Chapter Text

Chapter 1

“Run! I’ll find your mom and we’ll meet at the park!”

Eva couldn’t get in another word as she watched her father rush back into the alien-infested building. Somewhere deep inside, she knew it was the last time she would see him and she couldn’t rip her eyes away from his receding figure as he ran back into the smoke. 

“Eva!” Her eyes seemed to take a long time to focus on her sister. “Let’s go!”

Legs heavy, Eva let her sister drag her from the building and into the waves of people running from the destruction in Manhattan. Keeping her eyes on her older sister, she tried not to look at the man bleeding on the ground nearby or a woman screaming up above somewhere. Smoke burned in her lungs and something loudly whizzed by overhead. 

Her sister pulled her down an alleyway and Eva barely noticed. They came to a sudden halt, and Eva barrelled into her sister’s back. Vic fell to the ground with a cry. Eva bent down to help her up but Vic’s terrified expression made her stop short. Eva followed her gaze and her eyes fell upon two impossibly large figures on the other end of the alley: aliens. 

They were almost lizard-like with scales, tails, and no distinguishable nose. They made a guttural clicking sound as they began to approach, each holding a spear with unnaturally glowing ends. 

Eva felt something tugging at her arm. Vic was pulling as hard as she could to snap Eva out of her terror. Willing her legs to move, Eva followed her sister as they climbed up a fire escape toward the roof of the seven story apartment complex. 

They didn’t look back until they reached the top. Eva heard Vic sigh a momentary breath of relief when she looked down and saw the aliens remaining posted at the mouth of the alleyway below. One continued to look up at them but made no move to follow them. “They must be waiting for something,” Vic guessed. 

“Wha-… what are we going to do?” Eva asked between sobs, wide eyes looking between the two taller buildings surrounding them. Sounds of explosions, screams, alien noises, and machinery bounced off the sides of the building as the war raged through the city. “We have to get to the park!” She could hear how hysterical her voice was, but Eva couldn’t seem to control its volume.

Her sister bent down and held Eva in her arms. “Let’s just wait until the aliens move and then we’ll go back down and meet mom and dad at the park,” Vic told her with a calm voice. She peeked over the lip of the building. “Just stay there and I’ll watch those guys. You watch the sky.”

Eva took a shaky breath and turned her gaze upward. It helped to see the blue of the afternoon sky above her. It almost made her feel like she was on the rooftop of their apartment at home while mom was gardening in the raised flower beds. She could almost smell the rosemary. 

She was jolted out of her peaceful moment when she saw a strange vehicle fly through the sky and down toward the street. “What’s that?” Eva asked her sister as she cowered into Vic’s side. 

“That’s what the aliens were waiting for!” Vic exclaimed as she pointed at the aliens leaving their post and walking around the building and out of sight. “Let’s go.”

Eva hesitantly pulled herself over the lip of the building and back onto the fire escape. They only made it two steps down when Eva heard a zoom from above. Looking up, she saw the strange ship from before flying back into the sky. 

Suddenly, there was a different sound that echoed between the buildings, making Eva clutch her sister’s hand in fear. After a moment, she recognized the distinct roar of thrusters and Vic turned to look at her with excited eyes. “Iron Man!”

Vic ran back up to the top of the fire escape and leaned over the edge of the railing to get a better look. Sure enough a crimson and gold suit of armor was flying through the sky at the alien’s flying chariot. 

“It’s actually him!” her sister shouted over the noise. “He’s your favorite, Eva. Iron Man is going to save us!”

Eva actually cracked a hopeful smile on her tear-stained face as she watched Iron Man dive and point his arms toward the aliens. The repulsors on his hands charged and blasted through the side of the alien ship. The aliens lost control and careened off course. 

The smile slid off her face as she realized the alien ship was now heading right toward the roof of the building where Eva and her sister were perched. “Eva!” Vic pushed Eva down under the lip of the roof as the alien ship crashed into the top of the building and exploded. 

The next few seconds passed by in slow motion. Eva watched her sister attempt to duck underneath the fire that ballooned out from the building. Then everything was shaking. Eva was still clutching Vic’s hand, but she no longer knew which way was up or down until… bang! A metal pole in the railing hit her shoulder.

Eva tried to get her bearings, but her shoulder hurt and there was something heavy on her hand. “Eva!” Eva looked through the grate that her face was pressed up against to see her beloved sister dangling over the edge, hanging onto Eva’s hand. 

“Vic!” Eva screamed. She clawed at her sister’s hand, using every ounce of her strength to hold onto her, but it wasn’t enough. Eva’s hand was too slick with sweat and her sister fell through her fingers.