Chapter Five

Chloe stared in silence for a moment at the three men standing on the Kent porch. She blinked a few times. "Um, you're looking for Clark? Uh, yes, hang on a second, okay? I'll see if I can find him."

She slammed the door, and sprinted through the living room, toward the kitchen. If those guys had gone around to the back of the house before coming to the front door, they would have gotten an eyeful of a basketball game being played with powers far beyond those of mortal men. Chloe burst through the back door of the house and ran out to the barn where Clark and Peter were still playing super-powered hoops.

"Stop! Stop! Time-out! Stop!" Chloe called out frantically, trying not to yell too loud so the men out front wouldn't hear.

"What's wrong, Chloe?" Peter asked, hanging upside-down from the hoop.

"Clark, you've got some visitors," Chloe said, grabbing Clark's arm. "I don't know who they are, but they definitely don't look like Jehovah's Witnesses!"

A few moments later, Clark, Peter and Chloe stood side by side as Clark opened the front door again. "May I help you?" Clark asked.

"Clark Kent?" the man with the goatee asked.

"Yes…"

"Oh, we didn't realize you had company," he said apologetically. He extended his hand. "I'm-"

"Hey, I know who you are!" Peter burst out. "You're Tony Stark, the billionaire industrialist! You're… you're freaking Iron Man!"

Tony gave a mock-embarrassed smile and straightened his tie. "Well, I see my reputation precedes me. Perhaps you've heard of my compatriots here as well. This is Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America, and the big guy behind me is Thor, better known as… well, he tends to just go by Thor, really."

Clark finally reached out and shook Tony's hand, a bit bewildered.

"Why are these guys on your front porch?" Peter whispered to Clark.

"I wish I knew," Clark whispered back.

Tony flashed a big grin. "May we come in?"

Clark and his friends quickly ushered their three visitors inside and invited them to make themselves comfortable in the living room. Chloe brought out the plate of cookies and offered them to the guests. Tony and Thor politely refused, but Steve tried one and informed the others that they didn't know what they were missing. Peter helped himself to a cookie as well, and seconded Steve's statement.

"I must confess," Tony said, once everyone was seated and comfortable, "that we were kind of hoping to speak to Clark alone."

Chloe and Peter exchanged glances. Peter took another bite of the cookie. Chloe stood up and took Peter by the arm, raising him from his chair. "Come on," she said with a sigh. "Four's company, six is a crowd."

"Um, Chloe, you can show Peter the loft in the barn if you want," Clark called after them, feeling bad that his friends had been forced to leave by these uninvited guests. He was slightly annoyed, especially since he hadn't seen Peter Parker in so long. As Chloe and Peter walked out the back door, Clark turned back to Tony and the other two men. "Okay, what's this about?" he asked.

"Have you ever heard of the Ultimates, Clark?" Tony asked.

"I don't know… I think so. I mean, they're some kind of branch of the military, right? In New York City?"

"Ehhh… yes and no," Tony said, leaning back in his seat and smiling. "More like a… super-powered SWAT team. We handle the threats that are too big for the conventional police or military to handle. Like super-villains, monsters, aliens, that sort of thing."

Clark winced a little at the word "aliens."

"Get a lot of those kinds of things in New York, do you?" Clark asked.

"You'd be surprised," Tony replied.

"So what do you want with me, anyway?" Clark asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Tony asked. "We're here to recruit you. We'd like you to join the team."

"Me?" Clark asked nervously, a tinge of panic setting in. Did these men know his secret? "But I'm just an ordinary kid from Smallville."

"Oh, right, of course," Tony said, playfully. "An ordinary kid who bench presses tractors, I guess. Heat vision, super hearing, speed, and, you know, our reports conflicted on this, but, can you fly?"

Clark quickly got to his feet. "Look, I think you guys have made a mistake here, I'm not who you think I am. I really think you should just leave."

"Clark," Steve spoke up. "I know what you're going through. I know what it's like to feel like you don't fit in. I don't know if you know much about me, but, I fought in World War II. At the end of that war, I wound up in a state of suspended animation, and wasn't revived until just a few years ago when these guys found me floating around in a block of ice. So much has changed in the time that I missed, sometimes I feel like I'm on another planet. Almost everyone I knew and loved is gone. That has been very difficult to adjust to. But being a part of the Ultimates, putting on the Captain America costume and fighting for truth and justice, that's what keeps me going. It's what gets me out of bed every day. It allows me to feel that sense of purpose and belonging that was missing from my life. I know that you recently lost your father, Clark, and I'm sorry to hear that. But I know that means that you must be, now more than ever, trying to figure out your place in this world, and what you're supposed to do with your life. And from what these guys have told me about your abilities, I know that you would be a huge asset, not only to the team, but to people everywhere who need a hero to look up to."

"I concur," Thor said. "I have to admit, I was reluctant to join this team as well. Given the events of the past few years, I wasn't convinced that America made the best decisions in how it threw its power around. So when they asked me to join a team of super humans, I flat out turned them down. But since then, I've come to realize that the Ultimates serve an important role, defending those who cannot defend themselves against the evil of the world." He gave Tony a playful jab on the arm. "Besides," he added, "as long as I'm on the team I can keep an eye on them."

Tony rubbed his arm where Thor had punched him. "So, what do you say, kid? Want to be a super hero?"

Clark shook his head. "Look, I'm really sorry that you came all this way and wasted your time like this. But like I said, I'm just an ordinary kid. Whether you believe that or not, I don't really care. But I really think that it's time you left."

Tony stood up. "Okay, okay," he said, shrugging and nodding. "I understand. I respect that. Please know that if you ever change your mind, the door is always open." He once again extended his hand to Clark for a handshake.

Steve and Thor exchanged concerned glances. Nick Fury had specifically ordered them not to come back without Clark Kent on the team. No way would Tony Stark give up this easily.

As Tony extended his right hand to Clark, he quietly slipped his left hand into his jacket pocket. Before they left for Smallville, Tony had taken the liberty of reading through all of the notes that their surveillance team had made about the young Mister Kent. One detail which they had neglected to tell Nick about was that, about two years ago, Clark had spent a summer in Metropolis under the influence of a ring that contained the personality-altering red meteor rock. During that time, the report detailed, Clark had pursued fast cars, trendy nightclubs, and gorgeous women, all three of which Tony knew something about. It had taken a little patience and a lot of money, but Tony had managed to track down one of the recalled Smallville High class rings that contained the red rock in question. He casually slipped it out of his pocket, and, as Clark extended his hand to Tony, onto Clark's ring finger.

"Oh, Clark, I should add one more detail," Tony said as he clasped Clark's hand in his. "As a member of the Ultimates, you would be something of a celebrity, you know. Parties at my mansion, lots of money, great looking girls, food, drink, and did I mention the great looking girls? You ever see that show on the E! Network, about the Playboy mansion? They were going to do it about the Stark mansion, but the stuff that goes on at these parties was just, as they say, too hot for TV. C'mon, Clark, what do you say? You'd be living the life of a star!"

Clark could feel the familiar burn of the red kryptonite radiation seeping its way through his veins. His eyes glowed red for a moment as the sweet poison took effect, numbing him to any sense of inhibition.

"What do I say?" Clark asked. He lowered his eyebrows and scowled at Tony. "I say, I think I already told you to get out of my house."

He grabbed Tony by the collar, hoisted him up, and threw him head first through the living room window.