A prophecy had been given to Captain Infinity, in which he was told the War for Eternity would lead to the end of Super Earth One. In its destruction all hypers who chose to follow The Light would be migrated to a new world, while those who made the choice to stay in the Shadows would be destroyed along with the planet. The Supreme villainess Madam Zero was the leader of the Army of Shadows, and while Captain Infinity worked tirelessly to recruit hypers into the Light, she worked equally as hard to bring more and more hypers into the shadows. Madam Zero actually believed that Super Earth One could be saved from destruction, if all the hypers worked together.

This ideology put Madam Zero at great odds with Captain Infinity. Radiance, however, was intrigued by several aspects of the prophecy, and wanted to know as many details as possible. But for the most part, both Captain Infinity and Madam Zero were reluctant to go into too much depth on the subject, instead encouraging their respective followers to practice faith. And after so many quantics, the vast majority of hypers on Super Earth One had indeed chosen to faithfully follow either The Light, or the Shadows. Very few were still undecided.

Radiance, of course, had made the choice as well, but despite the hope offered by the prophecy, her thirst for knowledge and understanding was still unquenched. She would finally get her chance to learn more, after the discovery of the Eternity Key. Its appearance on Super Earth One was a sign that the fruition of the prophecy was drawing near. After several attempts by the Army of Shadows, Madam Zero and Infrared had finally stolen the Eternity Key from an Infinity Fortress outpost guarded by Kade The Keeper, Radiance, and a few others.

Captain Infinity, and several members of the Infinity Force tracked her down and took the Key back. But the Captain’s sister, Centuria, and her anti-hero team, The Centurians, ambushed the Defender of The Light and took the Key for themselves, because they wanted to use it to restore the powers of Centurian member Sapphire Shade. In the midst of the fracas, Madam Zero escaped. Radiance, however, followed her, and caught up. She screamed for the hyper-villainess to stop, and for her trouble she received a blast from the Madam’s zero-ax. Radiance leaped back to her feet and unleashed a burst of light energy, but her adversary deflected it, and went in for a fatal blow. That’s when Radiance dropped her defenses and surrendered, causing Zero to pull up and stay her weapon.

Radiance then told her that she simply wanted to talk. This intrigued Madam Zero a great deal, as it had been a very long time since a member of the Infinity Force wanted to do anything other than try to destroy her. Radiance was curious of her take on the prophecy. To her surprise, Madam Zero admitted that she actually believed the prophecy was true, but while Captain Infinity was going on faith and mystical belief, she had actually found legitimate proof. Radiance begged to know what that proof was. Madam Zero looked at her with some uncertainty, then told the young hero to come along.

The two of them spent the next few hours, traveling, to a place that Radiance had only heard about… the Quantic Shrine. The ancient edifice was one of the very first structures built on Super Earth One, after a 22nd-century expedition team led by Dr. Jessica Beck had attempted to travel back in time, and accidentally landed on the previously uninhabited planet instead. The Shrine housed the comatose body of Cynthia Quantic, the hyper-being who had made it possible for the expedition team to travel across the space-time continuum. Her state of unconsciousness had rendered the team unable to travel back, which is why they had set up a new civilization that had now been in existence for nearly 299 quantics (the equivalent of about 500 Earth years).

Radiance could not believe her eyes. The Shrine had been a magnificent place of worship, contemplation, and mediation. It was now in disrepair. Several of the large columns had eroded in numerous spots; the stone ceiling had sizeable holes, which had allowed the elements to wreak havoc on the once beautifully ornate statues, stained-glass windows and pews. Grass was growing through cracks in the ground, and vines were snaking up the walls and through the holes in the ceiling. Cynthia Quantic, however, remained perfectly preserved, encased in a chronokinetic shell in the center of the large main hall.

An elderly man, affectionately called Father Infinity by the half dozen or so people who still visit the Shrine from time to time, lived there and kept watch over Cynthia. Madam Zero led Radiance over to the shell, and with the utmost reverence in her voice told the young hero she visits Cynthia every single morning. She said she has even sat beside Captain Infinity on occasion, as he, too makes it a point to see Cynthia regularly. She assured Radiance they never engage in battle while inside theShrine, and the leader of the Army of Shadows even became agitated at the suggestion of it.

Radiance wanted to know where the “proof” was. Madam Zero pointed to Cynthia, and said that she was looking at it. She explained that during her numerous visits to the Shrine and mediation sessions in Cynthia’s presence, she had learned much. First, as a very young woman, right after the Hyper-Human War, she engaged in many conversations with a woman named Deanna Grace, a human minister who had been one of the original members of Jessica Beck’s expedition team, and was actually the final human survivor on Super Earth One, after Infinity Force member Miranda Miracle kept her hidden away from the human-extermination squads. Minster Grace had told her all about the world they had come from. It was called Earth, and it was where the name “Super Earth One” was derived from. Deanna taught her about the variety of religions, and how people on Earth practiced different kinds of faith. She talked about a supreme being that most people on Earth referred to as “God”, and all the mysteries surrounding holy texts and spirituality.

Deanna had also told her about the rise of hyper-humans on Earth, and how some saw their existence as a terrible sign, while others saw them as a sign that a miraculous God was indeed out there somewhere. She told her about some of the most prominent hyper-heroes of Earth, like Captain Noble, Lt. Rashard Bonds, Virtuosa and Kharma Lucky, as well as some of the most dangerous hyper-villains, like Edgar Lockhart, Ramses Hondo, and London Omega. Madam Zero also learned of the mysterious lost spirits that roam the Earth, called ghost orphans, and the men, women, and hell-spawns who hunt them down.

Radiance was stunned by all of this, but still a little skeptical. That’s when Captain Infinity showed up, and confirmed that everything Madam Zero was saying she learned from Deanna Grace was true. Radiance then sat speechless, as the two of them explained that Super Earth One was never supposed to exist; that it was created when Cynthia Quantic’s powers spun out of control, and caused a “hiccup” on the Core Reality Timeline. The infiniverse is running parallel to the Core, but it is also running behind it. The problem is that the infiniverse is moving much faster, and at some point it will catch up to, and collide with the Core Reality. Once that happens, Super Earth One, and everything else in the infiniverse, will be destroyed.

Madam Zero then intimated that her own ability to absorb and harness energy had allowed her to interact with the chronokinetic shell surrounding Cynthia’s body, and that those interactions had given her visions of the truth that Captain Infinity had seen in the prophetic vision he received in his self-imposed exile during the Hyper-Human War. The difference, however, was that Madam Zero had also seen a possibility in which they could save Super Earth One, and the arrival of the Eternity Key was… well, it was THE KEY to making that happen.

But Captain Infinity suggested that the ideas that came from Cynthia’s chronokinetic shell were not prophecy, but wishful thinking. Many of the men and women from the original expedition team never accepted their fate on Super Earth One, and held onto the hope they would get back to their original world. Cynthia – though unconscious – was/is still a part of the space-time continuum, and thus her primary function is to help preserve whatever timeline she is a part of at the time, which is why she could possibly be giving off visions of the Infiniverse going on for an infinite amount of time.

Radiance was in shock, as she processed the crux of their arguments against one another. Madam Infinity insisted that the Eternity Key could save Super Earth One. But Captain Infinity insisted that it was too big of risk, and that they should go with the sure thing of using the Eternity Key to open a door to the Core Reality at the moment they collided with it, and allow The Light to pull them through. That way, they could all start new lives on Original Earth. Radiance stood between the two titans, speechless. Then, just as she was about to open her mouth, a violent THUNDERCLAP echoed throughout the sky. Then another one… and another one! It could only mean one thing:

Someone was using the Eternity Key…

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