Chapter Summaries

Dane returned from Krypton, reunited with Diana and Zatanna, and reviewed the Justice League’s recent activities before heading to rest with Harley and Poison Ivy. The chapter ended as Constantine arrived while Dane was checking intelligence on Kandahar.

• Dane gathered green Kryptonite from the remains of Krypton, set up a Portal, and searched for Kryptonian technology before returning to Oa Star and Earth.
• Dane reunited with Diana, apologized for disappearing, and stayed at her home for a week.
• Dane went to Zatanna’s show, embraced her, and spent a week with her after their relationship changed.
• Dane reviewed reports on Clark, Gotham, and Barbara’s forming team, which included Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Huntress, and Black Canary.
• Dane planned to rest at Harley and Poison Ivy’s residence, then later reviewed intelligence on Kandahar at Justice Hall when Constantine suddenly arrived.

Constantine told Dane how he had sought Lucifer’s help against Gabriel and discovered that Dane already owned his soul through a signed contract. Dane then met Angelus in Los Angeles and went to Lucifer’s bar, where Lucifer greeted him as a new god of death.

• Constantine explained that Angela had hired him to investigate her sister’s suicide, leading him to uncover Gabriel’s plan and seek Lucifer’s help.
• Lucifer defeated Gabriel and demanded Constantine’s soul, but Constantine learned Dane already owned it through their contract.
• Dane reassured Constantine that keeping his soul protected him from magical misfortune and persistent creditors.
• Dane teleported to Los Angeles, met Angelus, and went with her to Lucifer’s bar, Lux.
• Lucifer greeted Dane as a new god of death, and Dane recognized that Lucifer had arrived as a diminished avatar.

Dane learned that his future existence was already confronting Lucifer’s true form across the timeline, then agreed to hear Lucifer’s offer involving Constantine’s soul. The offer was a divine artifact called the Sand of Dreams.

• Dane asked Angelus where Gabriel was staying, and she readily gave him the location.
• Lucifer stopped Dane from leaving and explained that he wanted to trade John Constantine’s soul for something.
• Lucifer offered Dane a divine artifact in exchange for handling the deal, and Dane eagerly asked what it was.
• Lucifer named the artifact the Sand of Dreams, one of Sandman’s three divine artifacts.

Dane negotiated with Lucifer for the Hell Key, agreeing to retrieve a Dream Artifact first so he could take over as Lord of Hell. After leaving Lux with Angelus, Dane went to the entrance of a dilapidated church to find Gabriel.

• Dane recognized Constantine as the person carrying one of Morpheus's artifacts and decided to claim the Dream Artifacts without killing Morpheus.
• Dane demanded Lucifer's Hell Key as payment, and Lucifer warned him that he would need a Dream Artifact to gain the demons' respect and face gods from other dimensions.
• Dane accepted Lucifer's terms and made a gentleman's agreement with him.
• Dane left Lux with Angelus, asked her for Gabriel's exact address, and told her to stay behind.
• Dane vanished and reappeared outside a dilapidated church.

Dane confronted Gabriel in a dilapidated Los Angeles church and learned that she had uncovered widespread corruption within the church. As he considered asking her to join the Justice League, black-robed mages arrived to punish her, and Dane hid to watch what happened.

• Dane revealed his divine power to Gabriel and demanded that she explain why she remained in the mortal world.
• Gabriel told Dane that she had investigated church corruption, uncovered abuses and other atrocities, and moved into a ruined church rather than stay among blasphemers.
• Gabriel explained that Angelus had supported her because she could not manage daily life as a mortal.
• Black-robed mages broke into the church and declared that Gabriel would face God's punishment for defying the Lord's will.
• Dane concealed himself while the mages confronted Gabriel, and their leader took out a silver incense burner bound to his arm.

Dane entered the Dreamlands to rescue Gabriel after the church banished her into Nightmare’s territory. He encountered Arthur Curry in a marine creature’s dream and asked him to use his ability to communicate with sea life to help locate Gabriel, but Arthur was unsure whether it would work.

• The church’s black Wizards banished Gabriel to the Dreamlands, and Dane killed them and searched their memories to learn where she had gone.
• Dane used the Wizards’ incense burner to enter the Dreamlands and found himself in a vast dream filled with marine life.
• Dane rode a blue whale through the dream and found Arthur Curry floating nearby.
• Dane kept Arthur from waking and explained that they were inside the world of dreams.
• Dane asked Arthur to use his ability to communicate with marine life to help find Gabriel, but Arthur said the ability was unreliable and he had never tried it in a dream.

Dane used Arthur's sea-creature communication ability to find and defeat Grolab, the Dream Lord tormenting Mary Bromfield. After rescuing Mary, Dane sent her home and recruited Arthur into the Justice League, then asked whether Arthur had ever met his mother, Queen Atlanna.

• Dane explained that Arthur's ability came from Poseidon's divine authority and guided him in forming a psychic network among sea creatures.
• Dane found Grolab, stripped it of its power, and trapped its soul in a torture nightmare.
• Dane rescued Mary Bromfield, promised to answer her call for help in genuine danger, and sent her out of the Dreamscape.
• Arthur chose to return to the real world, then agreed to join the Justice League after Dane offered to help him master his powers and mentioned unlimited booze.
• Dane asked Arthur whether he had ever met his mother, Queen Atlanna.

Dane rescued Gabriel from the Nightmare Territory and brought her to the Rock of Eternity, where she recovered and agreed to make a deal with him. After learning that Queen Atlanna was alive in a hidden realm, Arthur was left to process the news while Dane pursued his other goals.

• Dane told Arthur that Queen Atlanna had been exiled and was still alive in a hidden realm, then offered to help him find her.
• Dane searched Big Head Nightmare’s memories, freed Grolab’s captives, and used the Nightmare Territory’s coordinates to enter the realm.
• Dane found Gabriel trapped in the Nightmare Territory and brought her back to safety.
• Dane helped Gabriel recover with Dream Power, and she dreamed that God had Dane Davis’s face.
• Gabriel woke on the Rock of Eternity, recognized Dane as Shazam, and signed his magical contract after he offered her power to fight the church.

Dane deceived Constantine into helping him track down the Sand of Dreams, which had merged with Rachel and turned her house into a dreamscape. After capturing its soul through a contract, Dane began transforming it into a puppet under his control.

• Dane told Constantine that Lucifer had demanded three ancient artifacts in exchange for Constantine's soul, then persuaded him to help find the Sand of Dreams.
• Constantine searched his old house and discovered that his ex-girlfriend Rachel had taken the bag of sand years earlier.
• Dane used a Tracking Spell to bring Constantine to Rachel's abandoned house, where a dreamscape made Constantine forget who he was.
• Dane used Dream Power to tear away the illusion, revealing the Sand of Dreams merged into the house's flesh-covered walls.
• The Sand of Dreams offered Dane its soul to avoid being taken, and Dane bound it to himself with contract magic.
• Dane pulled out the Sand of Dreams' soul and began crushing it into a puppet that would obey him completely.

Dane saved Rachel by arranging for her to receive a cloned body, then traded the Sand of Dreams to Lucifer for the Hell Key. He entered Hell to find Sandman’s helmet and arrived at Beelzebub’s territory.

• Dane subdued the Sand of Dreams and found Constantine’s ex-girlfriend Rachel gravely injured.
• Dane halted Rachel’s death and transported her to Krypton, where he ordered Cortana to clone a healthy body for her.
• Dane gave Lucifer the Sand of Dreams and received the Hell Key, then asked about Coronzon’s location.
• Lucifer directed Dane to Beelzebub and Azazel, and Dane immediately used the key to enter Hell.
• Dane defeated the gatekeeper Squat Tumor and flew across Hell to Beelzebub’s pitch-black valley.

Dane killed Beelzebub, found Coronzon, and acquired Morpheus's helm before challenging Morpheus over control of the Dreaming. He left Hell expecting Beelzebub's death to spark a new war among the demons.

• Dane blinded Beelzebub with Holy Light, put it to sleep with Dream Sand, killed it with the Kiss of Death, and searched its memories for Coronzon's whereabouts.
• Dane found Coronzon dreaming of Heaven and his family, then used Dream's Helm to give him a peaceful dream in his own Dreamscape.
• Dane used Morpheus's helm to observe the Dreaming and told Morpheus he had obtained nearly all of his divine artifacts and intended to compete for the realm.
• Morpheus accepted Dane's challenge and set out to find loyal servants and other help while his power remained diminished.
• Dane left Hell, shut its gates, and anticipated that Beelzebub's death would trigger a new war among the demons.

After Azazel’s summons emboldened rival Demon Lords to plot against him, Dane learned that Diana’s 1984 Wishing Stone might have been the Dream Stone. He joined Batman in Gotham to stop civilians caught in a magical illusion, then watched Hawkman and a similarly equipped woman arrive as the crisis continued.

• Azazel summoned Hell’s demons as Satan, and Satan, Aym, Belial, Asmodeus, and Crateis gathered to plot his murder.
• Dane asked Diana about the Wishing Stone, and she explained that Max had relinquished its power before Dane told her about the Dream Stone and The Endless.
• Batman called Dane to Gotham, where civilians were attacking one another under a magical illusion that made them see demons.
• Dane used sand from a black pouch to put the affected civilians to sleep and warned Batman that the Justice League should avoid the magical incident.
• Dane failed to locate the spellcaster with a Tracking Spell, then saw Hawkman and a second winged hero arrive in Gotham.
• Hawkman examined the unconscious civilians as the strange power affected his senses, and Hawkwoman landed nearby.

Shazam stopped Hawkman and Hawkwoman after the Dreamstone’s magic made them mistake each other for enemies, then helped protect Gotham from the spreading illusions. He took Diana and Shayera to Los Angeles to ask Lucifer for help finding the Dreamstone, while Batman stayed behind to guard Gotham.

• Shayera Thal confronted Hawkman over his Nth Metal, but the Dreamstone’s illusion made each mistake the other for a demon, and they fought.
• Shazam subdued both warriors, drew Shayera into a dream, and learned she was a Thanagarian detective who claimed to have crashed on Earth while pursuing a criminal.
• Shazam removed the magic from Shayera, while Hawkman remained unconscious in a pit.
• Shazam introduced Shayera to Diana and Batman, then created a dream space around Gotham to weaken the Dreamstone’s influence.
• Batman stayed in Gotham to watch for villains, while Shazam took Diana and Shayera to Lucifer’s bar in Los Angeles to seek help finding the Dreamstone.

Dane learned that John Dee had the Dreamstone and that Morpheus was already searching for it, while Morpheus was caught by the altered gem and Doctor Fate emerged from John Dee. Days later, as chaos spread through Gotham, Batman confronted Damian about his secret crime-fighting, and Dane exposed Damian as Rich N.

• Dane persuaded Lucifer to summon The Three Fates, who revealed that John Dee had the Dreamstone, was in Brute’s dream within Jedediah Walker’s dream, and that Morpheus had already asked about the gem.
• Morpheus found Brute and John Dee in a small dream, absorbed Brute’s power, and tried to reclaim the Dreamstone from John Dee.
• The altered Dreamstone drained Morpheus’s power, and Doctor Fate emerged from John Dee’s body and killed him.
• Several days later, Dane and the Justice League discussed the worsening chaos as Batman and Nightwing pursued Gotham’s criminals, while Damian slipped into Justice Hall using Batman’s teleporter.
• Batman called in and told Damian he knew about his secret activities and would deal with them when Damian returned.
• Dane teased Damian about being Rich N, prompting everyone present to recognize him as the anonymous livestreamer.

Morpheus joined Dane and the Justice League to stop Destiny from using the Dreamstone, and Dane turned the battle into a clash between dreams. Gotham became isolated and dreamlike, leaving its residents increasingly frightened as the Doomsday Cult resurfaced.

• The Justice League confronted Damian, but Morpheus appeared and told Dane that Destiny had stolen the Dreamstone from him.
• Morpheus offered to help locate the Dreamstone, and he and Dane agreed to compete for it after retrieving it.
• Morpheus located Destiny in Gotham, where Dane and the Justice League attacked him, but the Dreamstone shielded him.
• Dane warned the heroes not to attack the Dreamstone and used Dream Sand to amplify Destiny's dream power, making reality and dreams clash.
• Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Penguin noticed Gotham's strange changes and headed toward a distant roar as the city became cut off from the outside world.
• Gotham's residents lost their sense of time and grew fearful, while the Doomsday Cult began preaching again.

The Justice League and the Birds of Prey fought Destiny inside Gotham’s dream after the Dreamstone empowered him. Destiny grew into a giant and attacked the city, while the Birds of Prey rushed to confront him.

• The Birds of Prey decided that Gotham was a dream and set out to find and defeat the person behind it.
• Destiny used the Dreamstone to overpower Superman and repel the Justice League’s attacks, while Batman comforted the guilt-stricken Clark.
• Dane and Clark broke Destiny’s barrier and crushed him, but the Dreamstone restored his body.
• Destiny grew into a giant, and the Birds of Prey headed toward him after defeating villains across the city.
• Destiny stomped through Gotham, causing buildings to collapse and burying members of the Doomsday Cult.

Dane and the Justice League defeated Destiny in the Dreamscape, and Dane took the Dreamstone back to restore Gotham to reality. He then challenged Morpheus to a contest of words and pulled them both back into the Dreamscape, leaving the others to help the people waking up.

• The Birds of Prey joined Dane's fight against Destiny, with Poison Ivy restraining the giant and Black Canary stunning him with a sonic blast.
• Dane seized the Dreamstone from Destiny and stabbed his heart with Kiss of Death, killing him as Morpheus watched.
• Dane used the Dreamstone to restore Gotham's normal appearance and return everyone to the real world.
• Dane explained to Morpheus that he had involved others because even the powerful needed companionship, improving Morpheus's opinion of him.
• Dane challenged Morpheus to a contest of words and used the Dreamstone to bring them both back to the Dreamscape.
• Wonder Woman noticed that people trapped in the dream were waking up, while Batman and the others considered what to do next.

Dane confronted Morpheus in the Dreaming and used a contest of concepts to show that The Endless did not own the forces they represented. He left Morpheus furious and warned that he had no standing to demand a fair contest while Dane held his artifacts and power.

• Gabriel used her golden wings and Valkyrie armor to purge the Doomsday Cult, while Lucifer arrived too late to watch Dane and Morpheus because they had entered an unknown dream.
• Dane proposed that he and Morpheus name the seven most powerful forces, and Morpheus began with Madness and Despair.
• Dane countered Morpheus's concepts with Order and Hope, confusing Morpheus by manifesting equal and opposite powers.
• Dane explained that The Endless embodied both sides of their concepts and argued that they had misunderstood their relationship to the forces they represented.
• Morpheus accused Dane of deceiving him, and Dane admitted he had no intention of competing fairly while Morpheus was weaker and his artifacts were in Dane's possession.

Dane negotiated with Morpheus over the Dreamstone and took charge of dreams of inspiration, then returned to Gotham as the city struggled with the chaos caused by the dream crisis. He discovered that Hawkwoman was fighting Gabriel after Gabriel slaughtered Doomsday Cult fanatics.

• Dane persuaded Morpheus to let him govern dreams of inspiration while returning the Sand of Dreams and helmet and keeping the Dream Stone.
• Morpheus explained the Dreamstone’s limits, and Dane considered using it to create experimental environments and technology within the Dreamscape.
• Dane returned to reality after choosing to control inspiration dreams, while Morpheus set out to address the Dream Vortex.
• Dane found Lucifer waiting in Gotham, then observed Justice League members arresting people affected by the dream crisis.
• Dane realized Hawkwoman was fighting Gabriel because Gabriel had killed Doomsday Cult fanatics who charged her, believing their Lord would protect them.

Gabriel and Hawkwoman fought after mistaking each other for threats, until Dane stopped them and introduced them to the gathered heroes. After explaining how he planned to secure the Dreamstone, Dane set his sights on Kandahar, though he first needed to placate Diana.

• Hawkwoman attacked Gabriel, and the two fought fiercely until they were both knocked unconscious by the collision of their Nth Metal weapons.
• Dane caught Gabriel and Hawkwoman as they fell, then stopped them from resuming their fight and brought them back to Gotham.
• Dane introduced Hawkwoman as a Thanagarian willing to join the Justice League and identified Gabriel as an angel who would pursue her own affairs.
• Dane told Batman and the others that he had taken control of a small dream realm and would store the Dreamstone there.
• Dane chose Kandahar as his first target for the Dreamstone but planned to placate Diana before acting.