Real name: Angelo Espinosa
Occupation: Freeloader
Identity: Secret
Legal status: Deceased
Other aliases: Skin
Place of birth: Los Angeles, California
Marital status: Single
Known relatives: Mrs. Espinosa (Mother), Gil (Cousin)
Group affiliation: None
Base of operations: Streets of New York
First appearance: January, 2003
History:
Skin was born and raised Angelo Espinosa in the barrios of South Central Los Angeles, right in California. Right in the heart of GangLand as many people like to refer to it. Angelo's family was never really high income so where they were living then is where they were going to be living for a while. Unless of course, by some miracle, the family came into some large sums of money from somewhere. Instead though, the close knit family fell into even more rough times. And more. And more.
Angelo's life never seemed to get better. Even as a toddler he wasn't as happy as the other kids his age. Growing up was hard for him and he never could find a reason to be happy. He just usually did what he could do. Go to school, come home, and try to help his mother around the house. That is until he got a little too big for his old britches and started to get a mind of his own. One that would lead him down a wrong, but destined, road. When Angelo heard the worst news of his life, he felt like the world was caving in on him.
Coming home from school one day, he learned that his father had been killed in a drive by shooting, not even an hour prior. Subconciously, blame had automatically placed itself on Angelo as he had been secretly been spending more and more time with the gang members in his barrio. So much time, in fact, that he was pretty much part of them. However, he never found out if it was some sort of retaliation against him or just a random act of violence that took his father's life away.
It didn't matter though as Angelo automatically became the man of the house. He now had a duty to protect what was left of the Espinosa clan, himself and his mother, from those very people that he spent so much time with and other dangers of living in the barrios of East Los Angeles. Yet and still, regardless of how much time he spent with his gang. How many laughs he shared with his amigos.
He never was truly happy. Not with them at least. Not with anyone. That is until things started to finally look up for the Latino loverboy. On one of his many late night parties that he attended simply because he had nothing better to do, he met and fell in love with a girl by the name of Tores. She was something special, indeed. The two of them hit it right off and it wasn't long before they just made it official that they were going to be quite the happy couple. But as to be expected, Angelo's life couldn't stay good for that long.
It was like against the laws of nature for him to be happy or something. Angelo and Tores' love for each other was pretty much right out of Romeo and Juliet. The catch with her was that she was a member of the rival gang and well... it wasn't like they could go and get their gang's blessings really. And it wasn't as if they had support either. Angelo's mother didn't approve of their relationship either. Oh no. She blamed her son's 'trip to the darkside' on Tores, as she was quite the known member of a gang. Things were not looking up for the young couple. Not at all.
Mrs. Espinosa tried everything should could to try and keep her son away from both Tores and the street life that he had recently acquired. She did it by both bad mouthing his chosen friends and love interest, but more importantly by instilling a strong sense of faith in him. A faith that Angelo quickly grew to understand and respect. So much so that when she enrolled him in the local Catholic Youth Organization of that barrio, he didn't even object. His time spent there was the only time he really had peace.
All that soon came to a screeching halt though. The exact date was October Ninth. That was the day that Angelo's life would never be the same. In more ways than one. That was the day that well... Angelo Espinosa died. He was hanging with some friends, of the non gang variety, when his hot mamacita came by and scooped him up for a little drive. She wasn't alone though. She brought along a friend of hers, Gordo, and her second cousin by the name of Lupo. Turns out that this was a really bad idea.
What both Tores and Angelo didn't know was that Lupo's cousin had been killed by a gang by the name of the Figueroas. And both he and Gordo were up to no good, especially when they had Tores drive them right into the heart of this rival gang's territory. There weren't any signs of warning before Gordo leaned out the window and starting shooting. Lupo was all ready to join in the violence but Angelo had other plans. Plans that involved him not being in the middle of a warzone right then.
Doing more reacting than anything, Angelo immediately reached for the piece in Lupo's hand, since the second cousin had taken a seat next to him in the back. But when he reached, his fingers pretty much just kept on reaching. Angelo's mutant power had kicked in for the first time. Needless to say, Angelo didn't take the intial fact of finding out that he wasn't as normal as he'd though all those years too well and the young gang member passed out right there in the back seat, his fingers still wrapped around Lupo's gun.
Things weren't going that well for Tores either. Not at all. She too was met with a big surprise in her genetic make up as her mutant powers also activiated. With her initial thoughts of wanting to stop the violence that was going on around her, she sent out an uncontrolled psionic blast that set the car ablaze. Then she, just like her boyfriend in the backseat, passed out from the sheer shock of it all.
Lupo wasn't done. Not in the least. Gordo had been shot and killed and now Lupo was about to finish the job. Snatching up Gordo's discarded weapon as he got out of the car, he unloaded all he could unload into the rival members until they just stopped moving. Then he ran back to the car, snatched Tores up out and took off for safety. Leaving Angelo to die.
As luck would have it though, Angelo started to come to, just as some homeless man was making off with his wallet. Figuring that his life, however strange it may be, was more important he just let the dude get away and concentrated on getting himself out of the car and to safety. He barely made it out and clear before the car blew right on up into... well... smithereens.
After the initial commotion died down, Angelo found out that the wino's body had been found with his wallet on him and the police identified him as Angelo Espinosa. The murder of the Figueroas was pinned on Gordo and Angelo, more than likely by Lupo himself. Not wanting to endanger any more lives and wanting to get out of the dangerous life he had put himself in, Angelo simply decided to let the world think he was dead and move on. As hard as it was leaving his mother behind, he believed it was the right thing to do.
So he called in a favor. He had a cousin named Gil who was pretty much the only family member that he felt comfortable around, other than his mother. And he surely couldn't go back to her. So he stayed with his cousin for a couple months, snuck home while his mother was at work and gathered up some things, and sooner than later, he was on his way across the country. Road trip. Where was he headed? Anywhere but home.
That brings us up to date, doesn't it? Angelo's been out of Los Angeles for at least two years now, possibly even three, and now living in New York. In that time he's taught himself how to control his powers and such and even a couple of 'advanced moves' as he likes to call them. But nothing more. He's been living on the streets and will continue to do so until fate decides to hand him something more. He even took on the street name Skin, which most everybody he hangs with now considers to be because of his decoloration. Only in New York, eh?
Height: 5'7" Weight: 110 lbs.
Eyes: Brown Hair: Dark Gray (Formerly Brown)
Unusual physical characteristics: Gray skin. Elongated Nose.
Strength level: Skin possesses the normal human strength of
a man his age, height, and build who engages in moderate regular exercise.
Known superhuman powers: Skin is a mutant with about six feet
of extra skin on his body, which he can control how he sees fit.
Other abilities: Pickpocketing, Car Theft
Weapons and paraphernalia: Whatever he can get his hands on.
Besides, he is a weapon.
Other notes: Dante Basco will be portraying Skin in the X-Men:
End Times movie (July 4, 2004)