The whole park was in shambles at this point. As the mutant screamed and cried in gibberish and nonsensical talk, Jorge was busy trying to rescue his new friend from a circle of pointed, jagged rocks. The earthen mutant was powerful, one of the most powerful that the detective had met in a long time. The way that the earth reacted to his abilities was terrifying to say the least. If he had gotten out of control, if he had decided to hurt someone, it would seem almost impossible to stop him with the way that he controlled one of the most widely available resources around them. But for as dangerous as he was, he needed to be stopped and in as gentle a manner as possible.

But first thing first – he needed to save his new friend. As the man spoke about the a sanctuary, someplace that Jorge was familiar place and identified him as someone who truly wanted to help mutants, Jorge knew he would need his help. So, after summon a wave of water to ride, Jorge hovered above the man and offered his hand to help him up. Thankfully he didn’t seem at all freaked out by the site of him and quickly took the detective’s hand. With a heave he pulled the man into the water and twisted his wrists that the wave of water carried them higher. There was a job that needed to be done.

After helping the man onto the wave of water and gaining some altitude, Devon clued Jorge in on a theory about the struggling mutant. It seemed that his abilities were only based on when he was actually touching the ground. Honestly it made the most sense. If they could cut his ties to the ground that could help to ease some of his suffering. Jorge nodded at the sound theory, especially because he was willing to try out any idea that would ensure that the kid wouldn’t be killed or hurt. If he remained the way he was very much longer, he could end up with irreversible mental trauma – and option that the detective wasn’t going to allow.

”Stay low and alert,” Jorge commanded. ”I’ll get us as close as I can.”

Grinding his teeth, Jorge lifted both arms got a firmer hold on the serpentine wave of water that he stood atop of. With a gesture the wave carried him further, into the midst of the rocks and stones that flew all about. Though the kid wasn’t far, it was a veritable labyrinth of clawed hands, spires of stone, and agonized faces of earth at all side. Jorge had to think fast, staying low and weaving in and out and in-between the columns of stone. He made it look easy.

Slipping between massive colliding pillars of earth, Jorge dipped and dodged but he couldn’t keep it up forever. Circling the kid, he noticed that the closer they got, the more dangerous his powers manifested. The earth trembled so hard at it actually shot a barrage of sharpened stone at him. A few had managed to pierce the watery wave but those that were going to hit him were deflected by strange gusts of wind. Surprised, he looked back to find that Devon was there, his hands twisted and arched as his own wound be when manipulating water, however with the gusts of wind all around him, it was clear that his abilities affected something else entirely.

Well go figure. With a smirk and a nod, Jorge turned back to the kid as Devon shouted that he had a wall of wind up. That should hopefully keep them safe. A firm nod of his own, Jorge flew closer to the wall so he could have some added protection. Rolling his wrists, he focused his attention on the boy who ranted and screamed.

One hand pointed towards him and the other towards a gaping hole in the earth the boy had caused, Jorge reached into the deepest point to pull more water from the passing pipes. Suddenly a thin layer began to seep through the earth and concrete. It slithered closer to the wall of air. Some of it was swept up causing a fine spray of droplets into the air, however the majority of it managed to slip passed, beneath cracks in stone, until it reached the boy. Once it was clear, Jorge growled as he swept his hand across the open air and summoned the water to compile and gather into a single point. As the boy thrashed, water seeped in beneath his back, collecting more and more and lifting him up from the ground.

Already they could see the result. The terror and mass amount of damage began to lessen as the spires started to shrink and the trembling calmed. However he was still too close. Jorge needed more leverage, especially since he was already trying to maintain his water wave and lift the boy high enough from the ground. It was almost too much…he needed help.

Tempest didn’t react to Jorge’s surprise, though Devon might have winked. That wouldn’t have mattered though considering he was wearing sunglasses. His focus was on deflection, monitoring the swirling rolling winds around them, guiding them. A few buffeting gusts around him was easy, oft-practiced. Projecting a wind wall around them both and not sending a terrible amount of water into their faces? That was difficult.

As the ground shook again and trees went flying, Tempest caught them and send them right back into the ground. The wind was an extension of his will, strengthened by the rising humidity and the colliding air from off the ocean. As Jorge pulled water from the land, Tempest pulled it from the air and set the warm front that had moved in to collide with cooler ocean air. With a hydromancer more water was better right?

The detective growled, drawing a side glance from Tempest, before pulling all the water from stone and spray together. It rolled up together and behind the boy, suddenly lifting him from the ground. Suddenly things were changing: spires shrinking, earth stabilizing, terran faces collapsing. Apparently being off the ground wasn’t enough; his power also had proximity.

This kid and Rocky had to meet.

Much as the manifestations of the kid’s terrakinesis were faltering, the ground trembled again from the wake of his separation. Tempest saw the ripple into the ocean, dousing a nearing wave from the rising winds. This was how it started; this was working. They just needed to cut the connection so they could calm him down.

Tempest had been carefully stabilizing himself in the serpentine wave the cop had made. Now all his focus turned on the air as he threw an arm out to either side. He inhaled deeply and as he exhaled forcefully, Devon flung his left fist at his right and vice versa. The wind howled as mighty gusts rushed over the water and to the park. They met the opposing warmth with a sudden swiftness just after the watery column struggled to lift the boy higher. But Tempest’s left fist didn’t hit the right.

Instead, the wind matched his movements and the left rode up over the right as the heated air from the land sailed above the cool ocean currents. In the clouds above thunder rolled as a spring rain suddenly fell upon them. Unfortunately, Tempest shifted unevenly in the wave; hair, shirt, and jeans soaked and tussled by conflicting gusts and the water as his sunglasses fell into an earthen crack, lost. His black eyes stared at the boy in precise concentration.

He rose first five, ten, fifteen… Soon the terrakinetic was buoyed aloft almost thirty feet by wind and wave while the rain washed the dirt from his face.

The ground stopped trembling and so did the boy, though soft sobs mired the rainfall.

“Please breathe, focus on your breathing. We’re mutants too and we’re going to help you."

It was hard to follow everything that was happening. As Jorge balanced on his wave of water, he could feel the wind kick up and buffet him from all sides. That mixed with the thunderous sounds of the earth quivering and shaking down below and the man’s senses were being struck on all fronts. It would have been disorienting for anyone and even someone as experienced as Jorge was finding himself having trouble keeping his head on straight; but he had a job to do. The young man needed to be saved and the only way to do that was by separating him from what gave him his abilities.

Jorge did what he could but balancing the serpentine wave as well as summoning water to lift the boy upwards and maintain both his and Devon’s footing was splitting Jorge’s focus into too many directions at once. The man falter briefly but he managed to keep himself upright and choosing to focus on the boy as much as possible. However, as the man stretched his influence over the water as much as he could, he was suddenly blessed with the coming of a storm. Rain began to fall, moistening the air and adding to his overall control. Given that he was still feeling the younger man behind him gesturing and pulling from the winds, he had a hunch that he had a hand in this miracle.

Jorge breathed a sigh of relief. There was more to work with and more to work with was a good thing. Strengthening the integrity of his watery bridge, Jorge arched his hands and compiled more and more water underneath the struggling boy. Forcefully he increased the pressure, the boy’s back buffeted on all sides in order to lift his weight all at once, and it was beginning to work. The boy lifted, climbing higher but there was still a level of control over the earth that required more distance – how Jorge was going to achieve that, he didn’t know.

Devon would come to his rescue again, though. The winds picked up stronger, splashing water in all directions and weaving through Jorge’s short hair. He was partially deafened by the sound alone but Jorge look down as best he could, summoning up as much water as possible but it would prove to be unnecessary. After lifting the boy as much as he could, Devon seemingly took over and willing the winds themselves to lift the boy further, raising him higher and higher into the air. Jorge watched in surprise at the skill with which the man achieved this and found himself looking in awe. But he couldn’t stare all day.

With the boy lifted higher, the ground itself began to fall back into stasis. The ground calmed, the spires sunk back into the earth, and the humanoid features that screamed and clawed at the sky slowly lost their features and returned to normalcy. With that handled, the detective loosen his hold on the water around them, maintaining only the serpentine wave that he gentle brought back down to the earth. As they both came down, Jorge stepped off onto the solid earth, breathing a heavy sigh as he collected himself. He didn’t see what Devon had done but knew that he was still trying to calm the boy.

Nodding to him, Jorge turned and looked up at the floating boy. He needed just a bit more coaxing. Jorge looked to Devon and gave him an encouraging smile, not in any way put off by the man’s oddly colored eyes.

”Keep him stable, I’ll be right back.”

As Jorge said this he took a step back. The transformation was subtle at first. Jorge’s body lightened in color until he took one a more bluish shade and became translucent. Soon all his features were gone and instead all that stood there was a towering humanoid figure of swirling, churning water. Hands raised, Jorge gathered any excess water to himself, adding to his mass and lifting him higher and higher. Soon he was towering over all, a golem of living water, terrifying to behold but with the sincerest of intentions.

Catching up with the floating boy, Jorge gave him a watery smile, a sincere one. ”Hey kiddo. Looks like you’re having a tough day. Let’s you and me chat…”

The ravaged earth began to quiet and with it the tumultuous cacophony of input the young mutant had been feeling; Tempest expected some sort of feedback loop. Honestly, if he could get this kid in contact with Rocky they’d probably both be all the happier for it. Also, the power they’d have over the local area would be intense. Getting those two some control and practice off one another would be good for both of them.

But first things first.

The wave lowered as the spires did. Tempest’s attention was on the winds gently circling, gently spiraling and forcefully lifting the terrakinetic. When Devon’s feet touched the ground, he jostled a bit but found his footing with minimal attempts to get his balance.

>> ”Keep him stable, I’ll be right back.”

“Please breathe, focus on your breathing! We’re mutants too and we’re going to help you!”

Yes, Tempest called out again. Sometimes it was just a matter of getting through once to make a difference. People mocked psychologists, mocked the study, even mocked the mentally ill. Say anything gentle and soft and you were being silly, stupid, dumb… But it wasn’t. Devon had been one of those people a long time ago, had learned the value of psychology and certainly the need for psychiatric help when medication was required. Sometimes people needed to hear these things, to be reached. Mutants had enough problems as it was.

Not all of them could turn into massive Elder Water Elemental, the likes of which was awe-inspiring and terrifying all at once. Jorge went from a little blue to transparent before gathering the swampy earth’s water and the rainfall to him. It was likely the most amazing, impressive, and supernatural thing he’d witness. Tempest may have had control of the weather but he didn’t turn into a giant elemental creature! If he hadn’t already decided how cool this Jorge guy was, Devon would have been jealous.

Of course, right now, the kid was the important part. Tempest didn’t dare risk saying anything for now. His dark eyes remained on the current encircling and holding the boy aloft. If he were to dive, Tempest would need to catch him.

>> ”Hey kiddo. Looks like you’re having a tough day. Let’s you and me chat…”

Or not. Jorge, police detective from Atlantis (was that where he’d been???) was right there.

The boy looked at Water-Jorge with strained, blood shot eyes. They widened as he mouthed ‘wow’ and he was still catching his breath, honestly made a bit difficult by the column of wind around and supporting him. He nodded, listening to the strange guy below who’d shouted at him to breathe.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t- There was so much- It hurt and I felt it all at once-“ he was mumbling, sometimes whispering sometimes shouting over the wind. “You- I-“

Tempest was struggling to hear, but at least he could tell the kid was talking to Jorge. Yeah, good kid, I would’ve too. Wow.

Meanwhile, the clouds slowly began to separate and the rain became a drizzle, soon to fade. Tempest needn’t feed a storm and he had no desire to keep it churning. The immediate danger was over.

Towering above into the air, next to a whirlwind of invisible currents that kept the poor new mutant stable, a monstrous effigy of living, churning water hovered by. The whole upper torso was humanoid, containing a barrel-like chest and massive arms with a face of only a few recognizable features of eyes and a mouth. Still, for as terrifying as the creature was, and deafening as the deep, gurgling voice came off, Jorge Cervantes was not a monster and he was not here to harm the boy – he was here to help.

From down below he could still hear Devon’s voice being carried in the wind, a reminder for the boy to breathe and to control his mutation. Thankfully, for as shocked as the boy was to see Jorge, he didn’t recoil in fear. As a matter of fact, he stared at him in awe. The distraction that water elemental caused him wouldn’t last, however, as the boy profusely apologized and admitted that he was at fault for everything. There was too much feedback. He was sensing anything and everything at the exact same time. So both Devon and Jorge’s guess was right.

Jorge nodded understandingly. He didn’t want to take too much time talking to the boy because that just added time to Devon’s job of keeping the boy floating, but he knew that this was something he was going to have to ease into. When his own powers had developed, Jorge felt so much, moved so much, that he slipped into a coma. That was the last thing he wanted for this boy. But his experiences at the Xavier Mansion proved that young people with extraordinary abilities had a remarkable fortitude if only given the chance.

That was the side of the kid he was going to have to appeal too.

”I get it, kid,” he started. ”You don’t need to apologize. When the gift first occurs – it is a surprise. And sometimes that surprise can hurt. Do you think I was able to do this without practice? No, just like you, when my first abilities developed, I was no older than you and it hurt like hell. So I know exactly where you are coming from.”

He had to think of a way out of this. Devon couldn’t just float the kid for the rest of his life. No, Jorge was going to have to give the kid a crash course in at least starting to wrangle in his abilities. It wouldn’t be perfect and he was expecting a least a couple more tremors once he was let down, but if the boy listened to him and really and truly tried, then he could achieve it; the detective had ever faith in that.

The boy looked away, almost sensing Jorge’s thoughts. He looked down at the ground and attempted to perceive the invisible barriers that were keeping him afloat. That was a disorienting subject to wrap your mind around so the boy faltered for a moment before he was caught again. Jorge needed to talk fast.

”Listen, you got this. Understand me? These powers, you control them, not the other way around. The key is to focus on only one thing. I know that down there, on the ground, you felt everything and it was coming at you from all sides. When that happens, you need to shrink your world.” He held up his watery hand, hand splayed open. As he did this he started to touch his thumb to his index finger, then to his middle, then ring, and finally pinky before he started to do it all over again following a deep breath. ”Breathe deep, close your eyes, and focus on your fingers touching. Don’t listen to the voices, don’t listen the cars passing, and don’t listen to the earth around you. Just breathe and count as you touch your fingertips.”

It sounded like a stupid exercise, it really did, but Jorge knew personally of the effectiveness of it. When his powers had developed he sensed water everywhere and the only way to calm his mind down was to retreat from absolutely all of it. In this instance, it really was a case of mind over matter.

”Breathe and count,” Jorge said as he demonstrated. ”Breathe and count…” he waited a few beats, letting the boy practice before he glanced down to Devon and subtly motioned for him to slowly start lowering the boy. As he descended, Jorge himself lessened his mass so that he could stay at eyelevel with him, repeating the mantra over and over again. ”Breathe and count. Ignore the rest of the world. Just breathe…then count…”

Devon was vaguely aware that people who had fled from view were slowly peeking out from behind the arcade, the snack shack, coming back from the beach, or leaving their cars that had gotten trapped in a rush to leave the nearest parking lot. Understandably, a giant water creature will do that to a crowd.

Jorge was also talking to the terrakinetic and seemingly doing a good job of it. Where exactly had Jorge been before coming back to the city? It wasn’t rude to ask pointedly now, was it? Considering these events, hopefully they’d chat more. It seemed Jorge’s approach was working.

The kid was nodding, listening, and studying his surroundings. Tempest saw him looked down and focused anew on the supporting gusts he was funneling. There’d been a slight breeze – there always was at the ocean – and he’d kicked the weather to a rainstorm, spring-like anyway, to make the initial interaction easier. He’d urged that to fade and it had. The clouds had mostly cleared, the rain had ended, but creating upward thrust through gusting winds wasn’t exactly normal. They had minutes, not hours and Tempest was starting to feel the fatigue of his concentration.

Luckily, Jorge was thinking fast. He was occupying the kid, teaching him a distraction exercise. That was good, you learned to distract your mind and filter out the noise when it got too much. So many mutants had to learn to do so when involved with an environmental or elemental ability. Tempest had been one of them and surely Jorge had too.

They were breathing and counting and Jorge motioned for a shift. Good. Tempest relaxed and so too did the strengths of the gusts, then one stopped altogether while the speed lessened. The boy, meanwhile, seemed intent on breathing. His fingers swayed even as the world came back into focus. The land was coming up to meet him and the water was receding. Jorge, for that matter, was also shrinking. That was talent and practice right there; Devon admired that.

Soon the boy was back on the ground, breathing slowly. He winced at the first touch of disturbed earth, frowning slightly. The ground tremored briefly but he relaxed his shoulders and breathed while counting along his fingers. “I- I can still feel it,” he stammered out to Jorge. But he looked around, his chest slowly rising and falling. He gave a quick nod to Devon some yards away, watching carefully.

Tempest, his eyes still black, nodded back. “You’re doing great,” he nodded and urged back. “Really. I have a friend with similar abilities who struggled his first time. He didn’t have Jorge here coaching him.” Devon left off the officer bit, no need in stressing the kid with legal concerns.

The kid almost smiled, glancing between the two gentlemen. One of the fissures that had rent the earth open slowly trembled before sealing up. The kid nearly jumped, his body shaking.

“Wow, slow down, fixing things already?” Devon chuckled warmly. “You got time for that. No need to show off.”

The skateboarding mutant smiled. “Is it okay if I sit for a bit?” he asked Jorge, breathing slowly.

It took effort but it seemed as if he was finally getting somewhere with the kid. The trick that he taught him in order to help focus his mind was one that Jorge had utilized many times in the past, especially when his own abilities were developing. It was a way to center his mind, to redirect his attention away from everything he was feeling everywhere else. It was calming and effective but it took time to muster. However, so long as the boy quieted his mind and tried to keep his thoughts straight, then the detective was certain that it would be effective.

As he gestured for Devon to start lowering them to the ground, Jorge kept the boy focused, telling him the chant that he needed to remember and the actions that he needed to take. Counting on his fingers and listening to only his own words was the best way to keep his mind quiet. Lowering further, Jorge admittedly was a little worried that his little technic wouldn’t work. The last thing that he wanted was for the kid to be given some bad advice. Thankfully, as they got closer, he didn’t see or feel the earth react as harshly as it did before.

When they reached level ground, Jorge had shrunk significantly so that he was about the size and shape of a human man, though still made of churning water. As Devon spoke to the boy, Jorge turned and found his clothes that had been discarded and dampened when he had shifted into his water form. Turning towards them, the man collapsed himself into a puddle of water as he slipped into the loose clothing, filling out the interior of it.

Standing from the spot where they had fallen, the watery effigy of the detective was now wearing damp clothing. However, as Jorge walked back towards them, he gradually began to solidify and regain the color tones and texture of a human being. With every step towards them, his clothing started to dry out, hanging loose and clean on his body. When he was again before the pair of them, he was once again Jorge Cervantes with only the slightest shimmer of dampness to his skin and hair but even that was beginning to dry out already.

He gave them both a lopsided smirk as he greeted them. He had just caught Devon mentioning to the boy that he had another friend who had similar abilities but that he didn’t have the luxury of the detective here to coach him. Jorge just gave him a dismissive way, he was just doing his job. The kid was already looking quite relaxed, however the earth began to tremble again, but this time in a manner that seemed more beneficial; the boy was trying to right his wrongs. That was appreciated but Jorge didn’t need him to lose control again – just a second of doing that and he already looked exhausted.

Devon was quick to jump in to tell the boy to relax but was sensitive enough to not make him feel bad about it. Jorge nodded in agreement. ”No need to rush, kiddo. Just take it one step at a time. Get yourself under control first and then we can talk about the rest.”

The kid seemed appreciated and shared a smile with them as he asked the detective if it was okay to sit down. The kindly, older man nodded his head as he gestured towards a nearby bench. He reminded him to continue to work on his breathing and focusing his mind away from the sounds of the earth around him. It would take time, practice, but so long as he kept at it, Jorge was certain he would be able to get these miraculous abilities under control.

As the kid walked away, Jorge breathed a small sigh of relief and glanced over to Devon, the black-eyed mutant who had just helped him stop a possible disaster. He gave him a grin as he held out his hand to shake his. ”You did great out there. And clearly left some notes off of your bio,” he chuckled. ”But thank you. Not sure I would have been able to reign him in on my own.”

The effortless cooperation with Jorge was making this a breeze. Maybe it was a bit of pessimism, but did things ever go this easily? Well the kid had torn up the park and skate area, sent many flees for their lives, and had endangered a bunch more, so… Hopefully the kid wasn’t a mind-reader too. Devon nodded as Jorge urged the kid to take it easy.

Yeah, they’d talk about the rest all in due time, but until then Devon really wanted to hear about the detective turned tsunami. The kid wanted to rest, and that was fine with Devon. He was happy to relax a bit too, keeping his attention on the area though not actively controlling or urging any effects. The terrakinetic laid back on the ground, his eyes closed, and simply focused on what he was feeling. “That’s great,” Tempest called. “Relax and breathe.”

He caught Jorge’s glance and gave him an appreciative nod and a soft smile. As he neared, Devon quickly took the hand offered and shook it back with a satisfied energy. “Me?” Devon chuckled, though quietly. His interest was on the hydromancer. “Well, you’re welcome, but thank you. That was impressive. I may have left something off my bio, but you skipped the whole resume. I’ve worked with some of the mutant police force, but never once did they mention you.”

Devon shook his head, the admiration in his voice quite apparent. He couldn’t hide it; he was impressed. “That was some excellent control and gently handled. You must be special forces or something, I assume? That what had you out of town for a while?”

They had succeeded, the two of them. Jorge was never one to take glory for himself, it had never been in his DNA to seek it out. He preferred a faceless life at times. Then again, being a cop for as many years as he has, it made the most sense. Cops couldn’t easily fade into the background, especially when they worked the same neighborhoods over and over again. Eventually, out of the uniform, driving their own personal car, they get recognized. So it wasn’t so far-fetched for the detective to want a life where he didn’t take all the credit.

Devon had proven to be a valuable asset. His cool head, his abilities, everything became useful in helping to stop the new mutant before his abilities got too far out of hand. Of course Jorge had played his part but it is always good to have someone at your side who could keep a level head with you. Jorge pointed this out when he thanked the man for his assistance.

His eyes roamed passed the individual and to the boy who was lying down, trying to keep the tips that Jorge had given him in mind. The boy would struggle for a bit but so long as he tried he would be able to achieve a sense of normalcy. Even now he was always doing miles better than most new mutants Jorge had come across during his time with the MRC. Though the boy was going to be a handful, Jorge had every faith that he was now being steered in the right direction.

Though his compliments were appreciated, Devon had turned the admiration back to Jorge. The detective, having had to suffer through such praises before, kept his well-meaning smile upon his lips. It was true, everything that Jorge could do was impressive, and powerful, but the man rarely thought of himself in such terms and the awe-struck looks he sometimes got were a bit unnerving.

The younger man admitted that he had worked with the Mutant Related Crimes unit before but they had never mentioned him. That didn’t surprise Jorge, especially since as recent as last year he was considered long-since dead. Unable to resist a somewhat macabre poke at his own demise, Jorge just snorted and replied with a knowing smirk.

”Should’ve looked at the In Memory Of… plaque in the main hall,” he added, somewhat mysteriously.

An almost impish smirk on his lips, he sighed as he straightened up, feeling his body loosen but remain solid. He had been scared to manipulate water when he came to this place, even more terrified to shift into it after his ordeal, but thankfully in the heat of the moment the man did not lose his focus or his calm. It seemed that natural instinct kicked in, the man’s deep-seated want and need to help people drove him to use his abilities since lives were on the line. In a way he was thankful for that almost autonomous reaction to danger. It helped him to truly believe that he still had what it took to do the job.

His attention slipped back to Devon as the man commended him again, assuming that he must have been specially trained, even guessing if that were the reason for his departure from the city. In a way, Devon was right, his abilities were the reason that he was gone but not solely. He wasn’t on some training mission, he was fighting for his life and sanity. Still, that wasn’t exactly the kind of thing that you brought up to someone you just met.

Evasiveness filled him as he continued to eye the man, almost scrutinizing him for some unknown reason. Silently he nodded his head, just once, and responded with a ”Something like that.” However, may be maddeningly so, he still wouldn’t clarify. Instead he sighed as he slipped his hands into his pockets, his previous chill and relaxed nature was seeking back into his posture. ”You said you know some good doughnut places around here? I’d love it if you could point one or two out to me. My treat. A thank you for your help.”

>> ”Should’ve looked at the In Memory Of… plaque in the main hall,”

That comment drew a quirked brow, but Devon didn’t push further. It was enough. New York City police officer mutant named Jorge who was missing or presumed dead? Yeah, that didn’t seem like it’d be too hard to look up. What had happened to this guy?

Jorge clearly didn’t like the attention, or praise, or both. He was dodging and down-playing the compliments. And yeah, Devon understood that was common of trained forced like police or the military. They were a team; they were doing their job. This was still impressive and Devon wasn’t going to ignore it. Jorge deserved the commending.

And good to his background, the man brought it back to doughnuts.

“Uh, sure,” Devon chuckled. “I can show you a few. Help you get reacquainted with the landscape,” he nodded. “If you don’t mind the rain I can ensure there aren’t any lines,” he laughed again. Slipping a hand into his back pocket, Devon withdrew his wallet and pulled out a card. Professional right? It had his name, mentioned his work as a psychologist and manager for Sanctuary, his email address, and of course his number. “Call me. How about you keep working with the kid and I’ll check with the public?”

Devon’s eyes resumed their brilliant azure as he glanced aside. People were getting closer and he was fairly certain he heard sirens in the distance. There were plenty of phones out too. Well, they’d be focused on the water cop, wouldn’t they?

He was not stalking Detective Jorge Cervantes. Not specifically anyway. But Leo did have a whole forum to help him track down mutant events in New York. And when he was Bird Watching, and two separate events popped on his radar like they did today, Leo could only be in one place at a time. He had to choose shrewdly.

Slugasaurus_Rex said:

Earthquake at the beach. Potential hatchling spotted. WE HAVE A LIVE ONE, PEEPS. TL: Swan

SEND_ME_UR_INSTAGRAM said:

Robbery in progress. Sorry for potato quality. Group held at claw-point. TL: Loon

The beach sounded a heck of a lot safer. Threat level swan meant it was potentially accidental whereas threat level loon meant the mutant was threatening a small group, but the threats were on purpose.

So Leo hoofed it to the beach and started rolling as soon as he could feel the tremors. He had to keep running toward it all while so many others ran away, but finally, finally he got there in time to see a MOTHER LOVING WATER GOLEM. A floating kid. Some talking. Whoa! Leo had to duck a tree. He found a relatively safe spot, at least it felt sorta safer than out in the open, and filmed as best he could until things calmed down.