"...tor! Viktor!" Pedro was saying fiercely, rattling the bars they shared. Viktor groggily sat up, waking up much more quickly than the other day.

"Huh?" he said eloquently, looking around for the aliens and quickly finding them. He must have slept a bit longer, 'cause it was later in the day. He frowned, twisting to look at Pedro, crawling over hurriedly. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" Viktor wasn't complaining, he loved to sleep. But they were on an alien planet for Christ's sake!

Pedro shrugged but looked apologetic. "You looked like you needed it. None of us got shocked like that yesterday," he whispered, before tilting his head in the direction of the aliens. "They're taking some beasts out."

They were. Viktor frowned, watching closely as the ringmaster made a big alien open the cage and wrestle a stiff leash on the beast's collar. The beast in question wasn't too happy to be manhandled, but one shout from the ringmaster made it still in fright. They wrestled it out of the cage and out the exit. When the door was opened, the faint chattering of a crowd could be heard. Viktor shared an uneasy glance with Pedro, who then shuffled to the other side of his cage to talk with Ezekiel.

The humans didn't start talking until the aliens left the room.

"What the hell, man!" Ezekiel said in despair, looking worriedly between the humans. Aiko, on his other side, seemed to share his sentiment. Nikolas was pacing in his cell, occasionally turning to speak with the person who shared the other side of his cell. Viktor didn't meet everyone while in the truck transporting them here, and the cells didn't help with meeting new people.

"I think they are bringing out dogs to fight," Nikolas said, voice carrying over to Viktor with ease. The teen shuffled anxiously, jumping to his feet. "Alien dogs, that is."

The fear of being sent out to fight these beasts was quickly becoming a reality. Viktor was starting to really worry about why he was here, of all people. Surely they didn't think he could fight these things? He wasn't nearly on any of the other's levels of fitness. He was a scrawny teenager who drank so much soda that it was practically a part of his bloodstream. He worried his lip in between his teeth.

He wasn't left to wallow in his own worries and the whispers of the others for long before some aliens came back. Frighteningly, they kept walking to the back, where Viktor was. He stood up quickly, back pressed against the wall as he watched the ten-foot-tall aliens warily. His stomach dropped as they started unlocking his door. He looked at Pedro in fright, locking eyes with him, Ezekiel, and Aiko, glancing worried between them. "What-" he started, voice cracking with fear.

He was interrupted as the alien outside his cage shouted something at him. He twisted to look at the alien, frozen in fear. The alien rolled its eyes, making Viktor's heart jump with the familiar human action, before stalking into the cage and grabbing Viktor by the back of his hoodie.

He choked as he was lifted off the ground, getting dragged out of the cage with ease. He kicked his legs, yelling in protest. He was dropped in a heap before the same stiff leash, quite like a dog catcher's pole, was connected to his collar. His head was pushed into the ground as the alien put too much pressure on his neck.

"Grk," he choked out, hearing the yells of protest from the other humans. The pressure released, and he was allowed to stand up on two shaky feet before they pushed him toward the exit.

"It'll be okay, kid!" Ezekiel called, shaking the cage bars as hard as he could. Other calls of the same sentiment followed him. Viktor could barely hear them, too busy trying not to piss himself in fright.

The lights were bright against his eyes, shining ominously against the stark sand of the arena. The arena stands were filled, eager to see the new animals that this place has. He was the new animal, Viktor realized, as all eyes swiveled to land on him. Most seemed eager, but others seemed a bit bored, probably realizing that he wouldn't make it.

He wouldn't make it.

There was absolutely no way that he could survive that great hulking beast he had seen earlier. Maybe they would bring out a smaller one?

As he was shoved into the arena and released from the leash, he realized that his wishes would not come true. The beast from earlier was behind a great slab of bars. Viktor had been allowed in the arena. He stooped under the weight of the stares he felt on him. They were waiting to watch him die.

He was a practice dummy for this big beast.

He couldn't keep his eyes off the beast. It was about the size of a lion with hulking shoulders and fierce claws that extended from its forelegs like a dragon's. It had a long whip-like tail. It was covered in short, coarse black fur. Its snout was long and thin, full of razor-sharp teeth. Its eyes were a dull brown, like the straw in his cell. That he would probably never go back to.

Viktor licked his lips nervously, tearing his eyes away from the beast that was sure to kill him to look at the crowd. The sun peeked through the small windows that were high on the building, shining weakly. Nonetheless, it illuminated the aliens eerily. There had to be at least a hundred, all sat in the stands and cheering like they were at a baseball game instead of a fight to the death. He quickly found the ringmaster, who was sitting on a raised platform, probably to denote his status as the leader here.

"Hey!" Viktor yelled up at him, waving his arms. "Hey, you have the wrong person! I don't even have muscles!"

The ringmaster merely glanced at him as if he were an annoying fly and quickly went back to chatting up someone at his side. Well, damn, there goes that idea.

Viktor looked back at the beast, brow furrowing in thought. He wasn't the strongest of people; he had never even participated in an after-school sport. But that didn't mean he was stupid.

The animal looked strong, but it looked slow. Viktor recalled that humans were generally seen as long-distance hunters. They could walk for days with enough food and water before needing to stop. Marathon runners were only one example, even if Viktor personally thought they were a bit crazy for running a million miles in one day.

Not that persistence running would help him at all in the confined space of the arena. Outrunning the animal was off the table. He had to think of another plan.

Regardless, Viktor figured that he could tire out the beast eventually, at least until the crowd got bored and made him go back to his nice, straw-filled, animal-free cage. He didn't get long to strategize, though, because the ringmaster let out a shout and the beast he had been staring at was suddenly rushing towards him with its teeth bared and a vicious snarl.

Viktor let out a loud yell of fright, scrambling against the sand to throw himself out of the way of the charging animal. He narrowly avoided the animal, feeling its hot breath on his legs. The beast wasn't any better on the sand than he was and slammed into the wooden walls with a loud bang. The crowd booed, the noise swelling as they started to chant. It wasn't anything Viktor recognized, but it sort of sounded like 'oo-rah!' The beast's name?

Oorah snarled, shaking its great big head and getting back to his paws. Viktor gave a small smile, putting a healthy distance between them and lifting his hands. He said, rather nervously, "Do you... maybe wanna talk this out? I offer a mean belly rub!"

Oorah, obviously, didn't dignify his flimsy pleading with a response and soon started charging at him again when it got its bearing back. Viktor, a bit more prepared this time, stepped out of the way as if he were a matador and Oorah was his bull. He was starting to feel a bit more hopeful.

That was before Oorah twisted at the last second and snapped his jaws around his leg.

Viktor fell face-first against the rough sand, crying out in shock and pain as he felt the animal's teeth against his skin. He was tossed around like a ragdoll as Oorah swung his head around before releasing him. He felt himself sliding through the sand before slowing to a stop. Viktor groaned, quickly struggling to his feet. His leg was warm with his blood, but there wasn't anything else wrong with it other than a nasty bite. Oorah didn't seem to be venomous, at the very least.

"What the fuck, man," Viktor said wearily, glaring at the beast who was snarling at him, mindless aggression shining in his beady brown eyes. It seemed to be toying with him. This was just a warm-up for it. He was a meal on a fancy silver platter. "That was not cool."

Oorah charged again, but Viktor was sort of ready this time around. Instead of stepping to the side, he waited until the beast was close to him. The teen managed to get a foot on top of his snout, right before it lunged for his legs again. Using the beast's muzzle as leverage, Viktor sloppily climbed onto its back, holding on for dear life as it started to thrash. He had never been on one of those mechanical bulls, but this is probably what it felt like.

Viktor was facing backward, straddling the beast with his legs and holding onto its sides with his arms. Its whip-like tail was thrashing around like it had a mind of its own, sinuous and lethal. It managed to clip Viktor around the arm, wrapping around it tightly. He could feel himself almost sliding off the beast's back. The tail was so tight around his arm, he feared it was going to be squeezed off like some sort of fleshy grape.

Fuck, he thought a bit deliriously, seeing his arm quickly turning purple. He let go of the beast with his other hand, tightening the grip he had on it with his legs. He grabbed uselessly at the tail with his hand, blunt nails digging pathetically at it. He unwound the tail from his arm the best he could, finally managing to slip his arm out. He grasped the beast's tail tightly with both hands. He pulled, hard.

The beast howled and somehow started thrashing even more intensely. Viktor slipped off his back with a dull thump onto the sand, still holding onto the tail. Oorah started turning, which caused his tail to move in the opposite direction. Soon enough, the hulking animal was chasing its tail, and Viktor was dragged along for the ride.

"I'm gonna be sick," he gasped, wincing at the burning pull the sand had on his leg. There was a great bloody circle where he was being dragged about like a chew toy.

Well, Viktor rationalized, if Oorah was gonna treat him like a chew toy, he would treat it like a chew toy. It was him or the animal.

He let go of the tail, sprawling out in the sand a few feet from the beast. He got to his feet as quickly as he could, staggering for a moment as his eyes stopped rolling around his head like dice. Oorah was still getting its bearings, shaking its head low to the ground.

In a few measured steps, Viktor launched himself at Oorah, pushing his hand under the beast's jaw and forcing its head up. He curled his hand into a fist and swung his arm back as far as he could before throwing the hardest punch he could muster on the side of Oorah's skull.

Either Viktor was the strongest man alive or Oorah's skull was pretty thin since the beast let out a short yelp before crumpling to the ground. Its sides were heaving, slow, gentle, and quite unlike its waking self, so Viktor knew it was still alive. He stood shakily, chest heaving in the effort as his leg and arm throbbed in time with his heartbeat.

He had done it.

He had done it! He lived!

The noise of the crowd came back to him as he looked up. He had almost forgotten that he was fighting in an arena. The crowd seemed shocked to find him standing; obviously, he must have been a warm-up for Oorah. The thought made him scowl angrily, feeling hot, sticky anger build up in his chest.

First, his whole planet had been abducted by these creatures. Then, he had been separated from everyone he knew while getting off their freakin' ship. Then, he had got kidnapped from what he figured was an illegal dogfighting ring. And then, he gets nearly mauled to death by some freaky liondog!

Viktor nearly ripped his hair out in frustration. As it was, Viktor bared his teeth in a vicious sneer, looking up at the ringmaster, who looked as shocked as Viktor felt about his being alive.

"Fuck you!" he screamed, pointing at him. He felt a bit stupid yelling at someone who couldn't understand what he was saying, but it made him feel better.

The crowd yelled in jubilation, taking up another chanting verse. All Viktor could make out was 'Koh-grash! Koh-grash!' before he felt something prick his neck. He slapped a hand to it, picking out something sleek and tiny. He swayed on his feet as he blinked stupidly at the dart in his hand.

His last coherent thought was the vague sense of being offended that he had been taken out by a dart before he felt himself fall to the sand. He blinked blearily at the ceiling before unconsciousness took him.