Chapter 2
As the girl dressed in black finished her story, Melissa sat in a dazed shock. "So after the battle the other night I was exhausted. I fell asleep once we got in, so I didn't get a chance to meditate until the next morning. And when I went to go meditate, I couldn't concentrate. I kept thinking about different things, and I kept seeing you for some reason. So I gave up trying, and when Robin asked why I wasn't meditating I told him it was because I couldn't concentrate and kept getting visions of some girl. He said maybe we should contact you, which wasn't hard, since when I focused on you I was able to find out your name, where you live, and everything. So here we are." "Yeah, and we'd like to see what you can do. We've been thinking of adding another member to our team, and maybe it could be you. So what do ya say?", said Robin. Melissa continued staring off into space, about to pass out from shock. Finally she snapped out of it. "Wow, this really isn't a dream, is it? Um...well, I guess I could join you, but what would I have to do? And why would you even want me? Even if I do have these "powers" I certainly can't control them..." Melissa thought about all that had happened during the week: yellow "stuff" shooting from her hands when she was angry or scared and crushing things till they exploded, and waking up each morning to find her windows thrown open and most of her belongings floating outside the windows in midair. Robin spoke up, "That's okay. We can help you. So I guess we're ready to go then, huh?" The others climbed back out the window, the girl in black grabbing Melissa before phasing through the wall to the outside.
They had been flying for about 15 minutes, and everyone was silent. Finally Melissa asked, "So where are we going? Because if this takes too long, and my parents find me gone from my room, they'll call the police and have you guys arrested for kidnapping." Just then they crossed over a river and landed on an island in a small bay. "Don't worry, you can call your parents from inside. Besides, you aren't too far from your house. You're only in Philadelphia." Melissa looked around and saw that she was indeed in Philadelphia. However she couldn't understand why they'd landed on the island which seemed completely deserted. "Um...there's nothing here..." Just then the robot boy pushed a button on his arm and a huge T shaped Tower appeared less than 10 feet in front of her. She fell backwards and was helped up, then led inside, as the robot boy pushed the button again and the Tower seemed to disappear.
They took her up a large elevator, and when they got out she was greeted by the site of a cheery, posh living room and kitchen. The green boy and Robin sat on the couch and gestured for her to sit as well so she did. "Wow, this place is amazing. You really live here? So where's your parents? And you guys'll have to tell me your names again, I forgot. I told you I was bad with names." "Okay, well I'm Robin. I'm the leader of the Teen Titans." "Yeah, for some reason I remembered your name, just not the others.", Melissa laughed to herself embarrassed. "Whatever. Anyway, I'm Raven.", the girl in black stated. The boy in green jumped up from the couch and turned into an adorable baby kitten at Melissa's feet, then back to human form. "I'm Beast Boy." "I'm Cy.", the robot boy yelled out. "And I am Starfire! I wish to know, will you be my friend! Raven warned me not to speak while at your home, but now that we are at mine, I must know if you will be my friend!" This girl then commenced with crushing Melissa in a hug so that she could no longer breathe and began to turn blue. "Uh...Star, I think you're crushing her. If you want her to be your friend, it might be a good idea to keep her alive, you know.", Raven stated. Star immediately let go, letting Melissa fall to the floor and resume breathing. After a minute or two she got back up. "Hey, um, Star was it?" "Yes!" "Um...sure, I'd love to be your friend, just try to you know, stay away from me so my lungs don't get crushed and I die. Okay?" Starfire looked down at the floor awkwardly. "Yes, I am sorry I became so excited. I hope I have not injured you, it is just that it is not so very often when we get a new Titan. And when we did, she did not stay..." Starfire's face suddenly became very dejected looking and she turned and walked in to kitchen, where Melissa could hear that she was sobbing to herself. "Um...is she okay? I didn't mean to make her feel bad, really I didn't! It's just that she was crushing me, and..and, I was afraid she might do it again sometime, so..." Then Melissa noticed that Beast Boy was crying to himself as well, and that nobody was paying any attention to her apology. "What's wrong? What did I say, and why is everyone crying?" Raven spoke up, "It isn't your fault. It's just that you're the new girl now, or at least you probably will be. And we don't get new members on the team very often, like Star said. In fact, we've only had one other person join since us original five. Don't worry about them crying, they'll be fine. They're just remembering Terra. Though I don't think she deserves a second thought. Anyway, come on, I'll show you around, so we don't have to stay and watch them cry. It's kinda pathetic. And later you'll have to do the training course, so I'll show you how it works."
"So...who was "Terra"? And why was everyone crying like that? You said it was because of her, but why?", Melissa asked as Raven finished showing her around the Tower and brought her out to the training course. "Never mind. You're better off not knowing." "But I want to know. You said something about her, so tell me! I can't help it, I'm a curious person. Come on, whatever it is, it can't be that bad." Raven stopped walking and turned to Melissa. "Fine. You want to know about Terra? Then sit. But don't say I didn't warn you." "Um...okay. Whatever. Just tell me already, will you please?" Melissa sat as commanded on a large rock lying on the ground near the entrance to the course, and waited for Raven to start talking. "I'm not going into all the details, it'll take too long. But anyway, Terra came to us at the beginning of last year. She'd been traveling all over the place, running from natural disasters she'd caused when trying to help people. . We had to go battle Slade, and he manipulated her into thinking we'd betray and reject her like everyone else, so when we asked her to join, and Robin said we'd help her control her powers, she took off. She came back about a month later, with fully controlled powers, and asked to join. And we let her. We thought she was our friend. But the entire time she was working as a spy for Slade, giving him our secrets, and finally she betrayed us and the Tower was attacked. Beast Boy was crushed and she left with Slade, then a week later came back and attacked and almost killed us. But Slade turned on her and started treating her like dirt, so she decided to betray him too, and ended up getting encased in lava from one of her own volcanoes. That's where she is today. She deserves everything she got, but Beast Boy really liked her and he was really messed up after what happened, and as for Star- well what can I say, she's over emotional about everything." "Wow. And who's this Slade guy?" "Our archnemesis, that's all you need to know. He's evil, stay out of his way." Just then everyone else came outside for training, and Raven and Melissa got up to join them in the training course, where Melissa was up first. "I...I don't know about this you guys. I don't think I'm ready for this." "Don't worry! You'll do great!", Beast Boy shouted from the sidelines. Melissa tried to calm down, but she wasn't a calm person, and with the way she'd been feeling the past week, she was terrified out of her mind. She didn't want to make a fool of herself, she didn't want to get hurt...There were so many things that could go wrong. As the course turned on, disks began shooting out at her from almost every direction and she panicked, not knowing what to do. Finally she was hit in the head with one, and that, coupled with the stress of trying to impress these other teens, made her fall down and have yet another seizure.