Author's Note: I apologize for the long wait, here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it!
On their way out of the building, the heroes reentered the Research Organic Lab. The first thing they noticed was that the Cryogenic Reactor had been damaged, causing the room temperature to drastically drop. So much so that frost began to form on their suits again.
"You gotta fix it!" A voice yelled.
"What? I'm no cryoengineer, I'm just a guard!" Another voice replied.
Near the exit of the lab, they saw three more of Penguin's men holding another guard hostage. One was holding a knife against the guard's throat while the other two stood behind him with guns in hand.
"You wanna freeze to death? You better figure it out!"
"Your friends, they busted the security system on the exit to the lobby. We can escape!"
"No one's escapin' til we get to Penguin! So I don't care what you are. A guard, an engineer, or a damn snow cone vendor. Fix this situation or my friends-"
Before he could finish, the thug heard a loud cracking noise behind him. Turning around, he saw his buddies had been laid out, and standing over them were two masked vigilantes. The thug grabbed the guard and used him as a shield, with the knife still up to his throat.
"B-back off, both of ya!" He said in a panicked voice.
Without any hesitation, Spider-Man used his webs to pull the hostage out of the thug's grasp while simultaneously pulling said thug towards him. Once he was close enough, Spider-Man knocked him out with a spinning roundhouse kick to the face.
"You ok sir?" Spider-Man asked the guard.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Man, where'd you guys come from? That was incredible!" The guard exclaimed.
"Come with us. We're getting you out of here." Batman said.
"Yeah, I'm kinda freezing my butt off in here and I'd like to go anywhere warmer. Or less cold, in this case." Spider-Man shivered.
Once they were outside, the frost melted away from their suits once again and the three began to feel a little bit warmer from the weather than the temperature inside.
"Ahh, this is a lot better… well, only a little better… Ok, not really all that better. " Spider-Man said as he felt himself shivering again.
"Thanks for getting me out of there. What will you two do now?" The guards asked the heroes.
"After we've recovered the cryodrill, We're come back here and save Ferris." Batman answered.
"But… isn't Freeze gonna try to stop you guys?"
"With any luck." Batman replied before he and Spider-Man took off.
"Alfred. What's the status of the XE Suit?" Batman asked through his communicator.
"I've just finished loading it into the drop container. As well as the Prototype for our friend."
"Good news, We're on our way to My Alibi to recover a stolen cryogenic drill. Have the Batwing drop them there."
"It's on its way." Alfred replied before ending the call.
"Ok, I've been keeping my mouth shut about this since Christmas, but is it always this cold in Gotham? I thought the winters in New York were bad but this is something else. I can't even tell if this is because of Freeze or just the natural weather here." Spider-Man complained.
"You get used to it." Was Batman's only reply.
"Ugh, next time I'm investing in heat warmers for my suit." Spider-Man mumbled.
Soon, the two were approaching the My Alibi club. As they were closing in, they could hear voices below them, right outside the entrance to the club.
"I'm detecting a group of armed men outside My Alibi. I suggest you secure the area before I initiate the drop." Alfred alerted.
Not wanting to waste time, the two swiftly took out the criminals in the area. Once they were done, Alfred called in.
"XE Suits incoming, gentlemen." Alfred said.
"Wait, did he say suits? As in 'more than one'?" Spider-Man asked, confused.
Suddenly, the sound of the Batwing flying by reached their ears. Looking up, they saw two metal containers drop down on the rooftop above them. They made their way up to the roof and approached the two containers.
"Is.. Is one of them for me?" Spider-Man asked as he placed his hand on the container on the right.
"That one is the prototype I made when I was coming up with the XE Suit. It might be heavy, but I think you'll manage." Batman said as he opened up the container on the left.
"Aww, you shouldn't have." Spider-Man fawned as he opened up his container as well.
The XE Suit was big and heavily armored. Strong metal plating and pads surrounded the body of the suit, with the bat symbol still dawned on his chest. The cowl completely covered the wearer's face, leaving only white eyes to shine through the mask. The suit also had larger shoulder pads that held a longer and more durable cape. An orange glow surrounded Batman's abdomen and ran all the way down to his gloves.
To his left, he saw Spider-Man in a similar suit but with a few differences, his suit had neither a cape nor a bat symbol, and the ears atop the cowl were missing as well. The suit was slimmer compared to Batman's but still looked as heavy. And to the wearer's surprise, the suit came with its own web shooters already installed. While the bat symbol on the chest was missing, in its place was a larger Spider symbol that looked like it had been painted last minute. The symbol resembled the one he has on his costume. Once the suit powered on, the cold Spider-Man was feeling quickly went away.
"Oh my God, it even comes with heaters! This is the best suit ever!" Spider-Man exclaimed.
"The Thermal Gloves should help you both deal with most ice you encounter, gentlemen, and the suit will provide protection from the cold and cryovapor. Also, for your suit Master Peter, I've added a pair of web shooters that can be Theremocharged should you need it. I just hope the bulk won't slow either of you down." Alfred informed them.
"The honeycomb structure insulates against extreme cold without increasing weight. It won't slow me down a bit."
"Mine's a bit heavy but my Spider Powers should keep it from being a problem."
The two jump down from the roof and land in front of the My Alibi Club entrance, which was covered in ice. Batman planted his palms on the ice, charged up his gloves, and punched right through the ice causing it to shatter. With the entrance now open, the two walked through.
As they walked around the club, they saw more of Penguin's men below them near the stages. Above them was a stalactite that looked unstable enough to fall given the right amount of force.
"I can use a Thermocharged Batarang to bring that ice down on top of those thugs." Batman noted as he prepared a Batarang. Once it glowed orange, Batman threw the projectile at the ice, causing it to fall.
"Hey morons, think fast!" Spider-Man called out. As the men turned toward the voice, the ice smashed onto the floor, next to two of the Penguins's guys. The impact caused the two to be knocked out.
A thug with an ice gun tries to fire at the two, but they move out of the way before the ice beam can hit them. Batman approaches the thug and initiates a beatdown. After a few hits, Batman hits him with a punch that sends him into Spider-Man. Spider-Man catches him with one arm around his neck and rips out the battery on his back with the other before sending him back towards Batman with a kick. Once he's close enough Batman knocks him out with a clothesline.
The other thugs don't stand much of a chance either. While Spider-man deals with two other thugs, Batman handles the martial artist. The fighter tries to connect a few kicks to his head but Batman blocks them before punching him in the face and throwing him over his shoulder with a fireman's carry. Before the thug can get up Batman jumps on him and takes him out with a punch to the face.
While he was dealing with the martial artist, Spider-Man was working with the other two thugs. He attacks one with a combination of kicks and punches before his partner tries to intervene. Spider-Man sees him coming and counters him with a kick to the face. Dazed, the thug has no time to react as Spider-Man hits him with a drop-kick that sends him into a wall. Before his feet can even touch the ground, Spider-Man webs him in place. With one thug remaining, Spider-Man gets an idea.
"Heads up!" Spider-Man calls out. Looking towards him, he sees Spider-Man hitting a backflip while simultaneously kicking the last thug into the air. Batman jumps up and kicks him in the center of his back, sending him through the air before crashing down. With that, the fight was over.
"I got to admit, you've really outdone yourself with this one Bruce." Spider-Man said, admiring how well the new suit did during combat.
"Let's get these cops out of the ice." Batman states as he walks towards one. Using the gloves, Batman is able to unfreeze the officer without causing any damage to him. The cop gives his thanks before Batman moves towards another one.
With all the officers free, the two move towards the back of the club, where the door's control panel has been frozen.
Batman thermocharges another Baterang and unfreezes the lock, allowing him to hack it. Once he puts in the code, the heroes enter where they see a familiar face.
"Listen, we ain't goin' nowhere til you tell me exactly where the money is stashed." A Penguin thug, who turns out to be Loose Lips, demands a frozen cop.
"I-I told you. I don't work here." The man in the ice whimpered.
"Then what are you doing in the back office? Huh?"
"C'mon. I'm- I'm freezing."
"Quit whinin'. At least your drink is cold."
"Personally, I prefer something with a bit of a 'kick' in it." A voice says behind him. Turning around, Loose Lips is hit in the gut with a kick making him bend over. Spider-Man then places his arm on his shoulder and holds him in place. Putting a little bit of pressure on his shoulder makes him groan in pain.
"Agh! What do you want?" Loose Lips shouts as Batman stands in front of him.
"Hey, old pal, a little birdy told us you and your friends stole a cryogenic drill from GothCorp. Is that true?" Spider-Man asks.
"Well, yeah. But it ain't here. Penguin said to sell off the parts. It's in pieces." Loose Lips responds.
"Where are they?"
"I'll tell you. I'll tell you! Just… don't drop me off a roof, okay?"
"Hmm, tempting. But we've got places to be. There's always next time though!" Spider-Man says before letting his arm go and kneeing him in the face, knocking him out.
"Your interrogation technique is getting better." Batman notes.
"Well, I learned from watching you." Spider-Man responds.
After unfreezing the man in the ice, the two leave the club. Just as they exited Alfred updates them.
"Gentlemen, your maps have been updated with the locations of the components you'll need to rebuild the cryogenic drill."
"Thanks, Alfred, what would we do without you?" Spider-Man responds. After the call ends, Spider-Man looks towards his companion, "Shall we split up?"
"Yes, it will be faster that way. Let's regroup at GothCorp." Batman responds.
Spider-Man nods before heading off in another direction.