The audience went wild. There was cheering. Viewers gasped. Obscenities were shouted. Janus remained prone on the floor as he held back from letting tears and cry of anguish escape. He felt two sets of hands of touch him; one feeling like that of a normal human and another like that of a frozen lizard. In the next moment he was upright as Itzel stretched his arm across her back.

"I can't believe it Janus!" Itzel shouted. Janus' head hung low. He was in too much pain to get a good look at the expression of her face.

"What? What did I do?"

"You won!" Gurk shouted. He felt an icy touch press onto the area where his back had taken the brunt of the Ion Flail's attack.

Janus' head shot upwards. "I... what? How?" With his hand pressing against the area where he had been hit, his eyes slowly drifted towards the projection. The timer was at "0." His stamina bar remained the same as when he last saw it; his still had a slim lead over Maluk's.

"That last hit you took was a millisecond after the timer went out!" Itzel said. She pulled his chin towards her so she could look into his squinting eyes. They were red and on the verge of spilling tears. "The second hit of Skull Wrecker completely annihilated your Guard. If that match lasted any longer you would have lost by ring out."

"Good thing... I'm half decent at dodging..." Janus managed to say.

"A win is a win, alright?" Itzel said. "That means you're going up against Arva in a few moments."

"I don't get a rest period?" Janus asked before letting a groan escape.

"Nope," Gurk replied.

"Team Battles are like marathons. You keep fighting for as long as possible. Once your stamina runs out is when your teammate takes over."

"Great." Janus stepped forward. He mustered enough strength to stand on his own. He then placed one hand on where he had been hit, trying to soothe the aching with a massage. Janus pressed the spot too hard and grunted from the sudden rush of pain. "I'm in no shape to take on Arva. I exhausted of all my energy trying to deal with Maluk!" Janus' eyes looked back at the projection. His Guard Gauge was completely empty as well as the three blocks that represented his EV.

"Don't stress it, Janus," Itzel said. "You won your fight. That puts us in the lead. Even if you lose, we'll still be about even. And if you manage to land a hit in or two that would be even better!" She smiled and pointed at herself with one finger. "That means less work for me."

"I'll do..." Janus winced as the pain in his shoulder made his entire body cringe. "I'll do my best." He then paced around the area, trying to walk off the sharp throbbing. As he circled around, he saw Maluk walk towards him, Ion Flail resting on his shoulder and his face stoic. He stopped in front of Janus, looking down at him as his right hand stretched forward, silently asking for a shake.

Janus grinned. He looked up and made eye contact with his former opponent. Janus placed his hand in his. Maluk's grip was firm and so was his shake.

"It was a pleasure to fight you!" Maluk said. His smile reached from one ear to the other.

"Likewise!" Janus replied.

"For someone who is unranked, you fight remarkably smart! Whatever these two have been teaching you works well!"

"Thank you!" Janus gave his two teammates a glance. Gurk was smiling. Itzel was smiling too, but just on the inside. Her lips struggled from curling upwards. "Being thrown head-first into the Exterminating business makes you learn quick. Fortunately, these two have been more than great teachers."

"I can tell! But don't get too confident. I've only recently started taking Rumble Circuit seriously. This Ion Flail of mine is the only way I can compete against all of the talented fighters lucky enough to have been born with a Natural Affinity." Maluk took the weapon of his shoulder and held it in one hand. He then stared at it for a moment with disappointment. "Unfortunately, I think I rely too much on this weapon. It is powerful and has good reach, but it is far too slow to be dependable."

"I don't think I've been more terrified of anything since I've been here," Janus replied, staring at the metal sphere that swayed from side to side. "And I've fought Ogres before!"

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Bah! You are too kind, Janus!" Maluk said as he ended the handshake. "I am more than fine losing to an opponent such as yourself."

"Thank you, Maluk!"

The man gave Janus a salute with his free hand before marching off back to his team's side of the mat. As he walked away, Janus noticed that his Implant was glowing a bright blue.

"I don't believe it," Janus said just loud enough for only Itzel and Gurk to hear. "I'm always getting notifications at the most inopportune times!"

"Is it a missed call from someone?" Itzel inquired.

"Let me find out." Janus activated his Implant. The notification came from Rumble Circuit. "Looks like I've learned another Technique!" The annoyance on Janus' face gave way to excitement.

"What?" Itzel darted forward and stared at the table on Janus' projection. "How could you have learned another Special Technique that quickly?"

"Have I been learning them exceptionally quickly or something?"

Itzel's eyes cut towards Janus. "If you were anyone else I would assume that you're just being a smug jerk. It took me months to learn Serrated Gale. A few more to get Vertical Zephyr. I finally got my full set of moves after about a year and a half!"

"Same here!" Gurk added.

"Now, learning your first Technique after a fight or two isn't unheard of. And I thought you getting Meteor Bang during your fight with that Ogre was just a fortunate coincidence. But this is practically unheard of! Three new Techniques in the span of a week?" She then looked at the new attack listed on Janus' Rumble Circuit profile. "What's your secret, Janus?" she said with slight sarcasm.

"No clue. Maybe it's because I haven't had an Implant for so long? Maybe the Techniques have been building up and I just needed my Implant to access them."

"I suppose that's as good a theory as any other. But we can always dwell on it later. What's your new Technique?"

Janus read the name aloud. "Gravity Layer."

"Sounds cool!" Gurk said.

"Too bad there's no recording of you performing the Technique since you just learned it," Itzel remarked.

"At least I have something to look forward to during this next fight!" Janus said. He clapped his hands and then rubbed the palms together. "I might lose, but at least I'll have a bit of fun!"

Itzel gave Janus a friendly shove in the shoulder. "Look at you!" she said almost beaming. "Now that's the mentality of someone that takes Rumble Circuit seriously!"

"It's exhilarating, Itzel. Exhilarating and painful."

"I don't think there are two words that describe the experience any better."

Arva came running towards them. She stopped a few feet in front of Janus and placed her hands behind her back. "You got your few minutes of break in?" Arva asked Janus kindly.

He rubbed his back again and shook out his leg. "I'm ready to go. I think"

"Good! I don't want to rush you or anything, but the audience isn't known for being all that patient. Last time, I remember they—" Arva stopped mid-sentence when she saw the doors to the room swing open. The other three turned their heads to see what had caught her attention. Enidri walked through the door, her arms crossed as she scanned the bleachers. She then turned her head and saw Gurk waving at her from across the room.

"Excuse me, miss?" Arva called out. "We're not allowing anyone else to come into watch at the moment." She walked towards Enidri, only to have the swordswoman ignore her and walk straight towards the Labrisson Slayers.

"Miss!" Arva shouted to Enidri's back. The swordswoman angled her head to the side just enough to look at Arva with her good eye. "I'm their special guest," she said in a stern manner.

"I know, but we only want the actual Team Members to be near the fighting area. You are free to sit in the bleachers! That is, if you can find a spot."

"They're all full," Enidri replied.

"That's why you were supposed to be here before the Team Battle started!"

"I was busy, alright?" Enidri turned, looking at Arva with a squinted eye.

"Everyone's busy! I'm sure you had plenty of time to prepare your schedule for this event!"

Enidri stepped over to the side and took one of the metal collapsing chairs off the wall. She promptly unfolded and slammed all four legs onto the ground right next to the other teammate's seats. "Look at that! Another seat." Arva stepped forward, raising one finger as she readied to unleash a barrage of words. Itzel stood between her Enidri, stopping Arva's next sentence before it could even begin.

"Trust me. You're not going to convince her," Itzel whispered. "You think I can be abrasive? Besides, without her, none of the Exterminators would even be here to watch the show. Or send contributions. Not to mention that the more time you waste with her, the more time Janus gets to regain some of his lost stamina. I'm telling you, it's more trouble than it's worth."

Arva's anger shifted to acceptance. "Fine. Enjoy the fight," she said with phony friendliness.

"I'll try." Enidri leaned back in her chair and kept her arms crossed.

"Come on Janus," Arva said, instructing him to follow with her finger. "Let's just get this match started."

Janus walked onto the mat, moving his shoulders in the process. Most of the pain had subsided and he felt as nimble as when he first faced off against Maluk. The audience went into another uproar. Itzel took a seat next to Enidri and watched the two opponents get into position.

"What's the score?" Enidri asked, keeping her eyes focused on Janus' back.

"We're up by one," Itzel replied.

"Janus won a match?"

"Everyone's just as surprised as you are," Itzel replied. She leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees as she watched the number "three" appear on the audience's projection. "He's a quick learner and can think on his feet. Maybe having him on the team wasn't too bad of an idea after all."

"Don't act like you still wouldn't rather have me in there," Enidri replied.

"You're not wrong."