Inside the base, a sterile scent flooded the heroes' senses and they knew something was wrong inside the off-putting atmosphere of the hidden center. Batman lead the group as they surveyed the base, searching for any other signs of life. Batman turned down a sharp left corner and the heroes followed, the Flash speeding up to his side and clearing his throat.
"Yes?" Batman asked plainly.
"I can do a sweep across the base faster than all of you. No offense." Flash replied.
"Go." Batman said.
With a quick salute, the Flash ran off and left the heroes by themselves.
"Do you think there's anyone here?" Green Lantern asked, as Superman hovered and observed the base with his x-ray vision.
"I don't think so. I've been wondering if Ms. Myers lied to us again. She'd be making a big mistake. Are you connected to the servers in case Cooke fires another broadcast?" Superman said, turning to Batman.
"Alfred set up an alert." Batman replied.
"Who's Alfred?" Green Lantern asked.
Batman and Superman fell silent for a moment.
"An... associate of ours." Superman said after a moment of awkwardness.
Green Lantern raised an eyebrow at their sudden quietness and heard a loud sonic boom as the Flash returned, rolling across the slick tile and grunting as he hit the wall behind them. The heroes faced him and looked at him holding his side and out of breath.
"What happened?" Superman asked.
"There's a group of mercenaries in the fifth corridor down from the scary chamber place." Flash said, grunting as he stood up, something inside his chest popping loudly out of place.
"Scary what?" Green Lantern asked, powering up his ring as Superman flew down the hallway.
Batman pulled out his small computer and found Agent Sage's contact information. He called him as the three of them began to run down the hallway, Green Lantern placing a construct vest over Flash's chest to keep the injury from being moved again.
"There's a large chamber down there. It's shooting out electricity and spinning really, really fast. Those mercenaries aren't like normal troops! They were wearing some kind of armor. It crushed my ribs. Exoskeletons or something!" Flash said as they ran down, following the blur that was Superman's flight trail.
Batman connected the computer to a small port inside one of the belt cartridges and ran along with the group as sounds of metal crunching and blasts were heard echoing through the dead halls. The dial tone peeped up in Batman's cowl and within three seconds, Sage answered.
"This is Sage? Who am I speaking to?"
"It's Batman. Me, Superman and two other... people like us. We're at a military base at North Keystone Peak. Do you know anything about that?"
"Yes." Sage said plainly, knowing that another sinister secret had been revealed.
"Who told you?"
"The lovely traitor, Jan Myers. The virus that Cook uploaded was meant to send signals to the Amazo units all across the country. She's says that there are thousands of these androids. Did the government give permission for thousands of Amazos?" Batman asked.
"No. The costs were too great. Cook must have defectors working for him. What are you doing inside the base?" Sage said.
"Trying to get answers. Apparently we have mercenaries inside wearing exoskeleton armor. There's a lot you shielded from the public, isn't there?" Batman said, the noises of fighting growing louder.
"What?" Sage asked, standing up in his seat.
"I have to put you on hold." Batman said before tapping his temple and temporarily cutting off the comms-link. He nodded for Green Lantern to set the Flash down against the wall and turned the corner, using his left arm to swing around faster and face whatever the enemy was. As he swiftly zoomed around, he saw Superman flying past him, his cape fluttering violently as he was tossed into the wall behind Batman. He faced what was in front of them and widened his eyes, ducking as an energy blast was heading straight for him. He slammed into the ground and looked up, seeing a gigantic room that looked similar to a smelting factory. And all around the factory were 7-foot figures covered by a metal armor that spread about their extremities. The men's faces were uncovered, most of them wearing helmets or safety glasses. As Batman stood up, Green Lantern hovered near him and gasped in shock, generating a small construct that saved Batman from being hit by an energy blast.
"Whoa! Whoever made these things was smoking crack!" he yelled, still shielding Batman while he pulled out his grapnel gun.
"Lantern! Watch your six!" Batman yelled, pointing to the catwalk on Green Lantern's right.
On the hanging bridge stood two mercenaries about to fire their weapons at him. Green Lantern created a long green plank that sliced through the middle of the catwalk, making the men fall to the ground. With their exoskeletons, they landed without wasting a second to recover, running at Lantern and Batman. As they ran at them and the heroes prepared to fight, Superman zoomed back into the scene, crashing into them and spinning them around until their long arms ripped off and the mercenaries flew in separate directions. Superman turned to Lantern and pointed to the men on the right.
"Flank them. Get them away and push them into that corner. That way we can take most of them out at once!" he yelled.
Lantern nodded at him and flew into the air, trying to handle the four men on the right side of the warehouse. He zoomed underneath the catwalk, forming a large sword and cutting the ceiling poles and making the entire section fall. The mercenary on his left pushed a button on his left thigh and hydraulic gears hissed, shooting him high into the air and away from the destruction. The other mercenaries climbed up the catwalk before it fell and latched themselves onto Lantern's back. He flew high into the air, crushing them against the ceiling and watching them fall to the ground. The hydraulic mercenary punched him in the chest and made him flip around in the air a few times. When he finally stopped spinning, a red beam of heat flew across the warehouse, drawing the men's attention as they saw Superman's eyes emitting the beams.
Batman dodged his heat vision, rolling across the cold floor and firing his grapnel gun at one of the light fixtures, flying up toward it and heading straight for one of the mercenaries. He kicked him across his helmet, knocking it off and making the heavy exoskeleton become unbalanced. Batman let go of his gun and glided to to the catwalk, slamming into the mercenary's chest, punching him in the jaw. The man used the mechanized arm to grab Batman and he groaned in pain as the man tried to crush him. He reached into the backside of his belt and pulled out a glue bomb, tossing it at the exoskeleton's right shoulder. The bomb exploded, the special adhesive made by Batman himself shooting off across the man's face and upper arm in tan strands that were as strong as steel. The man screamed and let go of Batman, letting him slam into the metal grate that was the bottom of the catwalk. Before he could do anything else, another mercenary jumped onto the catwalk, shaking it violently and tossing him into the railing. He ducked as the mercenary swung at him and the metal pipes were crushed and flew off into the warehouse. Batman hung off the side and quickly switched sides as the exoskeleton boot nearly broke his hands off.
"Stay still!" the mercenary inside yelled.
Batman pulled himself up behind the man and slammed into his back, making him fall from the catwalk and into a large, empty container that ripped open and knocked out the mercenary. Batman took a deep breath and looked down at his opponent.
"Stay down."
Green Lantern grabbed the glue-entrapped mercenary and used him as a baseball to his construct bat, making the man fly into the hydraulic mercenary zooming across the room. They collided and screamed in pain as they fell into the small office space below, crashing through the drywall and become trapped under the rubble. Lantern hovered down to Batman's level and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Good one-liner."