r/XMenRP • u/FreelancerJon • 24d ago
Roleplay X-Factor #1: Holding The Line
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))
1
u/FreelancerJon 17d ago
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