The Winter Soldier did not keep Kent waiting long. Just as Kent's injuries from the explosion had begun to heal, the soldier appeared before him.
Kent stared at the mechanical arm of the Winter Soldier, his gaze narrowing. "You're the one Shocker sent—the one truly responsible for capturing me."
The Winter Soldier's icy gaze swept over Kent without a hint of emotion.
"No. 1's injuries from the blast healed faster than I anticipated," Zola observed, watching Kent's condition through the data feed from the Winter Soldier. His eyes flickered with analytical light. "Is it because of that so-called thunder god power? Let's see exactly what level No. 1 has reached now that he wields the power of lightning."
At Zola's command, the Winter Soldier's metal arm shifted form, launching a flail toward Kent.
Kent sidestepped the spiked ball and reached out to grab the connecting iron chain. He pulled with all his might, attempting to jerk the Winter Soldier toward him. Suddenly, he felt a whistle of wind behind his head—the flail, as if controlled by some unseen force, had looped back toward his back.
Kent raised his arm to deflect the impact. To his surprise, the flail was easily swatted away; Kent didn't feel much power behind the strike. However, seeing the trajectory of the weapon, he immediately realized the intent.
The flail wasn't meant to strike him directly; it was circling him, intending to bind him within the coils of the iron chain.
"Damn it!" Kent's face darkened. He leaped upward to avoid being bound. Simultaneously, the driver at his waist spun, releasing a powerful gust of wind pressure. The air currents buffeted the flail controlled by the Winter Soldier, disrupting its flight path and preventing the chain from tightening around him.
Kent successfully vaulted out of the trap. Seeing his surprise maneuver fail, the Winter Soldier showed no emotion, retracting the flail as his metal arm returned to its original state. Without a word, he transformed his arm into a long blade and charged directly at Kent.
The two engaged in a fierce melee. After a dozen exchanges, Kent used the force of a mutual punch to retreat, exiting the immediate combat zone. He glanced at the gashes on his body.
He looked at the blade extending from the Winter Soldier's arm with wary eyes. During the skirmish, his bio-armor had been easily sliced open by that blade. Their combat skills were roughly equal—both possessed high-level techniques ingrained into their bodies as instinct by Shocker. In this scenario, the Winter Soldier held a massive advantage with a weapon capable of piercing Kent's defenses.
Furthermore, this guy hasn't transformed yet, meaning he hasn't gone all out, Kent thought, a sense of unease rising. If he, "No. 1," could transform to cover his body in armor and boost his strength and defense, there was no reason this new Shocker warrior wouldn't have a similar capability.
"Through this engagement, No. 1's current combat data has been successfully recorded. His metrics have indeed improved significantly, exceeding the theoretical limits from when he was first designed. It seems the 'thunder god power' is quite valuable," Dr. Zola remarked thoughtfully, looking at the data feedback on his screen.
"The Winter Soldier's combat effectiveness in his base state has also been verified. Now, let him use his full power to test the total combat capabilities of the Winter Soldier's 'Complete Form'."
Zola was clearly treating this battle as a dual-sided experiment, verifying the limits of both Kent and the Winter Soldier.
Before Kent's eyes, as Zola issued the transformation command, nano-metal surged from various parts of the Winter Soldier's body, coating the surface to form a sleek suit of armor.
Kent watched with extreme caution, thinking to himself: Finally transforming?
Once the transformation was complete, an orange-yellow glow erupted from the Winter Soldier's body. A shockwave of heat surged outward, kicking up dust.
The Extremis Virus integrated into the Winter Soldier turned him into a powerful living energy source. Because vibranium had been used to reinforce his skeletal cells, he could perfectly contain and harness the energy released by the virus without fear of losing control.
Consequently, when Zola and Stern added Extremis to the Winter Soldier, they hadn't worried about stability. Instead, using Shocker's technology, they had maximized the virus's output. This was a "Power-Up" version of Extremis, capable of releasing even more violent and potent energy.
Kent saw the heat radiating from the Winter Soldier's arm distorting the air as the soldier charged. He summoned powerful lightning into his own hands. Kent knew that against this transformed version of the Winter Soldier, he would stand no chance without using his lightning power.
This time, neither side used fancy tricks. It was a direct, head-on collision of fists.
Kent's surging thunderous power slammed into the Winter Soldier's blistering energy. The collision released a massive shockwave; much of the sand and soil around them melted instantly from the dissipated energy, turning into glass. The air filled with a scorched, ozone-heavy scent.
Initially, they were in a deadlock. However, the vibranium within the Winter Soldier's body, bones, and armor could absorb the force of external attacks, storing and converting it into his own strength. A significant portion of Kent's lightning energy was being absorbed.
As a result, Kent's lightning grew weaker while the Winter Soldier's energy output grew stronger. The scales of power slowly tipped.
Finally, Kent's strength faltered. He was sent flying by a punch from the Winter Soldier. His armor was shattered in several places from the previous energy struggle, leaving him seriously injured. In contrast, the Winter Soldier remained unharmed, as his vibranium-infused armor was impervious to the energy backlash.
"I'm still no match for him? Will I really be caught by Shocker and turned back into experimental material?!" Kent knelt on one knee, staring at the approaching Winter Soldier with indignant eyes. Although his self-healing factor was working to repair the damage, it clearly wouldn't be enough to restore him in time.
"You there, in the armor! Cease all actions immediately and stay where you are! Otherwise, we will take necessary measures!" a voice shouted.
S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had arrived nearby, yelling at the Winter Soldier through a megaphone. The Winter Soldier ignored them completely, continuing his steady march toward Kent.
"Fire!" commanded Francis Angle, the Level 5 agent leading the support team, into his radio.
Bang! A thunderous report echoed.
A S.H.I.E.L.D. sniper using an anti-materiel rifle fired at the Winter Soldier. Although the vibranium-reinforced armor successfully blocked the bullet, the raw kinetic energy still knocked the Winter Soldier back several meters.
(End of Chapter)