196 Chapter 0196: All-Out Assault (3/5)

Captain America appeared in front of Apex along with two unknown individuals. He had Mjolnir in one hand, the handle of which was tinged green with only the head of the hammer still having its original luster — the symbiote was unable to affect the core of the divine artifact. He had a green bio-suit on him with the Hydra logo on his front that extended to his arms and legs. Unlike the usual Symbiote outfit, he didn't have a maw covering his head since he didn't want to appear monstrous. His shield also seemed to have become a part of his outfit as its color scheme changed into the same green with the Hydra logo in the center.

As for the two individuals beside him, they were wearing the basic Hydra armor and combat uniform.

"Laura—" Captain America's words were cut short as a bolt of lightning landed on top of Laura. He was confused as he hadn't attempted to attack her just yet, but when he saw her seemingly absorb the power of that lightning bolt, he got ready for a fight.

Laura-Alex roared at the three of them, "We are Apex!" They shouted with an almost demonic-sounding voice before punching out toward Captain America. The arm extended forward with a black appendage that collided with Captain America's shield which he'd used to block the blow. The man didn't waste any time and threw his hammer at Apex, choosing not to use lightning for now.

With their form pulsing with lightning, Apex dodged the hammer by moving away from its path, fully aware that they weren't worthy. Even if they were worthy, now wasn't the time to test it out. Just as Apex moved to the side, their feet extended to form a springboard and they jumped toward Captain America with all claws extended. Seeing the glowing blue claws approaching him, Captain America narrowed his eyes and recalled Mjolnir toward him. He raised his shield and blocked the initial attack as a small blast of lightning appeared from the collision. It pushed back both of the man's supporters who quickly cast their respective abilities.

One of them knelt and put both of his hands on the ground while channeling some sort of energy and the other looked at Apex and started speaking. Apex found a shield being raised all around the battlefield between them and Captain America, isolating the two of them. Their eyes narrowed at the man who was kneeling outside the shield maintaining it. Apex heard the other man's words and felt as if they were going into a trance, "Seriously?" Apex slashed a claw at Captain America and spoke with a scoff, "Trying to hypnotize me? Who is that? Doctor Faustus's disciple?"

The Captain's eyes narrowed as he grasped Mjolnir's handle once again, swinging it at Apex who ducked under the swing while swiping their leg at Captain America. He had to flip over the leg that had a glowing blue claw coming out of it, following the hammer's momentum before smashing it down at Apex. They couldn't dodge the attack, so Apex extended their hands together to block the attack with their claws, "Since you can't be controlled, then you are a liability," He said while in mid-air, approaching Apex.

As the hammer hit Apex's claws, a shockwave of lightning spread all around the shielded area. Feeling their claws losing out in the frontal exchange, Apex used their ‹Lightning Manipulation› to suck in Lightning from Mjolnir. Using the divine weapon as a conduit to empower themselves, the arcs of lightning all around Apex started amplifying as the glow got much more prominent. Channeling all of that lightning energy into their claws, Apex burst out with another lightning blast that almost blew Captain America away if not for his impressive hold on the hammer.

Still, though, it gave Apex the opportunity to get out from the siege of the hammer with a flip, almost stabbing one of the foot claws into Captain America's skull.

Both Apex and Captain America stepped back as the captain started rotating the hammer, generating some momentum. At the same time, his head also got covered by the maw of his symbiote, similar to Apex, but not as sleek. Apex had a sleek look since the main host was Laura who had a lanky physique dedicated to a more flexible style of combat. On the other hand, Captain America's form was almost twice as buff as Apex.

Captain America used the momentum of his rotating hammer to shoot toward Apex. Four tentacles appeared from Apex's back as they pushed down on the ground and jumped over Captain America, who had to stop himself in order to not destroy the barrier that was keeping them hidden and isolated. This was the only way for Captain America to go all out without destroying his noble image as the leader by looking like a monster. This was the secondary purpose of the barrier, the main one being to hypnotize Apex while making sure that they didn't escape, which turned out to be useless since they seemed immune to hypnosis.

As Captain America stopped, Apex's legs made contact with his back as they kicked him, making the man collide with the barrier. Following up on their advantage, Apex quickly attacked him with a tentacle that was unfortunately blocked by Captain America's shield. As more tentacles approached, he swung his hammer, swatting away the tentacles as he approached Apex once again.

Getting into close-range combat, Captain America used his hammer to block Apex's claws before slamming his shield into them which was blocked by two tentacles that swatted it to the side. Apex quickly kicked Captain America's undefended side and left a massive lightning-infused gash on the man's abdomen that was quickly covered up by his symbiote.

Ignoring the minor injury, Captain America slammed his foot on the ground as green material escaped from his foot and started tangling up Apex's foot. Just as the Captain slammed his hammer at Apex's claws again, they gave him a terrifying smile that extended from edge to edge, "Big mistake."

Before Captain America could respond to those words, his eyes widened as he felt his suit weakening by a large margin. Instantly understanding the source of the problem, he slammed his shield into Apex before smashing Mjolnir directly on the ground, at the spot of the connection between his symbiote and Apex. The loud bang was followed by the ground cracking as the barrier surrounding him and Apex flickered. But Captain America's objective was fulfilled. He was able to sever the connection that Apex had made with his symbiote.

'25%,' He mentally noted. Within a fraction of a second, Apex had weakened his symbiote by a quarter, 'This is getting difficult without either lightning or many of my symbiote abilities.' He decided to go all out and see who would come out on top. He charged at Apex with his hammer charging up with lightning. Just as he collided with the lightning-infused claws that Apex blocked his attack with, he flipped over them and tried to swipe their legs. Apex flipped above the swipe and did a handstand, slashing their foot claws at Captain America who jumped back.

Charging his hammer up again, Captain America rotated it while at the same time, a Hydra symbol appeared on his back with one of its heads getting cut off. It was witnessed by the man outside who was maintaining the barrier. Captain America attacked Apex once again, repeating the same hit-and-run tactic.

After it was repeated a few times, Apex roared at him and the captain got the illusion of steam rising from Apex's body. Not understanding what was happening, he approached Apex once again, planning to engage in combat before retreating. This time though, just as Apex dodged Mjolnir's blow, they punched Captain America's shield with a level of strength that threw the man away, making him collide with the barrier.

Pressing their advantage, Apex roared and used the four tentacles that were coming out of the back to grab Captain America who barely dodged the four appendages, approaching Apex once again with the hammer swinging in his hand. This time though, there was a charge building up in the center of the hammer. Soon enough, Captain America propelled himself toward Apex who had to block the attack.

Just as Mjolnir and Apex's claws collided, a huge lightning bolt fell from the sky, breaking through the shield and enveloping both Apex and Captain America. Just as it seemed that the lightning was about to die down, even more bolts of lightning joined in with the main bolt like some sort of a lightning tree.

Within the center of the bolt, Apex, and Captain America continued their fight, seemingly unaffected by the lightning that was falling from the sky. As the bolts of lightning continued falling, Apex's movements became faster and faster as they finally got a significant punch in, stabbing Captain America through the abdomen. The momentum of the punch made Captain America drop Mjolnir and threw him out of the blast radius with a trail of smoke. Moments later, Apex absorbed all the falling lightning, turning into a glowing entity of lightning themselves. They condensed all of that lightning toward the Adamantium-Vibranium claws before using the metal skeleton as a conduit to transfer all of that power into a compressed blast that was shot directly at the airborne Captain America, instantly enveloping him in a blast of pure lightning.

***

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