Chapter Text
Enjin really sucked at driving. It was an unfortunate fact of the world that Zanka had simply gotten used to and just learned to deal with, as had every other member of the team, with the notable exception of their newest member. With every pitch and sharp turn Rudo was jostled around from his spot in the middle seat, more than once accidentally —at least it had better be accidentally— shoving his absurdly sharp elbows into Zanka's side, and it was really starting to piss him off.
They'd been driving for a while now, and the landscape around them had mellowed out into what looked like rolling hills. It would almost be picturesque if they weren't made entirely of garbage. Though Zanka imagined for Rudo that probably just made them even better.
Semiu had informed them about multiple reports of burrowing trash beasts in an area outside a small town, and had sent team Akuta, along with two supporters, to investigate and dispose of them. A routine mission, and sending six of them was probably overkill, but with the area being more remote, and the trash beasts' behavior being slightly abnormal, they'd decided it was better to be safe than sorry. Especially since there had been a notable uptick in false reports set as traps by raiders (a certain sharp smile and clawed hand came to mind and Zanka tried to banish the thought as soon as it appeared, hating the feeling that seemed to consume him from the inside out whenever he thought too hard about the raider. A feeling he refused to look into further because obviously it was just hatred. Obviously).
He looked away from the window and over at Enjin, who, apart from driving like staying alive was going out of style, seemed to be having a grand old time singing off-key to the radio in between light conversation with Gris, fully turning to the side to do so every time. Zanka owed Enjin his life, and revered him as both a fighter and mentor, but he'd be lying if he said Enjin's general attitude toward handling a massive speeding hunk of metal that could kill them all with a single wrong move didn't leave something to be desired. If Enjin were anyone else, his actions would have only added to Zanka's irritation. And even as it was, they certainly didn't help either.
A particularly large bump threw an unprepared Rudo up in the air where his skull clocked painfully against Zankas chin, nearly making him bite his own tongue off. Ugh, was the kid's head made of metal or what!?
"Oh for fucks- would ya stop that!" He snapped.
"HUH?! It's not my fault that turdface drives like a maniac, take it up with him!"
"And yet yer the only one flying around the damn car!"
He could see Rudo getting geared up to yell some more and mentally prepared himself for the headache it would no doubt cause him, before a flash of red hair caught his peripheral vision and Riyo, who had been lounging across the backseat, leaned over and threaded her fingers through Rudo's hair as she yawned.
The sharp contrast seemingly caused Rudo to bluescreen as he froze mid gesture and just blinked, mouth slightly agape like a fish, anger paused. The sight almost made Zanka snort, but he was still annoyed, so he just rolled his eyes and went back to looking out the window. Enjin however, had no such reservations and barked out a loud laugh at the sight, looking at them through the rearview mirror. Zanka really wished he'd keep his eyes on the road. To Rudo's left, Follo gave a small sigh of relief at the visible diversion of an argument, and although Zanka couldn't see Gris from where he was sitting he could imagine the soft smile on his face, probably looking back at him and Rudo. The kid really wasn't used to casual affection, and Riyo especially playing with his hair seemed to be a weak point of his.
"Your hair's getting pretty long y'know, I think you're probably due for a trim soon." remarked Riyo as she mimed cutting it with two fingers. Rudo sputtered, and pulled his head away before bringing his gloved hands up to grab a lock, looking at it contemplatively.
"I guess.." he muttered, and Riyo smiled.
"If it gets too much longer it'll start getting in your eyes when you fight, and trust me that's no good. I'll cut it for you when we get back!" She chirped with a thumbs up.
Zanka exhaled a small laugh through his nose, knowing how much Riyo loved cutting hair, and how Rudo's hair specifically, with its snow white roots and permanently blackened tips, seemed to fascinate her.
"How benevolent of ya." He hummed with a slight grin, an action Riyo returned easily.
"Hey, I'm just looking out for my team, what can I say?" She gave him a look that landed somewhere between appraising and mischievous. "Y'know, you're probably in need of a trim too Zanka, I know you've got that whole emo thing going on but at a certain point it's gonna impair your vision." She said with a wink.
Enjins laughter, which had just died down, started up again as a wheeze. Zanka could feel a vein in his forehead starting to make itself known but ultimately decided not to rise to the bait (an active choice on his part, and absolutely not because he couldn't think of a retort that didn't sound childish).
Luckily, he was saved by them apparently arriving at their destination –despite the surrounding area looking the same as it had for the last 10 minutes of driving since they passed the town, but sure– and the car slowed down before finally, blissfully, creeping to a full stop. Enjins cheerful "We're here!" causing multiple eyerolls and a quiet "Thank goodness.." from Follo. They all strapped on their half-masks before loading out of the car, taking the chance to stretch and look around.
...Yep, trash. As far as the eye could see. And notably, no trash beasts in sight, but if they were the kind that lived underground Zanka guessed it made sense, though the knowledge didn't do much to cure his slight sense of unease. He wasn't a fan of trash beasts by any means but he'd happily prefer them to a raider ambush any day of the week.
Metal on metal crashing, sparking. A feral, bloody grin and a desperately violent look he knew was mirrored in his own eyes-
He shook his head, banishing the thoughts. He needed to focus on the mission. Riyo caught his eye and raised a single eyebrow, a silent "you good?" passing between them. He took a breath and gave her a nod in response, and her gaze lingered on him for a half second more, then went back to looking around, seemingly satisfied for now, though Zanka had the nagging feeling she'd be bugging him about it later. If there was one thing he did appreciate about Riyo though, it was her discretion. Well, discretion about some things. They had a mutual understanding about the things they liked to hide, and where his mask was one of cold aloofness, hers was an almost aggressively easygoing joviality and flirtiness. On the rare occasions when things got too heavy, when cracks started to appear, they'd find each other in the quiet hours of the night and just talk about nothing, usually accompanied by a mug of green tea and spicy hot chocolate respectively, until the sun came up. And then, the next day, they would act like it never happened. It helped, the liminality of it all making it easier to separate that Zanka from who he wanted to be. And he imagined it was the same for her.
"Keep your eyes peeled gang, the main nest should be around here somewhere." Enjin's voice broke him out of his thoughts. Man, he really needed to get it together today.
They branched out slowly, the hills making it easy to get vantage points when they found a tall one, while also doing a worryingly good job of obsuring their vision when they were in the valleys between them. He'd have to try and keep the high ground when they started fighting. If they started fighting. He still hadnt seen a single trash beast. The silence was quickly becoming unnerving, and Zanka couldn't help but think about how easy it would be for someone to hide behind one of the many hills, watching them and waiting to pounce. The thought made his skin crawl and he subtly kept his head on a swivel, grip tight on Lovely Assistaff as her soul thrummed beneath his hands.
After a bit of walking, Gris paused and turned around towards the group, scratching his head.
"Okay I thi-"
He was suddenly cut off by the ground exploding under him as everyone yelled, a large trash beast pulling itself out of the ground with a roar, sending debris flying everywhere. Gris's quick reflexes had saved him, jumping back out of range with only a slight stumble.
"Okay, well that solves that I guess!" He yelled with a slightly nervous laugh.
The trash beast was relatively small for such a remote area, probably just a bit bigger than their car. Nowhere near as large as the goliaths that ruled no-mans-land, but still bigger than the ones that liked to travel in hoards near the cities. It was shaped like a giant mole, with hands that boasted terrifyingly sharp white claws (nope don't think about it do NOT think about it) no doubt meant for digging, but with the bony head and long jaw of a crocodile.
Its eyes, solitary burning lights in empty sockets, turned to the closest person near it, which happened to be Zanka, and charged, the grating sound of its call echoing off the walls of trash surrounding them. Great. Zanka burst into action, dodging a swipe with a spin and using that momentum to slam Lovely Assistaff into the things side, knocking it over and exposing its underbelly, where Riyo immediately swooped in and buried her trusty scissors into its gut with a low kick before it could move. The thing made one final screech and writhed around pathetically before going limp as it started to collapse back into junk. A moment of silence echoed around the group as they all waited for something more.
"...Okay, that was way too easy, right?" Riyo questioned, standing up.
"Oh you SO just jinxed us" Enjin replied with a laugh, only to be immediately proven right as the ground shook beneath all of them, making them stumble slightly and get a better grip on their weapons before trash beasts started bursting out of the ground in all directions. They looked the same as the one they'd just beaten, except for the fact that they were all maybe twice its size and somehow looked way more pissed. And they just kept coming. Zanka could hear them clawing their way out of the trash in areas he couldn't even see. Ugh, what a pain.
Enjin twirled his now transformed Umbreaker in his hand, grin clear in his eyes.
"Alright everyone, seems they brought the whole community out just for us, ain't that nice? Let's give them a good show." And then they were off.
It wasn't often they all got to fight so close to each other, and Zanka quickly realized he'd missed it. They worked seamlessly together, supporter and giver alike hitting, trading, and dodging as they quickly whittled down the enemy's numbers. It was a song and dance they were all familiar with by that point, and even Rudo, who was comparatively so new, was matching their tempo perfectly, swinging around what looked to be some type of sword gracelessly but with enough speed and force that it didn't really matter. Follo hit a trash beast's face hard with his hammer, sending it towards Zanka with a call of his name, and he was more than happy to slam it into the ground with Lovely Assistaff from above, its skull shattering in one hit from the force. Zanka couldn't stop the satisfied smile on his face, glad no one could see it through the mask. The thrill of battle hummed in his bones, lighting up his veins. Everyone moving together as one entity, one mind. It was fun, and the feeling of his team fighting beside him, different rhythms all beautifully in sync, made it even better.
They'd probably made their way through about half of the beasts —though it was hard to tell with limited visibility— when the ground shook again.
"Woah seriously, another wave?"
But the rumbling didn't stop, and in fact only got more intense, to the point where everyone, including the trash beasts, had stopped fighting and were just struggling to not trip over themselves as the ground shook. With a monumental final shudder, an explosion of trash from about 200 yards away revealed a truly massive version of the beasts they've been fighting, towering over everything in sight and letting out an earsplitting roar.
"Now that," zanka thought, somewhat hysterically "looks like it could belong in no mans land."
"WHAT THE SHIT?? IS THAT LIKE THEIR QUEEN OR SOMETHING?!" Screeched Rudo before parrying a trash beast that had apparently decided their timeout was over.
Enjin drove his umbrella through the jaw of the beast wrestling with Rudo and cleared his throat.
"Man. Okay. Listen up everyone! Rudo and Gris, you take everything to the East! Riyo and Follo, you do the West! Zanka, you can handle the South! And I," he paused for dramatic effect, pulling his umbrella from the now dead trash beast with a flourish. "will handle big boy up there. Now break!"
Zanka immediately turned South, a small part of him sad he wouldn't be able to see Enjin's battle with the goliath, but a much larger part of him absolutely glowing with the fact that he was the only one Enjin had assigned to a quadrant alone. And sure, it was probably just because they didn't have another supporter, but Enjin had trusted his abilities enough to go solo like he did. Man, this really was a good day.
...
The beasts were slightly more annoying to kill on his own, especially in such large quantities, but his team had diminished most of their numbers before they had to split up. He ended up getting lost in the familiar rhythm of fighting a predictable enemy, expertly swinging Lovely Assistaff around, and it wasn't too long before he was finishing off the last few he could see. Though tiring, the fight had been somewhat unsatisfying, and he looked around for anything else before turning back to where he came from. He'd ended up pretty far away from the group, though he could still hear the distant sounds of battle in multiple directions. Selfishly, he hoped he was the first to finish. Besides Enjin of course, since he couldn't see the giant beast anymore, meaning Enjin had already made quick work of it. Man, he really was amazing. For a moment, envy and admiration battled inside him, followed quickly by guilt at the former. It wasn't Enjin's fault Zanka was still so weak. He just needed to get stronger, keep pushing himself further. He dusted his pants off and started heading back to the group.
It was just as he was about to crest a peak that he heard something flying through the air, and without any time to react more than turning his head toward the noise, felt something small and sharp sink into the side of his neck. He brought a hand to it instantly, feeling a dart of some kind, and ripped it out, panic starting to set in as soon as he looked at it. It was a syringe. A now empty syringe.
He looked around desperately for where it came from, before he finally saw it. A person, with a blow gun of all things, barely visible behind a hill to his left. He lifted his staff and wave of dizziness hit him all at once. Right, the syringe. Probably a tranquilizer. Shit. He needed to tell his team. He wobbled, it taking everything in him to stay upright, and reached with a hand that didn't feel like his over to his choker, finally managing to turn it on. His tongue felt like lead in his mouth, and his warning turned from speech into a half garbled sound of distress before his legs finally gave out on him and he collapsed to the ground. Damn it. No. He was better than this, he could fight this. His choker crackled to life with Riyo's amused voice.
"Rudo, did you trip and accidentally activate your choker again?"
"Wha- hey! That wasn't even me, turdface!"
"uh huh, suuure it wasn't"
"Okay, okay you two, quit fighting and get back to- uh. fighting" Enjin lightly scolded, voice sounding distant. Everything sounded distant.
Zanka heard muffled footsteps coming up behind him, and a large pair of hands flipped him over onto his back. Everything was hazy, his body wouldnt listen to him, even as he strained every muscle. He looked at his attacker, the sun in his eyes making it harder than it needed to be, and though he couldnt make out too many details, he could see enough, and was more surprised by the fact that he didnt recognize them at all, and they weren't wearing the signature purple of the raiders or one of their lanterns. No way he just got taken out by some rando.
"Oh wow, you're still awake?" A deep voice rumbled with a hint of some accent Zanka didn't recognize. "You must be prettty resilient. Or maybe your willpower is just that strong. That's interesting. Thats very interesting. Oh this is gonna be fun!"
Zanka grit his teeth, and tried to use what little facial control he had to show just how not-fun he found this entire thing so far. The man just laughed, and pulled out some type of baton from behind his back. Holy shit. he was going to die here huh. He was going to get beaten to death by some bozo with a stick in the middle of nowhere and there wasn't anything he could do to stop it. He tried to choke out a question to stall him, but he still couldn't speak. He was- no. It couldn't end like this. He grit his teeth and with everything left in him, he tried to move the hand still holding Lovely Assistaff, trying to angle it just enough so that he could send her spikes through the guys fucking torso.
Even moving his hand was a monumental effort, and he was slow, and shaky. And before he could do anything more than lift his hand off the ground the man saw him moving and stepped on his wrist, pinning it, and Assistaff, in place. The man let out a sigh, and somewhat petulantly said "It would have been better for you if you'd just given in to the tranquilizer. Sorry about this." And with no time to reply, not that he could, the man swung.
The last thing Zanka experienced was the sight of a black baton flying towards his head and the ringing crack of metal hitting bone before everything went dark.