(A/N: Warning: themes of trafficking (slavery), racial sensitive terms, and kidnapping are going to be part of this chapter, but it's very doubtful it's going to be a beginning to end thing (if that makes sense). Nevertheless, these are very touchy subjects, so please read cautiously. That's all I have to say for now.)

X*-*X*-*X~o~o~o~X*-*X*-*X

Within the next several hours, everyone was awake and they continued on course to Augstaka. Everyone was chatting and laughing amongst each other, making the cockpit even louder than it was the other day.

It was loud enough to keep XL awake, good thing too, he was about ready to pass out, which wouldn't be a good thing. It was pretty obvious that he hadn't slept, he had dark rings around his eyes that made it look like the skin in that area was doing its own impersonation of blueberries.

He let out a prolonged yawn and Cyborg remarked, "Long night, huh?"

"Shut your ass," he growled in a low, whispery voice.

"Whoa, watch your language," Kevin joked.

"Mind your own shit," he hissed.

"Hey! Maybe you should go back to sleep," Ben suggested gently.

"Maybe you should leave me alone!" he snapped, slamming his fists on the computers, causing some sparks to fly. He stood up and stormed out of the cockpit.

"What's his problem?" Beast Boy inquired to no one in particular.

"Yeah, if I didn't know any better I would think that he got up on the wrong side of the bed," his cybernetic best friend commented.

"Just leave him be," Gwen spoke. "He's probably under a lot of stress. Just give him a little time to cool off."

"You do have a point," Raven agreed. "I felt his emotions during that little episode, he's very stressed out."

"I could feel his heart rate, it's increased substantially compared to earlier," she mentioned.

"Do you think that's something we need to keep an eye on?" Robin asked.

"I doubt it, but anything's possible," she answered.

It had been a few minutes since XL had stormed off in anger and Slade was getting a little worried. He was just about to get and go look for him, but then he came back into the cockpit.

"Hey, feeling any better?" Ben asked.

He flipped him off and hissed, "Shut up."

"That's a no," he uttered.

He sat down with a sigh and rested his elbow on the computers while his hand caged his face, "I'm just very tired. I can't control myself."

"Why not take a nap?" Gwen asked.

He suddenly started to squirm in his seat erratically, holding his head tightly, "No! No! No sleep! Don't want to get sick! No rest!"

Slade immediately rushed over and tried to comfort him, "Calm down, you're going to be fine."

He shook his head vehemently as he continued to shake as if there was an earthquake occurring, "No! No! No! I won't give in! Never!"

Kevin put the ship on autopilot - not really trusting Ben to not spontaneously crash - and started to search for something, "I think we have sedatives in the Plumber first aid kit."

He looked high and low through the entire cockpit, but was fruitless. He could have sworn it was there, but couldn't find it anywhere. He was absolutely sure he left it there, how could it have disappeared?

He slammed his hands on his legs in frustration, "It's no use. I can't find it."

"Let me try something," Gwen spoke. She raised a hand, casting a spell, "Somnus."

His head fell against Slade's chest as soon as the spell took effect. He lifted his chin off his chest and saw that he was asleep. He let out a breathless sigh as he let him rest against his chest and wrapped his arms around him protectively.

'For the sake of everyone, I hope his paranoia was just that,' he prayed.

At this point, that's what it may as well be… paranoia. The way he was behaving the other night, was it all an act?

He's known him for nearly a decade - he's known him for literally half of his life - and he knew that he rarely tells a lie unless he has a good reason to do so. So, why did he feel that he wasn't telling the truth? He wished he knew the answer.

He just sounded so credible and so scared of something... or someone. The last time he had seen him like this was when he was a mere ten years of age.

What reason does he have to not believe him now? None; as far as he knew.

"I wish to know what he was so scared of," Starfire spoke.

"Yeah, he said he didn't want to get sick and that he wouldn't give into something," Raven uttered.

"What could that mean?" Ben asked out loud.

The only ones who knew the answers to that were Slade and XL and neither one were going to talk. XL because he was currently asleep and was not emotionally stable to answer any questions. And Slade was not about to betray the trust of his 'son'; not yet, not the right place or time.

"Wake him up," he spoke suddenly, surprising and confusing everyone.

"What? Are you crazy?" Kevin questioned harshly. "That insane little bastard-"

"Don't talk about him that way!" he suddenly snapped.

Kevin growled and it looked like he was about to stand, but then Gwen stood up and held out her hands to them as if to stop them from doing something reckless, "Guys, stop. I think we're all just a little tired and cranky because we've been in space for twelve hours straight."

"Why don't we stop for coffee or something?" Ben suggested.

"Coffee? In outer space?" Beast Boy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Coffee is a universal drink, it's sold everywhere," Kevin explained. "There's a space cafe a few light years from here. We can stop there."

It only took about thirty minutes or so to get to the space cafe Kevin referred to. During that time, at Slade's demand, Gwen woke up XL, who was in a full blown panic when he was awakened. He quickly calmed down when he remembered where he was and saw that he was in the arms of his 'father'.

The space cafe appeared to be several floors, most likely for food services and some not so legal activities. Kevin landed the Rust Bucket in a spaceship hanger and they went into the main establishment.

XL's antenna suddenly started twitching, which he ignored at first, but then stopped dead in his tracks when they started trembling. His blood went cold with fear and his heart dropped, he stood there frozen, too afraid to move.

Slade noticed that his 'son' had fallen behind and wasn't moving, "What's wrong?"

"I have a bad feeling about this place," he muttered fearfully. He placed a hand over his stomach when it suddenly started hurting, "I have a feeling something bad will happen in there."

He went over to him and rubbed his back soothingly, "Nothing will happen, I'm right here."

'Where have I heard that before?' he questioned in his thoughts.

They walked inside and saw that everyone else was already ordering. XL looked around nervously and all of the shady people made him nauseous. In Undertown it's no big deal because he has a few connections, but out in space he doesn't know anybody that could get him out of anything.

Cyborg saw them walk in and noticed XL looked a little uneasy, "Hey, you okay? You look a little green."

"My skin is cyan, asshole!" he hissed.

He held up his hands defensively, "Okay, okay, it was just a joke."

Ben heard this and saw them, "Oh, hey guys. Do you want something?"

"Something with caffeine," XL replied, half-joking.

"I'm fine. I don't need anything," Slade answered.

He nodded, tapping his hand on the counter, "Got it."

While waiting for their orders, XL's stomach grumbled nervously, so he decided to wait for them near the entrance. Although he stood out of eyesight from the patrons, just being near them made his stomach turn. He was just praying that it wouldn't be too much longer so that they can get out of there.

Although everyone else thought that he was just being paranoid, they should have paid mind to his antics. Because unbeknownst to them, they had more than just a few eyes on them.

Most of those looking at them were doing so because humans are considered valuable on the intergalactical black market, almost to the point of being priceless. Humans are considered a delicacy to many aliens and are valued in the slave trade because they can't fight back and escape because they have no powers.

Though, there was one particular group of aliens that eyed only one specific person: Starfire. She's a Tamaranian, one of the most valued species in the galaxy and one of the very few in the Milky Way that's still fighting for equal rights.

The ones eyeing her were a group of feline-like aliens with light greyish brown fur and large, pointed ears, much like the ears of a fennec fox. They wore dark clothes underneath tan poncho-like cloaks.

"Check it out, looks like we got ourselves a troq at twelve o'clock," one of them said.

"Yeah, she's young, bet she'll get top-dollar," another estimated. "What do you think, Fanak?"

The final one, Fanak, the leader, did a thorough visual examination from his view point, "Drug her up and alert the crew, we got a major payday coming up."

One of them smirked and filled a syringe with a clear, yellow liquid, "With pleasure."

They waited until she stood separately from her friends while they continued to wait for their orders and made their move. Little did they know, there was at least one set of eyes that saw what they were doing, no one else may care, but their plan hits him close to home.

"Hello, what brings a lovely lady like you to these parts?" one of them asked politely.

"I am here with my friends on a mission," she answered innocently.

"That's nice. What is it?" the other asked.

"I apologize, I cannot tell you," she replied.

The other slipped the syringe to Fanak, "No need to tell us now, we'll have plenty of time to talk on my ship!"

She had no time to react as he injected her with the drug. Her body suddenly went weak as she felt an overwhelming fatigue.

They dragged her away towards the entrance and made it appear as if they were trying to help her. Because of how he stood out of view and because the dark clothes he wore almost camouflaged him against the dark metal wall, they didn't see XL when he held out his foot and nearly made them trip.

"Okay, who's the wise guy?!" one of Fanak's men shouted.

"Right here," a voice spoke. They looked and saw him standing in the corner with his arms crossed. His hood was over his head so they couldn't see his face.

"Rescuing a damsel in distress, very heroic," the other said and suddenly punched him in the jaw, "but not very smart."

He staggered slightly and opened and closed his mouth a few times, the familiar metallic taste of blood invaded his mouth. "Nice shot," he complimented tauntingly, he stood erect with glints of arrogance and amusement in his blood red eyes, "but not good enough."

He leaped up and kicked one of them in the chest. He then did a backflip and landed on the back of the other.

Fanak dropped Starfire onto the floor and fired a blaster at him, which he was able to dodge, but with some difficulty. He wore a confident and arrogant expression every time he missed, which only pissed him off.

He continued to repeatedly miss his target until his target let something slip up, more like he lost his footing and got shot in the lower chest as he attempted to regain it. Fortunately the blaster was actually a stun gun, it only paralyzed him and wasn't even able to do a very good job of that because of the location of the shot, his clothing, and protective mucus absorbed most of the blast, but it still did a number on him and left him in serious pain.

Fanak's men recovered from the assault and went over to Starfire, while Fanak himself went over to XL. He pulled back the hood he wore and smirked when he saw his face.

"Forget the troq, we got ourselves an even bigger prize," he said.

"Oh, yeah? And what's that?" one of them asked.

He forced him to stand, which caused him to grunt in pain, and removed his hood, revealing his cyan skin, large eyes, and antenna, "We got ourselves a Tyro Yagon."

Both were surprised to see a Tyro Yagon that wasn't in slavery. If a Tyro Yagon wasn't in slavery, there were likely to be dead.

"How? I thought they were all dead?" one asked.

"Not all, many are in slavery," the other said.

"And they just happen to bring in more than any human or troq," Fanak smirked.

One of them glanced at him and added, "And he's young, the musk will be fresh."

"Not to mention he's in decent shape," the other said.

Their boss's smirk widened slightly, "That just means it's going to be a big payday."

Meanwhile in the cafe, their orders were finally done after it felt like they had waited for hours. Kevin handed out everyone's respective orders, albeit he was somewhat reluctant.

"Okay, who ordered the decaf?" he asked.

"I did," Robin replied. He handed it to him, "Thanks."

"Who got the oat milk latte?" he questioned.

"That would be me," Beast Boy answered, holding his hand up.

"What about the Zandurian milkshake? Who ordered that?" he asked, holding up a cup containing a purple and green beverage.

Cyborg grimaced, "Looks like something Star would order."

It was at that moment that they realized she wasn't there. They looked around a little, but there was no sight of her.

"Where did she go?" Robin asked.

"Maybe she went back to the Rust Bucket," Ben guessed.

They went back the way they came with the intent on going back to the Rust Bucket and taking off, but that would not be the case. In the exit hallway, they saw Starfire lying on the floor with a needle mark in her arm.

Robin dropped his coffee and rushed over to his girlfriend, "Starfire!"

"Is she alright?" Beast Boy questioned.

Gwen felt her mind, "She's conscious and looks like she was drugged."

"With what, though?" Ben questioned.

"How about this?" Kevin inquired, holding up a syringe and a vial full of a yellow transparent fluid. "It's a power inhibitor drug. It's illegal in fourteen galaxies."

"If it's illegal in fourteen galaxies then that can only mean one thing," Cyborg started.

"Slave traders," everyone, with the exception of Slade, finished in unison.

"Where is Xilo?" Slade asked.

He noticed that he wasn't there, even though he said that he would be waiting there. He knew him well enough to know that there's no way he would have left without them.

Robin tapped on his girlfriend's cheek as she began to pull through, "Star, what happened?"

"I... was waiting for... the beverages... and I felt a needle in... my arm," she slurred.

"Can you remember who stuck the needle in you?" he asked.

She shook her head and Kevin explained why she couldn't remember, "The drug is known to cause memory loss and drowsiness."

She then perked up when she was able to remember something, "Wait! I remember... the XL Terrestrial fighting them... and they took him away."

"Don't worry, Star, it's not your fault," he reassured.

"But how are we going to find him?" Ben asked. "This place has dozens of hangers."

"He could be anywhere," Cyborg added.

"And they could be long gone by now," Kevin pointed out.

Gwen closed her eyes and concentrated, "If he was here and fighting those slave traders, then his mana is going to be all over."

"Don't waste your energy, dozens of people must come through here everyday. I doubt you're going to find anything," Slade stated pointedly and impatiently.

She then realized something, "True, but I bet I'll be able to find some on you."

"What do you mean?" he all but demanded.

"You spent the most time with him out of any of us and you've had the most contact with him," she explained, "his mana is going to be all over you."

She closed her eyes again and scanned his body for XL's mana. If his mana was transferred to him via touch, then it should be enough to find him if he's still there.

"Got it. He's in hanger thirteen, top level," she informed.

"Hanger thirteen is on the other side of the cafe, by the time we get there they may be long gone," Kevin avered.

"It only takes a few minutes to take off," Cyborg stated.

"We'll never get there in time!" Slade asserted.

"No, but I know who can!" Ben proclaimed and hit the Ultimatrix.

The vivid green light enveloped him and faded soon after. He was transformed into a black and blue humanoid moth-like alien with moth-like wings and symmetrical shapes on his arms, legs, and neck done in a lighter blue that looked like ice chunks.

"Big Chill?" he asked himself. "Dammit. I was going for XLR8."

"Fly ahead, we'll meet you there," Kevin stated.

He nodded, "I'm on it." He went intangible and phased through the ceiling.

"Are sure that's a good idea?" Robin asked.

"Big Chill can survive in the vacuum of space," he responded. "He might be able to intercept them before they take off."

Fanak and his men dragged him to their ship on the other side of the cafe without drawing suspicion. It was accomplished the same way they attempted to take Starfire, they made it look like they were trying to help him.

It fooled dozens of people they passed, everyone thought they were doing a good deed, which was far from what they had planned. They believed they had successfully tricked everyone, but they had not.

There was one who knew what they were up to and knew he had to stop them. So he made the decision to follow them, making sure to not tail them too closely and compromise the rescue.

They made it to their ship at the top of the thirteenth hanger and opened the hatch to the cargo hold. Fanak's men forced him to move forward, but he struggled by taking steps back, much to their annoyance and frustration.

They forced him to his knees and Fanak slapped and punched him in the face. He spit up a little blood as a result.

"You should know your place by now," he gibed. "You should know that all you are is a little típote."

"Screw... you!" he hissed, spitting out a little more blood.

He gripped him by an antenna and pulled his head up to look at him, causing him to internally flinch in pain due to his injury getting pulled when he grabbed him, "You're going to wish you'd kept your mouth shut!"

He started panting and glared at him as he growled in a weak and scathing voice, "Take... your... best... shot!"

He raised fist to strike down on him again and XL closed his eyes and waited for the final blow, but it never came. Before he got the chance, a wire suddenly wrapped around his wrist and it retracted, carrying him along with it.

His face collided with a hard metallic object. Brass knuckles to be more specific - energy brass knuckles that knocked him out instantly.

"What the hell?!" one of them shouted.

Small metallic spheres are suddenly tossed at their feet. Realizing what they are, XL closes his eyes and looks away as they explode into flashes of light.

Both men shout out at that burning sensation in their eyes. XL took this opportunity to slam his head into the head of one of them, knocking him out. He then spun on his heel and his foot crashed into the jaw of the other.

He then heard someone ask with a gruff voice in a language that he was somewhat familiar with since it's one of the languages he was taught, "(Are you alright?)"

He stood erect and saw his savior and was surprised to see a familiar magenta armor. It was SevenSeven, a Sotoraggian bounty hunter. He knew who he was because of his reputation and he had seen him with his younger brother SixSix and their elder sister EightEight on more than one occasion in Undertown.

"Um, yes, I'm alright. Thank you," he responded.

SevenSeven then aimed the cannons on his hands in his direction, "(Get down!)"

He hit the deck as he shot laser disks at more of Fanak's men who came rushing out of his ship when they heard the commotion. They shot back and it quickly turned into a kill or be killed shootout.

XL covered his head tightly and trembled abnormally and uncontrollably. He closed his eyes tightly as he was suddenly beginning to have traumatic flashbacks of his childhood, from the day he lost everything to the day he almost lost his freedom forever.

SevenSeven used a wire to drag XL safely out of the line of gunfire. He stood up and hid behind him to protect himself.

"(What are you doing?!)" he shouted at him. "(I got you out so you can run! Leave!)"

He shook his head and replied in his language while ducking behind his shoulder to dodge a laser, "(No! I'm not leaving you! No one gets left behind.)"

He looked up at the ceiling and noticed that it was smooth. An idea popped into his head, it was a long shot, but at least it was better than the alternative.

"(Shoot up at a twenty degree angle)," he told him.

"(Are you sure that will work?)" he asked.

"(It's either that or become the largest piece of abstract art in the Universe)," he retorted.

He wasn't exactly sure what he meant by 'abstract art', but had a feeling it's most likely a reference to what will become of them if they don't fight back. Which he was more than happy to do.

They took several steps back and he shot up at the ceiling at the angle he said. It ricocheted off the ceiling and went down onto them.

It created a cloud of smoke when it made contact with the target. They looked with content when the smoke appeared and believed standoff to be done, at least that was until the cloud drifted away and they saw that they had activated a force field at the last second.

"So much for that idea," XL muttered.

"(You can say that again)," SevenSeven deadpanned.

"What now?!" he shrieked.

"(I'm not sure. You had your chance to escape, you know?)" he retorted.

"Oh, don't give me that!" he grumbled. "(We have to find a way out of here.)"

"(The way I see it, there's only one option: kill or be slaughtered)," he uttered in an ominous, bloodthirsty voice.

His heart stopped, he's already had to endure one massacre and wasn't ready to endure another. Even if it was nearly a decade earlier.

"(Isn't there another option?)" he asked, panicking.

"(Not unless you want to be vaporized)," he answered bluntly.

When he was given no response, he activated every weapon in his arsenal and aimed them directly at them. XL buried his face in SevenSeven's shoulder, he just couldn't bear the sight of another carnage.

Before anything could happen, Big Chill suddenly came through the ceiling. He looked a little surprised by what he saw, he almost expected the hanger to be completely empty, not be a shooting range.

He was still intangible when he remarked, "Aw, you got this party started without me."

"(Tennyson!)" SevenSeven spat. He aimed his artillery at him and was about fire, but he was stopped by XL.

"(No! Don't!)" he shouted, holding down his arm. "(Don't shoot him!)"

"(Why not?!)" he yelled. "(I can finally finish the job I've been given by countless clients.)"

"(Don't be a bounty hunter. Be a good citizen)," he practically begged.

He cursed under his breath and finally caved in, "(Fine.)" He put most of his weapons away. "(Have it your way.)"

Big Chill phased through some of Fanak's men, freezing them in giant blocks of ice. It wasn't long after this that everyone else rushed into the hanger.

"Looks like we missed the party," Kevin remarked.

"Oh, trust me, the party's not over just yet," Fanak said as he stood up with a smirk.

Starfire gasped, "That is him! I remember now. That is the one who injected me!"

Robin narrowed his eyes, "You made a big mistake trying to kidnap my friend."

Slade did the same, "That goes for me, too. You're going to pay for what you did."

Both Gwen and Kevin then gasped when they saw who XL was standing near. SevenSeven, an intergalactic bounty hunter for hire and one of the most aggressive in the industry, not unlike his younger brother SixSix.

"SevenSeven?! What's he doing here?!" Kevin exclaimed.

"You know that armored guy?" Beast Boy asked.

"Long story," he replied.

A shot was suddenly fired at them from one of Fanak's men, who had regained consciousness after he was knocked out. They ducked and dodged the blast.

"Let's just say he's someone who would stop at nothing to defeat us," he told him, "even if it's not for a job. We always manage to take him down though."

"What does he want with XL?" Cyborg questioned.

"It could be he's saving him only to kidnap him for himself," he suggested.

"I doubt it," Slade spoke. "Just look at how he's protecting him like a shield."

They took another look and saw that SevenSeven held an arm out, as if to hold him back from stepping forward and getting hit by the blaster shots. He even blocks him when one of those shots almost hits him.

"I hate to admit, but you might be right," Kevin concurred.

"How do you know this?" Robin inquired.

"Just look at how he's protecting him," he answered. "If he plans to take him to a slave trader or someone like that for quick money, he's not going to give a damn if he's injured as long as he gets paid."

While they were having their discussion, Big Chill was starting to get very frustrated with these slave traders. Every time he takes one down, another shows up and fires another shot at him.

'Okay. It's time to end this,' he thought.

He hit the Ultimatrix symbol on his chest and underwent a transformation. His blue was replaced with red and his antennae and wings had yellow and orange accents that looked like flames.

"Ultimate Big Chill!" he exclaimed in a raspier voice.

Beast Boy gasped at the spontaneous transformation, "Dude! What just happened?! He changed!"

"The Ultimatrix allows Ben's transformations to evolve into their ultimate forms," Gwen explained.

Ultimate Big Chill took in a deep breath and flames came out when he exhaled. The flames quickly turned into ice, which entrapped Fanak, his men, and the open hatch was completely frozen over.

"What the hell just happened?!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"He calls them 'ice flames'. They start off as flames and quickly turn into ice," Kevin explained.

He nodded, "Yep. It's fire so cold it burns."

He wrapped his wings around himself into a poncho like fashion. He then turned back into Big Chill and back into Ben afterwards.

"Dude! That was so cool!" Beast Boy grinned from ear to ear.

"Right?" he smiled excitedly.

XL shook hands with SevenSeven, "(Thank you, again.)"

"(No problem)," he replied. "(Anything to help an acquaintance.)" He just couldn't help but to grin at that. "(I better get going. I still have a job to do.)"

He nodded, "(See you on Earth.)" He gave a nod of his own and took his leave.

He gave a look to Ben and his team as he left, most likely a glare, they simply watched as he left. It was a little difficult since they fought him so often, but there was nothing they could do since he hadn't committed a crime.

Slade went to his 'son' and asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he responded. "A little shaken up, but fine."

"What do we do about them?" Raven asked, pointing her thumb at the large ice blocks.

"The Plumbers in this sector will take care of them," Gwen answered.

"The only place those guys are going is the Null Void," Kevin added. He then commented, "What I still can't figure out is why SevenSeven would help XL. If that's what he was really doing."

"It was," XL confirmed. "We know each other from Undertown."

"What I want to know is why?" he questioned.

"He might be a cold-hearted bounty hunter, but even he has a code of who should and shouldn't be hunted," he mentioned.

"A code? What do you mean?" Robin inquired, intrigued.

"He told me a while ago that an escaped Tyro Yagon that he was hired to return saved his life and, in return, he released him from slavery," he explained. "Ever since then, he's been trying to save as many as he can."

"Wow, that's pretty noble," Gwen commented. "Good for him."

"When I asked about the person that saved him, my first thought was that it could have been one of my brothers," he uttered.

"Your brother?!" close to everyone exclaimed, causing him to cover his ears.

"I thought you lost your entire family?!" Robin yelled.

"I thought so too, but apparently that's not the case," he responded. "I'm not even sure it was my brother, for all I know, everyone really is dead!"

Slade gripped his shoulders, "That's enough. Relax."

He looked up at his 'father' and his heart rate slowed down. He took in a breath through his nostrils and calmed down.

X*-*X*-*X~o~o~o~X*-*X*-*X

(A/N: Finally finished. I had to do some rewriting before I could finally finish this, but it all worked out in the end.

In case you guys are confused "(this)" means that people are communicating through the Sotoraggian language. The word "típote" is a Greek word meaning "nothing", a reference to the episode "TROQ" in "Teen Titans".

In case you guys don't know, Toy2711 and I wrote and published a one-shot called "A Rhythm of Friendship" together. We both published on our own accounts, so there are two copies of them. Feel free to check them out.)