It had been a long night for Superman. He had flown everywhere around the globe, from Gotham to London to Baghdad, answering the various calls of distress that infiltrated his head.
It was dawn on the U.S. eastern seaboard, where he was flying over right now. He noticed that he was close to New York City, and so decided to fly closer. New York usually saw some beautiful sunrises.
As he got closer, though, something made him frown, something that he didn't see.
They were gone. Two mighty, monumental giants were missing from the majestic skyline of the Big Apple. In their place was an empty lot, hauntingly empty.
Superman flew closer to the ground. It felt like a graveyard. He could almost faintly hear the ghosts of unanswered pleas for help wafting in the air. Something terrible had happened here.
"Hey, you, you're not allowed in there!" a voice called out from behind Superman. He turned around to find a cop yelling from behind a fence. The cop saw the blue and red costume, and his eyes widened.
"Superman? Are-are you really him?" he asked in shock. The Man of Steel smiled abashedly and slowly nodded. "Well, how 'bout that? Welcome back, we haven't seen you on this planet in ages, man!"
Superman chuckled and spoke up. "Officer-uh, McCoughlin, what happened here?" He gazed around at the eerily calm wasteland. "I remember the World Trade Center being right here. Now, it's empty here, as if the building had never existed."
The cop stared at Superman as though he had gone insane, but then understanding washed over his visage. "Oh, that's right, it happened after you left." He hesitated, and then continued talking. "I don't know how to start, really, but I'll try.
"It was a Tuesday morning, September eleventh, two thousand-one. I was walkin' my beat around, and was bustin' a kid that was cutting class, when out of nowhere this plane just zooms into one to the towers. I look up, and all I see is a plume of flames and debris where the plane had hit." The story was starting to take its toll on the cop, as Superman could observe from the way that he hesitated again.
"Okay, so soon I'm called in to start evacuating the building, and that's when the second plane hits the other tower."
Superman's eyes widened. This had clearly been no accident.
Officer McCoughlin continued with his story. "We're still getting people out of the World Trade Center, and that's when the whole freakin' world ended. I'm just heading out of the lobby and ushering some people out, when I notice this rumbling noise. I look up, and see a whole bunch of debris and mess fall down. I grab the people by their collars and dash out the door as far as I can away from the place. I run as fast as I can, not stopping to watch as the towers are collapsing. The people I'd grabbed were running right with me, no need to tell them to get their butts in gear. I look behind me real quick to see my buddy Steve Douros trying to catch up. I wave my arm at him to hurry up. We're running still, trying to get out of the way of this mess. And it was noisy, sounded like the Devil himself makin' racket. Anyway, we collapse on the ground and can actually feel the building collapse behind and around us. I get up, there's dust everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE. I look back and scan for Steve. I see a couple people get up and walk around, but nobody that even faintly looks like him. I reach for my radio and call for him. Static. I call for the chief, Mike Hill. Again, nothin'. I head back and start searching for Steve. There is wreckage as far as the eye can see. I spent the whole afternoon looking for him."
Tears leaked into Officer McCoughlin's eyes and voice. He struggled to regain his composure as he continued. "We eventually found him pinned under some girders. If we'd found him sooner, he might've had a chance.
"We lost a lot of good people that day, many that didn't need to die. They were all just doing their job."
Superman was frozen in a mix of shock and sorrow. He could have easily prevented this from happening. Those men could have still been alive today.
"We found out that two more planes had crashed that day as well. One into the Pentagon, the other into a field in Pennsylvania. All four planes had been hijacked by some Muslim whackos, but the fourth plane, the one that crashed into the field, was taken back by the passengers. I tell ya, man, we were at war that day."
Superman could still say nothing. His absence on Earth had indeed left an impact. Hundreds, possibly thousands, were dead because he was gone.
"I am…very sorry that I wasn't here to stop this." Superman gazed at the vast gravesite. "This would not be here if I had been."
Officer McCoughlin looked at Superman and gave a small smile. "There were still heroes that day. Brave men went up those towers to get those people out. The passengers on the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania stood up to the hijackers."
Superman was the one to smile now. He had been naïve to forget the capability of human beings. He was so used to them relying on him. He realized now that in spite of the help that he offered to the world, its people would always be self-sufficient and resilient.
The Man of Steel looked back at Officer McCoughlin. "I promise you that I will not let you down again like I did that day."
The sunlight was now peaking through the gaps between the buildings and reached the two figures. Superman looked beyond the officer and pointed. "You know, I think that that kid is skipping school."
Officer McCoughlin turned around and saw the kid, and then turned back to face Superman again. "Thanks. I'll see you around."
Superman nodded and took off into the air, feeling the breeze and sunlight wash over him. He very much cared for this world, in spite of the evil of some of its people. He was here for a reason, and would never again forsake his purpose.
This is dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives that day, especially the true heroes who faced death.