Origins: Fíli
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Fíli Durin loved public high school. He loved being around kids his own age, loved the retaliative anonymity, loved the brief hours a day where he could be normal.
Fíli was anything but normal. He discovered his powers the summer he turned fourteen and accidentally bested his Uncle at hand-to-hand combat. Both Fíli and his brother had been taught self-defense since they were children, but neither had more than a rudimentary skill at it. When he preformed a twisting leg sweep, his Uncle looked up from the floor with a proud grin.
His powers were combat perception- he was a polymath. Fíli could watch a fighting style and master it in a few short hours, oftentimes less. He'd spent his entire life observing his Uncle and the other members of the Company training and their fighting techniques became second nature to him without his even realizing it. Paired with his increased durability, it was a good power to have. It made him useful, tough in a fight. It made him a Super.
But as a teenager there was more to life than fighting villains and although homeschooling was an option, both Durin boys stayed in public school. Fíli studied hard and made decent marks, but never really excelled at academics. But he made friends, dated girls, and joined clubs. He enjoyed being just another face in the crowd.
Sure, there was the occasional drama- kidnapping attempts and treats to their lives. The nephews of Oakenshield would have made good bait or bargaining chips to the right villain. But the Durin boys were not so easily broken and the no one never expected Fíli to fight back with such skill. The harder the villains tried, the more Fíli realized he needed to use his powers to stay safe and to keep his brother from harm.
So, while his friends went to the movies, he watched martial arts videos and mastered Capoeira in an afternoon. When it came time to try out for the varsity soccer team, he missed his chance because he was too busy perfecting his aim with throwing axes. Instead of taking the pretty redhead from science class to prom, he stayed home and read books of Samurai fighting stances.
Over time Fíli drifted apart from his friends and the girls stopped calling him for dates. There was no time for after school clubs, because he was finally deemed old enough to officially join the Company. He graduated high school, but while all his classmates made plans for college and beyond, Fíli did not. He couldn't pretend that there was a life for him outside the Company.
Fíli Durin could never be normal. He was Super.
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