Age of Ultron (2013 series) #6

Last issue Nick Fury led a band of heroes through Dr Doom's time platform to the future to stop Ultron's takeover of the world of the present. But among those left behind, Wolverine was determined to use the time machine in a different way, to go back in time to stop Henry Pym from inventing Ultron in the 1st place. This issue follows both plotlines.

Fury had Doom's time machine in his secret base in the Savage Land, so Wolverine winds up in the Savage Land in the past. But he's not alone. Invisible Woman has slipped out of the future-bound team to join him. She'd figured he'd try something like this, and she's here to be his conscience.

They both know he intends (or at least is perfectly willing) to kill Pym to stop Ultron. Wolvie asks Susan if she'd kill to save her children, because he's willing to kill to save billions of people in the ravaged world they've left. (Sue already left her kids in space and saw the rest of the Fantastic Four killed by Utron drones in Fantastic Four #5AU.)

Before she can fully answer, Sue has to hide them in her invisibility shield as a much earlier version of Nick Fury arrives at his base in a flying car. While he's in the base our duo 'borrow' the vehicle and head for New York and Henry Pym.

'Meanwhile' the future squad find themselves in the future Savage Land, minus Invisible Woman. Fury sends Quicksilver ahead to scout out New York. Storm will use her wind power to carry the rest of them there more slowly. He tells Quake to be ready to destroy any Ultron robots that meet them. And Red Hulk smash any she misses. Then he devolves tactical command to Captain America. (The other 2 in this team are Iron Man (in old armour that Ultron can't infiltrate) and Black Widow. Widow and Fury have big guns.)

Wolvie and Susie arrive in old New York where Hank Pym is studying the comatose Dragon Man android. He accepts that Dragon Man is a wonderful creation, but its artificial intelligence is stuck at child-level. He dreams of designing the first AI that could learn to be better than human.

Pym has a rosy view of such an AI. He believes that machine intelligence would help the human race to make a better world. He also looks forward to the 'singularity', where men and machines will merge to produce a better species. (Apparently, despite inventing Iron Man's metal armour, Tony Stark didn't think the singularity would be such a good thing. But then maybe he valued his playboy pleasures too much.)

Henry also has a more selfish motive. Like Stark and the secrets of Iron Man's armour, he won't make his size-changing Pym particles public because they would be too dangerous in the wrong hands. But such is his faith in the benevolence of AI's that he has no qualms about making loads of money from it.

Wolverine enters the lab just as Pym gets the idea that would result in Ultron. Henry doesn't know who Wolvie is, and Logan doesn't properly explain what Pym will do that causes the problem. He just says that he's from the future, whose destruction Pym is responsible for. And he can't trust Pym not to mess up. So he's got to kill him. So of course Hank changes to Goliath to stop him.

As the future team head towards New York (rejoined by Quicksilver), they see that the whole Eastern Seaboard has been transmuted into a lifeless robot metropolis. Suddenly they are surrounded by attacking Ultron heads. Quake does her thing, but there are too many, and soon everyone's in on the act. But it's not enough, and the overwhelmed heroes start to fall, including Cap getting his head blown off.

Back in the deep past, even Goliath's strength is no match for Wolverine's adamantium skeleton and claws. Logan has the wounded giant at his mercy. Before the final blow he tells Pym that he did a lot of good in the future world too, but he still must die. But Invisible Woman's force field stays his hand.

Hank of course recognises Susan, and begs her to help. Even as Logan reminds her of what she has lost, and what the world has lost. Pym still can't understand what's happening, but he sees Sue's face fall. And she turns away as Wolverine slashes his throat.

Then the duo prepare to return to the future. Which can't be worse than the one they left!