Disclaimer: This story, though maybe not in this chapter but in subsequent chapters, will have celebrities in it. I have no knowledge of their sexuality and this is not intended to imply their sexuality. This is all from my own mind.
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters created by Joss Whedon. Copyright 20th Century Fox.
Batman, and all related characters created by Bob Kane. Copyright DC Comics and Warner Bros.
X-MEN, and all related characters created by Stan Lee. Copyright Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox.
The Vampire Chronicles and all related characters created by Anne Rice. Copyright Anne O'Brien Rice.
Star Wars and all related concepts created by or based on the universe created by George Lucas. Copyright 20th Century Fox, LucasFilms Ltd. and Lucas Books/Ballantine Books.
I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered.
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Author's note: This chapter is dedicated to the memory of the heroes and victims of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. I have prayed for the survivors and the families of the attacks, both those in the building and on the plane, including the families of the hijackers. This act was the result of misunderstanding, hated and close-mindedness. It is my prayer that Americans to not harbor ill-will toward anyone of Middle Eastern descent or the Muslim faith. And I pray that those of Middle Eastern descent and the Muslim faith harbor no ill-will toward Americans. We are brothers and sisters on this planet and should depend on one another, celebrating and embracing our differences. No matter what religion one is from, remember, God is love. And now a pivotal chapter containing events in the real world that shaped America and fictional events kicking off a great adventure for Eric McCoy.
Chapter 2 September 11, 2001
I got up to go to school like any other day. Lance lay beside me asleep. Since the band decided to break up, he didn't have to get up as early as he used to. I showered and dressed and kissed him softly on the cheek before leaving.
When I arrived at the campus, it was quiet and calm. I had gone a little early to use the library to get some work done. I had a report to do for a class and wanted to use the library's resources.
Once I finished my work, it was close to 9:00 in the morning. I left the library and headed over to Main Hall for my first class. As I walked, I stopped to look at the beautiful morning sky. It was the most beautiful blue I had ever seen, and clear. As I admired the sky, I saw an object flying. The object sank lower and lower. To my realization, it was a missile heading right for the main building. I dropped my bag and held up my hand. I did not have the ability to slow or stop it as it was flying under its own power. I could only attempt to turn it. Using my mutant powers, I deflected the missile's trajectory into a groove of trees. On impact, the missile exploded into a brilliant shade of blue and green energy waves. As the waves subsided, to my horror the trees were no longer normal. They were in a grand disarray of leaves, branches, and roots recombined as if their very molecular structure were rewired or reprogrammed.
"Who would have the technology to do that?" I thought out loud.
I continued on to Main Hall to check on the mayhem that might have ensued. As I entered the building, on the monitor was a breaking news cast. An airplane had flown into the World Trade Center.
"My God!" someone said stopping at the monitor. Several more students gathered around the monitor I was watching.
Moments later, another plane flew into the second tower.
'Could whoever be doing this to the World Trade Center also be behind the missile mangling the trees' DNA structure,' I wondered. 'No. If it were, they would have done something similar to the World Trade Center than the atrocity already done.'
Professors came through the halls and informed everyone that classes were cancelled and I went home to find Lance watching the news.
"Are you okay?" he asked as I took him into my arms.
"Yeah. You?"
"I'm dealing. This is horrible."
We sat and watched CNN. Before our eyes, the buildings collapsed. I took a quick intake of breath. "All those people," I muttered.
"All their families," Lance added. "Why?"
My mind knew. There was some sort of hatred behind this act, this attack on the country.
That afternoon, Joey and Chris had come over and we sat watching and listening, bearing witness to the destruction. That's all any of us could do.
The phone rang.
"I'll get it," I said as I went into the kitchen. "Hello?"
"Eric. This is Professor Xavier."
"Hello, Professor. Did you see what's happened?"
"Yes. It is horrible. We've opened our doors to let people stay with us. But I'm calling because I really to talk with you in person."
"It is going to be impossible. All flights have been grounded."
"They won't be able to see the X-Jet. Scott and Marie will be there tonight. Pack up your suit."
"What's going on, Professor?"
"The dawn of Apocalypse."
Blake Alexander called as well wanting to know what was going on. I told him what Professor Xavier told me and he wanted to help, so I invited him along. He said he would be here in a few hours.
Lance talked with his parents and made sure no one they knew was on the planes. Once he was reassured, we cleared the phone lines for important phone calls that might come in. The rest of the day, Lance and I packed. I had no intention of leaving him alone, especially after what happened.
The doorbell rang and I opened it to see Blake with a bag of clothes.
"Come on in," I greeted solemnly. "The X-Jet should be here pretty soon."
Not too much alter, the doorbell rang again. It was Scott and Marie. Marie gave Lance a wink and a small wave "hello."
"Are you ready, Eric?" Scott asked.
"Yes, we're all packed."
"Who is this?" Marie asked eyeing Blake.
"This is Blake Alexander. He is going to help, too. He has some, abilities that will come in handy."
"Good. We need to get going."
Joey had promised to check out the house from time to time while we were gone. We exited the house and found two motorcycles sitting in front. Scott and Marie climbed on one and Lance and I climbed on the other. Blake offered to fly. We started our engines and I followed Scott and Marie down the road.
Lance held me extra tight. After all that happened, people were holding on tighter to loved ones. He was holding on to me as if I might disappear. Scott took us out of the city and we saw the X-Jet in the clearing. The boarding ramp was open in the back and Scott drove right on inside. I followed suit and parked next to his motorcycle. Blake landed on the ground and entered the cargo bay. The two X-MEN were already dismounted and Marie pressed a button. The ramp closed up behind us.
"This way," she said as she followed behind Scott through a door.
Blake, Lance and I followed her into the cabin and then into the cockpit. We sat down and buckled up. Scott sat behind the controls and flipped a few switches. Within seconds, we were lifting straight up off the ground. The jet turned in mid-air and then took off north toward New York.
For the first part of the flight, my mind was on the victims. What had they suffered when the planes flew into the buildings? How did they feel when they felt the building rock with the impacts? What went through their minds when the flames prevented them from accessing the stairs or the elevators? Did they know that they wouldn't be rescued? Did they feel the concrete above them as the buildings collapse? What about those who jumped to their deaths? Did they know they were going to die in the buildings? In a moment of time, did they decide they'd rather end their lives on their own terms? Or were they simply escaping the heat of the flame and the asphyxiation of the smoke?
A finger came over and wiped the tears from my eyes. I turned and saw Lance with the same tears coming down his face. He moved his chair along the brackets so he would be sitting next to me.
"We are flying over Manhattan now," Scott stated.
Lance, Blake and I looked out the window and we saw the smoke coming from the rubble and debris.
'No one survived,' I thought, knowing the truth.
Lance grabbed my hands and gave me a squeeze.
The sound from the console brought my attention to what was going on in my immediate surroundings.
"What's that?" Lance asked.
"The fighter planes have spotted the X-Jet," Scott answered. "They can't understand why their instruments don't pick us up on radar. Hold on. We are going to be moving pretty fast."
Scott hit a few switches and the jet seemed to leap forward taking us out of the city in a matter of seconds. Once Scott was sure the fighter planes no longer pursued, he slowed down. Underneath us was a heavily wooded area.
"There it is," Marie stated.
Scott muttered something in the radio and then headed down toward the back of the school. I watched as the ground of a large clearing opened to reveal a hangar underneath. The jet circled the area twice and then hovered over the clearing. I watched as the tops of trees appeared at the window. Soon the trunk followed, then the roots, and finally the ground. We were enveloped by metal and the light of the sun disappeared with the closing of the hangar doors.
A few moments later, the engines cut off and I heard the sound of the hatch opening. We stood and Lance and I retrieved our bags.
"Come on," Scott said. "Professor X is waiting."
Lance and I followed Scott and Marie out of the jet into the hangar. We exited the hangar and walked down a corridor. Scott stopped at a door and it opened for us. As I stepped in, I saw some familiar faces and some not so familiar faces.
"Eric," Professor Xavier greeted. "Thank you for coming. Please, have a seat. This won't take long."
I nodded and sat down in the nearest chair. Lance sat next to me.
"Some of you know exactly what is going on. Some of you, however, do not. There is a great evil brewing and I do not mean the events in lower Manhattan. Our government officials are dealing with the situation and I hope they deal with it effectively. There are going to be many blaming others who had nothing to do with the attacks simply because of an ethnic similarity. I hope the government quells that fear."
"Like they did with the Friends of Humanity," a young boy said from across the table.
"Davey," a blonde girl said to him.
"Yes, the government did mess up with the Friends of Humanity. And it is my fear that other events, hidden events that happened today, give them reason to continue with the efforts of the Friends of Humanity."
"What events?" a dark-skinned man wearing sunglasses asked.
"While terrorists were attacking the World Trade Center, other terrorists were attacking college campuses and high schools throughout the country."
"What?" almost everyone gasped in shock.
"There have been several attacks on our young people recently, one of which happened at this very school. Missiles have been fired upon campuses causing lots of damage and injuring thousands."
"But these aren't regular missiles," I said.
"No, you are quite right. They are not." Professor Xavier pressed a button on the table and the lights dimmed. "These missiles have some rather unconventional effects on matter when they impact. The molecular structure of whatever has been hit goes through a metamorphosis into something brand new, something different. Dr. Grey."
Jean stood up from her chair by the Professor and hit a button on the wall.
"The missile that hit here was deflected and hit several trees nearby. The trees seemed distorted, almost turned around from how they were originally. I took scans of the foliage after the explosion and discovered that their molecular base, their DNA, had been altered. Somehow, someone has isolated the X-gene and is attempting to instill mutant properties through energy waves in the rocket explosions."
"That's what I saw," I interrupted. I explained to them what happened on campus in Orlando and Professor X and Jean nodded in agreement.
"It isn't isolated and it isn't accidental. Whoever created this weapon has a purpose behind it. And that purpose is to create mutants."
"What effect does it have on regular Joes like me?" Lance asked.
"The desired effect does not actually happen. Most have become sick and are being treated at hospitals. They exhibit flu-like symptoms within the first few hours. Since the attacks happened this morning, reports are still coming in as to the effects of those exposed to the energy."
"Do we have any idea who is behind this?" Blake asked.
Professor X turned to the dark-skinned man wearing the sunglasses. "Blade, if you please, share with everyone what you and your team experienced a few days ago."
"We were on routine patrol when one of ours, Ghost Rider, noticed something out of the ordinary at the museum. He investigated. When I got there, I saw a mutant who was much stronger than any of us. He called himself Apocalypse, and he took one of our friends."
"Thank you," Professor X stated. "I believe Apocalypse is the one responsible for these attacks. I think he may be trying to create an army of mutants. He isn't supportive of humanity and believes Homo sapiens are weaker beings that need to be conquered. I do not think that he is working alone, however. He doesn't have the technical knowledge to accomplish what happened."
"He isn't working alone," the man in the cloak replied.
"Do you know who he is working with, Cloak?" Scott asked.
"Some guy who looks like a vampire. He wore all blue and red, had pale skin, burning red eyes and black hair."
Professor X nodded his head. "We will need to investigate. Everyone's dismissed, except Eric. I would like to speak with him privately."
Everyone got up. The Punisher, whom I recognized from a few months ago, walked passed and did not say a word. He seemed totally focused on something else. Blake nodded as he went passed and I turned to Lance.
"I'll be along. I'm going to see what Professor X wants."
Lance nodded and left Professor Xavier and myself alone.
"What can I do for you, Professor?"
"I would like to utilize your abilities."
"For what?"
"I'm going to meet an old friend of mine. His name is Eric Magnus Lehnsherr. You met him before. He goes by the name Magneto. He may have the answers we seek."
"I don't understand. What can I do for you?"
"It is a sure bet Magneto would not give us any of the information. He does not like humanity, either, especially after how he was treated as a young boy. I would like your help in determining if he is telling the truth."
"Why don't you use a telepath like Blake or Jean? They would be able to get into his mind and extract the information from Magneto."
"True. But the helmet he wears blocks telepathy. It would be more advantageous to have a psychologist with me who can read body language and voice inflections."
"I'm not that well-trained, Professor. I don't think I can help you."
"Eric, please. I need you."
I was quiet for a moment in thought. Then I changed the subject. "What about the victims of the World Trade Center attacks? Is there anything we can do to help them?"
"Tomorrow we are going to offer our services to help with the clean-up. I wish we could stay until all was done, but the attacks on all humanity are more important. We are talking about a declaration of war on the entire world."
"I want to go and help. I think I can do some good."
"Of course. If you would like to get some rest, I have an old friend waiting outside for you."
I nodded again to the Professor and went out the door. Joshua was standing waiting for me. He had the look of fear in his eyes. I didn't blame him. I probably had the same look as well.
"Hi," I replied taking him into an embrace.
"Hi. How have you been?"
"Very well. It's good to see you. How are you?"
"I'm doing okay. Freaked by what happened today."
"Me, too. But I think the world is going to survive this and move on. It is going to be scary and rough for a while. But humanity is very resilient. We always bounce back."
Joshua nodded. "Professor X wanted me to show you to your room. I took Lance already. It isn't far."
"Great."
We walked down the hall in silence. The elevator took us to the first floor and I followed Joshua up the stairs. Students were standing in small groups talking about all they witnessed and the impending war on humanity. The way some of them talked, the Muslim faith was responsible for the attacks.
'How can people who are born differently and rejected by most people be so ethnocentric about a religion?' I thought.
Several students looked my way with disgust on their faces.
'Obviously telepaths.'
"You don't know what is going on," one student said to me. "You don't know how they think! They believe they are holier than everyone else! They are the ones who just killed thousands of people in our state! How can you stand there and defend them?"
"Because not all Muslims believe the way the hijackers believed. Just like not all humans believe the way the Friends of Humanity believe. In every group, we are going to find extremists, radicals who feel they need to kill for their cause. Magneto is a mutant who believes that way. And the newest threat seems to feel the same way."
"Not all religions believe in that," one remarked. "Christianity..."
"Christianity was responsible for most of the deaths during the Crusades. They felt they were in a holy war and anyone who didn't believe the same way should be killed. Today, we have Christians bombing abortion clinics as well as actively denying homosexuals equal rights. Let's not forget the Reverend in Columbus who wanted to separate mutants from the rest of humanity simply because of being different.
"We can't let acts of terror drive reason and humanity from our minds. Those who committed the crime and organized the crime need to be brought to justice. Those who only share the same faith in name only should not be made to pay. How many of Middle Eastern descent fear for their lives tonight simply because of fear of retaliation by anger Americans over an act a select few committed? We can't let terror rule our thoughts and emotions. We must think before we blame and place hatred."
I turned and headed up the stairs. I had always hated people who felt every issue was a black-and-white issue, a right-and-wrong issue. Definitely the attacks on the WTC were horrible and wrong. I won't deny that. But the only way to quell the dragon of anger and hatred is to find out why the anger and hatred are there, and then offer solutions and resolutions. Not attack. Never attack in anger.
To Be Continued...
I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, the one surrounding the events of September 11th. I have great respect for those who risked their lives to save others during these events, as well as all those who dared not let anger control their actions. I stand firmly behind what Eric said in the end. We must not let anger rule our actions, whether anger toward groups who hate homosexuals or anger toward a religious sect for causing death. I'm not saying sit idly by without justice. I am saying that we should understand. Understanding helps healing.
Please, email me and let me know what you think.