Wherever they went, it certainly wasn't back to Earth.

The police or whatever similar force they had here had dropped them off after a short trip in the carriers. Unloading from their floating vehicles had woken Viktor up from a groggy slumber. He hadn't wanted to leave the warmth Aiko had offered, especially after months of no human contact except for quick snatches of friendly pats from Pedro. Some unfamiliar alien had peered into the cage, which prompted Pedro to shout at them to go away and slap the door noisily.

The noise startled Viktor out of whatever hazy sleep-induced state he had clinging to him, and he sat up. He must have lost more blood than he realized. He was still quite dizzy. He leaned heavily on Aiko for support. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders, squeezing.

Without the bars, Viktor could really see them fully. They looked as awful as he did. Matted hair and eye bags framed their faces. They looked much skinnier than they had when he had first met them in the back of the ringmaster's truck. Even with the daily meals they had gotten, expending that many calories in constant fights were bound to lead to malnutrition.

The carrier they were in was set down on the ground, followed by a couple more thumps. The aliens outside their little cage chattered on for a moment before the roar of the vehicle started and disappeared. Viktor shivered as a gust of cool air went into their cage. Could they please get carted off somewhere warmer?

His silent plights were answered as they were lifted off the ground again. "Wha's happ'n?" Viktor slurred slightly, still leaning onto Aiko and blearily trying to look outside the cage door. Thankfully, the crate they were in was rather roomy. They were all able to sit up straight, though their legs were entangled together. Not that anyone minded.

"They're taking us inside. I think Ezekiel and Nikolas are in the carrier in front of us. The others must be behind us. I don't see any of the other animals," Pedro reported, leaning around to watch the carrier in front of them.

"Maybe they took those to another facility," Aiko said, shifting slightly. Viktor sat up, shaking away the dizziness the best he could. He'd feel better with some food in his belly.

"I'm hungry," he complained to the air. Aiko snorted, patting his head fondly.

"Can't beat the teenager outta you, huh?" Pedro said from up front. "Look, they're setting us down."

The carrier settled on the ground with a thump. The door opened when an alien thumped on the top of the carrier. The three humans didn't move a muscle. They heard Ezekiel's indignant shout from ahead of them, followed by a curse from Nikolas. Pedro ducked his head to look, but whatever the aliens did to Ezekiel and Nikolas's carrier, they did to theirs. Before they knew it, the end of the large carrier was tilted harshly, and all three of them tumbled out onto the cold floor.

Still a bit dizzy and dazed from the blood loss, Viktor was easily scooped up around the middle. His head swam as he was lifted from the ground, and he clutched the large hands tightly, digging his nails into the tough skin. He let out a little whimper of confused fear.

The aliens in the arena had never grabbed him like this, usually preferring the scruff of his shirt or nearly choking him with the collar. The alien holding him said something, to which the other aliens responded. Viktor was dropped lightly on a table nearby, quite like the one that was in the office of the arena, but without the straps. The alien walked away, inspecting some papers that were on top of the carriers they had come in.

He looked to the ground, biting his lip. It was a far jump, but nothing he hadn't done before. Hopping around his school had left him jumping whole flights of stairs. This wasn't too bad of a drop. He looked over to the others, who were getting shepherded into large cages, quite like any regular holding room in a regular vet clinic, except human-sized.

They were cautious, but they weren't vicious to these new aliens. Once they all reluctantly got into the new cages, most of them sat down with a huff, leaning against the cage door. Pedro looked around for Viktor as best he could, given that the walls were actually solid instead of bars. They were unable to see who was beside them. He finally spotted Viktor on the table. The teen gave a weak wave and sat on the cool metal cross-legged.

"Do you think they arrested the ringmaster?" Aiko asked, causing the vets to look over curiously. They chattered excitedly, finishing up with the carriers and dragging them out of the room. One alien stayed behind. They were all dressed in white clothing, padded at the chest and arms, probably for the more vicious animals.

"Hope so," Ezekiel said, rubbing his elbow where he had slammed it into the ground during his tumble out of the carrier. "Bastard better rot in alien jail."

Viktor got tired of sitting up, so he laid back down on the table, relishing in the cool metal against his back. He was exhausted. The fight with Oorah had been intense. His arm throbbed and had started to sluggishly bleed again, though it was quickly clotting back up. The movement he had done probably did not help matters. Whatever ointment Lilac generally used must not work well on open wounds. The reality that they had escaped the arena was slowly starting to sink in as he gazed up at the unfamiliar ceiling.

"...tor? You okay, kid?" he heard one of the adults ask him. He groaned loudly in response, causing the alien that had stayed behind and had begun gathering medical supplies (at least, that's what they looked like to Viktor) to walk over and mutter at him. Viktor watched him warily, struggling to sit back up.

The alien talked to him soothingly, but Viktor didn't buy into any of it. He put something on the table, scooting it closer to Viktor when the teen didn't react to it. He kept nudging it forward until Viktor just grabbed it, unwilling to let the alien's hand travel any closer to himself. It was brick-shaped, probably just bigger than a regular sandwich. It was a weird green color. A solid mass of.... something. Viktor sniffed it curiously but could smell nothing. Frowning, he tried to break it apart but winced at the use of his injured arm. Tucking the brick under his armpit, he snapped it open with a sudden jolt. He nearly fell off the table but managed to right himself. He bared his teeth at the alien, who had started to reach for him. It thankfully retracted its hands.

Sniffing the brick again, the scent of ham wafted up into his nose. After almost a year of eating goop that smelled like stale bread, this brick made his stomach rumble. Still, he wouldn't put it past this alien to drug it or something. He set the brick down. The alien grunted something at him, probably irritated that he won't eat this brick thing but he's seen worse irritation in others.

The other aliens returned, filling out the room and making Viktor feel increasingly unsafe. He got to his feet on the table, staggering in place slightly. The alien before him reached out to steady him, but the teen swatted at his hand, stepping backward. His foot hardly had any traction with just his sock on, and he slipped right off the edge of the table with a short scream of fright. He landed on his back painfully, gasping for breath as it all left his lungs.

"Owww," he groaned once he got his breath back, curling onto his side. The aliens around him all chattered in alarm. The other humans yelled after him, asking if he was alright.

No, he was not alright. He just fell off a table, damn it!

Viktor shot the best glare he could muster at the cages, unwilling to move too much. He hurt all over the place, now. He probably broke his back. Oh my god, he was probably paralyzed from the neck down. His back hurt so bad.

Large hands scooped him up again. He tensed, but all they seemed to do was lift him up. The pain started to abate, and he laid back on the table when he was placed there again. He wiggled his toes, sighing with relief. Not paralyzed, then.

They started to prod at him, and he squirmed, trying to sit up to watch them all better. As it was, they were all towering over him. One of them was holding onto his arm while another wrapped it in those black bandages. A large hand covered most of his chest as it gently pushed him back down. He complied, too exhausted to fight. All his adrenaline seemed to have been used up in the fight with Oorah and trying to break the humans out of the arena.

They let him sit back up eventually, pushing the food brick near him again. He scowled at it but figured that since he was probably going to pass out soon anyway, he might as well take the risk if it was drugged. He bit into it, tearing off a large chunk. It was dry and definitely did not have the best texture, but he was famished and after eating grey slop for so many months, this was basically the fanciest meal on Earth.

Or, well, whatever this planet was called.

Before he knew it, he was licking at his fingers. He definitely felt a lot better with food in his stomach. He felt less light-headed, now that his bleeding had stopped as well. "That shit is so good, guys," he yelled to the cages, licking his lips.

"Glad to hear it," Pedro grumbled. He was just grumpy he didn't get this marvelous food brick. Viktor stuck his tongue out at him, feeling chipper despite his lethargy.

"No more goop!" he said cheerfully, pumping his uninjured arm in the air. The aliens around him whistled and clicked, drawing his attention. They were going over some papers, though one did seem to keep an eye on him. Uninterested in whatever the aliens were doing, Viktor shuffled to the edge of the table on his rear, dangling his legs over the edge. He wondered if he could do a flip on his way down.

"My god, they drugged him," he heard someone say from the cages. He must've said that last bit out loud.

He was about to try and jump off the table when large clawed hands grabbed him by the stomach again and pulled him back towards the middle of the table. "Hey!" he protested, smacking at the hands. They pulled away, so he probably broke a few of their bones. That would be nice.

Despite how nice and loose he felt, Viktor immediately stiffened when he felt someone grab at his collar. He heard a click and felt a faint sting as the collar was removed.

"I'm gonna be sick," he heard someone gag. A gross smell reached Viktor's nose, which he wrinkled in disgust.

"Ew," he muttered, reaching up to inspect his neck with his fingers. His hand was pulled away in the same moment a hand covered his head, holding it still. One of the black bandages wound itself around his neck and he let out a soft "oooh" of appreciation. Look at those bandages go.

The hands pulled away, and he frowned at the aliens. He hated these guys. "I am thirsty," he told them nonetheless. They cooed at him, but none of them reached out with a bottle of water to hand him. "Helloooo, aliens? I said I was thirsty- oh."

Someone had scooped him up. It was sort of nice to be held like this, but he was also really thirsty and also irritated that he was on this alien planet and in a vet's office. They opened a cage and set him in gently. Viktor nearly fainted in shock at what he saw.

There were blankets! Viktor grabbed the largest one and wrapped it around himself, thirst forgotten. "Oh my god, guys. Blankets. Man, they feel weird, though, don't they? Is that just me? Do you think there's like alien sheep or something on this planet? Is this wool or like, alien polyester?"

"How long's this gonna last for, you think?" Ezekiel said, barely concealing a laugh. Viktor couldn't glare at him through the bars, so he just stuck his tongue out at the wall.

"Viktor," Pedro said. "Why don't you lay down? You're pretty tired, remember?"

Viktor did remember, and he nodded. Pedro was full of ideas. What a cool guy.

"Thanks," Pedro said dryly.

The teen fluffed his blankets as best he could with one arm that didn't really cooperate and do what he told it to do. He lay down with a sigh of contentment. He was warm all over, nothing ached, and nothing was going on in his head. Perfect.

Even if he was pretty thirsty.