Acceleration

Chapter 4: Hearing Double

The television blaring in the corner of the lab room pulled Erin and Jess out of their heavy conversation. Its volume was obnoxiously high, but what played on the screen demanded their attention regardless.

"I'm Melissa Garth, here at City Hall—" the young reporter ducked as a chunk of concrete flew past her head, "—the building is currently under attack by a... supervillain?"

The camera panned to reveal a young woman in a black-and-yellow hoodie, standing in front of City Hall. Her throat expanded unnaturally before releasing a devastating scream. Massive shock waves of sound erupted from her mouth, smashing into the building and blowing away chunks of concrete with terrifying force.

Erin turned toward his aunt. Her face was pale, eyes wide.

"That's... more of a threat than a guy with a Super Soaker," Erin muttered.

Before she could reply, he was gone. In an instant, his suit was on and he was ready.

"I'm going."

Jess jumped up. "Erin, wait—you—"

"Supersonic screams. She looks normal otherwise. Two solid hits should put her down." He turned to her, his voice firm. "I have to do this. Please don't try to stop me."

Jess reached into her coat pocket and tossed him a small black earpiece.

"I was going to say—you'll need a comms system."

City Hall – 90 Seconds Later

The woman let out another sonic blast. A support pillar cracked and collapsed in a spray of debris. City Hall groaned under the structural damage.

Before she could fire again, a calm voice rang out from behind her.

"Miss, I don't think this counts as a peaceful protest."

She whirled around. A young man in a blue and white suit stood before her, hands raised. A golden lightning bolt split his chest, and a winged helmet shaded his eyes.

"Was that supposed to be funny?" she snapped.

"I thought it was," he replied with a frown.

She inhaled, prepping another attack. But he held up his hand again.

"Wait—just tell me your name. Maybe we can talk this out."

"Echo-Echo."

Erin blinked. "What?"

"Echo-Echo."

"Why not just Echo?"

"Because it's like, an echo of the word Echo."

"That's kind of... redundant."

She screamed.

The air shimmered as the soundwave hit. Erin moved, but not fast enough—he was blasted backward, crashing through the front of a nearby store. Rubble tumbled around him.

"Erin! Are you okay?" Jess' voice buzzed in his ear.

Erin staggered to his feet, dusting himself off. "Surprisingly fine, but my ears are wrecked."

"GUYS, LOOK—IT'S LIGHTNINGSONIC!"

A teenage girl screamed from the growing crowd. Dozens of phones rose in unison, all aimed at him.

Erin glanced down. His suit was now dirty, torn, and ash-stained.

"Ugh... 'LightningSonic' is a terrible name," he muttered. "I'm workshopping, people!"

He looked up just in time to see Echo-Echo preparing another scream.

"EVERYONE MOVE!" Erin shouted, dashing in front of the civilians. The sonic blast collided with him, shattering windows and sending him tumbling. He groaned as he pulled himself from the debris.

"Jess, I don't know how I'm supposed to stop her. Her attacks move faster than I do. All she has to do is scream and I'm toast."

Her voice crackled in his ear. "Then run faster than the sound."

Erin blinked. "...I have to go supersonic."

Echo-Echo's mouth opened. The air between them distorted.

"Move," he told himself. Lightning exploded beneath his feet as he launched forward.

"Faster."

His next step shattered the pavement. The world blurred around him. He saw the wave of sound coming—like a physical wall—and dropped low, sliding beneath it.

He emerged from the slide right below her and launched upward, fist-first.

Boom.

A burst of blue electricity exploded on impact. Echo-Echo was thrown ten feet into the air. She hit the ground and didn't get back up.

Sirens wailed in the distance as police cruisers pulled up around him. Erin sat down on the curb, panting.

"Man, that took everything outta me... I'm starving."

Several officers approached. One of them spoke into his radio.

"We have two suspects: one African-American female, one Caucasian male."

Erin looked up, confused. "Wait—suspect? I'm not—"

The officer drew his firearm. "On the ground."

Erin raised his hands. "Are you serious? I just stopped a building from collapsing!"

"You engaged in unauthorized vigilantism. ON. THE. GROUND."

Erin sighed. "Yeah, I'm gonna... not do that."

He pointed behind the officer. "What's that?"

"Huh?"

There was a flash of blue light—and Erin vanished. Blue lightning streaked down the street behind him.

Back at the Lab

Erin appeared in the center of the lab, nearly stumbling as he came to a stop.

"Wow... not even a thank you," he muttered, glancing down. His suit was practically in tatters.

"Aww, man."

Jess was already inspecting him. She lifted his arm and examined a bruise forming near his ribs.

"I think I need a new outfit," he said, exhausted.

Jess sighed and dropped his arm. "Come with me."

She led him to a blank wall and tapped a code into the keypad. A loud click echoed as three panels opened. Inside were massive, industrial-grade machines.

Erin's jaw dropped.

"Wha—"

"Fabricators," she said before he could finish. "Think laser-cutters, but smarter. They cut and build with whatever material you feed them."

She turned to him, arms crossed.

"We can work on a new design. Together."

Erin's face lit up. He yanked off his helmet, grinning.

"Hell yeah! I've got so many ideas."

Jess raised a hand to stop him. "But if we're going to do this, you have to promise me something."

Erin raised a brow. "What?"

"You don't tell anyone."

He scratched the back of his neck.

"About that..."