Time passed since that incident quickly. The duo retuned to their home in Veridian Hills, and night time quickly arrived. The duo went out at night, prowling through the City and helping in any way they could, though since the Conduit incident, crime had gone quiet.
After a couple hors of completing some basic Hero work, they arrived back home in the dead of night, and Tandy immediately went to bed.
She'd fallen asleep curled on her side, one arm flung across the pillow, hair fanned out in pale gold waves against the sheets. Tyrone had stayed until her breathing evened out, until the faint glow of her Light dimmed to a steady, resting warmth.
Only then had he slipped away, careful not to wake her up. Now the basement operations center was the only place awake within the house.
The wall of monitors cast a muted glow across the room. Artio lay sprawled near the base of the stairs, massive body rising and falling with slow breaths, one eye cracked open just enough to track Tyrone as he passed.
He paused long enough to scratch behind her ear.
"Guard duty," he murmured. Her tail thumped once, then stilled.
Tyrone moved to the central console and brought the system online.
The screens rearranged themselves at his silent command as he began to input what he was looking for, and soon, the information made itself available.
News archives, financial databases, shell-company maps and even lobbying disclosures.
He hadn't told Tandy he was doing this.
Not because he didn't trust her, but because he wanted to do this himself, for her. Seeing how her emotions were warped so suddenly, diving into this immediately couldn't be beneficial for her.
However, he still investigated.
Roxxon Corporation, founded decades ago, US based with its headquarters rotating between cities depending on tax incentives and political climate.
It was first and foremost a giant in the Energy Industry, Oil and Gas its primary focus, then renewables later, not out of any desire to make the world cleaner, but because it would inevitably take over, and they wanted to be at the forefront of the market.
Wind farms and solar arrays were both plastered across the company's PR material like absolution.
Looking into their numbers, Tyrone couldn't help but take a sharp breath as he saw profits that easily eclipsed the GDP of small nations.
Subsidies stacked on subsidies. Government contracts that renewed themselves with clockwork regularity, regardless of which party held office. This was a sign of true power.
Tyrone's jaw tightened as he skimmed deeper.
Lobbying expenditures climbed year by year, all pushing for the same things. Former CEO and executives of Roxxon would join the boards of the federal agencies tasked with regulating Roxxon, essentially making them immune to regulation.
Their claws were sunk deep into the system. Tyrone flicked a hand, and the display shifted to information about their Advanced Technology Division, which was very recently a huge investment they made, after the Justice League officially formed.
On the surface, they preached about AI research and predictive logistics. But Tyrone also saw MetaHuman research tucked behind phrases like 'medical innovation', 'genetic improvement studies' and 'adaptive physiology.'
While he couldn't confirm this, he was absolutely certain they had dozens of laboratories all across America for this 'research.' He even found out about one Arctic research site that vanished from public records three years ago after a "structural failure."
Casualties listed as zero, of course, but no worker from that site ever came forward and spoke about it.
Tyrone pulled up environmental impact reports next.
Rainforests reduced to red-stained satellite images. Oil spills that "met regulatory thresholds" despite poisoning entire coastlines. Indigenous lands seized through eminent domain wrapped in legal language so dense it might as well have been a spell.
Animals dead in the thousands and various communities displaced permanently. Every time, they used settlements, NDA's, or governmental force to achieve their goals, and sometimes, Tyrone couldn't figure out how they achieved them, as some moments were very mysterious.
They also had regulated charitable donations whenever these incidents would crop up, a common PR tactic to distract the public.
Then came the accusations.
They were harder to find. Not because they didn't exist, but because they were drowned out by a massive amount of PR work, meant to trick anyone who read it into believing the accusers were unreliable.
Whistleblower testimonies were never posted in major news sites, but always instead posted to obscure journals, then discredited within days.
Journalists who published investigative pieces only to retract them weeks later citing 'editorial concerns.' but then never re-uploading edited versions with these concerns fixed.
Court cases dismissed on procedural technicalities after evidence went missing mysteriously, and much darker things.
A union leader found dead in apparent school shooting when he happened to be visiting that school for a speech about the importance of Unions.
Activists charged with unrelated crimes weeks after organizing protests. Scientists who vanished between flights, officially listed as "missing," their research absorbed into Roxxon patents within the year.
Searching through the web and dark web, Tyrone came across a large amount of information, and it pointed to one thing, Assassinations.
That word never appeared outright, but the patterns did.
Tyrone leaned back in his chair, shadows pooling around him instinctively. DarkForce responded to his anger, coiling tight but restrained.
As for Taylor Romanova, her name appeared everywhere once he knew how to look. She was at the forefront of Roxxon, heralded in various news publications as a champion of women and one of the greatest modern business executives, who was leading Roxxon and the world to a better future.
Her PR was spotless, and even Roxxon's controversies never had her name attached to it. Always other executives or employees taking the blame and the fall, her hands were always spotless to retain this image.
And Tandy's father?
He appeared exactly where Tyrone expected. Taylor's closest ally, working with various shell companies and achieving financial maneuvers, while also being the one who worked with the lobbyists the most.
The screen dimmed slightly as Tyrone closed the file tree. He sat there in silence for a long time, wondering how he should approach this.
It was clear this was a company worth investigating, but he needed to do it in a way that wouldn't harm Tandy, as he knew how emotional she was with regards to her family.
As Tyrone was thinking about all of this, he felt something, or someone, brushing against his senses, moving around the house like a stalker.
Tyrone didn't react.
He shut down the last monitor, stood, and teleported to his bedroom, hiding the secret door to his base before calmly putting on some pajamas and then heading downstairs to the kitchen while pretending to be tired, and just waking up.
In the kitchen, he turned on a low light, poured himself a glass of water, and leaned against the counter as if nothing in the world was wrong.
Through the windows, through the walls, he could feel the man outside, watching him intently. The man was highly trained, with a steady, soft breathing style and a disciplined posture.
Tyrone took a slow sip, as he felt himself being watched and studied by the man, not acting. He knew that if this man just disappeared here, the people who sent him would get confirmation something was up with him.
So, Tyrone acted like just a normal person who is Tandy's friend. Finishing his drink, he went to the living room and turned on the TV, watching it while he sensed the stalker still looking at him.
Finally, after like 20 minutes, the presence eased and the watcher disappeared into the night, seemingly assured Tyrone and Tandy were normal people.
Tyrone didn't stop him.
If the man vanished now, if he didn't report back, alarms would ring, questions would be asked, and the next visitor would cause him much more trouble.
Instead, as the man turned away, Tyrone reached out, a small brand of DarkForce brushed the man's shadow and sank in silently, anchoring itself in an untraceable way.
The man would never feel it. Never know it was there.
Tyrone waited exactly two minutes.
Then his form unraveled into darkness, cloak blooming soundlessly around him as he stepped out into the night, following at a distance. Whoever sent this man, had made their first mistake.