View source for Nula! Naked and Alone! (comic story)

{{CW|detail=extensive non-sexual nudity}}{{Comic Story
| title1= ''Nula! Naked and Alone!''
| image1= Nula! Naked and Alone! - Page 1.jpg
| caption1=
| other_titles= ''Nula, Naked and Alone''
| hero(es)=[[Nula]]<br>[[Kaza (Reality Z-25 31-H)|Kaza]]<br>[[Gwenna (Reality Z-25 31-H)|Gwenna]]
| villain(s)=[[The Skull (Reality Z-25 31-H)|The Skull]]<br>[[Jensen]]<br>[[Mitchell]]<br>[[Professor Morag]]
| featuring=[[George Wimberley]]<br>[[Kiana]]<br>[[King Solomon]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Alexander the Great (Reality Z-25 31-H)|Alexander the Great]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Cleopatra]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Augustus]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Cleopatra's handmaid]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Laura Bush]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small>
| setting=[[The Naked Jungle]], [[Buranda]], [[Reality Z-25 31-H]]
| length=21 pages
| series=''[[Kaza's_Mate,_Gwenna_(series)|Kaza's Mate, Gwenna]]''
| crossovers=
| format=
| writer(s)=[[Jay Epps]]
| artist(s)=[[Jay Epps]]
| pencils=
| inks=
| colours=
| dates=
| original_link= [https://kaza-and-gwenna.thecomicseries.com/comics/71/]
| released_in= May 27th, 2013 - April 15th, 2014
| seriesnav=''[[Kaza's_Mate,_Gwenna_(series)|Kaza’s Mate, Gwenna]]''
| previous= ''[[The Danger, the Diamond, and the Dowager (comic story)|The Danger, the Diamond, and the Dowager]]''
| next= ''[[Jungle Romance (comic story)|Jungle Romance]]''
| seriesnav2= [[April Fools' Day (real world)|April Fools' Day]] stories
| next2= ''[[Multiversal Mischief (short story)|Multiversal Mischief]]''
}}'''''Nula! Naked and Alone!''''', also rendered as '''''Nula, Naked and Alone''''', was the fourth full-length story in the ''[[Kaza's Mate, Gwenna (series)|Kaza's Mate, Gwenna]]'' webcomic, directly continuing the Philosopher's Stone story arc begun in the preceding story, ''[[The Danger, the Diamond, and the Dowager (comic story)|The Danger, the Diamond, and the Dowager]]''. Written and drawn by [[Jay Epps]], it continued nudity as typical of the series, making it NSFW. The adventure spanned twenty main pages as well as a one-page [[April Fools' Day (real world)|April Fools' Day]] comic depicting a fanciful lie asserted by a character at that point in the plot, and slotting between Pages 18 and 19 — entitled '''''She did say she had quite a story…'''''. 

== Contents ==
=== Plot ===
While [[Nula]] watches the flaming village, the captured [[Kaza (Reality Z-25 31-H)|Kaza]] asks [[the Skull (Reality Z-25 31-H)|the Skull]] what could be so valuable about [[Solomon's Diamond]] as to be worth bringing a whole private army of mercenaries to secure it, prompting the Skull to gloat that it is far more than an ordinary jewel. Refusing to elaborate, he makes Kaza and [[Gwenna (Reality Z-25 31-H)|Gwenna]] climb into his tank, with Kaza in the hold and Gwenna in the cabin with him. Meanwhile, [[George Wimberley]] and [[Kiana]] are leading a group of survivors from the fire to the nearby [[Koravi village]]; they cross paths with Nula, and inform her that [[Commissioner Smedley|Smedley]] has been captured. 

She, meanwhile, confesses that she knew the Skull's thugs were after the diamond, but hoped that she had “lost them in [[Istanbul]]”. She explains that according to legend, the Diamond is none other than the [[Philosopher's Stone]]. In the tank, as they near the Skull's stronghold (the “old [[Kaitaran Temple]]”), a gloating Skull gives the same explanation to Gwenna, who mocks him for believing that his “superior-humans cult” can hold on to it any better than the likes of Alexander the Great and Caesar. At that moment, Kaza manages to free himself from his bond and get the drop on the undisciplined mercenaries watch him, knocking both out. Hearing the commotion and assuming it must be Kaza freeing himself, Gwenna similarly lands a good kick on the Skull and knocks him out. Together, they manage to put the entire tank crew out of commission; they hop out as it crashes into a tree, with Gwenna catching Kaza up on what she's learned.

Things turn sour for Wimberley, Nula and Kiana's party, however, when, shortly after capturing the disarmed [[Mitchell]], they are ambushed from above by the Skull's airships, which turn out to be commanded by the Skull's chief scientist, [[Professor Morag]]. Taken aboard as prisoners, they are reunited with Smedley. Initially embarrassed to explain why she's naked, Nula spins a ridiculous story about being briefly abducted by aliens, but soon has to admit that she was simply skinny-dipping when the crisis occurred. Finally, everything comes to a head as the free Kaza and Gwenna reach the Temple just as the prisoners do. There, the Professor orders Nula taken to the laboratory instead of being placed in the holding cells like the others; much to Nula's apprehension, he explains that as she has been exposed to the Diamond for decades, he wants to see if it had any effects on her and “if she is a suitable candidate for the secondary project” as the Skull has been hoping.

=== Worldbuilding ===
==== Universes ====
* This story takes place in [[Reality Z-25 31-H]].

==== Other ====
* According to legend, the [[Philosopher's Stone (Reality Z-25 31-H)|Philosopher's Stone]], a.k.a. [[Solomon's Diamond]], was created by “the alchemists and Levite priests of [[Israel]]”. [[Alexander the Great (Reality Z-25 31-H)|Alexander the Great]] [[Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia|conquered]] [[Persia]] to claim it, but died too soon to take advantage of it, and it was claimed by [[Ptolemy of Egypt]], whose descendants kept it safe until [[Cleopatra]], who, when [[Augustus]] threatened to depose her, had her [[Cleopatra's handmaid|handmaid]] send it “up the [[Nile]], into the jungle”, leading to its current position.

=== Continuity ===
* This story is a direct sequel to [[COMIC]]: ''[[The Danger, the Diamond, and the Dowager (comic story)|The Danger, the Diamond, and the Dowager]]'', serving as the second part of a Philosopher's Stone trilogy which would then be concluded in [[COMIC]]: ''[[Temple of Turmoil (comic story)|Temple of Turmoil]]''.

== Behind the scenes ==
=== Background ===
The [[April Fools' Day (real world)|April Fools' Day]] bonus page, with its narrative of [[Laura Bush]] having been abducted by aliens “years ago”, is a reference to a similarly off-the-wall two-page comic from unrelated webcomic [http://cult.comicgenesis.com/d/20041113.html ''Four More Years!!!''], released on November 13th, 2004, where aliens from the Planet Zorog made first contact with the [[United States of America]], only for Dick Cheney to strike a deal with them for advanced technology in exchange for the abduction of the First Lady (without constuling with Bush first). Given that Nula's story is a random fabrication, this does not necessarily mean that ''Four More Years!!!'' should be taken as sharing [[Reality Z-25 31-H|a universe]] with ''[[Kaza's Mate, Gwenna (series)|Kaza's Mate, Gwenna]]''.
<gallery widths="310">
20041113a.jpg|Page 1 of the referenced ''Four More Years!!!'' comic.
20041113b.jpg|Page 2 of the referenced ''Four More Years!''' comic.
</gallery>

=== Read online ===
The story can be read on the ''Kaza's Mate, Gwenna'' website starting [https://kaza-and-gwenna.thecomicseries.com/comics/71/ here].
[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Comic Stories]]
[[Category:Surviving Stories]]
[[Category:Drawn by Jay Epps]]
[[Category:Written by Jay Epps]]
[[Category:Released in 2013]]
[[Category:Released in 2014]]
[[Category:Installments of Kaza's Mate, Gwenna]]