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2025-12-10
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2026-01-20
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Repairing the Broken

Chapter 3: Contaminant

Notes:

Word count: 5,071

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Rudo was perched up on one of their landmark storage buildings. He was using the binoculars he had to survey the area per Regto’s orders. Apparently something big was going to happen soon they had to be prepared for.

Not that he knew what. He was just used to trusting whatever Regto said for the most part. He was never wrong.

If he said the sphere would come by soon, it always would. If he said it would rain, the wind would be too bad to go outside, or trash beasts were angrier than normal, then that very thing would happen. Either he knew the future or what he said actually happened.

Rudo looked around, but only saw trash. Not even the birds were around. To Rudo, that meant they knew about whatever was going to happen, too. He lowered the item down and sighed. Rudo was bored out of his mind.

At least this was better than being trapped inside with Regto. Anytime they were cooped up too long the other would start to teach him, making him read, write, study, and learn about anything he could. If it wasn’t teaching it was playing games he could never win, especially cards.

Rudo laid down on the rickety roof and stared up at the clouds overhead. Not once have they cleared up enough to be able to see the sky above that.

Rudo didn’t miss living on the sphere, but he missed the clear sky. Seeing the sun, moon, and stars.

He dug into his pocket past the multi-tool he always carried around now and pulled out a working pocket watch. He had fixed it up a few weeks ago and knew it was extremely valuable to other people, enough where they could probably buy enough food for a month, but Rudo couldn’t depart from it.

He had spent months getting it to work, testing all types of gears, using tweezers and magnifying glasses with careful small movements just to get it to work again. It was more than just hours of hard work. It was an item he got to work again and it ticked proudly.

Rudo opened it up and watched the small metal arms tick on. It was close to the time Regto said to return home. He pushed up off the roof and hopped down, staring at the watch as he walked. It was mesmerizing to see the hands slowly move. This specific model had some of the gears behind it visible, so it was possible to watch them spin slowly, all layered on one another just for this item to manually show the time in a small form.

He closed it and put it in his pocket, entering their house and flopping on the couch. “Nothing.”

Regto looked up from his book and sighed. “Rudo, that isn’t a report.”

“Trash, trash, dirt, me, trash, and a rock or two.” Rudo turned his head to face him, staring at him. “I saw nothing.”

“Hmm.. alright.” Regto closed his book and set it on his lap. “Well, a trash storm is headed right this way. It isn’t a horrible one, but you know it brings about dozens of trash beasts.”

Rudo slowly blinked at him, then sighed. This meant most of those beasts wouldn’t have an item in them. They’d just be the rage of nearby ones combined. Nothing he could fix up and try to quell their emotions.

“Tedious.” Rudo mumbled and buried his face into the couch cushion. Regto snorted. “Don’t worry, I’ll help out this time.” He waved his book. “I have a plan.”

Rudo sat up and pointed a finger at him. “Don’t you dare! I know last time was life or death, but I’m still pissed at you!”

Regto tilted his head a bit at him. Whenever he used his jinki against trash beasts, they’d be completely obliterated, items and all. Regto knew Rudo detested that since he always enjoyed finding what items possessed enough anima to be angry to fix them up, practically turning them into pseudo-jinki’s.

Not that the kid realized what he was doing. Regto had never heard of it either, but it was fascinating to watch.

The trash beasts appearing this time around were not going to harbor such items for the most part, and he didn’t want Rudo to deal with them alone like he almost always insisted.

This was mainly due to Regto cleanly disposing of them. So partly his fault, in a way. Regto rested his head on his hand, eyeing the kid. “I’ll only kill the ones without specific items. Sound good?”

Rudo slowly relaxed a bit, then crossed his arms. “You just wanted to show off a new idea you got with you and your stupid book.”

That got a laugh from the other. He got up and sat on the couch beside him, wrapping an arm around him. He set the book in Rudo’s lap. “Me and my stupid book help you learn the crap you want to know about! How else am I supposed to learn the inner workings of a damn pocket watch? It’s not like that information is obvious or commonplace.”

Rudo’s ears turned red and he growled, facing away from him. “Shut the fuck up, asshat. I don’t need a damn manual to figure out how to fix things!”

Regto let go of him and reached over to a nearby shelf. He grabbed a small cardboard box and opened it up. “Let's play some cards before bed. If you win against me even once I won’t make you do any studying.”

“Like hell you will dare to make me study.” Rudo sneered. Regto’s idea of learning was to read books and tell him things he learned that weren’t directed to his interests.

Regto shuffled them and they began to play various games, all of which Rudo lost over the course of hours. Rudo was skilled and knew various types of ideas to win, but Regto was never going to let him win just for the sake of it. He wanted the kid to earn it on his own.

Regto turned around to look at the door and frowned. “The storm is here.”

Rudo glared at him. “Right when I’m about to win?” That was a lie, he had a few cards left but knew Regto had some type of plan to one up him.

“In your dreams.” Regto got up and grabbed his book. “Come on, let's deal with them sooner rather than later.”

Rudo put the pocket watch on the shelf but kept his multi-tool. He grabbed a few random items to help him fight and followed Regto outside. The wind was blowing rapidly, sending dust and debris flying across the landscape. He could see several gray and purple tornados in the distance, all whipping up trash as they ripped across the land.

Regto pat his head. “You know I could take care of this in a few minutes-”

Rudo slapped his hand off of his head and walked away from him and towards the threats. “Shut the hell up.”

Regto understood he wanted to try and salvage the items that made up those beasts to a worrying degree, but ultimately that’s just how Rudo was. “Alright, yell to me if you need any help!” Though he rarely if ever did.

Rudo grabbed a computer mouse with a cord and activated it. The wire began to grow and whip about as the plastic part sharpened out. He looked the item over, noting the scroll wheel was like a saw blade jutting out as the edge of the wire looked like a needle. A part of his jinki was understanding the items he was handling to a degree that he knew their abilities instantly.

Rudo waved the mouse and controlled the wire to wrap around Regto’s middle and lift him into the air.

“HEY! You little shit!” Regto was laughing still despite how worried he looked. Still, Rudo didn’t move.

Regto looked out into the distance and squinted a bit. “Oh man. There's one really big one with–” His eyes scanned the horizon. “Thirteen medium sized ones. Think you can take just the big one down? It looks kinda stronger than normal.”

Rudo set him down and rolled his eyes. “What do you take me for, a weakling?” He took off, running right towards where the beasts were. Regto scoffed and opened his book. “That kid is something else..”

Rudo waved his hand and stabbed the wire into a piece of electronic trash that grew from the items around it, forming a missile made out of metal bits. He clicked the button on the mouse and it detached, shooting straight at the beasts and piercing the big one's arm, making a hole in it.

That certainly got their attention.

The ground shook from the weight of the biggest one stepping closer despite how far away it was still. Rudo could see the smaller ones rushing towards his location, but he knew Regto had those covered. He waved his hand around, sending the cord to wrap around his own torso as he threw himself towards the biggest one just to avoid the hoard.

Rudo landed on the beast's back and watched as thousands of items formed in sync, shifting with each micromovement the creature took. It roared low, rumbling the air around it as it reached around to claw him off. He kicked off some trash and ran down its back while moving his hand to pierce the wire directly into the monster.

Rather than try to shock it he reversed the flow and tried to draw out its energy into the mouse. The scroll wheel began to spin rapidly between his fingers, charging up.

The trash beast whipped its body around, then sharp metal plates jutted from its back in an attempt to stab Rudo. With it being the size of several buildings he was like a flea to it.

Rudo stepped back when one appeared at his feet, losing his balance. The side of his body slammed into the creature as he slipped off of it, plummeting to the ground. He whipped his hand around and used the wire to wrap around one of the spikes. Rudo held onto the mouse as he looked down at the ground dozens of feet below him, dangling there.

The beast took another step towards where Regto was and Rudo had a clear view of how one of its hands squished entire piles of items without even trying. He looked farther away to see a blue haze from where Regto was and all of the smaller ones fizzling away as he had killed them all instantly.

Rudo grabbed onto the beast and climbed back up. Like hell he’d like Regto show off like that. He stabbed the beast again and absorbed even more from it as the saw that was still spinning revved up even faster, a loud humming purring out from it. He aimed down its spine and clicked.

The scroll wheel saw detached from the mouse and shredded the trash beasts back down to its head where it lodged into its neck and sliced straight through it.

The beast shrieked and reared up like a horse, sending Rudo and dozens of items tumbling down its back. He blindly reached around to grab on quickly before he could be impaled by the metal spikes or fall to his death. The cord stabbed into its back again and he held on for his life as he dangled off the edge for a split second.

The monster slammed the ground with its front legs, cracking the earth and forming a crater from its weight. Dust, debris, and items flew out from it right when Rudo smacked back into the beast. His hold slipped and he dropped the mouse.

Rudo’s vision was blurry and his head was ringing as he laid on the beast's back. Pain was coming from somewhere, but he couldn’t pinpoint the exact location. He just knew it hurt.

He pushed himself up and crawled towards the mouse, grabbing it again and ripping it out of the beast. He took hold on the needle side and began to swing the mouse end around in a circle. As he did, it sharpened to an axe-like state, and Rudo swung it straight into its side.

The mouse sliced through half of the beast's body, but it hadn’t been enough to cut it entirely. In a blind panic, the monster began to shake rapidly, and Rudo was finally detached from it.

Rudo looked down at himself to see his coat had a few tears and the multi-tool was flying away from him, landing somewhere nearby.

He slammed into some trash on the ground and felt the world spinning now. Rudo had seen red, too. He was bleeding but didn’t know how much or where.

He looked to his side and grabbed the first nearby object which was a metal desk fan, the blades bent or snapped off. Rudo activated it and aimed it at the beast as the blades began to grow, sharpen, and spin, kicking up even more dust around the area.

The creature looked down at him and lifted its arm up, then began to slam it down right atop of where he was.

Rudo let the fan go.

It shot out of his hands and tore threw its entire arm, sending trash raining down all around him. He rolled onto his side and pushed up and his body nearly gave out. He winched in pain as he stumbled into a standing position and looked around for another item, blood dripping down and splattering beside his feet.

Instead, the trash around him shifted.

It wasn’t the trash beast he was fighting.

It was a new one.

Rudo slipped and fell as a new monster formed right under his feet, sparks zapping around the item that caused it: the multi-tool.

He wrapped an arm around his middle as a blinding hot pain shot through him. Moving would be difficult, so he looked around wildly for another item, but panic was seizing him.

Shit, he needed Regto.

A familiar looking beast loomed over him, its jaws clicking together right above him.

If he just stayed quiet maybe he would live. He needed to shout for Regto, though. Was he going to die?

It slowly turned and faced the bigger trash beast, then it was gone as it took off.

Rudo felt his heart racing in his chest that he was sure it would break a rib. He let out a breath and looked over at it. Was it because he had been quiet like before since it was blind? No, he was panting and he was sure he was making noises.

To his shock, the multi-tool beast attacked the bigger one.

The trash beast roared and toppled over, slamming into its side away from where Rudo was. With a missing arm and severe damage to it, the beast was finding it hard to recover and attack back. The smaller newer one bit into its underbelly and ripped out the random trash from it, spilling it into the crater it lay in.

The bigger beast kicked it away, and Rudo could only watch as the trash swirled around the newer beast and formed a new one he hadn’t seen before. It was a cheetah with razor sharp claws and a long tail.

“RUDO!”

Rudo winced when he heard Regto running over to him, then a wave of pain ran through him when he was picked up. “Rudo, the hell did that thing do to you?” He was trying to be comforting, and it was working, but he could hear the strain in his voice.

“‘m fine.” Rudo curled his arm tighter around his middle. His coat was soaked with blood and it felt much colder now than a few minutes ago.

Regto carefully walked around and away from the two beasts fighting, and despite the threats, both of their eyes were watching as the newer beast transformed into several kinds of different animals and tore the massive one apart.

Rudo saw everything blur into nothing all at once, then darkness.

He was shaking. Rudo tried to curl into a ball, but the instant wave of pain stopped him from doing that. He slowly opened his eyes and looked down to see his chest was bandaged up with brown and red stained bandages.

He slowly looked around the room and spotted Regto half sitting on the floor, half laying on the bed beside him, asleep. He looked exhausted.

Rudo reached over and weakly shoved his hand into his face. “Reg–Regto?” His voice was dry and it hurt to speak, so he swallowed a few times.

Regto shifted, then sat up instantly. “Rudo!” His hands twitched, clearing wanting to hug him with relief but debating against it due to the wound. “God, kid, I thought you were in a bad state. It looks bad but you didn’t even need stitches.”

Rudo dropped his hand and closed his eyes, only offering up a meek hum in response. It didn’t hurt as bad as his arms, maybe equal but in a different way. He felt and heard Regto get up and go into their kitchen section to get something warm made.

He had dozed off without realizing, only waking up again when Regto was helping him sit up carefully. Rudo tiredly stared at him, then to the soup. He took the bowl and lifted up the spoon, slowly eating.

“That was an interesting fight.” Regto scratched the back of his head. “Though I think I should train you a lot more. So nothing like this happens again.”

Rudo stared at the floor, still slowly eating. He suddenly frowned a bit. “What happened?”

“Well that new beast tore that thing to shreds.” Regto smiled weakly at him, glancing at the door. Rudo looked at his gloves, his frown deepening.

Rudo swallowed down another spoonful of soup. It was warm and tasted better than most of the slop they usually ate. He easily picked up on how Regto was not telling him the entire story yet.

The older rested an arm on his own leg and hummed. He got up and grabbed two items off the shelf, then sat beside Rudo again.

Rudo instantly set the food down and picked up the two items. First, he looked over his tool. It was fine, no new things to fix up. Then he looked at the other one. “This is..”

“Yep. A battery recharger. It’s busted to hell, but if we can get this working all those old dead ones can be reused.” Regto was grinning more. “Musta broken and got royally pissed off, huh?”

Rudo turned the item around in his hand. It looked burnt and charred in some places. Probably overused? It would take a lot to salvage if that was even possible, but he was determined.

Rudo looked back at the multi-tool as if he could peel back the layers that made its entire being and understand what happened.

“So,” Regto wanted to fill the silence by speaking. “That thing became a trash beast again.” He pointed at the multi-tool. “It uh, well, how do I put this.” he looked away, gazing back at the door. “I brought you here and got you patched up. A few minutes later it showed up at our door and dropped the battery charger down, then fizzled away.”

Great. Cool. That explained next to nothing. Rudo sighed softly and set the items down to pick up his soup and eat it again. “That’s never happened before.”

“Nope.” Regto was grinning wide again. “I think it was protecting you, though.”

Rudo glanced up at him with furrowed brows. That.. made sense, but he couldn’t fully picture why. He was still tired and in pain.

“Oh come on, it's obvious!” Regto wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “You spruced it up back to new and have been using it for months! It clearly loves you, so it protected you!”

Rudo glanced back at the multi-tool and his expression softened. He lifted the bowl to his lips and drank the rest of the lukewarm soup then set it aside. “I’m too tired to think about this in depth.” He laid down and half curled around the two items as much as his body would allow.

“Nope, no sleeping. Let me change your bandages first.”

Damnit it was never ending with this guy!

“Rudo, there's too many.” Regto rarely put his foot down about things, especially with items, but this was getting ridiculous.

They had lived here nearly three years now, Rudo was nearly thirteen, and he had more stuffed animals than a rich person in a penthouse. They literally lined up one entire wall of the cave, across the floor, and some on the bed, all sat and displayed carefully.

After a few dozen that he had to repair himself, he forced Rudo how to learn how to sew. He regretted that now since it opened the kid up to gathering any and all he got.

“They insulate the cave!” Rudo spread his hands out in a defensive manner. “And it makes it look friendlier than rock walls!”

Regto pinched the bridge of his nose and clinched his eyes closed. It was never ending with this kid. “The ones on the wall are fine.” He pointed at the floor. “I’m talking about the ones we literally don’t have spots for!”

Rudo crossed his arms and scoffed. “You’re just envious.”

“OF WHAT?!” Regto half laughed out. “God, I’m not saying get rid of them! Make one of those storage houses a plush one to keep them in because we have no damn room in here. Seriously, deal with it or I will.” Rudo sighed and rolled his eyes. “Whatever, asshole.” He picked up the ones that were along the walls and laying on furniture. To be fair, they did take up a lot of the cave. It wasn’t his fault the spherites used them once or twice then tossed them aside!

He grabbed a dozen or so and carried them outside, setting them on a few boxes, and going back in until he got enough out that Regto would no longer be claustrophobic in his own house. Cave? Whatever, it was their home.

Rudo grabbed a rope and carefully tied all of the stuffed animals together so he could carry them easier. Before he picked them up, he dug into his pocket and pulled out the multi-tool, tossing it into a pile of trash nearby.

The items swirled around to form a small metallic bird that flew up and landed on his shoulder.

“What? No! I wanted you to help me carry these!” He held out a smaller bundle he made specifically for his multi-tool to carry. The trash beast just blinked at him.

“Ugh, asshole.” He picked up the bigger one and slung it over his other shoulder. Rudo already had a storage house in mind, but the trek would be difficult since he hadn’t maintained a trail there in two weeks.

He walked on, ignoring Regto’s smug stare as he left. “And don’t you help Rudo out, this is a problem of his own making!” He spoke to the trash beast that just ruffled its wings.

When they were out of sight and earshot, the bird flew off of him and landed on another trash pile that shifted and grew. It formed the shape of a wolf, though it was as big as a horse.

“Hell yeah! I knew you were gonna help me!” Rudo put the pile of stuffed animals on its back and walked with it over piles of random trash. He made a mental note to fix up the trail here today.

It took almost an hour since they had to traverse up and down unstable piles, but up ahead was a brick building with a torn up green flag on its roof. Rudo took the stuffed animals from his companion and entered the building.

They used this for extra items they didn’t use day to day, so it was somewhat empty and rarely visited. He untied the stuffed animals and set them around carefully on all the cabinets, shelves, and storage boxes they had.

The trash beast nudged him. Rudo looked at it, then towards where it was staring. A few yards away lay a plastic net and a semi-broken shelf. He walked outside towards them and dragged the shelf inside, setting it against a wall. He crouched down to inspect one of the broken boards, noting it was only missing a notch that would hold it up.

Rudo looked around the room and found a flat metal notch and took it. He glanced back at the trash beast, slightly amused when it blinked, then was gone. He picked the item up from the pile of rubble and maneuvered the metal notch into place using the multi-tool.

When he was done he tossed it back into the pile and dusted himself off as it reformed into the wolf it was before.

Ever since that day with the big trash beast, the multi-tool had been doing this. Since Rudo was terrified to use it with his gloves lest it become dust, he let it do what it wanted. Which was, oddly, to become various beasts from trash and keep him company.

He reached up and pat its head.

“We still have time to kill..” Rudo mulled over his thoughts. Regto would be rather happy if he fixed up the trail from here to their home. Maybe even worth buying him a sweet next time they went into town.

Rudo went outside and got to work moving items out of the way of the previously made trail they had. The trash beast rarely helped, but when it did it was for bigger items Rudo couldn’t move on his own.

It took half the day, but when he was finished there was a walkable path to the storage building. He walked the rest of the way home, but was stopped by the beast biting his hood.

“What?” Rudo turned to look at it, noting its pupils were tiny, showing mostly bright yellow eyes staring at the cave. Then Rudo heard it. Someone speaking that wasn’t Regto.

He waved his hand to the beast and it fizzled away with Rudo catching the item before it fell on the ground. He dusted it off and pocketed it, approaching the door.

Rudo slowly opened it and glared at the sight of Regto and another person chatting away happily.

“Oh, Rudo! Guess what I found?” Regto chuckled as if this was normal. He looked at the visitor to see a familiar face. It was the shop keeper they saw once a month for sweets and baked goods.

“Rudo! As pissed off as ever I see.” Bundus smiled a bit at him, though it was hard to tell since he was wearing a mask for breathing. Rudo liked him only because he would trade him candy for items he fixed up. They had built up enough trust to the point Rudo and him would discuss items or food they wanted for next time if possible.

Currently, Bundus was on the hunt for CD discs which Rudo has only found a handful of since he traded the radio to him.

“What brings you here?” Rudo was curious, who could blame him? He had never seen anyone travel out this far in the years of living here.

“I was nearby and recalled Regto said you both lived around here. I travel for my work, gathering skilled persons who can make these and bring them to various towns.” Bundus waved a hand around. “Oh, that reminds me.” He dug into his pocket and tossed something at Rudo.

He caught it and his eyes widened when he saw it was a puff pastry. Rudo looked up at him. “How much for it?”

Bundus shook his head. “For free, or I suppose for hospitality.”

Good enough for him, Rudo didn’t care. He opened the package up and dug into it without hesitation. The rest of the night he stayed on the mattress tinkering away at a few items he found while only half listening to Regto and Bundus ramble on about random topics.

It didn’t interest him, but he did like that Regto seemed happy.

Sometime later, Regto sat beside him and playfully shook his shoulder. “Rudooo? You here on the ground?” Regto teased, knowing Rudo had been so absorbed in what he was doing he hadn’t noticed their guest left a while ago.

Rudo looked up at him, then to the empty couch. “I fixed up the trail.”

“Ha, I’d bet. You’ll be using that a lot to store your stuffed buddies in. Speaking of,” Regto rummaged around his pockets and pulled out a spool of thread. “Bought this from him just before he left. You were running low, right?”

Rudo took it from him and nodded once. Regto was always good at keeping track of their stock and what they were running low on. He wondered how much the older guy thought about anything and everything. Rudo slid off his bed and grabbed the items he had been tinkering with on the shelf.

“We should go into town soon, especially if he’s gonna be there selling sweets.” Regto looked over their items and hummed. “Do you have enough you want to sell or trade, though?” Rudo shrugged and grabbed a blanket, flopping on the couch and curling around it. He had a few potential items but felt like they weren’t ready yet. It was hard to describe what he felt when he looked at or held an object, but it was like he knew what they wanted in a way? Some items didn’t want to be sold or traded while others wanted to see if they could find a new owner that would take care of them.

The multi-tool felt heavy in his pocket suddenly. He was hyperaware of it a lot of the time nowadays. Rudo reached into his coat and wrapped a hand around it. Really, he was happy there was something else protecting him and Regto.

He knew it wasn’t his jinki, but it felt like it was.

Notes:

The next chapters are Enjin focused :]!

Slowly but surely these guys will join the cleaners. I have several ideas for how Rudo and Regto will meet and interact with everyone, especially Riyo, Zanka, Gris, Semiu, and others!