The Attack of the Lophocytes
"A war going on in Goth Afa among the fallen monsters. Fallitur asked me to help. I did, but I received some minor inflictions in the end," Grootslang replied. His eyes haughtily closed as his head perked up. Garfield's eyes stared down the large black snake, placing his hands on his hips and pressing his teeth together.
"Grootslang, you have scales to protect you from being hurt. Anything that could get past that and cause you to bleed is something worth worrying about," frowned Garfield. Raven could see the fierce rage in the green teen's wrinkled eyebrows.
Grootslang hissed, still looking away from the wizard. "They're just scratches that came too close. I was... careless."
Beast Boy's eyes lowered to his eyelids to half-mast, raising his left eyebrow. "And if you had been killed, oh great snake?" Garfield proposed in English. The snake's eyes shifted towards Beast Boy. His large head still fixed in its dignified state. A long uncomfortable pause ensued.
"I'm not a retired senile snake," Grootslang grumbled, looking down at the small teen.
"No, you're a beloved father," stated Beast Boy, dipping his head while he glared at the great snake and crossed his arms. "Remember that." The snake sighed with regret in his voice. The sad look in Kleinslang's eyes deepened the gut-wrenching feeling in the snake's stomach.
"You're right. I apologize for not telling you all sooner," Grootslang sighed.
"What's going on at Goth Afa?" Raven asked.
"Fallitur has been fighting new terrors that are proving to be more... burdensome. They're called the Lophocytes because of their crest mark on their forehead, kind of like the Moon"
Beast Boy grinned. "Well, let's go there and teach them a lesson," he said as he cracked his knuckles.
"No," shouted Kleinslang, "Daddy is staying here." She stood between her father and the four while her eyes bore in the people who would put her father in danger again.
Grootslang sighed, gently touching Kleinslang's small cheeks with the very tip of his tail. "Kleinslang." Kleinslang's glare did not change. Her grip clenched harder on the book. Beast Boy could have sworn he heard the buckling of the book breaking in her grip.
Kleinslang refused her father, "You are wounded and you need to heal. I'm not letting you go into danger again!" She declared. Grootslang's huge head jumped back while his eyes widened. The glare in her eyes bore into him. It looked black fire stinging his soul.
Garfield gingerly touched Klein's shoulder. "Kleinslang, I think it's best that-" The humanoid whipped her head at him, bearing the same glare on her face. Po jumped behind Tigress while Tigress and Raven stepped back a few inches. Beast Boy gulped at Kleinslang's angry stare.
"He's staying here," Kleinslang restated.
Raven ventured up to the humanoid's side, resting her hand on her shoulder. Raven spoke softly yet warmly to her "I know you want to protect him, but you won't be able to if Afa Goth falls in the hands of monsters who don't know any better. Imagine if someone worse than Fallitur came along,"
Klein's steady gaze on the hybrid's small smiles stayed for a moment before finally shifting to the ground. "I don't want my father to be dead when you go there," sighed Kleinslang.
"Well, why don't you come with us?" Garfield asked as he walked closer to her. Everyone's eyes widened. "What?"
Grootslang whipped his huge head in front of Beast Boy, hissing violently as he bellowed, "She is not going anywhere near danger!" Beast Boy stumbled to the ground and shuffled away as the snake's head edged closer. "I should send you to Tartarus for suggesting such a thing! Or worse yet." Grootslang flashed the interior of his cave-like mouth.
"Oooo...kay, okay," stuttered Beast Boy, "But if you're not going to go let her go and she's not going to let you go, you two are at an impasse. So what's it going to be?" Grootslang's low hiss still echoed, but his eyes glanced back to Kleinslang.
"If I could um... speak," said Po, slowly emerging from behind Tigress. "Aren't you the guardian of this place? What happens when you're gone? Doesn't Kleinslang have to do the same thing, sooner or later? Don't you think she should have some experience before you... you know?"
Grootslang gave a long sigh. "The panda is right." The snake looked to his daughter, "You are old enough to go with me on these missions. I just wished it was a different kind of mission."
"Why are the Lophocytes so difficult?"
"I don't know," The snake answered Garfield, "For some reason, they are resistant to my magic and there's a great possibility of them conquering the area."
"What about the angels?" asked Beast Boy.
"The stubborn devil woman refuses to let them help," the snake hissed dangerously. "If you ask me it's foolishness for her to try fighting them herself. Her monsters are good, but the Lophocytes have vast numbers." Beast Boy had never seen Grootslang use venom, but the green teen firmly believed that he could.
"So what are we waiting for?" asked Po, "Let's go there and finish these Moonies."
"Po, we don't know anything about the Moo- I mean Lophocytes," replied Raven, "We need a plan." Tigress nodded. "What do we know about the Mo- Ugh! Lophocytes?" Raven rubbed the bridge of her nose hearing the chuckle of her Kung fu master.
"They're not very intelligent by their strategy, but they use their resistance to magic and number to their favor. They're not...brutish fighters, but pretty similar to Goth Afa's monsters in weaponry. The major problem is that whoever is controlling the Lophocytes obviously wants the knowledge of the dark magic to themselves," Grootslang explained, "Which, of course, Fallitur refuses."
"Is it all kinds of magic their resistant to?" asked Beast Boy. Grootslang's moved a scaly part above his left eye which Garfield assumed was his eyebrow part. "Animalia powers aren't rooted in mainstream magic. Raven, Tigress, and Po could help us. If I can figure out how to mimic the same energy, we can figure out how to beat them."
Grootslang and Kleinslang looked at each other. "I've read about Animalia's particular powers. It's not something common to the magical world," said Kleinslang, "And I have a hunch that light magic will be helpful."
Grootslang stroke his scaly chin with the tip of his tail. "I didn't use light magic on them. My 'other' magic is usually enough."
"Then it's settled. Let's go to Goth Afa and see what these Moo- argh!" Raven groaned, placing her hand on her head as if she had a headache. "You know what? Let's just call them Moonies. The name is already sticking."
"YES!" said Po. Tigress rolled her eyes as Beast Boy uttered a spell and caused a red-rimmed portal to appear. Kleinslang looked at the portal with wonder as Raven walked to her side.
"Have you ever been to another world?" Raven asked.
"No, what is it like?" Kleinslang asked with child-like eyes.
The hybrid smiled, resting her hand on her shoulder. "It's a wild ride," replied Raven.
Po and Garfield jumped onto a field of tan grass. The sky was dipped in a blood-red color while in a distance stood the stony wall kingdom of Goth Afa. black smoke trailed into the air leaving the distinct stinging smell of wood burning. Boring brown grass mixed with patches of black scourged spots stretched for miles around. Po had landed on his hands and knees. "Whoa."
"It's definitely different from Corinth," Garfield said as the other jumped out of the portal. Po slowly got to his feet. A hush fell over the landscape. "Po?"
"This is... this is definitely something that is going to be in my nightmares," chuckled Po as the rest came through. "But why are these Moonies so resistant to your magic, Mr. Grootslang?"
"Just Grootslang and I don't know. From the smell of the smoke, I'd say that the Moonies were recently here." Grootslang's eyes peered into the distant kingdom, "And it looks they could definitely use a healing hand."
"Oh! Oh! Oh! That's me!" Po jumped up and down.
Tigress shook her head before they darted towards the smoldering city. As they approached, the massive gates of the kingdom were wide open. "This is not right," mentioned Tigress, "They should have these gates closed."
"Not only that," agreed Raven, "But this place doesn't seem like it was damaged that much." The black tar-smelling buildings stood perfectly erect in their odd jagged edge shaped structure.
"Pointy," commented Po, "Grootslang, what happened here?"
"I don't know. Time has a different effect here. It could be that we are too late." Suddenly, Grootslang heard a loud shout towards the middle of the walled kingdom. "Here they come," He grumbled.
They watched as dust clouds rose in the distance. Tigress's eyes spotted them first. They were humanoid-like creatures, but they looked completely white like the whiteness of the moon. There was no hair or features to tell if they were male or female. The only things they had were differing shading of white and gray. They didn't look like muscular beings, but rather average to skinny creatures with their sticky form. The Moonies had a vivid black U-shaped crescent that seemed to glow in the dim red light of the sky. They had swords and shields in their hands and charged at the team "Grootslang, do you have any idea how to defeat them?" Tigress asked.
"They're resistant to my magic; however, physical attacking has been effective," Boomed the snake.
"They look so weak," said Kleinslang, "Is there any way not injure them?" Raven looked at Klein in sorrowful woe. This daughter of Grootslang seemed so pure and naive.
"I'm afraid not," Grootslang replied. "Come on!" They charged forward and attacked.
Continued...
