Chapter 23 – Where were you when the world stopped turning?

(DISCLAIMER: Buffy and Joyce Summers belong to Joss Whedon. Captain Mar-Vell, Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, the Hulk and Graviton belong to Marvel Comics. Samantha Carter belongs to the Stargate franchise of MGM. No violation of copyright is intended and no money will be made.)

Where were you when the world stopped turnin'
That September day?
Were you in the yard with your wife and children
Or workin' on some stage in L.A.?

The news spread across America... across the world... like a black oil slick. People saw it on the news at home, in cars and buses going about their business, in offices and workshops. They were rung by friends who had heard of it. They crowded around shops where TV screens reported live. They passed it down by word of mouth through hospital wards, classrooms, prison wings. And everywhere and always there were the people who had friends, relatives, colleagues, acquaintances, in Manhattan, on that dreadful day.

Joyce first heard in her gallery. She and her customers all dropped everything... listened to the radio... and then each of them frantically started phoning friends, relatives, parents. Joyce called Buffy and found the line dead; called Samantha, and got an answering service; Jacob Carter, and the line was engaged; Peter and Catherine, and she found an answering machine; and then, by now quite frantic, she called Jacob again – and found that he knew nothing more than she did, and was nearly as frantic as she was. And she herself fielded calls from Mark Carter and half a dozen of Buffy's friends.

Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke
Risin' against that blue sky?

The dying had actually begun when the immense giant had been slammed into the Brooklyn Heights shore, smashing into several buildings. Dozens of people were crushed by broken walls and ceilings, thrown out of shattered windows, or electrocuted by suddenly exposed cables. Everyone saw it happen: the man who was doing it all was barely visible even in binoculars, but nobody could miss a four-hundred-foot giant smashing into a whole district.

Did you shout out in anger, in fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry?

But that was nothing to what was going to happen. One or two hundred thousand people, at least, were trapped on the southern tip of Manhattan as it rose into the air; and it was not rising smoothly. The ground groaned and trembled. Water and gas pipes ruptured. Buildings shook and cracked; windows burst; and everywhere electricity ceased, as the power cables were ripped up along with the mass of the rising island. Hundreds of people were trapped in elevators or behind power-locked doors, and darkness fell into all sorts of closed environments, from storehouses to internal offices and flats. Cars and trucks were shaken and sliding across the streets, smashing into each other and into bystanders; gas tanks were smashed, and gasoline poured on the asphalt in hundreds of places, and frequently caught fire. And the business centre of the world went offline, causing panic and distress across the world.

Did you weep for the children, they lost their dear loved ones
Pray for the ones who don't know?
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left below?

Spider-Man had no time to be kind. He swung the small blonde at the end of his web-rope and threw her in the general direction of some comparatively level ground where, with any luck, she could grip the ground and take herself to safety. There were at least a dozen other people hanging on to something and in danger of falling; and he had already seen three more just fall into the water, as the insane slab of rock and matter rose up, up, up.

So he did not follow what she did, and was astonished, a few seconds later, to see her swing back, using the very web-rope with which he had saved her, to pick up one old man who was about to fall over. But for the moment he could not be curious – three people were about to lose their grip, and the merciless stone-fall never seemed to stop. He just accepted this surprise, and they worked together, trying to save as many people as they could. And even so, they still saw one, two, five, ten, lose their grip and go falling into the water, dozens of feet below.

It was only some ten minutes later, when nobody seemed to have been left hanging to the side of the floating island, that Spider-Man turned to Buffy.

"Hi there, Blondie. I take it you've got powers too?"

Buffy was stunned.

"I'm,,, kind of strong and fast... but I don't have much experience. I just wanted to help."

"So, let's see if we can work together."

"I... I don't know if I can.." and she sobbed. "How can you be so calm? You've seen people die!"

Spider-Man started saying something, and then he suddenly stopped and stood still. A few seconds later, she too felt it: the island had stopped rising, it seemed to be settling... and then there was another groan from inside the ground, and she felt it descending under her feet.

Did you burst out with pride for the red, white, and blue
And the heroes who died just doin' what they do?

As soon as they had identified themselves as officers, First Lieutenant Samantha Carter and Captain William Lawton were almost mobbed by the hundreds of hysterical bystanders. Questions being shouted over each other, everyone trying to draw attention to himself or herself – and the earth was still shaking under them.

"ALL RIGHT", bellowed Lawton with all the strength he could muster, "FIRST MOVE BACK! MOVE BACK FROM THE EDGE, EVERYONE!" And after a second: "BUT DON'T LEAVE THE PARK! THE BUILT-UP AREA MUST BE DEADLY DANGEROUS, NOW!" And as if to underline his shouted command, a loud, sinister creak came from one of the World Trade Towers. The crowd moved slowly, nervously back, some of them carrying dead or injured bodies. And by some miracle, someone found a loudhailer, and it was passed to him.

Captain Mar-Vell, or William Lawton, had never felt so keenly his separation from the humans around him. He felt an instinctive need to help and sympathize, as he would have with Krees caught in a catastrophe, but at the same time he was aware that he was in the presence of a power that could threaten the Kree Empire itself. He was thinking, experiencing, living, on two levels. On one, he was doing his best to lead and help these terrified earthmen; on another, he was seriously contemplating the possibility that the Supreme Intelligence would order the whole planet destroyed. He took the loudhailer, tested it, and spoke.

"WILL ALL DOCTORS, NURSES, PARAMEDICS AND OTHER MEDICAL PERSONNEL PLEASE COME FORWARD? WE HAVE AT LEAST FIFTY INJURED PEOPLE." Four doctors and a dozen nurses and paramedics were soon found, along with a nervous pair, a dentist and a veterinarian, neither of whom, they admitted, would have come forward without this emergency. People also offered medicines and tissues. A few stood around, watching the medical personnel go to work, with a slight sense that perhaps they might be asked to do something to help.

Just as Captain Lawton was about to raise the loudhailer to his lips again, something else happened. The crowd around him started to realize that the upward motion below their feet had stopped – and then there was a lurch – and a scream. The stone was now falling.

Lawton yelled: "DOWN! EVERYBODY SIT DOWN! OR LIE DOWN!"

For a few, nightmarish seconds, the island felt like it was falling out of the sky; then suddenly it seemed to settle, and everyone felt its downward motion had become slow and steady. Something had got between the immense mass of rock and natural gravity. The island was still shaken by deep shudders, and parts of it were still cracking and falling into the sea, taking dozens of people with them. And then, after a couple of minutes that felt like hours, the mass of rock and rubble and terrified, screaming, praying humanity struck the surface of the waters, not as an immense, murderous meteorite to kill every living being on its back and unleash tsunamis all around, but slowly and carefully, to settle on the ocean floor from where it had been torn. But still there were no cables, no water, roads full of wreckage and gasoline, and injured everywhere; and still few people even understood what had been done to them.

For a few minutes, Captain Lawton and Lieutenant Carter had time to work. They called to everyone in the crowd who had military or law enforcement experience; and then to everyone who wanted to volunteer. Each soldier or LEO was put in command of a patrol of two or three volunteers. They were told to explore the edges of the park, find injured or stray people, and encourage them to go the centre. Then they were to start ranging around the streets, still with the same mission – find survivors and injured people, and, as far as possible, get them away from the built-up area and into the park. Also, get in touch with anyone who was doing similar work.

Samantha took control of a patrol herself, exploring the ruined east side of the island. The situation was terrible; the streets were so strewn with rubble and wreckage as to be almost impassable, and everywhere there were groans, calls for help, blood. Dozens of people were trying to lift metal or concrete from several crushed victims; and some people just stood around, apparently incapable of reacting. She had to take control. She sent one member of her patrol back to base to ask for some medical personnel, and found a pharmacy from which medical supplies might be taken. All the while, her heart was aching for her sister, and every broken and bleeding body she saw raised her fear. The sight of one injured blonde – not really like Buffy, but just enough like her to bring her to mind – nearly made her faint. And she didn't know that, on the other side of the island, her sister was doing pretty much the same, together with Spider-Man and Luke Cage, a few random police officers and a couple of marine veterans; and that Buffy could not hold back her tears, at the thought of what she had seen, and at her fear for her Sammy.

Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer,
And look at yourself and what really matter?

And the worst had not happened yet. Suddenly the sky was filled with noise again. Lightning flashed, and hundreds of people in and around Sixth Avenue finally saw the power that was tormenting and murdering them, as a wild-eyed, shaggy-bearded man fell from the sky, and hit the road so hard that he made a crater around himself. And he still got up, as Thor and Iron Man came flying down to threaten him, and the ground shook under the steps of the giant – the same giant whom the shaggy man had smashed into the harbour, half an hour – or was it an hour? Two hours? – before. And the shaggy man – the shaggy monster – the thing that threatened everything – got up and raised his hands.

Spider-Man, Luke Cage and Buffy were there by chance; and suddenly the masked hero yelled "RUN!", in the kind of voice that leaves no chance for hesitation. They, and a few other people who had heard his shout, turned and ran for their lives. But Buffy looked behind her as she ran; and she will regret for as long as she lives that she did. The shaggy man had unleashed some sort of invisible force, crushing Iron Man and Thor to the ground and the giant against other buildings. But the monster did not know or care that power that could crush such beings to the ground would destroy normal mortals, in the most horrible way possible. Buffy saw hundreds of human beings, crowding the avenue, unable to escape, literally squashed to jelly, to paste – with hideous speed, yet not fast enough not to feel it. The screams would haunt her nightmares.

And suddenly it was over. Something enormous and green came flying above her, and tackled the shaggy monster; and the force of its tackle smashed both into the sky and right out of the island. And she saw Thor and Iron Man and the giant get up, and realized that the force that had held them was gone. And she and Spider-Man and Luke Cage and dozens of civilians, cops, foreigners, just stood there staggered and trembling, some crying, others just shaking their heads as if just shaking it could make what they had seen go away. And Buffy turned to the arms of a stranger – Luke Cage, huge and muscular and unbreakable – to hold her as she sobbed and wept.

Did you feel guilty 'cause you're a survivor?
In a crowded room did you feel alone?

Jen got. Her head ached and there was blood on the side of her face. But she was able to stand, and that was more than could be said for many people around her. She asked to be allowed to help; and a doctor assigned her to monitor a seriously injured old black woman. She was still there an hour later, when Sam came back, exhausted and filthy.

Did you dust off that Bible at home?
Did you open your eyes and hope it never happened
Close your eyes and not go to sleep?

The people on the island, and their rescuers, had no time to follow the battle. A few of them, who were neither injured nor busy with others, did manage to see that there was thunder in the sky, and that the whole docks area across the bay seemed caught up in some sort of crazy storm; till, once again, but far away and perhaps in a non-residential port area, four enormous bulks of rock were, first viciously raised to the heavens, and then slowly lowered down, as thunder filled the sky around. There was one last tremendous blow, that lit up the sky like the sun, and they felt the ground tremble again; and then nothing. Thunder, wind, earthquake, all had died down at once. The battle was over, and someone had won.

Did you notice the sunset for the first time in ages
And speak to some stranger on the street?...
Did you go to a church and hold hands with some strangers,
Stand in line to give your own blood?
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love?

Some things were beginning to go back to normal. Cell phone contacts were re-established; and as soon as he realized that his was working, Captain Lawton rang up SHIELD to report and take orders. Then, as he could see that his fortuitous deputy was having trouble holding herself together, he handed her his handset without even waiting to be asked. Samantha would be grateful for that for quite a while.

"Aunt Joyce... This is Samantha..." She struggled, and could not go on. For three hours, she had asked of herself, and given, more than most human beings could have. Now she had nothing left, and the next thing Joyce heard, for a minute or so, were inarticulate sobs.

Joyce was terrified. It sounded like Sam was sobbing her heart out for something lost, and the first thing that came to her was that Buffy was dead.

"No, Aunt Joyce," answered Samantha as she recovered; and she had to repeat it two or three times. "No, I don't think she's dead. I saw a superhero pick her up, so I think she was safe, at least when I last saw her. I don't know what happened... I've been working... and... and.. s-sorry, it's just the things I've seen!"

And then, almost as soon as Sam had excused herself – still sobbing – but there still were people to help – the phone rang again; and when she heard the voice, Joyce's heart nearly stopped with relief.

"Mom, this is Buffy."

"Buffy! Where are you? What happened to you?"

"I'm in New York City, mom. I wanted you to know that I am all right, but that I was separated from Sammy in the chaos, and that I've been trying to help. I couldn't call you before, the lines were broken and the superhero battle was breaking up all the radio comms..."

"Darling, Samantha just called, and she's just tired and a bit bruised and very upset, but she was terrified about you. Try and call her, and I'll try too. She needs to know that you're all right."

"Thank God for that. Thanks, Mom, I will. And I just wanted you to know that I love you very very much, and that I'd do anything to keep you safe. The things I've seen..."

"You keep me safe? Well, honey, if it ever comes to that, I have every confidence in you. But do call Samantha now."

William Lawton's and Samantha Carter's temporary command did not formally end. As the aftershocks and the fires died down, and it became clear that the island was safe, and that the superhero battle was, over, people started drifting away. Many of them lived in the tri-state area, and could look forward to going home and sleeping off the nightmare; or they had to find a working telephone to call family and friends, let them know they were alive. Meanwhile people were coming in from outside: police teams, organized squads of firemen, paramedics with ambulances. Eventually Lawton rang up SHIELD and made a sort of report, and was told to come in as soon as he could.

Samantha and Jennifer were at a loose end. It was Jen who thought to go into a Baptist church and pray. She did not know what else to do about all the overwhelming horror and suffering she saw around herself. Samantha followed her uncertainly. She had rarely been inside a church since she had been small. But she felt the need to weep, and to ask; even to speak, to a Being in Whose existence she did not really believe.

And it was as she was standing, wondering how she should act and what she should do, that Captain Lawton came in, and handed her his handset again. He just said two words: "Your sister."

"Sammy? This is Buffy... Yeah, I'm safe..."

But her voice trembled, and was rough and exhausted; and Samantha knew that, like her, her sister had gone through Hell.

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN, but I'm not sure I can tell you
The diff'rence in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope, and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love
I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN, but I'm not sure I can tell you
The diff'rence in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope, and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love
And the greatest is love
And the greatest is love

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes, this episode is at least in part about the destruction of the World Trade Center (which I actually visited once, in 1985, on business). But it is more: it is about all the tens of thousands of victims of terrorism across the world – all terrorism, whether communist, fascist, mafia-related, religious, or nationalist. I grew up in the shadow of its evil wings in Italy in the seventies of the last century. It seems clear to me that, if such things as super-powers existed, someone would use them as Graviton did in this episode. This episode is about all those who died because of the evil and self-regarding dreams of others. It is dedicated to them.dicated to them.