Disclaimer: I do not own "Power Rangers" or its characters. They are property of Saban Entertainment and it's affiliates.
"September 11th in Angel Grove: The Darkest Day"
By TwilightSparkle3562
September 11th, 2001 began like any other day for me. The Southern California sunshine beamed down on our community and Angel Grove High School was more than likely ready to start another day of learning. On this day, well, I was still a college student choosing to live in Angel Grove in my own apartment that I shared with my girlfriend, Katherine Hillard. It had been several years since the failed defense of Eltar and although we had moved on with our lives as Power Rangers, the memories of how we were unable to defend our leader Zordon from the United Alliance of Evil's attack were still fresh in our minds.
…
But, on this day, I couldn't dwell on that as I laid in bed not realizing of the horrors that were unfolding out east.
"Tommy! Tommy!" I heard an Australian voice cry out and realized that it was Katherine. "Wake up! Wake up!"
It took me a moment for my body to wake up, but it was more than a moment when I realized she was in a panicked voice.
"Kat," I moaned, rising out of bed. "What is it?"
"Turn on the tv!" she cried, shaking me like a rag doll in an attempt to wake me up. "It's horrible!"
"What's horrible?"
"Just turn it on!"
So, I turned on the television, thinking that Katherine was probably trying to get me to watch something interesting. However, no sooner did I turn the television on that I realized just exactly why Katherine was concerned. I may have still been waking up, but I had no idea of the horrors I had just subjected myself to. My eyes widened at the horrible sight that was playing out before us.
"What the hell is going on?" I gasped as I looked at the television. "Is that…?"
"It's New York," cried Katherine in a scared voice, sitting down next to me. "Two planes crashed into the World Trade Center and…the towers…they're…they're gone!"
I couldn't believe what I was seeing play out in front of us. The World Trade Center twin towers, a landmark of the New York skyline was replaced with the sight of smoke rising into the clear blue sky.
"I can't believe this!"
"Tommy, it's horrible! How…how could this happen to us?"
But, I didn't have any words to say in regards to what we were witnessing. However, I wasn't prepared for what Katherine said next.
"And it's not just in New York," she said as the news reports showed of a scene at the Pentagon outside of Washington, DC. "They're also saying a plane flew into the Pentagon."
"This is unbelievable," I remarked, getting up and paced about, trying to absorb what we were witnessing. "Who would have the determination to do this, Katherine?"
"Tommy, what are we going to do?"
Part of me wanted to teleport to New York or Washington to try and help out with what was going on. But, we couldn't just go there. This was something that not even the Power Rangers were going to easily help out with.
"I mean," stammered Katherine. "I've talked to Adam and he knows what is happening. We should do something, I mean, isn't this what Zordon always prepared us for?"
"We could sure use him right now," I moaned, still trying to process what was happening. "Dammit!"
In a fit of rage, I punched my left fist into the wall, nearly damaging it. Katherine did have a point, we could just teleport to the scenes in New York and help out, but we couldn't. It was then that the phone rang and Katherine answered it.
"Hello?" she answered. "Yes, yes, we'll be right there, Adam. Thanks."
"Who was that?"
"It was Adam again. He wants to meet us over at the Juice Bar. That's where everyone is gathering."
Without hesitation, we got dressed and charged over to the Angel Grove Youth Center where everyone had been gathered in front of the television also watching the horrors unfold like us. Once we got in, we saw Adam and he came over to meet us.
"Any more news?" asked Katherine.
"They're now saying that a fourth plane crashed in Western Pennsylvania."
"What?"
Adam directed us to the scenes of a plane crash as evidenced by the gaping hole in the Earth's surface.
"Adam, this is insane. We should do something. I mean, we still have our Zeo Powers, don't we?"
"I'm afraid that not even our Zeo Powers will be able to combat this," sighed Adam.
"But, isn't this what Zordon always prepared us for? We should do something! Let's get all the other rangers together."
"I've talked to Jason in Switzerland and he and the others can't get a flight back until at least the end of the week. They've grounded all commercial aviation in the country."
Katherine and I looked at each other and continued to absorb the horrors of what we were witnessing. It was then that I began to think of something else of importance, however, Katherine was quick to tell me.
"We need to get in touch with Kimberly," she said. "She must know what is happening as well. I mean, she does live on the East Coast, doesn't she?"
I reached down and looked at my cell phone, trying to see if there were any text messages from Kim down in Florida. Not surprisingly, there was. Her message read:
"Tommy, I'm scared. Why is this happening?"
The language that Kim was using was indeed justified. After all, she was like the rest of America: scared and frightened by what we were all witnessing.
…
At that moment, the details of the four planes that crashed came out: two planes out of Boston, MA, one plane out of Newark, NJ and one plane out of Washington's Dulles International Airport. What was more shocking was that three of the four planes were heading to Los Angeles, not too far from Angel Grove.
Seeing this made all of us have a pit in our stomachs and it seemed like we were relieving the darkest day of our ranger careers when we failed to protect Eltar. Then, all of a sudden, we heard a pair of voices belonging to a mother and her young son.
"Mom, do you think the Power Rangers can help us?" he asked.
"I'm afraid not," answered the mother, pulling her son into an embrace with tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "I don't think this would be something the Power Rangers would be able to win easily."
That was the confirmation that we had all been dreading to hear and for the rest of the day, we couldn't function. Katherine and I were now left with the difficult task of how our country was going to go in the wake of such horrors. When we returned to the apartment later that day, both of us realized we needed to consider another possibility of responding to the attack on our country.
"Tommy, we really have to do something to help out," Katherine said as we sat on the sofa of our living room.
"What do you suggest, Katherine?" I sighed, turning my undivided attention towards her. "You know that we can't just morph into New York or Washington, DC and solve everything. Whoever attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was not associated with any members of the UAE. This was a real enemy who had evil ambitions and desires for our country. Whoever it is, we can't just fight him or her as the Power Rangers."
"What do you mean?"
"If we did, then he or she will want our powers for themselves and one day use them to attack our country again. Would you want that to happen?"
"No, no I wouldn't. In fact, hearing you say that brings back memories of when I worked for Rita."
"Me too, Katherine. That's what I am trying to tell you, that we can't just go in and have someone like Rita and Zedd take our powers for their own."
It was then that Katherine began to think of an idea for something that didn't involve us confronting the enemy head on.
"There is another way we can help fight against this enemy," she suggested. "In fact, there is several. But, I think the biggest weapon we can use is by just living our normal lives without being afraid. I mean, that was how I went through difficult times back in Australia and that's how we will go through difficult times here now."
I thought about this for a moment and then realized Katherine was right. We just needed to live our lives the way we were living them. We were already role models in our community and that's all we needed to do. Without saying another word, Katherine and I went into an embrace and just passionately kissed each other, dedicating our love to each other, even on the darkest day in our country's history.
…
And as they always say that in our darkest hour, there will come a light of hope. A light that must grow stronger and will go stronger.
…
THE END