Before the Dawn
Before the city understands the danger, it always starts quietly.
A strange wind slips between buildings.
Helicopters circle - longer than usual.
The faint lights in their palms forgotten.
Eyes climbing past rooftops.
Something is wrong.
Then a streak of light crosses the clouds,
red and gold, burning fast.
Thunder follows,
not from the weather
but from a hammer
calling down the storm.
Down in the street
a soldier lifts a shield,
decades of history held in it.
It refuses to fall.
From the height where the city falls away
an arrow slips into the night—
sharp, silent, unstoppable.
And somewhere
deep in the shaking ground
anger rises,
green and enormous,
tearing through the earth
like a storm made flesh.
They are strangers in many ways.
Different tempers.
Different worlds.
But in moments like this
none of that matters.
Because when the darkness grows
large enough to frighten everyone,
hearts hold their breath, waiting…
for a spark to break the dark,
they come.
Not one hero.
All of them.
For a moment
the world breathes again.
The Avengers have arrived.
The Avengers
Contest Judged: 3/25/2026 3:16:00 AM
Sponsored by: Robert James Liguori
(6th Place)
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