Tses was restless. After getting shot, it felt like healing was slow and tedious at best. She could walk fine now, but her shoulder had seen better days. It didn't help she was impatient, and kept getting into mischief. Dragging stolen Christmas trees across town probably didn't help much. Racing on rooftops and climbing all over New York didn't seem to do much good either.

But Tses was a thief, and a street kid. For her sitting and healing was sitting and getting lazy. She couldn't wait for her body to recover. She just had to force it to catch up. So she let herself wander New York at night, and explore the dark city.

Things had been going ok. The apartment was nice, and she was grateful to have Ty back. But there were still things in her mind she needed to work out. Nightmares still came for both of them, she still occasionally fell through furniture, and her new 'energy' form was temperamental and seemed far too reliant on her emotions. When she was mad, or sad, or scared, she found herself glowing and drained of energy soon after. It took more out of her to use the light form than just the light glow of moonlight across her arms, and she had to figure out why.

Pausing and taking sitting on one of the roofs, she looked down at the street, watching people pass by in alleyways and along the street. Up here, no one could bother her. Up here, she was safe. She was just a shadow in the darkness, and sometimes, she just needed to be left alone.

It'd been some time since last Sylar noticed this scent. The pungent aroma of a girl, an angry and stressful creature he'd hoped to avoid for the rest of his days. But her name and presence still showed up in his life sometimes, leaving a bad taste in his mouth. Freed from his usual obligation of protecting Roach, Sylar had taken the night to himself. A little bout of parkour through the cityscape always appeased the creature inside him. It was something about using his abilities to their fullest that seemed to stir the beast within, but where he would have been afraid to let it out before now he could ride with it. And now his free time had been ground to a halt by her scent.

The girl's name was Tses, an unfortunate girl he'd had the displeasure of assaulting once, and arguing with again when their mutual friend, well at least his friend had tried to make them come to terms with it. That night still made Sylar furious, the way Tses stressed Serena out into an explosive fit of rage and then tried to act tough like she wasn't threatened by him. The girl's lack of self control and misplaced confidence really irked him. The girl had situated herself somewhere high, letting the wind carry her scent around the entire block. She might as well be asking Sylar to come down on her head. But Sylar wasn't the kind of person who sought vengeance, or held a grudge usually. However he remembered Roach talking about "handling" this situation for him.

Sylar refused to see just what his friend and employer was capable of, his blind eyes only able to focus on the good Roach did for him and other physical mutants. If something was going to happen to the girl, Sylar wouldn't be apart of it, even though part of him really wanted to just push the girl into a frozen lake or drop her into traffic. The boy's mutant claws dug into the brick, the supernaturally sharpened blades digging into the stone like a knife into butter. He'd warned her before, if he had wanted to kill her she'd have never seen it coming. And now he'd prove his point, besides scaring Tses would be tons of fun as well. Obsidian blades carried the boy up the side of the building, his form concealed in the darkness of the alley and shadow of the building. It took him but a moment to make it to the roof.

Peaking over the edge, the image of Tses was right there, just as his nose had predicted. She looked to be facing away, good because getting blasted before he could do anything sounded like a crappy idea. Instead he'd show the girl just how dangerous messing with a silent predator could be. The boy moved forward, his armored feet silently tapping down onto the building as he neared her. A dark thought got caught in his mind though, as his tail began to extend forward unconsciously. This was the moment, a single second of time where all it'd take was a quick thrust. A sick pop as his blade pierced the girl could end her life, a single thought from Sylar could murder this fellow mutant. And that thought scared him once more, to hold so much power with his broken psyche. The tail crept forward like a boa inching closer to it's prey, the tip of his blade barely an inch away from the girl's lower back.

Sylar stared at her, his various feelings a swathe in his mind as he wondered why he'd even crept up on her. He should just ignore her, leave her alone and forget about every unwanted moment he'd ever spent with her. But somehow it seemed people who despised one another always bumped head. Sylar was maybe two feet away from the girl, like some panther watching it's prey from the darkness of the brush, ready to strike. But killing Tses would be an actual crime, a permanent mistake in his life. No, he wasn't a murderer, or a monster, he was Sylar, and this moment would prove that. Instead his tail remained, inching forward ever so slowly as it poked into the girl's back gently.

"I warned you. I told you that you'd never see me coming for you. You really are an easy target." His words were dull and hollow, almost as threatening as if he'd really come here to hurt her.

It was silent, and Tses' thoughts wandered through her mind in a directionless way, twisting, turning, and tangling inside her. She thought of Ty. She thought of the apartment. She thought of the darn cockroach that had threatened her. She thought of the darn cockroach who still made her skin crawl with fear. Tses had never felt afraid of someone this way before. She always felt invincible, capable. But lately more fears were surfacing, building up walls and towers in her head. She was claustrophobic. She was fragile. Broken in too many places, she wanted to be tough but feared she wasn't.

That same fear made the voice behind her all the more terrifying. If it had been another month, another time, Tses would smirked and tried to mock the mutant who snuck up on her. But this time she screeched in fear and scrambled backwards, body disappearing into the light form she'd developed.

She was a coward, hiding in intangibility. She was stupid to show fear and weakness like this. But the figure in the darkness, standing so calmly with his tail pointed towards her was not just the annoying mutant who beat her up. He was an intruder in the quiet thoughts of her mind, and that was a far greater crime than just injuring her body.

"Get out of here." She snarled, anger covering the fear as she tried to act offensive. He couldn't touch her like this. She would be ok.

It was an odd scenario, when three people all knew one another and all had an effect on each other, but weren't aware of that connection. Sylar was Roach's protege basically, learning the ways of mutant and monster from him, but always unaware of the evil behind that quirky bug man's face. And Tses was terrified of Roach but stood up to Sylar, unaware how each time they met the girl could die at his hands with one missed step. Such an odd relationship between the three. However tonight was more about Sylar proving his point, trying to show the girl she should be more aware of how dangerous others could be, and how vulnerable she was.

Tses was Serena's friend, and right now that meant Sylar couldn't harm her, no matter how much he hated her. Another point Sylar was trying to make, but to himself. Sylar was caught off guard though, by Tses basically fading from sight and vanishing nearly into thin air. Her image melted as if she was fading into thin air, leaving behind nothing. But this whole situation was odd. She vanished before saying even a word, and instead of some sort of escape trick, her voice came from exactly where she had been before. Could she turn invisible and he'd never realized? No, Tses wasn't the type to not make use of every nasty weapon in her arsenal to offend and attack others. This was a new trick, and Sylar wasn't going to fall for it entirely. Test the waters, the last time she'd attacked him it was visible, explosives and a physical form. Time to bluff back and see whow as actually in a position of power here.

Unaware Tses was entirely harmless in that form, Sylar's tail slithered back to him, like a snake returning to it's charmer. Sylar just spoke in return, his voice hollow and flat. "That's a new trick Tses." He couldn't see her anymore, and though her scent had been blowing in the wind, the source had vanished meaning her smell would fade as well. But if she was speaking, he could know exactly where she was, meaning he could still react if she chose to make a move. "I could have killed you just now, you know." Sylar continued, speaking with that empty voice that he hid behind. "Up here all alone, sitting on the edge. You weren't planning on jumping now were you?" His voice had a very obvious tone of joy as he finished, a morbidly hopeful statement. He hated Tses, and even though knowing she'd be gone forever if she'd jumped or died somehow, Sylar wondered if he would be truly grateful to see the girl die.

That's a new trick. The words echoes in Tses' mind, but she couldn't pinpoint the tone. Curious? Mocking maybe? Up close, she could see the shape of his face as the light illuminated his figure. He seemed emotionless, but his eyes seemed to look past her. It seemed odd the light would be hard to see... Shouldn't it make her easier? She still wasn't entirely sure what his powers were or how they worked, but something about his eyes felt off.

Without giving herself time to think on it, she growled back at him, and the light around her flared slightly in response. He was threatening her, pointing out weaknesses. As vulnerable as she felt lately, that was a low blow. Jumping... she'd thought about jumping before. He would have liked that. Been delighted with her demise. That just made her angrier. She took a step forward and glared at him.

"You could have tried. You sure like to brag about how deadly you are. If you wanted to, you would have done it." She spat.

Sylar always seemed to be looking at something in the distance, his black eyes no longer the organ of vision, but the growth atop them. And these cells, designed to observe the thermal radiation that came off living things had no ability to discern Tses's shape or position while the girl was shifted. Though all light had some element of heat to it, Tses's light like the moon's was so cold it was invisible to Sylar's vision, meaning the only reason he knew the girl was still here was her voice. Which his powerful ears could pinpoint was still somehow in front of him.

Tses had someone evolved to turn invisible Sylar was quite sure, an annoying power for someone as violent and combative as her to develop. Sylar couldn't help but point out the girl's flaws, that was all he saw in her. Friends and loves often saw past flaws, or ignored them completely when looking at or speaking to one another, but it was the opposite here. Sylar only bothered with Tses at all because Serena cared for her, meaning he had to accept this nasty girl's existence. The girl spoke up, showing how close she was to Sylar, the boy taking a tentative step back. He didn't show the fear on his face or in his voice, but caution was often mistaken for fear.

The girl was annoyed with his empty threat, which was fair. However an empty threat was still a threat, a fact this girl seemed to not care about. Sylar responded, still hollow like a robot refusing to give Tses the satisfaction of any emotion. "I don't try to kill anything, I simply do, and I've killed bigger game than you girl." Sylar said, remembering some of his previous encounters including one with a rather monstrous creature in his old lair. "But you're half right, I don't want to kill any mutant unless I have to. In your case I can't because Serena cares for you, whatever reason she may have."

Sylar's tail began to sway behind him, like a living creature always showing it's fangs to the girl as the blade glistened in the night. "What I find interesting though, is that with some new invisibility trick you're still just talking to me." And now the first bit of emotion showed on the boy's taciturn face, a slight tug of the lips, a grin pulling back aground his sharpened teeth. "Don't tell me you've gotten soft for me too." The sewer monster spat at the girl with a level of contempt equivalent to her own for him.

Tses couldn't read Sylar's expression, and his eyes unnerved her. Even in the dark they looked empty, the webbing making it hard to read him. His voice gave nothing away, and his way of talking felt mocking. She considered trying to push him off the roof. Could she? Would he just climb back up unharmed? Wouldn't surprise her. As dumb at the threats seemed, part of her suspected he would carry through with them if he could blame it on her. 'Oh, I killed your friend. Sorry Serena. She started it'. That seemed far more plausible than she would have hoped.

Circling sideways, she kept her gaze on him, ignoring the spooky way the light glint off his tail and the scales on his face. With her light form illuminating everything, he seemed a bit deadlier. She felt somewhat smug when he remarked on her being invisible. Well, wasn't that a nice turn of events. "I could attack you--" Lie. "But it's more amusing this way. Must be frustrating not being able to see things. You seem pretty certain of yourself, but I still think it's all an act with you." Her fear was fading now, the light form giving her confidence. He couldn't touch her like this. She was safe. It would be amusing to watch him try though. She never got to test fighting in this form.

Sylar was a simple boy, his emotions boiling down to their basest of forms. He got joyous whenever he found a good meal, or met with a friend, and was immediately cautious and fearful of strangers. But Tses might hold a unique distinction, as no other living being evoked as much ire or irritation from Sylar as she did. This rivalry of theirs somehow managed to just itch beneath his skin like none other. He wasn't sure what the girl planned to do with this new power of hers, but he was still of the mind that she was on the defensive at the moment. Her lack of aggression, and her only using the power after he gave himself away meant she hadn't expected a visitor or danger, both of which Sylar posed.

Having spent years being blind, his loss of eyesight thanks to her power was not a serious debilitation. He'd spent years using his ears, and his power had increased their sensitivity ten fold, meaning so long as the girl spoke, he knew exactly where she was. However the lack of other noise sort of bothered him, no breathing, no steps, no rustling of clothes? Just how intangible was this girl with this new power? Time to test it he began to think in the back of his mind. But his face remained stone, even as the girl's light shone upon it to show his features to her clearly for possibly the first time. Tses spoke, suddenly acting confident. "If you could attack me Tses you would have, you aren't the patient type."  He thought in response to her statement. However her comment about not being able to see actually made Sylar smirk just a bit, the faintest tug on the edges of his mouth. "I spent 13 years of my life blind Tses. Losing something as simple as sight doesn't bother me...!"

As he finished his sentence his tail lashed out, like a python aiming to strike and constrict the tail went right for where Tses's voice was coming for, unaware he'd snag nothing as the girl existed as simple photons at the moment. The tail swishing through the girl's presence like nothing elicited a small response from Sylar's face, the briefest moment of confusion before returning to the mask he had been wearing all night. "Besides...I don't need eyes to know where you are." This was a mixture of the truth and a bluff, he could hear her, and follow the sound. But how could she simply be a voice? Where was her presence, her footsteps?

"And I don't need to act, I know how dangerous I am. Everyone does...except for you." Sylar turned, his body eventually facing where he thought Tses had last been, facing his back to the street's below and behind him. "The question is, how long can you keep your act. How long before you run out of hot air, and everyone sees just how scared you are girl." Sylar's smirk returned a bit, for whatever reason he really wanted her to admit fear, he wanted to see the look on her face.

He wanted Tses to be afraid of him, his inner creature's lust for terror slowly eroding the boy's mind. Sylar was becoming addicted to fear, and Tses was the latest in his line of prey.

Tses wasn't the most intimidating person, but she could usually hold her ground. While she couldn't exactly illicit fear, caution and distance were enough. Sylar didn't seem to find her worth the bother though. His actions now, his smug attitude and casual comments were stabs in her ego, thorns in her thoughts. She stepped sideways slowly, wondering how long she could hold her form. Perhaps long enough to at least prove she was worth being careful around. The tail lashed through her instead, and the speed made her breathe stop for a second. Not that he could hear it.

It stayed lodged in her throat for a moment before she scowled at him.

"You may be dangerous, but you also hang around Serena. If she told you to sit and stay you probably would, just like a dog. If you were powerful like you want me to think you wouldn't let anyone make you their pet. You would do what you wanted, hurt who you wanted. I don't know why you brag so much when you just put yourself on a leash." Tses scoffed, and turned and stepped away. Her voice sounded so normal, but her form just passed across the ground without a sound. The longer they talked, the more she could feel the energy draining, however.

The in ability to see Tses, to know where her body and warmth were, to know there was something he could attack if he needed too was really bothered Sylar. He had that uncomfortable feeling in his gut, the fear that this was a situation he could lose, and that made part of him want to bolt off into the darkness rather than risk some fight just to put Tses in her place. But he wasn't going to run from her, no Tses was the one person he refused to show fear or anxiety too, he wanted to win this little rivalry he had. His tail pulled back, swaying back and forth behind his back, like an impatient serpent ready for it's meal.

Tses took a moment to go off on another of her insulting monologues, accusing Sylar of being a dog. You know, Sylar had realized that often times his encounters with others involved food bridging the gap, so this whole dog comparison was sort of insulting and annoyed him. " Serena is an exception to an otherwise far darker life I live. I put that leash on myself for a reason Tses, and it wasn't to be anyone's pet. No, it was to keep me from turning into a waking nightmare. You ever look at another human being, really look at them and think how good it'd taste to rip out their throat, and drink the blood as it bled out? To rip out someone's guts and devour them? That's what I have leashed Tses, because of people like Serena." Sylar didn't care if Tses tried to rat on him, or repeat his words out of context to try and strain his and Serena's relationship.

All he cared about was making this girl afraid, afraid enough to learn some manners and common sense, afraid enough to respect that Sylar wasn't to be messed with. "I had you at my mercy down there in the sewers, I looked at your unconscious body and held back. And even though I restrained myself and yet I still have to put up with you because of Serena." He hated that Serena was friends with this girl, Serena was a fantastic person, how did her tastes in friends get so skewed as to put up with this girl's attitude. "But more than me, you really should respect that I'm not Serena's dog, cause someone else is in charge of me. And he doesn't like you." Sylar knew how Roach was, he took a little too good a care of his friends and employees at times, especially when they didn't want or need it. And Roach would have never asked about the person who injured Sylar if he hadn't been planning on something.

This peaceful but strenuous dialogue couldn't continue much longer, what ever Tses was holding back for couldn't last forever Sylar figured. Eventually one of them would make a break for it, or strike first.

Tses monologues, Sylar monologue. In the end they were just two talking heads, the words meaning little to either of them. Sylar clearly wasn't afraid of her, and Tses wasn't afraid of him. At least, not at first. Something about he doesn't like you sent a cold chill down her spine. Tses only really had one person who made her feel afraid at this stage in her life. But she would be damned before she left Sylar know that.

"I'm not afraid of your master, however he is." She snapped defensively. She paced sideways, feeling the light form flicker momentarily as she lost concentration and slipped back into physical form. The mental exertion to hold this form was becoming more than she bargained for. She wuld need to leave soon if the conversation got more heated, or risk poking the proverbial bear only to find herself very tangible and stabbable.

What little patience Sylar had for this girl had run thin long ago, and try as he might to teach the girl any sort of lesson, he should have understood they'd get now here. Like oil and water, there would be no connection between Tses and himself, save their mutual dislike of one another. He still couldn't see her form, but he was certain this invisibility trick of hers could only work so long as she didn't interact with him, meaning he was safe from her, or at least it seemed that way for this long.

Sylar didn't smile at her latest confident remark, Tses probably couldn't admit fear to anything, even if she should learn to. But something about Roach even bothered Sylar, everything about his current boss was odd and didn't fit what you saw. An eccentric, kind, but merciless and vicious man clad in the body of a bug. Sylar didn't want some kind of revenge to be taken out on Tses, really he just wanted to ignore that she even existed for the rest of his life, but that little bit of humanity he clung on to, for Serena's sake was pushing him to try and keep this girl from getting herself killed.

"You refuse to admit you're afraid of anything Tses. And I think you're stupid for it, but I'll give you one last warning. Serena will keep you safe from me, but I work for the Roach, and he's not fond of people messing with his kin. If you won't admit that I'm dangerous, at least know to stay out of Roach's business, he doesn't like you pink skins all that much to begin with." Sylar finished, revealing his ties with Roach, as well as settling his conscious by giving her a warning about just who might come after her. "So maybe pull back on the nasty 'tude and start making some friends." He said spitefully, a final insult to try and jab at the girls gut's once more. A childish finish, but Sylar didn't mind, after all he hated this girl anyways.

Walking a bit away from their confrontation, unaware of where exactly Tses still was, even with the stress of her power causing her to flash back into material form for a brief second, he moved his body towards the edge of the roof and looked over the alley. He was certain this conversation would be over after this last comment, unaware that Tses might have a rather passionate opinion about the man who currently held his leash.

Roach.

The name had an unexpected effect on Tses. At first, she opened her mouth to make another snarky remark, then the memories rushed back. The giant cockroach in her living room, threatening her. The dumb bug Ty worked for. Suddenly, she backed away, but not before her light form wavered and she reverted back to human form. The light still crawled around her figure like a cocoon, but the anger and fear overran her concentration, and the drained feeling she had was countered by the sudden adrenaline. Backing away quickly, she sought her remaining energy reserves just in case, and tried to keep her composure. It seemed a little late for that though.

Roach. She was scared of a freakin' cockroach. No, she was scared of someone who broke into her house only to mock her at her lowest. She was scare of someone who had proven he would use her against Ty, and he against her. "Roach is a maniac, and if you were smart, you would get out while you could." Was all she whispered finally. It made sense Sylar was mentored by Roach. It seemed the influence of Serena had only lasted so long.

"If you aren't a monster now, he'll turn you into one." She added, then turned to flee.

Sylar finally got the effect he wanted, though it had required Roach's name and none of his own little tricks for scaring people. Tses suddenly appeared in a way Sylar's various senses could pick up. Like a stealth vehicle suddenly popping up on a radar, she began to make physical noise as well as produce a scent. So she had found some way to become invisible to him, something he'd remember for next time as well as to inform Roach if needed. The boy turned his head, a rare and malicious grin pulling at his lips.

That feeling of fear, the heightened temperature, and smell of sweat beginning to form, all of it was a unique joy for Sylar. His body craved the flavor of fear, and every time he tasted it, a little more of the monster took over the boy's soul. "A man who shelters and feeds me, who provides comfort is a maniac? Are you so sure you aren't the crazy one Tses?" The sewer boy was talking directly too her now, his every sense glued to the girl's presence like a tiger staring down it's next meal.

His tail swished back and forth, the excitement palpable as Sylar got what he wanted right as he was about to give up on this little confrontation. She called him a monster, a word Sylar knew very well. He'd thought himself a monster since he began to change, his mother had called him one when she heard about what he was, a word that everyone used for and against him, no matter what the boy did.

A destiny that was inescapable.

His grin remained, perhaps becoming one of humor than sinister intent as he absorbed the girl's insult, watching as she began to flee. She would get away this night, but not before hearing Sylar's last words.

"I was always meant to be a monster. I'll save Serena from it, but who's going to save you Tses?"

Sylar turned, ready to leave himself, but let one last word pass through his fangs.

"No one."