"Thanks, buddy."
Zatanna adjusted her flight path while narrowly spinning past another lightning strike.
Lex rolled through the air, caught up to Bruce, and spoke over the comms.
"We entered from the south, so I'm dropping explosives in the north. It should draw the Walkers away and reduce pressure on your side."
"No problem," Floyd replied while pulling out two grenades. "Though honestly, even without that, we could fight through. Clark is stronger than he admits. I almost felt like I was moving with Axel."
He hurled the grenades to both sides.
Explosions tore through the advancing dead.
Beside him, Selina moved with twin pistols in hand, firing clean shots into two Walkers' heads.
"Why does this feel too easy?" she asked. "It's strange. Is this all they have? I expected monsters, something like Tyrants from Resident Evil."
"Don't jinx it, big sis," Victor muttered, shaking blood off his blade.
Clark joined in through the comms.
"Our priority is still the Spire. Stop the lightning, find whoever caused this."
He winced.
"Lex, Bruce, Zatanna, the thunder near you is painful to listen to. If I focus on it too much, it feels like needles in my head. I might not be able to monitor you constantly."
"It's fine," Bruce replied.
He swept over another building and finally got a full view of the Spire.
It towered nearly eight hundred meters into the sky.
Around its base moved hundreds of thousands of Walkers.
But no sign of whoever controlled them.
"Strange."
His voice sharpened over the channel.
"I don't see the mastermind. I'm landing. If someone is hiding, maybe forcing contact will draw them out."
Lex responded instantly.
"Zatanna goes down with you."
"Perfect," Zatanna said. "I need a closer look at the tower's magical structure."
She angled downward.
Moments later, Bruce hit the ground.
Thump.
Armor panels on his back opened.
Hundreds of micro missiles erupted outward in a web of destruction, clearing the surrounding undead.
Rotting bodies and blood splashed across the Spire's base.
Bruce activated shoulder lights as a beacon.
Guided by them, Zatanna landed.
Then froze.
"Ugh…"
The stench hit her.
She doubled over and vomited.
Floyd burst out laughing through the comms while firing at Walkers pouring from nearby buildings.
"That's Zatanna throwing up, right? You get used to it after enough battlefield exposure."
Walkers seemed to rain from every direction.
Selina grimaced as she kicked one away.
"What a waste of the manicure I got today."
Not far off, Clark had been listening to the retching.
He held out as long as he could.
Then failed.
"Ugh…"
Selina grinned and nudged his leg.
"Keep up after you're done."
Clark could barely answer.
Victor cut down two Walkers and slapped Clark on the back.
"Even gods throw up, huh?"
Clark managed a weak smile.
"This smell is horrific."
Victor nodded.
"This is just the beginning. Lex estimated over one and a half million Walkers in Washington."
He carved through another corpse.
"They may not infect people, but they'll slaughter anyone alive. The more noise we make, the more civilians we might save."
Clark forced himself steady and nodded.
Then northern Washington erupted.
Boom.
Lex's bombardment had hit.
A gas station exploded, fire blooming into the night.
Seeing the rising blast cloud, Floyd laughed.
"Now that has style."
Lex cut in sharply.
"Don't treat war like entertainment. And be careful. The army near the White House may mistake you for hostiles."
With that, he banked back toward the Spire.
Below it, Zatanna pushed through blood-soaked ground until she stood directly beneath the tower.
She raised her hands.
Magic radiated outward.
The light spread into the structure's pillars, probing its enchantments.
Bruce watched the perimeter.
"This is too easy. No resistance at all."
He glanced toward her.
"This tower can't be controlled remotely, can it? Could someone be drawing power from far away?"
"Impossible," Zatanna said immediately.
"This structure only channels power to someone nearby, likely within three kilometers."
She frowned.
"And it feels stable now. Its energy transfer may already be complete."
Bruce's voice hardened.
"They already got what they wanted."
Floyd's voice crackled through the comms.
"So the mastermind left?"
Lex answered first.
"Not likely. If the transfer is done, whoever controls this is probably still watching us."
Bruce followed.
"And letting us reach the Spire this easily may be deliberate. We stand exposed while they remain hidden."
He turned toward Zatanna.
"How long to dismantle it?"
Her expression changed.
Long pause.
Then she answered.
"A long time."
Bruce stared.
"This isn't ordinary magic. It's divine sorcery."
Her voice grew heavier.
"If its creators spent hours building it, I'll need at least that long undoing it. Maybe more."
She looked at them.
"At least an hour."
Then quietly,
"I'll have to rely on all of you to protect me."
"We will."
Bruce's reply was immediate.
Then over the comms he continued,
"This confirms it. The Spire's stability makes them confident. We're locked in place while they prepare an ambush."
His tone sharpened.
"Everyone, stay alert. Anyone capable of constructing something like this is…"
His warning broke.
"Damn it!"
A lightning-wreathed sword came crashing from the sky.
Bruce twisted aside just in time.
The blade slammed into the ground where he had stood.
He roared into the comms.
"I'm under attack. Enemy contact, winged male!"
Almost at once Lex shouted back.
"And a woman. I've got one too."
Metal shrieked.
"They both have wings."
Golden wings.
Mechanical, eagle-like, fully mobile.
And impossibly fast.