Many have heard this story before. The planet Krypton, an alien world made of glass, is destroyed in an explosion.
Despite the massive explosion, it was entirely preventable. Unfortunately, ignorance can be quite dangerous. In fact, this destructive event was the reason the inhabitants of Krypton were unable to save their planet from its impending doom.
Fortunately, as many are aware, hope endured, but not in the usual way found in other universes.
Although many aspects of this story share similarities with others—such as Kryptonian scientists Jor-El and Zor-El predicting the impending destruction of their planet and ensuring the safety of their children, Kara Zor-El and Kal-El, by sending them away in rockets moments before the catastrophe—there is a significant difference.
In this story, it was baby Kal-El's ship that veered off course from its intended destination, leaving Kara to land on Earth alone at the age of seven.
Kara specifically landed on the night of May 1st, 1959, in the middle of the snow-covered lands of Russia.
As many are likely aware, this occurred during the Cold War, which meant Russia was occupied by the Soviets, who immediately took notice and interest in Kara's ship crash landing, along with another party.
Immediately after exiting her ship, Kara was met by soldiers of Soviet Russia. Since she'd just arrived and hadn't had a chance to absorb a substantial amount of sunlight, she was quickly subdued.
Kara and her wrecked ship were taken away to a nearby base, no doubt to be studied, as she was the first alien to enter planet Earth.
After a week or so of studying, Kara and her ship. The Soviets began to take notice of Kara's unique Kryptonian psychology and the advanced technology of the spaceship.
Soviet Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev, in particular, began to believe that this was a sign from God, indicating that the communist way was the only way, and that with these developments, they could create weapons and enhance soldiers to overpower America, finally ending the Cold War.
Before any of that could happen, the other party, who had learned about Kara's arrival, eventually struck! Invading the base where Kara was being kept!
This party was known as the Justice Society of America.
They were a group of superheroes based in the United States who united to protect the world.
Although the team had many members, not all were present that day.
The heroes who did show up included Jay Garrick, also known as the Flash; Alan Scott, known as Green Lantern; Rex Tyler, known as Hourman; and Wonder Woman.
As it turns out, the team had been monitoring Soviet Russia for a week, gathering intelligence to determine the best course of action.
Eventually, they found out that the soviets were planning on creating advanced weaponry and that Kara was being cruelly tortured to be studied, which led to the team acting immediately for the sake of Kara's safety and for the technology to not fall into the wrong hands.
The JSA quickly traveled to Soviet Russia, fighting through soldiers, securing Kara's spaceship, and rescuing her from captivity.
For the first time since Kara got to Earth, she was shown kindness by the JSA and taught about heroism.
When Kara was brought to JSA Headquarters in America, Kara's powers suddenly began to manifest, which grabbed the attention of the United States Government. They immediately offered to take Kara under their care along with her spaceship.
The JSA, however, sensed a mindset no different from the soviets, believing that due to desperate times of the cold war, if Kara were to be put into the hands of the gouvernment, then they would be no better then the soviets and would likely try and exploit her and the technology of the ship for power.
So, the JSA took matters into their own hands and raised Kara themselves. Hoping one day as an adult that she'd use her powers responsibly and maybe one day become a full-fledged member of the JSA, which is what happened, eventually claiming the superhero title, Power Girl.
Upon joining the JSA, Kara prevented many catastrophes, fought many villains, and saved thousands of lives. It wasn't long before Kara became famous and grew as popular as the other members of the JSA. She suddenly began doing interviews, explaining her experiences growing up with the JSA and her journey to becoming Power Girl.
However, one thing Kara did not disclose to the people in these interviews and kept secret from the rest of the world was that she was an alien. Only the government, the JSA, and Kara herself knew where she came from and that she was the last remaining piece of Krypton.
As many would imagine, this was hard for Kara at times despite the life she'd been happy to grow up in.
Sometimes she just wished her planet had not been destroyed, that her family had not been killed, and especially that her cousin Kal, whom she'd believed was dead, had arrived alongside her to enjoy all of this together.
Then, on the night of December 10th, 1978, at the age of 26, while sitting atop the Daily Planet globe in the city of Metropolis, reflecting on those feelings of missing her Kryptonian roots she typically had, her attention was suddenly captured by what appeared to be a shooting star in the sky.
Kara remembered a time when fellow JSA member, Green Lantern (also known as Alan Scott), told her that shooting stars were so rare on planet Earth that when humans saw them, they would make wishes to themselves. Kara didn't fully understand the concept, much like many other things about Earth, especially since her father, Zor-El, had taught her the scientific explanation of shooting stars when she was young.
However, in that moment of sadness, Kara chose to set aside that knowledge and make a wish to comfort herself.
"I wish Kal got a chance at life," She thought to herself, "I wish he arrived here and got everything I had and better."
Kara suddenly began to cry into her hands, knowing that wish didn't seem possible, no matter how much she wanted it to be. Then, all of a sudden, her attention was once again grabbed by a bright light.
It was the shooting star, which had turned from a faint white to a bright orange, that gradually grew larger and larger, almost like a ball of fire that kept expanding.
Kara knew shooting stars were not supposed to do that, at least to her knowledge, which began to concern her as a superhero. Kara then suddenly realized that the star was not getting bigger. It was getting closer, which meant it wasn't a shooting star.
Kara quickly flew into the sky at high speeds, determined to halt the object before it could strike the planet. However, as soon as she reached the object and got a clear view of what it was, she was stunned into silence, unable to believe her eyes as the object zoomed past her at incredible speeds out of her sight.
Kara was initially shocked, but quickly composed herself and flew towards the flying object, determination in her eyes as she moved at speeds she'd never gone before, before eventually stopping where she saw the object had landed.
It was a cornfield located on a farm in Smallville, Kansas. The object had crushed many crops before eventually coming to a halt in the middle of the field, where it was now smoking.
The sight of smoke coming from the object which didn't typically leave crashed meteorites led Kara to believe what she saw was not her imagination, filling her with joy and hope as she descended down toward it, unaware that the owners of the farm were woken up by the sound of the loud crash in their cornfield.
The object, as many might have guessed, was a Kryptonian rocket. However, this was no ordinary rocket as the House of El insignia was engraved onto it, delighting Kara as tears of joy filled her eyes.
Suddenly, the cockpit of the rocket opened, revealing a crying baby snugly seated inside, wrapped in a large and colorful blue and red blanket. Seeing this baby made Kara cry even harder as she gently picked him up, recognizing that it was baby Kal-El.
Kara gave her cousin a gentle but firm squeeze, happier than anyone could have imagined, to be able to hold family in her arms once again after almost 20 years.
Her wish had come true. Kara would finally get the opportunity to grow up alongside her flesh and blood and have the chance to be superheroes together, at least she thought she could initially, before suddenly realizing the situation realistically.
Kal-El, while Kryptonian, was just a baby whom Kara needed to raise every step of the way, which she couldn't do full-time due to her responsibilities as a superhero.
After all, Kara came to Earth at the age of seven; therefore, the JSA just had to finish what Zor-El and his wife started, but a baby was too much.
Kara began wondering what she could do, knowing that she couldn't give him to the government or an ordinary orphanage. Just then, Kara's attention was grabbed by something. It was the sounds of two people moving through the cornfield that Kara had heard with her super hearing.
These two were, as many might guess, the owners of the farm named Jonathan and Martha Kent. They were curious about what the loud noise was and went to investigate, finding themselves in front of a wrecked spaceship, all while standing face-to-face with the superhero, Power Girl, who had been holding a crying baby.
"Power Girl?" Jon asked in confusion, "What is going on here?"
Kara was surprised by the entrance of the young couple and was about to explain herself, but then her attention was quickly diverted. She began to hear unusual noises coming from Martha Kent. These sounds were strange for a young adult human to be making, which prompted Kara to use her X-ray vision to investigate further. She hoped it was a disease she could catch before it became terminal.
Instead, what she saw shocked her even more, sparking an idea.
Kara slowly approached the Kents in silence, leaving them confused as she gently handed baby Kal-El to Jonathan, which surprised both him and Martha even more.
"What's this?! What's going on?" Jonathan asked, but Kara didn't respond immediately. Instead, she used her x-ray vision to scan the surrounding area, confirming that the ship had not caused any fires in the cornfield. Then, with a single hand, she effortlessly lifted the ship and began to fly into the air to leave.
Before Kara left, however, she finally spoke, "That's my cousin, Kal-El; he and I are the last survivors of the planet Krypton."
This surprised Jonathan and Martha, leaving them with more questions.
"But why leave him here then? If he's the last of your family, it should be you who raises him."
"I can't raise him, I have responsibilities. Besides, based on what I saw of your wife, you need him more than I do."
This surprised the Kents once again, as they immediately understood what Kara was implying, which in a way made them feel all the more grateful as they began smiling down at baby Kal.
This couple smiled down at Kal-El, reminding Kara of when Jor-El and his wife first introduced their baby to her. They had brought Kal-El in front of her to meet the rest of the family, and they had also smiled down at their child in the same way. It brought slight tears to Kara, which grabbed the Kent's attention.
Kara quickly wiped the tears off her face before saying, "I'll be stopping by every now and then to check up on him, but otherwise, he is your son. Take care." She then flew away with the spaceship, leaving the Kents with their new baby son in their hands.
Meanwhile, in Antarctica, a massive, alien-like object rests on the snow, emitting smoke. It is the size of a building and resembles a spacecraft rather than a typical structure. The object is on fire and damaged, slowly sinking into the snow due to the heat it generates.
Although it appears uninhabitable, a banging sound can be heard from within, getting closer and closer to the surface. Eventually, a piece of the craft breaks open, revealing a hand punching through.
The hand grabs onto the craft and pulls its owner up out of the wreckage, who then stands to his feet. The figure examines his surroundings, looking confused, as if he does not belong in this world.