TJ Ardennes was born with the power to heat his body and control fire. His early years were stained by tragedy. His father abandoned the family, leaving TJ, his twin brother Damian, and their younger sister in the care of their mother, Bella, a surgeon who sacrificed everything to keep them safe from her own family, the infamous [[Hit]] assassins. When their father returned years later it was only to murder Bella in cold blood, choking her to death and burning their home. TJ never found his sister’s body in the ashes and believed she had died as well, not knowing she had followed the path of the assassins. Homeless and directionless, TJ and Damian raised themselves on the streets, surviving only because Damian learned to steal and TJ learned to fight. They had no school, no family to turn to, only each other. In those years, TJ discovered his love for fighting, not as a way to harm but as a way to grow. He saw combat as discipline, as a way to reflect on himself, and dedicated himself to honing both his power and his body. In his twenties, TJ nearly died when he was struck with such force he was launched skyward, saved only by Damian’s gravity powers. The two were stranded in South America, where they spent years fighting their way north. Damian abandoned the life of combat, but TJ embraced it fully, traveling the world as a fighter and wanderer. From continent to continent he trained, scarred by countless battles but carrying the same innocent smile. For TJ, fighting was a means of knowing oneself, of overcoming despair, and of bringing hope to others. When he returned to the United States, TJ opened a small dojo, taking in powered children and outcasts without question. To him, every student was family. He became a master not only of martial arts but of temperance, teaching that powers were not a curse or something to be ashamed of, but a path to growth. The Agency for the Protection of the Powered noticed his work, especially given his friendship with Sin [[(WIP) Mezogna]], husband of APP director Alison Mezogna. The APP began directing powered children to TJ’s care, presenting his dojo as an alternative to a troubled powered life. TJ however, has refused every invitation to join the APP himself. TJ feels like tying himself to any organization, even a well-meaning one, will strip him of the independence he teachers others to embrace. His loyalty remains only to freedom, fighting, family, and the students who call him teacher.