Al

o.

introduction. 

          The scene before them was ruinous; it was if all nations declared wars on one another and this was the aftermath. Pieces of earth were unmounted and disarrayed and many of the greatest cities on Earth lay in ruble. The only thing the most powerful heroes and most brilliant beings could do was watch.

But Al was neither, so he had to do something. He takes out the trash and does the laundry like any older brother would do, his sister giggled gleefully in the background. He picked up the remote and switched the television on.

"--issued a mandatory evacuation with immediate effectiveness. All those living within this province must evacuate to the area north of the border and reside in--"

He shut the TV off. The air around him was icy, an aftermath of the mass explosion that occurred nearby. He looked back over at the bits of Earth that were missing from the front of the neighborhood. He still had no clue as to what caused it or why there was such chaotic energy amidst the world around him, but just as he was about to walk outside, his sister tugged the hem of his shirt.

"What's going on?" Her beautiful brown eyes were filled with wonder, but a frown was stuck on her face.

Al stooped down and offered a gentle smile, reaching his hand out with his fingers spread, hoping she would interlace hers and smile back. She did neither. He sighed and kissed her cheek, "It's okay Missy, me and you are gonna get far away from this and go somewhere better. Did you bring everything you want?"

Missy's cheeks burned a rosy color as she huffed and threw herself onto her brother. "Al, this is scary, I don't wanna go anywhere!"

She whined incoherently until Al finally picked her up and rocked her in his arms, whispering sounds of coo and offering her the biggest, warmest hug the world had to offer. Her frown remained, Al shrugged. The young child flew room to room grabbing blankets and teddy bears and even a couple pictures hanging off the wall. Al made a firm promise to never come back and force her to see such destruction again, he promised she would see nothing but beauty in the world and if that meant he had to run away, then so be it.

He wanted to get to the bottom of what was bringing terror to his home and he wanted nothing more than his best friend, his sister, by his side.