Devon spotted Tanya chatting with some girls near the cafeteria and hurried over. After days apart, he was eager to speak with his friend who had suffered so painfully from pushing her shapeshifting gift too far.
“Hey Tanya, ya feeling better?” Devon asked, smiling warmly as he approached.
Tanya’s face lit up when she saw him. “Devon! So good to see yuh.” She embraced him happily. “Yeah man, mi back to full health now.”
“Give thanks for that,” Devon said sincerely. He knew firsthand how devastating a Coco Power could become without proper control and training.
They found an empty picnic table beneath the shade of some breadfruit trees. Tanya bit into a juicy yellow fruit she had grabbed. “So yuh been training hard while I was recovering?” she asked between bites.
Devon answered, “Yeah man, been putting in work every morning perfecting my reflexes and aim. Even had an encounter with this mysterious Rastafarian name Ras Nine who—”
“Hold on, yuh hear that?” Tanya interrupted, perking up her ears. From across the courtyard, pleasant feminine laughter drifted over along with a familiar voice.
“Perhaps we could study together sometime?” Mei Wen was saying sweetly to another girl as they strolled along the garden path. Devon lifted a hand in greeting when she noticed him.
“Hey Mei! Going good over there?” he called over.
Mei waved back politely before continuing her conversation out of earshot. Devon turned back to see Tanya giving him an odd, scrutinous look.
“What?”
“Nothing...just never seen yuh so friendly with lil Miss China Doll before,” Tanya remarked. “Yuh two been chatty lately?”
Devon shrugged, feeling oddly self-conscious for some reason. “I mean, we talk sometimes. She’s cool.”
Tanya hmm’ed thoughtfully, eyeing Mei and her friend disappearing around a corner. “Well now that you is a track star, all the gyal them watching yuh. Just don’t lose focus.”
Devon snorted. “What you mean ‘lose focus’? Yuh getting jealous over there or what?” he teased.
Tanya scoffed. “As if! I’m just saying hero work is more important than playing Casanova. Leave the honeymoon eyes for when yuh save a damsel.”
She balled up her snack wrapper and stood. “Anyway, meet me after school so we can restart training. I’ll race yuh to—”
BOOM!!
A dull explosion in the distance cut Tanya off accompanied by the ground shuddering beneath their feet. Students gasped, looking around in confusion. Thick plumes of inky smoke were now rising from behind the school’s perimeter.
“What was that?” Devon asked, alarm spreading on campus as more muffled blasts echoed. He and Tanya exchanged tense looks. Trouble was erupting nearby.
Students began rushing towards the main academic building, whose rooftop offered the best vantage on the chaotic scene developing blocks away. Devon and Tanya followed the surge upstairs. Bursting through the heavy door onto the flat roof, they were greeted by panicked voices and peers crowding the perimeter with phones filming.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Hey, let me see!” Devon called out, squeezing through to a boy holding binoculars. After a brief resistance, the boy reluctantly handed over the enhanced magnifying lenses.
Peering through, Devon quickly spotted the source of the ongoing explosions - a white armoured prisoner transport vehicle was overturned in the street with its rear doors blasted open. The Jamaica Powered Crime Unit officers who had been escorting the vehicle were scrambling for cover as a dozen escaped convicts rampaged, lashing out with destructive Coco abilities.
Devon's eyes widened watching a massive shirtless man hoist a police cruiser over his head with ease and fling it into a storefront. His brick-red skin appeared impervious to the gunfire pelting him.
Nearby, a laughing woman with wild green hair was gleefully hurling balls of acid that ate through everything they touched. Other freed criminals added to the chaotic melee, using powers ranging from pyrokinesis to animated shadows.
The besieged JPCU officers tried vainly to contain the situation, returning fire that seemed ineffective against several villains. They kept barking urgent radio calls for powered hero reinforcements to arrive swiftly.
“Dang, look at them badman tear it up!” exclaimed a lanky boy to Devon's left. “Why the police a bring them deadly criminals through downtown inna the first place?”
“Reckon they was transferring them to the Max Security facility outside Parris Island,” guessed another student. “Easier access from the harbour.”
“What if they head over here next?” fretted a nervous girl peering over the roof's edge.
Devon lowered the binoculars and forced a confident grin. “Nah, man, the real heroes aguh come shut them escaped cons down soon. Just watch.”
Raising the lenses again, he observed chunks of asphalt and parked vehicles being telekinetically levitated then hurtled towards the police barricades. Coco Power criminals didn't mess around.
But soon faint shapes appeared over the rooftops, swooping onto the scene to reinforce the overwhelmed law enforcers. Devon smiled seeing the colourful costumes of Armadillo, JuJu, and other heroes joining the fray.
Things quickly turned against the escaped prisoners now confronting Jamaica's finest. A metallic hero magnetized cars to sandwich the large red brute while JuJu cast immobilizing voodoo hexes on two thugs, leaving them stiff as statues.
The acid flinger writhed within constricting vines sprouting from Armadillo's palms. Other Superheroes assisted in taking down the remaining convicts until all were subdued and detained once more.
As the threat was contained, Devon slowly lowered the binoculars, exhaling in relief along with his schoolmates who had watched the brief but intense skirmish unfold. Attention shifted to faculty guiding students back inside the buildings and closing off exterior exits.
A loudspeaker announcement instructed everyone to remain on campus until the nearby situation was fully resolved and damaged areas secured. The caution came in the wake of past tragedies.
Devon didn't mind. His thoughts were occupied with excitement over witnessing real Coco heroes valiantly counter a deadly breakout. It fuelled his desire to diligently train his own budding gifts so he could join in that purpose one day.
Following the crowd back inside, Devon paused at a hallway window in time to glimpse a squad of heroes soaring over the school grounds towards the scene downtown. Among them flew a man wreathed in swirling flames, an armoured rider atop a steel Pegasus, and a horned woman enveloped inside a whirlwind.
Their colourful forms receded into the distance as police sirens and hovering patrol drones continued converging downtown. All would soon return to normal, but for Devon, the thrilling impressions left by the brief battle lingered.
He found Tanya waiting just inside, buzzing with excitement like him. "Yuh see Misty phase through debris to cuff the shadowmancer?" she exclaimed. "And when Metal Mike crumpled that beast man like tin foil? Sick moves!"
"For real, I ain't lying - watching all that through the binoculars, mi could imagine being down there in the action myself," Devon said.
Tanya gripped his shoulders firmly. "And soon we will be! Powers ain't mean nothing just performing for crowds. Real heroes that protect people and stand up against evil. That's what we training for."
Her words resonated deeply in Devon's soul. "Yeah man, yuh right," he agreed, meeting her determined gaze. "What we have is a blessed duty. Time to step up and use it."
Around them, faculty tried restoring order and sticking to lesson plans. But students everywhere were still stirred up discussing the brief nearby skirmish.
Devon barely retained information in classes, itching for the final bell so he could meet Tanya and further push his limits. The taste of looming conflict and heroes rising to meet it had galvanized his dedication.
Soon Devon would take his place beside Jamaica's champions as The Blur - an unstoppable force for good. But first, there were bonds of brotherhood and duty to honour through his devoted training.