Tony Stark, as Iron Man, flies to Washington to attend his court hearing with Senator Byrd. Meanwhile, in an unnamed Communist Bloc country, an improved Titanium Man undergoes a final test before being launched by rocket, coincidentally, also towards Washington. An air force jet intercepts the giant rocket and fires a warning shot. Titanium Man rips his way out of the rocket and is immediately confronted by Iron Man.; Cap fights a seemingly-hopeless battle against The Skull, who, armed with The Cosmic Cube, can do anything he wishes merely by thinking it! The Skull envisions instantly making everyone on the planet his slaves, turning every able-bodied man into a fighting machine, creating "new, invincible weapons...in endless number, with matchless power," and eventually leaving Earth to create an intergalactic empire, extending to "the furthest reaches of space." Cap only turns the tables by pretending to grovel and becoming the Skull's servant. Mad with power, The Skull envisions a new group of "knights of the round table," and fashions a suit of armor made of solid gold. At which point Cap wrestles with him, trying to knock the Cube from his grip. At his thought, the island they're on breaks up and sinks into the ocean. Cap knocks the Cube into the water, and The Skull dives in after it before he realizes what he's done, as the weight of the armor drags him down to the bottom. The Cube becomes buried in the deep, as Cap hopes it will be lost forever.