It had been happening ever since their first run in with the Horsemen – the time they all swapped genders and ended up getting killed thanks to the head of Conquest’s giant black hole thing – and she still hadn’t figured out why. Why did she randomly have bits of her stop existing to only appear later? Sometimes, instead of disappearing, they would drift off as little wispy substances. Still, the question of why remained. At first she hypothesized that her FEAR had become all screwy due to her manner of death, in which it felt like her very substance spilled into itself, but soon ruled that out since it seemed that everyone else who had died that night wasn’t experiencing anything similar. Confused and slightly annoyed, but not to the point where she took action to find the source, she continued on with her life. Sure, it was inconvenient at work when she was fixing someone’s drink and at school when she was trying to write, but she could always switch hands when one of them decided to disappear. It became more frustrating when both of her hands would dissipate at once, or her feet. It was the worst when her feet would leave. She could still move thanks to being able to float, but it was quite embarrassing when everyone would remark on her lack of feet. Still, she didn’t seek out an answer. She told herself it was probably just some sort of phase her body was going through, and it would repair itself in time.

When she had completely disappeared while fighting with Rage, she got scared. She needed to know what exactly was happening with her body, and how she could stop it. What if she disappeared again, and never came back into existence? That wouldn’t be pleasant, not at all. She chose to go to the FEAR clinic in the Maul after work one day – she’d heard some odd rumors about Cricket, and didn’t want to bother the busy woman. The receptionist had Gene write her name down on a clipboard and wait in an uncomfortable plastic chair for around thirty minutes, before calling her in to see the Doctor.

The exam was quick, painless, and she didn’t even have to get into one of those uncomfortably exposing gowns. The Doctor, a Monster of some kind, sat her down on the table and began to question her. He asked what her problem seemed to be, and she told him everything that happened since the Horseman encounter. His response was shocking.

He gave a hearty laugh and clapped the ghoul on the back. “My ghoul, you’re just experiencing a bit of what I call FEAR Puberty. Basically, your FEAR is growing and changing. I believe what’s happening is that your FEAR is growing to a point that allows you to become incorporeal and pass through solid matter. In other words, you can phase now.”

Stunned that puberty seemed to be her only problem, Gene gave the Doctor a face that consisted of an agape mouth and a screwed up brow. “Then…what do I do? I mean, how do I stop randomly phasing? It gets pretty frustrating when I’m fixing someone’s coffee and I end up spilling it everywhere thanks to my new found power.”

Another hearty chuckle and the Doctor scribbled something on a notepad. “Take this to the library at your school. They’ll take care of you.”

---
The librarian handed Gene the book whose number the Doctor had written down, a thin volume called “Phasing and You.” Finding a table, she opened the book and soon found herself engrossed in a plethora of phasing wisdom wealth. It only took her an hour to read the book through twice, taking the advice at the end of the book – PRACTICE THESE TECHNIQUES DAILY- to heart. She returned tehe book with a smiling “Thank you!” and found her way to the gym.

---

It had been a week since she read the book. She had been practicing daily, for hours at a time. There were no more random disappearances, dropped coffee, or sloppy notes. She could decide to stay solid, or become incorporeal and pass through walls, bookcases, and even metal. It was fun, and pretty useful. Running late to class? Phase through walls. Something clogging up the halls of the dorms? Phase through it. She even found out she could phase through people, though it strained her and seemed to hurt them. She made a mental note to try that out as a new FEAR. Overall, life was great now that she could phase at will. She supposed she owed the Horseman of Conquest an apology for blaming his accidental killing of the students on totally ruining her life. She made a new mental note to do that the next time she saw the man.