Alrighty, Chapter 20. Three cheers for Chapter 20. I hope everyone has had a meriful holidays whether you celebrate Christmas, Hannukah or worship Krampus!

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Chapter 20: The Scarf

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Erin stared, speechless with shock as Trager silently paced around the body of the dead Haxorus, staring down both her and Axl with piercing red eyes as he prepared himself for their battle. Looking down at the body of Clay, his limbs were splayed, and his face had the tainted painting of betrayal and pain despite the blank, sightless eyes that stayed open.

She had never seen a Pokemon die before, let alone such a brutal death. Clay was certainly a terrible Pokemon and clearly was responsible for the deaths of many due to his aiding of Thorn, but even this seemed way too much for him. If nothing else, he deserved to stand trial and be punished the right way.

Forcing herself to concentrate, she again focused on the now quivering Munchlax in a cage who was terrified of the scene unfolding in front of him. Her anger rising above everything else, she again made a mad dash to get next to the cage to shield him from the oncoming battle.

As she did, Thorn once again tried to intercept her, although Axl was more prepared for his speed this time. Able to meet him more head on, Axl's Razor Shell was able to meet Thorn's Poison Jab and hold it for a standstill just long enough for him to counter and jump. Instead of slicing, however, he made a jabbing attempt with his attack towards Thorn's chest.

Thorn's eyes widened and to Erin's surprise, he jumped back to block Axl's attack, barely avoiding a shot to the chest.

Clicking his tongue, Axl decided to instead unleash a fury of Razor Shell's on Thorn's body with powerful attacks to his legs, abdomen and head. Caught off guard, Thorn was on the defensive from Axl's hidden strength.

Trager's claws lightened a light blue and he tried to join in, although his eyes remained red. Erin didn't hesitate and she fired a Vine Whip at his throat, wrapping it around and pulling him back from interfering. Planting her feet in the ground, she pulled with all of her might, choking the powerful Pokemon and bringing him to a knee.

Meanwhile, Thorn was now pushed back against a wall as Axl's attacks hadn't lost any of their potency and were starting to damage Thorn a little bit. Thorn lashed out with a Poison Jab that Axl managed to block and counter with another Razor Shell jab of his own.

Max sweatdropped at his partners getting beaten. "Do you two need a hand?" He asked lazily, not bothering to get up from his perch as he watched the battle apathetically.

Thorn and Trager glared at him. "Shut your mouth." They growled, before the golden hue started to blaze in Trager's eyes once more. Grabbing Erin's vine's, she shouted in pain as he sunk his claws in, making her falter from the pain.

Helpless, Trager ripped the vine from his neck and his bloodlust was fully unleashed, dashing at her with full intent to kill.

Axl had his eye out and seemed torn for a second. He softened his attack and fired a Scald into Thorn's face in order to daze the powerful Nidoking. However, Thorn managed to strike back with another Poison Jab as Axl had jumped away from the battle in order to intercept Trager.

It caught Axl in the stomach viciously, ripping fur and skin from his body.

But Axl didn't let it slow him and managed to strike his Razor Shell upside Trager's head, heavily damaging the Fraxure and knocking him down painfully, saving Erin's life once again.

Erin pulled her vines back in her body. "Thanks-." She gasped as Axl was now breathing raggedly, a cut on the side of his abdomen leaking blood from Thorn's attack. It didn't look deep, but Axl was losing a lot of blood and fast. Even worse, purple veins were protruding from the cut, indicating a possible poisoning.

Axl was using his scalchop to lean on as he struggled to catch his breath from the wound, although looking awfully pleased with himself as Trager was struggling to get back up after Axl's had hit.

Trager now had his own bad cut on the side of his face, have to wipe blood out of his rage filled eye.

Thorn, who hadn't lost his smile in the wave of attacks, cackled. "Well, well. I underestimated you." He praised, sounding genuinely impressed. "Most Pokemon are either too afraid or too stupid to know our weakness."

Trager had propped himself up on an arm. "He's neither of those and shouldn't be underestimated." He replied. "He's stronger than he looks, Axl there was chosen to be a deputy at one point…before he ran away." The last part of his sentence trailed off in a sneer and Axl couldn't help but roll his eyes.

Thorn, however, didn't falter. "Deputy, eh? Dunno why he'd run away." He spoke. "I haven't been on the defensive like that in a long time. Doesn't seem like the runaway type."

Axl chuckled, clutching his wound. "You stop that before you make me blush." He replied sarcastically. "If this side of you came out more, maybe we wouldn't be trying to break your bones right about now."

Thorn's tail lashed like a feral creature. "Break my bones?" He repeated. "Let's see you make me break a sweat first."

Still breathing heavily, Axl was able to stand on his two feet. "Erin," He ordered, making her snap up. "Go for their marks, specifically the gem shaped portion of them. If you're able to damage the stone inside, you'll win.

Erin helped him as he staggered from the poison in his wound. "So, there is a stone in the mark?" She asked, not having known this.

Axl nodded. "The stone is kind of like a parasite, it latches on to organs or veins in order to fuel the user with power. Damaging it, or even better removing it completely will either kill or immobilize the user depending on the location." He pointed at both Thorn and Trager. "In Trager's case, it most likely would only result in the loss of his arm whereas Thorn would more likely die as a result of losing his."

Thorn sneered "Tch, don't go spilling our weaknesses now." He complained mockingly, his mark flashing a bright gold. "Although he's right, if you're somehow able to remove the mark on our bodies, you win. Simple enough, eh?"

Erin nodded at this information, a little surprised that the marks had such a theoretical easy weakness, although as evident actually getting to Thorn's chest was easier said than done as she assumed someone would have done it by now.

Axl reached into his scarf and pulled out a purple syringe, stabbing himself right above his wound and letting a sigh of relief from him. Slowly, the purple veins started to retreat and diminish, giving Axl the strength to stand on his own again. This didn't quench Erin's worry though, as Axl had already lost a lot of blood and had to be low on energy from the poisoning.

Trager had gotten up and looked infuriated. "Simple, huh? Don't kid yourselves, you cretins. We Hazaranmon are a different level of species from you. What we lack in numbers, we make up in our strength. A ragtag duo of weaklings like the both of you are no match for us."

Axl was starting to shake, and Erin realized the poison hadn't completely left his system yet.

He seemed to realize this as well and sweatdropped. "Oh man, I really hope I don't get the shits right now. I would never live that down." He muttered sarcastically.

Erin realized she needed to buy time for Axl to fully recover so she turned bravely to Trager, who was still shaking off the pain from Axl's attack.

"Why did you kill your father, Trager? He should've been brought in like any other criminal."

Trager's eyes had diminished to their red and Erin realized how bad he was actually hurt. "Let's cut the pretenses, sweetheart. Clay isn't my real father. I was adopted long ago when he found me on a mission." He started, his stance a little more relaxed as he recovered. "He claimed to have loved me as his own, but my father could never get over that I was what he feared the most: a Hazaranmon. He made me hide my mark for years to protect my well-being while we slaved every day for Pokemon under the false premise of making the world 'pure'.

He huffed as he looked away. "Yet, look at the two cities we ran. More Hazaranmon feel the need to hide who they are in Peridot and Amethyst more than any other city on the island. For years we've been cast out as monsters with no control, always watched with eyes ready for us to lose our minds to our marks. Even when we live in peace, we still are attacked and killed in our own homes for what? Fear of what is different. My father had the power to make a change and made no effort to further our rights."

Erin couldn't help but remember the incident with Karl and the Jynx and felt a wave of empathy for what Hazaranmon had gone through over the years.

Trager wasn't done as he dropped a bombshell at her. "Are you familiar with Hisui Bay?" He asked, causing Axl to flinch sharply.

Erin didn't notice as she nodded. "It's the specific Island that the prisoners were sent to after the Great Pokemon War, right? It got shut down hundreds of years ago due to inhumane torture methods that were in practice, I believe?"

"...Supposedly."

Erin looked shocked and noticed even Thorn's smile had softened a little bit.

Trager had a faraway look in his eyes. "There are still camps with prisoners serving the sentences of their ancestors still today. A bad blizzard had turned the island into an ice wasteland about a hundred years ago, so the final inmates are now building camps in order to start a new civilization there. The conditions are worse than they've ever been.

"My mother was a prisoner of the island and released as she was pregnant with me. For years leading up to her death, she told me of the horrible conditions that you couldn't even fathom living in that hell. And for years, he made me ashamed of the suffering she had to endure and hid me away as though I was the problem. He claimed to have loved me, but a stepparent cannot truly love a Pokemon the way a real one can."

Axl had stood up and looked angry and Erin knew he was thinking of Frankie. "So the whole taking care of you and making sure you were safe meant nothing to you?" He asked, looking ready to fight once more.

Trager started to laugh and had to take a moment to compose himself. "Make no mistake, Axl, I loved my father as much as he loved the city and its citizens." He mocked.

Axl sweatdropped. "Well…. fair enough." He replied.

Erin wasn't satisfied. "So why kill him?" She cried, feeling very angry.

Trager shifts his gaze to her. "This was never his fight and this island isn't his to live on. Soon, this will become an island of pure Hazaranmon and when we take over it, I will rescue the rest of our brethren and we will have the peace that was denied to us for hundreds of years." He said coldly. "Am I wrong to say that was more or less the plan, Thorn?"

Thorn cackled in response. "Hmph, you are a lot smarter than your daddy." He said, sounding amused. "Although, the pleasure of killing this island's strongest Pokemon is mine and mine alone. First, will be your Guildmasters, starting with Finnegan and ending with Yu Kong of the Opal City Guild. I will tear hope from this island corpse by corpse and relish in your slow deaths."

Trager's eyes had returned to a golden hue. "Starting with you two."

Axl, who was better now, stood in front of Erin and had a Night Slash fired up. Both him and Trager seemed to have a look pass between them, and Axl looked ready to get back into battle.

Not without a snarky remark. "Gonna be a hard plan to follow when your ass gets kicked here." He taunted, looking ready to fight.

Trager had his gaze hardened on Axl. "Let me show you a taste of what suffering means." He retorted, readying his attack.

Thorn, who had suddenly appeared next to Erin, crossed his arms as he looked invested. "Well, this should be good." He remarked, making Erin jump. As she bravely faced him, he shook his head uninterested. "Relax, I could kill you with a flick of my tail whenever I wanted to. However, where's the fun in that? I want you to watch your friend die before your eyes to realize how futile resistance is against us."

Erin paused to think of her chances against the large Nidoking, before letting out a click of her tongue and returning her attention to the battle between Axl and Trager. Both were standing across from each other, squared up and ready to fight.

Axl made the first move, the light purple hue emitting from his scalchop over his head as he dashed at Trager who ducked and rolled to the side.

Stretching out his Dragon Claw attack, Trager swung widely for Axl in a clothesline like attack, similar to the move he used to kill Clay. Axl was more prepared and bent backwards in order to dodge it, having to leave his feet in a backflip.

Trager, having moved with a lot of momentum, stumbled forward and in front of Axl, exposing his back to the otter. Axl wasted no time and fired an Ice Beam attack, striking Trager squarely in the middle of the back and making him skid a little way away.

Sinking his claws into the ground in order to catch himself from tumbling on the ground, Trager used his strong arm strength to turn himself back to face Axl. He emitted a light blue aura on his other clawed hand as well, giving him a second Dragon Claw attack to use.

Axl, meanwhile, had unleashed his Night Slash attack again and dashed once more at Trager, meeting his enemy in a fury of blows much like he did to Thorn, although much slower due to what Erin guessed was his stomach injury that was still bleeding, albeit a lot less.

Axl didn't let his pain show. "Hmph, this is five times your normal strength? Kind of a waste of a mark on you, don't you think" He asked, starting to make the Hazaranmon back up a little.

A vein popped in Trager's head and his eyes flashed. "Let's not kid ourselves, Axl." He responded in a dead tone. 'You and I are still in two completely different leagues." He kicked Axl in the stomach, suddenly, and Axl tumbled backwards from the surprise attack, recoiling from the injury he was already suffering from.

Trager's claws switched to a bright white light, and he crossed him over his body before unleashing in a x-shaped attack.

"Razor Wind."

Blades of wind slashed themselves out at Axl, making the otter move out of the way in order to dodge it, barely avoiding the attack that managed to cut into the stone walls.

Trager jumped and landed on the otter as he tumbled away. "Nice move, you would have had more than a small stomach scratch if that hit you." He told him, readying his Dragon Claw once more. "This ends now, though-" He didn't get the chance to finish as Axl unleashed a powerful Ice Beam that struck Trager critically in the face and knocked him clear off of him.

Axl managed to get to his feet, and stumbled a bit as his wound was opening more. "Tch, if only I could use that more freely. I can't risk an errant attack hitting Karl, though." He muttered, barely audible to everyone in the room.

Trager had recovered, looking hurt but still as powerful. "Don't you realize how pointless this is? At this point you're choosing a painful death." He told him, having his trusty Dragon Claws ready for battle once more.

Axl waved his hand. "Hey, could you shut up for a moment, I'm trying to think." He shouted, making a vein pop in Trager's head. Axl thought deeply for a moment before punching his hand into his palm as an idea formed in his head. Taking a breath, he froze the ground underneath Tragers feet.

A moment of silence passed before Trager lifted his Dragon Claws over his head and smashed the ice beneath him, cracking the ground and essentially proving Axl's plan to be useless.

He raised a brow. "Seriously, did you expect such an overused trope to-" HE didn't get the chance to finish as Axl lurched forward to land a devastating blow to the mark on his shoulder, making Trager's wide in panic as he was caught off guard.

However, Axl suddenly winced in pain as the wound was finally proving to be too much for him, making him drop to a knee and keeping him from landing the finishing blow. Trager took this opportunity to viciously attack Axl who tried to block the attack with his arm.

It was pointless though, and a sickening crack told Erin that Axl's arm was broken clean and made the otter finally fall to the ground. Trager wasn't done though, and gripped the loose ends of Axl's scarf, choking the otter out with it as he placed his foot on Axl's back for leverage.

Axl clutched at the tightening scarf that was like a noose around his neck and Erin felt sick to her stomach. Karl, who had remained silently watching in horror, was sobbing as Axl's face was turning purple and his eyes started to roll to the back of his head.

Panic caught in Erin's throat, and she made a move to jump in, before a tail around her arm stopped her, Thorn glaring at her menacingly.

"Watch him suffer before he dies." He told her, the manic tone making his grin seem that much more terrifying.

Erin tried to rip her arm out, grimacing at the pain. "Axl, you scarf!" She screamed, as Axl was clearly losing what little life he had in him. "You have to take off your scarf!"

Axl didn't listen, however, only clutching the ground stubbornly as he refused to make a move towards the thing that was bringing him to a slow demise. Erin couldn't fathom why, she understood it was a gift from his mother, but it was going to kill Axl if he didn't try and take it off.

She glared at Thorn, not letting him intimidate her, and snaked her body in a way where she was still able to attack. Firing a Razor Leaf attack, the sharp leaves that sprouted from her body accurately hit the scarf that was choking Axl, causing Trager to fall backwards and Axl to fall forwards, unconscious from Trager's assault.

Thorn tightened his grip. "You cheeky little-" He stopped though, as his tone slightly faltered at something he saw.

Trager pushed himself up, pissed. "Hmph, no matter. He's just as easy to kill now." He snapped, dashing at Axl with another Dragon Claw attack.

Thorn, however, let go of Erin much to her shock and stood in front of Trager, blocking his way to the helpless otter. Trager screeched to a halt, looking confused and annoyed.

"What are you doing? He's mine to kill." He said angirily, meeting Thorn's steady gaze.

Thorn met it evenly. "You cannot kill him." He rasped, making Trager calm down a little bit as he stared at Thorn in bizarrement. He stared past the Nidoking at the body of Axl and his eyes stretched wide in absolute shock at whatever he saw, making him step back as he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"W-what?"

Erin didn't question the interaction at first, running up to Axl and flipping him to his back in order to help him. When she did, her breath caught in her throat and her blood froze when she realized why Thorn had reacted the way he did.

While Erin didn't damage Axl's scarf to the point of being unwearable, it did fall off as a result, exposing part of his body that had previously been hidden to her up until now and she knew why.

Axl had been hiding something else after all, a secret that Erin herself would've caused her to freeze at her friend earlier, much to her disappointment and anger towards herself. A secret she completely understood due to Trager's speech and backstory. A secret that completely explained the shift in tone to the normally relaxed otter's personality due to the nature of the mission.

For, on the front of Axl Ingrassio's neck was the Mark of the Hazaran.