Page 1 HereAdventure: Days of the Moon and Stars 
Prologue: 
In a run-down hostel in Detroit a small man crouches over a parchment scroll and a couple of small gems.  He has been on the run ever since he...  obtained the items from a small private museum which did not appreciate their true worth.  But finally the time has come.  
Suddenly a voice at the door yells, "OPEN UP, THIS IS THE POLICE! 
No! Not when he's so close! He has to get a\way! 
Suddenly he finds himself elsewhere.  He laughs.  
Part I: The Serious Business of Balance 
The sun has not shone upon the campus for four days.  Laura Greene notes that this isn't so unusual for January, except that the overcast skies miraculously seem to clear away at nightfall, leaving the stars and the full moon to shine upon the snow.
A small man having found another place to cast his enchantment has completed the first stage.  He contemplates what he plans: when he has completed his enchantment, the sky shall not give rain or sun! The Moon and the Stars shall be all! After resting a few hours, he begins the second stage.  
As Laura sits in class, her thoughts turn to her having powers and being a heroine.  It's hard for her to believe that she was wearing a costume and fighting crime three months ago.  
Those others she was teamed with seem to be going strong, still.  She saw Captain Gonzo and the Mighty Tim (what strange names!) sparring outdoors a couple of times.  And every now and then, the paper says something about two costumed guys getting in fights in sleazy hangouts on the south side of town, and always winning.  
	But Ellipsis...
She hasn't seen Ellipsis since the day the other two had their duel.  He was alone with her after the duel, and trembling for some reason.  He told her that he had some kind of problem with crowds, and even with people in general.  He said he could tell what other people thought about him.  But he ran away from her instead of sharing his problem.  Laura knows he has mental ability: she's felt it.  Does it go with some sort of mental illness?  She wishes she could help him somehow.  
But how?  Who would know how to help?  Who could she ask?  Maybe those other two ("Captain Gonzo and Mighty Tim", she has to repeat to herself) could - but she doesn't know how to find them!  And Stephen didn't seem to want her to talk about him to anyone else!  Not even her friends.  
At least she has true friends, a gift from Jesus when she accepted him.  Friends in the fellowship -  those pompous preaching fools! 
Huh? What's she saying? They're the best friends she could have.  But the teacher's saying something...
Why pay attention? Why bother with schoolwork? In fact, every personal relationship she has - why bother? Too much trouble.  Every person stands alone in the end anyway! 
No!  She's cot a personal relationship with the Lord! If she lets that one go, she's darnned! 
Laura forces herself to think about her friends in the Christian fellowship.  When she does, she feels revulsion despite herself.  She notices something likewise odd in the demeanor of her classmates.  Agonized, she bolts from the classroom and sits by the river.  
Trying to regain her feelings for her brothers and sisters in Christ, she enters great mental agony -which is suddenly broken from \without.  She turns to find a man standing, 100kinQ at her.  And somehow she knows he's Ellipsis, though she's never seen his face before.  	- 
Ellipsis says: "I find you as susceptible to hatred as all other humans, in the end.  Thought you were different.  I wonder why I bother." He turns away.  
"Wait!' He stops.  "It's not just me -- it's everyone I've seen today.  Something’s different with everyone.  Maybe even you.  You care about the rest of us, don't you?" Laura remembers Ellipsis in a weak moment - once, when he showed concern.  "At least your teammates?' 
	Silence.  	.  
"There's something going on...  some kind of spell that's changing people's souls.  We've got to break people free from it.  And if you can't even break free from it yourself, there's only one hope for the rest of us.”  Laura falls down in prayer.  
Stephen Wolcott silently realizes what Laura has said.  She claims him under outside mental control - and he cannot prove her wrong.  He then tries to determine what manner of control might exist over him, who claims total control over all his self.  
He finally finds a form of interference, and with difficulty breaks free from it.  He then raises Laura to her feet.  "Exists interference upon all minds here, at a level more fundamental than that of most mental functions.  Is turning respect to hatred - or some similar transformation, in all minds under its control.  Affected me less than most~ for I respect very little.  Caused by some outside agency, which even now tries to reinforce its control.  Cannot yet determine where it comes from, or how to counteract it.  I am concerned.  Perhaps ••• Perhaps you can guard me while I determine the source.  
“... Yes, of course." 
Meanwhile the small man notices a minor aberrance in his master spell.  A lesser spellcaster might simply straighten it out by sheer force, but he is above that manner of casting.  He simply finds two other persons to counterbalance the two in rebellion, applies a spell of suasion to them, and returns to his master speII • 
Stephen settles down to contemplation as Laura stands guard.  She ponders as she stands: Stephen is speaking more tersely than usual.  Is something happening to him? Or is this the way he usually is? 
But after a minute or· two, Laura disappears in a burst of flame! 
She appears in front of Captain Gonzo and the Mighty Tim, both in costume.  They say in unison, ”You may not disrupt this work." Gonzo then jumps her and pins her to the ground.  
In desperation, Laura draws upon the power of her stone.  She throws him off.  
They'd never say anything in unison! They must be under that influence! 
She rises and forms a force field around herself, but Mighty Tim teleports within and stuns her - and he is still repelled by her power.  Gonzo tries to force his way in, but Laura takes off to the air.  Weakened, she nonetheless dodges and repels a barrage of Gonzo's special - effect frisbees.  
Tim finally teleports Gonzo up, and he squeezes the breath out of her.  Tim then safely (if roughly) teleports them down.  
Meanwhile, Stephen finally notices Laura's absence, and leaves his trance to take protective measures.  Tim and Gonzo, with Laura unconscious, teleport over to him to attack.  But before they can, he puts them under his interdict.  They shall not move against him! 
But this does not stop the Mighty Tim from escaping teleporting away with the others.  
Stephen says one word: "Idiot.” Outthought in combat by a normal human, albeit one with special powers and extensive combat practice.  
So it has come to this, he thinks.  Society (and the evil therein) has at last threatened him directly.  It was bound to; eventually it could never tolerate his presence, now that he is what he is.  It is for this moment that he has laboriously obtained allies.  And it was worth it: one of them saved him just now.  But now they are all captured or standing against him! What is he to do? 
His optimal course of action would be to free his allies from the control they are under, But he cannot tell where they went.  He is truly reduced to his own resources.  Only one thing is left: find the rough source of the menace against all minds and confront that menace as Ellipsis.  
The menace he senses is in downtown Lansing; at any rate, the attention of the enthralled humans has now turned to that place.  Ellipsis must find a way to get there.  Unfortunately the buses are no longer running: the bus drivers, along with all other humans, seem to be enthralled.  Ellipsis rules out retrieving his own car from long-term storage or appropriating a car to drive downtown: the streets are clogged with thralls walking that direction anyway.  In the end, he simply walks with them.  As one of the sheep.  If any man has caused-this, he must pay! 
The small man, with all but the critical final phase of his enchantment complete, is surprised with his two special thralls plus one captive teleporting to his presence, He finds that the captive has special powers that she wields against the force of Noon and Stars; thus, he binds her and her power stone with a special spell.  He then 6ids them all accompany him to the point of grand assembly, where all men shall gather under the suasion of the Moon and Stars.  
Part II: Wheel Around the Moon 
Ellipsis, among the throng, finally arrives downtown.  He finds a grand display: a man on a dais, flanked by Captain Gonzo and the Mighty Tim, with Laura Greene held prisoner.  She is unconscious, 
The man proclaims: 'Ye all have stood alone before the Gaze of Noon and Stars, and felt their judgment! Now ye all must follow them, as beasts follow the herdsman!  The Moon and Stars do now gather sway upon the Earth.  Now shall they expand their mystic power to hold dominion over all men!· 	.  
The two gems he holds begin to glow with force.  The glow spreads to his body, and finally finds expression as a bolt up into the sky: A second later, the Moon seems to shudder; a wheel of energy, Earth-sized, shoots out from it. The wheel begins to turn.  	- 
Ellipsis investigates the minds of his teammates.  Laura is aslumberl as if forced (under a spell?)j Tim and Gonzo are under mental control.  As the master of mental control, Ellipsis moves to break the spell on Tim and Gonzo.  
When the spell is only partially broken1 the man notices the interference and calls upon the lunar power to pinpoint it, Ellipsis is spotlit by a full moonbeam before he can react.  
He turns his abilities toward his own defense - and begins with a full mental assault upon the mystic.  
The small man withstands the assault, and responds with mystic bolts.  Ellipsis notices them coming and dodges, but he is put on the defensive.  
Captain Gonzo and the Mighty Tim are coming out of it.  They realize what's happened: someone made them attack the other Balance members, and still has them frozen in place.  They still can't move.  
But the Mighty Tim need not move to employ his awesome powers, he smugly thinks.  He teleports the three heroes off the dais, then sends a fireball at the villain.  
The mystic repels it, but loses his concentration; the pressure is off Ellipsis, and the other heroes are freed.  Morningstar begins to awaken.  So there, the Mighty Tim thinks, 
The small man, flustered, then directs his crowd of thralls to find and subdue, with the insight that only the Stars may provide, those who would contend against the Moon itself, 
Meanwhile: 
The area within 10 miles of Lansing is currently enclosed by a shimmering translucent force field.  It defies all attempts to penetrate it in either direction.  To make things worse about an hour ago all the people clustered inside the field at its edge turned around and drove away.  The State Police are definitely worried.  They're having problems reaching higher authority, though; the Governor is inside the field, and so are the nearest police and National Guard headquarters.
Another man is worried as well, He could not help but feel the mystic change in the weather, and he was able to track the change to its source.  He cannot bodily break the field, but perhaps his gods can send his spirit through it •.  With their help, he'll show his name: Superior! He sits cross-legged on the ground, and begins an Incantation.  
[Personally, I'd just as soon have Doctor Strange show up from the Marvel Universe.] 
Mighty Tim, Captain Gonzo and Morningstar, on a rooftop away from the crowd, wonder what exactly is going on.  From the villain's ravings, Morningstar concludes he is invoking the demonic powers of the Moon and Stars (just like Proctor and Gamble do on every bar of Ivory Soap, like her campus pastor says.  The wrapping on each bar displays the Moon and Stars for a reason!).  
Tim, based upon his incidental knowledge of the Tarot and related subjects, says, ·”Well, not exactly”,· and explains.  He believes that the villain intends to increase the power of lunacy, romance and mysticism over the earth.  
The crowd quickly find Ellipsis hidden among them, and surround him.  He stands tall and repels rank after rank mentally - but he can't keep it up for long.  
But the Mighty Tim is leading the Balance to save him.  Before Ellipsis can determine whether his teammates may aid him, Morningstar plucks him out of the crowd.  The Mighty Tim parries the mystic's strikes against the two with his flame blasts, while Ellipsis and Morningstar return to the rooftop.  
The wheel around the Moon is considerably larger now.  
As the heroes gather atop the building, the mystic screams at Morningstar, 'You dare wield that weapon against the Moon and Stars? Fool ~: your weapon is mine!' Bolts erupt from the stone; Morningstar is dazed.  
The mystic follows up with a spell to encase and immobilize the heroes.  Mighty Tim grabs Morningstar and teleports with her to safety.  	- 
As the spell closes in on the remaining two, Captain Gonzo surprises Ellipsis by throwing him onto a neighboring rooftop and leaping after him.  Ellipsis musters enough concentration to roll and land safely.  When Gonzo-lands beside him, he mutters, 'Did you truly have to do that?”
Tim and Morningstar reappear beside them.  (Tim was guided by Ellipsis' mental contact, and Morningstar 
convinced him to take her along.) 	.  
Morningstar says, ·We have to free the stone! I can feel it!”
Mighty Tim mutters, "Great, another charismatic experience.·”
"No! I can somehow feel the stone! It's in pain!”
Gonzo says "Oh, the poor 1ittle shit.”
“No, stone must be key”,· Ellipsis proclaims.  "Try to fight his control, Morningstar." 
Right then the mystic strikes again.  Ellipsis is frozen.  Mighty Tim and Captain Gonzo counterattack with fireballs and frisbees and, when those fail, with a direct assault.  Meanwhile, Morningstar tries to free her power stone from the mystic’s control.  
The mystic captures Tim and Gonzo, and turns his energies toward Morningstar.  However, he can't keep the 1 id on everything at once: as Morningstar is thrown back from her stone once more, Ellipsis breaks free.  As she slides to a halt, he grabs the stone, runs to her side, places his hand upon hers on the stone, and begins the combat anew.  
The mystic is confronted with a new visage: for a moment, instead of Morningstar and Ellipsis by the stone, he sees solar fire and lightning! His control drops.  Morningstar then frees Captain Gonzo and Mighty Tim, and yanks them back atop their building.  	- 
(Ellipsis contemplates the vision the man shrank from; he did not bring it forth! Nor did Morningstar! And when he was in contact with the stone, it was like double the contact With Laura alone.) 
A few murmurs begin to rise from the crowd.  The mystic presumably had them under control.  
As the heroes regroup atop the building where Ellipsis and Morningstar still stand, the mystic attacks with force bolts.  They strike every rooftop around them.  Morningstar barely repels the ones which strike their own location - with help from Ellipsis in concentrating.  The Balance dare not move.  
But the assault lessens and ceases: the crowd is rioting, and rushing the stage~ They’ve slipped from the mystic's control!
But before more than two of them attain the platform of the mystic, he makes one gesture.  A beam from the wheeled Moon illuminates them all.  They are once more docile.  	-, 
Ellipsis states, "If we are to have peace, we must take the battle to him.· After a moment, the others agree.  Mighty Tim teleports them to where the mystic stands.  
The crowd rushes the stage, apparently at the mystic's command.
Ellipsis telepathically tells Morningstar to keep them away; she repels them with her force field.  
The small man cries out in triumph, “The dominion of the Moon and Stars may be deferred no longer! Already lhe process is irreversible!" He lashes out at the heroes; they dodge.  
Captain Gonzo and the Mighty Tim go to the attack.  They hit the villain from all sides, much faster than he can respond.  
The mystic howls: "You must die for this affront!' He gathers his power and forces them back.  But as he does, he howls again in pain! 	~ 
Tim and Gonzo see Ellipsis behind the mystic, with one fist raised to his own shoulder.  As Ellipsis concentrates, the small man howls yet again.
Tim and Gonzo renew their attack; they knock the small man unconscious.  
The wheel 1 around the Moon is still growing.  The heroes notice.  
Ellipsis examines the mystic's mind to find some way the spell may be reversed.  Finally he finds something he may attempt, and explains to the others.  Control upon the villain's mind is now useless; Ellipsis must take the villain's power stones and attempt to control the Moon and Stars himself~ 
.  ·Why YOU?" asks the Mighty Tim.  
"It must be me: doubt-you could attain the will it would take to do it.  Will be difficult enough for me." 
Morningstar says, "Can we help?" Ellipsis responds, "I do not know ••• and is too late to find out!" He takes the two stones and enters trance.  
Immediately his masked face gains the brightness of the full Moon! Ellipsis stands up, but temporarily is overwhelmed and loses his sense of purpose.  
[Meanwhile, the spirit of Superior, with the help of his gods, has just penetrated the mystic's force field and assessed the situation.  It is now beyond his ability to control - especially when he is here beyond his body.  All he may do is contact the one who now claims control over the lunar power, and do what he can to bolster that control.  Perhaps if the man has sufficient moral and mental fortitude to resist the mystic temptations of the Moon and Stars, the menace may yet be turned back.  
Ellipsis is doing far better than Superior expected: he is still attempting to turn the power back.  And he has allies who wish to help.  Superior binds them together, and together they succeed.  The wheel recedes, and finally disappears into the Moon.
[Ellipsis feels someone beside him, and mentally asks, "Who are you?”· His one answer is, "I am Superior.” The contact between them dissolves.  
[As Ellipsis begins to look and sense around, he finds the rest of the Balance staring up in disbelief.  Four ethereal Indian faces fill the four corners of the sky~ 
[They lower their coup sticks at the Balance.  Before they can react, the mystic disappears.  Only his two stones remain, in the hands of Ellipsis.
The heroes all hear in their minds:  “Your courage and your skill as warriors does your clans credit.  The Great Spirit should grant you favor for this.”  The ethereal Indians dissipate.
The crowd comes out of it.  In general they realize they’ve just been liberated from a real nightmare, and react favorably.  Captain Gonzo, ever the publicity hound, takes over and introduces the team as The Balance.  (Mighty Tim told him that’s what the team name would be, when they got around to forming.)

Ellipsis, Morningstar, Mighty Tim and Captain Gonzo each are somewhat confused, but each one thinks along this line: Maybe this Balance is worthwhile!