"Shit!" Foggy said, sobbing and shaking with fear as he shoved his sister Candace's head closer to the laminated tile floor of the restaurant as window glass fell over them in shards. He draped himself over her to protect her. "Oh my god! Shit! What is even happening?" Next to him, a waitress and cook cowered in fear over the unconscious body of a woman, the woman's small son sobbing and crying out.
He had been having a perfectly normal lunch with his sister in one of their usual haunts, an old Hell's Kitchen diner that their family used to go to following church on Sundays, when everything had suddenly taken a turn for the terrifying. First, Candace's eyes had widened as she faced the window and she'd told him to turn around. The sky had darkened, like a storm was coming. Within moments, the darkness turned into what seemed at first like an enormous dust storm screaming down the city streets and up into the atmosphere, before it gave way to an unbelievable vision of gigantic creatures descending from the sky in impossible numbers, followed by undulating, menacing creatures the size of buildings that Foggy knew with one look would haunt his nightmares for years to come. People screamed. People fell. Chaos reigned, and everyone in the diner dove down towards the floor, hoping to remain secure and hidden, strangers bonded forever by a particular moment in time that none of them would ever forget.
Only they weren't hidden. Not anymore. A blast of light had shattered the window, taken out an enormous chunk of the building's wall and roof in fact, exposed the diner to the open air. From their low vantage point under a set of tables Foggy could make out three of the strange alien creatures stalking towards them. "Please..." he heard Candace whisper next to him as he held her firmly. "Please, no... I don't want to die, Foggy. God..."
Foggy cried silently, shushed her, and put his hand over her mouth to prevent her from making noise that would attract them. She quieted, but the little boy began to choke on sobs and cry for his mother.
The creatures spotted them and stalked over. However, before they could reach the group of survivors Foggy heard a distinctive noise. A whistling, like something moving at high speed through the air. Within seconds, something moving too fast to be clearly seen struck two of the creatures with a loud crunching thunk that Foggy vaguely realized was the sound of skulls being caved in. The object turned impossibly in mid-air and whizzed towards them, but not in their direction. It landed a foot or so away from them, punching itself through a table and embedding itself in the floor, kicking up a puff of smoke and dust.
Foggy cried out with relief, but realized that it had only taken out two of the creatures. The third, weaponless, now looked pissed off about about the loss of its colleagues. There were noises nearby, fighting going on, but it didn't sound close enough that anyone would reach them in time to save them. Foggy looked from the creature to the smashed table nearby where the object had fallen, desperate to do something, anything to keep his sister alive.
Candace looked at him with wide eyes. "No," she said, but it was too late. He had decided. He bolted for the object, and the creature gave chase. He dug through the rubble just as the creature reached him and grabbed him from behind. He could vaguely hear Candace scream his name as he reached down and his fingers found a handle of some kind. He wrapped his hand around it, gave a tug, and swung the object with everything he had in the direction of the creature. The object collided with the creature's head and sent it flying into the ground. It didn't get back up. The momentum of the object Foggy had grabbed carried him forward slightly, and he stumbled. When he finally look down at it, adrenaline pumping in his chest, he was surprised to see that he was holding an enormous metal hammer with a wooden handle. It was ornate. He could make out symbols that he didn't understand. And it felt powerful in his hand. There was a strange feeling surging through his body originating at the point where he held it.
Before he could contemplate what it all meant, he heard a flapping noise and the thud of something hitting the ground. He looked up and was surprised to find that the noise had signaled the arrival of a person, a tall, built blond man staring at him with awe and confusion clearly expressed on his face. The strangest thing was that the man wearing a flowing red cape caught in an updraft of wind, and armor like Foggy had never seen outside of a historical epic. The image it created was ethereal, godlike, and surreal. The man flicked his hand slightly and the hammer in Foggy's hand flew out of it and into his effortlessly, like it was never meant for Foggy.
"What is your name?" the man asked.
"Fog... Franklin Nelson," Foggy replied. It had taken him a moment to remember it in all the confusion, but it seemed inappropriate to provide the stately man in front of him with a nickname.
"You are a good and worthy man, Franklin Nelson," the man said, and his voice stirred something in Foggy that he couldn't identify. "I will remember this."
"Okay," Foggy said, exhaustion hitting him. Around him, he could hear the sounds of the fighting continuing. Behind the strange figure in the flowing cape, he could see the flying creatures still continuing to create a path of destruction throughout the city.
Suddenly, another figure appeared, nodding at the caped figure, and the caped figure flew off. It boggled Foggy's mind. The man had actually twisted the hammer in his arm a few times and flown away! And now, the new man, in a Captain America costume, was slowly helping his sister and the others stand up so that they could move somewhere safer. "Follow me," he was saying. "We'll get you someplace safe," the man said, lifting the unconscious woman as the waitress picked up the little boy.
Foggy wondered if anywhere was.