It had been about two weeks after the defeat of Hopper. The ants didn't work as hard as they had then, they didn't need to. However, the brains of the former queen, Atta, Dot, Flik, and their friends would be put to work, because today they didn't wake up in THEIR ant tunnel. It looked the same, but something about it felt...different. Dot looked to Flik,
"What happened?" she asked.
"I don't know. Let's walk around and see what's going on."
They walked around for about five minutes when they saw the now present Queen Atta walking by. She stopped and looked at them.
"Uh oh." she said.
"Wait a minute! What happened? Where are we? And what do you mean by 'uh oh'"? asked Flik.
"I mean that all of you were somehow transported here to see what the future is like here so that you can try to change it. Don't ask me what I mean by that, you'll find out after we talk to Flik Follow me." said the future Atta. The others followed.
They reached a tunnel where they saw the future Flik working on an invention.
"Flik, they showed up." said Atta. He looked up, and his eyes immediately fell on Dot. She looked at him with curious eyes while he looked at her with...sad eyes?
'Why is he looking at me like that?' wondered Dot, but she didn't say anything.
"Alright, I guess we have to explain everything to you guys." said future Flik.
The future ants told them everything. But what shocked them all was that...Dot was dead.
"We were playing tag, and we got too close to the edge..." started future Flik.
Flik was chasing Dot around the island playing tag with her. Flik loved playing with Dot like this, it made him feel calm inside.
However, the calm inside would soon turn into self-destruction. As Dot kept running, she tripped over a rock because she wasn't watching where she was going. She fell on her back and hurt her wing, so she couldn't fly. Flik checked her over before noticing that she was okay enough to at least run and play the game.
But, when Dot went to get up, she slipped and statred to fall down the edge of the island. It had rained the day before, so the land was still a little wet. She lost her balance and fell to the lower level of the island just where the water meets the land. Flik tried to grab her, but didn't reach her in time. He raced down to where she fell, praying that she was alive. He knew she would be in extreme pain, but he hoped that she was at least alive.
He reached the bottom and stopped. He saw Dot lying face down in the rocks. He ran over and knelt down beside her, lifting her into his arms and turning her over.
"Dot? Dot, answer me." he said as calmly as he could. No response. "Dot, wake up! This isn't funny! Stop playing!" he yelled, hoping that she really was just trying to mess with him. Still no answer. Flik laid his haid where he SHOULD have heard her heartbeat. However, when he heard nothing, he knew that his little sunshine was dead.
When he was finished explaining what happened, everyone's face showed their scared shocked expression.
"I'm going to take a walk. I'll be back later." future Flik said. Dot ran after him.
When she caught up to him, she noticed tears were running down his face. Dot's face showed she was worried and scared. Flik NEVER cried. He turned his head away from her. Dot stepped in front of him, making him stop and look down at her with sad eyes.
"Flik, it wasn't your fault. You tried to...save her. Don't beat yourself up over this. You know that neither me or your time Dot would want you to do that." Dot said those words almost pleadingly, her eyes were pleading, that was for sure.
Future Flik looked at her. He still had that memory running wildly through his brain. He wanted to see one thing that was sure to make that memory leave his mind.
"Dot...smile for me." She hesitated, then understood. She gave him the brightest smile she could make. He smiled back. That was exactly what he wanted to see.
"Thanks, Dot." he said, kneeling down and hugging her. The others were watching from the tunnel with smiling faces.
About a week later, the other insects had to go back to their time. When they got there, Dot and Flik immediately started playing tag.
The two were running close to the edge, then Dot tripped and hurt her wing. She almost started running again when she started to fall off of the edge of the island. The memories of what she was told rushed through her mind.
Flik ran faster. 'NO! DOT!'
Before she fell off, Dot was pulled into the arms of Flik. Both were panting hard and they were trying to calm down.
"Are you alright, Dot?" asked Flik. Dot smiled at him and said:
"I always will be when you're around, Flik."