Chapter Summaries

Schiller realized Batman’s passage to the Origin Wall involved metal and feared that his bad luck had set Lucifer and the First Lantern on a collision course. As the multiverse Justice League arrived, Lucifer recognized a pendant on the First Lantern and demanded to know where it came from.

• Reed identified the method used to open the passage to the Dark Domain as the key to understanding Batman’s plan, and Schiller suspected Bruce had used metal.
• Schiller warned that Lucifer and the First Lantern might meet at the Origin Wall, then gathered Strange, Batman, the mages, mutants, and Legion’s personalities to return to DC.
• Lucifer asked Michael to adjust compatibility for visitors from a neighboring universe, then went to the Origin Wall to rescue Bruce, who was trapped in a layered power deadlock.
• The multiverse Justice League arrived at the Origin Wall with the First Lantern leading them, and Lucifer noticed the Lantern’s blue eyes seemed familiar.
• Lucifer asked the First Lantern where he had gotten the pendant around his neck.

Schiller and the others watched Lucifer confront the First Lantern, who was secretly Anatoly, over a pendant made from Satan’s wine glass. Schiller interrupted Lucifer before he could attack, leaving Lucifer caught skipping work and asking how Schiller planned to get Earth down from the Origin Wall.

• Schiller stopped Strange from approaching Lucifer and asked Charles to send everyone the backstory about the pendant.
• The First Lantern returned the pendant to Lucifer and explained that Constantine had told him it held Satan’s wrath, while Lucifer recalled that he had smashed the wine glass while drunk.
• The First Lantern deliberately provoked Lucifer, and Schiller realized Anatoly was baiting him into a fight that could let him escape without being recognized.
• Schiller had Erik bring him over and called out to Lucifer, interrupting his anger before he struck.
• Lucifer asked Schiller what he was doing there, and Schiller confronted him about skipping work on the compatibility issue before asking how he planned to get Earth down.

The First Lantern explained how the group could use Black Lantern power to free Earth from the Origin Wall, but Barbatos’s collision with the wall caused a dark matter shockwave that knocked Schiller unconscious and damaged High Tower. Lucifer attacked Anatoly after seeing the crack, and Charles struck Lucifer with a mental attack before Anatoly stopped him.

• The First Lantern proposed using a corpse as a Black Lantern to gather the power needed to pry Earth loose from the Origin Wall.
• Lucifer argued with Anatoly, and a Barbatos barreled out of the dark passage and crashed into the Origin Wall, unleashing a dark matter shockwave.
• The shockwave scattered the group, knocked Schiller unconscious, and violently shook High Tower, leaving its traits sprawled across the floor.
• Anatoly, Charles, and Strange found the unconscious Schillers and discovered a crack near the top of High Tower.
• Lucifer knocked Anatoly down and seized him, but Main Universe Superman and Charles intervened; Charles struck Lucifer with a mental attack before Anatoly shouted for him to stop.

After Lucifer and Anatoly’s confrontation injured Schiller and damaged the High Tower, Charles treated the others and tried to mediate between the two friends. Lucifer began freeing the threats bound to the Origin Wall, but Anatoly fired his Fusion Cannon, blasting Darkseid, the Black Death Emperor, and Barbatos into the Heavenly Blood.

• Charles treated Agent and the other traits after Lucifer’s blow damaged the High Tower, while Greed revealed that the First Lantern had once been his doctor.
• Charles recruited Reed Richards to help reconcile Lucifer and Anatoly, then stopped the group’s argument by taking control of access to Schiller.
• Lucifer blamed Barbatos for Schiller’s injury and joined Anatoly and the Batmen in deciding to tear down the Origin Wall and free its dangerous prisoners.
• Lucifer freed the prisoners from the Origin Wall and pushed Earth away before preparing to attack Barbatos.
• Anatoly fired his reinforced Fusion Cannon at the Origin Wall, blasting Darkseid, the Black Death Emperor, and Barbatos into the Heavenly Blood and leaving a hole in the wall.

Anatoly’s return was interrupted when he damaged the Origin Wall, and Lucifer sealed the breach with his own body to keep deadly beings from entering the universe. After Anatoly and Lucifer began addressing their past, the heroes turned to the Dreamscape crisis, where Erik revealed that Charles knew a way inside.

• Anatoly punched a hole in the Origin Wall, drawing in Heavenly Blood and threatening a multiverse-level disaster.
• Lucifer blocked the breach with his body, while Main Universe Batman and Strange evacuated the other heroes.
• Anatoly apologized to Lucifer and confronted him about scattering the gifts he had received, and the two prepared to talk over wine.
• Earth returned to its place, and the Justice League regrouped to tackle the Power of Death spreading through the Dreamscape.
• Strange and the others discussed how to enter the Dreamscape and awaken Sandman, but their usual routes were unusable.
• Erik said that Charles had told him he knew a way to enter the Dreamscape.

Charles proposed opening a passage beneath the High Tower so the heroes could enter the Abyss and search the Dreamscape for Sandman, while Schiller watched the activity from the tower. After the first search exhausted the teams, Greed suggested investigating Dr. Hall and the Serpent of Phryne for clues to Sandman’s location.

• Charles persuaded the Batmen to let Jack assess opening a new passage beneath the High Tower, while Strange checked on Schiller and found the Schillers watching from the atrium.
• Jack surveyed the Abyss, and the Justice League built the passage as Schiller watched the visitors and the Off-Duty Alliance argue with Bruce and Batman.
• The teams entered different dreams to search for Sandman, but poor coordination and delayed evacuations left them exhausted and uncertain about another search.
• Greed suggested contacting Lucifer, Constantine, or Dr. Hall, but Batman rejected the first two options and agreed to investigate the Serpent of Phryne.
• Batman found Dr. Hall at the Main Universe Justice League base, where Hall was surprised to hear that the Serpent might hold clues to Sandman.

Batman and the Justice League tracked down Sandman’s palace using clues about his former lover Nada, then persuaded Morpheus to restore the Dreamscape. After Bruce was punished for damaging the Origin Wall and the crisis was resolved, Agent summed up the multiverse disaster as a family melodrama.

• Dr. Hall identified an Ancient Egyptian legend about Queen Nada and gave Batman a Scarabs amulet that could lead to Sandman’s palace.
• Batman and Charles used the amulet to find Morpheus, who agreed to help only if they found Nada, who had returned from the dead.
• The Batmen and their allies decided to replace Lucifer at the Origin Wall with Bruce, and Bruce was arrested and made to plug the hole.
• Pride refused to bail Bruce out, while Lucifer reluctantly joined the effort to deal with Morpheus and Nada’s history.
• Morpheus left to restore the Dreamscape, which soon returned to peace.
• Agent called the chain of events one giant prime-time family melodrama.

Trapped beyond the Origin Wall, Bruce met the creation goddess Perpetua and negotiated for her help while hiding his own plans. Martha arrived to take him home, and Bruce left with her.

• A mysterious voice summoned Bruce, who met Perpetua and learned she was the creator of the universes, exiled beyond the Origin Wall.
• Bruce told Perpetua about Barbatos, Batman, and his plan to form a Dark Knight Legion, and she offered to give him greater power.
• Perpetua tested Bruce with an endless dark tunnel, but Bruce resisted and argued that his angelic identity made him difficult to erase.
• When Bruce heard Martha calling, he demanded that Perpetua return him to his mental domain, and she released him.
• Martha told Bruce that The Flash had secretly alerted his parents, and Bruce agreed to go home with her.

Bruce visited the Battleworld Administrator’s office after reuniting with Thomas and Martha, where he told Greed that he had encountered the creation goddess Perpetua beyond the Origin Wall. Anatoly’s return stirred up old tensions with Lucifer, and Greed pressed Lucifer to admit what had happened between them.

• Thomas and Martha brought Bruce to Battleworld, where he said he would visit the office before joining them.
• Bruce told Greed that he had encountered Perpetua beyond the Origin Wall, and Greed promised to send him information about her.
• Anatoly arrived while Greed was discussing Perpetua, and Lucifer stormed in accusing him of criticizing his drinking with Constantine while befriending Reed Richards.
• Anatoly said his actions had not been for Lucifer, prompting Greed to pull him aside and learn that Anatoly was trying to push Lucifer away to spare him from old grievances.
• Bruce inferred that Lucifer was guilty of something and asked what he had done, while Greed urged Lucifer to confess and hinted that Anatoly had returned to his side.

Greed learned how Lucifer’s conflict with Anatoly had begun and tried to keep Lucifer from running away while they worked out Anatoly’s motives. Reed revealed he had the empty Orrery of Worlds and warned them to investigate Perpetua carefully; Greed then planned to trap Lucifer and Anatoly in a Battleworld escape-room scenario so they would have to communicate.

• Lucifer told Greed that he had taken Soviet soldiers’ souls to Hell, where Anatoly and the soldiers fought him before he returned them to the human world in new bodies, founding Bureau 11.
• Lucifer explained that Anatoly later supported him against God’s arranged fate, and Greed urged Lucifer to stop holding their old conflict against Anatoly and watch for his intentions.
• Greed encouraged Lucifer to mention his own hurt feelings, but Lucifer saw Anatoly and immediately began explaining that Constantine was not a scumbag.
• Reed revealed that he possessed an empty Orrery of Worlds and cautioned Greed and Bruce that Perpetua was different from other mysterious beings and required careful investigation.
• Bruce said he hoped to gain Perpetua’s power and believed his love for his mother had left her with a good impression.
• Reed proposed using Battleworld to confine Lucifer and Anatoly in a scenario that restricted their abilities, and Greed went to trick them into the escape-room setup.

Erik woke chained to a wall in a cell and used a hidden key, a brick, and a crowbar to help Charles escape a flooding water prison. The two reunited through the wall and realized the game would be difficult.

• Erik woke with an iron spike through his collarbone and discovered he was chained inside a cell.
• Erik found a key hidden in spoiled bread packed into a bed leg and used the key to dig a brick from the wall.
• Erik broke through the wall and found Charles reaching through from a neighboring water prison.
• Charles urged Erik to act, and Erik broke a bed leg so the bed would trigger a lever and drain the flooding water.
• Erik and Charles confirmed they were safe, though Charles said he had nearly drowned.

Loki, Harley, and Schiller escaped their restraints and worked to release people trapped in adjoining water prisons. Schiller freed Bruce from the flooded room, and the chapter ended with Bruce breaking through the wall between them.

• Loki detected Thor tapping weakly through the wall and realized Thor was trapped underwater, then searched the bed for a way to reach the lever.
• Harley woke up restrained beside the bed, found the hidden key, and broke the bed leg to expose the lever beneath it.
• Batman freed himself by smashing through the wall and knocking down the lever, releasing water from Thor's prison.
• Schiller used pain to strengthen himself enough to pull the spike from his collarbone, then moved the bed and pulled the lever to drain Bruce's prison.
• Bruce offered Schiller a crowbar, but Schiller realized they needed to break through the wall first and directed Bruce to a loose brick.
• Bruce smashed through the wall and appeared at the opening, while Schiller complained that the blow had nearly hit him.

Schiller and Bruce escaped the flooded rooms and regrouped with their teammates, while the puzzle’s traps forced several characters to endure painful injuries. They searched for the final key, leaving the group still trying to finish the escape.

• Schiller explained how the two-room puzzle required trust and self-sacrifice, while Thor and Loki struggled to free themselves and locate a key.
• Superman followed Batman’s reasoning, and Pamela used Harley’s throwing advice to knock a key down from beside the water outlet and unlock the door to Harley’s room.
• Pamela removed the iron spike from Harley’s clavicle, and Harley got up to search for the last key.
• Charles confronted Erik for dismissing the pain of being injured, while Batman reassured Superman and urged him to keep solving the puzzle.
• Bruce discovered that Schiller had pulled an iron spike from his collarbone with his bare hands and told him not to use pain to skip levels; Schiller asked Bruce to help find the key.

Anatoly freed himself by fracturing his collarbone to remove the shackle, then escaped his cell and rescued Lucifer by breaking through the wall. They opened the cell door but found a sealed corridor, and Lucifer realized Anatoly had badly injured himself.

• Anatoly broke his collarbone and forced the iron shackle off his body.
• Anatoly opened a water outlet between the cells, and Lucifer called to him from the other side.
• Anatoly passed Lucifer a key, then used a Crowbar to remove bricks and make an opening between their rooms.
• Anatoly crawled through and learned that Lucifer’s wings were part of his real-world form, though he could not fly without his powers.
• Anatoly retrieved a key from the ceiling outlet, unlocked the door, and found a sealed corridor beyond it.
• Lucifer noticed the bloodstained collarbone ring and saw that Anatoly’s arm was badly injured.

Anatoly and Lucifer examined a locked bedside cabinet while discussing Lucifer’s difficulty solving problems without divine power. Thor freed Loki from an iron spike, and Erik worked out how to open the cabinet’s ball-bearing mechanism, leaving the drawer unlocked.

• Anatoly told Lucifer that he struggled to achieve results through effort, and Lucifer explained that he had learned to manage his Seaside City bar carefully.
• Loki revealed that his collarbone was locked and that the injury left him unable to stand; Thor freed him from the iron spike and helped him onto the bed.
• Loki reminded Thor that the bedside cabinet drawer had rattled when pulled, suggesting a mechanism inside.
• Erik identified a ball bearing trapped in an S-shaped passage and described how to move the drawer to release it.
• Erik followed the sequence of lifting and pushing the drawer, and it clicked open.

Batman and Superman found a key with an insulated wooden section, while Pamela and Harley discovered the same feature and opened a revolving door. Bruce and Schiller investigated the door for a hidden trap, then discussed their likely future encounters before Schiller realized Bruce knew his memories.

• Batman found a key in the drawer and noticed its hidden wooden section could protect someone from an electrified keyhole, while Superman held the iron spike.
• Pamela and Harley spotted marks on both sides of the doorway, suspected it was a revolving door, and used the wooden part of the key to open it safely.
• Bruce examined the revolving door and suspected its thick panel hid a lethal weapon, while Schiller located a hole positioned to strike a person's torso.
• Bruce and Schiller discussed the other players and Schiller warned Bruce not to argue with Anatoly or Lucifer.
• Schiller described how Anatoly became more capable when his teammate struggled, then recognized that Bruce had accessed his memories.

Schiller and Bruce entered a room through a revolving door while water flooded the passage behind them, and Bruce searched for a way to solve the puzzle. Elsewhere, Batman realized the long corridor was meant to delay them, then he and Superman broke open a blocked drain and used it to survive a flood.

• Schiller reasoned that speed and sacrifice might matter, then entered the room with Bruce through the revolving door.
• Bruce saw water flooding the passage and searched the room’s walls for a mechanism or clue.
• Batman realized the long passage was a delay that gave them time to solve a water-based puzzle, and he turned back with Superman.
• Batman and Superman smashed the object blocking a drain in the Water Prison room.
• The Water Prison ceiling collapsed, flooding the rooms and passage, but Batman shut the outer door and the water drained away enough for them to breathe.

Batman and Superman escaped the flooded rooms by using the drains, while Charles and Erik were swept through a door together. Harley and Pamela also entered the room, solved a word riddle that opened a door, and wondered whether moving a torch revealed another clue.

• Batman explained to Superman how he had calculated that the water would drain quickly enough for them to survive.
• Charles and Erik argued about who should enter next before a flood swept them through a door, with Charles pushing Erik to safety.
• Harley and Pamela were swept through the door while hugging and realized their unusual method had let them pass together.
• Harley used the torch shadows to read the word “BLOT,” found a stained brick, and scorched it with a torch to move the door.
• Pamela wondered whether the torch's new position formed another word.

Loki and Thor escaped the Water Prison after Loki solved the torch-and-stain puzzle, while Bruce and Schiller climbed to the floor above to search for a way forward. Lucifer and Anatoly opened another door, but a needle trap injured Lucifer’s wing, and the chapter ended with an explosion as they prepared to pass through.

• Thor returned to Loki after Loki illuminated the stained tile, and the brothers argued before Thor helped him reach the wall’s words.
• Loki deciphered “Font,” and Bruce and Schiller used the clue to reopen the door and return to the Water Prison room.
• Bruce climbed through the collapsed ceiling and found a ladder for Schiller, then the two searched the dark room upstairs.
• Lucifer opened the door with the key, triggering a needle trap that pierced his right wing, and Anatoly restrained him until he could remove it.
• Anatoly helped Lucifer recover and warned him not to lead with his wings, but an explosion sounded as they hesitated at the doorway.

Anatoly and Lucifer escaped the flooded passage, but both nearly drowned before Anatoly managed to haul Lucifer onto a platform and revive him. As they recovered, they discussed the people and places they had loved and lost, and Lucifer worried he had discarded Anatoly’s wineglass and shell casing.

• Anatoly stabbed Lucifer’s wing with a steel needle, causing him to fold his wings so they could pass through the doorway and use his wingbeats to reach the surface.
• Anatoly dove back underwater to keep Lucifer’s head above the water, then dragged him to a platform and hauled him onto it despite his broken collarbone.
• Anatoly performed CPR, and Lucifer vomited water and gradually regained consciousness.
• Lucifer told Anatoly that he had dreamed of God and the Garden of Eden, and they discussed how love had kept them from taking revenge before leaving what they had cherished.
• Lucifer said he wanted his wineglass and shell casing back, and Anatoly asked whether he had lost anything else.