"Your faces look uncertain!" Maluk called out as he diverted his attention from his conversation to the approaching Janus and Itzel. "I can only assume that your call didn't go as planned!"

"There's been a slight change of plan," Itzel replied softly. "Looks like Janus here is down to join our team!" She gave him a pat on the back. He gave an awkward smile as Itzel put her arm across his back and his other shoulder.

"Cool!" Gurk replied. He walked next to Itzel, lining up with the rest of his team.

"So that settles it," Arva said. "We'll be doing a Ranked Team Battle! Isn't that exciting?" she asked Siergi.

"Sure. Don't see why not. I'm down for a change of pace."

"And you, Maluk?" Arva asked.

"Sure, sure. I hope I get a chance to take on the mouthy one," the taller man's eyes narrowed towards Itzel. Her face formed a sharp frown.

"That just means he thinks you're a worthy opponent," Arva said to Itzel with a hush.

"Yeah, let's just go with that," Maluk added.

"Well, since we've agreed on the terms, I'll go ahead and get everything ready for the Broadcast. You three are free to stay here for the time-being discuss strategies and register as a team. It shouldn't take too long to make sure everything is in place," Arva said.

"Sounds good!" Gurk replied with a thumbs up. Arva headed down the corridor with the rest of her team behind her, leading them all out into the main area of the room. With the other three gone, Itzel pulled her teammates in for a huddle.

"Alright," she said, her eyes shifting repeatedly between Janus and Gurk. "Let's get the most important thing out of the way first.” She paused as her gaze moved between the other two. “What's our team’s name going to be?" There was a moment of silence as all three stared down at the ground. The crocodile opened his mouth, ready to say something and break the silence until Itzel gave him a raised eyebrow. "It better not have anything to do with cauliflower." Dejected, Gurk lowered his head again.

Janus lifted his head up, showing a coy grin. "How about the Oregon—"

"No," Itzel snapped. "Nothing with Oregon either."

"I was just joking."

"We don't have much time for jokes, guys." Itzel activated her projection and headed to the Rumble Circuit registration page. "We need to get this team name worked out quick so we can focus on strategy."

"I'm open to anything," Janus replied. "We're just forming a team so that we'll be able to participate in this Ranked Challenge, right? I'm not too concerned with the name myself if we don't plan on participating in too many Team Battles."

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Same," Gurk said.

"Sounds like you two are telling me to come up with the team name."

Janus shrugged his shoulders. "You're the one that wants to make it big in Rumble Circuit. I think it's best if you choose what team name you want to be associated with."

"Good point." Itzel put a thumb on her chin as she stared at the "Team Name Entry" box on the Rumble Circuit. "Didn't think it would be this hard."

"Let's try to find a starting point then," Janus said. "What's something that we all have in common?" All three darted their eyes among each other in silence.

"Not much," Gurk said.

"On a surface level, maybe," Janus said. "But... we're all Exterminators, right?"

"Right," Gurk replied.

"You think we should call ourselves The Exterminators?" Itzel said, looking at Janus as if he were delusional. "You know what kind of connotation that has here in Tersaia? Might as well call ourselves The Janitors."

"Let's try a synonym, then."

"Slayers!" Gurk shouted. Both Janus and Itzel looked at the crocodile then at each other, acknowledging the suggestion with a nod.

"That... is not a bad idea, big guy," Itzel said.

"Says a lot with just one word," Janus added.

"I'll put that in now." Itzel typed the suggested team name onto the screen, only to be greeted with an error message upon submitting it. "This team name has already been taken. Please choose a different team name."

"I was really liking that name, too," Janus said.

Itzel brought up the profile screen of the team in question. "Looks like they haven't had a Battle in years. Their lack of activity has even made them unranked. I'm sure after this Broadcast against Siergi and his team, we'll be the premier Slayers in Rumble Circuit. We'll just have to get a bit creative with how we register."

"Just put the city in front of 'Slayers,'" Janus said.

"The Labrisson Slayers? You really thinking we should let our opponents know that we're from Labrisson?" Itzel asked with uncertainty.

"Put a bit of pride in where you're from," Janus replied. "I know it's not the best city—"

"Far from it," she interjected.

"Right. But would you even be this motivated about Rumble Circuit if Labrisson didn't make you want to chase a better dream?"

"Probably. I guess that’s one way to look at it."

"Fine. How about this?" Janus crossed his arms and looked at Itzel smugly. "It'll make opponents underestimate you. Don't you want to knockout some cocky opponents that thought they were in for a quick win because they know you're from Labrisson?"

Itzel couldn't stop the smile forming on her lips. "I'll have to admit, that does sound kind of fun. What about you, Gurk? You okay with us being The Labrisson Slayers?"

The croc replied with his usual thumbs up.

“Once I hit submit, we’re locked in. No take backs. No changing names. The only way we’ll be able to disassociate from the Labrisson Slayers is to disband a year from now. So I don’t want to hear anything about new ideas once I push our registration through. Understand?”

Janus and Gurk looked at each other, nodding in silent agreement. “Yeah,” they both said simultaneously.

"Alright. No more discussion. Time to get our team rolling." Itzel typed the name onto the screen and pressed the "Submit" button one more time. "Your team has been successfully registered!" Itzel read aloud.

"Excellent!" Janus said with enthusiasm. He stretched one hand out, offering Gurk a high five. He took his hand back when he felt a chill go through the length of his arm after Gurk touched it. "I've never been part of a competitive team before!"

"Not too long ago you seemed kind of hesitant about fighting in Rumble Circuit," Itzel said, looking at Janus inquisitively.

"But then, I wasn't a Labrisson Slayer," Janus said with a wink.

"Welcome to the team then." Itzel lowered her hand for a shake. Janus reached down and gave a firm grasp. "Let's skip the introduction and get right to the important part."

"What would that be?" Janus asked.

"Strategy."