A familiar figure stepped through the puddles into view.
With a flick of his left hand, the shield slung over his forearm.
Madame Gao's previously stable emotions wavered slightly as she narrowed her eyes and sized up the newcomer. " Captain America?"
Captain America, Stephen Rogers, had no intention of engaging the enemy in dialogue and instead launched a direct, diagonal attack into the battle.
The three samurai swords at the front were knocked away simultaneously, and the three people were also knocked back.
The Punisher held up the small revolver, his thumb still resting on the hammer.
He had heard retired drunks at the veterans' club tell jokes about the shield a thousand times over.
Those old men raved about this stuff, calling it some kind of magic, and he always thought it was just cheap wartime political propaganda.
But now, this figure, who lives in black-and-white documentaries, stands just three steps away, his dark blue combat uniform covered in mud.
"How badly are you injured? Can you still stand?"
The captain looked seriously at the figure behind the Punisher.
"He won't die, but his spine's been broken," the Punisher replied gruffly.
The captain nodded, flicked his toe, and a samurai sword appeared in his hand. He then tossed it to Frank.
The Punisher... no, he's Frank now.
Frank curled his lip in disgust, shoved the small revolver back into his boot, and saved the last bullet for the most desperate moment.
He raised his hand and slashed down the approaching ninja with a single stroke, the blade wedging into his shoulder blade. He then kicked the ninja in the chest and pulled the blade out.
At the same time, the captain's round shield pushed horizontally, denting the faces of two ninjas on the spot, while Frank's long sword followed closely behind, blocking the counterattack from both sides.
The two worked together for the first time, and their teamwork was surprisingly good.
Frank wiped his face and asked curiously, "Captain, how did you get here?"
"We tracked down a shipment of high-precision weaponry stolen from Stark Industries for three whole days. We just saw a huge fire nearby and guessed the cargo owner was about to reload it..."
He didn't finish his sentence; the name he had been searching for in the recipient's section for over half a century.
James Buchanan, Bucky Barnes.
Madame Gao slammed her teacup on the small table. "Take that shield down from me. The person needs to be alive."
Four dark red figures leaped down from the top of the container, their chain sickles whipping out in a gust of poisonous wind.
The captain ducked to let him pass, his shield knocking away a sickle, and then he elbowed the red-robed man into the container.
At the other end of the factory wall, Luke roared to the sky, his shoulders twitched, and all six chains snapped at once.
The two ninjas who couldn't dodge in time were instantly swept away.
With the shield held at an angle, the captain stood facing the mountain of flesh, his heels sinking into the gravel.
"Another distorted version of the Super Soldier Serum..."
The results that Dr. Erskine risked his life to protect are now being used by this bunch of scum to torture a bar-owning Metahuman.
Luke lunged forward, a large hand descending upon his head.
Instead of retreating, the captain advanced, crouching down and crawling into the other man's arms.
The shield tilted at an angle to deflect the brute force of the fall, and then delivered a shoulder strike to the ribs.
The mountain of flesh swayed and took a half step back. If an ordinary person had taken that blow, their ribs would have been broken into seven or eight pieces.
Luke spread his arms and turned into a wall of flesh as he pressed down, while Captain slid along the ground, slipping under his armpits, and the shield deflected off his knee.
It was no use; his legs remained firmly planted on the ground, and instead, an elbow strike came down.
"Duang!"
The captain, who was bracing himself with his shield, was knocked down by half a head, but was not seriously injured.
Even the modified Luke Cage was helpless against this Vibranium Shield.
The second elbow strike followed immediately, but the captain tilted his shield, dissipating the force into the ground, and then spun half a circle before emerging from under Luke's arm.
Luke turned around and swung his hand at the captain, who ducked to avoid it, the shield grazing the bald man's chin.
That's enough to knock out an average person's entire row of teeth.
The head merely tilted back slightly, but the ferocity in its bloodshot eyes intensified.
"Wake up, big guy."
The captain slid back two steps. " Harlem bartenders shouldn't be doing this."
His response was a howl.
The shield slammed into the ground, sending the captain sliding three meters along the floor.
That's outrageous.
Compared to this man, the guy he wrestled with decades ago was gentle.
The captain took a breath and stared at the face covered in blood.
There was something familiar beneath that face.
The pain of being forced to disassemble and reassemble on the lab table, and the despair of not even being able to cry for help.
On the other side, a dozen or so the Hand ninjas had already surrounded him. Frank's katana was chipped, and Daredevil on his back was completely oblivious, about to be completely overwhelmed by the barrage of blades.
Without further hesitation, Steve swung his right hand forcefully, Vibranium Shield flying. The shield whistled through the rain, shattering the three longswords that were falling in front of him.
The rebound then shattered the jawbones of two ninjas, tracing a sharp arc in mid-air before landing steadily back in his hand.
"Take him with you! Don't leave him here!"
Frank blocked the descending Blade with his own, veins bulging on his neck. "And what about you?! Are you staying to be this bunch of lunatics' New Year's Eve dinner?"
"I'll cover the rear!"
The roar of engines drew near as a modified military truck crushed the wreckage of the goalposts and crashed into the field.
Half of his body was sticking out from the roof of the car.
A top hat, a cigar, and a light machine gun spitting fire.
"Da da da da da!"
Bullets grazed the captain's boot tips, and the surrounding ninjas fell in a row.
The captain kicked away Luke, who was lunging at him, and almost burst out laughing, " Dum Dum! Weren't you blocking the way?"
"I flipped all the cars blocking the road into the ditch!"
Dugan pulled the bolt and fired another burst in the direction of the container.
"Enough with the chit-chat! Get on the bus! Everyone get on the bus!"
Dugan turned his gun towards the factory. "My God! What is that thing?!"
"Victim!"
The captain rushed to the vehicle and yanked open the rear door.
" Frank! Go!"
Frank didn't waste any words this time. He lifted Daredevil's numb legs and shoved him into the carriage, then turned to Steve outside the door. "Aren't you coming up?"
I have to stop him.
Dum Dum Dugan scratched his head, looking exasperated. "Oh... God, here we go again."
The old man was all too familiar with that expression. Decades ago, this kid was just like that, saying something like, "You guys jump first, I'll go chase after them," only to end up plunging headfirst into an ice hole himself.
Even with reinforcements arriving, Madame Gao remained calm and unhurried, taking a few steps forward with her dragon-headed cane.
"A cripple with a broken spine, a vigilante with blood on his hands. To trade the life of Captain America for these two pieces of rotten flesh, Mr. Rogers, is an extremely unfavorable deal no matter how you look at it."
The captain didn't answer, but pointed his shield at the group in front of him.
Madame Gao chuckled and gently tapped her dragon-headed cane into the puddle.
"Captain, you won't be able to take everyone with you tonight."