Captain America

Sharon Carter

"You can't kill me, boss," the Captain said, upping his shield so that the Red Skull's wouldn't demolish him. "I'm one your side. I'm one of the bad guys.'

"Shut up, herr kapitan. Die, you misbegotten fool."

The Red Skull removed a .44 magnum from his cloak on the floor and fired at the Captain. The Sentinel of Liberty's doppelganger blocked the blast by using his shield as a barrier and the bullets ricocheted off the walls.

"Any coward can use a gun. Fight me fist for fist."

"You asked for it, Rogers," the Skull said, dropping the handgun.

The Captain dropped his shield. He extended his arm and made 'come at me' gestures with his hand. "You're finished, Skull."

The Skull hurled a roundhouse kick to the face of the Captain, who parried and punched his master in the face. This caused the Skull to bleed profusely because the punch and the attack was that powerful.

A door swished open and Crossbones entered, clapping his hands and applauding uproariously. He seemed impressed with the display.

"Very good, boss," Crossbones said, his applause dying down. "You just proved that singlehandedly, you have no chance of laying even a hand on the real Captain America."

"I was better off in the background, anyway," the Skull responded, slightly despondent. "But this did prove that our 'Captain' has a better chance of destroying Rogers than ever before."

Brooklyn

The Captain dressed in his costume and a tan overcoat walked through the streets of the New York town. He was in a mad mood because he got orders from the Skull to kill the real Captain America. He was an exact copy, a virtual doppleganger of Steve Rogers, and he wanted to be the only Captain on this earth. On his back was his shield, a cocncoted copy of Cap's defensive weapon.

He was prepared to kill Cap.

This is the place, the Captain thought. This is where Steve Rogers lives. Time to die, Steverino!

He knocked on the door, then he released that there was a doorbell so he rang that several times too.

He heard talking on the other side so Cap didn't live alone.

Sharon Carter looked through the peep hole and saw a mysterious gentleman on the other side. The door was open ajar so he was able to break it open and start fighting.

The Captain smashed Sharon across the jaw with a left jab and then, downed her with a roundhouse kick to the stomach. She didn't have a chance to pull out her service revolver in time; it dropped to the hard floor beside her.

"Auntie!!" the Captain heard a young girl scream at the top of her lungs. The little girl was standing in front of the Captain, crying her eyes out. She was hysterical.

"You must be Maria," the Captain said, snidely. "I hope I have the right apartment."

"I'm not supposed to say this, but my Daddy can beat you up."

"And who's your father?"

"Cap'n 'Merica."

"Oh, really? I'd love to meet him. Where is the boy scout?'

"Right here," Captain America said as he punched the Captain in the face, making him topple over. "No one threatens my daughter and the rest of my family in the privacy of my apartment."

The Captain was on the ground, and had picked up Sharon's revolver, aiming it at Cap's heart.

Blam!

The bullet hit Cap right in his kevlar vest and the patriot went down. Maria went over to her father's side, sobbing.

"The Skull would be so pleased and proud of me," the Captain said, as he took his leave, dropping the gun at the Captain's chest. "A job well done."

Later

"Daddy, daddy, please wake up!! I love you more than the world! Please wake up!"

Those words were uttered by Maria Rogers, who had seen her father gunned down by a man wearing a trenchcoat who had on a similar costume than his own, than Captain America's. She was worried sick over her loss. And not more than a few feet away was her Aunt Sharon Carter. She was so much like a mother to Maria.

Maria's chin was lowered and she was sobbing her eyes out, crying furiously. She was hugging her father, wanting nothing more than for him to be alive. "Daddy, I love you so much," she said, in between sobs.

Steve Rogers opened his eyes. "It's all right, Maria. I'm okay. See, I'm still alive."

Maria raised her head, wide-eyed. "But how?"

He reached into his kevlar costume and had taken out the bullets, then throwing them in the garbage. "This costume sure comes in handy when I am dealing with a villain using my partner's service revolver, right, Shar?"

"Uh, right, Cap." Sharon Carter had woken up minutes before, hearing the talking between the two. "I shouldn't have opened the door, I guess."

Cap took off his mask and sat himself down on the couch. He was dogtired. Even though he wasn't wounded from the bullets, he was still shocked by it. "No, don't blame yourself, Sharon. It could have been anyone. A solicitation, anything."

Maria sat on Steve's lap, as Sharon winded her way to the other side of the couch. "I'm just glad yer alright," Maria said, pleased at her foster father's well-being.

Steve picked up the phone and dialed a very specific number. "Hello, SHIELD Headquarters. Please get me the number for Agent Deborah Walker. I have a job for her."

"Steve, what's going on?" Sharon asked. "Don't tell me you're going to enlist her aid in getting the Skull."

"No, I need a babysitter." Steve waited another few moments until Agent Walker picked up. "Deborah, could you please watch Maria, while Sharon and I handle a skull-faced cretin?"

Steve nodded after her answer and then hung up.

"What did she say?" Sharon said.

"She'll be here in a few minutes. Flying cars can work wonders in this day and age. We better get going." Steve turned to Maria, as he pulled on his mask and changed into another fresh suit. 'You will be on your best behavior for Debbie, won't you, Maria?"

"Sure, Daddy," she said, as she raced to her room to get her Barbie dolls ready for Deborah to play with.

The Red Skull's HQ

"You will be my first line of defense," the Red skull said to his assemblage of associates. He looked at duplicates of himself. Maybe not as scary or threatening but vicious in still the same way. "You call yourselves the Red Skull Gang. You tried to kill Captain America once and almost succeeded. You have my namesake and have branded yourselves in my own image. Go, find Captain America, and destroy him."

The Red Skull Gang picked up their weapons and departed.

The Red Skull turned to another gang. This one not made in his own image but effective, nonetheless.

"You are the Thunder Gods Gang. You once attacked the Thing in a bank and stripped him of his outward appearance, transforming him temporarily into Benjamin Jacob Grimm. You even attacked Captain America but failed. This time, I implore you to succeed. You will succeed. Go, find him, and destroy him."

The Thunder Gods Gang gathered their weapons and departed.

The Red Skull turned to a man who was once a member of the Sinister Six and a hunter. Now, he wanted him to hunt Captain America.

"You are Al Kraven, the second one to wear the mantle of Kraven the Hunter. He are as good as your dead father who was killed by Spider-man. You have always hunted Spider-man. Now I have a new hunt for you. Go, Kraven, hunt Captain America, and destroy him."

Kraven the Hunter gathered his rifle and departed.

The Red Skull to a man who has been his partner and second in command for many years and a man, who was a duplicate of Captain America and created in a lab.

"Crossbones, Captain... there are two heroes I want you to encounter before you destroy Captain America. Yes, Captain, I know you shot Rogers but I also know that he still lives. You have failed. Now I feel you may be redeemed. The two heroes are a black super hero named Afrika and Kamikaze, who has just left Alpha Flight. Go, find them, and use them to destroy Captain America."

Crossbones and the Captain gathered their weapons and departed.

And when he was alone, the Red Skull laughed.