In the Valkyrie’s cockpit, the Red Skull, his crimson face contorted with fury, glares at Steve Rogers. “You could have the power of the gods!” he roars, firing a blue energy bolt that misses Steve. “Yet you wear a flag on your chest and think you fight a battle of nations!” Another shot streaks past, lighting up the girders of the ship. “I have seen the future, Captain!” He fires again, missing. “There are no flags!”

“Not my future!” Steve retorts, executing somersaults across the cockpit floor, dodging the barrage of energy bolts.

Spotting an opening, Steve hurls his vibranium shield with full force, striking the Red Skull and sending him crashing into the Tesseract reactor. The device fractures, spilling electric blue plasma energy everywhere.

The Red Skull staggers to his feet, staring at the shattered reactor. “What have you done? No!” he cries, seizing the glowing Tesseract. Unearthly tentacles of energy erupt, painting a cosmic tapestry of stars and nebulae across the cockpit’s ceiling. As he grips the cube, his hand and arm begin dissolving into pure energy, a howling noise rising from the Tesseract as a river of blue light streams upward.