December 31st, 1991.
From the outer reaches of space, a circular spacecraft drifted toward Earth.
Upon its surface was emblazoned a large, unmistakable “S.”
A symbol of hope.
The mark of Superman.
Inside the vessel lay a babbling infant.
Though his body was that of a child, his soul belonged to a teenager from another world.
After drifting in slumber for many days, the child finally stirred.
As sunlight filtered into the craft, he slowly opened his eyes.
“Where… is this place…?” he murmured inwardly.
He tried to lift his small arm to shield himself from the light—but instead of discomfort, the sunlight felt warm… soothing… almost comforting beyond words.
“Such a gentle light…”
His gaze drifted outward, toward the distant blue planet.
“Is that… Earth?”
Before he could gather his thoughts or move any further, exhaustion overwhelmed him once more.
His tiny body relaxed, and he fell back into sleep.
At that moment, the spacecraft had already disguised itself as a meteor, streaking toward Earth’s surface—its destination: Kansas.
By coincidence, a car was parked nearby.
Outside it stood a man and a woman, both appearing to be in their early thirties, enjoying a quiet moment together.
“Ben… look!
What’s that in the sky?”
The beautiful woman leaned gently against the handsome man, pointing upward at the blazing streak.
“If I’m not mistaken… that’s a meteor,” the man called Ben replied, squinting as he observed it.
Then, with a soft smile, he added,
“Make a wish, May.
Who knows—maybe heaven will grant it.
I know how much you envy Mary’s child… You even go shopping with her every day, buying clothes for a future that isn’t ours yet.”
Hearing this, May closed her eyes.
Tilting her head slightly upward, she clasped her hands together and silently prayed.
“God… if you can hear me, please grant this wish.
Ben and I… we want a child of our own.”
As if the heavens themselves had heard her plea, the meteor—once headed elsewhere in Kansas—suddenly shifted course.
It was coming straight toward them.
Ben’s expression changed instantly.
Without hesitation, he grabbed May, pulled her into the car, jammed the key into the ignition, and floored the accelerator.
“Move, May!
It’s heading right for us!”
The car barely managed to escape the impact zone before the spacecraft came crashing down behind them.
Elsewhere, far from Kansas…
Inside S.H.I.E.L.D.’s headquarters in New York—
S.H.I.E.L.D.
The current director, Alexander Pierce, stood before a monitoring screen, observing the meteor’s trajectory as it entered Earth’s atmosphere.
After a thorough scan, however, nothing unusual was detected.
To all appearances…
It was just an ordinary meteor.
The man understood all too well that extraterrestrial civilizations might exist.
Because of that, he didn’t dismiss the incident as ordinary—he immediately dispatched a recovery team to retrieve the “meteor.”
They needed to determine one thing above all:
Was it truly from beyond Earth?
And if so… did it pose a threat?
At this moment, the one leading the operation was a trusted agent who had just returned to headquarters—
Nick Fury
A one-eyed Black agent, sharp and unyielding.
As the most reliable operative under Pierce, he was personally assigned to lead the retrieval mission.
Meanwhile, deep within the forest…
Ben and May Parker had already driven away from the impact site.
But as the crash subsided, curiosity got the better of them.
Ben turned the car around, headlights cutting through the darkness, and drove back.
After all, curiosity is human nature.
And Americans, especially, had an almost instinctive fascination with the unknown—particularly anything from beyond the stars.
Stepping out of the car, the couple approached the smoking crater.
At its center lay the vessel—a strange spacecraft, still radiating heat.
Its surface bore a bold, unfamiliar “S” symbol.
Neither of them recognized it.
Ben carefully slid down the slope into the crater while May stayed above, watching nervously.
Standing before the ship, Ben reached out, curiosity overriding caution—only to recoil instantly.
“Ah—!”
He shook his hand, wincing as he blew on it.
“Still hot… seriously hot…”
“Did you find anything?!” May called down anxiously.
“This looks like… some kind of spacecraft,” Ben replied, now more certain.
“Probably something launched by the government… or maybe a private organization.”
But just as he finished examining it and turned to climb back up—
Hiss—!
The hatch suddenly opened.
A flood of white light spilled out from within.
Ben froze, immediately turning back.
Hearing the sound, May hurried down as well, instinctively moving close to him.
Yet Ben stepped slightly forward, shielding her behind him.
Safety came first—even if she was just as desperate to see.
“What… is that?”
Both of them stared, eyes wide.
Inside the ship… lay a child.
A human-looking infant, no more than a few months old, sleeping peacefully as if nothing had happened.
“This… this is a baby?” Ben was stunned.
“Who would put a child alone inside a spacecraft?!”
His first thought was outrage—this had to be some inhumane experiment.
Whoever did this needed to be exposed.
But almost immediately, that anger gave way to something else—
Sympathy.
And an inexplicable sense of attachment.
As for May…
The moment she saw the child, her maternal instincts surged uncontrollably.
She rushed forward and gently lifted the baby into her arms.
This was what she had always longed for.
To her, this wasn’t coincidence.
This was an answer.
A gift from God—just like a miracle.
“Ben…” she whispered, holding the child close, her eyes glistening.
“This is the child God has given us… My wish… it came true…”
Her gaze said everything.
She wanted to keep him.
Ben hesitated.
As a former soldier with ten years of service, he wasn’t naïve.
He knew how the government operated—and he knew things most civilians didn’t.
He even knew about S.H.I.E.L.D..
He had once been approached by them.
He understood exactly what they did… and what they would do if they found this child.
Which was why he struggled.
If he left the child here, the authorities would take him.
And what awaited him then?
Endless testing.
Endless observation.
A life as a subject—not a person.
But if he took the child…
He and May could give him a home.
A real life.
A family.
“May… we have to go.
They’ll be here soon.”
His voice hardened.
Without another word, Ben took off his coat and wrapped it around the baby.
They had to leave—immediately.
He pulled May back to the car, started the engine, and sped off toward home.
Along the way, he deliberately took detours, leaving misleading traces to throw off anyone who might track them.
Soon, the crater fell silent.
Only the empty spacecraft remained—waiting.
Barely ten minutes later—
Helicopters descended upon the site.
Nick Fury stepped out, leading his team.
His sharp eye swept across the scene—the opened hatch, the disturbed ground, the clear tire tracks left behind.
“Seal the area immediately,” he ordered coldly.
“Find out who took whatever was inside that ship.
We need to know exactly what came to Earth.”
His remaining eye narrowed slightly as he pieced things together.
“Recovery team—secure the spacecraft.
Transport it to Base Forty-Four.”
Fury moved through the site, analyzing every detail.
This was his domain—his specialty.
What he didn’t know…
Was that Ben and May had already made it back into New York City.
It was rush hour.
Their car blended seamlessly into the sea of traffic—just another couple returning home after a long day.
At this time, surveillance systems were primitive, sparse, and unreliable.
Tracking them through the city was nearly impossible.
By the next morning, S.H.I.E.L.D.
agents were still combing through New York—checking hospital birth records, investigating recent registrations.
Overnight, their experts had confirmed it:
The spacecraft had contained a living infant.
And whoever had taken it… had vanished into a city full of millions—
And countless children.
The search had only just begun.
But already…
It felt endless.