Captain America and Sharon Carter are
shattered by The Watcher's revelation that within the next day, the
Red Skull will have subjugated the entire United States. On being
questioned, The Watcher takes them through time and space to...
The Red Skull sits enthroned, a subdued
Thor shining his shoes and Scarlet Witch trapped in a bubble; the
hero Justice arrives and the Skull teleports him to Mount Everest. As
he watches his armies on television besiege New York and Washington,
the soldier suddenly begin to vanish. That's when the Skull learns
that changes he makes with the Cube's power fade when his attention
is off of them. He decides to take his time breeding an army of only
the most powerful soldiers....
...Galactus' starship, being drawn
toward the Earth by the Skull's power and distracting him from
Earthly matters. In this ship is stored the information of an entire
galaxy. Should the Skull get his hands on it he will have godlike
omniscience and be truly invincible. The Watcher then suggests that
only Captain America can defeat the Red Skull—and that, by killing
him. Cap refuses to commit murder and determines to defeat his old
foe in a less extreme fashion. (Sharon, meanwhile, takes the
opportunity to slip some sort of advanced weapon under her coat.)
Interlude: Tony Stark, studying the
fragments of Cap's shield, makes a startling discovery....
In New York, the Red Skull has raised
the temperature to 160 degrees (F) and is forcing a huge crowd of
starving citizens to fight over a single apple. Cap arrives and
fights the Skull, who simply teleports to Mississippi to force people
to fight over shelter from a massive flood. Cap again arrives (by the
power of The Watcher) but the Skull turns the water to acid and Cap
must distract the Skull again to save the victims. Another change of
scene and the Red Skull has the inhabitants of Los Angeles fight for
shelter from a bitter blizzard. Cap again attacks so the Skull
decides to take care of the dauntless hero—by “turning back the
clock,” freezing him inside a block of ice. Sharon hammers at the
ice block until it cracks open, revealing Cap—as a scrawny
powerless figure in a baggy uniform....