Cain Cross
Name Cain Marcus Cross
Position Teammate
Character Information
| Codename | Obsidian | |
| Gender | Male | |
| Species | Mutant | |
| Age | 18 | |
| Affiliations(s) | Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 6'2" | |
| Weight | 185 Lbs | |
| Hair Color | Black | |
| Eye Color | Naturally Dark Brown / Deep Pitch-Black (when powers are active) | |
| Physical Description | Cain is tall, lean, highly athletic, and muscular. He has dark eyes and hair he wears high but faded on the sides. His most defining features are his natural dermal pigmentations which appear like tattoos, intricate black flame designs swirling up his forearms and chest, and dense, symmetrical feather-like patterns trailing down his entire back, the back of his arms, and his legs. When his abilities activate, his eyes turn completely pitch-black, and these feather patterns erupt into a pair of massive, physical, obsidian-black wings. |
Family
| Spouse | N/A | |
| Children | N/A | |
| Father | Marcus Cross (Deceased) | |
| Mother | Angela Cross | |
| Brother(s) | N/A | |
| Sister(s) | N/A | |
| Other Family | Carla Johnson (Maternal Grandmother) |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | Cain is a lively, charming, but troubled young man, relying on humor and street-smarts to get him through life. Years of growing up in a high-crime neighborhood have given him a tough, defensive outer shell and a distrust for authority figures, especially the rich ones. Though he isn’t afraid of violence and has little respect for the law, he keeps his to his own moral compass. He isn’t afraid of getting what he’s after through charisma or intimidation. He is not a strong student and struggles with his studies. | |
| Mutant Power(s) | Cain’s mutation manifests as a network of intricate black markings that resemble tattoos woven across his skin. Far more than decorative, these markings are biological signs of his X-Gene, acting as conduits for his mutant abilities. Through them, he can manifest enormous black feathered wings, wield searing flames, and channel the unique energies that define his power set. Wings (Level 3): The tattoos across his back unfold into a pair of enormous obsidian feathered wings. The wings grant sustained flight at speeds while remaining agile enough for aerial combat and precision maneuvering, under ideal conditions he can reach speeds close to 150 mph (240 km/h). Each feather is unnaturally durable, allowing the wings to be used defensively as nearly bulletproof shields or offensively as razor-edged striking surfaces capable of smashing through walls, vehicles, or heavy armor. They have razor-sharp talons at joints between the primary and secondary feathers. Flame Manipulation (Level 2): He can draw this living flame from the markings across his body and wield it as streams, blasts, whips, or burning feathers launched from his wings. Its intensity can range from ordinary red heat to brilliant blue-white temperatures. His flames are heavily tied to his temper. If he loses control of his emotions, his pyrokinesis can trigger involuntarily, leading to dangerous, explosive flare-ups. Soul Sight (Level 1): A subtle, passive sixth sense. He can intuitively perceive the spiritual condition of living beings. Because it is highly abstract, he struggles to describe it, often experiencing it as a visceral physical sensation. This sense cannot determine specific actions or intentions, only the spiritual impression someone leaves upon the world. Being close to extremely evil individuals or sites of historic trauma can overwhelm his senses and lower his ability to perceive the situations or people around him. |
|
| Profession(s) | Student at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters; former street enforcer/hustler (briefly, in Los Angeles). |
|
| Strengths & Weaknesses | Strengths: Outstanding aerial combat maneuverability; formidable close-quarters brawling; highly intuitive judge of character; independent-minded approach. Weaknesses: Hot-headed temperament; academic apathy; struggles to communicate his softer feelings, rebellious streak. |
|
| Ambitions | Even though he’s been told many times it probably won’t happen for him because he’s a mutant, Cain dreams of being signed to the NBA. | |
| Hobbies & Interests | Playing basketball, boxing, drawing, writing and listening to hip-hop music, and any opportunity to spar or compete. | |
| Mutant Mastery | X-2 |
| Origin Story | Cain Cross was raised in the heart of the Crenshaw district of South Los Angeles. Born in 1974, his father was Marcus Cross, a respected "Original Gangster" (O.G.) of the rapidly expanding Westside Crips. His mother, Angela, was only sixteen when Cain was born—a quiet scandal in the neighborhood given the significant age gap with the older Marcus. In 1979, when Cain was just five, Marcus was ambushed and killed by the Black P. Stones during a fierce, early turf war over the borders of nearby Baldwin Village. The sudden loss of Marcus’s street-tax income forced Angela out of the house and into long nights working as a cocktail waitress at a local club, leaving Cain to be raised by his grandmother. Despite the sudden poverty, they were never entirely abandoned. Out of respect for Marcus’s legacy, the newly consolidated Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips kept a protective umbrella over the household. To young Cain, the neighborhood was filled with a rotating door of "uncles." He grew up surrounded by active bangers—some of whom were his mother’s boyfriends, others just heavily armed, dangerous men paying respects to Marcus’s memory. Because of them, the fridge was always full, and the local corner store owners knew never to shortchange the boy. By the time he was twelve, these men were taking him to the dirt pits near the train tracks to shoot cheap revolvers, teaching him how to talk to local girls, and introducing him to weed. By 1987, at age thirteen, Cain’s pedigree made him a prime target. He was formally jumped into the Rollin' 60s, instantly inheriting his father's old enemies. Rivals from the Black P. Stones and the rival Eight Tray Gangsters began looking for the "little Cross kid" to settle old scores. By 1989, when Cain turned fifteen, the crack-cocaine epidemic had turned Crenshaw into a war zone. It was during this bloody peak that Cain’s mutant gene activated. It started with deep, ink-like black marks staining his skin. No matter how hard he scrubbed with bleach and steel wool, the stains spread, eventually locking into the permanent, vivid shapes of black flames licking up his arms and chest, and a massive, intricate set of feathered wings spanning his back down to his thighs. In the local set, the marks were taken literally; everyone assumed he was secretly spending his drug-running money at an underground tattoo parlor. Along with the "tattoos" came a terrifying physical transformation. His muscle fibers grew more dense and the flame tattoos seemed to actively heat him up at times.. When his temper flared, his skin radiated a suffocating heat. He started to accidentally burn people who touched him when he was upset. Despite this, he was from a lookout to more active roll in the Rollin' 60s, surviving LAPD’s brutal Operation Hammer sweeps and rival drive-bys through the skills he’d learned and luck. By the time he was nearing eighteen, Cain’s mutations were impossible to hide as street art. He could ignite fires with a touch and flip lowriders with massive, raven-black wings. While the set tried to use him as a weapon against the Bloods, Angela saw the writing on the wall. She knew that Cain couldn't survive the LAPD's SWAT teams or a heavy-caliber ambush. Desperate to save her son from the cycle that claimed his father, she tracked down a rumor about a school in New York that took in "gifted" youth. Following a tense, quiet interview with a representative from Westchester, Cain was accepted. Angela went with him to the Rollin' 60s leadership to ask for him to be released from the gang. Ordinarily, an O.G.’s son would never be allowed to simply walk away, but the set felt his flashy, loud abilities were bringing too much heat down on them from the LAPD and rival gangs anyway. They agreed to “bless him out” on one condition: he had to execute a final mission. If he managed to survive, he was free. Cain was sent to a Black P. Stones stronghold. Armed only with his fists, his wings, and his emerging fire, he burst into the building and killed every man inside. Whatever they had done to his father in 1979, Cain repaid tenfold in a matter of minutes. But the victory felt hollow. He was deeply shaken by the reality of taking human lives. Keeping his trauma entirely to himself, Cain packed a single duffel bag, walked away from his neighborhood, and boarded a plane for Xavier’s School, praying his past wouldn’t follow him. |
|
| Past Exploits | - Cain was a member of the Westside Crips of Los Angeles from 1987-1992. He is no longer a member, but the enemies he made are for a lifetime. |