It was just a normal day in the life of Lois and Clark Kent. They were the lead reporters for the Daily Planet a large metropolitan newspaper. Everyone at the Planet held them in high regard for the many stories that had made them famous. Only Perry White and Lois knew Clark Kent's other identity Superman.
Clark looked up from his desk to see a piece of paper that appeared to have dropped from the ceiling. He looked around to see who had dropped it and was puzzled to find noone. He glanced at the paper and read it carefully.
The paper said "Mr. Kent my name is Irona and I am the king of the ant colony who now resides in your great Metropolis. It would indeed be my pleasure to meet you at the park accross the street in ten minutes. It is there that I will explain to you who and what I am. If it is your wish I would consider it an honor for you to bring your wife along. Thank you for your time." It was signed Irona King of the ant colony.
Lois had looked up from her desk to see her husband looking over a piece of paper, and something about it brought the curiosity in her up. She walked over to the desk and smiled at her husband of over five years.
"What have we here?" she said as she took the paper from his hand. Lois chuckled as she read the paper, but then she saw the look on her husbands face. "Do you think that this paper is real?" she asked.
"Lois it dropped down from the ceiling with noone in sight. I looked around and didn't see anyone at all, and yet here it is. I think that we should at least go accross the street to the park and see what happens." Clark told her.
Lois thought for just a quick second and told him "Let's go."
The couple walked accorss the street and decided to take a seat on the bench at the northern corner of the park. This bench was a little more secluded than the other benches and perhaps they could have some privacy.
Lois and Clark had just sat down when Clark spotted a very short being of about three feet tall standing in front of him. To Clark's surprise the being appeared to be a very large ant. The being had caught Clark by surprise as he hadn't seen him approach. Again the being handed him a piece of paper. The paper read "I am Irona king of the ant colony. Unfortunately we move much faster than other humans and it becomes very difficult for us to communicate. It would be an honor for you and your wife to join us. We have a serum that you can take that will shrink you to the size of 3/4 of an inch tall and speed you up to our speed. I can take you to our safe place where there will be no danger. Please let me know by writting as speaking to each other at this time is quite impossible."
Clark looked over at the man who had been standing there for several seconds and realized that Lois hadn't even seen him. Apparently, although by human standards he was very fast but these people in the form of ants moved much quicker. They were very intelligent, and had his curiosity. He smiled over at Lois and cleared his throat. "Lois do you see anyone standing to my right?" he asked her.
Lois looked over and saw nothing "No I see nothing. Is there someone here?" and then she saw the piece of paper in her husbands hands. She took the paper and read it. "What do you think? Do you think that we should take the chance?"
"I think that it would be best if I go alone. This could be very dangerous. Taking a serum that will make us that small and quick. " Clark told her.
Lois looked at her husband in disugust. "How many times do I have to tell you that we are a team? Where you go I go, I will be all right." she insisted.
Clark knew that it was useless to argue with Lois. When she had made up her mind there was nothing that anyone could do including him. It was her stuborness that had drawn him to her that many years ago. Well at least partly. he thought to himself.
With that Clark and Lois wrote Irona the answer to the letter and immediately a vial appeared. The instructions were for Clark to take the vial on the left and Lois the one on the right. Clark and Lois clinked the glasses together and drank the fluid.
Immediately they both felt very light headed and everyone in the park and on the street seemed to appear to become much larger and slower. Within moments they both found themselves standing among several different ants. Each ant seemed to have an assigned job and went along their busy way.
Irona was the man in front of them. He was wearing a uniform that was adorned with many medals and wore a crown with many stones on it. He smiled at the two of them and introduced himself. "We have been trying to contact you and your lovely wife for almost three days. It is an emergency that must be addressed immediately. I am afraid that we don't have much time." and he led them into a large room with lots of maps and a large communication center.
Clark and Lois were surprised to find such sophisticated equipment in a colony run by ants however, they both knew that there were many things going on in this world that neither one of them or anyone else were aware of.
Irona took them over to the area where several different people were studying a map of what appeared to be a solar system just outside of their planet. It was there that they saw what appeared to be a fleet of space ships approaching earth at an alarming rate.
Clark looked up at Irona with an extremely worried look on his face. "Is this what you need my help with? Who are these people?" he asked.
They are Forosiums and they are a different kind of ant from us. They are what you now call fire ants. However, these ants have managed to come up with a serum such as ours and plan to take over the planet earth. They move as quickly as we do and would take over the earth before anyone on the planet had a clue that something was going on." he told them in a very worried tone.
"How long do we have before they arrive?" Lois asked.
"We have just twenty four hours to stop them. But we have a plan." a man who appeared to be an officer spoke for the first time.
"This is my most trusted general of our army general Brown. He has been working side by side with me for the last few days trying to find out what is going on, and how to stop these people from invading the earth. You see this is our planet too. If they come and take over our planet we will be lost and alone also." Irona told them.
"What is it that I need to do?" Clark asked him.
"We need you to go to Star Labs and get what they call KL20. It is a giant bug bomb that they have designed to wipe out all of the ant colonies in the world. It will work. These beings will be here shortly. You must go there as soon as possible time is of the essense." General Brown told them.
Star Labs has the ability to see us if we slow way down I am capable of doing that as are you Clark. We must go together now, ok? Irona asked him.
With that Clark and Irona headed to Star Labs. It was strange as the serum was starting to wear off already. He was now well over a foot all and was having a hard time keeping up with Irona. When they appeared at Star Labs Clark was glad to find his old friend Dr Mcintosh.
As slowly as he could speak Clark explained the whole situation to his friend and was able to acquire the needed bug spray to kill off the invading force.
The time had gone by very slowly for the people of the earth. As Clark had glanced at the clock on the wall he verified that even though he and Lois had time to meet with the king and his army and to approach his friend at Star Labs only fifteen minutes had passed earth time.
When Irona and Clark returned to the communications base they were surprised to find Lois gone. There had already been a small squadron of preliminary invaders arrive at the army base. The army led by General Brown had successfully fought them off but there had been some damage and loss of life. It had been a warning of what was to come if Clark and Irona were not successful in putting a stop to the pending invastion.
Lois had wanted to put her reporting instincts to work and had followed some of General Brown's men to the battlefield. The invaders were using a strange gel like substance to attack the others at the base with great sucess. It was only through their bravery and quick reaction that the enemy was stopped in their tracks. Two invaders were caught and brought in for questioning and Lois wanted to be there to here what they had to say. This could be the story of the century.
Lois watched as the ants fought bravely and attacked the enemy with full batteries of guns and cannons much like the ones that would be used by humans on the planet. The guns used a gel of sorts instead of bullets though. It would seem that the gel had more of an effect than a bullet would have. First the gel stuck to everything and would be difficult for people to see until it was too late. The entire incident according to her watch took only three minutes, even though she estimated that it felt as though it took at least two hours.
When she and General Brown arrived back at the communication center Lois was glad to see Clark. She noticed that the serum was starting to wear off on him much quicker than it was on her and that worried her. The ants needed his help and she hoped that he would still be able to be of assistance when the time came. He seemed to be moving in a slower motion than the others around him and he was definately much taller.
Meanwhile the ants were working on putting together the spray that would be needed to stop the force. They had put together a sort of telescope with a large glass protector that would protect their community from any other invaders. It was necessary that Superman go out to the force and shoot the invaders with this special gel. This was of deep concern for Irona he could see that Clark was slowing down much quicker than he had expected and they needed his speed and ability to fly more than ever.
Irona waved a young man over to Lois and Clark and introduced him "I would like you to meet my chief physician Dr. Tolan. He is the inventor of the serum that you and Lois took . We have some grave concerns of how Clark is returning to his original state." he told them.
Dr Tolan took one look at Clark and knew that he was not capable of doing what was necessary to help his people out in his condition. He estimated that Clark had less than one day before he would be back to his normal state. At that time they would not be able to use him to destroy the invaders. He looked seriously at Clark and told him of his findings. "Also, it is my belief that you could tolerate more serum, however, it has never been tested on someone twice, and there is danger. Clark may never leave this environment or grow or slow down again." he warned.
Clark had met danger before, however, he had no desire to remain in this state forever. "Is there another alternative?" he asked.
Dr Tolan cleared his throat and spoke "There is a different alternative. Ants are too small and delicate to survive traveling into space. However, a human can survive, preferably a human with a strong constitution and definately stuborn. We do have a serum that will make a human capable of flying great distances for several days. More than enough days to go out to space and destroy their fleet.
Lois looked over at Clark "You mean me. It is all right I have watched my husband risk his life nearly everyday of his life without hesitation. I am the stubornist person that anyone will ever meet and will carry the weapon with pride. It is my planet also." Lois assured them.
Clark looked over at his wife and he knew that there would be no sense to trying to convince her otherwise. "Is there a way that I could go with Lois to aid her in the desturction of the enemy?" he asked.
"As time goes by you will get slower and slower. It will be no time at all that the enemy will just have to approach you like all the others. Perhaps their gel will have little effect on you but their sheer numbers will make it extremly dangerous." Irona told him.
"I am worrying now about the planet. If we stop the invasion, what happens if they try to send out another team? We need to destroy or cripple the planet that they come from." Clark told them.
"The planet that they are coming from has been destroyed by their constant use of all the natural resourses of the planet and not refurbishing them. The people on their invading vessels are all that remain of a once thriving population. Their failure will end any hopes of life for their people that is why they are so desperate." General Brown said.
Dr Tolan gave Lois the shot that would give her the ability to fly. Clark would show her how. Even though she could fly she still needed oxygen to help her with her breathing. The enemy vessels were getting nearer and nearer and it was necessary for her to leave very soon. Lois looked over at Clark who looked quite distraught. He now was moving so slowly that it appeared as though he was almost standing still. Also he now was over four and half feet high and would have to leave the ant hill. It was getting too dangerous for the people that lived in the hill. He could step on them. The only thing that had saved them so far was the fact that he was moving so slowly.
As Lois got ready to step off of the platform she thought of her husband who had left that one time to destroy an asteroid that was headed for earth. She kissed her husband's foot, which was all she could safely reach now and flew out.
The communication between Iona and General Brown was very clear and they had her on their radar. The ants had some of the best natural radar that she had ever seen and they were easilly directing her toward the invading fleet. Two hours into the flight she spotted the enemy ships. Unfortunately they spotted her also and began shooting at her. She took her weapon and shot the powerful bug spray at them. "I pray that the uniform that Dr. Tolan gave me will protect me from the powerful spray' she thought to herself. You see she was now in danger from the same spray in her small state.
As the bug spray spread toward the ships Lois watched as they one by one slowed down . She was going to go to the ships to offer assistance but one by one the ships self destroyed. The last ship to destroy itself signalled three blue beeps as if saying good bye forever.
She watched this with some sorrow. After all they had been live beings but a few minutes before. Had they not destroyed their own planet, they would have not needed to go to earth to start their new life. Lois couldn't help but wonder if earth could find itself in the same situation in a few years if earthlings continued to destroy the natural resources it had.
Clark found himself outside of the ant hill. Looking down he could see the many ants coming and going, but they now were going way to fast for him to communicate and he was too large to hang around without endangering their lives. 'Where is Lois' he thought.
As Clark walked accross the park toward the Daily Planet he noticed that people were watching him in amazement. He could now see their faces, they were blurry as though he was moving very quickly, but he knew that now he could be seen. The serum was almost gone.
Lois began her trip back to the ant colony and noticed that it was taking her a little longer to get back. Also, she noticed that she seemed to be getting larger. The air tank that she was carrying was now so small that it fit between her fingers. She worried that she would have enough oxygen to get back to Irona and his family. When she hit the earth's atmosphere she felt the heat much more intensely and she was having trouble catching her breath. She hit the park with much force and passed out.
Dr. Tolan was the first on the scene and was shocked at Lois's condition. She was bruised all over and had a broken shoulder a possible concussion and two broken fingers. None of the injuries were life threatening, however, she was growing at an alarming rate and her reaction time was now nearly normal for a person on her planet. He knew that it would be better to keep her there in the park and let Clark find her.
Irona went looking for Clark and found him by the bench that they had met at just two days before and dropped a paper in his lap telling him where to find Lois and of her delicate condition.
Clark picked the paper up and ran as fast as he could over to her. She was still moving very quickly and was not near her normal height but she was alive. Clark picked her up and brought her to the Metropolis hospital.
The doctor was able to take care of all of Lois's injuries and he assure Clark that she would be her normal self in a very short time. He was just busy trying to figure out how she had been exposed to such toxic chemicals and what was causing her to move so quickly and how did she get injured? Clark had decided to bring her to the hospital as Superman, he knew that if he brought her in as Superman there would be less questions and the doctor would be more apt to believe anything that he said.
By the next morning Lois was up and ready for another fight. Even though she appeared to have been in a battle of some sort she basically was in pretty good shape.
The next morning Lois was released from the hospital and Clark was glad to see that she was going to be ok. They had just started making dinner when there was a knock on the door. To Clark's surprise there at the door stood Irona and Dr. Tolan. Along with them came private Madison. They had become like them, this time other than their ant like appearance, they would not draw attention to the general public.
Clark was glad to see them and welcomed them into his home. "How can I be of assistance to you today?" he asked.
"We are here to meet with the people of your planet one on one today. If it is possible we would like to meet your president." Irona offered.
Clark thought to himself. As Superman it would be possible to get time to speak to the president. He would have to contact him and ask. This would be a ground breaking occurance. How strange that the first contact with aliens such as they are thought would be with animals of their own planet, ants at that.
"I will contact my friend in Washington DC right away and speak to him. How long do you think that you have before you won't be able to speak with us?" Clark asked them.
"King Irona has but two days. Our friend and ambassador Dr Tolan will be as he is for the rest of his days. He should live for another of your two years." the young man offered. "And of course I will be his constant companion. I too have a life expectancy of two years."
Clark walked over to his special Superman phone and called his contact in Washington DC. President Clinton was more than happy to meet with Superman and made time on his busy calender to meet him that afternoon at 2PM.
As Superman and the three men approached the White House he wondered how the president would handle speaking to their new friends. It was an easy task carrying the three men with him, and they looked around in awe at the sights to see in the great big wonderful United States.
The president was sitting in the oval office when Superman entered. Superman introduced the three men and she was very graceful. Even though, he was sure that she was surprised by what she saw she never missed a beat and treated them like any other foreign dignatary.
"I will speak to my staff about starting a sharing of our lives together. We have been sharing the same space for many centuries apparently, but now we have a chance for constant communication. It will be our honor to treat you both as ambassadors." she offered.
"It is with great sadness that it will be just Dr. Tolan and Private Madison as by the time of your meeting I will have returned once more to my original state. " king Irona told her.
"Would you be interested in us sending an ambassador to your colony?" the president asked her.
"That would be ideal, however, if they are to stay with us I am afraid that their change to our condition may be permanent." king Irona told her.
The next few hours were spent meeting senators and representatives of the United States. They were also introduced to many other polititians. There was a great turmoil between the reporters as to whether or not the ants should be trusted. There were many who wanted to keep the king and his friends prisoner.
This is where Superman came in. The people of the planet Earth trusted him and when he told them of his adventure were Private Madison and Dr. Tolan accepted.
There was a young couple named Jeremy and Jill Greene who were interested in becoming the ambassador to the ants. They were a kind coupld and very famous myrmecologists. The king and Superman both agreed that they would be the best choice. Like Lois and Clark they took the serum at the park bench and went on to their life with the ants.
As for Private Madison and Dr. Tolan their life with the people of the earth had just begun.