There were times when the ringmaster wanted him to lose his fights. It wasn't often for Viktor to be put in that position. He was the crowd's favorite human to see fight. More often, the other humans were forced to lose their fights. Losing wasn't common for Viktor, but as the third month on this alien planet finally rolled over (the marks on the wall were getting fainter and fainter as Nikolas's zipper on his jacket kept getting smaller and smaller - the others were worried they wouldn't be able to keep track of the oncoming days very well), he experienced his first loss.

He was shoved into the arena like usual: thrown mercilessly in after the leash had unclipped from his collar, with the added bonus of a sharp kick right on his spine. He hissed in pain but knew there was no time to waste by turning around and cursing at the aliens. It wasn't like they would know what he was saying, anyway.

His eyes automatically flickered over to the area where the ringmaster usually supervised the fights. His face was hard, angry, seeming to promise pain if Viktor failed. It was normally like that, though, so Viktor hadn't given it much thought.

He was left alone in the arena for a while, far longer than usual. He couldn't see any animal on the other side of the arena, or behind the bars of the holding cell. He paced the arena along the edges, making sure to not wander across the halfway mark. Unpleasant shocks of electricity had taught him to keep to his side until the fight had begun a long time ago.

The thrum of the crowd buzzed at the back of his skull like an annoying gnat. He just wished that they would shut up for one second. Where was this animal?

His patience awarded him eventually when the bars across the arena slid open with a slow, clunky hiss, and his opponent approached.

Warily, Viktor realized he had never fought this creature before. He had seen it in the back room where all the animals were kept, but he had never had to fight it. He was kept mainly to smaller animals. This creature was much larger than Oorah, not so much in height but thicker and wider instead. It was also really hairy.

Most of the animals here were all skin. Some had scales, others had short, coarse fur. This one, though, had long, shaggy fur. It was going to be hard to pinpoint its weak spots, but Viktor was sure he could manage. He hoped.

It looked like some sort of weird anteater. Its snout was unnaturally long, and it lumbered about with the gait of a bear. Its feet were hooven, which made Viktor wonder if it was a prey animal. Most of the creatures they fought here were carnivores, after all.

However, as he scrambled to find purchase against the gritty sand of the arena to make a break for it when the creature lunged at him quicker than he'd ever seen any animal move, they were on a different planet. It would make sense that their 'prey' animals were also scary as fuck.

He dodged, hearing its jaws snap where his shoulder would have been. The sand seemed to pull at his feet more than usual. His heartbeat thudded in his ears, frantic and purposeful.

Its size, like any large animal, made it difficult for it to do sharp turns. Viktor used this to his advantage. He ran over to the edge of the arena, knowing that pain awaited him if he slipped up. As soon as he could hear the beast's hooves thumping right behind him, he changed paths, making a sharp turn in the other direction.

As expected, the beast slammed into the wall with a loud bang! Viktor didn't give himself any time to breathe, he was already moving away.

Or at least, he tried to move away. His body seized as electricity pumped through it. He let out a strangled noise of pain as he fell to the ground. To any alien, he was sure it just looked like he had tripped. His shock collar deactivated as soon as he hit the ground, but by then, it was too late.

He wasn't able to get his legs under him to move away quick enough to avoid the hooves that slammed into his back. Wheezing in pain, Viktor curled up as best he could with twitching limbs. Whenever he could, he lashed out with his fist. He managed to hit one of its legs, wiry and lean, and it crumpled, kneeling on the sandy ground.

Feeling more hopeful, Viktor swung his arm back to hit the other leg when electricity ran through him again. It didn't stop until the beast was back on its feet. He barely managed to get his arm up to cover his head before it was stomping on him.

He hurled obscenities at it, unable to get a good punch in. He could hear the crowd roaring around him, chanting some unknown name. He felt helpless.

It stopped soon, likely determining him dead or otherwise. The aliens at the gate called it over, and it went obediently. Viktor waited until it was secure before he started to get up. Arms shaking as he hoisted himself up, Viktor glared at the crowd. Hot anger writhed in his stomach.

Something grabbed the back of his collar, and he snarled, wanting to make these aliens suffer just as they had made him suffer. But when they reached for the remote on their belts, he was quickly reminded that he held no power in this situation.

His injuries must not have caused too much concern in the aliens, because he was being escorted back to the cells instead of visiting the vet's office one more. At least he had that going for him.

"Sheesh, kid, you look like shit," called Ezekiel, despite the sharp clang on his bars that resulted whenever one of them talked. Viktor merely grunted, trying to put one foot in front of the other. The angle they had the leash pressing against his neck made it difficult for him to get his limbs working correctly.

They yanked him to a halt before they even got to his cell. Trepidation knotted his stomach, and he forced himself to look up from the floor.

The ringmaster soon entered from behind them, and it took everything Viktor had not to turn around and watch him. He tensed his shoulders, hoping that he looked miserable enough to not get knocked around for their enjoyment.

Thankfully, the ringmaster seemed to ignore him, moving to the other rows of cages. Viktor heard one of them open, followed by the familiar sound of hooves meeting dirt. He looked toward the other humans, who were all pressed against the doorways and close to Viktor as they could get. He exchanged baffled expressions with them. Like them, he had no idea what was happening.

Wondering if the aliens had just forgotten about him, he carefully pulled against the leash, taking one step toward his cage. They yanked him back harshly, causing him to slip and fall backward. Unfortunately, they didn't follow, and his upper half was held up by the stiff stick. He scrambled to push himself up from the awkward angle, lest he choke otherwise.

The aliens were laughing behind him. "Just stay still, kid," Aiko whispered, words barely audible. He could hardly hear her over the rush of anger washing through him. Stupid fucking aliens.

The ringmaster took his time walking over to him. The ugly scar across his face contorted with glee and contentment, eyes flinty with greed. Viktor quickly lowered his eyes, glaring at the floor instead.

The ringmaster grabbed Viktor's face in his claws, wrenching his head upward uncomfortably. Viktor glared at him for a heartbeat before averting his eyes again. The ringmaster said his name, mixed in with the grunts and clicks of a language he would probably never understand. The aliens behind him responded in kind, and finally, finally, Viktor was ushered back to his cage.

He was allowed to go in of his own free will instead of a sharp kick to his rump. He tried not to feel grateful for that. A bowl of the mush they were fed was quickly shoved in after him. Viktor waited until the aliens were as far from his cage before he gave in and lunged for the bowl. He inhaled the food, trying not to taste it.

"What happened, Vik?" he heard Pedro ask. Viktor's eyes flickered to his concerned face. He swallowed the last of his food before gulping down some water to wash away the taste. Smacking his lips, Viktor sat down on the straw bed with a sigh.

"I lost," he said simply.

He heard mutters of surprise. Like him, they had all suspected they would never force a loss onto Viktor. It had been three months since they started fighting, and Viktor had always been the crowd favorite. His losing simply wasn't heard of, especially with the pointers the others had given him to improve his fighting ability.

"What? For real?" Aiko asked. Viktor nodded, though he knew she likely couldn't see him.

"It wasn't my choice," he said acidly, grabbing a piece of straw and slowly picking it apart. He heard Pedro sit down as well, leaning against the bars. "They shocked me just as I was about to get away."

There would probably be bruises littered along his back for weeks if he was lucky. He was just glad nothing had broken. He wasn't really sure what would happen to him if he ended up with a broken bone. Or if he had some other career-ending injury.

Some career, he thought sarcastically.

He heard someone give a world-weary sigh. Probably Nikolas.

"I'm sorry, Viktor," Pedro said. There were murmurs of agreement. "That was unfair of them. They must have had a lot of money on your opponent. What was it?"

"That weird deer-anteater thing," he mumbled, gesturing to the direction that the ringmaster had sauntered off to before he had been allowed back into his cage.

"Legs," Aiko said wisely. Viktor snorted.

None of them had to go out to fight that day. They all distracted Viktor with mindless chatter, just as they would distract anyone else after a fight. He was thankful they were here with him. They would have never met, nor have spoken with each other, back on Earth.

Lilac showed up as the sun was setting that day, equipped with the dreaded tin of burning ointment. Viktor was reluctant to let her apply it to him, considering he had to turn his back on her. She gave him little choice, however, surprising them with her strength. He twisted and writhed on the ground, his body trying its hardest to get away from her. He didn't make a sound.

She gave him some extra slop though, so he tried not to keep a grudge.

He was given the next few days to recover. The next time he was out in the arena, he was pitted against some small pig-like creature he had heard the others talk about. He knew where its weaknesses were. The entire fight, though, he was worried that he would be forced to lose his fight.

But thankfully, as he incapacitated the boar by throwing his weight into forcing its tusks into the sand and making it fall over onto its side, no electricity came. Relief crashed into him. It was better winning than losing, after all, even if he was forced to fight against his will.

In fact, he didn't lose any of his fights for quite a while. His next fight was against one of the snake-headed creatures. It was easier to fight them off without suffering a trip to the 'vet's' office. He tried making his fights as entertaining as possible, taking up the tips and ideas the others had shared with everyone on what the crowd liked.

They really enjoyed Aiko's acrobatics. She could do flips and handstands, which none of the others, even Viktor, couldn't do. They enjoyed watching her flipping over a charging animal. Viktor was a little jealous if he were honest. He wished he could do a flip. The best he could do was roll out of the way, slide under animals as if he were in a baseball game, or use the creatures themselves as obstacles to jump on.

It was nearly a month later when he lost his second fight. The crowd wasn't as thick this time, which was probably one of the reasons the ringmaster decided he would lose tonight. Viktor only wished that he could be told to throw the fight. Getting shocked in the middle of running was not a pleasant experience, to say the least.

The fight was against the ant-eater creature again. Viktor wasn't sure if it had been the same one, or if they hadn't different ones lying in the back, but he was determined to win this one. It had hurt his pride, a bit, to lose to some... deer.

He had gone for the legs almost immediately, kicking at the joint. The creature had bellowed, reminding Viktor of an elk bugle, but it had kept going. Like him, the creature knew that to give up meant less food and more pain.

It charged at him, head down and pawing at the sand. Wherever it was from, it looked like it was comfortable walking on sand. After four months of fighting in the sand, Viktor was too, but not to the extent that this creature was prancing on it was.

Viktor was about to roll to the side to avoid getting charged when he was electrocuted. Gritting his teeth against the wave of electricity, Viktor shut his eyes as he was thrown across the arena by the creature.

He growled wordlessly, drowned out by the crowd's disappointed and excited noises.

The fight went similarly to the last. Every time Viktor was close to turning the tide in his favor, he'd be crippled with electrocution. Viktor had no idea the permanent side effects constant shocks had on your body, but it was probably nothing good.

After the fight, he wasn't visited by the ringmaster but was definitely sporting more bruises and cuts than he had the last time. He was thrown back into his cage. Viktor managed to collapse on his straw bed. He was tired.

Pedro convinced him to eat something (by way of hinting that Lilac had looked three seconds from coming in and force-feeding him instead). As he laid back on his small straw bed, Viktor wondered how many losses it would take for him to get out of here.