Chapter 53 – Stars and Stripes

[Main POV]

"My lord? My lord?" I heard a female voice whisper as someone shook me.

I opened my eyes to see a clear blue sky. There was thick black smoke emanating from my left. On my right was my secretary partially holding me, preventing me from fully lying on the floor.

"Charlotte?" I questioned. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on the 167th floor coordinating the Artemis Enterprises Rapid Response Team?"

Charlotte shifted nervously. I swear, ever since she was immortalized, she had become a lot less talkative.

"My lord, we're on the 167th floor," Charlotte said. "The Rapid Response Team was wiped out. I'm the only survivor."

Jolting upright, I stumbled slightly. Concentrating, I healed my body before looking at my secretary.

Charlotte was a wreck. Cuts and scrapes littered her skin. A large portion of her left body was burned black. And there was a metal pole penetrated her torso, sticking out of her left and right. It was impressive that she didn't pass out.

I grabbed her body and concentrated on my powers, rapidly healing her to perfection. A flash of light later, Charlotte was back to her healthy self.

"Status report Charlotte," I said, "What's the situation."

"As you know, the Rapid Response Team was stationed from the 167th to the 180th floors," Charlotte stated as I walked towards the edge of the building. "As you can imagine, they are no longer with us."

I stopped at the edge of the building. Normally, there would be a wall, separating the inside and the outside. Peering my head over the edge, I looked down. 167 floors. Quite a drop.

On the streets below, I could see people rushing out of the building. At the bottom, I saw firetrucks and police cars.

"We should expect support from the Artemis Enterprise team stationed upstate," Charlotte reminded. "Unfortunately, my cell phone has been destroyed, so I'm unable to provide a more useful status report."

I pulled out my iPhone, only to see a smoldering pile of metal. Unsurprising, considering I got hit by a plane.

Looking up, I saw the remains of floors 168 to 227. Most of each floor was destroyed. I'm pretty sure the floors above 200 didn't even exist.

I was suddenly very glad the nuclear reactors were installed in the basement.

"Charlotte," I said as I used my powers to find the other planes, "we're going as high as we can go. There should be a second plane coming any –"

I froze at what I saw. Given my powers over the sun, I was able to clearly see the only other planes that remained.

"Fuck," I cursed. "Charlotte, there's no second plane. You're on evac. Help people get out of the Sunscraper."

Charlotte covered her eyes as I took on my divine form and teleported away.

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[3rd POV]

"This just in, you are looking at obviously a very disturbing live shot there. That is the New York Sunscraper, and we have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into this tower. Clearly, something devastating has just happened on the north end of the island of Manhattan." Wolf Blitzer reported on CNN.

"That's right, the details are still emerging, but we are working to gather more information on this developing situation. At this time, we don't have any confirmation on the cause of the crash." Christiane Amanpour agreed.

Around the world, people watched the news in shock as they were shown footage of the New York Sunscraper being hit by a plane, resulting in a large fireball and multiple explosions throughout the top half of the tower. The end result shown was a gaping hole in the north side of the building.

"I'm here on the scene, and it's utter chaos. Emergency responders are rushing in, and there's debris scattered everywhere," Anderson Cooper reported "People are in shock and disbelief. Eyewitnesses are telling us that they saw a commercial airliner flying at a low altitude right before the crash. It's unclear if this was an accident or something more deliberate. The magnitude of the situation –"

"Sorry to cut you off Anderson, but we're hearing reports of another plane crash, this time in Houston, Texas. There are unconfirmed reports that an orphanage has been hit." Blitzer interrupted.

"I'm also seeing a social media posts regarding a plane being shot down in Apollonia, Texas," Amanpour added. "There are also a few unsubstantiated posts regarding a plane in Arlington, Virginia, however, they are not substantiated. For the plane in Apollonia, there are videos …"

On their screen, viewers could see a plane descending straight for the Apollonian Sunscraper. As it neared, a golden laser shot out from the Sunscraper, exploding the plane upon impact.

"So, it appears that there are three, maybe four planes. One in New York, one in Houston, one in Apollonia, which thank god did not make impact, and maybe another one in Arlington" Blitzer summarized. "Anderson, any updates on your end?"

"Yeah Wolf, the New York Sunscraper is not structurally stable. For the past half hour, firefighters, Artemis Enterprise forces, and volunteers have been helping evacuate survivors. However, there is a raging fire from the 35th to 46th floors, preventing anyone above those from being rescued," Cooper reported. "The only ones able to do anything are the helicopters provided by Artemis Enterprise. But the evacuation process is simply taking too long, and the authorities warn that the top half of the building – at least what's remaining of it, considering many of the top floors were evaporated in the crash – could collapse or tip over at any moment. The police are starting a general evacuation out of the area as we speak."

"And what's the plan for the people in the still stuck in the building?" Amanpour asked.

"Well, the police have called in as many helicopters as they can, but the entire process could take hours, which the building simply may not have. There is also a fire from the 82nd to 86th floors, along with other smaller fires, trapping many in their place. Some have taken their chances by jumping out of the building," Cooper took a breathe, and prepared to go on another info dump.

"Hold on Anderson," Blitzer stopped him, "CNN can now confirm that a fourth plane hit Arlington National Cemetery, right next to the Pentagon. Arlington National Cemetery, the final resting place of many of our fallen, their brethren and family members, has been hit by a fourth plane."

"For safety precautions, the Pentagon is being evacuated as we speak," Amanpour said, "along with all other major government buildings. The FAA is halting all flights nationwide. And Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld is raising the alert level to Defcon 3."

"Do we know if these crashes were coordinated? And if anyone is responsible for this?" Blitzer asked.

"No, we don't know anything – wait," Amanpour paused as she pushed her earpiece further into her ear, intensely listening to what she was hearing. "CNN is officially reporting that one Osama bin Laden, head of the Islamic terrorist organization, al Qaeda, is claiming responsibility for this attack. There are videos of Osama bin Laden claiming responsibility for all four planes posted on YouTube, along with other social media websites."

.

[Main POV]

I held Artemis to my chest as we rested on the 198th floor of the New York Sunscraper, currently the highest floor. We were surrounded by a set of a few walls that remained partially standing, so weren't visible to any cameras.

Artemis was in pretty bad shape when I found her. She lost a limb and had a gaping hole in her chest. I healed her the best I could, but it was significantly harder healing a god than a mortal.

She was also exhausted, evident from her sleeping, something that neither of us ever did. I estimated she'd be up in a few hours.

I thought about what would have happened if I didn't get there in time. I was just fast enough to rescue her before a Boeing 757 landed on her while in a weakened state. While I doubted we could be killed (permanently (at least by mortal weapons)), it certainly wouldn't be pretty, both in sight and feeling.

After laying her down on a cot I summoned, I teleported back to Arlington to take care of the sniper. To my disappointment, I found that he killed himself.

Teleporting back to Artemis, I continued staying with her until I heard the buzz of a helicopter.

Stepping out of the room, I saw a helicopter land and Olivia and Emily step out. I don't think I needed to tell them. They somehow knew.

"Olivia, Emily, here's what we'll do."

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[3rd POV]

By now, the area had been evacuated. With fleets of helicopters coming from Artemis Enterprises, everyone had managed to get out of the Sunscraper. Now, they (both the people live and watching from home) were simply waiting for the Sunscraper to collapse.

It was inevitable. The fires were too big. The building was already unstable. All experts agreed that a collapse was imminent.

While everyone watched, the fires suddenly went out. It was as if God had blown on the fires like a child blowing out candles on a birthday cake, extinguishing them.

Then, everyone heard it.

♪Oh, say can you see,

♪By the dawn's early light,

Americans, all watching either live in New York or on their television all stood up for their anthem. Even if the music wasn't powered by divine energy, they probably would have due to patriotic fervor alone.

♪What so proudly we hailed

♪At the twilight's last gleaming;

As the song continued, more and more Americans joined in. At this point, over 200 million people were singing their national anthem.

♪Whose broad stripes and bright stars,

♪Through the perilous fight,

♪O'er the ramparts we watched

♪Were so gallantly streaming?

Newscasters showed footage, intermittingly switching between New York, Houston, Apollonia, and Arlington.

♪And the rocket's red glare,

♪The bombs bursting in air,

♪Gave proof through the night

♪That our flag was still there:

At this point, every news station had switched over to live footage from New York. On the top of the Sunscraper, still the tallest building in New York City, cameras zoomed in to see Apollo singing the anthem, flanked by Olivia and Emily raising American flags on either side.

♪Oh, say! does that star-spangled,

♪Banner yet wave

♪O'er the land of the free

♪And the home of the brave?

All across the country, every American felt an unparalleled rage. The sleeping giant was awake. And it wanted revenge.

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AN:

I knew a lot of people weren't going to like how the last chapter went.

I've been watching way too much AOT lately, and that sad energy's affecting me.

So do me a favor and give me a 1 star review or something.