Author's Note: YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! You have no idea, you rock. When you review and tell me your favorite part of the chapter, I just want to laugh and cry at the same time. (Some of you have an outstanding sense of humor, let me add.) Okay, so anyways, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

~0~0~0~

"I just cannot believe she would betray me like that again."

"I'm sorry, Star, I really am. I just…don't know what to say I guess."

The two Titans were in Starfire's new chamber, engaging in one of their…"sessions" before the first battle of Sanctor'x commenced. They had been given the knowledge beforehand that the contestants of the Troq rank were to duel first. It was only a mere qualifying round, but by the end of the day, winners would be chosen to move up a rank. Only a select few were chosen based on their fighting skills, and in order for their escape plan to work properly, Beast Boy had to be one of those few. The poor changeling was already a bundle of nerves.

However the real situation was convincing the Grand Ruler to let them re-enter the Gordanian ship from which they had arrived on, for that was the only place that had pods that the Titans were aware of. Finding other pods in the Citadel itself without arousing suspicion would be risky, especially since the penalty would most likely be death.

"I would ask my sister if the tributes could have this luxury, since I am generally in close range with her, but I fear that she would know my true intentions," Starfire fretted, tapping her index fingers together adorably.

"Maybe I could ask her," Robin suggested. "Don't I deserve a right to talk to her? I am the only one who is allowed to see you without causing a problem, so that must mean something…By the way, you never actually explained to me why that is."

"Why what is?" she questioned innocently, glancing off to the side.

Robin's eyes narrowed. Starfire never could lie to him easily. "What you told Trogaar so I get to see you. Why this," he gestured to them, "isn't a problem anymore. C'mon Star, I know you're hiding something. I could never have a conversation with you without him being in the room. I wasn't even allowed to touch you…" he paused, his cheeks getting a little rosy. "…on the shoulder," he added, giving her an awkward friend-punch on that very place.

Starfire bit her lip. "If I told you that you would not wish to know, would you-"

"Try me," he cut her off.

She sighed. Clearly there was no reasoning with him. Not when he had his determined leader face on. "Very well. I may have mentioned to Trogaar that we-"

Two guards burst in the room at that moment making the two jump. "The Qitecc warrior has been summoned to the pit for the first round of Sanctor'x. The Gem of Okaara is to report to the Grand Ruler's side at once."

Robin and Starfire exchanged a glance before Robin sighed. "I guess that means I have to go."

Starfire nodded, a small smile playing on her lips. "Tell Beast Boy that I wish him the good luck." She took his hand and gave it a squeeze before the two parted ways.

~0~0~0~

When Jinx, Bumblebee, and Raven entered the balcony just set up for those included in the Lord's harem, they discovered that they weren't the only ones.

There were about seven other women there, not including Starfire. Most of them were species that the girls didn't even recognize. What they did notice was that there was another Tamaranian girl there, with a shock collar that was similar to those around their own necks. They assumed that the other girls who were present were there willingly, since they lacked the deadly bronze accessory.

The three girls took their place in line with the others, casting nervous at one another. Finally Raven spoke up, breaking the silence.

"You're from Tamaran, aren't you?" she asked the girl softly.

Turning slowly, to face her speaker, the empath noticed how the girl was quite beautiful. She had reddish brown hair that ended at her shoulders, however she had two long strands of bangs that went past her other length, and was curled at the ends. Her eyes, like Starfire's were a green although they were much paler. She was extremely tall in stature-the top of Raven's head barely came up to the bottom of her shoulder-and she was extremely slender. By the nervous expression on her pretty features, it was clear that she had been captured and made into a slave.

"Ish neck glar tu sar, Tamaran?" she asked just as quietly.

Raven glanced at Jinx and Bumblebee. "Either of you speak Tamaranian?" she asked them without much hope.

They shook their heads vigorously.

Raven sighed. "Thought so," she muttered, before standing up on her tiptoes and pressing her mouth on the girl's.

She could hear Jinx and Bumblebee gasp, as if she had just lost her mind, which maybe she had in a way, but that wasn't the point. She pulled away and wiped the girl's taste off her mouth immediately, glancing at her friends with an expressionless face.

Bumblebee's eye twitched.

The girl looked at Raven with a quizzical expression before blinking a few times, and then responding with. "You know of our knowledge transfer. How?"

Raven shrugged. "I guess you could say, I've picked up a few things from your Princess over there," she gestured to the balcony opposite them.

The girl followed her finger and gave a small nod of understanding. "Oh, yes, you are friends of Princess Koriand'r. I suppose that is why you knew I was of the planet Tamaran?"

She nodded. "We're prisoners just like you. I'm Raven. This is Jinx, and that's Bumblebee," she gestured to each of her friends who waved meekly in return.

The girl gave a slight laugh. "You Earthlings have the strangest names. I am Zerna, born in the house of G'lanf. It is an honor to meet the friends of the Princess." She gave slight bow.

Raven glanced around hesitantly before leaning in close to Zerna. "We have a plan to escape," she explained hurriedly. "We might be able to send you home too, if we can. But you need to trust us, and in turn we need your own trust."

She smiled sadly, glancing at the ground. "I admire your courage, dark one, but it is hopeless. No one has ever escaped from the Citadel, or if they have they have died trying."

"Well we have to try," Raven insisted. "Look around, is this really the place you want to spend the rest of your life?"

Zerna glanced around slowly, taking in the other girls in the harem, and then taking in the arena itself. By the time her eyes came back to Raven, they were filled with tears. "No. It is not."

"Well don't worry girl, we've got it all figure out," Bumblebee spoke up helpfully. "We'll explain everything."

"But first," Jinx said to Raven, "you need to do a little explaining yourself. What was all of…that?" she waved her hand in front of Zerna.

"Tamaranians can learn any language through lip contact," Zerna offered helpfully. "It was merely a transfer."

"So…that means Star had to learn English that way too?" Bumblebee questioned.

Raven nodded.

"Who'd she learn it from?" Jinx asked eagerly.

"Who do you think?" Raven raised her eyebrows. "Who else follows her around like a lost puppy all the time?"

Bumblebee and Jinx exchanged a glance. "Figures."

Raven tapped her foot impatiently. "Can I please explain now?"

"Sure, sure," Jinx told her with a simple shrug. "And just to let you know, your secret's safe with us."

"What secret?"

Bumblebee laughed. "Don't you think a certain green bean's gonna get a little jealous if we tell him you're venturing out to other pastures?"

~0~0~0~

"Dude, I'm freaking out right now."

"Cool it grass stain, just calm down, you're gonna make a mess," Cyborg told him, shaking his head.

"Easy for you to say, Cy! You not the one who has to fight some weird alien freak in the next five minutes!" the changeling complained tugging at his hair desperately. He gave a nervous look at one of the tributes that was eyeing him because of his last comment and hid behind the cybernetic teen for protection.

"Look green bean, all you gotta do, is pretend this is one of Robin's training simulations. You do alright on those. Who knows? If you do alright, you might even be able to snag Raven and head home tonight," he added quietly.

Beast Boy halted his jittering for a moment to raise his eyebrows at Cyborg skeptically. "And what makes you so sure that I won't pick some totally hot alien chick?"

Cyborg rolled his eyes. "I don't know, man. Maybe it's because you totally have a thing for Rae, or it might be because all the other girls are oozing pus. Take your pick."

Beast Boy scratched his head. "Oh…right."

"Beast Boy," Robin called, jogging up behind him. "What did I miss? Are you about to go out?"

"Yeah, man and I'm losing it!"

Robin raised his eyebrows. "Really? That's weird. I thought you'd be excited to be the first one. After all you in the Troq rank, remember? You can totally handle them."

Beast Boy facial expression changed. "Oh…yeah…yeah, you're right! I totally got this!" He bounded away then, leaving a satisfied Robin and a bewildered Cyborg, shaking his head.

As Beast Boy and the other warriors entered the arena, an announcer's voice shook the stadium. It was in another language, but it was soon translated, clearly for the Titans' benefit.

"Welcome everyone to the first battle of Sanctor'x. The match today will consist of those in the Troq rank. There are twenty-two tributes held here. Those who surpass this battle will move up a rank, and secure a prize for themselves. Those who fail will be executed because this is the lowest rank. For the Earthlings benefit, all contestants will speak in English. Now without further ado, let the match commence!"

In the distance a gong rang, and then all hell broke loose.

Beast Boy immediately crawled out of range by transforming into an armadillo and rolling out of the way of a charging alien with horns protruding from its back. He changed back to his regular form just in time to duck from another attacker. With a grunt he changed into a rhinoceros and rammed into a creature with multiple legs, knocking it off balance and into another creature. He prepared to attack again when the two suddenly disintegrated, clearly too weak to continue. With another grunt, the changeling whipped back around and flew back into the heart of the fight.

Changing into a hawk he soared over head until he was plucked out of the air by an enormous alien with long purple hair. The beast let out a giant roar and then slammed him into the ground.

Beast Boy groaned, morphing back into his human form, then let out a scream as the beast prepared to stomp him to a pulp. He changed into a snake at the last minute, slithering out of harm's way. Once he was safe, he circled back around and tied his body around the monster's legs tripping it as it tried to escape. It fell with a massive crash, crushing several tributes as it landed.

Beast Boy barely had time to celebrate though, because suddenly a creature that looked half tiger soared towards him, biting down hard on the changeling's tail. The green Titan let out a pained his and transformed into a lion. He then let out a roar loud enough to frighten the tiger being out of the way. With a confident smile, he turned back into his normal form once more, his fist pumping the air.

"Oh, yeah, who's the king of the jungle now?" he gloated, wiggling his hips. His celebrations were cut short when he was blasted out of the way and thrown against the wall of the arena, his head smashing harshly against the steel material. He landed roughly, groaning in pain. He blinked up at his attacker, his vision going fuzzy. The creature in front of him had giant gaping jaws and six squirming arms, two of which tied around the changeling and used to hold him in front of it. He let out a hiss, spraying his face with spit, before he began to crush him.

Beast Boy screamed in protest, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. He had to think; that's what Robin would tell him. He morphed into a hummingbird and flew away from the creature, only to change back into his regular form quickly. He wasn't sure how much longer he could last. Bruises covered his body, he was bound to have a concussion, and he was fairly sure he had broken a rib. He crouched down on one knee, trying to catch his breath.

Raven watched from the stands, her eyes watching his every movement. She could sense that he was about to give, and that didn't help the fact that the same monster that had nearly killed him was creeping up on him.

"Garfield!" she shouted before she could stop herself, her power crackling ever so slightly around her. She winced as she anticipated the shock of the collar but it never came. However a second later the bronze clip fell to the ground with a soft thud.

The empath glanced down at it in shock. She had done it. She had disabled the collar. It was as good as useless now. However she glanced around worriedly, hoping no one else had noticed. Thankfully Azar seemed to be watching over her, for no one even had glanced her way. She just as easily clipped the collar back around her neck assuming her usual position as a member of the harem.

Raven's call seemed to have saved his life, because Beast Boy dodged out of the way at the last moment, the blow of the creature's attack, inflicting upon another unfortunate soul instead. Beast Boy transformed into a T-Rex then, preparing to charge the creature when suddenly a gong sounded, indicating the end of the battle.

The green vegetarian gazed around. Had the battle really gone by that quickly? Apparently so, because there was only one other tribute left standing beside him and the tentacle creature. It was silent for a moment before the announcer's voice rang through the clearing once more.

"Congratulations to the three tributes who have been strong enough to move up to the Rutha rank. Because they have exceeded this challenge, they will have an option to choose a small fortune, or a member of Lord Trogaar's harem. Meshnick, what do you choose?"

The creature with the tentacles sprayed foam everywhere as he spoke. "I choose the small fortune."

"What do you choose Zarterrm?"

An orange-skinned alien with three eyes glanced toward the balcony. "I choose a member of the harem."

"Very well, who do you choose?"

The creature paused for a moment, surveying each girl for a moment, until he answered.

"My choice is the pale female Earthling with the violet hair."

Author's Note: I'm so sorry with the cliffhanger…I…I just couldn't help it! *Sobs*