"I hate everything," Caleb said as he sat tied to a pole in the middle of the Jora ship. The aliens didn't even have the decency to give him something to wear. Though it wasn't like these guys had much in the way of clothing either.

After getting captured the Jora had taken him out of the underground palace and back onto the surface of Varnoss. There Caleb saw the giant asteroid in the sky. He wondered how it sat up there without falling. He never got a chance to ask. The Jora holding him had met up with two of its companions and was gesturing at the asteroid with Caleb in hand.

Whatever was discussed, the two aliens had crouched low and interlocked their hands. Caleb's captor then stood on the other two and curled up into a ball with Caleb inside. Pressed between muscled arms and a robust chest, Caleb could only groan in complaint. He felt a lurch and realized they were sailing upwards.

The Jora uncurled and Caleb saw they were high in the sky and had covered two-thirds of the distance to the asteroid. But they were starting to descend. That was when the Jora chucked Caleb like a ball and he rocketed towards the asteroid at insane speeds. The wind scratched at his eyes and he saw a fiery ring envelop him as he shot into the stone headfirst. He smacked against it hard enough to create a small crater from the force.

Another Jora had been standing by and grabbed at Caleb. Once again he was subject to the insane whims of these creatures. He was pulled in every direction, his head twisted as far as it could go, and he had even been submerged under some sort of oily liquid for long times. Finally, the aliens had stopped messing with him and tied him to his current abode.

Caleb retched as one of the Jora scratched at their nether regions covered by a crude loincloth. To distract himself, he imagined what would happen to him. Maybe surviving all these tortures meant he was to be their king. Or maybe they were trying to tenderize him to cook. It was most likely the cooking one, eighty twenty odds he assumed.

A smaller Jora, what Caleb assumed to be a child, ran up to Caleb and tried tugging one of his fingers off.

"Could you not?" He asked.

The Jora babbled something and grabbed at a toe.

Caleb sighed. It wasn't even fun to quip. The aliens didn't understand him and didn't react to anything he said.

"You guys are killing all the fun!" He yelled.

The Jora grabbed at his mouth and tugged with curiosity. Unable to speak clearly, Caleb sat in stoic silence while the child pulled his lips every which way. The Jora then grabbed at Caleb's teeth and played amateur dentist, only stopping when a larger Jora came to grab Caleb.

He was tugged off the pole like a fish off the line and was brought into the center of a circle of Jora. The aliens were all hunched over and covered in wrinkles. Caleb was placed in front of the oldest one, or at least the most wrinkled, and his captor spoke in its indecipherable tongue.

The old one listened, twisting its body so their ears could hear the younger Jora. Caleb struggled at the ropes as they talked. He knew he wasn't in any true danger but he didn't like being tied up like a captured pig. He tugged at the ropes with all his strength, not having to worry about it biting into him.

The younger Jora finished his speech before Caleb could break the ropes. In one quick motion, they grabbed Caleb and presented him to the old-timer with all four hands. The old Jora took Caleb with two of its four hands and tried to pull him apart.

"How much déjà vu do I have to go through today," Caleb grumbled.

The old one finished with their inspection and moved Caleb to one hand. They nodded to the younger Jora, which caused a whooping from every Jora in the circle. Their mouths moved rhythmically in their popping laugh while the younger Jora threw all four hands in the air in celebration.

"The heck is going on?" Caleb said. He struggled in the grip of the monster, unable to break free.

A few of the old Jora's eyes turned to Caleb. Seeing he wasn't about to escape, they turned back to the young Jora who was now pulling a second into the ring to dance. The ring started to clap and drum as the two whirled around, stomping their feet in time to the beat. The dance finished when the young Jora offered all four hands to the other and they took them with all four of theirs.

More cheering resounded and the two embraced in a hug. As the cheering died down the old Jora stood and walked over to the couple. He grabbed his loincloth, pulling off a strip and handing it to the younger Jora. The Jora took it and wove it into their loincloth. As he finished the circle stood and bowed.

"Seriously, what in the world?" Caleb said.

With that, the old Jora walked over to a small cave with Caleb in hand. The inside was a humble living quarters. Cloth scraps mimicking a bed sat in one corner and a small alcove of food sat next to it. The old Jora brought Caleb past that and into a tunnel. They moved in darkness for some time, Caleb still struggling to break free.

The tunnel opened up into a larger cave. Inside Caleb saw all manner of precious gems and metals. Uncut diamonds, lumps of titanium, and other unknown materials littered the cave. Caleb stared at the treasure trove in amazement as the old Jora threw him down into it.

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Caleb landed on a heap of gems. He turned back to the alien and saw the old one was already leaving.

"Was I seriously just some present for an old guy?" Caleb said. "And are they really this dumb? I can easily cut these ropes with the stuff here."

He went to work finding a slightly sharp piece he could use to saw the ropes off and found a shattered piece of metal that would work perfectly. With a few motions he sawed the ropes off and freed himself.

"Right," He said. "Time for a stealth mission."

He walked back towards the place the old alien had thrown him and looked for a way up. He noticed there were holes in the side at regular intervals. The only problem was he was terrible at climbing.

"Stupid unchanging body with no upper body strength," He grumbled as he put a hand on the first foothold.

The way up was slow going. His muscles tensed up at around the halfway mark. He hugged the wall as close as he could for some rest, the stone cool on his skin. Finally, after what felt like hours, Caleb heaved his body over the pit edge and collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Stupid. Body." He said between gasping breaths.

He didn't get time to rest. While he was on the ground, another Jora came through another tunnel, this one holding onto a metal stick all too familiar.

"Bat!" Caleb exclaimed. And then realized his error. The Jora hadn't seen him quite yet but his outburst made sure of it. With a quick leaping bound over the pit, the monster landed right next to Caleb and looked down at the exhausted man.

Unable to move, Caleb was picked up again and tossed over into the pit with Bat. The two clattered onto the ground, surrounded by metals.

"Damn it, me and my big mouth," Caleb said.

Bat rolled onto the ground next to him, smile facing Caleb.

"Yeah I'm happy to see you too," Caleb replied.

He spent some time catching his breath and then grabbed Bat. "Alright, now what?" He said to himself.

He still had the rope, and now he had Bat. Maybe he could make some kind of grapple to help him get up. Make it so he wasn't as tired. It still kinda amazed him that these aliens hadn't done anything to trap him in.

The universe decided to answer his thoughts with the roof slamming down onto the top of the pit, enveloping Caleb in darkness.

"Oh come on!" He cried.

Now that it was pitch black Caleb couldn't see anything around him. His feet connected with several pieces of treasure as he shuffled towards the edge of the wall.

"Stupid universe and its stupid timing," He grumbled.

His hand hit the wall after a short walk. With nothing left to do, Caleb turned his back to the wall and leaned against it. He sighed. "At least I have you with me Bat."

Bat nodded in agreement.

Light spilled into the pit, emanating from the holes in the sides. And then Caleb felt something fall onto his shoulder.

"Aaah!" He screamed involuntarily. He brought Bat over to swipe at the thing. A slug of some kind fell off his shoulder.

It was the same neon swamp green as the Jora, but had none of the aliens features. A large mouth sat at one end, serrated teeth lining the edges like a lamprey. It landed on the ground and slithered towards a piece of titanium.

Caleb watched in fascination as the slug crawled up to the titanium and stuck its mouth on one end. He heard the grinding of teeth against metal. The slug bit into the titanium like a cracker and munched in delight. "Oh that can't be good," Caleb said.

More of the slugs were falling out of the holes, making their way towards the treasure trove on the ground. Caleb did his best to stay out of the way, kicking at any slugs that had the curiosity to check him out. He made his way to a side of the pit that had less of the slugs. He held Bat up like a sword and prepared to hold out.

The slugs chomped everything. Diamonds were shattered and titanium bitten through as the slugs gorged themselves. Caleb noticed that they grew as they ate, their bodies enlarging. Once they reached the size of a small child legs started to grow and a cone shaped head appeared.

They were baby Jora. And they were eating some of the strongest materials Caleb knew of for breakfast. Soon, the materials ran out and Caleb was the only meal, aside from Bat, left. Some of the slug children waddled over to him on stumpy legs while others slithered along the ground. A few others had decided that their fellow brethren were a quicker meal and were tearing into them.

Caleb circled around the monsters, easily outpacing the slow pace of the baby Jora. More and more were devoured by each other until only a few stood ready. Each had grown out their legs and their cone heads held multiple mouths. Infantile ears and eyes were starting to grow in as well. These Jora had fully grown two of their arms while the final two were poking out the sides.

The final few turned to Caleb with watering mouths. Caleb held up Bat. "I'm not looking to be baby food fellas."

Bat shook in Caleb's hands. He looked down. Bat was trying its best to put Caleb between it and the monsters, jerking Caleb's arms so they flailed behind him.

"Bat you're the weapon here, not me!" Caleb accused.

Bat stopped to give Caleb a look with its smiling face. Caleb grumbled, "Fine, we'll both run." He was tired of these aliens pulling at him.

He dodged past an awkward swipe from one of the Jora and went to the opposite end of the room. The few remaining Jora turned in stupid slowness which gave Caleb time to make a plan. He knew he couldn't outrun them if they all worked together but maybe he could get the final few to attack each other instead.

As they all moved to attack Caleb, he dodged behind the outermost enemy and pushed them into the others. The Jora fell into the others, knocking everyone onto the ground in a heap. They scrambled over each other to stand up and along the way one got upset and punched out.

The punch connected and caused another Jora to rage. Soon, the entire group was punching and kicking at each other in a frenzy. Caleb wasted no time. He rushed over to the edge of the pit and started to climb the side.

He made it up to the roof of the pit when the last Jora screamed out in triumph. He looked down around his should and saw one single Jora standing, the size of the young one he'd seen earlier. Four arms pounded its chest in triumph and clear eyes stared out. They saw Caleb up top and jumped up to grab him.

Except the creature didn't know its own strength and crashed into the roof, cracking and shaking it with the impact. It fell to the ground, stunned. Caleb tried to shimmy out away while the monster was out of it. But it stood after a few seconds and jumped at him again.

This time the monster connected with Caleb headfirst. With a meaty thwack the head connected with Caleb's back and rebounded. Once again the Jora fell in a heap. It stood and tried again, but put more power in it than before and struck the roof again.

The second time the roof was struck Caleb noticed it had shifted in the air, leaving enough space to escape if he timed it right. He turned to the monster below, watching to see when it would jump. It was picking itself off the ground. Caleb noticed it had no privates. So why did they wear loincloths?

The momentary distraction almost cost him. The monster moved and jumped straight at Caleb. "Ohshit," He breathed. Caleb jumped stepped over to another foothold while the Jora sailed through the air, putting him far enough away that the creature would strike the roof instead of him.

But Caleb was luckier than he thought. The creature hit the corner of the pit and the roof, squeezing himself through both and acting as a wedge. It struggled helplessly between the heavy stone, four arms trying to find purchase to push them out.

"Ooh, tough break man," Caleb said as he passed by. "Don't worry, I'm sure someone will come and get you."

Finally out of the pit, Caleb picked a random tunnel and walked out of it, Bat at the ready. About halfway through the tunnel the whole area shook, stumbling Caleb.

"Oh now what?" He complained.