Acceleration

Chapter 25: A.G.E.N.T

The parking garage the van had originated from was... interesting to say the least. A security camera lined every wall, and the abundance of parking spots remained vacant. Like any good detective, Hypersonic had pressed his hand into every piece of concrete that could possibly be a button, but to no avail.

"Come one secret door, you have to be somewhere," He murmured to himself out loud. The sound of a car approaching made him duck for cover. A van exactly like the one that had been stalking him pulled into the entrance of the garage. Erin crouched and snuck to the back of it. The sound of metal groaning against metal burst from the concrete, and the floor below the van began to sink into the ground. Panicked by the loud noise, Erin dove through the back door of the van, phasing his body through it.

He landed on the plastic and was met with the bewildered gaze of a single Agent. The man was dressed in a gray jumpsuit, orange stripes lining the sides, with the typical orange lettering on his breast. Next to him was a large gray hamper, with hundreds of clean copies of the same jumpsuit inside. The shock finally wore off the man as he jumped up.

"How-"

His voice was heard for no more than a second as Erin socked the man in the face, knocking him out instantly. The grinding outside stopped, and Erin caught the man's body, stopping it from alerting whoever was driving. He dumped the man into the hamper, being careful to conceal him in the cloth, before stealing a uniform for himself. Hypersonic retreated as Erin pulled the suit off himself, folding it up and pulling it into the pocket of the new outfit he was wearing. The back doors opened just in time, and two more Armored Agents motioned for him to leave.

The place they were in was something Erin didn't think could be built under a parking garage. It was the size of the parking garage, but bigger in every way. The entrance, the hole they'd entered from, was five stories in the air. Lines of balconies were on the walls of the rectangular room. In the middle was the van, which had just been pulled forward and into a makeshift mechanic stand.

Men and women in lab coats bustled around the space, sharing the information on their clipboards with each other. Strange weapons were being carried around, large cannons that looked awfully dangerous. Guards were posted around the area, speed diffusing guns in their grasp. The rooms that lined the walls, which looked to be small testing areas, continued upward, almost to the roof. In the middle of the floor was a large orange A with two pikes coming off the side.

"Keep it pushing," The guard behind Erin commanded. He listened, pushing the cart of clothes (and a body) toward a cubicle labeled [LOCKERS]. A few men were inside, changing into their everyday clothes. A couple wished each other goodbye and boarded an elevator that took them to the surface.

Erin scanned the ground, noticing an empty lab coat and ID. He snatched them, leaving the crate of clothes in the middle of the floor. He pushed himself to speed up, preparing to change clothes in an instant, but his bioelectricity sputtered and died out. His body wouldn't speed up. It was the same feeling he'd had a little over a month ago.

Slowly than he'd liked, Erin had shuffled himself into the lab coat and left the locker room. People outside greeted him, and he returned their 'hello's, covering up the creeping feeling of anxiety that was crushing him. If he was found out, there was nothing he could do to escape.

After nearly running into a guard at the top of some stairs, Erin ducked into the first lab he could find. His heart raced, as he confronted what was covering the walls. Pictures, hundreds of pictures of a speedster coated in red and black. Streaks of crimson sprinting through the city. Marks on a map, tracking sonic booms that were followed by increases in temperature.

"Mind giving me a hand?" A voice came from the left. A scientist was carrying a large hunk of metal. Erin reluctantly gripped the other end of it, lifting it into the air with ease. They moved it over to a table and set it down. The stainless steel groaned under its weight.