The power amplification resonance of 108 roidmudes formed a Heavy Acceleration field that swept across more than half of the Earth.
Within the affected range, everything—humans, animals, and even natural phenomena such as wind, snow, and flowing water—fell into a sluggish, slowed state.
Human society inside the affected area had its activities severely disrupted.
At the same time, New York City, the center of the Heavy Acceleration field, was attacked by the mechanical mutants. The city had only just emerged from the massive Chitauri invasion, and reconstruction after the disaster had barely begun when the sudden assault of the mechanical mutants arrived.
Because New York stood at the epicenter of the Heavy Acceleration field, all people and machines there were slowed to the greatest degree possible. Humanity found it extremely difficult to organize any effective response to the mutants' attacks.
Under the influence of Heavy Acceleration, nothing could move quickly.
In fact, it wasn't just ordinary people. Even superheroes who possessed Rider powers struggled to move.
At this moment, Steve was fighting the last remaining Gurongi from the Me Group who was carrying out a game. Transforming into Kuuga's Rising Titan Form, Steve had successfully severely wounded the mantis-type Gurongi, the strongest member of the Me Group.
He had been about to press the attack and finish off the Gurongi, who had been using bladed weapons to decapitate passersby at incredible speed.
But suddenly the Heavy Acceleration field appeared.
Both Steve in Kuuga form and the mantis Gurongi could clearly see and sense that their own movements—and their opponent's—had become dramatically slower.
As a result, both sides could easily perceive the trajectory and intention of the other's attacks.
Seen from the outside, the battle looked almost like two children play-fighting, each slowly swinging their weapons so their moves would actually connect.
"This… kind… of battle… boring… extremely boring… meaningless…"
The mantis Gurongi spoke in broken intervals before turning around and leaving.
Steve did not pursue him.
The sudden Heavy Acceleration phenomenon left him full of questions, and he wanted to figure out what exactly was happening.
Especially since he could see explosions from the roidmudes attacking New York City in the distance. Steve could not help but feel deeply worried.
However, he was currently too far away to help.
Earlier, to avoid the explosion caused by defeating a Gurongi from harming civilians, Steve had deliberately retreated while fighting, drawing the mantis Gurongi to a remote suburban area. He was now some distance from New York City and could not return immediately.
"Could this be… some kind of alien technology?!"
After all, the Chitauri invasion had only happened recently. Although their invasion had failed, it was now obvious that Earth had attracted the attention of extraterrestrial civilizations, likely because something on the planet was valuable to them.
Naturally, Steve's first thought was that aliens were behind this phenomenon.
He found a relatively safe location, cancelled his transformation, and slowly picked up his communicator to contact Nick Fury.
At S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, Nick Fury felt the sudden change and frowned in disbelief.
"What the hell… is happening?"
He immediately contacted the research staff.
"A… mysterious… field… effect… has caused… all physical motion… across a vast area… to become… slower than normal…"
A scientist reported haltingly.
"How large is the affected area?" Fury immediately asked the intelligence department.
"From… Japan and Korea in the west… to the Middle East in the east… aside from parts of Asia… more than half the Earth… has entered this slowed state!"
Though the intelligence officer struggled to speak full sentences, the shock in his voice was obvious.
"The cause… of this phenomenon… should be… a group of unknown monsters… appearing in New York.
Inside New York… the slowing effect… is clearly much stronger… than elsewhere."
Images appeared on the screen showing roidmudes rampaging through New York, along with comparative data of the Heavy Acceleration intensity in New York versus other regions.
"Fuck… what the hell are these things now?"
Nick Fury's face darkened as he cursed internally.
"So… if we eliminate… the monsters creating this field… the phenomenon should disappear?"
Fury asked.
He was already calculating which forces he should assemble to deal with the mechanical mutants in New York.
But considering the Heavy Acceleration effect, defeating the mutants—who could move freely inside the field—would likely be extremely difficult under normal circumstances.
"The Captain's communication is coming through."
At that moment, Coulson spoke up.
After learning that the mechanical mutants had caused the Heavy Acceleration phenomenon across half the Earth—and were still destroying New York—Steve immediately prepared to return to the city and fight them.
"Captain, the situation is still unclear. You shouldn't act rashly."
Nick Fury shook his head.
Then he paused.
He moved his hand slightly, sounding uncertain.
"…The phenomenon from earlier… has disappeared?"
The intelligence staff quickly verified the information.
"The abnormal phenomenon that covered most of the Earth has basically disappeared. At present, only New York remains in the slowed state."
"I want to know why," Fury said, frowning.
"It appears that a mysterious warrior suddenly appeared and defeated some of the monsters responsible for the phenomenon."
By analyzing surveillance footage across New York City, the intelligence department found the figure currently battling the roidmudes.
On Fury's screen appeared footage of Prototype Drive fighting and defeating a mechanical mutant.
The reason Heavy Acceleration had affected half the Earth was because 108 roidmudes activated their power simultaneously, stacking and amplifying each other.
It functioned like a formation array.
With all 108 units operating together, the system could generate power far beyond expectations. But if even one unit was missing, the formation would effectively collapse.
After the Heavy Acceleration field was deployed, Krim and Chase revived, transforming into Prototype Drive and arriving at the battlefield to fight the mutants and protect humanity.
Once Drive defeated the first roidmudes, the formation was broken.
The Heavy Acceleration field could no longer spread across half the Earth and could only cover New York City itself.
"The person who designed that armor… must really like sports cars."
Tony suddenly hacked into the internal S.H.I.E.L.D. meeting, opening a window on the virtual screen. Looking at Drive's appearance, he immediately made a sarcastic comment.
Nick Fury glanced at him expressionlessly.
"Stark, don't you think hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s system directly is a little inappropriate?"
Tony looked completely unconcerned.
"When something like this… happens… right outside my doorstep… shouldn't I try to figure out what's going on?"
"Isn't the Avengers Initiative meant to deal with situations exactly like this?"
Finally leaving the Heavy Acceleration area while wearing his armor, Tony complained:
"I've never flown this slowly in my life."
(End of Chapter)