Chapter 52 – On that Day Part 2

It was all in vain.

As I flew through the air, the screams and shouts got louder. The New York Sunscraper was busy at all hours of the day, so there were tens of thousands in the Sunscraper, and thousands in the surrounding area. Naturally, everyone was going crazy.

Approaching the Boeing 767, everything was moving in slow motion. With my back against the Sunscraper, I reached out and pressed my hand against the tip of the plane in an effort to stop it.

But the plane continued to move, the metal bending around my hand like aluminum foil. The plane's momentum was too much. It was too late.

I smiled at the irony. My biggest failure came after so much preparation.

I looked up at the cockpit. The pilot had a gun to his head, eyes closed, in the middle of whispering a prayer.

"I'm sorry," I whispered as a tear slid down my face, "no one blames you. I'm so sorry."

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[3rd POV]

In Houston, Texas, St. Catherine's Orphanage was doing well. Apollo ensured that the orphanage would never run out of funding, so the old building had been transformed into a mansion.

Every girl at the orphanage received 3 healthy meals a day. They received the best education from a series of private tutors. Field trips were regular and internships in Apollonia (either Apollo Enterprises or Artemis Enterprises) were all but guaranteed.

At this point, Ms. Davis was 59 years old. Unknowingly blessed by Apollo, she looked 20 years younger and was as energetic and sharp as ever. Despite this, she had taken up an administrative role, with maids and cooks doing the domestic work around the mansion.

As she looked out the window, Ms. Davis smiled, seeing some of the girls playing in the backyard. Turning back to her paperwork, she opened another envelope, and sighed, seeing a ten-million-dollar check.

"Again?" she rhetorically commented. "Apollo, you're too kind."

Her mind focused on the boy she took in 21 years ago. Well, he was technically a man now, but he would always be a boy in her heart. Apollo was the best thing that happened to the orphanage, saving her in her hour of need.

If the orphanage closed, Ms. Davis would have probably committed suicide. St. Catherine's was everything to her, and she never forgot how Apollo saved the orphanage.

Looking back out the window, she saw something twinkle in the sky, like a star. Ms. Davis approached the window and narrowed her eyes, studying the unidentified flying object.

As she continued to observe the object, it got bigger and bigger. And it wasn't stopping.

Ms. Davis's eyes widened as she furiously opened the windows.

"Savannah! Aurora! Lillian! Victoria! Run!" she yelled at the girls outside. "Run! Go to the Sherriff's office and get Mr. Mitchell! Ru –"

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In Apollonia, Texas, Yuka was in her apartment, drying her hair.

She had woken up half an hour ago, alone in her bed. Her girlfriend Emily had left the night before for an early morning meeting in Washington.

As Yuka dried her hair, she studied herself in the mirror. She had sworn herself to Apollo in 1994, making her effectively immortal.

Flexing her biceps, she was disappointed to see a lack of any serious muscle. Despite bench-pressing cars, she had yet to see any gains.

Putting on her clothes, she exited her apartment and descended to the ground floor. Everyone was bustling around going to their jobs. Buying a chocolate croissant from a shop, she briefly wondered what this day would bring. Every day in Apollonia was an adventure.

On this morning, Yuka went to Site 002 to inspect the production lines. The girls who observed the production lines had the highest classification levels, and knew what they were doing, so it was more of a social checkup.

After the visit, she stepped back outside and took a few moments to get used to the brightness. Texas got a lot of sunlight, Apollonia especially so.

As her eyes adjusted, she saw what looked like a shooting star. As the object flew, the glare from the sun adjusted, allowing her to see the object more clearly. It was a plane. And it was flying straight towards the city.

Jumping into action, she ran towards the main city. She slowed to a walk as she realized she wouldn't make it. She was simply too slow.

As the plane neared the center of the city, a laser shot out of the Apollonian Sunscraper, hitting the plane. On impact, the plane exploded and sent fire, debris, and blood flying everywhere.

Yuka, along with the hundreds of thousands of people in Apollonia took cover before simply staring at the result. Nobody knew what the fuck happened.

They were extremely lucky that Apollo had installed a laser at the top of the Apollonian Sunscraper. After the FBI raid, the laser was activated to shoot unauthorized flying objects in Apollonian airspace.

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"Senator Daschle, I understand your situation," Artemis said in an Arlington coffee shop. "But it wouldn't be efficient for Artemis Enterprises to set up a regional headquarters in your state. South Dakota's population is simply too small."

Senator Daschle of South Dakota visibly slumped. The state was not doing well. The infrastructure was poor, the economy was stagnant, and healthcare was practically nonexistent.

Currently, there were Artemis Enterprise Headquarters in the major coastal cities, along with a couple in Texas and Illinois. In those areas, Artemis Enterprises created jobs, and took the initiative to fix the local infrastructure.

"What about in Jackson, Mississippi?" Senator Cochran asked. "Jackson has a population of over 180,000, and the people of Mississippi desperately require aid from Artemis Enterprises."

"We already have a nearby headquarters located in New Orleans," Artemis responded, taking a sip from her drink. "Although, I did hear Apollo Enterprises intends to set up a car plant in Mississippi. We're still figuring out where to build it."

Senator Cochran eyebrows shot up, hearing thousands of jobs coming to his state. Senator Daschle descended into a deeper state of depression.

"That's good to hear," Senator Cochran stated. "Personally, I think it would be best to set up in the third district. The representative Pickering, is –"

"Excuse me senators," a group of secret service agents stepped towards the three of them, "we need you to come with us."

"Now hold on one second," Senator Cochran started.

"You'll have to come with us," a secret service agent repeated as agents gently took hold of their arms and dragged them away. "It's a matter of national emergency."

"It's fine senators," Artemis waved them off. "I have a meeting with the Defense Secretary soon. Pleasure speaking with the representatives of the people."

With that, Artemis took off, making her way towards the Pentagon.

Apollo had told her what would be happening today. She knew the Pentagon was a target. Her job was to minimize damages.

Jogging along the street, she took a left turn, cutting through Arlington National Cemetery. Artemis checked her watch and cursed. The senators she ran into ended up delaying her by half an hour. She had 90 seconds before the plane was scheduled to hit the Pentagon.

As she ran past the tombstones, she saw something suspicious from the corner of her eye.

Four men, dressed all in black, including cloths covering their faces. Each one wore a puffy jacket. And they all had automatic rifles.

"Allahu Akbar!" one of them shouted. The four of them trained their guns at Artemis and unloaded their magazines.

Artemis jumped behind a particularly large WWII tombstone to take cover. Cursing again, she checked her watch. 80 seconds.

As the bullets peppered the tombstone, Artemis grabbed it and ripped part of the tombstone off. She squeezed the rock, breaking it into many pebbles. After waiting for the bullets to subside, she took a quick look before throwing the pebbles at a high speed. The stones ripped through the gunmen like grapeshot.

Not wasting a second, she continued racing towards the Pentagon.

Bang!

As Artemis heard a gunshot, she looked down. As time slowed, she realized her left foot was missing, a sniper shot blowing it right off. Still soaring through the air, she fell on the ground, rolling a couple dozen meters.

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Two kilometers away, an expert sniper had his sights trained on the fallen goddess.

Using a .300 Winchester Magnum, he was able to snipe Artemis with a bullet traveling over 900 meters a second.

The task was a longshot, both figuratively and literally, and required a lot of luck. The jihadist had spent the past 24 hours praying to his god.

As he looked down his sights, he saw that his target was bleeding gold, and most importantly, still alive. Aiming once more, he pulled the trigger.

"The demon is down. I repeat the demon is down," he spoke into a walkie talkie. "Coordinates are 38.876 N, 77.067 W. I repeat the coordinates are 38.876 N, 77.067 W."

"We copy," a voice answered. "Sending the payload now."

In the next minute a plane could be seen. But not aimed at the Pentagon, but at Arlington National Cemetery. At coordinates 38.876 N, 77.067 W to be exact.

As the sniper held a pistol to his head, the last thing he saw was a Boeing 757 crash directly into the coordinates he called out.

"Allahu Akbar," he whispered before pulling the trigger.

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AN:

Justification for Artemis's L: Overconfidence + Rushing + Bad Luck + Meticulous Planning by her Enemies + Any Other Excuse You Can Think Of

There are mortals that have defied gods: Arachne, Odysseus, Sisyphus, etc. The thing is, the god usually gets the last laugh.

I know this story has the "Overpowered" tag, but I gotta throw some problem into the mix.

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On a totally unrelated note, please post a review. 1 star is okay, just make sure to include the problem, and I'll try to address it the best I can.