"Exterminating," Gurk grunted.

"You're telling me you're an Exterminator?" Tonko said with a twinge of awe. "So, what you’re saying is that you had to kill a bunch of Essencima to get the attention of the legend himself?"

"Kinda," Gurk replied, teetering his hand midair.

"At the park over in Rilcoe there was an incident with a Tauria," Janus interjected. He stood between Tonko and Gurk, both of whom remained seated at the table. "Gurk wrestled with it head on and tore off one of its horns. It got away, but Arva and Maluk saw the battle and said they were impressed with how Gurk fought."

"That sounds dangerous! You took it on all by yourself?" Tonko said, peering past Gurk’s metal mask and into his yellow eyes.

"I was there too," Janus said. He waved at the man, but he didn't pay him any mind.

"I think I get it. I just got to fight an Essencima while one of his teammates are around," Tonko said, punching his palm with his other fist.

"If you're not used to Exterminating, I'd advise against that," Janus continued, trying to get the man's attention to no avail. "It can be very dangerous if you're—"

"What was it like meeting them?"

Gurk looked up and paused for a moment as he recounted the events from the lunch he had with Arva and Maluk. With a brief pause, his long tongue licked his jagged teeth and the edge of his lips. "Tasty."

"Huh?"

"They took us out for a lunch," Janus explained. "Let us have whatever we wanted off the menu at Top Tiers." Tonko stared Gurk as if his eyelids were pried open.

"You had dinner with Siergi? And at Top Tiers?" Tonko placed both hands on the table, propping himself up as he leaned in closer to the crocodile.

"Nah," Gurk said with a tiny wag of his head. "Siergi’s busy."

"We just dined with Arva and Maluk," Janus lifted the bag of food he had gotten for Itzel and Galo and placed it between the pair. "We'd love to stay and chat, but we got two orders of soup for a couple of friends and I don't want it getting cold before we're able to even bring it home. It was nice meeting you, but we really do need to be—"

"Can't they just warm it up?" Tonko said as his eyes cut towards Janus.

"Yeah, heat," Gurk said.

"But then it won't be as fresh."

"It's Grub On. You think tossing it into a heater for a couple of minutes is going to make the food lose all of the flavor that it never had in the first place?"

Janus' lips made a sudden and sharp turn upside down. He took his eyes off Tonko and then patted Gurk on his shoulders. "Come on, I think it's time to go."

"Wait!" Tonko said, grabbing Gurk's hand to prevent him from getting up. "Don't go just yet! I still would like to make an offer to you." Gurk looked at Janus. The physicist was clearly peeved but remained silent. Gurk quickly turned his head back towards Tonko to avoid Janus’ icy glare. "I own a gym,” Tonko continued. “A lot of Rumble Circuit participants train there all the time." He then tugged on the collar of his gi as his smile shifted all the way to one side. "And I've even been giving out lessons to up and coming talent. I've got quite a few pupils learning under me."

"Nice!" Gurk said.

"You're darn right it is! And I wanted to ask," Tonko sat up straight in his seat, his eyes opening wide as if he were staring right into a flashlight. "Would you be willing to stop by my gym? I think my students would love to see you show off a couple of your moves."

"Sure,” Gurk said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Are you available now? My location isn't too far away from here."

"Yeah."

"Gurk!" Janus interjected. He tugged on the collar of the crocodile's jacket. "What about meeting back up with Itzel? She said that we had work to do."

"Later," Gurk replied.

"Excellent! Follow me.” Tonko waved his hand towards himself. “I'll take you right there!" He stepped out of the booth and slid past Gurk. "Oh, and you can come along if you'd like, too." Tonko pointed a grimy finger at Janus. "Just try not to be too rude, alright?"

"Me? Rude?" Janus placed one hand over his chest, shocked by the accusation as he returned Tonko’s sentiment with narrowed eye.

"Yeah. I don't want you hopping in the middle of Gurk's demonstration and interrupting."

Flabbergasted, Janus didn't respond. Gurk squeezed past him and continued to follow Tonko. With a shake of his head, Janus accompanied the other two as they exited the diner. The gym owner had them take a right turn as soon as they left exited Grub On.

Gurk and Tonko walked side by side, both discussing Siergi as they took up most of the sidewalk. Janus trailed behind them, trying to understand what exactly they were talking about, only to shake his head as Tonko brought up the more elaborate parts of a Ranked Challenge that he had yet to learn about. The trek to the gym was short, coming to a halt once they crossed a single intersection and took one last right.

"Here we are, Gurk," Tonko said with wide open arms as he stood in front of a metal door. It was the corner building at the end of a series of shops and other restaurants. The windows were tinted and scratched. A long, rectangular sign that was obviously intended to light up once night hit protruded from the side of the building. In large gray letters the words "TONKO KO" were placed vertically on the signage. Unassuming from the outside, the only giveaway that the building was a gym at all was because of the owner said so.

"My own little business,” he said enthusiastically. “Tonko KO!" The owner turned around, placing his hands on his hips as he admired his building. Gurk's head bobbed up in down, looking only somewhat impressed by the scenery.

"Not bad," the crocodile said to Tonko. "Not bad."

"It's my entire life's work! Everything I inherited. Everything I worked for. It all went into this very location right here. Safe to say that this entire building is me."

"Fascinating," Janus jeered with just enough sarcasm for Tonko to detect. "Shall we go inside?"

The gym owner turned around, his long smile pursing over as he eyed Janus. "Seeing as how your friend is so eager to go inside my gym, let's not keep him waiting any longer." Tonko walked up the concrete steps and pulled the metal door open, making it creak as he pulled it away from the wall that it was barely fastened to. He then propped it open with his foot and looked at his two guests. "After you two," Tonko said with a bow.