"Perhaps Siergi and his team made a mistake by inviting you onto their Broadcast!" Tonko threw a straight hook into Gurk's open and exposed chest. The crocodile backed into the laser perimeter, one foot dangling out of the ring. "For someone so large and formidable, you're not much of a challenge!" Gurk shifted his weight to the side so that instead of falling out of the ring, he fell towards the center. His entire body trembled as he tried to lift himself on the ground; he stared at his hands, curving his claws into the soft material of the ring to use as leverage to try and him pick himself up.
"Cheating!" Gurk said in a low voice as he looked up towards his opponent.
"Cheating?" Tonko placed a hand over his chest, appearing offended by the remark. "You're accusing me of cheating in a Ranked Challenge? Is that what you do when you're on the verge of defeat?" Tonko leaned down and hoisted Gurk up by his jaw.
The crocodile suddenly had agency over his arms once more. Gurk was able to push Tonko away and put a bit of distance between the two of them. He then began tearing at the bandages that were wrapped around his wrists with his claws. Once his fingers grabbed onto one of the loose pieces, his arms swung wide, dangling at his side once more.
I knew it had something to do with those wraps! Janus thought as he cautiously moved to the other side of the ring. He was able to get a better viewing point of the two men's screen while remaining. unnoticed. Janus could see the broadcast being projected on top of another interface. One of the men peered up from the screen for a moment before looking back down and tapping on the floating projection.
Janus crept forward towards his two targets, taking a short look back at the fight to see Gurk take another hit unguarded. Once he was on the same side of the square arena as the two suspects, he kept his eyes on Gurk. He could move his arms again, evident by the way he was able to land a quick slash of one of his claws on Tonko's arm. The owner of the gym blocked and countered with another Icicle Strike that too went undefended by the crocodile.
Once Gurk gets control of his arms again is when I'll interrupt. Janus took a couple of steps forward, making sure to not draw the attention of the two men. They were too engrossed in darting their attention from the fight to their projection to pay any mind to Janus’ rapid approach.
"Slash!"
Janus didn't bother looking up to see Gurk's attack. The instant he heard Gurk's voice, he put himself between the two men, placing his hands on each of their shoulders. "Excuse me," Janus said loudly. Both turned their heads to look at him. "Can I ask you guys a couple of questions?"
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The screen immediately disappeared as the two men became furious. A twinge of regret overcame Janus as he immediately let go of their shoulders once the size of the two men became more evident now that he was right next them. Both had a few inches on Janus in regard to height and far more width to their muscles. The one to his left had a buzzed haircut and was in a torn up gi like Tonko. He took one hand and pushed Janus back by shoving his shoulder.
"Stay focused on the challenge," the man with the buzzed head said to his bald partner. Janus looked at the other gym-goer and then back at the one that was approaching him. He lunged forward, tackling the bald one to the ground by going for his legs. They both fell to the floor with Janus pinned down on the bottom.
"Glacier!" Janus was able to get look up at the fight in the ring despite having two men larger than him push him onto the ground. A blue fog come out of Gurk's mouth and covered Tonko. His movement slowed as frost covered the upper half of his body. The crocodile then slammed the front of his metal mask into Tonko's face, flooring him. The gym owner turned his head to the side and saw his two pupils struggling to keep Janus down.
"What are you two doing!" he shouted as he lay on his back. Gurk stood over him, reaching down to grab him by the shoulders.
"We got an intruder!" the bald one barked. Janus tried to lift his head up but was promptly pushed back down on the sweaty mat beneath him by one of his attackers.
"Both of you don't need to be dealing with him!"
The man with the buzzed hair got up and activated his screen again. He tapped a few buttons and Gurk's arms flung to the side once more as he hovered over Tonko. The gym owner rose to his feet while swaying back and forth, dazed by the metal headbutt. He pointed towards Gurk with a shaky hand while his other hand pressed onto his forehead.
"So... that's your plan, huh?" he muttered. Gurk growled as he stepped backwards with his arms still limp. "You get your friend... to cause a distraction? That's low... Gurk..." The crocodile lowered his head, placing his metal mask in front of his opponent to brace himself for the next attack. "Don't worry, if you promise to play fair for the rest of the challenge, I promise to keep this little mishap between friends!" Tonko let out a big and toothy grin as he lowered his entire body and balled his right hand into a fist. He took a crouching position just beneath Gurk's lowered head. The two met eyes, Tonko still giddy as he prepared his next attack.
"Rise-Berg!"
Tonko jumped upwards while performing a vertical uppercut. With a fist encased in solid ice, he slammed it into Gurk's chin. The crocodile let out a wail that Janus could hear despite being pinned to the floor. Once Gurk landed onto the mat of the ring, the entire platform as he crashed with a thud. The shaking made Janus' aggressor turn his head. With his attacker momentarily distracted, Janus had mustered enough strength to sock the man on the side of his bald head. He released Janus' arm to touch the area where he had been struck. Now having enough wiggle room, Janus moved his body enough to grab hold of the cohort controlling the panel by the ankle and pull him to the ground.
"W-what's going on over there you two?" Tonko shouted with worry. He angled his head in the direction of his underlings but didn't take his eyes off the angry crocodile that approached him. When he saw that Gurk had complete control of his arms, Tonko backed up as much as the limited space of the ring would allow him. "Shouldn't you two be focused on the fight?"