Angelo Espinosa...

This is Your Life!

Angelo Espinosa was born and raised in the barrios of East Los Angeles. He was cared for by his mother after his father was killed in front of his eyes as a random victim of a drive-by shooting. Not wanting her son involved in the same kind of violence that took her husband, she tried to keep her son away from any negative influences, especially his then girlfriend, Tores.

Tores was a deeply involved in the gang life that Mrs. Espinosa feared so much, and apparently, Angelo was involved in that life as well. Although he has never confirmed his involvement with the street gangs, he has suggested as much, and has stated that he has seen more then one of his friends die in gang violence.

To keep her son out of trouble, Mrs. Espinosa instilled a strong sense of faith in her son, that he still respects today. She even made him a member of a Catholic Youth Organization, under the guidance of Father Miguel.

One fateful day, on October 9th, a few years ago, Tores came by to pick up Angelo for a little drive. He had been hanging with some other friends, but left them to go with Tores. Tores was driving her low-rider ‘55 Mercedes that day, her not-all there friend Gordo rode next to her, and her second cousin Lupo rode in back, next to Angelo.

They went for a cruise, as presumably they had done many times before, but this time... the drove right into the territory of a rival gang, the Figueroas. Apparently, Tores wanted to call a truce between the two gangs, unfortunately, Lupo had just lost his cousin Manny to the Figueroas, and he had convinced Gordo to help him retaliate, leaving Tores to take the blame. Gordo fired the first shot, and Lupo was ready to join in, when two young mutants had their powers kick in for the first time.

Not wanting to get involved in a war-zone, Angelo immediately grabbed for Lupo's gun, but when he reached, his fingers seemed to just keep reaching. His fingers felt like rubber as his mutant power kicked in for the first time, it was then that the extra skin started to show, and that he ever had to try and control it. Needless to say, he did not take the shock well. He passed out in the back seat, with his fingers wrapped around Lupo's gun.

At the same time, Tores wanted to do what she could to stop the violence, and her fear reaction activated her mutant powers for the first time. She released an uncontrolled psionic blast out, that set the car afire. She too passed out from the shock.

With Gordo shot by the Figueroas, and his own gun in the distended skin of his old "friend", Lupo grabbed Gordo's .357, and used it to shoot his enemies, and kept shooting them until they stopped moving.

He saved his cousin Tores by dragging her from the car, but Lupo decided to let Angelo burn with the deceased Gordo.

Angelo awoke to find the car on fire, and a wino picking his pocket. He decided to run, taking Lupo's gun with him, and let the bum keep what he took. Angelo left the car just in time, as he passed the two Figueroa gangsters that Lupo had killed, the car exploded with Gordo inside.

Apparently the wino's body was found by the police, and identified by the wallet in his possession as Angelo Espinosa. The murder of the two Figueroa's was pinned on Angelo and Gordo, and Angelo's mother, who believed he could do no wrong, still visits his grave every week to leave flowers at the grave of a stranger. Angelo still keeps Lupo's gun, now jammed and useless, in a cigar box, as a reminder of his past life. (This is how Angelo tells it, but that wouldn't account for the autopsy records that the X-Cutioner referred to, that not only included a sample of Angelo's skin, but also stated that he died of multiple gunshot wounds)

Fearing that Tores might be held accountable for the deaths that day, and wanting to escape the life he had found himself in, Angelo decided it was best the world think him dead while he tried to sort out his new existence as a mutant.

Angelo sought out his cousin Gil, who was the only family member Angelo felt comfortable enough with to confide in with the truth. Presumably Gil's mom had already gone off to Santa Fe, so it was just Gil and Angelo staying at the beach house in Venice.