Sando runs a sensational stage act at a midtown theater, presenting himself as a master hypnotist who puts the mysterious Omar into a trance and commands him to reveal the future in a crystal ball. When Omar's visions, a column of US Army tanks, a bridge, come true as real sabotage, the act draws the attention of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, who suspect a fraud behind the spectacle.
The truth is uglier than showmanship. The predictions are a hoax, the images projected onto the crystal ball by an accomplice while the act's real purpose is to mask enemy sabotage. When Captain America and Bucky break up the show, the man drops the Sando persona entirely, revealing himself as Colonel von Krantz, an agent taking his orders directly from the Red Skull. He holds Agent 13 at his men's mercy and orders the heroes killed, only to be defeated and left crumpled among his fellow spies.