He had no idea if this was going to work or not. But there was no way to know until he tried.

Cody rolled on the balls on feet, testing the tumbling mat in the work out gym. Firm, but soft enough to break a fall - Just what he needed, considering he’d probably be falling on his face in a moment. Multiple times.

Time to get started!

Giving himself a running start the teen went ahead and did a simple hand spring flip, then another, and then added in a midair curl. Reaching the edge of the mat he started over, making his flips and jumps more complicated as he went. It looked impressive, but really, this was just the warm up. The real show would come when he tried something new.

Panting hard and his muscles burning pleasantly Cody shook out his arms, eying a spot on the mat. Stick his landing there. Okay. Once again he started with a handspring, but unlike last time he stuck out his legs in the middle of the curl, as if trying to push off of an invisible ledge. Nothing was there of course.

He landed flat on his a**.

Cody groaned, flopping back onto the mat and thinking over what he’d done wrong. He knew it was unlikely to get something like this on his first try, but damn if it didn’t hurt - quite literally in this case.

Forcing himself up Cody tried the move again, and failed once again, this time landing on his knees. He tried it with a different kind of jump. Landed on his back. The next failure left him nursing his shoulder. Elbow. Wrists. Just narrowly he avoided landing on his neck, taking it on the other shoulder instead. This time he let himself just stay there for a moment.

Even with the mat, he was going to be a big ball of bruises in the morning.

Uncle. Think back on what Darryl had said.

“No, I am not going to teach you levitation. I’m half assed at it and you’re just gonna brain yourself.”

Ah. Right. Think on the other thing he’d said.

“You already seem to be doing a few tricks naturally, though. Can’t really keep you from that. At the very least do this - when you’re trying to jump high or land soft, think of a spring board in midair. Or maybe a big rubber ball, I don’t know, whatever. Just use what works for you.”

There’d been something about the way he’d said “think of.” Cody had a feeling he didn’t just mean imagining it or holding a mental picture. Maybe that’s where he’d been going wrong.

Getting to his feet one more time Cody stretched out the worst of his stiffness, squinting at that damned spot on the mat. He’d get this. He would get this.

He ran, going into the first flip, then the next, and came into the tuck. This time however, he didn’t just picture the jump off point, or keep it fixed in his mind. Cody sent it into the real world. It wasn’t just something he imagined, it was going to be there.

And it was.

Sticking out his legs his feet connected with a flash of orange red, a ring of blue surrounding it in the split second it appeared, and Cody soared into the air. He’d... he’d done it! He’d done a goddamned double jump!

Going through the air Cody gave a whoop of joy - and forgot to properly prepare his descent, landing flat on his stomach and the wind getting knocked right out of him.

Ow.

Even so, a wheezy laugh soon started up, Cody rolling onto his back and grinning as he stared at the ceiling.

He’d successfully made like a video game protagonist.

And things could only go up from here.