Epsilon
History
The Beginning
The founder of the Shaolin monastery, Bodhidharma, actually founded 4 monasteries as he traveled across China to Shaolin. The first was established in the kingdom of Khotan in western China. Carved into the living rock of the hills above the Karakash river just south of the city. Bodhidharma only stayed for 2 years before feeling compelled to travel further east by a series of visions. He instilled the same principles of physical fitness in this monastery as he would later at Shaolin, the 18 Arhat hand, but they also followed the far more ascetic ways of the local Buddhists. For 500 years the monastery prospered till it was threatened by Muslim invaders. The martial skills of the monks made them formidable adversaries. Rather than face a prolonged conflict, the monks negotiated a treaty with the Muslims in which they would retreat further from the city proper, but one monk would have the right of free passage throughout the kingdom, unmolested, but only one. Rather than try to choose a single representative, the monks declared that the traveling monk would wear a leather mask with a special mark on the forehead. Thereby allowing any of them to be that monk.
The monks established a new monastery deeper into the mountains, impossible to reach without passing through a series of man made tunnels into the secluded grotto. The masked monks would make brief forays into the kingdom for supplies and occasionally treating the sick or wounded. For another 1000 years the monks prospered and refined their philosophies and techniques in almost perfect seclusion. They replenished their ranks by taking in abandoned children from the streets of the city.
One day, a masked monk wandered into the city looking for a very specific boy. This boy had been abandoned when he was 5 and had lived for 2 years on the streets, surviving through viciousness and determination. The only possession he had, besides his clothes, was a small brass Buddha figurine. The bright bauble attracted thieves and bullies of every type, as well as simple religious persecution. People would try to tell him to sell it or bury it rather than fight over it everyday. He refused to give it up as it was the only thing his father had ever given him. The locals called it him Epi (Bad Habit) for always carrying it around. Fearing that he would be killed, a few concerned citizens had mentioned the boy to the masked monks and asked that they take him away before he died. The masked monk found the boy and convinced him to follow him back to the monastery. There the boy began to learn a new way of life but he had a tremendous rage inside him that only found release in martial arts. His boundless anger and determination made him fanatical in his discipline and training. In 10 years he was nearly the equal of any master in the temple. Finally his masters decided that there was only one place for him to go from there, the fabled temple of Yeng Tao.
He made his way deeper into the high mountains, using meditation and exercises to guide him. He was met by an ancient guardian who had sensed his coming. The guardian asked him why he had come, and he replied that he had heard of a technique to make the skin as hard as brass, the body as immovable as a mountain. The ancient guardian nodded at this and led him to the temple. For the next five years he trained and sparred with everyone in the school, earning a new name, Si Zhan (Death Struggle). Finally, after a session of meditation lasting 8 days, with his brass idol clutched to his chest, he finally achieved what he sought, the Form of Brass. He felt his body change, fueled by his inner turmoil, into unwavering metal. He had seen many miracles at the temple, but none quite like this. Having achieved his ultimate form, E Pi Si Zhan felt a sense of calm and peace spread over him like nothing he had felt before. He tested himself, not only was he now nearly invulnerable but he was also far stronger than any normal man. This was not a state he could maintain however, after some hours he began to feel pain and to experience tremors so that he released the form and returned to normal. Changing again was not an instant thing, it still required concentration and focus but he learned to manage it in a few minutes rather than the days it took the first time.
Not long after this he received tragic news, the monastery of the masked monks had been attacked, possibly wiped out. Si Zhan thanked his new masters and left Yeng Tao to return home. There it was as he feared, all the monks had been killed. Some had obviously been tortured for information. The masked monks had, over the centuries, accumulated a small treasure of sacred and supposedly magical artifacts. Most had been carefully hidden but Si Zhan saw that all of the reliquaries had been opened and plundered. His old fury returned, he would find who did this. Si Zhan collected all the other bodies and performed all of the necessary rites before burning them and the entire monastery. In the hand of his old master he had found a bit of torn clothing that bore a symbol. A stylized emerald, the symbol of a Triad. He also found the mask meant to be worn out in the world. He put it on and became the last masked monk. He followed the trail of the raiders all across China. In Yeng Tao he had not only focused on physical disciplines, he had also studied many languages that allowed him to pass unhindered. He learned that these raiders were a secretive society known as the 'Mo Qing Bang' (Dark Green Gang) that dealt in magical artifacts. Stealing them and selling them all over the world. He also learned that they had extraordinary resources and although they dealt in the ancient past, they used the miracles of the modern age to do it. Si Zhan became a raider himself, tracking down and destroying their way-points and dens as he found them, his 'normal' martial arts being more than sufficient, he did not feel the need to transform unnecessarily.
He did not care about the various artifacts that had been stolen from the monastery, all he wanted were the sacred Sarira, the essences of the great monks of the order that had also been taken. Finally he tracked them down in Shanghai. There he met one of the Mo Qing Bang's extraordinary agents, Hei Wo Kou (Black Dwarf Pirate). Si Zhan had never seen anything like it. It had the shape of a man, but moved and sounded like a machine. At last he had met his match and used his power to transform into his brass form again. Hei Wo Kou was unprepared for this and fled, but not after delaying Si Zhan long enough for the Sarira to be loaded onto a ship bound for America. He learned from the gang members left behind that they were headed for clients in Millennium City, an organization known as DEMON. After arriving, the trail grew cold. Si Zhan was out of his element and had few resources of his own here. He decided to try to blend in and removed his mask to become An Si Zhan a local martial arts instructor, while he tracked down the final destination of the Sarira. In the mean time he became involved in a few adventures, often involving his students. He made no attempt to become a 'super hero' but gradually came to the attention of a few authorities and was added to SOCRATES's 'unknown' database with the designation, Epsilon.
Powers & Abilities
Epsilon has spent his entire adolescent and adult life training his mind and body to the peak of perfection. He is a master of the masked monks' variations on the 18 Arhat hand. His preferred fighting style being the 12 kicks. At Yeng Tao temple he also learned extraordinary power by focusing his chi into the Burning Fist and the Buddha Palm that Falls from Heaven. He also mastered minor feats of levitation and stealth among shadows.
Unbeknownst to anyone, including Epsilon, he was born a mutant with the ability to absorb the properties of things he touches, and transform his body to be like them. It is not a Martial Arts discipline he has learned though he believes it is so. He has developed a profound mental dependence on his brass figurine and therefore believes that is the only form he may achieve. While holding it in his gloved hands he was unable to transform, only when it was pressed to his bare skin was he able to take on its properties. He now wears it around his neck, touching his skin at all times. Potentially he will be able to take on the properties of other materials if he ever makes the connection he is capable of that.
In his transformed state, he is several inches taller, much heavier and as durable as the grade of Brass composing his figurine. this makes him moderately bullet proof up to medium powered rifles. In this state his body generates a large amount of internal heat which grows as he exerts himself. After a prolonged fight his metal skin would burn to the touch. He is able to use this heat to augment the Burning Chi Fist and Buddha Palm techniques. He is only slightly slower in this form than normal, how he retains elasticity in this shape is unknown. His strength is augmented as well, he is able to lift (press) 20 tons in this state. He is still training himself to take advantage of these abilities fully in combat.
