It was a normal day at Smallville High, if any day there can be considered normal. Then the flying saucer landed in the football field.
Actually it wasn't a flying saucer. More like a spaceship shaped like a large black shield. And when the front end opened and light poured out, a large crowd had already gathered.
What stepped out wasn't little green men or creatures resembling E.T. Instead, these people looked like they could have been chosen by a college diversity committee.
The people were white, black, and brown. But whereas college students would have worn togas, these people wore long white robes.
At the center stood a man with a buzz cut and a great regal nose. He wore a great black "S" at the center of his white robe.
"People of Smallville," he said. "I am Jor-El of Krypton. This planet and everything in it is now ours."
"Clark, what do we do, man?" Pete Ross asked. But Clark Kent had already moved away from him. "Clark, man, what's wrong?"
Jor-El gestured to Clark. "Come, my son. Join me at my side. You've done excellent work as advance scout."
"What is this?" Pete shouted.
"Pete, calm down," Chloe Sullivan urged.
Clark gave the people an icy stare as he spoke in a cold voice. "It's just like my father says. You belong to us now. You will serve us. Or die."
In Smallville, Clark Kent was unusual. For one thing, he was a bit of an outsider. He had not grown up in the town. Instead he was adopted by the Kents when he was fourteen.
Because of this, people at first assumed Clark must have been some kind of problem child or juvenile delinquent. They soon learned otherwise.
Clark not only became a big football star, but he still had time for local heroics. Everyone in town knew how he saved Lex Luthor after his car went off the Loeb Bridge.
Coach Arnold had once said that Clark Kent, besides his unique abilities on the field, had a boldness and a confidence that was unearthly. That was just before the coach's mysterious untimely death. Such deaths happened a lot in Smallville. So much so that Sheriff Ethan stopped investigating them or trying to explain them.
No one really noticed how two mysterious figures, a man and a woman, sat behind Jonathan and Martha at all the football games. No one noticed how the Kents always looked nervous and uneasy.
Maybe one person noticed. Whenever Clark visited the Talon with Pete and Chloe, Lana Lang always eyed Clark suspiciously.
But with the exception of Dr. Steven Hamilton, who once tried (unsuccessfully) to dose Clark with the Nicodemus flower, no one ever accused Clark of being an alien invader.
Until now.
"Chloe, what's going on?" Pete asked
"It'll be all right, Pete. Just take one of these." Chloe handed him something.
Pete looked at the object in his hand. "Some kind of green rock? What's this supposed to do?"
Pete soon learned. Each person in the crowd had a green rock, and each one held it out at the alien invaders. The Kryptonians fell to the ground, groaning and writhing.
But Clark was not one of them.
Clark was, instead, at the front entrance of Smallville High. He breathed a sigh of relief. He had cut it close but he had gotten away just in time.
Or so he thought.
Lana was there, and she pointed one of the glowing green rocks at Clark.
Clark bent over, gasping and groaning. Imagine the pain of a broken rib, only worse, all over your body. That's what it felt like for Clark.
"I knew there was something different about you," Lana said.
"Lana, stop!" Lex Luthor grabbed her wrist, seized the rock, and tossed it away. "Clark was the one who warned me about this. " He helped Clark to his feet. "It's all right, Clark. The police are taking them away in kryptonite handcuffs. "
"What about my father?" Clark asked with a slight groan in his voice.
Lex looked grim. "He's in bad shape. The police don't even want to move him."
Lex, Lana, and Clark walked over to where Jor-El lay in the middle of the football field. Clark knelt beside him. "I'm sorry, father."
"I knew you were too weak," Jor-El snarled.
"Once I saw what these people were really like, I couldn't help with your invasion."
Clark watched as Jor-El's pupils turned black for a moment. Only a moment.
"Brainiac," Jor-El gasped. His eyes fluttered as his head drooped to the side.
"Brainiac," Clark said, standing up and backing away.
"What's Brainiac?" Chloe asked.
"The Brain Interactive Construct," Clark said. "Years ago it tried to destroy Krypton."
"What's Krypton?" Pete asked.
"My home planet," Clark explained. "We thought we destroyed Brainiac. But apparently it took over my father. "
"And you never noticed?" Pete said.
Clark shook his head. "Not until recently" Then he knelt next to Jor-El.
"My son," Jor-El said. "I am so proud of you. You went against me. To do what was right. For Krypton. For Earth. For all of us." H coughed slightly. "You will be, not Earth's conqueror but Earth's greatest hero."
Clark bowed his head slightly as he clutched Jor-El's hands. "We will remember you as a great hero, father."
Jor-El spoke no more, and Clark closed his eyes.
"He sent me here to Earth to live among you," Clark told his friends. "I thought I was scouting for a colony. Then I got this coded message: 'The day is coming.' It was the signal for an invasion. He wanted to take over Smallville and all of Earth.
"My father was convinced humans were savage barbarians." Clark smiled at Pete and Chloe. "I knew better."
Lex spoke as if making a grand announcement. "Once Clark warned me about this alien invasion, we studied the ship he came in a few years ago."
"Along with two bodyguards," Clark said grimly. "Security detail to keep an eye on the Kents."
Lex continued. "We found small pieces of radioactive debris on the ship and realized they could weaken the Kryptonians."
"After some painful experiments," Clark said, wincing.
"My scientists found a way to make these green rocks, and we distributed them throughout Smallville."
A somber Clark looked down at Jor-El. "He was a great hero. Years ago he put down a rebellion by Zod. Then he warned the Council that Brainiac would most likely malfunction and try to destroy Krypton. When they didn't listen, he went into isolation.
"Year later, the planet started to shake apart. But Jor-El had been working all those years on a way to destroy Brainac." Clark looked tearful. "He saved Krypton. He saved us all."
"A real hero," Chloe said. "Just like his son."
"How do you suppose this Brainiac thing survived?" Pete asked.
For a moment, Chloe looked slightly disoriented. "I suppose only a small part of him would have to survive."
"I think the green rocks took care of what's left of him." Clark watched as Jor-El's body was covered then he looked away. "Come on, guys. Let's go home."
In the 1970's there was a comic book called "What If?" If this story were featured in that comic book, the title would be "What If Krypton Had Not Exploded?"
In this case, the story is called "Clark Kent, Alien Invader!"
Clark and his friends walked away from the football field, the site of the alien invasion.
With all that had happened that day, no one really noticed but for a moment the pupils of Chloe Sullivan turned black.
And for just a moment she got the weirdest look on her face. There was this slight evil smile.
Then she looked perfectly normal again. .