Day 1 Evening

[Proto Man]

Was it wrong for him to feel thrilled with this rush?

Proto Mouse dodged around one of the giant’s flailing strikes and took a moment to catch his breath. His cybernetics weren’t functional—something he anticipated given Blues’ situation—but he wasn’t bothered. He didn’t need a targeting reticule to tell him to bludgeon the giant monster until it stopped trying to smash them. He didn’t need gauges or measurements to guide his movements.

The girl—Ruby—had stunned the creature with a blow from a blade that seemed too large for her young hands. Despite its size, the giant had been momentarily incapacitated, and as it struggled to liberate itself with one large hand, its remaining hubcap-sized hand swiped angrily at its attackers.

A collection of melee assailants, the quartet kept their distance, knowing that none of them wanted to risk putting themselves within the range of those desperate swings.

With a feral howl from the strange, black pit that served as its visage, the creature wrenched itself free from the wall and lurched toward the assembled primes. As it moved, the giant closed his right hand around his left wrist. Proto Mouse winced as the lumbering, faceless creature effortlessly tore off its right arm without skipping a single beat in its soulless march toward the quartet.

Wielding the limb like a gruesome club, the giant lashed out with a horizontal swing. The rodent’s augmented muscles operated faster than his peers, and he managed to leapfrog the club’s path as his allies either dove back or absorbed the impact.

Metal boots clicked back down on the cave floor, and with a grunt, Proto Mouse leapt forward. Before he could close the distance, the makeshift club arched down from above. Another quick redirection took him out of harm’s way as the weapon crashed into the ground with enough force to splinter the floor of the cavern and liberate a few fistfuls of dust and shards from the ceiling.

Proto Mouse scrambled to his feet as his allies likewise regained their bearings. The cyborg rushed to closer the gap. As he did, another swing came, but this time, he had it telegraphed. With a smirk, he dropped down and slid forward on his shin pads. As he leaned his head back, the limb passed a few inches over the tip of his nose with an emphatic whoosh that caused his ears to flutter.

By the time his momentum wore out, Proto Mouse lunged up and smashed his helmeted skull into the belly of the giant. The impact was enough to shatter the guardian’s momentum, and in that fleeting moment of weakness, Ruby and Belle were upon it—their weapons lashing out with hapless abandon as they tried to keep their opponent from mounting a counteroffensive.

Despite the assortment of chops and blows that rained down on its faceless mass, the giant failed to relent to the onslaught. If anything, the fervor of the assault seemed to stir something inside of its gray form. It lashed out with its club, catching its three attackers and batting them aside as if they were dust on a fan blade.

With a swift motion, the guardian slammed its removed arm back into its socket. Rejoined joints cracked and popped for a few brief moments as they settled back into place, and after a final flex of its oversized fingers, the giant sprung forward. Quick blows scattered the group again, and despite the odds—or perhaps in spite of them—Proto Mouse was back on his feet and rushing into the belly of the beast.