Acceleration

Chapter 14: Overgrowth Part 5

Erin walked directly by his friends the moment school got out. He ignored their attempts to talk to him. Liz wasn't parked in her normal spot, which hit Erin with a smidge of guilt, but he knew he couldn't be stopped. Not today.

He jumped into the back of the Van, slamming the doors behind him. Hotrod handed him what looked like a white pile of clothes, folded tightly down to the size of a beanie.

"What's this?"

Hotrod smiled, "Your new suit."

Jess looked in the rearview mirror, "There's a handheld electric pump back there, when you want, you can suck off the air out of the suit and compress it down into a small easy-to-hide shape."

Erin stuffed the costume into his pocket.

"Any luck with the plan?"

Hotrod shrugged, "He didn't really want to be used as bait," the older man opened a trunk next to him. Inside was the business man, bound by his wrists, gagged, and blindfolded. Hotrod closed the chest before he could attempt anything.

"Good," Erin nodded, "Let's get this done, I have finals tomorrow."

***

Hypersonic sat on a rooftop. He glanced down at his new suit. The upper part of his body was blue, and halfway down his torso and arms was a gold streak that turned the blue into a piercing white. His gloves were white with small blue lightning bolts gripping his wrists. A gold belt buckle held his blue belt to his waist, and gold and blue details lined his legs. His helmet was a tight polymer with a protective shell. The mask showed his eyes with a thin plastic in front of them, no more goggles needed. Two blue lightning bolts ran up his forehead, and led to two large golden wings behind his temples. The grand detail of the suit was the massive gold lightning bolt that sat in the middle of his chest and ran down to his stomach.

"Comms check one two," Jess said in his ear.

"Confirm, comms work."

"Any sign of Vacstal?"

Erin gazed four buildings over, where Hotrod and Jess had tied Overgrowth's colleague down. Sure enough, a group of vines had started to crawl their way up the building.

"He's here."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Erin felt something slam into his back, sending him off the roof. He reached his hand out, grabbing the ledge and pulling himself up. Sure enough, the entire building was covered in foliage. His legs were pinned once more.

"Do you think I'm an imbecile Hypersonic?" Overgrowth rose over the side of the building, "My target is suddenly tied to a roof and you think I won't realize it's a trap?"

He thrust his vine arm forward. The plants extended rapidly, heading right for Erin's face.

'I hope I practiced enough for this.'

Erin vibrated his head as fast as he could. A warbling filled his ear, and for a moment, all Erin could see was green as the plants passed right through him. He shoved his hand up, slicing the vines to pieces. Vacstal stepped back in horror.

"Surprise!" Erin shouted, jumping at the scientist. He phased his feet through the twigs holding him. Overgrowth was taken aback as Hypersonic's fist landed in his face.

Moss sprayed across the roof as Vacstal landed in pain. A wave of plants as tall as the building itself flew from the ground.

"Oh he was totally holding back," Erin uttered. Lightning streaked from his new suit as he ran up a vine. Two tree branches reached for him. He punched both of them away, and phased through the vine, dropping down onto Overgrowth. The mass of plants followed him.