Enjoy! :)

Chapter 34: Curtain Close

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CRASH

The two powerful Pokémon once again found themselves locked in a vicious deadlock, with their Night Slash and Earth Power attacks colliding against one another. Neither were making much progress on damaging one another at this point.

Thorn chuckled. "I wonder what will give out first. Your body or heart, Guildmaster?" He growled before they split up again, standing ten feet from one another. The Guildmaster had slowed down considerably over the course of the fight, becoming much more trackable for the Nidoking.

Truth be told, his comment did remind Nero of his friend's age once more. If Filip was even a couple years younger, this battle would be over already.

The Guildmaster didn't look as bothered as he got ready to engage in battle once more, losing the dark aura around his claws.

Thorn grinned maliciously. "VENOSHOCK!" Slamming the ground with his fists, purple streaks of electricity lashed out at Guildmaster Finnegan. The average Pokémon would question the usage of a poison move on a steel-type. However, the attack also served as a way of obscuring his foes vision. Expecting Guildmaster Finnegan to circle around, he wasn't prepared for the experienced Guildmaster to instead charge straight into the attack, not allowing Thorn to obscure his vision.

Thorn blinked in surprise, both at Guildmaster Finnegan's brazenness and ferocity as the Bisharp darted through the attack. The Venoshock proved to be disadvantageous to Thorn as the Guildmaster started returning fire with a fury of slashes that started to get the better of Thorn.

Better still, Guildmaster Finnegan's speed was back up, putting the Nidoking on the defensive as he started to become a bit overwhelmed by the much older Pokémon. He gritted his teeth as annoyance started to get to him at being able to do nothing but block.

Guildmaster Finnegan suddenly jumped and spun in the air, his feet pointed at Thorn. Off guard by the sudden change in trajectory, Thorn found himself stumbling for a moment as he didn't know the Bisharps next move.

Following through with his mid air roll, the black aura of his Night Slash attack once again surrounded both of his claws and with great determination, struck Thorn on the chin, whipping his head back with an unsettling jolt.

For a moment, the massive Nidoking left his feet from the power of the attack, not believing that the much older Bisharp was capable of putting him this far on the ropes.

Refusing to fall on his back again, he set his feet back on the ground with a snarl, albeit still somehow looking excited at the power he was facing.

With a shake of his head, he returned to his senses only to find that Guildmaster Finnegan was preparing to launch another assault on him. Not wanting to go give him the chance, he met his attack with another powerful Earth Power.

The attacks collided once more, but instead of holding it, Guildmaster Finnegan suddenly contorted his body and struck Thorn in the face again, this time sending the Nidoking off his feet even further.

Before the assault could continue, Thorn quickly pushed himself back to his feet with a shocking amount of flexibility for someone his size. In a crouch with a hand on the ground, his eyes widened in great surprise as the Guildmaster was already back in front of him, his arms positioned horizontally parallel in a cross with the aura no longer there.

However, the feeling felt more murderous than ever before.

"GUILLOTINE!"

A single slash projected from the Guildmaster, slicing Thorn across his chest right above his mark. It normally would have cut off his head or destroyed his mark, but Thorn managed to avoid either taking a hit. Despite the attack missing his mark, the wound was deep and the Nidoking took a few steps back in a daze.

Guildmaster Finnegan had to recover for a moment as well, breathing heavily as disappointment settled on his face. As many hits as he had just landed on Thorn, they somehow looked like they didn't do anything outside of the one slash.

Nero gritted his teeth. "That's one of Filips strongest attacks, yet it didn't do much more than daze him." He muttered, impressed by the Nidoking's tough skin. I wonder if he'll have to use THAT…

Guildmaster Finnegan let out a huff. "You're pissing me off." He snapped, more angry at himself for missing his target. Especially because Thorn's strength was starting to take a massive toll on his body.

Thorn cackled. "Now, now, sour-puss." He shot back, suddenly opening up his arms. "I will give you this, Guildmaster, you fight like no Pokémon or Hazaranmon I have ever known. So allow me to send you to your grave with a secret move."

Guildmaster Finnegan raised a brow. "You know a secret move?" He asked.

Deciding to answer with his actions, Thorn let out a grunt of pain as his massive body tensed from the change it was undergoing. Sharp purple spikes started sprouting on his arms, reminiscent of the Corkscrew Crash Guildmaster Finnegan had used minutes earlier. This seemed far more painful however, as Thorn was panting to extend the spikes.

Once they reached their peak of a few inches, his arms started to glow a bright white color, vibrating with power. He punched his fists together, almost as if to relieve himself of the pain it had caused.

He stared back at Guildmaster Finnegan with berserk, golden eyes. "Using the mastery of my own biology and my Earth Power attack, I have created something that even the great Guildmaster Finnegan can't possibly survive."

Guildmaster Finnegan hesitated before igniting his Night Slash attack once more. Either way, he needed to attack Thorn some way and somehow, so he decided to charge him with his speed.

Thorn threw down both of his massive arms at the Guildmaster, proving much more powerful than before. He met Guildmaster Finnegan's dual Night Slash attack with almost no effort. Shock spread across Guildmaster Finnegan and Nero's faces as the Bisharps legs started to shake violently from the impact.

Nero could only watch in disbelief at the sheer force of strength Thorn was displaying. "I can't believe he had a whole other level of power. No wonder he was confident about taking down the city…" He spoke quietly to himself, wanting nothing more in the moment to jump in and help his old friend.

Speaking of which, Guildmaster Finnegan was struggling with all of his might to not let the attack break his defense. If he got hit, he didn't know if he could survive.

Thorn clicked his tongue suddenly. "A single miscalculation is the difference between life and death, Guildmaster." He told him. "I already told you to watch the tail."

Guildmaster Finnegan's eyes wildly snapped to the side as he was expecting to get hit again, but to his horror he found his world turned upside down as Thorn had wrapped his tail around Guildmaster Finnegan's ankle and was now dangling him upside down in the air.

Worse still, was that the Guildmasters arms dangled from the sudden shift of his body, leaving him wide open.

His eyes were wide open. "Shit!"

Thorn smirked as his fist was held mere inches from the Bisharps body. " FA JIN BURST!"

The fists suddenly hit him at such an intense speed that the force caused the wall behind him to accrue damage before Guildmaster Finnegan slammed into it. Black blood exploded from his body as the front of his torso was shredded from the attack. His eyes were bloodshot as he gripped the walls to pull himself out of the hole he had flown into.

He struggled to get up and found himself fighting for breath as he was covered in his own blood. Remaining in a seated position in the wall, he weakly glanced up at his opponent.

Thorn wasn't done as the white light that had emitted on his arms suddenly shifted to an orb he formed between his two arms. His face was terrifying as it was lit up from the orb and once all of the light had finished absorbing into it. He reached back as he prepared to unleash the finishing move.

"FAREWELL, GUILDMASTER. EARTH POWER!"

With a final heave, he flung his attack straight towards the Guildmaster, hitting the Bisharp and wall so ferociously that it went straight through the other side and continued onwards outside to an unknown destination. The force caused the room to violently shake.

Nero let out a scream of disbelief . "FILIP!"

As the attack settled, a bright light illuminated the room and blinded the two other Pokémon, before dissipating and leaving two metallic feet sticking out of the blood-stained wall.

To make matters worse for the Bisharp, cracks started to echo and was followed by a massive portion of the wall crumbling and falling on top of him, burying him in a pile of rubble.

Satisfied, the spikes on Thorn's arms slowly started to retreat, leaving them bare once more. He shifted his attention to Nero, popping his neck from the rather tough battle.

"Now then…there was only one."

Nero was in a state of momentary shock, before the Sawk took a fighting stance. His eyes stung at the sight of his best friend's death, but the mission of taking down Thorn must come first, no matter how grim the odds.

Before either could make a move, a sudden movement shifted both of their attention back to the rubble. Both stopped dead in their tracks as a stone hit the ground with a large thud and standing there was Guildmaster Finnegan bleeding out of many cuts and wounds, but with a fire in his eyes.

Nero could only stare in shock at his old friend. "There's no way not even you should have survived that." He said quietly, almost as though he was seeing a ghost. His reaction was not as surprising as Thorn's though.

Because for the first time in a long time, the smile dropped from his face.

His eyes were widened in surprise and a bead of sweat formed on his forehead. "That's not possible." His voice was low, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. "I killed you."

Guildmaster Finnegan took a breath. "Did you now?" He spat back. "I don't feel very dead, lad! You shouldn't have aimed for my head!"

For a moment, it almost looked like uncertainty flickered in Thorn's eyes and at last Nero understood what happened. At the last moment, Guildmaster Finnegan had slashed the wall behind him with the back of his hands and slid underneath Thorn's Earth Power attack. Had Thorn aimed a bit lower, Guildmaster Finnegan would be dead.

The Nidoking's uncertainty lasted no more than a heartbeat. He slammed his fists together and they illuminated in a bright white glow once more as he came to the same realization Nero did.

"Unbelievable! I knew this was a battle worthy of going all out. You certainly don't disappoint, Guildmaster!" He shouted excitedly. "Continue to show me the power of the strongest Pokémon in the city!"

Nero still had his breath held. He may have somehow survived that, but he's at his limit. He's going to have to pull out his own secret move if he intends to end this.

Almost as if he had read his thoughts, Guildmaster Finnegan crossed his arms over his body again, although this time his eyes reduced to pinpoints and the room seemed darkened once more. A dark aura erupted from his claws and he met Thorn's eyes with a bloodshot glare.

Inside his head, he had his own monologue. He's just fast enough to block all of my attacks so far. No matter if I have to completely give up defending, I need to attack him at my full speed no matter what.

Thorns tail thrashed. "No matter, even if it didn't kill you, death is standing right behind you, Guildmaster." He taunted once more.

Guildmaster Finnegan slowly raised his arms a bit more. "Let's give him a show then." He simply replied. For a moment, he almost appeared to levitate as the black aura around his claws was wildly coming out in streams.

Then, Thorn charged.

"EARTH POWER!"

"WINGED SORROW!"

A blink was all it took to miss the two colliding with one another as they had switched spots in the room but stood with their backs turned to one another. What had once been a room filled with the sounds of two Pokémon fighting for their lives had become a stillness in the room as though time had stopped. Not even ambience could be heard over the frozen scene.

Then, a low cackle started from Thorn, causing Nero's blood to run ice cold. The shoulders of the Nidoking started to shake as the volume of his laugh gradually increased until it became both uncontrollable and manic. A type of laugh Nero would recognize ten years from now from a crowd.

It didn't help that his friend was still bleeding heavily, covered in the black blood that he had lost throughout the intense fight. His gaze was now focused on the wall in front of him, having landed in a crouch. He seemed unbothered by the laughter that bounced around the room like a bullet ricocheting.

Finally, Thorn turned back and Nero could let out the breath he was holding as a gaping hole had replaced the spot his Hazaranmark had been, erupting with blood. Guildmaster Finnegan turned around as well, holding a gem with bloody, pink root-like appendages coming out of it. With a shaking clench of his fist, he crushed the gem into dust and let it fall to the floor.

Nonetheless, Thorn grinned through bloodstained teeth. "Heh…you got me…"