Superman in Marvel
Chapter 11: The Birth of Iron Man
A World That Was Changing
Ethan Carter wasn't the only one who had come back to Earth different.
The world was shifting. Slowly, but undeniably.
And Ethan could feel it.
Something was coming.
But for now, he kept his distance.
As he flew across the sky, heading toward the quiet farmland that had been his home for years, he let his mind wander.
Because while he had been away, something else had happened.
Something big.
The Man in the Cave
Halfway across the world, deep in the deserts of Afghanistan, another man had changed.
Tony Stark.
Billionaire. Genius. Playboy. A man who had lived his entire life basking in the glow of his own creations, never questioning what they were used for.
Until the day he was kidnapped.
Ethan had seen the news reports.
"STARK INDUSTRIES CEO PRESUMED DEAD."
Then, weeks later—
"TONY STARK RETURNS FROM CAPTIVITY."
But what the headlines didn't say—what no one outside of a small group of people knew—was what happened in between.
Ethan knew.
Because his enhanced hearing had picked up Stark's voice all the way from Afghanistan.
Not clearly. Not perfectly. But enough to know the moment Tony Stark changed.
He had heard the screams. The gunfire. The roar of something mechanical tearing through the desert.
The birth of Iron Man.
Deciding Not to Intervene
Ethan could have gone to him.
He could have interfered. Could have torn through the terrorist camp and rescued Stark before he ever built that first crude armor.
But he didn't.
Because this was Tony's path.
Ethan wasn't meant to save him. Tony needed to save himself.
And he had.
Now, Stark had returned to America, alive but changed.
He had shut down the weapons division of Stark Industries, shocking the world.
And Ethan knew, without a doubt—
This was just the beginning.
The man who had walked into that cave wasn't the same one who had come out.
Tony Stark was about to become something more.
And soon, the world would meet Iron Man.
But that wasn't Ethan's fight.
Not yet.
He had his own journey to walk.
And the first step was going home.
The Return to His Family
The farm looked exactly the same as when he had left.
The fields stretched out beneath him, golden under the morning sun. The barn, the house, the old truck parked in the driveway.
It was home.
He took a deep breath and descended.
His boots touched the ground softly.
For a long moment, he just stood there.
Would they be angry? Would they be worried?
He had left without much of an explanation. His parents had let him go, but that didn't mean they had liked it.
Before he could take another step, the front door swung open.
Jacob Carter stood on the porch, arms crossed, eyes sharp.
Behind him, Rebecca stepped out, her expression softer but just as unreadable.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Jacob sighed.
"Took you long enough, boy."
Ethan let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
"…Yeah."
Rebecca stepped forward and hugged him.
Hard.
He blinked in surprise but quickly returned the embrace.
"You're safe," she murmured. "That's all that matters."
Jacob clapped a hand on his shoulder, giving him a firm nod—the Carter version of I missed you, but I'm not gonna say it out loud.
Ethan smiled. "I'm back."
For now.
But deep down, he knew—
The world wouldn't let him stay hidden forever.