Violence ahead. Not as bad as Lukarin in Chaptet 7, but still.

While glaring at Ivan, AJ looked about ready to break him in half, which was pretty funny because the two foot height difference made it look like a toddler picking a fight with a full grown tree. Now imagine the Hulk as a toddler with lethal rage issues fighting a full grown tree.

"If you're both ready..." Jax glanced back and forth. "да, boss!" Ivan chimed in. AJ simply nodded, not taking his eyes off the enemy. "Begin." Raymond flew up from his place in between them. Immediately, Ivan began wildly swinging his huge claws at AJ. Of course, AJ was much more agile than a gritty brawler like Jayce, so dodging was no issue. "HAHA! I GOT YOU ON THE ROPES!" Ivan snarled with a grin. AJ sighed, annoyed. "I'm beginning to think you got lucky when you killed Jayce. Without that Fighting type blast, you would've lost. Are you always this slow? What's higher? Your IQ or your Number of Brain Cells?" AJ was beginning to enjoy tormenting Ivan verbally. "STOP TALKING AND FIGHT YOU LITTLE SHIT!!" Ivan's angry growls increased with each and every insult. "So do you just always suck this badly? Are you sure you don't need glasses, cuz you have yet to hit me." AJ was beginning to really get into it, even adding a backflip to dodge a low claw sweep for a little flair, or just simply taking a step backwards to piss him off. "STAY STILL SO I CAN FUCK YOU UP!" Ivan roared. AJ snickered. "That's what she said." the Riolu slid beneath his legs, then stood and kicked the back of the large pokemon's knee, causing him to stumble and drop to the other knee. AJ then stepped back and charged forward, raising his leg as he ran, smashing Ivan in the jaw with his foot. "That was a free shot..." Ivan grunted as he stumbled to his feet. AJ tilted his head. "This is a deathmatch.” The Riolu cracked his knuckles. "There are no free shots." After which, he delivered a swift kick to the knee, knocking him back over. AJ then went to work, slamming the already sore knee against trees, branches, and whatever he could find to wear it down. Ivan was busy groaning from pain and also bitching to Jax. "Boss! That's cheating! No weapon allowed! I win!" But the scyther just shook his head. "Branches and trees are a part of the environment. Besides, I told you, Cliff's Edge, Deathmatch, No Holds Barred. Only way to win, chuck em over the edge. Did you not understand that?" Ivan gulped. "Oh, and if Shane or your three lackeys interfere, they die." Jax brandished his sharp claws.

AJ stopped whacking Ivan's left knee and allowed him to rise to his feet. "You're a dead kid now!" Ivan barked, swinging again. AJ didn't dodge this time. He intercepted the claw with one arm before it reached him. "You rise, you fall, you're down, then you rise again. They say 'What don't kill you makes you stronger', right? Is it working yet?" AJ asks. "What do you...?" Ivan began, but then AJ delivered such a brutal kick to the kneecap that a sickening CRACK filled the void of momentary silence. Ivan crumbled to the ground, knee shattered. "What the hell?!" The three stood in pure shock. "And I was trying to make you stronger by not killing you, because this was getting boring. But now that I know you're not gonna stop me, Let's have some fun, shall we?" AJ laughed almost maniacally to himself, and Jax attentively studied AJ. AJ bent down, hooking the broken leg around his neck and then lifting, applying stress to the ligaments and tendons in the already heavily damaged leg. After this, much to everyone's surprise, he hoisted Ivan onto his shoulders. AJ slowly carried Ivan closer to the edge, but about ten feet before the ledge, AJ decided to add more insult to injury, seeing a medium size boulder, He had a very painful idea in mind. AJ dumped the Ursarang back first onto the rock, causing Ivan’s back to become bent in clearly an unnatural way. Jax flew over. "He's well over 350 pounds. You hoisted him up like he was some kind of ragdoll." Jax said, surveying the damage. "B-Boss! I can't feel my legs..." Ivan whimpered. AJ glanced at Jax, who nodded to the riolu. "Can you do that again?" The scyther asked. AJ shrugged and, with a little difficulty, was able to get the severely broken ursarang onto his shoulders again. "B-BOSS! HELP!" Ivan stammered, staring right over the edge. "You agreed to this, Ivan. A smart mon would've known that anyone who can make a fool out of me could wipe the floor with you." Ivan was horrified at Jaxson’s words, along with the other three who had previously been his subordinates.

"You're siding with this lil' punk?!" Leon, the Gabite, stepped forward, but he immediately found himself standing face-to-face with Jaxson, which shut him up quickly. "Stand down." Jax ordered. "Ivan Kozlov is our leader, not you!" Oscar declared, drawing his shells and charged Jax. Before he could swing one of his new razor shells, AJ sighed and, from his shoulders, simply dropped Ivan off his shoulders. Oh, which also happened to be off the edge of the ravine. Immediately, the three lackeys' jaws dropped. There was the eerie silence once again... if you don't count the screams coming from over the edge, followed by an echoing "Thud". After that, there really was dead silence... No pun intended. 

"Y-you killed him!" Hal stammered. "He killed Jayce first. It's justice." AJ shrugged, wiping a bit of Ivan's blood off his knuckles. "YOU LITTLE ARROGANT PRICK! I'LL SHOW YOU JUSTICE!" Leon charged AJ, but if you blinked, you’d see AJ still standing and one Gabite flipping down the ravine. "H-How?" Hal, the primeape, was justly terrified at this point. "He ran at me, I ducked and used his momentum against him. I grabbed his ankles and stood up, flipping him over the edge. Anyone else wanna try that?" AJ announced as Oscar charged, Razor shells drawn. "I warned you." AJ sighed, drawing one of the two daggers his father had made.

Oscar was good, no doubt. He was quick and struck fast, but AJ managed to avoid any damage to his torso or his right arm (he's right handed), parrying many slash attempts. "I got you! You'll back right over the edge! Revenge will be mi...!" Oscar had been saying when he took a huge swing, but AJ sidestepped. The Dewott gasped and purposely dropped to his knees. Had he kept stumbling forward, he would've fallen right off the edge. Oscar sighed with relief, then picket up his shells again, stood up, and then turned around, saying "YOU'RE DEAD, KID!". Sadly, those would be the last distinguishable words Oscar would say, as he was immediately met by AJ. Well, More like Oscar's head met AJ's spinning roundhouse kick, which struck the Dewott straight in the face, most likely hard enough to break his nose and knock him unconscious. Unconscious would be the least of Oscar's worries, as AJ grabbed him by the neck, hoisted him up, then dropped him... right over the edge, joining Leon and Ivan in the bottom of the ravine, which could not be seen, as the dense fog in said ravine made it impossible to even tell how far down it was. Shane finally reappeared, and was met by a strangely quiet Jax. "I assume you were taking care of Morrison's body?" Jax asked Shane, who said nothing and nodded in response. "Good. He should rest easy, he did all he could to protect the youngest of the group. Just so happens that AJ should've been the one protecting him." Jax sighed as Hal still shuddered against a tree. 

"And then there's you." AJ said coldly as he slowly stepped towards the cowering Primeape. "M-Mercy..." The fearful ape begged. AJ grabbed him by the arm, helping him to his feet. "It's ok." This made the fear go away from his face. "Thank you! I owe you my..." He tried releasing his grip, but AJ didn't let go. Hal nervously shifted his focus from AJ's grasp on his arm to the face of the Riolu. "I said it's Ok. I never said I forgive you." AJ started walking towards the edge, with Hal fighting back, trying to preserve his own life, but amazingly, AJ wasn't phased by any of his resistance. Upon reaching the edge, he whipped Hal in front of him, holding his arm firmly in his grasp. Hal's heels were right on the edge. If AJ let go, the Primeape fell to his death like his three comrades. "Who sent you?" AJ barked. Hal blubbered and rambled indistinct phrases. "I SAID WHO DO YOU WORK FOR?!" AJ grabbed his other arm, then in a swift thrust of his arm, the Primeape's left wrist went "SNAP", causing the excruciating pain filled scream to echo into the gorge. "Such a wonderful soundtrack for vengeance. Now, If you don't comply, it'll be every bone in your body before you become useless to me. After that, over the side you go. Take your pick." AJ's eyes were cold and unempathetic. "Z-Zeta L-Leader... B-Bribed..." Hal muttered. "Who?" AJ growled. "I-I Swore to secrecy!" Hal quipped. In a flash, AJ was now holding a severed arm, watching the Primeape fall backwards, staring up at Jax, who had amputated the only thing holding him up. "A whimpering coward is use to no one." Jax muttered as he stared at the gorge for a few moments. Deciding it was for the best, AJ casually tossed the severed arm in as well. "So what's that about?" AJ asked the Scyther, curious, as those were devout followers of his. "Couldn't you see? They were hired to find us and take us out. Whoever hired them thought I could be coaxed into helping. To hell with that. Those four never gave ideas, only ever followed orders like obedient little lapdogs. Up here, I'd call that dead weight." Jax scoffed as he flew upward, most likely headed back to the main camp.

"AJ! Gimme a hand here." Shawn called out. Of course, it involved carrying Jayce's body. "I'm so gonna get scarred emotionally from this." AJ beamed with unusual energy. The walk back seemed like an eternity for both Shane and AJ.

---

Upon reaching camp, the others crowded the gate to see if the rumors were true. When they were confirmed, it almost sent a shockwave accross the Omega team. "He's really dead..." Justin grit his teeth. "Yeah. Reason a lot of us are up here, labeled a menace to society, infamous... yet he fought bravely to the end. I'm beginning to think that The Council had some unfair rulings..." Cairo suggested after examining him. "Beginning to think?! They sent me up here for harboring 5 runaway foster kids for upwards of 6 years. Tell me, do you think that's a criminal offense? No shit, they made bad calls! They were only looking out for themselves!" Alexis was absolutely livid. "They sent us up here to die. What point is there?" Sasha barked. "Calm it. This wasn't the death they thought we'd get. So does it..." Logan had tried cooling things down, but then Natalie the charizard decided to jump in. "Shut your damn mouth, or should I say shut your ass because they sound the same to me!" Logan casually rolled his eyes. "Your anger is like a spicy burrito. When it's all said and done, you've spewed out lots and lots of shit." he shrugged. "I'LL RIP YOUR ARM OFF AND BASH YOU ACROSS THE SKULL WITH IT, YOU BASTARD!" Before she could lash out, Sasha got between them. "Calm down, Nat. He's just trying to help. You do talk a lot of trash when you're mad..." After a few breaths, the Charizard scoffed and spread her wings, then launched herself up into the air, flying off to the East.

"So an Ursarang from this Zeta team attacked AJ. This Ivan guy killed Jayce after playing the reverse card in the form of a focus blast, and then AJ broke the Bear's back, Samoan Dropped em off the cliff, Back Body dropped the Gabite, Chokeslammed a Dewott of a cliff, then broke a Primeape's arm, followed by Mr. Raymond slicing off his arm and sending him to his death." Rico recapped. "It's so much shorter when you say it that way..." AJ chuckled nervously. No one else laughed. It was obviously not a laughing matter. "I'll get digging, I guess." Brad grabbed a shovel and walked outside of the border wall, followed by the sound of digging. "And then there was 19." Cara sighed. "You're really helping." Justin scoffed sarcastically. "Back off! You guys should consider that before you schmucks came into our lives, we lived together, the six of us. You can't just expect us to all of a sudden change because you want to live! So we're gonna put our sisterhood above 13 other strangers..." Nora, the Ampharos, interceded. "Then put them ahead of us. Put your five ahead of the rest. Then when we all die because you didn't care to look after those around you, because you prioritized you and your little kliq over the pokemon who want you to survive too!" Justin stood, upset. "Not my fault I actually have friends I trust!" Nora got face-to-face with Justin. "They won't save you. If you refuse to trust in the rest of us, you'll either end up like Jayce or like Brad, someone's digging you a hole or you're digging the hole. Your call." He said before turning and walking over to his bench to craft some weapons. "We don't need him. Let's go." Cara and Maya tried getting her to come along, but Nora didn't move. She stood there, pondering his words.

In the fading light of the day, the only reasonable source of action was to start a fire to use for light. "Anyone ever wonder why Zeta attacked us?" AJ asked. "Not now, bud." Cairo nudged him, knowing Rico wouldn't be happy about this. "They attacked you. You specifically, Austin. You were vulnerable and younger than they were so they assumed they could overpower you easily. However, Jayce got caught up in the crossfires of the fight they picked with you, and now he's dead because those four buffoons wanted to kill time by having fun deathmatches. Four less problems to the surface, but I doubt they'll be the last. If this recklessness continues, there won't be a future up here. Just like any other mon sent up here alone." Rico finished his beratement and AJ nervously looked down. "You aren't my dad..." He muttered quietly. Rico, barely hearing this, immediately turned completely and stood right in front of his younger brother. The two spent about two minutes silently glaring at each other, everyone now watching, with Justin and Logan ready to split the two apart should it come to blows. "...Yeah. I'm not. I'm your brother and I'm trying to protect you." Rico snapped out of his intense staredown. "I can fend for myself, obviously." AJ huffed. "Not everyone will fight one on one, let alone fairly." AJ trotted to his tent and came out with the two daggers. "Fine. Can I protect myself now?" AJ smiled, thinking that's what Rico meant. 

"You don't get it. We'll talk in the morning. All of us. I'll take the night watch, just all of you need to rest." Rico announced. Soon, one by one, each member went to their own tent. After the last of the 18 others went into their shelters for the night, Rico stepped outside the gates. Letting out a long sigh, he looked at the blade in his grasp. One of the Two Katanas his father had made before his banishment, his finest work and the set of weapons he took the most pride in creating, and he never got to use it. "I will find you. I swear." Rico muttered while looking through the clearing in the trees to the sky. "You'll never find him alone." Rico drew the blade and spun around. Standing before him was the shadowy figure from before. "You're the one that saved Emily, right?" The figure nodded. "Thanks for that. But why're you so secretive? I knew who you were the moment I saw the bodies from that night. I witnessed the creation of that style of fighting and absolute brutality. You think I'm that stupid?" Rico smirked. The figure pulled his hood down, revealing the upper half of the figure's face. The lower half was still covered, but his identity was fairly obvious. "Hello, Brother." He said with his voice modulator still on.

Sorry this took so long! Alas, What will happen when the twins meet up again for the first time since Luke is free from prison? What will become of the Undeclared Leader as he faces the Master Assassin? Will one kill the other? Will they bro hug and order a pizza? WILL SOMEONE YEET A SLICED PICKLE AT JEROME?! Find out in Chapter 11!