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.
She, like everyone else, waited patiently for the scene to get set up so the officers could take their statements on the matter at hand. Still, Ashley crossed her arms and look upon the scene dispassionately, trying to look as intimidating and unsociable as possible. That wasn't too hard to do, really, as she simply adorned her usual scowl and narrowed gray eyes, body language screaming 'go away!' in the loudest possible manner it could. It was to no avail, however, as the officer that approached Ashley seemed to be a veteran, gruff in manner and was equally disinterested in the scene around him. Ashley got the 'just another day on the job' vibe from him, and she mentally nodded, appreciative of the demeanor. It was, after all, just another day on the job for him, and he had no problem letting everyone know.
“A'ight kid, tell me what happened. From the top, eh?” he took out his pad and clicked a pen, looking at Ashley expectantly. “Better start with your name and all that. You know the drill, am I right?”
Ashley did, in fact, know the drill. Though she knew that the veteran officer was implying that she knew from experience, and not from the fact that she watched a lot of crime dramas. Whatever the case, Ashley didn't appreciate being lumped in with common criminals (despite knowing that she was, in fact, a common criminal in most cases), and looked away from the cop with a sniff of distaste. It wasn't like she HAD to speak, after all, and it wasn't like she did anything wrong. She merely watched a woman get mugged, contemplated not helping her, then knocked out the accomplice of the mugger that was running at her after he was scared off by the Pretty Lady. So she stood there with quite the haughty look on he face (she could pull it off when she wanted to) and said nothing as the cops eyebrows stitched together for a moment before he got an exasperated look on his face.
“Come on kid, let's make this easy, huh?” he almost pleaded, trying to catch Ashley's eye but failing. “Don't gimmie the silent treatment, aight? I know you didn't do nuttin' wrong, you ain't in cuffs or in one of the cars...so tell me what happened, mmmkay? Start with your name though, in case we need to get a hold of ya again.”
Ashley shook her head and started at the officer again for a moment. She did appreciate his honesty and bluntness. They were personality traits she had herself, having no real time for beating around the bush or talking in circles or anything of that nature. She watched as he rolled his eyes and signaled for another office to come, this one a female. She recalled that some cops used this tactic, just in case a female they were speaking with was more comfortable in talking with a member of their own gender. Ashley sighed.
“Seems to be the problem Hardy?” the blond woman asked as she walked up, her jaw going up and down as she chewed what Ashley assumed was gum. “Won't talk?”
“Naw, figured you might open her up...I mean, you know...to talk.” he stumbled a bit on his words before he looked away, having the common decency to look slightly abashed as the young blond laughed at him. “Hey, can it O'Grady, just talk to the kid. She won't tell me jack, eh?”
“Sure thing, you Canadian Jackass.” she punched out at his shoulder in good humor and he simply swatted her aside as he walked away, muttering to himself the whole way. She watched him go before she turned back to Ashley, who had her head tilted slightly as she watched the exchange, slightly confused. “Heh, tell your partner you're battin' for the other team and suddenly they walk on eggshells. Silly bastard. Anyways, what's your name kid?”
Ashley sighed again, keeping her arms crossed as she looked at the new officer up and down. Despite being thinner she was a full head taller then her partner (Hardy, she remembered), standing at almost six feet tall. She wasn't skinny but looked like she could hang with the best of them. Ashley nodded. This officer, O'Grady, didn't look like she COULDN'T fight, and that was something she could appreciate. Hardy, though big, didn't look like he could fight worth a damn.
“Rhythm.” Ashley ushered out, her voice gruff. “You?”
O'Grady didn't say anything to the name given and simply wrote it down on the pad she had. She looked the redhead over for a moment before nodding. “Janus O'Grady, named after the Greek God Janus, or Gyanes, the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, ending and...well, so on. So...Rhythm, eh? You part of a gang Rhythm?”
Ashley shook her head, raising an eyebrow at the question before she looked down at herself. When she looked up she threw Officer O'Grady a questioning look, one that said 'Why would you even ask something like that', a look that, much to Ashley's surprise, she had no problem interpreting.
“Well, it's an alias. Don't wanna tell me? Fine. You ain't being questioned, so whatever.” she gave a small shrug. “Just need your statement. What were you doing down here?”
Ashley looked nervous for a moment before shrugging. Might as well go with a half truth. “Nowhere else to go.”
At this Janus stopped writing for a full second, an action that didn’t go by Ashley, who prided herself in being perceptive...well, when the time called for it. She wrote something else down before nodding. “And you saw the young lady over there being mugged? What happened next?”
“Stopped. Watched. Ummm...didn't wanna get involved.” Ashley blushed and looked away form the piercing green eyes Janus sported. “But...he ran at me. So I...well.”
“Knocked him flat on his ass?” Janus nodded, continuing to write. She appreciated the girls' honesty. After all, the ones that jumped in to be heroes were the ones that were usually the trouble makers in the first place. She took a moment to shoot the Detective on the scene a rueful, playful glance before going back to the redhead. “And that's it?”
Ashley nodded quickly, getting a bit more uncomfortable at the scene. She looked over to the mugger who had held onto the Leaf Lady and followed his line of sight. She noted it went straight for the woman he tried to mug. She frowned, not liking how he was looking but not really understanding why. Still, her face must have looked distressed because she felt a hand on her shoulder, an action that made her jump back a bit, startled, eyes wide as she held her hands up defensively. She let loose a growl.
“No touching.” she said.
Officer Janus held up her hands and looked back to the other officers, who were all staring at the scene with mild interest, or in Hardy's case with the intention of helping her should the kid get out of control. She didn't have to say anything, only put her hands down, one hand on her hip as she gave Ashley a disarming smile. She'd seen that kind of reaction in a lot of people in her years on the force, and it was almost never a good thing.
“Hey, relax. You look upset so I just wanted to...you know, make sure you were okay.” Janus looked to the mugger that was cuffed and in the car and then back to Ashley. “Dirtbags like that wanna make an impression, you know? He wants that young lady to remember him. Piece of garbage wouldn't see the light of day if it were up to me. Sadly, he'll probably be let off after a slap on the wrist compared to what he should really get.”
She stopped when she noticed amused gray eyes watching her and felt herself flush a bit before looking back down at her notepad. She realized she probably said more then she should have but, what the hell, right? The girl in front of her was practically mute and wouldn't tell anyone what she said. She gave the girl called Rhythm an exaggerated wink, an action that earned slightly wide eyes and a blush. She smirked and held up the pad so the girl could see before she popped her pen a few times, purely out of habit.
“You got no place, then? Like, at all?”
Ashley shrugged. “Kinda. Apartment, pay to live there. Not much.” She didn't want to care enough that her abode was actually a rather dirty rat hole but she did, and her blush on the matter didn't disappear like she wanted. “Roof over my head. Enough.”
Officer O'Grady nodded as she wrote down the address Rhythm gave her. “Welp, I think that's about enough. I'll go tell the Detective you were cooperative...kinda.” Another wink, and the reaction was much the same, much to Janus' amusement. “Stay here for a second, and...hmm...” she seemed to think a moment before pulling out a wallet and opening it up. She pulled out a card and wrote something on it before handing it to Rhythm. “That's a shelter you can go to. My call number is on there if you need anything, okay?”
Ashley nodded absentmindedly as she pocketed the card, not noticing if anyone else saw the action or not. She didn’t think it off that an officer of the law would give her their number, and was only thinking that if she somehow befriended this person she might be able to find out more about the mutant that ruined her life. Her mind was already whirring with ideas on how to do this, but she forced herself to calm down.
Maybe this whole experience wasn't so bad after all.
Ashley watched as the woman slightly relaxed, though was a bit affronted at her earlier statement at the woman in front of her not being a fighter. In that regard she gave p; she just didn't know how to word it and at the moment she really didn’t feel like putting in the energy required for her brain to think. She was hungry enough as it was, and even she knew that when your stomach was empty your brain tended to go a tad slower then usual. It would mean having to steal from a vendor or something, maybe doing the one thing she loathed doing the most; dumpster diving. Still, the slight stutter and the mousey way she spoke amused Rhythm, who thought it a bit cute.
>>"What c-can you do? Do you live at Sanctuary? Or m-maybe the Mansion?”
The redhead raised a an equally red eyebrow at the sudden barrage of questions. She liked to keep her talking to a minimum, but sometimes it couldn't be helped. She pointed to her headphones with pointer finger and nodded. “I get stronger when I listen.” she said bluntly. She knew it wasn't the only thing that happened when she listened to her beloved music, but it was usually all people needed to hear.
She'd also never heard a place called Sanctuary or any Mansion, and she gave her negative in the form of a shake of her red mane. Best keep talking to a minimum. As nice as it was to talk to people that weren't trying to take her money for information or grope her because they gave into the notion that she was an east target, she DID like to think she had an image to uphold. Plus, she still thought she sounded dumb.
>>”I change into d-dinosaurs."
“Hm. I know.” Rhythm smirked, unable to resists answering this particular statement. “I saw.”
And then, yet again, another light blush adorned her cheeks, only slightly hidden by her scarf. She turned away again, if only to hide the blush at the thought of another human naked and coughed a bit. She looked back to the female from the corner of half lidded eyes and sniffed. She was never huge on manners herself, preferring to forgo pleasantries in favor of getting to the damn point, but she had given up her name and figured the Dino Lady should give up hers.
“Name?” she blurted, husky voice a tad sharp. She didn’t intend for it to go a tone lower, almost in a growl, but it was how she was used to speaking. Something told her that the woman before her was unusually sensitive, if only because of how she spoke and her meek demeanor. She quickly tried to rephase. “Hmmm,” she hummed, looking shyly away again. “I mean, yours. Name.”
Ashley watched with wonder as the other woman seemed to stumble over her words in a manner that reminded Ashley of herself. It wasn't broken, no, but she sounded...nervous. Afraid. Was that how she sounded all the time? The thought made her mentally cringe. Bad enough she sounded stupid, she didn't want to sound SCARED on top of it. The affirmation that she got from the white haired woman that she was okay made Ashley nod. Still, she WAS very pretty and, despite being new to New York, she knew that it was dangerous to go outside alone. Ashley roughly guesstimated that it took the girl about twenty seconds to fully transform, if her shifting BACK into human form was any correlation. And mutant powers or not, it didn't take Ashley long (after looking over the woman's slender form again with a light blush) that if taken by surprise...well, it wouldn't end favorably for her.
>>"You aren't g-going to try and attack me are you? B-because if so I'll have you know that I'm a d-dangerous mutant!"
At this Ashley allowed herself a small smile, the sides of her mouth curling into just the barest hint of a grin. Dangerous indeed. Most dinosaurs were. Ashley shuffled her feet, though, because she knew that this woman's question and subsequent proclamation were born of fear. In all honesty, Ashley wasn't good in these situations...well, that she could remember. Here weren't many times in the past two years where she had to provide anyone with any sort of comfort, or reassure anyone. Ever. The gym Whistler raised her in was full of tough guys and gals, and comforting them would be a blow to their pride, something Whistler told her never to do if she could help it.
“Ummm...no.” Ashley sighed, coughing a bit. She didn't use her voice very much, and at the moment she did sound a tad huskier then she usually did. She looked away towards the entrance of the alley and then back to the woman and decided to point out something she felt was obvious: “You're no fighter.”
That would settle that for most, but for some reason Ashley didn't feel like it explained enough. Also, she didn't want to insult the girl by telling her she couldn't ward off any sort of assault because she wasn't a fighter. Ashley looked her up and down again and tilted her head slightly. “You're no...threat?” She huffed again, crossing her arms as she fought to find the words and knowing that what she just aid could be interpreted as yet another insult. “I mean...gah!!”
She turned her back in frustration, arms still crossed and a fierce blush coloring her cheeks and nose. She sighed and looked back. “No harm. Really.”
Well, that was simple enough. She really hated talking. Then, as an afterthought she added: “I'm Rhythm. Mutant too.”
It normally would take a lot to get Ashley's attention, especially is he was engrossed in her normal brooding behavior. It's not like she LIKED to brood, but Whistler always told her she looked like she was, and normally she didn't have enough energy to refute it. So when the car with the happy couple (Feh) drive away, she turned to go deeper into the alley, if not for warmth then to get away from that peaceful scene that now seemed embedded on the back of her eyelids.
Then she saw a dinosaur.
Well, that's what she assumed it was. Never having a formal education, Ashley was forced to libraries if she wanted to actually KNOW anything beyond fighting, which is what Whistler taught her. But she'd also seen Jurassic Park enough to know what a dinosaur looked like, or the vague definition of what a dinosaur MIGHT look like, should one exist in today’s world. Which apparently they did. They also turned into slender young women. Who also, Ashley noted with an extreme blush, were naked. Until they got their clothes from alleys and got dressed.
...wait, what?
Ashley took a step forward to get a better look...now that she was dressed, anyways!! She shook off the blush and narrowed her eyes as the woman seemed surprised by Ashley's presence.
>>"I'm s-sorry I d-din't mean to interrupt you."
Red eyebrows stitched together as she regarded the person before her. Long white hair and beetle black eyes peered at her, almost meekly. This would have made the redhead pause, but at the moment she merely shrugged it off. It wasn't like she saw weird things every day, but seeing that this woman was a mutant (obviously from how she shifted into her current form from...whatever the hell dinosaur she was before), a side of Ashley took over and she averted her eyes respectfully. Whistler had always told her that you don't go picking fights with people you don't know, since there's a fifty-fifty chance that person's gonna whoop your ass. Words Ashley took to heart.
But she couldn't resists the temptation for long. She hadn't seen many mutants around, despite the fact they were ALL over the media, and the woman before her kinda stuck out like a sore thumb. So now she looked back to those unique and (oddly enough) pretty black eyes and did her best to give her a smile...before she remembered she was wearing a scarf and the woman probably wouldn't be able to see her. Still, she looked quite frightened. And that Ashley, always having a soft spot for woman (especially crying ones) couldn't have that.
“You're...hurt?” she asked huskily, her whiskey on the rocks voice making her speak a tad deeper then she normally would. “In pain, I mean.”
But she was used to the cold. She was lucky that the department store she just ran from didn't have any security guards that were actually in shape, though not like it would have mattered with hos fast she could run when listening to the right music. And so she ran for as long as she could until she dipped into the alley she was currently in, gasping for breath before realizing that, even if they DID look for her, how COULD they find her? She allowed herself a small grin as she pulled the coat she had stolen closer around her. Sure, her trenchcoat was plenty warm but...she wanted warmer. She liked BEING warm, and this coat was perfect. If even fit around her trenchcoat easily, leaving her looking slightly bigger then she was but without losing much mobility.
She leaned her head back against the brick wall that was behind her. She was content at the moment, just sitting there and listening to her music. She blinked a moment before taking off her huge headphones and picking the iPod out of it. After taking off her gloves she shifted through the playlists and chose 'Music' so it would randomly play everything on the tiny device. She slipped back onto the headphones and shoved them back on her head with a content 'mrrr'. She sighed as she felt the slight tingle that began at the back of her neck seemed to 'shiver' (as she liked to call it) down her spine to her lower back. Speed was her power at the moment, she could tell, just from that tingle. It was the only thing in this life that made her feel alive, that let hew know she was special. She thought to how Whistler would have responded If he knew if she was stealing clothes, and quickly shook the thought.
“Stupid.” she muttered, getting up and, again, pulling her coat back around her after putting on her gloves. She did up some of the buttons on the front and fixed her red scarf that covered her lower face, sighing as she looked out at the end of the alley. She COULD go home, yes, and maybe collapse on her bed and forget about things for awhile. Or she COULD look for work, maybe an odd job to get her some quick cash. Her funds were running low enough for her to worry, and she really didn't need that on her mind, not when she was looking for the person that ruined her lives.
At that moment she spied a couple walking past the entrance to the alley, both clad in warm looking clothes. The man pulled some keys from his pocket and pushed a button, making the black car that was parked emit two small beeps. He even opened the door for the woman before he tossed the keys in the air some, catching them with a big smile on his face as he power walked to the driver's seat. The car started and went off without a problem, but for some reason the scene left Rhythm feeling quite empty.
“Stupid.” she said again, though this time it was directed towards herself. Getting all mad over something so petty. Still, the feeling of jealousy remained. She was special, wasn't she? A mutant? Why couldn't she have nice things like that? War places and cars...someone to talk to that didn't laugh at how she spoke or judged her by the way she dressed. It was convenience!! And besides, she liked trenchcoats and her red scarf. If she ever got a place of her own that she could have an actual closet and stuff like she did back in Chicago with Whistler, she'd have tons of them. Just cause.
And besides, what else could they be laughing at, anyways? Her headphones? Not likely.
Ashley watched and heard the responses and nodded to each. It was funny to her how each felt about being a mutant, as that was really all she ever knew to be called. In the end she merely shrugged and went back to thinking about how she was going to get out of the situation she was currently in. After all, she had no form of identification on her. The only thing she ever had was her ID she found in her backpack when she first lost her memory when she figured out her real name, but she had destroyed that a long time ago in a fit of anger. Back at her sorry excuse of an apartment all she had was her backpack full of clothes and stolen electronics...oh, and an apple. She was saving that for her dinner.
She got increasingly nervous as the sirens got closer and the natural instinct to run got harder to ignore. But it was mere common sense that kept her in place. Her earlier thoughts of a warm bed and a decent meal arrived yet again, reminding her that an apple was a piss poor meal and, really, the only thing she'd miss out of her backpack was her red scarf that was really long and kept her ever so warm. It also looked cool when it blew in the wind, but that was neither here nor there. The various other iPods and laptop could easily be replaced; she just needed to steal another. She looked down at her current headphones and sighed. Well, they'd take this away, and without her music she really wasn't anything special. Still, her apartment was really freakin' cold...
In all honesty, she though as she shifted from one foot to the next as she put her headphones back on (music still paused) and clasped her hands behind her back, she just wanted this all to end. She felt like an outsider at the moment, intruding into the lives of the three people in front of her who were no doubt connected somehow. A sudden gust of wind chilled her, and she unclasped her hands long enough to pull her trenchcoat around her tighter and wondered how these people, mutants or no, could stand to be outside in such weather with merely dresses.
>>“I’m sure you all just want to forget what’s happened here, but if you would please stick around for a few minutes so that we can get your statements, I’ll get you out of here as quickly as possible.”
Well, that wasn't going to happen. She almost rolled her eyes at how destiny was treating her. All she wanted was to find the mutant that ruined her life and instead ended up helping a woman out in a mugging and she was no doubt going to jail because, cop or no cop, she was sure as hell NOT going to tell him her real name. Call her uncooperative.
“Nn.” was Rhythm's only response to the Santa Cop as she looked away.
It hadn't been all THAT long since she's arrived in New York City but Ashley Aran, before tonight, could count on one hand how many mutants she'd actually seen. Sure, she'd see them on the news or whatever, but not up and close, and never actually talked to them. But in the span of a few moments she'd seen a mutant cop dressed as Santa Claus manipulate water somehow and a woman, refined and looking like one of the rich snobs she hated so much shoot vines from her hands. Vines!! It took the young streetrat a moment to clear her head and, when she decided the images weren't going to go away, hastened the process by shaking it fiercely.
No, it was all still in front of her.
She marveled how something like this could happen right out in the open, as if such a thing were an everyday occurrence. But then again she was new to the place and these people probably lived here all their lives and probably saw this kinda stuff all the time. None of them looked very surprised at the actions that just occurred, and the Santa Cop was taking down the mugger and helping the woman without any of the discrimination she'd heard that mutants usually get. Well, he wouldn't, being one himself, but then again...
She watched the scene play out, reading lips and body language. She wanted to get better at the latter, but she wasn't improving much since she didn't know what to look for. But her lip reading came in handy in figuring out that somehow, in some way, these three people knew each other. At least the Santa Cop knew the blue eyes woman, who knew the woman that had been mugged. The redhead raised a delicate looking eyebrow at that. What were the odds, really, of something like that happening?
Whistler had always told her life was a funny thing, a sentiment she never really understood because she really had no past to speak of. Whenever he said it, Ashley would just shrug. She would merely take his word for it, brushing off the saying because, well, it never really pertained to her. Not anymore, anyways. But now, seeing this drama play out before her, she understood, at least a little better, what her surrogate father was talking about. Truly life was a funny thing if four random mutants, three of which were connected somehow, could just bump into each other on a random street corner, three to save one woman from two muggers.
She almost (almost!) let out a chuckle before she watched the blue eyed woman speak to the cop, then to the other woman. Indeed her eyes were a striking blue. She'd seen blue eyes, of course, but nothing like these. It seemed as if those eyes froze you in place with a look, chips of sapphire mixed with the white-blue chill of a glacier. It was almost as if a mere moment of displeasure from this woman would freeze your very blood, just with those eyes! The thought made Ashley avert her own smoky gray orbs; this woman was a mutant, then, her reaction to the Santa Cop and the vines made that readily apparent. Almost as if she were watching court jesters perform mere parlor tricks.
Ashley's eyes glided down, then, simply to avoid those eyes...
...to the tone figure that seemed to be poured into the dress she wore. Unbidden Ashley felt her cheeks warm up a bit as she stared a bit longer then appropriate, taking a moment to swallow before she averted her eyes again. It was then, of course, that a habit of hers sprang up when regarding people of interest. She was no great shakes at remembering things, you see. She tried a few times, back when Whistler was teaching her the basics of math but she long since gave up trying to remember all that crap and instead trained her memory on one thing; a person's body type, and how fast she could take them down. It was useful, usually, when fighting people she didn't know or had time to analyze. But now...well...
'Slim, curvy...a bit feminine, not likely a fighter. Toned abs, strong legs. 5'2”, decent reach. Strong arms, though, not too muscular but the feeling is there. Weighed one twenty, give or take. She takes much pride in her appearance, though from the looks of it the most she does is dress up or maybe put on makeup; she barley has to workout to maintain the figure she has. One of the lucky ones. Overall; she wouldn't last long in a fist fight, not with me. But this one probably had other ways to conquer her foes.'
Eyes climbed up the woman again, the gray orbs resting on the stomach for a moment before the ample chest. Her eyes widened a bit and she blinked, rapidly, to try and make herself look away and finally managed to do it...almost a minute later. By now her face was at a full flush and she felt thoroughly embarrassed by her crass actions, despite no one else noticing (she hoped). Needing to make up for this by doing SOMETHING, Ashley decided to take a step forward (as opposed to the several hundred her mind was screaming at her to take BACK) right up to the scene she was watching moments earlier.
“You're...mutants?” she said, immediately regretting the decision to talk. She hated how she spoke, but Whistler always said it was part of her charm, which was yet another thing she would never understand. Who would think broken speaking was charming?! Still, she looked over the three in attendance with something bordering fascination. “I'm too. I...ummm...” She struggled for the right words for a moment, putting a pointer finger to her lips while looking down. She then brightened up as she took off her headphones, music still blaring loudly (“I'd Start a Revolution” by Aimee Allen) as she held them out, pointing to them. “I get stronger. When listening.”
As to emphasize her words she flexed, then stopped as she saw the blank stares she was getting. Okay, perhaps she didn't need to flex, but at least she felt fully redeemed in her idiotic actions now as opposed to her slightly perverse ones earlier. She reached to the iPod attached to her headphones and paused the music before looking down to the Vine Woman.
“Waste.” was all the girl that walked out of the back alley bar said as she stopped a moment to light up a cigarette. She took a quick puff before pulling it away from her face and letting out a deep breath. The things would kill her, she knew, but when you lived the kind of life she did it was either that or drinking. Or drugs, but the idea of drugs slightly disgusted Ashley. The only one she'd even consider was the green stuff, and that was only because it was all natural.
She shook her head as if to make her current line of thinking go away. What did it matter? She looked back to the bar, aptly named 'The Back of the Road', and snorted. Domino was no help, but his usefulness in any information was drying up quickly. She paid him though, but only because she was taught to be truthful, honest. She realized quickly that such characteristics could get one killed quickly down in a place like this but she wasn't one to compromise her morals because her environment was slightly hostile. Her surrogate father wouldn't, and neither would she.
She quickly pulled on her headphones, feeling the music that was still playing surge through her. She liked the subtle change in her power whenever a song changed, and loved having the iPod that was connected directly to her oversized headphones on random, as opposed to whatever playlist she had set directly to one that corresponded with her powers. Right now it was speed, "Calling" by Takeharu Ishimoto blared loudly as she surrounded herself with the music she loved so much. She stuffed her hands into her trenchcoat and began to walk down the alley to the street, intent on going back to her crappy 'apartment' and going to sleep.
She stopped only when she got near to the end of the alley. Gray eyes observed the drama being played out before her and immediately her instincts told her that maybe she should just turn around and walk away. After all, the one the mugger was holding onto seemed to be one of them rich types, so she probably had money to spare. The guy that was next to the actual mugger was obviously his partner, though he looked more scared then a street hardened criminal probably should.
The Santa Clause that appeared, on the other hand, made the young woman blink a few times before she heard him identify himself as NYPD. Instinctively she took a step back. Police and her...well, in her short time in New York City it was made readily apparent that they wouldn't get along.
But...hm.
Judging from how things were looking, Ashley did the only thing she could do at the moment and sidestepped behind one of New York's oversized trash bins and watched as the Santa Cop grabbed up some water (?) and used it to splash the guys face right after identifying himself as a officer of the law. Cheap trick, she thought, but one did what one had to do. She knew all about that. Ashley turned stormy eyes to the partner and blinked again.
Another woman seemed to just materialize on the scene, making the partner of the mugger who was holding the other woman hostage run away in a flash. It all happened quickly, efficiently, it almost seemed like the entire thing was planned. The guy was white as a sheet and, by the looks of it, had peed his pants in fear. Ashley looked back to the woman with a cocked eyebrow. She looked as if she was someone who was used to being obeyed...well, that was what her body language was telling Ashley at that very moment, and it was yet another reason that her instincts were telling the redhead to run away. It wasn't like the woman being mugged looked scared. Hell, she almost looked BORED, even after Santa had distracted the mugger away from her.
But the partner was running to her location and, figuring that if she had to spend the night in jail she would at least be warm (her apartment had no heat) and she would be fed (she had no money), she stepped out and caught him with a quick left hook to the face, not hard enough to knock him back but hard enough to daze him a bit, making his head jerk as he took a step back. He regained his balance quickly, though made the mistake of looking back to the woman that scared him. Ashley frowned at the apparent show of disrespect; he feared someone who didn't even do anything over her, the one who just punched him in the face!! With a growl she took a quick step forward, almost gliding thanks to her music still playing “Calling” and grabbed the man in a Muay Thai clinch before bringing a knee up to his chest with as much force as she could muster. The man stumbled back again and had only time to blink a few times before his world when dark after a knee kick hit him directly in the face. Ashley stood there for a moment, fists still up before she slowly put them down when she realized the guy wasn't going to get up again.
Welcome to MRO.