Tonko put both of his arms in front of his body in a defensive manner. Gurk rushed forward with his jaws wide open. He bit into one of Tonko's arms, managing to keep hold of it in a vice like grip. The gym owner attempted to free his arm from the crocodile's bite, but the strength behind Gurk's mouth was too much for Tonko to compete with. Gurk moved his entire body back while still clenching onto his opponent's arm. He then swung his head in the opposite direction, lifting Tonko off his feet and then released him. He soared upwards in an arc, flailing and screaming as his body corkscrewed through the air. The man landed on his stomach, shaking the entire ring once more.
Tonko's underlings continued to chase Janus around the room. As their leader stood up, he watched them both try to grab Janus as he darted from one area to the next. "One of you grab him! The other get back... to watching the match!"
"Sorry Tonko, sir," the one handling the projection said. "He just keeps interrupting!" The gym-goer looked to his side and saw Janus slip past his partner and approach him before he could press anything on his screen.
"Just hit him! How much more do you weigh than h—"
Two hands grabbed onto his shoulders. Gurk took hold of Tonko and flung him to the mat again. He curled up, put his hands over his face as he mitigated a small amount of damage from Gurk's barrage of slashes. He rocked back and forth, trying to protect his body from a multitude of angles. But with each turn to protect one section of his body, he'd leave another exposed that Gurk was able to strike.
"Gah! Just... do something!" Tonko shouted in between slashes.
His henchman pressed the button on the screen, making Gurk's arms go limp at his side once more. Janus moved in to try and stop the interference, only to have his movement halt when a meaty hand smacked him in the back of his head. His entire head jerked forward, sending his glasses skidding across the ground as he staggered towards the ring. As Janus tried to regain his balance, the bald man reached underneath his arms and kept them locked.
"That's for hitting me in the face!" The brawny man barked right into Janus' ear. He put up some struggle to break free, but Janus stood no chance of overpowering his captor. The other man stepped towards him, throwing a jab to Janus' exposed gut. He groaned, wanting to hunch over to help ease the pain of the punch but the other man's grip made it impossible for him to bend down. Another blow came towards his stomach, making him shot loud enough to draw Gurk's attention.
The crocodile looked away from the match to see Janus' gut get pummeled on repeat. Tonko turned over, keeping himself balanced on his arms with his back up.
"Glacier!"
The cold breath overcame Tonko again, making his rise even slower. "You... cheater...!" Tonko stuttered with a frost coated face. He slowly turned towards Gurk, his hands holding onto the sides of his arms as he shivered.
"Nope," Gurk replied. With his arms still limp and at his side, Gurk put his weight onto his front leg as he wound his tail back. "Slasher!"
The end of Gurk's tail became coated in a thick chunk of ice. The Tail Slash swung faster than usual; the spacing between Gurk's attack and Tonko was perfect, making the block of ice attached to the tip shatter to pieces when it collided with Tonko's jaw. His opponent went limp as he fell sideways, sliding across the canvas of the ring, underneath the laser beams before falling onto the ground in a heap. A loud ding rang out through the gym as Tonko lay face down with his legs dangling upwards. The front of his body lay propped up against the ring. With the match over, Gurk jumped through the red lasers that surrounded the perimeter of the ring. Once he landed, Tonko's lackeys turned to face him.
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The crocodile took a chomp out of the bandages that covered his wrists, spitting out the chunks in frozen blocks that bounced against the ground. He stomped closer to them, making both men stop attacking Janus. The bald man dropped his captive, letting him fall to the ground as he clenched his stomach with both hands and curled his entire body inward.
They backed away, looking at each other in the process, trying to see which would be willing to take on the angered crocodile. The man with the buzz cut went in first, making a series of short dashes, stopping intermittently to protect his face. Once he was close enough, he threw a hook punch. Gurk’s palm engulfed the entirety of the man’s fist, stopping his punch completely. With a swift downwards swing, Gurk brought the man to the floor like his arm was a jump rope.
With the other two down, the bald man backed away, running towards the back of the gym before heading through the rear exit. Janus remained writhing on the floor and groaning in agony. A cold hand tapped his shoulder. Janus managed to set aside his pain long enough to open his eyes and look at Gurk. He reached down and handed him his glasses. With a bit of coughing, Janus stood himself up.
"Thanks..." Janus muttered. He put his glasses back on his face. "Did you win?" he asked, one hand holding onto gut as he hunched over.
"Yeah."
"Nice... work..." Janus let out a cough again.
The dim lights of the gym became a smidge brighter when the front door opened. Itzel came walking in, leaving the entrance to the building wide open. She sprinted around the side of the ring to meet the other two, her eyes focusing on Tonko who still lay propped up against the edge of the ring. The other gymgoer had gotten up and was holding his arm as he went to check on his boss.
"What happened here?" Itzel asked, staring at Tonko as the other man began to set him upright.
"That guy was trying to rob Gurk out of a... Ranked Challenge win," Janus replied.
"So it's true, huh?" Itzel said aloud, making sure the gym owner could here despite not knowing whether or not he was still conscious. "Tonko KO is where you go if you want to donate your Rumble Circuit points without even knowing it."
"It's not true!" Tonko said in a daze. His lackey managed to turn up right, but he remained seated against the edge of the ring with his head hung down low. "If anything, those two cheated!" One pointer finger flailed wildly in the air, back and forth until it stopped in the general direction of Janus and Gurk.
"He's lying! I saw that guy pressing something on his screen! Every time he did, Gurk wouldn't be able to move his arms!" Janus rebutted. The pain from the repeated series of blows to the stomach had begun to fade away.
"True!" Gurk chimed in.
"No need to try and convince me. Of course I'm going to believe you guys," Itzel said. "But what really matters is if you won or not, big guy."
"I won," Gurk said.
"Nice!" She raised one hand up, to which Gurk responded with a high-five. "That's all that matters. Even if Tonko puts in a report with the Rumble Circuit Committee, I doubt they'll investigate it. Besides, I was the only one that was watching the Broadcast. It’s not like this cheater has anyone to vouch for him besides the suckers that go to his gym.”
"Looks like you dropped another tier!" Tonko's remaining underling said. He brought up the Labrisson rankings and showed it to his superior. The gym owner put his hands over his head upon seeing the new number attached to his Rumble Circuit Fighter Profile and shook it back and forth.
"Oh no, no, no, no!" he cried. "Do you know how long it took for me to get all those points?" he shouted. "Now I'll never get to meet Siergi!" Tonko began hyperventilating while his eyes became red and watery.
Itzel headed for the front entrance. With a nod of her head, she indicated that she wanted the other two to follow. All three walked in a line towards the exit, but Itzel took one more look at the defeated fighter. "If you put that effort into learning how to fight rather than using dirty tricks to scam unsuspecting opponents, you might be able to get those points back."
"Y-you really think so?" Tonko looked up, sobbing softly.
Itzel paused. "Honestly, no. I just said it with the hopes that it'll get you to stop cheating." She turned around and held the door open for Janus and Gurk. The crocodile grabbed the bag of soups before following his friend out the door. Itzel kept the door open and stared back at the weeping man that wiped his tear drenched cheek on the collar of his gi.
"Once a cheat, always a cheat," she said, giving the man a look of contempt before slamming the door shut behind her.