After some time has passed and the last of the victors has been removed from the victors' area, the audience situates itself in the spectators seats of the Grand Arena once more, and the loudspeaker crackles to life as Ciqufrinz begins another announcement.

"Well, we've made it to the second bracket, with only sixteen of our original thirty two competitors still alive and kicking! For this set of matchups, we've paired off fighters into teams of two! The battles will be one team against another, and the first team to eliminate both of its opponents will be allowed to move on to the next round! Should a team member die during the fight, but still emerge victorious thanks to their partner, they will be brought back using the power of Gods & Glory so that they may fight again in the next bracket. However, the catch to all this, is that in the next bracket, all of the matchups will be one former partner against the other! There is one exception to this, but I'll elaborate on that more when it comes up. For the time being, allow me to introduce our first two teams!"

The crowd cheers as two larger pedestals are raised into the Grand Arena, each with two fighters on it.

"First up, we have a pair with the theme of SURPRISE! Nicolas Carcelo and Pecha! We know Nicolas has plenty of tricks up his sleeve to keep things interesting, and Pecha never got to properly demonstrate her capabilities in her debut fight, so this team should be a fresh sight in the battlefield!"

Nicolas and Pecha exchange a glance, not a hint of fear in either's eyes. Nicolas nods, and the two turn forwards to face their opponents as Ciqufrinz continues speaking.

"On the other side, we have the team with the theme of NORMALCY, or, well, as close as you can get to that in a place like this. Anyways, this team consists of Deryl and Markiplier's Piss! Both of these fighters are, all things considered, pretty normal compared to the rest of the lineup, and both had to resort to some pretty hands-on and gritty methods to win their debut fights, so we'll see how they do here!"

Deryl glances down at the glass of golden fluid sitting next to him on the pedestal, with plenty of fear in his eyes. He has no idea how he'll get through this, but he's sure he'll manage to pull through, one way or another. Deryl takes a deep breath, stares forwards, and puts on a smile, waving cheerily across the Grand Arena as Attota sounds the horn to begin the battle. Markiplier's Piss jumps into action, immediately slithering out of its glass and racing across the sandy floor towards Nicolas and Pecha. Nicolas grabs Pecha by the arm and yanks her off of the pedestal with surprising nimbleness and grace, pulling her aside out of the way of Markiplier's Piss and whispering to her.

"That piss is our only threat here, y'hear? Don't kill the other guy first. Deryl could maybe be an annoyance to us at worst, and the piss in and of itself can't really seem to do a whole lot, but if we kill Deryl, it might be able to use his body or something. We don't want to take that risk, so let's just eliminate it before it gets that chance."

Pecha stares incredulously at Nicolas, before shoving him away with a grunt.

"I work alone, capiche? Don't be all, ehh...buddy-buddy with me. We will be fighting each other to the death after this."

"Well, lassy, look how far 'working alone' got you last round. You don't have the tools to kill a living puddle. I do. I'll tell you when we're safe to kill Deryl." Nicolas kicks up a cloud of sand, pushing Markiplier's Piss away before it can get too close. Pecha groans and rubs her face, but doesn't get much time to dwell on any thoughts, because Deryl suddenly rushes up behind her and jumps up on her back, wrapping his arms around her neck. Without skipping a beat, Pecha reaches up and pries Deryl's arms away, before flipping him in front of her and twisting his arms behind his back while holding him pinned to the ground. Deryl attempts to say something, but Pecha clamps a hand over his mouth and nose, firmly maintaining her grasp while Deryl squirms and struggles to breathe. Pecha looks over at Nicolas, and sees him planting several mines and then intentionally detonating them in order to vaporize Markiplier's Piss. Pecha uses her free hand to shield her eyes from the cloud of sand sent throughout the battlefield by the explosions, but when the dust clears, there sure enough is no sign of Markiplier's Piss other than the occasional droplet seeping down through the sand of the Grand Arena. The audio cue to indicate the confirmed death of a competitor rings through the Grand Arena, and Pecha promptly twists Deryl's head to the side, snapping his neck cleanly and killing him on the spot. The crowd applauds, and Pecha stands up and smugly raises an eyebrow at Nicolas just as the two are transported to the now-vacated victors' area.

"I'm sure I could have managed by myself." Pecha notes, as Nicolas sits down.

"Save it for next round. If you can beat me, then and only then will I believe you, kid."