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.
“Wait, what kind of hybrid were you talking about? We learned about those in biology, you know; Mendel and the plant breeding?”
She didn't get a chance to hear how Carrick was going to respond to her question of clarification; her attention was stolen away be a sharp thud from around the corner. It was not a usual sound to be hearing during the last passing time before their very last class before the weekend. Katrina jogged around the corner and promptly dropped her armful of books as she rushed forward to where a familiar lizard boy lay prone on the ground.
Katrina walked quickly, despite carrying the suitcase. It wasn't as heavy as she had expected it to be, and it certainly wasn't as heavy as the stone that had seemed to settle on her chest. The weight pressing against her made it difficult to breathe. She reached the front door with a gasp and looked back with tears stinging her eyes. Fausto had just taken hold of Effie's hand and started walking toward the door. The little illusionist turned back to the door and blinked the tears away before the happy couple could see them. She had left the door ajar, so it was relatively easy to maneuver the suitcase into the foyer.
The little blonde girl stood with the suitcase, completely unsure of where to go next. Would Effie need to fill out the papers in the greeter office if she wasn't a student? Would she stay in a room with Fausto when they weren't even... they certainly wouldn't share a room, would they? Besides, Fausto lived with Koga now. And he was much too young for... but then, he was getting married... even if he was awfully young.
The happy couple arrived in the foyer behind her and Effie started to remove her winter things and admire the surroundings.
“Where should I put this?” She tried really hard to make that sound cheerful, but an equal amount of effort had to be spent making sure her voice didn't squeak like it sometimes did when she was about to cry. In the end they canceled each other out and her voice was simply quiet.
She had asked for a little bit about his family and he had given her exactly that: a little bit. He spoke of a dead mother and father who abandoned him and that was all. He was the same as Ghost. Like many mutants his family life was not the happiest. But Ghost's father came back to look for her. There was still hope, perhaps, for Zephyr. And for her.
“Maybe someday he'll come to his senses,” she mused quietly.
She ignored that his query about whether she had any other questions was in all likelihood sarcastic and not at all a sincere desire to further sate her own curiosity. Tidbits were more interesting than nothing at all.
“Yeah, what's your real name?” No one actually named their child after one of the Greek wind gods, unless they were hippies or something, and he was too young for that anyway. Besides, did they even have hippies in England?
Katrina opened her mouth to introduce herself, but nothing came out. The word fiancée was cheerfully and brightly forcing itself down her throat and it didn't leave room for any other words to escape. For a moment her mouth just hung open, letting in cold air. Then she clamped it shut again and forced it into a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
Fiancée meant that Fausto was getting married. A year ago he had said he loved Katrina, but she hadn't been ready for a relationship yet. So he had found someone else who was wanted to move as quickly as he did. Everything inside of Katrina, from her stomach to her heart, shuddered from shock just as much as her outside was shivering from the cold.
She could only stare at the older girl's outstretched hand. In some small part of her brain she knew she was supposed to do something about it, but the greater part of her brain was trying to figure out exactly what was going wrong in her heart.
She had waited too long to figure out what she felt. She knew she loved Fausto, but she hadn't known the shape of it. At times the love was shaped like 'friend' at other times it felt almost like 'brother', but it was a constantly shifting and changing shape; she was unfamiliar with all the different shapes and had failed to recognize if any of them had hints of 'lover' in them. Now it was too late to find out.
"Hello, Effie. I'm k-k-Katrina," she smiled, she shivered, she was running completely on autopilot. She forgot to let go of Fausto.
It hurt. If they were just friends it shouldn't have hurt. If they were brother and sister it wouldn't have hurt. Why did it hurt so badly, like someone had cut a piece of her off?
"I s-s-supose we w-will be like sisters now. It's nice t-t-to meet you." She finally let her arms drop back to her sides and turned to look up at Fausto's face. She tried to do her best to smile a real smile for him. She wanted not only to look happy for him, but to actually be happy for him. "C-Congratulations, Aniki."
'Aniki' was the first Japanese word she had ever learned. She heard it first in an anime called Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, which she had watched with Fausto and Koga. It meant 'big brother', for now that was the most he could be for her.
She forgot to ask if they could go inside. He logical thoughts weren't working properly. Instead, she grabbed a suitcase and started walking toward the door without another word. She didn't even know whose suitcase she had taken, she only knew that she had to move it because she had to move before she started crying.
>>>“Home room 102? Your teacher has been delayed, Please remain in the class room until the next period starts.”
Oh great. Just when the students were starting to get unruly they had to go and make an announcement like that. At least everyone was settled down a bit now, so there wasn't any danger of anyone getting into fights.
>>>”So you claim your invulnerable, your twice the size of everyone else, and you carry around a bat? Yeah, I’d worry about getting beaten if I was you…”
Unless Carrick's sarcastic comments went a little too far, that was. Though, Katrina agreed completely with the sentiment behind the stinging words.
Tom just laughed it off though, and asked to join in the card game since Carrick was shuffling. He also responded to her comment with something that surprised her at bit.
>>>"Actually... You'd be surprised 'ow nice a family's startin' to sound righ' now."
Apparently Tom had a softer side. He seemed to be working hard to change that first impression he'd made with everyone. She could appreciate the effort, but she'd seen enough people (one to be exact) that tried to seem nice at first and later revealed themselves to have completely sinister intentions that she didn't trust Tom's sentiment completely. Or at all. But then, she might be prejudiced against him simply because of his physical resemblance to that other person.
Katrina wrote down 'ackume...' on the inside cover of her notebook so she could look it up later, but was distracted by a loud noise before she could add the '...n'. She was jumpy today, and even a sketchbook hitting the floor had her jerking in surprise. It was the older girl with the violet eyes sitting in the row in front of her. Why did she...? Oh.
She caught the glance Koga gave the violet eyed girl. And the smile. And that cute little reddening of the ears the violet eyed girl displayed.
Katrina turned away before Koga could notice that she had noticed him noticing. They were just friends. She wasn't supposed to feel any particular way if he looked at girls... or boys for that matter. It was none of her business if he wanted to fall for the obvious ploys of an older girl. The low cut shirt... the book dropping... the shy and completely fake blush. Didn't she know she was much too old to be blushing? Much. Too. Old.
Yes, the card game. It was much more interesting. Katrina stood. Crossed out the word she'd written inside her notebook. Wandered toward the boys with the cards.
“What are you going to play?” She tilted her head curiously, keeping her back to the lizard boy at the front of the classroom.
Katrina huffed a sigh and crossed her arms. She was not going to wander off; she just wanted to help him because he looked so pathetic with his face twisted up like a sad sock monkey that had come out worse for the wear after a trip through the washing machine.
"I wouldn't wander off. There's not really any place to wander to on an airplane." This was grumbled under her breath, loud enough probably for him to hear, but she didn't necessarily expect a response.
Well, if he wanted to be sulky and enjoy his headache in peace and quiet without someone to fuss over him, he could just go and do that. Or stay and do that rather. Katrina was going to watch out the window.
The sky was blue. A blanket of smooth clouds lay below them. It almost seemed like they weren't moving at all. Blue and white. Blue and white. More blue and white.
Katrina sighed and turned back to face her companion again with an expression of unbelieving boredom. It had probably only been about four minutes since her last comment.
"So, you know about my family, kind of, mostly. Tell me a little about yours."
Was he looking at her or still keeping his eyes tight shut to help his migraine? She put on her best puppy dog look, just in case.
The very first line of the message had really confused her. Ghost's voice talking about washing her hair. Didn't messages usually start with something like "hello"?
>>>"You know. I uh... I think... I have to go home and wash my hair..."
And the some man, chuckling softly. That low key, half amused laugh that sounded somewhat familiar for some reason.
>>>“You can do that here… I’ll help. ”
Gah?! What kind of message was this? Clearly not a message she was supposed to actually receive. Surely this must be a joke or a mistake or something.
>>>"Showers are for getting clean not for getting... I'm capable of washi--"
Ghost doth protest an awful lot, Katrina thought. What could she possibly be talking about? Help washing her hair? He didn't mean... And the man...
>>>“What do you say?”
His voice was even more familiar than his mischievous chuckling laughter. It couldn't be... could it?
Then, from Ghost, a squeak and rapid breathing.
...?
>>>"Can you move, Zephyr? I think someone's calling me."
...!
There was a sharp intake of breath and a smooching noise.
...?!!
>>>"Behave. It's... Katrina."
Click.
...
...
...
Zephyr and Ghost?! Really?
Katrina stared at the phone for a full minute, trying to decide what, if anything, she should do. She had overheard something she was not meant to overhear, and they knew she had overheard it. Was she supposed to call back? Was she supposed to ignore that she had ever heard the message to begin with? It... well it sounded a little like Ghost might need someone to check in on her just in case that... thing... had been a bad-and-not-good... thing. It had sounded a little bad-and-not-good... somehow.
Err...
Katrina dialed Ghost's number. It rang. She blushed. It rang again. She blushed harder. She got the voice mail message.
"Uhm... Hi Ghost. This is Katrina. ... I'm just... returning your phone call... and checking to see if you're okay. ... You sounded a bit out of breath... like you'd been running... or something. Anyway, call me back if you need anything."
She hung up, redder even than the crimson cell phone she had inherited from Mars. Maybe she shouldn't have left a message at all. Probably.
Second semester was shaping up to be more difficult than first semester, possibly because first semester she had been paying more attention to what happened in Romania than what was happening in her classes. Somehow turmoil across the globe had seemed more important than reviewing Pythagoras' Theory and learning about the structure of an atom.
Katrina sighed and leaned back over the arm of the he couch far enough so she could see past the back of the chair and out the front window. Kenzie, perched on her feet, provided enough of a counter-balance that she could lean quite far back without losing her balance. There had been a slam of a car door that sounded much more interesting than the persuasive essay she was supposed to be writing about whether or not there should be a death penalty.
The car door slam had come from a limousine that had pulled up in front of the gates. Katrina had arrived in a limousine at those same gates once. Was this a new student whose rich parents wanted only the best? Or a new student whose rich parents wanted only to get rid of their freak child?
Apparently neither. A beautiful young woman emerged from the car, and then a young man with black hair and even blacker eyes, helping with luggage.
"Fausto!" The golden retriever Kenzie looked up, confused by the sudden departure of her young mistress and the subsequent flurry of papers that were floating toward the ground. The open front door marked where Katrina had disappeared to.
"Faustooo!" Katrina yelled again as she ran across the yard. About half way there, she realized she hadn't put on her winter coat or even any shoes. Oh well.
Her arms were already around Fausto's waist in a hug (or perhaps it had been a bit closer to a flying tackle hug) before she remembered that hugging might be awkward since they were just supposed to be friends. Oh well again.
With chattering teeth she looked up at Fausto's face, "I m-m-missed you! W-w-welcome home-m-m!" Should have thought to bring a coat. Definitely.
Also, the blonde girl. She should not ignore her. It would be rude not to greet a newbie. She let go of Fausto so she could wave.
"Hi! Welcome to the mansion! Are you going to be a new s-s-student here? Or are you a new member of Fausto's b-b-band or something? D-d-do you want a t-tour?"
We already did a huge thread for "everyone not in Romania". I think since Romania technically finishes IC on January 1, you can just say it takes place after that. Then anyone can join that wants to do so. (Unless they are really uncertain what is going to happen to them in Romania.)
In the teacher's lounge chairs waited patiently in a circle for the Pax Academy teachers. Today's meeting would cover a variety of topics, mostly centered on the institution's goals for the coming school year. The headmaster sat at one end of the long table. He mentally reviewed the afternoon's topics. His fingers steepled in front of his lips were as white as...
...snow covered the mountains from base to summit. Heavy coats of white clung to the branches of the sparse trees that braved the conditions in the almost barren land. Across the floor of the valley, walking across the top of the frozen stream, a dark line of people...
...filed into the room. A red haired woman, practically glowing, walked in hand in hand with her curly haired priest husband. A young blonde who looked like she was barely old enough to even have a teaching degree took her seat next to them. The next seat was filled by a stoic looking young man wearing a grey scarf. Next entered a teacher who (today) wore the face of a Hispanic woman with curly brown hair, then a light haired woman with violet eyes followed by her Thai husband whose skin swirled with tattoos, a woman with a puma's features, and finally a young plant manipulator who was green from hear to toe. The members of the group smiled easily and laughed among themselves as they seated themselves. Anticipation, enthusiasm, and hope showed in slightly varied mixtures on their...
...faces ringed the cave, lit up orange and red by the firelight. The shadows deepened the wrinkles brought out by the stress they had experienced the past decade but also highlighted the the new lines drawn around their mouths and eyes by relieved and hopeful smiles. For the first time in years, they could talk freely. Finally there was something to laugh and sing about. In a few short days they would cross the border out of the middle kingdom and into a land where they could live their lives the way they wanted to live them. Thus far it was all going according to...
...the plan was fairly simple. Pulling it off was the complex part. The group had connections. They tried to utilize them to the best of their ability to gain as much information as they could. With information as a tool, they could help guide decisions of leaders to make the world a better place. In short, spying. The difficult part came in deciding what to do with the information they had gained. The puma woman spoke, “New information for you all, from the depths of NYPD's files. I can't believe how easy it was to get this from...”
“...right under their noses!” crowed one of the students, as he regaled the group of young refugees with the story of how that days supplies had been acquired. His young teacher smiled from across that evening's cave, proud of how well her students were interacting with the Chinese refugees. It wasn't just nameless, faceless people that they were helping. The refugees and the students had become like a family as they had traveled through the Himalayas on their own version of the underground railroad. Though it had been a risky plan, it felt like coming here had been the right...
...decision time; everyone weighed in on what they thought should be done based on the new information. There was no clear right and wrong choice in this case, which meant they'd have to do what they always did; choose the lightest shade of...
...grey fog hung heavily over the mountains and swirled between trees. The spirit of the refugees, just hours away from liberty, was not dampened by the moist air. Yet, they remained quiet as they walked. They were not about to give themselves away by being too loud now. It didn't matter. The soldiers waiting in the trees already knew exactly where they would be. Someone had betrayed their...
“...trust me. We'll practically be able to run things from...”
...the shadows between the trees were not dark enough to hide them from the night vision goggles of...
...the soldiers of harmony finally agreed on a course of action they could all support, certain it would eventually lead to world...
...peace was shattered by gunshots. Dark spots stained the snow beneath the heads of the refugees who were finally...
...free for the rest of the afternoon, the teachers vacated the lounge. As the room emptied the young blonde teacher smiled at her serious minded coworker as he adjusted his scarf. To think, the two of them had started this little group so long ago. Who ever would have expected that it would have grown into something that could truly change...
...the world was thrown into chaos. The massacre of the refugees was the first domino in a long chain that plunged the planet into its third world war. Once the events had begun there was no going back. You can't unstart something...
...once it had been started the little group had gained a life of its own. Surely they would someday bring about the peace they all dreamed of.
Two small words and the entire classroom scene had changed from a sleepy and peaceful morning to an emotionally charged confrontation. Too. Much. Testosterone.
Katrina could only watch wide eyed as the green eyed doppelganger pointed his bat threateningly at Koga who had jumped up to protect her from whatever it was that had frightened her. This new student didn't even know what caused the commotion and he was ready for a fight with the first thing he saw that moved. His body language spoke louder than his words; his claim that he didn't want to start anything was not very believable as long as he was the only one in the room holding a weapon.
Calley and Carrick both spoke up, both trying to settle everything down again, which seemed to work. At least the guy put his bat away and started to go back to his own business of ignoring the rest of the world.
>>>”And I think that might be the first time someone beat me swearing aloud in a class… don’t like that S*** one bit…”
Katrina didn't manage much of a smile at the winged boy's attempt to lighten the situation. At this point she would rather just forget that she had sworn at all.
After a few moments it became apparent that the baseball bat kid wasn't done with her quite yet. He had thought of something else to add to his earlier statements and returned over to her side of the room. At least this time his tone was gentler and even attempted to be friendly.
>>>"Look, sorry tha' I scared you righ'. The name's Tom Barker, an I tell ya, I won' 'urt you ok?"
Katrina stared at his hand for a split second; the handshake, the friendliness, it was such a reversal from a moment before when he'd practically been spitting and hissing at all the other male cats in the room, then Calley interrupted. There was a warning in his question that was not aimed at Tom, though the question was addressed to him.
>>>“What’s your mutation, Tom? I’m Calley. Tiger shifter.”
She knew Calley well enough to read between those lines. There was no telling that even if he said what his mutation was that he'd be at all complete or even truthful. Touching his skin could be a very bad idea. Especially when he'd already proven himself to being a little hostile. Sure, he'd said he wouldn't hurt her, but they'd already established how easy it was to lie.
Valiant Carrick tried to change the subject, >>>”Tiger shifter? Got a trick I’ll need to show you sometime…”
But Tom, as he called himself, wasn't sidetracked by questions and subject changes, >>>"It's alrigh' you don' need to shake my 'and, I just wanted you to know tha' I ain't a danger to anyone who ain' a danger to me."
Katrina gave him a shy smile as he withdrew his hand and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. This was a school for mutants. The first question the greeters asked every new comer was “Is your mutation dangerous to yourself or others?” Generally every mutation was dangerous in some way.
>>>"Me mate? I'm invulnerable. Can take an 'it like a champ!"
See? Even though he probably wouldn't shock her to death by touching her skin (assuming he was being truthful) it still would have been very dangerous to have gotten into a fist fight with him. He wouldn't have even needed the bat.
And he went on, again telling others that they needed to chill.
>>>“... I've know 'ow tha' works mate. If you show weakness on your firs' day, you get three beatings and a swirly tha' day, and another beating every other day for the res' of the year. I ain' letting tha' 'appen twice I tell you."
An insightful piece of information, that last little phrase.
Though he hadn't directed that comment at her, Katrina responded to it quietly, “That's not how it works here, Tom. Here, we're a family; we have to be. There's a whole big world out there that hates mutants, if we can't even get along amongst ourselves we're not going to last long.” If this boy didn't learn to control his temper, he could very easily wind up making the wrong person angry. He may be an unbreakable shield, but someday he may find himself up against an unstoppable force wishing he hadn't been quite so eager to pick a fight.
The land of shadows was a simple place where the inhabitants lived, died, and were reborn at the mercy of the quotidian rising and setting of the sun. A rainbow of greys danced across the landscape. Shadows as pale as laughter flitted between rich brooding shapes. Light sparkled between shivering shadow leaves, the only evidence that somewhere a gentle breeze blew. A gently colorless silhouette of a stag grazed beneath a tree, his form rippled across the uneven surface of the grass as he melted into the dark, solid trunk on one side and out of it on the other. A bird, its edges nearly indistinct, flew across the plane and the stag momentarily glanced up at its passing before something else caught its attention.
Something was coming.
It loomed at the edge of his perception, a large shape indistinct in shape at first then gradually gaining definition as it neared. The group was silent, but if they could have made noise they would have been talking and laughing as they walked. The people flowed in and out of each other; a kaleidoscope of grey. Everywhere two shapes overlapped a new shade was created, no two exactly alike.
The shadow stag whirled and dashed away before the group got too close.
A pale girl skipped through the shadowy group as they advanced, as if trying to walk with everyone all at the same time. Happy and carefree she slid past and through her comrades to lead the way. And came to a sudden halt.
A black shadow, darker than any other she had come across before lay across their path. The others didn't seem to notice the strange shape that blocked their path. The girl tried to yell, to warn them to stop, but there was no such thing as sound in the land of shadows. There was nothing she could do as one by one they slipped into the darkness.
No one reappeared on the other side.
The sinister shape turned, shifting its gaze towards the little girl. Its eyes glowed impossibly green in a colorless world.
The little girl's mouth opened in a silent scream.
So the future had already been changed. No virus outbreak meant that a lot of people who would have died would get to live; but it also meant that some people who were supposed to live might not. Katrina felt a pang of sadness for the lioness and the little baby that would never be born.
Her own future could also change. She might not grow up into the strong person that she had become in the dream because she hadn't really lived through those hardships. Except that she had lived them, once. And now that she knew what she could be, she had the choice of working toward that goal again.
“If I did it once, I can do it again,” she stated with a confident nod. Her gaze flicked to the doorway of the sanctuary, where her mother was returning with a whole armful of informational pamphlets.
Katrina returned Rupert's smile, “I'll see you next week!” And with that she slid off the bench and skipped back towards her mother. It was the first time in months that she'd skipped anywhere, but that thought didn't occur to her. She had too many other things to think about.
“Nothing higher than a step ladder,” Katrina quipped back at the winged boy, “you take any naps under deadly trees lately, falling, burning, or otherwise?”
A tall shape marched past her and took the seat between Calley and the window. Katrina's last rational thought was that the back row was full up now so anyone who was both a slacker and late would be stuck in the middle row. Then she caught a glimpse of the face from down the row; unkempt black hair, bored expression, baseball bat, bright green eyes.
“Holy s***!” She normally didn't swear. Or jump out of her seat like she'd sat on a porcupine. Or back into the corner feeling for the doorknob behind her back to make her escape and generally looking as terrified as if she'd seen the devil. Or his doppelganger.
Slowly, slowly, the realization dawned on her. This boy wasn't him. And she was looking mighty ridiculous.
“Uh, sorry. I thought you were somebody else. For a second there. ... Yeah.” And slowly, slowly, she slid herself back into her seat trying not to make any more of a scene than she already had. There was nothing like making a good impression on the first day.