THREE WEEKS LATER!
School let out under a pale afternoon sky, the kind that made National City look deceptively calm. Students spilled out in noisy clusters, laughter and complaints blending into background static as Tandy slipped away from the front steps.
By the time she reached Veridian Hills, the sun was already beginning its slow descent, washing the white walls of the mansion in warm gold. The gates recognized her instantly, opening without a sound as the car rolled up the curved driveway.
The house looked… the same and that, more than anything, impressed her. From the outside, and even from the upper floors, it still looked like a luxury Airbnb.
Clean and Empty in that curated, expensive way. The living room was pristine, the kitchen spotless, guest rooms untouched. Art on the walls hadn't shifted an inch. No exposed wiring. No glowing panels. No hint that anything extraordinary existed beneath her feet.
Tyrone's paranoia had paid off.
"Hey, Artio," Tandy called as she stepped inside.
A beat later, the sound of heavy paws thundered down the hallway. The Alaskan Malamute rounded the corner at full speed, nearly skidding across the marble floor before slamming into Tandy's legs with enough force to knock the air out of her lungs.
"Oof, okay, hi, hi!" she laughed, bracing herself as Artio stood on her hind legs, tail wagging like a weapon.
The dog's coat was immaculate now, brushed daily, and she wore a simple collar Tyrone had designed himself. A cute tag with a tracker, and reinforced with Tyrone's DarkForce.
"You're getting spoiled," Tandy said fondly, scratching behind her ears, "I know, I know. I missed you too."
She grabbed the food container from the pantry, scooping out a generous portion of the high-quality mix Tyrone insisted on buying. Artio sat obediently, mostly, eyes locked onto the bowl like it was sacred.
"Okay, okay, go."
The dog devoured it happily, tail thumping against the floor.
Tandy straightened, exhaling slowly as she slipped her shoes off, set her bag down, and headed toward the basement door.
Tyrone had intelligently hidden the basement door behind a secret passage, and wiped any proof of a basement away.
Tandy infused her LightForce into a secure panel, which clicked open and allowed her to input the secret code which opened the Basement Door.
The moment she opened it, the difference hit her. The air changed.
The staircase lights activated in sequence, soft white strips illuminating each step as she descended. With every level, the faint hum grew louder.
At the bottom, the door slid open smoothly, and Tandy stopped. The basement was no longer just a project.
It was a full-blown base.
The training room on the left looked finished, fully finished. Reinforced walls gleamed faintly where LightForce and DarkForce had been fused into the material, the surface subtly alive, repairing microscopic stress fractures in real time.
The floor was matte black, segmented for grip and impact distribution, with faint geometric patterns etched into it that glowed softly when activated.
Weapons racks lined one wall, not lethal firearms, but training tools. Weighted batons. Reinforced pads. Modular obstacles that could be reconfigured at the push of a button.
The operations side was even more impressive.
A full wall of monitors, twelve, maybe more, each displaying something different. City maps. Traffic feeds. Police scanners. News channels. Data streams she didn't even recognize. All of it organized, layered, prioritized.
Workbenches were immaculate, tools hung with military precision. Servers sat behind reinforced glass, their status lights pulsing in steady, reassuring rhythms. Thick cabling ran along the ceiling, disappearing into conduits that Tyrone had custom-built into the concrete.
And at the center of it all was Tyrone, who was standing in front of the main console.
Tyrone.
He stood in front of the main console, sleeves rolled up, hands moving across a keyboard with blinding speed. Shadows clung lightly to his shoulders, not aggressive, not wild—focused. Disciplined.
He didn't look up immediately.
"Power load stable," he muttered to himself. "Thermal variance within acceptable limits… good."
"Tyrone?" Tandy said softly.
He froze for half a second and then turned around, "Oh, hey," he said, blinking like he'd just resurfaced from deep water. "You're back already."
"This looks like a Full blown Command Center, can't believe we got this set up so fast," Tandy said, admiring all the technology.
He shrugged, but there was pride there.
"Faraday cage is fully integrated," he said, gesturing upward, "Independent power grid for the Basement. Cutting off the upper floor would be suspicious. But down here? No external connections unless I open them manually. Even then, it routes through three layers of isolation."
She reached out, running her fingers along the edge of a console. "So no one can see us?"
"No one can find us," he corrected. "Big difference."
Her gaze softened as she looked at him. "You really did it. You came back to engineering."
He nodded once. "Yeah. Turns out… I missed it."
A moment passed.
Then Tandy stepped back, rolling her shoulders, light pulsing faintly beneath her skin.
"So," she said, grinning. "Show me what else you've upgraded."
Tyrone didn't answer right away. Instead, he stepped away from the main console and motioned for her to follow, guiding her deeper into the operations side of the basement.
"Come on," he said, voice calm but carrying a quiet edge of anticipation. "There's one more section I wanted you to see."
They passed between two server columns, the soft hum growing denser, more focused. This area felt different—less like infrastructure, more like intention. Purpose-built.
He stopped in front of a long, reinforced worktable lit from above by adjustable white and amber lights. On its surface, neatly arranged on matte-black trays, sat a collection of objects that immediately drew Tandy's attention.
They weren't flashy or bulky, they were instead elegant.
Tandy slowed, eyes widening slightly. "Oh wow…"
Tyrone folded his arms loosely. "I figured if we're really doing this, if we're going to be out there, we shouldn't rely on raw power alone. Power's loud. Tools are… precise."
He reached for the first tray.
Duality Comms
Resting side by side were two slim bracelets, one pearly white with faint crystalline filaments woven through it, the other a deep obsidian band that seemed to swallow light instead of reflecting it.
"These are the big ones," Tyrone said. "Duality Comms."
Tandy picked up the white bracelet, feeling a gentle warmth pulse against her skin, "They feel… alive."
"They kind of are," he admitted, "They're tuned directly to our energy signatures. Light-Force and Dark-Force resonators. They're practically made with our powers directly,"
He tapped the darker band. "They let us communicate silently. No sound, no signals anyone else can intercept. More than that, they let us feel each other, emotional spikes, stress, fear. Even from miles away."
Her expression softened, "So we're… never really alone."
"Exactly." He hesitated, then added quietly, "And if something goes wrong… they help stabilize us."
He met her eyes, "If your Light starts to overload, mine can absorb the excess. If I start to lose control, if my head starts slipping, yours can anchor me. A light pulse, straight to the core."
Tandy swallowed, then smiled, smaller this time. "You thought of everything."
"I had to," he said simply.
She slipped the bracelet on without hesitation. It fit perfectly.
Dark-Force Smoke Capsules
Tyrone slid the next tray forward. Small, matte spheres sat in foam cutouts, unassuming at first glance.
"Smoke capsules," he explained, "But not normal ones."
Tandy raised a brow. "Of course not."
"They're infused with micro Dark-Force distortions," he continued. "They block infrared, magic-based sensing, tech scans, anything trying to track or see through them."
"And?" she prompted.
"And," he said, a shadow of a grin appearing, "they mess with perception. Criminals caught inside experience fear hallucinations. Nothing permanent. Just enough to disorient, scare, and break formation."
Tandy nodded slowly. "Non-lethal. Effective."
"That's the goal."
Spatial Utility Belts
Next came two belts, simple in appearance. One was White and the other Black, both of them Lightweight.
"These are deceptive," Tyrone said. "Spatial utility belts."
He tapped the buckle, and for a split second, the air rippled.
"Dark-Force dimensional pocket," he explained. "Storage space far bigger than it should be. Looks normal. Scans normal. But we can carry everything we need without backpacks or visible gear."
Tandy's grin returned, brighter now. "Okay, that's just cool."
He allowed himself a small smile.
Burner Tablets
He reached for the next item, sleek, rugged tablets stacked neatly.
"These are burner tablets," he said. "Locked down. No personal data. They pull police scanners, emergency frequencies, incident reports."
He tapped the screen, and a city map bloomed to life, layered with icons and data streams.
"Satellite mapping, real-time updates. If something happens anywhere in National City, or nearby, we'll know."
"So we go where we're needed," Tandy said softly.
"Exactly. You can carry it around,"
Sunfall Charges
Finally, Tyrone gestured to the last tray.
Small, cylindrical devices rested there, glowing faintly from within.
"Sunfall Charges," he said. "Light grenades."
Tandy picked one up, feeling a calm warmth radiate through her palm.
"They release a blinding flash," Tyrone continued, "but not just visual. They stun targets and… soothe them emotionally. Panic drops. Aggression dulls."
"Wow you're great," Tandy said and Tyrone chuckled, "There's one more thing I want to show you." He said.
Tyrone lead her to another mini-space, and there was a cylinder with a magnificent white suit emitting LightForce energy inside.
"Tandy, this is your SuperHero Suit, meet PROJECT: LUMEN VEIL!"