Acceleration

Chapter 26: Revnid Plays Football?

"WHY WOULD YOU GO IN THERE ALONE!" Jessica screamed, her worry for Erin turning to anger.

"I needed to know what was happening, and besides, I'm alright aren't I?" He pulled the suit off his shoulders.

"I won't lie, it was a really stupid idea..." Liz muttered. She was slouched on the couch, a look of concern sprawled over her face. Erin felt a pang of hurt, disappointed that he'd upset her. His reflection was interrupted by Lisa slapping him in the back of the head.

"I'm glad I don't have to pretend the punches you hit me with hurt anymore."

"Are you braindead? These people had ways to stop you from speeding up and you decided to just jump in there and see what was going on?"

Erin rubbed his face, "My fault dude, next time I'll let the bad guys get away," he remembered something he'd seen.

"You need to-" his aunt started, but he interrupted.

"Shush, we have another issue."

The group fell quiet, waiting for him to continue.

"A.G.E.N.T is looking for Revnid too."

His words hung in the air like a cloud, but nobody answered them.

"They're tracking his movements, how fast he can go. If they find him before we do-"

"They could get you too," Marlin finished.

"Wait what?" Liz jumped up, "How?"

"Revnid knows who I am, remember?"

"So what?"

Erin sighed, "If Charles really hates me as much as we think he does, he'll snitch me out the moment he gets caught by them."

"Well, hold on," Marlin interrupted, "I know we all kinda agreed that Charles is Revnid, but do we really have any proof other than motivations?"

"No," Erin muttered as he rubbed his chin, "We don't."

"He doesn't like us, how do we get close to him? Who'd he spill his guts to if given the chance?"

Lisa's words echoed in the room, and, at once, a thought entered the group's thoughts. Everyone's heads snapped to Elizabeth and she almost jumped in surprise.

"Nope, not doing it, too weird."

***

"I hate you," Elizabeth muttered and Erin strapped the body camera to her chest. They were in the company van, parked outside "Applebees". He gazed up, slightly hurt by the joke. Her frown melted into a look of apology.

"I don't actually, but making me go on a date with a creep to see if he's a supervillain dropped you a few notches."

Erin smiled again, relieved she still liked him, "Hopefully I didn't drop lower than he did."

"Hell no," Liz almost spat, followed by her laugh that entranced Erin. He shared her chuckle and stood up.

"Okay, remember, you're in, get him to admit if he's got powers, you're out."

"And pray he doesn't figure out what we're up to."

"That too."

Liz opened the door to the van, getting out. It hurt Erin to see her going on a date with the guy who hated him, even if it was a ploy by the team.

"Have fun," Erin waved. She shot him an annoyed look but was still smiling.

"If I die, you have to find another date to dance with on Halloween."

Erin's heart did a somersault. He'd totally forgotten about the Blood-Moon-Ball at the end of the month. She... wanted to go with him. The door shut in his face before he could respond. He stood, still a little bewildered that a girl would want to dance with him, before making his way to the couch that was now sitting in the van. Lisa, Tom, and Marlin all were watching a screen on the wall, which was displaying Liz's body cam, while Jess and Hotrod, who had decided to join them for his granddaughter's safety, were in the front seats.

Liz entered the Applebees, noticing Charlie in a booth. She made her way over to him and sat down.

"Good evening beautiful," The words sent shivers of jealousy down Erin's spine. Lisa put her hand on his shoulder.

"It's been too long."

Erin almost sprinted into the restaurant.

"We saw each other at school dude," Liz responded simply.

"Any time away from you is too long."

The pair ordered their drinks and Erin felt himself forced to listen to Charlie talk about how good he was at football. The noise dragged him in, drowning him in a well of anger. When their food finally arrived, Erin felt his body tense up. Heat pushed itself over him, drilling into his cells.

"Turn off the heater," he told his aunt, but she looked at him with confusion.

"It's off?"

Erin snapped to attention. Charlie had ordered food, so much food. Nearly the same amount of food Erin would have in one sitting. Erin jumped up. The feeling of heat, that aura had vanished. It was there for an instant, less time than a pang of hunger...

"It's him," Erin said, staring at the screen intently. Lisa glanced at him, "Are you sure?"

"Whenever Revnid has been around, I've felt this... wave of hatred," he explained, "and it just hit me when he got his food."

"How are you so good at football," Liz said, taking a bite of her salad. Charles grinned.

"Well you know, gotta work out six times a week, make sure I hit all the muscle groups."

"Yeah but you're like, superhuman out there," she put her fork down and leaned on her hand. She was good at faking interest.

Or... was she actually showing interest? In which case she was still good at faking interest with him. Was she showing real interest in Charlie? Or was she showing real interest in him and fake interest in Charlie? Fear pulsed through Erin as he overthought.

"Well, you never know, maybe I am superhuman."

Everyone in the van sat up straight, hanging on to every noise that came from the screen.

"What are you Hypersonic?"

Charles' face fell, "No, I'm not that worthless bum."

His words were filled with such vile that Liz pulled back.

"Sorry, I don't have a good history with him," Charlie wiped his hands on a napkin, "He's hurt me a lot in the past. Let's not talk about horrible super-beings, how's school been?"

***

Liz climbed back into the van twenty minutes later, clearly shaken.

"Are you good?" Erin asked, pulling her into safety. She sat on the couch, taking his seat.

"It has to be him."

Erin swallowed, not wanting his fears to be fully realized, "You're sure?"

"When our food got there, everything got hot, like my soul was touched by flames."

Marlin gulped, "Erin felt it too."

Liz hugged Erin. He could feel her body trembling, fear had abducted her. His heart dropped for her, for the genuine emotion she poured into his embrace.

He'd never let her be retaken by terror.