Previously on The Masters of the Universe
from Ali Ustulate – Issue 7 – Turning the Tide
“He has blackened,” Kazi Lograt says. Restili with the large black wings shakes her head.
“It is as we all feared,” Restili says. “He is scorched by his power. The light has burned too brightly within him. We have asked so much from this Earthling in this cosmic war that beings of his planet have very little grasp of. He has overloaded himself, we have to make him rest before he perishes. If he keeps pushing himself like this, he will never recover from it, and we need him now more than ever.”
“But look!” Lograt says hopefully. “He is showing no indication of strain or exhaustion! He is fighting harder, more efficiently. He’s taking on the entire Bludonian fleet by himself.”
“How is that possible?” Restili asks, truly overcome with wonder. “And how long will it last?”
“Hopefully long enough to rid this universe of the Bludonian threat for good. And to think, our greatest weapon against the aggression of the Bludonians was on Earth this whole time. Maybe things would have been different if we had gone to Earth mega-rounts ago.”
from Amazing Alius – Issue 12 – To Hell and Back
‘I can’t believe what they did to you,” Kevin says. He has a look of concern that Ali refuses to look at. Kevin puts a hand on his shoulder and he can feel Ali strain against an urge to pull away, like his body is shaking ever so slightly at his resistance of the instinct to cower away from the touch of another.
“It’s over now,” Ali says, more grumble than anything else.
“But not really,” Kevin says and removes his hand from Ali’s shoulder. Ali seems to let go of the tension in his body. “The Ointites cloned you…”
“They didn’t clone me!” Ali says with an anger that makes his eyes go yellow-white and the sudden sight of his illuminated eyes against the darkness of his skin makes Kevin startle. He starts to back away slowly from Ali.
“They didn’t clone me,” he says again when he realizes that he has lost control. “They bred me like cattle. They trapped me in a lab and took control of my mind, and they forced me to mate with I don’t even know how many people, beings from I don’t even know how many planets.”
“Exactly,” Kevin says, now at a distance. “They didn’t do that for nothing. We have to find out why.”
Ali nods. The Ointites of the Universal Infirmary, with branches all over the universe that claims to care about the welfare of every sentient being of the universe, is up to something horrible and Ali knows that he has to put a stop to it before they threaten all life everywhere. He knows he has to understand why they tortured him for so long, why they raped him and so many others, but he’s free now, and he just wants to sit in that for a moment before taking off on another adventure.
from the Red Mountains/Kazi Mindlink Transcriptions
Talj the Living is in need of defenders. Talj calls out for help against the Bludonians who commit heresies against nature. They wound Talj for the sake of their own frivolous and selfish gain, either ignorant or apathetic to the state in which their actions have left Talj, the living universe.
Talj has seen the Alius and weeps with joy at the hope for help to stop the Bludonians before they cause Talj to collapse in on itself.
– Issue 1 –
It is not easy being the only Earthling in a room full of the universe’s military elite. Ali sits quietly in the back of the large outdoor amphitheater in the Red Mountains of the planet Eel, at the main Kazi dōjō where the Masters Guard assembles in preparation for war on Oin. The Masters are predominantly Eeling, the humanoid rodent inhabitants of the planet Eel, but there are many masters from every corner of the universe among the Eeling including Krongians in watersuits of the planet Vwrawl, Druintes of Druont, Weris (including Bromeris and Hafjeris) of Wiis, Xaxews of Xaxax, and other races of the various civilizations of the universe that Ali is still learning about. Ali is the first Earthling to ever join the Masters Guard that was established on Eel many mega-rounts ago when the Bludonians started their conquest of the universe. The Kazi religion of Eel is as ancient as the species and they have developed techniques that allowed them to harness the power of the universe to do extraordinary things. Members of the Kazi religion who practice the Sacred Arts take the title Kazi when they begin their quest to amass various masteries, like levitation or teleportation, and demonstrate at least two masteries. To join the Masters Guard, a Kazi must demonstrate all seventy seven masteries. The Elite Masters achieve the seventy seven masteries and then originate a new mastery that has never been performed before.
Not only was Ali the first Earthling to join the Masters Guard, he is the first Master to be offered membership before successful demonstration of the masteries. This is because Earthlings had no access to Eeling culture before the Bludonian attempted conquest of Earth that brought the Masters Guard to the planet. Despite his ignorance of the Kazi religion, Ali demonstrated many of the masteries of the Kazi when he defended his home planet. All of the Kazi who encountered him on Earth could feel his potential and he was recruited after he was rescued from imprisonment in the Universal Infirmary on Oin. He has since completed all seventy seven masteries and Kazi Lograt insists that he is an Elite because of the black form that he witnessed Ali take in the battle on Earth that ended the Bludonian occupation single handedly.
“You should mingle with your fellow guardians,” Kazi Lograt says as he sits next to Ali. “They are all excited to meet you.”
It is hard to be the only Earthling, but Lograt was there after he was rescued and they have been friends since that time, so it is good to see a familiar face. Ali smiles at him and then looks out at everyone. Many of them look serious in their conversations, the menace of the Universal Infirmary is a recent development and many cannot believe the reality that some within the organization have seized control of its resources and are experimenting on beings of the universe to produce a force of Ointites with powers to rival the Masters Guard. The Ointites had always seemed to be dedicated to the advancement of medical sciences and many have served the universe in the Bludonian struggle and other conflicts on various planets, but this organization embedded within the larger organization had reared it head and demonstrated its power and evil intent when they kidnapped Ali who wielded a power that was noticed by many.
“I like being anonymous for now,” Ali says eventually.
Lograt nods and joins the survey of the guardians.
“There are so many of us now,” he says. “I wonder if we will stop the Bludonians soon.”
“Not before we get the Ointite extremists,” Ali says as a growl. He is suddenly very angry but he lets it go when he realizes.
“Of course,” Lograt says and pats the back of Ali’s hand with his own. “But you know, they are most likely part of some Bludonian conspiracy. I am sure that the Ointite extremists are pawns of theirs. The Bludonians want an Ali of their own, and we can’t have that.”
“I can’t wait to get to the Infirmary,” Ali says, shaking his head slowly, like he is in a trance. “I’m going to burn it to the ground, Lograt.”
“Don’t let your anger consume you. Anger is a negative emotion and negativity is useless weight. We need you nimble for the battle to come, not vengeful. We need you to help us understand their motives, otherwise your suffering was in vain.”
Ali nods.
“Is Kevin going with us?” he asks.
“The Guard would welcome him. I spoke with Kazi Fandral and he will announce the first strike force here. You and I, Kazis Wazad, Pen and Kal Nuren, and Joel will serve the complaint on Oin. Restili will fly our ship. We’ll have Kazi God and eris squad for security. Kevin can travel with us.”
Ali nods as Kazi Fandral calls the gathering to attention. He lays out the guards plans for Oin and they are planning for armed conflict even though only two ships will land to serve the complaint.
“We are peacekeepers, after all,” Fandral says. “We want to bring in the leader of the Infirmary for questioning, but we should anticipate hostility. The extremists are very dangerous and we will be prepared for whatever they want to throw at us.”
After the briefing, Ali meets his team inside the dōjō.
“It’s an honor to serve alongside you,” Pen Nuren says. Kal stands behind her and looks too nervous to speak with him.
“You sure you’re ready to go back there?” Kevin asks.
“I’ve never been more ready for anything,” Ali says and leads the team to their ship.
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