Synopsis
In the Mid-Wilshire neighbourhood of Los Angeles a member of the new West Coast Avengers is dealing with a terrorist fire-bombing. A voiceover by Tony Stark tells us how he and James Rhodes started the team partly to rehabilitate criminals. But this recruit is someone he never imagined he'd be working with. The person in question has detected a mother and child who failed to evacuate. He introduces himself to them as Ultron, blows a hole in the outside wall and flies them out to safety. He reports to Stark as he also apprehends 2 suspected members of the terrorist gang the Sovereign Sons.
Tony tells him to rendezvous with War Machine and make sure there are no more unexploded bombs. He himself is racing his sports car to a storage warehouse, being attacked by 3 jet-packed Sons on the way. His voiceover tells us that he's been having armour trouble lately (and an editorial comment directs to the new Iron Man #1), but his civilian suit is bullet resistant. He enters his lockup and, amidst other interesting items, finds a briefcase containing his Silver Centurion armour which isn't as easy to put on as his more modern stuff. But he's armoured up as the 3 Sons land. However we see that he's got 2 car batteries taped to his waist. Battle ensues. 2 of the gang go down, at the cost of his car. But then his repulsors fizzle out. So he has to finish the fight with an armoured fist to the jaw.
Rhodey contacts him to inform him that the Sovereign Sons have gathered at the Angels Flight funicular railway, and they have hostages. Stark travels there in armour on an electric kick scooter (but with a seat) that he presumably rents. The Sons have taken over the car at the bottom of the track and are demanding that the US Government recognises them as an independent nation, and that California stops taking water from the Colorado River.
Ultron and Spider-Woman join War Machine and Blue Bolt at the site. Ultron tells the villains to surrender and they will receive a fair trial. The Sons' leader replies that he's a genocidal robot who used to wear Hank Pym's face, which Ulty has to concede is a fair point. Iron Man arrives and asks Blue Bolt for a jump start, and then he's up and running. Ultron suggests a coordinated nonlethal attack and BB should keep out of it. This angers Bolt who fires a large blast of electricity at the cablecar. Ultron warns him too late about underground gas lines and there's a large explosion. BB gets the worst of the blast. Ultron and War Machine save the cablecar and the hostages but the terrorists escape. SpW threatens to go back to San Francisco.
Later Blue Bolt gives an interview from his hospital bed claiming that he was the hero of the hour. Tony finds Spider-Woman talking to a cancer patient named Meredith Love. She's checking herself out because they can't give her hope for a cure. She tells them she's going to church, the energy is moving on because they're all just electricity.
Iron Man gives Jessica Drew a flying lift to avoid the Press, and on the way she gives him a critique of the team. Ultron's *too* careful but Blue Bolt's going to get people killed. And she asks if she's only been invited because she has a chequered past. She also checks that he's got a contingency plan if Ulty turns out to still be bad. And she tells him that many believe that while he was married to Emma Frost (during his last series and the Fall Of The Mutants event) she affected his mind. Tony assures her otherwise.
They land at the closed Santa Monica airport which Stark has bought. He intends to use some of it as an Avengers base and turn the rest over to low-income housing. But in the meantime he's arranged for a taco truck whose wares Rhodey and Ulty are currently sampling. Jess flies back to San Fran in a plane to continue working on a PI case. Tony then makes a call to Firestar (Angelica Jones) to invite her on to the team. During FOTM she was undercover in the anti-mutant organisation Orchis and we see that she hasn't got over that. She's turned to drink and is currently in the villains' Bar With No Name.
Meredith reaches her destination. There are many others there and she's welcomed into the Church Of Ultron. The robot promises her metamorphosis and salvation after a little pain. She accepts and he separates her head from her body while recounting that he was separated from Henry Pym but has now grown beyond that. As he places her head on a robot body he commends the singularity - the merging of man and machine. She awakes and is still alive so he leaves her to heal. And we pan back to see loads more like her.