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.
Sylar wasn't stupid, he'd been attacked first, and he'd make her tell him why. He refused to accept her words. She was talking about control, like little creatures just did what they wanted. He could see no such creatures, but he had heard them. Perhaps they were invisible? Invisible monsters would be a terrifying power. His senses remained glued to her, picking up every bit of information she gave up, holding it like a sponge. Their game of words was slowly turning useless, as he could easily tell how she felt about the situation. She was afraid of him, and that meant he had power over her.
She threatened him, spoke of demons here to protect her. Fine, so she was a witch, but he was a monster. Sylar spoke slowly, the sound of his voice softer than a man, but with malicious intent beyond any man. "You sound so defiant." A hiss escaped his throat, as he finished his statement. "But I can taste your fear." With that, his tail hit the water, frightening Alma and causing her to stumble. Preventing any more talk, her Bodach reacted and tossed her pepper spray at him, the can too difficult to make out as it smacked him in the shoulder, surprising him.
She bolted from the junction into one of the tunnels, as Sylar stood confused and suddenly assailed by various pieces of his lair. He hissed out in anger, pulling his arms in close to block, and then starting to slash at the air around him. Sylar cursed, swearing at the foul creatures he couldn't see that pestered him with junk. "I'm going to tear you apart!" He screamed into the tunnels, his words echoing after Alma as she made her escape.
In the time it took Sylar to peel away from the angry Bodachs, Alma had made her way to a hiding spot, a hole in the wall hidden behind a trail of pipes. Sylar bolted into the sewers, following her deluded scent. The biggest issue for Alma was as Sylar had already told her. This was his world, his natural environment. The scent of her body, and the sounds of her actions were both foreign down here, and that meant eventually Sylar would find her. She'd attacked him, accused him, threatened him. She had to be dangerous, she'd get to the police, or somebody, she'd come after him, she'd kill him. Sylar was slowly becoming terrified by this entire night.
The sounds of his claws digging into the sewage and brick of the tunnel grew louder, he was coming her way, following the trail she'd left as she escaped. She'd made a clever choice, concealing herself behind the pipes, and in the hole. The pipes were warm, creating a heat source to help break up her own. His claws clacked repeatedly as he barreled to where she was. Her smell was in this tunnel, he knew she'd been here, now where had she gone? He was hunting her, Alma was now prey, alone in the dark. He lingered for a moment, his body visible beyond the pipes, his breathing was heavy, from exertion and anxiety. He continued down the tunnel to an intersection, sniffing the air and looking for where she'd gone. He cursed again, anger and fear mixed in his voice.
He couldn't find her trail in either direction of the intersection, and turned back, slowly making his to the pipes. His nervousness showed, his fear starting to overwhelm his anger. He spoke to himself, the anger in his voice gone, revealing again the adolescent sound he naturally had. "No no no no!" He repeated, becoming frantic. "She's gonna get the cops, and they'll come down here. Oh god I'm gonna die." He steeled himself, and tried to psyche himself up for what he'd have to do. "I can't let them get me, I'll find her, I'll end her." He said solemnly, before he turned to the warm pipes and dropped his body down to the ground, staring directly toward Alma in her hiding spot, his dead eyes staring at her. He sniffed the air, her scent concentrated here, but not aware she was stuffed into the hole. If she made a noise now, she'd have her back to the wall, and an angry predator to fight, however, Sylar still didn't know she was there. Finding nothing, he'd rise back up and turn back towards the intersection, picking the left path and creeping around looking for Alma.
The sewers, a vast network of mostly ignored and uninhabited tunnels, the home of Manhattan's own monster. This was Sylar's world, a place he'd never brought anyone else on purpose before, and now here he was, staring down the woman he'd brought to his own bed. The junction was dark, nearly pitch, her eyesight useless to her. But to Sylar, she was the lone torch in the room, so bright with body heat she was nearly blinding. He assumed whatever her power was, had yet to follow her here, leaving safe to question his assailant.
He watched as she stirred, confusion obvious in her movements. However, Sylar kept distant, moving no closer to her as she stood and prepared her can of pepper spray. He'd never been sprayed before, but her stance clearly meant it was a weapon to be avoided. A deep part of him felt enjoyment at this moment, the fear that she tried to hide. Sylar could hear the racing of her heart, and smell the building sweat on her, an animal didn't need to see fear in your eyes, because it could taste the fear in your heart, and Sylar, for whatever reason, had enjoyed the taste, if for just a moment.
"You did attack me lady, I was in the store gathering food and you somehow attacked me from outside, grabbing at me and stealing what was mine." He told her, the anger of his voice the only emotion he showed. "Was it a mutant store? Is that why you came at me?" He demanded, still certain she had attacked him on purpose with how the bodachs had "assaulted" him in their lust for attention and sugar. He moved, pacing down the opposing side of the junction, his movements quiet, but a soft clack on the brick as his claws tapped down onto it with each step.
He saw her flinch, and he realized however he'd hit her, was still hurting. He couldn't say so, but he actually didn't mean to hurt her, well he was thinking about hurting her, but now he felt only slightly guilty about knocking a woman unconscious. He wasn't sure what he'd do with her, but for now he just wanted to know why she'd come at the store when he was raiding it.
Kidnap? Sylar hadn't kidnapped her...or had he? He just realized he'd assaulted a woman, and carried her back to his home like some thug...or maybe more like a cat taking it's kill home. "I didn't kidnap you...er well I mean I did...but I didn't want to." He was stuttering, confused as to exactly what he was doing now. It'd all be an in the moment sort of event, his rage leading to the attack and his fear of police involvement leading to him making a run for it with the woman. Hopefully he could get out of this without murdering a mutant. He wasn't sure what she meant with her threats, his brain seeing the situation as entirely in his favor at the moment.
"You know...I can see you, perfectly in fact. I see you standing up, back to the wall, holding up whatever that is, ready to fight." His voice was calm, emotionless, because Sylar was stating facts now. "If I really wanted to hurt you, I'd have gutted you lady." Sylar really didn't hurt people, or did he even want to hurt anybody, but he took his image as intimidating seriously, because it was his best shield against the normal people above. "This is my world Lady, do you really want to fight the monster in the dark?" His tail whipped downward, hitting the water a few feet behind where Sylar was crouched with a loud splash. A simple distraction to see how she'd react, to see where she'd turn.
He didn't want trouble though, he didn't want to deal with police, or her family coming after him, he just wanted to be left alone. "Look...I didn't mean to knock you out, and I had to run before anybody else showed up." Sylar was far more afraid of crowds than he was some woman mutant. "I can't have cops after me, so I brought you here, where nobody will find you." There was emphasis on the end of his sentence, a threatening heartless emphasis. "So we could talk about this." He didn't move from his spot across from her, watching her, and staying away from the aim of her pepper spray. But his mind began to think about what he'd do if she didn't play nice.
The junction had been changed over the years by Sylar, now furnished with a pile of snack foods, empty chip bags, and various bottles of soda. There was also a few backpacks littered about, filled with various things Sylar had stolen, as well as clothes to replace his whenever they finally wore out. He didn't have a bed, instead using a makeshift futon made from various old clothes. For now, he sat Alma down into the pile, which wasn't the most comfortable bed in the world, but far better than the brick and mortar beneath it.
After that, he quickly backed away, hiding himself in the opposing corner of the room. There was little light here, some from a lamp in the junction, the rest ambient light making its way down from the surface. Sylar could see her perfectly well, but when Alma awoke, she'd be alone in a dank, humid place, her bodachs in pursuit, but not quite there.
Sylar sat, crouched down, creating a monstrous silhouette in the dark, his eyes and senses all locked on Alma's form. He waited, only his breathing mixing in with the noises of the sewer. Water run off, trickling into the pool beneath them, various echoes from tunnels afar, and finally as she stirred back to the waking world, his voice.
"I don't know how, but you attacked me!" He accused her, entirely unaware that the bodachs were separate entities and sure they were her power purposely trying to hurt him. "You shouldn't attack a monster, not a normal mutie like you." He wanted to sound threatening, to prove he wasn't to be messed with, but to be honest, Sylar was a little afraid of her, because he couldn't see her power, but he knew she was a mutant, just like him. For now, Alma was in no danger, but in her eyes, this might be most of the most terrifying moments she'd ever had.
Sylar was generally a creature of instinct, fear of danger, curiosity of the unknown, and the need for food. But this day, his raid ruined by invisible hands, his perfect break in ruined by surprise, and finally spotting a woman who seemed to be behind it all, hiding beyond a metal gate and calling him on robbing the store. These things together did something that hadn't happened to Sylar in awhile, it pissed him off. His claws sliced through the thin metal with the effort of a hot knife through butter. His focus was on the woman, however he was assaulted from all sides by the invisible monsters. Creatures grabbed at his hands, and he could hear a louder sound and feel it's presence on his tail. He turned and twisted, hissing loudly as he tried to find the creatures assailing him, but he could only hear their words and feel their touch.
Frightened and enraged, he slashed the air, trying to find anything to murder, but it was finally when a large bodach nabbed his tail with an excited squeal, that Sylar found a home for his weaponry. The creatures form grabbed his tail, holding on to its price for but a moment, as Sylar turned and dug his hand into the creatures face, an odd feeling, almost like his hand was digging into a weird jello. The bodach released his tail with an odd noise, which seemed to distract the others. Sensing his chance, Sylar jumped away and took to all fours. His body was like a cheetah, lean and efficient as his hands and feet tore into the ground and propelled him towards Alma. She'd had a head start, but she had no chance to hide from the Predator, no could she hope to out run him. The average person might be able to run at 15 miles per hour at their best, but Sylar could easily hit thirty miles per hour when he went all out.
His tail undulated in the air as he ran, his hood catching air and coming off to reveal his face, enraged behind his chaotic sanguine hair. He said no words, only breathing loudly as he barreled down on Alma. She would turn just in time to see her attacker as Sylar lept forward and knocked her to the ground. Sylar was running on rage though, and his tackle hit her harder than expected, smashing her body into the ground knocking the wind from her lungs, and consciousness from her thoughts. Sitting atop her, he realized he'd just attacked a woman in the middle of a street on the surface, causing his rationality to rush back to him. He looked at her "Oh crap...Don't be dead lady, just don't be dead." Sylar acted quickly, standing up and tossing Alma over his shoulder, and searching for a hiding spot. He couldn't just head into an alley, or try to hide atop a building, he had once choice.
Reluctantly, Sylar made for a manhole, quickly fumbling it open and dropping down into the underground. People had told tales of the Predator taking people into the sewers, or seeing bodies dropped into them to never show up again, but in actuality, Alma was the first person Sylar had taken. Unaware the Bodachs would be in pursuit, and eventually find their Mistress, Sylar took his catch to a place no one had seen in years. An old sewer junction, a circular connection of multiple sewer ways, as well as a busted hole leading into the Subway tunnels, this was the Lair of the Boogeyman.
Sylar had finished his bit of "grocery" shopping, having grabbing a bag full of snack foods and bottled soda, and of course a can or two of cat food. His raid successful, he figured it was about time to escape the building and flee the scene before anything caught wind of his presence in the store. However, before he could make his way from the store, he heard a faint sound, a voice, but not very human, at least not an adult? He wasn't sure, letting his senses scan the area, he couldn't smell anything besides the various oders of the store, couldn't see any heat big enough to be a person. The wind? As he tried to figure out what he was looking for, he felt it. A presence, a grab at his tail, and this immediately caused him to yank his tail back, a defensive with drawl.
The small bodach, the lucky first to find the shiny let out a sound as it's prize was pulled away. Sylar could hear the creature, but his blind eyes couldn't see it. His anxiety grew, as more "oohs" and "hey" and various noises surrounded him. He hissed audibly, a threatening sound completely inhuman in sound. His bag of sweets and sparkly armor however drew them to him like a moth to a flame. Small bodachs grabbed at his bag, while the other came at his tail, with Sylar turning and attempting to dodge the invisible creatures, unable to figure out just what was attacking him.
"What the heck, Back off!" He screamed, loud enough to be heard outside the store's doors. But the last straw was when the larger bodach finally made his way into the Store. Distracted by the little creatures, the Bodach managed to grab the blade of Sylar's tail, pulling hard enough for Sylar to truly freak out. Backed into a corner and frightened, he yanked his tail back hard, pulling the grabbing Bodach forward to fall into his scampering brethren.
Sylar took this moment to leap away, but his mind unhinged from the surprise, all he managed to do was leap into one of the aisles of food, knocking all the racks off and falling amidst the various chips and candies, officially making a mess of the store floor. His frantic actions didn't seem to dissuade the Bodachs from seeking candy and sparkies though, the various chirpy noises of excited bodachs spooking Sylar completely. He stood up,backing towards a wall and slashing at the air. "Where are you! Come out!" He screamed, his voice filled with fear and threatening intent.
The creatures distracted by the various sweets littering the floor, Sylar chose this moment make for the door, his claws shearing away the glass and weak metal frame like paper, making way for the monster's escape. However he was distracted as his eyes finally found a heat signature standing outside the store and making it's way toward him. The figure was small, with the curves of a woman. His fear and rage overtaking his mind he immediately shouted. "Leave me alone!" He only assumed she was the cause cause he couldn't see anything else but her. All that separated him from the outside was the metal grates, and they'd give to his claws in just a moment.
Perhaps her comment would have made a normal person happy, but Sylar reacted rather bluntly to the comment. "Then I guess it's a good color." He didn't really understand the notion of favoring a color as he was blind, but he guessed it was similar to having a favorite flavor, or a favorite smell. Though he really had nothing favorite in his lifestyle, except maybe the taste of bottled soda. Sylar's tail came to rest on the ground, generally it swayed back and forth, but he was actually starting to feel comfortable talking to Kiva. He had enjoyed meeting Serena, and meeting a second mutant was easier for him after that brief encounter.
Almost everyone would react with anger to how Sylar was seen by his mother, except for him. Perhaps his instinctive based thoughts were a strength in dealing with the harshness of life, but he never really thought about his parents much anymore. So she knew of this place too, it must be a sincere home for mutants then. "Part of me wondered if such a place was too good to be true. But if you've heard of it, maybe it's a place worth seeing." He'd stockpile food on his next raid, enough to give him a night to check out the mansion without feeling hungry.
"I haven't been caught or killed yet, but sometimes I wonder what it'd be like to be with other mutants. I learned once that many predators are pack animals, maybe mutants need to stay together for the same reasons." Sylar however, had become quite used to his solitude, creating a weird anxiety about meeting or considering joining any type of group. Alone he could hide, and protect himself, but in a group he could have friends, and be protected. His heart wanted the latter, but his instincts screamed for the first choice. Seeing this mansion might clear his head enough to decide which path to allow himself to follow.
Sylar had never known color, at least not like everybody else. He knew of reds, yellows, and oranges, to him they were variations of heat, not the perception of light. So he'd never seen his own hair before, but he wondered if red was a good color. "My mother once told me it was a similar color to a rose." His hair however was a dark red, matching the reddest of roses, but to most people the color could only match one thing, blood. He pulled his hair back, clearing the freed strands from his face and eyes. "Is red a good color?" He wondered aloud.
Perhaps mutation by nature changed a person's personality and nature, or maybe it was the way they were treated, but for Sylar, the loss of himself to his instincts was an every increasing fact, which he both accepted and feared. Instincts kept him alive, but if he ever lost himself, would being alive matter then? Too complex a thought, he let it slip away as he focused on his words with Kiva. "Perhaps after ten years like this, I simply won't remember what it was like to be human." Kiva seemed both similar to him, but reminded him of his conversation with Serena, mutants were still people, he'd learned that much. However, he still only felt like a person himself in their presence.
She said she'd met people, knew people who sided with her as she lived the life of a mutant, maybe she lived with other mutants like Serena had said she did. "My parents were there, when I changed. My mother called me a monster, so I've lived that way ever since." His voice had lost it's sense of sadness, as Sylar felt no great sadness over his parent's fear, it made sense to him even if it was cruel. However, his voice also held no anger or resentment, which might surprise Kiva, or anyone he spoke to about his past. "I met a mutant girl a few nights ago, Serena. She told me that she lived at a mansion with other mutants. Do you know of such a place?" He'd decided to check this mansion out, to meet the mutants who lived together and kept their humanity. He didn't know if he'd want to live there too, but he at least wanted to see his own kind, to see more of how they dealt with the same curse he had.
Sylar didn't know it had a name, but he'd become quite talented at what most would call Parkour. His ability to move across the urban landscape had become nearly unbeatable in his three years of nightly raids. He had routines he'd learned, and one of them was to always raid a store far from his entry point into the sewers, otherwise the Police had a better chance of catching him or figuring out where he went after a raid. He'd crossed a few blocks of cityscape, before finally settling on the top of a corner store. He remained motionless at the edge of the roof, probably looking like a monstrous gargoyle.
However he was no stoic guardian, but a scavenger looking for a meal. His eyes watched the streets, picking up every trace of heat they gave off. The cars, the people, anything that could be a danger to him during his raid was observed. And eventually the activity on the streets became barren enough for him to move. His hands and feet had evolved into deadly weapons, razor sharp claws that could rend just about anything, including the brick of a building. They dug in like knives into meat, gouging out hand holds for him as he moved down the building and vanished into it's shadows. He was sure he'd picked a good time to do it, nobody should have seen him, or at least nobody would be foolish enough to check out a monster climbing down a building.
He never broke in the front doors, a mistake he'd learned long ago. Instead he chose always the back or side doors, less attention that way. And doors were a poor barrier for the Predator, easily smashed aside by his enhanced strength. Sylar clenched his fist and smashed it down against the handle, tearing it away from the door and clearing his path. He was quiet, dealthy so, his armored feet made the softest of clicks as they touched the floor beneath him. This store wasn't the best of places for food, geared more for snacks and quick liquor, but it had enough. Sweets, snack foods, soda, things that were quick energy were his favorite targets. He'd bag up enough to last a day or so, and begone by the time the police came to find another crime scene left by their least favorite sewer dweller.
However he lingered a moment, looking for the one item that wouldn't make much sense to anybody else. He wanted to find cat food, or anything he could give to the cats. A strange relationship, a sewer dwelling nightmare that loved felines, but it'd keep him here for a for extra minutes. His tail began to sway back and forth, glinting in the light from the outside, and giving away his image through the glass to the outside main street.
Part of Sylar felt stupid for how he felt about his mutation when she'd lived with hers so much longer, but it was a small part, lost to his animal personality. "You had a worse change than mine. My change is slow, but has painful spurts when the plates grow." He again looked over his right hand, remembering the day when his hands changed and he gave up on normal life. The pain had been intense, a tearing sensation mixed with burning as his skin reformed and hardened into new shapes. However, after the changes his skin grew duller and colder.
"My change isn't just what you can see, I'm stronger, faster, hungrier than a person. Every month I grew into more of an animal. Do you feel it too? The loss of thought and emotion." As he spoke, Sylar remained emotionless, cementing his point. Sylar had been a boy once, with the same wants and needs as everybody else. But now, he'd grown into something so much more fierce and indomitable, but the loneliness never changed. He realized that, even an animal wants to be with it's kind, a lone wolf always missed it's pack, and he'd never had one.
"I can understand though, how one person can make it easier." He remembered the girl, that terribly frightened child who'd called him Boogeyman, and yet came to trust him, and held onto him as he returned her home, to the normal people, and yet he'd never taken it as a sign he could return. Perhaps he was simply too far gone, or perhaps he'd pushed himself away. Kiva made him wonder about a lot of things he'd taken as set in stone. "I wonder what became of the little girl." He spoke mostly to himself, probably creating alot of questions for Kiva, but only with that sentence did emotion enter Sylar's voice. A somber lonely voice, lost to the dark for three years.
Sylar pulled back the hood from his head, revealing long blood colored hair, scraggly and a mess, but he pulled it back, showing that he still had a mostly human face. His black spider webbed eyes focused on Kiva, and though they couldn't see her, her heat image, against a swathe of gray somehow made Sylar feel comfortable and human at the moment, even with his animal anxiety biting at his heels.
Her words may have made sense to her, but to Sylar, his opinion of society had been decided long ago, even before he went underground. He understood fear, but to try and emulate normal people again, somehow it made him angry. He put his right hand before his face, it was encased with exoskeletal plating, smooth obsidian, with pockets showing the hardened skin beneath. He clinched his hand, showing off his claws. "I stopped being human years ago, I don't think laws mean much to me now." He said bluntly, though Sylar had never crossed any major lines, he had been a notorious burglar for awhile now.
Her questions touched no nerves, Sylar never showed any anger or surprise, but spoke almost like an observer, somebody who wouldn't care what happened. "No, I was normal enough outside from being blind. I started to change about 3 years ago. First the hands, and then more of my body with time." He felt oddly at peace talking to Kiva though, she wasn't so kind as Serena had been, but they both had been dealt a similar hand by fate. Both mutants, both monsters unable to hide it. "I figure I'll keep changing till my entire body is monstrous." And at the rate of his body's morphing, it'd probably only take another few years before Sylar was entirely inhuman.
"I spent alot of my life being normal, trying to be like everybody else, to fit in." He began to remember his life before his first change, his life as the blind kid nobody liked. "But I was never normal enough, I was born different, blind, so nobody ever really accepted me." He hadn't ever told this story before, but it didn't bother him, he simply stated facts. "Being blind was enough to segregate me, so the mutation just cemented that I was different." He couldn't see what his own hand actually looked like, only the heat from his body, and the cooled encasing of his armor around that heat. But he knew how different it was from a normal hand.
Sylar was a bit confused by her response, she was an obvious mutant like he was, shouldn't she be as afraid of normal people as him? He'd convinced himself of how the public was, so hearing her response kind of shook his mental image of normal people. "They don't scare you?" He asked, not specifying what he meant, but it was obvious he meant normal people. "Not even the cops chase you?" Sylar had never realized the biggest reason the police chased him was his suspicious behavior, and habit of robbing corner stores.
As blunt as Sylar was, she'd already picked up on his fear of normal people, and his speech would show that as well. Even just uttering the word normal made him slightly tense. "I met a mutant girl, she looked like everybody else. But not us, especially me." He sort of went into a monologue,lost in his own thoughts at the moment, losing his sense of awareness for a moment. "I'm terrified of normal people, always hiding in the dark. And yet you still walk with them, how'd you earn the respect without terrifying them?" For an animal, respect was mostly earned through power and fear, to think people could come to accept differences based on logic, or communication, was incomprehensible.
A loud bang in the distance brought Sylar back from his dip into his thoughts, quickly putting him on edge again. "Too much talking, Nevermind me." His anxiety was starting to get to him, staying in one place so long was like an alarm bell for his instincts, but he wouldn't flee just yet. Another mutant like himself was an opportunity he couldn't let go without knowing a few more things, information that could keep him alive in the future.
Sylar wasn't surprised he gave off an animal like presence, he'd spent three years as one, so it'd not like he'd still be a person in actions. "Good steak." Was his comment about the food, no thanks, or questions about it, just that it was good. He turned to face her again, though he remained crouched down and relaxed alot more than at the start of their little meeting. "I can't keep cats, but I feed them sometimes." As he spoke, he finished up with his tail, having rubbed any trash into his jeans, he sniffed the blade a few times, which must have smelled quite foul especially to a more powerful nose like the one Sylar had.
He swayed back and forth a bit, his senses registering every bit of information he could pick up. As her wings unfurled, it finally cemented her status as a mutant in his mind. Sylar had never seen a dragon, but he'd spent many years when he was younger reading, and having things taught to him. A dragon was a big lizard, a scaly creature with claws, teeth, and wings. "Drake huh?" He questioned for a moment, Sylar had never taken to the names given to him by the general populace, but Kiva had. Perhaps she enjoyed the moniker, Sylar really didn't care so long as people kept away from him. "My name's Sylar. But I guess the locals call me the Predator." However, Sylar had always felt one name fit him best of all considering his appearance and lifestyle. "And I guess I look like the Boogeyman." He finished.
Sylar wasn't sure where to go from here, he'd found another chance to talk to a mutant, but would it go as well as last time? Kiva was like him though, everyone could tell she was a mutant, shouldn't she be as afraid as he was. "You...you aren't afraid to be in public looking like a mutant?" The question might be taken offensively, but Sylar didn't really care about being polite, or a better statement would be he didn't understand being polite anymore.
He nodded at her, he couldn't remember when he'd last been made an offer like hers. For someone to offer to help him, even when he was in school he'd been mostly ignored. "Yes, easy to track now that I know it." He perked up a bit, listening intently to the world at large. He'd been here too long, stationary and not on the move meant more people could find him. He'd let her distract him too long, he needed to get back to his lair in the sewers. "We...we'll meet again?" He said, both a confirmation, and the question of a lonely boy.
However, he gave little time to answer, something went off in the distance, a siren or alarm? Either way it was enough for Sylar to quickly retreat back to the manhole. He quickly dropped back down into his home turf without another word. However, he'd leave Serena with the image again of something monstrous reaching out from the open manhole. Though this time his armored claw reached for the manhole to pull it back into place. With a clang it fell in and lodged itself closing off his world from hers.
Sylar stood for a moment, looking up at the now closed manhole. He'd never expected to catch a mutant right at a sewer exit, but tonight had been enjoyable still. He'd talked, been talked to, even been offered to meet others and find a place he wouldn't be hated. It was too much to process at once, but it still put a smile on his face. A small one, a hint of the humanity beneath the teeth, and claws, and grime. He quickly darted off, racing the sewer ways at top speed as he made his way back to one of the junction's he used as lairs to sleep for the daytime.
"The place probably has plenty of your scent then. I could find it." He explained, completely unaware the idea of being found by smell might be odd to someone. But for Sylar, the smells of the world were so crisp he could probably navigate by scent alone if he wanted to. His sense of smell had always been better than the average person, but after his mutation took hold, it jumped to new level. He could pick apart every smell in the air, figure out where they came from, and how fresh they were.
Serena was like most girls, she had a sweet smell to her, a natural softness that was the exact opposite of most of Sylar's world. And having spent even just a short time talking to her, it was enough to separate her scent from the average woman's and keep it memorized to find later. And he'd use that if he did end up visiting this mansion of mutants.
"I won't go with you there, not up here on the surface. But I might want to stop by, on my own some night to see the place, a home for mutants." He meant it too, he did want to see the place, but he wasn't comfortable enough from just meeting a mutant for the first time to just go with her there. Plus he hadn't been to that area really, which meant it would be a blank for him, he'd have to learn the area before finally showing up at the mansion. Know the sewers, the exits, and spots to hide, escape routes.
If the mansion was as nice as Serena was, Sylar figured maybe it was easy to become a normal person like her again, if you lived with mutants, it must make each mutant seem so much less strange or dangerous. And really, even if he couldn't find a home there like Serena, he'd at least know a place to hunt or steal food that posed much less risk than his usual haunts.
Sylar didn't like the idea of someone taking him anywhere, especially an area he hasn't been before. Though he was very certain Serena wouldn't hurt him, or lie to him from the way she'd been acting since she saw him come up from the sewer. He wondered if she was beautiful, were all girls beautiful? He'd never thought about it, and now she'd put alot of human thoughts into a brain that had been mostly running on instincts for awhile.
"Fifteen minutes, by the river?" He confirmed, Sylar had never known street signs, or pictures for traveling. But his ability to hold an internal map in his head was quite good from years going off scent, hearing, and touch to find his way around. And Serena said she lived there, so her scent should be heavier there, essentially making her the landmark for him to find it. "So you live at this mansion? And have for awhile?" He asked, his questions curt, and more about confirming a way to find the place, not so much about curiosity.
He was still conflicted, but he'd at least consider seeing this place after scoping it out a bit at first. He'd never had friends in school, and his parents seemed so distant as he grew up, that this idea of meeting other mutants, and just being accepted was really pulling at his heart buried beneath all the muck he'd built up in the sewers.
He wondered though, if he went to this Mansion, would it mean he couldn't return to the shadows, and remain hidden. "If I go to this mansion, I don't have to stay? I could leave if I don't like it?" She might be confused by the question, wondering if Sylar didn't trust her. It wasn't that he didn't want to trust her, just to give trust was something he hadn't done for anyone in years, it was hard to come out of his shell, even with how sincere and kind Serena was. But she was reaching him, even if it was slow and gradual.
