Chapter Two: She Came from Outer Space

"You're evil just like your father!"

"I'm not evil! I'm a normal girl!"

Melody then removes her human exo skin revealing her true full robot identity. Everything now exposed and all the weapons aimed and ready to fire at Jenny. Every inch of her being filled with rage

"I. AM. NORMAL!"

That's when it all fell silent. Jenny stared at her frozen, the citizens petrified in fear and then…Brad…who had a look of both mixed concern and fear.

Her eyes met his, all of her anger wiped away. She quickly emerged back into her human form, tears streaming down her artificial cheeks.

Gazing at Brad once last time she choked softly,

"I…I don't belong here."

Her hands covered her eyes as she started to sob. She turned her back towards him,

"I don't belong anywhere!!"

And flew off into space to get as far away as possible

Melody's optics were once again filled with tears. She just wanted to be a normal girl and have normal relationships. Something even her own dad couldn't give her.

When she met Brad, she felt actually human. He liked her and paid attention to her. Her eyes narrowed, Then Jenny happened. She sighed with a pained expression, Brad probably doesn't even want to look at me now.

Melody looked up to the white haired lady in a yellow coat driving the ship and gave a hopeful smile, maybe this time will be different. Maybe I can finally belong somewhere.

The ship was parked into the garage of Wakeman's house next to a big minivan and another rocket that had a monster face painted onto it. The booming engine whirred to a stop as Wakeman maneuvered out of her chair and opened the hatch, motioning Melody to follow her.

Melody followed Wakeman into the house. Melody looked around and admired the architecture. She gazed out of the glass window at the neighborhood confused,

Why does this look so familiar?

Wakeman guided her upstairs, passing a row of doors, she opened the door that looked like a teenage bedroom,

"I don't have much room right now, most of the rooms are just storage areas. So for now, you and XJ9 will be sharing a room." She continued, "I have a blown up mattress somewhere here that I'll put in there."

Melody gave a small smile,

"Really? Are you sure she'll be ok with…" Wait, did she just say XJ9? She doesn't know why but that name sounded uncomfortably familiar to her. She remembered when her father kidnapped Jenny to download her information and coding files to install in Melody herself. On the screen, she remembered seeing two letters and a number- but what were they again?

Wakeman interrupted her thoughts waving her hand,

"Oh she will be fine, I'll explain everything to her. She will understand"

Melody nodded, but now unsure of the situation, she asked nervously,

"Uhm, you never told me, but what's your daughter's name?"

Wakeman responded with a raised eyebrow,

"XJ9."

Melody rubbed her arm and pressed further,

"Right, but does she have another name, like a human name?"

Wakeman rolled her eyes, exasperated

"She does like to go by Jenny, which I never understood why, XJ9 is a fine name for a robot!"

Melody's "pupils" shrunk in terror, No, this can't be happening, Doctor Wakeman is Jenny's mom?! This can't be happening! Please no!

She bit her lip and started to tremble, anger and fear overwhelmed her. Just when she thought she was getting a fresh new start, the past cruelty snuck it's way back into her life.

Wakeman studied her and was confused,

"Are you alright?"

Melody just stared at her stunned, her eyes drooped, Wakeman raised a finger smiled,

"Oh I know, you must need oil! I'll go run down in the kitchen and grab some." Wakeman kindly patted Melody's shoulder, and her other hand pointed at a chair in the corner of the room, "You can rest for a minute, you must be tired."

Melody watched as Wakeman wandered back down the stairs. Don't leave me! She wanted to shout. However she restrained. What would she even say? How could she explain herself? Her mind felt overwhelmed, she appreciated Wakeman for taking her in, but Jenny is her daughter! And the last time they met, they had an all out battle for the whole town to see! Melody recalled how she almost destroyed Jenny entirely.

She could try to explain everything to Wakeman, but she doesn't know how well Wakeman would take the fact that Melody almost obliterated her own child.

Melody looked around nervously, what am I going to do??

Next to Jenny's bed a window frame cracked, letting in a cool breeze. There was her answer. She slowly made her way to the window and lightly pressed on the glass, causing more of the outside world to be exposed.

She gazed at the city Tremerton. Rows of houses and collections of buildings of all shapes and sizes surrounded her. Right in front of her the color changing trees stood in front of her, their leaves danced with the small breeze. The birds whistled without a care in the world. So peaceful.

Melody gave an artificial sigh, sure she doesn't need to breathe, but it helped cool her circuits. She gazed back at the hallway. She felt guilty leaving without an explanation, but she couldn't stay any longer. She had to run, as far as possible. She needed to get out of there. She took one last big "breath" and started to lift herself out the window, placing herself onto the ledge outside.

"Tuck, for the last time, the Lockness lake monster isn't real!"

"That's because he moved into the sewers! I am going to prove it!"

Melody gasped as she saw two teenagers smirking and the small dripping wet child with a look of fierce determination on the sidewalk. Oh no, it's them!

Jenny rolled her eyes at him and sighed,

"I don't think shoving your head in the school toilet is going to help your case Tuck."

Brad narrowed his eyes and folded his arms,

"I still can't believe we had to call the plumber to fish you out, you were in there for thirty minutes!"

Tuck shrugged now agitated,

"Not my fault that my head got stuck in that stupid hole! Proof they're hiding something, if they weren't hiding the monster, the hole would be bigger!"

Brad and Jenny both facepalmed from that response,

"Or no one is supposed to be shoving themselves in the toilet in the flipping first place!"

Tuck narrowed his eyes,

"I'll sue."

Brad sighed, now frustrated,

"Give it a rest Tuck." He turned to Jenny giving a tired smile, "I better go put him in the tub, I'll see you later Jen."

Jenny gave a small chuckle,

"Ya, just keep him away from the drain."

Tuck brightened in realization,

"Good idea, thanks Jenny!" He ran off towards the house next door giggling madly.

The teens both stared in shock,

"TUCK NO! DON'T CLOG THE TUB, DAD WILL KILL YOU…OR ME!!" Brad bolted after him leaving Jenny behind shaking her head and chuckling. Melody from the window also couldn't help but give a small giggle at the predicament. Ah, siblings. Jenny thought of her eight robot sisters who are currently deactivated in her basement. She sighed and wondered what it would be like if they could live like she did. Maybe one day, she sighed. Although it seems unlikely with how her mom feels about them.

Jenny waved,

"See you later!"

Jenny turned her pigtails into jet mode and started to fly towards her bedroom window.

Melody gasped in horror. It's too late now. She quickly jumped back in the bedroom, fell flat onto her stomach and proceeded to crawl under the bed shaking.

Melody peered under the bed frame. She could see Jenny's artificial blue boots land on the floor and proceeded to walk towards Melody's direction.

"Mom, I'm home!" Her voice rang out in the wide room and down the hall.

Melody was frozen in fear, she didn't know what to do. The next voice she heard was presumably Doctor Wakeman shuffling into the bedroom and holding a can of oil that was meant for Melody.

"Well hello dear XJ9, did you have a good day?"

Jenny responded in a positive tone, "It was good, unfortunately the Krust cousins are in some of my classes. But, I just put up with them at this point." She continued, "Then Brad, Sheldon, and I went to pick up Tuck who apparently got himself stuck in the toilet…AGAIN. When we got him out, Sheldon immediately left because he just couldn't stand the smell and felt like he was going to throw up. Brad and I couldn't stand it either, but we just stayed in the hall while the plumber came and then walked home."

Wakeman laughed,

"Oh Tuck, he can be a handful, it seems."

Jenny gave a sigh in response,

"Ya…" Her thoughts again returned to her sisters, "Hey mom, don't you think we could…"

Wakeman interrupted her, changing the topic

"Oh XJ9, I almost forgot, while I was on the moon, I met another teenage robot, who actually reminded me so much of you!"

Melody cringed, her first thought was, I'm nothing like Jenny! Why would she even say that?

And then she fears how Jenny is going to react that she is here in her house, hiding under her bed.

Melody continued to peek under the frame, Jenny had a quizzical look on her face,

"Another teenage robot?" She scratched her head, "What is she like?"

Wakeman smiled,

"Oh she seems to be a very kind girl." She placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder, "She reminded me of you, just wanting to fit in and be part of society." Wakeman frowned,

"Unfortunately, it didn't seem everyone reciprocated well and she felt so out of place." She continued, "I actually invited her to stay with us for awhile, speaking of, where is she? I brought her some oil." Wakeman pondered.

Melody felt guilty now for hiding from Wakeman, but she just didn't want to face Jenny at the moment.

Jenny responded with a small smile,

"Wow, really? I thought I was the only one…"

Melody rolled her eyes, she hoped she could stay longer in hiding, however it wasn't much longer till Wakeman shouted,

"Melody, I brought your oil, where did you go?"

Melody flinched as she watched Jenny freeze up,

"Wait, did you just say Melody?!"

Wakeman nodded,

"Yes dear!"

Jenny stared terrified. No, it can't be, could it? she spoke softly

"Did…did she say what her…last name was?"

Wakeman paused thinking for a second, she tapped her chin,

"Hmm…I think she said it was Locus."

Jenny's pupils shrunk, her mind was overcome with the memory of the last time they met. Melody was going to destroy me. But for some reason, she didn't. Though that was true, Jenny was still cautious of her. Her dad was Doctor Locus after all.

Jenny took a deep "breath" and folded her arms,

"Mom, do you remember the situation a few months back when Dr.Locus mind controlled my sisters and me?"

She continued, "That's Melody's dad! She is his daughter! For all we know she is evil and crazy as he is!"

Melody felt the anger swelling up in her again, she held her hands in a tight fist, just like last time. I am not evil! I'm nothing like my father! He abandoned me, so why would I want to be like him?

Wakeman paused in thought again.

"Is that so?"

Jenny nodded, but also slightly confused by her mother's calmness

"Yes! The last time we met we even got into a fight and…" She paused and instead of saying what the results were, she just simply stated in a softer tone,

"It just…didn't go well." This surprised Melody a little bit, since she thought Jenny would just rat her out about how she almost killed her.

Wakeman nodded,

"Hmm, I see…" she continued with a knowing smile,

"Well if that's your theory, then we should put Vega and the cluster back on the villains watchlist."

Jenny grew a perplexed expression, and confused why Vega was now a part of the conversation,

"What? She hasn't done anything though!"

Wakeman shrugged,

"True, however, her mother is Vexus, the ex queen of the cluster after all."

Jenny's cheeks lit a blue color realizing where mom was getting at.

Wakeman continued,

"They are both children of an evil villain, if you can't trust a daughter of a mad scientist. Then you certainly shouldn't trust the daughter of an exiled evil queen of another planet who tried to take over our planet."

Melody was shocked. She couldn't keep silent anymore and growled,

"Hypocrite…" she slammed her fists on the floor next to her. The sound caught Jenny and Wakeman's attention, Jenny lifted the bed up with ease due to her super strength.

"Oh there you are Melody! I have your oil!" Chimed Wakeman cluelessly.

Jenny and Melody however both remained silent and stared at each other as their optics met. Melody was steaming, she crawled out and stood up to look Jenny straight on,

"You!" She pointed a finger at her, "You are a hypocrite!"

She narrowed her eyes at Wakeman,

"I am nothing like her."

Jenny was now filled with rage and embarrassment, her cheeks bright blue, holding up a fist,

"I'm not a hypocrite! Vega didn't turn on me at the last second, meanwhile you went back to your lunatic father after he kidnapped me to steal my data, how could I trust you?"

Melody screamed tears blurring her vision,

"I had no choice! I'm a robot, I'm programmed to obey him!"

She continued,

"Just like how you're programmed to supposedly keep the world safe!" She muttered folding her arms, "You probably don't have a choice to not do that!"

Jenny's jaw dropped at that statement, she shook her head, although with less confidence and a little startled

"No, I have a choice!" Right?

Wakeman stood between the two and placed an arm against both of them, to keep them from getting closer to each other,

"Girls! Calm down! It'll be alright!" However Jenny and Melody continued their bickering, until Wakeman finally screeched and stomped her foot,

"ENOUGH! Both of you!" Which silenced them both immediately.

Wakeman sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose,

"Good jobs, I'm getting too old for this. Look I see that you both have had your differences." She placed a hand on both of their shoulders to help comfort them,

"But I also see two robot teenagers who also share so much in common."

Melody and Jenny both look bewildered, glanced at each other and back at Doctor Wakeman and shouted in unison,

"I am not like her!"

Wakeman smirked at their response, they shook their heads and continued to protest, again in unison,

"She doesn't know what it's like to be…" they stared at each other as some form of understanding started to build, "An outcast…"

They sat in silence, stunned they said the exact same words.

Melody's head was spinning, how could Jenny understand? She at least has friends and her own mother! Even my own father would compare me to her!

Jenny's mind ran along similar questions, She can hide her robot identity with her exo skin! No one would even know she's a robot! Meanwhile, I stand out like some artificial freak. And she's…well…prettier than me. Brad sure thinks so…And no doubt Sheldon would too…How could she understand me?

Wakeman nodded, folding her arms and smiled knowingly, Jenny let out a huff,

"I…have homework to do."

Jenny wandered over to her desk and lazily lets her backpack slide off her shoulder and hit the floor.

Melody gazed at the floor but proceeded to grab the oil from Wakeman's hand, timidly responding,

"Thanks for the…oil, doctor."

——————————————————————-

Hours passed, the room was now only illuminated by the light of the bedroom, since the outside world was now dark.

The two remained silent towards each other. Certain times during those hours Jenny had to leave to fight off some monsters invading the town. Melody would wander around, explore a little, find some magazines to flip through and admire the clothing the models wore.

Melody would have left sooner, but Wakeman kept insisting to at least stay the night. Reluctantly, she promised. Well that's what she tells herself anyway, but she just also couldn't make herself leave for some reason.

The time was now 10 pm, Melody sat against the wall flipping through another magazine while Jenny sat tiredly on her bed.

Jenny stared at Melody innocently looking through the pictures. Her mind thought back on everything, she remembered their fight, how awful it was. Brad's words echoed from that day after Melody ran away,

"She had me dead to rights, but she didn't destroy me!"

Brad angrily replies throwing his hands up,

"Of course not! She's just a confused kid!" He points at her, "A robot like YOU who wanted to fit in!"

She winced at that memory. She thought after that day, Melody would never be seen again and just become a thing of the past.

Then today her mother announced finding another teenage robot, who reminded Wakeman of Jenny herself. Jenny's optics observed Melody. Melody looked innocent, but she also wore a worn out expression.

Jenny did a slight frown, she noted, the light in Melody's optics have dimmed, metaphorically of course. They weren't as bright as they used to be.

She remembered how she was and still is received. She didn't tell anyone, but that one Christmas, being tossed aside and being treated like some monster still cuts deep to her core. Even her own family and friends betrayed her! She said she has forgiven them, and tries to convince herself she had. But she doesn't really believe herself, it still hurts.

She shook off the thought and sighed. Then she did the same thing to Melody, treating her like a monster. Maybe Brad and her mom were right after all, she and Melody do share a lot in common.

Melody looked up and gave her an annoyed expression,

"Why are you staring at me?"

Jenny looked away with a guilty pained expression.

Melody sighed and narrowed her eyes,

"I'm going to be gone first thing in the morning, don't worry."

She growled as she continued

"I'll be out of your life and…and…away from Brad for good!"

Jenny flinched in overridden guilt as Melody started to have tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I don't belong…"

Jenny stood up and started to approach her.

"No."

She sat down against the wall in the corner next to Melody. Looking straight on, She sighed,

"You…do belong here." She turned her head to look at Melody in her optics which now show confusion. Jenny continued softly,

"I…was wrong…I should have known better than that to have treated you so unfairly."

Melody scoffed and rolled her eyes,

"You think? Everyone probably sees me as a monster…even Brad…I'm just a-a-a."

Jenny finished her sentence while nodding,

"An artificial freak?"

Melody froze as Jenny finished Melodys sentence and looked into Jenny's optics, which now also formed tears.

Jenny sighed, tears now slowly streaming on her face as well,

"I feel like that everyday…everyday people at school will judge me and just toss me aside…you think I'd be more popular with being a superhero, but…no… I'm just a total joke."

Jenny frowned and gazed at the ground,

"Even certain people that I did consider friends or family weren't always loyal either…"

Melody raised an eyebrow and placed a hand on Jenny's shoulder, It couldn't be Brad or her mom, could it?

"What do you mean not always loyal? Who were they?"

Jenny sat in silence for a minute. She didn't want to have to explain the whole Christmas situation and she didn't think Melody would believe her if she said Brad was one of those who betrayed her and didn't want to possibly start another argument about that. Even if Melody did believe her, Jenny wouldn't want to ruin their relationship again.

She mumbled,

"I don't want to talk about it…it just hurts, and I'm still trying to actually forgive them…"

Jenny continued,

"The point is, I understand how that feels…and…I'm sorry…though I understand if you wouldn't forgive me, I probably wouldn't forgive me either."

Melody sat for a second, and observed Jenny's optics. Did she really mean all that? Her eyes drooped both out of exhaustion and pain, a reflection of what Melody was also feeling in herself. She could feel her own anger slipping away and started feeling sympathy. Yet she was still hesitant. Brad's face kept appearing in her mind, he probably is terrified of her now, thanks to Jenny. Could she honestly forgive her?

"Brad was the first person that treated me like a normal girl…he made me feel special at the same time." She gave a small smile as she reminisced about the time they spent together,

"When I first left my father to be with Brad, he showed me all of Tremerton and it was amazing…" she shrugged, "I would tell you more, but as I recall you did end up following us around all day without us noticing."

Jenny blushed sheepishly as she recalled that day, and rubbed the back of her head,

"Sorry…I was just trying to watch out for him."

Melody rolled her eyes,she didn't really believe that excuse, but she continued,

"At the end of our fight when I revealed my true form, I saw Brad's face…" tears again filled her optics, she wiped her "nose" and sniffed. "Oh Jen, I felt horrible…he feared me just like everyone else."

Melody sighed, "Who could blame him? I mean who would want to hang out with a rusty hunk of metal like me?"

Jenny's body stiffened, those words sounded and felt so familiar. A faint memory from four years before echoed in her mind, recalling herself saying those exact words to her mother. Who would? She was a robot after all. She thought that for a long time, then her next door neighbor and now best friend came in the picture.

Jenny gave a soft smile and put her arm around Melody,

"Brad would." She sighed, "Before I met Brad, I didn't have friends. It was just my mom and I. I didn't even get to leave the house unless it was to go crime fighting…my life was like that for five years. Then one day his little brother threw a baseball into the window and…well the rest is history…If he accepted me all those years ago, then he absolutely would accept you now."

Melody wiped her optics and now finding herself smiling in return,

"You think so?"

Jenny gave a firm nod.

"I know so."

Melody sighed in relief and a look of peace washed on her face.

Jenny continued,

"Mel, you do belong and…if you want, you can stay here for as long as you like."

Melody raised her eyebrow questionably,

"Really?" She rubbed her arm, "Well, I don't know."

Jenny looked at her straight on, placing both of her hands on her shoulders,

"I insist. I'll even take you to the mall or we can go to Mezmers and get oil shakes."

Melody chuckled,

"Oil shakes huh?" Jenny responded, nodding and smiling.

Melody sat for a second, taking in the silence. She stared back at Jenny observing her demeanor. It seemed very inviting and genuine. However, she still wondered one thing,

"Ok, I'll stay. But can I ask you something?"

Jenny shrugged,

"Sure."

Melody took a deep breath and clasped her hands together,

"I want you to be perfectly honest with me…do you like Brad?"

Jenny's pigtails perked up, her optics widened in surprise.

Do I like Brad? Why would she ask that? No! We're just friends, best friends! I mean, maybe I felt something the first few months after we met, but I don't feel that way now…especially since that one particular Christmas

Jenny forced a laugh,

" Oh jobs, no, why do you ask?"

Melody rubbed her chin,

"Well I know that day you were suspicious of me being evil but…I don't know, it's just when he mentioned you being jealous, you just got really defensive I guess."

Jenny blushed a bit. Why does everyone keep thinking I was jealous? If anyone was jealous that day, it was that stupid mutated steroid fed cockroach…what even happened to that bug anyway?

Jenny took a breath to calm herself and cupped her hands around Melodys hands,

"I promise you, I do not have any feelings towards Brad, ok? He and I are just friends." She emphasized the last two words.

Melody was puzzled as she didn't really get a real answer to that question, but decided to drop it as Jenny seemed a little agitated now.

Melody gave a small smile and nodded,

"Ok then."

She continued changing the subject, her optics looking around the room

"So you mentioned a mall…What's that?"

Jenny was relieved at the change of subject but then gasped at Melody's question

"You don't know what a mall is?"

Melody shook her head in confusion,

"My dad would never let me go anywhere and I know Brad showed me the town on our date, but he didn't really explain what things meant. Like I heard of a place called the mall but he didn't really explain it, of course I didn't say anything since at that point he still thought I was a human and probably expected me to automatically know that stuff."

Jenny grew a huge grin and giggled,

"It's only one of the best places on earth!" She pointed at the magazine laying on the ground that Melody was previously reading,

"You know how this magazine shows pictures of clothes, well at the mall you get to see them and try them on and even buy some! They even sell things other than clothes!"

Melody's optics widen and gasped in shock, in her mind she imagined a palace with infinite clothes, she squealed,

"R-really?

Jenny nodded ecstatically, Melody brought her hands up to her face and squealed in excitement,

"Can we go tomorrow, after school?"

Jenny chuckled,

"Of course!"

The atmosphere in the room was more peaceful now as both girls felt the former hostility between them melted away.

Melody felt relaxed as she watched Jenny go off to bed. She laid on the air mattress Wakeman lended to her earlier, gazing at the celine. She couldn't help but smile to herself,

Maybe this is a fresh start for me after all.

———————————————————————

Elsewhere at the other side of Tremerton on top of a hill a light begins to glow. A pair of blue boots emerged from the portal and touched the grass.

The being stepped out. She wasn't from here nor was she human, however many would recognize her in Tremerton.

Her pale metal skin reflected the moon light. Her optics observed the horizon and a smirk grew on her face.

"Hello Tremerton, miss me?" She rubbed her hands together and cackled.

Let the fun begin.

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Author's note: The Second Chapter is now here! I finished it sooner than I thought I would! Please read and leave a review:)