared for you and me?" His tone was low and his words were crisp. There was much to go over, so, so much, but instead it seemed like they were stalling.
Rex fought fires. He investigated the causes of fires. He dealt with life and death constantly. He didn't have time to rehash the things they already knew, such as the attack by fire. "So we already covered," he said.
He turned back to Will. After a moment, he unfolded his arms. William was a kid, not a convict. Perhaps...just perhaps...Rex could ease up a bit.
"Why don't you start at the beginning of the night you summoned Hercules."
The ruby red plastic-covered seat creaked under Rex's weight as he leaned back and crossed his arms, his customary frown upon his face. From his seat, he had a good view of most of the diner, particularly many of the windows, in case more assailants were on their way. That man at the museum had said they'd been following William and Hercules for some time now, and even though the restaurant wasn't very close to the museum, it was better to assume they'd be discovered at any moment. Who knew how many people might there be next time?
The waitress had already collected their orders, so as the cook started preparing Rex's waffles, eggs, and country ham, the firefighter flicked his gaze to the boy in the wheelchair.
"We might not have a lot of time before you're attacked again," Rex said seriously. It had only been about twenty minutes since they left the museum. This would be an excellent time to catch the trio off guard, especially with how tired Rex was and even William and Hercules must be. That much magic in such a short amount of time really took a lot out of you.
"So I think it's time you explained what you know about Atlas and who sent him, and while you're at it, why on Earth you thought I was with them?" he said steely. He wasn't threatening the boy, at least he didn't think so, but with the revelation had come a bit of anger like a burning ember. Not a full-on bonfire, but a slight smoldering. The boy's secrets were already having near-lethal consequences for those around him. He'd already commanded Hercules to attack Rex, as well as summoning some monster dog that slipped through shadows like a demon to assist, just because he correlated Rex's fire magic to some flaming horses that had killed his father and injured him and his mother.
Rex stood his ground as Hercules shifted forward, his arms loose at his side. He'd dismissed his sword already. There wouldn't be time to call it forth again and stop Hercules. It took seconds and seconds to say the word - it would take Hercules no more than a moment to cross the few scant feet between them and kill the man, regardless of Rex's presence.
It was terrifying and Rex second-guessed his decision to let go of the sword.
He still didn't flinch, even as the giant yelled at him. Instead, he stiffened his jaw, preparing for what was about to happen.
However, it seemed that God had other plans.
A small voice stopped Hercules and as the man obeyed William's commands, Rex let out a shaky breath and reflexively crossed himself. His heart was pounding in his ears, even as the other's man's posture suddenly lightened, as if relieved of a heavy burden. What a burden it must be to wear Hercules down.
Rex returned his gaze to the boy. "Then we should get you somewhere safe," he said. "Then you need to tell us what you know."
Then Rex looked at Hercules and met his eyes, gladdened to see the fading light. "We'll get to the bottom of this," Rex said softly, putting a hand on the man's shoulder. "As God is my witness. We will find answers."
