New York was a city of change. People came, people left. Tourists shifted through daily with an endless array of cameras flashing and mutants blowing crap up.

Well, Tses was only responsible for the last part, really. That wasn't so much change even as it was just the daily usual beat of the city.

Today Tses was wandering the edge of the park, a few swiped wallets just taken for the fun of it. She didn't need the money any more so much as the little challenge her activities posed for her muscles and abilities. After her brush with death it had taken work to get back into shape, from running along roofs to climbing trees on the side. She didn't feel 100% yet, but that didn't mean she wasn't more than a challenge for most lawful citizens. After dumping a wallet--cards and all--into a trash can, she saw something in the distance that caught her eye. It was a familiar looking silhouette, but, younger. Really, how far had this plague of youth expanded anyway? Temporarily throwing caution away, she swooped behind the ice mutant and swiped a wallet with a light-form hand.

"Aren't you a little young to be an x-man?" she slipped in front of him, opening the wallet to see if he still had his old ID. What was that stick-in-the-mud's name again? Ah, Sam.

Sam hated the change everything had undergone in the decade he had missed. The ice mutant had made sure to memorize a good chunk of the city before he went to the mansion but now he found himself lost. Again. Wishing he never stepped out of the mansion he was trying to familiarize himself with another edge of the park.

Studying the trees and lampposts he felt his back pocket get lighter. Someone stole his wallet. Sam turned and then eyed the woman who called him an X-man. He was young yes but he joined the team within the year according to older Sam’s timeline. ”Aren’t you too beautiful to be picking wallets?” Sam shot back as he watched the woman who apparently knew him.

What was it with all these woman knowing him? He wasn’t complaining, in fact he loved the attention and the company. ”I’d like my wallet back please.” Sam smirked and held his hand out. ”Who are you again?”

To be perfectly honest, Tses had forgotten Sam had such a tendency to flirt. Actually, if she didn’t know any better, this younger version seemed to be even MORE forward. True, she had been vandalizing a library at the time, but she was stealing now. Actually, what type of guy flirted with criminals?

”Pretty sure appearance has nothing to do with street cred,” Tses avoided what she found to be an obvious trap commenting on whether or not she was pretty. She knew that would invite further commentary or compliments. Plus, Chrys was working on her ego. She needed to let some things slide if she was going to have progress.

“What thief would just give back a wallet? That defeats the point of taking it.” she checked to see if there was any money or cards worth messing with. She snorted and quirked an eyebrow at him.

”Amnesia got you down? Don’t hurt your brain too much. Your pick up lines never worked last time so can’t say we were on much of a first name basis, Sam.” she didn’t give the wallet back. She wondered if there was somewhere she could leave it for him to retrieve.

The icemancer lowered his hand when she responded it seemed clear that she had no intention of returning it now. ”What kind of thief willingly sticks around to taunt the man she just pilfered?” Sam responded in kind eyeing the woman.

”See that’s a real shame, I think you and I could get along well enough. How about I buy you a drink for the return of my wallet.” he didn’t need the wallet nothing was important in there anymore. Money and cards sure, he had plenty of both and if she was a good thief she’d know to stay away from cards. Far to easy to be caught with them there was a bit of money in there though. There was also a picture of him smiling ear to ear with his toddler brother Dom. A photo that lost its value seeing as his brother was indeed alive and not dead like he previously thought for all these years.

”Or one better, you can take me out for a drink with my money and I’ll try to learn a name out of you.” he said with a smirk. It seemed the woman wanted some kind of interaction with him, he just didn’t know what kind yet. She knew him targeted him and then stuck around to talk. ”Or, I can always take it back.” he smirked as the ground around him started to frost over.

He was still quick with words. Tses disliked that about this guy. Tses was snarky, sarcastic, but she was not one for this sort of battle of whits. She crossed her arms and considered him, body going green with light form. Thankfully, the object was small enough her body seemed to consider it part of her clothing, and it melted with the rest of her.

"It's worth flaunting if you can get away with it. If you think you can take it back, then do it." She tucked it into the back pocket of her jeans, the glowing form translucent. He took the chance to try and convince her to go for a drink.

Tses laughed, "Do those types of pick-up lines actual work on people? I feel bad for the ones you've managed to win over." She noted the frost on the ground, and rolled her eyes. "Step one, hit on girls. Step 2, fight them if you fail?"

There was enough frost on the ground now to give someone a little intimidation this woman apparently didn’t care though. Sam’s eyes locked to the woman in front of him who made his wallet disappear into her body that he was now noticing was glowing greenish. He couldn’t tell at first but now it was becoming clearer the more he stared.

He smirked and shrugged, ”Not always, it makes it more fun that way. Say something corny and by the first cup of coffee you can’t get enough of me.” he lied as took a small step forward. ”Step one hit on girls.” Sam nodded his head agreeing. ”Step two get my wallet back.” the frost started to shift from the grass to his feet. ”Step three take it easy on glowing green girl so she’ll entertain the idea of giving her number.” Sam said his hands flexing on his sides.

”You really think I won’t have a problem reaching back there for my wallet?” Sam asked trying to call her bluff. ”Like I said, money isn’t a big deal, wallet is.” Sam stepped forward and made an attempt for his wallet with his hand outstretched. ”Sorry in advance.”

Take it easy huh? Tses gave him a look and rolled her eyes. "You haven't learned much since I last met you. Heck, if you really went back in time I doubt your even on par with the old you. I mean, he was a pretty decent fighter. You? You look like you may need to hit the gym more." Tses had remembered that fight. It was one of the few that left her literally running for an emergency exit. So while she was teasing, she was also well aware she may still be outmatched. With age, she had learned a bit of restraint.

But that didn't mean she would run from a punk like this.

When he took a grab at her, Tses did the first thing she could thing of: she jumped through him to the other side. Having someone grab through your stomach was far less awkward than just jumping past them and avoiding the interaction faster. As soon as her feet hit the ground she turned and swung a leg, aiming to sweep his legs out from under him. Her muscles prepared to return to light as quickly as possible should she feel the first sign of cold. He had to pace herself right now. Too many phases, she wouldn't have energy for explosives.

She may need the explosives for an actual getaway, if he turned out to be the justice type still.

The ice mutant’s hand slipped right through the woman as she ran at him. Before he could shift into a stance suitable for defense the woman passed right through him. It made sense, she was glowing green and was kind of see through. Sam should have put two and two together that way he wouldn’t have ended up getting swiped.

The ice around his feet took the brunt of the sweep but it still managed to cause Sam to leave the ground. He started to laugh instinctively as he fell. Most people hated getting laughed at, this was something he did often when he was taken by surprise. With a loud thud (due to the frost and gravity) Sam rolled to his stomach and pushed himself up as fast as possible his hands shooting up into a guard.

The air around them got colder ”You know I’m getting real tired of people telling me how great I become. I’m already pretty cool.” with that he waved his hands up right willing more ice to form around them. She could phase but that didn’t mean she was immune to everything right? She still had to breath. ”Let’s try this again,” Sam said a little irritated as he reached down for where she put his wallet. Ice started to climb upwards behind her hoping to box the woman in.

The air was getting colder, and ice was starting to surround them. These were problems that meant little to her when she was phased, but it would pose problems when she solidified. Unlike her past years, she was aware of her limitations now. Being hot-headed had not done well in the past. She needed to be calculative and quick as well as strong.

Listening to him complain, she rolled her eyes. "I never liked you the first time around, Frostbite. I think you misunderstood my commentary. Older you had more experience, but you're both the same mess." She let one hand solidify while talking, quickly sending what energy she could into that palm. She wouldn't have many offensive shots this way, but hopefully his lack of experience could be her advantage here. When the wall appeared behind her, it was the shot she wanted.

With a leap she jumped back into the ice, releasing the explosive and phasing within seconds of each other. The cold sliced into her hand even as she let the ice temporary encase her, offering protection from the immediate blast that followed.

”Oh come on!” Sam said as the woman jumped backwards into his wall of ice her hand was the only thing that stuck out that and the mass of glowing green that shot from her hands. When she started to move so did Sam. Jumping back and willing more ice to form over his body he braced for impact. Not knowing how far he’d be sent.

Sam was launched back into a bush the ice around his body damaged and cracked and his ears stared to ring as if a small explosive or a gunshot just happened nearby. His jaw clicked as he tried to get rid of the ringing sound. ”Nope, you done blasted your way out of drinks.” Sam said as he pushed himself up more ice forming on his body, his eyes already scouting for the glowing woman.

Once he was out of the bushes he placed his hand on the X-Communicator. He was told to call for back up if he needed it but right now he was more pissed than anything. He wouldn’t live it down either if Serena or Gawain showed to give him back up they already had a hard time taking him serious. Nope, he’d deal with the woman as is. Either getting a dozen snowballs to the face or his wallet back. They weren’t mutually exclusive either. ”Can’t kill her.” he muttered to himself.

Tses was successfully pissing this guy off. Which, if she was honest with herself, had been the end goal. She had no interest in money, or getting arrested mind you, just to take jabs at an old enemy who was clearly not as tough as the original. Was it rude to pick on the younger version of an enemy? Possibly. Did she care? Not a bit.

"Sorry, Elsa, no one is going for drinks with you. I think it's time you let it go." She popped up behind him, and dropped another explosive at his feet. "I can interest you in some dancing maybe? A little excitement to get the blood stream going?"

She was mentally counting off time limits in her head. While she lacked some education, numbers were something she was forced into. It was close to a full moon, so she had more energy then normal. But, the most she had phased was ten minutes in the past. How long had they engaged for? Probably only about a 5th of that. She took a defensive stance somewhere behind another wall.

"Killing is against that whole X creed, I here. Pretty sure the old farts at the mansion would frown upon it. You always seemed a little lawless to survive there, if we're being perfectly honest." Tses mused out loud. She let some areas of her body solidify to lengthen her time limit, but left her feet and lungs phased to avoid either freezing to the ground or having the wind knocked out of her lungs by cold air. She could handle a little cold on other areas of her body so long as she kept out of range.

”You know.” Sam said turning his head as the ball of green appeared next to him. ”Dancing happens to be a specialty of mine.” he slammed his foot on the ground causing a pilliar of ice to launch the bomb skyward. Even if he was younger he still had a decent reaction time even if he didn’t have full control of older Sam’s nifty thermal sense. Something told him it wouldn’t have worked well on her anyways. When she passed through him all he felt was a chill of unease.

With the bob exploding overhead Sam closed the distance between the two he threw a series of punches making sure not to hurt the woman to bad if he made contact. Even if she was trying to blow him up he felt that this woman still didn’t deserve to die. ”You know.” Sam said as he threw another punch and prepped up a guard to mock hers (which in his opinion wasn’t bad) she just made it clear she had seen some fights. ”People keep saying that and I don’t know why I stayed there. Maybe I was trying to be a better person.” Sam shrugged taking a step back and changing his stance.

”But you see you caught me at a weird time. I’m more focused on surviving than being a better person. If I got to kill you then I will.” the air around them got colder as he placed his bluff followed with two snaps of his fingers as a rose of ice formed in his mouth. ”Ole.”

He managed to evade one of the explosives, which still sent little shards of ice down on both of them. It was a weird sensation having it hit some areas of her body and not others, and she managed to let the rest pass through her with at least one of his punches. Another punch she deflected with her arm, practiced fight moves working in line with her powers.

"See, I never tried to be a better person. It was much more fun being the villain. You take what you want, say what you want, and you don't have that whole burden of making the right choices."

She watched the rose appear and snorted laughter, "Seriously, your pick-up lines are from another decade. And, I'm dating someone, so clearly you're missing the mark." She pretended to look thoughtful. "Although, she is the type that may not oppose a three-some sometime. Too bad I think you're just a little too cold for us." She swung a punch for him this time, aiming for the sternum, quick to counter with a knee if needed. If the fight went downhill, she would phase her way out of there again.

Her fist connected with his chest however it probably wasn’t the target she was aiming for. Ice started to get denser in more vulnerable places the chest for starters. Even since he got hit with the first blast he wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to be tossed like a rag doll again.

The knee was nice counter on her part as well however if she was attacking him that meant she wasn’t phasing and if that was the case. When she brought her knee up Sam stepped into it reducing the damage and creating an opportunity one he wouldn’t speak of unless it was brought up. He reached for her back pocket where he was sure his wallet was. Nothing.

He pushed himself back from her and got back into a stance,”You see your loss then, everyone needs a little personal growth in their lives.” Sam said taking the rose and throwing it at her stem first. The stem was sharp and with enough force behind it to puncture the skin if she decided not to phase through it.

”Well hell if you started with that I would have given you my wallet.” Sam said somewhat flattered. ”Is that why you were trying to get my attention? I can be pretty warm when I need to be.” Sam said with a smirk as more snow fell around them.

Tses had held back enough in her punch the ice didn't harm her hand at least. She hadn't been so cautious in the past and she had more than enough broken knuckles to show for it. The counter brought him closer for comfort than she wanted to be, which was enough of a distraction she missed her opening. She phased in reflex, ignoring the fact he was probably fishing where her butt would have been and that was awkward. The rose went through her, and she sidestepped, rolling her eyes.

"How about this, we'll have a compromise. I'll keep your card-- she pulled the old ID card from the wallet, and tossed the rest back to him. "You can have the rest. If you ever get bored of being the good guy maybe there will be another chat." The wallet may have been followed by another large explosive before she jumped back through the ice once more.