In the Valkyrie’s cockpit, the Red Skull clutches the Tesseract, his body dissolving into a lurid stream of blue and red light. He screams as the energy blasts him upward through the cockpit’s ceiling, vanishing into the cosmos toward an unknown fate. A shockwave of blue energy ripples outward from the aircraft, then fades.

The Tesseract clatters to the metal grating, glowing fiercely. It melts through several layers of the Valkyrie’s hull, plummeting toward the ocean below. Steve watches it disappear, then retrieves his vibranium shield and strides to the pilot’s chair.

He removes his helmet, his eyes locking on the control panel. The display still lists “New York City” as the “Ziel,” the distance shrinking rapidly.

At the captured Hydra base, Colonel Phillips and Peggy Carter stand in a control room, Jim Morita monitoring radio traffic.

Steve’s voice crackles over the radio. “Come in, this is Captain Rogers, do you read me?”

Jim responds, “Captain Rogers, what is your—” but Peggy cuts in, her voice urgent.

“Steve, is that you? Are you alright?”

“Peggy, Schmidt’s dead!” Steve says.

“What about the plane?” Peggy asks, her tone tense.

Steve takes a deep breath, glancing at the controls. “That’s a little bit tougher to explain.”

“Give your coordinates, I’ll find you a safe landing site,” Peggy insists.

Steve’s looks at a display showing several bombs still onboard. “There’s not gonna be a safe landing.”