* This story is strongly recommended for mature audiences only *

A knock on the door in the middle of the night.

"Don't answer it" She sobbed, pulling the covers to her throat, "Please don't."

He hung his head, "They will know" he said resigned, "They already know."

"Please don't" she sobbed, and so he stayed in bed.

They knocked again. Louder.

"What if it's not...?" he started, but she shook her head.

There was only one reason for a knock on the door in the middle of the night.

It meant that they were coming for you.

That they had decided that you were next.

He heard the knock fade, and then silence, hanging in the air in the space between them.

Then he heard a crash as the door buckled. They hit it again and he heard the sound of the door been forced from its hinges.

"Daddy!"

"Oh my god" his wife whispered, as if remembering their daughter in the other room.

He had remembered, but had tried not to. He had tried desperately to put her out of his mind. Tried to put the whole thing out of his mind.

He heard her scream cut short. And then - silence.

There was a knock on the bedroom door. He looked to his nightside table, wishing that he had defied the law and kept his gun. He wished that he still had it... now that they were coming for him.

His wife was still sobbing beside him.

He got out of bed in a single motion, and headed to the door.

"What are you doing?" she managed to hysterically ask through her tears.

He looked back at her with a confident smile that he truly had, "Answering the door," he reassured, "It's me they want after all."

He reached over to the bedroom table and picked up his library card, holding it tightly in his hand. The edges dug into his hand. It reminded him that he was still alive.

The door opened before he got to it.

A figure was pushed through, as if to draw fire.

It took a couple of steps, and then crumpled to the ground.

He looked on the bloodied face of his gutted daughter, at the look of shock - at the betrayal of trust.

They entered the room with precision, dressed in their traditional black uniforms, armed to the teeth.

"You shall be coming with us" the one in the lead said, leaving no room open for discussion.

He looked at his wife, who nodded and started to get up from the bed, clutching the sheet around her.

"Not you," another said, turning and dropping her with a single shot to the head.

They turned back to him. Six of them in all. Six men in black uniforms.

"You shall be coming with us" they repeated.

He looked at them for a moment, then back to his dead wife and daughter, wishing that he had never bought those videos... wishing that he had been of stronger stuff.

But he had been weak... and now, he lowered his head, as he had been taught to do in school, and allowed them to apply the standard resistrants.

They led him from what had been his home, his castle just as the clean-up team was arriving.

No one would see what they were doing, what they had done. No one would get out of bed for fear of being seen... of being, removed. No one would question the fact that he and his family were gone. Not once there were no visible reminders of their existence, other than a single phrase spray painted on their door:

"Night and Fog"

The Last Light, Part I (of IV)
Written by Gary Dreslinski
Edited by Adam Di Stefano

Dedicated to the forces of light.

"I got a rock"

"Yes Hulk. We know. Put that thing away ok?"

Iron Man tried to keep from smiling, and failed miserably. It was still funny to see the Incredible Hulk walking around the mansion with his purple pants down around his ankles showing everyone his "rock".

"Hulk happy" The man-beast said, pointing down at his sizeable green erection. "Hulk beat!" he declared, grabbing onto it with both hands with a fierceness that looked like it would break the "rock" in two. He kept pumping and pumping.

"Take that out of here or I'll tell Cap on you"

The Hulk dropped his mighty hands to his side, "No tell Cap" he pleaded, his eyes wide with terror, "Please."

"Then take it out of here. I'm trying to get some business done."

"Hulk sorry" He said, quickly exiting the room.

Inside his Ironman suit, Tony Stark was glad to see the Hulk leave. After all - the sooner that the Hulk left, the sooner he could get back some serious drinking. He'd hooked a tube from his recycling system straight through, bypassing the filtration system that was mostly for show anyway.

He drank deep and grunted. It wasn't a very good batch from this morning. He would have to eat better for lunch to get the higher quality...

Something started to howl out in the hallway.

Iron Man jumped up from his chair at the emergency monitor and rushed out into the hallway in time to see what was left of Hank McCoy, the Beast, tearing Tigra into bits.

"Get away from her you psycho!" He yelled, firing a double shot of repulsor blasts into the rabid creature. The Beast yelped in pain, with foam splattering out as he dropped the tiger striped leg out of his mouth.

The Beast backed cautiously away, his eyes blazing at the Armored Avenger. "I'll kill you" Hank muttered under his breath, "I'm gonna fucking kill you"

Tigra looked down at the bloody stump where her leg used to be, "Well you certainly tried your best with me now didn't you?" she yelled, picking herself back up off the floor.

"Need someone to look at that?" Tony asked hopefully.

"Get fucked." Tigra laughed as she hobbled down the hall, leaving the trail of blood in her wake.

The Beast rushed forward to lap it up. Iron Man stepped into his path, "One of these days Hank." he said, staring into the crazed eyes of someone he might have once thought of as a friend, "One of these days I'm going to forget that we're both Avengers and I'm going to make you pay for all the times you've harmed a nice piece of ass."

"Go have a drink Piss Can Man." Hank snarled," Leave my business to me."

"Your business huh?" a familiar voice came from down the hall, "Since when do either of you pieces of dung have your own business?"

"Cap!" Iron Man exclaimed, "We were just..."

Captain America stepped forward, with several young boys dressed in tight blue and red "Bucky" uniforms following at his heel. "I don't care what you were or were not 'just doing'. We have a situation. I need the Avengers in the Ready Room. All the Avengers currently at the mansion. That includes you two sorry excuses."

"Yes sir" Iron Man said sharply.

"Yes sir" the Beast whimpered. "Does that mean...?" he questioned, indicating the chain around his neck that bound him to the far end of the hallway.

Captain America nodded. "I'll have the Vision hold your chain. He'd probably enjoy it if you tried getting rough with him." He said, and then pivoted on his right foot and left as abruptly as he had arrived. The Buckys ran after him, each of them hoping to be the first to get into position at his side. After all, the one who came in last more than once...

The Headquarters of the Right Arm of Jesus

"Is all in readiness Brother?"

"Yes, your Holiness..."

The Prime shook his head sadly, "We've discussed this before Brother... only the Pope is "His Holiness" I am simply another instrument of the will of God, much like yourself."

The priest nodded, slowly, "I understand your words my brother... but your deeds have marked you as high on the arsenal of our Lord and Saviour. You are truly the Chosen One."

The robot Ultron, Founder and Head of the First Church of the Right Arm of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, nodded gratefully, "I merely do the Lord's work Fanin.. as do we all. Come now... we have an assembly to address and much to do this day."

"Hail Jesus!" the crowd within the stadium proclaimed at the top of their lungs as he was announced. Ultron stared calmly ahead to the podium. He felt their heat, their light, the sheer power of their righteousness. "Hail the Light!" they proclaimed as he took the pulpit.

"America has fallen," Ultron started, repeating the lines he had been using for the last few sermons. Repetition was important in grilling the truth into the minds of simple humans. It had worked for centuries... it would continue to serve the will of those who were the instruments of the One True God.

"Once, we were a great nation," he continued, "But not now." he shook his large metal head, " We have fallen into ruin, we fallen into the pit of sin. Once upon a time others stood here, trying to tell people what I am telling you now. Trying to speak against the great evils of the time. Some listened to them... some went out and carried the word of God in their hearts, they armed against the coming of the Great Evil that society was being sold to. They went out and ended 'affirmative action'. They ended 'gay rights'. They stamped out these evils, your forefathers did... in the name of God. They hanged the abortionists in the streets. And God was glad. God was glad in his heart because he knew that mankind was returning to his flock."

He nodded to himself when the lights dimmed at the right place. The technicians had messed up a couple nights before, he had blasted those and replaced them with his own creations. Those were much better at doing the tasks that needed doing... more reliable than their flesh and blood predecessors.

"But then" he said, "THEY came from the pit itself. They came from the pit and settled in the filth that is New York. They called themselves the Avengers... and your forefathers... your God... call out for their destruction!"

"What is it this time?" Hank Pym, the Giant Man, asked with his bare legs perched on the table.

"Cap didn't say" Iron Man pointed out, "He just wanted us to be here."

"He said it was important" the Beast snarled from the corner.

The Vision looked down at him without emotion. As a sexdroid, tending to the animals, in ways other than for the pleasure of others, was a new facet of his job. However, what little of the mind of Hank McCoy was still technically a member of the Avengers. Which made his welfare a "Prime Responsibility".

After all, even for the feral Beast, crossing Captain America in a bad mood was still a danger to life and limb.

"Aren't you ever going to put on any pants Hank?" Jan Van Dyne, the wonderful Wasp quipped as she entered in one of her sheer costumes.

Her ex-husband, Dr. Pym, looked down at his bare crotch, looked back up at her and shrugged, "Maybe when you stop nailing everything that moves dear." he retorted with a smirk.

Jan sat down with an indignant huff, staring straight ahead for a moment. She looked down at the table, her lower lip trembling in a pout, for a moment, as if considering something. Then she suddenly looked up, her face full of mockery.

Hank watched his ex's antics and shook his head in wonder. "You've still got it." he muttered to himself, confirming his thoughts with a look down.

The Hulk, Jocasta, and Hawkeye all came in within the next few minutes, but Pym didn't notice.

It wasn't until Captain America entered the room that his attention shifted.

"Atten-tion" The Buckys shouted. Everyone in the room looked up from where they were sitting. The Hulk stood up to prove that he was already in that state.

Clint Barton, the archer called Hawkeye, stared straight ahead, trying his best not to laugh.

"Where's Thor?" Captain America demanded.

Hank Pym looked around the room to see the collection of shaking heads and shrugs.

The Star Spangled Avenger started to turn around, as if to go track down the Norse Thunder God himself. Then he stopped, turning back to the group. Perhaps he had decided it wouldn't be worth the trouble to enforce his will upon the son of Odin. Or perhaps he knew he would, in the end, be unable to do so.

Whatever his reason, his face returned to its stern familiar "there's a lecture coming" look.

"I assembled you here for a reason," Captain America began, "A great evil has returned..."

"Galactus?" The Wasp asked.

"Herbert Hoover?" Hawkeye quipped.

Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym felt his eyes fall to the table. He stared for a moment. A long moment.

Finally, he found the words, "It's Ultron, isn't it?"

He looked up in time to see Captain America confirming nod.

"Damn it" he muttered to himself. "Why now?"

"We've known he's been out there for quite some time Henry" Cap explains, "But we've just let him go on with his little bread and circuses. It wasn't until lately that he's started activity worthy of our attention. It wasn't until a few nights ago that he started speaking openly against us."

The Vision didn't blink an eye. Hawkeye watched him carefully, after all, once upon a time he had chosen a mortal woman to mate with: the Avenger known as the Scarlet Witch.

But after Ultron's last crusade... he looked away from the emotionless sexdroid, wishing he could feel the same way. But he couldn't. Too many good people were gone... too many of them had been...

"We don't want a repeat of the Mutant Purge." Captain America explained, "But if the feeling in my gut is right, this is only the tip of the iceberg."

The Mutant Purge. It seemed so long ago. It seemed... like a lifetime ago. They had been so young, so trusting...

Never Again. The words stayed on his lips. They didn't die. He wouldn't let them.

He tried to meet the eyes of the Sentinel of Liberty, but the man who wore the symbol of his country simply stared past him.

After the cries of support were gone. After the glare of the lights, Ultron sat in his simple quarters and pondered the nature of destiny. He was a creature of it after all.

He had been created to do this work. To purge from mankind all the bad parts of humanity.

To protect man, he reminded himself, allowing his robes to fall open to expose his disfigurement.

He stared down at where the offending organ had been. The sinful organ that the man who claimed to give him the spark of life had given him. Had given him for sinful purposes. But God had told him what to do about such things. He had given his holy word to man in the tome of the spirit...

Brother Ultron, of the First Church of Jesus Christ, Lord and Saviour, pulled his robe tightly around him. "Pluck it out" he muttered out loud, finishing his thought. And he had, praise Jesus... he had done what the Lord had told him to do.

Ultron stared out in the receding night... wondering what miracles the Lord had planned for him for the new day. What miracles, and what new challenges.

Brother Ultron stared out into the receding darkness, praying for the strength to meet both.

Her name was Natasha. But people in the right circles knew her better as the Black Widow.

Once upon a time, she had been a Russian spy, one of the best.

Once upon a time, she had been an Avenger.

Once upon a time she had ran a exclusive club for shower fetishes.

Anything was available - for a price. From the standard water fantasies to the more expensive Roman treatment.

Once upon a time, she was not in pain. She didn't want to scream out then. Nor did she now. Screaming would do no good. It would only show them that they were hurting her, on some level.

She wanted to scream though. Scream out in pain and self righteous anger. She wanted to scream out so that someone would come to her, to their, rescue. She wanted to scream out for the Avengers... for anyone left to stop what was coming.

But it would do no good. They had told her so, when they had shaved her body.

They reminded her of it when they handed her the towel.

She looked up at the light of day, just breaking over the walls of the place she had grown to think of as Hell, wondering how the sun dared show its face here of all places.

She stared at the sun for a moment before guards dressed in black started pushing her forward.

She wanted to fight them. To fight her fate. But she had already tried that. More than once.

She had lost.

And now she was lost.

She didn't look at the sun again, she only stared ahead into the dark recesses of the building ahead of her, and the tunnel that led to the room where they said that refreshing showers awaited them all.

She saw the masses go in ahead of here, and knew of the long line behind her, all hoping for a break from the factory work they had been forced to endure.

The woman who had been known as the Black Widow shook her head and stepped into the darkness of the tunnel, knowing that she would never see the sun again.

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