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.
Ashley wasn't too sure (she wasn't a good judge of people's facial expressions, merely their body language) but to her it looked like Andrew was angry. Not livid, but more frustrated or annoyed. As they began to walk to their destination she wondered if she had anything to do with it. She thought back and came up with nothing a few moments later...except maybe poking his chest. She knew people didn't generally like being poked in the chest and told herself she would apologize when this whole thing was over. After her shower and new shirt...
...right as one appeared in front of her. Andrew wasn't really looking at her (still angry) and she took the article of clothing without any protest. She was grateful, after all, and knew that under any other circumstances she would be blushing like crazy like she normally did. Why she wasn't now was a mystery, but she attributed it to almost dying and having the cute girl and Andrew save her after the metal mutant had knocked her out. She felt comfortable around them, to be honest, as neither one of them had yet to try and screw her in any way, shape or form. To someone who lived like Ashley did it was damn near a miracle they didn't seem to want anything in return either.
She slipped on Andrew's shirt and blinked a moment before she took the collar of her shirt and held it up to her nose, taking a sniff before letting it drop.
“Smells like...guy.” Ashley muttered a little louder then she intended. Well...there was that blush. The guy had given up his shirt to help her retain her modesty and here she was complaining about the smell? She huffed a moment as she fought the blush away, opting to look at the floor instead of her companions. “Hn. Not bad thing. Just...strong. Like...hm. Old Spice. I think.”
And she only knew that because when she stole bath products that was her preferred stick of deodorant. The woman's sticks just never appealed to her. She took the short again and smelled. Who knew guys that showered could smell so good?
It seemed like only a moment before Ashley found herself shaking the stupor she had sunk into while waiting for her coast to be clear. But the clear sounds of 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' coming from seemingly everywhere brought her back to the real world, the world where she had stolen the wallet of what appeared to be a very powerful spider mutant. The clocking sounds of the spider chick’s leg thingies was coming fro everywhere and Ashley thought, for the first time since planning her escape routes, that this was probably a bad idea. She pulled herself closer into the corner she was in, pulling her black trenchcoat over her in the hopes that it might, just might, cover her up.
Until she saw the spider chick round the corner and seemingly stumble upon her.
Ashley, without thinking that maybe the spider hadn't seen her at all, jumped up and smacked her head on the wall behind her, jolting her headphones and iPod. The music blasted on, this time the Heavy Metal Remix of Castlevania. Ashley felt the surge of power flow through her like hot lava in her veins. Luckily enough too, because if the spider didn't know she was there she certainly did now. Again, without thinking, Ashley lashed out, jumping from her corner with a knee to the spider's chest, knocking her into the sewer wall and stunning her. If it was from the attack or from the fact that someone was attacking her Ashley didn't know.
The redhead took the moment of time to take off her trenchcoat and toss it into the corner where was was hiding previously and went back to on the attack, dodging a slash from one of the legs the spider was sporting only to be caught by another. The leg caught her in the ribs, actually lifting her off her feet and slamming her into the ground a few feet away. Ashley paid no mind to the dirty water she landed on (it was only a puddle at the moment anyways) and kipped up, rushing forward again and doing her best to again dodge the spindly legs the spider was whirling around herself.
Ashley wasn't a good ranged fighter, as nothing in her arsenal would suggest she would be. She was up close and personal and that's just how she liked it. This ranged crap was for the birds, even if it really wasn't all THAT much range. The spider was just really good at keeping her at a distance. Ashley watched as the girl seemed to get her bearings back, her face once again looking as furious as Ashley had ever seen ANYONE, ever. Still, that was no reason to back down from a fight. Still, she was stepping back more then she liked and the legs were faster then she had predicated they would be. She would have to take them out before she could do anything else. She continued to fall back, duck and weave as the legs swiped and slashed and when one of them hit the wall Ashley finally struck. She brought her foot up and, with as much force as she could muster, slammed it against the leg.
The desired result happened; the leg broke. Ashley spun back around after taking her foot off of the wall and charged at the clearly dumbstruck spider and jumped, slamming her elbow on the girl's shoulder as she came down. She got in a few shots to the stomach (though it felt like she was hitting a brick wall) and was going to finish her combo with a knee but was suddenly slashed across the stomach by the object the spider was holding. The cut wasn't all that deep but a lot of the time it was the shallow cuts that hurt the most or often squirted blood. Ashley halted her assault momentarily, a mistake she wouldn't have normally made but this wasn't a normal fight.
The following one two punch from the spider followed by a blast of the blunt end of the knife (?) the spider was holding sent Ashley back a few steps, only to be knocked back on her ass again as the following kick connected to her gut. The legs came again and, from her count, Ashley would have expected one of them to be broken...it wasn't. None of them were. She swore and rolled out of the way as many of the legs began to stab down just at her previously location until one lead it's stab and almost got it, Ashley stopping just short of the thing impaling her temple. She was a hair's breath away from death and the thought made her get up quicker then she normally would have.
Ashley flipped backwards a few times and only got JUST blocked another one of the legs coming at her, grabbing it just as it was about to impale her face. She dug her feet in as it pushed her back, trying to knock her over. She struggled (god DAMN the spider chick was strong) and thought that, even with the music augmenting her strength she was still barley able to hold the girl back. The other legs came in at lighting fast speeds, and Ashley (thinking on her feet again) held onto the leg and pulled it past her as she jumped off the wall, launching herself up and past the incoming leg missiles and straight at the spider knee first. The blow was solid as solid could be but it still hurt Ashley's knee terribly. She knew before long, when the adrenaline was done pumping in her veins (and she wasn't dead) that it was going to be impossible to walk for awhile.
The spider stumbled back, her spider legs going limp as she rubbed her temple where Ashley had hit. Without thinking Ashley brought her leg up for a knee kick, getting a solid connection to the spider's side and then a spinning back elbow to the temple where her knee had previously hit. The connection hurt again but not as bad as the flying knee. The spider roared, the sound again making Ashley's blood run cold but, with so much adrenaline pumping through her veins she just couldn't will herself to stop. She stomped down on one of the legs, snapping it off and picked it up, wielding it like a sword before realizing how ridiculous she looked. Muttering she threw it aside and charged the girl again, swinging punch after punch. Some landed, some didn't and it wasn't long before the spider regained her composure (and looked even angrier for it, if that was even possible) and the tides turned again.
An incoming kick was blocked by one of the spider's legs while another one swept up Ashley's other leg, knocking her to the ground with stunning force. Ashley couldn't breath for a moment but then she REALLY couldn't breath as the girl landed on top of her chest with both knees, the dagger looking thing in her hand ready to stab Ashley right in the eye, or somewhere else that was vitally important to Ashley's well being. Weakened and in a state of complete hopelessness (and all this despite the strength of her music flowing through her) Ashley didn't know anything else to do. So, without thinking, she just went and did the first thing she could think of.
She reached up and groped the woman's breasts.
Time seemed to stop for a moment as both Ashley and the spider both looked at where Ashley's hands were before looking to each other, then back to the hands. The silence was deafening, but Ashley (not wanting to die) took the opportunity and swung her fist as hard as she could, right into the spider's jaw. The blow caught her by surprise (she was still looking quite stunned at the sudden grope) and fell back, her eyes rolling into the back of her head slightly before falling to the sewer floor. Ashley pulled herself up (somehow) and grabbed her trenchcoat and began to run as if her life depended on it.
Cause, let's face it. At this point, it did. Ashley knew if she ever saw the woman again, she was going to die. Horribly.
She ran up a certain ladder leading up to the streets above and shoved the manhole cover aside, jumping out and shoving it back onto the hole before sprinting down a nearby alley. Oddly enough, as she ran she wondered if the spider was going to be okay in the sewer by herself. Strange things happened down there and even though the spider was trying to kill the redhead, she didn't want her to get raped or killed because she had knocked her out. Ashley stopped running and looked back, narrowing her eyes. Why would she even worry about it. The spider wanted to suck out her insides!! You don't worry about people like that when you fight them!! Ashley took one step backwards...
...and hear that terrifying roar and ANY thoughts of helping out the spider chick flew away as she began to run once again.
Ashley would say this; the guy had a disarming way about him, and she almost wanted to nod and agree to whatever the guys was saying simply because he had one of those annoying personalities that could be trusted. And while Ashley knew she was dumb about a lot of things in the real world she knew that to be naive about something like law enforcement and how some of those cops operated was just asking to be locked up. And without her music, Ashley was close to nothing, almost human. She wanted to believe Andrew and lower her guard if nothing more then to get the hell out of that place (after her shower and shirt) and be free once again to continue her mission.
She took a moment to weight the pros and cons and decided that someone like Andrew could be manipulated through one thing; his pride. Ashley didn't know much about someone's character just from talking, but from his actions Andrew seemed the type to do whatever it took to protect someone. Ashley could respect that (but still thought it terribly stupid) and finally nodded once the cute girl had said her bit about feeling safer. Sure, she felt safer, and she shook her head slightly as she poked Andrew in the chest.
The look Andrew was sporting, combined with the cute girl's plea made Ashley sigh and nod reluctantly. Sure, she couldn't take out her anger on a cop (really, what WAS she thinking) and she didn't want to snap at two people that had helped her. Still, the whole thing left a bad taste in Ashley's mouth and she really didn't want to talk to any cops that might look at her as if she was someone who needed to be...quieted. Again, Ashley wasn't so smart in these matters but cops weren't suppose to shoot the people that were trying to help, no matter how the situation looked or was going.
With a huff Ashley crossed arms across her near naked body and nodded, giving Andrew the confirmation he wanted. No, no starting a fight from Ashley Aran, no sir. “Fine.” she grumbled. “But they started it. Remember?” Ashley poked her own stomach where the bullet had pierced it. “Shot me. Might so again. How you think it'll go now?”
Ashley knew she was probably sounder dumber and dumber, and with her speech it was really quite hard to convey what she was trying to say. She was actually getting quite frustrated with it, knowing she could talk like a normal human being if she wanted to but the difficulty for her was...problematic. Still, she showed her irritation at the matter with a frown and slitted eyes as she looked to Andrew yet again, her rough voice soft as she spoke again.
“They shot me. They do it again.” She let out a 'tsh' before talking again. “I can run, but not faster then bullet. Who protect me then? You?”
Ashley knew she wasn't the smartest person in the world but even she had to berate herself (fourth time) for not even noticing the person chasing her was a mutant. She was oddly beautiful, her face (something one would consider beautiful normally) was contorted to one of anger and fury. Ashley was frozen, thinking on how to get out of this situation. Of all the times she'd ever pick-pocketed someone she'd never managed to hit a mutant, and the one time she did (now) was the time that the chase wasn't going in her favor, despite her power. She looked like some kinda spider, and it gave Ashley the shivers just imagining it. Maybe she was a spider mutant?
It took the image of the girl before her spinning her up in her web and sucking her dry to make Ashley dash away, this time faster then she'd ever run before. No sir, she wasn't going to be sucked dry by ANYONE, much less a spider girl with huge boobs (okay...it was hard not to notice). She didn't go straight though, she had to find a way to give herself the advantage because no matter HOW fast she ran the spider girl was going to catch up. She ducked into an alley and decided that there were only three places she could go, and all three of them were her private 'safe houses', places she could go to hide. They weren't secure or anything, but they were out of the way and more often then not people would give up looking for her as soon as she ducked into her first choice in matters such as these; the sewers.
She ran fast and hard, knowing the spider chick was right behind her if the vague death threats and subtle way she roared for her blood. Even if she hadn't pushed herself to the limits of her endurance too many times, Ashley knew that if she kept going at this pace she was GOING to get caught because she would collapse. Luckily she was nearing her destination. The only bad part was knowing that the spider chick was going to see her duck into the sewers. Ashley just hopped she was too much of a priss to follow.
The redhead slid baseball style by the sewer cap and removed it with ease. She didn't bother going down the traditional way and instead dived in head first, catching a railing to prevent her falling down the six or so feet it was to the bottom and slid on the railing the rest of the way down. Learning from her past mistake, Ashley didn't bother to look up or to see if the spider woman was going to follow. She simply ran down the sewer, ignoring a bum who happened to be napping down there and the various rats that infested the place.
Never before had such fear gripped Ashley's heart until that very day, not ever. That woman was SCARY.
After about five minutes Ashley was forced to stop. After testing out her powers when she first got them she knew the limits of her running and how fast she could go. Her current performance pushed her way past that, and the stress was starting to take it's toll. She slowed and came to a stop for a moment. Hearing nothing she began to stretch, just to prevent herself from cramping up. She went through a simple Muay Thai kata, cracked her neck and began to walk towards her safe house, which really was nothing more then a secluded corner of the sewer that smelled just slightly less then the rest of it. From here she had several more escape routes to choose from, so it wasn't that big a deal if she had to move. She just had to stay alert to the spider's presence, so she hunkered down and paused her iPod that was on her headphones, her finger at the ready in case she heard something she didn't like to being her music again.
(Note: All threads are in the order started. Also, threads marked with an asterisks [*] are completed threads.)
2010
It's A Wonderful Life?[/u] - After talking with an informant to try and find the mutant that ruined her life and took her memories, Rhythm runs into unexpected trouble. (Dryad, Jorge Cervantes, Circe, Rhythm)
Antics Ensue[/u] - Stealing is wrong, but Rhythm doesn't care. After taking a coat and ducking into an alley, the redhead witnesses a dinosaur transform into a pretty young woman...wait, what? (Amber Thirsis, Rhythm)
O Tannenbaum[/u] - Rhythm watches as a parade of trees cause chaos and panic in New York City...and then saves a kitten from certain doom. (Many, many people)
Coffee and Spray Paint, to Go.[/u] - Tagging is a dangerous thing, some would say, especially if you lived in New York City. And as Rhythm watched a girl head towards an isolated bridge to do just that, she takes her kitten and attempts to protect her from any wrong doing. And then wonders why. (Aisling, Rhythm)[/font]
Ashley listened to Andrew and nodded when he finished. So...this was a safe place for mutants? At least it wasn't the hospital. She'd heard horror stories on the streets on how they treated mutants at hospitals. She swung her legs off the bed and slid to the floor after giving Andrew a thoughtful grunt and took off her dirty and pretty much useless wife beater. All she had on now was her sports bra and baggy pants to cover up with, and with her trenchcoat nowhere in sight it didn't look like she was going to get much in terms of clothing at the moment. Well...she DID fight off a huge beats of a mutant to save them. Maybe a shower and a shirt wasn't too much to ask, was it?
She turned to Andrew and was about to ask her question when the cute girl (Ashley STILL didn't know her name. Asking at this point would be weird...right?) started to stumble over her own words, but the general idea (if Ashley was reading her very blatant body language correctly) was that she wanted to get the heck out of there. Ashley agreed, but taking a nice how shower and getting a new short would be just as good. Also, getting her trenchcoat back would be nice. She turned back to Andrew and was about to ask when once again she was interrupted but an officer, who waltzed into the room with ease, like he knew the place by heart.
>>“Excuse me, but there are officers from Mutant Related Crimes who’d like to speak with you three. If you’d please come downstairs, we have a detective waiting for you. I’m sorry if I’m disturbing you, but I thought it would be best if you got this interview over with as soon as possible.”
Cops. Like the ones that carelessly shot at the mutant while she was still in the way. Ashley didn't know if this was one of the guys who was at the scene but she didn't care. She felt her anger rise and with it her adrenaline began pumping. She didn't need her music to take out this assclown. She barley heard what he said as she took a step forward to give the idiot the pummeling of a lifetime.
Ashley was glad the weather was turning down it's harsher ways and becoming more civil to the people that didn't really have homes to go to. That wasn't to say she was cozy and warm; the weather wasn't being THAT nice. It was nippy, but in that good way and that was something Ashley could be thankful for. She pulled her headphones tighter though she knew they couldn't really get on any tighter. She just needed to distract herself from the growing pain in her stomach as the hunger gnawed at her.
“Stupid.” Ashley berated herself, sniffing. She usually just stole what she wanted, or dumpster dived. But at the moment she didn't really feel like going diving and stealing from a food place was hard to do by yourself. And she really didn't have any friends on which to plan with. “Stupid.” she said again, shaking her head.
There was the alternative; pickpocketing. She wasn't bad at pickpocketing either, and often people seemed to simply forgo that she had just bumped into them. She knew from her limited experience in such acts like pickpocketing that people often found her attractive, and they seemed to fumble even more when she did something like smile, an act that utterly bewildered the redhead but she didn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
She walked through one of the many parks New York had, the snow still apparent but slowly growing more and more a distant memory of the harsh winter. One of the things she taught herself about pickpocketing was that looking nonchalant was half the game, and if you looked deep in thought or if you were (and this was her favorite) seemed lost in your music, people would almost always forgive your slight bumping with them because of it. She'd had to run a few times but it's been awhile since she's had to, but Ashley felt like maybe it was time to try and snag her a fat wallet and get herself a nice meal out of the deal.
Another trick she taught herself was listening to tracks that augmented her speed. Making a getaway with the help of her powers had always proven easy, and the times she had run she always outran whoever was chasing her with relative ease. She took a moment to change the playlist to the songs that specifically did just that. She shoved her headphones back on and let out a slight purring noise as she felt the music flow her, the electric feeling going up and down her spine telling her that the power was in effect.
The last trick she learned? Don't think about it. And that's how when she turned and spotted the woman coming in her direction she didn't even think twice.
Mistake number one.
Mistake number two was not taking into account her clothing. People that dressed in suits, ties, people that looked nice like they were out in their Sunday best...those were the people you wanted to target. The ones that looked eccentric, out of the ordinary like they were TRYING to stand out were people you did NOT want to mess with. Why? Because more often then not you were targeting someone that was looking for trouble. And in this day and age, an eccentric outfit usually meant mutant. Usually, but not always.
And the time that Ashley took to look over the girl she noticed two things; the bow and the rather ample chest area. But she quickly looked away as the 'accidental' bump took place. Ashley easily got the wallet out of the girl's back pocket, noticing the apple blossom smell that made Ashley blink a moment. She noticed the strong, sensual gait only after she passed the girl, also noticing other things that she pushed to the back of her ind as she put the wallet inside of her trenchcoat before being stopped by probably the angriest, loudest roar of protest she'd ever heard in her whole life.
She'd been caught. And by god even though the woman wasn't exactly intimidating to Ashley her tone made the redhead’s blood run cold. It promised much pain in her near future. Much, much pain. Also suffering.
So Ashley ran like the devil himself was on her heels, her mutant power augmenting her speed as she booked it towards the heavy traffic and Dukes of Hazzard-ed across two different cars that were waiting for ta red light (both protested but Ashley payed them no heed) before stopping to catch her breath in a nearby alley. The sprint was fast and she hadn't even stretched. Running at that speed was probably dangerous, but Ashley REALLY didn't want to find out if the woman had roared like an angry lion was the forgiving type. The park was actually far behind her, but just in case Ashley peeked around the corner and, to her surprise and absolute horror, the woman she had pick pocketed was right across the street.
“Stupid.” Ashley berated herself for the third time that day. “Damn.”
Mistake number three: Stopping before you make DAMN sure you're not being chased anymore.
And from the looks of it, this wasn't going to be easy.
Ashley sat on the bed, lost in thought as she lifted up her short and began to poke her belly where the bullet had tore into her stomach. So the Doc was a healer...well, she knew that. She could deduce it anyways. She watched absentmindedly as the Doc healed the man called Andrew and went back to poking her tummy, wondering how such a power could work anyways. Still, her ribs felt tons better and even the various bruising was down, at least around the stomach area.
It wasn’t until she noticed the distinct lack of sound that she looked up from her stomach poking, looking at Andrew like a deer caught in the headlights. She slowly turned to the cute girl and then the retreating back of the Doc, who turned just in time to catch Ashley's eye and give her a small nod before exiting the room. Ashley pulled her shirt down and took another look at herself with a expression of slight shame. Andrew looked cool, despite being in a fight. The cute girl looked...well, cute. She felt dirty in the presence of these two people and decided that now was probably the time to make a hasty getaway.
“Thanks.” Ashley blurted out, her deep, hoarse voice cracking a bit. She cleared her throat and swallowed hard. “You're powerful, huh? Stopping the mutant. It was...good.” She turned to the cute girl and attempted a smile but...well, she didn't succeed. “You too. Might've died. Me, I mean, if you didn't help. Thanks.”
The thoughts of that hasty getaway slipped for a moment as she looked around and shivered a bit, remembering she was in a hospital of some sort. She turned, her eyes spying her headphones with a look of longing before looking to Andrew and narrowing her eyes. “Where is this? Here, I mean. Where am I?”
Ashley stopped her struggling as the cute girl and the man that had stopped the metal mutant both assured her that the Doc wasn't going to hurt her. Sure, she really didn't know for sure if what was going on was really going to help but...well, she didn't have much choice in the matter, really. She was far too injured and too tired at the moment to really struggle anymore. Plus, it was three against one; without her headphones or some kinda music she really didn’t like those odds.
Ashley's gaze locked with the young man's for a moment before nodding and laying back, letting the warmth the Doc's hands seemed to be spewing roll over her. She didn't know how long it would take so she just closed her eyes, grimacing at the touch (not because it felt bad, but because she really didn't like to be touched) and tried her best to relax...or appear relaxed. It was hard for her to do, really, since most of her facial expressions were either neutral or a scowl of some sort, and this was actually somewhat pleasant.
“Hn.” Ashley grunted as she felt the pressure of Doc's hands leave the vicinity of the gunshot. He wrapped both hands around her ribs, his eyes still closed as he seemed to be nodding, seeing something that no one else could, muttering something along the lines of 'I see.' before increasing the pressure slightly, making Ashley wince. The pain was momentary, however, and before she knew it Ashley was actually feeling loads better then before, when she felt like she was going to be vomiting blood forever.
DocProf took a step back, brushing his hands together before clasping them behind his back. “Now there, see? That wasn't so bad. The rest of your wounds are minor, scraps really.” He took a moment to look Ashley over, pressing a finger against certain points of her legs and arms before giving a final nod. “Yes, all appears to be well. Oh, and please take this.” He held up a tiny metal piece before handing it to Ashley, who gave him a bank stare before transferring said stare to the bullet...then back to the Doc.
“What do I do? With it, I mean?” Ashley held up the metal slug the Doc had pulled from her stomach somehow and looked at it curiously, holding it up so she could see it better. She figured that this object was what caused her stomach so much pain. “Hm.”
“Whatever you please. Consider it a memento from your first instance of being a hero.” The Doc chuckled. “I saw what you did, you see.” He took a moment to tap his temple as he caught Ashley's gaze. “Brave, if not terribly unorthodox. Now if you don't mind I have to attend to Andrew here. Brave, like yourself, but I see him FAR too often for my liking.”
The DocProf gave Ashley a pat on the shoulder as he turned to Andrew, giving him a knowing smile.
Ashley barley heard the girl she was speaking to and only followed the direction she was pointing in. Ah, her headphones. The grin she attempted came out more like a ghastly grimace as the blood in her mouth had not done her teeth any favors. She attempted to walk to her beloved headphones but was suddenly scooped up and deposited (gently, at least) onto the bed she was on previous. Ashley attempted to speak but found that getting anything out was very undo-able at that point. Perhaps getting out of bed and trying to leave wasn't the brightest thing to do.
“Ugh.” Ashley muttered as she looked to the man that had picked her up. She blinked a few times, recognizing him as the person who had hit the metal mutant with a pole (or whatever) and made him shrink. The guy must have been powerful to have such an effect. She gave him a nod before looking to the other person.
He was a gentle soul, even someone like Ashley could tell that. His smile was quite disarming, and the fact that he was an older person stopped Ashley in her tracks in yet another (stupid) attempt to get away from all the people in the room. Her surrogate father had always said to respect your elders and to listen to their advice...if they were worth listening to, anyways. Rhythm merely stared and blinked, her usual stoic expression filled with slight bouts of pain.
“Now young lady, I'm going to have to ask you to lie back if you will, yes?” The man (Ashley heard the younger man that had picked her up call him 'Doc') nodded, holding Ashley by her shoulders and pushing her back down gently. Ashley merely nodded, not wanting to say anything just yet. “Now let's have a look at you...hm, what is your name, child?”
Ashley didn't say anything for a moment, looking to the younger man in the room and then to the cute girl. She bit her bottom lip and looked off to the side, away from their gazes. “Rhythm.”
“Ah, yes.” Doc looked over to where he had seen the young redhead heading when they walked into the room and spied the headphones on the chair. “No need to be nervous dear, lets just see what we're dealing with so I can...do my thing, if you will.”
Ashley closed her eyes and looked away, scrunching her face in shame and embarrassment. She was hurt, yeah, but she also knew she was dirty and, having slept in the back alley of the cafe before this whole thing started, she knew she couldn't be smelling the best. Still, when the warm glow came (followed by a warmer feeling) Ashley snapped her gaze back to what Doc was doing. His hand pressed slightly on her stomach over the bullet wound was the source of the warmth and glow; his hands.
“Hn!” Ashley blinked, her hands gripping the sides of the bed. “You...you're mutant? You're doing...what?” The warmth grew as did the light for a moment, but the Doc didn't seem to respond, though his lips moved. Panic gripped Ashley and she began to push herself away, her mind trying to grasp the situation. “No...stop!! You can't!!”
You know in the movies when the guy or girl who's having a dream suddenly wakes up and bolts up covered in sweat? Usually they take a wide angled shot of their face to demonstrate just how horrid the dream they were just having was?
Yeah...it's kinda like that in real life too.
Well, for Ashley it was anyways, only her awakening was MUCH more painful. The last memory she had before waking up fully was a huge mutant, unstoppable and strong holding her by the neck. Her very life was hanging by a thread and all she could think about was that she'd never have her vengeance, she'd never get to face the person that killed her surrogate father...her entire life would be pointless. Well, the part she could remember anyway.
If there was a real life achievement for epic failure, she'd be it.
So when she bolted up from her nightmare was of that failure. The pain didn't even register for a moment before an unwilling yowl escaped her lips. She gritted her teeth to suppress the weak sound and clutched her stomach, feeling bile rise to her throat until she felt it spill over in the form of blood. She turned her head off to the side just in time, letting the blood she was vomiting splatter on the floor before she collapsed back to the rather soft bed she was laying on.
...wait, bed?
Ashley took in her surroundings for a moment before forcing herself back up to a sitting position. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and took another moment to close her eyes to combat the sudden wave of nausea. From what she saw she guessed she was at some kinda hospital or something, and a few things occurred to her. One, she knew mutants weren't really welcome at a lot of hospitals. The cops HAD to have seen her fight the giant metal mutant and figured her for one as well. Two, she didn't have her headphones one.
That, right there, was the big one. She needed her music to be strong. And right now, she was as weak as a kitten.
Ashley slid off the side of the bed to the floor and nearly slipped on her own blood before she steadied herself. The pain was almost unbearable, and her vision dimmed a bit as she held onto her stomach. She looked down at her once flawless toned belly (she would never admit to being vain about her flat six pack, but she was) and groaned as she saw the scraps that being dragged across the broken concrete had created. The bandages were hastily put on but even without being trained she knew that somewhere, under it all, was a hole from being shot by a stray bullet.
She moaned for a moment before swallowing the sound (and a fair bit of blood) and took a step forward towards the door, only to lock gazes with the cute girl she had originally followed into the cafe in the first place.
Stormy gray eyes raked the girl before her up and down before she let out a growl of approval. She didn't really know why she made the noise, but looked away from that rather intense scrutiny the other girl was looking at her.
“Hn.” was Ashley's brilliant opening line, her usual rough whiskey on the rocks voice even gruffer then it usually was. “Ummm...I'm leaving. Thanks. For...this.”
Ashley could only assume that the girl had helped her out of the mess she was in, but she was still at a hospital and she still needed to get out. And most of all she needed to find her damn headphones so she could switch on some tunes that could help in her rapid escape.
“My headphones...you seen? Them, I mean. My headphones.” Ashley coughed and spit a wad of blood from her mouth to the floor. “Need them. Now...please.”
It was typical for someone, anyone really, to ask themselves how they got into a certain situation, especially of the situation was as sticky as this one. Maybe it was for money or a delusional sense of self importance. Maybe some people jumped into dangerous situations because they genuinely cared for the well being of other people and wanted nothing more then to help because...well, they wanted to.
Ashley? Well, she did it because of a cute girl.
She dug her fingers into the hand (fingers, really) that were currently choking the life out of her and pulled with all her strength. At this point, however, it wasn't all that much. Even her music wasn't helping, and that more then anything (including the bullet that was lodged somewhere inside of her) was making her panic. The music stayed with her, made her special. It couldn’t just go away. She felt herself going dizzy, the blood coming out of her mouth through her teeth as she gasped for breath.
It was then that she noticed the guy that was in the cafe with the cute girl come out and Babe Ruth the monster's wrist with all his might. Ashley prayed that maybe the guy had some kind of power that would help him but...well, it didn't look like it. By the bellow, however, it sounded like the guy had actually done something. The grip on Ashley's neck loosened a bit, then more and more as the monster began to...shrink? Ashley watched for a mere moment before she was dropped on her ass (bruised, no doubt). She clutched her stomach and slowly stood up, watching the beast thrash around as he held his head, obviously in some kinda pain.
The redhead turned to the guy who had run out of the cafe and gave a small grunt, though it mostly appeared as a bloody gurgle. “Thanks.” she turned back to the cafe to see the woman inside, then looked back to the guy. “Cute girlfriend.”
And that's when Ashley felt herself collapse backwards, blackness encompassing her vision as she fell unconscious.
Ashley only took a moment to look at the two other people in the cafe before looking back out to the monster outside. The pain she felt surged through her body but again, as usual, the music she was listening to flowed through her like a drug. She could almost feel the adrenaline pumping and that, combined with her tunes, drove away the pain. She looked down to her button up shirt she was wearing and tore it off, revealing only a wife beater with her sports bra on underneath. She felt constricted and wanted fee mobility and hell...it wasn't like the shirt was going to save her from anything this mutant would do anyways.
Cries of 'Hold your fire!!' rang out again as she rushed back out towards the mutant, jumping again to kick the monster in the chest with stunning force. All she got was gritted teeth and a growl as her opponent swiped at her with his good hand, missing her barley as she jumped back, rushing forward after the miss to capitalize. This time she aimed a kick towards the kneecap, looking to break the monster down, bring him down to her level.
The kick brought a satisfying 'crunch!!' to her ears, followed by a roar of pain as the mutant fell to a knee. Ashley spun with a left backhand to the monster's face, sending him to the side for a moment, enough for Ashley to bring a foot up and blast him on the side of the face again, sending him further crashing to he ground. She smiled a bit until she heard the ringing shots of gunfire open up again. The beast she was fighting bellowed as a few shots hit him right in the sweet spot and Ashley tried to run away again...
...until she felt something grab her leg none too gently.
She tripped and fell, though she didn't have enough time to ponder her current situation as she felt herself be dragged back, the broken concrete under her scraping her stomach something fierce. The only thing she had time to catch was the fact that the bullets had stopped raining upon them among the screams of 'HOLD YOUR GOD DAMN FIRE!!'. The grip around her leg tightened until it felt like something was going to snap before Ashley felt it let go for a moment. That singular moment was all she needed as she turned on her back and prepared to kip up.
By then it was too late.
The freak of nature slammed his hand down, capturing Ashley around the neck (though his hand was so massive he actually only used a few fingers to wrap them around the redhead) and lifted her high into the air. Ashley struggled against his grip, knowing she could break it if only she was just a tad stronger. But the music only brought a certain amount of strength, and with the metal mutant as angry and adrenaline filled as he was, the situation did NOT look good.
Apparently the police didn't think so either.
Bullets began to rain again, and the only thing Ashley knew was that the burning sensation in her stomach was NOT because of the monster.
