The X-men run missions and work together with the NYPD, striving to maintain a peaceful balance between humans and mutants. When it comes to a fight, they won't back down from protecting those who need their help.
Haven presents itself as a humanitarian organization for activists, leaders, and high society, yet mutants are the secret leaders working to protect and serve their kind. Behind the scenes they bring their goals into reality.
From the time when mutants became known to the world, SUPER was founded as a black-ops division of the CIA in an attempt to classify, observe, and learn more about this new and rising threat.
The Syndicate works to help bring mutantkind to the forefront of the world. They work from the shadows, a beacon of hope for mutants, but a bane to mankind. With their guiding hand, humanity will finally find extinction.
Since the existence of mutants was first revealed in the nineties, the world has become a changed place. Whether they're genetic misfits or the next stage in humanity's evolution, there's no denying their growing numbers, especially in hubs like New York City. The NYPD has a division devoted to mutant related crimes. Super-powered vigilantes help to maintain the peace. Those who style themselves as Homo Superior work to tear society apart for rebuilding in their own image.
MRO is an intermediate to advanced writing level original character, original plot X-Men RPG. We've been open and active since October of 2005. You can play as a mutant, human, or Adapted— one of the rare humans who nullify mutant powers by their very existence. Goodies, baddies, and neutrals are all welcome.
Short Term Plots:Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
The Fountain of Youth
A chemical serum has been released that's shaving a few years off of the population. In some cases, found to be temporary, and in others...?
MRO MOVES WITH CURRENT TIME: What month and year it is now in real life, it's the same for MRO, too.
Fuegogrande: "Fuegogrande" player of The Ranger, Ion, Rhia, and Null
Neopolitan: "Aly" player of Rebecca Grey, Stephanie Graves, Marisol Cervantes, Vanessa Bookman, Chrysanthemum Van Hart, Sabine Sang, Eupraxia
Ongoing Plots
Magic and Mystics
After the events of the 2020 Harvest Moon and the following Winter Solstice, magic has started manifesting in the MROvere! With the efforts of the Welldrinker Cult, people are being converted into Mystics, a species of people genetically disposed to be great conduits for magical energy.
The Pharoah Dynasty
An ancient sorceress is on a quest to bring her long-lost warrior-king to the modern era in a bid for global domination. Can the heroes of the modern world stop her before all is lost?
Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
Adapteds
What if the human race began to adapt to the mutant threat? What if the human race changed ever so subtly... without the x-gene.
Atlanteans
The lost city of Atlantis has been found! Refugees from this undersea mutant dystopia have started to filter in to New York as citizens and businessfolk. You may make one as a player character of run into one on the street.
Got a plot in mind?
MRO plots are player-created the Mods facilitate and organize the big ones, but we get the ideas from you. Do you have a plot in mind, and want to know whether it needs Mod approval? Check out our plot guidelines.
Posted by Amp/Vibe on Feb 19, 2008 23:58:19 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
684
0
Nov 20, 2008 23:30:31 GMT -6
"what's wrong with my clothes?"
>What's not wrong with them?< Vibe kept quiet, but her expression gave away her thoughts.
"I dont know what size I am... I'm not exactly stylin here..."
>That's for sure.<
"Back home fur sorta fit one size... that's pretty much all we has, parkas."
"Fur. Right. Wonderful...."
Naveed reached his hand out for hers. "How you feeling? Shall we get me some threads now or do you need to rest?"
>Rough hands....< she thought idly. She waved away his concern. Aloud she said, "Nah, I'm fine. Just low blood sugar. I'll be all right in a few minutes, once the carbs run through my system." She took a large bite of her pizza crust to help the carbfest along.
She leaned back, chewing, while her 'voice' continued speaking.
"Well, horrifying as it is, people wouldn't give that outfit a second glance in this town. For my personal sanity, however, we need to find something less.... garish...." She glanced down at her own wild disguise, and shuddered. "Yeah, shopping is definitely priority here. Can you drive?" Her car wasn't far.
Posted by Amp/Vibe on Feb 19, 2008 12:34:34 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
684
0
Nov 20, 2008 23:30:31 GMT -6
. "Maybe they can't pick up my type of power. Pursuasion obviously isn't going to work on a robot but they're known for their ability to intimidate perhaps they just can't see that abilitiy in others."
Vibe frowned thoughtfully, still chewing. As obvious as it was, she hadn't considered the possibility that the Stalkers couldn't tell a human from a mutant. At least, not a mutant without a physically visible mutation.
"I just haven't been indentified as a mutant yet. As soon as they figure out I am one I wont be safe either."
She swallowed her food and took a sip of her drink. "Well then, maybe you need a bit of a makeover." She eyed his clothing and build. If nothing else, he needed a new wardrobe too. At least, in her opinion.
"I've found a place to stay... it can accomodate a few people. It's just outside of town. I'm 'old friends' with the manager. He tells everyone the room is locked up and not in use for construction reasons... mold or something... whatever they'll buy. Stalkers very rarely come through that way. It's right on the city boundries."
She took the napkin and glanced at the address. She was familiar with the area, though she hadn't been there in a while.
"I feel bad for all the mutants here. I wonder if they realize that this isn't happening all over the world? Been going on for months now..."
"Maybe, but this is my home, and I'm not gonna let a bunch of spineless gutter slime, who hide behind hissing metalheads, make me leave! Or take my sister from me!" She kept her voice low, but it still came out a snarl. Sever nearby patrons glanced their way, but quickly lost interest when no violence followed the snarl.
"If you ever need a place to stay, or even now... you come find me. I hate the idea of that talent of yours being wasted in the camps."
She glanced at the napkin again, then at Naveed, and put on a winning smile.
"Aww, thanks Big Guy. That means a lot. Especially considering the.... well, ya know.... bad first impressions and all that." She folded up the napkin and stuck it in her shirt, next to her money.
"Now then, about your clothes...." She reached out and tugged at the hippie outfit he'd put on from the mall. "Yeah.... What size are you anyway?"
She wasn't fond of parting with her cash, but she had two good reasons to do so. One, if she wanted to seem like she was a friend, gifts always help. And two, there was no way she was going to even pretend to be a friend to someone who didn't at least appear to have some semblance of style....
Besides, she'd find a way for him to pay her back. Most definitely....
Posted by Amp/Vibe on Feb 18, 2008 21:16:40 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
684
0
Nov 20, 2008 23:30:31 GMT -6
"Ah but Vibe.... Taking over the tribe would only be the beginning. First we'd get all the hidden treasures of the tribe then with that many people we could overthrow the north. Most of the world's fresh water comes from the glaciers there.. if the north is in our control so is the water..... But either way, mutants are going to come up on top. It's our rightful place, survival of the fittest and all that."
Vibe snorted. "Survival of the fittest? Pfft. If that were true, humans would have vanished long ago."
"Vibe... do you have some place safe to stay?"
She picked at the pineapple and shrugged. "Not really. Seems nowhere is safe anymore. And I don't trust my current 'landlord'." She sighed. That was the truth. She didn't trust Hunter as far as she could throw him. And she didn't like being confined in the Labs either, even if he did offer security.
Now Naveed, on the other hand, could prove an interesting pawn. Though that power of his made him a bit dangerous to handle....
"What about you? Where are you staying? I get the feeling that power of yours doesn't work on robots. How did you manage to stay under their radar?"
Posted by Amp/Vibe on Feb 18, 2008 18:06:15 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
684
0
Nov 20, 2008 23:30:31 GMT -6
"I'm from the Artic."
>Ugh! So much for that idea...< She didn't bother to keep the smile in place, grimacing instead.
"There's a few cities, yellowknife and places like that... they've got a fair bit of technology too but they're reliant on trade with ships and planes to bring in supplies... even my tribe has to venture into the city occasionally during the months without the sun. The hunting is fine, but you can't always get veggies..."
>Eeww.... definitely not my idea of a vacation spot.<
She sighed and looked out the window as Naveed babbled on about his sister and uncle and something about being banished. Yeah, fun, whatever, blah blah blah....
Vibe yawned and turned her attention to her food.
"....it's only a matter of time before mutants will be treated as the God's and Goddesses they are..."
"Yeah, well if I want to be a godess, I'd rather rule someplace with a mall." Although her mouth was full, closed and she was chewing, her voice came through the choker speaker clearly and ungarbled.
"I mean, why bother?" she continued on. "If the place is just snow and ice, what's the point of taking over? With a power like yours, ya oughta think bigger. Like, country-big. Ya know, take over a TV station or something, and hypnotize whoever's watching into making you there leader. Or whatever."
She shrugged. Power never had really appealed to either of the Sonic sisters, at least not in the most common sense of the word. They enjoyed the power of getting whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted it, and being able to make others do it for them. But actual 'ruling over a country' type power? Ick and booorr-ing....
Posted by Amp/Vibe on Feb 17, 2008 15:41:37 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
684
0
Nov 20, 2008 23:30:31 GMT -6
Vibe nearly lost her balanced as she again scooped her up, then set her down.
"Okay, ya need to stop doing that. I mean, honestly, ever heard of personal space, Pal?"
However, his over the top praises definitely appealed to her vanity. Not one to be practical, now that the danger was passed it was also forgotten from Vibe's mind. She smiled smugly.
"It was just a bucket of bolts. Big deal." She waited until Naveed looked away to steal a wary glance over her shoulder.
".... your talents back home."
"Say what?" Vibe turned her her attention back to her tall companion, who was now rattling on about something else.
"I'll reutrn one day and take my rightful place as leader of my tribe..... I think I'm hungrier than I thought."
The petite redhead raised one eye, suddenly a tad wary again. "Where's home?" He had an accent. A 'tribe', eh? Didn't Scotland have tribes? Or Ireland? European places always had tribes, or clans, or whatever, right? And there were lots of valuables to be lifted and turned. Once Amp was free, maybe allowing themselves to follow Naveed home could turn out very profitable. At least for the sisters. She could care less about a tribe overthrow or such nonsense. But perhaps she could sucker Naveed into thinking she did.
"Food it is then." She pasted a sickeningly sweet smile on her face.
Hang on to your money. If they're going to take the hook here we might as well let 'em. Maybe you can get us a cab someplace safe afterwards."
"Sure babe." Her car wasn't far now. With a short cab fair, she was getting off still with quite a bit of spare cash. Enough to still stop and pick up a decent few set of cloths.
Legitamitely. And in another part of the state. As much as she disliked having to actually pay for something she could sweet talk someone out of, she disliked a lack of freedom even less.
She sat at the table and looked at the menu. Despite it being a fairly classy little cafe, it still had pizza on the menu, like nearly every other menu in the city. Since her sugar was low, she ordered two slices of ham and pineapple, and a diet coke. That out to unfuzz her senses a bit.
While they waited, she attempted to get a bit more information out of Naveed, starting with playing the perfect, flattering date.
"Thank you for saving me back there. I never would have gotten away on my own." She beamed brightly.
Posted by Amp/Vibe on Feb 13, 2008 22:06:01 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
684
0
Nov 20, 2008 23:30:31 GMT -6
(OOC: Actually concrete would increase her range. Not sure why, but sound travels faster through solid objects and water, than it does through air. Odd, isn't it? lol)
"You're looking very pale. Let's hurry, you don't have a choice on this one."
Vibe put up minimal argument, most of it mumbled inaudibly, as he picked her up again. At least this time he gave her the dignity to hang onto his back, rather than simply carry her like a sack of potatoes.
They made it to the back stairs with minimal fuss, not surprising considering the more pressing issues in the mall proper. Naveed leaned over to look at the stairs, and she leaned further to look over his shoulder. It was a long way down.....
"Hell no! We aren't walking down this!"
"And how else do you expe-eeaaiiii!!!!" Her query ended in a shriek as Naveed took the shortest, and quickest way down. She gripped his shoulders in a death grip as her heart and stomach were left back on the landing. When he landed she began giggling ecstatically, like a little girl.
"Now that was a rush!!"
She continued to giggle as Naveed dodged the police and other badges, then continued on through the city. When he finally stopped and let her down, she'd stopped giggling, but still grinned hugely. She felt a bit dizzy as she stood back on firm ground, and leaned against the bus bench to steady herself.
"How you feelin Fishy?"
Since he'd given her a rather enjoyable ride, all she did was reach out and thwack him on the arm; she would have hit his head, but he was just so darn tall.
"I need to eat. How 'bout you?" She pulled out the little roll of cash, that she'd 'acquired' at the start of this mess, from the top of her shirt. "My treat, since you're not such a jerk after all." She smirked impishly.
Posted by Amp/Vibe on Feb 12, 2008 23:05:02 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
684
0
Nov 20, 2008 23:30:31 GMT -6
(OOC: Sorry again for another delay. Life's busy. lol)
Vibe wasn't sure if the sound masking worked or not. She couldn't hear anything but the song she concentrated on, but that didn't necessarily mean no one else could, either.
The minute passed, with no sign of the Stalker. Vibe hit the 'stop' keys on all the recorders, then rewound them. She stood, but had to reach out and grab a shelf to steady herself. She felt dizzy, and her vision blurred a bit. Either she'd overextended herself, or her sugar level was dropping. Either way, she needed food.
"Now may be a good time to leave," Naveed whispered. The clerk sat unmoving at the counter, apparently ordered to remain there.
Vibe nodded. "I'm ready. I just need someone to take these out and play them, as far from here as possible." She motioned to the recorders. "You need to order them to walk away, play the tape, rewind it and play it again. And keep walking until a Stalker stops them."
Her orders were a bit short. She was selfish and irritable enough, at the moment, not to wonder or care that perhaps ordering people around was draining on Naveed as well.
She turned back to the clerk. "Where're the back ways out of here? The loading docks and all that."
Posted by Amp/Vibe on Feb 10, 2008 22:29:26 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
684
0
Nov 20, 2008 23:30:31 GMT -6
(OOC: We hope so. lol )
Naveed scooted into the elevator before Vibe. "Nice speed." She smirked.
There was no Stalker as they exited the elevator, and none as they reached the store, either. So far so good; the humans had provided a decent distraction.
Screams and shrieks suddenly rent the air, from the direction they'd just come. Vibe paused to listen. She let out a satisfied snort. Stupid humans. And they hadn't even been ordered or manipulated into crowding the robot. Served them right for making the things in the first place.
She turned back and ducked inside the store. The owner observed them curiously.
"Looking for tape recorders," she requested. He pointed in the right direction, then turned his attention back toward the doorway. His hand hovered near the shotgun under the counter. If a gang shootout was happening, he wanted to be ready.
Vibe motioned to Naveed and whispered. "Can you keep an eye on him, discretely? We don't need him bothering security with a little shoplifting."
Once she found what she needed, she tried to organize things in her mind, while ripping the packages open. First off, the Stalker seemed to be tracking her song, but not necessarily her voice. If she could get it to follow her song, then that would leave them enough of a distraction to get away, preferably through the back rooms and loading zones. The main mall was going to be rather unsafe for a bit.
That was if a recording could fool the thing. Electronic recordings tended to be inaccurate. Both Sonic Sisters could tell a recording from a voice; the bots were sophisticated enough to probably know the difference too. And Vibe didn't have time to make a tester and tweak it. No choice but to try and hope.
Second problem, recording the song where the bots couldn't hear it. She had no clue what their hearing range was, so she based it off of hers, and doubled it. Just to be safe. She'd have to try and mask herself while she recorded. She frowned. Again, something she wasn't sure would work, as she'd never tried it on her own before, nor had she tried doing two things at once.
But she only needed one recording, and only for a minute. She set up and arranged six recorders so that she could hit 'record' all at once. Took a deep breath....
.... and began her song.
One minute of melody. That's all she needed. Just one minute.
Vibe could help herself; she preened and smirked a bit.
"Ok, the Stalker is here. The nearest electronic store is up one level over here. We'll have to take the elevator... that'll make us vulnerable for a little bit but the escalators are right next to the stalker so none of that."
She shook her head. She wasn't going near that thing again, not if she could help it.
"You better keep up. I'll carry you in a second. You ready?"
Vibe's answer was to shoot out of the doorway ahead of him, with a parting, "Keep up yourself!" She kept along the wall, grateful that her petite size allowed her to zip in and out with relative ease. Once at the elevators, she paused to look back and see if Naveed had managed to keep up with her.
-----------------
Back near the Stalker, the crowd of humans had grown considerably. Half of the Mall Security Force had approached the robots, most of them wearing frowns ranging from anger to concern.
"Come on, now, there are normal people here. You bots can't be jumping and crashing around so carelessly like that," One of them, a tall brown-haired, brown-eyed man, approached the Stalker with a worried expression. He glanced around at the gathered spectators.
A short Italian took a more aggressive approach. "Ya hunk-a metal! This ain't no demolition derby! Mutants cause enough damage around here, we don't need you add'n to it! Don't you have tranquilizers or something? Take care of things on the streets, not here!"
A murmur of agreement wafted through the crowd.
"You need to be more careful. There are children here," came out of the crowd. "And older people."
"Yeah, take the fight outside."
"Better yet, let the cops handle it. Never did trust robots."
"Can't you tell the difference between normal people and freaks?"
"How can they? They're just robots. They can't think."
"Sure they can. It's the government that can't think for itself."
"Cut it some slack people, it's just doing its job. At least it's going after the freaks, like it should."
"Hey, you think it canl give an autograph?"
Arguments began as the crowd continued to grow and press in on the Stalker.
"You don't think I know that?" Vibe was used to being in charge; she wasn't handling the stress of being hunted very well.
She tried to compose herself as the shop's occupants made a mass exodus toward the Stalker. At this rate, half of the mall would be crowding around the machine. She wished the Thing would attack them all; that would show the humans that they only thought they were in charge of the world.
"I dont think you should keep using your powers.. The bot knows everything about you and is going to keep tracking you every time. I bet it learns more each time..."
"No kidding?" she snipped. She wished Amp was there; the short-haired twin always seemed to know how to get out of a mess, usually leaving behind a path of rubble or pained ears behind...
"I wonder if there's a way to get a stalker to harm itself? I mean we have nothing on it... but if we could somehow confuse it... and mess with it's programming to think itself a mutant..."
Vibe bit her lip. How could you confuse a machine that tracks your voice? Voiceprints were as unique to individuals as fingerprints. Even electronic recordings came off different to a trained ear, or another machine. Even being sound manipulators, she didn't think she or Amp could match someone's voice perfectly. If the Stalker was locked onto Vibe's voiceprint, there would be no fooling it....
Her eyes settled on a rack behind the counter, lined with cheap versions of CD players. They were simple, only capable of playback...
Playback.
Vibe's eyes flicked back to the doorway, and where the crowds still pressed the Stalker, then to Naveed, glowing slightly green as an idea began to form.
"I need an electronic store. I need tape recorders. Lots of them, small, with recording and a loop playback. And a bunch of mindless delivery boys."
Once again, Vibe found herself propelled out of danger by Naveed, with humans filling in to make the gap larger. By the time he set her down, and handed her the earplugs, the fear had worn off and turned to anger; at herself, for freezing, and the Stalker, for making her freeze up.
"Wont do much against the bot, but hopefully will help a little."
"They won't help at all," Vibe snapped, giving vent to her frustration. "I'm fine. I just didn't expect it to jump us so fast." She moved to the wall, and placed her hand on the metal of the door frame. She cast her awareness to where the Stalker had last been. If she could just get a fix on its sound pattern, she could hear it coming next time.
Hopefully.
"Let's keep on the move. Any great ideas where we'll be safe?"
She frowned. "No," she admitted reluctantly. "I get the feeling it can track my voice. Or at least my song. The last time it chased us, we couldn't get away...." She gulped. "I think they said that it can only track by sight or sound.... I can't remember."
She looked around, feeling very much like a mouse in a dead-end maze. "Okay, maybe.... It's tracking me, right? But it doesn't know about you. I don't think. Can you order people to keep it busy, or to attack it? If enough of them distracted it, maybe we can get out of its sight range?"
Vibe wished she'd paid more attention in the briefing meeting two months ago, instead of growing angry over the planning. She also regretted leaving that ugly watch in her car. She'd have even been happy to see Hunter's goon squad right now, if it meant she could get away unscathed.
Forget this; if she got out of this mess, she was going online shopping from now on!
Vibe let out a terrified squeak as a third scream sounded nearly right by her ear.
"Very amusing mutant but you cannot hide from me. You will surrender!"
Vibe gasped again and ducked away. The doll was torn from her back, only briefly halting her flight. The calm, hypnotic song again began to fill the immediate area. But Vibe herself was so shaken up, she couldn't find her voice to issue a command. She shrunk away, all confidence and attitude gone.
All she could see was the monster that had taken her sister, towering overhead.
"Yeah, looks like they're trying to seem more humane. I'm hoping to spot Raina there. Your sister is there too. This is awful. More reason why we need to escape this stalker. Back where I come from people fight using true ability. They don't hide behind robots and machines or guns, you'd be a godess there. You and your sister."
A smug smirk crossed Vibe's face. Naveed went up two notches on her scale, simply by both having, and being worried about, a sister in the Camps, and by appealing to the redhead's vanity. She visibly preened.
"I could be a godess here, any time I wanted, if it weren't for those stupid metalheads," she retorted.
While Naveed went to gather 'friends', Vibe gave up her search. There were so many machines in the mall, she was having trouble pinpointing the one she needed. Instead she settled herself in front of the mirror. It didn't matter that her life was in danger; if she had to wear this awful junk, she had to at least make it look halfway decent. She stuffed a few small, and valuable-looking, items in her pockets. Maybe she could pawn them later, when things died down a bit.
Now to make sure 'later' came....
"Of course you remember my wife, V.... victoria." Vibe turned to see Naveed leading in his 'old friends'. "She's got the baby with her today."
"Oh of course your darling baby! Oh and how it's grown."
>Baby? Oh.... right, baby. Baby.... Where'd I put that thing?<f>< She looked around for that garrishly-colored, scarf-wrapped doll. She picked it up and used the scarf to tie it to her back, like a papoose.
"Yeah, sure. Grown a lot, hasn't it? Shouldn't we be leaving now? Dear." It was a good thing they were under Naveed's control; Vibe never would have fooled anyone in their right mind.
As the group moved out into the hall, the humans chattered away about how good it was to see old friends. She made the token "Yeah," "Uh huh," and "Sure, whatever," when appropriate. As expected, odd and curious glances came their way once in a while, but for the most part the rest of the humans ignored the little clump of people. She relied on her ears rather than her eyes to identify the Stalkers approach, guessing it would be cloaked.
With her senses wide open, the Stalkers first screech sent a chill down her spine, freezing her in her tracks. She inhaled sharply.
"What's the matter Victoria?" One of the lady's asked her, just as the second shriek reached her. Vibe shuddered.
"Nothing, nothing." But she rubbed vigorously at her ear. "Just a hair tickling my ear. It sure is cold in here, isn't it?" She added to cover the shiver that shook her tiny frame. She rubbed her arms to smooth out the goosebumps.
She turned to identify the direction the screams had come from.
"I dont mean that... I mean... did he allready have you identified as a mutant?"
"Yeah, something like that." By that point Vibe was sufficiently distracted, enough to forget to mouth words along with her sythesized voice, so the voice seemed to come from around her.
"So it doesn't care about humans? Are you sure? Sounds like bad publicity to me if a stalker takes two mutants out in a public place with lots of humans around."
Vibe shot him a jaundiced glance. "They took out an entire homeless shelter to get to a few mutants. What does that sound like to you?" Yes, she left out a few crucial details, like the fact that the mutants had fought back, and taken a chunk out of the NYPD at the same time. But she wasn't in the business of making the Stalkers look good.
"Sounds like something the government would want to avoid- isn't that why they started the communtiy service act for the mutants in the camps?"
"Community service? What community service?" She hadn't been paying attention to the news lately, instead either working on her lyric rearrangements or fuming about her borrowed wardrobe.
"I'm Naveed. And as much as our little game was fun fishy, I don't feel like going to the camps or letting you end up there either."
"Call me 'fishy' again, and I'll let the Stalker take you anyway, and not feel guilty about it," she grumbled. "Name's Vibe." Niceties could be dealt with later, if they both made it out of this mess. Then she would decide whether to be grateful or irritated.
"My sister is int he camps- and If I have any hope of getting her out I need to be out here."
Vibe's frown dissipated a bit. "Same here." All right! All right. So they had something in common after all. She supposed she could put aside the irritation for the time being.
"You seem to know more about these things than I do. Don't suppose I could convince the clerk to let us take a few items free... Feel like being the hippy momma so we can get out of this place unnoticed?"
Vibe cringed. "Ugh! Forget fashion disaster.... This is a full-scale catastrophe...." Unfortunately, he was right. Garish apparel was good for a few passing looks, but people tended to ignore such after oogling for a few seconds. This was New York, after all. Neither of them had obvious mutations, so the Stalkers shouldn't take any but the barest notice.
She hoped.
Shaking her head, Vibe donned a set of the awful prints and fabrics. "Amp would die if she saw this...." she groaned.
Looking around she tried to set things straight in her mind. "I don't know a whole about them, but I don't think they can tell a mutant just on sight. I think they track power use though, which means I can't use my song to get us out. Looks like you're on your own for finding us some 'help'." She paused for a moment, then pulled Echo out of her pocket.
>Stay here, sweetie, until we're gone. We don't want it tracking you to us.< Echo squeaked, and shivered, then obediently flutter up to the ceiling, where it clung to an overhead display.
Vibe motioned to Naveed. "You find us some volunteers. I'll see if I can find tall, metal and ugly.
She walked to a nearby corner, and placed her hand on the floor. Without Amp it would be difficult, but the girls' abilities to pick up vibrations were individual, not dependent. Buzzing filled her senses in a rush, giving her a momentary high. She giggled, then set about the slow work of identifying and eliminating the various sounds of mall life, trying to locate the Stalker's presence.
Music blaring in her ears, raucous laughter on all sides, and rats swarming around her. In short, Vibe was thoroughly distracted. The Stalker's appearance took her by full surprise.
"CEASE AND DESIST MUTANT!"
Vibe felt her blood run cold. The demand threw her back in time to the Sanctuary raid, where she'd lost Amp to two of the metal monsters. She had been helpless then, even with Amp to back her up. Now she didn't even have her sister. The hypnotic melody ceased. She couldn't think of anything of having abandoned Amp, and the emptiness shortly thereafter.
A figure leapt into her line of vision, and she felt hands around her waist. She uttered a strangled-sounding shriek, thinking another Stalker had grabbed her while she'd frozen.
"Do me a favour and keep this this from eating my face while we get you outta here?" Something small and furry, and wriggling, was shoved into her hands. "Hang tight!"
>Echo....< The little bat protested her death grip, which she loosened, but kept a grip on her pet. The ipod bounced out of her possession, clattering to the sidewalk in their wake.
"If everything I know about them is right- it cant attack if it means endangering a human. So we're going to keep you around some humans for a while."
>Paul Bunyan?? What??< Vibe managed to breath again, in between being jostled around. When his statement registered in her mind, she replied aloud, "That's a lie." Indeed, the robots had allowed humans to be slaughtered at the Sanctuary Raid. Vibe doubted that they would let any humans stand in their way of catching a mutant.
Especially a wanted muntat. Vibe gulped. She had left her watch in the car. She could call Abyss and his brothers for help, but they might not arrive in time. Plus, she didn't want to put them in danger. The Stalkers had put Saturn out of commission easily. What was to stop them from doing it again, to all seven brothers?
"Hold on!" Vibe yelped as her unexpected savior bounced her onto his back. She clung on instinctively, digging her nails in to keep her grip.
Finally he stopped, and let her down. She glared when he motioned for her to be quiet. Did he think she was stupid? Of course she wasn't going to say anything! If she could stop breathing, and still live, she'd do that too. Anything to keep those.... those.... things.... away from her.
Echo squeaked irritably. >Sshhh! Quiet, sweetie.< She released the little bat, and it crawled into her pocket, obediently quiet. She shuddered, and rubbed her arms, feeling vulnerable.
"How did it know you're a mutant?"
She looked up in surprise, not sure how to take this abrupt change of attitude.
"The hypnotized humans were probably a good clue." A frown crossed her face and she looked away. In an almost inaudible voice she added, "Um.... thanks...." Then, louder, so he wouldn't ask her to repeat it, "We gotta get out of here. I think those things can track heat, or something like that." She looked around for another exit.
Not sure why, but sound travels faster through solid objects and water, than it does through air. Odd, isn't it? lol)
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