Fantastic Four (Vol. 4) #5.AU
The Death of the Family Richards During the Bloody Age of Ultron! Or, "Everything's Going to be Okay."
Somewhere in time and space, the Invisible Woman puts Franklin to bed and promises Franklin that she will be back home soon. Mister Fantastic tells Sue that it is time for them to go. Franklin is later awoken by his sister Valeria screaming his name. Franklin runs into the com room to find that she is playing a message from her parents. The recording of Reed tells their children that if they are seeing this message, then things have gone horribly wrong...
... Earlier that evening as the Fantastic Four are leaving their time-space ship in a smaller craft, Reed explains to them that Ultron has taken over the Earth. He shows them a distress call from the Black Panther, begging any heroes who have picked up his signal to come and help. They activate the chromosphere and travel back to Earth. However, they arrive to find that they are too late and that the Earth has been decimated by Ultron and his forces. When they arrive in Manhattan they quickly find Medusa's dead body. Fearing for the children of the Future Foundation they rush to the ruins of the Baxter Building. Inside they find that the Omega Room has not been activated and Reed fears that the children didn't survive either. Suddenly they are attacked by Ultron Sentinels...
Back aboard the ship, Valeria and Franklin continue to watch the video from their family. Johnny tells the kids to split up his things and not wreck his car. He then tells them that he is joking and reminds them that death is only part of the journey and that he knows they'll be back someday. After hearing this, Valeria tells her brother that she thinks they are in deep trouble...
Back on Earth, the Human Torch attacks the Ultron Sentinels. While the other members of the Fantastic Four dig down into the ground, Johnny unleashes a nova blast to destroy all their attackers...
Back aboard the ship, the children listen to the Thing's portion of the recording. Ben tells them that he thinks that he is responsible for the creation of Doctor Doom. He explains how when he was younger he messed with the experiment that ultimately caused Victor von Doom's face to get scared. He admits to them that he has never told another living soul this truth.
... Seventeen hours later on Earth, the Thing pulls himself out of the rubble and sees what he thinks is Doctor Doom among the Ultron Sentinels. When the Thing blows his cover, it turns out that it was only an Ultron robot disguised as Doctor Doom. Suddenly the Thing is swarmed by an army of Ultrons and overwhelmed.
Back aboard the ship, the children watch his father's portion of the video. He cannot find the words to speak, so he writes down his thoughts. He imparts to his children that if there is no God or Heaven to go to in death then it doesn't matter what they do, but all they do is all that matters.
Back on Earth, Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman are fleeing for their lives. However, when the Ultron Sentinels catch up, Reed sacrifices his life in order to buy Sue time to escape. When the Ultrons self-destruct, the Invisible Woman is buried in the rubble. Sue is recovered from the rubble by the She-Hulk, who tells her that they have lost everything. Sue tells her no, they haven't lost everything.
Aboard the ship, Valeria is surprised to discover that their mother didn't leave a final message. Thinking back to when his mother tucked him in for the night, he disagrees and is sure that she will come back for them. As a pre-recorded physics lesson begins to play for them, Valeria asks her brother what they should do now, however, Franklin has no answers.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, She-Hulk, Medusa, Ultron Sentinel
Continuity Notes
This story takes place prior to the events of Age of Ultron #1.
This story takes place during the Age of Ultron event. In Age of Ultron #10, the Invisible Woman assists in preventing Ultron from taking over the Earth, making this story happen in an alternate reality of Earth-61112.
Johnny mentions how he's been dead before. Johnny was killed battling the forces of Annihilus in Fantastic Four #587 but was later resurrected in Fantastic Four #600.
