The crowd is growing restless by the time Derek has managed to haul the Ravager Annihilator Terminator out of the battlefield, though complimentary refreshments were given to the audience as an apology for a participant cheating. The people who placed money on Drongo, which weren't very plentiful to begin with, were also given a full refund. The crowd hushes as usual when they see the next two contestants being raised into the Grand Arena on their pedestals, and Ciqufrinz talks over the loudspeaker once more.

"Apologies again for the delay, but now that that's out of the way, ideally no such things will happen again. Anyways...our next match is called 'Sinful Showdown'! Here we have two people known for turning against whatever rules are set before them! It's Palpiturn facing off with Cheatsmith!" as Ciqufrinz makes the announcement, the audience settles down and prepares to watch the fight, which seems to be the first round so far where the audience doesn't have some kind of heavy preference or expectation towards one side over the other. As soon as Attota blows the horn, Cheatsmith leaps off of his platform with manic excitement in his eyes, and starts rushing towards Palpiturn with his cleaver raised. Palpiturn's eyes widen and he crouches down with his hands on his head, cowering in place on the pedestal.

"Wait, WAIT! Don't kill me yet! I can't hurt you, I didn't bring any weapons or anything, so please, just let me speak for a minute!" Palpiturn begs once Cheatsmith is within earshot. Cheatsmith doesn't slow down, so Palpiturn takes a deep breath, and lunges at Cheatsmith's legs once he draws close, sending Cheatsmith tumbling to the ground on top of Palpiturn. Palpiturn scrambles to his feet, and wrenches the knife out of Cheatsmith's hand, before hurling it aside.

"Listen to me! You don't need to kill me! I did some thinking, and I figured out a way that we can both win!" Palpiturn lowers his voice to a whisper, staring nervously into Cheatsmith's frenzied eyes as he climbs to his feet and licks his lips. "So basically, the rules of the Arena state that the prize is given to whoever is left alive after the end of the final round. It doesn't say anywhere that it can only be one person! And if you've watched the other rounds, they don't seem to actually CHECK to see if the people are dead, they just wait until it's clearly apparent that they are. So if I just PRETEND to kill you, then you'll still be alive after the final round, and they'll have to give you access to the prize, too! I can tell this same strategy to everyone else I go up against, and all of us can be winners! Come on, there's no reason to disagree with me here! This benefits everyone!"

"You make a good point…" Cheatsmith strokes his chin, grinning. "But frankly, I think you'd make a better burger."

Cheatsmith lunges at Palpiturn, and Palpiturn pulls out a dagger from his sleeve and stabs it forcefully into Cheatsmith's gut, sending him stumbling backwards. Palpiturn whispers again.

"Don't worry, it's a fake knife, with fake blood. The pain is just your brain being tricked, you aren't actually wounded. Just play your part and pretend to lose. You can wish for whatever kind of flesh burger you want once the plan succeeds." Palpiturn takes a few steps back while explaining this, inching his way towards the discarded cleaver. Cheatsmith pulls the dagger out of his stomach and licks the blade, shaking his head.

"That's real blood, alright. Not that I believed you anyways. Just like I don't believe this plan of yours. Weren't you paying attention last round? If they catch someone bending the rules they'll send the cleanup guy to blow them to bloody, bite-sized morsels." Cheatsmith chuckles, the stab wound not really seeming to bother him all that much. Palpiturn ducks to the ground and grabs the cleaver, brandishing it at Cheatsmith.

"Fine, if you won't go along with my plan to let both of us win, I'll just win by myself! You're already crippled from my attack, so you don't stand a chance!" Palpiturn hisses, while still keeping his distance from Cheatsmith. Cheatsmith smiles wickedly at Palpiturn, and then gets down in a low stance and rushes Palpiturn, dodging right under the panicked man's blade. Cheatsmith knocks Palpiturn to the ground with a headbutt to the shins, and once Palpiturn is down, Cheatsmith wastes no time in slicing into his chest, stabbing and cutting repeatedly, before proudly holding up Palpiturn's heart, and taking a large bite out of the bloody organ, grinning. The crowd explodes with uproarious applause, while Cheatsmith takes a bow and is transported to the victors' area. He sits down next to Pecha in the medical area to deal with his stomach wound. Pecha remains silent, but Deryl decides to walk over to congratulate Cheatsmith on his win.

"Hey man, that was pretty cool out there. I have no doubt that the other guy was trying to trick you, so you definitely made the right choice!" Deryl says, beaming with innocence.

"Heh. Right choice or not, I was just hungry." Cheatsmith responds, burping and wiping some blood off of his face.