TWO WEEKS LATER!
The past two weeks had gone by in a flash, and they'd also come with a-lot of change. First of all, Tyrone had officially moved into this new home.
The moving process wasn't difficult, he tossed all he needed into his DarkForce Dimension for storage and threw away the useless stuff. The hardest part was getting Artio comfortable in the new house.
However, when the Alaskan Malamute tasted her new high quality food, and got her own room, she quickly calmed down.
After moving in, things had gone by in a quick & hectic manner as the two prospective superheroes got to work.
~HUM!~
The endurance bike hummed steadily beneath him, its magnetic resistance set high enough that most people would've been drenched in sweat and gasping within minutes. Tyrone wasn't most people anymore.
His legs pumped in a smooth, relentless rhythm, muscles flexing beneath his sweats as shadows clung lightly to his calves, reacting instinctively to the strain. His breathing was controlled, even, deep inhales through the nose, slow exhales through the mouth.
In his ears, a calm, articulate voice flowed seamlessly.
"…when designing closed-loop energy systems under high-load conditions, redundancy is not optional—it is survival…"
The audiobook continued without pause, dense with equations, concepts, and architectural logic that would've made his old self shut it off. After all, even for an Engineering Genius, this was extremely high level stuff to be learning.
Now, however, Tyrone absorbed it easily. Every word and possible application.
Sixteen.
That was the number he'd hit that morning. Sixteen doctoral-level engineering books, mechanical systems, electrical architecture, materials science, cybersecurity frameworks, infrastructure logistics.
He understood them quickly due to his increased intelligence. Ideas branched instantly, concepts layering atop one another with frightening ease. He could recall entire schematics from memory, mentally rotate designs, improve them before the author even finished explaining their limitations.
The DarkForce wasn't just shadow and hunger.
It had sharpened him and according to Tandy, the LightForce was having a similar effect on her, comprehensively improving her intelligence.
And both of them were learning how to wield this increased intelligence.
The gym smelled faintly of rubber mats and clean steel. Outside the glass wall, the indoor pool shimmered quietly, sunlight refracting off its surface and scattering soft patterns across the ceiling.
This place had become… normal. That realization startled him more than anything else.
He slowed the bike slightly, wiping sweat from his brow as he was doing this for many hours at this point. He wanted to adapt to his improving body quickly, build his endurance especially for potential long battles.
The audiobook continued playing in his ear at 2x speed.
The soft thump-thump of bare feet echoed faintly as Tandy entered the gym, a rolled yoga mat tucked under one arm. She paused when she saw him, leaning casually against the doorway.
"You're gonna break that thing eventually," she said.
He glanced at the display. "It's rated for triple this output, and when did you arrive?"
"Just now, my Step-Dad called from his trip and said him and my mom will be in Italy for a bit longer, so I decided to hurry over," she explained, and Tyrone nodded.
He slowed to a stop, unclipping his foot and swinging his leg off the bike. Shadows peeled away from him reluctantly, settling back into their usual low hum.
"How many today?" she asked.
"Deliveries?" he replied. "Four more crates. One just got dropped in the garage."
Her eyes lit up, "Yes."
The past two weeks had been a blur of logistics and discipline. Tyrone had planned everything with surgical precision.
Orders placed across fourteen different vendors. Tools sourced from obscure suppliers, parts routed through secondary distributors, shipments staggered and relabeled. Nothing was traceable and nothing centralized. Nothing that screamed secret underground superhero base.
Tandy had done her part too, setting up a fake high-end Airbnb booking under a shell account, complete with digital check-ins and background noise. Cleaners came and went on schedule. Delivery vans were just another part of the rotation.
They also mixed in normal deliveries, like Mops, Pots, other utensils and other stuff that were common when reserving an AirBnB.
To anyone watching? It was just another rich property cycling through expensive guests who were bringing loads of stuff with them.
In reality?
The basement was no longer empty. They descended the stairs together, lights flicking on row by row as they entered the space that had slowly transformed into something else entirely.
Crates lined the walls now, some already opened, others still sealed. Workbenches had been assembled on the operations side, heavy-duty tables bolted directly into the concrete. Shelving units held neatly sorted components: wiring spools, circuit boards, cooling fans, raw materials.
On the opposite side, the training area had begun to take shape.
Tyrone had also created shock absorbent, reinforced panels using graphene, other materials all infused with his DarkForce Energy and Tandy's LightForce Energy. The floor had also gone under a similar transformation.
Tandy had tested it personally, jumping from the upper stairwell and landing without even a crack forming.
She may have done it twice.
Tyrone had quickly realizes their energies were far more useful than he realized. His DarkForce energy massively improved the resistance and absorption features of the materials, while Tandy's LightForce Energy made them self-repair.
It was truly a SuperHero worthy training area now.
Tyrone moved through the space like he'd always belonged there, mentally overlaying future additions.
"I'm thinking we isolate the servers here," he said, gesturing, "and route power through a dedicated internal grid. No outside connection unless we deliberately open it."
Tandy nodded, eyes tracking where monitors would go as they got to work for the next couple hours.
Tyrone assembled, tested, disassembled, and improved systems at a pace that startled even him. His hands moved automatically, muscle memory guided by calculations that existed entirely in his head.
Tandy helped where she could, moving equipment, stabilizing structures, providing light when he needed it. Sometimes literally.
She'd learned to vent her energy more deliberately now, releasing small, steady pulses of LightForce while they worked. The air felt warmer when she did, brighter, but never overwhelming.
Whenever Tyrone asked her to infuse her energy into something, she'd also do it successfully, although it might take a few tries to nail it.
The hours blurred together until the basement lights dimmed automatically, shifting into their evening cycle.
Tyrone wiped his hands on a rag and stepped back from the workbench, eyes scanning the space one more time. The hum of active systems was low and controlled, exactly how he wanted it. Stable. Quiet. Invisible.
He exhaled slowly.
"If everything goes to plan," he said at last, voice steady, grounded, "we'll be operational by the end of the month."
Tandy looked up from the crate she was sorting through, blinking once.
"…Heroes?" she asked.
He met her gaze.
"Yeah," Tyrone replied. "Fully trained. Equipped. Anonymous. No loose ends."
For half a second, she just stared at him.
Then she grinned.
Light flared instinctively around her shoulders, warm and bright, before she pulled it back in with a laugh. "That's, wow. That's actually happening."
Tyrone allowed himself a small smile, "Don't get ahead of yourself," he said. "We still have work to do."
"Oh, I know," she said, already bouncing on her heels. "Which means,"
She tossed her hoodie aside, revealing fitted training clothes beneath, and stepped onto the reinforced floor.
"—it's time."
The shadows around Tyrone stirred.
He reached up, pulling his own shirt free and setting it aside, the DarkForce sliding across his skin like living ink as his stance shifted instinctively.
The training room lights brightened and they squared off at opposite ends of the floor.
Tandy centered herself first—feet light, posture fluid, breathing controlled. Ballet precision fused seamlessly with practiced strikes, every movement graceful but dangerous.
Tyrone mirrored her with something entirely different, very grounded and efficient. They had spent nights watching footage, real combat, military recordings, surveillance leaks, underground fight analysis. With their enhanced cognition, they quickly understood various techniques.
They weren't Batman or Lady Shiva, far from it, but combined with their Immense and growing powers, it would lead to a devastating combination when applied effectively in battle.
CQC flows layered with Krav Maga brutality. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu transitions adapted for superhuman leverage. Karate strikes refined into bone-breaking precision. Military clearing tactics reworked for teleportation and light constructs.
Tandy moved first.
A flash of light propelled her forward, not an attack, a feint. Tyrone vanished into shadow an instant before her kick landed, reappearing behind her mid-spin.
She anticipated it. With how much they'd battled, and their intimate connection, they'd learned how each-other fought to an exaggerated degree.
A dagger of solid light formed mid-turn, forcing him to duck as it shattered harmlessly against the reinforced wall, already repairing itself.
They collided seconds later.
Grip~Break~Counter.
Tyrone swept her leg, she twisted with it, rolling into a recovery that put her back on her feet before his follow-up strike could land. Light flared briefly as she vaulted upward, flipping over him.
Shadows lashed out, catching her ankle mid-air. She laughed as she hit the ground and rolled free.
"Cheap move!"
"Effective," Tyrone replied flatly, already advancing.
They fought again.
And again.
Each exchange sharpened them further, timing refined, weaknesses exposed and corrected. They learned how their powers reacted under pressure, how light and dark interacted not as opposites, but as complements.
Where Tyrone controlled space, Tandy controlled momentum. Where he overwhelmed, she redirected.
By the time they finally stepped apart, both were breathing hard, but smiling.
Sweat dripped onto the reinforced floor, absorbed without a sound.
"This is it," Tandy said softly, light flickering faintly around her fists. "This is how we make sure no one ever controls us again."