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.
Agnes arched her brow. She then smirked and shook her head. ”Of course it’s my real name. Who would willingly name themselves Agnes?” she grinned. She knew the flack that her name earned her over the years. it was easy to make fun of because it was so old-sounding that no one had that name anymore. But she wasn’t just anyone. If anything the name made her unique now.
But that was enough of that. It was time for some introductions. While initially she had wanted the alone time to think about what she wanted to do for the future, now she was willing to accept a distraction -- especially one as pretty as Nessa. Not that Agnes was looking to hook up or anything, but it was nice to be surrounded by pretty things. It helps to ease any anxieties she may have about the future.
Nessa revealed that she was fairly new to the mansion, a week or two. She came here because she needed to figure out what to do next. Where did that sound familiar from? As she began to delve further into that thought, the words and descriptions she was using sounded so very very familiar. Odd position? Jumping back into her life? A future self? It felt like a bolt of lightning lit up the corners of her mind. This did sound familiar -- because it was what she was going through herself.
Agnes didn’t want to just outright ask Nessa about being deaged but it was kind of hard to ignore. She had met a couple of students at the mansion who were going through that, some of them having more drastic changes than others. Agnes herself lost about 7 years (give or take). She wondered how much time Nessa had lost?
As she contemplated this, her eyes narrowed as she watched Nessa closely. Slowly she began to move off to a nearby tree, stopping and leaning against it as she looked her over. A crack of a smile formed on her lips as she spoke.
”Yeah, I can…relate,” she replied. If Nessa wanted to continue talking about it, Agnes would reveal more, but she wasn’t going to dig uninvited. ”Well...welcome to Xavier’s. I hope the school can help...process...and figure out what to do next. Do you have a list?” she asked, briefly gesturing to her notebook in her hand. ”Because I have a list. Not that it’s much help.”
Strangely, when Nessa started talking about the party that Haven was throwing, she was actually fully interested in it. Before she wouldn’t have been but her shot of confidence, the easy going nature that she was feeling take hold more and more as the days pressed on, it felt like something she had to do. Of course, it helped that: A.) she had a friend who wanted to go (with the right persuasion), and B.) she was one of those people the party was being thrown for. It was fate!
There was some resistance on Nessa’s part but Agnes figured it only had to do with nerves. With a pout and an admittance that she wanted to go to show off her new bathing suit, she managed to coerce Nessa into going. Not only that but they would be meeting a friend there! More the merrier!
Then second they got to the party, Agnes excused herself to go change and returned to her new friend, modeling her one-piece, honeycomb designed swimsuit. It showed off way more skin than she would have normally felt comfortable with but, again, these days she was feeling particularly brave. Not only was the bathing suit cute, but it was a bit of a joke considering her powers. She couldn’t resist the humor.
After returning to Nessa, she found her new found friend walking away from the bar, after seemingly chatting up one of the teachers from the school. She had to admit, good for her. Agnes was glad to see that someone as old as Ms. Grey was brave enough to come out to a hot tub party in her condition. And even in a bathing suit! Such bravado! She hoped she was that brave when she got older...if she did.
She shook those thoughts away and instead focused on Nessa. She seemed to carry a tinge of nervousness about her but she still didn’t seem all that bothered at being here. Good. Agnes was looking to have a good time and knew that Nessa needed it to. They both went through a pretty crazy thing and rather than run from it, they needed to embrace the change and forge forward.
Of course as it was easier said than done, Agnes didn’t relate just how loudly she was existentially screaming into the void. Instead she believe that so long as you keep smiling, keep moving on, eventually the rest of you will catch up. She hoped.
”Yup,” she said, hanging close to Nessa and looking about the hot tub-filled room. ”Who would have known it would have been so hot and wet.”
Okay, better choice of words next time. Her cheeks colored a little but she shook it off, sending the nervous twinge down to her wings, causing them to flutter involuntarily before settling against her back again. It was here that Nessa passed the blame onto her, inquiring as to what they should do first. She snorted.
”Hey, listen here Nessa, you were the one that brought it up.” She grinned devilishly. ”If anything I’m the one having her innocence sullied in this den of delights.” She sighed and looked about. ”And that depends, hon. You want to go bid a pretty person to hang about with tonight and sit on a relaxed, cool, cushioned chair? Or you wanna claim one of the hot tubs before they’re all filled and floating with god knows what?”
Nessa was short for Vanessa. Clearly the other girl had already lied to her by offering a false identity. Yes it was only for fractions of a second but it was enough but it was still enough of an infraction to earn the insect queen’s suspicion. Not really, but it was fun to think about.
Accusations aside, she at least had a full name to go with the face. Nessa was cute, not that Agnes was really thinking about that. It was just an observation that popped into her head without provocation. Instead she pressed on with the reason that she needed her pencil back, explaining the properties that it had in relation to deciding the fate of her own universe.
It was perfectly reasoned why she needed her pencil back: to complete her vampire heroine drawing -- or, rather, finish her list of next steps. Ugh, she really didn’t want to work on that list anymore as it hurt her head to trying and figure out what she wanted to do with her life. However, she couldn’t put it off any longer. She put it off long enough and now she needed to make some decisions.
Decisions that, frankly, couldn’t be made until she was given back her pencil.
With a sigh the pencil was handed back over to her. Her property returned, Agnes felt like grumbling. Yeah she wanted it back, but she didn’t really either. It was complicated. Either way, she was grateful for the return of her pencil and gently tucked it into the pocket of her leather jacket. Little troublemaker needed to be grounded in there for trying to escape, totally not because she didn’t want to work on her list.
She snorted as she playfully pulled the notebook behind her back, keeping it firmly held in both her hands. The reality was that while she described a robust and skilling drawn picture of a busty vampire woman with a low cut top, the truth was that it was little more than a stick figure with very round circles in place of the breasts. She didn’t know why she drew it. Her mind had been wandering, that was all.
”Well, then, I guess we’ll never know what you thought about my ‘well-drawn vampire’,” she smirked.
The girl’s voice had a familiar tinge to it. The sound of someone who didn’t know what the future held and had questions that needed answers. That was enough to flare the empathy in the insect queen’s head. That had been one of her more caring qualities that got her in trouble when she was living on the streets. But she was safe enough on the mansion grounds...she assumed.
But she wouldn’t outright ask Nessa anything yet. She didn’t want to just presume that the other felt open enough to talk about it. Instead she just pressed on with simpler questions.
”Are you new to Xavier’s?” she asked, gesturing to the school that was in the distance behind her. ”Or visiting family?”
Okay so the girl was cute. The old Agnes probably would have been flabbergasted and unable to make appropriate sentences. But now there were not “Ughs” or “Ums”, but rather an eloquent, teasing young woman who now stood in her place. Admittedly that was a shocking change but one that she was altogether pleased had come about. But for all of her confidence and smooth talk -- it was clear that this other girl was a reflection of the former Agnes, not the later.
Her brow arched at her comment. Still people named “Agnes”? She gave the other a firm “Are you serious?” look but said nothing as by the time started to breathe out words, a rapid apology tumbled out from the girl’s mouth. Interesting.
Her lips twitched, partially into a smile (more a confused grin) as the girl continued to bury herself deeper into that hole. Shaking her head softy, she held up her hand. She wasn’t all that cruel after all.
”Wow. It’s...okay...we’ll both skip over that last comment,” she smirked.
Admittedly this was an interesting turn of events but that didn’t mean she didn’t want her pencil back. She still had some monumental decisions to make and the one item she needed to help make those decisions was currently being held hostage by a cute, distracting girl. Okay, she had to focus. Her mind wanted to be anywhere but focused on what she needed to be doing. Still, it wasn’t as if she could just ignore the other girl.
However, when she requested her writing tool back, she was denied as the other girl seemed suspicious as to exactly how it would be used -- considering the fact that she was part of the universe as well. That also happened to be how Agnes received the girl’s name. Nessa. Honestly she wanted snap back with her own witty retort but couldn’t quite think of something in time.
So, instead, she merely pushed past that minor annoyance and placed a hand on her jutted out hip.
”Well Nessa, if that is your real name,” she eyed her in a playfully suspicious way. ”That there you’re holding is helping to decide the outcome of my universe. Powered with lists, ideas, and really badly sketched vampire heroines.” She snorted and sighed. ”So it should be safe enough to assume that you’ll be fine, so long as you’re not central part of my universe, after all.”
It wasn't often that Agnes interacted with others when she was seeking alone time. Not because she was antisocial but when she had a lot on her mind, she wasn't interested in being distracted. That was her whole reasoning for being out the mansion today. There was a lot that she was putting off and she was finally committing to finding the answer.
What were the odds that her committed plan would be ruined by a cute girl wandering the woods where no others dareth tread? Apparently very good.
Hovering near the ground, Agnes wings beat fast and hard, keeping her aloft. With hands tucked into her pockets, she eyed the other girl, waiting for her to relinquish her much sought after pencil. She was really only teasing about the gravity of it.
It was odd. Agnes never thought of herself as a serial flirter. She always remembered herself being so meek and quiet. But things were different now. Such words and comments came so much easier to her, bolstered by some experience or skill from an older self she could not remember.
That was fine, she guessed. She wasn't going to knit pick the fact that she had some heightened confidence finally. It just made it strange when she could so clearly recall a time when that wasn't the issue.
She blinked, pulled back into the moment and out of her own head. Wait, what? Her brow arched as the other denied her get rightful property. Sure she had a point, but keeping the pencil was essentially theft now, right?
Agnes snickered a little at other's comment. Finally she landed upon the ground, get wings stopping and laying flat against her back. A peek of iridescent, filtered light sparkled from her sides as she stepped closer, creating a rainbow-like aura.
"Well...they do say villainy is subjective..." she edged closer. "...after all, between the two of us, you're the only one committing a crime by holding hostage the pencil of an innocent bystander." She grinned, crystalline blue eyes briefly looking over the other girl before she stepped up, unfurled one of her arms, offering her hand to shake. "Name's Agnes, " she said, then gestured to the most powerful tool in the universe. "See? Name's right there. On the black and white pig. We're practically identical and thus, proof of ownership." With that settled, she grinned, held out her open palm, waiting for her pencil back.
There were seldom places to really be along at the mansion. Single rooms were fine, but there inevitably was the problem of needing a change of scenery. However, to achieve that one had to go out into the world and explore. This often meant that many places that were left were already exposed. This was a school, after all, therefore students were absolutely everywhere. The pool, the kitchen, the halls, even the hedge maze wasn’t as isolating as some thought. It meant that the need for alone time was high.
Agnes was one such student. The often shy and quiet insect mutant needed to have time to collect her thoughts. After all, she was thrown into a world that wasn’t familiar to her anymore. She didn’t have the career, personal, or love life that she had often hoped she would have achieved by this point. But, she couldn’t wallow. Instead, she had to decide.
That was the rub of all this. Even though she couldn’t remember it, she had done all this before. She went to school, went on job interviews, had a career, had a significant other, and now, here she was, apparently having to do all of that all over again. It should have made things easier seeing as she couldn’t remember any of it, but she couldn’t help grumbling about just how much it sucked.
Still, it wasn’t as if she could spend the rest of her time (whether this was permanent or not) being a bitter sorehead about it. That was why she sought solitude today. She needed to think about what she was going to do next.
With no where in the mansion for her to find peace, she went for the next best thing -- out in the woods behind the mansion. Honestly she was surprised that there were “woods” here. Seeing as the mansion was in the middle of New York, how did that make any sense. But she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. The older kids didn't want to come out this far because where was nowhere to plug in their phones, and the younger ones seemed to think this was some kind of enchanted, forbidden forest for some reason.
That was fine with her. The less the better.
High up in one of the trees, Agnes stretched out, her jean-clad legs crossed in front of her, wearing a purple blouse, open flannel shirt, and what was quickly becoming her favorite leather jacket. Her legs tucked up, she had a teal notebook sitting on her lap, swirling a Fauna Junction pencil between her fingers.
On the paper was a list she had written out, various things that she was trying to decide on. College? Career? Life goals? A few ideas were jotted down, but they eventually devolved to a rather risque sketch of an hourglass figured vampiress listed under “Life Goals”. Ugh this was really pointless, was it? She always wanted to go to Julliard, but learning that she moved away from music later in life made her suspicious as to why. Was she really just not that good? Why would she give up that career she thought she always wanted?
She grumbled and twirled her pencil a little faster between her fingers. Her annoyance with the state of things grew to such a point that, before she knew it, the pencil flew from her grasp. With an obscenity uttered under her breath, she rolled her eyes, and started to move when a muffled, ”Ow!” lifted from below.
With a tilt of her body, she gazed down at the ground below, and standing amid the grass and roots was...another girl. Her eyes narrowed. Seriously? Was no place sacred?
Standing on the tree branch, she stuck one foot out and began to plummet from the tree. But mere seconds after stepping off, her wings beat hard and fast, instantly catching her in the air. The buzzing was loud, enough for anyone to hear, and carried closer to the ground. However, she didn’t step down, but instead just hovered off the grass.
”Hey sweetie,” she said, notebook under her arm and hands in her pockets. She nodded to the pencil that the newcomer held. ”Mind handing that off? It’s an instrumental tool in deciding the fate of the universe.”
This was a whole new experience for Agnes. Professor Grey had warned her about it not long after she started to stay here in the mansion. Said that people who had been deaged would retain mutant abilities, however they had evolved during the time that had grown. Agnes’ powers were familiar but there were certainly some upgrades during the time she had lost. The wings were a surprise. The wings were new, but she had more problems at hand than she had thought. Thank goodness for the file the Mansion staff had on her.
It seemed that her powers rotated and to rotate, she was required to go through a type of cocooned phase. There were some pretty solid descriptions, even photographs, and it certainly didn’t look like a fun thing to partake in. But at least when the time came, she was more prepared for it than she thought it was. It was especially helpful that she lived alone. She couldn’t imagine how a roommate would react to seeing this.
Nevertheless, she wasn’t caught off guard. Just last night the hunger had started, than strained search for sugar and sweets. The second that she felt it, she pilfered as many sweet snacks from the pantry as she could get away with. After locking herself in her room, she felt her baser instinct take over. She was a blur as she had consumed and consumed, and consumed until, in the dead of night, she crawled into bed and promptly passed out, awaiting the dawn of a new day.
Though she couldn’t exactly see the light, Agnes could feel it as it poured over her cocooned body. Weakly her fingers strained, clawing at the casing, over and over again, applying more pressure until she was finally able to puncture her fingers through the surface. Once she got that whiff of fresh air, it spurred her on to continue. Eventually she pushed up and through the opening, sitting up in a pile of goop, cracked carapace, and the decomposed, melted concoction of her former body.
Disgusting but now wasn’t the time to be grossed out by her own abilities. Shakily she crawled her way out of the casing, planting her feet upon the floor. Her steps were weak but she managed to keep herself upright. She knew that her wings would be gone but she couldn’t fully remember what was next in the rotation. With a groan she staggered to her bathroom, trying to shake the buzzing in her mind. She felt so weak. She didn’t remember reading that she would feel so absolutely drained.
Once in the bathroom, she recoiled at the taste in her mouth and prompted slipped to the sink, retching and vomiting gunk into the sink. Ugh. She shook. That was even more gross. But as she lifted her gaze to the mirror, she weakly stared at her face...and spotted the two protruding antennae that were now nestled upon her forehead. She snorted. Of course. No wonder things smelled so much worse.
Okay. So. Antennae for a month. She could live with that. She turned, aiming for the shower when a shine of iridescence caught her eye. Large sapphire eyes turned back to the mirror. There they were, her wings. They were still there! That...didn’t make any sense. She reached over her chest, trying to touch them, to make sure that they were real, but when she did, she noted that there was a protruding stinger now sticking out of the palm of her hand.
Yeah this wasn’t anything like what she read! What was going on? It took several moments for her to catch her breath before she slipped into the shower and washed the gunk off thorough. Who was that school guidance counselor again? Taylor? She would see her. Surely she or Ms. Grey could figure out what was going on.
Okay. So she cheated a little bit. There was nothing wrong with that, right? They were out here to have fun and so she was going to have fun. Besides, with a bet on the line, she wouldn’t be doing herself justice if she didn’t do everything possible to ensure that she herself, Agnes Nicholas, won this contest. It was just a couple of flies, nothing deadly or dangerous.
Just as her devious insects began to bombard Megan’s face, causing her to flail wildly and lose control of her water cannon, she felt the small pinpricks of something on her back. She didn’t think anything of it at first, after all, she was used to insects. So rather than react, she merely giggled devilishly at her date soaking down the innocent man behind the counter.
Megan was so flush, so red, that Agnes had tears in her eyes. But even though the blurriness, she could see that the stream of water from her own cannon was hitting the clown directly in the mouth. All she needed was a few more seconds and she knew that she would be in first pla--
Wait. What was that?! Agnes felt a wriggling along her neck, inside of her jacket. She was used to bugs crawling on her but this one seemed intently on poking the exactly spots of her skin that she knew were ticklish. She twitched, she squirmed, but that tickling was relentless as it crawled across her exposed neck, causing her to jump and squeak.
”Ohmygod! Oh my god!! Hehehahaha!!”
She was jumping around now, letting go of her water cannon with one hand. With the other, unfortunately, she caught the runner just as he was coming to make sure that she was okay. Soaked twice in one setting.
Agnes, upon seeing this, immediately apologized. ”Oh, I’m so, SO sorry! I HEHEHAH...didn’t mean toooeheheehahah!”
Her eyes fell on Megan and she knew it was her fault. Oh, she was going to get her back for this. Still being tickled, she tried her best to aim her cannon into the right spot but failed to get first place. Instead, as her and Megan’s balloons popped..she could hard tell which of them had beaten the other.
Agnes was all smiles as she walked away, heading for the first game. That haunted house really got her heart racing, but it was nothing compared to the slight, mischievous nature that curled her lips. The first comment that she had said, the double entendre that it brought to mind, was certainly done on accident. But this last one? Well, she could pretend that she didn’t realize what she was saying, but that would be a lie, wouldn’t it? Instead she would just smile to herself and see how the other reacted.
She had just made to the counter, handed over her ticket to participate in the upcoming game, when Megan caught up with her. She didn’t expect the close lean in, or the warm breath to tickle the side of her ear. Agnes had to catch her breath, closing her eyes as the sensation set off the nerve endings that ran across the skin.
Quietly she grinned, biting her bottom lip before Megan wheeled around and caught her gaze. So this was the game that Megan wanted to play now? Oh, Agnes could play. ”Then by all means, continue to misbehave,” she grinned wickedly and whispered, ”Bad girl.”
It was strange just how easy that came to her. Thinking back on it, anything so risque surely would have made her blush and then combust into an array of fireworks. But that didn’t happen this time. The words felt so natural as they danced off the tip of her tongue. What kind of person was she before she was deaged? Was this a throwback from that? She shook the thought away and turned back to the game.
The announcer counted down, waiting until as many of the spots were filled as he could get (three over competitors) before he finally started the game. 3...2...1...squirt! (heh).
Agnes immediately squeezed the trigger on her water cannon. It was off the mark at first but it didn’t seem to take long to correct the stream. Soon the water poured into the clown’s mouth, hitting the bell inside and causing the balloon to inflate. A few were ahead of her but Megan seemed just a tick or two behind. She narrowed her eyes, she really shouldn’t cheat, should she? No. This was a date. She should play fair.
Still...it wasn’t as if she could control what her bugs did. Summoning up a few from their specialized sacs, she coughed, pretending inhale mist, and spit out a few flies that immediately flew off and began to circle around Megan’s head. Oh she was so close to winning; she could practically taste her reward...
Agnes felt a little embarrassed acting the way that she did. She didn’t mean to but blood sometimes grossed her out. And after wandering around this maze full of jumps and scares and suddenly seeing blood pouring from everywhere, it was enough to send anyone jumping out of their skin. Upon seeing it she fled to the nearest, safest thing she could find and, in that moment, it seemed like Megan fit that bill. So she clung onto her, she held tight, and she hugged the life out of her.
However, eventually she came down from her overwhelming fear and released just how close to Megan she was. They had been holding hands and protectively, teasingly, holding one another. But this was a full on, front-on-front hug. She blushed at what she felt pressed against her and when she looked into those sapphire eyes, her cheeks only reddened further.
Megan felt good. Hugging her felt so very, very good.
But she, unfortunately, had to cut things short. She grinned shyly at Megan, pulling her arms from around her and stepping back slightly. They probably should be moving along with their date and putting this place behind them.
”Y-Yeah...of course,” she said, playing along with Megan. ”I mean...if anyone gets to do that first, it should be me, right?”
She paused. That sounded more awkward than it sounded in her head. She shook the thought off and stepped away, taking Megan’s hand as they wound through the maze and made their way to the nearest exit. It was time to put this tomb of horrors behind them and step back out into the light.
Agnes breathed a deep sigh of relief as the sunlight hit her eyes. She breathed the park air, the scares left behind them. She only got a few steps out before she turned around to face Megan, who had stated that it was her turn to pick the next activity. Humming in thought, she turned around, facing the rest of the carnival. There were so many rides, so many things to eat, and so many games to win.
She smirked as she turned around to face Megan. ”Okay. How about this. We’ll go and play a couple games and then we’ll tackle the spaceship ride over there?” She pointed at the large, spinning spaceship covered in neon lights. Walking towards the games, she turned and beckoned Megan to follow her with a teasing grin, regaining some of her confidence now that the scary haunted house was over. ”Come on, hon…” she purred. ”...afraid I’ll spank ya?”
She turned back around marching towards one of the water gun games. Her cheeks blazoned a deep red as she thought about what she had just said. Wow she was really sticking her foot in her mouth wasn’t she? No matter. There were games to win!
This was really turning out to be the best day. Who would have thought? First her entire world began to collapse, then she was hit upon by some dumbass hipster, and now she was on a very memorable date with an amazing young woman. Talk about a 180. After she saw things fall apart of Jasmine and trying to cope with everything that Scottish teacher said, she really didn’t know what was going to happen to her. Now it really started to feel like she could make things turn around.
Holding Megan’s hands, Agnes fluttered a bit, her wings carrying her a few inches off the ground as she hovered backwards and pulled the spider-girl with her. Megan’s face was a brilliant shade of red, but that smile was so illuminating it was all Agnes could focus on. Well, that and the fact that she confirmed she was with her. It was a phrase that was probably heavier than either girl really meant it to be, but it was important nonetheless.
Once they crossed the threshold and moved onto the next room, Agnes stopped hovering and landed upon her feet. Still holding one of Megan’s hands, she turned around to see that the last room seemed rather simple...at first. Glass walls were on all sides and it seemed fairly easy. But as they moved forward, it quickly became apparent that the path was a maze and the walls got closer and closer with every turn.
She squeezed Megan’s hand. ”I’m not good at them either,” she said. ”But yeah, let’s get lost together. Eventually we’ll figure it out, right?”
With a smile she boldly stepped into the maze, keeping close to Megan as they started to round the corners. At least twice both she and Megan walked directly into a wall without thinking. When they finally reached a dead end, Megan was chuckling and Agnes shook her head.
”You weren’t kidding when you said you were bad at mazes, were you?” she teased. ”I hope we can get out of here before you’re forced to dine on me for sustenance.” She gave her a knowing smile before she turned back around, but not without a muttered, ”Though I guess there are worse ways to go…”
Grinning she turned another corner, hands out, and touched a glass wall. Ugh. Another false passage. She was about to turn around and say this to Megan when something caught her eye. Liquid. It was pouring down the glass...and it was a deep malevolent red. Blood. Blood was pouring down the walls and it instantly made Agnes recoil. She shouted in disgust, backing away but all the walls had it. All of glass was bleeding.
”Eeeeeeee! Oh my god, so grossssss!!” she squealed. When she spied Megan she immediately jumped towards her, holding her close.
However, as she clung to her date, she noted that when she looked more closely at the glass, it wasn’t actually bleeding towards her. No, the glass was two panes with a gap in the middle. Inside the glass it was bleeding, and rather nifty effect. She cleared her throat as she unwound her arms from Megan’s shoulders and looked at her eyes, blushing.
”So...ummm...g-glad to see you are not scared. I was just...you know...covering you to keep you safe.” She nodded resolutely, her head turning where she spied the white doorway that lead outside and to the sounds of a carnival. ”Oh look. The way out. Good thing…I was here…”
Agnes knew the saying, but she didn’t know of any poem that it was attached to. Poetry had been one of her worst subjects. She enjoyed music and gardening and baking, but when it came to poetry, she was at a complete loss. She often wondered if she should get herself a tutor, someone who understands the world of literature a bit better. But what would that look like? Who would want to take the time to teach her anything? That was besides the point. What was happening right now? That is what was most important.
This wasn’t about poetry or her lack of understanding. It was about watching this woman that she was extremely interested in get a sudden change in her eye. Agnes watched in silence as Megan turned, slipping into the shadows, reappearing, and displaying all the confidence of a spider looming over a trapped fly. The image perfectly matched the poem that she recited and it made Agnes’ heart beat a bit faster.
Wisps of air, feather soft webs, that touched and tantalized from all around as Megan closed the gap further and further. Her cheeks warmed, watching as the spider mutant she had just met and was now on a date with teased her more. Agnes almost wanted to back away, that feeling of being trapped wanting to take over, but she didn’t budge. She was scared. She had just met Megan but she truly didn’t feel like she would hurt her. rather, what she felt was...adrenaline. And she liked it. She liked how Megan made her feel.
That was why she smiled.
The corners of her lips upturned, stretching wider as Megan closed that circle until they finally reach their apex of their dance. Agnes was breathing heavily, her eyes locked on Megan’s as the spider-queen stopped. The brunette smiled and blushed, offering an apology. Apparently she had practiced this poem before, having recited it for a drama class. Agnes placed a hand against her own chest, shakily smile as the adrenaline continued to course through her system. It was calming but she could still feel that vibration coursing just beneath the skin.
After a second she took another breath and grinned. ”I...I hope you got an A,” she said. ”Because...wow.”
She moved up to Megan, the sounds of people behind them drawing her attention. Without thinking about it, she took Megan’s hand, gave it a squeeze and moved towards the next room. She turned, walking backwards, both hands taking Megan’s as she gave her a brillant smile that could illuminate the dark.
”Come on, Megan,” she said softly. ”We’re almost there. One room to go. You with me?”
Agnes met Megan’s tongue with a grin and narrowed eyes. ”Screaming with you?” She tried to play it off by casually shaking her head. ”Nah, clearly you were imagining things. I was...actually...just singing a lovely tune to keep you calm.”
It was a sturdy shovel she had. Didn’t realize how much B.S. she was shoveling. But, still, it was all in good natured ribbing. Before long her faux-offended expression devolved into another bright smile, followed with infectious laughter. Though the date was just starting, she was already enjoying herself and pretty much forgetting the troubles that had been following her since day one.
They moved on to yet another room. Agnes was actually surprised at how lengthy this attraction was. Whoever had created it must have really dedicated a lot of time and energy to using up as much space as efficiently as possible. From the outside the space looked about the size of a trailer; within seemed almost about the size of the mansion. Insane how this place was constructed.
The most impressive thing, however, had to be how they set this place up to make Megan scream as often and as girly as possible. Just as they entered another hall, Agnes tilted her head, grinning as Megan walked backwards, but the action cost her. There was another clink and a tired groan before a spring of movement caught their eye.
From behind Megan there appeared the worst and most terrible visage of a ghoul who leapt from a hidden spot on the floor. The growl it issued was enough to put the fear of God into the spider girl. Her entire body tensed up as she flung herself at Agnes. Meanwhile, Agnes hadn’t been as scared she most of the creature was blocked by Megan’s flying body. Her arms caught her again as she stumbled backwards, but managed to maintain her footing.
Thankfully she could boast that her own scream did not, in any way, match the pitch of her date’s.
When things had settled and the ghoul retreated through his trap door, Agnes let out a shaky breath, looking down to Megan as she caught her eye. She was still holding her pretty close. They looked at one another for several tense seconds before Megan smiled and called Agnes her knight. The moniker made her smile like a fool, so much so that she nodded her head in a most noble way, reaching up and scooting some of Megan’s hair behind her ear.
”Pleasure’s all mine...m’lady.” She whispered.
More tense seconds passed but the sound of shrill laughter from behind them seemingly shook them both from their paralysis. Untangling themselves from one another, save for holding hands, the two of them continued on until they made it to another room that seemed tailor made for Megan. Neon lights, darkness, and glowing webs hung from every corner, draped down to the ground. Agnes chuckled, swatting at some, but turned her attention to Megan.
This was apparently her kind of scene. Feeling a tug on her hand, Agnes giggled as she followed along, moving to another part of the room. It was definitely interesting. The path narrowed tighter and tighter, webs purposefully clinging onto them. It was close enough to make most people claustrophobic but Agnes was fine so long as she was holding Megan’s hand.
She jumped feeling a feather light stroke on her wings and turned to see some of the webbing hanging loose. Another chuckled fell from her lips as she muttered. ”I’m beginning to feel like a fly trapped in a spider’s web…” She then blushed but pressed on.
Agnes beamed. ”That’s a promise,” she said as she gave Megan’s hand a little squeeze. With the agreement that they would trade off buying tickets, they steeled up their courage and headed for the entrance to the haunted house.
Now, it should be known that Agnes knew of haunted houses but she had never actually been inside one (to her knowledge). She had seen them on TV or in movies at the mansion around Halloween time, but growing up in the extremely strict religious household that she did, such things were considered sacrilege. So she was more than eager to partake but this would be her first time traveling through one. Therefore, in the back of her head, repeatedly she muttered that it wasn’t real. It was all for fun.
When they first walked in, Agnes felt a small raise in her heartbeat but it truly wasn’t all that bad. The rooms were dark with minimal lighting. She could hear laughter from other haunted house goers in other parts of the attraction but at the moment it was just her and Megan, accompanied by the sounds their creaking footsteps. It definitely had the aesthetic she expected but what surprises lay ahead?
First there were the mirrors. She didn’t jump when she saw them, instead she just laughed. Megan found one that made her short and squiggly. Agnes found another that made her taller and extremely thin. She giggled as she stared at the vastly different version of herself and shook her head. Taking out her own phone, Agnes’ old phone that she didn’t recognize, she did the same before she turned and snapped a photo of Megan with her squiggly, shorter doppleganger.
She grinned at Megan and shrugged her shoulders. ”Two beauties for the price of one.”
Hand-in-hand, they continued on to another section which...was a disorienting mess. Agnes at first had no idea what was going on and thought she was sick or getting dizzy. But when Megan began to laugh, struggling to stay on her feet, Agnes realized it was the entire room. It was part of the ride. She stumbled with nervous laughter, her wings fluttering in an attempt to stabilize her footing. For the most part it seemed effective, causing her to hover when she felt herself loose grip, but it wasn’t completely preventative. At least once she fell into Megan, catching herself on the brunette’s shoulders, immediately causing a deep blush.
She said nothing, merely smiling as she regained her footing, chewing on her bottom lip and proceeded to get out of the rotating room. Was it supposed to be this hot in these things? She felt hot.
Approaching the next hallway, with was long, dark, and menacing, Agnes peered down but stopped when Megan giggled about accidentally getting a selfie during one of the many times she had fallen over. Agnes turned curiously, spying over Megan’s shoulder. She snickered a bit and pointed at the denim.
”Did you...Did you really just take a picture of your own bu--”
The movement was so suddenly she didn’t expect it. One of the paintings on the wall was no painting at all. Instead a ghastly, shrieking animatronic leapt from the framework like a denizen of Hell, terrifying in appearance with wide eyes, an open maw, and dried, twisted skin. The clawed fingers with the gnarled nails reached out for them and both girls screamed for their lives.
Megan leapt against Agnes. Wrapping her arms protectively around her, the insect queen pulled her date close, moved back against the wall, shouting at the horrifying demon that came at them. It only lasted seconds but it seemed an eternity before the banshee made a gear grinding noise and released a hiss of compressed air before retracting back into the painting, resetting its position. The two girls stared at the animatronic for several seconds before they looked at one another and Megan shouted an expletive.
It was enough to pull Agnes from the fear that had gripped her and brought a smile to her lips. Megan was embarrassed and began to continue on down the hall. Agnes quickly followed suit. Casually she glanced at the corner of her eyes, her own cheeks still red, before she bit her lip and grinned.
”Wow. They toooootally got you,” she teased. ”Good thing I’m completely unflappable.” She didn’t. But she figured the best way to move past the embarrassment was with the light teasing. This was a date, after all.
She had an idea what she wanted, but not exactly. She wouldn't know that until their date was nearing its end or it was time to decide the winner of their contest. But she would keep that holstered until the right moment. For now she wanted to focus on the the fun activities that lay ahead and there very beautiful brunette standing next to her.
At her agreement Megan offered the most illuminating smile. It warmed Agnes' heart to see it. No matter which of them won the prize, Agnes would insist they still took the picture. If this was their one and only date, she wanted to remember it forever.
The deal was struck. They could now enjoy the park.
Only they stopped. Megan didn't release Agnes' hand, but she didn't either. Instead their arms casually unwound and shifted into straight up holding hands. Her own fingers laced through Megan's and a small, nervous laugh fell from her lips. She liked this. She liked holding Megan's hand. It felt...right. This was a good sign.
She didn't say anything. She just went with the flow, looking ahead and giving get date's hand a small squeeze as if it were the most natural thing in the world. And now they could take a moment to decide what they wanted to do first. The options were limitless but Megan managed the first suggestion.
"A haunted house?" she smiled. "I'm game. So long as I get to hold you tight if I get scared." she beamed and winked.
She wasn't that much of a scaredy cat. As a matter of fact she's seen far worse than plastic skeletons and foam tombstones. She'd lived through true nightmares. But she wasn't freaked out by cheesy decorations or a playlist of scary sounds. It actually sounded like fun, especially if she were experiencing it with Megan.
"Now we just gotta find one."
Sapphire eyes scanned the surrounding carnival. Rollercoasters, game booths, and a variety of shows and other forms of entertainment were scattered about. The sound of a shrill scream followed by a giggle caught her ear. She turned, looking through a tilting, spinning ride and saw a large, diabolical face.
With a smile to Megan, she pulled her along, around the corner of one ride and pointed out what she saw a second ago. It was several large trailers hidden by a massive, decorated front that looked like a haunted graveyard with a massive devil face up front. It's open mouth revealed the door leading inside. One attendant stood at a podium just outside the mouth, taking tickets. Agnes turned back to Megan.
"Looks like this fits the bill!" she announced. "Shall we purchase some tickets? My treat?"
