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Chapter 3: Machete

Within the Triskelion's hangar, Black Widow, Libra and the Human Torch were all waiting by a SHIELD shuttle for James' arrival. Anna checked her gauntlets, while Sean adjusted a plasma pistol. Josh on the other hand, simply stared off into the distance.

Sean glanced at Josh and would lean over to Anna.

"So what's the deal with the kid?" he whispered

Anna paused with her right hand around her left wrist, raising an eyebrow at the question. She hadn't thought much about Josh, or even interacted with him much as an agent.

"What do you mean? He's a robot that can turn on fire," she responded blankly.

"Yeah, but do you trust him? This is like his first field mission, right?" Sean asked.

Anna scoffed at the notion.

"I don't do trust, Dugan," she stated.

Sean would tilt his head to the side a bit, allowing the smallest resemblance of a smirk to form on his face.

"So you don't trust me?" he asked, coyly.

Anna looked Sean over for a brief moment.

"I tolerate you," she responded.

"You may rest your concerns, Agent Dugan," Josh said in acknowledgment of Sean's initial statement. "It is in my programming to be a loyal agent of SHIELD. A rather effective one at that."

Sean raised his hands in mock defense.

"Hey, I'm just saying, the world's no stranger to robots going rogue. Does Ultron ring a bell?" he asked.

Josh blinked before turning his head to look at Sean, his face still rather neutral.

"I'm aware of Ultron's previous existence," he stated.

"So then you get where I'm coming from, then? I'm not the biggest fan of robots. I've never had to work with one before, either," Sean said.

Josh blinked again before tilting his head to the side. The android began processing all that he knew about Sean Dugan.

"Your grandfather is one, is he not?" Josh inquired.

A look of offense appeared on Sean's face at the insinuation.

"Excuse me?"

Anna rolled her eyes softly, holding a small smile on her face at what was becoming an interesting interaction. Josh on the other hand retained his neutral, emotionless expression.

"Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader Dugan, also known as Dum Dum Dugan, your grandfather. His consciousness was transferred to a Life Model Decoy after being fatally shot in 1966. A Life Model Decoy is a synthetic body, like my own. Therefore in a sense, your grandfather could be considered a robot," Josh explained, without skipping a single beat.

Sean took a step towards Josh, shaking his head. It was clear by the look on his face that he didn't appreciate the history lesson.

"That's where you're wrong, fire boy. My grandfather retained everything that made him human. His mind. His ability to show emotions. To love, to hate, to get sad or upset, to cry. You can't do any of that, can you?" Sean asked in contention.

Josh paused to process Sean's response. There was still much he had to learn about human nature, but he understood how their emotions worked.

"At this moment, no. If I am even able to, I will perhaps one day come to develop those emotions," Josh responded without a trace of offense taken.

It was at this point, Anna decided to throw her own two cents into the conversation.

"Well Sean to be fair, I don't show many emotions," she said while crossing her arms over her chest. "Does that make me a robot?"

Sean looked from Josh to Anna and would chuckle.

"It would not surprise me," he said.

Josh straightened up a bit and would adjust the collar on his costume.

"I believe Captain Rogers is approaching."

The three turned almost in unison to catch sight of James Rogers walking towards them in full Captain America gear, and his shield on his arm. The suit was aesthetically like his father's, only with slight tactical changes and the addition of a SHIELD patch on his left shoulder. James came to a stop in front of the three agents and would take note of their attire.

"Looking at the rest of you...I kind of feel overdressed," James said sheepishly.

"Are you kidding me? Only you can make that work," Sean said. He looked up for a moment in thought. "And your father...and Bucky Barnes...and Sam Wilson- look point being, you look great. All of you look great in your customized suits, meanwhile, I'm in a generic uniform." Sean gestured to the standard SHIELD uniform that he was currently wearing.

"It's not about the looks, Dugan. Though in my case for some missions...I suppose it does," Anna said while looking off briefly, bringing her mind back to her past espionage missions.

James simply gave a nod and would turn to walk towards the SHIELD shuttle.

"Alright, let's get to it then. Everyone aboard. Widow, you and I are touching down in Madripoor," James said as he boarded the flying shuttle.

Inside of the shuttle was a SHIELD pilot that had been awaiting the arrival of the agents. Sean and Anna followed James onto the shuttle and would take their seats across from one another. Josh, on the other hand, remained outside of the shuttle.

"If it's alright with you Captain Rogers, I'll fly myself," Josh said.

James looked back towards Josh with initial confusion. That confusion soon faded as he thought about the abilities Hammond possessed. He nodded and pressed a button to close the shuttle doors.

"See you out there, Hammond."

Once the SHIELD shuttle took off into the skies, it was full speed towards Madripoor. Outside of the window, the fiery form of Josh Hammond could be seen catching up and flying alongside the shuttle. Anna glanced out the window at Josh, eyeing the flaming android before turning her attention back to James.

"Alright Cap, what's our plan of attack, and who's our target?" she asked.

"Machete. She's a Madripoor native and considering they don't extradite criminals, it's a no-brainer as to why she returned home. According to Fury, she frequents the Harbor Bar in Lowtown. We go in, we get her, we get out," James explained.

Anna, however, didn't appear the most convinced.

"That sounds awfully easy," she pointed out, with skepticism dripping from her words.

"It should be if all goes well. Do you still have that image inducer I gave you after Bucharest?" James asked.

The redheaded Russian held up her wrist, displaying a silver and red watch-like device around it.

"Never leave home without it," she remarked with a smirk.

James nodded, finding the device integral to the mission if it were to succeed. With this being his first mission in a while, he didn't want any unnecessary complications if he could help it.

"Good, we'll both use them to get into the bar. Once we locate Machete, our directive is to detain her and wait for pickup."

Sean leaned forward, sticking his nose into the conversation so to speak.

"Right and while you two are doing that, what are me and flame boy up to?" Sean asked.

Before James even had a chance to respond, the voice of Nick Fury would come through all four agents' earpieces, including Josh on the outside.

"Keeping eyes on Zaran and Whirlwind until Rogers arrives, as I explained earlier. Any more questions, Dugan?" Fury asked from the other end.

Sean closed his eyes for a moment before sighing and pressing his finger to the earpiece in his left ear.

"No sir, thanks for the confirmation," Sean said as he opened his eyes to roll them.

"Good, I expect nothing short of success," Fury said, before cutting the communication.

Anna looked at Sean with an amused expression on her face. It was often she cracked a smile or found anything that amusing, but Sean's exchanges with Fury were often the highlight of her day.

"Why do you always draw Fury's ire?" she asked.

Sean shrugged, showing that he didn't take any of it personally between himself and Fury.

"Deep down, he likes me. Everyone does," he said, with a nonchalant expression.

Outside of the shuttle, Josh turned his head towards the aircraft, looking through the window.

"I have just met you, Agent Dugan, I don't believe I fit into the 'everyone' category just yet," Josh said through the communicator. There was still a lack of emotion and matter-of-factness behind his voice.

"It's lighthearted hyperbole, kid. You're going to have to learn what that is," Sean responded with a light facepalm.

Lowtown, Madripoor - 3 AM

The cloaked SHIELD shuttle lowered above a building in Lowtown, Madripoor. The island was a haven for criminals, due to its extreme social inequality. On one end was Hightown, a wealthy neighborhood for Madripoor's elite, while Lowtown was a much more impoverished and crime-ridden district. It was the ultimate abyss for vice and degradation, where nothing was sacred, no act profane.

The hatch to the shuttle opened and James and Anna would leap down onto the roof of the building, each landing with purpose. James looked up at the shuttle, where Sean was seated, while Josh floated above it.

"As soon as Machete's apprehended, I'll be rendezvousing with you next, Hammond," James stated firmly.

Josh nodded in confirmation.

"Understood. I'll see you in due time, Captain Rogers," Josh responded before flying off in the opposite direction.

As the hatch to the shuttle began to close, Sean's voice could be heard in their communicator.

"Leaving me as the last one, huh? It's like dodgeball all over again," Sean said sarcastically.

Once the shuttle had flown off, James looked to Anna. He was mentally preparing for the first stage of this mission, giving undercover work was never something he particularly excelled at.

"You ready?" he asked.

Anna would look at him with a playful smirk, before walking towards the roof access ahead of them.

"I should be asking you that," she said while messing with her image inducer.

The two walked into the roof access and would make their way through the building itself. Once the two exited from the ground level, neither looked like themselves. Anna was now a blonde-haired woman, wearing a white leather jacket and black jeans, while James was a man with red hair, wearing an all-black suit. The two walked across the street towards a bar with a red neon sign above that read "HARBOR BAR". Right at the steps of the bar itself was a middle-aged man, sleeping soundly on the ground.

Anna stepped over the man and would walk into the bar. James, on the other hand, stopped briefly before walking around the man and following Anna into the bar. The bar itself was much bigger on the inside than it appeared on the outside. It wasn't crowded towards the front, instead, all of the attention seemed to be focused towards the back.

"Intel said she didn't leave the bar yet, so she's here somewhere. We just need to find her," James said while glancing around at the different bar patrons.

"Found her."

Anna stood among a crowd of people around a caged octagon, in which two fighters were locked in combat. One of them was a bl-blue-haired woman in a purple and blue jumpsuit, wielding a sword against the assassin known as Machete. Machete brought her two blades downwards in a slashing attempt, but the swordswoman would block the two machetes with her sword. She pushed off and would go on the offensive with multiple stab attempts with her sword. Machete backed away, parrying each attempt.

James stood next to Anna, observing the ensuing fight.

"I feel like I shouldn't be surprised that a bar in this city has a fight club," he commented.

"Seems fun. We should get one going at the Triskelion," Anna said without even a hint of sarcasm.

Machete launched a spinning back kick to the swordswoman's midsection, sending her stumbling back a bit. She rolled on the floor towards the woman and would take her legs out from under with a swipe with her machete. Once the woman hit the ground on her back, Machete would hold the blade at her neck. Without much resistance, the woman would formally yield, to the crowd's excitement. Machete stood up and would hold her blades up in triumph. A man with a microphone would enter the octagon as the swordswoman exited.

"Another win for the fearless, dangerous Machete! The only question now is a question you've all heard plenty of times…WHO'S NEXT?!" The man asked, causing another surge of cheers from the crowd.

"Alright, we gotta get her out of that octagon and away from this crowd. On my move-" James said…to absolutely no one. When he glanced beside him, Anna was nowhere to be seen. He raised an eyebrow and looked around, before catching sight of Anna walking up to the octagon. "You gotta be kidding me."

Anna stepped up inside the octagon, with an arrogant smirk on her face. She walked up to the announcer and would take the microphone out of his hand.

"I'll fight Machete if no one else will," she said into the microphone.

Machete stared across at Anna almost in a dismissive manner. The announcer chuckled before taking the microphone back.

"You got spunk, I like that. What do we call you, gorgeous?" he asked before holding the microphone closer to her.

"People tend to call me Black Pearl," she responded.

James furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before reaching up to his ear, where he would pretend to scratch it while tapping into his earpiece communicator.

"Romanoff, what are you doing? We're supposed to be doing this together."

Anna ignored James entirely, and would instead begin to stretch. On the other side of the octagon, Machete began to pace back and forth.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, there you have it. In our next fight, Machete defends her flawless record against the never before seen, Black Pearl!" The announcer shouted into the microphone. The crowd cheered again, eager to see Machete in action one more time.

James sighed and stood with his arms crossed. It wasn't that he didn't trust Anna to be able to take care of Machete herself, but he would've felt better if it were a two-on-one scenario.

Once the announcer left the octagon and the cage door was closed, Machete advanced towards Anna with purpose. Anna, on the other hand, stood rather still in place.

"Before we get started, I have to ask...why use machetes and call yourself Machete? Are you a fan of those movies? I'm not knocking you if you are."

Machete swung one of her blades directly at Anna's head, which she managed to duck under. While placing a hand on the mat, Anna launched a kick at Machete's stomach, causing the assassin to double over. Anna sprung up to her feet, kicking Machete in the face with both feet in the process. The assassin stumbled back, which left an opening for Anna to launch a barrage of punches and elbows at Machete. After regaining her composure, Machete sidestepped and threw a diagonal slash at Anna, which the Widow narrowly dodged.

Machete attempted a cleaving attack with one of her blades, which Anna again narrowly dodged, this time by stepping back. Anna backflipped to land closer to the cage wall and would jump off of it to kick one of the machetes out of the assassin's hands.

The machete flew right out of the cage and would've hit one of the many patrons if James hadn't stepped in front to catch it out of the air. The woman that he saved looked up at him in surprise, while James chuckled nervously and took a step back. Out of nowhere, James was patted on the back by one of the other patrons.

"Nice catch!"

The sudden contact caused James to briefly lose his grip on the machete, and as it fell, it clipped the image inducer around his wrist. The holographic image around James would begin to flicker in and out of his disguise, much to his dismay.

Back in the cage, Machete tried to hack away at Anna once again, only for the Russian to grab her by the wrist mid-slash. Machete forced Anna back-first into the cage, trying to overpower her. Anna brought her leg up to knee Machete in the gut, causing the assassin to double over for a brief second. With this new opening, Anna hyperextended Machete's blade-wielding arm and would slam her face-first into the cage wall.

James' disguise fully disappeared, revealing himself in his full Captain America suit. Everyone around him took notice, some taking pictures while others fled at the sight of the super-soldier.

"Great…" James said in disappointment before looking towards the cage. Anna's approach was out the window now, so it was time to change it up.

Now seeing Captain America for herself, Machete growled. She placed a foot on the cage to push off, sending her and Anna back to the ground. Once on the ground, she attempted to slash down at Anna, who was lying beside her. Anna rolled out of the way and sprung up to her feet, now facing Machete who stood up slowly.

James ran towards the cage and leaped over it, using his enhanced agility to do so. Anna pressed a button on the image inducer, which caused the holographic disguise to dissolve.

"I guess there's no point in keeping this up," Anna remarked.

For anyone in the bar who stayed behind, the sight before them was a spectacle. Machete, Madripoor's deadly assassin, stood in between Captain America and the Black Widow. There wasn't even a hint of fear on the assassin's face, either.

"You know why we're here, Machete. Don't make this harder than it needs to be," James said, always one to give an individual a way out.

"Or make it harder, and I get to continue kicking your ass," Anna said while charging up her wrist gauntlets.

Machete, who was favoring her arm, looked between the two agents on either side of her. Though her face held no fear, it showed signs of calculation. Within a split second, she threw her machete at Jame's face, which he blocked by bringing up his shield. Machete rolled forward to grab her blade before jumping up the cage to try and escape, but James threw his shield at her to try and thwart the escape attempt. The assassin swung her leg to kick the shield away, causing it to fly towards Anna. Using her quick reflexes, Anna would duck but wasn't prepared for the shield to bounce off the cage wall behind her. The shield struck her in the back, sending her to the ground.

James caught the shield and ran over to Anna to check on her. Meanwhile, Machete dropped to the outside and sprinted towards the back exit. She grabbed her other machete off of the ground on the way to the door.

"Romanoff, you okay?" James asked with concern in his voice.

Anna groaned in pain but would nod and give a haphazard thumbs up in assurance.

"I'm fine, just go. She's getting away. I'll catch up," she responded while clutching at her back with her other hand.

James nodded and looked over his shoulder. His eyes scanned for Machete, and briefly caught sight of the back exit door swinging closed. He stood up and leaped over the cage to follow in pursuit.

Machete sheathed her two blades on her back as she ran through the alleyway behind Harbor Bar. Behind her, James kicked the door to the bar open and ran out after her. His super soldier enhanced speed came into play as he began to catch up with her in almost no time at all. Machete looked over her shoulder before jumping onto a dumpster, which she leaped off to grab onto a fire escape ladder.

James came to a stop and threw his shield at one of the walls, which sent it bouncing off into the opposite wall and finally to the back of Machete. The hit to the back caused the assassin to lose her grip and fall hard onto the dumpster. She rolled off onto the ground, breathing heavily.

"Give it up, Machete. You've lost," James said as he caught his shield. He kept it in hand, just in case the fight wasn't over.

It, of course, wasn't over. Machete unsheathed her blades, placed the ends of them on the ground, and pushed herself up. She jumped at James, bringing both blades down for a double overhead slash. James brought the shield up to block and would launch a front kick at her chest, sending Machete back a bit. James moved forward to try and sweep her leg, but she jumped over it and would follow up with multiple slash attempts, which were all blocked by the shield.

James sidestepped as Machete lunged with her blade, leaving her open for James to drive the shield down onto her foot. He quickly brought the shield up to hit her chin and finished his attack by bashing her with the shield. The attack caused her to fall backward, only to roll up onto her feet once again.

James launched forward for a flying knee strike, but Machete rolled out of the way, landing behind him and placing her two blades across his neck.

"It's time you die, Captain Rogers," she said softly.

Suddenly a blue dart was shot into Machete's back, which shot electricity throughout her body. Machete lost her grip on her blades and would fall over onto the ground. Standing behind her was Anna, holding her arm with her fist closed.

"Imagine dying on your first mission back," Anna said with a slight hint of snark in her voice.

James held a hand at his throat before turning around to first look down at Machete, and then finally at Anna.

"I suppose Fury wouldn't have been too pleased with that," he said while turning his attention back to Machete.

Her body was convulsing slightly from the effect of the Widow Bites, as Anna's electrified darts were affectionately called. James reached down to pull the dart out and would hand it to Anna. She placed the dart back into her gauntlet and would move a strand of her hair out of her face.

"You're welcome, by the way. Don't worry, I won't go bragging to everyone that I saved you from decapitation," she said with a slight smirk.

James smiled a bit in return and would place a hand to his ear.

"This is Rogers, Machete's down. Requesting pickup outside of Harbor Bar, along with a transport to Agent Hammond's location."

A/N: One down, three to go. Next chapter we'll see just what Josh Hammond can do as the Human Torch.