It takes Derek a little bit longer than usual to clean up the Grand Arena this time, due to bits and pieces of Jeorge being scattered all over the place from the explosion. The audience watches a few advertisements run on the big screen during this wait, and some people talk about the upcoming contenders and the ones who have already been seen. It definitely seems as though a lot of people are rooting for Nicolas after his victory, though some people have lowered the amount of money that they placed on him, seemingly disappointed with his performance for one reason or another. However, Ciqufrinz soon comes on over the loudspeakers again, and the audience goes quiet to watch and listen.
"Apologies for the delay! I'm sure you've been kept waiting for long enough, so let's not waste any time here! In this matchup, 'Rat in the Kitchen', we'll be having a royal chef face off with a royal pest! That's right, it's Pecha versus Drongo!"
The two contenders are raised into the Grand Arena, and Pecha scowls at the rat on the opposing platform, but remains in place as she waits for the round to begin. Drongo rubs his hands together, probably scheming in some way or another, and casting an occasional glance around at the sandy floor of the battlefield. Soon enough, Attota sounds the horn, and Drongo immediately scampers off of his platform and disappears from sight. Pecha pauses halfway through stepping off of her platform, and brings her foot back down onto the pedestal, scanning the area with narrowed eyes. There's no sign of Drongo that she can see; it's as though he simply vanished entirely.
"Stupid rat. Come out from wherever you are. You cannot win the match by doing nothing." Pecha declares, still watching for any sign of movement. She overhears some scampering and scuttling noises, but can't seem to locate their source. Pecha cautiously steps out onto the sand, and when this happens without incident, she takes her other foot off the pedestal as well, and then makes her way over towards the platform that Drongo had started on. Still seeing no sign of the rat, Pecha examines the area around the platform, and finds a hole in the sand, just big enough for Drongo to have squeezed through.
"Hmph. So, this was your grand plan, eh? A tunnel? Well, you can certainly hide down there all you want, but it won't do you any good." Pecha kicks some sand down the hole, covering up the entrance slightly. She crosses her arms while she waits for Drongo to make a move, but there's no sign of him at the entrance to the tunnel. After a few minutes, during which the audience is filled with impatient whispers, the entire floor of the Grand Arena begins to tremble. A column of sand explodes into the air, and a large rat-shaped robot rises up from the ground.
"KEKEKEKE! BEHOLD, MY RAVAGER ANNIHILATOR TERMINATOR! I snuck it piece by piece into my tunnel system that I dug under the sand here!" Drongo cackles from within the machine, which enters a quadruped stance and charges towards Pecha, ramming into her before she can even react and sending her chef hat flying into the air. The robot continues running with Pecha pinned up against it until it smashes into a wall, nearly crushing Pecha to death from the impact. A shutter opens up on the machine's face, revealing Drongo in the cockpit, snickering maniacally at Pecha as she struggles to wriggle her way out from between the robot and the wall.
"Why, you little-" Pecha begins, but Drongo blares the robot's horn to cut her off.
"Quiet, weakling. Accept your fate! You're stuck between me and a hard place, and I have no intention of moving! I could easily kill you right now, but I want to see you get out of this first. Go ahead, show people how useless it is to try and beat me!" Drongo cackles again, dancing around inside of the cockpit. He sneers again at Pecha, who isn't having any success in freeing herself from her predicament. "Kekekeeee...you know what? You're taking too long. I'll kill you right n-"
Before Drongo can finish his sentence, his eyes are suddenly filled up with a violent shade of red, and he lets out a scream, grabbing his face. Footsteps can be heard on the sand of the Grand Arena, and Pecha peers around the robot to see none other than Derek, the janitor, calmly walking towards the scene, while Drongo continues blindly scrambling around in his robot.
"NOT FAIR! NOT FAIR! THIS IS INTERFERENCE!" Drongo screeches angrily, realizing that someone else has stepped into the battlefield.
"Rules of the Arena...if someone is caught bending the rules...their opponent is given someone to assist them…" Derek rasps, before raising a scrawny arm and pointing it towards Drongo's robot. "Unfortunately...for you...Red Creek Cavern's killing power...against creatures with blood...is unmatched."
Drongo aimlessly slams his rat hands around on the control panel for his robot, causing it to stumble this way and that, randomly firing off weapons. Pecha slumps to the ground, too bruised to get up and move. Derek stares down at her, his expression unreadable behind the mask on his face. He simply stays still, breathing loudly, and a shrill screech is heard from Drongo as every vein in his body swells up with more blood than it can hold, and he explodes from the inside out, blood splattering onto the window of the robot, which collapses onto the ground.
"This...is going to be a pain to clean up…" Derek sighs, looking at the robot. Pecha just stares back, not knowing what to say, and not getting a chance to say anything, anyways, as she is transported directly to the medical part of the victors' area, where her wounds begin to get treated. None of the other victors seem to have any comment, either, though Deryl seems a little shaken, and Abercrombie seems to be biting her nails in thought.