Chapter 40: Metallo
''I've never seen such a beautiful place,'' Kaldur says.
''The Eternal Spring is often called the jewel of the magical world,'' Alya explained. ''Nymphs and fairies, alike, grew it as a symbol of hope that there is beauty in our immense power. But the water is where the real power lies.''
''Is it because of the trident,'' Superman asked.
''The spring itself has a very magical history,'' White told. ''But it is not all fairy tales and happy endings. In the beginning, there were seven main elements of magic, each one with its own representative. Griffin or air. Dragon for fire. Dryads for nature. Mermaids/mermen for water. Siren for sound. Unicorn for light. Winter wolves for ice. But there was always constant friction between them. It wasn't even because of power or superiority. It was the difference in what they use their powers for.''
''Air elements were the free spirits that use their magic to find inner peace. Fire elements are fierce and love strength. Nature, or earth, elements are very grounded and headstrong with a need to protect everyone. Water elements have this go-with-the-flow attitude they use to adapt in battle, always ready to fight. Sound and music users are patient and know what to do as long as they wait and listen, our powers for heart. Light is straight forward with wanting to use their powers for bringing love and hope to the world. Ice has always been thought of as cold, yet it represents the beginning of new life and a new kind of light. Peace, strength, protection, battle, heart, love, life.''
''But there was one element that only exists after magic is born on Earth,'' Alya took over. ''Demons and the element of darkness. Very powerful, drawing from death and evil. They were never part of magical origins but felt superior to the others because they didn't have mercy like everyone else. They decided to prove themselves, the best, and went to war with our ancestors. Not even myself and my sibling were around, as it was way before our time. It was horrible. Creatures of all kinds sent into a panic and didn't know what to do. No one could defend their kinds from those monsters.''
''The worst were the full demon blooded monsters. Chernabog, Krampus, Shendu, Po Kong, Xiao Fung, Tchang Zu, Tso Lan, Dai Gui, Hsi Wu, Bai Tza. The eight demon sorcerers were the most dangerous and destructive of the demons. So each of the elements came to the agreement to work as one to defend the isles. Combining creatures from all across the isles in a battle worse than any we've seen. It only took our cooperation to beat them. Even with our most powerful, we barely made it through by the skin of our teeth. Even the gods themselves joined the fray. In the end, we drove the demons back to the deepest depths of the Underworld and vanquished the demon sorcerers.''
''To honor the newfound peace and harmony among the kinds, this garden was grown,'' White finished up. ''The water, that flow here, give the drinker immortality.''
''While highly coveted, only those with a pure heart, and ones not wanting to drink the water, are allowed in,'' Alya explained.
''That water is specifically the reason why the trident was trusted to the garden,'' White said. ''That, and the fact that Alya is terrifying.''
''I definitely do now how to bring the fear,'' the animal mage smirked.
''Maybe the trident will be safest here, then,'' Superman suggested.
But then, there were slight booms. Like Jack and the Beanstalk's giant walking and going ''fee fi fo fum.''
''You were saying,'' White said.
''Someone must have snuck in when we transported in,'' Alya guessed. ''Hitched a ride with us. I hate it when people do that.''
''It seems to be happening a lot, actually,'' White says.
''Get ready to defend,'' Dick ordered. ''Kaldur, you're the Atlantian, so you should go get the trident.''
''Of course,'' Kaldur agreed, going into the garden.
''And don't drink the water,'' Alya yelled.
The 'BOOMS'' got closer and closer. Something then crashed through the trees. It was a human-sized robot. Its body was in the shape of a human, but it was completely made from silver shiny metal. It also had a skull-like head with glowing green eyes. In his chest was a stone made of a glowing green mineral.
It landed right in front of them. A small crater formed at its feet.
''What the hell,'' Alya gawked.
The robot puffed out his chest, the rock sending a beam of green light at them. It nailed Siren right in his chest, sending him flying. He crashed into a set of trees. Alya and Nightwing immediately ran to him. He struggled to get up. Superman flew at the robot, trying to get a few good hits in.
''That's gonna hurt in the morning,'' he said. ''What was that?''
''Also. What. Is. That,'' Alya flipped out.
''That's Metallo, one of Superman's main villains,'' Dick explained. ''That heart of his is made of kryptonite, literally built to kill him.''
''That didn't feel like kryptonite,'' White says. ''More like ectoranium. It hurts, as kryptonite wouldn't affect my kind.''
''Not whelming, not whelming at all,'' Dick said. ''They must really hate you guys.''
''Not helping,'' Alya glared.
The three heroes all stood up. They swiftly moved away as Superman came flying at them, thrown by the robot. Nightwing then pulled out his escrima sticks. He ran toward the robot, using his natural acrobatic skills to avoid the punches and swings. His sticks lit up with their electrical charge as he dug them into Metallo's back. The electricity surged into the robot villain, making it spazz.
But the effects on Metallo didn't last very long, as it broke free of the electric grip. It threw the hero over his shoulder. He landed on his feet.
Alya's eyes glowed blue, blue light swirling around her. It formed into a gorilla spirit made from the light. She ran at the robot, now having the strength of a wild gorilla. She dodged a punch, then threw her own. It sent the robot a few yards back.
Siren screamed, sending out his sonic scream. Metallo held itself against the magic attack. Its ectoranium core shot out its energy beam. Siren had to stop the scream to dodge the energy blast.
''If Wally was here, I'd be boasting about how this is a piece of technology more dangerous than magic,'' White joked.
''That's so funny,'' Dick burst into laughter.
Superman and Alya then each took one of Metallo's arms. They tried to use their combined strength to pull it apart. But then its top and bottom halves separated and the top half spun like a top gone wild. The speed and force threw the two heroes in different directions.
''Little bro, you have the sonic while I have the boom,'' Dick said.
''One siren cry coming right up,'' White says.
Siren flew up and let out another scream. This one had his golden sound waves but as a more concentrated blast. It was somewhere between his siren scream and his siren wail. The siren's brother then jumped out. Nightwing threw one of his disks. It was a flash-bang disk. When it came into contact with the cry, in front of Metallo, it ended in a giant explosion. The flashbang and siren cry, combined, ended up with a huge sonic boom.
''Give me a second for my eyesight to return,'' Alya says, blinking.
Metallo then suddenly stood back up.
''You've got to be kidding me,'' White swore.
''He's like a bag of nails,'' Superman said. ''You can hit him a thousand times and he will still get back up.''
''Then how about we up the ante,'' Kaldur said.
They turned to see the Atlantian hero standing there with the trident. It looked to be made from a material crossed between silver and gold. At the center of the trident, the base of the three prongs, was a big blue moonstone. You could feel the power of the sea radiating from it.
Siren and Alya locked eyes, thinking the same things.
''During the Titan war, after the titans set the Elder Cyclops' free, the Elder Cyclops were so grateful, they had made weapons for the children of Kronos,'' Alya thought. ''They forged this Trident out of pure gold, and later imbued it with the power of the seas.''
''Poseidon's Trident has the power over the sea,'' White thought. ''It makes tsunamis and waves, along with seafoam. He can calm the water or make it roar. If Poseidon strikes the Earth with his trident an earthquake will happen. The man or boy who is chosen to control the trident is one with the blood of the Gods.''
Aqualad with the trident said a lot about him, but he just didn't know.
''Hit him with as much as we got,'' Dick ordered. ''Which is a whole lot more than before.''
Alya's light swirled around her again. Her gorilla spirit changed into that of an elephant's. There was a loud elephant toot. The five ran toward the robot.
Metallo had to dodge Superman, which gave Nightwing the chance to strike him with his sticks. Alya and Siren then hit the robot back with a combination of a gold force field and elephant charge. Metallo tried it's energy blast again, but the two flipped out of the way and it missed them.
Alya hid behind a tree when she landed. Nightwing was beside her.
''This thing's guy's like the Terminator,'' she said, then Nightwing started laughing at that. ''Why are you laughing?''
''I just love a good pop culture reference in times of imminent danger,'' Dick laughed. ''Also THAT.''
He pointed to Aqualad aiming the trident. A powerful beam of water shot out of the three prongs. The robot was forced back by the water. Alya and Nightwing then came out from behind the tree.
They surrounded the robot. Siren was shooting off his siren scream. Superman was roasting with his heat vision. Aqualad was blasting with more water. Alya laid on the spiritual power with entrapping Metallo with octopus tentacles. Nightwing threw explosive disks. It was too much for the robot, and it blew up. There was nothing more than pieces of scrap metal.
''That was cool,'' Alya said. ''And nice work with the trident, Aqualad.''
''We better get that back to Mount Justice and join the others,'' Dick says. ''Come on, Siren.''
But his brother didn't respond. They turned to get him, and their mouths dropped in horror.
''No,'' Dick cried.
He ran to Siren, who was on the ground. A shard of the ectoranium core was now lodged in his chest. It must have landed there when Metallo exploded. Siren looked in serious pain as green lines flowed over his skin.
''Back to the cave,'' Dick ordered. ''GO!''
