Now Falls the Skull!

Using the Cosmic Cube to swap bodies with Captain America, the Red Skull has decided that he has toyed with his enemy long enough and it is now time to kill him once and for all.[1] However, he no longer wishes to wear the face of his enemy, so the Skull uses the Cosmic Cube to resume his true form. He then uses the device to teleport himself to a castle in Germany that he used to operate from during World War II.[2]

Once here, the Skull then teleports Captain America and the Falcon from Exile Island. The trip is a rough one and Cap tells Falcon to brace himself. When they appear in the Red Skull’s castle, their foe also summons Redwing, the Falcon’s trained bird, and traps it in a cage. When the Falcon tries rushing him, the Skull uses the power of the Cube to fend off the attack. He then restores Captain America back to his true form and the Falcon is in awe to learn that he was being trained by none other than the living legend of World War II.

When the two heroes try to attack the Skull, he uses the Cosmic Cube to flood the room with water. As Captain America struggles against this new attack, the Falcon slips away to do something that he insists was important.

At that same moment, on another secret island, MODOK — the leader of Advance Idea Mechanics — demands that his team of scientists deactivate the Cosmic Cube. As he waits, MODOK Thinks back to his previous clash with Captain America and Sharon Carter, SHIELD’s Agent Thirteen. The pair had left him to die aboard an AIM submarine that was about to self-destruct.[3] Luckily, MODOK was able to save his own life by creating a force-field around himself that protected him from the explosion. Sending a signal out to those that escaped capture, MODOK was soon rescued and resumed control of the organization. As MODOK finishes his recollection one of his operatives presents the Catholite Block, the device that will de-power the Cosmic Cube.

With the device activated, the Cosmic Cube begins losing power and as such, the Red Skull’s ability to alter reality around him begins to diminish rapidly. When Captain America tosses his shield at his foe, he knocks the Cube out of the Red Skull’s hand. The Skull is delayed from recovering thanks to Redwing — whom the Falcon freed earlier. As the Cube begins melting in his hands, the Red Skull tries to use it one more time and successfully teleports away. However, the Cube remains as it melts into useless slag.[4] Observing this from their headquarters, AIM is satisfied that the Cosmic Cube has been destroyed. With their battle against the Red Skull now over, Captain America and the Falcon head for home.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Falcon, Red Skull, AIM (MODOK)

Continuity Notes

1. The Red Skull used the Cosmic Cube to swap bodies with the Cap in Captain America #115.

2. Here, the Red Skull states the Adolf Hitler died at the end of the war. That’s not entirely accurate. In the Marvel Universe, Hitler was immolated by the Human Torch as seen in Young Men #24. In reality, his mind survived after being downloaded into a clone body, a feat that he will use to cheat death for years. See Fantastic Four #16, Super-Villain Team-Up #21, and Fury #1.

3. MODOK’s previous battle with Captain America was chronicled in Tales of Suspense #93-94.

4. As explained in Captain America Annual #7 and the Kubik entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe ‘89 Update #4, the Cosmic Cube survived, it then teleported itself to an abandoned AIM based in New Orleans, where it will be sought after by Doctor Doom as seen in Sub-Mariner #48-49.