Work Text:
Monday.
The worst word a teenager in their sophomore year in high school can think of.
And what’s even worse is a Monday morning.
Especially if you're no other than Jabber Wonger aka Spider-Man, when you spent your whole Sunday afternoon chasing a new villain down.
The Shocker.
Let's rewind a bit, shall we…
...
Jabber swings through the city on his nightly patrol.
It was around 1:30 AM
Everyone in his house was already asleep, so it was definitely safe for Jabber to be out.
As he swung from rooftop to rooftop, the city hostels seemed quiet and undisturbed for once.
Jabber had already stopped a few muggers here and there, and webbed them up.
He landed on top of a deli perched above the sign, and took his mask off to breathe some fresh air.
So based on the unusual quietness the city held today, he honestly was about to head home and go to sleep, but without getting a late-night snack, of course.
But before he could take out his wallet, his spider-senses started tingling. He looked up quickly and saw-
*BOOM*
A couple of blocks away, smoke and fire filled the air.
‘Are you serious…’ Jabber thought with a straight face, ‘welp, looks like that snack gotta wait a few seconds.”
He put on his mask and shot a web out, swinging in the direction of the chaos.
When he landed, he saw a building that looked like a lab; one of the glass windows was broken, and smoke was exhaling out.
Jabber lenses squinted; it looked like he had so much work to do.
*THWIP*
A web shot inside the building, sticking to the ceiling as Jabber hummed off the building he was currently on, swinging inside the lab past the smoke.
Once he was inside and landed, he looked around; broken glass and an unknown chemical substance stained the floor.
“Just what the hell happened here-“
*SHINNGGGG*
A sudden noise caught Jabber attention; he ran out of the room and into a hall.
People started running to the exits behind him in a panic.
One of the scientists caught Spider-Man's eye and ran over to him.
“Hey-what the hell is going on?!”
“S-some lunatic…called himself the shocker! I-I don’t know w-what he wants but-please you gotta stop him!” The scientist says frantically, shock and fear deep in her tone.
“Okay, did you see where he went?”
She pointed to the left hall, “T-there to the engineering room!”
“Don’t worry,” Spider-Man said, comforting her, “Make sure to tell everyone to evacuate the building. Now go!”
She nodded, rushing toward the exits. Spider-Man jumped to the wall and crawled to track the schooler down.
He silently entered the room, and lo and behold, there was the supposed “shocker” tinkering with some metal glove weapons.
“Hey!”
The villain perked up and looked around him, then looked up to the ceiling, seeing the wall crawler there.
“Didn’t ya momma ever teach you not to take things that don’t belong to you?”
“Out of the way, kid.” His gloves start to charge up, releasing electric energy. “You don’t wanna get stung.”
Spider-Man laughs, “Man, that line is so freaking corny-“
*SHINNGGG*
The Shocker aims his gloves at the hero. Jabber quickly jumps out of the way, landing on a nearby desk.
“Damn! I was not expecting that.”
“You're not gonna expect this either.”
*SHINGGG* Another blast aimed for Jabber way; again, he quickly dodged the attack, flipping out of the way.
*THWIP*
A web shot out and wrapped around Shocker's arm.
“What-“
Jabber yanked him hard, making him stumble forward as he swung him around and kicked him across the face.
*BAM*
The Shocker crashes straight into a metal table.
*THWIP*
He shoots out a web, sticking him to the delmoshied table.
“So big guy, you wanna give up and tell me what you're doing here? I mean you don’t look like you even have the required amount of neurons even to be able to enter this room.”
The Shocker laughed bitterly, “You’ll find out soon enough.”
Then suddenly a wave of electricity bounced off of his gloves, blinding Spider-Man for a moment.
*CRACK*
The Shocker broke his webs with the force of his electric gloves.
‘Shit!’ Jabber thought, quickly shooting out a web to catch him.
*CLAP*
Spider-Man froze; Shocker caught the web in his hand, but before he could think about his next move-
*SHINGGGG*
Shocker released another blast of energy, making it travel straight from Jabber web to him.
Pain blasted through Jabber system as his web shooters and his body absorbed the high amount of electro energy.
Spider-Man fought through, quickly breaking the web.
Then-
*BAM*
A punch hit him straight in the face, then a side kick, then a roundhouse kick, and finally a punch again.
“Stay down.” The Shocker said, and then he immediately started to run away and head for the door.
Spider-Man let out a painful groan as he got up; his muscles felt weak and wobbly due to the effect of the blast.
But he couldn’t let the villain go.
He quickly shot off a web following him.
Spider-Man looked above to see a vent mid-swing, stopping and climbing up in it.
There, he felt the Shocker vibration from below and followed him through the vent.
Before the villain could reach the exit.
*THWIP*
A web shot out, sticking him to the ground.
Spider-Man jumped down from the vent.
“Aye, don’t tell me you're leaving so soon; you still owe me one last dance, big guy.”
Shocker again used his gloves to release some electro energy and break free.
*THWIP*
A web shot out from Shocker's gloves, stopping his blast.
Then Spider-Man punched him, making him crash back.
“You're fast…” Shocker said, groaning as he pulled himself up.
Then his eye caught on a gas machine; he turned back to Spider-Man, and a wicked smile graced his face.
“But not fast enough.”
Suddenly, Jabber's Spidey-sense went wild, but before he could do anything.
The Shocker aimed his other glove at the gas machine.
“NO WAIT-“
“KA-BOOKM!”
The explosion made Spider-Man fly back, his body crashing straight through a wall.
Smoke and bits of fire filled the air.
Full-course pain filled Jabber body, excruciatingly not the good kind…at least in Jabbers books.
He looked up, pushing through the debris; Shocker's blurred body faded within his vision.
“You're a good kid, but not good enough. Stay outta my way if you want to keep swinging in that costume.” Shocker said before walking away.
“No…wait… get, get back here!” Spider-Man yelled, forcing himself up, to immediately fall back to the ground.
When he looked back up again, Shocker was gone.
He gripped the floor beneath him.
*CRACK*
“…fuck…”
He looked at the wreckage around him; for the first time since becoming Spider-Man, Jabber felt…weak.
He gritted his teeth and punched the floor.
*BAM*
A small crater was made in the floor.
“DAMINT!”
‘Just who the hell was that guy…’
...
After that embarrassment, Jabber was forced to go back home and slip into his bed.
All Jabber wanted to do was regroup, think of a plan, a way to stop this ‘Shocker’ guy before he could cause damage anymore.
But he had an ‘unlucky streak,’ so of course the universe HAD to keep that shit going.
“Jabber! Wake up, it's time for school!” Cthoni said, stepping into his room and turning on his lights.
Jabber groans at the sudden brightness and sinks into his pillow, because the last thing he wants to fucking do right now is get up.
“Come on, I won’t repeat myself.”
“‘Thoni, I can I stay in today… please.”
Cthoni rips the cover right off of him, “You’ll get to stay in your bed as long as you like once you get your own place. Under my house, you follow my rules.”
She turns and walks towards the door to wake his other siblings up, “Come on, I don’t want to have to hear another late complaint from your school.”
Jabber just groans louder.
Fuck, this is about to be a long day.
...
Once he got ready, brushing his teeth, taking a shower, fixing his locs, and putting on his uniform, he moved his way downstairs.
“Make sure you got everything!” Cthoni reminds Amo and Momoa.
“Amo does! Bye, Cthoni, see you later!” Amo says happily, “See you later.” Momoa says, waving goodbye and walking out the door.
Cthoni turns her attention to Jabber, as he grabs a piece of toast and starts eating it.
“Don’t forget your meeting up with Zanka today.”
Jabber sucks his teeth and rolls his eyes, “Ugh, that shits today?”
“Stop that, he’s a good kid. I think you’ll like him, for a matter of fact.”
“He’s rich; it doesn't matter if he's a 'good kid' anyway.” He said, picking up his book bag and putting on his sneakers
“Whatever, just make sure to get your ass here for around 5:00 PM.”
“No promise~” Jabber said, walking out of the house.
“I mean it, Jabber!” Cthoni yells. She sighs and shakes her head. “What am I gonna do with that kid?”
Jabber catches up with his siblings by the bus stop.
“Looky, Looky, here welcome lover boy didn’t think you were gonna make it.” Momoa jokes.
Jabber smirks and rolls his eyes, “Aye, don’t you start talkin’ with that bullshit.”
Then the bus finally pulls up; the siblings hop on, use their metro card, and head to the back. Where Fu, Hii, and Noreder were eating in their usual seat.
“What good, Prince Charming?” Hii jokes as he daps Jabber up.
Jabber sucks his teeth and ruffles his air, “Shut ya ass up.”
“So is it true though, that you got a date?” Norder asks as she fixes her hair.
“Yeah, unfortunately…” Jabber said, taking a seat.
“Look on the bright side, Jabby! You’ll have a sugar daddy!” Amo jokes.
“What do you know about sugar daddies?”
“Amo and Fu have been watching 90 fiancé a bit more often.”
“Honestly, I'd rather you watch that shit than Love Island,” Hii said
“Love Island isn’t even that bad,” Momoa says.
“Yeah, name one couple that lasted.”
“Serena and Kordell,” Amo said
“So well, oh well, mmhnnn…name 2..”
“Do you even know your date's name?” Noeder asks, changing the subject once again.
“Uhhh Zento or something like that…”
Hii starts laughing, “bro don’t even know this date's name your ass is cooked.”
Jabber shrugs, “it doesn’t matter; it's just for one night, and I’ll probably never see him again.” He dismisses.
Ever since he became Spider-Man, Jabber never really took any real thought into a serious relationship, at least romantically.
Being Spider-Man is hard enough, having to keep his identity a secret to protect his friend and family.
Having a partner and a romantic partner at that would be too much work. Having to always worry about their well-being and probably making constant excuses to dip out on a situation between the two of them to go and protect the city.
Jabber knows the sacrifices he has to make to continue being the hero he was. And he accepted those facts and the consequences that come with them. He knows deep down he can’t have a regular life, but if that means letting go of some aspect of a normal life to protect those he loved.
He'll do it again and gain without a second thought.
“So we out to Canes today or what?” Momoa said, breaking Jabber out of his thought.
“Yeah, sure, I just gotta stop by the Cleaner's for payday.”
Hii snorted, “I honestly don’t know how you stay working there.”
“Me either…” Jabber mutters.
*DING*
Amo rings the bell as they get their stuff and head towards the exits of the bus.
He only hopes things don’t get worse from here.
...
*RINGGGG*
“Don’t forget your test is on Friday! Use the review sheet to study.” The teacher announced.
Jabber sighs, packs his things together, and starts to walk out of the classroom.
“Mr.Wonger!“ the teacher called out to him.
Jabber turned and walked towards the teacher.
“Good job in class today. I can expect to see you attend class early on Friday.”
“Uh yeah, um, can I ask you a question, Mrs. Cruz?”
“Sure, that's what I get paid for.”
“Uh, so let’s just say hypothetically if I’m dealing with electric forces, how can I counter them?”
Mrs. Cruz raises her eyebrow, “Electrical forces?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, it depends what electrical forces we're dealing with specifically. Are you talking about static, current, or electromagnetic?”
“Static electricity.”
She hums as she thinks for a moment. “Well, I would say first off is not to think of electricity just as “power” but rather as charge; you see electric force depends on charge and distance, along with other things. If you were to manipulate these forces hypothetically, you need control over the environment since it would matter just as much as the amount of energy it would produce.”
“So you're saying messing with it directly couldn’t work.“
“Well, if you change the circumstances, messing with it head-on wouldn’t do you much justice. Think about what the electricity deboned on… like…”
“Charge?”
“Precisely, Mr.Wonger.”
“But what if it's fast enough to avoid it?”
“We’ll see; then it would depend on control. Think of it like a fight: if your opponent depends on electricity, you don’t need raw strength to overpower them; that would be your first mistake. You need the right conditions to catch them off guard where their ability may not work the best.”
“So the trick is tricking them to use their energy and using their environment against them.”
“Exactly.”
Jabber smiles, “Thanks, Mrs.Cruz, that's all I need to know.”
She smiles, “May I ask what made you ask such a question, Mr.Wonger?”
“…just thinking of my spring chemistry project early.”
Mrs. Cruz laughs, “Well, for one, you got me intrigued.”
As homeroom students started entering the classroom, Jabber wished his teacher goodbye and headed to his homeroom.
With this newfound knowledge, he now knows a way to defeat Shocker; the only problem is how he is going to trick him enough to waste most of his energy without getting stung himself.
He went to the locker and grabbed his jacket and headed to homeroom and waited for dismissal.
Once the bell rang, he was out.
Jabber met up with his siblings and friends out in the front.
“You heading over to the Cleaner's now?” Momoa asked, noticing him.
“Yeah, gonna drop the picture off and then head over. What time y’all planning on going to Cane's?”
“Around 5:00 PM.” Norder answered.
“5:00 PM? The fuck?”
“H-Hii got detention and asked if w-we could w-wait for him,” Fu said.
“Are you deadass right now?” Jabber groaned, running a hand down his face.
“What time is your date, Jabber?” Norder asked.
“5:00 PM.”
“Damn…” Momoa said.
“Yeah…” he turned to Amo.
“Don’t worry, Amo would save you a plate.” She said.
Jabber smiled and pulled her into a hug. “Thanks.”
“I’ll see y’all later, alright,” Jabber said, waving them goodbye and heading to the bus stop to head downtown.
“Later!” They waved back.
Jabber hopped on the B103 and headed for the Bulge.
He sighed as he looked out of the window…
He needed to catch this shocker guy soon.
...
“Heyyy, look who it is!” Semiu greeted him as he walked up to her desk.
“Sup, looks like your day is going good,” Jabber said, leaning on her desk.
“As best as it could, heard about your little date.” She smirk.
“Jesus, does the whole of New York know about it or what? I swear imma put a lock on my door, on everything, a matter of fact.”
Semiu laughs, “Blame your sis, she one hell of a gossiper.”
“Which one?”
“Wonger, need you in here,” Tamsy yells, opening the door of the boss's office.
Jabber groans, readying his folder. “Wish me luck.” He murmurs.
“You’ll be fine,” Semiu said, waving him off with a goodbye.
“Jabber, have a seat,” Corvus said, sitting at his desk.
Jabber walked up and sat right in front of his boss.
“I heard you have a date today-" Jabber groaned, cutting him off.
“Can we please not do this?”
“I’m still shocked anyone would willingly go on a date with you,” Tamsy said.
Jabber glared at him. “It's a blind date, dipshit. I didn’t have a choice.”
Tamsy shrugged, “Well, that explains everything; poor thing doesn’t know what they're getting into.”
“How ‘bout for once you start doing your job around here instead of worrying about a teenager business at your grown ass age. Matter of fact, how old are you again, Tamsy, and your ass still not married?”
“Why you little-“
“Enough, I didn’t call you in here to fight. You're both employees; I expect you to act like ones.”
Tamsy and Jabber glare at each other, new for them to turn their heads from one another and grumble under their breath.
“Thank you.” Corvus said as he folded his hands together, “So, as I was saying, I don’t want to take too much of your time today, Jabber, hearing that you are expecting company. So I hope that you have the photo that we requested.”
“Yeah, here,” Jabber said, handing him the folder of pictures.
Corvus hummed as he looked through the picture of Spider-Man beating up the muggers, and another of him swinging by. But one caught his attention.
“Who's this?” He said, turning the picture over. During the fight with Shocker, Jabber had set up his camera outside the lab, and when Shocker was leaving, luckily he was able to catch a photo of the villain before he disappeared.
“Some new bum’ called himself the Shocker, I think?”
“You think?” Tamsy asked, raising a brow.
“He called himself the Shocker.”
Corvus turned the photo around and looked at it once more. “Mmm, ‘Spider-Man and the Shocker: New Team-Up Lab Invasion…” I like it; this would do.”
“Hold up, boss-man Spider-Man isn’t-“
“I’ll get the journalists on it right away, sir,” Tamsy said, getting up from his seat and heading to the door.
“Thank you, Tamsy,” Corvus said as he wrote up a check for Jabber. “Here, use it to buy some flowers for your date.” He said, handing Jabber the check.
Jabber looked down at the $300 written on the paper. “…Thanks.”
Corvus smiled, “Of course, now, you better hurry. I got a meeting in 5.”
“Right, see you Thursday.” Jabber said, picked up his bag, and headed outside.
“See, it wasn’t all that bad,” Semiu said, looking up from her computer.
“For now, you sure I can’t sneak in your car or something?”
“Go on your date, Jabber. I’m sure they won’t be as bad as you think.”
“Going on a blind date is like playing the lottery, Seimu. You know that you're never guaranteed to hit the jackpot.”
“At least you can try, though. Now go and have fun, unlike our old ass over here.”
Jabber laughed and gave her another goodbye as he headed to the elevator.
He hoped that, for once, the universe would allow him to beat the odds.
...
And just his luck, the B103 runs late as always, so by the time Jabber got home he had 10 minutes till five o’clock.
Cthoni is definitely gonna be on his ass the moment he walks through that door.
As he opened the door and shut it as quietly behind him as he could-
“Where the hell were you!”
Yup, she was definitely on his ass.
“The B103 ran late.” He explained, putting down his bag.
She sighed, “Whatever, just go upstairs quickly and change your clothes; he’ll be here any moment.”
“It's not too late to cancel, you know…”
“Jabber.”
“I’m just saying.” He replied, going up the stairs.
When he reached his room, he hid his costume away, just in case. And changed out of his school uniform to a purple Nike tracksuit.
Oh, sue him; it's not as if he cares for the date to get all fancy up anyway, plus it wasn’t even a ‘real date ’; they were staying in the house damnit.
But to make Cthoni happy, he sprayed some cologne on to look like he somewhat tried.
Once he headed downstairs, he saw Cthoni all dressed up for her date. She rushed through the kitchen to grab her phone.
“Remember to at least try Jabber, you don’t gotta act like he’s gonna be your soulmate or anything, but for the love of God just put in some effort!” She yelled from her bedroom, gathering up her purse.
“Yeah, yeah-“
*DING DONG*
“Oh shit!” Cthoni said. “Jabber!“
“Yeah, on it.” He walked towards the door, praying a little prayer in his head, pleading to God that he’ll have a bit of mercy on him.
He took a deep breath and opened the door.
His heart completely stopped beating in his chest for a second at the sight in front of him.
The first thing Jabber noticed was his midnight blue eyes, which reminded him of a warm summer night.
The boy that stood in front- no, the angel that stood in front was absolutely and utterly beautiful.
Two-tone hair Blonde and dark brown- a black, shoulderless, high-rise neck shirt, gray baggy pants, and blue tassel earrings hanging from his ear. He swore the man was somehow stealing his breath away from him by the second.
“Uh, Hi…are you Jabber Wonger?” The angel spoke.
“Wha-oh, um yeah that me. Y-your Zanka Nijiku?” He said, genuinely star-struck.
The angel blinked at him, then laughed, “Were you expecting someone else?”
“Yeah-I mean no, just I-just didn’t expect you to look like this.” He blurted out absentmindedly.
‘OMG BRUHHH 💀’
Zanka stares at him, and then lets out a snort.
“Were you expecting some 50-year-old then? Sorry if I disappointed ya.” He jokes.
Ohhhh, Jabber likes this guy already, “No, of course not!”
“Really ‘cause ya sound disappointed.” Zanka teases further.
“Do you always carry such an attitude?” Jabber quips back.
“It depends who I’m talkin’ to.” Zanka challanges him back.
Jabber smiles; yeah, he really likes this guy.
“So, do you jus’ wanna stand here and talk or ya gonna let me in?”
‘Oh shit!’ Jabber thought, “Yeah, um, welcome!”
Zanka laughs as he walks through the door, “Thank tiger, I appreciate it.”
Okay, now Jabber could really feel his heart doing backflips in his chest.
“Oh Zanka! I’m glad to see you already met Jabber.”
Zanka gave a slight bow to Cthoni, “Yes, thank you for inviting me again, Mrs. Andor.”
“It's no problem. Food is in the fridge. I’ll see you guys later.”
“Byeee ‘thoni~” Jabber said as she walked to the door and locked it.
Zanka takes his time looking around the living room.
He turns to Jabber with a smile and a raised eyebrow. “You box?”
“Huh?” Jabber's eyes turn to the pair of boxing gloves hanging above the Trophy cabinet. “Oh yeah, sometimes.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck.
Zanka glances back, “Really, ya look like a professional with all those trophies.”
“Not all of them belong to me; my uncle used to be professional till he got in an accident losin’ his arm.”
Zanka's smile falters at the news, “Oh…I’m sorry ta hear that. Is he doing any better now?”
Jabber looks away from Zanka for a moment, his gaze dropping down to his feet, “…My uncle is no longer here with us.”
Zanka's frown deepens, “…oh, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have brought it up…” his eyes glancing away as she takes a step back to give Jabber some space.
Jabber instantly catches his reluctance and grabs his arm to keep him moving further, “nah it okay; you didn’t know.”
“Still though, that's a hard topic for anyone to bring up.”
“Yeah, it is.” Then Jabber softly smiles, “But that doesn’t mean it's worth forgetting about.”
Zanka stares at him for a moment, then meets his smile.
For a moment they just stared at each other until Jabber realized he was still holding Zanka's arm. He blushed slightly, then let go, taking a few steps back, feeling flustered.
“So um, yeah, do you like, like to fight or do boxing or stuff?” he said, fake-coughing, trying to calm his racing heart.
“I do a bit of martial arts.”
Jabber eyes perked up in interest, “Really?”
Zanka chuckles seeing his enthusiasm, “Yeah, but I’m not that good at it, though ma siblings are better.”
“What kind of martial arts do you do?”
“Just the basics, like Karate, Taekwondo, and Muay Thai.”
“Holy shit! Are you deadass? All of that?!”
“Yeah.”
“Ohhh Zanka, you gotta show me what you can do!” Jabber said excitedly.
“Right here? Are we even allowed to?”
“My man, we’re home alone. As long as no adults are on the premises, no rules apply.”
Zanka blinked for a moment, a bit of hesitation creeping up, but then he let out a reluctant sigh.
“Oh, what the hell, okay...”
Jabber giggles excitedly.
“But ya might wanna move yer couch back a bit.”
“Sure, sure, no problem,” Jabber said, pushing back the couch.
“So what do ya wanna do, watch? Sparing match? Teaching?”
“All honestly, but I’m mostly up for a sparring match.”
“Ya sure?”
“Hit me with your best shot, Zan-Zan.”
Zanka smirks and gets into a fighting position; Jabber tries to follow his movement.
They circle around each other for a moment. “Yer sure ya wanna spar?”
“100%, trust me Zan, imma lot tougher than I look.”
Jabber bounced lightly on his feet as he studied Zanka's movement, then he quickly snapped a jab towards Zanka.
Zanka dodged the jab and hit Jabber with a quick roundhouse kick, but Jabber leaned back enough to dodge it, his foot grazing his chin slightly.
“Haha, holy shit!”
“Pay attention, Jabber.”
Jabber smirked and closed the distance again, throwing a combination of jabs, hooks, and punches.
Zanka effortlessly blocked the first two attacks and ducked underneath the hook. He stepped inside his reach, and his knee stopped an inch from Jabber ribs.
“And that one point.”
Jabber looked down at his knee.
“Nahhh, you were playing dirty.”
“Was I? I think ya need to catch up.”
“Really?”
Before Zanka could answer, Jabber swept his leg, making Zanka fall over on his butt.
“‘Cause it looks like you need to catch up now.”
Zanka stared at him, then started to laugh, as Jabber knelt down, offering a hand to pull him up.
Once they did, Jabber realized that their faces were only inches apart.
Seeing Zanka up close somehow made Jabber feel even more unreal.
“You're good, but you wanna know what your problem is.”
‘God, his eyes really do look like the ocean waves during a warm summer night.’
Zanka grabbed his waist, swept his supporting foot, turning him around as he quickly grabbed his arms, lining them behind his back as Jabber fell to the floor.
“Yer easy to distract.”
Jabber turned his face, catching sight of Zanka on top of him.
“…Holy shit!” He said, his magenta eyes shining.
Zanka laughed as he let go of Jabber, helping him up into a sitting position on the floor.
“I mean holy shit…I thought you said you weren’t good!”
Zanka smiled, “I’m not…I mean my stance was all wanky, and I kinda messed up on the doging part .”
“No way if you call that messing up, then-fuck I don’t know. You're just…Amazing! Fuck!”
Zanka blushed, “Really ya think so…?”
“I know so!”
Zanka blushed further and laughed, “Yer not too bad yer self, it honestly took all of ma strength to get ya off ya feet.”
Jabber smirked, flexing his muscles a bit, “I was always a tough cookie.”
Zanka burst out laughing at his antics, “Yer really cocky aren’t you tiger?“
“Not hard to be when you've gotten yourself a pretty date.”
Zanka shoves his face and laughs even more, “Oh shut up.”
Jabber smiles, grabbing Zanka's hand. “So, is my new teacher gonna teach me some new moves or what?”
“Only if you promise to behave.”
“I’ll do what I can, bad attitude.”
Zanka smiles as he helps pull Jabber up to his feet.
For once in his gamble on life, he truly felt that he’d finally hit the jackpot.
...
After Zanka showed him a few more new moves and handed his ass back to him a second time.
Jabber eventually blamed his lack of performance on fighting on an empty stomach, leading the boys to eventually call a break and head to the kitchen for some food.
"Watch the 3rd round, you're gonna be on a stretcher for real." Jabber teases.
Zanka snorts, "You're talking big for someone who lost 2 times."
"That's 'cause you cheated," Jabber said as he pulled out the frozen pizza from the fridge.
"How the fuck did I cheat?"
"You use your looks to distract me."
Zanka started to laugh. "Are you serious right now?"
"Dead serious. You know what they say, Zan? 3rd time the charm, and it's gonna be your last."
"Sure, Jabber, keep on tellin' yer self that maybe ya start to believe it."
*GROWL*
Both of them paused for a second, then they started to laugh.
"Okay, okay, let's save the trash talkin' before ya start to eat the trash," Zanka said, walking over to help unbox the frozen pizza.
Jabber giggled as he made some space for Zanka.
Zanka unboxed the pizza and put it on the pizza stone as Jabber turned to preheat the oven and set a 9-minute timer.
"Jabber?"
"Mhn?"
"Why da hell are you putting on da oven on 475?"
"To cook the food, duh Zan-Zan."
"No, ta cook it ya gotta put it in on 375, to burn it and eat coal then ya can put it on 475."
"Chill, my man. I know what I'm doing, trust me, this is a key life hack when you're feeling impatient."
"You know you still have to wait for it to cool down."
"If your pussy you do."
"No way you're eating scorching hot pizza, right out of the oven."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Are ya a damn masochist or something?"
"Look who's talking. I see the look on your face when you throw a hit; you damn sadist."
Zanka blushes, "I'm not a sadist!"
"You were literally just threatening to beat me up."
"No, YOU were."
"Tomato, Tamato, same thing."
"That is not the same-"
*BEEP*
They both turned their head to the oven; it looked like it was ready.
"Looks like you'll have yer burnt pizza after all."
"You mean OUR burnt pizza," Jabber said, leaning in closer to Zanka's space.
Zanka smirked as he flicked his nose gently, "No, I mean YOU'RE."
Jabber blinked, a small blush appearing on his face. He laughed nervously and backed up, watching Zanka put the pizza in the oven.
He couldn't help but stare at the boy; he was just so...fucking cool.
In all of Jabber's life, he would have never thought somebody like Zanka would be his type.
He was smart, funny, and oh so cute. Especially when Jabber complimented him, and Zanka blushed; it made his heart jump out of his chest.
It was a weird feeling, and a low-key uncomfortable one. But he couldn't help but want to dive deeper.
Jabber didn't even realize how hard or long he was staring until Zanka caught his eye and smiled.
Jabber felt a small wave of embarrassment overcome him as he forced himself to look away from the boy, for once. He heard Zanka chuckle at his reaction.
' Fuck...'
"If ya want to say something you can jus' say it, ya know."
Jabber's eyes perked up, and he looked back at Zanka; the boy was smiling at him. He didn't look teasing or weirded out at all, but strangely curious.
Without thinking, Jabber ended up blurted out: "Honestly, You're not who I expected you to be..."
Zanka stared at him for a minute, and Jabber knew he fumbled the ball right there and then.
In a messy attempt to try and salvage the situation, he continued on: "Not like that, I mean, like, I don't know, I thought that you'd be some spoiled rich kid, or something...no offense."
Ref get him off the court...
Zanka stayed quiet for a moment, just staring at Jabber, then he smiled?
"None taken."
Jabber's eyes widened in shock, "For real?"
"Yeah, it just yer opinion. I ain't gonna burn ya at the stake for that. Along with the fact it's a valid one."
"I-I didn't mean it like that tho, not saying like you're not cool, I just from what I heard about your family and such I guess I already had an idea of what you were gonna be like...sorry it was wrong of me to say that, just forget about it."
Zanka took a step closer to Jabber, "You taking back your statement already, Wonger?"
"Well, I mean..." fuck Zanka got him speechless.
"You don't have to apologize for that; everyone has their impression. In my family, that's what it all seems to matter-impression—keeping that privilege and strong look, along with countless accomplishments. That's the thing they want ya to think when it comes to us. I cant blame someone for actually thinking it, if that's all we ever inspired ta be." Zanka explained, his face looking down and the smile that captivated Jabber slowly fading.
A moment of silence lingered between the two. Jabber stepped closer to Zanka until they were face to face, making the boy look up.
"... You're not like them, you know."
Zanka chuckles almost sadly, "That's all I ever hear..."
"...Do you ever get lonely?"
"...All the time. It's ironic, I know, being surrounded by all those people but still feeling like you're the only person standing in the room...and no matter how you try, Yer still left carrying the burdens of yourself and the expectations of others-sorry if I sound silly" Zanka said once again, looking away and wrapping an arm around himself, leaning back on the counter
Jabber stares at him for a second. Then he moves next to him, jumping up and sitting on top of the counter.
Silence loomed over the two once more until Jabber spoke up once again.
"You don't."
"Huh?" Zanka said, turning his head to look at Jabber.
"You don't sound silly. I get it."
"You do?"
"Yeah..." Jabber moved over slightly, patting the counter to signal Zanka to hop up and sit. Zanka complied, sitting on top of the counter with Jabber. There was little space between the two; their shoulders practically rubbing against one another.
"...When my Uncel died, I told myself that I had to take over. For my siblings, for Cthoni, even for the community. I felt nothing but lonely having to strive to do mt best for thinking what was right." Jabber closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Sometimes, even though family surrounds me, I still feel...alone."
His mind wandered back to Shocker, to the danger he caused in the lab, how he lost and let the villain get away. As Spider-Man, he has to be a hero, carrying the weight and responsibility of the city on his shoulders.
He thinks back to sitting on top of those buildings, though the streets may be full of people and life down below. The view up from there always felt so isolating.
Jabber often tells himself that it's fine. That he likes being alone; it gives him time to think, time to rest, and it's the cost of being Spider-Man, but deep down in his heart some days he wishes that when he's up there looking from the city below, he would like to know that there'll be someone waiting on him to come home...
Then he felt a warm touch on his hands and against his cold rings.
He opened his eyes and turned to Zanka.
"I know I ain't the most qualified person to say this, but I'm sure yer uncel would be proud of you and all that Yer doing. And for the record ya don't always have ta carry someone else's burden, maybe you jus' need someone ta sit with you through it.
Jabber shifts his hands slightly to intertwine his fingers with Zanka.
"Thanks, that means a lot."
Zanka smiles and slightly blushes. "Do you feel alone now?" He asked softly.
Jabber looks into his dark blue eyes for a second, then smiles. "No, I don't."
Slowly, both boys start to lean in closer, Jabber's eyes flicker to Zanka's lips, as Zanka's eyes slowly flutter shut, their lips only inches apart until-
*BEEP, BEEP, BEEP*
Both of them jumped apart at the sudden sound, their attention turning to the oven signaling that the pizza was done.
Until now, Jabber had never once thought of chucking a pizza away straight to the garbage. But they always say there's a first time for something.
"Hopefully it ain't gonna be burnt." Zanka jokes, hopping off of the counter and grabbing an oven mitten to take out the pizza.
"Nah, I like my pizza a little burnt, especially the crust." Jabber follows after him.
Zanka snorts, "This is the type of gluttony and greed they talk about in the Bible."
Jabber laughs; he doesn't feel lonely at all.
...
The pizza didn't end up burnt, just crispy on the edges like Jabber had wanted. They ate in the kitchen, talking and joking mostly about school and their respective family members. They ended up sitting on the couch talking. Even though the TV was playing in the background, their gaze remained untouched on the television in front, only focusing on each other.
“No way he said that ta you,” Zanka said through a fit of laughter. “How old is he again?”
“I said that exact same thing! I swear Zan, Corvus and him have to have something going on! 'Cause ain’t no way he would keep that himbo around him willingly!”
“Maybe he does good work?”
“Please, all he does is print our papers; even a blind man could take that job.”
Zanka snorts, “True, True…”
*CLICK*
The sound of the door unlocking catches both teenage boys' attention.
Cthoni steps through the door.
“Aww, 'Thoni, you're back so early?”
Cthoni raises a brow. “Jabber, it's 10:40 PM on a school night. What about that is early for you?”
“4:30 AM,” Jabber joked.
Cthoni sighs, turning her attention to Zanka, “I hope y’all had fun, Zanka. Your sister is waiting for you in the car.”
Zanka nods in acknowledgment, “I’ll be right out.”
Jabber frowns; he doesn’t want Zanka to go! He had so much fun talking to him, sparring with him, hell even staring at him.
He had been so caught up in the boy that he even forgot about the whole shocker situation he was planning to do tonight.
Just being with Zanka felt…freeing! And now the angel that knocked on his door is being sent back to the heavens.
But Jabber would be damn with letting go of Zanka this easily.
“Wait!” He reaches out, grabbing for Zanka's hand as he gets up from the couch, “I’ll walk you out.”
Zanka smiles, “Sure, just let me grab ma things.”
Jabber nods as Zanka heads to the kitchen to grab his jacket.
He turned his gaze to Cthoni, who was wearing an ‘I told you so’ look all over her face.
Jabber just looked away, not ready to hear her bragging just yet.
“Ya ready?” Zanka asked Jabber as he stepped out of the kitchen.
“Yeah.”
They walked out to the door together, Jabber secretly gathering up all the confidence he needed to ask Zanka his long-awaited question.
Once they stopped by the car door, Zanka turned to Jabber, “It was nice hanging out with ya…I had real fun today.”
“Same um, can I ask you a question…”
“Shoot.”
“Can I…” FUCK WHY WAS THIS HARD! YOU'RE LITERALLY PUTTING YOUR LIFE ON THE LINE DAILY, AND YOU CAN'T ASK ONE CUTE BOY A QUESTION!!! “Um…fuck. Can I get your number?”
Zanka blinked at him and then chuckled, “Sure, why not.” He held out his hand.
Jabber scrambled to reach into his pocket to get his phone; he handed his phone to Zanka and watched as he typed in his number. Jabber saved it in his contacts under the name ‘Nasty attitude 👀💚’
“Thanks, I guess I’ll see you soon.” Jabber said, gripping his phone tighter as if he was protecting a stack of cash in his hand
“Sure you will, tiger,” Zanka said, opening the car door; he waved Jabber one last goodbye before he drove off.
“Damn…” he dreamily sighs.
*cough, cough*
Cthoni breaks him out of his love-sick daze as he turns around to see her smirking.
“So I can assume it went well?”
“It went alright…”
“Just alright?“
“Definitely alright.”
She rolls her eyes, “You're so stubborn.”
“Hi pot, meet kettle.”
“Shut up and get your ass inside.”
...
2:30 PM
Spider-Man swings through the city, leading to one direction and one direction only.
A construction site.
After his date, he had left home early searching the streets for goons to possibly get information out of them about Shocker's whereabouts.
After interrogating one over the edge of a building, he got his answer.
‘T-the construction site! R-right there on Broadway Junction!’ The goon yelled.
Last time, Jabber was unprepared, rushing in and relying on pure brute force.
But now-now Jabber has a plan.
He landed on top of a crane, and he looks down.
There he sees him…the Shocker.
“Hey sparky! You still stealing stuff, playing Bob the Builder.”
Shocker turns around and raises his gloves.
*SHINGGGG*
That one…
Jabber jumps off, avoiding the attack, landing on a nearby machine.
“I thought I told you to stay out of this, kid.”
“A lot of people tell me stuff, but I don’t like to listen.”
“Maybe it's about time you do.”
*SHINGGG* Spider-Man jumped down and swung around a support beam, barely avoiding the blast as chunks of metal flew behind him.
‘That two.’
“You look scared, Spider, still remembering last time?”
Jabber sucked in a breath.
A part of him was scared; he still remembered the electricity, the explosion, the pain.
But he had a city, friends, and family to protect.
And he’ll be damn to be scared away by some weirdo in a costume having electric mitten gloves for a weapon.
“Yeah, I remember it.”
*THWIP*
Web shot straight in the Shocker's face.
“That's why imma make sure you remember this fight too!”
The Shocker rips the webbing off his face and raises his guns, blasting at Spider-Man.
*SHINGGG*
‘3’
*SHINGG*
‘4’
*SHINGGG*
‘5’
Jabber jumped from pole to pole, ducking each of the Shocker's attacks.
Suddenly, when he hit his 5th blast, he stopped.
Spider-Man instantly noticed.
5 attacks in one round; if he wants to get Shocker, now is his chance.
*THWIP*
A web shot out on Shocker's gloves, pulling him towards Spider-Man. The heir instantly hit him with a roundhouse kick, knocking him back.
Shocker hit the floor hard, grabbing his jaw.
“You're gonna regret that…”
“Prove it, old man.”
The villain rushed towards the hero; the Shocker threw heavy punches as Spider-Man blocked each of them.
Then he threw a hard Jab.
Spider-Man slipped underneath.
The Shocker swung again, but Spider-Man stepped inside his reach.
For a second, he saw Shocker's eyes widen in surprise.
Jabber thought back to Zanka and his teachings: ‘Yer easy to distract’.
He remembered the way Zanka won their match not by overpowering him but by catching him off guard.
And he had Shocker off his guard.
He dropped his weight, and he quickly kicked Shocker's legs, taking him out from underneath.
“Wha-“
The Shocker fell back, but before he could hit the ground.
*THWIP*
Jabber webbed him to a nearby metal pole.
“Why look so shocked, Shocker? Hehe, see what I did there.”
“Don’t get too cocky, kid.”
His gloves reloaded.
“You don’t want to repeat the same mistake as last time.”
*BAM*
A sudden rush of electricity bounced off the Shocker, breaking the webs.
"Since you want to crawl in my business, I'll do you a favor and tell you what I was doing in the lab tonight."
Spider-Man didn’t move, studying his moment.
The thing back to his chemistry teacher…the electric currents…the metal…
Both of his gloves started glowing; he was using his full electric energy in this attack, if it hits Jabber just for a second-
"Nijiku Corp has some good technology, and let's just say...it helped me with an interesting power up..."
It would surely kill him.
Spider-Man quickly looked around his environment.
Metal beams, Pipes, and heavy machinery.
Plenty of places for electricity to travel through.
Now Jabber understood the game…he didn’t have to overpower Shocker, use him against himself.
“All that time worth stealing and that's all you got, Frankenstein? I was expecting better!”
Shocker raised both of his hands, “I’m about to shut you up for GOOD, SPIDER!”
Spider-Man laughed straight in his face, “Let’s see what you got.”
*SHINGGG*
Spider-Man jumped left.
*SHINGGGG*
Then right.
*SHINGGG*
Then another and another.
Spider-Man then vaulted over a railing; Shocker still hot on the tail, yet not once did the young hero look back, leading the villain deeper into the construction site.
There he landed right in front of the lightning network.
“THIS IS IT! YOU'RE GOING TO DIE HERE! NOW!” The villain yelled.
Spider-Man slowly turned around and then-
*yawn* “Come on, man, that's all you can say; you're sounding like a broken record now…”
Shocker grits his teeth, reading his gloves.
‘Come on…’
His eyes squinted.
‘Come on….’
Then he rushed straight at the hero.
‘NOW!”
Spider-Man rushed forward, grabbing Shocker's wrist and using the same maneuver Zanka had used on him.
He twisted, then shifted his weight and swept, making Shocker slam right into the lightning network.
“WHAT ARE YOU-“
But then as Shocker's gloves made contact with the lightning network-
*BOOOM*
The whole sight lit up with electric energy playing through the air, sparks flying in the very direction. Shocker's screams were overwhelmed by the sound of bursting energy.
And then as fast as it started, it ended.
Smoke filled the air as Shocker's gloves gave one last burst of energy and died.
“Y…you…what…did you…” the villain weakly said.
“Use your own environment against you.”
Police sirens start coming from the distance.
“Uh oh, looks like play time is over, buddy…aloud a word of advice.”
Shocker glares weakly at him.
“Next time you play around with electricity, but ya googles on.”
“THIS IS THE NYPD, COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!”
“See ya sparky”
*THWIP* a web shoots out as Spider-Man swings away.
Shocker groans in defeat as police officers swarm in.
...
Jabber landed back home and crawled through the window.
He takes off his mask, grabs his phone, and opens his contacts.
Since the Shocker fight, Jabber had felt incredibly unlucky throughout his day. But from tonight, he would prove that luck could always find you in your lowest moment.
Through the Shocker fight, Jabber couldn’t help but think back to Zanka.
He opened his messages and sent Zanka a text.
Me: hey it Jabber, remember that move you taught me? I finally learned it. 😁‼️
As he was about to put his phone down and change out of his costume, he heard a soft ping come from his phone.
He turned back and looked at the message.
Nasty attitude 👀💚: looks like someone’s a fast learner.
Jabber heart sped up as a smile grew on his face.
Me: it's a talent 😉
Maybe you’ll teach me another thing or two, sensei 🥋👀
Nasty attitude 👀💚: Sure, tiger, tell me when you're free.
Me: maybe this Saturday if you're not busy 🥺👉🏾👈🏾
Nasty attitude 👀💚: You’re ridiculous
Sure, I’ll see you Saturday
Stay loose, tiger.
Jabber smiles as he sighs dreamily; maybe gambling can be fun, as long as you have the luck to beat the odds.
And that luck would hopefully be Zanka.
The End.