it's okay, Varient, it's okay... that was a lovely story...!
*wipes away a tear...*
Okay, he's not my favourite but I think it'd be cool if Cap went down something like this:
In a desperate all-or-nothing attack, Cap leads the Avengers against The Red Skull and his hordes, in an effort to prevent the launch of a nuclear/chemical hybrid missile that will devastate both American Continents.
The fighting rages on, and in the ensuing struggle the launch controls are destroyed, both activating the launch countdown and destroying the only way of remotely deactivating the device.
As Cap reaches the missile's on-board override controls, with the Avengers in hot pursuit, he meets the Red Skull in combat, who has arrived to ensure his plan succeeds - whatever the cost. Before the Avengers can catch up with Cap, the rocket is launched, with Cap and the Skull on board. Iron Man, Vision, Wonder Man, and the other Avengers with flight ability attempt to keep up.
After what seems like an eternity of mano-a-mano fighting between the two men onboard the vessel, Captain america is pinned by the throat to the control deck of the craft by Red Skull. Just as he prepares to deliver the killing blow, Cap uses all his strength to heave the Skull off him, and promptly turns around, raises the shield above the console with both hands, and.
BOOM.
A ball of fire balloons out above the Atlantic ocean. The heroes still in hot pursuit are blown away by the immense shockwave. All that remains of the craft is a solitary, charred disc of metal - Cap's Shield. Which falls to earth and is caught by Thor, who managed to retrieve it before it fell to the icy depths of the ocean.
The glow fills the sky for a whole day.
FORWARD TO: one week later. Thanks to cap's actions, the device was detonated before the Plutonium or Chemical Warheads could be fully armed - only the Solid Rocket Fuel and explosive charge in the device was detonated. As such the contamination is minimal.
In Central Park, mere yards away from the former site of Avengers Mansion, Cap's shield is erected on a marble column twenty feet high, as a tribute to the Man - the Legend - the Hero.
see, allusions to Bucky's 'Death', the inclusion of the Red Skull, the inclusion of past Avengers History (with nods to the original Avengers team). That's how I say it should happen.
