Rage of the Rathalos (Saga)

[Proto Man]

After the river, the terrain became a lot more enjoyable, with Salsa able to display an effortless grace as she leapt over the uneven ground. Soon, however, the prairie-like stretch of land gave way to a forest. Although she had a rigid beak, her eyes told him she was scowling at the lack of open ground. The robot found it amusing that he and his mount relied on opposing sides of their faces to relay emotion to one another.

Another half an hour later, the forest thinned out and opened up wide a few miles from the mountains. In the enormous clearing lay a village, but far more important than the collection of thatched structure was the group of mercenaries frantically scrambling to contend with the irate dragon. Proto Man let out a gasp as the creature reared up on its trunk-like hind legs and released a fireball the size of a person at a familiar-looking woman in a suit of armor.

The android watched as his acquaintance slammed hard into the earth more than a few yards from where she’d absorbed the impact of the fireball. Samus lay very still for a few moments as the creature lumbered toward her, fire still licking the corner’s of its maw. Proto Man thought the woman was lying in wait, and then he realized that she’d had the wind knocked out of her. Her body twitched once, twice, and then she managed to bring her weapon to bear on the dragon. Before either could react, a silent bomb of some sort went off, drowning the village scene in a white light.

Even though he was still a few hundred yards removed from the village, Proto Man had to turn away from the blast. When he looked back a few seconds later, Samus had been dragged back to her feet by a woman in an absurd outfit that looked like little more than a hodgepodge of belts, chains, and spiked pieces of plate armor. Under casual situations, he imagined she would have seemed very fashionable to a person, but neither the boy or the computer could deduce why she wouldn’t opt for more protective clothes while fighting a dragon.

“Get me closer and go take cover, Salsa,” Proto Man whispered as the bird, obviously unnerved by the dragon and the burning village, gathered its wits and started forward at a slower than usual pace. The woman in the strange armor drew a large hammer and steeled herself as the dragon reared back before swinging its tail around at the pair. Both ladies scattered, neither wanting to try and defended against the tail and the giant spikes that jutted out from its sides.

As he neared, Proto Man spotted more figures around the dragon. A few he recognized from the Scramble, like the older kid in green and the blonde woman. Ganondorf, the towering, dark-skinned man who’d wandered off rather than deal with either the Kingdom or the Empire, stood a few yards away, seemingly observing the confrontation. Proto Man wondered if he was waiting for the opportune moment to strike or just trying to avoid getting his hands dirty. Either way, it made the preteen scowl. One last figure, a grizzled and seemingly nondescript man, stood nearby, his hands clenched around what seemed to be a long staff.

A wizard? Proto Man pondered as his right hand flashed and converted into his namesake weapon. Pulling his feet up, he stood on Salsa’s back as the chocobo drew closer to the scuffle. A warm light spilled out from the barrel of the Proto Buster as the weapon started to build a charge.

Up ahead, the dragon lashed out, sprawling out Samus, Link, and the blonde woman. The other blonde, the one with the goofy armor and the hammer, managed to avoid the creature’s tail once again, her agility unimpaired despite her heavy weapon or clothes. Gritting his teeth, the man raised his staff and seemed ready to do something with it when he saw Proto Man, decked out as he was in red knight’s armor, galloping toward them on an armored yellow bird.

The man mouthed something that Proto Man didn’t hear as he released the reins and jumped from Salsa’s back. His small frame twisted in midair as he cleared one of the dragon’s enormous wings. With a grin, the android released the charged blast, which sailed down and slammed into the dragon’s head. The force of the attack was enough to alter his trajectory, but a quick midair flip allowed him to land on his feet a few yards from the beast.

Despite a plume of smoke rising from the top of its skull, the Rathalos didn’t seem the least worse for wear. Instead, its toothy maw was a veritable inferno and its beady eyes were glaring right at the preteen android.