Aftermath of the Disaster

HOK, September 12, 2001...

Freefall was nervously twiddling his thumbs. What happened yesterday was still over them, and it showed. Freefall watched as the Rusherz who remained at the HOK during the whole incident waited in worry. Swoop kept an eye on the Steelers portal, hoping for the Steel city Rusher to walk though it soon. Lasso was pacing back and forth and Stampede was keeping an eye on the screen for anymore information. Rampage was nervously tapping his hoofed foot on the ground. Talon was sitting on the stairs with Alto, he kept on saying 'Why' as Alto tried and comfort him. Fang and Beast were keeping Claw and Spot company, both of them shaking a bit.

Toro: Freefall.

Freefall train of thoughts stopped and he turned to see Toro, a concern smile on his face, but sorrow in his eyes.

Freefall: Sorry. I was just-

Toro: i know, I am too...*Looks at the others* We all are.

Freefall: -Sighs- It doesn't help with that call last night from Liberty...with Soar in the hospital after he-

One of the portals opened. Everyone turned to it to see who would come through. Bolt, Pick-Ax and Pillage jumped out, sighing in relief.

Bolt: Thank goodness you guys are okay.

Rampage: *Walks over* I could say the same for you guys. You okay?

Pillage: Still...in shock...but we're alright despite the situation.

Freefall: I see you used the Washington portal. It's nice of Chief to let you barrow it.

The three Rusherz turned to eachother.

Pick-Ax: That's the thing...


September 11, Washington DC...

The plane landed at last. The president walked out along with the three Rusherz who accompanied him, looking around.

Bolt: So far safe...at least for now.

Pick-Ax: Well, the sooner we get inside the better. I'm not risking it till we're indoors.

Pillage: I agree.

Bolt nodded. On any other day, Bolt would had flown...but due to the no fly rule being out right now and what had happened, he wasn't going to risk it. The three Rusherz saw Chief and-


Present...

Freefall: Arrow-Head was there?!

The three nodded. Lasso, who had heard the conversation, ran over.

Lasso: *Concern* Where are they now?

The portal opened again and the two said Rusherz walked out, Chief having a look of fear and horror in his eyes and shaking.

Lasso: *Concern* Chief?

Arrow-Head: H-He hasn't said a thing since the incident...he saw it when it..*Trails off*

Everyone present eyes widen.

Lasso: *Horror* Oh my gosh.


September 11, Washington DC...

The sounds of sirens rang in Arrow-Head's head, but he didn't care. Right now he had to find Chief. He searched around the area as much as he could.

Firefighter: Excuse me, are you looking for Chief.

Arrow-Head: *Frantic* Yes! Do you know where he is?

He sighed as pointed towards the firetruck. The was Chief, his eyes were widen in horror and tears streamed down his face. He was mumbling something.

Firefighter: I'm afraid he witness the disaster, he nearly went into a mental breakdown if not for a good Samaritan leading away for the site.

Arrow-Head was horrified, but quickly thank him and ran over.

Arrow-Head: CHIEF!

Chief quickly looked up and ran toward him. Both hugged eachother in relief and fear. Chief sobbing into Arrow-Head.

Arrow-Head: *Soothing* Shh, it's okay. I'm here, I'm here.


Present...

Arrow-Head: He hasn't spoke since. I'm going to arrange some help for him once all this is done...If it ever gets done.

Lasso: It has too...I hope.

Another of the Portals opened and-

Swoop: BLOW-TORCH!

Blow-Torch was tackled in a warm hug as Swoop plunged into him, tears of relief in his eyes.

Swoop: Your alright!

Blow-Torch: *Hugs back* Yes, I'm alright...considering all that has happened. I'm glad to see you are alright too.

Beast: Glad to see your okay.

Blow-Torch: *Looks back* I'm not the only one.

When he said that K-9 and Scavenger walked out.

K-9: It was by pure luck the two of us were in Pittsburgh when it happened. Thanks again for letting us stay until things...kinda calmed down.

Freefall ran up with the others.

Freefall: Blow-Torch, are you aware-

Blow-Torch: -Sighs sadly- Yes, it was all over the news.


September 11, Pittsburgh...

Blow-Torch quickly pushed K-9 and Scavenger inside and locked the door. All three were in full panic and horror.

Scavenger: *panic and horror *Okay...what is going on?! Why are we being attack?!

Blow-Torch: Your guess is as good as mine. I just saw on the news on New York...*Revitalization* Oh man, I hope Liberty and Soar got out of there.

K-9: Me too...*Puts hands on his head* This is nuts...why is this happening?

Blow-Torch: Well, until this ends...or stops for a while, we are staying here. -Sighs- Swoop I hope your okay.


Present...

Blow-Torch: We couldn't fall asleep...How could we.

Freefall sighed, and then multiple portals opened as the rest came out. The others ran to them, each hearing what had happened to them. Freefall was silent, only two were missing.

Stampede: Freefall...they will be okay, I promise.

Freefall: I hope-

Alto: THEIR BACK!

Everyone looked at the Patriots portal, silent and holding their breath. And then, Freedom and Liberty step out. Freefall teared up as he ran and hugged the Gaint Rusher. Liberty looked exhausted, his eyes red from crying.

Freefall: Liberty...

Liberty: I know-I know-

The two looked at eachother before nodding. Liberty went up the stairs and looked at the other Rusherz. He took a deep breathe, and exhaled slowly.

Liberty: I suppose we all know what has transpired yesterday.

Everyone slowly nodded...

Peck: How-How's Soar?

Liberty eyes teared up a bit, before he shoke his head calming himself.

Liberty: Hurt bad, but still alive. He-He wanted me to tell you all that he will be alright and is thinking of all of us during, this.

Liberty went silent after that. He still had no idea on how to comprehend what all that happened within a span of 24 hours.

Spot: What's going to happen now?

Liberty internally jumped at that question. What was going to happen next? What DO they do now? It was a moment that Liberty wished he knew the answer.

Liberty:...I don't know...I don't know.

Liberty slumped to a sitting position on the stairs, Freefall going right next to him as did Stampede. Liberty head was swarming. How could this happened? Could this have been prevented? Could they had done something? Could-

Stampede: Liberty...this is not our fault, nor is it theirs either.

Liberty turned to Stampede. Stampede was tired, worried, and sleep deprived but he was right. Liberty sighed and nodded.

Liberty: I know-*He turned back to the others* I'm not sure what's going to happen next, but I do know one thing.

They looked at him in worry and then Liberty said the words no one would expect to hear from a Rusher.

Liberty: We're not playing this week. I REFUSE to play this week after all this.

Freefall: I agree...football can wait, this is more important than a game right now.

Stampede: We, all need time to recollect ourselves.

Liberty nodded and then turned to the other Rusherz.

Liberty: Any objections?

There was an intense silence in the room...until Freedom sighed and shoke his head, tears falling.

Freedom: I don't want to. I can't. How can anyone.

Alto turned to him, then back in his hands. It was a patch of the logo for the super bowl this year but now...Alto face furrowed as he threw the patch to the side, catching the attentions of the others.

Alto: I refuse to have the super bowl and not have those souls be forgotten.

Alto turned and walked away, the patch hidden between the walls of the HOK...


Years later...

The Guardians looked at the patch in Troy's hands. It was a patch for the Super Bowl during the 2001 season. How did it get over here?

Ricky: You think they dropped it and just forgot it was here?

Ish: I don't know? We could ask RZ about this and see if it's in the records.

They were talking with eachother when Liberty walked over, curious to what was going on.

Liberty: What are you kids lookin-

He froze when he saw the patch in Troy's hands. His whole body paled and his blood went cold. And he was not the only one. The other Rusherz had come over to see what was going on and fell into the same feeling upon seeing the patch.

Liberty:-Where did you find that patch?

The Guardians were about to answer, when they saw how the Rusherz looked at it. They looked...scared, sick, pale.

Ish: Troy saw it in between the walls at the entrance...are you all alright?

Chief started to shake hard, Arrow-Head bring him into a hug. Soar looked away, not wanting to so fear and worrying the Guardians even more. It was then they looked at the year again...2001, and it all sank in.

Marty: Was this suppose to be the patch for the 2001 super bowl before..

Marty trailed off not wanting to say anymore. The Rusherz nodded slowly, Troy handing Alto the pacth back to him.

Ash: We're sorry if it opened that wound.

Freedom: I-It's alright...

Troy: I just...why was it back there?

Alto: I guess-we forgot it.

Silence...absolute silence.

Ish:...What happened with you guys during that day?

The Rusherz looked at quickly. They were hesitant at first, but Bolt took a deep sigh.

Bolt: Me, Pillage and Pick-Ax were helping the president at the time with a program when he got the word and relayed it to use. All three of use were in a panic, we didn't know where we should go and flying was not an option for me.

Pillage: The president told us to come with him. We did not hesitate. We were up in the air for hours. It wasn't until nightfall that we landed in the white house grounds.

Pick-Ax: He allowed us to stay for the night...we couldn't sleep. We were worried about the others.

Chief turned to Arrow-Head, nodding to him.

Arrow-Head: I was, going to visit Chief when on the way over i saw the news. I quickly went to find him when I saw-*trails of, but shakes his head* Chief, had witness it before I got there. He was lead away from the scene until I found him. We spent the night with Bolt, Pick-Ax, Pillage and the others...Chief, needed to see someone for a while...and i don't blame him.

Arrow-Head tighten his hug on Chief a bit. Blow-Torch looked away.

Blow-Torch: Scavenger and K-9 were visiting me in Pittsburgh on the games when we saw the news. I quickly grabbed them and took them to the stadium. I made sure the place was on lock down. We continued to watch the events unfold throughout the day.

Scavenger: Blow-Torch was adamant on letting us stay the night. Though like the others we didn't sleep.

K-9: We just sat there, worrying about the others and what was going to happen next.

Peck: The rest of us were staying inside watching the events and making sure the stadium was on lock down.

Marty: Couldn't you guys go back to the HOK.

Freefall shoke his head.

Freefall: We agreed to lock down the portals during all this. Me, Stampede, Best, Fang, Spot, Claw, Lasso, Toro, Rampage, Talon, Swoop and Alto were here during the events.

The Guardians were hesitant on asking the big question...

Ash: What about Liberty, Soar and Freedom?

Nothing...Liberty trembled, but tried to calm himself.

Liberty: Me and Soar...we were walking around the city when we saw smoke. We ran over and saw the fire, Soar immediately going over to see if he could help. That when the second-*tears begin to from* I went over to get him out and...he was trapped under burning rubble. I got him out and w-we ran-when the-collaspe...

Liberty took a few deep breathes as he tried to continue.

Liberty: We manage to make a portal to Massachusetts. Freedom came in and I told him what happened. When-When I saw-the damage on Soar-i-it was-His legs-

Soar stopped Liberty by placing a hand on his shoulder. Liberty looked at him, as Soar removed his oxygen mask.

Soar: I got hurt, badly. Liberty and Freedom took me to the hospital where I was admitted for smoke inhalation and second degree burns on my legs. It took me months to recover in the hospital and back at home.

The Guardians were speechless. It was silent between both sides for a while.

Liberty: We made a promise not to play that week.

The Guardians looked up quickly at that.

Tua: You made that decision.

Stampede: We told the league we agreed with this idea, there was not way we could play with all that had happened.

Alto: I-I called my team and we agreed to change the Super Bowl patch too.

Ash: They one with the United Stated right?

They nodded.

Freedom: I'll admit, it was nice to return. We made sure we remembered those who lost their lives.

Rampage: There's a reason why I said after you and your team won the Super Bowl "Everyone is a Patriot fan this season".

Freedom blushed. The others were a bit perky at that line.

Ish: Listen, if you guys need any help for those events on game day let us know. We want to make sure those lives are remembered in the Rush Zone too.

The others nodded in agreement. The Rusherz gave the Guardians smiles at that.

Liberty: Don't worry, they are. Always will be.

THE

END

In Memory of the 9/11 victims and in honor of those who helped out on that fateful day.

NEVER FORGET. ALWAYS REMEMBERED.