The hunt for moss man, p.1
The Hunt for Moss Man, page 1
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Library of Congress Control Number 2022932329
ISBN 978-1-4197-5449-4
eISBN 9781647002817
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TO MO, FOR TOO MANY TOYS
AN EVIL POWER
rules over the planet Eternia. The brother of King Randor has transformed himself into the heartless Skeletor and, with the help of his Dark Masters, usurped the throne. But Skeletor is not satisfied. The tyrant will not rest until he destroys Castle Grayskull, the mystical lair that channels the cosmic energy at the heart of Eternia.
Until recently, Adam was a sixteen-year-old kid living in the jungles of the Tiger Tribe. He had no memory of the first six years of his life, or his family, until a rebellious young magician named Teela, compelled by strange a voice, brought him a mysterious sword. When Adam raised this Sword of Power and recited certain words, he channeled the energy of Castle Grayskull and transformed into He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe.
Reluctant to keep it to himself, He-Man shared the limitless power of Castle Grayskull with his four good friends, turning Teela into the incomparable Sorceress, Master of Magic; Krass into the unstoppable Ram Ma’am, Master of Demolition; Duncan into Man-at-Arms, Master of Technology; and the aging tiger Cringer into the fearsome Battle Cat, Master of the Wild.
Together, they are the Masters of the Universe, and they are the only ones standing in Skeletor’s way.
After a massive battle against the forces of Skeletor resulted in the explosion of the Eternia 2000, the fastest train on the planet1, Adam, Cringer, Krass, and Duncan have returned to Castle Grayskull. Refusing to abandon his people to Skeletor’s reign, King Randor remains in the hidden world of tunnels beneath his city with Teela and the clumsy robo-wizard Ork-0 as his guides and protectors. Meanwhile, in the palace above, Skeletor and his Dark Masters wait impatiently for their next chance to strike.
But the fight on the train has had unintended, unexpected, and extremely unpleasant consequences for the people of Eternia.
THIS IS WHERE OUR STORY BEGINS.
* * *
1 See Episode 15, “Eternia 2000,” of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE
HE-MAN: When sixteen-year-old Adam wields the Sword of Power, he transforms into the most powerful man in the universe. On the inside, though, Adam’s just a kid feeling the tremendous pressure of his new role. The He-Man thing is only one part of his new life. He recently learned that he’s the lost son of King Randor of Eternia, too. Reuniting with his father was weird, but good, yet the whole prince thing doesn’t feel right to him. Adam didn’t like the idea of keeping the Power of Grayskull to himself, either, so he shared it with his best friends, turning them into the Masters of the Universe.
SORCERESS: The resourceful teenage magician Teela, who first brought the Sword of Power to Adam, channels the Power of Grayskull to become the all-powerful Sorceress. Flight, teleportation, and illusions are only a few of her abilities. Teela and Adam both have mysterious pasts, and Teela will one day learn that her deep connection to Castle Grayskull and its guardian, the sorceress known as Eldress, is far stranger than she could have imagined.
BATTLE CAT: The wise old tiger Cringer found six-year-old Adam abandoned in the jungle, left there by Eldress, the guardian of Grayskull, who was desperate to hide the boy from his evil uncle. For ten years, Cringer raised Adam as one of his own cubs in the Tiger Tribe. Although Adam found his real father eventually, his ties to Cringer are strong, and he wouldn’t want to be He-Man without the fearsome Battle Cat at his side. After Duncan forged a new pair of metallic claws for Cringer, who’d lost his natural ones to the brutal poacher Rqazz, Adam infused them with the Power of Grayskull, transforming them into Claws of the Wild.
MAN-AT-ARMS: Brilliant young inventor Duncan was once the trusted assistant of the villainous weapons master Kronis. Now he fights at He-Man’s side as the tech genius Man-at-Arms, using the Mace of Technology to generate force-field shields, launch drones, and fire missiles. Also known as the Power Mace, the tool comes in handy when smashing stuff, too, and when Duncan uses his Master Strike, Speed Build, he can slow time to a near standstill and rapidly construct fantastic and complex weapons.
RAM MA’AM: Brash, exuberant, and arrogant, Krass grew up with Adam in the Tiger Tribe—and those roots mean everything to her. When Adam charges her helmet with Grayskull power, she becomes Ram Ma’am, Master of Demolition. Rocket-enhanced armored boots allow her to race at impossible speeds. Her trusty helmet, which once belonged to her father, morphs into the Helm of Demolition—radiant, crystal-inlaid armor with boosters at the back. And you do not want to get in her way.
THE DARK MASTERS
SKELETOR: Jealous of his brother’s reign, the rebellious Prince Keldor set out to steal the Power of Grayskull and take control of Eternos himself. The energy of the castle sensed his evil character and transformed Keldor into Skeletor, the Dark Master of Havoc. Skeletor’s staff channels the primordial power of Havoc, enhancing his strength and power, which—along with his devilishly strategic schemes—makes him the one force who could defeat He-Man’s effort to protect Eternia.
EVIL-LYN: The Dark Master of Witchcraft was once King Randor’s court magician, but she grew frustrated with his refusal to use his full power to rule—and soon swore her allegiance to Keldor, the king’s scheming brother. When Skeletor infuses her with Havoc, Evelyn turns into Evil-Lyn, gaining such complete control over the supernatural that she doesn’t even need to speak a spell. At this point in the story, however, Evelyn and Skellie have had a little falling out, and the powerful magician is off pursuing a mission of her own.
TRAP JAW: Once the man-at-arms to King Randor, the weapons master Kronis now serves Skeletor as Trap Jaw, Dark Master of Weaponry. By swallowing existing technology and weapons in his spinning maw, he can quickly create new and more devastating devices. As for that jaw, well, his old assistant Duncan broke it pretty badly when he struck Kronis with his Power Mace during a battle. The devious weapons master is out for revenge, and he wouldn’t mind grabbing his old ship back in the process.
BEAST MAN: Former poacher and hunter Rqazz hails from a race of savage bestial-human hybrids called Beastopoids—fierce rivals of Cringer’s Tiger Tribe. Now that he’s sworn his loyalty to Skeletor, Rqazz has become the fearsome Beast Man, armed with a devastating whip known as the Lash of Beasts, heightened senses, nearly unmatched strength, and the ability to conjure dangerous spirit animals out of thin air. Also, he refers to himself in the third person, and wishes Skeletor would pet him more.
OTHER KEY CHARACTERS
ELDRESS: The spirit of the sorceress who guards Castle Grayskull and helps the heroes understand their new powers and responsibilities. After Skeletor’s forces attacked the castle, she channeled the last of her strength to move the fortress to the Sky Kingdom of Avion. Although she saved Grayskull, Eldress herself has disappeared.
KING RANDOR: The latest in a long line of kings to rule over Eternia, Randor was beloved by some, reviled by others. He lost his throne and his kingdom to his scheming brother Keldor, who transformed into the monstrous Skeletor. But Randor has been reunited with his son Adam—the semisecret alter ego of the unstoppable He-Man. For now, Randor’s taking a minute, remaining in the hidden world beneath his city to look out for his people, and learn more about them, too.
ORK-0: Part robot, part reincarnated magician, and always accident-prone, Ork-0 is determined to help the Masters of the Universe fight back against Skeletor and the Dark Masters . . . without breaking too much in the process.
MOSS MAN: Eternia’s version of Bigfoot, the legendary Moss Man has been roaming the planet for centuries. Members of his species live for thousands of years, but most of them prefer to find a nice home and dig in their roots. Moss Man, whose real name is Kreannot n’Horosh, never stops moving. He has been on the run for four hundred years, but for his kind, he’s still only a teenager.
ODIPHUS: Proud, industrious, and entrepreneurial, Odiphus is a Pelleezean, a band of skunk-like humanoids that emit an unfortunate odor. The Pelleezeans are a sad species, forced to roam the planet in search of a home. No matter where they try to settle, the locals force them away because of their stench. Odiphus is determine
PRESENT DAY
1.
A young girl squinted in the bright morning sunlight. She yawned, sat up in bed, and peered through her window at her beloved flowers in the garden outside.
Dead.
Each and every daisy was dead.
The petals were brown. The stems were withered, sickly stalks that looked as if the life had been sucked right out of them. Yet she’d checked them only the night before! They were perfectly healthy then. Clearly, something terrible had happened in the night.
The girl opened her window. A light morning breeze blew into her room, and although the air was cool, the stench was horrific. Immediately, she staggered back and fell onto the floor. Her nose felt like it was on fire. Her skin seemed to be coated with toxic air. She raced to the foot of her parents’ bed across the hall.
The scent struck her mother first, who sprang upright. “Use the bathroom, please!”
The girl pressed back against the wall of her parents’ bedroom, beside the door. “That wasn’t me!”
Now her father coughed and spat into a cup on his bedside table. “Argh, it smells like a merman’s armpit! If I didn’t feel like I was about to heave, I’d almost be proud that my daughter could produce something so noxious.”
“I didn’t do it!”
“How do you know what a merman’s armpit smells like?” her mother asked.
“Never mind that,” her father snapped. “Don’t deny it, child! You’re to blame. You never eat your vegetables.” His words were muffled as he pressed the bed sheet over his mouth and nose.
“You don’t drink enough water, either,” her mother added, grabbing the bedsheet away from her husband, “and this is what happens.”
The girl stomped one of her bare feet on the wooden floor. “It wasn’t me!” she insisted.
Her frustrated parents were about to respond when they noticed something odd about the revolting breeze. There was a thickness to it, a heaviness. And the air was a putrid shade of yellow.
“Really, dear, what did you eat?” her mother pressed.
“I told you it wasn’t me,” the girl exclaimed. “It’s coming from outside! It killed my flowers, too.”
“Your flowers?” her father replied. “The ones in the garden?” His face turned pale as he turned to his wife. “The corn!”
The family depended on farming, as did everyone else in their village. The three of them rushed outside, each wearing makeshift masks, and stumbled onto a terrible scene. The towering green stalks that had stretched from their house to the woods only the day before were bent over and blackened. Only a small patch of healthy corn remained to the east. The wind shifted. The yellow air swirled toward the last living plants on their land, and the healthy green stalks bent over and died, strangled by the toxic stink.
“Our crop!” the father cried.
“Our farm,” the mother muttered.
“My nose,” the girl added.
Behind the house, a small hill rose from the landscape. The yellow air swept upward, turning the grass yellow and sending the family’s dozen sheep sprinting madly in all directions. The poor creatures ran as if they were being chased by a rabid dog.
The girl dashed up the hill. From the top she could see the other farms that made up their village. At this time of year, the lands were normally a bright, beautiful green. Now, overnight, everything had turned lifeless and brown. The girl gasped. Her father, panting from the run, fell to his knees. A river of toxic air flowed east. Every farm, as far as they could see, was ruined. The girl’s father was dumb-founded. If his own crop was dead, he could’ve hoped to depend on his neighbors. But if everyone in the village had nothing to harvest or sell or trade, what then? How would any of them survive?
“What in the name of King Randor is happening?” the father asked.
“I don’t know,” the mother responded. “I just don’t know.”
All across the planet Eternia, similar tragedies were striking families and farms. The noxious yellow wind snaked across the land, twisting and curling east and west, north and south, killing every plant and flower it touched. Tiny flies dropped from the skies. Birds flapped away in panic. Lettuce wilted. Kale crumbled. Potatoes1 hidden deep in the soil shriveled when the stink brushed against their exposed leaves. Griffins buried their noses in their feathered wings. Sandipedes tunneled deep beneath the desert surface. Even dimwitted navits, which have hardly any sense of smell, hopped into their hiding places out of olfactory disgust.
The girl and her parents remained on top of that hill for some time, staring out at the destruction. Although her father had invoked the name of King Randor, the former ruler of Eternos could not help them now. A new leader sat on his throne in the palace—a brutal, evil, and power-starved villain named Skeletor. The girl and her parents knew little about Skeletor, but based on the news that traveled to their village, they guessed he would not rush to their rescue.
Yet the stories of Skeletor were not the only ones traveling across Eternia in those days. They’d also heard tales of a new team of heroes, a powerful band that was fighting back against Skeletor and his horrifying horde.
Looking off into the distance, the girl raised her head and whispered, “I hope the Masters of the Universe can help us now.”
* * *
1 Eternian potatoes are extremely nutritious and can be eaten raw. Think of them as a cross between carrots and normal, Earth-grown potatoes, but with higher protein content. Adam and Krass both devour them as snacks.
2.
High above the planet Eternia, in the Sky Kingdom of Avion, the legendary Castle Grayskull floated in the clouds. Inside, two boys, a girl, and a very unusual tiger were studying in a vast library. The room, formally known as the Archive of Forbidden Knowledge, wasn’t the easiest place to read. The bookshelves floated, and if you leaned your head back in your chair, you’d have a very distracting view of the starry cosmos instead of a standard ceiling.
But the library’s current occupants were doing their best to focus. Her head protected inside her beloved helmet, fifteen-year-old Krass was impatiently skimming through a pamphlet on the legends of ancient Eternia. Duncan, a seventeen-year-old genius inventor and former assistant to Skeletor’s weapons master, Kronis, was trying to focus on the pages of an old book with yellowed, moldy pages. The wise, aged, and highly intelligent tiger Cringer was poised over a volume of his own, using his metal claws to turn the delicate pages. Adam, sixteen, was yawning and rubbing his eyes as he stood leafing through some similarly intimidating text.
The last few weeks had been interesting ones for Adam. Discovering that he was the lost son of King Randor wasn’t even the biggest surprise. Adam had also learned that he’d been chosen to wield a magical weapon called the Sword of Power. When he held this sword and pronounced a few magic words, Adam turned into He-Man, a giant, unstoppable, muscle-bound warrior capable of crushing a boulder with a single punch. The name began as a joke—thanks to Krass—but it was growing on him. As for the power, Adam had no interest in keeping it all to himself. Instead, he shared it with Krass, Duncan, Cringer, and his magician friend Teela, too. By channeling the cosmic energy of Castle Grayskull, each of them transformed into superpowered versions of themselves. Teela became the all-powerful Sorceress. Duncan turned into the Master of Technology, Man-at-Arms. Cringer morphed into the fearsome Battle Cat, and Krass the unstoppable Ram Ma’am.
Together, they were the Masters of the Universe, and at the moment, the four of them in the castle were incredibly bored. There was important work to be done, as the Masters were in the midst of a quest for pieces of a powerful artifact known as the Sigil of Hssss. But the research was wearing on them.
Duncan preferred to be building and tinkering, not confined to a library, and Cringer had known Adam and Krass long enough to see that the pair needed to move. “Why don’t you go practice some swordplay, young prince?” Cringer suggested.
