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.
If it was interesting to Janelle that the backpack the girl was carrying held what seemed to be other wardrobe pieces, she didn't say anything. Tori ordered like a pro and was quickly back to the table with her pastry and hot chocolate.
Janelle smiled at the compliment from the kiddo and took a sip of her hot chocolate. It was really good. This place was going to have to go on her list of places near the apartment that she could frequent for breakfast.
Tori thanked Janelle in that nonchalant way that kids tended to have and the redhead shook her head and smiled,
"Good help is really hard to find. I just knew when I saw you standing out there that you were exactly the kind of person I needed to help me carry all these bags. I just moved into a new apartment, you see, and I've been trying to make it feel like home."
It was weird for Janelle to think that she didn't live at the Mansion anymore. It had seemed so small when she first moved in, but had grown on her more and more by the day until suddenly she'd caught herself thinking of it as home more than the home she traveled back to sometimes on weekends and holidays. Surely the new apartment could feel like that too, she mused over another sip of hot chocolate. It would just take time.
Realizing that the conversation had lapsed, Janelle smiled again at Tori, "Are you from New York, or are you and your Mom visiting?" she asked by way of small talk.
Apparently her lock was good. Janelle smiled and shook her head, pleased that something she really had no control over was sufficient in Erik's eyes. He was the security guru, if he said that her door possessed a good lock, then it was a good lock.
The smells coming from the oven would have been enough to soothe any remaining chagrin at Erik's surprise morning visit and Janelle amused herself again with the thought that she hadn't known that he could cook...let alone bake and produce pastries. Obviously she needed to find out more about her mysterious and multi-talented boyfriend.
It appeared that Erik had been planning to call Janelle when the food was finished and she nodded her head. It made sense, and probably would have avoided a scene like the one that had ended up happening. It would have been sweet too.
Erik always seemed so self-assured and confident, Janelle had to grin a bit at having caught him off guard a bit. It served him right, and also appealed to her somewhat obnoxious need for validation. The pink in his cheeks could have been from the heat of the kitchen, but as Janelle took another sip of her coffee she hid a slightly self-satisfied smile with the rim of the cup.
Erik started to bring food to the table and Janelle smiled up at him from her seat as he explained his thought process. It was the kind of thing that happened in movies...and again she marveled at how good everything smelled. Once Erik's hands were free Janelle rose, setting down her coffee cup and uncurling from her place in her seat. Making her way to Erik Janelle wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. "It's great." she said, looking up and smiling, "I was just sleepy and surprised."
Before he unlocked it? Janelle's eyebrows rose slightly as she digested that. Glancing towards the door, she noted that her keys were exactly where she'd left them the night before and couldn't help but be just a little curious how he'd managed to get in. "It would have saved you some trouble if I'd have left it unlocked." she said wryly.
Erik was still going on about the advantages of using a book to attack an intruder as opposed to a lamp. Apparently the bonk from a book was better...and in some cases they were bulletproof. For a moment Janelle considered pinching herself to see if this was real or simply a hyper-realistic and very strange dream.
Apparently there was quiche...and pastries. As someone who knew next to nothing about the kitchen, Janelle was somehow surprised that Erik apparently knew so much, she had eaten both of those things before, but no boyfriend she'd ever had had actually cooked them for her. No boyfriend had ever broke into her apartment while she was sleeping either. It was a whole morning of firsts.
Smiling, Janelle pulled the cream and sugar containers towards herself and added a couple of liberal scoops of the sugar before a nice, long draw of cream. People who knew about coffee would have swooned as she ruined the flavor, but she liked what she liked.
The first sip was warm and sweet and she smiled as she leaned back slightly.
"I have to ask..." she said, wrapping her hands around the class and enjoying the warmth from the cup. "What was your plan for waking me up?" Janelle thought for a moment, then glanced down at what she was wearing and nodded her head slowly. Cheeks coloring slightly, she decided there was no point in acting silly over it now. The whole situation started to sink in and she started to laugh, "I guess it's lucky for both of us that I don't sleep naked."
The sight that greeted Janelle when she made her way around the wall of her kitchen was not at all what she had expected considering her imagination's recent conjuring.
It was Erik. Almost immediately, Janelle dropped her arm, her bedside lamp dangling uselessly at her side as her slightly sleep addled brain tried to put together everything that had just happened.
Erik spoke and Janelle glanced down at her phone, where his voice echoed from the speaker as it carried through his own phone in his hand. He was wearing an apron, and had a blender in his hand. She had a blender?
Reminding herself to check all of her cabinets and see what other fancy cooking implements she had, Janelle reached out and set the lamp she was holding on the table and hung up the cell phone in her other hand.
"All of my books were out here...and I wanted to make sure you weren't just some drunk who'd wandered in because I'd left the door unlocked or something. It seemed extreme to attack first and ask questions later..."
She'd only left the door unlocked a couple of times...it was a weird thing to have to think about all the time. Sure, she'd had the option at the Mansion, but nobody had ever messed with her stuff.
Just how surreal the situation was started to sink in and the adrenaline that had been coursing through Janelle started to wear off a bit. She shivered slightly and nodded her head, a slight smile starting to curve her features as she took in the amount of work that had been put into this...surprise?
"You did all of this?" she asked, laughter attempting to bubble up at the smudge on Erik's cheek. Now that it was him, things were pretty okay...except that maybe they'd need to talk about calling before coming over at this time of day...or at least knocking...or something.
Janelle smiled back as they idled at a stop light and shook her head in the semi-darkness of the car. "I'm being serious." she said, "I meant what I said before. As...intense as things may have gotten, I've never felt so validated...and this was just the first official date!" Janelle thought about joking that Erik had set the bar pretty high for the future, but it seemed wrong to joke just now...
At least until he spoke again.
Janelle had to chuckle as she looked over at Erik after his little speech. It was an advantage of sitting in the passenger seat that she didn't have to watch the road and could watch him instead. "I'm starting to understand your frustration earlier. Stop talking down on yourself or I'll have to resort to desperate measures." Janelle didn't elaborate because she was bluffing and had no idea what she'd actually do.
"Besides...If I wasn't sure before that kiss, I'm absolutely sure now." There. She'd said it, and her cheeks were going to burn right off her face. Hopefully that would settle that though and they could move on with the evening.
As she snuggled into her sheets the night before, Janelle's sleepy thoughts had drifted to a place where she felt like this apartment was starting to feel like home.
It had been so weird for Janelle, moving from a place where she had constantly been surrounded by noise and people to a place where she was literally alone unless she'd went out of her way to change that fact. It had been a bit lonely, though Erik helped with that. It had also been scary, but the tight security in the lobby had helped with that. The redhead had sighed happily and snuggled into her pillow to sweet dreams of finals week dancing in her head.
The apartment showed signs of the impending tests. Papers were scattered on pretty much every surface that could be used to study in a way that had completely made sense to the redhead as she set up her study stations, but would probably make little to no sense to anyone else trying to see the thought process. Finals week was always a mixture of exciting and exhilarating, and this year was no exception. Janelle had been throwing herself into her studies and the strain was starting to make itself evident.
Heck. She hadn't even seen Erik in what had to be the longest amount of time since they'd made things official.
Janelle wasn't thinking about any of these things though, because she was asleep.
At least until someone started using a blender.
Shooting bolt upright in her bed, Janelle stared with wide eyes towards the door of her room. She'd never heard the neighbors before, so there was little to no chance that this was simply noise overflow. The sounds continued and smells began to waft through the initial shock. The apartment was tiny, how long had someone been in there cooking.
Janelle had heard stories like this before, of crazy people who broke into apartments to make themselves meals. Usually the apartments were empty though. Snagging her phone and the lamp from the bedside table, Janelle dialed Erik's number as she slipped out of her bed.
If there was a crazy person in her room, Janelle wasn't going to let them sneak up on her. Out the door she padded on bare feet, completely ignorant to the fact that she was only wearing a satin cami and shorts sleep set she'd gotten the week before.
She was a vision of intimidation as she leaned against the wall, just around the corner of the small kitchen, arm and lamp raised. It was now or never.
"I've already called the police! Put your hands where I can see them!" she exclaimed as she threw herself around the wall, ready to fight off whoever might be there.
Mom was in the phone store, huh? Janelle nodded her head slowly, glancing up and down the street and not seeing a phone store within half a block. Shopping with parents wasn’t something the redhead was familiar with, considering that her parents assistants had simply brought things to the house for them to choose from as she’d grown up. Still, something seemed weird about the story, it was almost too canned and convenient.
And now there was a dad too, and he always said that helping people was important. Janelle just smiled though, if the kid was more comfortable this way, it was better.
’Tori.” Janelle said, nodding her head and not commenting on how difficult it had suddenly been for the small girl to remember her own name. ”And Mr. Unicorn. Excellent to meet both of you.”
It had apparently been a long time since Tori had had hot chocolate and Janelle had to think for a moment to remember the last time she’d had any. It wasn’t the sort of thing she usually had, opting more often for coffee or tea.
The girl had chosen two of the bags to heft, and for a moment Janelle busied herself with gathering the rest. How were there still so many with someone helping?!
Off they went, into the shop.
Luckily for the two of them there was a little sitting area opposite the counter, and Janelle lugged her bags in that direction, dropping them by one of the small two-person tables before turning to study the chalkboard that served as a menu. There was indeed hot chocolate (It would have been super awkward if there hadn’t been….)
There was also a large selection of pastries, cookies, and other delicious sounding treats.
”I’m going to have a medium hot chocolate, and a chocolate croissant. My helper Tori and her friend Mr. Unicorn here will have anything she wants.”
It was a bold proclamation, but Janelle had the time and it really would be nice to sit down for a while.
”You really should have these guys covered on a day like this….” Janelle was saying as she worked on perking up the final plant in the row. They all looked much better now and the owner of the little stand seemed to be listening with an open mind. ”If you need one for display, just rotate who is out so that nobody gets too cold for too long.”
Whew. There had been a lot of plants and some of them had really been struggling Janelle wasn’t exactly tired, but thinking about the rest of the walk to her apartment building made her sigh...at least until a little voice drew her attention.
A...a garden fairy?
The small voice was coming from the same small girl who had been at the window of the bakery a few moments before.
”Not really….” she said softly, glancing back over her shoulder at the plants and she leaned down a little closer to the girl’s level. ”But I can help plants and I like to do it when I can.” For a brief moment, Janelle had considered entertaining the small girl’s fantasy, but something about that little white lie had seemed very wrong.
On closer study, the girl seemed to be dressed a bit oddly for the weather and her nose pressed against the window of the bakery took on a new meaning….maybe. Kids were strange sometimes and Janelle knew that a lot of parents liked to let them dress themselves independently, no matter how interesting the results were.
Frowning very slightly and looking at her bags, Janelle made a quick decision, ”Are your parents in the shops?” she asked, glancing up and down the street for anyone who seemed to be missing a kid. ”I’m a little worn out from all that work and I was thinking about hitting up that bakery for a rest and a snack. Think they’d mind if you helped me with my bags for a minute? There’d be hot chocolate in it for you.”
Sure, there was something a little odd about inviting a random child you’d just met to have hot chocolate with you, but if Janelle had to put money on it, she would have bet that the kiddo was alone.
Furnishing an apartment was hard work. There were pots to buy...and pans. There was furniture and artwork, and bedding, and throw pillows. The apartment was lovely, but it had felt so cold when Janelle first moved in, she had desperately needed rugs and soft things to make it warm. It was cold now, autumn having passed and the city taking on the characteristic chill that caused steam to rise from the streets.
Janelle was overloaded almost to the extreme, the reusable bags she’d started gathering hanging from both arms, elbows, and two in each hand. It was a long walk. It had been tempting to call Erik for help, but Janelle had resisted the urge on the basis of being her own woman and furnishing her own home. It was a matter of pride.
Still. The bags were heavy and the storm drains weren’t the only things venting steam into the cold air.
A glint of green stood out like a sore thumb on the cold, grey day and Janelle veered towards the little plant stand, dropping her bags on the sidewalk at her feet. It was time for a break.
Taking a moment to catch her break, Janelle studied her surroundings. This was a lovely part of town filled with shops, stands, and family owned restaurants. There was a bakery behind her and Janelle smiled at the little girl with her lovey, nose pressed against the window.
The redhead turned back to the plants, frowning slightly as she actually studied them for the first time. It was cold outside and the owner of the cart wasn’t doing their due diligence with the plants and the poor little dears were drooping and poor.
Pulling off her glove and stuffing it into her coat pocket, Janelle reached out and touched one of the leaves, pushing a little of her energy into the cold little plant and smiling as it brightened and darkened.
There were more in the row, and as the redhead moved they grew and some even flowered...this was still not a practiced art and as she got more and more excited the plants got more and more of her power, and she got more attention. Janelle didn’t notice though, the plants were feeling much better now.
There was truth in what Erik said, that all old ladies had once been young ladies who were now simply jealous. Or lonely Janelle couldn't help but sadly thing. Loneliness was the absolute worst, and the redhead couldn't have really blamed those hypothetical old ladies if they were hypothetically jealous. The redhead couldn't help but think what a great kiss that had been, even after such a significant amount of time had passed.
As for the rest. Janelle didn't try to hide a smirk. Perhaps they hadn't scratched the surface of scandalous, but much more kissing like that they'd definitely be heading that way. Well, now her cheeks were all flushed again and there was no way Janelle was voicing that thought, so she simply nodded her head in acknowledgement of Erik's points.
It was cold when they finally started to walk, colder than it had felt all evening, and Janelle leaned into Erik's side as much as their pace would allow as he led her to a car that he had apparently borrowed. Again, the sheer amount of effort that he had put into this date made Janelle warm to the tips of her toes. As she climbed into the passenger seat, Janelle mused over the fact that she didn't really know a thing about cars or how fancy this one was. The fact of the matter was that her parents didn't drive and the cars they rode in were the generic black kind that really didn't seem fancy one way or another.
Erik climbed into the car and got it running and Janelle continued to simply watch him doing all of the things that people do when they drive. He asked if she wanted to go to the Mansion and she nodded, "That would be fine." she said, watching out the windshield and passenger window as they made their way through traffic.
"I don't think I've told you thank you for tonight." she said, turning her head to study Erik's profile as she spoke, "It might just be the best one I've ever had."
Erik spoke and Janelle just shook her head slightly, still looking up at him with cheeks pinker than they had been all night. Erik was just so nice to her, and for the first time she could remember, Janelle really believed everything he said. It was empowering, and validating to stand there with him in the street.
The thought actually made her giggle a bit and she let her head fall forward for a moment to rest against Erik’s chest. They were in the middle of the street.
As if he could hear her thoughts, Erik asked if she thought they should move and Janelle lifted her head to look up at him again. Truth be told, she was anything but cold at the moment, and moving wasn’t something she really wanted to do.
Still…
”I suppose we’d better go.” she said on a small sigh, taking a step back. ”You never know where there’s a lonely old lady in her apartment, peeping down, ready to call the cops on two shameless kids in the street.”
Pulling Erik’s jacket a bit tighter around herself, much cooler now that they were apart, Janelle held out her hand for him to take once he’d reclaimed the food from the ground.
Erik seemed to be surprised by her words and for a moment Janelle considered treating him to a dose of his own medicine as they made their way down the street. He'd admitted to her that he didn't think he was a bad person, but he almost seemed confused and unsure when good things kept happening between them. Maybe she was the one who needed to issue the next moratorium on self deprecation.
As for their plans for the rest of the evening, Erik's idea seemed good enough, but Janelle was going to let him take it from here. He had the car, he was going to drive (considering she didn't even have a license) and she was certain whatever he decided would be just fine.
They were still holding hands and when Erik stopped he used their point of connection to pull her close and she leaned into him as his arm snaked around her waist. There was only one place something like this went and Janelle looked up, eyes slightly wide to confirm her compliance, even if it was a bit of a surprise. Erik's words sunk in though, and the redhead started to tell him that she'd only mentioned her complaints being silly to emphasize how well he'd handled it...but she was silenced by the kiss.
Whew, that was a kiss. A few moments, or minutes, or hours later found a very breathless redhead opening eyes that had slipped closed at some point.
The chilly weather had brought early fall to the streets of New York, but a tree near the couple had apparently failed to notice the weather and had burst into bloom, random pink petals from its flowers drifting down towards the sidewalk. One such petal landed on Erik's shoulder and Janelle reached up to brush it away with a slight giggle, cheeks pink and heart racing.
"I don't know how that's supposed to dissuade similar behavior in the future." she said, then nodded upwards, looking with her eyes, but not yet stepping away. "I guess you surprised me."
As Erik slipped out of his jacket, Janelle had to once again mentally praise his tailor for the fine job they'd done on his outfit for this evening. The jacket itself was warm and smelled like Erik and and she sighed happily, sleeves slipping slightly over her hand as Erik once again grasped her hand in his. She wouldn't be cold for a while now...at least until her legs decided to protest.
It seemed that the openness Erik had displayed inside the restaurant wasn't a fluke and slight tension Janelle hadn't realized she was holding flowed out of her, leaving warm contentment in its place. This story sounded almost idyllic, even if there was an undercurrent of struggle in the way he spoke about shortages and everyone sharing a room. Russia was one place her parents had never taken her, favoring the more trendy European hot spots to places with rich and complicated histories. Janelle had never argued or been particularly interested in anywhere else, now she wished she'd asked them to explore a bit more.
Erik asked if she was okay and intoned that he hadn't intended to upset her in the restaurant earlier. Squeezing his hand, Janelle looked up at him as they walked, "I wasn't really upset..." she said, trying to puzzle out exactly what she wanted to say.
"I've never had anyone make me feel so...validated before." she admitted candidly. It was the least she could do after everything he'd done and said already, "Generally people roll their eyes and remind me of all the things I have to be thankful for..." she trailed.
"You listened to all my silly complaints and not only took me seriously, you told me I wasn't silly."
She shrugged, pulling her eyes away. "It was a lot...but yeah, I'm okay. I'm sorry I ran us out of there."
That said, Janelle actually glanced at where they were, "Where are we going anyway? I hope you have a plan because I've just been following you."
It didn't take long to get the food bagged up and get out of the restaurant. She would call tomorrow and make sure their waiter got a nice tip as a thank you to all the trouble they'd ended up putting him through. This wasn't the sort of place that you simply up and left on a moment's notice. The fact that her family frequented the restaurant was probably the only thing that had gotten them out in any kind of actual haste.
The fresh air was worth it though. Things had gotten very real, very fast, and while it hadn't been in any kind of bad way, Janelle still needed to be someplace she could get her thoughts together. A stuffy, dimly lit building wasn't that place...granted a busy New York street wasn't her idea of perfect either. Still..the fresh air helped volumes and by the time Erik asked if she was going to be alright in her dress, Janelle felt like she was getting her bearings back.
Glancing down at her dress, the redhead chuckled slightly...she'd forgotten all about the dress. As if summoned by the thought, a chill swept through her and she smiled up at Erik. "If you don't mind..." she said, "I didn't plan to spend a lot of time outside."
The intensity that had built up inside the restaurant seemed to have dissipated a bit now, and Janelle didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Erik had been so open...she'd felt so vulnerable and validated. Had it been a fluke? Something he had said once they were outside wiggled its way across Janelle's mind and she smiled again, "You said this reminds you of home? Was it chilly a lot?"
One thing Janelle decided over the course of the next few moments was that she didn’t really want Erik to be angry with her. It was impossible to look away, but the tone of his voice made her squirm and the redhead waited, watching the tension in Erik as he spoke.
At his words though...Janelle did blush. Maybe not down to her toes, but holy good-ness. Despite the serious turn of the conversation, the redhead couldn’t help but smile sheepishly. That was the sort of retaliation she figured she could handle. Janelle kept eye contact though, heart thumping against her rib cage as Erik continued to speak.
He said they were alike, and Janelle resisted the temptation to shake her head. Instead, she simply listened, nodding as he drew parallels that she couldn’t argue against even if she wanted to...which she kind of did.
That nagging voice in the back of Janelle’s head pointed out that she hadn’t really had to play the game, she’d simply been the pawn when others played. It was the whole crux of the matter when it came down to it, she’d been oblivious to what was happening one time too many and it had really come back to hurt her in the end.
Erik seemed sure though, and despite her earlier bravado, Janelle wasn’t sure she wanted to argue and risk a scene that would see them removed from the restaurant before they could even eat dessert.
Erik grabbed her hand, and Janelle found herself holding his just as tight. This night had been a roller coaster of emotions and it was next to impossible for her to look away as he pointed out that they were both survivors.
Janelle sighed slightly, who was she to argue with something like that? She didn’t know what to say. What did you say to something like all of that?
Blinking slightly blurry eyes, cheeks still vaguely pink from Erik’s outrageous comments, Janelle slowly nodded her head.
Maybe it was best to say nothing?
A thought occurred to the redhead and she finally broke eye contact, glancing around the restaurant for their waiter before bringing her eyes back to Erik. ”You want to box this up and get out of here?” she asked, slightly chewing her bottom lip as she tried to figure out her next move, ”This place feels really stuffy all of a sudden and I think I’d like to take a walk.”
