"I hope you don't take this personally, Gurk," Siergi said loud enough for the audience to hear. "But this is how I like to end all of my important Broadcasts!" Siergi lifted his leg, letting it dangle from the knee. He moved his foot around, feinting with a series of kicks that ended short and came in from a multitude of angles.

Gurk responded to each fake strike, moving his arms across his body in preparation in case Siergi ever followed through. He soon moved his arms to his left side to block a presumed wide kick. Siergi continued to fake him out, quickly dropping his raised foot and shifting his weight onto it with a hop. In a flash, he attacked from the opposite side using his other leg and struck Gurk with a push kick to his exposed side. 

The attack was blocked at the cost of a large portion of Gurk's Guard Gauge. The audience roared once more, letting out chants of "Break his guard!" as they watched Siergi close in on the retreating crocodile. Siergi went in for another push kick, this time connecting with the back of Gurk's hands as he guarded the attack. The moment Siergi's heel connected with Gurk's block, the crocodile rolled to the side, saving the last bit of his Guard Gauge at the expense of using up his Defensive Technique.

Gurk positioned himself to Siergi's left. He reached forward with both hands and grabbed onto Siergi sideways. He pressed onto the Broadcaster's body with a tight hold, hugging him with both arms. Gurk then leaped forward, falling stomach down on the mat with Siergi still underneath him. 

The viewers all moaned in unison as they watched Gurk use their favorite Broadcaster as a landing mat. Gurk's relatively large size completely covered Siergi as he lay on top of him. Siergi squirmed underneath the crocodile's hefty mass, managing to move his leg just enough to kick the ground and emit an electric shockwave. Gurk got up once he felt his opponent free his leg and flung himself away, narrowly avoiding the electric ring. 

"I don't know if I can watch anymore," Janus said on the verge of trembling. His eyes were looking at the Challenge Display rather than the two combatants staring each other down. Siergi was at half Stamina. Gurk was still at one fifth. Both EV gauges had "Signature" flashing in bold letters.

"It really is anyone's fight," Enidri said softly, her attention remaining unbroken. 

"Come on, big guy! You can do this!" Itzel said to herself as she inched closer to the mat. "You know Siergi! Use it to your advantage!"

The fighters continued to circle around once more. Gurk maintained his distance, keeping enough distance between himself and Siergi to avoid having to block another attack. Meanwhile, Siergi continued his dance of feints, keeping Gurk moving, but this time not fully committing to moving his arms for a block. 

"Come Siergi! End it!"

"What's taking so long?"

"Are you going to try and win by Time Out again?"

The shouts of the crowd were apparent. Their anxiousness got to the Broadcaster, as seen by the way his squinted. He stopped his fake attacks and instead leapt forward in the air and performed another Thunder Wire. He dove down towards Gurk, smiling with confidence. As he descended, Gurk turned himself around and swung his tail around. The Tail Slash was faster than usual as well as the massive chunk of ice that engulfed the end of his tail. It ballooned to the size of a Siergi’s head. 

With a shadowy blue trail following behind it, the Special Technique connected into Siergi's leg with a rising motion. The impact sent the Broadcaster's trajectory off course, making him tumble upwards in the air instead of towards Gurk. As Siergi began to fall with his flailing limbs, Gurk took in a deep breath as he raised his head upwards. 

"Glacier!"

A cascade of blue gas spewed from his mouth as the area around him and his opponent become flooded with a frosty mist. Beneath the frozen cloud, Siergi could be seen tensing up as his limbs became stiff.  The crowd went silent, each viewer leaning forward in their seat to try and get a glimpse of Siergi inside the mist. 

"He listened!" Itzel shouted with glee. "Big guy actually listened for once!"

"Talking about his EV usage?" Janus asked.

Itzel gave him a nod without turning her head away from the match. "Yep. Siergi's frozen stiff! Gurk is about to land a big damage combo!"

Gurk lifted Siergi between his teeth, hoisting his head back as if here were about to swallow his opponent like a pill. Siergi's legs still flailed as his captor clenched his jaws tighter. The crocodile then slammed his victim's legs into the ground before turning his head to the other side and repeating the motion but on the opposite side. Siergi was slammed twice more as Gurk continued his Enhanced Variant of his Ravenous Maw Special Technique. After being slammed into the ground three times, Siergi was released from Gurk's clutches. He landed on his knees, hunched over and in front of the crocodile. 

Gurk attacked with a downwards slash of his right claw that Siergi parried with his forearm while still on his knees. Gurk's other hand followed suit from the opposite direction and was met with the same result. With the Broadcaster still down, Gurk leaned forward and bent his neck back, pointing his nose straight up. His metal mask glistened from the ceiling lights of the studio before he dropped the front of his face down like a hammer onto Siergi. With a look of shock, Siergi kept his arms up, bracing for the impending impact. The front of his mask cut through the air, driving into Siergi's arms. There was a loud clang. Siergi's arms flew to the side. He groaned while leaving his entire front vulnerable. 

The crocodile lowered his head once more, this time angling the top of his skull towards his defenseless opponent. He then propelled himself forward with one leg, keeping his head straight. Gurk rammed into Siergi, the top of his metal mask driving straight into his stomach. The impact of iron against flesh made a resonating smack. Siergi was pushed backwards, landing on his side. He remained huddled into a ball as the sound of bells ringing resonated throughout the studio air. The crocodile quickly shook his head back and forth as he regained his senses. With a puzzle gaze he slowly turned around and looked at the crowd. They were all bewildered, staring in silent awe as Gurk looked back at them. In front of the viewers was the Challenge Display. K.O.! flashed in bold letters. Only the portraits of the Labrisson Slayers lit up, accompanied by the word "Winners." 

"You did it big guy! You did it!" Itzel ran towards Gurk first, stretching her arms straight as she zeroed in for a hug. Janus ran behind her while Enidri strolled onto the mat at a leisurely pace, keeping a short grin as she did so. Itzel wrapped her arms as far as she could around Gurk's waist. "You actually listened! See what happens when you follow my advice?" Itzel said, hugging Gurk as tightly as her relatively small arms could.

"Yeah," Gurk replied while giving Itzel a few pats on her back. 

"That was quite the comeback you performed!" Janus said, nudging Gurk in the arm with the elbow. "You had me on the edge of my seat the entire fight!"

"Was rough."

Itzel released Gurk from her hug and then buried her face inside her hands. "We actually won! In front of over two hundred thousand viewers!" She stretched out her arms again, this time walking towards Janus. "Come on. You're getting one too."

"Oh... I..." Janus said nervously. His face turned red as Itzel squeezed him tight.

"And you thought you didn't have what it takes to make it in Rumble Circuit!"

"To be fair, I did have two teammates to help carry me."

"True. Even though you beat Maluk, you did manage to give all that free EV to Arva. But!" Itzel ended her embrace and straightened out her jacket vest with a brief tug. "We can go over the replays some other time! Just enjoy the moment of your first Ranked Rumble Circuit win."

Janus smiled, showing off every single one of his teeth to Itzel and then at Gurk. "Don't you mean... our win?"