The next few days had him fully healed. Whatever ointment they had on this planet worked like a charm. Even the aliens seemed surprised at how quickly Viktor was moving around again.

During those days, however, his fellow humans were often sent out to fight. Most times, they came back unharmed or at least a little roughed up. Working out regularly on Earth gave them the strength and stamina to hold their own against these odd creatures, something that Viktor was immensely jealous of.

Out of sheer boredom and the will to live through this hellhole, Viktor had bothered the adults relentlessly to show him how to punch and kick. Through some short reluctance–everyone had seen the pros of teaching the only kid how to throw a punch–Viktor was slowly taught the basics of fighting. He was no Olympic boxer, but at least he wouldn't be lost at sea out in the arena the next time.

And there would be a next time. Viktor often heard his name mingled in with the grunts when the ringmaster decided to pay a visit to the warehouse. Viktor couldn't help but notice that most of the other animals shrank back in fear when they saw him. From his limited interactions with the beefy alien, he knew the feeling.

There was a period of days when no one went out to fight. Most likely, the arena was closed for what was considered the weekend here. It was a nice reprieve if a bit boring. Way better than worrying if your friends were going to die, though.

Eventually, though, his short peaceful reprieve was finished and he found himself roused awake with a loud clang on his bars. He blinked blearily, finding the ringmaster in front of the door. He sat up quickly, glaring defensively.

"Kohgrash," he spoke, his head tilted to the alien behind him. For a second, Viktor thought the ringmaster was speaking to him before he remembered that these aliens thought they were nothing but dumb animals. The ringmaster conversed with the other, saying a bunch of words that Viktor didn't understand. He thought he heard Oorah in his litany, and his heart jumped in fear. Hopefully, they'd pit him against something smaller.

In the end, though, Viktor was herded out into the arena, met with deafening cheers and chants of his new name. Emboldened by their cheering, Viktor gave them a nervous toothy grin. Hopefully, this meant that the ringmaster wouldn't put him against something that would brutally and violently kill him. The crowd seemed to love him!

It seemed that he wasn't pitted against Oorah. Instead, it was one of the much smaller creatures. About as big as a golden retriever, this creature was bright red in color. Its head was the shape of a snake's and seemed very angry if that vicious hissing was anything to go by. It had six very slim legs, each set a bit lower to the ground than the last. Its tail was short and probably didn't pack too much of a punch.

When its cage opened, it rushed him. Viktor, even if he had never been in track, easily leaped over it. It ran close to the ground and wasn't very long. The teen lashed out his foot as he hopped over, sending the creature sprawling in the sand. The crowd roared its approval, despite Viktor feeling a bit bad about kicking the animal. It was different if he was fighting for his life.

The creature got up quickly, hopping around and hissing at him. Its mouth was dripping thick green sludge. He definitely did not want this thing to bite him. He'd probably sprout gills or something.

But he could be the next Superman or even the Hulk. Superpowers via alien bite didn't sound too bad.

He narrowly avoided the snake creature when it launched at him from the ground. He lashed out, smacking it away from him while in the air. The creature landed with a thump and a loud yelp. Thinking quickly, Viktor rushed over and stomped on its head hard enough to knock it out. The crowd cheered lowly, some seeming disappointed that the fight ended so quickly.

Viktor frowned amidst the dull chanting of his name, looking over at the ringmaster. He looked furious. A hard knot of fear formed in his stomach. A sharp zing of electricity along his neck made him jump, and he quickly rushed over to the gate he had been shoved through, assuming that was what was wanted from him. There was no tranquilizer dart embedded in his neck this time.

He was grabbed roughly by the head, yelling out in surprise as his skull was engulfed by the large hand. He struggled for a moment, swinging his arms blindly, but another sharp dance of electricity made him jump and still, long enough for whoever was handling him to attach the stiff leash on the back of his collar. He grumbled under his breath about hospitality as he was pushed towards the warehouse.

Instead of getting shoved back into his cell, Viktor was sent sprawling onto the floor just outside the humans' cells. Shouts of alarm and confusion came from them. They shook the bars in a furious attempt to get to him, but he was out of arm's reach. Viktor got to his knees, looking up at his handler with confusion. He opened his mouth to speak, using his knee to push himself off the ground to stand. "What the-"

He was smacked across the face by the alien, dropping to his knees with the force of it. The alien shouted something at him. Glaring, Viktor tried to get to his feet again, but all he did was earn himself another slap across the face and a buzzing, intense shock. He groaned and grit his teeth, but took the hint and stayed on the ground.

"Kid, what the hell? Why aren't they putting you back?" Ezekiel said, worry lacing his tone. The alien watching over Viktor smacked the cage the man was in with the stiff leash, which had been released off Viktor's collar some time ago. Ezekiel glared at the alien, baring his teeth in an unfriendly snarl. The alien paid no mind, looking at Viktor with a detached kind of coldness.

Viktor shuffled backward a bit, yearning to go back into his cage instead of participating in whatever show this alien was trying to put on. A sharp smack of the leash hit his leg and he jumped in shock, feeling his leg twinge with pain. Rubbing the offending appendage, he stayed where he was, scowling.

They didn't have to wait for too much longer, as the door to the warehouse crashed open, revealing the ringmaster along with a few aliens. Notail and Lilac were the only ones he recognized. Lilac looked a bit worried but resignation was written clearly on her face. Viktor swallowed, his throat suddenly feeling very dry.

His stomach flipped in fear, and he began to tremble, though he tried to hide it by clenching his fists. It was harder to keep a brave face on though since the ringmaster was storming forward, anger written across his features. Crouched on the floor, the ten-foot bulky alien barreling towards him seemed much larger than he would if Viktor were standing. The ringmaster shoved the alien watching over him to the side, grabbing the leash from his hands.

Viktor could barely get his hands up to protect his face before the ringmaster was swinging the leash down on top of him. The hard metal cut through his skin easily, leaving long welts and searing pain. Viktor cried out, trying as hard as he could to protect his head and evade the pain. Distantly through the haze of agonizing pain, he heard his name being said by the ringmaster, along with one word that he seemed to be repeating.

Viktor curled into a feeble ball, trying to look as small as possible and protect himself. Still, he was beaten ruthlessly. He felt sticky with his blood. His whole body was throbbing. He didn't know when he had started crying, but his face was hot with his tears and choked gasps came out of his throat. He trembled in fear and pain even when the ringmaster ceased hitting him with the leash, handing it off to another alien.

The teen was tossed into his cell without care. The ringmaster repeated the word, kora, before banging on the cell hard enough to make Viktor flinch. The ringmaster let out a satisfied laugh, turning. He seemed to order everyone out, except Lilac, who started making a ruckus with the food dishes. Viktor moaned, curling onto his side, feeling his torn shirt stretch painfully against his wounds. He sniffled wetly, letting the tears flow freely now that he was back in his cage. He cried piteously, turning away when Pedro tried to call out to him.

Viktor didn't want comfort. He just wanted to go home.

***

He woke up the next morning sore. His face was scratchy and grimy. He had fallen asleep somewhere between smothering his tears in his arms and avoiding the calls of the other humans. Grimacing in pain as he sat up, he furiously rubbed his face. Going to the water trough, Viktor was able to see his murky reflection. In the two weeks he had been here, his hair had gotten much longer. The bags under his eyes had slowly started to become more pronounced. His face looked gaunt as if he wasn't getting enough to eat.

The thought of food sent his stomach growling, and he quickly glanced at the door where his dish usually sat. The ringmaster didn't want to feed him apparently since there was no dish in sight. Huffing and furiously trying to suppress the urge to start crying again, Viktor filled his stomach with lukewarm water. He peeled off his hoodie and shirt carefully, trying not to notice the rips and tears in them from fighting and the lashing he took yesterday. He scrubbed the dried blood off the best he could with his hands.

He jumped with fright and swung a fist at a solid wall of muscle as something reached out and touched his shoulder. A loud curse filtered through his brain as he tried to catch up with his reflexes. Breathing heavily, Viktor looked up at Pedro, who had reached through the bars to shake his shoulder. He had punched him right in the arm.

"S-sorry, I-" Viktor started, reaching out to rub the older man's arm apologetically. He cut himself off as his throat began to tighten.

Pedro shook his head, shaking out his arm slightly. He lightly patted Viktor on the arm, slow and steady, making sure the teen was watching him this time. "No worries, kid. Saved you some food."

Pedro had saved him his whole dish of food, and Viktor started to protest, quickly silenced when Pedro shook the dish again. They awkwardly maneuvered it between the bars, dropping quite a bit onto the floor as they had to turn it nearly on its side. "All of us dished some together. Noticed you didn't get any of this stuff yesterday."

"Thanks," Viktor said softly, eating the mush slowly. His stomach turned even though he was starving, but he kept eating, knowing that he'd need the fuel later.

Pedro and Viktor sat in silence until the others started waking up. The other animals in the warehouse started waking up as well, their noises quickly becoming lost in the background. Howls and whines were the norm here, now. The other humans shuffled nervously, starting up their daily routines. Some had taken to stretching and working out. Nikolas, he knew, had managed to use the zipper on his jacket to scratch lines in the wall. They had been here for about two weeks now.

They had all figured out that this planet had a somewhat shorter day cycle than Earth's 24 hours. Each of them kept waking in the middle of the night, just before dawn, until they slowly got used to the shorter days. They had no idea quite how long the days were; each time they tried to count the seconds, someone ended up shouting random numbers until the one counting lost their place.

Yeah, they were lucky it hadn't been feeding time. A food fight probably would've broken out.

They had no idea what was happening outside of their personal Hell. They had no idea why they had been chosen, just that Viktor had been lucky to be alive. Other smaller animals had been tossed into cells throughout their stay, ushered into the arena, and never to be seen again. They all thought it was because he had been the first human to be shown to this planet's public and had been enamored with him. With the subsequent beefy humans being sent out to fight, the affection for Viktor had only grown. Mutters of Kohgrash had reached even the warehouse. It was no wonder they had been disappointed by his short fight.

After Viktor had explained that he thought they had 'punished' him for the short fight, Ezekiel nodded, saying that wrestling had been more about the fight than the winning. Boxing, Aiko was quick to say, was quite like that as well. None of them had ever been to a dogfighting ring on Earth, but all assumed it was the same. Betting on their favorite dog and getting a show out of it.

Well, Viktor thought to himself sullenly, shoving his shirt on carefully. Heavy determination settled in his gut. If a show is what they wanted, a show is what they were gonna get.