Long ago, on the once beautiful and prosperous planet named Nexara, which was located deep in outer space, a civil war erupted.
It was a cruel, merciless war that was said to have started over political resources, territory, and ideological differences.
Beautiful cities were turned into battlefields, and the sky was covered in ash.
Even civilians were caught up in the war. Within days, soldiers began ripping them from their homes to use as strongholds and stash spots.
Because of how merciless the war was, some people began siding with whatever faction was closest to them in order to attain protection and resources instead of rebelling against the politicians that caused this very war.
But there were two Nexarans who refused to fight in a war for men and women that viewed their lives as worthless, or rather, men and women who viewed them as nothing more than deadly pawns.
The two of them were named Olin and Elara Zets.
Both of them were brilliant, married scientists who'd dedicated the remainder of their lives to stopping the war.
They were responsible for the largest Nexaran rebellion ever recorded, and they accomplished numerous heroic feats.
They hosted protests and rescue campaigns and were even responsible for the death of multiple Nexaran politicians responsible for the senseless war destroying their home planet.
They were making a change, and for a while, what they were doing seemed to be enough, until the two discovered the most horrific truth of all.
Nexara was dying.
It was the truth, and it was a truth they couldn't ignore.
They found out what was happening during a rescue campaign, where, after immense analysis of the area, they found signs pointing to a damaged planetary core.
Upon closer analysis, the two of them realized that due to the heavy weaponry that'd been constantly bombarding the surface of Nexara, the core itself had been affected.
It was exposed, and worse of all, it was damaged.
On the outer shell of the core lay four gaping cracks that were constantly releasing bursts of lava and steam onto the surface of the planet.
Because of how long it'd been sitting there, damaged and bombarded, it was only a week left until it cracked, unless they stopped the war.
One week; that was all the time they had to arrange a meeting with the high council, provide the evidence needed, and save Nexara's land, people, and, most of all, their only child and newborn son, Ollie Zets.
And so, after attaining all the required evidence, the two swallowed their pride and arranged a meeting with the high council, which was accepted after five days, leaving them with a remainder of two days to save their planet, and went before the high council.
"Due to what was discovered in the provided evidential transcripts, Elara and I are requesting that the high council, who are our highnesses and control all of the political battles across Nexara, issue a required treaty to all sides fighting in the war." Said Olin, who'd already lost many friends and members of his family in the war and only wanted to prevent any further deaths.
He was a warrior in both spirit and body, and most of all, he still had hope.
Hope that the high council would see the consequences of their mistakes, hope that Nexara would be saved, and hope that their son would be able to live a peaceful life on their home planet and instead learn about the history of the war in a school beside his friends instead of having to fight in one himself or die in one because the people meant to protect him and the rest of the Nexarans neglected them.
He was so sure that they'd accept his offer. He'd even told his wife to return home to their child, Ollie Zets, and that the war would be over within hours.
"Peace be among us. "That was the primary thing floating around in his mind.
But to his surprise, the exact opposite of peace was among them.
All members of the high council spoke simultaneously.
"We refuse."
"WHAT?!" Screamed Olin.
"WHY, I PROVIDED YOU WITH ALL THE EVIDENCE YOU NEED; OUR PLANET IS DYING, OUR CULTURE IS DYING, AND OUR PEOPLE ARE DYING. WHY WOULD YOU REFUSE? TELL ME. I DEMAND A DAMNED ANSWER!" Said Olin as his heart dropped and his mind nearly collapsed from the sheer stress of hearing the words spoken by the high council.
Before he could open his mouth again, he was thrown out of the chamber where the meeting with the high council had taken place, and above all other things, he was labeled as a traitor.
When he returned home and broke the news to his wife, all she could do was break down and cry.
Nexara's culture, people, and the very planet itself were set to die within two days. That was simply their fate.
But Olin refused.
"We might not be able to save ourselves, but I think we can save Ollie." Said Olin.
Elara's tears stopped flowing the instant he said this, and she turned to him in shock.
"But how? We're poor, Olin; we're not like the others. Not only is interstellar travel prohibited on Nexara, but we also don't have a pod to leave this planet in either way! The mere creation of such things that would allow us to do so is also prohibited!" Screamed Elara.
"This isn't the time to follow their rules! And we do have a pod, or at least we will, maybe. You see, I used to have a friend that worked at the old council headquarters. It was right around the time when the war first started that he told me what he'd seen. On the bottom floor of the now-abandoned council headquarters were around forty to fifty space pods. Despite it being prohibited, the council clearly knew this was going to be the fate of Nexara, and they must have planned in advance. It's a low chance, but if we could sneak around and break in, we might find all of these pods still there and secure them. Or at least one of them. One that we could use to save our son." Said Olin.
Elara trembled from fear and happiness combined.
There was an incredibly low chance that the two of them would actually find those space pods within the old council headquarters, but she was willing to try anything to save Nexara, or at the very least, her son.
And so, the two eventually decided to march down to the old council headquarters, which was an hour away from home, by themselves. Though it's important to note that the two had to march down there, on their feet, because neither of them could afford a vehicle due to the war.
When the two arrived at the entrance of the old council headquarters, it was surrounded by flames that would turn whoever touched it to dust on contact.
Because of this, the two were forced to use the back entrance, which was covered by a large slab of concrete.
Luckily, the two of them had their weapons with them and were able to blow the concrete apart with a few shots.
When they entered, the air was filled with spores, and it was as quiet as a mountainside cave.
Due to a bomb, both the elevators and the stairs were broken, so the two were forced to combine all their strength and push over a slab of concrete, which they stood on to protect themselves as they shot the concrete around them, until they were dropped all the way down to the bottom floor.
When they reached it, they were filled with both happiness and despair. There was a spacepod. But unfortunately, there was only one left. One that was so small it'd only be able to fit a toddler, likely meant for the child of one of the high council members.
Despite the feelings of despair and fear filling their hearts, the two clung to the space pod and began dragging it out, but that was when Olin noticed something interesting.
A large stack of papers was spread across the corner of the room, and above the stacks was a hole that exposed the sky. The stack had most likely been blown to the bottom floor by one of the bombs that destroyed the headquarters they were standing in.
Olin's theory was also backed up when he noticed that most of the papers were covered in dust and scarred by flames.
Despite this, Olin, directed by a subconscious worry, walked over to the papers and began to read them.
And that was when they discovered an even more horrific fact than the fact that Nexara was dying.
As it turned out, decades ago, before interstellar travel was banned, a scientist much like the two of them, named Uuk Mal, had discovered an immensely powerful ability hidden within the Nexaran body.
Due to the steady amount of stellar radiation collected and combined by the combination of stars, moons, and even the core of the planet itself, Nexaran had attained a hidden ability, which he deemed "Instant Adaptation."
He theorized that the trait was most likely picked up millions of years before, at a time when Nexara's resources and technological capabilities would be considered primitive.
Due to this trait, on planets with a consistent and immense amount of stellar radiation hitting the surface, the Nexarans would obtain immensely powerful abilities such as super-strength and immortality.
They'd be able to venture through outer space without spacesuits and lift entire worlds with their bare hands.
It was a terrific discovery, but unfortunately, the high council didn't think so.
He was executed immediately, and the documents were hidden in the council headquarters to "keep order amongst the people."
After reading this, Olin and Elara understood a terrifying truth: the truth behind the war.
"Interstellar Domination" was what the war was truly about. It had been fought behind the scenes for decades, but it had only truly picked up within the last 5 years.
One side wanted to use the Nexaran's evolutionary trait to create a race of interstellar dominators, and the other chose to fight against this. That was why the war would never stop, in truth. A war being fought over such things could not be stopped with words.
And so, Olin and Elara made one final sacrifice.
They took the spacepod home and used stolen technology to create two holographic bots of themselves, with their own memories and holographic faces.
After this, Elara kissed Ollie on his forehead and closed the pod.
"Protect the Universe, and when the time comes, defeat your ancestors who choose to side with evil." She said,
With a final click, she sent the pod away, and Ollie's pod shot toward the farthest known planet, Earth, at light speed.
Unexpectedly, a nuke, which was sent by the high council, hit the core of the planet, and 30 more space pods shot off in the opposite direction of Ollie, who was completely unaware of what was happening as Nexara exploded behind him.
His pod burst through the atmosphere of Earth and crashed directly into the ocean surrounding a coastal town in Crestwood, Maine.
Unaware of life itself, the child exited his pod, which was 300 feet deep in the ocean, and walked into the storm that was pounding the town and to the front door of two unsuspecting, hardworking people named Daniel and Nora Harper.
Daniel was a fisherman, and his wife, Nora, was the woman that held their community in one piece.
The two of them were a happy, loving couple, but unfortunately, they couldn't produce children. But when the two took a look at Ollie, they made a decision.
He'd be their child, and he was their miracle.
That morning, the two of them waited for his pod to float closer to the surface before retrieving it and hiding it in a mountainside cave. Then, the two of them forged adoption papers for Ollie and named him Nathan, Nathan Harper.
And from there on out, his new life began.
He was raised like any other child. He was showered in love, and like any other child, he was taught responsibility, empathy, and all things that made a human human.
He went to school, accomplished as many academic achievements as possible, and made friends like any other child, but deep within his heart, something lingered.
Fear.
A fear that his parents were lying to him, a fear that he wasn't truly human.
You see, despite living in a world where 50% of the population was superpowered, Nathan knew he was different.
From the moment he could form a conscious thought, he was stronger than every living hero.
At age 1, he bypassed the speed of infinity itself and, through his sheer speed alone, made holes in space and time before bypassing space and time itself.
At age 2, he could hear conversations happening in another universe and also see into that universe with his eyes.
At age 3, he was able to lift 85 decillion pounds with his bare hands and telekinesis individually.
At age 4, when an ancient celestial being erased the entire omniverse with a swipe of their hand, he was able to not only survive the destruction but also kill the celestial with one attack and perfectly recreate the omniverse.
At age 5, he was so smart that he was able to calculate every single possibility within the universe and predict the future with his intelligence alone.
At age 6, he managed to clone an omnipotent being with a single thought and create an infinite amount of multiverses using that clone's power before returning it to the realm of nothingness.
At age 7, he was stronger than heroes that could destroy an entire omniverse containing an infinite amount of infinitely spanning multiverses, universes, galaxies, solar systems, planets, stars, dimensions, timelines, and other omniverses with a single blink. In fact, he was so powerful that he could erase the heroes spoken of with a single blink.
And as he continued to age, he only became even more powerful, and because of that, he was forced to hide his powers and live as a normal human, only intervening when absolutely necessary.
Nathan was fed up; he was beyond human. He was a god.
And gods cannot be deceived.
And so, Nathan decided to ask his childhood best friend, Tara Hill, who had pale, white skin; long blond hair; a perfectly clear and smooth face; and a curvy and skinny body what he should do. She was Nathan's exact type, but among other things, she was his friend.
When he confided in her and showcased his powers by creating a new earth within earth itself before erasing it from existence.
He thought she'd fear him, but instead, she immediately told him to confront his parents.
She told him he deserved the truth and that he deserved answers. And best of all, instead of fearing him, she admired him even more for being brave enough to tell her his secret.
And so, after taking her advice, Nathan returned to his home and confronted his parents.
He was calm but desperate, and the two of them knew they couldn't keep the truth from him.
They told him how they'd found him on the coast, forged adoption papers for him, and tried to raise him like a human.
They apologized for lying to him, for lying and saying his original parents abandoned him because of his powers, and for lying about his true identity.
Nathan understood why they did this, though; it was to protect him, but fortunately, Nathan was strong in both spirit and body, and so he was able to take in all this information without shedding a single tear or breaking a sweat.
They then told him the location of the pod he arrived in and swore to take him in the morning, but he refused.
"I need to be alone for this." He said, before teleporting to the coordinates of the pod.
When he walked up, he placed his hand on it and touched it.
Immediately after, the hologram of his parents appeared.
Olin and Elara Zets.
"Ollie, our beautiful boy… You've survived!" Said Elara's hologram, as Olin's hologram simply smiled.
"Ollie? Your beautiful boy? Who are you? Asked Nathan, as his eyes widened at the sight of the two holograms.
Elara's hologram turned to Olins, and Olins turned to hers.
"It's a long story; allow us to explain."
And so, the two went on to explain the history of the Nexaran civil war, their sacrifice, their love for him, and everything else he wanted to know.
They also spoke of his powers, how they worked, and how since he'd spent so much time absorbing earth's solar radiation, he'd be able to leave for an infinite amount of time and come back with all his powers perfectly intact and as strong as before.
They also predicted the powers he'd have and listed them one by one.
The powers they listed were as follows:
Infinite Strength
Infinite Speed
Infinite Stamina
Infinite Energy
Absolute Invulnerability
X-Ray Vision
Super-Hearing
Heat - Vision
Frost - Breath
Flight
Telekinesis
Telepathy
Mind Control
Invisibility
The ability to survive in any condition or environment, including those that are infinitely hot, cold, or without oxygen itself, such as outer space.
Molecular Manipulation
Law Manipulation
Weather Manipulation
Reality Manipulation
Omnilingualism
Omnipresence
Infinite Memory
The ability to create anything from nothing.
The ability to clone anyone or anything.
The ability to master any ability with a thought.
Necromancy
Immortality
Immunity to all disease, poison, radiation, and cellular decay.
Barrier Creation
Absolute Control of All Senses
Illusion Creation
Summoning
Death Manipulation
Time Manipulation
Teleportation
And more.
He was shocked when he heard this, but that wasn't it.
With a single command, Elara and Olin opened a false bottom in the pod, which revealed a costume.
It was slick and created so that it'd shrink or expand to fit the form of anybody who wore it, whether they were a male, female, toddler, or adult. It was a full bodysuit that covered the legs, torso, arms, and back. On the back was also a yellow cape with a painted "N" emblem on it, much like the one on the chest of the suit. Black gloves covered the wearer's hands, and blue boots covered the feet.
When Nathan reached for it, his parents said the command to close it and made a request.
"We know how much of a burden we've placed upon you by asking you to fight your own ancestors in the future, but we must request one more thing." Said Elara.
"Protect Earth; make sure a tragedy like the one that led to the end of Nexara is never able to happen again. Become a hero, become their symbol of hope." Said Olin.
"I already planned to do so, Mother, Father. I've been watching over this planet since I was a child; I know what must be done." Said Nathan in response.
"Very well, then you have become the man we hoped you would. But before you take on this burden, live the life you always deserve. Become a man, make friends, and find a lover if you want. Then, in the future, when you have become a man, return to us. Said Elara.
Nathan could have taken the costume, but he agreed with them; he needed to live his life, so he said his goodbyes with tears in his eyes and returned to his hometown, where he told both his adoptive parents and Tara what'd happened.
And so, for the next 12 years, he lived like a regular human, with a few powers, of course.
He finished college at 18 with 100 Ph.D.s. He became a teacher a day after the graduation ceremony to not only lead the next generation but also to stay connected with his human side, and with the money he made on that salary, he was able to purchase a home in the middle of a small Nebraskan town named Valor; it sat on the 85 acres of farmland he'd purchased, and after that, he brought a car and a pup he named Buck. As time continued to pass, he married his childhood best friend and lover, Tara Hill, who was also living with him, at 24. And he let the time flow pass after that.
When he reached age 27, he finally returned to the pod and teleported it back to his farm, where he hid it under the barn.
He then activated it and told his parents how he'd finally become a man, how he'd obtained all the powers they said he would, along with millions more, and how he was ready to finally become a hero.
And so, with a single command and a smile, Olin and Elara opened the false bottom within the pod.
When they did so, Nathan donned the costume within a single nanosecond and decided to name his heroic persona.
"Solarin, that's who I'll be, the symbol of hope and the second sun shining upon the earth." Said Ollie, or rather Nathan, or rather Solarin.
Olin's and Elara's holograms smiled once more.
"Very well, do well, son. You are welcome to come back whenever you need us, whether it's about your powers or if you simply want to see our faces or cry on our shoulders." Said both Olin and Elara.
Nathan simply smiled and nodded his head before deactivating the pod and walking out of the barn.
Then, using his telepathy, he told both his adoptive parents and his wife, Tara Hill, what'd happened, and after he was done, he shot off into the sky at a speed faster than light.
He was on his way to become the second sun that shone on earth.
He was on his way to become the number one symbol of hope.
He was Solarin.