Chapter Text
The night sky swallows the ground. Most people in cleaners HQ are already asleep, fainth snoring ringing through the halls, but one pair of eyes remains open. Zanka lays in his bed looking at his useless body, thinking of the recent fight he had with the raider in the trash beast.
He should be thankfull he was alive, he was really, but at the same time he was deeply dissapointed, he survived out of pure luck like a weak man. These thoughts kept him up the last few days and it started to show in his heavy eyebags and tired demeanour. Enjin and Riyo tried cheering him up, but now even Enjins words of affirmation couldn't light his spark. Even Rudo tried with his silly sphereite gifts and gestures, but it was all for nothing, this was a problem only Zanka could resolve and that meant time, lots of it.
He tried putting more effort in training, but every slight slip up just brought to memory those glowing pink eyes, damn natural talents....His mind slips, in it's now ususal zone outs, before a barely there scratch against his window irriates his ear. Was it raining trash? Nothing was announced so what could possibly be up at his window? He tried ignoring it at first, obviously. Who knows maybe the lost hours of sleep were finally making him crazy.
After a few short moments a sudden cold breeze enters his room, did he leave the window cracked? When he looked at it he saw it was open, but also saw something else, or rather someone else, his body barely reacted before the now familliar voice filled the shrinking room „Mr. Bad attitude, been a minute huh? Dont tell me those weak poisons got to ya?”.
It only took Zanka a second to take hold of his Lovely Assistaff and swing it at Jabber. He was now pushing the raider out his window by the waist as the other man gripped the walls with his jinki holding on tight „Man is this how you greet all your guests?” Jabber asks looking down at the height he'd fall off if he let go, safe to say it was tempting to dezactivate Mankira.
„What-?Why? Didn't Riyo shoot you? How are you standing it's been only a week-” Zanka mumbles confused yet still annoyed, he asked the questions more to himself as if trying to come up with an answer that would result in the other man being weak too, but of course that wasn't the case no matter the scenario. „A week? Ugh I swear it's been longer, being locked up by Cthoni and all, wouldn't even let me clean my own wound. I was bored mannn, I came to ask directions for that Riyo chick u blabbing about, I need my revenge. She got me real good with that gun, hope she uses it again.” Jabber says a wild grin spreading on his face. Why did he want to fight Riyo? Did he finally get tired of him...? Of course he would, he was easy to beat, not a challenge for the talented raider, more like a toy. Riyo was strong and full of potential, she had her assasin skills too, she could give Jabber what he needed, but shit why did it hurt to hear this. Were directions the only thing he was good at now?
„I... If you wanna find out where Riyo is you have to win the intel.” Zanka says lifting his gaze to meet the haunting pink eyes, still pressing his staff into the other man, keeping him out the window. Jabber could only get more exited at that, two fights in the same night, after a whole boring week? No need for further details, he lifted one of his legs kicking Zankas jinki enough that he could sneak in his room properly „That's what I've been cravin' man, hope you can beat my ass this time Zan-Zan or else your little friend is about to get the best gift of her life!” he says launching at the sleep deprived man, Mankira already laced with some poisons mixed specifically for him. The first few swings were met by Lovely Assistaff, though his moves a bit luggish, his mind filled with one thought, to win.
The once quiet HQ now buzzed with movement from a single room. Zanka knew he'd have to somehow end this soon so the others wouldn't come check and steal his win, but every swing from him overworked his already weary muscles, yet he kept pushing. Jabber wasn't even considering going easy on Zanka, he was rested and ready in every sense for this fight, every hit being thrown with precision. In this whole fight Jabber had the upper hand and in not too long, after some sneaky moves he had Zanka exactly where he wanted, pinned under him on the bed Mankira teasing at his neck, near scratching, but not yet „So don't hold me in suspence, where can I find the girl? Or better yet, I can check every room, fight each cleaner, and take the sphereite...huh yeah now that I think of it, I could do it, bet you cleaners got some worthy members.” He says actually debaiting just barging in at random. Zanka couldn't take all this disrespect anymore, was really every cleaner better then him in Jabbers eyes? „I'm not telling your raider ass where Riyo is.” The cleaner says, his irritation clear now. Jabber looks down at the other man and pauses, then tightens his grip on his neck „You ain't playin' fair Zanka, we had a deal, I beat your ass, where's the strong girl?” the serious voice somehow pissed Zanka off more, and so did the 'strong', he really was pathetic huh? With that his spirit strenghtened for a bit and he let go of Assistaff to get his hand to press on the bullet wound on Jabbers leg. The unexpected act surprises the raider, in a pleasant way, but enough to get him to lose focus and let Zanka get control to pin Jabber down with his jinki at a safe distance.
„Oh that's more like it Zan-Zan, playing dirty is my kind of fighting, what now? Gonna get those spikes from this stick in there too, or better yet, in my neck?” he says grabbing Lovely Assistaff, not yet pushing it away from his neck, more like pulling it in as he bit his lip. „What do I gotta do for you to leave without getting any unwanted atention?” Zanka says wanting to rip those filthy hands for touching his precious jinki. Jabber rolls his eyes „Always wanna end the fun... You gotta beat me up real nice to get me to leave, but I don't think you got it, not with just this spiky stick you flexin'” the raider adds knowing the words will get a rise out of Zanka and they should have, but he knew the truth, there's no way he could beat Jabber. „...Ain't there something else?” the cleaner sounded not as determined as before.
„Something else? Pain is the only payment for me, you got nothing else you could offer me, well except my boy Rudo, but you cleaners are too close for that.” He says beginning to pull on Lovely Assistaff, Zanka still holding her firm. „I can't... defeat you” the boy mumbles, wishing he hasn't said that the moment the words slipped off his lips, it was a weak admission, but it's what he was now. „Then I'm staying here, simple, guess if I make enough sound the chick will show up on her own” Jabber said, not phased by the other mans words. Silence streches on a bit before Zanka begins laughing, quietly at first, it was a sarcastic kind of laugh, his shoulders shaking a bit as his head drops „I really am pathetic huh, nothing changed ever since Enjin found me in that fucking well, I would have been better left there to die. I can't even carry my own battles, I need help from others...” the cleaner says not really caring about Jabbers presence anymore, he detransforms his jinki and falls on his knees, now close enough the raider could stab him with any other freaky poison mix he prepared. His eyes start to redden and from the corner of it, tears begin to spill, he tries whiping them off angrily, but they wouldn't budge „Fuck...”. Jabber just stares for now at the emotional mess in front of him...it was weird and pretty gross, all he wanted was a fight and now he ended up with this dissapointment of a situation, his will of fighting or staying starting to drop. Then Zanka grabs the raiders hand and presses the sharp claws of Mankira to his neck, not drawing blood yet „Do it, end this useless fight once and for all, it wasn't gonna end up with me winning anyway, at least now you'll get to focus on real opponents. Get to use Mankira to it's full beautifull potential”.
„What the hell u blabbing on about man? This is just making me lose all my excitment to fight, c'mon strangle me with your stick or sum.” Jabber says trying to pull his hand away. The silence streched a bit more before Zanka spoke again, ignoring what the raider said „You can leave Lovely Assistaff here, the others are gonna take care of her, or maybe Rudo gonna use her, heh little shit better not break her. I'm sorry I-” but he was cut off by Mankiras claw digging in his skin a bit, pumping some toxins in, enough to make him shut up and fall unconcius. Zankas body now limply layed on Jabber. The raider sighs and dezactivates Mankira „So many disgusting and mushy feelings, getting me to lose my will to fight... guess you got me to leave after all” he says as he pushes Zanka away and gets up then dissapears thru the window.
Zanka wakes up slightly dazed from the sleep Jabbers toxins forced him into, though safe to say, he needed that sleep, even if it was cause of substances, it gave him a bit of energy. The man was now replaying the previous night in his head, his fingers brushing over where Mankira was „Shit did I really vent to Jabber...?” he mumbles going to hold his head dissapointed, he got so bad he was bichin' to his enemies? Pathetic.
He changed out of his pajamas and headed down to eat with the others, his day filled with useless chit chats and fake smiles. All this pretending was getting tiring and he couldn't talk to anyone about it. If he were to they'd try to assure him he was strong and had power he wasn't aware off, all that same old bullshit you say to weak people in need for validation, and though he was one of them, and knew hearing the words would't hurt since it was praise, he didn't wanna let people know how pitiful he really was, like Rudo, who he knew looked up to him, even though he was a natural talent.
And so he ended up back in his quiet room the night filling it in a safe blanket of darkness. He needed to sleep to finally gain energy, but just layin on this mattress wasn't doing the trick and he couldn't get toxins in him so he took Lovely Assistaff and went for a walk far from HQ hoping the cool air would induce his sleep.
But as more distance was put between him and HQ the darker his thoughts got. He could feel the sharp claws of Mankira trailing his neck, he could only imagine how they would feel if they sliced through his skin and ended this miserable life he had. He didn't even realise how tight his grip got on his jinki was till a sudden notion came to mind. Why did he let Jabber have a say in his death when he could do it himself? He stopped walking and looked at Lovely Assistaff before transforming her, his hand going to brush against her sharpened spikes, she was too beautiful to have such a useless owner, maybe someone else would love her like him and give her a more meaningful life. As his finger tips brushed the edges a thin trim of blood began painting his palm. He brought his jinki closer, his neck now standing between it's two metal branches. The bloody finger tips brushing his adams apple leaving it stained, as his breath came in shorter and calmer, a sudden peace crawling up his spine. His once tense shoulders were relaxed and the slight frown he carried around took a break. It felt nice, serene even.
But of course his luck had to strike again and a fearful scream was heard from not too far away. He could leave the person be, but something inside him urged him forward. When he got closer thought the screams suddently stopped, which set a small alarm in his head so he got behind some trash and listened to see if someone was making the person scream or if it was a beast. He focused all his energy on hearing and after awhile he did, he heard some breathing, then some tossing before a voice, a voice he wished wasn't familiar „Tsk weak, couldn't even handle a bit of neorutoxin? Why do people have such small resistences to poisons? Takes the fun right out of it” Jabber says kicking the now still body then sitting next to it, bored. Zankas heart drops, he couldn't see Jabber now, he'd be too embarrassed, he saw him weaker then always just last night, fighting him now would do no good, so he remained silent thinking of ways to vanish. The raider played a bit with the toxins in Mankira then pulled up his sleeve revealing the scarred skin on his forearm, each holding the story of past experiments he'd done on himself, now stabbing the skin to pump some new chemicals in. He begins to have some spasms a wild smile plastered on his face as he drops next to the body while tweaking „See man that's how you take it, all fun vibes and good times!” the raider says thru fits of laughter.
Zanka was now testing how quiet his tip-toes were so he could get the fuck out of here. He held Lovely Assistaff tight to his chest as it seemed every breath was too loud, his attention only on how far Jabbers crazy laugh sounded. But it just seemed to be his lucky day as he nearly tripped over some trash, not enough to fall, but enough to make a louder sound then neccesary. His breath paused as he stopped hearing the laugh, he turned his head to look at where Jabber was supposed to be, but the space was empty. He then felt a cold hand grabbing his wrist „Zan-Zannn~” Jabber purrs out his name, dragging it just to annoy the cleaner.
Zankas first instinct was to pull his wrist away, but the raiders grip was tight. All kinds of feelings were growing in him now, from annoyance to envy to embarrassment and slight fear. Jabber smirks pulling the other mans hand closer to his neck forcing the bloody fingertips to touch his collar. Zanka could only watch shocked as he actually made the connection, then lifted his gaze to meet the pink eyes in a frown „What the hell, you raider scum, why did you do that?!” the boy says finally getting his wrist free, his words met with a taunting huff of amusement „I still need the girls location, thought a more direct approach would suffice.” the raider says as he slits his palm open and grazes it on Zankas bracelet. The boy immediately pulls his hand back, but not in time. Jabber then goes to touch his collar and speaks, his voice being heared from the cleaners wrist „1,2,3 sphere to Mr. Bad Attitude, turn that frown upside down” he laughs again before running a hand thru his messy locks „I know what will get a good laugh out of you, heard it before in the trash beast, i got the recipe right here in my brain, saved it in a little space just for you” the raider says as he gets Mankira soaked in a new substance.
This couldn't be happening, he wasn't gonna fight Jabber right after having suicidal thoughts, plus he just agreed with himself he won't let the raider kill him... though he could get something good out of him „Yo what did you use on me last night?” Zanka says holding his ground, not wanting to stir the fight. Jabber was caught a bit off guard, but he had to glaze his poison making skills a bit „You know, some propofol mixed with a bit of delphinium, had to give it that spice, really it was more of a 50/50 chance you'd wake up, but i knew you would, you can take my toxins quite well, not like other people” he says rolling his eyes, throwing a glare to where that corpse from earlier was. Zanka didn't really catch everything Jabber said, his mind stuck on one thing... did Jabber praise him? Called him strong? His heart felt heavy as his morale went up a bit, in a strange way, it wasn't even a direct compliment like Enjins and it came from a high as fuck Jabber, but in some twisted way it made it mean a lot, like a ton. He gripped his jinki tight his dark eyes staring in the pink ones masking any feeling of pleasure at the words. The raider didn't notice too high off his own dose „Why you asking Zan-Zan? Wanna do toxin testing with me? Promise it's fun” he says leaning in moving Mankira closer to the cleaner. Honestly Zanka couldn't remember why he even wanted to know what it was made of, now only noticing the interest Jabber still presented in him, maybe he wasn't that weak after all if the strong raider still bothered to pay attention to him. But he snaps out of the trance as he sees the boy moving closer and he raises Lovely Assistaff, now holding Jabber away, his head between the metal branches „I uh... I don't need to explain myself to you, raider.” Zanka says, hoping it would stop the man from asking further questions.
Jabber takes hold of Lovely Assistaff and pushes it towards Zanka as he takes a few more steps closer „Always wanna end the fun too soon, Zanka. I'm offering you a one time experience, that's how nice I am, I even let it slide last night. What more do I gotta do for you to really fight me? Use that anger on me and stop holding it in, I've been lookin' for a good beating.”. The cleaner felt a weird chest pain as the distance between them shorthened, but reality hit him once again ”really fight him”? Every fight he had with Jabber he gave his all and yet he still needs more? There's nothing more he could do to give the raider what he wanted, he was useless. He wanted to just tell it straight to the man, that he already gave it his all and it wasn't enough, that he should go find another opponent, but the words remained stuck in the back of his troath, only his glare could speak the anger he had for himself and the situation. „Stop looking at me so sweetly, like i'm some gross bug, shit turns me on” Jabber says biting his lip, Zankas frown deepening, part annoyance at the mans shameless words and part annoyance at how his chest ached, must be from those toxins.... „I don't want to be your toxin testing buddy and I won't fight you while you're like this, I want a real challenge.” The blonde says just trying to pop off some quick excuses that would possibly make the raider back down, but of course that didn't work. „Even better, if I'm weakend that means you can beat me up for longer” Jabber says his grin remaining wide and sly as he gets his hand and puts it on Zankas neck „That's if you didn't fight anyone already, I need you in peak form but this blood on your neck and the absence of wounds make me think you won, did ya Zan-Zan?” his thumb brushing at the red mark as his eyes drink up the sight a bit. Normally Jabber would have his hand slapped away the moment it even tried to touch him, this was crossing unspoken boundaries, but Zanka couldn't help it as he hears another compliment, he didn't win shit, but felt good knowing the raider thinks he did. „Piss off, raider, you don't need to know about my battles” the cleaner says trying to sound iritated, like he usually would speak to the boy.
Jabber lets out an amused scoff then gets his hand away from Zankas neck, some blood remaining on his thumb which he licks off „You know, I don't usually carry toxins with me, but this must be your lucky day, my friend.” he says pulling out a small bottle with some light blue liquid inside of it swinging it around a bit „Ta-daaa! The toxin you were asking for earlier. I wouldn't recommend injecting too much, well unless you wanna have a forever peacefull sleep, which hey I mean you can gamble with it, it's quite funnn. I'll be waiting for a good fight as payback for giving you my precious toxin.” Jabber says as he dezactivates Mankira and puts the bottle in Zankas bag then begins stepping backwards „Hear you soon Zan-Zan” he says pressing his collar so his words could echo from the cleaners wrist too, before leaving. Zanka was left pretty stunned at that, did he really recieve a gift from Jabber, well not exactly a gift, but still. The boy lets out a defeated sigh and runs a hand thru his hair as his shoulders slumb, holding his balance a bit on Lovely Assistaff. What did his life become? Zanka headed back to HQ other thoughts clouding his mind now.