"So."

"So..."

"You were dead."

"Oh yes, quite." Doctor Anthony Luddgate Druid stood in front of a window in the Avengers West Coast compound, piss-yellow eyes staring out at the twinkling night, arms crossed behind his back. Stars flared to life and died. Druid didn't blink. "Still am. Technically."

"Technically." Tony Stark, Iron-Man, stood behind him clad in his red and gold armor. The armor had taken a beating over the past few days but the strange mixture of technologies-some of them extra-dimensional-that composed it were self repairing to a large degree. And self-improving. Tony was reasonably sure that the patches of so-called Nth Metal were growing, extending through the armor's skeleton like fibrous roots, making it stronger. Tougher. The boost in the sensors alone was worth it.

Right now those sensors were scanning every decrepit inch of the being standing before him. And confirming every word he was saying from those purple, spoilt lips.

"Technically," Tony said again. "Why are you walking around?"

"Are you asking me, or yourself, Tony?" Druid turned slightly and for a moment Tony could see the balding, goateed, slightly paunchy man he'd been teammates with. Then it faded. There were maggots crawling in Druid's goatee now. He didn't seem to notice.

"You're the resident magician, Anthony. Tell me."

"Do you believe in redemption, Tony?"

"No."

Druid turned, raising one eyebrow. The expression looked comical on his decayed face. "Really?"

"I believe in absolution," Tony said, eyes unreadable behind his mask. Druid gave a raspy chuckle.

"Then call it absolution. I'm caught between worlds, Tony. Neither here nor there. For my sins I was so condemned."

"Sins-"

"Don't ask. Regardless, I was caught. Until Dracula."

"Dracula."

"His soul ruptured the walls of Hell, ascending like some sort of reverse comet, black as sin, spitting tar and ash as it rose towards the waking world. Hell could never contain Dracula you see...he's rather like a guided missile of damnation. He's a weapon, Tony. Satan's weapon against mankind. Every time he returns is worse than the time before that. Every time he returns it requires more force to stop him. In times past, the world's mystical defenses were enough. But now..."

"Now it's our turn," Tony said. "And you came back to-what? Warn us?"

"Yes. I latched onto his soul, rather like a parasite I'm afraid. I followed him, trailed him back to the waking world. And it was here that I discovered that Dracula wasn't returning alone. His coming is just a harbinger of something much worse...

“...Chthon."

MARVEL 2000 PRESENTS...

"BLOODY DAYS "

Written by Josh Reynolds

"Nope. I refuse to accept it." Clint Barton, Hawkeye, stuck his fingers in his ears and closed his eyes. "See? Lalalalala..."

"Clint? Clint!" Janet van Dyne, the Wasp, rolled her eyes and continued to pack. "Clint, this is childish."

"Lalalala..."

"Clint!" Jan whirled and smacked Clint on the side of the head with her bag. Undergarments spilled everywhere. Clint blinked and reached up to pull a bra off of his head.

"38D, Jan? Isn't that wishful thinking?"

"Pym Particles have a multitude of household uses." Jan smiled sweetly. Clint laughed as Jan snatched the bra away. "Now gimme."

"You're a dirty girl, Jan baby."

"You're just now figuring that out?" Jan turned back to her packing. "Now either help or get out of here."

"Fine, fine. I'm helpful. See how helpful I am?" Clint snatched a pile of panties out of the bag and began to fold them.

"You're folding my panties."

"I am indeed folding panties. Helpful."

"Oh yes. So very."

They were silent for a while, working in friendly silence. Clint sighed. "So you're really leaving?"

"Yeah." Jan smiled. "Before something else comes up."

"I'd say it already has. We're in the calm before the storm and all that." Clint grinned. "If ol' Doc Druid is to be believed at any rate."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Do you believe him?"

"Do I believe the zombie Avenger?"

"That would be the one, yes."

"I don't know, y'know?" Clint rubbed his chin. "As many times as Druid has been there for us, he's been screwing us all the other times. I'd be an idiot to trust him."

"But do you believe him?"

"I-yeah. Yeah I do." Clint shrugged. "Once an Avenger, always an Avenger, right?"

"Yeah Clint. And that goes for Hank and I as well." Jan touched him on the arm. "But right now, we need space. Time to breathe. Away from monsters, super-villains and maniacs of assorted stripes. Time with each other."

"I know. I know that. But it still stinks. All we've been doing lately is losing people. Every damn time, y'know." Clint shook his head. "Avengers West, where teams go to die."

"Ha!"

"What?"

"Ha! I said ha! Clint Barton, Captain Maudlin." Jan smirked and hit him again. "Get over it."

"Harsh."

"Damn straight. If it falls apart, so what? Just put it back together again." Jan laughed. "That's what the Avengers do, Clint. We put things back together. Especially after we break them."

"You know what, Jan baby? You're right. You are abso-lutely right." A smile grew on Clint's face. "I couldn't have put it better myself."

Hank Pym listened to his wife-no, ex-wife-laugh with Clint and smiled. He turned off the listening device, one of several he had planted throughout the compound, and turned back to his workbench. The smile faded as he ran fingers across the hideous jack o' lantern grin of the metal skull sitting in front of him. Why was he doing this to himself? A large part of him wanted to take a sledge hammer, the vibranium headed one the Black Panther had given him, and smash all of the past few weeks of work. Batter it into nothing. Instead, he was going to finish it. And why?

Absolution.

That was it. One word. Absolution.

Every drop of blood Ultron had spilled, every life he'd taken, all of it was on Hank's hands. There was no forgiveness for that. No redemption. Just absolution. And the only way to do that was to go back in time and correct the mistake. Only he couldn't do that could he? Time travel was a fickle thing. So he'd have to settle for the next best thing. He'd give the world what he should've in the first place.

A hero, not a monster. That was what he'd always meant for Ultron to be. A hero. Someone to take his place in the Avengers. This time he'd do it right. There'd be no surprise attack from a newly awakened AI, no chemicals, no screw-ups or slip-ups.

Ultron would be reborn. And Hank Pym would be absolved of the sins of his creation.

He bent over the metal body, connecting tubes and circuits with a speed born of desperation. He had to get it finished.

Then the real work would begin.

The intercom buzzed. Hank hit the button without turning around.

"Yes?"

"Hank, it's Clint. Meeting in ten."

"I have work to do," Marc Spector, Moon Knight, said bluntly. He stood in front of a window, preparing to leave. Unfortunately Jessica Drew, also known as Spider-Woman (the original, dontcha know!) was standing between him and his goal. Hands on hips, Jessica glared at the Fist of Khonshu.

"Yep."

"Glad we agree. Let me by."

"Nope."

"Why?" Spector sighed. Drew leaned back against the window.

"Because you need help."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do. Trust me on this. You got the crap beat out of you."

"I did not get the crap beat out of me."

"Oh yes you did. And it's gonna happen again. Unless you let us help you."

"Us?" Spector cocked his cowled head. "So it's 'us' now? You accepted Barton's offer then."

"Sure. I've been a reservist for a while. Figured I might as well go full-time. You could, too."

"Been there, done that. Didn't enjoy it the first time."

"Doesn't mean you won't enjoy it this time." Drew grinned. "Besides, think about it-Dracula? The Serpent Society? C'mon." She gestured.

"No."

"C'mon."

"No."

"Coooome ooooon."

"Stop it, Drew. This isn't about the Avengers. This is about me. About my path. The Fist of Khonshu isn't a team player. I'm going back to San Francisco. Now. While Barton and the others debate, I'm going to do something. About Dracula. About the Society if they raise their heads again," Spector said harshly, pointing at her. "And if you want to play hero, you'd do well to come with me."

Drew met Spector's eyes for a moment. Then, finally, she slid aside and gestured to the window. Moon Knight inclined his head and leapt out the window. Drew watched him go. The sound of a helicopter was heavy on the air as Moon Knight's form faded into the night. She shook her head, then leaned out the window.

"You could at least use the door!"

"He gone?"

Drew turned to see Clint leaning against the doorframe. She shrugged.

"Yeah. I figured as much."

"You knew he was going to pull a vanishing act?"

"Sure. Moony likes to play up the whole 'mystery man' angle. But he's smart enough to come calling if he needs us. And, like as not, we'll be on our way back to Fog City before too long." Clint straightened and crooked a finger. "C'mon. Avengers meeting in the conference room."

"Clint?"

"Yeah?"

"We have a conference room?"

"So, vampires?"

"Unh-hunh." Chris Powell, otherwise known as Darkhawk, nodded as best he could, laying flat on the bed. Lena Myers rolled over on top of him, chin resting on her forearms as she looked him in the eye. Pink hair dangled over her eyes and she pursed her lips and blew her bangs aside for a moment as if to get a better look at him.

"And a dead Avenger rose from the grave."

"Yep."

"And that's where you've been."

"Yeah."

"That still doesn't explain why you didn't take me to Hawaii with you."

"Damn it."

"Spill mister." Lena poked a black painted fingernail into the center of Chris' bare chest. "Why no tickie for this chickie?"

"It was sort of a business thing..." Chris gestured. "You know, business lunches and all that. Besides, you were busy."

"Was I?"

"Oh yeah."

"Hunh. I don't remember being busy."

"Look. It was sort of a last minute thing. Spur of the moment."

"Spur of the moment?"

"Spur. Moment. Trust me."

"You forgot, didn't you." It wasn't a question. It also wasn't an accusation, for which Chris was grateful. He frowned and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, babe. It was just, one second we're dealing with Equinox and the next-BAM!-Hawaii Five-O." Chris gave a chuckle. "They do things a lost faster in the Avengers than in the New Warriors. I'm still trying to get used to it." He reached up and ran his fingers through her hair, tugging on it gently and making her laugh. She kissed him, softly at first, then harder. She pulled back and he blinked up at her.

"What?"

"How long have we been doing this?"

"This?"

"This." She rubbed his cheek. "How long? A couple of weeks?"

"Yeah."

"Feels longer."

"That a bad thing?"

"Nope. Opposite really. Chris..."

"What?"

"I'm moving to San Francisco. To help with the reclamation effort," she said, smiling sadly. "A few friends of mine are going. Part of a volunteer effort."

"Lena, it's-"

"Dangerous. Yeah. So was Moomba," she said. She laid her head on his chest. "Besides, I'll always have you there to protect me."

"Will you now?" Chris tilted her head up and smiled at her. She returned the smile and kissed him again.

"Oh yes. I have a sixth sense about these things."

There was a knock at the door. Hawkeye's voice carried through the wood.

"Put some pants on, Romeo. Conference room in ten."

Clint leaned back in his chair, feet up on the conference table. Eyes closed, fingers laced behind his head, he listened. The others sat around the table-Hank and Jan, Drew, Tony and Chris. The Avengers West Coast. For now.

"Look, we don't know anything about Druid. Not really. Can we even say he's the same man?" Tony said, chin resting on his interlaced armored fingers.

"What do your scans say?" Hank asked, rubbing his chin. Tony shook his head.

"He is what he looks like. Dead. Rotting. And Anthony Luddgate Druid. Which is my point...Druid has never been what you could call trustworthy."

"Well that's being harsh," Jan piped up. She had one hand on Hank's back, rubbing gently. Tony shook his head.

"I prefer the term 'blunt'."

"Howsabout 'rude'?" Jan smiled sweetly. Clint gave a sharp laugh. Tony smiled.

"We can go with that." He looked at Clint. "But my point stands. Dracula is out of our jurisdiction. Let's call Doctor Strange. Or Ghost Rider. Hell, let Spector and Druid handle it. Our priority has to be Genis."

"Really? And how do you figure that?" Chris said. Not quite sarcastically. Not quite.

"He was on the team. He's our responsibility. Simple as that. I've been doing some checking up on him. On his activities these past few months. He's a loose cannon in the worst way. Too, there's been no sign of Rick Jones. And now Marlo's gone as well."

"Cap didn't take her home after Dracula pulled his vanishing act?" Hank said. Tony shook his head.

"No sign of either of them. But I can find them with Hank's cosmic sensor hooked into my armor. I'll track Genis down and we can bring him to heel now. Before-"

"Before what?" Clint swung is feet off the table. "Before he goes on a rampage? We don't know for sure that he will."

"Bull. You know as well as I do-"

"This is about the Hulk isn't it?" Clint said. Tony glared at him.

"What?"

"The Hulk. This is about the Hulk. He was on the team. He went wild. We never managed to stop him. Now you're worried the same thing'll happen with Genis. Fess up, Tin-pants." Clint pointed an accusing finger at Tony. "That's why you're so intent on bringing Genis in. So instead of focusing on the problem at hand, you want to go run off after one we may not have yet."

"That's ridiculous."

"No. It's not. Which is why I want you to do it," Clint said. Tony blinked.

"What?"

"Exactly." Clint sat back, a satisfied look on his face.

"Splitting up didn't work so well last time." Hank said dubiously. Clint grinned at him.

"Why are you worrying? You and Jan are retired as of now."

"But-"

"No buts." Clint shook a warning finger. "Jan and me had a talk. And it made me realize something. The Avengers haven't cleaned up their own messes in a while. Moony was right. Glad he ain't here to hear it, but it still stands. Genis is one of our messes. And so's San Francisco. And Dracula, too come to that. Doc Druid made sure of that. But we ain't got the manpower to be running back and forth. So, Tony, find Genis. But don't engage him!"

"But-"

"Did I not just say no buts? Watch him, Shellhead. Watch him, see if he's gone to the dark side. If he has, find us and we'll take him down. As a team." Clint turned to the others. "As for the rest of us...we're pulling up stakes. As of today, Avengers West will be based in San Francisco."

"Clint, I don't have any available property in San Francisco!" Tony said. Clint smiled.

"Right. You don't. But the Serpent Society does...don't they, Zelda?" He turned to Zelda and smiled. She stared at him like a deer in headlights.

"It'll be wonderful, Marlo. You'll see," Genis said as they flew into the rising sun, carrying Marlo in his arms. She was silent, head buried in his shoulder to keep the wind out of her face. Also to hide the fear in her face from her captor. And she was afraid. Terrified, if she was being honest with herself.

Rick was gone. And he wasn't coming back. She knew that. She didn't know how, but she knew it.

Genis was the only one left. And he was insane. He'd always had problems. But with Rick there...but now...

He was insane.

"I'm not, you know."

Marlo tilted her head slowly, looking up at Genis. He smiled down at her. "Insane. I'm not insane." he said, chuckling.

"You-"

"Read your mind? Oh yes. Cosmic senses. I can skim surface thoughts. Rick didn't tell you?"

"I-no."

"Oh. I wonder if I told him?" Genis mused. "Ah well, it doesn't matter. Not anymore anyway."

"What did you do to him?" Marlo asked suddenly. "What the hell did you do to my husband?"

"What do you mean?" Genis looked at her, bemused. "I am your husband. And very soon, I'll carry you over the threshold. Here." He gestured towards the ground below. Trees and hills. Some expensive homes. "I'm going to build you the kind of home we've always wanted."

"Home. A new home. A dark Mecca. Our kind will make a pilgrimage here. They will flock here, to this damned city and kneel to receive my blessing," Dracula, once Prince of Wallachia now and forevermore Lord of the Vampires said, standing atop a ruined building. His cloak swirled around him as the wind picked up and he spread his arms, seemingly luxuriating in it. Bats fluttered around him and thousands of rats and other vermin clung to the roof of the building, a living carpet of red-eyed flesh. And among them, vampires. Dozens.

Soon there would be hundreds. Thousands.

But not tonight.

Tonight was for blood. Oceans and messes of it. Dracula swept out a pale hand towards the distant lights of a Red Cross shelter. His carmine eyes glittered as he laughed, serpentine tongue wriggling between cancer-colored fangs. At his unspoken signal, death took flight.

Minutes later, the night was filled with screams. And blood.

Oceans and messes of it.