"(Parker Robbins. The name might not sound so familiar. But once upon a time, you know…before all the Ultron stuff and the Masters of Evil. Parker Robbins was the name of a supervillain. He went by the-)"
"(The Hood.)" James finished off for Ernesto in slight shock. La Bandera however was glad to have a name but had no clue who was being talked about.
"(Yeah, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you know you're stuff. You really are Captain America, you know for a moment I didn't believe it but-)"
"(Just keep going. Tell me what you know.)" James commanded, uninterested in the man's spiel. At the moment his brain was processing things a mile a minute.
This was another "retired" villain coming out of the woodwork to return to a life of crime post-Ultron. When the Masters of Evil had first shown up the Avengers had taken it upon themselves to research anyone from the Heroic Age hero or villain to be prepared for if they ever showed up.
Parker Robbins aka The Hood was an interesting one. A crime lord, sometimes with super abilities, most of the time powerless. A great mind for crime. However what had stuck out to James the most about him was a simple quote. However it had been one that defined his character.
He had once told his cell officer that he had liked being the bad guy. That he had been offered a way out, but didn't want it. He fully recognized the fact that he wasn't the hero of his own story and instead dedicated his life to being the best villain he could be.
It was a harrowing thought to James. Everyone he had fought so far had believed they were fighting for something greater. The idea that this man was just doing this because he could…that he ruined Teresa's life because he could…That tons of people had died on Banshee for his base ambitions, that Carmen's parents had died because he simply could…
A bright ball of fury burned in his chest. It was an anger that wouldn't be quenched without his fists meeting The Hood's face.
The dangerous look on James face quickly prompted Ernesto to begin telling James all he knew, as he realized that the Super-Soldier was in no mood to play any games.
"(We were working in the drug game for a long while, you know? Even while Ultron had taken over the world. Weed, Narcotics, Opioids. Honestly they brought a bit of ease to our situation. A deranged robot was leading us like lambs to the slaughter. These drugs helped us, it was good to take the edge off and everyone was happy. It was good for business and good for the people we-
"(Stop messing around.)" James told him plainly, uninterested in his attempts at making the Villamos seem better than they were. "(If you think I'm going to believe that or it's going to change your situation you've got another thing coming.)"
"(Alright, alright sheesh. Calm down.)" Ernesto tried to appease James. Despite it all he never thought Captain America could be so feisty.
(It was maybe four or so months after Ultron's defeat that we began to work with the Hood. He had a proposition for us as he saw how valuable our organization was. Being the biggest group in the biggest port city made it so we were a great starting point for his business. From the moment he showed up he made it clear we didn't have an option.)"
"(Scare tactics?)" La Bandera scoffed at the notion, knowing that the Villamos Cartel were a prideful bunch who normally wouldn't let something like that get in their way.
"(Basically. But it was more than that. He has the power to back it up. You see back then we only had our boy Marco, and Machete was barely on payroll. We didn't have Banshee that was provided for us later down the line.)" Ernesto explained for them. And soon his wife joined in.
"(The Hood showed up with his squadron of fully powered mercenaries and we knew we were at a complete disadvantage. After all, if we said no he'd simply kill us and put someone else in charge. So we had no choice but to accept.)"
"(Right and I'm sure you two have had strong opposition to the amount you've benefited off of Banshee and the rest of the expansion your Cartel gained by working with The Hood, right?)" James spoke rhetorically, the sarcasticness of his comment annoying them to no end.
"(Look we didn't have a choice! The point is that since then we've worked with the Hood on a lot of things, but when it comes to Banshee, we aren't the ones running the show! That is all The Hood! Every action we took was based on something he told us to do!)"
James briefly contemplated this and believed the Husband and wife duo were telling the truth. The coordination of the Banshee movements didn't seem right. As if the person calling the shots wasn't seeing what was happening on the street-level. And if what Ernesto said about the Hood was true, that he was constantly using a proxy then chances were he didn't understand the full picture.
He probably didn't understand and couldn't understand that James and Teresa were completely dismantling his operation because they already knew what was going to happen. He probably never thought they could get that far.
"(And what about now. What's with the decision's you've been making lately? It's clear to anyone with eyes you are beginning to retreat, so what for?)" Teresa asked knowingly.
It made Ernesto and Carmelita annoyed as they began to rage at the young superhero. "(What for, you've destroyed all our business, even The Hood can see that now. We were clearly busted and needed a change of scenery. And once The Hood said he was done, we were done too!)" Ernesto blurted out furiously.
"(The Hood, where is he right now? What is he planning?)" James asked quickly. He didn't like what he had heard. If The Hood was done Had he already gone to hide out? If that was the case there might not have been anything they could do about it.
"(Two things are meant to go down today. Truthfully there isn't anything important here so you pretty much wasted tim-
"(Just talk damn it!)" James growled, annoyed at the amount of dancing around the Villamos liked to do.
(The Hood is here, in Colombia!)" Carmelita spat out fearfully. "(There's a small island off of the original port where you broke up the first shipment. This is the Hood's main base, at least in South America!)"
"(Come on we've got to go!)" La Bandera urged that information more than good enough to satisfy her. "(I know the coordinates of the place she's talking about! We thought it was uninhabited. It shouldn't take more than 30 minutes if we hurry.)"
"(Wait.)" James commanded, "(There's more. Hurry up and tell me the rest of it. Spare no details.)"
And though Ernesto seemed a bit hesitant, he continued to talk, seemingly tired of this game. "(There are two things that are happening right now. On the opposite coast of Cartagena in around 45 minutes a private plane with just 3 passengers and tons of cargo will leave towards North America, specifically your United States.)" Carmelita nodded towards James.
"(They'll never get through security is tighter than ever.)" James refuted quickly, but he knew that wasn't exactly true.
"(Not even with the latest experimental Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. stealth tech? I'm told it's meant to be impossible to track once launched and with a man on the inside, are you really sure The Hood couldn't get Banshee into America?)"
"(No way.)" James muttered in disbelief. Because if Robbins had access to that sort of technology then not only could the cargo go ghost. He could also disappear. Leaving them with nothing and the potential of the USA having a Banshee epidemic of their own.
"(Cap we've got to make a play.)" La Bandera told him, just a bit worried as this new information came in.
"(Where's he headed? Where is Robbins going that he's so sure we won't be able to catch him?)" James demanded
"It's not about being able to find him Mr. Rogers. It's about actually getting him to stay in cuffs that will be a problem. The Hood is headed for Madripoor and I'm sure your little stunt with them last year means you know exactly what that means."
"Shit." James couldn't help but curse. Madripoor was always a problem in these sorts of situations. They were willing to bail almost anyone out of trouble if they had the money. It was basically a country run by villains, protecting villains.
As long as Robbins got to Madripoor he'd be safe. No doubt about it. And then there was the plane they had to deal with.
"James come in, we've taken care of the first two floors. Can we start making our way towards the top?...Hello? Rogers, come in." Daisy's voice suddenly came through his audio-comm.
"(Cap what do we do?)" La Bandera asked the veteran superhero, not exactly sure what move they should take. It was hard to tell if at the moment they'd be able to stop the shipment or Robbins from leaving.
For all they knew the planes had already left. Of course it probably wasn't the best idea to separate but it seemed like their only option. But in this instance La Bandera wasn't so sure. The island that The Hood was inhabiting was considered a fairly dangerous jungle, and if he had men that managed to scare off the Cartel they were no doubt very strong.
To add on to this James was already slightly injured from his first battle. It was hard to believe he could go to the Island and come out with any scratches, and surely he must have known that…so why? She wondered why he still looked so determined, so sure of such an uncertain outcome?
"We're on a time crunch so here's the plan. La Bandera you along with the best S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents you can find will go looking for the plane with the cargo of Banshee. Stop it from leaving the port."
"Wait James-
"I'll head to The Hood's island by myself, and I'll stop him from leaving the country." James continued on, almost ignoring La Bandera completely.
"James, that's ridiculous, you're hurt and it's better if we put all our effort into stopping the shipment. We can't let Banshee hurt anyone else!"
James turned to La Bandera and put a hand on her shoulder. "Relax. That's why I've got you and S.H.I.E.L.D. on this. I know you won't let this sort of tragedy affect anyone else. The Hood is less important but I've still got to get him behind bars. Is it risky? Probably but Teresa…" James said and gave her a small smirk that she could only really describe as iconic.
"I'm Captain America." He finished coolly.
It really shouldn't have been a good argument. She figured that there were hundreds of things that James could have said to appease her and yet he chose to say that. And despite the weak argument, she couldn't help but smile back at him.
"You dummy. Alright you better win!" La Bandera finally said. James took that sign of approval and turned to the two former crime bosses, both of them clearly confused by the foreign language being spoken.
"(If your information is correct it will definitely help you two out a bit, but not by much. S.H.I.E.L.D. will be here in just a couple of moments and so you better think fast and tell them anything else you might know. You never know that information could be the difference between regular and the Raft.)" James spoke calmly and began to head out of the room. The two crime lords seemed to want to say more but James and Teresa didn't give them a chance, time was of the essence.
"(You get all that Daisy?)"
"(Loud and clear James. We're moving up right now. But are you sure about this? Sounds dangerous even for you.)" Daisy admitted to James. Even she had to admit James doing all of this with injury could potentially be dicey. After all they had no clue what he might go up against. But as always the Captain was cool, calm and collected.
"(Relax I got this.)" James insisted, the young Avenger pressed a small button on the side of his pouch as they began to head outside the building with La Bandera following him.
La Bandera was only a little surprised when there was a small jet hovering near the front entrance that James climbed into.
Teresa knew she wasn't an expert but the tiny jet that only allowed for one-seat looked extremely powerful. It sported two twin jet engines that looked a bit small, but from the way they almost seemed to purr as James got into the cockpit, she figured it was far faster than any plane she had flown in.
James set in the coordinates and gave one wave to La Bandera before taking off. As the plane took off into the air a determined look set on the Sentinel of Liberty's face.
This fight for James was personal. At the end of the day The Hood was the leader of a force that hurt people he cared about. Carmen and her parents. La Bandera's kidnapping. And now he was attempting to do the same thing to his home in America.
He figured that maybe La Bandera and the Villamos didn't understand this but there was no way James was allowing The Hood to escape. This was over the moment he learned the man's name.
COAST OF CARTAGENA, APRIL 28, 2011, 7:53 PM ESTJames was in the air, an estimated 6 minutes away from his destination. The uninhabited island off the Coast of Cartagena.
There wasn't much to think about as he ventured forward to his destination. Aside from planning his strategy, which he had already decided there was nothing important to think about. So instead his mind wandered.
First it was La Bandera and how she must feel not being able to take The Hood down herself. He knew it definitely would be something he wanted to do if he was in her shoes. But she took to her task of stopping the last shipment with the fervor of a true hero. It was remarkable. After this he would certainly need to put in a good word for the Cuban hero.
His mind also shifted to Carmen. This was something he needed to complete for her sake. Carmen and all the other victims of Banshee had no doubt been affected irreparably. Making sure The Hood was actually behind bars was the least he could do.
And then his mind continued to wander towards after the mission. And the talk he would no doubt need to have with Carmen. It had been at the back of his mind all day and he still wasn't sure what he was going to say or how he was going to say it.
He could feel the veins in his hands pounding as he held onto the Jet's yoke. And it wasn't because of the impending fight, but rather because of the talk with Carmen. What would he do if she said no? And if she said yes was this something he was ready for?
His musings were cut short as a call arrived for him. He was only slightly surprised to see that it was Valentina. He picked up the call quickly hoping everything was alright "(Hey sweetheart, everything okay?)"
"(Everything's fine James, we were just a little worried about you, you know. So we had to call and check in. I hope it's not to troublesome?)" He couldn't help but think it was cute how she was worried that she was distracting him.
"(No, don't worry. You're good. Wait…did you say we?)" James finally realized what his girlfriend had actually said. "(Yes Carmen was very worried about you and insisted we check in. Wanna say something Carmen?)"
There was the sound of shuffling for a few moments before the young girl's voice was heard over the line "(Um, are you okay? You're not hurt right? You're coming back?)"
James felt the questions tug at him in ways he didn't expect. He believed that in this specific situation he was definitely going to come back alive. He refused to die here. But at heart James Rogers was a hero.
And in the end that meant he needed to be wildly aware of his own morality. Despite being stronger than any normal human could imagine. He could still die. It was way more likely to happen to him then the random family S.H.I.E.L.D. would likely stick Carmen with.
And wouldn't it be better for her to have some true stability. And for her to not be with a person like him who would inevitably turn to superheroics time and time again? Could he really do this to her?
Make her wait day and night not knowing if he was going to be safe? It wouldn't be fair, especially not after what happened with her real parents…
"(Um James, are you still there?)" Valentina questioned. James vaguely realized that he had definitely taken far too long to respond.
"(Listen Val, I'm okay the mission's gotten extended a bit and I'm gonna go catch the bad guy. Tell Carmen that I'll be back as soon as can be, alright?)"
"(James…)" Valentina started, but as James began to see the Island pull up in his sights he realized there was truly no time to talk.
"(Sorry Val, duty calls. I'll see you soon babe.)" There wasn't even any time for the young woman to say goodbye as James ended the call and focused on landing the Jet.
He could immediately tell as he dropped the Jet on the waters at the coast of the Island that he was dealing with something much different from the Cartel. Already on the coast of the Island were nearly 12 men armed and dangerous, with what looked like AR-15's at the ready. If not for his ship's cloaking system he might have had a much harder time of landing.
As he prepared to leave the cockpit the young avenger pushed everything irrelevant to the mission aside. Carmen could wait until later. For now, it was time to catch a criminal.
HEROES OF TOMORROW
