The mysterious second Steve Rogers
continues to make his way through dangerous territory on his
forgotten quest. He is joined by two other confused travelers who
resemble Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson. They join forces for safety and
friendship....
Captain America appears to the Punisher
via hologram and reminds him of his mission to find would-be assassin
Black Widow. Meanwhile, Natasha is torturing a captive young Hydra
agent to learn of an opportunity to kill Captain America. Her charges
object to her grisly methods and insist that wiping his mind will be
better than killing him. They free the young agent—and he leaps at
them with a knife. Natasha shoots him down before the horrified
Champions....
Alaska: Ultron has returned from space
and built a stronghold in the North filled with an army of Ultrons,
waiting for...what? He has in his possession a fragment of the Cosmic
Cube—and now parties led by both the Iron Man AI and Captain
America are there to retrieve it, warning their teams that Ultron may
look like he's part Hank Pym, he is not their old friend. Tony's team
enters Ultron's stronghold, with Ant-Man seeking to invade the
mainframe—and Scott runs into the villainous Black Ant. Mockingbird
finds herself confronting Taskmaster; Sam Wilson is seized by a
virus-infected Vision; Quicksilver meets his sister the
demon-possessed Scarlet Witch; Hercules encounters Thor Odinson. A
massive battle ensues and Cap faces Tony—but Hank/Ultron overwhelms
them all....
They awaken to find themselves
prisoners around a dinner table in a replica of Avengers Mansion.
Hank/Ultron presides over the party wanting them all to get together
as they once did but the two teams keep sniping at each other. So
Ultron reveals the reason he waits in Alaska is that he knew the two
sides would destroy one another. Cap protests that Hydra will make
everything right but Hank is skeptical, seeing as how the Avengers'
efforts to make life better resulted in two Civil Wars, the House of
M, and the Dark Reign. As the bickering continues, Hank finally loses
it and demands to be respected as a founding Avenger—and this is
how Tony knows they are dealing with the real Hank Pym. AI Tony mocks
Hank's inferiority complex and confronts him with the real reason the
Avengers ended the family-style dinners: it was Hank hitting Jan.
Hank flies into a rage, complaining how all the good he did has been
forgotten in the wake of that one act while Tony Stark has made
multiple errors of judgment and outright crimes, yet is still
regarded as a hero. It's Scott Lang, the current Ant-Man who talks
him down, showing that they have both made mistakes they are trying
to live down but they can manage, advising Hank to do what Jan would
do....
Moments later, the Avengers team is
leaving with the Cosmic Cube fragment. Steve Rogers confronts Hank
about this and Hank reveals that he gave them the fragment to even up
the odds in this nation-wide conflict. On the way back, the Avengers
team hears from the media that Captain America has received Prince
Namor of Atlantis as a guest and was presented with a fragment of the
Cosmic Cube. The Avengers determine to keep fighting—unaware that
they have a traitor in their midst....
RobFJ with tie-ins to this issue:-
CA: Steve Rogers #18
Mainly flashback leading up to #4 before Namor hands over his Cube fragment. We see Hydra in other parts of the world eg Wakanda.
SE: Underground #1
Between #4 and #5 AI Tony Stark's team get another Cube fragment from the Savage Land.