Acceleration

Chapter 19: Reversal

Erin woke up, his costume still on. The mask was pulled off, and his skin was allowed to breathe freely. He was in the lab, lying on a pullout bed. The bright light hurt his head.

He pulled himself up, using both arms to rise. The action surprised him. The wound was... gone. His arm had returned, covered in a gross layer of skin that was partially transparent. He grabbed at it and pulled it off, tearing it from his new skin. The regrown arm was... perfect. There was no malformation on it. He opened and closed his fist, the fingers felt incredible.

"What did you do!" Jessica shouted, grabbing the shredded skin. Erin winced in pain due to the loud noise.

"We have no idea why your body can regenerate limbs, tearing that protective seal was a horrible idea!"

"Can you talk a little quieter?" He partially plugged his ear with his fingers, "How long was I out?"

"Three hours," she muttered, picking his arm up and inspecting it, "All the dried blood you left on the scene had decayed past the point of recognition, so nobody is gonna be identifying you by DNA."

"But that means..." Erin muttered. Elizabeth finished his sentence.

"We can't figure out who he was via DNA analysis."

Erin stared at the television in the upper corner of the room, which was displaying a live feed of the news. Many officers were outside, gathering evidence from the scene of the battle. The reporter, a scroungy old man named Barry B. Benford was practically yelling into the microphone.

"Some HERO we have, LOOK AT ALL THE PROPERTY DAMAGE HE CAUSED!"

Erin shook his head in disappointment.

"Ever since Hypersonic showed up, villains all over have been rising and doing damage to our city. Now this "Revnid" appears and almost razes an incredible Research and Development lab!"

The rest of his rambling was blocked out of Erin's ears.

"Revnid?"

His aunt nodded, handing him a glass of water and three small pills, "That's what the media is calling him."

"Any idea why he's a dick?"

The door to the lab was slammed open. A fleck of blue light illuminated the room as Erin tore the costume off and put normal clothes on. He realizes it isn't necessary, as the man who entered the room was his best friend.

"DUDE!" Tom screamed, running up to Erin and hugging him.

"I'm fine man, accelerated healing, remember?"

"You have like, an Arch nemesis now!"

"Tommy I don't think that's as cool as you thought it was," Erin pushed him away. He rubbed his head.

"What even happened during the fight?" Erin asked, "What was that... smoke?"

Jess held a tablet out to him. He took it and stared at the diagram.

"The amount of energy given off by the sphere was enough to power the entire city for years."

"But he used it as a weapon..."

"What happened there?"

"I was trapped. It was like a small prison. Hundreds of bolts of electricity just tore into me. Then I... I moved. Faster than I ever have. I just pushed to get out of the situation."

"I got that on your speedometer," Jess said. She pulled something up on her computer. He was confused.

"You have a speedometer on me?"

"Just to monitor your progress," she showed him the screen. On it was a diabolically large number.

"For a billionth of a second... you moved at six hundred and eighty million miles per hour."

"That's..."

"Faster than light."

Erin shook his head, "That isn't possible, speeds like that shouldn't even be able to be reached by anything ever."

"Except you."

A gasp from Tom interrupted their conversation.

"Revnid crashed into a gas station when running away. The cops are heading there now." When he looked back up, Erin had vanished.

His tattered costume would have to do for now. He'd fix it later. He pulled up to the only gas station in town with a massive hole in its wall and burn marks around it. He rubbed his hand on the brick, and the soot smeared onto his fingers. Small cracks of what looked like lightning had marked themselves in the blackness.

He stole our fabricator. The thought pierced Erin like a spear. Whoever this guy was, he knew where the Hypersonic Headquarters was. The police pulled up, and Erin tore back to the lab. If Revnid knew where to get the plans for his suit, he knew where the HQ was. If he knew where the HQ was... He could know who Hypersonic was.