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 Sebastian on Aug 11, 2008 23:43:05 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
730
0
May 18, 2013 11:53:12 GMT -6
(Open!)
Not surprisingly, Sebastian's hotel room had not been held for him while he had been enjoying the hospitalities of first the Church of Humanity and then Hunter Antonescue. He did, however, feel lucky that the hotel had saved his passport and driver's license for him, even if they hadn't saved the rest of his belongings. The hotel seemed less than fond of the idea of him staying there again and Sebastian found himself apartment shopping. New York City wasn't exactly his idea of paradise, but it was full of interesting people. Living there would also keep him in close proximity to Hunter, which meant Sebastian could keep an eye on the young immortal who had proven himself well capable of causing trouble.
“I'm sorry, we don't have a vacant apartment for you.” It was the fourth time Sebastian had heard those words. This time, though, the attractive young apartment supervisor that spoke them, shook his head sadly.
“Thank you for your time,” Sebastian responded for the fourth time, automatically starting to turn away. He had seen this kind of thing many times before.
“I really am sorry,” added the sandy haired young man, his voice kind, “I know you must be having a difficult time finding an apartment right now.” He eyed Sebastian's horn and carefully weighed his words to avoid offending him. “I don't have anything against mutants living here, but after the registration thing... many people have started getting anxious about having mutant neighbors.”
Sebastian nodded, “I understand completely. I wouldn't want you to lose any of your tenants because of me.” Sebastian was sure that he could have supplied enough money to change any apartment owners mind about letting him live in their building. He could not, however, change the suspicions and prejudices of his would-be neighbors.
“Perhaps,” the young man hesitated, not wanting to offend the well dressed mutant in front of him, “There is one place I know of. It's a shelter. Don't get me wrong, they have an interesting rep because of a big fight that happened there when it first opened, but they take in anybody. I lived there for awhile when I was first getting on my feet. They have decent rooms and food and everything.” The young man bit his lip, worried that the horned man would take offense to his idea of living in a homeless shelter. Sebastian thought the unconscious gesture was cute and smiled at him warmly.
“I think that sounds like a good place to begin. Thank you for the advice. What is the address?”
“I'll write it down for you,” Sebastian couldn't help but notice that the man wrote on the back of one of his own business cards. “You can't miss it,” the young man returned Sebastian's smile as he handed him the card, “it has huge golden doors.”
---
Sebastian stared up at the ostentatious gold doors. They looked more like Ghiberti should have designed them for a renaissance cathedral than likely candidates for covering the entrance to a homeless shelter. They honestly seemed more imposing than welcoming and for a place that was supposed to acept everyone, they screamed exclusiveness. Or perhaps, Sebastian thought, he was more behind the times and culture of New York City than the doors were. In any case, he'd have to knock to see what this sanctuary held in store for him, so knock he did.
Posted by Sebastian on Jul 29, 2008 10:17:20 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
730
0
May 18, 2013 11:53:12 GMT -6
Sebastian's last answer seemed to have been satisfactory, or at least, he wasn't being punished for it. For now it seemed that the vampire was content simply to ask questions, albeit difficult ones to answer for an eight-year-old child. Sebastian relaxed a hair's breadth, figuring that not knowing the exact answers might be okay after all. Thus comforted, but still with a healthy amount of fear, Sebastian gave the best answer he could to the dark immortal's second question.
“It d-depends. Maybe a hundred years, normally, but I can make it speed up or slow down or go backwards.” Sebastian got an idea; perhaps if he showed the older-younger man what he meant, he could impress him. Then Hunter might decide not to hurt him after all! Sebastian's face brightened and he sat forward eagerly, “I can show you, if you like!”
Posted by Sebastian on Jul 24, 2008 22:40:34 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
730
0
May 18, 2013 11:53:12 GMT -6
Hunter seemed pleased with himself, like a cat who had caught a mouse and was content for now just to play with it. His voice was almost soft enough to sooth a child, if the child didn't expect the voice to be followed by a sudden violent reversal.
>"How long have you been alive?"
It was such a long time ago that he had been born. So many memories blended together that Sebastian's childlike mind was confused. It was hard to think, to force all the memories to make sense, when his brain was so busy feeling afraid. His mind felt frozen. Sebastian didn't know the answer to Hunter's question. What would happen if he answered wrong?
“I-I d-don't know,” Sebastian finally stammered, more afraid to make up something incorrect than to admit that he didn't know how old he truly was. He didn't even know how long it had been since he had first met Hunter, in the dark and bloody church. He remembered how brave he had been the first time he had faced the dark man opposite him. He wished he could be brave now, too.
Posted by Sebastian on Jul 17, 2008 23:37:25 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
730
0
May 18, 2013 11:53:12 GMT -6
Sebastian froze in his chair as Hunter entered the room. He had forgotten how tall the dark immortal was. Silver eyes seemed to flash in Sebastian's direction. Sebastian's own blue eyes were wide and his face was a shade paler than usual.
The expression on Hunter's face was unreadable, which was almost more terrifying than when it was twisted by rage and hatred. More terrifying, because Sebastian didn't know what to expect but perhaps also because everything seems scarier when one is eight years old. Hunter's voice was similarly smooth and expressionless, with a silky snake charmer quality to it.
>"We need to talk."
Sebastian responded the same way he would have the first time he had been a child, when he was constantly afraid of unprovoked electrocution. “Y-yes, sir,” Sebastian answered with downcast eyes, showing submission and respect. The slight stutter had been unintentional, but nevertheless revealed his fear.
What did this bloodthirsty man want with him? Sebastian didn't dare ask.
Escape from one psycho who would happily torture me for the rest of his life, get caught by another psycho who could torture me for the rest of mine.
Sebastian was squirming in his chair. It seemed like he had been waiting forever. Of course, time seemed to go by much slower when one was waiting in an eight-year-old body. The minutes dragged on after the three men had dropped him off in bare room, given him a change of clothing, and told him that Mr. Antonescue would be in to see him shortly. Sebastian let his legs swing off the edge of the chair that was too big for him, back and forth, back and forth. It was like waiting to be called into the headmaster’s office to be spanked. Did they still do that in schools these days?
What did Hunter want with him? He could have finished him off back at the Church of Humanity if he had wanted to. Maybe he had tried, and hadn’t been able to kill him. Maybe he was going to finish the job tonight. Sebastian swallowed the lump in his throat and continued to kick his legs, back and forth, back and forth.
Posted by Sebastian on Jul 1, 2008 12:20:18 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
730
0
May 18, 2013 11:53:12 GMT -6
Nigel Banks was sitting in a black jeep across from the front doors of the hospital, headset resting on his ears, a cream soda bottle in his hand, eyes darting back and forth between the front door and various screens that let him see what the security guards inside the hospital were seeing.
Percy had insisted that it was Nigel’s turn to do surveillance because Nigel “always got to have all the fun” on these missions. Nigel didn’t mind doing surveillance in the least. All he had to do was sit in the jeep, sip his cream soda, and watch the monitors to see if anything interesting was happening. It was a relaxing day on the job, which almost never happened in Nigel’s line of work. A normal night had Nigel chasing down shadow jumping intruders or getting chased down by suckling vampires. Surveillance was nice for a change.
It was while he was feeding a loop to the main lobby security cameras to keep the unknown surgeons from being noticed that Nigel himself noticed something peculiar: a small white boy darting out from behind the fish tank toward the front door.
Nigel chuckled.
--
Dr. Percy Ferramouth was about to walk through the door into the urgent care unit when his progress forward was abruptly halted by a hand grabbing the collar of his shirt from behind.
“What gives?” he hissed at his partner.
“He’s got him,” Dr. Edward Sivuteeth IV informed him, tapping the tiny microphone in his right ear knowingly.
Percy’s eyebrows furrowed as he followed Edward back to the lobby again, “How does he do that? He was on surveillance.”
The doctor with the cane shrugged, “He’s Nigel Banks.”
Posted by Sebastian on Jul 1, 2008 11:58:34 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
730
0
May 18, 2013 11:53:12 GMT -6
Sebastian was still staring with shock at the remains of his once magnificent unicorn tail (which is like a lion’s tail, only better, because it is pure white), when the elevator doors opened on the main lobby of what appeared to be a hospital. The eight-year-old blinked away the moisture that had built up in his eyes due to the discovery of his now diminutive tail and glanced around. There was a front desk, chairs set up in rows, and a directory pointing out the way to the emergency room, the intensive care unit, and other hospital wards. The front lobby was quite dark at this time of night; all the action would be down in the emergency room so late in the evening.
Now out of immediate danger, Sebastian was suddenly curious to explore. He’d never been in a modern hospital before, not usually having a need for doctors. He had only ever seen the inside of hospitals on the doctor shows with which Americans seemed to be so obsessed. Sebastian was tempted to go visit the maternity ward and see the brand new babies. He loved babies. Or maybe there would be clothes that would fit him in the children’s ward. He turned in the direction indicated by the map on the wall, but then heard voices coming down the hall. Quickly, Sebastian ducked behind the lobby’s impressive fish tank just before two men in pale green scrubs walked by. One held a clipboard and freshly sharpened wooden pencil. The other was using a wooden walking cane.
“I don’t know how Antonescue expects us to find him in this huge place. He could be anywhere,” complained the tall, broad shouldered, brown haired doctor with a hawk like nose, whose name tag read Dr. Percy Ferramouth. He tapped the eraser of his pencil impatiently on his clipboard.
“He could not be anywhere,” reasoned his companion, a thin man with a pony tail and glasses, whose nametag read Dr. Edward Sivuteeth IV, “for example, we are highly unlikely to find him in either the maternity or the children’s wards. More likely, we will find him in some secret wing or basement laboratory. This isn’t exactly a mutant friendly hospital.”
“Can’t we just ask where he is at the front desk, like normal people?”
Dr. Edward Sivuteeth tapped his wooden walking cane thoughtfully on the floor, “Do you really think that would work?”
The voices faded away as the footsteps carried the two men past Sebastian’s hiding place and down the hallway. The young unicorn boy shakily emerged from behind the fish tank and hurried toward the front door. Scary men were looking for him. Sightseeing probably wasn’t the best idea in the world. Though, neither was wandering around in the middle of the night as a child with no clothes, identification, or money and with half a tail in the biggest city in the first country ever to have made it illegal to be a mutant.
Posted by Sebastian on Jul 1, 2008 11:14:32 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
730
0
May 18, 2013 11:53:12 GMT -6
All was quiet in the secret laboratory of Dr. Edward Shaw in the bowels of St. Job’s Hospital. The doctor himself was softly snoring hunched over his desk, all tuckered out after poking, prodding, and electrocuting his latest science experiment and spending several hours happily analyzing the results.
Sebastian was quite awake, having had plenty of sleep recently as well as several types of physical and chemical energy coursing through his body earlier that evening. His body had fairly efficiently repaired the damage from the electricity, but the adrenaline, being a substance natural to his body, was taking its sweet time wearing off.
Sebastian’s muscles were sore from the long period of time he had spent in the same position. Metal restraints held each of his limbs in place and bit into his skin. For some reason, his tail was still stinging with icy healing energy that seemed out of place. Sebastian shook the thought out of his head and focused on listening to the doctor’s snores.
The man called Ed had been snoring for at least 20 minutes now. Sebastian figured it was time to leave. He wasn’t going to take the abuse lying down, at least not now that he was awake. In his gradual way, Sebastian began to shift to a younger – and smaller – version of himself. The years melted off of him, and within a few minutes his hands and feet were small enough to slip out of the metal restraints that had held him to the cold metal table. With his newly liberated hands, Sebastian pulled off the sticky pads that were monitoring his various bodily functions. The heart monitor flat lined and emitted a quiet, but steady beeeeeep. Luckily the doctor did not wake up.
Sebastian peered over the edge of the table, which now seemed much taller than it had been before. Slowly, he put his feet over the edge and slid as far down as he could, letting himself drop the last 30 cm to the floor. He landed softly on bare feet and glanced around the darkened lab with wide eyes. It seemed darker and creepier now. The only light came from the computer monitor and the small lights on strange machines whose purpose Sebastian could only guess.
Finally, after nervously taking the keys from the snoring doctor’s belt, Sebastian had managed to make it out the locked laboratory and to the elevator. No special code was required to ascend from the basement, and Sebastian soon found himself headed toward the ground floor.
As he waited for the elevator to reach its destination, Sebastian examined himself in the full-length mirror that made up the back wall of the elevator. Peering back at him from the mirror with wide, innocent, blue eyes was the face of a pale eight-year-old boy. His white hair was unkempt, and his bangs kept falling in front of his eyes. For once, Sebastian’s chin lacked any sort of facial hair. In the center of his forehead was the barest beginning of a white spiral horn, barely 2 cm long. His body was, as usual, without scars. Sebastian spun around. He’d need to pick up some clothes somewhere. It wouldn’t do to run around as a naked child, not in this day and age. Then he noticed something amiss.
Posted by Sebastian on Jun 25, 2008 11:36:18 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
730
0
May 18, 2013 11:53:12 GMT -6
Edward switched of the electricity and administered a second dose of adrenaline to the specimen.
“Well, that was kind of disappointing. He hardly screamed at all before he fainted,” sneered Margaret.
Edward just grunted and wrote the appropriate numbers down on his clipboard.
Sebastian's eyes remained closed. His fingers were still twitching. His entire body tingled with cold. His breath was shaky, but he was still breathing and his heart was beating still, or again.
“Well, as much fun as this has been, I should be heading out. As much as I don't want to, I must return to work tomorrow. The Erickson case is becoming quite troublesome.”
Margaret nodded sympathetically, “I believe I should call it a night as well. See you tomorrow, Ed.” The doctor just nodded and continued to check various monitors and record his findings. He was pleased with the evening's work.
Posted by Sebastian on Jun 25, 2008 1:05:16 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
730
0
May 18, 2013 11:53:12 GMT -6
Lightning bolts twined themselves around the boy's arms and legs and coursed through his bones. Every part of him felt like it was on fire. Heat coursed through his veins in random patterns. Heat and cold struggled in a sizzling battle as his body fought to heal electrical burns as they occurred. He wasn't sure if he was screaming or not. He wasn't even sure if he could breathe.
“Stop it, brother. He's just a boy.”
“Stop being such a worrier, Earthshaker. He's a healer, and he's got to learn his lesson,” the lightning wielder flicked his wrist and the bolts jumped back into his finger tips.
The boy collapsed to the ground gasping for breath. His body continued to spasm. Burning cold energy seared him from within, his body's natural defenses struggling to repair the damage done to cells and neural pathways.
The lightning wielder strode over to the boy and crouched down, lifting his head up by the hair and forcing him to meet his gaze. The boy was breathing rapidly and his left eye twitched.
“Let's try this again,” the lightning user smiled, his brilliant white teeth flashing. “What are you,” he demanded.
“A child of the Blood, s-sir.”
“And what do you do when I order you to do something?”
“I obey, sir.”
His hand still clutched in the boy's hair, the lightning user jerked the boy's head toward a man who was cowering on the ground not far away. “That pathetic man broke his oaths. He will now pay for his actions.”
“Yes, sir,” replied the boy, still shaking, as the Thunderer handed him a sharpened knife.
The Earthshaker snorted in disgust at his brother's behavior and strode off.
Posted by Sebastian on Jun 25, 2008 0:23:51 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
730
0
May 18, 2013 11:53:12 GMT -6
Sebastian opened his eyes and blinked in the harsh fluorescent lights.
“Oh look, it's awake,” sneered a woman's voice. He tried to turn to look at the speaker, but he was restrained somehow and couldn't turn far enough to see her. “Remember me?” questioned the woman without legs as she maneuvered her wheel chair into Sebastian's range of view.
Sebastian's brain struggled to recall the correct memories. He'd spent a long time living in memories of the past before suddenly being jerked back to the present again, “Vous etes...” His voice cracked at first, unused to speaking after a long period of disuse. He cleared his throat. English, she was speaking English. “You are from the Church. I'm glad to see you are alright.”
The woman laughed, a barking sound lacking in mirth, “Glad? I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you. You should have just let him kill me! Soon you'll wish you...”
“Peggy,” the blind justice placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and stood behind her, “conversing with him is unnecessary. He's just a freak.”
The woman, Peggy, “hmph”ed in response and repositioned her chair, as if Sebastian were some sort of show she was going to watch and the blind man had changed the channel to some other station. “Oh, just get on with it Ed,” she snapped. “We don't have all night. At least, you and John have to get some sleep before work tomorrow or you'll both be vicious crabs tomorrow.”
Sebastian's mind was still adjusting to thinking in English again. Was she talking about shape shifters?
Then, the person named Ed, whom Sebastian could not see from his vantage point, threw a switch that released 40,000 volts of electricity through Sebastian's body.
Posted by Sebastian on Jun 24, 2008 23:45:33 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
730
0
May 18, 2013 11:53:12 GMT -6
He lay with his eyes closed over the grave of his love, waiting to die. He had lived a long life and everyone he had known was gone. He spent so many years wandering, searching, that he hadn't really made any other ties to this life. He was all alone, and ready to end his lonliness.
His body was worn down, frail and weak. His skin felt brittle and his joints ached with every movement. Even his healing ability could not stop the pains of growing old; the pain was a part of his old body and there was no healing it away. Even his tail hurt with every twitch. He was ready to end his pain.
He dozed on and off. The sun felt good on his ancient skin. He always seemed to be cold, even in the summer, but now, for once, he felt warm. If he lay perfectly still, he couldn't even feel the pain in his joints. The warmth of the sunlight had spread through his body. He felt better than he had in years, just lying there on the grass in the sunlight. He didn't want to move, lest he invite the pain back. If only he could make this feeling last a little longer.
He took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the grass. He could even smell the blossoms on the olive tree nearby. They smelled delicious. The whole world seemed so fresh.
He opened his eyes. It was like opening his eyes for the first time. The sunlight was strong, but after a few moments of blinking, his eyes adjusted. Had the grass been that vivid green color before he fell asleep? Had the sky been that blue ever before in his lifetime? And red! Those flowers at the base of the tree were so very red. They were very small flowers, but their bright hue more than made up for their diminutive size. He felt the urge to see them up close; they looked scrumptious.
He rolled to his side and pushed against the ground to gain the leverage he needed to stand. For some reason his hands didn't want to obey him, and he ended up sprawling on the ground face first. It didn't hurt as much as he had expected. In fact, even after moving, his joints felt pain free. He stared down at his front hooves, not recognizing them and not understanding why he didn't recognize them.
In a moment he was ready to try again. This time he had more success pushing off the ground with his unsteady legs and he was able to wobble over to the flowers. They looked good enough to eat, but he sensed that he wouldn't be able to digest them. What he really was craving was milk, something he hadn't had since he had been a goatherd so many years before. He heard the sound of a whinny from off to his left. It was an interesting sound, and he adjusted his ear accordingly to be better able to hear it. Wobbling on his unsteady legs, he made his way closer to the sound.
Posted by Sebastian on Jun 17, 2008 14:54:27 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
730
0
May 18, 2013 11:53:12 GMT -6
Sebastian was floating. His conscious and subconscious were merged. He was dimly aware of bright lights shining through his eyelids, and of cold metal against his skin, and a needle in his arm. His thoughts, though, were thousands of miles and thousands of years away.
He had traveled so far in his lifetime. He was searching for a place to call his own, but hadn't found a place to truly call his own since Troy had burned down. After years of wandering, he had come to realize that home was were his heart was- with his love. If only he could find her, she would be so old by now. As old as he was himself, and he was feeling his age in every joint. He saw it in his reflection, in his long white beard and papery, wrinkled skin.
He was stopping for a night at a farmer's house for the hundredth time, when he saw her. He could still remember the feeling of hope and happiness when he saw her face. He felt young again, as if he could stand up and dance. The young girl looked just like Syrinx had as a little girl.
“Girl,” he called her over from her task of minding the hearth, “Do you know a lady named Syrinx?”
The girl nodded shyly, but retreated to stand behind a dark haired woman, and hid most of her face behind the woman's back. One of Syrinx' eyes peeked out at him, sparkling like they always had, so many years ago.
The dark haired woman answered for her daughter, “Syrinx was my grandmother. She died a few years ago.”
Sebastian nodded, “Thank you for telling me.” He had been prepared for her answer, he had almost expected it after all of these years. He no longer needed to continue his search. The light feeling of hope abandoned him, leaving a gaping hole somewhere in his chest.
--
It was here that his love was buried, and here he would wait to be buried beside her. He probably wouldn't need to wait long, he could feel his body failing. He was happy. He would be with her again soon, he only needed to wait. The pain of his body would soon fade away with the pain in his heart. He would be with her again, in death as they couldn't be together in life.
He wondered what it was like to die, and what the after life would be like. The stories of the underworld didn't help him, he knew they were fictional. Hades had died and left behind nothing but myths about his shadowy realms and a trace of the fear of death in the hearts of the Greeks.
The sun shone warm on his head, and the smell of grass was sweet. The swaying of reeds in the wind reminded him of a day long ago, very similar to this one, before he had been separated from his childhood friend, before he had bloodied his hands in battle, before he had grown up and grown old. It was a good day to die.
He was growing tired. He lay down in the grass. The sun shone through his eyelids and warmed his face. He would either sleep for a few minutes or forever. In the end it wouldn't make much of a difference.
Posted by Sebastian on Jun 17, 2008 13:25:31 GMT -6
Beta Mutant
730
0
May 18, 2013 11:53:12 GMT -6
Dr. Edward Shaw threw his dirtied gloves into the sanitary disposal receptical. One of the assistant surgeons- Jacob, an overzealous young doctor barely out of medical school- clapped Edward on the back enthusiastically. “You've still got it doctor! It's good to have you back in surgery- you know- holding the knife rather than under it!”
Edward just grunted. He couldn't do much else, since his jaw was still wired shut, but he wouldn't have answered much differently even if that had not been the case. He was still healing, but that wouldn't keep him out of commission. He was a man of action, not of words. Even the three weeks he had been forced to rest after the surgery to reattach his jaw had been torture.
Jacob, unsure of how to interpret his reply, was still grinning stupidly, his face mask dangling around his neck. “Anyways, have a great evening at home doc!”
Edward grunted again noncommittally and removed his own face mask revealing the jagged scar that started at each corner of his mouth and traveled to the back f his jaw and curved down to meet under his chin, near his throat. The mask rubbed uncomfortably against the healing skin. He would have a pleasant evening, but it wouldn't be at his home; he was going to spend his free time working on the specimen.
When he could be certain that he would have the elevator to himself, Edward pressed the down button. When the elevator arrived, he inserted his key in the special operations key hole and turned it to the left, ensuring that the elevator would only stop at the floor he specified. Next, Shaw typed in his access code and was on his way down to the lower levels of the basement and the location of his private and discrete laboratory.
*ding*
Peggy and John were waiting for him when the elevator door opened again, chatting about the state of the church. The doctor unlocked the door to the lab, and went straight to check the vital signs of the mutant and record them.
“Normal,” the nurse told the justice. “Fascinating, considering the circumstances. It's healing ability is quite remarkable. No matter what, it heals again. It had a broken neck when we first brought it here; that healed in a bout a week, which was incredible enough, but it's healing has gotten faster since then. It may have used up a great deal of its energy during the attack. The healing speed seems to have leveled out now, at about two hours to heal a broken neck.
It also seems to have a never ending supply of blood. And the blood itself has very interesting properties. The plasma is more of a silver color than the normal amber, which gives the blood an iridescent look. It neutralizes toxins and drugs quickly, and even viruses have had no effect on blood samples.”
Edward nodded and continued his work silently. There were so many experiments he wanted to try on this remarkable specimen. So far he had already measured how fast it could heal from various wounds, and had even discovered that it could regenerate missing body parts, as was evidenced by freakish white lion's tail that had already regained half of its original length.
Shaw had monitored the specimen's brain throughout the experiments and had been delighted to discover that the specimen could still feel pain despite the remarkable healing abilities. He had also discovered a negative correlation between the level consciousness and the amount of healing that was needed. After that discovery it had been easy to make sure the specimen remained unconscious, without using anesthetics.
The corners of Edward's mouth twitched painfully as he considered which experiment he would try next. Drowning? Fire? What exactly could this freak live through? The doctor figured that the specimen could probably occupy his attention for years before he finished figuring out exactly what made it tick.
His painful smile reminded him of another oddity about the creature. His own healing had sped up since he started working with the mutant. Whenever he brushed against the specimen's skin or touched it, his own jaw tingled with a icy fire, as if the mutant's cells recognized that it hadn't finished its job. Edward wished he could experiment with letting it heal completely, but it would be too noticeable. He was also curious to see if he could do something about the nurse's legs, but Peggy refused to touch the thing that lay restrained on the cold table.
Perhaps for his next experiment, he would see how well the freak could heal when it was awake. Yes, that thought made him happy, if such a word could be attributed to the gruff doctor. He readied a syringe filled with adrenaline and prepared to inject it into the mutant. Perhaps a little jump start would wake it up.
