Hello guys, and welcome back! Lucky number four right? Well my power keeps flickering out, and I keep loosing everything and having to restart. So, I know all of you have been waiting for this chapter, you know, when Gregor and Hayden try to kill each other. Death, blood, gore, all fun stuff, right? Nobody got the question from last chapter correct! Well, a few of you guys got close, but didn't quite hit the nail. Just wait and you will see! So, as usual, any and all feedback is encouraged and appreciated, see you guys later!

See you guys later,

-Tytonic

Disclaimer: I do not own any of The Underland Chronicles, only the characters I make up and the plot itself.

The end of this chapter is to awesome to spoil with an authors note and all that crap, so the question will be up here. Also, none of you will expect what I have in store next!

Question: Who is dead, and who is alive?

Gregor and the War of the Myriapods

Chapter 33: Showdown

Gregor hardly had time to react as Hayden rushed forward. Gregor brought his sword up to block the blow.

And thus, a clang of metal rang throughout the cavern, one that may very well, mark the beginning of the greatest fight in all of history.

-O-

Gregor had to hand it to him, he was strong, very strong. He could hardly handle the blow that he had received. Not to mention that he was fast, possibly faster than Ripred. Well, this was gonna be hard.

Just as fast as Hayden had attacked Gregor, he spun all of the way around Gregor, so that he was behind him, and he stabbed backwards. Normally, this attack would have slid right through Gregor's flesh, but no, Gregor was normal in no way.

He hardly slid out of the way in time, leaving only centimeters to spare. Gregor quickly jumped forward and spun around, so that Hayden was no longer at his back. Gregor threw his sword up just in time to block another blow from Hayden. Stepping back, Gregor tried to find an opening to strike, but found himself blocking lighting fast blows left and right. He jumped backwards once more, so that he was out of range from Hayden's strikes. As quickly as he had, he found that Hayden was right on top of him once more.

Ok, so maybe he was a little fast, but that didn't matter if he couldn't put that speed to good use. Time to go on the offensive.

Gregor did not hold back in the slightest. He let forth a barrage of attacks, as fast and strong as he could. Much to his dismay, he found that Hayden was blocking all of his attacks. He seemed to be struggling with it, as Gregor had with his, but he was managing nonetheless.

Gregor could not believe it. No regular human should be able to match a rager in battle, no matter how much training or skill he possesses. It just wasn't normal.

Apparently, Gregor and Hayden were evenly matched. Ok then, this was going to be interesting. Well, if you considered dancing on deaths doorstep interesting, then yes, this was going to be very, very interesting.

Gregor quickly jumped over a low blow, one meant to knock his feet out from under him. While Hayden's sword was still down low, Gregor ceased the opportunity to stab forward, right at Hayden's chest.

Much to his happiness, his sword connected with it's intended target. Well, sort of. Instead of sinking deep into Hayden's chest, thus killing him, his sword reflected off a metallic material. What it was, Gregor did not know, but he had to assume the worst. He had to assume that Hayden had armor on underneath his attire.

He would have to aim for joints, and such areas if he hoped to win this fight. Of course, Gregor had some protection on as well, a layer of leather padding, but compared to metal, it was as useful as a slab of butter.

Gregor ran right at Hayden, and struck downward. Bluffing out at the last second, Gregor redirected his blade so that it would hit Hayden's side. Unfortunately, Hayden batted his blow aside.

Hayden then stabbed forward. When Gregor twirled his sword out of the way, Hayden did something completely unexpected.

He twisted around, as if he was going to strike Gregor again. Gregor knew better, so he prepared to block a blow from below, where this trick always led.

Gregor, instead, was met with a dagger in Hayden's left hand, and the sword in his right. He did not have enough time to block the blow, so he jumped back. Inwardly, the dagger still cut into him.

Gregor instantly felt a searing pain burn from the wound, and spread throughout his body. Poison. Only Hayden would play that dirty. He knew he would loose to Gregor given time, to he had to poison him.

He barely noticed as Hayden stepped back, and watched him howl in pain. He must have been enjoying it.

Gregor didn't know how much time had passed, but he could have sword he heard somebody shout 'poison', and then a bunch of people cursing at Hayden.

When Gregor came to, he was drained. All of his energy had been leeched out of him.

He struggled to push himself to his feat. The first thing he noticed what his lack of a weapon. He spotted his behind Hayden.

Gregor glanced around frantically looking for a weapon. With both his sword and his dagger both behind Hayden, he would not be able to get either of them. He was weaponless, all because of a stupid mistake. A stupid mistake, one that may cost his life. He should have expected the dagger. He should have expected the unexpected.

Then it struck Gregor. He may not have a blade, or something sharp to harm Hayden, but he could still fight. All he had to do was let his instincts run wild.

Wild. He had spent years in his room, activating his rager, and forcing it to bend to his will. He had spent years mastering the art of controlling it. Now, all that was out the window; years of practice, and he was doing the exact opposite of what he had practiced for.

Gregor deemed this his only chance. If he was to kill Hayden, he had to set his power loose, allow it to bend and twist as it so wished. And on that note, Gregor cut the restraints withholding his power.

It was not at all what he had expected. By this point, he had figured that the rager sensation was a sort of chemical, related to adrenaline. And like adrenaline, it could run out. Apparently it had run out. True, he felt a spark of power, but only enough to squish an extra fly or two.

If he had to guess, he would say that the poison that had been introduced to his bloodstream sucked the power out of you. Thus, it took away his rager, preventing him from gaining an advantage of any sort. Perhaps he still had outrage energy. Even if he did, he wouldn't be able to use it without having one of his loved one put in danger.

This whole dilemma presented a new problem. He still had no weapon. His only option would be to slip past Hayden, and to grab his sword again. True, he could fight using his body, but he was in far to weak a state for that to be affective.

As the hopelessness of the situation washed over him, his blood ran cold.

He was going to die. He would never see any of his loved one again. He would never see Luxa again, he realized.

He could only imagine how she would react to his death, and then having Hayden take her immediately after. Knowing her, if that happened, she would likely commit suicide. He had seen the extend of Hayden's power.

While Luxa would fight back, she would not be able to resist for long, and she would become desperate for an escape. Death would provide just that.

The last thing he wanted was for Luxa to die. And he defiantly didn't want her to die by her own hand.

If he died, she would end up dead. If he lived, she would live as well. He had to win. Not to protect himself, but to protect Luxa, to save her.

As that though passed through Gregor's head, he felt a surge of energy. Outrage. He was now fighting to save Luxa, not himself.

As fast as the energy came to him, he felt it be leeched out by the poison. It was canceling his outrage.

As the final bits of his outrage were drained out of his body, Gregor ignored it. His sheer determination to live was just that. Determination, a different type of energy, one that the poison cannot steal. He was fighting so that Luxa would live. The outrage was only an effect of that determination. The power had to come from somewhere, and he thought he figured it out.

The energy was still there, it was just in a different form, a more psychological state. He still had the power to win, he just needed to access it differently.

As Gregor came to this conclusion, he felt a strange calmness wash over himself. Either he had just aged years, mentally, or he was on the edge of the void. He would venture to guess the latter, but in such circumstances, the first option was possible as well.

Gregor was almost ready to accept death. Almost.

"So, warrior. I can safely assume that this fight is drawing to a near, can I not? Take in the moment. Every last detail. I want you to fall to the ground, dead, with the image of me, driving a sword through your heart, implanted in your head." Hayden called to Gregor. "Maybe, once I am done with you, I can take Luxa for my self. She will bend to my will, do as I say, when I say."

He knew that Hayden was tormenting Gregor, attempting to anger him, to cloud his judgement. Gregor would have expected himself to become angered by these words, but no. They did not anger him at all, nor did they please him. They had no affect on him.

Gregor took yet another deep breath. He could feel death tugging at him, pulling him into the void. But no, he resisted, he resisted with all of his might. He knew there was no winning against death, but if he was going to die at the hand of this monster, he wasn't going down alone.

Hayden snorted, and glared at Gregor. "Any last words, boy?"

Gregor remained calm as ever. "I should be asking you the same."

His words seemed to anger Hayden, as if he couldn't stand the fact that Gregor could simply brush off his taunts.

As Gregor expected, Hayden charged forward, all sense of guard lost. This was his opening, his chance, his one and only opportunity. He was not going to miss this.

As Hayden approached Gregor quickly, positioned to stab Gregor through the chest, Gregor slowly shifted his stance.

Right when Hayden was in front of Gregor, Gregor nimbly sidestepped, reached forward, and grabbed the hilt of Hayden's sword. Without wasting time, Gregor allowed the momentum of the strike to carry through, going past him.

Using his hand, which has not on the hilt of the sword, he redirected that momentum.

With a single mighty thrust, Gregor brought the sword back around and drove it right through Hayden's chest.

Surprised by the fact that his own blow had struck him, Hayden wasted no time either. With his dying breaths, he stabbed upward, using the dagger still in his other had. It dug deeply into Gregor's chest.

And thus, two of the greatest warriors ever to live, fell to the ground. One was almost defiantly dead, the other though, his chest was still rising and falling, ever so slowly.

One was alive, one was dead. Only one question remained. Who was dead, and who was alive?