Adventure: Urr II 

Part I:  Hung Be the Heavens with Black 
Urr lives, despite what his enemies have achieved against him.  He has tracked those who opposed him most fiercely to their home world.  If LifeBringer and DoomBreaker do not surrender to him, their world shall die.
His technicians, few though they remain, are still able to construct powerful batteries which can absorb sunlight in high concentrations.  This power will maintain his fleet against whatever defenses the planet of his enemies can send into space.
Urr concentrates, bending the rays of this star and focusing them upon his batteries.  The Earth goes dark.
Urr's technicians then break in on all radio/television frequency bands.  Urr addresses the Earth.  
"ELLIPSIS AND SHAMROCK: SURRENDER TO ME OR YOUR WORLD DIES!' He breaks contact.  But he does not remain inactive.  
His enemies, on their home world, will no doubt seek help from others of their ilk.  Urr shall cut them off as only he can.
Stephen Wolcott in Manhattan, does not generally listen to news broadcasts.  But he cannot help but notice the turmoil of the crowds in New York City.  The alien invader has blacked the sun out at midday.  And he wants Ellipsis!
He remembers Urr: the battle Urr fought with him was the most cataclysmic battle Ellipsis has ever fought!  He thinks of attacking Urr directly, but discounts the idea: Urr is undoubtedly prepared, else he would not have issued the challenge.
Stephen Wolcott fears null for his own life, but he will not sacrifice his world in the process.  Unless and until he deems it necessary.  He intends to get help first, and quickly.  He has always disclaimed responsibility for others; how can he now claim full responsibility for the defense of five billion people? This is the occasion for which he consented to rejoin the Balance.  
Molly Finnegan, in Dublin where the evening sun is black, is told the news by her parents.  Sh! says, "No not again" 
If only the heroes of her childhood - the Avengers, the Fantastic Four - still existed!
Only her truest friends - and only those that know her identity - may help her now.  Ellipsis may or may not know her - his mind was not truly stable when she knew him.  In any case, he will be too beleaguered himself to help her now.  Her only other hope is in her friend, the Image!

Urr stands above the Earth, and begins his purpose.  
He intends to isolate Ellipsis and Shamrock on an Earth without help from fellow heroes.  To achieve this, he shall split their Earth in two: one world without them, and one world where they stand alone!  He shall split the entire universe asunder if he can achieve this!
His thought-sensing unit tells him whom Ellipsis and Shamrock most depend on.  Ellipsis seeks heroes called the Balance; Shamrock thinks of a man called the Image.  
Urr breaks the Earth in twain, between the two and what they seek.  
Neither Earth survives the division of universes.  They break into space rubble.  
No matter .  Ellipsis and Shamrock will survive.
(In the Marvel Universe, Reed Richards' alternate universe event detectors detect something.  He finds that an alternate Earth has been destroyed.d.  The Fantastic Four try to investigate, but they can't get into that universe anymore.) 

Part II: Worlds Destroyed 
Laura Greene, in Traverse City, Michigan, is doing her summer job in a Christian book store.  The world falls apart around her.  
It starts as an earthquake.  She shields the others in the store from damage as she wonders: Michigan never has earthquakes!  As the earthquake goes on and the store is leveled, she levitates herself and the others outside.  
The world must be falling apart! The earth heaves up in chunks to assault her.  Then entire hillsides rise up against her.  
She stands against it.  But by the time it's over, she's lost the others.  The air is dissipating.  
Mike Roberts, in East Lansing, Michigan for the MSU summer session, avoids the only earthquake he's ever felt: he teleports.  But he finds the quake everywhere he goes! In the end, he remains in his dimension of transport to wait the quake out. 
Dirk Ryan, doing his summer job as a grounds keeper on a golf course in Birmingham, Michigan (in the Detroit metro area),-is caught by the earthquake.  He shoots for the upper atmosphere.  Just like he used to do as Caliber.
Below he sees the Earth exploding, as far as he can see!  Reaching the arc of his trajectory, he falls back down. 
The point of his impact breaks loose from the surrounding terrain and rushes up at him. He intensifies his bouncing power: the chunk of land recedes from him.  	- 
Again at the top of atmosphere , which is now much thinner , Dirk realizes:  When he used to do this for the Air Force they gave him an oxygen mask.  He loses consciousness.  
When he hits Earth this time he does not bounce.  
Dominatra, ruling her small criminal empire in New York City, finds it does her no good in this crisis.  She dies like everyone else.  

A schoolchild in Arkansas, on a summer field trip with his classmates, feels the quake.  This is a big : everyone's about to get it! 
This is a job for The Maker! 
He takes his shirt off.  A mystic talisman is revealed.  His body changes.  .  A universal elder takes his place.  
As the earth heaves around them, he converts their school bus and some surrounding matter to a space-faring vehicle and leaves the obviously doomed planet.  

Stephen Wolcott feels the earthquake.  Be Urr damned! 
 H e feels his wife Julie's mental voice at the Daily News: it is crumbling!  It is one of the first buildings within New York City to be assaulted.  BE URR DAMNED!  He streaks there, despite the risk of spaceward detection.  
The building crumbles as he arrives.  
He senses for Julie.  She is crushed within.  Howling, He streaks through the masonry.  
As he reaches her, she is about to die.  He enters one last mental communion with her, and never lets go.  He finally leaves, though.  But as he goes, he hears Julie's thought within his mind! 
'You saved me after all!· 
In Utah, Orville Stone runs for his control armor, the armor of Red Sun, which might allow him to withstand the unpredicted earth tremors around him.  He never makes it. 
In Massachusetts, Jonathon R. Gaunt decides: he power which once he lost can spare him this cataclysm, if he calls it down now! Mankind and the Balance are in no position to oppose him now, in any case.  
Through the boiling skies, the darkness falls.  He wraps himself in it.  The darkness forms wings.  
The Raven Gaunt leaves the Earth.  
Laura Greene, beginning to gasp from the lack of air, desperately draws all remaining air in the surrounding area toward her.  It revives her.  
She looks beneath her.  The Earth is no longer there! All that remain are large drifting meteors and a very dark blue sky.  
She panics.  What can she possibly do now? 

Dublin, like every other place, is destroyed.  Except for a section of town, twenty square blocks.  Everything therein is frozen.  
Molly Finnegan, on her knees within that section,dares not lose concentration.  
But a spaceship approaches, and fills the sky.  A transport beam stabs out; when it dissipates, Urr stands in the streets of Dublin.  
'Greetings to one of the only two who could best me together.  Now you may die alone." 
Molly howls ·”No! Not now!”· While maintaining Dublin in stasis, she tries to freeze Urr as well.  
But Urr,.with his power, has surrounded himself with a directed gradient of non-causality.  According to his theoreticians, he cannot be affected by anything originating outside the pocket - and he may still strike outside the pocket himself.  And so does it work, to his relief.  Molly's attack has no effect.  
Urr strikes in return.  He loosens the bonds between molecules outside the pocket.  Molly is nearly overcome with pain.  
But she can't die now! The city of her birth needs her! 
Her own power holds her together.  Having survived Urr's attack, she glances sideways.  
What once was Dublin is now dust.  She and Urr now float in space.  
Her parents dead! NO! 
Her power erupts within the pocket of non-causality.  Urr's heart bursts open within him.  
For a moment he staggers.  But he then responds, "Do you think I need that piece of tissue to continue life?”  Molly freezes in place.  
Urr strikes.  Molly is surrounded with fire, and streaks off for the heart of her sun.  
As Laura panics among the remains of Michigan, she loses concentration.  Her air begins to slip away.  
She realizes, No! She still wants to live it she possibly can! She regains composure.  
She notices: Above her drifts a chunk of land - surrounded by a sparkling field.  She moves up to it. 
Within is a man she has met before, who calls himself Superior.  He calmly sits in a trance position, eyes closed, on a forested chunk of lakeshore.  Animals, in pairs, rest still around him.  
She moves up to the field, and knocks upon it.  No response.  She raps the field with a soft force bolt.  Still no response.  
She begins to disrupt the field with her- stone, draining a small portion of it toward her to make an opening and gain entry. 
She hears a voice in her mind: "If you must insist, please enter without destroying our protection.”· The field separates to allow her entry.  Laura goes within.  

Russell Anvernacht was alone upon the Moon at the time the Earth was destroyed.  Alone upon the Moon, beyond the knowledge of his company Nightfall Systems, he had his own plan to destroy the Earth.  
But when the alarms sounded and he viewed the skies, he was truly surprised.  Beyond his expectations, this is the day he has lived for!  THIS IS DOMESDAY!!
Except he did not cause it! 
Stephen/Julie Wolcott, now afloat in open space, can easily survive there for limited periods: Ellipsis can convert his exhaled carbon dioxide to breathable oxygen indefinitely.  He can even convert any matter to water, which takes care of the next immediate need.  But-he never tried to convert any matter to comestible food, and under these conditions, he'll obviously never teach himself how.  Unless he can defeat the enemy Urr or otherwise get help, his lifespan is measurable in days.  
He notices a comet overhead, streaking away from Earth.  For two seconds he ignores it, but then Stephen realizes: this comet is thinking! He streaks after it.
It is Molly Finnegan!  He knows her from the previous time he confronted Urr; she aided him, and saved his life then.  He breaks her free from the fire around her, and tries to speak with her mentally.  But she is frozen within the thought patterns he sensed.  The thoughts repeat and are roughly translatable to: “They're Dead I'm Dead What Can I Do?"  Could Urr have done this to her?
But Molly lived: maybe others have as well.  Ellipsis mentally searches two hundred fifty thousand miles into space, as far as the orbit of the Moon.  
Apart from the manned satellite Unity 1, in the L4 position in the Moon's orbit, and some shielded presence upon the Moon, there are no others.  
Unity 1 might aid him and Molly: Unity must have reasonable medical facilities.  And they would provide Ellipsis a temporary base of operations against Urr - who must now die in agony for what he has done to the Earth.  Ellipsis, carrying Molly, vectors there.

Part III: The Last Survivors 

Laura Greene, with the man Superior, returns to full awareness.  They are within a metal-walled chamber.  A man in flowing robes addresses them.  
"I have created a craft to retain a minuscule fraction of Earthlings free from the destruction which assails them.  To continue, I require two additional beings of mature sentient stature to man the craft.  You are such beings; such is your task.  Man your stations upon my craft, and you ali shall live.  Follow me." 
Superior holds back.  "How did you break our trance?" 
"It was at my need.  Follow me.”
"I am responsible for the beings of Earth whom I brought with me..  What has happened to them?" 
"They thrive, in replications of their normal environment.  What I can do for them, I have done.  Come with me."
"I must see them first.”
The Maker star-es at Superior.  "Do you not cornrnune with your animal life? You can feel their satisfaction, insofar as it can exist in these conditions." After a moment, Superior bows his head.  
"Come with me,”· the Maker reiterates.  
Stephen/Julie Wolcott, as Ellipsis, arrive in the space immediately outside Unity 1.  He emits radio waves to signal in Morse Code, ·ELLIPSIS WITH OTHER SURVIVOR.  LET US IN." 
The security force of Unity 1 mobilizes against the ports of the spacecraft, according to protocol.  A sizable reserve remains in the mobilization rooms, as decreed by operational plan which their employer Nightfall Systems negotiated with NASA and the United Nations: "The security forces shall be mobilized against forces assumed to be earthborne at the discretion of the security commander." The commander had previously been notified by the intelligence of Nightfall Systems (with purpose not to be questioned) to be prepared against an assault by Ellipsis and/or the Balance. 
Ellipsis sees no ports opening to admit him on his humanitarian mission.  He increases the stakes and broadcasts on multiple frequencies, "ELLIPSIS AND OTHER SURVIVOR MUST ENTER BY ANY MEANS AVAlLABLE WITHIN THREE MINUTES." 
The communications channels within Unity are buzzing: there are other survivors!  Let them in! The security commander, at the command of the satellite commander, finally lets them in through one of the portholes.  According to his discretionary orders from Nightfall Systems, he is not to oppose Ellipsis or the Balance unless he feels the effort successful.  With the Earth destroyed today, he doesn't feel lucky.  

On the ship of the Maker, Laura follows him to the bridge.  Superior- lags behind.  
Laura takes the station which the Maker assigns her.  He quickly tells her how to react to which dials.  Superior stands behind.  
The Maker addresses him.  "You must take the other station.  Life support is monitored automatically, without your efforts.  I think that is consistent with your path in life.”  Superior still stands away.  
The Maker stands silent, and then replies , "You must...”, but then he listens to a voice that only he can hear.  
WHY COULDN'T YOU SAVE MY MOM AND DAD? 
He says,·”You must excuse me,” and leaves.  
Laura still monitors her station.  Monitors from the other station blare for her attention, though, and she is overwhelmed.  She says, "Help me!" 
"I cannot." 
"?" 
'Life was not meant to be controlled or monitored.  I cannot help you try to control it.'
"But you controlled it when you left the Earth!" 
"The conditions are different here.  I let Nature survive; this Maker submits it to machinery.' 
"He's letting it survive!  Without him and this spaceship- it'd die!" 
"The Nature here seeks other Nature.  We were prepared to wait forever for it, but we wait for it.  We can not accept a substitute; we would sooner leave and live on our own." 
“But...” An alarm bell rings.  Laura, as she turns to it, says one last time, "Why can't you just help us?” 
Laura examines the monitors.  A space warp has just materialized within the ship! Cameras show the condition automatically: Flame is erupting from the warp! What will that do to their ship? 
But Mighty Tim strides from the flame!  It dissipates in his wake!  Praise Godl
Laura lasts until Mike Roberts reaches the bridge.  Then she collapses from overexertion and exhaustion.  

On Unity 1, Molly is in sick bay, Stephen/Julie Wolcott have no time to worry about her condition, though; Ellipsis is briefing the captain and the security commander about Urr.  Ellipsis asks if Unity knows of other survivors; the captain responds that one person is known to be on the Moon.  Ellipsis replies, "I know him to be shielded against me.  Is it Anvernacht?”  The security commander starts to protest, but the captain nods.  
Ellipsis says softly, ·”What am I to do?"
Intermission: 
The Maker has 

The survivors of Earth (known to Ellipsis) at this time are: 

Stephen/Julie Wolcott: Ellipsis 
Molly Finnegan: Shamrock 
Russell Anvernacht: Domesday 
plus: the staff of Orbiturn .  

The survivors of Earth (known to the Balance) at this time are: 

Laura Greene: Morningstar 
Mike Roberts: the Mighty Tim 
Jonathon R. Gaunt: the Raven Gaunt 
unknown: Superior 
unknown: the Maker 
plus: the passengers on the Maker's craft.  
Part IV:  Reunion 
On the Maker's ship, Superior and the Mighty Tim, have assumed control of ship systems.  The Maker has established that his passengers plus a shieldd entity are the only survivors of Earth.  
Morningstar revives.  She notices the Raven first.  It envelops the craft.  
The Mighty Tim tries to break through it.  They wind up elsewhere.  

The proximity alarm sounds.  An unknown craft is approaching the station: 
The security commander asks Ellipsis: "Is this part of his force?" 
'The make is unfamiliar to me.  Is any Earth craft known to be in orbit?' 
The security man scans a monitor... "No.' 
'If I scan it  mentally I may be detected.  Your lives may be in danger if I do!  Do you have detection devices of your own?' 
"Um...”  That's classified, Secret by the U.S. Government and Competition Sensitive by Nightfall Systems.  "I don't know.' 
'Find out.  Quickly.”
The ship of the Maker approaches this man-made satellite within the Earth's orbit.  This station built by men is endangered by the invader that pursues him now.  The Maker shall offer them refuge.  
The ships of Urr pursue this craft in force.  It is the only craft which escaped the planet in destruction!  Could this home of Urr's greatest enemies be so primitive? 
Behind Urr's force, the wings of a raven obscure the stars.  

The ships of Urr begin to attack the Maker's craft.  For the moment, the Maker's shields hold.  
On Unity, Ellipsis begins mental scan.  Morningstar and Mighty Tim are in the craft under attack!  He flies to save them.  

The battle winds up on Urr's flagship, with all the heroes facing Urr.  Mighty Tim, who's been told everything Ellipsis knows about Urr, devises a scheme for making Urr restore the Earth.  This scheme revolves around Ellipsis mentally controlling Urr.  Mighty Tim teleports Ellipsis, Morningstar and Shamrock to face Urr, staying behind on the Maker's ship to destroy more of Urr's armada.  
On the Moon Russell Anvernacht deduces what's going on.  Something up in space is warping physical laws.  This intermittently allows Anvernacht to monitor events up there.  He's determined that it's an alien being who's warping events, and all the survivors of Earth are fighting it.  Including the Balance.  
Oh, what fun.  

On Urr's ship Morningstar immobilizes Urr, Shamrock tries to neutralize his power against them, and Ellipsis tries to force him to restore the Earth.  And it works, initially; the Earth takes form again.  But Urr's power forces its way out of confinement, and starts stripping Ellipsis of his skin.  
It doesn't stop Ellipsis.  Morningstar wants to stop, but she can't.  Ellipsis enhanced her will and Shamrock's earlier, to stand against Urr; she can't change her mind now! 
Eventually the Earth is restored.  Mighty Tim then opens a space warp on top of Urr, and he disappears from the universe! 
But the warp moves to consume Ellipsis! 
Ellipsis, without his skin, lands in Domesday's lunar base.  Domesday looks up from his machines and laughs.

The tired heroes manage to rescue Ellipsis from Domesday.  It's easy; the villain cooperates.  But by that time , Ellipsis is coated with polymer instead of skin, so as to save his life.  Ellipsis will never wield energy powers again.