Chapter Text
In a moment everything went dark. No sounds no feelings nothing. Just pure darkness. Consumed by this heavy yet liberating feeling Zanka laid unconscious for who knows how long. Not being aware of anything that's been happening around him. It didn't seem that long for him but after a while his senses started to come back. First his limbs regained feelings, then came his hearing, sense of smell and lastly his sight.
A pounding headache snapped him out of his comfortable middle ground. Slowly but surely he opened his eyes as if they were heaved down with lead. Machines beeping around him nonstop, monitoring his vitals. Confused and frightened his body tensed up, his heart pounding like an air hammer against his ribs violently.
As his vision slowly came to focus, a familiar ceiling welcomed him. Grey and dusty, worn down over time with no one bothering to fix it up. The air was filled with the smell of antiseptic. He knew it so well, it was the medical ward in the HQ. He was too weak to even move only his eyelids were unaffected. A stinging headache tortured him awake as he hissed inside himself from the blinding, excruciating pain.
As if he had been hit in the head by several metal poles from all directions multiple times. His head pounding like hell, making him see white from the intense pain he was going through. At first Zanka was very confused, his eyes darting around the room, seemingly he was empty minded but it felt like he was looking for something. Dusty old white curtains, old oxidized blood spatters on the wall that no one bothered to clean off all this time, multiple hospital beds, all empty around him. He was the only one in that dimly lit room. The quietness was excruciatingly drowned out by the cruel ringing inside his head, just like a power cutter going off next to him.
The lamps were off but he was actually glad they were. Those hard fluorescent lights would've spiked up his headache by a notch. He couldn't move anything at first, neither his limbs or his head. But locked into his own body he could only wait and hope. Hope that he will be able to move again, hope that that damned raider hadn't injected him with something that will affect him for the rest of his life. If that was the case, he would've rather died in the battle. But there was nothing he could do, long minutes passed since his awakening and it was confusing as hell. In the meantime he tried to remember exactly what even happened to him...
Ah...
Yeah, he was having a fierce fight with his infamous mortal enemy. Jabber Wonger. Zanka remembered that he was already on the floor, feeling an exploding gut wrenching pain in his abdomen and torso. Metallic taste filling his mouth, gently trickling down at the side of his face. As he looked down Zanka's eyes were stuck on a pair of long iron claws digging deep into his organs, blood flowing out heavily as a weird stinging and numbing sensation spread trough his injured torso.
As the poison began working and thumping trough his veins at a rapid rate, his consciousness slowly slipped away leading into his coma. The last thing he heard before passing out was a blood freezing maniac laugh from a person he would rather not see again. Then everything went dark, his limbs gave out and his consciousness slipped away.
He guessed he lost the battle which filled him with bitter stinging emotions. Tears welled in his eyes but he quickly suppressed them. "Ugh... This' is so embarrassin'. I couldn't even hit him proper', how am I suppos'd to even defeat him?!" His internal monologue interrupted.
"This is so stupid. I'm too weak. Why couldn't I be jus' a little bit stronger...? Maybe my siblings wer' right. I ain't cut out t' be a warrior."
Negative thoughts filled the room while Zanka was unable to move. No one was there, no one to check on him. No one to listen to him, and no one that could judge him at this state. He was stuck in this room together with his thoughts, which was a sentence worse than death. Not even a sound echoed from the hallways outside the door. Everybody must have been so busy that they couldn't even check on him. But he was glad that nobody was there to see him in his pitiful state.
Laying there being locked into your own body was a different type of torture. Stuck with nothing but your thoughts and no way to make them go away even for a bit, it was horrendous enough that he lost. He didn't needed this as well. Zanka mustered up all of his strength and tried to move at least his fingers. It took a tremendous amount of inner strength and focus just to give it a try.
After an unsuccessful trial it finally budged, not much but enough to make him incredibly relieved. Maybe he was able to move after all? Maybe that freaking psycho didn't fry out his nerves completely to the point of no return! "Jus' what did that psycho inject me with?! What does he even put into that stuff?!" He fumed with anger but also with amusement.
Minutes that felt like hours passed and Zanka could slowly move his limbs around now but he was still so weak to even try to sit up. His arms and legs felt like they've been heaved down with lead. Making every single little move he made excruciatingly tiring. His heart skipped a beat as something snapped him out of his focus. Suddenly he heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Calm, composed and not in a way hurried. His body automatically tensed up not knowing who was coming. He just hoped that it was one of the medical staff, or anybody other than Enjin.
It would be so humiliating for him to be seen at this state. Especially the tall blonde man who was like his idol. He could already see the disappointment on Enjin's face as he stares down at him with such coldness in his eyes. Muttering something along the lines of... "I thought you were better than this..." The scenario filled him with shame and fear. Zanka really hoped even prayed that it was Eishia, their healer. Tense seconds followed as the sound of footsteps approached calmly, getting closer by the second. A soft click of a doorknob could be heard which filled the nearly empty ward. Making it echo, that bounced back and forth between the walls like a bird who just flew in trough the window.
In the end Zanka mustered up enough strength to turn his head towards the noise. It was breathtakingly hard for him to even move his fingers, not to talk about moving his head so soon after waking up. As he laid his eyes onto the person it turned out his fears were for nothing. He exhaled a sigh of relief, as his headache flared up by the noise.
in the doorway there stood awkwardly a short framed girl with a funky hat and with a comically large clipboard in her hands looking all coy and frightened like a small mouse. It was Eishia Stilza their beloved healer. As soon as she saw Zanka awake, she really was surprised and frightened, rushing to his side in a split second.
"Oh my goodness Zanka you're finally awake! We were so worried about you! How are you feeling? I'm sorry that was a stupid question...! I'll tend to you in a moment. Oh uh- first I gotta tell everyone that you woke up! They were so concerned about you... I'll be right back I'm sorry!" She blabbered as she turned around to run out the door and spread the good news in a panic. To be honest she didn't really know how to react to this sudden improvement. She just wanted a bit of time to collect her thoughts before tending to her coworker.
With all that he had Zanka opened his mouth to stop her but only one word left his mouth "Don't..." that was enough to stop Eishia in her tracks. "... Zanka?" She looked at him very surprised.
"Please don't..." He coughed hard before continuing with great efforts "Not yet." He managed to squeeze out realizing his troath was very dry and he was still far too weak to even be awake in the first place. Eishia hesitated at first but eventually nodded, giving her approval. She wouldn't tell the other cleaners just yet. First she decided to give him a proper checkup to see if he even has a chance to regain his full senses. Without further ado she prepared everything to begin a quick examination. Gloves, masks, alcohol wipes and some medical equipment that nobody except her knew what they were, were prepared hastily next to a bedside table on a small metal platter.
Eishia rushed back to his side to check his vitals and to check his wounds. A blood work was needed as well, but she decided that she would take a small sample later after he regained some strength. His vitals like his pulse were weak but present. A few minutes passed by quickly as her hands worked even quicker, just like a seasoned nurse she had no unnecessary moves. After a thorough checkup the healer girl determined that he could make a full recovery with time.
As she was finishing up her checkup something made her stop in her tracks and freeze up completely. Zanka looked at her surprised yet shocked face, not knowing what she found. After a few long seconds she opened her mouth to say something, her voice trembling a bit.
"This scar. Oh my goodness. It's nothing I've seen before." She managed to mumble it under her breath. Still flabbergasted she stepped back to calm herself down.
Zanka looked at her with visible confusement and worry. Her face twisting just like she saw a ghost. "Ei.. What's wrong?" His voice raspy still not quite ready for talking. His throat dry and flaky, he realized he hadn't drunk anything in a good while until he was out. "Uhm Zanka..? On a scale from one to ten how bad would you react if I told you this is not normal?" From this question Zanka already knew that it was bad. Real bad. His heart skipped a small beat as he prepared himself to whatever he was going to hear.
"Please, Ei jus'..." He wheezed heavily. "jus' tell me what's wron'." She hesitated, she didn't want to work him up in this state. She sighed first then began describing her discovery.
"Alright. So this is not normal not in the slighest. There is a huge scar on your abdomen and it's not looking good. It's so deep that even a knife couldn't even penetrate this deep, it's just a hair away from your vital organs. If it went even just a bit deeper we would've needed to prepare for a funeral instead..."
She blabbered with audible shock in her voice. As she mentioned this wasn't like anything that she had seen before. Zanka's blood ran cold by the sudden surge of information. Jabber nearly killed him really for real. And even injected him with some nasty ass poison from who knows where. Zanka's blood was boiling, nearly ending in him popping a vein in his head. Oh, that damn bastard was so getting it later! No matter where he hides or what he does, the cleaner will find him and rip his pretty throat out of its place and watch him choke on his own blood as he dies in misery by his hands.
"Just what could've caused this much damage.?" Eishia wondered to herself, all she heard that Zanka was up against a raider. Nothing more, nothing less. "This will affect you for the rest of your life Zanka, this is really bad. Oh my goodness..." She looked like she was about to throw up in her hands, her voice trembling and her legs shaking like jelly. "Even I can't fix it I'm so sorry" Her eyes wide, her face broken out with cold sweat as realization hit that they nearly lost him.
As Zanka laid there in shock, he knew one thing. The others can never know about this ever. They can never know about his scar, never ever!
If they knew, he would leave the cleaners for good as in not to set them back with his weakness in the future. And also for a person reason.
He wouldn't be able to put up with the humiliation, having to be reminded everytime he looks at his body that he lost the battle with utter defeat.
"Eishia"
He called out to her in a pleading tone. Almost desperate.
"Please don' tell anyone. I don't wan' 'em to worry 'bout me. Please"
He nearly was in tears. His cheeks feeling like they're on fire as his heart felt like it had been clenched hardly within himself.
"B-But!"
"Please..."
He pleaded once more. More desperate this time, he begged her in such a pathetic way. Even in her eyes he was a weak man who was incapable of defending himself, not to talk about taking care of the enemy. Eishia sighed in a defeated tone.
"Alright if that's what you want, I won't tell anyone"
Zanka gave her a small smile, it was tired and forced. He would rather be frowning than putting on a fake smile just to not make her more than necessary.
"Thanks Ei"
On the inside he was screaming that he was going to make this raider bastard pay for nearly handicapping him for life and nearly ending him.
"Just you wait..."
He grumbled inside himself, his rage seeping through the fake smile on his face turning it into a frigthening expression.
He boiled with rage and bloodlust against that clawed psycho dreadhead. Swearing that he will tear his grinning head off with his own two hands then feed it to the dogs. As Eishia was finishing the checkup a question could be heard coming from the person in hospital bed. "Where is Asistaff?" Zanka asked in a scratchy dry voice still not comfortable enough to be talking. The young girl pointed to the corner of the room next to the dimly lit window.
There she was, Lovely Asistaff gently placed against the wall in her original form. Seemingly she didn't suffer any harm. If she had so much as a scratch on her frame, Zanka would go to war against that freaking raider. For the naked eye she might look like and ordinary stick but she is far from that. She was Zanka's beloved vital instrument, whom he treasured more than his own life.
The one object in the world he holds dearest. She certainly have seen better days after the fight but it seemed she was still properly taken care of. Zanka let out a small sigh of relief with a small smile as he gazed at his beloved instrument. A real smile.
He was glad that she was alright. Yet that was quickly overshadowed by humiliation. He hated to be seen as weak and disheveled needing protection as if he can't fend for himself. And at this moment he was all of them at the same time which filled him with rage. Turning to Eishia, Zanka asked her one more simple question. "
"How long was I out for?" She flinched at the sudden question, then stayed quiet for a moment. "For nearly two whole weeks" Her voice weak, almost muttering. "What..?" He asked in disbelief. Hold up, as in half a month you mean?! Eishia looked uncomfortable, not really up for a confrontation with facts. Zanka laid there in shock once again. Mustering all of the strength he had left he forced himself to sit up. His brain has suffered enough mental trauma today, he just needed a moment to collect himself.
After a few minutes that passed in akward and tense silence, the poison finally let up enough so he could move a bit more freely now. Heavily moving himself he tried to sit up, wobbling back and forth. Nearly falling off the bed as he weakly tried to scrape himself together. "Zanka! You really shouldn't be doing that just yet!" The healer scolded him gently. She tried reaching for him with her hands to help him lay back down, just to be met with a small gentle shove as her hands have been pushed away by a trembling pair of hands. "I'll survive." Zanka shot back, his expression unreadable.
"It seems I can't stop you, be careful and don't overexert yourself. I'll bring you something to eat soon. Until then, no sudden movements alright?"
Knowing she can't do anything about it, she gave up on trying to reason with him, instead she decided to pack up her stuff and get going after all of the checkups were complete. She hesitantly turned to the door ready to leave.
Looking at the cleaner deep in thought, sitting on the bed Eishia could help but feel sorry for him. Meanwhile Zanka realized he cannot avoid the cleaners forever so he collected all of his bravery and made a bold decision. At least for him it was a bold decision. His voice creaked a bit, with hesitation and fear but he persisted. He asked for Eishia to let the team Akuta know that he woke up. Mentally preparing himself to seem strong and collected and not miserable in the slighest. Easier said than done but the healer girl accepted the request before leaving the room. She just hoped that Zanka would recover quickly.
As the young girl left the ward, Zanka could hear his heart thumping in his ears. Filled with worry and shame. For failing so hard they must be so disappointed in him. Maybe it was a mistake asking her and thought he could've waited a day or two. Negative thoughts circled in his mind before a bunch of hurried heavy footsteps from the hallway snapped him out of his torturous mental spiral.
Not even two seconds later the door bursted open, nearly flying off from its hinges and the lights turned on in a split second, blinding him for a moment and making his headache flare up making him be in extreme pain. Focusing his vision he noticed that he had visitors. In the door stood three figures. They arrived rather quickly , he was impressed. A rough looking tall blonde tattooed man, a shorter red head with bright green eyes and a little runt with white hair and disturbingly dark eyes stared at him intensely, as if they have seen a ghost. All huffing like they've just ran a whole marathon. For a moment the whole room fell quiet.