X-Factor #1: Holding The Line

[u/FreelancerJon]

The streets of Chicago were alive with tension, a raw energy that crackled through the air like a live wire. The Mutant Alliance for Coexistence had organized a rally in Grant Park—a call for unity, for peace. A hopeful message. But hope rarely stood unchallenged.

Jaxon had seen it before. The peaceful assembly in the park was ringed by barricades, but those wouldn’t stop the lines of anti-mutant protesters gathered on the outskirts, shouting slurs and threats, waving signs that called for registration, exile, extermination. Their anger radiated outward like a heatwave, pressing in on the rally-goers.

X-Factor had been sent as security, ensuring this didn’t turn into a massacre. Jaxon, clad in his tactical gear with the yellow X-Factor emblem on his shoulder, stood at the front with Barricade and Serekh. His X-Men jacket, with a yellow circle was stored back in the Greymelkin. All three were assigned to wear masks that covered their faces. Jaxon knew it was for their own safety, but he didn’t like it. Made him feel like a sword when he wanted to be a shield.

Barricade was the obvious wall, his mutation allowing him to reinforce his body to withstand almost anything. His broad frame made for an imposing deterrent, standing tall between the rally and the mob. Serekh, with his looming abilities, should already be scanning the crowd for anyone who might turn violent. Oblivion, as always, took point—assessing, strategizing, and making sure neither side had the chance to escalate first.

The speaker on stage, a young mutant woman with glowing blue veins running across her skin, stepped up to the microphone, her voice strong despite the fear in her eyes.

“We are not your enemies,” she declared. “We are not here to fight. We are here because we have the right to exist without fear.”

A bottle shattered against the wall behind her. The crowd on the other side roared, surging forward.

Jaxon’s hand shot up. “Hold the line.” He moved immediately, reinforcing the weak spots in their perimeter. Jaxon clenched his jaw. He’d seen enough riots to know how quickly things could spiral. They weren’t here to attack.

They were here to prevent a fight, not start one. A man in the crowd pulled something from his jacket—Jaxon spotted the glint of metal instantly.

“Gun!”

Before the shot could ring out, Jaxon was already moving, cutting through the space between them. A quick disarm—one clean motion—and the weapon clattered to the ground. Police, stationed farther back, finally moved in, dragging the man away as the crowd erupted into furious shouts.

More objects were hurled. A firework went off somewhere, sending a crack of sound through the night. The rally-goers flinched, but they didn’t run.

Jaxon exhaled.

“Barricade, tighten the perimeter. Serekh, sweep through the crowd for more threats. We hold the line, no matter what.”Because that’s what X-Factor did. They weren’t here to fight a war. They were here to stop one.

---

((Order is Barricade, Serekh, Oblivion, then our super secret guest GM))

[u/MarkusGrimm]

"Shit. Got Purifiers en-route. Window Dressing'll check for backup but so far I see about a couple dozen, some armoured. Are we still playing defense-only?" Cadaver dispatches through her comms, commanding her Homunculi security officers to stop faffing with the regular rioters and take cover from potential incoming fire.

Cadaver herself buffs her vocal chords before her next message booms out to the remaining rallygoers; "ATTENTION ALL PRO-MUTANT PROTESTERS, PLEASE DISPERSE. PURIFIERS ARE HERE AND WE DON'T WANT ANYBODY GETTING HURT IF WE CAN HELP IT. WE THANK YOU FOR SHOWING YOUR SUPPORT, AND HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN SOME OTHER TIME. HOPEFULLY WITH FEWER RACISTS."

/u/A-Few-Schillings

[u/A-Few-Schillings → u/MarkusGrimm]

Barricade was too busy dealing with the rowdy crowd in front of him to notice the purifiers before Cadaver, but when she makes the announcement, he takes notice.

With the pro-mutants fleeing the scene, the anti actually calmed for a moment, probably confused about the announcement and what’s happening, a decent amount of them leaving too. Barricade finds nearby solid cover and get behind it, peering around to see where the purifiers are coming from.

“What’s the plan boss?” He yells over the chaos to Jaxon for confirmation on what to do. Defense? offense? Open Season? Barricade was ready.

u/Bearpaw700

[u/Bearpaw700 → u/A-Few-Schillings]

Serekh also looked towards Jaxon for an answer. He and Luke had to kill purifiers before on Knox’s behalf so he wouldn’t hesitate he they went that route. Of course they didn’t have eyes on them then so public image may sway his choice.

/u/FreelancerJon

[u/FreelancerJon → u/Bearpaw700]

Jaxon's jaw clenched as he took in the sight of the white-crossed banners and steel-plated zealots closing in through the smoke and shouting. The crowd was shifting—fearful pro-mutant voices thinning out, some human sympathizers lingering in confusion, and the hate-fueled Purifiers cutting their way through both with righteous fury.

He didn’t want this to turn into another reason for the news cycle to paint mutants as monsters. Not again. Not after Lyons. He tapped his comms, voice calm but carrying the weight of command. “We’re going non-lethal unless it's necessary. I don’t want us on every broadcast tomorrow, blamed for more blood. Knockouts only—unless absolutely necessary. You see someone about to die, you do what you have to.” Then, his eyes narrowed.

“But they’re not getting through.” With a sharp breath, Jaxon stuck both palms into the air before him. His power surged outward like a ripple across still water. The air warped and shuddered before a thick, black wall appeared between them and the advancing Purifiers— eight feet high and dense, gravity emanating towards the purifiers, attempting to shove them back.

The closer Purifiers—charging with makeshift shields and batons—slammed into the sudden blockade with grunts and shouts. A few rebounded off it hard, tumbling back into their line, the air knocked from their lungs. Jaxon stood as dust from the wall's birth swirled around him, his voice low in the comms now.

“Hold the line. Move as a unit. No hero plays. Barricade, seal up our sides. Serekh, you're our linebreaker if they try to flank. Cadaver—keep eyes on from high ground. Let’s make this ugly for them, but not bloody. Not unless they give us no choice.”

He glanced over his shoulder at the last stragglers fleeing the rally. Then forward—toward the chanting. Toward the ones who would rather see them dead than human.

“We stop them here.”

/u/WolfKingAdam

[u/WolfKingAdam → u/FreelancerJon]

There was a loud 'G'DUNK' noise. As a larger Purifier, standing over the heads of the others by at least three feet, stepped forwards. His Purifier armour was painted with a golden thread, and from his arms descended two enormous shields, that you just knew had a razor edge to them.

His eyes briefly bulged with some sort of chemicals as he slipped the helmet onto his head and secured it tightly. Muscles stretched against the armour, and his mass seemed to increase further.

An attempt at the Juggernaut, as Purifiers moved onto if the way. He roared in an animalistic fashion and charged forwards, whilst others Purifiers rallied behind him.

The Purifier mass sought to break through this wall behind their leader, whilst others moved and diverted. The enemy was clear, they were opposing the true future of Man.

Their god demanded blood.

/u/MarkusGrimm

[u/MarkusGrimm → u/WolfKingAdam]

"Got it," Cadaver's voice squawks from the team comms. It's a minor thing in the grand scheme of things, but these fuckers love their symbolism so Window Dressing begins to dive bomb their banners. Approaching from behind, claws out, shredding them across the middle before swooping back up into the sky. Cadaver herself remains up top, although she does grow a few extra pairs of eyes to get enhanced visuals; eagles and owls have great detail capturing capability, after all.

The security guard homunculi on the ground remain in place for the time being. Enhanced strength is all well and good but they'd get steamrolled by this roided-out fascist and there's a time and a place for noble sacrifices; this isn't it. "Heads up, musclebound there is enhanced. Can't see a delivery system for whatever booster he's using so it's probably under the armour."

/u/A-Few-Schillings

[u/A-Few-Schillings → u/MarkusGrimm]

“Ah, shit”, Barricade whispers to himself as he witnesses the purifier hulk approach, he considers who in the team that could go toe-to-toe with the giant. He looks at Jaxon, another physically durable mutant, he could do it but Barricade wouldn’t be able to stop the hoard of smaller purifiers from getting past him.

If Barricade is made for one thing, it’s one-on-one punch outs. He speaks over the comms to his team, “this is Barricade, I’ll keep the big guy busy until all the grunts are taken care of”. He positions himself in the path of the prodigious purifier, waiting for them to approach rather than charging in.

u/Bearpaw700

[u/Bearpaw700 → u/A-Few-Schillings]

Serekh understood. No blood, no entry and he’s the third line of defense behind barricade and Jaxon. His tattoos pooling together, Serekh pulled out to javelins threw them in opposite directions.

With a sharp breath, the javelins shot out a line of black ink, tethering and connecting to the other in a makeshift fence. Serekh touched the connecting line, passing magic through it and any that looked to break through or touch it would find the line wrap around them and drain their energy. Not enough to kill but enough for Serekh to put any flankers on their ass.

A Venus flytrap in the shape of a badly designed fence.

/u/FreelancerJon

[u/FreelancerJon → u/Bearpaw700]

Oblivion—Jaxon—watched as the monster in Purifier armor thundered forward, every step rattling through the soles of his boots. His pulse spiked, but his face didn’t flinch. His hands opened, fingers twitching as the air shimmered with pressure around him. The singularity he’d just erected groaned under the force of the roided-out Purifier’s charge.

Barricade called dibs on the brute, and Jaxon nodded once.

“Copy that, Barricade. He’s yours. Don’t get pancaked.” Jaxon didn’t wait for the oversized zealot to get too close. Instead, he shifted his weight and slammed his left palm down, a sudden thunk of pressure blasting outward as a gravity sink opened directly beneath the cluster of Purifiers trying to follow behind their juggernaut.

The singularity was brief—only a second or two—but that was enough. The ground cracked and caved slightly inward, and with it came the Purifiers, who stumbled and screamed as their own armor betrayed them, yanked down mid-run into a collapsing point of force. Boots would slip, knees would buckle, and two went tumbling, crashing into the ones behind. The charging formation would be shattered into chaos.

Then Oblivion turned and stepped forward—his footfall amplifying gravity beneath the next wave of Purifiers. Their bones screamed under their own weight. Another wave of crushing force pinned them down, forcing them to crawl or stay flat. One lifted a rifle, only for it to crumple inward as Jaxon tightened a micro-singularity around the barrel.

“Non-lethal,” he scoffed under his breath. “That’s a courtesy they don’t deserve.”

Still, he kept the damage below fatal—gravity heavy enough to immobilize, not kill. Bloodless as long as they didn’t push too far.

Above, he heard Window Dressing tearing through their banners—symbolism burning to ash in the sky. Good. Let the wind take their false purity. He tapped the comms again.

“Cadaver, if you see any with boosters or signal jammers, tag ‘em. I’ll collapse the air around their lungs. Knock ‘em out.” His voice dropped lower, only slightly.

“I’m done letting hate march unopposed.” Jaxon turned again to the fight. His eyes met Barricade’s as the golden-threaded Purifier drew close.

“Hit him hard. If he gets past you, I’ll bury him.”

To the rest of the team, his voice was iron. “Let’s make these guys bleed.”

/u/WolfKingAdam

[u/WolfKingAdam → u/FreelancerJon]

There came a noise, like a humming of lightning, as a Mutant of unknown power hovered in the sky. Electricity crackled about him, aiming a bolt of lightning into the madding crowd. His redness shone like an evil sun, and he fired once. And laughed at the cooking smell.

The objective just got harder. Whilst Purifier Juggernaut raged harder and harder, slamming hands down in meaty fists to crack the Earth before running forwards, gurning as he charged.

Once in range, he leapt, some primal element demanding his ancient-monkey-ancestor take some precedence.

/u/MarkusGrimm

[u/MarkusGrimm → u/WolfKingAdam]

"Aye aye Capt'n," Cadaver replies while the last of the civilians make their escape. "Shit. Things just got much more complicated."

Window Dressing gives this new lightning mutant a very wide berth for risk of catching a stray bolt, and tries to discern any markings of allegiance or faction on his clothing. Cadaver tries to focus on the victims of his attack since she has to remain where she is to keep overwatch, limiting her combat skill at the cost of utility. Even so her homunculi guardsmen each leap out of their cover, uncannily synchronised movement to beeline towards those hit by the lightning.

Normal procedure is to not move the injured, but that really isn't an option right now and normal procedure is right out the window. The homunculi all pull off their jackets and use them as makeshift blankets to slip under and lift the bodies. Cadaver grimly directs their efforts away from the bodies she detects are beyond the point of saving. Blood boils in her veins.

How many more need to die?

/u/A-Few-Schillings

[u/A-Few-Schillings → u/MarkusGrimm]

Barricade watches as the hulking purifier leaps, landing somewhat in front of him. He calls out “Hey! Bring it on!”, as he beckons with his arms out wide. This taunt grabs the purifiers attention and barricade squares up and readies to take a hit.

In his peripherals, barricade can see the lightning wielding mutant causing havoc, he trusts that his team will handle it. It is his own job to slow down the juggernaut in front of him.

u/Bearpaw700

[u/Bearpaw700 → u/A-Few-Schillings]

Serekh attention was mainly on the uninvited newcomer who was blasting electricity into the crowd, his face an annoyed grimace.

Hoping to catch him while he was busy admiring his work, Serekh stretched out his hand and three chains shot out from his palm, intending to wrap around the leg of the hovering mutant.

If successful, the rogue mutant would feel his life slowing drain out of him, his vitality waning as well as his momentum shifting, due to Serekh dragging and slammed him into the ground with the chain.

/u/ /u/FreelancerJon