The Ghost of Speed

A hero’s cure fails.

Adam Lugar had spent months in his lab, convinced he’d solved the problem. The experiment that made him Jetz "the fastest man alive" had also cursed him with a terrible side effect: sometimes his body slipped into a half-existence, phasing out of reality when he needed it most. But after endless calculations and sleepless nights, he believed he had locked his molecules into place. Jetz was whole again.

Or so he thought.

The alarm rang at Capital Bank, and Jetz sprinted through the city streets, a blue streak of lightning at his heels. Inside, chaos erupted, masked men, terrified hostages, and at the center, his old nemesis: Incorporeal Man.

“Funny running into you, Jetz,” the villain sneered, raising a strange, humming rifle. “Let’s see if your molecules can handle this!”

The beam hit him before he could dodge. Pain tore through Adam’s body, not physical but existential, like his very self was unraveling. He staggered, looking down as his hand began to fade, his fingers flickering like a broken signal.

“No… no, I fixed this,” he whispered, desperation in his voice. His knees buckled, the world around him going hazy. He caught a glimpse of a terrified hostage, their reflection visible through his transparent chest.

“It’s happening again.”

His words echoed in the silence that followed.

Adam forced himself to stand, his body shifting between solid and ghostlike, every step uncertain. He knew Incorporeal Man had found a way to undo all his work. He could still try to fight, but with every second, his grip on the world was slipping.

And this time, he wasn’t sure he could come back.

Word Count: 271
Prompt: Write a story that includes the line: “It’s happening again.”
Written for: "Daily Flash Fiction Challenge"