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Zanka always counted himself unlucky.. Especially when it came to fights with a fent-leaning freak. He always hesitated. If he had thought too much. One wrong move and that was it! He got fucking clipped. Every damn time.
Those stupid claws.
And the second they dug into him, his body always reacted wrong. Muscles locking up. Vision melting into a kaleidoscope of colors. Words dying in his throat before they could even form.
Today was no different.
When Zanka went to swing at Jabber again with his assist staff, his boot caught on a pile of scrap Rudo had been sorting through. His footing slipped out from under him for half a second—
More than enough time.
Jabber grinned wide.
The claw slashed across Zanka before he could recover.
“There it is,” Jabber laughed. “Knew you’d mess up eventually.”
Zanka barely even heard him.
The world tilted sideways.
His ears rang violently as his knees buckled into the trash-covered ground. Heat flooded his face first. Then cold. His fingers twitched around the handle of his staff before going numb.
Ah. Great.
Fuck his life.
Fuck this situation.
Fuck Jabber.
His thoughts dragged slower and slower while Jabber eventually got bored, wandering off to terrorize someone else.
Zanka tried to steady himself with one hand. His nose suddenly felt wet.
He wiped at it lazily.
Blood.
A lot of it.
It smeared across his fingers dark, thick, with clots. His vision blurred harder trying to focus on it. Somewhere deep in his chest, panic finally sparked.
No... no, not now—
His body suddenly jerked.
Hard.
Every muscle seized at once before he completely lost control.
And then everything went black.
……….
“...Zanka?”
Rudo had just found him collapsed between the piles of scrap.
At first he thought the other was sleeping.
Or unconscious maybe.
Then Zanka’s whole body snapped violently against the ground.
Rudo froze.
His arms and legs jerked uncontrollably, slamming him against the metal beneath him. A horrible choking sound escaped his throat.
“Zanka—?!”
Rudo dropped beside him immediately, hands shaking.
He didn’t know what to do.
He— He—!?
Oh god.
“Hello?! Is anyone there?!” Rudo gasped into his collar, nearly choking on his own breathing.
Static cracked.
“What’s up? Are you okay?” Semiu answered first. The others were probably still spread out.
“Zanka—I don’t know what happened! I found him like this—!”
“Slow down. Explain it to me.”
“He’s shaking—really bad—his eyes rolled back and— and he won’t wake up!”
Semiu’s tone sharpened instantly.
“He’s having a seizure. Listen carefully, Rudo. Don’t hold him down.”
Rudo’s hands immediately pulled back.
“Move anything dangerous away from him first.”
He could only stare in horror.
For people who fought Trash Beasts daily, who lived surrounded by violence and death, this should’ve felt routine.
But it didn’t.
Not when it was one of his own!
And the worst part was half the people who’d know what to do weren’t even there.
Tasmy.
Enjin.
Riyo.
Gone.
Rudo’s breathing started breaking apart into panicked little gasps as Zanka convulsed again. Foam and saliva gathered at the corner of his mouth, and because he’d been flat on his back, it caught in his throat.
A wet choking sound followed.
Then Rudo noticed it.
The faint blue tint starting around Zanka’s lips.
“No no no—!”
Tears spilled instantly down Rudo’s face.
Semiu kept talking through the collar but her words barely registered anymore. Everything sounded muffled under the sound of Zanka choking.
“Zanka! Please—! Zanka wake up!”
Rudo grabbed helplessly at his shoulders before remembering Semiu yelling not to restrain him. His hands hovered uselessly instead.
Zanka’s body arched hard again, jaw clenched tight, breaths uneven and strained between convulsions.
“Gris... Enjin... somebody... please...” Rudo choked out between sobs, snot running down his face.
Then—
“Rudo?”
A voice echoed somewhere nearby.
“Hey! Rudo, where are you?!”
Rudo barely heard it through the panic. He tried to answer but nothing came out except some awful strangled yell.
“Rudo?!”
Footsteps crashed closer.
Then—
“Shit!”
Gris appeared around the scrap pile and immediately took in the scene.
Years of experience hit him all at once.
“Rudo. Move back.”
The firmness in his voice cut straight through Rudo’s panic.
Gris shoved debris away from Zanka first so he wouldn’t keep hitting against the metal during the convulsions. Then he carefully turned him onto his side.
The second he did, saliva and foam spilled from Zanka’s mouth and he coughed violently between spasms.
“There you go,” Gris said lowly, one hand keeping Zanka on his side without forcing him down. “Easy. You’re okay.”
Zanka still convulsed hard, muscles locking and releasing uncontrollably, but his breathing finally started sounding less obstructed.
The blue tint around his lips slowly eased.
Gris glanced toward Rudo without losing composure.
“How long has this been happening?”
Rudo sucked in a shaky breath so hard it hurt.
“Tw-two minutes... maybe...” he stammered.
Gris nodded once and checked the time.
“Okay. Good.”
Good?
That word alone made Rudo’s head snap up.
Gris noticed immediately.
“It’s dangerous if it keeps going too long,” he explained calmly while keeping Zanka steady. “But two minutes means we still have time.”
Rudo’s chest shook violently trying to calm down.
Zanka suddenly jerked again, a rough groan escaping him mid-convulsion.
Gris kept his voice even.
“Don’t fight it, Zanka. Just breathe.”
Another violent tremor ran through Zanka’s body before the movements finally started slowing little by little.
Not stopping completely.
But slowing.
Rudo collapsed backward onto the trash heap behind him, covering his mouth with both hands while tears kept pouring out anyway.
For the first time since finding him—
Zanka finally dragged in a full breath.
“Good...”
Gris kept one hand steady against Zanka’s shoulder while the other checked the time again.
“You’re doing good for me, Zanka,” he said quietly. Calm. Everything Rudo didn't feel. “Fight it out. Almost there.”
Zanka’s body spasmed again, harsher this time, his breathing catching wetly in his throat before evening back out.
Then suddenly—
“Damn! Feel like an old man,” a voice barked from somewhere behind the scrap piles. “Came as soon as I could!”
Enjin finally came jogging into view, breathing heavier than he wanted anyone to notice. He slowed immediately once he saw the scene.
His usual sharp expression dropped.
“Holy fuck...” he muttered under his breath, kneeling beside Gris. “How long’s he been like this?”
“Almost three minutes.”
Enjin went silent.
That alone answered enough.
“Shit.”
“We should still be okay as long as it doesn’t pass five,” Gris answered, though his eyes never left Zanka once.
Another convulsion hit.
Zanka’s whole body stiffened violently before snapping again against the ground. His jaw clenched tight enough for the muscles there to visibly twitch.
Rudo flinched every single time.
Enjin clicked his tongue quietly and shrugged his coat off, folding it before carefully sliding it under Zanka’s head once the jerking loosened enough to safely move him a little.
“We can't have him fight that sick freak alone ever again..” he muttered.
Rudo wiped furiously at his face with his sleeve. “H-he just fell and then— then—”
“I know,” Enjin cut in softer than usual. “Breathe first before you pass out too.”
Rudo sucked in a shaky breath but it immediately broke apart again.
“I thought he was dying...”
Nobody answered that.
Because for a second?
They all thought it too.
Zanka suddenly made a horrible choking noise mid-seizure and Rudo jerked forward again on instinct.
Gris immediately blocked him gently with his arm.
“Don’t put anything in his mouth,” Gris said firmly before Rudo could panic harder. “And don’t hold him down. That will only hurt you both.”
Rudo nodded rapidly even though he looked two seconds from falling apart again.
Enjin watched Zanka carefully now, counting the spaces between convulsions.
“They’re slowing.”
“Yeah.”
Another jerk.
Smaller this time.
Then another.
Smaller still.
Zanka’s breathing hitched unevenly as the seizure finally began losing strength. His muscles trembled instead of violently locking now, little aftershocks rippling through his arms and legs.
And finally—
Stillness.
His body completely gave out afterward, all tension draining at once as he slumped heavily sideways into Gris’s lap.
“There we go,” Gris exhaled quietly.
For a second nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Just to make sure it was actually over.
Then Zanka dragged in a weak, shaky breath.
Enjin let out the breath he’d apparently been holding too.
“Damn,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “You really scared us, kid. That was almost five minutes.”
“WAHHH!! ZANKA!!”
Rudo immediately threw himself closer, tears starting all over again.
Zanka flinched violently at the noise.
“Stop...” he mumbled hoarsely.
His voice sounded wrong.
Weak. Slurred.
He curled tighter into himself instinctively, one arm twitching faintly against his chest while his eyes struggled to focus on anything around him.
Rudo froze instantly, looking crushed.
“I-I was just—”
“He’s postictal right now,” Gris explained before Rudo could spiral again. His voice stayed low and patient. “His brain’s still trying to recover. He might not understand what’s happening yet.”
Enjin raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Zanka,” he called carefully. “Who am I?”
Zanka looked up slowly.
Really looked at him.
Like he was trying to solve a puzzle underwater.
His pupils still weren’t focusing right. His breathing stayed uneven, exhaustion dragging every movement down. He looked completely disoriented.
“...”
Nothing.
His brow furrowed.
Agitated.
Scared.
Enjin’s expression tightened just slightly.
“Yeah,” he muttered quietly. “Definitely scrambled.”
Rudo looked horrified all over again.
“He forgot us?!”
“Temporarily,” Gris corrected. “Maybe. Memory issues happen sometimes after seizures.”
Zanka suddenly tried pushing himself upright anyway.
Bad idea.
The second he moved too fast, his entire body wobbled violently.
“Easy,” Gris warned, catching him immediately before he tipped over. “Don’t stand yet.”
Zanka jerked away weakly on instinct, breathing harder now. Confusion was quickly turning into panic.
“Don’t touch me...” he rasped.
“You’re okay,” Gris answered immediately. No hesitation. “You had a seizure. You’re safe now.”
Zanka’s face twisted.
Like he understood the words individually but couldn’t put them together fast enough.
His eyes darted around the junkyard wildly.
“Where...” he whispered.
“Scrapyard district,” Enjin answered. “You’re with us.”
Zanka swallowed hard. His throat visibly worked around the soreness left behind from choking and convulsing for nearly five minutes.
Then he suddenly winced sharply.
“Head hurts...” he muttered, voice small.
“That’s normal,” Gris said.
Actually, everything about him right now was normal for after a seizure.
The confusion.
The exhaustion.
The slurring.
Even the irritation.
His entire body had basically sprinted itself to death.
Rudo carefully shuffled closer again, quieter this time.
“You really scared me...” he mumbled, trying hard not to cry again.
Zanka blinked at him slowly.
Still confused.
But less frightened now.
“...Rudo?” he said uncertainly.
Rudo immediately broke again.
“HE REMEMBERS ME!”
“Quit yelling,” Enjin groaned instantly.
Zanka flinched again at the volume and pressed weakly into Gris’s side instead, eyes squeezing shut.
“Okay, yeah, definitely keep him away from loud noises,” Enjin muttered.
Gris carefully adjusted his grip under Zanka’s shoulders before looking toward Enjin.
“We should get him to Eisha.”
“Obviously.”
Enjin stood first, brushing dirt off his pants before crouching again beside them.
“You think he can walk?”
The moment both of them looked at Zanka, he attempted to stand purely out of stubbornness.
And immediately almost collapsed.
Enjin snorted.
“Right. There
’s the answer.”
“I can walk,” Zanka slurred weakly despite actively failing to do exactly that.
“Sure you can,” Enjin said dryly.
Gris sighed softly before helping steady him again.
“Easy, hero.”
Zanka looked like he wanted to argue.
Instead he just leaned heavier against Gris, trembling faintly from leftover adrenaline and exhaustion while his brain still struggled to catch up with reality.
Rudo hovered anxiously nearby the entire time.