The sensation of falling through a solid object is weird.

  There’s no other way to put it. I’m literally falling through stone, and while I can tell that I’m passing through something, it’s not as if it can stop me. The only things that can affect me right now seem to be gravity and myself.

  As soon as in my mind's eye I am free of solid objects and in an open space, I let myself return solid just before I land awkwardly on the ground below.

  I look around, trying to figure out where I am. There are no lights on, but I can see.

  Or know? That same sensation that told me that there was an open space beneath me is giving me a view of the area. Not far, but enough that I can sort of see what’s going on?

  I’m in a tunnel that is unsurprising. I’ve continued to go down, so unless I am in a supervillain condo building, I’m probably underground, which means I need to go up to get out. Even more up considering that I fell down to escape, but that’s alright.

  I can’t see above me. It looks like between the ceiling and the next level's floor there’s too much space for my mind map powers to go that far.

  “Uhh…” I trail off, trying to figure out just what direction could be the right one for me to go through, and I really don’t have any clue. I have no idea where I am.

  So I run to my left because I like the left side significantly more than my right side.

  My bare feet slam against the floor as I run as fast as possible. Though I don’t bother following the curves of the tunnels anytime that I can feel space behind the wall, I just barrel through, relishing in the sensation of being able to flow through matter, barely registering that it’s in my way.

  There’s also at least a bit of hope as well. I’m running up an incline. It’s not exactly a steep one, but I can feel the slight pull of gravity that tells me I’m ever so slightly going upwards.

  If I can get close enough to the surface, maybe I can just jump through the ceiling and get on the surface. I only really need to get an arm up and over to pull the rest of myself out of the ground, right?

  Not that I know how to partially phase. And not that I had the upper body strength to pull myself up by one arm last time I checked.

  But I have increased strength now so maybe that won’t be a problem!

  If it becomes a problem, it’s going to be one for future me and that guy will hopefully have more of his shit together.

  Barreling in a straight line isn’t exactly the greatest way to find my way to the surface, but it is the fastest way to get as far from the lab as possible and right now, that’s my concern.

  I can’t help but notice that I’m not getting tired. I’m pushing as hard as I can in a dead sprint, all while using my newfound superhuman abilities, and yet I’m not even winded?

  That’s exciting. Terrifying but exciting.

  As I run, I keep looking behind me with my mental map, hoping that there’s nobody there chasing after me and while that’s the good news, the bad news is way less fun.

  I skid to the stop as I peer at this wall. Even with me right up against it, my power doesn’t tell me there’s anything nearby. There’s no empty space behind it either.

  I can’t hide here and I’m absolutely fucking lost, so what can I do?

  Think Jason. I tell myself as I look around.

  I can’t help but shift my weight as I look around. I want to move; I want to run; I want to use my power and escape the shackles of this world.

  I can’t be contained, not by something as simple as this.

  Backing up a few spaces, I break into a run just before the wall. I leap as high as I can, phasing my body and I fly through the wall above me.

  There’s an open space above me. It’s close!

  With everything I can, I stretch one of my arms as high as I can, the rest of me flailing through the air to get any sort of purchase while I’m phased.

  Yet even though I can feel the matter I pass through, it can’t help me and I fall back down to the ground.

  I let out a shriek of panic, realizing that I’m absolutely screwed right now.

  I leapt forward and up, meaning more than a bit of me is in the wall as I’m falling back uncontrollably and I do not feel any space underneath me I can use to unphase.

  I flail around even wilder, imagining just the fingers in my right hand turning solid.

  My hand collides into the floor and with more effort than I thought, my fingers dig into the ground, catching all of my weight.

  In the darkness within the concrete and asphalt, I laugh I did it. I caught myself.

  Somehow.

  Panic probably, but you know what, I’ll take subconscious fear triggered mastery of my powers over nothing if it means that I can survive.

  I don’t know if I can solidify my left hand and use both arms to pull me up or if I should just try to do it with my right hand right now?

  On one hand, I don’t know if I can pull myself up with my right hand, though I don’t feel particularly strained at the moment just maintaining this position, so that’s a positive note.

  And on the other hand I haven't the foggiest on how I’m going to solidify my left hand so I can use both arms. And what if I screw up partial phasing and lose my grip with my right hand? I would just fall for the rest of eternity, right?

  Yeah, I’ll just try the one armed technique right now.

  Straining with effort, I can slowly feel myself passing through the ground until my face crests the surface and I can see with more than just my mind's eye.

  “Just a bit more,” I grit out, pushing as hard as I can to get the rest of me through before I fully solidify.

  “Okay, that sucked,” I admit to the world around me. “But that means I can partially phase, so maybe I can use that to help me get out?” I muse sitting up and looking at the wall.

  If I leap up and kick off the wall like I’m some sort of tv show character for a double jump that might get me the bit of extra height that I need to get at least one limb on that open space and pull myself up the rest of the way.

  “When I’m getting out of here, I’m going to start gymnastics or parkour or something,” I grumble to myself before fully standing up and moving over to the wall.

  Before I can try any harebrained schemes, I need to first be able to intentionally partially phase. Switch to everything but my kick off foot phased to all of me phased to whatever I can get over unphased to pull the rest of me.

  There are some silver linings to this because it feels a lot easier to just go fully phased than partially, so step two of three should be on the easier end.

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  First things first. I’m going to phase everything except my feet since I need those to purchase on something to jump.

  I close my eyes to shut off one of my senses so I can meditate to only be reminded that I can perceive everything around me, meaning it’s not helpful for me too close my eyes. The stimulus is still there.

  But I think my mind map can feel colors? Which I guess that’s kind of cool though I don’t know what I’m going to do with that.

  I pinch myself to get my brain back on track.

  I need to phase everything except my feet.

  Focusing on the sensation of the floor beneath my feet, I hold my breath to kill any other sensation. The air is stagnant. If I hold my breath, I can’t smell or taste anything. And the world is motionless.

  I am a phantom. I tell myself. The only sensation grounding me to reality is the feeling of stone beneath my feet. Beyond that, I am free.

  I repeat this mantra to myself repeatedly until I feel bored enough that I have to try and do something new.

  No amount of meditation is going to help me. Well, it will help me, but I need to know if this is working.

  I reach out with my hands and bat them through the air. The only sensation being my hands passing through the wall, only the tingling of phasing there to distract me.

  A smile plays on my lips. I did it. I’m mostly phased but I’m not sinking, meaning at least some of my feet are still solid and that means I can jump as high as I can and kick off the last bit of wall to get even higher.

  Backing up a couple more feet so I can get a running start once more, I try to remain in my zen state of absolute focus on using my power the way I want to.

  I charge forward, keeping my feet solid so that I don’t accidentally fall through the ground as I run.

  My second kiss of the day is with the ceiling.

  Between my excitement at this whole situation and focusing on running and being solid enough to do that, I think I lost control and went fully normal.

  I’ll just take it on the chin and be glad that I am not bleeding. I got into the zen state to use my powers once, so all I need to do is do it again.

  And again and again until I get out of here. That’s fine. They don’t seem to have noticed I’ve escaped yet. Or if they did, they haven’t checked this area yet.

  I get into just my feet are solid state faster. I think.

  And no, I do not escape on my second try. But I did not kiss the ceiling, which is an improvement. Instead, I had my solid foot collide with the ceiling, stopping all upward momentum instantly.

  It would be cool if my power had some sort of safety mechanism of if I’m about to crash into something at high enough speed I auto-phase to protect myself but it could be I’m overriding that slightly?

  I’m trying my best to stay mostly solid.

  Try three and four are more of the same. But on try five, I get my head and shoulders above the ground and can see the night sky, which might just be my favorite sight. For all the second I saw it before I succumbed to gravity, once more too enraptured by the stars to bring any of myself solid.

  In under ten tries, I’m on the surface, my hands and knees pressed into the asphalt as I enjoy the sensation of the breeze running through my hair.

  I’ve decided that I am never doing basement rooms or apartments ever again. And if I can get away with it, I don’t want to be on the ground floor either.

  The higher up I am, the better I think.

  I push myself up to my feet and try to figure out where I am. I’m still in the city, and this place is vaguely familiar. I just need to find a street sign so that I can figure out where I am.

  Not wanting to test my capacity to not get run over, I scurry over to the sidewalk. The concrete is warm. It feels good on my bare feet. It’s like I’m walking on a heated carpet. You know if you replace the soft carpet with hard rocks?

  It’s warm at least, and that’s going to be enough for me, okay? Part of me wishes the night wasn’t so cloudy so that I could use the stars to navigate or at least orient me towards which direction is north, but if we’re going to be entirely honest with myself.

  I’m not even sure I could point out which star is the north star. I'm completely hopeless.

  Thankfully, I reach an intersection. I’m at the corner of Jefferson and Throne. I’m not that far from home.

  An hour walk?

  Or that’s what it was when I was a normal human. It could be a lot shorter now that I am who I am now. Especially if I’m willing to just run in a straight line.

  I consider the idea for a second before shaking my head in the negative. There’s a lot of residential areas that way and while I wouldn’t mind running through an office building or two to get home as fast as possible, I don’t want to break anyone’s privacy.

  But on top of that I also really don’t want to out myself as a super.

  I’m not sure how that one’s going to go. I have torn up clothes, my shoes and socks are gone and, well, my hair is still the same color, so maybe I’m clear of any superhuman changes. But I look like a crazy person for sure.

  Mercifully, my phone has a charge when I pull it out of my pocket. And it’s not even broken, so that’s good. Why they didn’t take it from me is beyond baffling but I can barely complain.

  All the notifications at the top of my screen are less relieving. A lot of my friends have sent me messages and a few have even called me worried cause I ghosted everyone for actually I don’t know how long I should check.

  I ghosted everyone for two days. Well, that’s a lot longer than I thought it was going to be.

  My phone immediately rings as a phone call starts once more, one of my friends trying to call me.

  I blink, trying to focus my eyes so I can figure out who’s calling me.

  Answering the phone, I put it up to my ear and sigh in relief as I hear Amelia curse at me.

  “I’m sorry, I was kidnapped,” I say, cutting across her tirade with the simple and very unbelievable truth.

  “You were what!” She shrieks and I pull my phone away from my ear.

  “Yeah, I was kidnapped by supervillains, experimented on, got super powers escaped, and now I’m at the corner of Jefferson and Throne. If you could come pick me up, that would be great. I do not want to do the hour walk all the way home,” I say, trying to keep my voice as even as possible. I at least want to make it home before I break down.

  “Yeah, I’m on my way,” she confirms as I hear a door slam from her end. “You’re serious, right? This isn’t just some kind of excuse for you to not have hung out or said anything in two days?” She accuses me, which I would love to take some offense at, but I can concede that it is actually at least a little fair.

  “I’ll demonstrate my fantastical abilities as soon as you show up,” I agree, sitting down and looking up at the cloudy sky, looking to see if there’s any fun shapes I can make out.

  “Are you going to go to the police about it?” She asks quietly. Whether that’s because it’s the seriousness of the conversation or the fact she’s walking across a public parking lot, I’m not sure, but it makes it a lot harder for me to hear.

  “I…” I trail off, trying to figure out what I want to do. I don’t want other people to get kidnapped. But I don’t want to be captured by everyone. Just because I escaped one evil scientist doesn’t mean I’ll escape them all.

  The element of surprise was on my side the first time and it won’t be ever again. People can find out that I am a phaser.

  If people can make a serum that gives people random superpowers, they can also definitely make something that can hold me. Maybe not the alchemist and his cronies, but there’s going to be someone who can capture me.

  “I don’t know. I just want to get home. Reset. Figure things out first.”

  Amelia lets out a hum in consideration. “Fine. But you’re going to at least spill to me. And in a few days, invite the gang over to apologize for going missing, saying that you got some confidential work file you were buried in.”

  “Yes mom,” I agree with a laugh. Honestly, the idea sounds great. I can just hang out with my friends and put this whole night behind me.

  “Okay, do you want me to stay on call while I drive over, or do you want some time while you wait?” She asks, and I can hear the engine being turned on.

  “I’ll take some time drive safe.”

  “Stay frosty,” she says before hanging up.

  As much as I try to relax, I jump at nearly every sound and car that trundles by. Thankfully, I don’t have to wait for too long before a familiar car pulls up nearby.

  “Jason, is that you?” Amelia says, stepping out of the car and looking at me cautiously, which I would feel a little bit hurt if I hadn’t told her earlier that there are people kidnapping folks.

  “Yeah, it’s me,” I confirm, standing up and dusting my hands off.

  “Tell me something only the real Jason would know!” She accuses, holding out her pepper spray out in case I charge at her.

  “Uhhh,” I pause, thinking. “You wrote fanfiction for your first ever tabletop character Velandria because she died by critically failing a constitution saving throw in her first ever combat and you said this is not how her story is supposed to end.”

  “It’s not fanfiction if it’s about the world we helped create. It’s just me writing a web serial on a fanfiction website,” she replies, turning her gaze away to not meet mine. “Okay, you’re the real you. At least I hope so,” she snorts, turning back to give me a smile.

  “Yup, I’m the real me.” I agree, walking over.

  “So you were going to show me the mystical powers you have as proof?”

  “Poke me or something,” I shrug, not sure how else to safely display my power right now.

  Before I can trigger my ability, Amelia moves forward, hand outstretched.

  Amelia happily pokes me in the eyes, or at least attempts to her fingers passing through. “Oh shit, that is creepy! Though not as creepy as the eyes,” she says, pulling her hand back.

  “My eyes?” I ask, concerned.

  “It’s easier to show you,” she says, dragging me to her car to use the makeup mirror thing on the visor of the car.

  My eyes are pitch black voids.