The first thing Tyrone heard was the gunshot.
It was so loud that it seemed to tear through the entire world, a deafening crack that echoed through the empty streets and bounced off the surrounding buildings.
Then came the sound of a body hitting the pavement.
~THUD!~
Tyrone stood frozen. For some reason, he couldn't move or breathe.
His eyes remained fixed on the figure lying in the middle of the street, the familiar face turned slightly toward the rain-soaked asphalt, dark hair plastered against his forehead.
His father, Henry Johnson.
"Dad?"
The word barely escaped his throat.
He took a step forward, then another, his shoes splashing through shallow puddles as he approached the motionless figure.
"No..."
His voice cracked.
"No, no, no, no..."
Henry didn't move.
Blood spread beneath him, mixing with the rainwater and flowing toward the gutter in thin, reddish streams.
Tyrone dropped to his knees.
"Dad?"
He reached forward with trembling hands, turning his father over carefully, almost desperately, as though some part of him still believed that if he moved slowly enough, if he was gentle enough, he could somehow prevent what had already happened.
His father's eyes were open, but they were empty.
Tyrone's breath caught in his throat.
"Dad, please..."
He shook Henry's shoulder.
"Please, get up."
His voice rose, breaking into a desperate shout that scraped his throat raw.
~BANG!~
A second gunshot rang out behind him and Tyrone spun around.
Malik stood several meters away, his body jerking violently as another bullet struck him. His brother's expression shifted from confusion to disbelief, his mouth opening as if he wanted to say something.
Then he fell.
"No!"
Tyrone scrambled to his feet.
"Malik!"
He ran toward him, his legs moving faster than he thought possible, but the distance between them seemed to stretch with every step. Malik's body grew smaller, farther away, while the surrounding buildings twisted into impossible shapes.
And behind Malik stood the officers. Their uniforms were immaculate. Their weapons were raised. Their faces were hidden behind shadows that didn't belong to the night.
"STOP!" Tyrone screamed, but the officers fired again and again.
~BANG~BANG~BANG!~
Malik collapsed completely.
Tyrone stumbled forward, reaching for his brother, but the street suddenly stretched beneath his feet like an endless black corridor.
"No! No, no, no!"
Tyrone ran harder, trying to reach him or his father, but no matter how fast he ran, the distance never closed, and then, just as suddenly as the nightmare had begun, everything stopped.
The rain hung motionless in the air and the officers lowered their weapons.
Henry stood up and Malik rose beside him.
For one glorious, impossible second, Tyrone felt hope surge through his chest so intensely that it hurt.
Both of them looked towards Tyrone, and his entire body trembled with relief as he stares at them.
"You're okay..."
His voice was little more than a whisper.
Malik lifted a hand, "Come on, Ty."
Tyrone almost laughed.
He was finally going to—
~BANG!~
Henry's smile disappeared, a red stain blossomed across his chest.
~BANG!~
Malik jerked backward, his hand dropped as both of them collapsed once more.
Tyrone screamed at the sight, the sound so extreme that the world around them trembled due to his pain.
Tyrone tried to move, but his legs wouldn't respond, watching them die again and again. Every time, he tried to reach them, nothing would happen.
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, the streets began to darken.
At first, Tyrone barely noticed. He was too busy trying to stop the officers, too busy throwing himself between the guns and the people he loved, too busy screaming until his voice ceased to function.
But then the darkness began to spread.
It crept along the pavement, swallowing the puddles and climbing the walls. The streetlights vanished one by one, their pale yellow glow extinguished beneath an advancing tide of black.
Tyrone looked down, his hands were covered in shadows. They crawled across his fingers like living things, twisting around his wrists and climbing his arms.
A terrible pressure built inside Tyrone's chest, his powers surged in response, the DarkForce expanding beyond his control.
The blackness swallowed everything, and then, from somewhere beyond the darkness, he heard a voice.
"Tyrone?"
He froze, and the voice came again.
"Tyrone, wake up!"
He turned toward the voice.
"Tyrone, please!"
Tyrone took a step towards the voice, hearing the worry in her voice alerted something within him, and the nightmare he was trapped in began to crack.
A massive fracture ripped through the black sky, spreading in every direction. The images of Henry and Malik shattered into fragments of light, their faces disappearing as the entire world began to collapse.
Tyrone reached toward the sound of Tandy's voice, and woke up screaming.
"NO!"
His eyes snapped open.
He lurched upright so violently that the blankets flew off the bed, his chest heaving as he struggled to draw breath.
For several seconds, he couldn't understand where he was. All he could hear was the pounding of his own heart.
However, the darkness was everywhere, consuming his bedroom.
The walls, the ceiling, the windows, the furniture. Everything had disappeared beneath a thick, suffocating blanket of DarkForce energy.
Tendrils of shadow twisted around the bedposts, crawling across the ceiling like enormous black roots. The curtains had been swallowed completely, and the bedside lamps were little more than faint silhouettes trapped beneath the oppressive darkness.
The windows themselves were invisible. The room had become a pocket of night detached from the rest of the world. Even the air felt heavy.
Tyrone stared at his hands and darkness poured from his fingertips. He clenched his fists, trying to force the energy back inside himself.
"Tyrone!"
Tandy's voice cut through the darkness.
She stood near the bedroom doorway, wearing an oversized shirt and a pair of comfortable shorts, her long blonde hair falling loosely over her shoulders.
A faint glow surrounded her body, the LightForce illuminating the immediate area around her as she stared at him with wide, frightened eyes.
She had clearly been trying to reach him for some time, "Tyrone, look at me!"
She took a careful step forward, "Hey."
Her voice softened, "It's me."
Tyrone shook his head, "I..."
Tandy moved closer, "It's okay. You're home."
She understood enough about his past to recognize what she was seeing, a nightmare, and there was only one topic that could cause Tyrone so much grief, his family.
She knew about Henry and Malik. She knew about the terrible circumstances surrounding their deaths and the way Tyrone had spent years carrying the weight of those losses.
"Tyrone," she whispered, "it's just a nightmare."
He squeezed his eyes shut.
"They..."
His voice broke.
He swallowed hard and tried again.
"They kept..."
He couldn't finish, his hands began trembling as he tried to calm down.
Tandy's heart ached.
She had seen Tyrone angry before. She had seen him exhausted, frustrated, coldly determined, and so furious that the DarkForce seemed to bend around him in anticipation.
But this was just him at his most emotional, a scene she'd never really seen before.
Tandy took another slow breath, "Can you hear me?"
He nodded faintly, "Good. Can you look at me?"
His gaze lifted.
For the first time since waking, his eyes actually focused on her. There was so much pain in them that she nearly lost her composure.
But she kept her voice steady, "That's it. Just look at me."
Her Light grew brighter. A gentle radiance spread from her skin, warm and soft, like the first light of dawn entering a darkened room.
The shadows nearest her shifted, recoiling slightly, their edges rippling as the Light touched them.
Tyrone stared at her and after a few seconds, she held out her hand again.
This time, Tyrone didn't pull away and when their hands met, Tandy felt the DarkForce shudder. It was an extraordinary sensation.
His powers were usually responsive to his emotions, but never quite like this. The darkness seemed to be feeding on the fear left behind by the nightmare, expanding around him as though it had mistaken his distress for a threat that needed to be destroyed.
Her Light passed through the bond between them, feeling that familiarity that had grown so much since they had met.
Tyrone's fingers tightened around hers and Tandy squeezed back.
The DarkForce had stopped lashing against the walls, and the shadows near the doorway were thinning enough for the dim light from the corridor to begin filtering inside.
Tandy could feel his emotions settling, but the pain remained.
It sat deep within him, beneath the immediate fear, somewhere neither of them could simply reach and make disappear.
"Thank you," Tyrone whispered, and Tandy nodded.
She released his hand just long enough to move closer, then wrapped both arms around him.
Tyrone stiffened in surprise, but she held him anyway.
"Anytime,"