((Okay, first of all, I'd like to thank my two reviewers for their comments. It meant a lot to me that you read and enjoyed my story...also, I apologize for making you wait so long for a new chapter. But this time it's a bit shorter, so it shouldn't kill people to read. I wanted to keep suspense, so I had to end it quickly. Anyways, please read and review, and I hope ya like it!))

Update ((Hey hollywoodstarsandeyes, thanks for the review! And...sorry I kinda rushed though all the stuff in the first chapter...I was afraid if I didn't pile a whole lotta stuff into each chapter, people would get bored, and not wanna read my story. But thanks for the tip, and I'll try to slow down a bit, and focus more on explanations and details in my future chapters.))

((And, of course, I don't own Teen Titans- only my made- up characters, Melissa(Aurora) and her family.))

Chapter 5

"No, it's my toy!" "No, mine!...Hey Mommy, Andy hit me!" Melissa sat at the dining room table, hands over her ears, trying to ignore them and do her homework, since it was just about time for mid-term exams, and she needed to study. But when Andy ran into her, and he and Karin began to pinch and hit each other right next to her arm, injuring her as well, it got to be too much and she snapped. "I'm gonna KILL you jerks!" Melissa quickly got up, and threw three of the dining room chairs at their heads at their heads with her telekinesis , before her mother turned and screamed at her, and the full realization of what she'd done in her anger hit her. "What the HELL did you do you little bitch!" Melissa's mother yelled out, running over to Karin and Andy to try to help them, then taking Melissa's school books, and throwing them at her. "Get to your room, NOW!" "I...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to..." "I said, NOW!" "I...okay..."

Melissa ran up to her room and slammed the door, praying to God that she hadn't killed them, or given them irreversible brain damage. About 10 minutes later, she heard sirens. She packed her clothes, bedding, and a few other things she wanted to have, then opened the window and jumped out. She hit the ground, unable to stop herself with her powers, and only slightly softening the blow. But she tried her best to ignore the pain, and ran through the backyard and out of the hole in the fence. She started heading off towards the other side of town, where she was pretty sure there was a train station. She just hoped she didn't wind up getting killed in that slum- yet the more she thought about it, the less she cared; after all, she probably deserved to die. She was just about to cross over the tracks to the slum section, when she stopped and realized she didn't need any train.

Melissa turned and ran back a few blocks to ensure that she was out of danger, then pulled out her communicator. After roughly a minute, Cyborg answered. "Hey, yo girl, what's up?" "Um...well, I kinda ran away from home, and I need one of you guys to come pick me up if it's okay. I think I want to stay with you guys for a few days, till I can go back home. If I can ever go back home." She said to herself as an afterthought. Cyborg sounded a bit taken aback by her response, but tried not to show it. "Uh, yeah, sure man. Where are ya? I can be there in about half an hour." "I'm in my town. You just go all the way to the end of my street, then turn left, and go down about...5 blocks I guess." "Okay, I'll be there." "Thanks." Melissa smiled, despite her precarious situation, and sat down and waited.

Cyborg came quicker than she expected, and she ran over and jumped into the car. "So, what's up Aurora?" "Nothing. I don't wanna talk about it right now." "Uh...okay. That's cool." For the rest of the ride, they drove in silence. When they got to the Tower, Melissa jumped out and ran inside. She was anxious to talk to Beast Boy. So, after the hugging and all for like 10 minutes, she got away from Star, and pulled Beast Boy to the side. "Hey, I need to talk to you. Think we could talk in my room right now?" "Yeah, sure."

Beast Boy followed her upstairs and into her room, which had finally been completely painted, and now had dark pink walls with pictures of nebulae and galaxies on them, as well as a dark blue ceiling with a huge, light- up galaxy painted in the middle. "Whoa...when did you guys do this?" "Uh, we started the day after you left, and me and Cy just finished on Saturday." "Wow. Thanks you so much. It's perfect. I wish I hadn't been gone so long- two weeks is a long time, and I missed you guys so much. You really are the best friends anyone could ever have, aren't you?" "Huh, yeah, well-" Beast Boy said, embarrassed. "So, anyways, what do ya wanna tell me?" "Oh, yeah." Melissa snapped out of her revelry. "Come here. I talked to the chemistry teacher at my school last week. And...well, I've got two things we can try. Only, the second one is a last resort, cause there's a chance it can destroy living tissue. But the first one she gave me...chlorous sulfuric acid, it should-" "Whoa, wait, I thought that sulfur acid stuff can like burn through anything!" "It can, but this is a different type. I know, at first I thought the same thing. But don't worry, I asked that teacher all about it. She said this stuff is almost totally safe, and should take care of the lava. I wanna try it tomorrow." "Tomorrow! Why not today!" "Cause it's just about midnight, and I'm going to bed. Goodnight." Melissa pushed Beast Boy out of the room and shut the door, trying to ignore his incessant queries as to what would happen tomorrow.

Bright and early, Melissa was woken up by the sound of a cat scratching her door, as well as repeated banging. She got dressed, and walked over and opened it. "Yo, how long does it take to get you up! I've been here 10 minutes already! And...what are you wearing?" Beast Boy looked at Melissa up and down, appalled. She was dressed in a light blue, pleated mini-skirt, and a light blue top with ruffles on the sleeves and waist, and a large letter A appliqued on the chest in silver script. She also wore blue knee socks, a silver letter A necklace, and blue and silver butterfly clips on either side of her hair. She stared back at Beast Boy dispirited. "It's...it's my superhero costume. It looks that bad?..." "No, it's okay. I was just wondering why you were dressed in those weird clothes. You never had a costume before, so I didn't know. Anyways, we've gotta go now, and save Terra." Beast Boy grabbed her arm, and pulled her out of the Tower. "Wait- I don't have the stuff!" She called out to him as he turned into a pterodactyl and was ready to grab her and fly to Terra's memorial. "Dude, what are you, stupid! Hurry up! We gotta get there like now!" Melissa ran back in and got the chemicals, then hurried back out. "Dude, bout time." Beast Boy said, looking at her impatiently , even though she'd only been gone about 5 minutes.

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the site; Beast Boy knew the fastest way there, obviously from repeated visits to see Terra. It was dark down there; dark and dank smelling. Melissa was sure there hadn't been any fresh air in the underground tunnels for at least a month, probably longer. It was as though everything inside was in suspended animation, untouched by the outside world for what seemed like forever. And then suddenly, the tunnels opened up onto a huge, cavernous room in the center of which stood a perfectly preserved statue of a young girl. Melissa gasped at the site, but didn't say anything to Beast Boy, since he looked about ready to cry again, and seemed to want to stay cloistered within his own thoughts. Finally, when they'd reached the statue, he spoke. "Yeah, she's been here about 7 months now. It kinda sucks, ya know? I mean, she's stuck here after she died trying to kill Slade, and he's walking around like nothin' ever happened. I feel like I was such a horrible friend, to let this happen. And now we still can't even take Slade down..." Beast Boy said, the sadness in his voice turning to anger as he spoke the last few sentences.

Melissa didn't know what to say, so she just went immediately to work, stepping up onto the lava base that the statue was resting on. She took out the beaker of special sulfuric acid, and started to slowly pour it over the entire statue. That took about 15 minutes, and when she was done she stepped off the base and went over to Beast Boy. "I guess we just wait now. I'm not really sure.", she said, watching as the compound dripped off the lava, making a sizzling noise as it slowly began to burn through it. "Yeah...how long does it take?" "I have no idea...but it shouldn't be more than like 10 minutes, right?" So they waited. Eventually, the acid stopped sizzling, and most had dripped to the ground. Melissa looked at her watch; they'd been standing there for almost an hour now.

"Uh...Beast Boy..." "Yeah?" "Um...I don't want to sound mean, but I think we should go. I don't think it worked..." Beast Boy looked like he was about to cry again, then suddenly said, "But wait! Use the other stuff then! We can still get her out, even if this stupid stuff didn't work! Do it now!" "I...I can't...That teacher said not to mix the two. We have to wait for at least...I think she said two days, and then I'm not sure if we should use it. I mean, remember, the other stuff will probably burn right through." A crazed look came over Beast Boy's face. "I don't care! Use it now! We have to save Terra!" Beast Boy grabbed Melissa's arm violently, trying to force her to use the other chemical. She hit him in the face with her free hand, and he stood back, stunned. After a few seconds, he turned and left. Melissa followed close behind, not wanting to get lost in the underground tunnels. When they got back to the Tower, he went immediately to his room, and didn't come out the rest of the night. Melissa could hear him crying when she walked by to go down for dinner, and was about to knock on his door, but wasn't sure of what to say.

"Hey Melissa.", Robin said. "Uh...where's Beast Boy? Wasn't he with you today?" "Uh...yeah, but we kinda...um...had a disagreement, and he's in his room." "Yo, I'll go get him. I know he won't wanna miss dinner- especially since today I made tofu burgers for him." Cyborg offered. "Uh...I think he wants to be alone...He's...kinda...crying right now..." "Why, what'd you do? Never mind. I'll go talk to him." Raven immediately got up and went to Beast Boy's room. Starfire jumped up from her seat to follow Raven, spilling soda all over the table. "Oh, I do hope friend Beast Boy is quite okay! Perhaps I should journey to his room and console him as well?" "No Star, I think Raven can handle it. Why don't you eat?" Robin said, pulling Starfire back into her seat. "Very well, if you are sure he will be all right." After that, they all ate in silence.

Raven came down about 15 minutes later, looking tired and annoyed. "Well?", Robin asked. "He'll be fine. He just needs to be alone for a while. And he needs you to stay away from him." Raven said, looking at Melissa. "I...um, okay...Look, I'm sorry, but when he grabbed me-" "Save it." Raven answered, then turned away from Melissa, ignoring her. Soon, the other Titans were all involved in a conversation, with Melissa just sitting there, staring at her hands in her lap and being ignored. Finally, she got up and went to her room, where she soon started crying, blaming herself for Beast Boy's actions, and hating herself for the way she'd treated him earlier in the day. After all, he had reason to feel angry, and she should've understood that. She kept thinking about this over and over, and mentally kicking herself, as she cried herself to sleep. Beast Boy, in his room, did the same.

It was so dark down there. But then 200 feet underground it should be. They must have forgotten, must have given up. She couldn't blame them though. She'd done terrible things. Unforgivable things. Slade was right all along. She had no friends. But she didn't deserve them. She just wished she could see Beast Boy one last time. He didn't come and sleep at her feet and cry over her "death" anymore; he hadn't even visited for what seemed like weeks. But then there was no way to tell how long it had been, how long she had been trapped in this hell on earth that she had created for herself. It was as though time stood still here, as she had watched her friends come and go less and less frequently, putting flowers at her feet, comforting Beast Boy by telling him they'd find some way to reverse the effects. Then they stopped coming at all. And now she was all alone. And she couldn't blame them either; she only blamed herself. She started to cry to herself, and gasp for what little air passed through the openings in the pumice. The acidic chemicals that Aurora had poured on the rock still sizzled slightly, as they slowly began to break down the rock. And ever so slowly, so that it was barely noticeable to the human eye, the lava began to crack around her body and fall off in small pieces to the ground. After about two hours, the lava encasement finally shattered from her and she fell to the floor of the cavern, gasping for much needed air, not even able to stand on her own. As she breathed in the air, and crawled to a puddle left from the previous night's rain, drinking every drop as though it were her last, she slowly regained her strength, and within a few hours pulled herself up to a standing position against the wall. She struggled to stand freely, and finally succeeded when suddenly something hit her head and she fell to the cavern floor unconscious.