"Again; we can all absolutely agree that this is entirely not my fault, right?" 

Wally is sure someone would respond under normal circumstances...but being locked in a cell made for Demons in a stone tunnel beneath a battle arena is hardly normal.

Their job that morning was so simple; re-capture one of the little creatures Zatara had brought to the cave for safe keeping. One had escaped the mountain. Their day had turned into a chase through the streets of Happy Harbour in a matter of seconds. No one expected it to run into the forest behind the town and disappear into the slit of a tree trunk. And they definitely did not expect a light to bleed from said tree and draw them in, like magic.

Or magnets, according to Wally, who did in fact get them into this mess. The surprise portal had taken them to a land with stone structures stretching from a dusty ground towards a red sky. 'The Demon Realm', Aqualad had told them. It reminded Miss Martian of Mars, a thought she was hardly beginning to process before her speedster teammate had raced off to catch their target, despite the change in location.

Hence, it was his fault when the team was caught chasing the creature by a flamboyantly dressed Demon, who apprehended them with a simple spell and two large, four-armed pets.

Superboy is brooding in the corner, having humiliated himself by attempting to punch through the wall only to get thrown back by the magic suppressing all of their powers. Artemis is sitting against the wall by his leg, Kid Flash is stretched out on the bench with Miss Martian perched at the end.

"Zatara will figure out what's happened eventually. We just have to wait, right?" Artemis voices.

Aqualad and Robin star through the cell bars into the hall, listening to the distant sounds of a screaming crowd. Definitely a battle arena.

"Time moves slower here than in Earth's dimension. A second there is half an hour here," Kaldur responds.

"So...say it takes Zatara an hour to realise we're not in the same dimension. That's...3600 seconds. For each of those a half hour passes here. 1800 hours. There's 168 hours in a week. That's...almost eleven weeks before he even notices we're gone!"

"We will have to rely on our own resources to return to where we arrived. Perhaps there, we can attempt to re-open the portal," Aqualad speaks calmly.

"With what?"

The crowd roars again, followed by the scrape of rocks as the door at the end of the corridor is lifted.

"Perhaps we are to fight in this arena. We may have to battle for our freedom."

A gruff voice speaking a foreign language echoes through the tunnel. It gives them all chills, enough to make Robin and Aqualad back up from the bars.

The other prisoners begin shouting and roaring as the speakers walk through the corridor. When they reach the team's cell, it's the flamboyant man who captured them accompanied by a Demon the size of a car.

Their captor gestures into the cell, speaking to the larger creature in a language Kaldur can only guess is Shadow Tongue. The monster has off-white papery skin stretched over thick, stone-like muscles, and beady red eyes which peer through the gaps of the cell door with interest.

"Why do I feel like we're being put on display?" Artemis whispers. 

The monster's lips pull back into a sick grin. He asks the other Demon something and appears to get the desired response. Before they move on to the next cell, their captor clicks his fingers and the glowing symbols on their cell door shift from white to yellow.

"What...just happened?" Wally wonders aloud.

Kaldur moves back to the door again and watches the monster's retreating back.

"I believe we have been selected as opponents."

Over the next hour, their captor brings by a new Demon every few minutes. They range; giant rock monsters like the first, thin and spiny with narrow faces and no eyes, bulging flabby ones shining with sweat and multiple eyeballs all over their body. There are ones that look more humanoid, with added horns and wings. Those regard them with the most interest and tend to ask the captor questions, but he never answers and has already moved on.

"Maybe we could try reaching through the bars now that they're yellow? It could mean the defences are down," Miss Martian suggests when they are alone again. All eyes turn to the door and the bars that leave square gaps the size of a palm.

"You have the thinnest arms," Wally notes, "Or Rob. Try."

The two named share a look, before M'gann stands up from the bench and approaches the door. It buzzes, throbs, with the magic energy pulsing through it.

"No," Conner snaps decidedly.

"We don't know until we-"

"What if he made it stronger?"

Before anyone can respond, the familiar sound of the tunnel door sliding open pulls them all to the back of the cell. Every time their captor has brought someone through, there had been a conversation. This time, the captor is the only one speaking, accompanied by a strange, soft tinkling of bells.

He gets closer and closer, only his footsteps heard, not the person he is talking to. They appear to stop briefly at which point the other person can be heard asking one short question, not loud enough for any distinction to be made.

When they finally reach the team's cell, Aqualad is expecting something tiny, like a knee-high elf Demon. The captor tries to pass them by, but his company stops, still.

It is another humanoid Demon with black wings stretching out behind her. She has short dark hair, is small in stature and wearing a two-piece blue costume adorned with eccentric bells and gold chains all over her body. Thick, blue horns arch inwards from her head. When she turns to the cell, her eyes are the same blue as her horns- the colour the only detail there; no white, no pupil, just a haunting blue eyeball.

She steps towards the cell and peers in. The yellow engravings pulsing on the door glow on her skin, showing how pale and papery it is. In a bored, quiet voice, she says something to their captor. He responds straight away in a dismissive tone. Her eyes do not leave the team's when she responds harshly, sharp, eyes flashing with light.

The captor makes a few strange noises, before he bows low to her. The engravings turn white again and frighteningly, the door opens.

Superboy steps forward, as if to attack. The Demon waves her hand and something black lurches at Conner, forcing him to sit back down.

"Stay."

The quiet use of English has them doing exactly that, even as the captor peers through the gaps. He says something to her, a question. Her eyes travel over the team slowly, staring at each member like she can see everything.

"Kihyu," She stares at Artemis. Her voice has tones in it, as if multiple people are speaking. One tone seems human, another lower and dark, another high-pitched and synthetic. Her eyes move to Robin, "Kihyu," she says again. On the other side of the door, the captor nods. "Zilo kihyu," she continues in a disinterested voice, staring at Kid Flash. She moves to Miss Martian beside him and steps closer. The team are unsure if they should recoil, or stand up to her, "Jam kihyu."

When she looks at Superboy, her face contorts slightly in confusion. She doesn't say anything on him, instead turning to Kaldur. 

Something changes in her posture when she sees him. Her shoulders and wings slump lightly, before she closes in on him slowly. He tries to move, to step to the side, but he can't; pinned by whatever power she holds.

"Laklieris," she says quietly. Kaldur levels his mind as she steps into his proximity, bells making soft sounds as they brush against his uniform. He knows Lakliers, has heard before how Shadows Tongue refers to an Atlantean, technically translating to Water Dancer.

She reaches up with a clawed hand, the same golden jewellery on her body polluting her fingers and wrists as well. The captor asks something, but he does not get a response. She seems captivated by Aqualad, nails scraping down his arm.

When she reaches his hand, she grasps it in both of hers. Everyone seems frozen, treating her like a predator- one move and she might snap and kill them all. And either way, she seems to have them all pinned down without much effort at all.

So Kaldur is unable to protest as she brings his hand up to her face and presses the back of it into her cheek, effectively concealing her face from everyone else. Her skin is cold and her eyes are downcast.

Until, they snap up towards him, and Kaldur can feel her pressing something into his palm.

"Door," she whispers, so softly even the team shouldn't be able to hear, voice void of others apart from the human one. He feels her press something else beside it, something much softer than the first,"Portal." Her stare is intense and he almost nods. The best he can do is hold her gaze firmly.

She closes his fist without revealing the keys and moves his hand down again. 

In an abrupt end to the interaction, she looks over her shoulder at the captor and snaps something sharp in all voices. The captor vows as she leaves the cell and continues down the hall, bells jingling all the way. The captor sneers at them as he shuts the door, which turns yellow again.

No one moves for a few seconds, the unknowing rest of the team confused as to why a Demon entered their cell and rubbed Kaldur's hand on her face. 

When they can hear the stone door at the end of the hall opening up, their captor and saviour leaving, Kaldur opens his hand.

"A key to the cell door," he points to the harder one made of gold, "And this one is the portal back," he notes the other, a malleable green stone.

"Oh...that's why she was being creepy," Wally notes, before being smacked in the back of the head.

"Do you think we can trust her?" Artemis questions. 

Robin takes a moment to map out the situation in his head. There's every chance that was Gloom, protege and daughter of Pitch Black, both Demons that visit this realm often. If that was Gloom and she recognised them, then she is trustworthy.

The chance that he is correct?...

Kaldur rolls the uniquely shaped key in his hand. Why did she choose him? Is it so obvious he is the leader? Where did she learn English? How was she keeping them still?

"It's either risk it or spend eleven weeks here," Robin states. 

"How are we supposed to use it, exactly? There could be...consequences. Perhaps it alerts the guards, or puts the other prisoners at risk!" Miss Martian exclaims.

"Like I said; risks. Any ideas on how it works?" Robin turns to Kaldur.

Aqualad places the portal key in his pocket and approaches the cell door.

"There is no way to reach out of the cell. Perhaps it is as simple as-" He holds the key up and it flies out of his hand, attaching itself to the bars. Immediately the glowing yellow lights shift into purple, before the entire door disintegrates before their eyes.

The result is so stunning the team remain frozen, staring at the huge space left behind leading into the hall. Kaldur peaks around the wall to see the hall is empty, the only sound being the other prisoners.

He signals the team, making specific eye contact with Kid Flash to make sure he knows not to run ahead. Aqualad makes the first step out into the corridor and picks the golden key up from the floor. When deemed safe, the team follow, sprinting to freedom to the roars of the other prisoners.

"This is wrong, we shouldn't leave them locked up like we were!" Miss Martian opens up a link with her powers returned.

"This is a different dimension. The rules are different here. We do not know the circumstances," Kaldur responds.

They burst out of the back entrance they were carried in through, making a sharp right to weave through the strange stoney building before they come to a dusty red street. It's empty, the telling cheers and roars from the large crowd in the battle arena explaining why.

"There's the cave!" Robin yells, pointing to the stone monuments that conceal the cave containing the portal.

"Wait, do you see that?" Kid Flash asks. He speeds ahead, coming into the cave only a few seconds ahead of the other to find their original target lying on the ground, gagged and bound, eyes glowing in the dark. "You! You got us into this mess!"

"Yeah, he did," Artemis responds sarcastically.

Wally ignores her, "Do you think blue girl did this?"

"Who else?"

Aqualad approaches the carvings in the ground. They aren't very big, just a few symbols covering a foot of dust. He takes the malleable green stone out, seeing where it goes, right in the centre.

"What if this is her only way out of here?" He murmurs.

His next thought, about waiting for her, is interrupted by distant shouting.

"The warden is back," Superboy says, speaking of the captor, "He's got something big with him."

"Looking for us," Robin adds.

"Put the stone in!"

Kaldur kneels down to the symbols, watching the stone glow brighter the closer it gets to it's place. With a heavy sigh, he places it in the centre and immediately the light fills the room, blinding them all and filling them with a sensation similar the the one created by a Zeta beam.

Atop of the battle arena awaiting her turn to throwdown, Gloom watches the Arena Master, Caglius, scramble through the city looking for his escape prisoners with a smirk.

Her new team seems...interesting.

BONUS: GLOOM'S BATTLE ARENA PRESENTATION COSTUME: