"Quick! Put on gas masks! Hurry!" Chief George yelled.
But it was already too late. The police officers who had inhaled the black fog started to struggle. Wings sprouted out from their backs, and they too transformed into furious bat monsters.
The previous vampire attack had contagious effects, but the transformation rate was relatively slow. As soon as an infection was detected, the infected personnel were immediately removed from the battlefield for treatment.
However, the officers who inhaled the black mist transformed into bat monsters almost instantly, without any chance for treatment. Chief George's eyes turned red with fury as he shouted: "Open fire! Attack indiscriminately! Blow these monsters up!"
Iron Man accelerated to full speed, holding onto one bat monster as they swooped down and then fired a blast at the bat's head. Instead of ceasing its struggle, the creature went berserk.
"They're being controlled by something!" Stark exclaimed. "Damn it! Isn't a headshot supposed to be fatal?"
Blade Warrior's voice came over the radio: "This is the power of immortality. Burn them! Incinerate them completely! That's the only way to kill them. Now! Prepare the flamethrowers!"
But no one anticipated the scene to have turned so chaotic. The flamethrower, an unconventional weapon, wasn't equipped by any combat troops.
The combat power of the mutated bats had greatly increased. Shots to the head or piercing the heart could not kill them. Moreover, their sizes had grown larger, and their strength had become even more formidable. They were rampantly crazy, unafraid and only knew to attack.
The balance of power was reversed in an instant. The human race was beaten back step by step. Even Stark was in disarray under the frenzy of these bat monsters.
Finally, after being knocked by a bat, Stark angrily said, "Jarvis! Connect me to my lab in Stark Building!"
A familiar voice echoed from the communication device. Shiller said, "I'm working with Connors on some research. What's up?"
"Help me manually disable the top-level security protocol!" Stark commanded.
"Are you sure? Didn't you say we were to do this only when the situation becomes desperate?"
"We are already in a desperate situation." Stark glanced at the increasing number of humans being transformed into bat monsters. The monsters had almost covered the moonlight. He said, "Hurry! Now is not the time to consider the cost!"
Shiller picked up the phone and walked to a cabin door in the lab. He input a sequence password that Stark had left him, the door opened. Inside, there was only a lever. Shiller placed his hand on the screen first. Upon hearing two 'beeps', he pulled down the lever.
The rooftop of Stark Building seemed to light up like a lighthouse and started rotating. A weapon storehouse at the top of the building opened, and several dozens of mech armors equipped with heavy weapons flew out.
Most importantly, two giant iron monsters also stepped out. One looked like the one Obadiah had driven before, and the other resembled the tentacled iron monster of General Johnson. Still, it was slightly different having undergone some modifications.
These two giant iron monsters stepped out and directly jumped from the rooftop of Stark Building to another building, then swiftly headed towards the battlefield.
With the inclusion of two giant mech suits, the severe battlefield situation was slightly alleviated.
These iron monsters were large enough to cover both the ground and air. They could tear a bat monster into pieces as soon as they grabbed them. Moreover, the iron monster which Obadiah had once driven was equipped with flamethrowers, incinerating many bat monsters.
Just as the situation began to improve, more vampires joined the battle. It seemed like their leader deliberately chose this point to join the fray. The vampires who stormed into the battlefield were radiated by the red light and turned into even more bat monsters.
Even Iron Man and his Mech Armor Troops had no choice but to retreat temporarily, avoiding the fierce onslaught. Connors received a call from Stark. Stark said, "Connors, when is your support coming? We are almost unable to hold on!"
Peter was holding a test tube. He said, "Doctor, I think we're almost there. This serum should temporarily disable the vampires' self-healing abilities."
"Indeed, but the prerequisite is, we must deal a significant damage to them within the duration of this effect, meaning we need to regain control of the battlefield first."
Peter looked up at Connors, and saw him take out a syringe. Peter asked: "Wait! Doctor...what's that? That can't be..."
On the battlefield, Stark made a dive and tore through a bat's wing, getting the blood splashed onto his Mech Armor. He cursed: "Damn it! That's really disgusting!"
Before he could finish his sentence, the bat's wing started to grow back.
Steve was almost buried in a pile of bats, struggling to hold his shield, flinging away a bat. But in no time, the creature was back.
Hawkeye was hiding behind a fragment of a large bridge, hastily drawing his bow and firing arrows, his arm trembling slightly. Quake next to him was pounding the ground with her fist, causing the sneaky bats to fly off. In the rear, Natasha was providing tactical support with her binoculars.
"Iron Man! Retreat quickly! They..."
Natasha hadn't finished shouting when a bigger bat knocked Stark off his feet. The bat bit deeply into his Mech Armor's left arm, releasing a burst of electric light. Stark bellowed: "Activate Electric Shock!"
A strong surge of electricity exploded out and the bat got numbed. Stark escaped but before his Mech Armor could take flight, the bat was back on his trail.
The wind from its wings made Stark's Mech Armor slightly unstable. Just as he was about to be flattened again, Steve swung his shield knocking a bat's wing, causing it to stagger. Stark took the chance to gain height. He said, "Thanks!"
"Behind you!" Steve yelled.
As Stark was turning his head, a whooshing sound of wind came at him. Clearly, a bat had been lying in wait for a long time. Stark tried to dodge but it was too late, the bat was too close. Stark said: "Activate the eject sequence! Then make the Mech Armor explode!"
"If you eject now, the altitude is too high, it's life-threatening." JARVIS said.
Stark glanced at Steve on the ground and said: "Activate the ejection! Now!"
A figure shot out of the Mech Armor. Then there was a powerful burst of electricity before an explosion. Two bats were blown away, one was burnt into carbon.
Steve jumped up and caught Stark, and safely placed him on the ground. Before Stark could say anything else, both felt a massive shadow over their heads.
They looked up, Stark cursed, "Shit, what the hell is that?!"
Behind them, a green monster, more than ten meters tall, crushed a flying bat with its foot. The mountain-like Lizard monster leaned over, its giant vertical pupil staring at Stark, and hissed at him:
"Your support has arrived."