Ok, there have been some concerns that this story is promoting Islamophobia, despite the fact that I have mentioned repeatedly that this is not the face.
As for Sam's reaction in the last chapter, she's went through a severe shock. She watched Amity Park destroyed overnight, her best friend is in a makeshift hospital and for hours, she was fearing for his life. It's easy to judge, but if you were in that situation, you don't know how you'd feel, unless you were actually in it.
Jazz wrapped a tourniquet around one of her classmates leg. Thankfully, they were able to stop the bleeding. Sigh, I don't know how much more of this I can take. I couldn't just let people die when I could do something about it. She walked around, seeing people everywhere. Jazz found a place where it was relatively comfortable and sat down, her hands covering her face.
"Jazz, are you okay?" Sam asked, kneeling beside her. "Maybe we should take a rest."
"Sam, I can't do that." Jazz responded. "People are depending on me. What am I even doing here? I need to go back out and…"
"Jazz, stay there. You aren't going to be of any good to anyone if you keep running yourself ragged like this. I know; I'm still worried about Danny."
"How is he? I haven't been able to find him."
"He's asleep right now; the doctors think he'll pull through. I suppose his ghost powers help out with that."
"Still hard to believe anyone would be vicious enough to be willing to do something like this. I try to remember that a ghost is responsible for this, no matter what he looked like, but… it's not easy."
"I know, and I'm supposed to be the tolerant one. However, I'm glad that no Islamics are near me, because I want to deck them. God, I sound like a horrible person."
"You're a human being, Sam. Just remember to think logically. I try, but you have to focus hard, at least for a while. I've already treated some Muslim patients, or at least that would be my best guess, and they are also some of the volunteers helping out. Just a couple, I think, since we don't have many Middle Eastern immigrants in Amity. Not that it means much, but religion isn't something I know much about. Believe me, there are people who do a lot more than you."
"You mean, there have been assaults?"
"Several so far; one guy was beaten almost to death. People aren't thinking very clearly. They've had to put armed guards around the area to make sure no one gets killed."
"Any idea what happened?"
"Well, apparently this guy was trying to bring in his brother or father, something like that. A few people jumped him about halfway there. Rumors are everywhere, so I'm not sure what is true and what isn't, but apparently he's from India. Believe me, you're not alone; I think the whole country is in a shock right now."
"You know, I was originally against going into Afghanistan. I felt the president was just using Islamophobia to further his own political agenda. We could have just sent him a few groups of special forces, wiped out the terrorists and went home, or just treat it as a criminal investigation because using violence to solve violence doesn't solve anything. Seeing all this, seeing what people have suffered with my own eyes, well…I'm starting to rethink that."
"Sam, I'm not going to tell you what to believe or what to think. You have to make that choice on your own. I don't agree with you on everything, but I'm not going to preach. It's why I never tell anyone my political views; either you or Tucker will talk me to death, saying why I'm wrong." She gives a genuine smile, the first of the day. She hugged Sam gently, pulling her close.
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"Okay, the main problem we have is how to get the ectoplasmic destroyer within range of this ghost." Vlad stated. "If he sees us, we're screwed. How do we get near him?" They were currently in his lab in Amity Park. It wasn't as advanced as the one in his mansion, but was more than sufficient for detection.
"Well, we don't know observant he is, so we could sneak in, place the weapon there, and get away before he sees anyone." Jack suggested.
"But how can we do that?" Maddie asked. "We don't even know where he is at the moment. We need to know where he is before we can even think of using this."
"My best guess would be the ghost zone, at least for now." Vlad observed. "Course, that raises other difficulties."
"Hey, how about we make the scanners as least sensitive as we can, so we won't be confused when we search for him?" Jack smiled. "There are many ghosts out there, so we need sensitive scanners when we go in there normally, but this ghost is so powerful, he'd set them off from miles away."
"He does make an excellent point." Vlad said in surprise. "When the GIW came back, they said that his power made the instruments malfunction. If they are very insensitive, they'll still be able to find him in spite of that."
"You're still forgetting that we need to find him first before any of this." Maddie pointed out. "If we desensitize the scanners, we may not see him until he's close and then it'll be too late."
"So do you have any better ideas?" Vlad snapped. He never thought he would snap at Maddie, but the current situation had taken a lot out of him.
"There's not going to be any easy solution." Maddie admitted. "We may have to simply take the chance."
"And if we fail? There is only one ecto-destroyer and there won't be another one for some time." Jack pointed out. "Still, nothing else has worked against him."
"Uh, Jack, you might want to take a look at this." Vlad declared, pointing to the scanner on his computer. There was a large blip on the edge of the scanner. "I think we're going to have problems sooner than we thought."
"Guys, I have bad news!" Davis exclaimed. "There are reports of savage anti-muslim riots in New York and Chicago. Several have already been killed and the toll is expected to rise."
"You can always count on human stupidity." Vlad rolled his eyes. "Don't they realize that this is likely going to push them right into the terrorists hands?"
"In a way, Amity's destruction has helped us." Seriza pointed out. "I've been paying attention to the news and it looks like we're getting more cooperation than we had. Before, there was a climate of fear and among some, a belief that you should not talk to outsiders. Now, though…they're starting to see what terrorism means for them."
"Good; our government has been too cowardly to root them out." Vlad shook his head. "They care more about political power than American lives. This ideology is a poison and the longer it spreads, the more people will be affected. Take a young man, indoctrinate him and with nothing to counter it, you've got a new army to deal with. Why not counter their ideology with our own? Find the ones who preach this kind of hate, watch them, and if we find connections, strike.
"Obviously, it's not that simple, but better than either president has come up with. Whenever someone proposes it, the witch-hunters go on the attack. They don't care about the consequences; all they want is to get their name in the papers. Muslims who don't share the terrorists ideals have no one to turn to because we simply pander to them. When politicians have to choose between what is right and what is easy, they choose the latter. There are exceptions, but those are the ones we read about in history books 100 years after their death.
"You can criticize our government, at least for now, you can criticize any other religion, but Islam is above it. Any mention of them in a less than perfect light and you're labeled 'Islamophobic'. This is America, not Venezuela! Hell, if anyone heard me, I'd be considered guilty of unrepentant bashing of Muslims or something along those lines. We can smash any enemy, but God help us against our own people!
"We need to unite, to understand that we are fighting a real enemy and to unite against them! How can we win when we're still unwilling to understand that? There are people who want us to fail, either because they think the U.S. is evil or because they believe it'll be to their political advantage.
"We aren't attacked when we're seen as strong, but when we're seen as weak. Japan attacked us when they saw us as cowardly, decadent, unwilling to stand up, and the terrorists that hit us 8 years ago saw us the same way. We can't afford to appear that way. I suggest protecting the innocent, and taking down the terrorists using any means necessary. I'm fond of the saying: 'speak softly, but carry a big stick'. If we restrain ourselves like we have been doing, it's going to cost more lives, and more money. I am far from perfect, but I love this country and do not want to see more people slaughtered."
"Maybe you should start standing on a soapbox." Davis smirked. His somber mood quickly returned though. "Okay, everything is in place. All we need to do is find him. And Vlad, things really aren't that simple; it's going to be tougher than that."
"Still makes more sense than what either of our presidents have come with. We can't fight with one hand behind our back, which is what political correctness has done to us. Yes, I know most Muslims are not extremists, but the ones that are just have to yell and threaten others to get them to follow or at least not interfere. What do most people know about Islam anyway? Saying it's a religion of peace or nothing but fanatics demonstrates a lack of thought. The truth is far more complex. If you want to…"
"The specter speeder was destroyed." Maddie mentioned before Vlad could go on another tirade. "We were lucky to get out there."
"I have vehicles that can explore the area." Vlad reassured. "As long as the ecto-destroyer is ready, we can go almost right this minute. I've taken the trouble to round up what's left of the military and GIW from the attack."
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Jack exclaimed, dragging Vlad alongside him.
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Danny groaned as he woke up, remembering everything that had happened. No one paid him any particular notice, since he was one of thousands who were wounded. However, he couldn't find any of his friends or family.
"Hey, Danny, how are you holding up?" Tucker asked.
"I'll live; what about you?" Danny responded.
"Sigh, my dad died just a few minutes ago." Tucker bowed his head, trying to keep from crying. "My mom…they had to amputate her leg, but they think she'll pull through. God, why did this have to happen to us?"
"I have no idea; I'm sorry, Tucker. I should have been able to stop him."
"No, it's not your fault. You fought as best you could, risking your life to save others. What more could be asked of you? It's his fault, and those fucking terrorists! And our president thinks they should be read their rights?! We ought to line those bastards up and gut-shoot every last one of them! Burn them alive, crucify them; that wouldn't even begin to be what they deserve!"
"Are you doing any better, Danny?" Sam asked.
"A little bit." Danny admitted. "I'm not healing very fast, though, and I'm still in a lot of pain." Probably because I drained my powers pretty thoroughly out there. I can barely even use them, even though it's been a few days. He didn't worry about anyone overhearing. There was a lot of background noise and most people were too concerned about their loved ones to care about anything else. "Where's Jazz?"
"She was holding some little boy who had lost his parents and siblings." Sam sighed. "The really frightening thing is that compared to a lot of people, we're pretty lucky. The death toll is currently estimated to be between 40,000 and 50,000. That's about a fifth of Amity's population."
"Lucky?" Tucker screamed at the top of his lungs. "My dad's dead, my mom's lost a leg, Danny's laying on the ground badly hurt, and you call that luck?! Forgive me, but I don't feel too lucky, you stupid bitch!!"
Sam was about to unleash a vicious tirade when Tucker broke down, crying. He rolled himself into a ball and sobbed. Sam put her head on his shoulder, not really knowing what to do. Danny groaned and managed to pull himself beside his friend, watching and feeling helpless.
"Sigh, I don't know what we're going to do." Danny declared. "It's one thing to know in theory what something like this is like, but to actually experience it…there are no words."
"I know, and it's not just the attack itself." Sam replied. "I heard that someone tried to rape Paulina. I don't like that preppy bitch, but no one deserves to go through something like that." Tucker had calmed down somewhat, although tears were still going down his eyes.
"I'm sorry, guys." he said. "I shouldn't have lost control like that."
"Look, I can forgive you, especially since I've said a lot worse the past few days." Sam informed. "This really complicates my view of the world, or at least what it was."
Danny forced himself onto his feet. "I better see what I can do for others." He managed to get about two steps before he started screaming in agony.
"You aren't going anywhere." Sam ordered sternly. "Besides, it's not something I think you can handle. I helped for a little while, and I'm going to be having nightmares about it for a long time."
Jazz walked toward them and hugged her brother gently. "I'm going to take a break for while." She stated. "We're finally getting some decent supplies in, so I haven't had to work as hard lately. How are you doing, Danny?"
"I'm getting there." He responded. "My ribs have mainly healed, but my leg in still in bad shape. Errgh, I hate being confined here."
"Sigh, I just wish this was a nightmare I could wake up from." Tucker groaned. "Just stay here, please."
"We're not going anywhere, Tucker." Jazz promised.
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Unfortunately, it took several days for the attack to get underway. Vlad had to deal with the bureaucracy, since no one would authorize that kind of move, worrying about their political careers. They sugarcoated it, but that was what it meant. Finally, after much persuading, and after Indianapolis was destroyed, the President had finally authorized the action.
At the moment, Vlad, Maddie, Jack, and Davis were traveling through the ghost zone searching for the nation's ultimate enemy. Accompanying them were what remained of the GIW. They had moved out in force, with everything they had. It gave a false sense of security, since if their enemy attacked first, it would still be heard to even scratch him with what they had. For the most part, they had stayed silent. "I hope we can sneak there without him noticing." Davis worried. "It takes time to activate this device."
"It could be worse; no ghosts have tried attacking us." Jack pointed out. There were two reasons why they had not: they did not want to fight the kind of force currently searching the ghost zone, or they had a good idea of why they were there.
"All right, he should be fairly close by now." Vlad declared, monitoring the scanners. They were on the largest ship, with around 30 personnel onboard. Nonetheless, they could be destroyed in a single hit from this ghost. "We can't get close to him, so someone will have to go out there alone in order to plant the device."
"I'll go out there." Davis volunteered.
"Not a chance!" Jack exclaimed. "You have no experience with this sort of thing, and I refuse to let you go out there without it!"
"I am the only one who knows how to use this device correctly!"
"Just tell me how to use it and I'll go out there!"
"What if something goes wrong? I know every last part of this device; it'd take too long to give you a crash course on how to use this thing!"
"Enough, both of you!" Vlad cut in before Jack could reply. "Jack, go with him to make sure he doesn't run into trouble." Oddly enough, he didn't hope that Jack would be killed, or not very much, anyway. Amity's destruction had delivered a severe blow to even his hatred. Davis stormed away, not looking at any of them.
"So what's up with him?" Jack asked. "I was just trying to look out for him."
"He…probably feels like I betrayed his trust when I told you about the weapon." Maddie bowed her head.
"You didn't have a choice, Maddie." Vlad replied, hugging her. She wanted to elbow Vlad in the gut for it, but didn't have the emotional strength to do it. "You saw what the results of these attacks were and you couldn't simply walk away. I'm sure he'll be able to forgive you when all this is over."
"I hope so, but I think that's the only way he was able to truly show that he cared about me: by trusting me, and I broke that. I know I had to do it, but it still isn't easy. "
"Mr. Mayor, we found him." exclaimed one of the GIW. "This is as close as we can get without drawing attention to ourselves, but we've got suits to take whoever goes out there close enough."
"I am here in the ghost zone, where a desperate attempt is being made to destroy our current enemy." Declared a reporter that managed to sneak onboard. By the time they realized he was there, it was too late to turn back, although they were far from happy about it. They were especially unhappy about Vlad's scathing comments about their lack of security. "A special team of ghost hunters are getting ready to use the only ectoplasmic destroyer currently in existence. This device was invented by the young scientist and solider, Davis Seriza. Mr. Seriza, do you think this device will be effective?"
Davis simply stared at him, saying nothing. He noticed the small camera recording everything that was going on around him, and simply held his gaze. "Mr. Seriza, how long ago did you create this invention and why did you not inform the scientific community? Was it because you were still unsure about whether or not it would work? Where there still things you had to perfect?" Still he stayed silent
"Come on, Davis, get your suit on." Jack exclaimed. "Here, let me give you a hand."
"Mr. Fenton, wait!" The reporter exclaimed. "Mr. Seriza, I have information that you had served in Iraq and Afghanistan before moving to Amity Park. Tell me: what were your experiences over there?"
"There are no words to describe it, and I'm not going to bother trying." Davis replied, speaking up for the first time. "Come on, Jack, I could use your help."
"There you have it, folks! Davis Seriza, inventor of the ectoplasmic destroyer, is now going outside with Jack Fenton, idiot ghost hunter. This creature has been unstoppable so far. All modern weaponry has proved useless! This weapon is our last chance! Will it be enough to save our nation from the deadly foe it now faces?"
"Maybe we should have pitched him out the ship." Vlad muttered as the reporter continued to broadcast. "How stupid can these people be, letting him inside?" Jack finally managed to get Davis inside the suit. They walked slowly to the exit, since it weighed over 50 pounds and opened the door. They slowly sped out, with the whole world watching and waiting. Before Davis left, he whispered some things in Vlad's ear. He talked too quietly to be overheard and Vlad wasn't about to tell anyone what his words were.
"I hope nothing happens to them." Maddie gulped. "I always worry about Jack when he goes ghost hunting. I try not to, but I can't help myself. There's no glory or adventure in it; it's a very dangerous job." To her, it was even worse that Danny was out there risking his life every day. True, he could face ghosts on their terms, but still, ever since he came out with his secret, they had been even more protective than before.
"I'm sure Daniel understands why you aren't there right now." Vlad tried to reassure. "he's a compassionate young man." Too compassionate for his own good. Most likely, part of them wants his parents there beside him and feels selfish because of it. I admire him for it, but he doesn't understand that there are many people who will take advantage of his kindness. "Maddie, I can probably find another suit if you want me to…"
"No, Vlad, stay here. The man I love and another old friend are already risking their lives out there. I don't want to lose you as well."
Meanwhile, Jack and Davis were slowly approaching the ghost. Every second seemed like an eternity and both were terrified that they would be stopped and their last hope gone. They moved closer and closer, their hearts pounding, not daring to speak.
Finally, they got to where they needed to be. The ghost noticed nothing out of the ordinary and was simply floating around. Jack and Davis moved even closer, the latter holding the ectoplasmic destroyer as if it was made of glass. "Look, when I set this, we've got about three minutes to get away before it goes off. The second I start it, move as fast as you can. I only hope that those people are far enough away from the blast."
"I'm not leaving without you." Jack replied. "I came here to make sure nothing happens to you, ok?"
"Fine, Jack, but be quiet." He floated slowly to a rock near the ghost. Upon looking at him, Davis noted he was almost…peaceful. If he didn't know better, he would have never imagined this ghost had killed 100,000 people. He set the device down and pressed various buttons, muttering to himself. "Move, jack; I'll be there in a second!"
"Nope, you're coming with me." He dragged Davis along at full speed, despite his protests. So far, the ghost noticed nothing out of the ordinary. There were several flashes of energy. The ghost turned around and saw the fleet nearby.
He moved to approach them when the ectoplasmic destroyer activated. It was a giant ball of energy that trapped the ghost inside. He screamed silently, while everyone watched, praying this would work. When the energy dissipated, they all waited anxiously to see the results.
They gasped in horror when they saw the ghost still floating there, not moving. He gave out one last agonizing scream and vaporized. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, applauding. "Ladies and gentleman, the ghost is dead." the reporter declared. "Let us give thanks and hope for the strength to rebuild our nation."
Davis refused to talk, rushing past everybody. "I'm glad we finally put an end to this." Maddie smiled. "Let's hope this tragedy will not be so easily forgotten." Before anyone could reply, they heard a loud gunshot. Jack, Maddie, Vlad, and the others rushed to the source.
They found Davis on the ground, with a gun in his hand. He had decided to take his own life. Everyone around saluted him and bowed their heads in mourning.
"He didn't want his secret to be known to the world." Jack sighed. "I wish I could have stopped him, but…we could have gotten him some help. We could have been there for him."
He told me to forget my hatred and to mend my friendship with Jack. Vlad thought. This is what he had planned all along. I just wish it didn't have to be this way. "The destruction of the Twin Towers was not enough to wake us up to the evil in this world; perhaps this will be." He muttered quietly.
X X X X X X X X X X
Well, that's the end of a very dark, grim story of my twisted mind. Vlad's muttering at the end is essentially the whole message of the story. We really are facing an enemy and it seems like too many people don't realize that.
I got the idea for this story when I watched the original "Gojira" made in 1954, known to most people as Godzilla. In the original, he is not a lovable icon, but a terrible force of destruction meant to symbolize the horrors of nuclear warfare. My characters are meant to symbolize the horror of terrorism and the consequences of war, which is why I put Seriza in the story.
It does seem to me that too many people have forgotten about the September 11th attacks or see it as just something out of a history book. Not me; I watched it happen 8 years ago and the images are still in my mind. I can only imagine how terrible it is for the ones who went through it first hand.
This is unique in my stories because the violence in this one is not meant to be entertaining. It was meant to stun and horrify and apparently did its job pretty well. I wanted to focus on the victims of the attack, rather than the devastation itself.
As for the criticisms that I'm attacking Muslims…well, when dealing with a controversial issue, I suppose that kind of thing is unavoidable. I was trying to show the human consequences, like with people being beaten up and hated for who they are, the fierce debate in the mayor's office.
And the criticism I endured is similar to what Gojira had when it first came out. Some thought it was anti-American because of the message against the nuclear arms race. (which the movie actually refers to, and I was trying to do the same)
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the novel. September 11th and its aftermath should never be forgotten, but it seems like too many have. This story is meant to serve as a reminder. Thanks for reading!