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.
Very well. Her appearance was deemed acceptable. A thumbs up. Likely, she looked rough. Okay, though. Her head still made her feel a bit of the woozy. She could live with the bruise. But not the wooze.
She blinked. When next she opened her eyes, the cat had been replaced by a humanoid figure. Feminine. With ears of a cat, like in someone’s Japanese animated shows. Many mansion children enjoyed such things. She had yet to watch them, though. Too busy studying texts.
>> "You look fine... and ready for some retribution." The twin-tailed cat girl said.
Lenna clenched her jaw. ”Yes.”
Lenna got to work helping the others free the rest of the train car’s occupants. Though mainly, that meant tailing the cat.
They got a green haired girl, and a boy who summoned a rather large sword. This entire train car would have screamed Japanese animation to her, again, if she had been interested in that sort of stuff. Fortunately, her mind sought order and usefulness over wistfulness. The boy had a sword. She said ”Hope you can utilize that. But as Yoda stated, Size matters, not.”
He eyed her. She smiled weakly. The effort caused the side of her face to throb. The smile evaporated.
She shook her head, then glanced at the cat girl as yet another thing appeared amongst their ranks. Big swords and big things. Sh felt useful as tits on a basketball.
The girl was on the kimono woman. The cat girl addressed them all. Like she was running the show. Lenna liked her. She seemed capable. Maybe more capable than Lenna had been so far? Perhaps. Easily fixed. No need to dwell on how easily she had been nabbed.
The car rocked, almost in reply to the girl. Lenna could hear vague noises from beyond.
>> "Also... What are your names? You may call me Senri." Sentai added.
“M-Madeline,” said green hair girl.
“Cal,” said the swordsman.
“Haru!” Haru barked. Came out sounding like “haw roo!” She could almost hear the roo roo roo echo.
”I am Lenna.” She stated.
Lenna walked over to the corner and grabbed a broom that had been leaning against the wall. Then, she smashed its head off on the floor to give herself a jagged spear.
She would not allow herself to be nabbed again. She would not feel sorry for herself, or focus on the pain and disorientation.
Calmly, she strutted forward and tried the door at the end of the car. Just as it began to turn, by itself. Her hand instantly released the handle as she stepped back. A moment later, a man opened the door.
He had been checking on them, she realized. At the sight of her, his hand started moving. She was unsure what for. Before he could retrieve it or do anything, however, Lenna smashed the butt of the broom handle into his stomach. That caused him to begin to double over. She followed it by sweeping his feet from beneath him, and sent him sprawling upon the floor.
She followed his sudden fall up by kicking him repeatedly in the face, and when he brought them up to protect his face, the hands. A hand caught the end of her broken broom as she drew it back for an overhand coup de grace. Haru.
“He’s unconscious, yo.” He gestured. She looked. He was.
“Yo.” She agreed. “Good. We drag him inside and loot him for keys. Help me.”
Haru helped her pull him into the car. She found a ring of keys after a few seconds of searching.
His sudden appearance had startled her. But still, she wanted to make herself useful. Her quick reactions had prevented him from raising an alarm. They had probably made her seem brutish and quick to harm to the rest of the children, but— that had been a sacrifice she had been willing to make.
She rose, and jingled the keys at the group.
Cal nodded. Haru gave a thumbs up. The little girl, Madeline, smiled tersely from her perch upon the geishas back.
That answered the what do we do next question. They would go ahead.
Since she had procured keys, Lenna went first. Into the next car.
—
The next car was well lit, and well stocked. There were several red and white coolers against one wall, for snacks and beverages. Refreshments for what appeared to be a guard house. Magi sense on the ground were amongst the other signs of living. Wise, to station a guard house directly outside the area guards should have been guarding. Yet, only one had come to check in them. The cabin was empty.
“Hrm,” Cal grunted. He stepped closer to the center of the room. “Card tables set up. Plenty of chairs.”
“They had a big poker game goin’ on.” Haru brushed past Cal’s shoulder to stand next to the largest table. The gruff boy rested his swords rip against the floor so he could cross his arms. Haru paid him no mind, scanning the tables contents. “Enough cards for ten men.” There was a hand of cards on the table in front of him. Haru turned them over. “Full House.”
“Where’d they all go?” Madeline squeaked.
There was a sound in the distance like something large falling from the sky. The whole train shuddered. They all exchanged significant looks.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Lenna announced, Colombian accent thick. ”The next car will be rrrroiling with goons.” And as it turned out, it was.
—
The door to the next car was not locked. All the work for keys, and the door had been left unlocked in careless haste. The distraction causing the sounds had divided attentions so much.
So much, in fact, that when Lenna first entered , she saw them before they saw her. Six men stood with their backs to the group, focused in the opposite direction. Towards the other end of the train. They were heavily armed, several feet away from the door at the end of the car. Waiting.
This was bad. Very bad. Lenna knew guns. If they saw them all and turned, the train car would be a bloody shooting gallery. Worse, still, they were in a metal tube. Bullets that missed them would ricochet off every plane at every angle. The chaos alone would doom them. Only divine Providence had saved them for the moment. They were distracted.
She was good. But was she this good? If she worked fast, she could shift guns up, force as off center. But she could not do so fast enough, not even if she did so in rapid succession. Even worse, the chaos. Again, the chaos of ricochet. They would be as the Swiss cheese.
Could Cal rush their buns fast enough? The phrase was bum rush, she corrected herself. Could Haru do his thingy with the... springy? What could Senri the cat girl do with her summons? Or the small child, Madeline? No. The chaos. Too much was to be left to chance. If they turned and spotted them all, it would be, how do you say? The game would be over. Fish in a barrel that was also bouncing bullets off its sides to shoot them more.
The only way they would survive was if they all focused on a single target for long enough. Long enough for the group to jump them. Because there was no way they could cover that entire distance in stealth, in seconds. No way.
The entire thought process took her moments. From the realization of how utterly ruined they were, down to the split second mental images of each of her people being cut down in turn by a swathe of bullets. And her decision.
Lenna turned and looked at each of them in turn, finally settling her eyes on Senri’s. If she had known *Senri were actually a cat hiding in the shadows of the image of a cat girl, and that the sight lines were all wrong, she would have felt the fool. Lenna was not making direct eye contact at all! But, for the sake of things, this fact mattered not.
Lenna looked Senri in the eye*. The look said “I am planning to be amazingly stupid. I have known you five minutes. I trust you. And you are a cat. You are in charge, now.” Ot maybe it merely looked like she were gassy. She held up a finger for silence. Then, Lenna turned.
Using all the stealth of a lifetimes training, she crept towards the men. If she could close the distance, draw near enough to battle them at close quarters, their edge would dull. They would crunch. They would— crunch?
Crunch?!
CRUNCh?!?!?
She spun. Had she not pointed at the floor after motioning for silence??? Told them all to stay still so she could— no. In her haste, she had not. And f%*%%ing Haru. F%*%{^ing HARU. Had stepped on a bag of chips in his attempt to follow after her in order to give his support.
HATE, UNFOLLOW, UNSUBSCRIBE!!!! If Lenna were internet Savvy, she would have shouted such merciless words. But she was not. What she was, was dead. Oh, ohh so dead.
“What the hellll?”
She spun back to face the group of goons. Lenna had made it halfway across the car. They were all turning towards her, now.
She really did not wish to die. Her power was finesse. She could focus on a single target, point by point, and shift the probability. Nudge them. Maybe more. But could she— she could not just rush in and beat them when she was so far away. Could not just be a target and have the rest of them rush after she was dead. She had wanted to be heroic. Like Skye. Like cold Steel. Like an X man. But she had also recently had head trauma so WHO THE HELL was letting her make major life decisions right now?!
She wanted to be back home. Her home. With her aunt. She had finally found it. Instead, she was here.
She was mad. Her hearing, it had dulled with the stress. Faded to background. To white noise. Like waves, crashing against the rocks by the docks in Colombia.
A memory of her in her youth. Her youth that was both simultaneously a handful of years ago, and also a decade. On a barrel, by the docks, watching by the day. Watching the waves crash. The sun set. The waves.
The waves.
The waves.
To her, everything was orange. She had figured out this was likely due to her power trying to move the entire world because it could not settle on one single thing. It tried to move it all. Brute force reality to her will. If she used finesse, she could alter things in her favor. But she could not just crush things in one massive wave of will... or could she?
She wanted to defend them. She wanted off this stupid train. She wanted to live. And she wanted— she wanted these men out of her way.
Lenna’s world was orange. But, she tried to narrow it in that second, squint her eyes and tighten her focus. Make it so only some of it was orange. Maybe about a 8-10 foot wide area. About yay talk, and yay thick.
She could hear the waves crashing. So, she imagined them. Imagined her power as a wave of orange, instead of a field. Tightened her focus, and— as the men raised machine guns and trained them on her and her fellow kids, lenna PUSHED!!!
She sent the telekinetic force out. Like a crashing wave of orange was only she could see. With the force of a 300 lb linebackers tackle. It hit everything. Bowled them all over. Pressed them into walls. Boom! Knocked over chairs, and sent them smashing into the end of the train car. Any other debris. Cans of soda, other bags of chips, lamps, bing, bam, boom. All that force, all that power, swept out like a wave and hit everything. Everything in its path but one.
Five out of six goons is not bad, right?
The last one had ducked to scrawl something on the floor. Hastily summoned a massive boulder to hide behind. Gigantic. And had crouched in the lee of the stone as the force of the wave passed all around. He had avoided being crunched into the other end of the train with concussive force. Unlike his fellow goons. Sorry, boys. Because he had been smart.
The wave receded in her vision, and to her that seemed to make the orange of her world spread back out. So instead of a small area, the area of the wave, it was everything. Again. And also. She felt like something had broken with the effort. She felt—
Lenna wobbled. Then she staggered. And then, she was falling backwards off her feet. Oops.
One summoner left. Capable of summoning anything, from Cerberus itself to a giant tentacle beast from your favorite Japanese animations. Hiding behind that rock, scrabbling with chalk. Making the runes.
As her vision faded to darkness and she fell, Lenna thought to herself: “Five out of six better be enough.”
It was on Senri and her Senri squad, now. Lenna had shot her shot and got out.
What a terrible phrase to end on. She should have been ashamed. And she would have been... if she were still conscious.
Side note, that massive wave definitely rocked the train some and made noise. Aura and himari could probably have heard that.
The man who had rummaged her bag stated that she had been de-Aged, and that she was a mutant. That was fine. She had no illusions she wished to hide behind. She nodded at the man’s suggestion. The man whose name was Jude. Mr Jude?
Oh. Well, she had thought him simple security. What was the phrase? Boy, were her cheeks red? She felt orange was a better color, personally. Though they maintained a uniform pink, the same as in any other situation. She held her embarrassment in well. Constant poker face, her.
Ladies first, he said. Lenna reclaimed her bag, then fell in line behind Sveta.
The woman asked her about her powers. She answered as she walked.
”My powers are still new, from my point of view. I do not rely on them. I prefer to rely upon my own personal training. I have ten plus years of training in blades and firearms, as well as martial arts. Krav Maga, mainly.” She stated.
”I am fluent in English and French, as well as Spanish. Though my dialect is more Colombian than Mexican.” And her accent simply reinforced this fact.
”I am willing to learn more if the job calls for it.” She fell silent for a moment, as if deciding on something. Then she continued. ”If you must know about my mutation, I have the ability to shift things with my mind. Move, as well.” She added, as if remembering something recent. ”But mainly, I shift things in my favor. Alter peoples punch trajectories, jostle their aim. Shifting things is more about finesse. I prefer finesse. Over. Brute force.”
Yes. Brute force. She was well aware what brute force could do. The memory of loud sounds and crashes echoed in her mind.
She looked to Miss Sergeyeva. ”I have been training and studying at Xavier’s sister school for several months, now. I am not unpracticed with my mutation. I simply prefer my other assets. Oh. One other thing. I only see in shades of orange. I hope that will not be a problem.”
>> "Seems like you came ready for auditions" the woman smirked.
Lenna bobbed her head in agreement. Yes, she had. One can never be too prepared.
>> "Svetlana Sergeyeva. I don't do handshakes. But nice to meet you. Lenna, right?"
”Lenna Kadick,” She confirmed. It is entirely possible Miss Sergeyeva may have heard the surname before. Her aunt was a prominent donor to the Haven organization, after all. But Lenna was not attempting to bank on notoriety.
It was a crying shame that she had lost many language fluencies due to the deAging process. Once upon a time, she might have been able to converse in fluent Russian with the woman. Not any longer, however.
The lack of a handshake did not upset the young woman. These are trying times. And people always underestimate what something as simple as a touch can do. Among mutants.
”It is good to make your acquaintance.” Lenna stated fact. ”This has always struck me as a fine building. I was here once before, for the Haven pool party. I did not remember such thorough security the last time...”
“Do you know how long it will be before your man,” She had really wanted to call him a dog. But she had shown restraint. ”Will be through in their investigation of my belongings. I assure you they are all legally purchased. The paperwork is in the bag.” If it showed an older Lenna as the purchaser, well, that was not her fault. She had not gone out to become younger. ”I was told this would be a security position, so I fully understand wariness. Perhaps it was even a little test of your current measures, haha.” She said haha like a robot, not like a woman who genuinely thought the situation were funny. Not even as one trying to play it off as amusing. Awkward, and a bit dry.
>>oh you dated her too man it just keeps getting better and better.
Lenna’s eyebrow arched. She had no clue what he had been given to make him believe she had dated his ex. What had she said to that effect? She had simply expressed interest. Like a robot might. She however, was wise enough to let his misunderstandings slide by without comment.
He flexed. She flexed her mind, focusing on a distant point. A blade of grass. The orange they usually filled her field of vision narrowed to encompass just that one blade of grass. Orange in, orange out. She flexed her mind as she ignored him. Like a cat, flexing its claws. It was one way to practice concentration that did not offend people often. Unless they found out.
She had said her part, about the hedge maze and the Getting lost. And guns. He said his part about calling her dense and his father. Under her breath, she noted the anatomical difficulties presented therein. But he kept talking. Her impression was growing very clear on what kind of nice and noble person he was~
Detention, or his training.
She shrugged. ”I spent an hour under a freezing waterfall to clear my mind after I called him,” She, too, did the air quotes. Had she used them right? ”%*%^ing stupid. It really was good practice for focusing the mind.” She added the last part serenely.
Then she commented on her power, and flight, which nabbed his interest like fire takes to dry wood.
He asked if she could sprout wings. She was about to say no, when he took to the air and flew around above her. Lenna waited for him to land, so she could explain everything to him. However, he explained why he was banned from the danger room first.
And perfection?
She chuckled darkly to herself. ”Yes. The world can only handle so much of some people. Too much, and it does not know how to handle itself. Anyways. No, I do not grow wings. I move things with my mind. I could move myself.” She explained, Colombian accent thick.
Lenna returned the wink. Because the hell why not?
”I feel the same. We shall do this again some time. Maybe the next time, I shall do better.”
She did not act cocky or say next time, she could kick his ass. Next time, she might do just that! But it would be foolishly prideful to state that just then.
Training was in order. Much training. Much practice utilizing her fledging powers.
After a few further pleasantries, Lenna left him and returned to her rooms.
She insisted she had better things to be doing. Her aunt thought better of it. After what had recently happened, she believed there was nothing more important than for Lenna to use her time professionally, and be off the streets. Why? Because she had been kidnapped, of course. Not fair, to insist she get a job because she had been kidnapped whilst out shopping with her auntie? Perhaps. But rich people can have rich ideas about things. They don’t always make sense.
You see, Lenna had a particular set of skills. Skills her aunt was aware of. Skills that had, in part, assisted her in that escape from the kidnapping thing. Her, and her friends.
Lenna thought she ought to utilize said skills to work towards freeing her friend from witches. The friend who was left behind. Her aunt thought that she could do both. If her friend was half as capable as it sounded like she was, there would be time. The problem might even solve itself. Lenna disagreed.
When someone sticks their neck out for you, you stick your neck right back. You do not abandon them. Her aunt told her that entire thought process was foolish, and that she would surely find herself in trouble if she rushed ahead like that. She should, at least, get help first. And find the people. Then plan. Planning takes time. There was time enough to go to one interview prior to the big breakout. That seemed a bit strange to Lenna, perhaps a bit psychotic, even. Or sensible. But—
One cannot really argue with family. When your one known family member asks you to do something, and you can do it... better do it. Lest you lose their trust. And it was only one interview. She could fit it into her busy schedule of failing horribly at finding a bunch of witches and one friend. She did not have to like it, however...
Lenna arrived at the appointed location early, dressed in a professional looking tailored slate gray suit her aunt had hand-picked specifically for the interview. Lenna’s one deviation, which had not been approved, was this. She wore her dark orange sneakers with yellow laces. Take that, auntie. Also, she had packed her man purse (read: messenger bag) with numerous items she felt may become useful during the interview, should they ask for sure things.
It was a good thing she left early, because there were metal detectors at the main entrance and she got stopped.
Security called for some people whose names she was unfamiliar with. A miss Sveta and a Mister Jude?
Lenna stood waiting, her brown leather messenger bag sitting on the nearby table. A man with no permission was rooting through it and noting all the weaponry. How tedious.
”Will this take long?” the young woman with the Colombian accent asked with annoyance. ”I have an appointment.” Her foot tapped in impatience. Her hair hung awkwardly, a ragged bob that looked like a rank amateur with razor springs had cut it, with long bangs that framed either side of her face. Her aunt had thought she should get it cut but Lenna again had insisted that there was no time.
A voice replied to her query. It, too, sounded feminine. Which made two females kidnapped, at the very least. Creeps.
This girl was in a bag. And Lenna heard... scratching? Her mind ran wild trying to imagine where the scratching had originated, and how a bag could contain a girl. It must have been some bag. Or some girl.
”My head hurts,” She stated. Her voice had a Spanish tang to it, like someone from Colombia, like Shakira. For lack of a better celebrity example. ”My head hurts. I was hit. And am bound. By... hair. Fuck. But we will escape. Yes, yes.”
They would.
Another voice piped up. For the first time in minutes, it was not a feminine one. “Hey all. Haru here. Just another unboxing video. Are we all ready for this?”
Lenna heard a sound like a spring uncoiling, and something being torn. Her brow furrowed in concentration, in an attempt to place the location of the sound. She turned in the general direction. She had practiced fighting without sight. It was not too difficult.
”What is... unboxing?” She said.
“Damn!” The voice drawled. “Nobody got that on camera? My fans will be pissed! Until I post the reaction vid online. Just picture it. ‘SO! I just got kidnapped today!!’ The views will be off the charts.” There was the sound of what she figured were hands, slapping together. Dusting off palms, perhaps? Or clapping... applauding herself? Who was this mutant man?
”Over here,” Lenna said, trying to get her attention quick. Before it drifted. ”Haircut. Need a haircut.”
“But your hair is so pretty! I hate to cut it bad. Wait a second—“ he said.
Footsteps, away from here. There was a sound like canvas ripping.
Light flooded into Hiyori’s field of vision. Not a metric ton of light. Just a little, from some lamps attached to the walls of the train car. The next thing the girl would see would be a Japanese boy, around 16 or 17, with short hair, cut into a spiky ‘do. He wore a big smile, a pair of blue jeans, a dark shirt, and a white hoodie with pictures of anime women’s faces plastered all over it. Very interesting faces. They looked delirious. He looked handsome. Tall and muscular, with a charming smile. Very personable. There were marks on his cheeks like curling lines.
If you need a good image of what his hoodie looked like, Google ahegao hoodie.
He took one look at her and said “Guess I let the cat out of the bag. Okay.” He clapped his hands in front of himself, and stalked away. To the other girl.
KA-SPROI-OI-OI-OING! There was a blur of movement from something. Something to do with his right hand. Then, that something coiled back into his palm. He had moved his arm like Zorro with his sword, something had recoiled, and the hair around the brunette’s arms, wrists, and legs, had fallen away.
Lenna stood, pushing up off the train cars floor. She brushed the hair out of her eyes. Her whole head felt... much lighter.
She looked to him, looked to the... cat... and asked ”Well. How do I look?”
There was a great big bruise on the right side of her face, and her hair... well, once it might have been shoulder length. Now, it was in a ragged bob that ended a couple inches above her shoulders. There were also two very long sets of bangs on either side of her face.. It could have been fashionable, on Mars. Maybe not on Earth.
Haru gave one big thumbs up. The cat, seemingly, had no thumbs.
”Pretty well,” She corrected him. Though it probably came off more as if she were agreeing with the boy. He kept talking, at least.
>> ”Though as far as classes to skip think yers might be the better of the two to skip.”
”Oh?” Lenna said. Mildly interested.
>> ”Me ex’ teaches it now and well. No thank you.”
”My.” She said. Then caught herself being a B*^%* and correcting his English again, so she salvaged it by adding. ”Oh my.” Like some sort of C3PO person.
>> ”Figured I’d go fer a fly and make it up later. Was probably gonna end up sleeping in there anyways.” He explained.
”A wise decision. Very noble.” She nodded. Much less difficulties for the ex running the class. Not having to kick the wing boys butt.
Had she been finding a lot of the interesting.
”No. I liked the hedge maze for one minute then a boy tried trapping me inside. I think that maybe I will go shoot some things in the danger room. That is interesting, at least.” She gave him an explanatory look and added. ”They do not like me shooting things outside the danger room. I made that mistake exactly one time.”
Her eyes drifted to the sky. ”If I ever figure this power of mine out, I should learn how to fly. It would be an optimal vantage point. Tactically speaking.”
The sound of the falls suddenly coalescing into being caused Lenna to turn her head quickly in their direction. She felt foolish afterwards. Felt like she had acted jumpy, like a spooked horse in an old western. But at least she had been prepared for any sudden trail snakes.
He said he didn’t know what it had to do with focus? She arched an eyebrow.
”You know, I never gave that much thought. I guess if you are freezing your balls off and can ignore that while focusing on something else, that shows true strength of mind. I suppose it may be mind over matter... you would not need to sit under a water fall.” She added, looking at him and smiling. ”You can ignore the cold easily. For you, it would be cheating.”
The pressure of the falls would be another thing to ignore. To focus on something above the pain, above all else.
Would the danger room illusion make you wet, even after you left? Curious.
”Anyways. I thank you for the training.” She did a quick bow, as the Japanese might do for their teacher. Then, she straightened up.
She stirred, then she struggled. The side of her face pulsed, a throb of pain. Maybe that was what had woken her. The pain. And, the tightness. Her struggle accomplished nothing. In her disoriented state, that was far worse than the pain. She could not move. She could not see. No orange. No nothing. What, Lenna wondered, the hell was going on here?
As she lay on her side, rocking with the motion of... of something. She racked her mind in an attempt to recall what had happened and where she was.
Then.
It had been a fairly usual day. She had been out shopping with her aunt. Such a strange thing, having an aunt. It was something Lenna still was not used to.
Her arms had been filled with bags. She had turned to say something— her aunt had been several feet behind, just taking a step out of the store. Laughing, as she followed Lenna into the light of day. Then, there had been an impact, as a man had bumped into her side. Muttered words. She had opened her mouth to speak with him, perhaps apologize for the purely accidental collision. Her eyes had drifted his way. He had been wiggling his fingers, like—
Something tugging at her head. A look of victory on his face. In her minds eye, Lenna could still recall the face. Perhaps she had committed it to memory, deep down knowing of his planned assault. Brown hair, cut short. Higher in the forehead area. No combover. Wide forehead, high hairline. Receding? Square jaw. And blue eyes. Of course, to her it would have all been shown in tones of orange, right? Right. Wrong.
Wait. What?
They were on a crowded city street. Her powers... the world appeared normal, in living colors. No dark orange filter. Did that mean— was a null nearby? Aura had spoken to her of such things. But— Lenna did not have the time to think on the matter, and the man with the blue eyes made a forked finger gesture with one hand, while scooping the other in an underhanded wave. Her whole world grew black, as tightness surrounded her. Tugging at her scalp. And then— impact. A memory of a scream. Her aunt?
Darkness.
Now.
The darkness around her smelled like mangoes. The thing that was binding her, it bound her hands at the wrist, her arms at the elbow. Pinned them to her sides, and covered her face. This thing. It smelled like her shampoo? Huh.
A thought struck her, much in the same way something had struck her face to knock her unconscious earlier that day. Was she wrapped... was she tied up... in her mother loving hair?!
Yes. To an outside observer, the young woman in black slacks and orange and grey winter coat would have been a sight. On her side, surrounded by loops and swathes of long brown hair. It covered her eyes, but left the lower half of her face open to air. The majority of her was simply covered. Covered in her own hair.
The mystic had performed a ritual to make the hair grow, and to make it clasp. Bind. His choice of magic was the kind that shifted bodies, and manipulated the very structure of peoples’ cells. And he had used it to give her long hair, then tie her up in it. Though she knew nothing of magic. So to Lenna, this man was a mutant. A hair manipulation master. She wished to spit in his face and share the irony with him of how his own hair had decided to begin leaving him, even when he could control hair itself. What a resounding endorsement of his own flaccid incompetence! What meager skill! The moron!
He had gotten the drop on her, certainly, but what a loser. What a fool. Once she was out of this, she would make him pay. He had not brought the null. That had been a miracle in his favor, or else he never would have succeeded in this thing, whatever it was he was planning to do.
And her aunt. What fear she would have felt. Oh yes, he would pay for having made her aunt fear. Perhaps the woman had already called for police officers. Perhaps this was one reason the helicopters Lenna was currently unaware or were flying over the scene? Or perhaps not.
Did she have her cellular phone on her? She could wiggle enough to try and shift to one side and pat at her pocket to see... and... yes. She had her phone there. There was a hardness of a case.
Cool. The fool. If nothing else, SUPER would be able to note her location. She hated them. But if she got the chance, perhaps she could call them in as a fiery salvo from above. Like they do in those video games she had seen people play at the mansion. An aerial strike? Only with more rescue, most likely. Even if she trusted them not at all. She was going through her options here, people. The things one thinks when bound and in the dark are far different than the things one thinks in the light. On the topic of bindings... they had not bound her mouth.
Her throat was dry, and had a slight stammer to it as she tried a new tact. Speaking.
”He-hello? Is th-there any one near? My captor? Balding man? Or, well, anyone other than that small prick?” Lenna grimaced. Not her best commentary, but she did not see a lot she had to work with here.
Were there, perhaps, others in this vehicle that even now bumped along on its path? Had this man been working with others, after all? Was this, perhaps, a child kidnapping ring of some sort?
If it is, it is the most foolish, inept one I have ever encountered Lenna thought. Not that she had encountered any in the past, other than maybe that one time...? But... they really had moved in broad daylight. Visible for the love of god. There had been Witnesses.
If only she did not need to see to utilize her powers... which begged the question. Did she need to see in order to utilize her powers? Or could she move something, if she were close?
>> "I...If only we could ask the dead the questions that rage within us. Like you, I will never be able to ask the questions i would most want to. Questions im not sure i even like asking myself. " Aura said.
Lenna nodded. ”Yes. It is not easy.” They were on the same page. Similar pasts and similar struggles.
Lenna felt strange about Cortez. Conflicted. Closure would have been nice. Even if all she did was shout.
Aura decided to share her information, and brought up several good points.
Lenna agreed. ”Yes. Talking helps.” She had learned that, during her time at the mansion and with Ty. With Megan. With Cold Steel and with Skye.
Then, Aura said something Lenna was ill-prepared for. Jealousy, of her? If her situation? What was this? An eyebrow arched.
She fell silent, thoughtful.
To feel the souls... the weight. Aura had not vocalized the part about being deaged but still having blood on your hands, from another life. It was good she had not. Lenna likely would have reacted poorly to such suggestions. Still, she could empathize with the woman. To feel such weight, she did not even want to imagine. She WAS lucky. And Aura—
Aura spoke more. They were getting very deep now, and Lenna was used to the shallows. She was working on being able to go deeper, but — raised as she had been, soul searching was still hard.
She opened her mouth, then shut it. Not sure what to say.
Aura jotted down information, and Lenna took it. She looked at it. Then, she looked to the woman while pocketing the paper.
”I do not know much about what you said. About the choice to prevent suffering, or any of that. But— I do know about growing up in a community of people taught to think only of the battlefield, only of targets and takedowns. And— if you think you are helping people doing what you do, do what makes you feel happy? Do what makes you feel... useful, I guess? And—“
Lenna looked at Aura, tried to meet her eyes, all embarrassed-like. She brought her arms out and just held them there awkwardly, like she were waiting for something.
”I am sorry this is awkward. Us child soldiers likely do not get to talk much... about feelings. But my friends have taught me, uh. Can I give you a hug?”
Words to set it up, they kind of eluded her. But talking helped. And hugs? She supposed they were okay, sometimes! Just... not suddenly and without warning. And she had to be in the right mindset, or else she’d want to leave and ignore feelings and he mad or grouchy, and and and— she honestly didn’t want to think about any of that. To her it seemed as if Aura could use a hug. She would make the offer, embarrassing as it might seem. Damn it.
Why would she have a business card? She was not a business woman. She worked fast food.
And he really missed the cue, had he not... interesting. With the look. Him? No? Okay. She wrote him off as one who misses social cues and lumped him in with herself.
She shrugged at the question. ”I have many classes and many free periods. Should I truly worry which is which? But. Eh.” She made a face. ”biology and general science. I just do not see the point...”
“What are YOU skipping?” she asked.
Truthfully, Lenna was not much interested in skipping the classes. Not unless she was behind and needed to study on her own. But those classes...
The woman, whoever she was, was not blind. Caught up in her emotions, yes, but not blind. Or stupid. When Lenna told her to stop, she stopped. Maybe a second slower than another may have, yes. But she stopped.
Her hand halted, hovered by Lenna’s cheek. Her eyes searched the young girl’s, uncertainty in them. Who was this girl she had once known? What had become of her? Other than the age factor, a thing she had already easily explained. Lost years. Lost memories. But what had she done to lead her to be this... violent?
The other girl stood, talked, threatened. My oh my, but she had made a mess of this.
She sniffed. Stepped back. Brushed her tears away with the back of one hand. Her bearing shifted from uncertainty and a self conscious hunch, to something proud.
Lenna relaxed a little, the moment the woman moved away. Just a little. Her grip on the broken glass remained strong. Her hand trembled, slightly. But it was ready. She flicked her eyes to the hand holding the broken glass aloft. The glass that had nearly been mashed into the woman’s cheek. And, she let it be lowered to the table.
The tablecloth was stained red by her hand. It had caught a few drops of her blood. Broken glass is indiscriminate of who it cuts. Perhaps she, herself, needed to do a better job of discriminating. The fact she had been so close to violence... It disheartened Lenna. Scared her, a little. She wished she were more beyond those old habits. But what do they say of old habits and dying? Ah yes. They die hard.
Lenna had no wish to die that day. What would he, would be. Violence, included.
Megan asked if she wished to go. Lenna watched the woman and said she did not yet know. What the woman said next would determine...
“My apologies,” the woman said, voice tight. “I grew carried away and lost myself. It is just that you look exactly as your mother did when she was your age.” Left unsaid were the words ‘rainbow clothing notwithstanding.
“My... mother?” Lenna asked.
“My name is Liandra Kadick,” the woman said. “And I am your aunt.”
Many things had been expected, but that? That had not been one of them.
Lenna had told Megan many things. Not five minute ago, she had said that she had no family. This and that? Yeah. They did not, how do you say, jive? What Megan knew about Lenna, well, it was brief and also a lot. Lenna had spoken of the plot, the former Lenna who had deaged. She had told Megan of a her who had worked for the redhead, Ty, years prior. And she had explained about SUPER and her supposed relationship with them. And that had all been in one conversation. Since then, she had expounded on a lot of the gray areas. Like her conversation with a girl named Aura and another Earth. So...
Yeah. There was a lot to unpack for the both of them in the revelation that this woman, this Earth’s woman, thought she was Lenna’s aunt. When this Lenna she was speaking to? As far as she knew, she was from another place with other stuff. Original Lenna was, apparently, Null. Or a Null. Probably both since she wasn’t around to cause them any trouble in the here and now. This all combined to make Lenna very, very confused.
Lenna looked at her, and spoke, Colombian accent thick. ”I am very, very confused. Are we even from the same planet?”
In the midst of her confusion, she felt oddly proud of herself! Planets were one of the many things she had recently studied. And stars! They were some of the many things Cortez had never trained them in or taught them about. The solar system. ‘Who needs to know about how the earth moves around the sun when you can learn fifteen ways to kill someone with your finger!’ he might have said.
The woman, clearly missing the context of the planet comment, nodded. She got it. “It’s a lot to take in.” She said. “If you’d like, we can take my limo to my mansion, and we can speak about this further. I am so glad I found you, Lena.” She smiled. “I’ve been searching for so long.”
Lenna looked to Megan, a rare look of utter loss on her face. The look said “help!”
>>"Probably. Nobody knows for sure what happened but he's dead now, so..."
So he was dead. “Like my adopted father.” Lenna said. ”No real loss. The world is probably better for their absence~.” Her voice was not bitter. This was a mere statement of fact, rattled off smooth as silk.
Lenna had spoken to Megan about her past, in pieces. As bout how she was an orphan. Parents killed by pirates. Left with no family in the world. About being adopted into a strange extended sort of family in Colombia. An all-girls school, sure. Though one with a penchant for teaching violence. Moreso than useful things. And about her adopted father, Cortez. The drug lord. About him being dead now.
She shrugged too. And moved on without giving the whole topic a second thought. There were other things to speak of such as sucking boys.
Megan greatly appreciated her joke. Lenna allowed the hint of a pleased smile to tug at the corner of her mouth.
Perhaps he did fear reprisal. Or perhaps he was ashamed. He should have been. Should be. Lenna loathed betrayed trusts. Especially from people she cared about. Off if she had wounded his pride, maybe he would learn from it, and gain some consistency in order to maintain future promises.
The fact she thought of future promises likely meant she would ultimately forgive him, this time. But still, he had damaged the relationship. With his flakiness. His unwholesome flakiness.
She smiled a cat’s smile at the thought of Megan assisting her in tracking him down. A hunting cat’s smile. Such an image.
”I thank you for the offer,” Lenna stated. ”But I think, with my particular set of skills, I could find him on my own. I do have a particular set of skills, do I not?” Smile, amused smile. ”Skills he would not much like. That would make me a nightmare~ Heh. If he does it again, maybe I will just assassinate his a—“
“Lena!” A woman’s voice cut her off. Before she could drop the third ass in a sentence.
“-ss.” The air escaped, all the same.
A woman. An unfamiliar woman. Had rushed up to their table. Interrupting food time. Who was this woman? And why was she calling her Lena. The pronunciation was all wrong. She was in her 50s or 60s, with a short bob of brown and gray hair and a face that had smile lines at the mouth and eyes.
Her jacket was long and gray, her cardigan, black. Diamond stud earrings were pinpricks off light in her ears, and they looked real. She looked to Lenna, then eyed Megan. Her eyes were blue-green. There would be something about that, something. Notable. Familiar.
”Who are you,” Lenna said brusquely. ”Why are you using that name? I do not know your face.”
The woman began to cry. “So much like her. I just knew. I’ve been looking. I hired someone— just like—“
She reached up to touch lenna’s face...
Lenna’s hand snapped up. There was a shattering sound. And suddenly, she held Megan’s broken glass in her hand.
”Stop!” A single tear rolled down Lenna’s cheek. Though possibly, probably, it could have also been a far flung drop of Megan’s water tea. Lenna was not really the crying type.
”No, you did not. I hope you put spiders in his ears.” Lenna “joked.” Haha. Because a more violent former version of her would have suggested far better. Or far worse, from the right perspective.
Lenna was aware of Megan’s food propensities. They had done sushi last time. But sometimes it is nice to feel normal, and going places with a friend is about as normal as one can get. So she knew about the smuggled ham. Lenna did not judge.
She ate a bite of her own sandwich. A club.
Megan asked if she wished to speak of it, and Lenna nodded. Whether Megan construed that as her wishing Megan to hunt down and web the boy or not was entirely up to Megan’s fine interpretation. Lenna did not elaborate.
Lenna did speak, though.
”I wanted to go on a date with him. Set one up. He has now cancelled on me three times. I am, how do you say it? Peesed off!” Her Spanish accent grew heavy on the words ‘pissed off.’
Conspiratorially, Lenna leaned forward, cellular phone in hand.
She brought up her texts logs. She was much more literate at such things now. Lenna showed Megan.
”I have texted him what I told him was a picture of him when I saw him out when he should have been with me or on his own. Doing what he said he had to cancel our date in order to do.”
Without the glimmer of humor, Lenna showed Megan the picture. She was always bad at jokes so yes, this was to be humorous. Conveying that took effort Lenna did not always give. Megan was most likely used to Lenna’s brand of subtlety by now.
The picture was of a shelf in a convenience store. It was in the candy aisle. Clearly centered, there was a Cadbury brand candy bar confection called a Flake.
”He has not yet replied.” Lenna stated, somewhat smugly.
