Inside the SHIELD base.
"Any word on the Leopard Gurongi reappearing?" Steve asked, looking up from polishing his shield as Coulson entered the room.
Coulson shook his head. "No word from the NYPD yet, but the team has a new partner."
He stepped aside to reveal the man standing behind him.
"Clark Kent," Coulson introduced, his tone carrying a slight, uncharacteristic hint of surrealism. "He's one of the members of the temporary special response team Director Fury is assembling."
The newcomer was indeed Kent, who had traveled from New Mexico to New York and agreed to join Nick Fury's off-book team. Since the World Security Council refused to grant Fury the authority to establish a fully autonomous "Avengers" initiative, Fury had settled for the next best thing: forming a temporary task force under the guise of cooperating with the NYPD to combat the man-hunting Gurongi.
He was setting up the framework. Once the right opportunity arose, he could transition them into a true Avengers team immediately. For now, he had assigned Kent to this task force to partner with Steve and deal with the Gurongi.
"Hello, Mr. Kent," Steve said naturally. Having been out of touch with the world for nearly seventy years and only recently awakened, Steve was busy catching up on modern life. While he was learning quickly, his priority wasn't comic book characters; he had no idea who "Superman" was and treated "Clark Kent" as just an ordinary name.
Kent looked at the circular shield in Steve's hand, speaking with a touch of uncertainty: "Are you the Captain America who went missing during World War II?"
"If the Captain America you're talking about is named Steve Rogers, then yes, that's me," Steve replied with a casual, easy smile.
"It's an honor," Kent greeted him warmly.
Coulson watched their perfectly normal, calm exchange, his mind filled with silent commentary.
Steve Rogers and Clark Kent... Are you two really not surprised by each other's names at all?
Shaking off the thought, Coulson briefed Kent on the Gurongi situation.
Kent's expression turned grave as he listened. "Two Gurongi have already started their killing games, resulting in nearly a hundred casualties?!"
"Correct. And the Gurongi appearing now are likely just the lower-tier members," Steve added solemnly.
"So, Nick Fury wants me to deal with these 'Gurongi' monsters," Kent stated.
"To work with the Captain to eliminate the monsters hunting humans," Coulson nodded.
Just then, a SHIELD agent rushed in. "Message from the NYPD: the Leopard Gurongi has reappeared."
"Seems I won't have time for a break," Kent joked, spreading his hands.
Steve was already shouldering his shield, standing up to leave.
Outside the base, Coulson pointed to two motorcycles. "These are specially modified by SHIELD. The Leopard Gurongi is fast—initial estimates suggest she's as quick as a professional race car. Standard vehicles can't keep up, and in the complex urban environment of New York, motorcycles are more practical than cars. Director Fury had the R&D department build these reinforced bikes specifically for your use."
Steve nodded and hopped onto a bike, heading straight for the reported sighting. Kent followed closely behind.
"Dammit! Why is it another one of these fast ones?" A G3 operator growled in frustration, watching the Leopard Gurongi pull away from them with ease.
The Leopard Gurongi glanced back at the struggling G3 suits and smirked. These Rinto warriors couldn't even touch her speed. There was no need to fight them; completing the Gegel was her only priority.
She locked onto her next target and was about to strike when she heard the roar of engines approaching fast. Judging by the sound, they were gaining on her from behind—meaning they were faster than her.
Wary, she looked back to see Kuuga—Steve—rapidly closing the gap on a motorcycle.
"Kuuga!" the Leopard hissed. She put on a burst of speed. She had no desire for extra combat unrelated to the game, and she sensed she didn't have a high chance of victory against Kuuga, considering he had already slain two of her kind.
But even as she tried to flee, Steve refused to let go. He pushed the motorcycle's horsepower to the limit, matching her pace perfectly.
"Cursed Kuuga!" the Leopard cursed. She had run for kilometers and was nearly out of the city center, yet she couldn't shake him.
Suddenly, a motorcycle veered in from the front to cut her off. Kent and Steve had coordinated; Kent had taken a detour to block her path.
Caught off guard, the Leopard Gurongi was slammed into by Kent's bike and sent flying. She stood up, clutching a bruised thigh, her eyes filled with hatred as she glared at Kent. Her leg was injured; her speed would be hampered for a short while. Realizing she couldn't outrun Kuuga now, she prepared to fight.
With a screech, she pounced at Kent like a predator, her claws aimed at his throat and eyes.
"Careful!" Steve warned. He knew Kent wasn't ordinary, but he didn't yet know the full extent of his power.
Facing the attack, Kent instantaneously transformed. His body was encased in armor, and his fists crackled with electricity as he met the Leopard's claws.
Two overlapping sonic booms echoed through the air.
The Leopard Gurongi was blasted backward by Kent's punches, her hands charred by the electrical discharge he had released.
"Besides Kuuga... how can the Rinto have such a powerful warrior?" the Leopard gasped in disbelief.
"Humans are not prey for your slaughter," Steve spoke in the Gurongi tongue as he lunged forward.
The Leopard Gurongi struggled to defend herself with her unhealed hands, forced into a steady retreat. She wanted to escape, but Kent was watching from the sidelines like a hawk. Though he didn't join Steve in a direct double-team, he intercepted her every time she showed any intent to flee.
The pressure from Kent's presence made the Leopard Gurongi feel a massive threat, leaving her constrained and vulnerable against Steve's assault.
"Hey, you three... what's the deal? Is this... some kind of civil war?"
Peter Parker, having followed the reports of the monster, swung down on a web and landed nearby. He couldn't help but let his mouth run as he took in the scene.
In Peter's eyes, the Leopard woman was clearly a monster. But the mutated body of Steve's Kuuga form and the bio-mechanical armored look of Kent (Ichigo) were equally strange and monstrous.
Hearing the youthful voice, Steve punched the Leopard Gurongi back and turned to Peter. "Listen, kid. This is dangerous. This isn't something someone your age should be involved in."
Peter shook his head, a bit miffed. "I'm not a 'kid.' I'm your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man."
Steve glanced at Kent with a look that asked, Have you heard of him?
Kent honestly shook his head, indicating he hadn't.
This left Peter standing there in a rather awkward silence.
(End of Chapter)