"Janus?"

A soft voice lingered in his ear. His head rolled and twitched but he still wasn't fazed from his sleep.

"Janus."

The soft voice became blunter. He could feel his entire body shaking. He let out a groan but, he fought to keep his eyes shut.

"Janus!" 

Now it verged on a scream. He felt his foot swing to the side like he had been kicked. In a startled daze he lifted his head up. His opened wide. Itzel was leaning forward, staring down at him. Janus lifted his body up, his back aching from the fact that he had been laying on his back all night. Gurk was right beside him, still in a blissful sleep on his makeshift bed of blankets. 

"Ohh... what time is it?" Janus asked with squinting eyes that darted around the room. Everything was blurry. Itzel tossed him his glasses, to which he clumsily caught with his hand and his chest. 

"Time to get up. We're not sleeping in until late in the afternoon like last time. Why were you passed out on the floor?" 

He got up from his spot on the floor, twisting his back as his hand put pressure on his sore spot. Janus then put on his glasses and activated his Implant. "Gurk and I did some late-night studying." He showed Itzel a long page of notes he had taken. "We watched four hours’ worth of Siergi's past broadcasts and analyzed his moves and mannerisms." With a swipe of his finger, Janus scrolled through the seemingly endless bullet points that he and Gurk had taken the night prior. "We studied for a while. I forgot to set up my makeshift bed on the sofa. Must have just fallen asleep here on the floor instead."

Startled, Itzel looked through the notes Janus had presented. She scanned through each line of text, awing at how comprehensive each point was. "I'm impressed Janus. Do you think he understood what you were trying to do for him?"

"Absolutely. He helped to clarify any questions that I had." Janus and Itzel both looked at the sleeping crocodile. He let out a quiet snore before adjusting the blankets that covered his body. 

"Maybe there's some hope that he can win this Challenge after all," Itzel remarked. "If he's serious about getting prepped for his match tomorrow, I guess it would be best to go ahead with the plan that I had in mind for today."

"And what would that be?"

"We're going to a gym. A real one at that." Itzel went to Gurk's side and grabbed his arm. She shook him back and forth, making him grumble as his eyelids slowly peeled open. "So you finally took my advice after all, huh big guy?"

"Huh?" The crocodile used the hand that Itzel wasn't holding onto to wipe the sleep out of his eye. 

"Janus told me you two were spending all night studying! I guess that means you do plan on taking this challenge with Siergi seriously!"

Gurk fumbled around for his mask. Huddled away from the other two, he quickly fastened it back onto his face to address the others. "Kinda."

"Kinda?" Janus said with surprise. "You mean all of those notes that we took last night you didn't pay attention to?

"No."

"Then why did you say 'kinda?'" Janus asked. 

Gurk tapped on the top of his metal mask, making a "ding" as his claw came in contact with it. "Forgot."

Itzel and Janus both turned to look at each other. Janus looked worried, while Itzel's single cocked eyebrow said 'I told you so,' in silence. "Maybe he's more of a 'hands-on learner,'" Janus said. "He might have a hard time just cramming a plethora of information into that brain of his."

"So what do you think of my plan going to a real gym and getting some in depth training in?"

Janus shrugged his shoulders. "Couldn't hurt. It'll definitely be more productive than trying to get him to process another marathon of Siergi's past broadcasts."

Itzel looked at the embarrassed crocodile. He adjusted the metal mask to fit on his face, slowly turning away to avoid making eye contact altogether. "What do you say Gurk? How about trying something a bit more 'hands-on' for training?"

"What?" 

Itzel's eyes narrowed as she gave Gurk a serious look. "We're going to pay a visit to BRUTE."

"Uh-oh."

"BRUTE? What's that?" Janus asked.

Itzel tossed on her jacket. She then picked up Janus' and handed it to him. "You'll see when we get there. But we need to hurry up and get ready. Now that all of the Exterminators are packed, the gym is going be crowded and then we might not get a chance to make use of BRUTE."

With both hands, Janus pointed to his chest. "I'm not going to have to do anything with this... BRUTE thing... am I?"

"No. Just Gurk."

The crocodile stood up straight and headed for the bathroom. "One sec," he called out as he pulled the door wide open.

"Don't take all day!" Itzel shouted back, cusping her hands over her mouth to amplify her voice. Once she her heard the door shut, she paced around the main room with her hands behind her back.  

"For something to be called 'BRUTE' in a city like Labrisson, it must really live up to its name."

"Tell me about it," Itzel said as she waited a few steps away from the front of the door. "But if Gurk can handle it, then there's no way he'll lose to Siergi." She knocked on the bathroom door the with back of her hand. "You better not be doing what I think you're doing in there!" she shouted.

"Almost done!" Gurk's muffled voice shouted back. There was a flush followed by the sound of running water. The crocodile wiped his hands on the bandages on the front of his stomach while he looked at Itzel. "Ready."

Itzel brought up her banking screen. She slowly nodded before deactivating it only a few moments later. “That should be more than enough for a session,” she said. “Thank goodness for Enidri’s lapse in generosity.”

“Using whatever ‘BRUTE’ is must be pricey?” Janus asked.

“Oh yeah.”

Janus did the same as Itzel and looked at his funds. “287,881 due to the city of Labrisson,” he said. “But I’ve got 40,257 to spend however I’d like. Need me to chip in?”

The woman shook her head. “Appreciate the offer, but you need every Token you can get. Gurk can just consider this an early birthday Gurk from me.”

“No toys?” the crocodile asked sadly.

“Depends on if you win,” Itzel replied with a chortle.