Only by squeezing the fury in his heart to the extreme could someone who valued loyalty and righteousness be driven completely mad. Without blood being shed, Captain America might never be able to let go. As the saying goes, how can a person who cherishes love and righteousness unleash their full potential against an enemy they don't truly hate?
Blaine still stood straight where he was, neither humble nor overbearing, coldly watching the two remaining men.
Captain America, who had been so aggressive just moments ago, was now staring at the fallen bodies of Falcon and Bucky. He was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling sharply with each breath. His emotions were on the verge of exploding.
Tony was wearing his helmet, so his expression couldn't be seen, but it was probably grim. They had already estimated the Bounty Hunter's strength at the highest possible level, yet the situation now was still…
"Want revenge? Heh."
Blaine provoked them again.
But his words were like opening a floodgate—thundering straight into Captain America's ears.
"Let's go."
Captain America growled low, hurling the shield straight out. Then he leapt up, grabbed onto Tony's armor, and flew forward with him.
Blaine reached out to catch the shield, but he could clearly feel that the force behind it this time was far stronger than before.
"Let's get serious, then. Come on."
Blaine stepped forward, gripping the shield and settling into a fighting stance.
When Tony flew over Blaine's head, Captain America let go and launched himself toward Blaine like a human missile.
Blaine raised the shield to throw it back—but before he could make another move, a laser struck his lower back again. Immediately after, a piercing sound wave followed, and in the blink of an eye, Captain America was already right in front of him.
"Good tactics."
Feeling the fierce wind rush against his face, Captain America's punch actually made Blaine's skin prickle with pain. He hadn't felt something like this in a long time, ever since his physique reached 450. Acting on instinct, Blaine quickly tilted his head aside to avoid the punch.
Boom, boom…
But just as his head turned, he collided head-on with a missile Tony had fired.
Although much of the blast was absorbed by the Hunter suit, he was completely unguarded at that moment, and the explosion went off right beside his ear. The shock disoriented Blaine for a split second, and the shield slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.
When Blaine regained his senses, Tony's laser was already bearing down on his face again—and this time it was noticeably thicker than before.
One hand was no longer enough to block it, so Blaine had no choice but to raise his elbow, doing his best to keep the beam from getting any closer to his face. It wasn't that he was afraid of being hurt—it was simply that he didn't want others to see his face clearly.
A person's face was their dignity. Whether it could be injured or not, Blaine was unwilling to let others touch it.
However, before he could make another move, a sharp pain exploded in his abdomen. He looked down and realized that Captain America had landed a punch without him even noticing.
When he'd collided with Vision's vibranium body earlier, Blaine hadn't felt a thing—but this flesh-and-blood body of Captain America had actually made him feel pain.
As a seasoned and courageous super soldier, Captain America didn't stop after that punch. He pressed the advantage relentlessly.
Anticipating Captain America's next move, Blaine raised one arm to block Tony's laser while his other arm came up as well.
The moment his arm lifted, Captain America's shield slammed down hard. What followed was a flurry of consecutive blows. If it weren't for Blaine's Hawkeye slowing his perception of the movements, anyone else would have been beaten flat into the ground long ago.
Kicking Captain America away, Blaine noticed Tony clasping his palms together—the two repulsor ports on his palms merging into one. No wonder the laser was so thick.
Blaine grabbed a nearby parked car and hurled it forward, trying to use it to disrupt the laser barrage.
But Tony clearly wasn't planning to fall for that. A tracking round launched from his shoulder and easily blew the car apart.
"Damn it. You two are really teaming up to bully me."
Tony intended to keep the laser pressure on and seize Blaine's arm, creating an opening for Captain America to rush in again.
Seeing straight through their intentions, Blaine remained calm, waiting for Captain America's next attack.
Sure enough, Captain America threw the shield once more and charged in behind it. The shield was only a distraction—the real goal was to close the distance.
Boom—
Facing the same tactic again, Blaine grabbed the shield—but the tingling sensation in his palm was far stronger than before. Captain America's strength was still climbing.
Before Blaine could shake off the lingering numbness, Captain America was already in front of him.
In close combat, Blaine had never feared anyone. He had long mastered the highest forms of martial arts on Earth—Tai Chi, military boxing, Krav Maga, Wing Chun, Jeet Kune Do, wrestling, Taekwondo. He was intimately familiar with them all.
Even while holding back one arm, even if his experience wasn't quite on par with Captain America's, with his physical strength alone, Blaine should have been able to toy with him like a cat with a mouse.
Yet as the fight continued, Blaine's understanding was overturned again and again. With every punch Captain America threw, his power kept increasing. Eventually, Blaine could feel the wind of his fists carrying such force that it triggered a danger sense—strong enough to genuinely threaten him.
This was terrifying. The expected scene of beating Captain America into submission never appeared. Instead, waves of dull pain kept spreading through Blaine's body.
Captain America wasn't having an easy time either. Every punch Blaine landed carried the force of thousands of pounds. As a result, the fight turned into a brutal exchange—Captain America landed one punch, Blaine answered with two.
The two of them traded hundreds of blows over dozens of exchanges. To Blaine's surprise, he found that he hadn't gained any clear advantage. Purely in terms of physical power, Captain America felt only one level below him.
This was a forced fifty-fifty split. Captain America truly lived up to being Marvel's favored son. Though he was only human, supposedly raised to the absolute limit of human potential, that "limit" was far too vague.
When he was weaker, he could fight Crossbones head-on. When he was stronger, he could trade blows with beings like Thanos—and now, he could even force a fifty-fifty stalemate with Blaine. No wonder he only needed a single vibranium shield.
If Mjolnir were added to the mix—Stars and Stripes shield plus Mjolnir—that would be Captain America at his absolute peak.
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