Now, returning to the present.
Upon seeing the two join the fray, the Mimic did not feel bothered; instead, a hint of delight appeared on his face.
The Mimic wasn't someone who could be defeated by sheer numbers, or rather, the more opponents, the more excited he became.
After all, the Mimic's greatest strength was his ability to quickly analyze an opponent's moves and replicate them perfectly.
The reason he hadn't used this ability initially was that he couldn't replicate Nova's attacks.
This guy had been bombarding him with energy beams from the start, which the Mimic couldn't copy. Moreover, all of his superpowers came from the helmet on his head.
But now, with his two companions clearly relying on hand-to-hand combat, it would be much easier for him to deal with them.
Nova wanted to continue playing with the Mimic, but his two companions, White Tiger and Iron Fist, clearly weren't in the mood for it.
"Let's hurry up. I need to finish this quickly so I can get back to my school practical report," White Tiger said.
With that, White Tiger lunged forward, initiating the attack against the Mimic.
Facing White Tiger's preemptive strike, the Mimic remained unfazed. He effortlessly neutralized the attack and then delivered a short-range punch to White Tiger's abdomen, sending him flying back over ten meters.
Iron Fist supported the retreating White Tiger from behind and said softly, "Let's go together."
White Tiger grunted in agreement and charged forward again.
However, even with Iron Fist's assistance, the tide of the battle didn't significantly shift.
The Mimic, fighting two against one, was not at a disadvantage. Several times, he even repelled them using their own techniques.
After all, the Mimic was once an ace agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. How could these two fledgling newcomers compare to him?
Seeing his two companions in trouble, Nova not only didn't rush to help but also taunted from behind, "I say, are you two really here to help?"
"Can't you just shut up? If you have time to spout sarcasm, you might as well come over and help."
"Sometimes actions are more convincing than words."
"Alright, alright, Captain is coming to help you."
With that, Nova clapped his hands together, and an energy beam shot towards the Mimic once more.
This time, the Mimic didn't dodge. His right fist was enveloped in an egg-yolk colored energy. He punched out, shattering Nova's energy beam with a single blow.
"How is this possible!"
Everyone present was shocked, especially Iron Fist. At a glance, he recognized the technique as his own. Although he had noticed the Mimic's ability to quickly replicate moves during their fight, he hadn't expected him to be able to copy this as well.
Just then, the lights in the room flickered as if there was a loose connection, and then the light illuminating Anka went out.
Seeing this, the Mimic's heart leaped. He grabbed Anka, placed her in the storage bag on his back, and then quickly dashed towards the exit.
As a professionally trained former agent, the Mimic possessed strong professional ethics and never let personal emotions interfere with his missions.
His mission was to retrieve half of Anka. Although he wanted to get rid of this bucket-headed guy named Nova, his reason told him to prioritize the mission.
Since he had obtained the item, the best course of action was to make a swift escape. Delaying could lead to unforeseen complications.
"You're not getting away."
Seeing the Mimic trying to escape with the item, the trio was unwilling to let him go and made their move to stop him.
However, they had clearly underestimated the Mimic's strength.
The reason he had been fighting them evenly before was to stall for time, allowing the final security measures for Anka to be disabled. Secondly, he feared that if he was too far away, the trio might snatch Anka. Therefore, during the fight, he had tried to keep his movement range within a meter to ensure Anka's constant protection.
Now that Anka was secured, the Mimic had no further worries and faced the trio's encirclement without fear.
First, he traded punches with Iron Fist, the one at the forefront, pushing him back. Then, he grabbed White Tiger's arm, spun him around 360 degrees, and threw him, sending him crashing into Nova.
In a single exchange, the Mimic dealt with the three self-important youths.
That wasn't all. Before leaving, the Mimic took out a palm-sized circular ball, activated it, and threw it.
The moment the ball came into contact with the trio, it released a powerful electric current.
While the current wasn't lethal to them, it was enough to temporarily incapacitate them.
Without even a chance to scream, the unprepared trio was instantly electrocuted unconscious.
As he neared the exit, the Mimic seemed to recall something. He made a sharp turn and then delivered a fierce elbow strike to the display case holding the magic sword.
*Crack!*
The glass shattered instantly.
The Mimic retrieved the magic sword from within, nodded with satisfaction, and continued running towards the exit.
After all, since he was here, why not take a souvenir?
This sword looked good; he'd take it.
However, as the Mimic ran out of the VIP display area, another anomaly occurred.
A bullet accurately struck the Mimic's right leg, and blood instantly soaked his pant leg.
A fully armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agent wielding a rifle emerged from the shadows.
The Mimic knelt on the ground, looked up at the agent, and said disdainfully, "I didn't expect S.H.I.E.L.D. to be so despicable."
The person who fired the shot was none other than Coulson.
Coulson showed no signs of anger at the Mimic's taunt. He raised his rifle and fired another shot at the Mimic's other leg.
This wasn't Coulson venting his frustration; it was out of an agent's caution.
After all, wounding one leg would have limited effect on a well-trained individual. The safest approach was to cripple the other leg as well.
This would maximize the restriction on the opponent.
As for why Coulson didn't kill the Mimic outright, despite having the legal authority to do so under American law, it wasn't out of kindness. The Mimic, as a defected ace agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., possessed too many of the agency's secrets. If he were killed, who could guarantee that he hadn't left behind any contingency plans?
Some matters were not meant to be exposed to the light.
The best course of action was to capture him first, bring him back to S.H.I.E.L.D. for interrogation, and once all his secrets were extracted, his fate – whether to be killed or imprisoned – would be irrelevant.
He had initially thought the three inside could handle this, but in the end, he still had to step in.
He sighed in resignation.
Young people, they needed more training.
With that thought, Coulson walked towards the Mimic, intending to place handcuffs on him.