"I had just turned eighteen. Just old enough to register for Rumble Circuit. I wanted to get some training in earlier, but since I was causing so much trouble with some of the other teens in the neighborhood, my parents forbid it. But once I was old enough, I didn't need their permission to sign up. When I started, I was a bit like you. I didn't have a full set of Techniques, but I was so certain that my fundamental fighting skills would have been enough to get me through my first Ranked Challenge."

"How many Techniques did you have?" Janus asked. 

Itzel stopped her stretching and reclaimed the stool that she had sat on earlier. Her head bobbed up and down as she quietly listed her Techniques on her fingers. "Serrated Gale was the first one I learned. Then I had Advancing Tempest. And once I figured how to do my Signature Technique, Serrated Barrage, that was when I really wanted to start taking Rumble Circuit seriously."

"You still won your first Challenge though, right? Sounds like you were right when you said you believed your fundament fighting abilities were sufficient to get you a win."

"Doesn't mean that it wasn't a struggle. I took on another new fighter. Some guy with a fire Affinity. I think he had one more Special Technique than me and he was probably a year older. Short and slim." Itzel pointed towards the window of the lobby. "It was actually at that BRUTE gym over there. We managed to score a free match in the ring. It was a mutual match among a couple of rookies, but everyone in the gym had their eyes on us. I had never met him before, so I had no clue what his fighting style looked like or even what his Special Techniques were. 

Fortunately for me, that guy definitely didn't know what he was doing. He kept using the same move over and over again; some flying roundhouse kick that set his foot ablaze. It was a fast move and it hurt, don't get me wrong. But once you use it three times in a row, it ends up becoming kind of predictable.

The first two times he managed to connect that fire kick I couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Everyone saw me get hit by that attack twice in a row not even a minute into the fight. I could hear a couple of people start laughing at me. And then all of a sudden that other guy had gotten real cocky. That nervous demeanor of his suddenly became confident. 

That's when I decided to start playing more patiently. He kept using that same Special Technique. Once I put on a defense, his plan fell through. His fighting style was sloppy. He couldn't keep up with actual martial arts when it really mattered. Ended up only using a single Serrated Gale that entire fight. But it was closer that I would have cared to admit."

"You got the win though, right? That's what's most important in a Ranked Challenge."

"To a certain extent, yeah," Itzel replied. "But it's not everything. I left that match just feeling embarrassed." She pressed one hand against her cheek and leaned on the counter adjacent to her. "Once the fight was over, I turned around and saw people snickering. Laughing. Shaking their heads. They all new that we were both rookies by the way we fought. No one took the match seriously! It was like we were a couple of kids arguing over candy!"

"I bet they wouldn't say that now!"

"That's for sure," Itzel said with a smile. "But the point I'm trying to make is that you don't get better if you don't try. It's just like everything else in life. Even if you embarrass yourself on Siergi's stream, at least you'll be losing to someone that's marginally competent. Just... try to play smart. I'm sure you can do it." She got up from her chair and gave Janus a pat on the shoulder. "And don't let your nerves get to you. That's how you make mistakes."

"Right." Janus stood up. He stretched his back and made his way towards the corridor. Gurk was making his way back to the rest of the team, eagerly trotting through the hallway.

"Ready?" The crocodile asked. 

"I am," Itzel said as she regrouped with the other two. "What about you, Janus?"

Janus inhaled. "It's now or never."

"Good. Besides, we'd all take a dip in our ranking anyway if you decided to back out." Itzel gave Janus a blunt pat on his back. "Glad to have you on the team." She shifted her eyes to Gurk. "You going to tell them that we're ready to start?"

"Yeah," Gurk answered, nodding in the process.

"Alright. All of us might as well go up there at once."

"Okay." Gurk led the way upstairs. After a short jaunt up to the second floor, they entered the same area that they had seen many times before courtesy of watching hours of Siergi's past Broadcasts. The bleachers that surrounded the perimeter of the mat in the center of the room were empty. The equipment scattered throughout the room was similar to what was seen inside the BRUTE gym; large and complex exercise devices were lined up against the walls as if they were pushed out of the way just for this occasion. The large glass panes that made up on one of the walls gave view to the people down below that were eagerly waiting to get inside. 

Siergi and his team stood in the middle of the room. Arva waved once the trio stepped onto the upper floor. "Come on in you three!" she said in a friendly manner. "We're just about ready with prep for the Broadcast!" All three listened and walked further into the room. Gurk led the procession and met with Siergi in the middle. 

"Ready!" Gurk said to the other team's leader. 

"Excellent," Siergi replied as he rubbed a hand on his own shoulder. He then held onto his shoulder and moved his arm in a circular motion. "Looks like we can let the audience come inside then."

"I'm on it!" Arva said with enthusiasm before heading down the steps.

"We just need team leaders to initiate the Challenge and then we can schedule the match," Maluk said. 

"Alright, I’ll handle it then," Siergi responded. His projection was brought up. He proceeded to scroll through the Challenge screen. "What's your team’s name?"

Itzel stepped forward, leading with her head as she smiled. "The Labrisson Slayers." To her dismay, neither Siergi nor Maluk seemed too impressed by the name chosen. 

"Labrisson.... Slayers," Siergi said in a low voice as he typed up the name of the team on the projection. "I see your team up here, but it looks like you three haven't set a leader yet."

Itzel's head flung back from the revelation. "Oh, I can't believe we forgot to do that. Just give us a second." She then waved for the other two to come in as they gathered for a huddle. 

"I think I already know the answer," Itzel whispered to the others, "But who are we going to register as the team's leader?"

"Me," Gurk said. Itzel gave him an unenthused stare in return. 

"No, be serious," she replied. 

"Me."

"Why you?"

"Marketing."

"You think you're more marketable than me?" Itzel said startled. 

The crocodile bobbed his head up and down. 

"The guy that makes people turn around and run away just by walking down the street is the marketable one, huh?"

"Yeah."

"He is the one that caught Arva and Maluk's attention," Janus added. 

Itzel darted her attention from Gurk to him. "So he's the one you want making all the big decisions for the team then?" she asked as gestured towards Gurk with her thumb. 

"I didn't say all that. I just agree that he's got marketing factor."

"Fine!" Itzel said sharply. "Let's vote on this!" She angled her eyes towards Janus. "I have a feeling it's going to be a close race, and that one person in particular is going to have the swing vote. Everybody, say who you want to be the team's leader. We'll start with you, big guy."

"Gurk," Gurk said without hesitation. 

"Me," Itzel then said while pointing at herself. Both eyes then stared at Janus. He looked at Gurk. The crocodile looked placid compared to Itzel. Janus locked eyes with her and he felt a sensation of worry manifest in his chest as her narrowed eyes cut towards him. 

"Itzel," Janus said softly. 

"That settles it!" Itzel leaned back, effectively ending the group's huddle. "Maybe next time big guy," she said as she pat Gurk on the shoulder.

"Sorry Gurk," Janus said.

"No problem."

The newly appointed lead scrolled through her personal screen. "...and set the team leader as... Itzel de Vuera...  then press finalize..." Itzel said as she finished tweaking the setting on the teams Rumble Circuit profile. Once done, she turned around to face Siergi. "Okay, it should be clear to issue the Challenge."

Siergi gave a thumb and pressed the same button again. A notification popped up on Itzel's projection. "Do you know the order of your team?" Maluk asked. 

"Of course we do," Itzel replied. She placed her body in front of her projection with the intent to block Maluk from looking. "Trying to get an advantage by looking at our order?"

The other fighter laughed. "What? You think I'm concerned about your team's order? It's just a formality. No need to take it so seriously!"

Itzel returned to focus on arranging the team's order. With a few swift swipes of her hand, she set the order of each fighter and pressed the submit. Siergi had already finished setting it and was tapping his foot. "Once Arva gets back and the spectators have been arranged, we can find out who is going up against who," Siergi said. 

"How long would that take?" Janus asked. 

"Depends on how impatient the crowd is," Siergi said before yawning. "Sometimes they'll listen, but other times you get a few that just want to talk and get their stuff signed."

"Sounds dreadful," Itzel chided. 

"Yeah, being Labrisson's premier Rumble Circuit Broadcaster has its ups and downs." Siergi then walked towards Gurk. "Hey, I know your team order is a big part of your strategy... but what position were you put in?" he asked the crocodile in a low tone.

"Last."

"Alright!" Siergi gave Gurk a wink followed by a tap on the chest with the back of his hand. "That means both teams decided to save the best for last."

"Nice!" Gurk replied. 

Janus could see Itzel cross her arms and shake her head. He then looked over at Maluk. He stood tall with his weapon resting on his shoulder. Janus heard his fingers cracked as he interlocked his hands together. "I hope I get to take on that loud one!" Maluk said aloud while pointing at Itzel with the hand that wasn’t holding onto his Ion Flail. 

"You'll find out soon enough," Itzel replied.

"Good! I can't wait. I haven't had a good rumble in such a long time. The rest of these Labrissoners have been lackluster."

"Arva didn't handpick us to make you look good like the rest of the fighters you bring on the Broadcast. I've held a higher rank than you and Arva on Rumble Circuit," Itzel said as she stepped closer to Maluk, pointing a finger at his chest. 

"Couldn't help but notice that was past tense!" he said before chortling. "Middle level rankings don't correlate with skill! It can take you five fights to bring you up ten spots then you lose one and you're down sixty! Believe me, I have no reason to fear an average fighter like yourself!"

Itzel crossed her arms and turned her back to Maluk. "I can't wait to get this fight started," she said to her teammates. She then zeroed in on Janus. "Remember, don’t worry about losing," she whispered. "Because that would just mean that I get to finally shut that big oaf up in front of thousands!"

"I'll try my best, Itzel," Janus replied. He kept his entire body moving to shake out his nerves. He looked to the side and saw Arva running back into the main room. 

"The viewers are in the lobby!" she said excitedly. "They are all eager to watch this Broadcast! You should have seen their reaction when I told them that they're going to get front seats to a Team Battle!"

"They'll be watching up close?" Janus inquired.

Arva gave him a nod. "Yep! We pull out that section over there and it turns into a makeshift set of bleachers!" She pointed towards the long brown panel that protruded from the farthest wall. "They'll get to watch everything! And you'll get to see and hear their reactions in real time!"

Janus tugged on the collar of his jacket as he filled up the seats with viewers in his head. My first Ranked Challenge and I'll have an entire audience judging me. He could feel his heart beating through his clothing. Just think of it as giving a dissertation presentation, Janus. You should be fine. Except it's on a topic that you know nothing about...