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.
Jacen had to laugh slightly at the question that Katrina had thrown him out of the blue. He supposed that he shouldn't be that surprised since the mutant/human debate was such a common subject. It just made sense that it would be something that they would talk about in schools.
"I'm afraid you're asking someone with absolutely no experience in genetics." Jacen replied with a smile at Kat before glancing up at the line ahead of him and then turning his gaze back to the younger girl. "To me... I don't know that I'd call them a ifferent species any more than I'd call an African American or Oriental a different species from a Caucasion. Are mutant different? Sure, but I'm not sure it makes them a different species."
Jacen knew that quite a few of his buddies at the department would want to argue that poing with him. He'd heard so many endless debates about whether mutants were humans or just some type of animal that he had gotten sick of it. Sure there were bad mutants, but that didn't make them all bad...
"When someone does try to classify mutants as a different species simply because of attrocities performed by certain individuals, they ignore our very own human history. Just because Hitler or Mussolini were monsters didn't mean they weren't human and it doesn't mean that all humans are evil. The same has to apply to mutants. Just because some abuse their abilities doesn't mean that all mutants are our to murder us in our beds."
Raising an eyebrow questioningly Jacen decided to put his own question to the young woman. "What do your teachers say at school? What's their oppinion?" Teachers were supposed to be objective, willing to see both sides of an arguments but all to often they weren't. Many times teachers would allow their own personal beliefs to cloud a debate when they were supposed to be letting the students learn and grow through the classroom debates. If Katrina had a prejudiced teacher, then it was quite possible she would disagree with everything that he had just said.
Jacen was doing his best to ignore the two annoyances but it was like trying to ignore a gnat that is continually trying to dive inside your ear... not impossible but very difficult.
"Slate, Calley, & Petunia... what have I gotten myself into?"
“You don’t have the key? It was there a minute ago. I know. I saw it right before I shot the truck.” Petunia hissed at one of the twins under her breath. Jacen did his best not to wince as he wondered exactly what the damage to his precious vehicle might be... and how in the world was he going to explain to a body shop that there was a bullet hole that he needed to have repaired? And not on the outside... on the inside of his frickin truck!
"About running into humans. Please forgive my gross generalization, but most do not react quite so calmly and helpfully to displays of power."
"I can understand that, but I'm not that shocked by mutants anymore." Jacen replied evenly, his eyes meeting Slate's in the rearview mirror for a moment before he returned his gaze to the road, "And while you have some in your community that make the Manson family looks like they should be in Sesame Street, you've got some decent law abiding people too. From what I've seen, that means that mutant can be good or bad, just like a regular human."
"Unless of course that memo was right and the X-Gene really does drive you crazy." He mentally added to himself, "If that's true then all of you need to be locked up."
Jacen wasn't a scientist... he was a soldier and a cop. The details of scientific testing and formulas were lost on him but if the testing proved what so many human supremecists said, then he would have to side with them. Personally though he couldn't believe it... why were there adult mutants that had never done anything wrong if the X-Gene truly drove them psychotic?
"Are you two just bird shifters then?" Jacen continued the conversation, while doing his best not to turn around and snap at the other two. If the two of them kept this up it was going to be a VERY long drive to the school.
Jacen was somewhat stunned as he lay on his back, but he had still had enough energy and focus to get out his last question.
"She tries to hit me and then saves me from the same thing?!" His mind screamed as he just focused on breathing and waiting for Lily to come up with her answer, "How in the world does this woman think?"
"I don't know." She replied, completely shocking the man as she turned her head and buried her face in his chest, "I don't know."
That was not what Jacen had expected... even when Lily had been feeling the effects of his power earlier, she had remained confident. Confident to the point of being bitchy a lot of the time, but she had never let her guard down. To hear her admit that she wasn't sure about something and just reveal that touch of vulnerability was a shock.
The moment was surreal...
Two mutants lying on the pavement somewhat entangled together because of her tackle, surrounded by broken glass, with some glass even on top of them, and the sound of car alarms filling the air...
At some point, one of Jacen's arms had wrapped around Lily and, not really knowing what else to do, he gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze. What in the world was he supposed to say in this situation? What was he supposed to do?
- A saint would hug her and offer to help her find herself in order to better both the woman and the world around them.
- A jerk would tell her to go screw herself and then get up and just walk away.
- A player would offer her comfort in order to get something from her.
What was Jacen? What was his part to play? None of those things seemed to fit his personality but he had never dealt with this situation before. Sure he had dated lots of women but he had never considered himself a player, and he sure as hell wasn't a saint... did that mean he was a jerk?
"You're a smart and confident woman Lily." He finally spoke softly as he kept his arm around her and slowly moved them both into a sitting position, "You can figure things out if you give yourself the time."
"What the hell? She just tried to kill me... I think... and now I'm comforting her?"
"We uh... we should get out of here before the cops show up." Jacen admitted quietly. He knew that he could get them off from being in trouble but he didn't want to have to face his fellow officers right now... not until he figured out how to handle his own situation. "Do you have someplace to go? Can I give you a ride somewhere?"
He wasn't going to invite her to his apartment. He couldn't invite her to his apartment. This woman had split open the skin just above his eye, which if he wasn't mistaken was now beginning to bleed again, and then she had tried to brain him with a light pole. There was no way...
"You can come to my apartment if you need to. I can supply a stiff drink if that's what you need or just a place to clean up." Jacen heard himself say as his mouth betrayed his mind. Why? Why couldn't he have just listened to himself?!
Jacen was still ticked at the girl for thinking that a gun or a bow could be simple toys, but the articulate twin seemed to want to carry on some sort of conversation. That might not be a bad idea... at least it might help the time move a little bit quicker.
"I do not believe I caught your name, Sir. Mine is Slate. My brother here, is Calley."
"My name's Jacen King." He replied, as his eyes continued to flick back and forth from the road in front of the vehicle and back up to his rearview mirror where he could keep an eye on his strange passengers. "It's... interesting to meet you."
For a moment he had almost said it was nice or a pleasure to meet them but just in time he had caught himself... it wasn't a pleasure to meet these three psychos. In fact, all it did was remind him of the criminals and crazies he got to deal with on his job most every day. "All I wanted was a day off... just a day off... is that so wrong?"
"So obviously, I was out here doing some hunting." Jacen spoke up against as he indicated the deer in the back of his truck with a slight flick of his head, "I come out at least once a year so I can get some venison steaks, deer jerkey, and the like. What about you three... any particular reason you were all out here in practically the middle of nowhere?"
Finally the vehicle was able to pull off the country back road and onto a paved road once again. The ride of the vehicle smoothed out and Jacen began to accelerate up to just above the posted speed limit. He wasn't going to abuse the privelide of driving faster than the speed limit by going crazy or anything, but he would push things just a touch.
"The fast I get there, the fast I get them out of my truck."
The trip home had gotten off to a bad start and it was quickly getting worse. A moment after Jacen asked where they were headed, someone apparently found his gun and decided to play with it.
BANG!
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Jacen yelled as he slammed on the brakes, bringing the vehicle to a sudden stop once more even as he spun around to face whoever was now holding his precious weapon. Moving with the speed and skill that only the military and S.W.A.T. can provide, he grabbed her arm and pulled her forward, plucking the weapon from her grasp before giving her a slight push back into her seat.
"Don't.... touch... anything..." Jacen said quietly, his eyes never leaving the girls while his hands quickly ran over the weapon, ejecting the clip as well as the cartridge that was in the chamber with practiced moved.
"Do you know where Xavier's Sister School for Talented Youngsters is? It is a bit far, but it might be wise to take us there. It seems that all three of our powers are malfunctioning... Please." The articulate boy spoke up as Jacen opened his glove box and put the weapon inside before locking it securely. That made perfect sense and explained why the three acted so weird... they were mutants. Didn't all mutants act just a little wierd? In fact... Jacen remembered reading an inter-department memo at some point that had suggested that the X-Gene actually caused varying degrees of psychosis. Yep... this made perfect sense.
"Yeah, I know where it is." Jacen replied, shooting Pix one last glare before turning around and beginning to move the truck forward once more.
"Keep this away from her. Please. And the under-the-seat gun, too." The skittish boy spoke up as he grabbed Jacen's bow and arrows and shoved them toward the front seat, "...Are those handcuffs?"
Grabbing the bow and arrows, Jacen set them in the front seat, treating them with a reverence that only a fellow hunter could understand. Even though it was a weapon, the recurve bow was still a thing of beauty and craftsmanship that not just anyone could appreciate. In fact, Jacen was pretty sure that all of that beauty was lost on his three passengers.
"Yes... those are handcuffs." Jacen replied evenly, continually glancing back in his rear-view mirror to check on his three passengers and keep a close eye on them. "They're real... not toys... so leave them alone."
Right then the truck hit a large dip in the road, that shook things up for a moment and with a slight splat sound the deer's head was suddenly resting against the rear glass, just above Calley's shoulder. As Jacen glanced back he saw the dead deer, with its tongue stuck out still in apparent laughter.
"I'm glad someone is enjoying this..." Jacen muttered to himself under his breath, "Next time... I leave the head in the woods."
Jacen complied to Lori request, stepping away and watching her curiously. It was apparent, just from watching the expression on her face and way she acted that there was some kind of field around the man, but what was really strange was that no one had ever mentioned feeling weird around him before.
"Do I not affect humans or something?" He silently pondered to himself.
"Well, when two people are lonely and have needs-- sometimes they decide to combine their genes. 9 months later... a bouncing baby mutant. Stay still I want to try something."
Raising an eyebrow questioningly, Jacen remained quiet as he watched the blond woman. At first, nothing seemed to be happening... then Lily took off one of her bangle bracelets and out of nowhere, it began floating toward him.
Jacen's eyes widened ever so slightly but even at this manifestation of the woman's powers, he didn't say anything. He had been around mutants before... he'd even been enlisted one back in the military, but it was still something of a surprise to see what powers each of these individuals possessed. At approximately eight to ten feet away, the bracelet suddenly dropped to the ground without warning.
"Still having doubts?" Lily asked even as the sound of the metal hitting the pavement still echoed through the air.
"I don't really have a choice about that now do I." Jacen replied quietly. His voice wasn't depressed or upset sounding it was just the sound of a man stating a fact. He had to be a mutant... there was no other explanation.
He was so lost in his internal dialog and reverie that at first, he failed to notice the light pole that ripped from its base and began to swing down toward Jacen. Then, as he glanced upward and saw the pole descending, instinct claimed complete control. These weren't simple tests anymore... his life was no being threatened.
Diving to the side immediately, Jacen disappeared behind a parked car, completely out of Lily's view. A part of him was trying to argue that she had been just testing things but another part of him was screaming that a light pole coming at his head was no longer a test. That was now a threat. Moving quickly and as quietly as he could, Jacen made his way around several parked cars, keeping his field of power away from Lily until he was finally able to get around behind her. Charging quickly he moved in so that his field completely blanketed her, shutting her off from whatever this power was that she had access too.
"What the hell was that Lily?" Jacen asked, his voice icy and dangerous as he looked at her with narrowed eyes, "Trying to take out the person that can neutralize you?"
There was the chance that she hadn't been out to hurt him but after having seen so many mutants cause so much damage to the city, Jacen wasn't ready to just give her a free pass. Ice boy back at the bank had proved he was out to help people but Lily had done no such thing. Keeping his weight on the balls of his feet so that he could move in order to defend himself if necessary Jacen had one last question.
"Yeah, well it takes one to know one." Lily spat out without the slightest hesitation. Moving over she picked up her dropped racket and then purposely walked over to give Mr. Surfer one last piece of her mind. "If I needed a rescue, I would have called someone competent."
It was only as Lily began to walk away that Jacen noticed the blood that was slowly dripping down the side of his face. "Damn!" He cursed under his breath as he turned back to his bag. Fishing out a towel he wiped the dripping blood off of his face and then applied pressure to the spot right above his eyebrow that was the 'cause of all this gore.
"You... you... get... out of... here..." Surfer tried to threaten as he continued to work on catching his breath.
"Oh be quiet." Jacen replied with the slightest bit of sympathy as he turned and began to walk toward the parking lot, following the same path that Lily had taken a few moments before.
"Sir, we're gonna have to ask you to leave." An official sounding voice sounded and as Jacen glanced over, he saw three security guards closing on him.
"I'm already on my way out... give my best to the winners." Jacen replied tiredly. It was amazing how when everyone got a certain idea about a person, it would affect basically all their actions toward that person. Even though person after person was giving him dirty looks they were also giving him a wide berth.
"A mutant..." Jacen thought to himself, still reeling from the very idea, "But... that would explain what happened in the bank. And with those three in the woods... if they were mutants that changed back because of me... it fits." Everything made sense but Jacen had to feel sorry for himself a little... all these mutants with these rather cool powers and he was going to be known as the walking off switch? Wonderful... frickin wonderful.
A few minutes later Jacen found himself out in the parking lot, away from all the curious spectators. There was still a security guard hanging out by the entry way, but he seemed to have no interest in actually following the combatants out into the parking lot. Glancing around Jacen spotted Lily and decided that he had better be a man about things... on principal at least.
"Sorry if I made you uncomfortable." Jacen offered as he approached the woman, "Like I said... I had no idea I actually did anything."
"A mutant... how in the world did I end up a mutant?"
"You're wrong!" Lily said in obvious frustration as she spun around and slammed her rack into his face. Lily was strong but thankfully she had hit with the netting of the racket, making the blow at least a touch softer. The main damage that had been done was where a bit of the frame had hit right over his left eye, breaking the skin and allowing some of the blood to begin to flow. Being a head wound it would bleed much faster, making it look like more damage had been done than there really was.
"Everything about you is wrong. You're a mutant. Did. you. not. notice. it? A freak." She ranted on, swinging her fists and racket at him to punctuate every word. Now that he was expecting it, Jacen easily block or pushed aside her flailing fists and racket while he tried to comprehend what she was saying. A mutant? He was a mutant? She couldn't be right... could she?
Moving quickly, Jacen captured her hands in his own as he felt his whole word beginning to crumble... while the NYPD couldn't legally segregate against mutants, they deffinately didn't provide a happy work environment for them. What would he do if he had to leave S.W.A.T?
"How can you know?" Jacen hissed quietly, his eyes serious with just a trace of panic in them, "What makes you think I'm a mutant? I... I'm not doing anything!" He didn't see anything wierd... couldn't hear anything strange... there were no strange growths popping out of his body.
"And if I'm doing something to you, how come I can't feel it?" Jacen asked somewhat accusingly as his eyes narrowed slightly. That's right... he couldn't feel anything strange around her... well, except for the slightly increased heart rate, but that happened around all attractive women so he could ignore that as a symptom.
"I told you to leave her alone!" Surfer dude's voice suddenly broke in and before Jacen could reaction he was spun around and a fist connected with his jaw. The immediately, and completely natural, reaction was for Jacen to stumble backwards and that's exactly what he did.
"I wasn't bothering the lady!" Jacen snapped as he righted himself, not realizing how bad the situation look with him holding the hands of a teary eyed woman that had just been trying to brain him with a racket, "We're just working out a misunderstanding!"
"I'll show you a misunderstanding!" The surfer growled as he moved forward. The easy blow to Jacen had made the man cocky and it was all the S.W.A.T. officer could do not to roll his eyes as the man threw yet another punch that was as obvious as any could be. Side steppigng quickly he grabbed the assailants arm and pulled him forward, before throwing him over his shoulder. Surfer landed on his back hard enough to apparently knock the breath out of him while Jacen turned back around to Lily.
For a moment he just stood there silently as he tried to get over the shock he was still feeling. "Freak huh..."
"Is there a problem here, miss?" Surfer guy asked as he walked over, glaring at Jacen as though the man had actually struck the blond haired girl or something.
"Just a difference in strategy, go back to hitting on the wait staff." Lily snapped back before grabbing her racket and stalking off.
"You bother here, and you have to deal with me." The guy said, trying to act tough as he stepped up to Jacen, almost touching noses with him. Turning his head so that his gaze met the other man's, Jacen lifted one eyebrow questioningly. "From what I've seen of that lady... she sure doesn't need protection from you."
Without another word he snatched up his racket and broke into a jog in order to chase down the young woman. "Hey!" He called out. She was still mad it appeared from the stiffness of her spine but he still didn't know why.
"I have no clue what the hell you're talking about!" Jacen tried to get her attention as his jogging brought him closer to her, "It's common courtesy to not use my... what? And what in the world is phase shifting? Somehow I doubt you're ticked at me for my charming wit or good looks."
Moving forward the last few feet it took to catch her, Jacen reached out and grabber her arm, spinning the woman around so she would be facing him. "Would you just spell it out! What is wrong?!"
Jacen was looking forward to just some nice conversation with a beautiful woman before bearing down again and going for the win in this tournament. There were some really good amateurs out there so he had no idea if they could even win the next game, but he would surely give it is best. Yep... he had been looking for some nice conversation, but what he found some else entirely.
"Look, this is real nice to find each other on the same team and all, but can you cut the crap? You are seriously wearing me out." Lily snapped at him, her voice sounding as though he was hurting her or something. Jacen didn't get it... how in the world was he hurting this woman? They had barely spoken through the course of the game so he had no clue what she meant by any of this. Was she crazy or something? Had he found another one that would fit in just perfectly with those three characters he had picked up in his truck while out hunting a week or two ago?
"At least this one's not naked... although... I would much rather have her naked than those twins."
Giving himself a firm mental shake, Jacen's eyes deepened slightly, partly angry and partly confused as he stood to his feet and moved closer to the woman. If she wanted to give him attitude she'd find out he could give it right back.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jacen hissed as he tried to keep the volume of his voice down so that they wouldn't attract attention, but still maintain a loud enough volume that this woman would know she had pushed him to far, "What do you mean by finding each other on the same team? Do you know me or something? And what crap do you think I'm giving you? I've been nothing but polite... I've even pulled back my game so that you could play your own game more comfortable so, to put it bluntly..."
Lily was definitely a hotty but Jacen wasn't going to roll over and take this kind of treatment from anyone. That's why he was Team Leader of a S.W.A.T. team with really no chance for promotion. He talked back to the officers when he thought they were wrong and he didn't take anything for anyone unless he was forced to. In the military he had been forced to deal with some of the officers, but he didn't work with this woman, he probably wasn't going to date her, and he sure as hell hadn't enlisted with her so there was no way she was going to get away with this.
Once Jacen focused completely on the game, things seemed to flow much smoother and he had to admit that it felt good to just get out and run off some of the tension that would build up over the course of a work week. It was even amazing that, once Jacen stopped staring at his team mates body, the two of them actually worked pretty well together. Other than one mis-step when they both called 'switch' at the same time, they seemed to know how the other person was going to react in most situations.
"Newton/King to advance."
Shaking his head quickly, Jacen shook off some of the droplets of sweat that had begun to dampen his hair. Turning he walked toward the bench where his bottle of water awaited him when the blond bombshell decided that he was worthy of at least a moment of her time.
"I was afraid you couldn't play after that first ace. I don't usually do the team thing, and I hate to admit it, but we work pretty well... together..."
Jacen could feel his ears getting even redder as once again embarrassment forced a blush to appear. Thankfully he was already somewhat ready and sweaty from being in the sun so he hoped beyond hope that she wouldn't notice. "Yeah... well... I was sorta distracted but... hey!" His voice started off unsure but quickly became stronger as he noticed Lily reach up to grab her chest and begin to look somewhat weaker, "Are you OK?'
Taking a few steps backward, Lily seemed to recover quickly while she gave him a look of shock or surprise. For several moments, she was silent, just looking at him as though he had done something wrong but Jacen had no clue what was going on.
"Your next match is here. Newton/King facing off against Dayton/Crawley."
Apparently the voice of the official was enough to shake Lily back out of her situation. "My serve." She said with a grin, "They ought to be good if they beat the opposition as fast as we did."
Nodding in agreement Jacen walked over to his starting point as he eyes the two they would now be facing. The man was the same surfer type that he had spoken to earlier in the tent... the one that was so intrigued by the girls. His partner was a cute looking brunette that had a very business like expression on her face. You could tell she was here to win and there were no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
"Game on." Jacen muttered with a slight grin as he grouched, holding the racket in both hands as he slowly rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet.
Lily's serve was a thing of beauty, with just the right combination of power, control, and spin that would make it difficult if not impossible to stop. But even with it being so good, the brunette was up to the challenge, returning it with a powerful backhand.
For a few moments, the women sent the ball back and forth from baseline to baseline as the men waited for the opportunity to jump into this volley. Finally Jacen saw it and at just the right moment he rushed the net, leaping in the air to barely tap the ball and angle it downward and to the side away from the other man.
"Fifteen, love."
Jacen smiled tightly as he moved into his next position and made ready. It was a good start to the game.
***
The team of Newton/King moved smoothly through the ranking until the fourth round. There they finally fell to their first loss, though it was still a valiant effort. The game had been close but the other team had broken through to score the winning point.
***
All the teams were now sitting around, enjoying a break before the semi-final game began. One team for the finals had already been determined and they would be able to enjoy resting through both this break, as well as the next game. The team of Newton/King would move on to the final round if they could just win their next game and then in that final round it would be one winner take all game.
Jacen sat slightly away from the rest of the competitors, sipping at his water and snacking on a apple. While all of the defeated competitors were getting hot dogs or hamburgers from the nearby concession stands, all those that were still in the tournament knew those items would be extremely heavy on the stomach while you continued to play. The light over the courts had come on and in the distance the sun was just beginning to set.
"You play a good game Lily." Jacen complimented when the blond haired woman was close enough that he could speak to her without straining to be heard. It was strange but ever since her... attack earlier, she had been keeping her distance. Was she afraid of him for some reason? Jacen didn't know but he wanted to try to talk to her at least a little. "Have you played a lot of tennis before?"
The blond girl was cute... not she was beyond cute. She was definitely a pretty thing but as soon as she kept her distance and maintained more of a professional relationship Jacen could immediately see that she was serious about the game.
"Maybe this won't be to bad after all." Jacen thought with a slight grin on his face as he walked over to the bench and left his bag there before removing his racket and dodging out to his starting position on the baseline.
"Newton/King facing off again Goodwin/Tourney." A brown haired woman announced from where she had taken up her position as Chair Official, "Quiet please."
Rolling his eyes Jacen crouched down on the balls of his feet as he watched the other man prepare to make his serve. "What does that woman think this is? Wimbledon?" He muttered to himself, griping about the official as he watched his opponent take several deep breaths... and then take a few more.
"This is gonna take forever." He thought to himself wryly, momentarily allowing himself to be distracted as his eyes shifted over to Lily's very cute backside. That was one positive about an outfit like that... when she was crouched and ready it gave him quite a nice view.
THWOCK!
"Ace!" The Chair Official called before Jacen even had a chance to bring his attention back to the game. Inwardly wincing Jacen jogged over to his second position as he felt his neck flush slightly.
"I'm here for the game," He forcefully reminded himself as he listened to the few spectators chuckle, as well as the guffaws coming from the guy that had just served the 'ace', "Women are for later... not now."
"Are the games any good in these doubles matches?"
After several moments of standing silence Jacen had finally engaged one of his fellow men in a conversation. It seemed the the other guy was to busy scoping out the women to hear his question so Jacen decided to repeat the question.
"Are the games any good in these doubles matches?"
"Huh... uh... oh... yeah, they're not bad." The blond haired, blue eyed surfer type responded, never taking his gaze away from an exceptional looking red head he'd been scoping out from a distance of about fifteen to twenty feet, "They're not bad... and the woman aren't bad either. Excuse me."
Watching the other man walk away Jacen looked upward, his face questioning. "Why? Why do you put me through this?"
"And now, if all of you will gather around, we'll begin announcing our teams." The nasally voice announced over a loudspeaker.
"Somebody get that man some breathe right strips or something." Jacen muttered under his breath as he walked over to join the rest of the crowd that was standing, waiting expectantly. Spreading his stance slightly, Jacen began to twist his body gently, continuing to stretch as he waited for his name to be announced. The time was dragging on and for a few moments he began to wonder if he would even be assigned to a team and then, the magic words were spoken.
"And on Court 14 we will have Jacen King paired with Lily Newton, facing off again John Tourney paired with Samantha Goodwin."
"Lily Newton... I hope she knows how to play, or at the very least defend her corner while I get the rest of the court." Jacen muttered to himself as he turned and made his off to the assigned court. "Ugly or beautiful... ugly or beautiful... as long as she's a good player I can go with either."
The walk over to the court was relatively easy. Even though there were other people to go past, most of the players had scattered to their various courts so things weren't all that crowded. The spectators hadn't arrived in full force yet as they would mostly arrive later in the day as the matches were coming down to the final 2 or 3 games.
"A long day of exercise... that's just what I need to temporarily forget about work." Jacen murmured as he up to his assigned court and saw the woman that apparently was going to be his partner, "And that won't hurt either."
The woman's highlighted blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail that allowed all of her facial features to be seen. She was slim, but with a musculature that showed she was athletic. The look of her body combined with the professional look of her white and orange tennis outfit make Jacen temporarily wonder if he was even in her league when it came to this game.
"Hi." Jacen spoke up as he walked in the young woman's direction, "I'm Jacen. I assume that you're Lily?"
Tennis is not normally thought of as a man's sport... sure, plenty of men play tennis but when people think of a man's sport they normally think of basketball... football... baseball... or maybe even hockey. Tennis is just one of those safe sports that, even though men play it, is normally considered more of a woman's game.
Jacen King liked tennis but if he had his preference he would have been playing any one of the more masculine sports that better fit his build and experience. There was just one problem with all of those more masculine sports... they required a team. Jacen had spent most of his adult life working with teams and even though he was good at it, he was looking forward to a chance to work solo. In Tennis, he could play with all of his strength, skill, and agility without having to worry about what someone else was going to do. He could depend soley on himself instead of having to depend on a team mate.
After parking his Chevy Colorado in one of the designated parking spaces at this particular New York park, Jacen climbed out and stretched to loosen up any of his muscles that might have tightened during the drive. Never one to go with the official men's tennis style of tight, short shorts, Jacen was clad comfortably in white sneakers, white ankle socks, dark blue knee-length shorts with red stripes running up the outer seam on either side, and a white t-shirt with "I'm ecstatic to be here!" in red letters across the front.
Turning around, Jacen opened the back door of his crew cab truck and after slipping on a his Costa Del Mar 'Wave Killer' sunglasses he grabbed out his tennis racket bag and turned to being the walk up to the sign-in tent. This was the third annual 'New York Singles & Mixed Doubles Amateur Tournament'. Jacen never paid much attention to the Mixed Doubles side of the competition because he always played in the single group. Why in the world would he want to play doubles when he was trying to get away from the team thing for at least a few hours?
***
"I'm sorry sir..." The 5'7" official said in a rather nasally voice, "The single tournament is all filled up. We do however have opening in the mixed doubles group."
"Wonderful... just wonderful." Jacen replied in obvious annoyance, "The only problem with that is I came alone... no partner."
"That's not a problem sir. None of our teams come already formed. Everyone signs up and then we randomly assign one man and one woman together as a team." The brown haired man replied as his voice seemed to get more nasally and more annoying with every passing moment, "Would you like to sign up for that?"
For a moment Jacen was unsure... he didn't really want to play in yet another team competition but he had specifically take this day off from work so that he could come out and play tennis. Even though he didn't want to play on a team, that was no reason to just leave... was it?
"Yeah..." He finally said with just a touch of defeat in his voice, "The name's Jacen King and here," He continued as he pulled some cash out of his pocket, "Is the sign up fee."
"Thank you very much Mr. King. If you'll go right over there you can mingle and chat with the other single players. We'll be announcing the teams in the next ten minutes or so."
"Thanks." Jacen replied as he shouldered his racket bag against and walked over to the tent where all of the single team players were milling around. Grabbing a bottle of water from one of the provided ice buckets he began to sip at the drink as he scouted out the various women that might be assigned to him as a partner. "This could be either very good, or very bad." He thought to himself as he noticed a few women that were obviously in bad physical condition while many of the others had the build of experienced players, "We'll just have to see."
This situation was wierd... no, it was beyond wierd...
It was strange... no, it was beyond strange...
This situation was just pure lunacy!
As Jacen watched the three semi-naked individuals converse back and forth he had to fight off the urge to begin edging his way back toward the drivers door of his truck. Both the military and S.W.A.T. had trained him to be able to handle most any type of violent situation but none of the training had covered how to deal with two, or maybe even three, obviously crazy individuals. Could they be violent or were they the type that simply lived in their own happy little world? There was no way to tell for sure.
When Pix leaned over the edge of the truck to look at Calley, Jacen immediately looked away. She might not have realized it but leaning that way made things flash back into the open... things that Jacen really didn't want to see because it made him think of the young woman in a different way.
"She's crazy... focus on the negative... she's crazy." Jacen kept reminding himself as he looked off into the distance until one of the twins spoke to him.
"If it is not a great inconvenience, may we ask you for a ride?" The one apparently called Slate spoke up.
"I was just about to suggest that." Jacen replied quickly, as though it were the most obvious things in the world.
"What the hell? I'm inviting them into my truck?!" The man's mind screamed in outrage as he turned back around to face the three of them, "You two boys will have to take the back seat since you're sharing the blanket. Ma'am... you can either join them in the back or take shotgun up front. Your choice."
This was bad... this was really bad... as Jacen made his way around to the drivers side door his mind was racing. As far as he could remember there was only one gun in the cab, his Glock .45, and it was safely stowed under the drivers seat. Were there other weapons they could use against him? Were they crazy enough to do something like that?
"So..." Jacen said once all of them were seated inside the truck, "Where are you three headed?"
