Rage of the Rathalos (Saga)

[Samus Aran]

The fight became more dangerous by the minute. Samus began to feel increasingly as though her contributions were a grain of sand in a sandstorm. Lasers flew, hammers pounded, swords swung, magic lashed … and the Rathalos was in the midst of it all. She saw its face, bloodied and broken. Its scales torn where her bullets had exploded against its flesh. It knew that it was beaten. So did she.

Despite the pain it must have been in, it was still fighting. It lashed its tail, swinging its claws and snapping with reckless abandon. These were the final moments of its life. How long had it lived here in the Omniverse? Who had summoned it here? Omni, in his sadistic voyeurism? Or someone more foolish, hoping to gain power in this verse? Or perhaps it had been here since the beginning, and only recently emerged. Samus wondered none of these things as she stepped towards the beast.

“STEP ASIDE!” she roared.

All the fighters, in their rainbow panoply of attire, with their shining swords and mighty cannons, understood. They’d found a rhythm now, gradually upping their tempo as the dragon slowed his. The Rathalos turned to roar at his one remaining target. His hot breath came in gasps, his chest moving rapidly up and down. His narrow eyes slit with hatred and what seemed to be a grim grin crossed its face. It opened its mouth and inhaled.

Samus opened the shutters on her Power Suit’s shoulderpads. Row after row of tiny missiles exploded forth, raining down on the dragon’s body. Its open mouth suffered the worst, getting the brunt of the attack. In moments, the hunter could no longer see the dragon from the sheer blinding radiance of the explosion. She grit her teeth and covered her visor as its force threatened to blow her over. In another moment, the light was gone, and only smoke remained. The Rathalos did not get up.

Inlumia jammed a sword into its eye. “Just making sure,” he said.