A crisis could happen at any minute

Be it in the middle of the day

During a party

Or when everyone else is asleep

You could become used to these life-threatening situations, lie to yourself that you are not afraid and know exactly what to do

But deep inside you know the truth

You might not get to see past this crisis

And no matter how many of them you get to see

It never makes any of them less horrifying 

...

Marcy Williams, a 16-year old sports enthusiast was watching TV with her little brother Kurt, who had just turned 9 a week ago

Their parents were out working overtime, so it was just the two of them in that apartment. Kurt had been sent to bed after they finished watching a movie together. Midnight was just an hour away, after all

Marcy, however, refused to follow her own advice and stayed up watching TV, or at least it would've seemed that way. Her mind kept her from paying any attention to the screen anyway

Not only that, but her mind didn't even register that her building started to shake just a bit

She kept thinking about the unreasonable hours her parents had to work to keep things afloat, and now thanks to school, it had been at least two weeks since they were able to sit down and have dinner together. Hell, they weren't even able to come to her last game either 

Suddenly, Marcy's thoughts were forced to a violent halt when the TV screeched a horrific sound she had grown accustomed to, as a citizen in a place where heroes faced crises every three days or so

But this one, this one felt different

For starters, it wasn't from the New York Police Department as it usually was. No, this one was from way higher, and what it said, sent shivers down her spine

"MULTIPLE UNIDENTIFIED AIRCRAFTS HAVE BEEN SPOTTED ATTACKING NUMEROUS CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY"

Instructions followed suit, but they were accompanied by the local sound of the sirens going off in the distance

Marcy rushed into the windows and opened the curtains to see drones flying incredibly fast, and shooting the buildings. Explosions illuminated the night sky in a violent display

???: Mar? What's going on...?

The tender voice of the half-asleep boy made her heart stop. The girl turned to find her brother in his pajamas, and he was rubbing his eyes as he walked into the room

Marcy: We gotta go, Kurt. Right now

Kurt: What? Wh--

Suddenly, an explosion took place in the building, destroying the windows and shooting shards of glass into the apartment as the building shook, Marcy was quick to throw herself at her brother to protect him as best she could

Even parts of the wall were gone now

Marcy got up and quickly checked for injuries on herself or her brother. Upon confirming they were fine, she ran to her room

Marcy: Get ready. We have to leave. NOW

Kurt didn't think twice before he ran back inside and changed as fast as he could. Meanwhile, Marcy ran into her room and grabbed the baseball bat from the wall. The one she used for her games, would now have to be their best defense

But this wasn't the only thing she took. From under her bed, she retrieved a small box, inside it was a pocket knife one of her delinquent friends had given her but had sworn never to use

She prayed it wouldn't have to come to this

The girl threw on a jacket and got out of the room to find her brother in different clothes, but he also had his favorite helmet with him. It was a bike helmet, with some silly add-ons to make it look like Thor

The little kid always idolized that god, although Marcy was more of a Wolverine fan herself

It broke her heart for him to even get to experience this, he was such a good kid, and he didn't deserve to be put through something like this, no one did

Kurt: What?

Marcy: Just...nothing. We gotta move

She grabbed her phone and walked towards the door

Kurt: What about mom and dad?

Marcy: They'll find us later. I promise

He looked at her with a saddened gaze, unsure of that answer, but there wasn't time to argue against it, as screaming and gunfire had been added to the ambiance, reminding them that it was time to move 

So they left, amongst the crowd that was composed of their neighbors, they all ran out of the building as its foundation threatened to collapse

A high-pitched screech could be heard approaching and just seconds later, it was accompanied by the ruthless explosion of a wall nearby, one that consumed the man that was running right behind the siblings

Marcy forced her brother to look away. The situation was bad enough as it was, he didn't need to see this

Marcy herself was holding back the tears this horror brought to her. She couldn't allow herself to break

The other downside of having absent parents was that she had to be strong for her brother's sake, and that included moments like this one

Eventually, they managed to escape the building they had called their home, with their eyes wide upon seeing the damage it had taken, but that surprise was nothing compared to the one they had just immersed themselves into

Chaos was absolute in these streets, and the people they considered friends all ran in different directions as no one knew what the hell was going on. A red blast shot one of them, making a hole through their chest before they fell to the ground

The people turned around to face these monstrous beings, flesh mixed with metal and glowing lights. These beings growled like animals that had just located their prey. They opened fire upon the crowd immediately, and Marcy grabbed her brother's arm

Marcy: This way!

She led him into an alley away from the horrible scene. Still, Kurt's eyes were fixed on them, at least until fire consumed his sight thanks to the bombardments of a nearby drone

An alien had dropped from above to try and stop the siblings from continuing. Marcy let go of her brother to swing directly at the monster's head as hard as she could

This sent it flying back, but before it even had the chance to recover, she got ahold of Kurt's wrist and ran away

The streets of New York had turned into a nightmare by all intents and purposes, and when the children turned around the corner, they had discovered this first-hand

A burning tire was thrown across the street as the vehicle exploded. Gunshots could be heard from the police as they fought a squad of those horrific beings. One man was leading the charge, he had a yellow shirt and fought with his bare fists

They froze at the sight, not knowing where to go until--

???: KIDS! OVER HERE!!

They turned to see a grown man waving at them at the door of a convenience store, so they ran across the street. Barely dodging the fire from an alien intruder on their way towards the store

As soon as they entered, the man from before closed the door. The siblings had found shelter inside this convenience store with a bunch of strangers

Teenagers, adults, elderly people. It didn't matter, they were all in the same boat

The girl couldn't help but wonder what was happening. She had lived through three alien invasions now, but this one felt different, bleaker

The television could still be heard, and Marcy had her brother sit down to check for any injuries

Marcy: Are you alright? Does anything hurt?

The kid didn't answer with words. He just shook his head

His eyes, however, were fixed on the live news that the television showed up

???: We have unconfirmed reports that the Punisher is mi---

Suddenly the power was cut, earning cries of fear and even a few screams from the refugees as they were showered in the darkness of the night, with the occasional blast acting as the only source of light

That being until something entered the store, the small yellow lights integrated into its armor showing that it was one of the aliens

It snarled at the nearest human it saw and pounced at him, using its blades to pierce through him, earning screams from the people nearby

The alien recognized these sounds and started attacking the people, turning this into a slaughter

One of them tried to stop the invader, only to be decapitated minutes later

Marcy pushed her brother behind her as she tried to look for an exit, but Kurt
could only stare at the glowing lights moving, bathing themselves with the blood and screams of the people it found 

Then, it locked eyes with Kurt and lunged at him, only for the small aisle to be dropped on top of it, and then a brutal swing from a baseball bat to the head ended the alien

The kid looked up to see Marcy holding the bloody bat with her breathing as heavy as it could get and some others who had helped bring the aisle down. She gave him a quick smile in an attempt to reassure him 

???: Is everyone--

A red blast burst through the front window, exposing the small business even more to the alien invaders, who became aware of their existence. More of these aliens turned their way, and the owner was quick to load his gun

???: Through the backdoor, now!

The siblings didn't think twice before they ran through that door. Muffled gunshots and screams could be heard inside

A thousand questions brushed through their minds. Were those people already dead? Were they the only ones alive? Where were the heroes?

Kurt: Where are were going?!

Marcy: I don't know! Just keep running!

They could feel the adrenaline taking over their bodies as they ran as fast as they could, ignoring the aching muscles and heavy breath in exchange for a few more seconds alive

The young boy knew better than to try and question his sister right now, but he froze when he saw one of those grotesque drones fly by

Kurt: LOOK OUT!!

Marcy looked up and tried to hurry her step, but it was too late. The drone had thrown another bomb into that alley, blasting both siblings away, and into another street, with Marcy rolling out to a stop in front of an abandoned car

This time, there were no people around to help

Kurt was the first to recover thanks to his helmet taking a good part of the damage, even though it still stung a lot

Kurt: Marcy...?

However, when he got up, he saw more aliens. These ones had blades for arms, and they approached his sister who was still recovering

Kurt found his breath getting heavier at the sight of this. He had seen what these monsters did to the people, the way they slaughtered them like animals and even made noises like such, it made him shudder just to think about it

He couldn't even look at one without feeling an overwhelming horror and wanting to cry, and now he bore witness to the imminent danger his sister was in, with no one around to save her...no one but him

The kid knew he had to do so something. He couldn't let them hurt his sister! No matter how scary these things were, he...he had to try

So he quickly laid eyes on the baseball bat she had before the explosion and took a deep breath

Kurt Williams had always been a big fan of Thor. He found comfort in this powerful man who always faced colossal beasts without a single ounce of fear

He always came out on top. He was invincible in the eyes of this kid

So maybe, he could lend him a bit of that feeling?

Kurt took a deep breath as he got ahold of the bat and ran towards the nearest alien

He did like the god of thunder and lifted his all-powerful weapon, the Mjölnir, feeling the thunder course through his veins as he let out a warcry that no enemy would ever forget

Lastly, he swung towards his foes with all of his might

...and he knocked one of them away

Marcy felt her body screaming in pain, her muscles burning from running and escaping nonstop, and being sent flying a few feet only made things worse. She could taste her own blood

And yet, she forced herself to get up, only to see her little brother attacking one of the aliens to save her. Her jaw dropped at the sight of it, but she knew the blow wasn't nearly strong enough to kill or even stun these things

Her heart stopped when one of these monsters grabbed Kurt and held him up like a defenseless small animal

When the kid was born, Marcy made a promise that he would grow to have the wonderful life he deserved

She promised that not to her parents, but herself, and despite all the pain, despite the terror that overtook her, Marcy focused on one thing

The instinct to protect her brother

So she let out a primal scream and finally took out the pocket knife, digging it into the arm of the invader before grabbing it and stabbing it in the neck repeatedly

Marcy could only hear her heartbeat, threatening to burst out of her chest, and her growling as she kept stabbing the alien in order to keep it away from her loved one

But this rage could only take her so far, as it blinded her, rendered her deaf to other things

To other enemies

And one of them just pierced her stomach with its blade, forcing her to drop the knife as her world came to a stop

Kurt: MARCY!!!

The girl was thrown away by the alien, now bleeding badly from the sudden injury. She wanted to fight, she wanted to make sure they would get through this...but her body didn't move nearly as much

The adrenaline was being replaced with a horrifying numbness, and she could only watch as her brother rushed to her side, with the faint outlines of the monsters closing in

Tears ran down Kurt's cheeks as he begged her not to close her eyes

And that's when the aliens stopped

They all looked at this figure that landed on the roof of the car behind them. They all raised their weapons at it, only for another car to be thrown their way, and a powerful flamethrower burned the rest to a crisp

A woman of green skin jumped into action and pummeled the invaders into the ground

As for the other one...

This bright light that shined through the midnight sky belonged to a demon. A skeleton on fire

A monster right out of a nightmare, fighting other nightmares. He stared at Marcy for a moment

???: We got an injured one!

???: Get them to the Sanctum! I got it!

Suddenly, chains emerged from the ground and wrapped around both of the siblings, startling them

???: It's okay. I'll get you to safety. I promise

The chains helped them get into a bike the likes of which they had never seen, and kept them in place when the demon started driving them through the streets

This demon rained hellfire upon the very invaders that threatened their home and their lives. They weren't sure they could even trust him, and yet...

They felt safe with him

Just minutes later, the demon brought them to a house where people were rushing to get in as it was turned into an emergency shelter. They were greeted by a monk, with Marcy being held in the demon's arms

???: She's injured, think you can handle it?

The monk just nodded

???: The Sanctum's healing spells should treat her injuries

The demon just nodded and handed her to the monk. The siblings were ushered in to this strange house, and sure enough, Marcy found her wounds closing and consciousness returning to her

This place looked so small and yet upon entering, they could've sworn it could fit a quarter of the entire city. It was almost magical

However, they were never given the chance to thank the creature that brought them bere, they just saw its light disappear back into the streets

It didn't even look back at them, for it had to get back to saving as many unfortunate souls as he could

Marcy and Kurt found themselves sitting against a wall in this deceivingly large place

It was a ruthless night, and the siblings were sure they wouldn't survive it, and yet found themselves in the arms of an unlikely savior

But that didn't matter now

They had survived, and finally, they could rest