[Captain America: Native grade Protagonist Template. Origin: Captain America and the Avengers. One of the playable protagonists is Steve Rogers. A core figure among Marvel's superheroes, he often serves as the backbone of a team. His physical capabilities are at the peak of human potential, and he is exceptionally skilled in the use of shields.
When you choose to load the "Captain America" template:
- You will receive the template's exclusive weapon, "Captain America's Shield."
- You will receive the template's exclusive skills: [Shield Master], [Flash Charge], [Whirlwind Jump], and [Fire to Oil].
- Note: Loading or unloading this template incurs a 25 minute cooldown.]
Indeed, Captain America was the protagonist template Chris currently had loaded.
Loading a Marvel template in a DC world. It felt like the ultimate crossover betrayal.
The brawler, who had instinctively pulled back his swollen and bleeding fist, hadn't even realized what was happening before an upward shield bash slammed into his jaw. The impact dislocated his mandible and sent teeth flying, plunging him into instant unconsciousness.
The bar erupted into chaos. The patrons couldn't believe a slender, soft looking newcomer would actually dare to fight back. But as gang enforcers and combatants, their reflexes were sharp. Several of them reached into their coats or waistbands for their handguns.
However, Chris was faster. He gripped the edge of the shield and hurled it forward like a discus!
The shield's flight speed outpaced their attempts to draw and aim. As it whistled through the air, its spinning edge exhibited the sharpness of a razor, effortlessly slicing through a handgun and the trigger finger and thumb of the man holding it, before embedding itself into the bridge of his nose.
Yet, the shield's momentum didn't dissipate. As if possessing a supernatural elasticity, it ricocheted toward another gunman. This time, it struck from the side, slicing the man's ear in half before coming to rest in his skull.
[Shield Master: Template Skill, Composite. Captain America's mastery of the shield has reached a level that defies the laws of physics. He can perform incredible feats with a shield.
While holding a shield:
- You can hurl the shield at a target. Flight speed is increased by 100%, dealing full Strength + Shield Bash damage. During flight, the shield will maintain a degree of homing guidance based on the target's movement. If the first hit is successful, the shield will ricochet to the most threatening enemy within a range of Strength 1 meter. If the first hit misses but there are obstacles nearby, the shield will bounce off the obstacles to strike the target.
- Ricochet damage does not suffer from power decay.
- All performance stats of shields you hold are doubled, and the rate of durability consumption is halved.
- Your connection and coordination with shields are significantly enhanced.
- Once every 30 seconds, you can use a specialized gesture to recall a shield you've thrown that is within Strength 1 meter.]
Blood stained the bar floor, and the screams of the fallen began to clear the arrogance from the eyes of the survivors. They stopped their charge, staring at Chris with expressions of growing doubt and fear. Two terms began to flicker in their minds:
Super Hero or Super Villain?
Because their own boss was a supervillain, these men understood better than anyone exactly how terrifying such beings could be.
However, since they were only low level thugs, their intellects were generally lacking. Chris's resistance only served to fuel their rage. Instead of retreating after seeing their comrades' fates, they became even more incensed. They flipped over tables and chairs, swarming toward Chris.
That mysterious shield was gone. Now was the perfect time to strike!
Having temporarily lost his Captain America shield, Chris took a half step back and calmly raised his secondary arm. A split second later, the hideous, massive head of the Cyclops appeared in his hand, its realistic, bloodshot eye staring down the nearest man.
Even from an artistic perspective, the thing was terrifying. The thugs' survival instincts screamed at them to stop... but Chris simply ducked half his body behind the head and launched into a forward charge!
Much like a racing car flooring the accelerator, Chris accelerated instantly. Before the thugs could even register the pain, his sharp, solitary horn had pierced a man's chest, lifting him off his feet and sending him flying.
If the mugger in the alley felt like he'd been hit by a van going forty miles per hour, this man felt like he'd been hit by a pickup truck going eighty.
And this was still the result of the [Shield Master] bonus.
Chris was currently effectively Dual Wielding shields. He hadn't merged the enchantments of the "Captain America Shield" and the "Cyclops Head." He was simply holding them both, allowing him to benefit from both sets of bonuses.
The giant's head was ugly, strange, and a bit smelly, but it was still a bona fide magical shield. Chris had no aesthetic hang ups when it came to gear; he cared about stats, not looks.
He was the type of gamer who would gladly use a weapon named "Pink Fluffy Bunny" if it could kill the Demon King.
Under the influence of [Shield Master], the performance of the Cyclops Head was completely doubled.
The shield's original +4 Strength bonus became +8. This sudden spike pushed Chris's Strength to 24, only 5 points shy of the original Cyclops he'd killed.
While racial differences meant Chris couldn't fully replicate the giant's raw power as a pure human, 24 points of Strength gave him more than enough power to bulldoze through a crowd of lackeys.
Of course, there was a small price for the doubled Strength bonus: the original -2 Charisma became -4. Chris's Charisma had plummeted to a measly 5 points.
No wonder the gang members hated the sight of him. With a Charisma of 5, coupled with racial prejudice and their "orders," it was a miracle they'd managed to wait for the bartender's signal before attacking.
With a piercing [Flash Charge], Chris burst through the encirclement, dragging a corpse along with him as he sprinted from the bar to the door.
"Get him! He's scared! Don't let him get away!" the bartender screamed, sounding increasingly frantic even as he tried to hide behind the counter.
Everyone assumed Chris was about to break down the door and flee up the long stairs leading to the surface. Instead, he shook the corpse off the giant's horn and turned to face the crowd.
"I really am scared," Chris said, his empty right arm twitching slightly.
Then, he let out a terrifying smile that revealed his gums, and squeezed out a single sentence that sent a chill through every man in the room.
"...I'm scared you'll run away!"
With a loud Clang, the bloodstained Captain America shield that a thug had kicked aside suddenly shot across the floor and snapped back onto Chris's right arm.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]