Game in Marvel

The griffin let out a bone-chilling screech mid-air as it went for the horse again. Its golden eyes locked onto its next meal, and it lunged forward, beak aimed for the trapped animal for the last time before taking it away.

But before it could strike, Rogers dashed forward, shield raised. The griffin's powerful beak collided with the vibranium shield in a deafening clang. Steve gritted his teeth, the sheer force of the attack driving him back several feet, his boots carving grooves in the dirt. But he held firm, standing as a wall between the beast and the helpless horse.

"What the hell!" Geralt hissed under his breath. He had expected the shield to break into pieces before its bearer was ravaged to the ground. He had never seen a shield capable of stopping an attack of that magnitude, and even if one existed, he had never seen a human being take on a griffin and land in a tussle.

Even for himself, it would be quite difficult. And he was sure that this person wasn't a Witcher. All of them here might be well-built, but they were definitely not Witchers. So who are these people? New experiments from some distant land sorcerers? But they seemed to have intact emotions.

What the hell was going on? Even Vesemir's mutant eyes were wide open in shock as he saw that.

"Barton, now!" Steve shouted.

Clint Barton didn't need to be told twice. He nocked an arrow and let it fly. The projectile struck the griffin square in the wing joint, eliciting an enraged screech as the beast stumbled sideways. Natasha Romanoff seized the opening, sprinting forward with Steve to press the attack.

Natasha moved like a shadow, her sword flashing as she slashed at the griffin's side, drawing blood. Steve followed up with a powerful swing of his shield, landing a solid blow to its flank. The griffin roared and retaliated, its talons swiping dangerously close to Natasha. She leapt back just in time, the beast's claws gouging deep furrows into the ground where she had stood.

But the side talon of the beast managed to scratch her arm and deliver a wound. Mind you, she was already wearing armor, and even then, the griffin was able to inflict injury. This wasn't a game where one could eat chicken while fighting and heal himself. This was the real world. One small mistake, and anyone would be dead. Liam gripped his sword when she got hurt.

Even Geralt was ready to step in, but Liam shook his head again. Her pride would be hurt if he helped her.

Meanwhile, the griffin's tail whipped around, catching Steve in the ribs and sending him sprawling. Natasha lunged in again, aiming for the beast's exposed neck, but the griffin twisted with surprising agility, forcing her to retreat. Though she was wounded, it didn't mean she couldn't fight. It flapped its massive wings, kicking up a cloud of dust as it prepared to take to the skies.

"No, you don't!" Clint muttered, drawing another arrow. His shot hit true, striking the griffin's shoulder and forcing it to lose altitude just as it started to lift off. The beast crashed back to the ground, roaring in frustration.

Before it could recover, Tony Stark stepped forward. Tony had approached the battlefield stealthily, and one could see him wearing red gauntlets that extended to his shoulders. If one closely observed those gauntlets, one could see small lightning sparks emanating from the sides.

The griffin was writhing in pain, but Tony then appeared at the side.

"Let's see how you like a little voltage therapy!" Tony quipped as he unleashed a surge of electricity into the griffin. The beast convulsed, letting out a guttural cry as it fell to the ground, temporarily stunned.

"Barton, finish it!" Natasha called out.

Clint grabbed a handful of specialized arrows fitted with ropes. He fired one after another, embedding the arrows deep into the griffin's flesh. The ropes unraveled and anchored themselves into the ground with secondary arrows, effectively pinning the massive beast in place.

He did this from both sides of the beast. The griffin thrashed and screeched, trying to break free, but the ropes held firm. Its wings beat against the earth, but it was clear the fight had been taken out of it.

Geralt and Vesemir stood a few paces back, watching the entire spectacle with wide eyes.

"That's... not how I would've handled it," Geralt muttered, as he had never seen anyone capture a beast that easily. No doubt being rich helped them in this regard, as he could easily tell that the bow held immense magic, and even the red gauntlets Tony wore had magic that was unknown to him.

But one couldn't deny they had made light work of such a huge monster. Geralt would have been able to take it down, but it would have taken time. The power of having a specialized team was also very apparent here.

"I'll give them this—they're efficient. Loud, reckless, and chaotic... but efficient." Vesemir gave his evaluation.

"And also mysterious," Geralt added by the end, his gaze lingering on Liam and his team as they regrouped. They fought like they'd done this a hundred times before, but their techniques, their tools, their coordination—it was all unlike anything he'd ever seen.

"Told you they could handle it." Liam approached Geralt, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"You've got an unusual way of doing things... but it worked." Geralt smirked faintly.

"Now what? Do we just leave it here?" Natasha wiped her sword clean.

"We can have a democracy here. We can kill it, or we can take it home for research," Liam suggested. This made Tony and Barton excited, while the faces of Steve and Natasha weren't so much. All of them could understand what Liam meant, but they weren't sure if what he suggested would be safe.

The griffin howled again in pain, only to be electrocuted by Tony to shut it up.