Acceleration

Chapter 20: Fall's Call

For months, Erin and Jess searched the city for signs of Revnid—lightning marks, reports of sonic booms, anything that could help them. Unfortunately, most of these sightings ended up just being Hypersonic stopping crime himself. If the black speedster was sighted, he was gone before Erin could reach wherever he'd been. And for months, the terror of his rival haunted Erin. But now, a new challenge arose.

Erin stared dreadfully at the school doors that now lay open in front of him. Lisa patted him on the back.

"Ready for another incredible year?"

"Seriously," Erin looked at her with a curled lip, "I think I'd rather die."

Marlin took her hand and mimicked her patting.

"You'll get through it, man."

"What are you guys dating now?"

Marlin was surprised, "You haven't shown up to a group function ALL SUMMER."

"You missed a lot," Elizabeth said in his ear. He jumped in horror. She leaped back as well, not expecting him to be startled.

She was just as beautiful as he remembered her. But something was different. Her cheeks were... sharper. She was slimmer, as though she hadn't eaten in weeks...

"Why haven't you come to see us?" She asked genuinely. Her voice felt like silk in his ears. Did she miss him?

"I've been busy helping my aunt..." he searched for an excuse, "With a science thing."

The first bell rang and Erin rubbed his eyes. Like many nights over the past two months, he'd remained up past the sun's vanishing, searching everything he could find for a clue about Revnid. As usual, nothing popped up. The only Speedster articles from before the fight were about him and Hotrod.

To Erin's delight, he and Elizabeth shared a first period. If one good thing could come out of math at 8 AM, it would be seeing her face. He moved to sit next to her, but somehow, world-famous football player Charles managed to slip into the seat he was aiming for.

"Sorry buddy, too slow."

Erin felt insulted by the comment, far beyond the fact he wasn't able to sit next to Elizabeth. How did that guy manage to sit faster than he had?

Erin took the only available seat, one at the front of the class, opposite Elizabeth.

That one good thing was ruined further when the teacher, Mr. Techard, began speaking on the disgustingness of Vigilantism and Hypersonics constantly looking over villainy. Erin slumped in his seat. This man was a massive fan of Triple B.

To make matters even worse, their first assignment was due THAT NIGHT. An essay on why they chose to take an Economics class. Erin was confused about why he had to do that, considering an Econ class was required for graduation. It took what felt like a year for the bell to finally ring.

"That didn't seem that bad," Elizabeth said as they entered the hall. She was glued to his side, pushing people to the wall if they dared to get in her way.

"I'm going to die in that class," Erin groaned, "That teacher has to be one of the new supervillains around town."

"You didn't have fun?" She asked. Erin shook his head.

"The way he talks about Hypersonic you'd think the guy moonlit as Revnid."

Erin felt his shoulder slam into the locker next to him as Charlie pushed in between him and Elizabeth, separating the duo.

"Man I've missed you guys," he said, staring at Elizabeth. He and Erin were the same height, and that pissed Erin off. He should have been at least three inches taller than this guy.