It was night in central park as Tses sat lounged in the middle of one of the cities prizes statues. It was a bronze piece of the beloved Alice and Wonderland story, complete with Alice, the rabbit, the mad hatter, the Cheshire cat, and several other woodland creatures. She sat on the lower mushroom, CD player balanced on the mouses ears, back against the larger shroom and feet propped up on the brim of the Mat Hatter's hat. Her headphones were tight against her ears, the music blasting loudly, and she tapped her toes to the beat.

Falling in the black, Slipping through the cracks, Falling to the depths can I ever go back

The hard rock music swam through her head, the pulsing beat soothing like a lullaby would be to a child. She had a leather jacket wrapped around her, comforting even in the empty night, and she felt herself shutting out the busy hum of the city. It was late, almost midnight, and few people wandered around central park at this hour, unless they were brave, stupid, or a bit of both.

She hardly noticed how loud the headphones were, and the music echoed on the metal statue. She didn't worry about someone seeing her, especially if all they wanted to do was scold her and tell her to get off the statue. She was used to getting in trouble, and used to doing what she wanted, whether or not anyone seemed bothered by it. The sky didn't have stars visible with the city lights reflecting against its blanket of black, but the moon was the only light she needed. She felt it like water down her throat, the energy slipping through her limbs, revitalizing and fresh. It was like suddenly having a pool of power to drink from, and on nights when it was clear like today, she tended to be reckless, the feeling of invincibility strong.

Dreaming of the way it used to be, Can you hear me?

Tses sighed as she leaned back against the mouse, trying to get comfortable with it's nose jabbing her lower spine. Her emotions were in overdrive today, and she didn't know how to deal with it. Lately, she had been getting out and meeting other mutants, trying to strike a connection with her own kind. After years of seeing mutants as just another paycheck, now she was seeing them as people she could relate to, people she could look up to. She always felt alone in the past, but now, she kept seeing little connections with people powerful like her. She didn't know how to deal with it, and practice didn't help her become the greatest person to get along with, but she made up her mind to try a little, and not punch first, ask questions late. After all, she met at least one person that she was rather fond of keeping around.

Falling in the black, slipping through the cracks. Falling to the depths can I ever go back.

After escaping a few mishaps in the grocery store fiasco, and coming to terms with her unavoidable attachment to Ty, she felt more lost than ever. One minute she wanted to leave this city, run away and never come back. Then she got hopeful, hopeful for something more than stealing, and surviving, and fighting. She didn't know who she would be if life was just... normal. She didn't know if she felt comfortable with the idea of being anyone but who she was now.

Falling inside the black. Falling inside, falling inside the black....

She tried to suppress her thoughts, and put the music up on high. She drowned herself in the lyrics, shutting out everything around her. Lost in a place within herself, she wasn't receptive to the fact she was no longer alone, and she was disturbing the otherwise peaceful Central Park.

The noise was deafening. It was everywhere as a swarm of invisible angry bees, a constant buzz that suffocated everything else. It took away the natural music he loved so much, a combination of the rustle of grass and the delicate breeze caressing what was left of foliage that accompanied the hundred of chirps and low growls of the small animals that habited the park.
Every night he sat there alone, at the cover of a big tree, while listening carefully to the concern that nature executed for any person caring to hear it, every night but that night. That constant digital roar made it impossible for him to focus enough to listen to his own music, or hunt, or sleep… and even when he changed the orientation of his ears several times in order to focus in another thing; these eerie sound-waves keep locating him with devilish accuracy.
Of course he could just move to another part of the park, certainly it was big enough for him and whoever was making so much noise. But that night he was upset and bored, a problematic combination that pushed him to set his mind on ending that cacophony for the sake of each creature capable of hearing.

So there he was the little goblin, crawling his way toward the unmistakable source of that strange concerto. Half hidden by the dim light, camouflaged perfectly with the green tone of the grass while moving closer and closer. Using each skill he learned to stalk his prey.
The weak rays of moonlight provided more than enough light for his amber eyes, to appreciate each detail of the scene. If that small gadget was the beehive that was producing so much noise, the woman was the queen bee but as far as he could see there was no other bee around to defend her.
He moved silently from statue to statue, eyeing his prey from time to time in case she could sense him somehow… but by the way the music continued to unleash its fury through the headphones, the little goblin concluded that she was temporary deaf. Her eyes were closed, her ears were blocked by all that noise, and it was his chance to act.
The device was resting atop an overgrown mouse, unprotected, so he climbed as fast as his claws allowed him until he was high enough to grab the machine. The goblin jumped back to the ground, CD player firmly trapped in a four finger grip, and then he started to run.
There was a small resistance from the headphones that were still attached to the device but soon it gave up, freeing the gadget from her but also unleashing the music that before was canalized and contained by the headphones.

One minute, Tses was sitting, legs up on the bronze top hat and her not quite comfortable mouse back rest propping her up. Her music was calming her with it's loud rock beat, and life was peaceful, at least in her world. The next minute, there was a sharp yank on her headphones, the cord jerking across her face, and the momentum sending her flying off the mushroom and crashing into the ground below. There was a distant click as the headphones released from the jack, and the cord came whipping back towards her, barely missing her nose. She slowly raised her eyes, blue irises rage filled and icy, as she watched a tiny shadowy figure tear off through the park, loud rock beat echoing through the trees with the beat of music blaring from the cd players built in speakers.

Don't leave me alone,
Cause I barely see at all
Don't leave me alone

Jumping to her feet, she tore after the figure in a desperate rescue mission, arms pumping and feet slightly sliding on the grass. Of all her possessions, her CD player was the most important one, and the last thing she was going to let happen was someone steal it from her. Steal from a thief? Seriously wasn't going to go over well. "Come back here you little imp!"

She followed the sound of the music, forming a small explosive in her hand and throwing it over her head like a warning shot. It exploded before reaching the figure, but she hoped it would scare the short creature. The light momentarily illuminated the small form, and she felt her brain struggle a little with it's identity. It was short, almost animal like, with what looked like longer ears and almost a ... green tint to the skin.

Her brain stumbled over the information, and her legs stumbled over the grass. What the hell.... Did her CD player just get hijacked by a goblin?

For a very small moment while his body was still suspended in the air, the small creature was free from the burden of enhanced hearing. The scandalous noise vanished, giving way to a pleasant silence. It was an instant of pure joy but sadly it was just an instant. Immediately after his green feet hit the ground, the noise started to ring again with unstoppable fury; the noise was even louder than before to the point the little goblin could not think straight, it was very hard for him to hear his own thoughts. Should he go back and retrieve the cable he left behind? Maybe he could use it to suppress the sound… Or should he bite the device to make it stop? But what if it had one of these thin shiny discs he collected… it would be a shame to break it, but the noise was too much… it was too high, too unpleasant. How he was supposed to plan ahead? At least no one was following him… right?

He jumped over a small group of bushes, dodging roots and stones, his eyes penetrated the shadows with ease providing him with all the info he needed about the terrain while his experience with the park provided the skills to move quickly. Unfortunately the machine was making so much noise that he could not rely on his ears, so he needed to focus on his eyes for a while.
The device kept yelling and no matter how hard he shook it, he could not make the music stop, he needed time to figure with button would shut it down… was it safe to stop running?
He glanced over his shoulders, at the exact moment when a beautiful ball of light was moving toward him, it was one of the most marvelous things he had witnessed; it was so different from the electric illumination generally used around the city and so similar to the moon that he had to look up to confirm that it was still up there.
He stopped running for a moment, mesmerized by the strange flying object. He stared in awe, forgetting all about the music and the chase until all of a sudden, the strange object that was flying toward him exploded mid air, intercepted by an invisible force field.

It was then that he noticed the woman chasing him and in turn he marked her as the source of that ball. Maybe he could ask for a luminous ball for himself… or maybe he should run faster and avoid getting hit by one of those mystical orbs. It was not an easy task, he had the advantage of an incredible good night vision but her legs were way longer than his short appendages, so he needed to run while she could stride after him.
With that in mind, the small goblin started to run again, faster this time. It was tiresome but he needed to put some distance between them if he wanted to conserve the disk… so he changed his direction and started to move toward the closer group of big trees for a tactical advantage.

When her energy orb exploded, Tses watched the small creature pause for one seemed like a moment, then begin running even faster. She cursed inwardly, watching as her CD player was moving further and further away, and sped up to close the distance between them.

As they ran, the song changed, and even with the rough handling it's anti-skip function kept the words singing strong. Instead of Skillet, Linkin Park started, the music loud, but yet to hit the heavy base yet.

I watch how the moon sits in the sky on a dark night
Shining with the light from the sun
But the sun doesn't give the light to the moon assuming,
The moon's gonna owe it one

She felt her face flushing a little, slightly taken aback to have her music choices blasted through the trees, and grew more determined to catch the goblin. Luckily, although the creature moved fairly fast, her long legs steadily brought her within arms reach of the little figure. As they dodged a few trees, she could just about reach it.

I'm so sick of the tension
Sick of the hunger
Sick of you acting like I owe you this

For a few seconds, she felt surprise overwhelm her, as she saw the green skin, tiny limbs and large ears the creature had. It was not quite human, not quite animal, and a strange humanoid appearance that was difficult to describe. Her first instinct was to grab it by the ears, but then she decided that could only enrage in more, so she made a dive, grabbing the cd player with one hand, and its leg with the other, snarling angrily.

"I said, give me my CD player back, you little monster!"

Her yelling was nearly drowned out by the the loud lyrics of the chorus.

I wanna be in another place
I hate when you say you don't understand

The music was still pounding in his head like a hammer, numbing his senses with each new beat, especially his hearing. Without his reliable ears he could not determine if she was close or far away and the noise was too loud that he could not come with a better plan to outrun his chaser. So he kept running as fast as he could without daring to look back for fear that the woman could be close to him but mainly because his eyes were fixed on his next goal, a tall tree with enough foliage for him to disappear.

Even when he was still a few meters away from that huge tree, he was already imagining how it would feel to climb to the top. Guglin can almost feel his claws piercing the bark with ease, along with a cold breeze on his bare back and the usual sensation that he was taller than everything else but then, everything vanished as soon as something grabbed his foot. At the same time, the CD player was taken from his hand provoking the world to turn around his head quickly, turning every color and shade into a homogeneous blur.

When the detail returned to the world a moment later, he found himself hanging upside down and staring at the woman that was chasing him. She screamed something at him, the music almost swallowed her voice but a hint of the message reached his ears. Little he was but not a monster so he replied with his tiny fists, delivering a few rapid punches that did not hit anything but air and next he ended his “phrase” with an awkward kick that missed her for a long gap. It was useless to fight since her arm was long enough to keep him away from her face so he stopped trying and settled down. His ears were hanging down without life as well as her arms, contrary to the constant movement of his chest as he tried to calm down after that frantic race. “Put me down.” He asked her angrily with his peculiar high pitched voice.

As the goblin creature let go of the noisy device, Tses felt a moment of victory, and shifted her CD player so she could hit the off button. The song cut off mid chorus, and the sound dissipated into the surrounding air, leaving the sounds of the park to slowly return. With a sigh, she shoved in into her jacket pocket, and then addressed the tiny creature now battling to attack her with it's tiny fists. She glared down at it, and exhaled deeply to try to get her pulse to calm down.

"Put you down? I don't know if I should, you just tried to take my cd player, and I don't really appreciate that." She snapped, and held him up a little higher so she could observe him better. It was wearing nothing more than shorts, it's mouth too big for it's face and its ears hanging down unnaturally. For a second, she wondered what the world looked like from his point of view. Did he see in black and white or color? Questions to consider on another day.

"I wouldn't try anything else if I were you though. Next time, I'll make sure I hit you when you take off with my stuff." She let her arms glow threateningly for a moment, tapping into her storage of lunar energy.

The little goblin was still hanging upside down from his foot, trapped by the strong grip of the righteous owner of the CD player. She glared down at him as if he were a monster terrorizing the city; he glared back in return but always looking for an opportunity to get free. With some luck he could do some serious damage to her arm and hand before she could create another exploding sphere of light but she had done nothing to deserve such thing, well, nothing aside from disturbing the peace of the entire park… but in the end that was not a proper excuse to do some lasting damage to her.

The trees hung from the grassy ceiling like bats, while the moon and the stars formed a very mysterious lake where the floor should be. While he was still there, contemplating the world in that unnatural way, he observed how the woman managed to deactivate the device with the push of a single button… he stared at her in awe, wondering how much time he would had need to turn it off like she did and how little of that machine would work after him using more persuasive methods like rocks or water.

While he was waiting for her to put him down as he kindly requested, the woman refused and blamed him one more time for the robbery of her CD player. Then, she moved him higher to level his body with her face for a closer inspection. How much detail would her tiny eyes be able to capture? Could she see as clear as him? Maybe she was doing a lot of those questions too, maybe she was trying to read his mind or hypnotize him.
Soon she broke the silence, he listened carefully but nothing of what she said pointed out if she was going to keep him there forever or put him in the ground again but nothing of that mattered since what she did next was far more interesting than escaping. For no reason at all, her arm started to shine with its own light, glowing faintly and fending the surrounding darkness away from her extremity. It was all Guglin could take; he smiled widely and raised his voice that was already overflowing with excitement. “Do another moon!”

Tses felt like she was doing a good job of intimidating the little creature at first. It was hard to tell with it upside down though, because any frown or smile just seemed backwards. He was squirmy and hard to keep a hold of, but at least he wasn't trying to attack her. At least, she didn't think he was trying to. It was so hard to figure this little creature out. When her hands glowed, she expected him to shrink back a little, beg her not to hit him. Something silly like that. It was dumb, she had to admit that much. Why would he be that terrified of her? But his response was something entirely uncalled for. "Do another moon!"

Moon? Tses felt confused and glanced at the glowing energy in her hand. Slowly, she let the energy condense into the tiniest little orb, which she held out on a finger tip just out of his reach. The last thing she needed was for him to mistakenly eat it or something like that. It would be a little unfortunate, even for such a creepy little animal. The light glimmered in the tiny sphere, and then she released it from her control, so it vanished with a hardly audible 'pft'. Slowly, she let the little creature down, and took at step back, watching him cautiously. If he tried to attack, she'd defend herself, but if he was curious, maybe he'd behave. At least he could look better when he wasn't hanging upside down.

"They aren't moons. They explode. Like, 'boom'." She did a little 'poof' motion with her hands, and watched to see if he understood. Or ran. Whichever came first.

The strange glow that emanated from her arm soon moved upward and compressed itself into a tiny little orb of brilliant light; it remained still, shining on the top of her finger like a firefly but more intense. The sphere was small but bright and beautiful, a copy of the bigger one she did before, and it was so pretty that it almost looked like the full moon that could be seen in the sky that night, just smaller.
He was bewitched by the shiny sphere, so he soon forgot about the dangers of touching that thing and tried to reach it, he stretched his arm as much as he could but he was too far from it.
Then the radiant ball disappeared as fast as it formed, producing a very peculiar sound he could not identify.

She then put him in the ground again, so carefully as if he was the most fragile thing in the world and just like that he was free again. Physically free but chained by curiosity to that woman and her peculiar power.
Guglin was again in contact with the ground, feeling the soft grass caressing his bare foot and enjoying the firmness of the earth. It just felt so different than hanging lifeless from his ankle that it brought a big smile to his face. It was a frightening smile, with rows of pointy teeth, wide enough to chew a whole hand or half of your face but his muscles were relaxed and his eyes showed nothing but kindness and curiosity.

He nodded slightly, acknowledging the properties of these orbs but not really understanding the process behind its creations. There were so many things he did not understand that he did not even bother to start asking her how she could do that, probably she did not even know… so he just praised her powers. “That is cool.” There was a big variety of skills he already dominated like hunting and climbing but these spheres were way cooler than his physical abilities… maybe he could learn how to use them, it could be great for hunting big preys. He was so sure that he could learn how to create them that he did not hesitate to ask her. “Teach me it.”

Tses had never seen someone so mesmerized by what she did before. Normally her glowing just brought a distasteful glare, or some type of rude gesture. But this creature (if she could call it a creature) seemed to be entranced by the light. She wasn't sure if the glowing green energy fascinated him, but apparently the smaller orbs did by the way his large eyes lit up. She resisted the urge to let the green light flicker closer to him to show off, worried that might startle him, but did let it glow a little brighter so he could see what she was doing. Then again, that made of made it harder to see. Was it nocturnal? Was it a he or ---heck, she didn't know.

The grin that spread across his face was a little disconcerting, but it reminded her of a small toothy animal at most. Like a shark; he was like a really bazaar shark mouthed creature. Well, maybe that was a stretch, but it was hard to describe something like that. Goblin was the only word that fit, but that had such a negative sound to it. When he wasn't trying to steal stuff, he didn't seem evil or anything. Heck, he might even be in the cute range, like a puppy with a really painful bite.

"I can't teach you it, but I can let you hold one if you promise to throw it before it explodes. It'll hurt you if you hold onto it too long." Tses tried to explain, putting one hand on her hip. Somehow, she doubted he would listen, and the last thing she needed was the blast this little creature halfway across the park. She made the tiniest little orb again, setting a longer timer for it, then held it out. It was like handing a roman candle to a 3 year old then telling them not to point it at anyone.

They were so going to point it at someone.

Being patient and standing still were never among his best qualities but learning how to control these orbs of light was worth the problems, so he used each leftover of willpower to remain in a semi patient state while waiting for her response. Her reply was not what he was expecting to hear, the words hit him hard, destroying his smile and erasing his excitement and curiosity. All that was left was a expression of pure disillusion. His green face remained frozen in that sadness for a few seconds until his brain succeeded in decoding the last piece of the message. He was going to hold on one of those balls of light. His brain focused fully on the next task, forgetting his mistake and returning his happy smile to his face along with the excitement and curiosity that was a natural part of his personality.

He nodded vigorously in acceptance of the promise to throw it before it could explode. How could he know when it was about to explode? He could not tell but before he could verbalize his concern, her arm started to glow again. Even after seeing it once, he could not avoid to stare in awe as she repeated the process to create a green glowing moon. It had a similar size that the one she showed him a few moments ago, it was like a small rock filled with light and magic. Did that mean that she was a powerful wizard like Akshay? If that was the case, the city seemed to be full of them. Perhaps she knew more wizards, at least one of them could teach him something... sadly, his thoughts were interrupted when she extended the orb toward him. He stretched his right arm, catching the small ball between his four fingers. It did not feel funny as he expected, it was not warm or cold but it was there. It was quite strange but since he did not want a headache, he just focused on enjoying the beauty of that thing.

His eyes were used to the darkness of the park so there was no need to put the orb closer to his eyes for inspection, he was able to see each detail of it already but his curiosity won the match, so he moved the orb closer to his eyes. It was not a wise decision and since he had to let it go quickly, he hurried to analyze that little miracle without wasting any time. The light created by that tiny sphere made his eyes shine with red, a byproduct of the reflective layer in his eyes that provided him with his amazing night vision.
The orb was made of light, that was clear but there was nothing inside that tiny ethereal ball that could explain its weight... he was not a genius, so he did not keep torturing himself with these matters for long.

He was skilled at throwing rocks, so he expected the ball of light to behave similar... but when he finally threw the tiny sphere, it was clear that he misjudged its weight and mass, the sphere missed his intended target for a big gap and then exploded near the roots of a big tree. The force of the blast was barely able to kick a small rock and push some grass away. Even when it did not cut the grass or break the rock, it was the most awesome thing he ever did and he let her know that. "Awesome! Awesome!" He chanted while jumping in his place out of sheer excitement.
It was not after a few second that his enjoyment settled down enough for his brain to formulate a new question. "Have more tricks?" If she was a magician, she may know more magician tricks to execute, like Akshay´s solid speech or his enchanted swords.

The creature looked up at her with an expression that seemed mildly hopeful, and she felt a little guilty when she watched that happiness disappear. Fate had a way of being cruel and locking powers to only one person, but it was something you just had to accept that cruelty and embrace what you did have. Tses sometimes hated her powers. All she could do was make things explode, which didn't seem very useful when you busted a bone or were freezing on a rooftop. But then she learned what her powers were good for; the first time she unlocked a door with an energy orb, she was thrilled. She wondered if this little green goblin mutant had found what made his powers unique; perhaps he didn't know because he'd never been without them though. Many visible mutants got their mutants very young, so it was possible that was just normal for him. She stopped wondering with a mental shrug, and watched as he held her orb.

The light reflected off his face in a haunting way, leaving long shadows across his curved face and slim ears. The shadows on the tree behind him seemed to dance with the darkened lines, embracing the darkness with their curved forms and further distorting it. Tses always enjoyed the way shadows played across the scenery. It was another reason to love the light side of her powers. She couldn't do much physically with the green glow, but the world was a visual playground in the darkness.

Then the show was over. The orb sailed through the air, and blew a little bit of grass and a rock away. The force was not the most terrifying thing, and wouldn't have hurt anyone if it hit them, but he seemed delighted with the results. Awesome? Tses' mind echoed, and she shook her head. She hardly thought her powers were 'awesome', but he clearly seemed to be enjoying himself. She let a little smile linger on her lips, and knelt down as he asked for more tricks.

"Not really, just this one." She remarked, and then turned the green energy back 'on'. Tendrils of light flickered across her hands and arms, weaving like little flames attracted to her skin as if it was a fuel for them. The glow made more shadows, but if he reached out to touch it, he would feel nothing. "It's just light. It makes the orbs. Uh, moons." She tried to explain.

When the green glowing moon disappeared, the nearby shadows took over their surroundings in a hurry. The colorful light became just an afterimage and without the green light, the colors faded too, replaced by several layers of gray. The shadows were everywhere, hiding predators and preys alike, distorting the face of the woman in front of him and blurring the details of the landscape.
He adapted to the darkness quickly by using the dim moonlight in a more efficient way, his eyes showed him more details with each second that passed until it was difficult for him to tell if the place was a well lit or not. It was not the same for the woman, so he courteously waited a few seconds for her eyes to adapt to the gloom while at the same time, he hoped for her to know more tricks she could show him.

She claimed to do not have more tricks, yet she summoned more green light to her arm, vanquishing the recently gathered shadows. The darkness moved a few but long steps away from her beautiful green light, producing a new change in the colors, the details and the remaining shadows. She was like a portable lamp or a human shaped star, producing her own light. It was so interesting that he could not avoid to stare at the glow for a few seconds before acting. Once he had enough, he moved closer to touch the flickering fingers of light. He moved carefully, slowly, as if the green glow could devour his hand in just an instant but when he extended his fingers and touched what looked like a very solid thing, he found nothing, just air. She said it had to be with light and its intangible properties, so with that knowledge present in his mind, he tried to touch the light again. He felt nothing. He was thrilled by the experience and the uncommon of that moon fuel but since he could not touch it, he retreated a few steps and stared at the kneeling woman in the eyes.

The silent had settle down once more and the little creature stretched his right hand to her, four fingers extended, invitingly. "Guglin." He did not like to break such a nice moment of quiet like that but he was eager to get some dinner, so he introduced himself and waited for her to shake his hand. He had seem humans do that a lot of times and they seemed to like it a lot. So he waited. Too much in his stomach opinion, so it growled furiously, demanding some food. A rat on a stick or two would do the trick.

As the small person slowly moved closer, Tses watched his actions, and the way he approached her glowing arms. He acted like she thought a child would, intrigued by something new and trying to grasp it and understand what it was. She was a little amused by it, and her irritation had long since moved away, as easily as the light from her powers did when she turned them 'off'. Sometimes, she seemed borderline bipolar by the way her emotions accelerated then evaporated, but perhaps it was just a manifestation of her powers, or the other way around. Her temper flared and settled, changing from one state to another like an explosion fading back into emptiness. Volatile. She was certainly that in more ways than one.

To her surprise, the creature held out his hand, and a quick glance revealed four fingers instead of five. It wasn't something that was unnerving to her, but rather just curious. She almost enjoyed seeing how different mutations changed the human physiology, some mutants almost so altered they seemed like another species. Guglin the creature said. The name sounded throaty and rough, and it was echoed by a small grumble she could only assume to be his stomach. She chuckled slightly under her breathe and accepted the hand, giving a shrug.

"I'm Tses. You hungry?" She asked. To some it would seem like the polite question, but for Tses, it was mentioned in a casual way. If she had been walking down the street and someone was talking to her, she would have asked it much the same way. It was the 'I'm probably going to eat one way or the other, you can stay or come' type mentioning, and after releasing her hand she stood and tucked her cd player into the leather jacket's pocket, headphones back in their normal place around her neck. The light around her arms was gone again, but her eyes were slowly adjusting to the nighttime. She had better vision at night than most people, because her eyes didn't waste away in front of technology, but it was certainly nothing like Guglin's, with his eyes large enough they reminded her of owls.