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 Margo Jewell on Oct 17, 2014 17:27:46 GMT -6
Gamma Mutant
256
7
May 25, 2018 5:55:50 GMT -6
(OOC: No problem, but good luck at school!)
When he finally caught up to what she was thinking- fine, she admitted a lot sooner than she'd thought he would- Danny didn't hesitate to defend himself. Actually, pretty awkwardly. “Um, just for the record, I don’t really run around town killing myself for no reason. Because suicide is still a rather unpleasant experience, and I have no reason to just blow up things because it’s fun."
"Oh?" Margo said. "Um, just for the record, I didn't think so?" She'd have been an idiot to think that anyone would do that. But she read between the lines, or at least thought she did: no reason to blow up things for fun meant he thought he had justification for blowing things up. He hadn't really denied that, had he?
She was about to question him further, but was forced to drop it when he barged ahead to another topic, obviously hoping to distract her."So, enough about my mutation. What about yours? I guessed before that it was either the animals or something else, but it looked more like the other kid was the one who could control the hawk." And since she couldn't exactly sidestep the question... They would just have to come back later.
Kid? She raised an eyebrow, catching up after a moment. "Alex?" A note of fondness crept into her voice, almost unnoticeable. She hadn't really talked to him for a bit, but she couldn't really deny that he was probably the only friend here she had so far. "Yeah, the hawk thing was him." She said, not sure how much to give away. How much should she give away about her own mutation anyway? From what she'd told the cockroach about messing with people's minds... to the technical, complete truth that apart from Lucy, only Alex knew?
"Mine might as well not exist, it's just that useful." was what she settled with for the moment. She expected Danny to question her further, and she would tell him then, not before. "And, uh, keep your voice down. Not that it matters that much, but I'd rather keep this job, you know?"
Posted by Margo Jewell on Oct 12, 2014 9:39:01 GMT -6
Gamma Mutant
256
7
May 25, 2018 5:55:50 GMT -6
Well, at least he'd been honest about it. And not like she'd really wanted to put the question that way (even though she had). As if there was any difference if you stole from a child rather than an...older man.
Like Robin Hood, huh? Take from the rich to give to the poor. See, if Chris chose to steal for his own survival, no big deal. If he took out of spite, if he even tried to differentiate between his targets, then that was when they had a problem.
"It's not like that, you know." Margo said. "I wouldn't. I wouldn't- I- the purpose- Just try to keep your fingers out of people's pockets from now on, okay?" She finished rather lamely. "Um, for your own safety too."
Concrete, beneath her feet, wet with pooling rain. It reminded her of puddle-jumping, Canada, so many years ago. The rain was still falling. So the girl whispered a poem to herself, one of her favorites: Emily Dickinson.
"If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain."
Posted by Margo Jewell on Oct 11, 2014 12:57:48 GMT -6
Gamma Mutant
256
7
May 25, 2018 5:55:50 GMT -6
(Sorry can't figure out how to do the orange word thingamajig, I hope italics work?)
“Yeah, I'd like to get back to the floor. Who knows when this thing will be turned off. I'm not even sure who's doing this.” the kid replied, eyes scanning the library nervously.
Well, that looked like the end of her fun, Margo thought. At least for the moment. "Ah." She said, catching herself on the edge of a bookcase, breathless with excitement at this particularly...non-dire situation. Why, this was just about a dream come true! Which child, among his school fellows, hadn't longed to do something like this, ever disappointed, first by the laws of physics and then also by the rules, the restraints, of age and dignity, to even express such thoughts? Certainly, for Margo at least, it was quite the once in a lifetime opportunity. It was the Mansion; nothing was impossible; with little power came little responsibility; misquotes were fun. She could push off this shelf at this moment... she could see for once what this little wonderland of her library looked like from an aerial view... she could feel for once what it would be like to somersault head over heels in the air, freer from gravity than a bird...
But then again, gravity would come. It would certainly happen. The results would be unpleasant, were she caught where she should not be when that occurred. That must be what the stranded kid feared. She glanced down. She would have suffered worse falls- that time on the old balcony so many years ago, back in Canada- but this girl had no urge to repeat that experience. Last time, she'd fallen into snow. This time... yeah, no.
"Uh, I don't think 'ground' is going to happen anytime soon?" She said, so thinking, to the boy. If he did get onto the ground, he wouldn't be able to stay there very long before he started drifting again. Obviously he should find something to hold on to, preferably close to the ground, until gravity was restored. But he was floating in the middle of nowhere. "Not even a guess?" She asked, referring to the culprit of this episode, who she could not see at the moment. If she pushed off of the shelf as hard as she could, it was likely she'd reach him. Yes. What to do after that, she wasn't so sure.
Gosh, she hoped this worked. No fancy tricks like she wished as she pushed off into air. Now, if only the kid could catch her hand before she lost all her momentum and got stranded just like he was.
Posted by Margo Jewell on Sept 18, 2014 14:01:00 GMT -6
Gamma Mutant
256
7
May 25, 2018 5:55:50 GMT -6
"Uh, yeah...That's why I stepped in between you and your attacker when we first met and tried to motion you two off. I was kind of hoping he'd shoot and incapacitate himself in the resulting explosion. Also, this....Suicide button's on this. It serves to fight, as a taser glove thing and to blow me up."
Well. That sure did it. As far as she could tell, he had pretty much admitted it; Danny, Firebird, was a walking, talking bomb.
Cover cover cover, Margo thought. To all appearances she considered the idea briefly (just so nobody would be suspicious at her apparent lack of interest),nodded, and dismissed this particular topic to move on. Eyeing the fancy looking glove thingamajig curiously, she commented, "Nice tech." With a grin, "It looks like it needs to be dismantled sometime soon so I can study it. Kidding, but seriously. It looks killer." And no, she didn't even notice her own pun. Her mind was whirring, far from the subject on hand.
Human bomb. Human bomb! He wouldn't even have tried to scare off the man, instead choosing to blow the surrounding area up. Not that it mattered, because he had every right to. Hey, he had saved her life, hadn't he? What really worried her were the implications... Suddenly, every crime involving an explosion she'd heard of recently started to look rather suspicious. What if? With such a power, how could he have actually stayed out of those kind of things? If people found out, he would get dragged into them no matter if he wanted to or not. On that subject, she'd heard of a bank robbery recently...
Posted by Margo Jewell on Sept 16, 2014 13:48:41 GMT -6
Gamma Mutant
256
7
May 25, 2018 5:55:50 GMT -6
"Yeah, about that. I'm a mutant like you, as you may have noticed. That's why I went to your rescue - my mutation is basically a phoenix thing. I go by Firebird sometimes, because what happens is when I die, I die in a fiery explosion, and promptly come back to life. I heard something about humans who could neutralize mutants' powers, and as you could imagine, with my specific skill set, I got worried. I broke into the X-Mansion for information, got caught by one of the X-Men, and left."
Talk about dumping loads. Ha. And she'd thought the previous outburst was awkward. "Did I say anything about being a mutant?" It was a sort of rhetoric question, but hey, his response could tell a lot of things about him. She was just checking! One could never be to sure when the first mutant with a mutant name met in the city turned out to be a giant cockroach. Also since the particular tone in this boy's voice when he referred to the x-men strangely resembled the cockroach's.
Considering what he was saying, she stared at him. Thoughtfully at first, but then a little wide-eyed as she figured out the implications. He was immortal? He'd explained that pretty well, but... gosh, how did that work out? How old really was he? And what was that about humans who could neutralize mutants' powers? It didn't matter to her, but still. "No biggie? You got to be kidding. As for me, well, life is going on. You'd think it shouldn't, but it is."
Then the other part, the fiery explosion part, finally hit her. Wait a second.. Was anybody thinking what she was thinking?
Narrowing her eyes, "Do you ever die on purpose?" The question was carefully worded. Because either way Danny chose to answer this, he was getting pushed into the chasm of death.
Posted by Margo Jewell on Sept 15, 2014 18:45:51 GMT -6
Gamma Mutant
256
7
May 25, 2018 5:55:50 GMT -6
Danny had no way of knowing, but in her private thoughts, Margo wholeheartedly agreed.
Rather amused by his awkward attempt at conversation, she smiled. That boy, if she had any right to call him that, needed to socialize more. Not that she was one to talk. "Yeah, sorry for invading your shift, I come here often. I, uh...I live nearby...I, uh, was surprised to see you here today. Haven't seen you before. So how's the X-Mansion? Tried to break into there recently. Wasn't fun."
Quite the load to dump at once. "Shift? Not really. It's more like, show up and we'll pay you kind of thing." She reassured, raising an eyebrow at his next couple comments. She saw the ad his eyes flicked over before he hurriedly changed the subject. Ah, so he was rich and didn't want to dwell on it? Interesting. Did he live by himself? What, how old was he? She let the question hang in the air, unspoken. "You wouldn't have. I, uh, just figured recently that I might do something a bit useful with my spare time. The X-Mansion is cool. I'd have no reason to think though, that somebody might attempt to... break in." The last part was said rather coldly. Not that she really meant it.
By this time, the shop was rather deserted. Thank goodness, because the last time she had talked with a boy this age in public about touchy matters like these, the results had been unpleasant to say the least. Deja vu? Nah.
Posted by Margo Jewell on Sept 14, 2014 17:37:22 GMT -6
Gamma Mutant
256
7
May 25, 2018 5:55:50 GMT -6
When Margo finally managed to duck out into the front of the coffee shop and get a clear glance at the familiar face that had caught her attention in the first place, she was in for a surprise. She caught the glance in her direction and drew back with a sharp intake of breath. It had been, what, a month and a half ago that in first coming to the Mansion with Alex, she had seen him? Danny. Of all people to show up here, now?
They'd been on the bus that day, Alex and her, headed to the Mansion, minding their own business; but who must have heard their conversation but some madman with an attitude toward mutants. If it hadn't been for Danny, lurking in a nearby alley and coming to their rescue, somebody would probably have gotten shot. Likely herself. She'd said she owed him before he disappeared.
That didn't mean she exactly trusted him. In fact, by choice she would probably have thanked him and never gone near him again, except for the fact that she owed him. Okay, fine. Also because curiosity was her great downfall and he was so interesting. Was he a mutant? What was his mutation? Did it have something to do with that glove thing on his hand? Was it necessary and why? She had no answer to the questions; being Margo, she needed answers. Even as she made more coffee, yawning bored-ly for no particular reason and played with the thought that she would ignore his presence, she knew it would never happen.
Danny was reading some science magazine, having finished his muffin and hot chocolate, by the time she finally made her way into the front of the now mostly empty place again. He grinned and motioned her over, to which she obliged willingly. His smile was contagious as she sat down across the table from him. "Nice article." The girl commented, reading upside down. She said it rather sarcastically. Her reasoning: the headline of this particular essay, which read "New research shows that the X-gene is responsible for 90% of crimes today". It was just some typical mutant hate thing, as always. Nothing special about it. She read about a paragraph and gave up.
"Soo..." That was Margo-logic for starting a conversation for you: say nothing and wait for the other person to say everything.
Posted by Margo Jewell on Sept 14, 2014 9:00:12 GMT -6
Gamma Mutant
256
7
May 25, 2018 5:55:50 GMT -6
Margo sighed contentedly as she leaned back against the counter in the rear of the small coffee shop. She was still settling into the job here, but so far it was pretty awesome. Not that she needed the money or anything, but it never hurt... besides, classes at the Mansion were simple to say the least, and she was ridiculously bored. She came late in the afternoon most days with some book she had borrowed from the mansion's rather extensive library, or some extra homework that she was doing just for fun. (Yeah, she was rather weird that way.) Hey, any place that would hire a fifteen-year old girl and pay her $7 a hour to make coffee, carry out minor assistance to the other workers, and do a little elatte art already went over her expectations. To her great relief, the dreaded mutant question hadn't even come up.
She liked it greatly. The whole place smelled rather nice, a little like coffee (Fine, a lot like coffee!) which was an added bonus. The girl'd never drink coffee, but she liked nothing more than to inhale the aroma of it. Mmm. Sometimes, she got a little tea for free. Just a little, because the manager would get mad at her if she had any more.
Standing up, she filled a mug with the coffee that had finished brewing, carrying it over to the next station. She wasn't doing any of the more finicky parts to her job today, to her great relief. Or not, because she loved doing latte art.
Soon, she had nothing much left to do. Wandering aimlessly to take a little peak into the front, just to see how customer life was, she thought she saw a familiar face. She waited until she was sure the coast was clear to take another look.
Posted by Margo Jewell on Sept 12, 2014 14:27:45 GMT -6
Gamma Mutant
256
7
May 25, 2018 5:55:50 GMT -6
Margo definitely knew as they walked into the Mansion that the place was definitely that big of a deal. They got in without any more trouble; it was barely a couple minutes' walk from the disastrous street corner where they'd been confronted by the gun-wielding madman. A part of her remembered all too clearly what had just happened. Another part didn't want to care. For her sanity's sake, couldn't care. In any case, the huge... mansion... that would be her refuge for the days following was by far distracting enough. It looked pretty amazing. How in the world did this place get funded?
"I'm sorry if I did something to bug you." Alex was saying, once they got in and halted. Really? She'd not have guessed that he would say that. Heck, she hadn't even known why she'd been so annoyed on the first place when he had obviously been trying to help her. It wasn't as if she wasn't grateful.
"Nope." She said in reply, smiling to show that it was past. "It doesn't really matter. I guess I was sort of on edge, and the fact that you and Danny were trying to be gentlemen set me off. You know, it was kind of incongruous. Silly... Woah, this place is really awesome."
She was very grateful.
(I don't know if you want to end it here or not. If you do I can go back and edit)
Posted by Margo Jewell on Sept 2, 2014 15:01:14 GMT -6
Gamma Mutant
256
7
May 25, 2018 5:55:50 GMT -6
(Nah, I don't mind unless anybody else does.)
It was quite obvious the boy-Danny as he introduced himself- had gotten quite the wrong idea. "Hey, uh...that was pretty brave, what you did. You knocked him down before we could do anything." He said awkwardly, apparently trying to comfort her. She appreciated the effort, and Alex's as well as he came over to put a hand on her shoulder. It was really quite funny, how they treated her, and she might have laughed except for the fact that that might lower their expectations of her even lower. Wouldn't want that to happen. "No, I mean, that wasn't what I meant. Not really. Just that it was..." An idiotic thing to do? Completely unlike her? "...Stupid. Not thought out." She finished, shaking it off. "Anyhow, no matter."
It irritated her a little that Alex introduced her himself, without waiting for her, but she didn't mind... too much. It wasn't that she could talk for herself or anything. Besides, what if she hadn't really wanted to give Danny her name? The girl firmly pushed such doubts away- he had pretty much saved their lives, hadn't he? It didn't matter if he had a knife, or that he hadn't even flinched when the gun was pointed at his head.
She gave Alex the purposeful look of death when he said, "Do you wanna go inside and sit down?"
"Sure.." Margo drawled. "Go inside yes, sit down not so much." A two finger salute to Danny, a glance at the bulk of the gun in Alex's bag. "Nice to meet you, Danny. I owe you big. You know where to find me if you ever wanna call up on that." She meant that, and it filtered through into her smile, her wink. "See you."
Posted by Margo Jewell on Sept 1, 2014 6:31:28 GMT -6
Gamma Mutant
256
7
May 25, 2018 5:55:50 GMT -6
I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer. Till that word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?
The library was, by far, probably Margo's favorite place in the building since she had first arrived at the Mansion almost a month ago. Most afternoons, that was where she would be found, leaning against a shelf skimming a story, or curled up on the window seat with a choice book. Ah, the wonder of books. She was lucky that the Mansion had just about the best library about, almost better than the one she had gone to back home.
That was why, on that fateful afternoon, she was in the library, reading as always, when something strange happened.
It took her a a moment to figure out why everything was suddenly floating in the air. She clung tightly to the armchair she had been sitting on. "Honestly? A zero- G field? In a library?" Glancing around, the situation began to dawn on her. What fun! It was like an obstacle course... In zero gravity... Like the Battle Room in that Ender's Game she'd read last week! A pity about all those paper and pens floating around like junk, though.
"Woo!" She grinned, pushing off the armchair and sending it flying in the opposite direction as herself. One kid who looked like six was stranded in midair. "Need some help there?" she asked.
Posted by Margo Jewell on Aug 30, 2014 15:37:01 GMT -6
Gamma Mutant
256
7
May 25, 2018 5:55:50 GMT -6
OOC: Wow, that was faster than I expected. Thank goodness
Margo, pressed against the brick alleyway wall, had long since decided something. That slow-motion, choreographed dance-fight thing in movies? It didn't exist.
What she knew did exist was terror. Primitive terror the moment she stumbled out of the mess of flapping, clawing hawk and bleeding gunman. Dread that she had brought his wrath upon them by attacking him, as she watched him pitch over and huddle there, clutching his head and arms. And then incredulous, impossible relief as their threatener turned tail and fled as he was faced down with three angry mutant kids and a knife.
"Well we've got DNA evidence and a weapon if we want to press charges." Alex's voice was oddly calm for what they had just gone through. Margo's heart still hammered in her chest, and she wanted to crouch down in a corner and... She didn't know, freak out? But she didn't. Instead, she replied, her voice much dryer than she'd expected. "Really?" She shot him a glance, talking half to herself now. "That's what anyone would have done, what I would have done back in the old days. But after that little show... Even if some miracle occurred and we did win the case, which would never happen, we'd have half the city after us."
Now that the adrenaline was mostly out of her system, the full impact of what she had done hit her. What must Alex and the other boy, the knife boy, think of her? A flush rising in her cheeks, she muttered, "I was just so panicked, I panicked. I didn't mean to." She couldn't bring herself to ask if they were alright, or about the newcomer either.
Posted by Margo Jewell on Aug 29, 2014 12:34:47 GMT -6
Gamma Mutant
256
7
May 25, 2018 5:55:50 GMT -6
Everything happened so quickly, Margo barely had time to comprehend any of it. One moment, Alex was trying to step in front of her, to defend her or whatever he thought he could do, saying something about not looking for trouble... The next, a stranger had appeared and conveniently placed himself between herself, Alex, and the gunman. There was something strange about this newcomer, something in his voice and the brief glimpse she caught of his eyes, but the girl hardly had time to note his apparent youth before all hell broke loose.
It must have caught their threatener awfully unprepared, for she was so unprepared herself for what happened next. He was leveling the gun at the newcomer's head (Thank God, still not at hers) hands shaking as terribly as ever. Oh, if she had only her own safety to worry about, she would have run for it that moment. If only, if only.
Something must have happened, because Marry, who had been circling around their heads for the last couple minutes, suddenly dove. Perhaps Alex had reacted under stress, given into his anger? Or maybe he had simply lost his concentration for a moment. In any case, the three- pound ball of fathers and talons and wrath that was his hawk hurtled itself at the man. It caught him off guard all right. Margo was practically deafened by the sound of the gunshot not five feet away from her.
That settled it: she was mad. Before, she'd been terrified but clinging to the hope that this might not become a full out street brawl. It looked like such hopes were long forlorn. Oh, this was a fight, alright. A fight where she had no power to do anything. Darn that frigging useless mechanism that was her mutation. Darn the fact that she had learned little in the art of fighting. If there had been anything she could have done, she would have done it. As it was, she could do practically nothing. No chance of reasoning now, or talking herself out of it. No chance of running while Alex and whoever this guy who had stepped out for them were in danger.
Gritting her teeth, she literally hurled herself at the man, taking advantage of the fact that his gun was temporarily pointed away from them. He was distracted by the hawk, so this was as good a chance as she was going to get right? Right? "Heaven's sake, just leave us alone!" She hissed, aiming a kick at his knee and an elbow toward whatever vital part happened to be in her reach as she tumbled again out of the melee, adding a shove for good measure. She flattened herself against the nearby wall, out of the way. It was the best the girl could think of to do.
Posted by Margo Jewell on Aug 21, 2014 14:16:07 GMT -6
Gamma Mutant
256
7
May 25, 2018 5:55:50 GMT -6
God, they'd almost made it. They'd almost made it. The Mansion was coming into view, Margo was just starting to breath out in relief, thinking she'd been right, that he wouldn't dare to try anything out in public, when- click. The sound of a gun, a shaky voice threatening behind them.
"H-hold it right there!"
"Can I help you, sir?" A pause as Alex glanced at her, then turned toward the direction of the voice. Suppressing the terror they were both feeling, answering. Breathing in, she pivoted as well, light on her toes, every muscle in her body ready to just bolt. She took the scene in all at once, the eavesdropper from the bus after all, confirming her fears. His uncertain stance, the quaver in his words, a wild look in his sleepless eyes, but most of all, the hidden gun in his hand. Danger, every instinct screamed. Here was no sociopath hiding behind a polished mask; this time, there would be no talking or playing along or a battle of wits; this time, her identity as a mutant would not protect her but condemn her. This man was ever so much more dangerous because he was unsure, his determination more deadly because he was frightened.
His words did nothing to belay her fears. "You two are mutants aren't you? Right under our noses this whole time, two little freaks pretending to be kids. Well I won't have! Not any more!" Well, there went any help she had hoped to get. The street where they stood was fairly deserted, and emptying by the second. People just noticing what was happening glanced at each other and might have stepped in, that was, until they heard his words. "Mutant", "Freak." they muttered among themselves. They glanced at each other again, and took the excuse to magically disappear from the area. It shocked her. She'd known of this, but seeing mutant hate for herself was another thing. What did they think, that the presence of an x-gene made one a monster, an anomaly, an alien, an animal?
Alex was saying something in a pleading tone, but she could care less. Huh, what did he think was going to happen? The blood rushed into her head. All she saw was the gun, pointed at his head. Saw the man's trigger finger, shaking.
They'd planned this out, the girl reminded herself. She would run for help, he would be right behind her. She saw now that that would never happen. She would not run, leaving Alex to whatever fate would befall him. Running would probably be the action that would set the man off anyway. What did it matter anyway? Things would come to a head in a couple seconds anyway, no matter what she did. What did it matter? It mattered everything.
She took a long stare at Alex, hoping he knew, could see that she wasn't going to be going anywhere for the moment. Looking the man in the eyes, she said levelly, "Look, us freaky freaks are going somewhere just for freaks like us, and once we're out of your sight, you'll never see us again." Her heart pounded in her chest, but she kept her gaze on his, moving just a bit closer. Not too much, anything could set him off at the moment. But closer, letting him see the advantage in his height. Would he let them off? It was a futile hope.
She was crazy. Margo was putting all her money into a losing bet.
