"Warning... warning..."
Lex abruptly turned his head. He rushed to the control panel in two strides and deftly pressed several keys. The surveillance feed switched to an exterior view of Mercury.
Under the blazing sunlight, the gleaming planet of metal and glass burst apart like a snowball. Countless mechanical structures shot outward, igniting as they flew at high speed and exploding into a dazzling firework display.
Lex stood frozen for a full three seconds. Then he slammed a hand against the panel, cleared away the warning messages obstructing his view, and sent a drone toward Mercury.
But before it could get close enough for a clear visual, the drone was destroyed by flying debris. Amid the countless falling fragments, Lex saw a figure standing at the center of the Sun through the blurry camera feed.
"Everyone, get to the conference room immediately!" Oliver's voice over the broadcast allowed no argument.
Lex raced to the conference room as fast as he could, but he was still the last to arrive. Hal had teleported himself and Oliver there. Clark and Diana had flown in. Arthur had emerged directly from the water cooler. Bruce had stopped pretending—when Lex arrived, he had just folded away his wings.
Harley, Pamela, Barry, and Kara were already there as well. Ron flew in through the window next, followed by Zatanna and Constantine, who arrived through a portal. The two Batman and Superman teams were seated in the back as well.
"There's no time for discussion," Oliver said bluntly. "I'm assigning tasks now. Once you receive one, leave immediately. If anything changes, I'll contact you through Ron's psychic network."
"Team One: Hal and Barry. Get near Mercury as quickly as possible and investigate the situation. Most importantly, retrieve the black box from Mercury's internal defense system and bring