That Was Beautiful :)

That was beautiful :)

Whumptober Day 14: under pressure (crush injuries, force)

Oh shoot I haven’t hurt Zane much uhhhh *spits this out*

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Mountains of debris lay covering Zane, a huge metal beam leaving only his left arm and head uncovered.

The rest of him was entirely pinned.

He wasn’t entirely sure his legs were even intact or not: he couldn’t feel them at all. Hopefully he wouldn’t need new ones. Zane blinked, and his eyes lit the area he was in with a soft blue light. Without them it would’ve been pitch black.

He was glad he was the one who had run into the building while it was actively collapsing. He’d gotten the little boy and his mother out, and if he had hesitated a second longer they would be in the situation he now found himself in. They’d likely be paralyzed now, or even dead, and Zane would gladly take on such a fate in order to spare others from it. With his titanium body he would be okay, as long as he wasn’t crushed beyond repair which he wasn’t as of now (he hoped).

He began wriggling his torso, attempting to remove himself from his stony prison. If he could get himself free, then he could work on digging up and out. He pushed against the metal, and a twinge of pain ran up his side. Something creaked loudly above him, dust falling atop his head. Zane stilled and the creaking stopped.

It seemed the rubble was more precarious then he thought.

His communicator crackled with static, and Zane tried to turn his head in order to fix the reception. He had trouble twisting it, but managed to pick up some faint chatter.

“...ane...ane...opy?”

Zane then twisted his arm around and lightly twiddled with the communicator, wincing as it crackled loudly in his ear.

“...lo? Zane, Zane do you copy?”

He’d recognize that voice anywhere.

“Yes Pixal I copy.” he said with a cough. “My reception is spotty, so I may be cut off.”

Pixal sighed in relief. “Oh thank goodness. Zane we thought you had been completely crushed!”

Zane looked around the small pocket he was trapped in, then back at his pinned body. “...you are actually not that far off in your assumption.”

Pixal was silent for a moment. “Are you all right?”

Zane quickly took stock of himself. His head and left arm were undamaged, and while he couldn’t move his right, it was operable. His legs though...

“I’m stuck underneath a large portion of the building, and moving seems to make the whole thing shake.”

He heard a crackle from the line, then some muted conversation.

“Zane?” That was Lloyd now. “Can you see anything from where you are? Any light?”

Zane shook his head, then remembered they couldn’t see him. “No. I’m in total darkness. It is likely I’m several feet down.”

More muted talking.

“Okay. Just sit tight and we’ll work on finding you okay?”

“Roger.”

The radio went silent, and Zane turned his head towards the ceiling of his prison. It looked like multiple support beams stacked together, with large chunks of brick and stonework filling in the gaps. It seemed so tightly packed, he was surprised it shook so much when he moved. Perhaps if he turned at a different angle...

Zane twisted his chest, pushing at the metal with his free arm. It’s working! he thought with a burst of hope. He felt looser then he had mere moments ago, and the metal-

The beam he was bracing himself on shifted abruptly, and a loud groaning sound came from above. Suddenly building material was falling on top of him, hitting his face and arm with loud smacks.

“Zane! Zane what’s going-!”

The radio cut out, and all Zane could do was let himself be buried and desperately hope he hadn’t just doomed himself.

Eventually the rubble stopped falling, but Zane barely noticed. He was dented all over, and multiple systems were damaged, or down completely. One of his eyes had been shattered, and something in his arm was sparking.

He was now completely buried, and wherever he looked, he was met with only building remains. It’s a good thing I’m not claustrophobic,he thought somewhat hysterically.

Suddenly loud crackling sounded at his ear, and voices were once again filtering in.

“...it working again! Zane! Zane are you okay?”

That was... Jay?

He coughed. “My s-systems are heavily d-damaged... I am afraid-“ he coughed again. “... afraid I may s-shut down soon.“

Worried talking filtered faintly through the radio. “Zane?”

“Pi-ixal?”

“I’m here Zane, it’ll be okay. Just keep talking, we’re coming for you.”

Right. Talking. He could do that.

“Tell me about... about your falcon?”

Zane smiled faintly. “My falcon... I have not checked in with him in a v-very long time, but I’m confident he is happy, wherever he is.”

“Good, tell me how you met him again?”

And so it went. Pixal asking him questions she mostly knew the answers to, and Zane answering them, even as he was forced to shut more and more of himself down in order to prevent greater damage.

He cut off mid-sentence at one point, due to his vocal systems acting up. He didn’t have the energy to resume.

“Zane are you still there? We’ve figured out your location, it’ll only be a little while longer.”

“...”

“...Zane? Please answer.”

“Ppppppixal...“

“Zane?”

A large spark shot from his broken eye. He thought it almost looked light sunlight.

“Initiating emergency shutdown.” he whispered. He had no other choice.

“Zane wait, I can see you!”

Shouting echoed above him, and Zane heard metal creak. Sunlight suddenly poured onto his face, bright and golden, and he heard footsteps run up.

“I’ve got you Zane.” a voice said, and he saw warm green eyes right as his own closed.