The first to arrive was Tectonic, the Earthshaker. He didn’t look like much, I’ll tell you that. He was a thin man wearing glasses, sporting mousy brown hair and Reebok sneakers, perhaps college age. But the aura of power was unmistakable. Two knees and palm to the ground, he shattered the asphalt with the sheer impact of the superhero-like landing. Silence followed as pedestrians gaped in awe.

Then, to my right, a little boy began to clap. “Yay, Superman is here!” Slowly, the rest of us began to follow his example, some in the audience even hollering, “Bravo!”, and tossing up their hats in appreciation for the impressive display.

And then this standing ovation faded into, once again, silence. Fidgeting nervously, I wondered what this superhuman dude could possibly want from us. Finally, the man looked up from the crater his collision had created, moving an eerily calm gaze from person to person until his eyes found the little boy who had clapped for him.

And then, without blinking an eye, he raised his hand and closed it into a fist. A spear of pure rock exploded from the ground, puncturing the little boy’s stomach in a grisly burst of blood.

That’s when the screaming started. The crowd scattered in all directions, a free-for-all to escape death at Tectonic’s hands. Belongings were thrown to the ground, pets were forgotten, and those who fell to the ground were trampled in a stampede of terror.

But strangely, Tectonic let all of us go. Then he smiled, raising both his hands as if to call the rains, and in response, heaven itself began to fall.

Watching in dazed horror, burning asteroids began to fall from the sky, fiery explosions dotting the horizon followed by deep tremors rattling the Earth like a snare drum. A sudden lurch in the ground sent my bike and me airborne, though a second later my face kissed the hard pavement. But as much as the fall hurt, staying on the ground wasn’t an option - I had to get home to find my little brother. The roads themselves had been folded into unrecognizable rubble, like grotesque asphalt origami, so biking was no longer a logical choice.

Continuing on foot, I finally made it to my yard. A fallen tree had cut through the roof of our garage, and the front door had fallen outward from the partial collapse of the front of our home.

“Alex! Where are you?” The house was dark, and the power seemed to be out. “It’s me, Elon! We need to find Mom!”

A pitiful mewing answered me from Alex’s bedroom. I rushed in and found my little brother with his legs pinned underneath a heavy shelf that had collapsed in the tremors.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” He didn’t seem to be bleeding, but his face was pale from the pain. It was very likely that he had broken his leg.

“No! Don’t touch it!” The mewing had quickly escalated into a loud wail.

Thinking quickly, I realized a few things: first, the ambulance would not be able to drive here with the condition of the roads, and second, that the cell phone towers were down, so I would not be able to call Mom. My brother and I were on our own. The more pressing thought, however, was that we would die if we remained here for long.

Outside, I could hear Tectonic laughing madly as he ripped the roofs of nearby houses off, looking for victims to satisfy his hunger.

“Hold on, Alex, I’m gonna try to lift the shelf of your foot. We’re gonna be okay, alright?”

“Okay,” he sniffled. “Where’s Mommy?”

“She’s probably stuck at work, but we’ll see her again soon. Just try to relax while I lift this, okay?” I put my hands on the edge of the bookshelf and pulled. Finally, after a minute of stressful maneuvering and loud cries of pain from Alex, I managed to free his leg from underneath the shelf. “Now, we need to leave. Or else the big bad guy is gonna catch us.”

“How?”

The harmless question struck a chord within my mind. How would we escape? Alex probably couldn’t move without crying, so running was not an option. Neither was biking since he couldn’t pedal. Mom had the car, so I couldn’t pull a Furious 7 either. The only thing that we had was dad’s old motorcycle, which hadn’t been used since he died last year. I looked outside, and miraculously, the sidewalk was relatively intact. Slowly, an idea began to form in my head.

“Alex, you know dad’s old motorbike?”

“Mom said not to touch it,” he said doubtfully. “Maybe he won’t find us if we hide.”

“Forget about what Mom said. If we don’t leave now, that man will find us. Do you think your foot is broken?”

“Yeah. Actually, probably not. Just a sprain.” He went quiet for a moment. “Is Mommy dead?”

“Of course not!” But the words sounded hollow. There was no guarantee that Mom was okay at her office, especially since the earlier bombardment of asteroids had sent a stone missile very close to the neighboring town where she worked. But I couldn’t let my brother know that. “C’mon. If you can, bandage your foot, and wait for me at the front door. I know it hurts, but you’re gonna have to bear the pain until we’re safe. Alright?”

Alex nodded, so I ran to the shed, where the motorcycle now resided after Dad’s death. A puff of dust greeted me as I lifted the plastic cover, the particles clearing away to reveal a black Kawasaki Ninja, still bearing the marks of love and affection from my father. I checked the gas gauge - still half full. Walking it out of the shed, I turned on the ignition. Surprisingly, it worked without a problem.

When I got to the front yard, my brother was already sitting there waiting for me. In his hands, he held two bicycle helmets, a water bottle, and a backpack stuffed full of what I assumed were food items. How he managed to find all of those items in the short time I spent getting the motorcycle was beyond me.

“We should wear helmets. I also brought water and snacks.” My brother managed a weak smile. “We’re going to find Mommy right?”

“Yeah, we’re going to find Mommy. Don’t you worry, little bro.” I ruffled his hair, then placed him on the seat behind me. “Hold on!”

The powerful Kawasaki responded with a roaring purr as I ignited the engine. We began to pick up speed, and I let out a whoop of joy. Maybe riding a motorcycle wouldn’t be hard as I thought it would.

But then, Tectonic’s powerful voice boomed over the sound of the engine. “Who dares flee in my presence!” Suddenly, the ground exploded in front of me, revealing an earthen projection of Tectonic’s physical form.

 In response, I swerved the Ninja to the right, narrowly missing the rock hammer arm attempted by the rock beast. I cursed loudly. Tectonic summoned two more earthen wraiths in quick succession, and the second knocked us clean off the Kawasaki. But somehow, we were both still alive.

But Tectonic was done playing games. With a yell, he levitated several hundred rock fragments and launched them in our direction. Frantically, I looked for a way to escape certain death - but there was none. Knives of stone were flying at us in every direction. Worst of all, my little brother was standing right in front of me, where he would receive the brunt of the onslaught. So, I made a decision.

The stones seemed to approach in slow motion. I prayed silently that somewhere, Mommy would be ok, and that maybe Elon could still survive this whole thing. But then, Elon grabbed me by the shoulders, pushing me to the ground. “I got you, Little Brother,” he said.

The first stones struck right as he threw himself on top of me, protecting me from the hailstorm of stone bullets. They thudded into his back, spinal cord, and skull with violent jerks, but underneath him, I was protected.

The army arrived far too late. By the time I heard the F-22s and helicopters close in on our location, my brother was far gone. Tectonic had moved on from us a long time ago in search of new victims. Apparently, he thought both my brother and me to be dead, so I somehow survived.

The news reporters came later. “Little Alex was so brave,” they said. But I wasn’t - the credit who should have gone to my brother, who made the sacrifice. My brother, the brave.