"Let's go"

[Batman POV]

After finishing my task in the stronghold's power core, I head back towards the portal room.

There I looked in through a small gap in the doors, and saw half of the out team passed out while the other half was struggling against a giant grey alien.

I quickly started analysing the situation, thinking about the best course of action 'This situation is not good. That man must be the leader of the invading forces. If he's already beaten most of us by now, our chances of winning are slim to none. We need a decisive advantage in order to defeat him.'

I tried to think of a way to defeat him, or even negotiate a deal in which Darkseid would retreat, but no matter what I thought of, it always ended up being not enough to defeat him or a situation where he'd just end up blasting for just attempting to talk to him.

It was then that I overheard a piece of information that gave me exactly what I needed.

"Wait, losing a general? You mean Steppenwolf is dead? That's why you came here?" I heard Mr. Miracle, our apokoliptian ally says.

'Steppenwolf is dead. That means Nostradamus won?' I realised. It was then that I had a 'Eureka' moment.

I once again began to think how we could win with this piece of information included. It is theni come to a realisation 'Maybe I won't have to negotiate a truce or try to defeat Darkseid somehow. At least not alone.'

I rushed towards the room where we previously fought Steppenwolf and had to leave Nostradamus behind. Luckily I see no parademons along the way and I'm able to reach said room uninterrupted.

I think to myself as I enter the room 'Please don't let me be too late.'

I then walk in to find the body of a Steppenwolf, with the head missing. A few inches away from it, I find another body laying on the ground. I rush towards it and desperately check the vitals.

Upon checking his vitals I breathe a sigh of relief 'It seems he's just unconscious. Thank God, we didn't lose someone already. We still have a chance.'

The thought of uncovering his identity runs through my mind, but I decide against it. I can't risk angering him if he finds out. At least not right now.

Not having the time to wake him up politely, I take out a syringe from my utility belt. The syringe is labelled «Venom». It's too dilute to give any boosts in strength but should still work as an effective adrenaline shot. An advantage of it being this dilute is that it won't have any addictive side effects.

I pierce the syringe through his thigh, and inject the concoction into his body. After a few moments, his body shakes rapidly as he gets up.

"*COUGH!! COUGH!!* Argh!! Ouch that stings! Oh, hello Batman." he says, waking up.

_______________________________________________

[Arnold POV]

"And can you tell me about your creator now ?" I ask El.

He answers in a disappointed tone "No, sadly even I am still unaware of the identity of the being that created me."

I console him " No worries. I should've expected that anyways. I guess you can't tell me what the space was either can you?"

This is also answered with a simple "No."

I asked El another question "Oh by the way, did you redeem my reward for using a domain expansion?"

He responds "Yes. You should have them already integrated with your body by the time you wake up."

I tell him "Neat. Thanks for backing my ass up like this El."

He simply answers "It is my duty, host. One that brings me great satisfaction. Now then, do you have any more questions about the update?"

I thought of any questions I still needed answers to, but came up blank. I then inform him "No, I think that much is enough."

"Very well, host. In any case, it seems that our wait is over" El says with a finger pointing at the giant screen next to us.

[Update complete. To celebrate your removal of tutorial mode and unlocking the system in its complete state, you shall be temporarily elevated to a state of «50% system potential utilised» for a duration of 15 minutes. Please have fun and enjoy your abilities.]

"Sweet! This is gonna be fun." I said out loud.

It was then that El spoke up "Host, It seems I shall not be with you momentarily."

Perplexed by this statement, I ask El "What do you mean?"

El explained what he meant to say "Now that you have unlocked this system in its entirety, as I stand right now, I am incapable of serving your needs efficiently. To compensate for this I shall be undergoing a metamorphosis of my own, evolving into a superior form to better compliment your powers. Worry not, as it will only take a few hours. Unfortunately until then, you shall be unable to access the system shops and inventory."

"Alright, no issues. Best of luck to you El." I tell my system.

"I wish the same to you, host. Now I think it's time you wake up." El responded.

As soon as he says these words, my vision is filled with a bright, white light and my thigh starts stinging like crazy as I wake up.

_______________________________________________

"*COUGH!! COUGH!!* Argh!! Ouch that stings! Oh, hello Batman." I say waking up and seeing the dark knight next to me.

He responds to my greeting in an uncharacteristically hurried tone "It's good to see you too, Nostradamus. But we don't have time for chit-chat. The others are almost defeated and we'll need your help to win this."

"What happened?" I asked, my voice turning serious.

He answered my question immediately "The leader of the enemy forces showed up. He'd already beaten some of us when I went to get you. The ones fighting him are probably already on their last legs. You'll need to help."

Understanding the severity of this situation, I speak up "Very well. Let's go."

_______________________________________________

A/N: As always, we have Batman coming in clutch. Also, I wanted to sleep so have the chapter early. Next up, Nostradamus vs Darkseid.