Whispers and shouts filled his ears. Viktor tried to take the translator off to see if it would stop, but he kept forgetting where he had it on him. His mind flickered between foggy and dreadfully, awfully clear. His arms ached with his scratching, wet and sticky with what was probably his blood but could've easily been the slobber of Oorah, who was currently resting on the ceiling.

The ringmaster paced outside of his cage, looking in occasionally. Sometimes, it was Vok'Rul, and Viktor's heart would leap into his throat with hope, but then the alien would open its mouth and the ringmaster's voice would come out instead. A blink and Vok'Rul would disappear. Other times, it was Lilac or Pink.

"It's okay, Kohgrash," Vok'Rul said with his own voice. Viktor nodded in agreement, a faint smile appearing on his lips. If he said it was okay, then it was. Simple. Easy to understand. He opened his mouth to ask when he'd be let out, but Vok'Rul turned around, and Viktor flinched backward, slamming his head against the wall as the ringmaster took his place. "It's not real."

"Don't hurt me," Viktor whispered, barely able to hear his voice over the sound of something grinding its teeth against the bars.

"They got you," the human in the cage to his left giggled. They were still, almost deathly. Their chest barely moved. Their face was melted, shreds of skin hanging off their bones, just like that alien he had killed. "I'll be gone soon. It'll be over." He didn't know if they were real. He didn't know if anything was real.

"You'll be okay," Rukka told him, standing outside his cell impassively. Viktor wanted to believe her; he really did.

He wasn't sure how long he stayed in the corner of his cage, back pressed against the wall, which had been solid and unmoving the entire time. Hours, probably, but it could've easily been years. He stopped feeling the worms first; they slid off him, dropping like dead flies. Oorah disappeared after that. Slowly but surely, the buzzing in his head diminished, and he was able to think clearly.

Lilac's face settled firmly into place, and no matter how many times Viktor blinked, she did not change. She looked worried but relieved as he came back to himself. He violently suppressed the urge to cry.

There was no way he could handle this madness. Unknown drugs, unfamiliar surroundings, and the sheer whiplash of being treated nicely by one alien and scorned by the next - it was all too much for Viktor. His heart was still thumping like a drum in his chest, and he still couldn't feel any pain. But at least he stopped seeing and hearing things that weren't really there. Oorah was gone. The ringmaster was gone. He was dead. For good.

There were no humans around him. He was in a cage surrounded by empty ones. He wondered if Lilac had anything to do with that. He specifically remembered someone telling her to put him by dying people. Shivers ran down his spine.

The cage door opened, and Viktor jolted back into the present. He watched warily as Lilac shoved a dish of water into the cramped cage. Rationally, he knew he shouldn't drink any liquid - he would probably just throw it back up - but he eagerly grabbed the dish and held it up to his lips. He drank like a man dying of thirst. And he supposed that he was.

The dish tilted backward, and Viktor's head followed it. He let out an angry, guttural noise as the dish pulled away. Lilac had her claws wrapped around the opposite edge, tipping it down.

"Slow down," she chided gently. Viktor glared at her. "I know you're thirsty. Klaxan and delria," she scoffed to herself, carefully letting up the pressure on the dish to let Viktor drink again, though at a much more sedated pace, "I don't know what they were thinking."

Viktor kept his eyes on her while he drank. He knew, objectively, that she wasn't a threat to his well-being; she had helped him numerous times while in the arena and had seemed to show genuine regret at his home. But he couldn't help but focus on the fact that she was right in front of him, here in this shithole. The other aliens must have blackmailed her or something. That was it. He'd believe that. It would give him some semblance of sanity.

The thought of her enjoying this instead, enjoying watching them get tortured like this, made him ill.

"Fruit?" he whispered cautiously, wanting to stop thinking. He was starving.

Lilac looked at him with bewilderment. "Did you just say fruit? Spirits, you really are smart." She didn't move to get him fruit, though, and Viktor's face twisted into a sneer. "I'm sorry, Kohgrash, but there's no fruit down here for you. No fruit. The brothmeal is all we have for you."

Brothmeal. Even the grey slop's name was disgusting. Viktor shoved the dish back toward Lilac with a loud clang.

"Fho bad," he spat as angrily as he could. His broken grammar and limited knowledge of their language probably didn't make it as effective as he wanted it to be. She smiled slightly instead of looking offended.

"I know," she whispered in return. She looked sad, and Viktor felt a twinge of guilt before he ruthlessly stomped on it. "I never wanted this."

Silence lapsed between them for a while. Lilac lingered around his cage, doing nothing but watching him. He wished she would leave. He wished he could leave.

Then, the idea hit him. He was still full of klaxan, or whatever they had called that adrenaline drug. Sure, Viktor was starting to feel the effects of it wearing on him - his arms were trembling and he could feel the ache in his head slowly coming back to life - but he could probably still run around. If Lilac were on his side, he could easily get out.

"Lilac," he said, excitement coming into his voice. He shuffled forward, getting his knees under him. Lilac held up a cautionary hand to keep him in the cage. "I know how we can get out! Fho, you sorry Vokkra. Vokkra good. Fho come with Kohgrash. Free! We'll be free!" he nearly shouted it, buzzing filling his veins. If Lilac simply apologized to Vok'Rul, he was sure that, combined with her assistance in helping Viktor out, she'd be okay. She could be free from this.

Her expression was confused for a while. His heart sank. Did she just think he was saying random words? "Kohgrash go home. Fho go home, too." he said imploringly. He needed her to say yes. He couldn't last another day in this place.

"I - I can't, Kohgrash," she whispered to him. Viktor threw his head back in frustration.

"Yes, yes you can!" he yelled at her, fists clenching. "You don't have to listen to these idiots. You got out before. You did it all under his nose! Why can't you do it now?!"

His breathing was erratic and choppy. The blood pounded in his ears loud enough to drown out any other sounds. He didn't notice the aliens coming into the room until Lilac quickly shut the cage door, almost taking him out in the process. She got to her feet just as fast, and Viktor was left reeling in the solitude of the cage.

"Is he alive?" Nhafka asked, peering into the cage as he walked over. He quickly noticed that he was the only human in the area. His face twisted into a scowl. The alien had thick, black bandages wrapped around the side of his face where Viktor had struck him. He felt smug. "I thought I told you to place him elsewhere. How else are we going to get him to cooperate?"

"I told you," Lilac said in a tone of voice he's only heard from her while speaking to the ringmaster after he did something particularly cruel. "Kohgrash needs to be treated with kindness. Otherwise, he won't listen. He's stubborn."

Viktor wrinkled his nose. Who was she to say that? It was true, though. But even if they did a complete turnaround, he still wouldn't listen to them. He knew what they really wanted.

"Krrkh controlled him well enough with fear," Nhafka scoffed.

"And look where that got him. Judged by the Mirror. And you know only the worst go in front of It," Lilac said derisively. "I am telling you, that you will get no progress if you continue to strike fear into Kohgrash. Look how far Vokkra has come by simply treating him nicely. Kohgrash needs a safe place to sleep that isn't a cage he can't stand up in. He needs better food. He needs to trust you."

Nhafka stayed silent, looking at Viktor speculatively. Despite himself, he felt a tremor of fear develop in his gut. He didn't trust this alien, no matter what Lilac told him. Nhafka could treat him nicely all he wanted. Viktor would never give in.

"Yorr said the delria should be worn off by now," the alien said instead. "Has he stopped hallucinating?"

"Yes," Lilac responded unhappily, less than pleased about her advice being ignored. "The klaxan has not, however. I would not recommend giving him any more shocks. We do not know how it's affecting his body when he shows no signs of pain."

Being pain-free was pleasant, really pleasant. Viktor didn't want this klaxan to wear off, ever.

"Whatever. Keep monitoring him. I'll come back for him later tonight." Nhafka said. He stalked off. As soon as he was out of sight, both Viktor and Lilac slumped with relief.

"Nhafka bad," Viktor told her. Lilac tilted her head at him, expression complicated.

"Maybe," she agreed quietly. "But maybe he's just as lost as I was." Viktor scrunched his face up in disgust. No way. He was just as evil as the ringmaster. "Are you hungry, Kohgrash? Food?"

Lilac moved away from his cage, coming back with a small bowl of slop. Viktor didn't touch it, despite her best attempts at persuading him to eat. He wasn't hungry enough for that. He needed to figure out how to get out of here.

***

The klaxan wore off quicker than he would've liked.

It wasn't all at once, either. Lilac disappeared after giving him his bowl of food. Viktor had fished out Korrashkka's claw, digging it into the metal bowl with effort. Surprisingly, he managed to dent the metal with the claw. It wasn't sharp enough to scratch through it, though, as he quickly found out. After one too many attempts, the claw slipped out of his grasp and cut his finger deeply.

He yelped in pain as he watched blood bead from the cut.

"Fuck," he muttered under his breath, slamming the bowl into the bars. It made a loud noise, splattering the food everywhere. It made him feel a little bit better.

But he had bigger things to worry about, right now. Like the fact that he wasn't going to be invincible anymore.

His heartbeat was still quick and erratic under his skin. It thrummed loudly, pumping blood through his veins with energy that he could practically feel buzzing under his skin. He needed to move around, and this cramped cage wasn't helping. He still felt like he had pins and needles in his arms and legs, but they were starting to fade, replaced with a low, dull ache.

He had to get out of this cage.

Adrenaline made humans stronger, which he knew from experience. Whatever this klaxan was, it was similar to that. It was like adrenaline times twenty. He had heard stories of people lifting cars off the ground to help someone trapped underneath. Surely, he could use that as motivation to open this damn door. He could definitely do it.

Kicking the door, even with his shoes, just rattled his entire body and hurt his feet. After beating at it senselessly for ten minutes, he forced himself to give up on that idea, filled to the brim with frustration. He collapsed against the back wall of the cage, staring morosely at his shoes.

His eyes landed on the buckle connecting the straps, and a lightbulb went off in his mind. Grabbing Korrashkka's claw, he got to work.

Thirty minutes later, the throbbing in his head had increased and every breath he took had his ribs rubbing uncomfortably against his skin. He grinned triumphantly as he held the world's worst lockpick tightly in his hands.

Bending flimsy metal was easy when he was thrumming with klaxan, and using Korrashkka's claw on it had sharpened and twisted it into something usable. Now, Viktor had never picked a lock before, and he knew, realistically, that he probably wouldn't succeed back on Earth. But he wasn't on Earth, and he was filled with spite.

The locks on the cages were less advanced than the ones he had seen in the arena or vet. These cages were old - the bars were rusty along the edges and dented in some places - and the lock looked extremely simple. He hadn't been in here long, but he had seen Lilac open the cages once or twice; there was none of the fancy knocking or hand waving she had used on the ones back in the arena. These weren't remote-controlled.

So, brute-forcing the lock open was probably his best bet. He jabbed his pick into the lock repeatedly.

His arm quickly got tired. The bars were spaced out just enough to slip his arm through it, but twisting and turning it made his skin pinch uncomfortably. Still, what was discomfort when freedom was right there? So, he persevered.

The lock rattled loudly each time he slammed the pick into it, getting looser and looser with each strike. Hope grew in his gut.

"Hey!" someone shouted from down the hall, weak and hoarse. Viktor stalled briefly in his attempt to break out but otherwise ignored the person. If he got out, he could get Vok'Rul to come back and free them all. He wouldn't leave them here. But he needed to get out first. "Will you shut up that racket?!"

"You shut up!" someone else shouted, voice much stronger than theirs. "You always got something to say!"

"Yeah? How's this? Your crying reminds me of a dying pig!"

"When I get out of here, I'm going to strangle you in your sleep."

"The only way you're getting out of here is in a body bag, buddy! We're all gonna die in this miserable shithole. Which is why," their voice got louder, angrier, "I want some peace and fuckin' quiet!"

Viktor rolled his eyes, briefly wiping the sweat off his forehead. He took a deep breath, holding it for just a second, before slamming the modified buckle back into the lock with all the force he could muster. The bars bent inward with the force of it, and he sat back in shock as the door creaked open unceremoniously. It sounded like a rusty door.

"I did it," he whispered, feeling gleeful hysteria brewing in his chest. A wide grin split his face, and he couldn't help his shout of "I DID IT!"

He exploded out of the cage. They had put him in the second row, so he fell to the floor in a heap. He jumped to his feet, stomping out the pins and needles in his legs.

"Someone's out," he heard someone mutter in surprise. "Hey, let us out, too!"

Confused and excited whispers soon grew into a loud clamor, and Viktor felt his heart rate pick up. If they didn't shut up, someone was surely going to notice all the racket and -

The door opened. There was nowhere for him to hide; the room was flat. There were hardly any spaces between the cages and certainly not large enough for him to squeeze into. The only thing he could feasibly hide behind were the boxes at the end of the room. He froze like a deer in headlights as the soft lights flickered on, revealing the alien who entered.

"By the Spirits, Kohgrash!" Lilac hissed in surprise, eyes widening. "What do you think you're doing? Get back in your cage!"

"I'm escaping! With or without your help," Viktor snarled as soon as he got his voice back to him. It was still scratchy from all the screaming he had done in the last day or two. "I'm going home!"

"Take us with you!" someone cried out desperately. Shrieks of agreement followed that statement, and Viktor could barely hear his own thoughts.

"Kohgrash," Lilac said desperately, putting out her hands and walking toward him. Viktor dropped into a familiar fighting stance, knees bent and ready to run. He bared his teeth, gripping the bent lockpick and the claw in each hand. He didn't want to hurt Lilac, necessarily, but he'd do anything to get out of this place. "Get back in the cage, please."

"NO!" he screamed at her, tensing his legs before lunging at her with all the speed he could muster. She stepped back quickly, backpedaling frantically to keep her balance. It was all he needed, though. She had left the door wide open. He sprinted past her.

"Come back!" people behind him wailed. "Let us out! Please!" Those that could were banging their hands on the walls and bars. The noise was loud, almost overwhelming. Viktor felt guilty, so, so guilty for leaving them, but he knew it was for the best.

Flights of stairs greeted him, and they were daunting. Viktor took them as quickly as he could. Adrenaline and klaxan made him quicker. His chest felt tight. His ribs pulled uncomfortably under his skin.

Thudding behind him alerted him of Lilac's presence. He whirled around, expression wild and crazy. He felt like he was one misstep away from spiraling. "Get back!" he screamed at her, throwing his arm out, brandishing the claw wildly. She kept coming, despite his warnings.

Quickly, he switched his weapons to one hand, gripping the railing with the other. He swung his legs up, using his hand to steady himself, kicking her right in the chest.

He honestly hadn't expected it to work.

She fell backward down the stairs, unable to get her footing underneath her. She slammed into the wall with a loud crash. The breath expelled from her lungs in a rush. Viktor didn't wait to see if she got back up; he started moving.

Up and up, step after step. Viktor put one leg in front of the other, lifting himself higher and higher. Closer to freedom. He could practically taste it. The starfruit on his tongue, his soft bed underneath him, Vok'Rul's warm claws threading through his hair. Electricity buzzed under his skin, and this time, it had nothing to do with the collar sitting around his throat.

It was hope sitting in his chest, hot and heavy.

Louds sirens, wailing and screeching, filled the stairwell. Doors started clanging open on every floor, reverberating in his skull. Loud voices filled the small space, and he couldn't differentiate any of them. Footsteps started thudding down the stairs.

Panicked, Viktor pushed open the first door he came across, only a few flights above the room with the cages. He grunted with the effort, but the door gave way eventually. He slammed it shut just as aliens rounded the corner of the stairwell. He pressed his back against the door, breathing heavily. No one tried to open it.

"Well, what do we have here?" someone purred. Viktor whipped his head around to look at the speaker. He wanted to cry when he saw who it was. "You got out, did you?"

Turrkn stood up from where he sat. The belts and accessories he had been pulling on lay abandoned on the table. The room was smaller than any other he had been in before, reminding him of a break room more than anything. Its walls were a muted yellow, lined with chairs and tables. There was a door, but it was behind the alien, who was slowly approaching Viktor.

He looked... terrifying.

Viktor was afraid of a lot of things. The ringmaster, spiders, dying, and disappointing his family just to name a few. But after he had been told the ringmaster had died, he had thought he'd never have to fear for his life around another alien again. Vok'Rul would protect him, and he would protect Vok'Rul.

But Turrkn had the same malicious, cruel glint in his eye that had been in the ringmaster's, eager to inflict any amount of suffering on Viktor just because he could. And Viktor was scared of him. Before, Viktor hadn't fought back when the ringmaster tormented him. Surviving had been his priority back then.

But invincibility hadn't been running through his veins.

He screamed wordlessly at the alien when he got close. It didn't deter Turrkn, who only seemed gleeful.

"I'll make you scream much louder than that, you fucking bastard!" he yelled back, eyes feral. "You killed Zorrash! That was my mate you murdered!"

"Good!" Viktor yelled back. Turrkn let out a shriek of rage and lunged for him, claws outstretched.

Viktor flung his arm up, gripping Korrashkka's claw tightly. He stabbed it into the alien's hands. The claw easily pierced his skin. Viktor held on tightly, pulling downwards. Turrkn screeched, pulling his hand back toward his body. Blood splattered onto the floor with a splash.

It made the floor slippery, and Viktor was unable to dart away when the alien kicked him. He slammed into the door with a breathless groan. He felt something snap in his chest, but no pain followed it. He quickly got back up to his feet, just in time to see Turrkn's foot coming for his face.

His head snapped back into the wall, and he let out an unintelligible noise. Turrkn kept kicking him in the stomach until he spat up blood. Viktor hardly felt a thing except for pinching, but it knocked the wind out of him, and he struggled to get his breath back. The alien stepped back with a satisfied snarl, leaning over him.

"I should kill you," he said in a growling whisper. His voice was trembling with anger. "I should beat you to a pulp; make you suffer like Zorrash did." There was a loud, explosive sigh. He stepped closer, bending down to pick Viktor up.

Viktor surged upward, jamming the crooked lockpick right into Turrkn's eye. The alien lurched back with a scream of pain, but Viktor held on, shoving it deeper and deeper into his skull. Turrkn shoved him off, careening backward and tripping over the chairs and tables that littered the room. He fell onto a heap on the floor, clutching his eye desperately, yelling words and meaningless noises.

Viktor didn't stick around to find out what would happen to him. With trembling hands, he pushed himself to his feet and ran to the other door. He was one weapon less, but Korrashkka's claw would just have to do. He had no other option.

The hallway was grey, flashing sporadically with bright white lights. A loud voice filled the hall, repeating in a monotonous voice: "Code Xra: Feral animal on the loose. Code Tra: Intruder in the building. Retreat to your designated shelter areas. Code Xra: Feral animal on the loose. Code Tra: Intruder in the building. Retreat to your designated shelter areas."

The door slammed into the wall behind him as Turrkn finally got back to his feet. "Get back here!" he screamed, chasing after him. His gait was uneven and slow. Still, Viktor sprinted as quickly as he could, feeling his chest protest at the movement. He rounded the corner, scrambling to gain purchase on the slippery floor with only one shoe on.

Faint screams reached his ears. His heart thudded painfully in his throat. He had no idea why aliens were screaming, but he needed to stay away from them. Aliens meant cages. He needed to find another stairwell.

He easily lost Turrkn in the hallways. The only thing that would give him away was the blood splattered all over him which dripped onto the floor. He made a point to slide his bloodied hands along the hallways he didn't enter before going in the opposite direction. He hoped that, if anything, it would lead the alien in the wrong direction for a little while.

He started to grow weary. It got harder to breathe with each step, but he pushed through. The hallways were swimming in his vision, twisting and weaving together. It made it hard to navigate, but Viktor kept walking. He had to.

He spotted a door at the end of the hall he entered, and he started running faster, almost stumbling over his own feet. As he got closer, he realized that the door had an image of stairs on it.

Yes! Stairs!

Something orange entered his vision, and he jerked to a stop, shaking his head to snarl at the threat. Nhafka stood in front of him, face twisted into an angry scowl. He looked slightly afraid.

"You're more trouble than you're worth," Nhafka declared. He reached for the remote on his belt. Viktor wasn't going to let this idiot stop him. He stepped forward, claw raised.

And fell to the ground in a heap as electricity ran through him with fiery agony. He screamed loudly, writhing in pain. Pain came back to him in waves. He became violently aware of his bruised stomach, broken ribs, throbbing headache, and trembling, twitching limbs as he convulsed on the floor.

Viktor, despite the hazy fog that had settled over his vision, could see Nhakfa approaching him. He tried his best to get away, but the collar was constricting his movements, nearly screaming with the amount of electricity running through it. The alien switched off the collar when he reached him, watching with smugness as Viktor tried and failed to get his breath back into his lungs.

"Klaxan wear off, huh? Poor, poor Kohgrash." The alien chuckled as he shoved Viktor across the floor with his foot. He reached for his phone, clicked it on, and said, "Nhafka here. Found the animal. Neutralized. Hallway 7-K and -"

The door behind him slammed open, and a low snarling filled the air. The figure was clad in thick-plated armor, filling the entire doorway. Horns like daggers clawed their way into the air, plastered on the figure's back and tail, rattling against the metal as the alien stalked forward. Its gait was purposeful, like a predator. The flashing lights illuminated its face, and Viktor felt his lips curl into a weak smile.

"You," Vok'Rul snarled, eyes shimmering with fury, "will not live to see the light of day again."