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Zanka awoke to heavy pounding coming from his door. He tossed in his bed, pulling the thin blankets over his ears in an attempt to muffle the sound, though to no avail. The banging continued until Zanka got the motivation to drag his feet across his designated Cleaner’s bedroom and opened the door to find Enjin.
“Good morning, sleeping beauty!” Enjin said with a smile too bright for this time of day. Nevertheless, Zanka found himself slightly more awake at the sight of his mentor.
“What’s going on, Enjin?” He asked, taking stock of the man already in his Cleaner uniform, Umbreaker at his side as always.“Semiu told me to come and grab ya, she’s got a job for you,” Enjin replied in a friendly tone. Zanka repressed a groan as he rubbed some sleep out of his eye. “Come on, we all know you’d be done quick, you’re one of our most efficient Cleaners after all!” He continued with a grin. Zanka’s face lit up at the praise, and he found himself no longer wishing to stay in the comfort of his bed. “Alright! Give me a moment.” Zanka exclaimed with a smile.
He turned to rush back into his room and put on his own Cleaner uniform, grabbing Lovely Assistaff from its stand on the wall and heading towards the front desk.
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Semiu was sitting at her post, skimming through one of her ‘magazines’ at the front desk, her head glanced up to meet Zanka. “Nice to see you finally awake.” She stated with a blunt face.
Zanka smiled nervously, “Sorry about that Semiu, late night, I suppose,” He said with an idle wave. She stared blankly while continuing to speak, “Anyway, there’s been an uprise of trash beasts getting too close to Canvas Town’s borders,” Zanka grimaced, of course there is, “and they hired us to help them with the issue.”
Zanka couldn’t complain; it was his job after all.
“It looks like an easy job, so we’re sending you out solo. Is that okay?” Zanka nodded, they thought he was competent enough to do this on his own; therefore, he’s gonna do it, all right. “Good, you should head out now before HQ gets too busy.”
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The journey to Canvas Town wasn’t bad. Zanka loved the town, but only once inside the border. He pulled on his gas mask as he entered the polluted zone. Like any other polluted zone, trash made up most of the terrain, allowing Zanka to see clearly across the zone, looking for any of the reported trash beasts.
After trekking across the uneven land, a rumbling caught Zanka’s attention as a trash beast made itself known, along with another. These must be the ones reported; they were bigger than he expected, but he wouldn’t let that stop him.
Zanka ran towards the beasts, activating Lovey Assistaff and swinging it behind him. He launched himself into the air with the pole of the staff and swung the spikes right through the first trash beast, cutting through its core.
He landed back on the ground in time for the second trash beast to catch up. He placed a foot behind himself to secure his balance, but something slippery made him stumble. The beast took this as an opportunity to attack as it launched and collided with Zanka’s side, knocking him to the ground.
A groan escaped him as he grabbed his injured side and took stock. He could feel bruises already starting to form, which probably meant a few broken ribs. Damn it. He was better than this.
Zanka stood again, getting his bearings while leaning on his Assistaff. He went to bring the staff back again when he heard manic laughter rippling throughout the zone. Oh god, as if this situation couldn’t get any worse. He would know that laugh anywhere.
He turned around to find none other than Jabber Wonger. The crazy bastard had an unhinged grin on his face. “If it isn’t Mr. Bad Attitude!” He exclaimed. Zanka couldn’t repress the groan that escaped him, “I’m a little busy to deal with you, Jabber!” He yelled back as the trash beast raced towards him again.
“Pshhh, what you talkin’ about, Zan-Zan?!” Jabber started, “You can’t be talking about this thing?” He pointed at the giant trash beast. Zanka looked at Jabber like he was crazy, which of course he was.
In an instant, Jabber activated Mankira and leapt at the trash beast, immediently slicing through its core. Zanka rolls his eyes, damn genius. “Now we can have some fun!” Jabber declared with a frenzied laugh.
The pain in his side was forgotten with the new rush of adrenaline that flowed through Zanka. Screw him. He can’t just show up and ruin his mission, he had it.
The next second, sounds of metal on metal filled the air of the zone. Jabber attempting to slice Zanka with Mankira’s toxins, and Zanka blocking and beating Jabber around with Lovely Assistaff, much to each other’s enjoyment.
“Come onnn man! I know you can go even harder!” Jabber called out, laughing as he attacked. A scowl covered Zanka’s face as he replied, “I don’t hold anything back! This is the result of pure hard work, you damn genius!” He yelled.
As he was about to collide his Assistaff with Jabbers side again, a droplet landed on the sleeve of his uniform, dissolving the material. “Oh shit!” He exclaimed. He looked over at Jabber, who only looked even more delighted as he looked up to the now darkened sky.
Acid rain wasn’t uncommon in polluted zones, with the sheer amount of methane and other volatile compounds being released from the landfills and contributing to the air pollution. Zanka was too busy with the trash beasts and Jabber to notice the looming clouds filled with acid that could melt his skin off.
Jabber, on the other hand, looked like there was nowhere else he’d rather be. It was part of standard Cleaner protocol to check in on weather movements whenever a mission arose, but Zanka, like an idiot, just… forgot about it.
He rapidly looked around, trying to find somewhere to hide from the bubbling liquid that was falling quicker with every second, when he spotted a cave-like hole in the side of one of the trash hills. Zanka ran for the cave, “Yo man, where you going?!” Jabber yelled after him, following in tow.
Doing his best to run with the wound on his side, Zanka finally made it to the makeshift shelter and collapsed. While writhing on the floor, Jabber entered the cave, “Don’t tell me a little rain had you running so scared Zan-Zan!” He cackled. Zanka just glared at the man as he took in the burning atmosphere behind him.
The rain had really started to come down, acid disintegrating the trash and anything near it. If they had been in there, they would’ve been burned away like the rest of the terrain.
“Damn, I guess that would’ve been it for us, huh?” Jabber said casually, as if dying were something to scoff at.
“Yeah, no shit… dumbass,” Zanka replied lazily, the adrenaline wearing off and the pain in his side returning what felt like tenfold. Blackness surrounded his vision as Jabber’s face began to blur, and his head hit the ground.
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Zanka’s eyes slowly opened, sleep muddying his vision as he rubbed his eyes. His surroundings were dark as he took it in. Although the pain from earlier was gone somehow. “Wondering why you aren’t feelin’ any pain anymore?” A voice behind him said. Zanka whipped his head around to find Jabber sitting cross-legged next to him.
He held up Mankira’s left claws and extended them, “Left claws equal pain numbing rememberrr?” He said while wiggling the claws around.
“Why would you do that?” Zanka asked, very much confused. Jabber only tilted his head to say, “It’s no fun if you die in the rain just cause a little broken rib slowed you down.” His face turned uncharacteristically serious. “Only I get to kill you, y’know?”
Zanka blinked, then rage set in, “Then I’m the only one that gets to kill you, got that?!” It only managed to get Jabber to smile wider, “I knew we were the same! You’re just like me Zan-Zan!” Zanka rolled his eyes.
“How long was I out?” Jabber hummed as if in thought. “Only like 5 hours..?” Zanka’s eyes widened. 5 hours? Were any of the Cleaners looking for him? Why hadn’t the rain stopped yet?
As if reading his mind, Jabber spoke, “The rains suppose ta stop in like 15 minutes.” Zanka won’t even attempt to ask how he possibly knows that.
“But this just means we can spend more time together Zan-Zan!” Jabber said gleefully. Maybe Zanka should just walk into the rain, take the easy way out.
“I was scared you know?” Zanka looked over to Jabber, not sure if he was hallucinating, “What?” Jabber looked at him, his face sincere for once. “When you collapsed earlier, I didn’t know if you were gonna make it. What would I have done then? You’re the most enjoyable thing in my life, I mean the other Raiders fight me sometimes, but it feels like you’re the only one that understands me, y’know?” Jabber was looking down at his hands, Mankira sitting snuggly on his fingers.
Zanka took a deep breath, “I feel the same.” The speed at which Jabber turned his head was almost audible, “Really?” He asked, the most vulnerable that Zanka had ever heard the man. “I mean, the Cleaners are my family, but you truly understand the darkest side of me that I couldn’t risk sharing with them, I mean, you relish in it really.” Zanka finished.
When he looked up, Jabber was smiling. Not the sharp grin he usually sported during their fights, but a genuine smile as he looked at Zanka, really looked at him.
Jabber inched closer to Zanka, so there was barely any room between them. Jabber smelled like chemicals and poison, but Zanka couldn’t find it in himself to care, not now.
Zanka glanced down at Jabber’s mouth, a smirk covering it as realisation was setting in. Jabber held his face, a hand coming to rest on his cheek. Zanka could feel the coolness of Mankira’s metal. He leaned in until lips collided; it wasn’t rough and viscous like their fights, not yet. It was gentle and unguarded.
After what felt like another hour, but was really only twenty seconds, they separated. Heavy breathing filled the small cave as Zanka pulled Jabber’s face in once more. Getting more confident, Zanka bit Jabber’s lower lip, drawing blood. Jabber groaned and opened his mouth slightly to allow Zanka’s tongue inside, exploring every inch of the Raider’s mouth.
When they parted again, Jabber had an unwavering look on his face. Zanka felt a prick on the side of his neck. “What…?” He began to mumble. “We’ll continue this next time Zanka, I promise,” Jabber stated earnestly as Zanka’s eyes began to cloud, the last thing he saw were those glowing magenta eyes.
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Zanka was starting to get sick of waking up in places that were not his bedroom. He woke up in the trash cave, the polluted zone now quiet as the acid rain had finally ceased.
He looked around for any sign of Jabber, remembering their previous shared moment. The only thing left in the cave besides Lovely Assistaff was a piece of paper being held down by a piece of round metal.
Zanka crawled over, picking the paper up and reading, “We’ll continue where we left off next time Zan-Zan!” There was no signature, but Zanka knew who had written it, of course he did. He lifted the metal and slipped it on his ring finger, one of Jabber’s rings, a piece of Mankira, a promise. A promise that they would see each other again.
“Zanka, come in! Zanka!” A voice crackled through his choker. Remembering his predicament, he replied, “I’m here, don’t worry!” A relieved sigh was heard from the other line, Enjin. “You scared us kid. We’ll be there to collect you soon, just sit tight.” Zanka couldn’t even think to reply, his thoughts solely about when he’ll fight Jabber again. If any of the Cleaners noticed the new accessory decorating his finger, they didn’t dare to comment.