United 93: Ichigo's Story
Hello all. Now, before you begin reading, this is a fic about 9/11, so if you feel uncomfortable or need to turn away, please do so now. I mean no disrespect to all of the people who perished on 9/11. This is just a fanfiction. With that in mind, enjoy this fic.
Newark International Airport
September 11, 2001
7:38 AM
Ichigo grabbed his bag of belongings and took one last look at the enormous plane just outside of the window, the one which he would be flying on within the next hour. Ichigo knew that United Airlines Flight 93 would not be departing for another 20 minutes or so, but he wanted to be early so he could have some time to eat something before the plane took off. Ichigo wasn't fond of getting airsick, especially on a long flight that would take him from Newark to San Francisco. Ichigo decided to take this flight because he'd get a chance to be in San Francisco, but it would only be for a short time because he had another plane to catch in order to return to the town of Karakura in Japan, which was his home. Ichigo couldn't wait to get back home to see his dad and his two sisters, who were probably worried about him since he hadn't had a chance to return their phone calls.
XXX
Ichigo arrived at the tunnel which led into the airplane, and he noticed someone was ahead of him putting his ticket through to be scanned, and Ichigo didn't really think too much of him as he was wearing glasses and was level with Ichigo's height. After his ticket was scanned, the man took it back and walked into the airplane. Ichigo watched him go before he too put his ticket in the machine, and after it was scanned Ichigo took it out of the other side and made his way into the plane.
Ichigo made it into the airplane and looked at his ticket, trying to see where he would be sitting. He knew that he wouldn't have to look far since his seat was somewhere in first class, but he did not want to choose the wrong seat and be sent to the back of the plane, or even worse, being forced to leave the plane.
'Let's see here. It says 2B. Well, at least I'm sitting near the front. I'll most likely be the one of the first people off of this plane.'
Ichigo found the place where he would be sitting and opened the compartment above him, placing his bag in and shutting the small lid to keep his baggage inside. As Ichigo sat down, he noticed the same man that he had seen only a few minutes earlier sitting in the spot directly in front of him, and from what he could tell the man was speaking to himself quietly, though Ichigo could not hear what he was saying, so he sat down behind the man and got ready for the long flight ahead of him.
XXX
7:59 AM
Ichigo was sitting in his spot quietly when he felt his stomach grumble, and that's when he remembered that he hadn't eaten anything since the day before. He noticed a flight attendant coming down the aisle, and he put his hand up to get her attention.
"Yes?"
"Do you serve food before takeoff? I'm really starving."
"Yes, what would you like?"
"Just some eggs and toast would be fine, thank you."
"Okay, I'll be back shortly with your food sir."
Ichigo nodded to her in response, and she asked the man in front of him if he wanted anything, to which he replied no. Ichigo thought that to be somewhat strange as most of the other passengers around him had ordered something or were already eating. Ichigo just decided to brush it off for the moment, figuring that the man wasn't hungry.
"Attention passengers, this is your captain speaking. I'm sorry to inform you that United Airlines Flight 93 will be delayed by at least 30 minutes because of runway congestion. I apologize for the delay, but the flight will be leaving as soon as the runway is clear. Thank you for your patience."
Ichigo heard some people groan in disappointment around him, but the detail that Ichigo noticed the most was that the man in front of him wasn't angered by this at all, as he seemed to be completely calm. Ichigo couldn't fathom why he was just sitting there, occasionally glancing out of the windows. Ichigo wasn't sure what to think of this man, but he decided not to do anything about it at the moment.
'He's probably just one of those stoic types, just like Chad or Byakuya. They hardly ever show any emotion. It's probably nothing to worry about.'
XXX
8:42 AM
Ichigo had finally eaten all of his food, and he sat back and buckled the safety belt for takeoff, as the captain had just announced that Flight 93 had begun to taxi down the runway. Ichigo noticed out of the corner of his eye as the plane took off a man taking his bag and heading towards the bathroom near the back of this section of the plane, and Ichigo considered this to be kind of odd as no one took their bag with them when they went to the bathroom, especially during an extended flight such as this one. Ichigo craned his neck around just in time to see the man go into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Ichigo turned around and noticed that the man seated in front of him was looking out of the window nervously, and Ichigo looked out of the window himself as he took note of the plane passing by the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.
'Why is this guy looking so nervously at the World Trade Center? Does he know something that I don't? This guy is really odd to say the least.'
Ichigo decided that he would keep an eye on this man, just to make sure that he wasn't planning something.
XXX
9:28 AM
Ichigo had intended to keep watching the mysterious man in front of him, but he had dozed off for 45 minutes or so because he was tired from having to get up at 6:00 in the morning in order to catch the early morning flight to San Francisco. As Ichigo rubbed his eyes tiredly and slowly began to sit up, he heard shouting from behind him and turned to see two men rush up to the flight attendant who was standing near the doors to the cockpit and grab her, and one pulled out what looked like a small knife and put it to her throat, with the other trying to open the doors to the cockpit. Before Ichigo could stand up, the man in front of him suddenly got up and said to the flight attendant.
"Open the door. Open the door and nobody will be hurt."
Ichigo was considering going after whoever these men were, but he knew that at least two of them had knives and he wouldn't stand too much of a chance by himself. The flight attendant, who now looked like a ghost because of the knife that was pressed against her throat, knocked on the cockpit door and told the pilots inside to open the door. After a short pause, the door opened and the man who had been banging on the door stormed into the cockpit, beginning to stab the pilots. Ichigo then saw, to his horror, the man shout something that Ichigo couldn't understand before slitting the flight attendant's throat, and she slumped to the ground before he and the man with the glasses stormed into the cockpit. Ichigo was about to do something when he felt the plane go into a nosedive straight down, and he had to grab tightly onto the seat in front of him in order to keep from falling onto the floor. As Ichigo felt the plane being slowly leveled out, he noticed one of the men who had stormed the cockpit come out, and he looked around before spotting Ichigo.
"You! Go to the back of the plane and sit down. Now!"
Ichigo looked around quickly and noticed that everyone had left the area where he had been sitting, and Ichigo knew that he couldn't do much alone, so he quickly made his way toward the rear of the plane, with the man behind him urging him on. As Ichigo hurriedly walked down the narrow aisle, he noticed the terrified looks of some of the other passengers, but the thing that shocked him the most was another man standing in the aisle and he was holding his hand up, and Ichigo saw something strapped to his waist.
'Oh my God. Does he have a bomb strapped to himself?!'
Ichigo didn't have time to get a closer look because, after he and the other man behind him passed by, Ichigo was shoved into one of the seats behind some other passengers. The man who had shoved Ichigo looked around and then made his way toward the front of the plane. Ichigo heard some of the women crying hysterically and Ichigo was forcing himself not to break down. As Ichigo tried to make himself as scarce as possible in his seat, he heard some other passengers whispering amongst themselves behind him, and he tried to hear what they were saying.
"A plane hit the Pentagon, and two planes crashed into the World Trade Center."
"What the hell's going on? If these men have to do with what's going on, we have to do something before this plane crashes into something else."
Ichigo had the same idea himself, and if most or all of the passengers could join him, there was maybe a chance of somehow landing the plane safely.
XXX
9:55 AM
Some of the passengers quietly motioned for Ichigo to come over to them, and they told him that they were going to take a vote on whether or not to go after these men who had hijacked the plane. One of the men asked everyone else to raise their hands if they were in favor of what they were going to do, and everyone raised their hands, including Ichigo. Ichigo and many of the passengers grabbed something to defend themselves with, including pillows and the food cart to ram the cockpit, as the hijackers had most likely locked the doors. Ichigo and the rest of the passengers then sat back down, with the man with the bomb watching them closely.
XXX
9:57 AM
"Hey!"
The man with the bomb yelled, and then he turned around, giving the passengers and Ichigo the perfect chance to strike. One of the passengers got up and shoved the man with the bomb from behind, and Ichigo and most of the other passengers quickly got up and attacked the man with the bomb. The man was dead within a minute, and Ichigo saw one of the passengers unravel the so-called "bomb" and tell everyone that it was a fake. Ichigo and some of the other passengers grabbed the food cart and rolled it down the aisle, but before they could ram it into the man standing in front of the entrance to the cockpit, they were all thrown to the floor as the plane was maneuvered violently. Ichigo's eyes widened as the man somehow forced his way to him and the other passengers and began spraying them with pepper spray. Ichigo's arms flew up in order to shield his eyes, and after the flow stopped Ichigo and the other passengers felt the plane stop maneuvering viciously and immediately began pushing the food cart toward the man with the knife and pepper spray, however, Ichigo was forced to duck as the man wildly swung his knife toward him. Ichigo then ducked under the cart once again as the man blasted some foam toward him and the other passengers with a fire extinguisher, and Ichigo then forced himself over the cart and rammed himself into the man, and he dropped the fire extinguisher in the confusion. As Ichigo forced the knife out of the man's hands, three other passengers swarmed the man and Ichigo then heard a sickening crack as the man's neck was snapped. Ichigo then heard himself yell out.
"In the cockpit! If we don't we'll die!"
Ichigo and three other passengers grabbed the food cart and began ramming it into the door. After ramming it into the door, Ichigo saw the door get smashed somewhat and after a few more attempts, the door completely gave way. Ichigo and the other passengers tore the weakened door off of its hinges and then they all stormed into the cockpit. Ichigo tried to grab at the controls, but the man with the glasses was buckled into the pilot's seat, and he was forcing the plane into a roll onto its back. Ichigo punched the man repeatedly, but he still refused to yield the controls. As Ichigo tried to force the man out of the pilot's seat, the other passengers could not assist him as they were wrestling with the other man, and he had managed to stab a few of the passengers. As Ichigo kept punching the man, he noticed the ground rushing up before him, and he closed his eyes as the plane plummeted into the ground.
I hope that I did not offend anyone by writing this fic. As mentioned previously, I meant no disrespect to the victims of 9/11 and their loved ones. I hope you all enjoyed this fic, and please review!