Rage of the Rathalos (Saga)

[Proto Man]

The preteen android watched with a wide smile as the dragon let out a roar and took to the sky, its wings buffeting its attacks with gale-force winds as it climbed out of their range. A few yards away, Proto Man heard the woman with the hammer shout an order to give chase to the beast. As he watched, she commandeered a flying mount and started after the dragon.

After a somewhat awkward exchange with one of the soldiers, Samus took off, sitting behind the Pegasus’ rider as he followed the bounty hunter’s order to chase the creature. Glancing behind him, the android saw the others contemplating their own moves, but he had already made up his mind. Rushing toward the tree line, Proto Man pulled his whistle out and played his favorite tune. A beat later, Salsa emerged from wherever she had been hiding during the brief skirmish. The chocobo let out with a squawk as it charged to its rider.

With a graceful flip, Proto Man landed in the saddle as Salsa passed by him. “You got wings, so let’s get after that dragon!”

“Kweh!” Salsa shouted as she rushed toward the group that had just been fighting the dragon. A few glimpsed at the giant yellow bird in red armor rushing at him, but before they could figure out what was going on, the chocobo was over their heads. Despite lacking an impressive wingspan and being weighed down by armor and her rider, Salsa gradually gained altitude as she tailed the Rathalos. Once they cleared the treeline, Proto Man took a moment to mentally clap himself on the back for summoning such a versatile ally.

Up ahead, Samus and Cindy were slowly catching up on the Rathalos, which appeared to be in a state of agitation. A few moments later, Proto Man drew close enough to spot the cause—there were two warriors who had actually leapt from their mounts and onto the dragon’s back. Neither managed to stay on very long before the Rathalos performed a barrel roll and sent them both plunging toward the trees below. Proto Man’s eyes went wide, but he was too far behind to catch the falling men. As he pulled Salsa up into another climb, he hoped the two managed to save themselves from being pancaked on the ground or impaled on their way through the canopy.

Focused on the Rathalos, Proto Man grabbed the reins with one hand and pointed his fist at the dragon. “Steady, Salsa,” he muttered as his free hand converted into a buster arm. Bracing himself, the red robot started to charge a blast. He waited until his chocobo had gained some more altitude to release the burst of energy, which passed between the two women ahead of him en route to the dragon. The android’s enthused smile quickly left his face when the shot sailed far to the left, missing its mark by at least ten feet.

Should get a homing module or something… Until he could try and close the gap, Proto Man knew it’d be pointless to attack, so with a scowl, he reverted his cannon back into a hand and took hold of Salsa’s reins. “Just keep a steady pace and we’ll try to close the distance when it banks or climbs.”

Without removing its glare from the dragon, the bird nodded her head as her rider leaned forward to reduce the amount of drag he would generate. Up ahead, Samus and Cindy continued to press their pursuit.