The shock wave passed harmlessly through Flickr, but the cloud of dust didn't. She was doubled over coughing, her lungs filling with fear for Aether. Whatever Lucid had just done, it looked bad.

"You know why I was gone for so many years?" The voice drifted through the hazy air, impossible to locate. "I was hoping to retire, actually. That reporter wasn't supposed to get in the way."

Flickr stumbled to her feet, spinning to find the source of the villain's voice.

"No rest for the wicked, I guess," Lucid said lazily, appearing out of the settling dust.

"And none for the good, either, while the wicked are still around," countered Flickr.

Lucid's head tilted in interest. She advanced slowly, unhurried, circling the petite super. Electricity was still sparking from the black-gloved fingers of her suit, the smell of burning dust filling the air between them. Flickr stood her ground as the dark figure took another step closer.

The villain raised a glowing hand, and in an instant Flickr was behind her, several paces away again. Lucid spun into a crouch, perching cat-like on her toes.

Suddenly annoyed, Flickr straightened. "What are you trying—"

Lucid launched herself forward. Instinctively, the super went intangible – but something was wrong. The two crashed to the floor, rolling in a tangle of limbs. Gasping in shock, Flickr pushed away from the villain, trying to phase out again. They were stumbling together, veering toward the wall of the gymnasium—

—and then they were falling through it, into a haphazard stack of cardboard boxes, knocking some aside and phasing right through others. Dust flew, and Flickr's panic level rose. She swung at Lucid, her arms going harmlessly through the villain's body, and yet she couldn't free herself from the iron grip that connected them.

"What's the matter?" purred a voice in Flickr's ear.

She stopped breathing in dust just long enough to manage, "How are you doing that?"

Lucid released her all at once, standing and brushing dust off her black suit. "Like the new tech?" she asked. "It's custom-designed to mimic your suit's powers. So if you go intangible—"

"Then you can follow," Flickr finished breathlessly.

"Bingo. Give up?"

The super got up slowly, grimacing. "So what's with the electric shock wave, then?"

"Oh, you're worried about Aether? Don't be. That was more than enough voltage to kill her – there's no way she's getting up anytime soon. If at all. Honestly, the best solution would probably be to stop chasing me. I told you, I just want to retire."

"Wouldn't that be nice." Flickr disguised the sick feeling in her stomach with a show of bravado. "Unfortunately, you do need to be brought to justice. People can't just go around killing other people without consequences."

Lucid let out a deep sigh. "Why is murder never the answer?"

"Because society would collapse otherwise."

"Maybe it deserves to collapse."

Flickr gave the villain a hard stare. "Have you ever considered the idea that you're part of society?"

"Ugh, you're no fun," Lucid said, turning away and aiming a half-hearted kick at an empty cardboard box.

"You did make one pretty big mistake, though," Flickr said suddenly.

"Oh, pray tell."

She grinned. "If you're going to copy my powers, I feel obligated to inform you of their weaknesses. It's only fair."

"Fair isn't really my thing," objected the villain, but she turned back curiously.

Without warning, Flickr was on top of her, landing a solid throat punch before Lucid had time to think. There was a crack, and the villain's black helmet went skittering a few feet away. Keeping her knee firmly planted in the small of Lucid's back, the super leaned closer.

"You've got to catch me off guard," she whispered. "That's the weakness of teleportation. Also, I'm guessing since it's your suit that does the phasing, it won't work without your helmet."

Lucid's breathing was ragged. She raised a hand slowly, pushing straight black hair out of her face and coming away with a bloody hand. A hoarse laugh erupted from the villain's throat.

"Well played," she rasped. "My move."

At a flick of her wrist, blue electricity rippled across Lucid's black suit, bucking Flickr off. The super flew backwards into another pile of boxes, sending up even more dust. A ringing started in her ears. Flickr shook her head to clear the spots from her vision, but her limbs seemed strangely stiff.

A dark figure filled her vision. Part of her knew it was Lucid, struggled to get control of herself, but she was still dazed. Only the villain's eyes stood out clearly, brown and glimmering with something unknown, something maybe akin to tears...

Lucid laughed again, more softly. "You know, I think you're right. Fair is more fun than I thought. Maybe I'll try it one of these days."

Then she was gone, and Flickr panicked. With a surge of determination, she got to her feet, ripping her arms out of boxes that she'd somehow phased halfway through on landing. Staggering toward the door, the super summoned enough strength to teleport back to the room they'd left Aether in.

It was quiet.

Flickr took a few steps into the dark before realizing that it wasn't all that dark. She could see Aether's white super suit, clearly outlined in the glow of the figure standing over her.

"Get away from her," Flickr yelled at Lucid.

The villain looked up, taking a single step backwards. She was wearing her mask again, the silver lines on her suit glowing blue in the darkness of the gymnasium.

"Look, I didn't want this fight," Lucid started, spreading her arms defensively. "I wanted to be done with all this hero-villain stuff, I don't need all the drama."

"Most people would call it justice, not drama," the super retorted.

"Would they?"

"I told you to back off," Flickr snarled, limping closer. "If you've killed Aether, I can guarantee the whole no rest thing is going to hold out until one or the other of us dies."

Lucid cocked her head. "Fine. Just remember that I didn't want this. Anything that happens now – it's on you."

She nudged Aether's shoulder with one boot, and Flickr lost her temper.

She launched herself at the villain, but Lucid was ready this time. In a single move, she had the super on the ground again, pressing down on her throat with surprising force. Flickr couldn't breathe, couldn't think... she could teleport – and suddenly she didn't need to.

The weight was gone from her chest, and Flickr rolled over, choking for breath. Again she fought back the ringing in her ears. Her mask felt too tight. She squinted up at the gray ceiling, trying to make out the silhouettes standing over her. Lucid had backed off, and Aether—

Aether was on her knees, clenched fists the only indication of how much effort it took her to stay upright. Lucid picked herself up, stumbling away from the super in white.

"You should be dead," the villain said. "That was strong enough to take out three men—"

"Maybe next time don't use men as your standard." Aether's voice was tight.

"How..."

"You should know by now," the redhead told her, getting slowly to her feet. "Men can be strong, but women are tough."

Flickr blinked, and Lucid was gone.

There was silence.

Aether swayed on her feet, and Flickr pushed herself off the ground just in time to catch her.

"Only tough... for thirty seconds though," Aether muttered, and passed out again.

Flickr hefted the super's weight in her arms, rolling her eyes. "Freeloader," she said, patting Aether down awkwardly for her cell phone.

One phone call to Charlie and less than three minutes later, a squad of police officers stepped cautiously through the back doors of the community centre. A pair of them, in civilian clothes, broke off from the group and started scanning the place, apparently unconcerned with the two bedraggled superheroes sitting in the middle of the gymnasium.

The other two made straight for Flickr.

"How are you?" asked the older one, a black woman with a no-nonsense appearance.

"We're good." Flickr started to stand, gently pulling the half-conscious redhead up with her. "She may need to get back to our lab though. Electric shock."

"Aether," came the surprised younger officer's voice. He moved immediately to support the super's other side, taking most of her weight.

"I'm Captain Hyland," the other cop told Flickr. "If you're alright to give us a quick briefing, Sergeant Esposito can take her back to the car."

"Is she okay?" the sergeant asked awkwardly, looking up at Flickr for the first time.

She grinned, slipping Aether's arm over her head to let him take it. "I think she's milking it. Feel free to carry her damsel-in-distress style."

Esposito was already walking away, the white-clad super looking strangely small in his arms. Flickr's throat constricted at the sight, and it took two tries for the captain to get her attention.

They hadn't won today – not by a long shot.