Chapter Text
His mouth felt dry, which is weird since Jabber is the most hydrated person out there. He could have sworn he was in bed, so why does it feel like he's on hard ground? He heard faint voices not far from them; they sound familiar, but his head hurt too much to figure out who it is.
"What the hell happened to him? He must have got knocked out pretty bad to lie lifeless like that."
"Lifeless or not, he's dangerous; for all we know, he might be faking."
That voice definitely sounds like Zan-Zan, but why would he say he's dangerous? He groaned at the pain in his head; he heard shuffling when he tried to sit up, he hadn't noticed before, but the air stink. He squinted after one sniff. Are they at a landfill or something? He opened his eyes; the brightness of the sun was unbearable. They finally fully opened, the sky was yellowish brown, debris was flying everywhere. There are no plants in sight, the scenery is hella depressing, atleast the landfill had more life than this hell hole. He looks in front of him, seeing Zanka, Riyo, and Enjin in front of him. They were in a fighting stance, as if they were defending themselves. Jabber looked behind him to see what they were trying to fight. A bear, a wolf, there's nothing. He stood up, they moved back, hella confusing, but he's more upset at the location he's in.
"Yo, Zanka, where are we? You know I have a tournament soon. Is this punishment for using your body wash? I said I was sorry that cherry blossoms smell good on me." He got a good look at the people in front of him; they were dressed oddly, Zanka was holding a staff of some sort, and Enjin was holding an umbrella, both objects pointed towards him. He saw Riyo holding scissors on her finger, glaring at him, for some odd reason, he was getting excited, the excitement he gets when his opponent is bigger and stronger looking than him in the ring. He has no reason to fight his friends, but he somehow feels a challenge from them; he ignores it, though. "Is there a con I didn't know about or something? Why y'all dress like that?"
"Why are you talking like we're friends?" Zanka said harshly, holding that staff higher.
"And you're acting like you're best dressed or something," Enjin clicked his teeth, looking at Jabber up and down. Jabber gave Enjin that 'why you lying' look.
"Now, Enjin, you and I both know I'm always best-," he looked down, he doesn't remember buying these, especially these ugly ass, funky ass shoes. "I mean, other than these fuckass shoes, I still make everything I put on look good, aye!!" They looked at him, confused. Why is he so comfortable with them, acting like they're buddy-buddies? Jabber was getting frustrated, "Why y'all so uptight for? Is there danger nearby I should be worried about, lowkey scaring me, you know?" Scared? Jabber is scared. Riyo raised an eyebrow and walked closer to him.
"Riyo! What are you doing?!" The boys yelled
"Hold on! Hey Jabber, what did we do a couple of days ago?" Riyo doesn't feel threatened by Jabber; she should be, but there's something weird about him.
"We went to the mall to get your girl Eisha a present, you said she was feeling down, and you want to surprise her, I don't get why I'm being questioned tho?" Riyo tilted her head, mall? What is he talking about? Why would she hang out with him at all? And how does he know Eisha? " Weird," Riyo mumbles.
"You wanna know what else is weird? My boyfriend is having a shitty grudge and somehow kidnapped me, taking me in the middle of nowhere! Knowing damn well Zodyl will kill me if I miss this match, I will not hear the end of it." Jabber massaged his head in annoyance; they stood in shock. Boyfriend? Who's this said boyfriend, and how is he dating this psycho? "Zan-Zan, baby, I'm sorry, I'll buy you more bodywash. Hell, I'll buy it right away if we go back to campus, please!" He looked at him with puppy eyes, 60% chance he folds to his adorable face. They looked at Jabber, then slowly turned to Zanka. He swore he saw little dots loading over their heads.
"HUH?!?! BABY!!" Why the hell are they yelling? And why they so confused?
"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?! I WOULDN'T DATE YOU IN A MILLION YEARS!!" Zanka looked disgusted; it was a hurtful sight to see, not the type he enjoys. They all acting weird, and it's pissing him off.
"Yo, are y'all done roleplaying? I got places to go, y'all just playing. Zanka, stop the fucking jokes already and tell me where we at so I can get back to campus, you can stay at this fuckass place if it cools you down," he said, searching and mumbling where his phone is.
The three just stared at each other, confused by the wording he used. "We should take him to Hq, maybe Corvus can figure out what's happening," Riyo suggested.
"We can't bring a Raider to Hq," Zanka protested.
"Corvus, like Dean Corvus? He's here too, what fuckshit y'all playing bro? It's stopped being funny moments ago, bro!" Jabber said, irritation taking over his mind, he wants to go home like not now but right now.
"Hey Jabber, this may sound silly right now, but you aren't our Jabber, like you specifically don't belong here," Riyo said
"You right, not only is that silly, it's bullshit, can I go home now?"
"See, if it was really Jabber, he would have fought us already, not complain to go home. We got to take him to Hq," Riyo said excitedly, "What's the worst that can happen?"
"Why she sounding like I'm about to get killed? I'll be fine when I get to this 'Hq', right?" Jabber, visibly getting scared, a sight they're not used to, looks more of a innocent citizen than a crazed masochist they're used to.
"Fine, I'll just explain what happened, even tho they'll think it's bullshit."
"What, that I might be from a different universe, you know what's crazy, I know it's bullshit, this prank ain't funny no more."
"Jabber," Riyo held his hand up, the guys getting nervous by the minute. Jabber gave her a confused look. " We promise it's not a prank, we honestly don't know you, well, this new you. You're wildly different from when we last met you, too calm to be him, unless you're pranking us." She's calm, but Jabber knows what she's thinking, 'fuck around and find out', he always liked her eerie demeanor, reminds him of Nagisa from Assassination Classroom. It would be so funny if she was a actual assassin ( pfftt).
"Nah, no pranks here either. Besides, if that really was my Zanka, we'd be hugging." Jabber made kissy faces at the confused, now disgusted Zanka.
"Ok, let's go so we can figure out this madness. You'll fit right in." Riyo leaped, holding onto his arm. He felt like he was being set up, but it's the only way to get home, hopefully.
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They made it to the 'hq', arriving at the building, Jabber stared in awe. It was the coolest thing he seen since walking through this dump. When walking inside, his smile dropped. He saw Ms. Semiu; he usually greets her with a flirty hey, but everything felt off. The air is so thin, you can snap it with a butter knife. Her eyes were threatening. Jabber felt threatened; he could feel more eyes on him. Before he can react, he notices a group launching towards him. He got jumped before, so he was ready. Until he saw their weapons, a giant pole with a string, and a water hose, would've been a laughable sight until they started glowing. Their eyes are glowing too, WHY THE FUCK ARE THEIR EYES GLOWING!? With a terrified screech, Jabber ran behind Zanka, holding on to his waist.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT? WHY THEIR EYES GLOWING? ARE THE POSSESSED? Mama told me to start praying before it's too late, FORGIVE ME MAMA! THEY GONNA GET! ZANKA, PLEASE SAVE ME!!" Everyone grew silent, with only the sound of Jabbers small cries and mumbling. They all stared at each other, then back at the crying enemy holding Zanka ever so tightly. Zanka would pull away in disgust, but he felt him shaking, like a lost child. Was Jabber really scared, or is he pretending?
"This isn't Jabber, well, it is, but he's not the same one we fought last time." Zanka was flustered; he didn't know there would be a day he stood up to his enemy, or that the enemy was going to hug his waist in fear and whisper thank you over and over again. He was once disgusted, but now he doesn't know what he's feeling.
"Zanka, you're making no sense. How many Jabbers do you know in the world?" Semiu questioned, eyes aren't off Jabber, but her face relaxed more after having a good look at him. She never met the raider, but he definitely looked more civilized than how they described him before.
"Hey, I've been saying the same thing, funny joke guys, hahaha, look, I'm laughing. You guys got some cool LED lights somehow surrounding your eyes and those things you're holding, really cool party trick," Jabber slowly came from behind Zanka, slowly walking up. Is he really in a different universe, or are they fucking with him? He isn't as convinced as they are convinced that he isn't the enemy they know and hate.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING HERE?!"
That voice he knows all too well, he slowly turned to see an angry little boy, his little brother, "Rudo." His voice softened. He wanted to hug him but seeing that the guys he thought he knew almost attacked him with probably real glowing eyes, he held himself back. This maybe it, the nail on the coffin, the truth. Rudo hates pranks; he never pulls pranks on people, either. He's overly truthful and sucks at keeping surprises.
His heart starts to ache.
If this is a different universe, and he's the enemy, did he betray Rudo? No, that couldn't happen; he'll never do such a shitty thing. With small hope, maybe, no, maybe not, he looked at Rudo, he's in a charge stance, ready to fight. He's going to test it to see if this is really a prank or not.
"Rudo, it's me, your big brother," Jabbers smile shakes, actually pleading for this to be a prank.
"The fuck you on about? I have no brother, and I don't know you. All I know is that you're the raider who tried to kill my friends twice! Why the hell would I call you, my brother?!" Rudo's teeth gritted. Does he think he's stupid? Why would he call Jabber his brother? He would never-
Rudo straightened up from his stance, his face formed to lighten shock, his eyes gazed on the sight before him, a sight he never thought he see, his heart clenched with regret for some reason.
Is he...Crying?