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Who am I? You sure you want to know? The story I’m going to tell you is not for the--
Shit, what am I thinking? They did this intro in the first Spider-Man movie. Great, that’s the last thing I need, plagiarizing someone else’s opening for a super hero. Any way, let me start over again but with a better introduction, alright? Ok, here we go. Ah-ah-ahem!
You know the old saying about Karma, Do good things and good things happen to you. Yeah that's the one. I never gave much thought about it. I mean, it's not like I've been a bad person or anything like that. It's just that I never given much thought into the whole concept, until recently when I met someone that completely turned my whole world upside-down. She was a new student at San Francisco State University that just so happens to take an interest in me when I sat next to her while I was looking through my assignments for class. We talked for a bit, exchanged phone numbers, and went our separate ways giving each one last friendly wave. I know what you're thinking, "Aww, that's so sweet." Well it's not as sweet as you think because, after our goodbyes, there was this guy speeding down the road and did not plan on stopping for nobody. That also include the girl that I just met that day. I didn't know what else to think except to act on pure instinct. I rushed into the middle of the crosswalk, pushed her out of the way, and took the full force of the car's impact. As he drove off, I was treated to the emergency room, where doctors said that the hit and run would leave me paralyzed for the rest of my life. That was the day I felt that all hope was lost for someone like myself. That is until I was visited by an old Chinese man named Chian Hanh. As it turns out, Hanh wanted to thank me for saving his granddaughter, who I just saved earlier that day, by healing every busted bone in my body and to offer me a proposition.
To my surprise, Hanh is a descendant of protectors that are called The Shijin. In Chinese mythology, they were four spiritual creatures each guarding a territorial direction in the country of China. These creatures each represented a different season, which means a different mystical power for each one. According to Hanh, the reality was that these creatures were cast away into the form of one staff and the wielder, whether it would be passed down by generation or by student, of this staff would serve as the protector to its people and to anyone else around the world. I asked him why someone, like me, would even want this responsibility. Hanh's response was that the staff of Shijin chose me, because of what I did to help his granddaughter was the greatest act of selflessness and nobility that the forces has ever seen in a very long time. So after thinking about this responsibility, for a very long time, I decided to accept his offer of becoming the next Shijin. But not before that could even happen as Hanh needed to train me in order for myself to fulfill my role as the next generation's Shijin.
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"I know Kung Fu"
 Martial Arts: standard (rank 1)
So, in order to fully wield the staff, Master Hanh decided it would be best that my training would begin with kung-fu. As you already know by now, kung-fu is the art of unarmed combat and self-defense developed in ancient China. It has also been one of the basic requirements, for Shaolin monks, as they were chosen to handle the staff of Shijin. It wasn't easy at first but after several weeks of vigorous training, and various ways of getting my ass handed to me by my seventy-year-old teacher, I have now learned almost every move that will help me stay alive long enough to kick the crap out of the gang bangers and criminals that plague this city of mine. I still have a lot more to learn about fighting but that's alright. So far, the moves that I already learned have helped me take down several gang members and I haven't even broken a single bone yet, except for theirs. Yeah I know that sounds a little messed up, but if you want to make an omelet, you got to break some eggs.
Shape Shifting
 Transformation: standard (rank 1)
One of the tricks I first discovered, from the staff of Shijin, is that the wielder has the ability to alter his appearance. In this case the ability to take the form of another person. This comes in pretty handy whether blending into a crowd as someone else, going undercover into the criminal underworld, or even change into someone entirely different. One minute I'm Melvin Simpson, white guy who wears glasses with short dirty blond hair and an average body type. The next, I become the Shijin. The long dark haired hero with a Chinese appearance and ripped, but not too ripped, like a comic book superhero. I now it sounds a little bit cheesy, but at least I won’t have to wear one of those skin tight masks or loose colorful capes that would make get caught up in something. Apart from altering my physical appearance, my clothing can be changed as well which makes it that much easier for me not to change in an elevator or phone booth whenever danger is around. All I need is a nice little hiding spot where no prying eyes could see me.
North-The Tortoise
 Cold: standard (rank 1)
One of the first, out of the four, powers from the staff of Shijin is the Tortoise. According to Chinese mythology, the tortoise corresponds to winter, faith, and the elements of the cold. In this case, the ability to manipulate ice, which harnesses the temperature and moisture of any environment, and bend it to my will. But unfortunately, like all great super powers, mine needed a little practice. In Master Hanh's case, he thought it would be best to test me by waking me up one morning and toss me inside of a freezing meat locker along with the staff. Needless to say that I finally got out by holding the staff towards the door, froze off the hinges, and kick down the air tight door that he held me inside. The ice also comes in handy in several fights. I use these tricks to either slow down my enemy’s mobility, produce slick ice sheets so they could slipup, and even blast a snowball or two (or hail) in their faces. You might say that my ability is quite chilling. Ok, stupid joke. Let's move on, shall we?
South-The Suzaku
 Fire: standard (rank 1)
- Ranged Attack
- Target Seeker
Otherwise known as Red Bird or Phoenix, the Suzaku represents summer, knowledge, and the element of fire. This means that this power is able to grant me the ability of using pyrokinesis. I’ll be honest with you people; generating fire is one of my least favorites from this list. The reason is that, when I was eight-years-old, I watched my father die from being burned alive inside our house. To this day, just looking at the very sight of fire reminds me of his screams in agony as I looked on from outside. But if I learned anything, from Master Hanh’s training, it’s that there is nothing to fear but fear itself. Apart from my small personal fear, the fire comes in pretty handy for both frontal and counter assaults. From your basic sort-range fireballs that could track someone down by their body heat, to whipping up flash fires to throw my enemies of course, long enough, to take them down. Anything short of first degree burns is how strong I can go. Although Master Hanh insists that I should not hold back on this ability. He says, "If do not balance your powers evenly, then everything will be imbalanced." Well we will see how far this will take us in due time.
West-The White Tiger
 Magnetism: standard (rank 1)
The next power we have, from the staff of Shijin, is the White Tiger. This corresponds to the season fall, the virtue righteousness, and the element of metal. Now when I say magnetism it doesn’t mean that it works offensively, but more as a defensive measure against people who think they could get lucky by hitting me with bullets or knives. When I get within 20 yards of an enemy, who either pulls gun or a knife on me, I just simply pull the weapon right out of their hands, toss it to the side, and duke it out with them. This ability comes in pretty handy for me on several occasions, not just for disarming two-bit thugs, but for moving various types of metal objects around that either block my path or help me reach certain areas that I could not reach on my own. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t be standing here right now if it weren’t for this magical ability.
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