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.
Posted by Lee Smith on Sept 29, 2024 13:07:07 GMT -6
Mutant God
mediumpurple
heterosexual
Tarin
4,188
8
Nov 19, 2024 22:38:45 GMT -6
Raine
Lee nodded in agreement when Quin stated that they would have to do this, the sparring practice, again since Lee had had so much trouble over the years finding partners combined with the fact that Lee could be challenged even if her opponent wasn't as skilled and able as Michael was.
Lee didn't need another sparring partner for that kind of challenge. Though Tony hadn't had as much training as Michael, and it was impossible for him to move as fast, the spirit made up for that in their matches due to the lack of feeling or pain.
But not everyone would think or fight the way Tony or Michael did. Quin was going to have to learn to fight completely differently since like Lee she didn't have a lot of actual training and was a woman. And she didn't have as useful a mutation to be able to use in fights as Lee did. That different way of fighting would give Lee a different challenge when sparring.
Which was what Lee wanted, because the more she was able to learn, the better prepared she would be if she actually had to use these skills for real again.
"That sounds like a good plan," Lee agreed to the couple times a month. Sparring could definitely be rough on the body, and it sounded like the younger woman's schedule was rather busy. "Unless there's an emergency at the bar, my work hours are extremely flexible. Plus once I get my son settled into the mansion for school, I'm probably going to have more time on my hands than I know what to do with."
Posted by Lee Smith on Sept 29, 2024 12:44:28 GMT -6
Mutant God
mediumpurple
heterosexual
Tarin
4,188
8
Nov 19, 2024 22:38:45 GMT -6
Raine
Kevin turned to look at Lee as she spoke, but continued sitting there quietly after.
Until he announced that he thought his head was going to explode with all of the things he had learned that evening. That was completely understandable. She had been older than him when she'd discovered she was a mutant and had learned all of these things so much more gradually.
Though he was worried about his powers getting worse as he got older, harder to deal with.
But Tarin did a good job explaining that that was why you needed to learn about your powers, so that Kevin would be able to deal with any changes or whatever with his powers as he grew older.
"Sometimes, the bad things or downsides to your powers just need to be thought about differently, too," Lee pointed out gently after a few moments. "Because the fact that I need to get my energy from others, and that I can be up for a long time as long as I have the energy has never been as beneficial as when you were a baby."
Posted by Lee Smith on Sept 28, 2024 23:48:14 GMT -6
Mutant God
mediumpurple
heterosexual
Tarin
4,188
8
Nov 19, 2024 22:38:45 GMT -6
Raine
The way that Tarin's eyes shot up to hers when she told him how long she had gone with her sleeping habits like that due to working the two jobs, Lee knew that he was shocked. It was shocking if just about anyone else in the world had done something similar.
"It really wasn't that bad," Lee told him. "I actually had something to do for most of that time I was awake. And the few times that I didn't have anything to do, I went for a run so I could try to get at least a couple hours of sleep."
Sure, it had all been rough at times. She had been extremely busy all the time, but she had felt challenged in a good way. She had still had lots of time with Kevin, her working hours being while he was either at school or asleep. And with Rachel living with them at the time, it had made working at the bar so much simpler.
Kevin was right in that turning her siphoning off at the bar would have allowed her to sleep much more frequently at the time. Though, with the two jobs and him (nevermind trying to spend time with Blaine as well), there really hadn't been very many hours left in the day for her to have actually slept anyway.
Given enough time, Lee probably would be able to get used to not siphoning around crowds of people. That would not make things easier in the meantime.
As Tarin went on to try and explain how her siphoning felt, Lee nodded. It was hard to explain something that others couldn't feel or experience, she knew. Watching Kevin's face, Lee had no idea if he was understanding Tarin's explanation or not. Because again, something he couldn't feel.
When Kevin was still quiet for a few moments after Tarin finished speaking, Lee thought that she would add something. "That's why I'm so startled and jumpy when you surprise me with your shield up," she explained. "A lot of the time, I rely on my siphoning more than my eyes to know if someone's coming closer to me. So when I don't feel you but you're suddenly behind me, it's shocking."
Posted by Lee Smith on Sept 28, 2024 22:50:30 GMT -6
Mutant God
mediumpurple
heterosexual
Tarin
4,188
8
Nov 19, 2024 22:38:45 GMT -6
Raine
Lee took a deep breath and shook her head as she started listing reasons the guys at her gym had given her over the years as to why they wouldn't spar with her. Or for the few that did, they would hold back. A lot.
"Because I'm a woman? I'm too small, not in their weight class, don't have any formal training, I don't know the 'rules'," Lee listed off. "None of the guys who actually get in the ring to spar were actually coming to the gym back when I had my last good match, and they don't believe the couple of trainers still around who saw me and Blaine spar."
Lee had really thought it was more than a little ridiculous over the years. And now, after the fight with Michael and her introduction to Tony, Lee hadn't been looking to spar any time she stepped foot into that gym.
But now Quin was telling her that if she needed a fight at Michael's level for it to be a good fight, that she was out of luck. "There's more than one way to be challenged," Lee pointed out. "While it was good to see how I stood against someone with Michael's training, and it was nice to actually be able to use my powers when my life wasn't on the line, I have no intention of repeating that kind of fight, or the bruising, any time soon."
Posted by Lee Smith on Sept 28, 2024 21:26:27 GMT -6
Mutant God
mediumpurple
heterosexual
Tarin
4,188
8
Nov 19, 2024 22:38:45 GMT -6
Raine
Again, Tarin's response was simply that she needed it. In a way it was kind of mindblowing to her, after how she had lived her life, how people had reacted to her and treated her and her powers. But the way that Tarin said it made it sound like it was an obvious, automatic thing to do.
And that had been before they even really knew each other. But he had continued to offer, even before they had started their 'secret' relationship. Though the 'secret' part hadn't lasted as long as she had expected because Kevin had been able to figure out on his own that they at least liked each other.
"Dad did that kind of thing for you though, right mum?" Kevin asked, looking straight at Lee.
"He did," Lee said, her voice a little slower. "At least when I was allowing touch. With the hugs and kisses we had, so you would have thought it was gross. But I don't think it was because simply that I needed it. Though, I couldn't turn my siphoning off back then, so I had a lot more sleepless nights than I do now."
It grew quiet for a little bit as Tarin and Kevin took that in as well as the fact that she had slept so little when she was working at Haven.
"How long did you have to do that?”
"I think about four or five months," Lee said as she looked up at Tarin. "The nights I wasn't at the bar, I did have a proper sleep. But I tried to get at least those few hours every four days because that way if something happened and I didn't sleep, I still had at least a day before I crashed."
And once she had gotten that routine figured out, it had actually worked out pretty well. The weekends she had Kevin had been the most difficult, though.
"Is that why you started having naps?" Kevin asked, a frown of confusion on his face. "But you could turn it off then, right? So why didn't you, so you could sleep?"
"That is why," Lee confirmed. It hadn't happened often when Kevin was home, but it had happened. "And I did learn I could turn it off around then. But I wasn't very good at it. Plus, it's very strange and uncomfortable for me to be around a lot of people but not be siphoning. That's why I didn't turn it off when I got you at the airport, either. Because being awake for a day or two after that felt like a better decision to me than turning it off."
Posted by Lee Smith on Sept 28, 2024 19:50:00 GMT -6
Mutant God
mediumpurple
heterosexual
Tarin
4,188
8
Nov 19, 2024 22:38:45 GMT -6
Raine
Quin wasn't a cop anymore, not since she had been deaged. So she thought that she wasn't going to be in 'those' situations much. Because when was just a law student going to need to know how to fight like Lee would be teaching her?
"And I was just a teen the first time I had to protect myself," Lee said simply. "Just a waitress at a diner who kept to herself the first time I had to fight like this. Unfortunately in my experience as well as what I've heard from many others, simply being a mutant seems to exponentially increase your chances of being in those situations. Whether you do anything to put yourself there or not."
Then Quin was thanking her for working with her, and it was Lee's turn to shake her head. "If you think this is something important for you to learn and get better at Quin, then that means it's important," Lee told the younger woman. It doesn't matter that you're 'just a law student'."
"Plus, I've had a major lack of sparring partners who have taken me seriously. Michael was the first in years, and that won't be happening again for a long time, if ever."
Posted by Lee Smith on Sept 28, 2024 18:22:48 GMT -6
Mutant God
mediumpurple
heterosexual
Tarin
4,188
8
Nov 19, 2024 22:38:45 GMT -6
Raine
"I'm pretty sure that there's been a few other times," Lee told Tarin. She had definitely had other days when she hadn't been able to make the entire run or had needed Tarin to slow down. That couldn't have been the only day that he'd 'beaten' her.
And though she had tried to explain it before, though he had now heard from both herself and her parents what things had been like when she was barely older than Kevin, Tarin still didn't understand why it was such a big deal to her that he had offered energy to her like that. Not just in general, but that day in particular.
"It's a 'big deal' because not only have so few people done that for me, but less than 48 hours earlier, you had still been passed out because of how much I had siphoned," Lee told him. Again. She didn't think it was so hard to understand.
Then Lee turned to Kevin again and added to what Tarin had said. "And even people who have their powers figured out can have things not work properly at times."
Kevin just nodded, but he didn't look too happy about the idea that even once he learned all these things about his powers they were telling him that he needed to learn, that things still might not work as well as he'd want. Unfortunately, that was just the way life was sometimes.
"But mum, I don't remember you sleeping for a long time ever. So when did you…crash?"
"No, because I never sleep more than 8 hours if I set an alarm." B when had she actually crashed after starting working at Haven? When she was up for literal days at a time, things did have a tendency to blend together in her memory simply because she didn't have those sleeps to break up each day.
"I think it was about 2 weeks after starting at Haven," Lee said. "It took some trial and error, which is why I almost crashed again. But I ended up getting a few hours sleep every four to five days if the bar schedule didn't let me sleep at night."
Posted by Lee Smith on Sept 28, 2024 16:24:40 GMT -6
Mutant God
mediumpurple
heterosexual
Tarin
4,188
8
Nov 19, 2024 22:38:45 GMT -6
Raine
Tarin informed Kevin that she had barely been able to get up, then mentioned that she had been lucky she'd come by the shop.
"As long as I didn't stay in the apartment all day, I would have been alright," Lee replied with a glance up at Tarin quickly. "It was that run that did me in. I'd never run with that little energy before, so it threw me off with how much it took out of me."
Lee then looked up again, giving Tarin a smile. "I was lucky you were there when I woke up though," she added, her voice still soft from earlier. "And thankful."
"Thankful? Oh, did Tarin wake you up since you didn't have an alarm?"
Lee shook her head, and looked at Kevin. "No, your aunt's phone calls did that," she said. "But Tarin got me an energy drink. And then as I was wondering how I was going to even get myself to stand, nevermind get home, he offered that I could take energy from him. Which really surprised me, even with how tired I was at the time."
Posted by Lee Smith on Sept 27, 2024 22:50:12 GMT -6
Mutant God
mediumpurple
heterosexual
Tarin
4,188
8
Nov 19, 2024 22:38:45 GMT -6
Raine
As Lee finished speaking, she still didn't look up. She simply put another puzzle piece into place before looking for the next likely piece.
She could feel the eyes on her, though.
Then Kevin spoke. But really, why would he have thought about all of that? Or just about any of it? There was no way to hide how mornings were for her short of going out to get energy before waking Kevin up.
But everything else…
Lee made sure not to show Kevin how difficult her life could be because all of that was something for her to worry about, not him. And she had learned decades earlier to hide the effort from others because finding that out inevitably led to finding out about what her powers did to them, and people had found out and disliked her quickly enough back then on their own.
"No, it hasn't happened for a long time," Lee reassured Kevin as she placed another piece. "It happened once after we moved here, while I was trying to find a routine working at the bar, getting you to shool, and working at Haven. Almost a second time, but I managed to sleep for a few hours after taking you to shool on the fifth day that time."
"Five? You've been awake for five days straight before?" Kevin asked in disbelief.
"A number of times," Lee said, glancing up at Kevin before looking back at the puzzle. "I seem to crash sometime on the sixth day. Though, the day you and your aunt came home from your grandparents, I misjudged my energy and fell asleep unexpectedly."
Posted by Lee Smith on Sept 27, 2024 21:09:32 GMT -6
Mutant God
mediumpurple
heterosexual
Tarin
4,188
8
Nov 19, 2024 22:38:45 GMT -6
Raine
Kevin seemed to think that other than the lack of energy she had in the mornings, that her powers didn't really have downsides since she had figured out how to manage her energy levels so well and it was almost second nature despite the mental energy it took.
And Tarin answered, basically explaining all of that to the teen. But as Kevin was looking at Tarin as he spoke, Lee sighed softly.
Starting to work on the puzzle again, Lee waited for Tarin to finish speaking, then a couple more moments to see if Kevin has any immediate questions before she spoke softly.
"There are so many more downsides, difficulties, and bad parts with my powers," she said, not looking up. "Yes, I have to watch my energy, make sure I still have enough at night so I can get up in the morning while still heading little enough to be able to sleep."
"But if I have a lot of energy, I have to watch how fast I move or how much force I use, and it's easy to use more than intended, so I don't hurt myself or break something. And if I'm in a fight, I have to watch that also so I don't hurt the other person more than I want. And depending on how much energy I have, it is far too easy for me to hurt someone more than I want to." very easily, ponytail man in Columbia's broken neck a perfect example of that.
"That's why if something happens that would be a fight, I'll just siphon as my first choice. But then there's the unknown line between someone being unconscious and me taking too much energy, and what might happen then."
As she was speaking, Lee continued to slowly work away at the puzzle, during in the correct piece here and there, though much slower than while the three of them had been working in silence. All without looking up at Kevin or Tarin.
"And if I have that much energy, I can be up for days straight. Boring, but not a huge issue for a couple days. But while I'm working through all of that energy, I'm siphoning more unless I turn it off. If my energy level stays too high to sleep, eventually my body and brain just decide to…stop. I could feel ready to vibrate out of my skin with the excess energy but I fall asleep without enough warning to set an alarm."
"If no one's there when I eventually wake up," Lee continued, voice still the same, low volume it had been to start. "And I've got no energy left because of using it while sleeping, no amount of caffeine or will power will get me out and near people so I can get energy."
"So, lots of bad things and downsides, which I can now avoid it mitigate most of the time. But not always."
Posted by Lee Smith on Sept 27, 2024 17:51:39 GMT -6
Mutant God
mediumpurple
heterosexual
Tarin
4,188
8
Nov 19, 2024 22:38:45 GMT -6
Raine
Huh Lee thought as Tarin glanced at her while he explained. Kevin's father had said the exact opposite to that at one point. Was it in Columbia, or had it been in Florida? Regardless of where it had been, he had been exacerbated by how uncomfortable people were, possibly including her, about spirits being visible. Spirits were just people, he'd said. Dead people, but just people.
Tarin was saying the exact opposite to that, and Lee couldn't help but wonder why there was the difference of opinion. Was it because of the differences in how they'd grown up? Or because of the time Tarin had spent on Hart Island?
No matter the reason, it was not a conversation she was going to have then.
"You can actually hear what spirits think?" Kevin asked, frowning in thought. "No, I don't think I'd like that. I'm glad my powers don't suck like that. If my shield would stop draining my phone, they'd be perfect, nothing bad about them."
Lee gave a sad little smile as she shook her head at her son. "Everyone's powers had their bad parts."
"Not you, mum," Kevin said, turning to look at Lee again. "Well, the mornings suck, but you have everything figured out so well."
Lee sighed as she shook her head again. "There's a lot more bad things about my powers than you think, Kev," she said softly.
Posted by Lee Smith on Sept 27, 2024 16:04:15 GMT -6
Mutant God
mediumpurple
heterosexual
Tarin
4,188
8
Nov 19, 2024 22:38:45 GMT -6
Raine
"Most of the time outside the shop, your father tried to not even acknowledge that they were there," Lee told Kevin after Tarin had explained. "Though for whatever reason, they rarely were around our apartment and he said that the few that were ever at the bar never really did anything to bother him; they kept to themselves."
Kevin started to nod, but then stopped and looked at Lee in confusion. "But you said only the strong, bad spirits try to do that," he said before looking over at Tarin. "Are the spirits that annoying that you just don't want to listen to them?"
"I'm sure some of them can be, just like people who are alive," Lee said as she realized she'd never actually told Kevin what happened when his father connected with a spirit. "My understanding is that a lot of spirits will try to link up to get their point across of what they want, and the images are rarely nice."
Posted by Lee Smith on Sept 27, 2024 12:59:31 GMT -6
Mutant God
mediumpurple
heterosexual
Tarin
4,188
8
Nov 19, 2024 22:38:45 GMT -6
Raine
When she finished speaking, Kevin turned and asked Tarin about seeing the spirits all the time. Which Tarin explained.
And that explanation actually made things clearer to Lee as well. She'd known that he kept spirits far enough away that they couldn't try to link or connect with him. But she had never really asked Tarin how far away they were and until the day of the building collapse, Lee had just kind of assumed that they were kept far enough away that he couldn't see them. At least enough that they were not in the same room.
That day, when Tarin had mentioned that the two spirits had been trying to get his attention, she had realized that must not have been the case, but with everything else that had happened that day Lee had never asked Tarin about it.
"And dad did, right?" Kevin asked once Tarin finished speaking. "He saw the spirits all the time? He heard them, too, didn't he? I remember a couple times when I was in the shop with him, dad saying for an empty room to be quiet."
Lee had not consciously realized that Kevin's father had him in the shop, which was a strange thing for her to have not realized since he had been living there when she'd moved back to New York. And the more time he had spent in the shop, the more frequently and insistently the spirits had always seemed to bother him and try to get his attention.
"He could hear them as well," Lee confirmed for Kevin. "Like I said, he was able to ignore them most of the time. Like we do with sound from the people and cars outside. It's there, but you don't pay attention to it. But sometimes, like when he said that, the spirits were louder or pushier than normal to be listened to."
Posted by Lee Smith on Sept 27, 2024 9:44:58 GMT -6
Mutant God
mediumpurple
heterosexual
Tarin
4,188
8
Nov 19, 2024 22:38:45 GMT -6
Raine
Kevin was confused as he looked back and forth between her and Tarin. And unfortunately, Lee knew that she wouldn't be able to clear up all of the confusion because while she knew a lot about Tarin's powers, and Kevin's father's, she didn't know everything.
"Your father and Tarin learned about their powers very differently," Lee explained. "Tarin started doing the working out and mindfulness and all that because he found it helped him with controlling his powers. In your father's case, we had no idea that that would help at all."
"For your father, the spirits were just…always there. It took many years, but he learned how to ignore them for the most part. Tarin," Lee continued, looking over at Tarin for confirmation of what she was saying. "Figured out a way to keep the spirits from getting too close."
Lee turned back to Kevin to see that he was paying close attention to her. "Same powers, but different ways of learning about them and using them. Tarin has a lot of control because of that work he puts in mentally. Your father had a lot more control after that astral projection coma thing."
Posted by Lee Smith on Sept 26, 2024 22:34:34 GMT -6
Mutant God
mediumpurple
heterosexual
Tarin
4,188
8
Nov 19, 2024 22:38:45 GMT -6
Raine
Kevin looked at the two adults as they talked, back and forth between Tarin and Lee. Kevin knew that there were a lot of kids at his school, well his old school, who went to therapy. Even some of the kids.
But Kevin was shocked to hear that his mum had needed to go to therapy. She always had everything under control.
While Kevin didn't understand why his mum had needed to go to therapy, he nodded. Then he turned to look at Lee. "Is that why you're so sure that it's not going to happen, mum?"
"In part that," Lee said after a moment's thought. "But also what I know about him and his history."
Kevin frowned at Lee, then looked at Tarin before turning back to his mum. "What do you mean? Is this stuff that dad figured out? Is that why it didn't happen again after I was born?"
