Superboy-Prime's experience

"Didn't I tell you that when I enter the Speed Force, not only will my physical speed become unbelievably fast, but my mind will too?" The Flash instantly appeared behind the Trickster, his legs reappearing. "What a Nightmare —but the Trickster wouldn't do things like bloodletting or amputation."

"What?"

"Alright, time to get up. I don't want to be late for work because I overslept." The Flash grabbed the Trickster and ran up a tall building. "So, how do we leave this dream? Jump off this building?"

"I won't let you out!" The Trickster's expression kept changing as he tried to create another dream to trap the Flash, but just then, a giant green Dragon, as if made of Hisui, tore through the clouds and descended.

"Trying to pull the same trick again? I finally found a weakness!" Green Lantern descended from the sky riding Dragon. "Brother, are you alright?"

"Of course!" The Flash lifted the Trickster up. "This guy is the mastermind, isn't he?"

"That should be right, I can't wait to teach him a lesson." Green Lantern let out an evil laugh, conjuring various green instruments of torture in his hands. "Have you ever heard of the Eight Great Tortures of the Qing Dynasty? Blood Eagle, Bamboo Torture, Water Torture, Rat Torture, Spain Donkey Torture, Catherine's Wheel, Nail Torture, Iron Lady Torture, or Bronze Bull Torture—choose one."

"This doesn't sound like something from the Qing Dynasty, does it?" The Flash remarked.

"Release!" Insomnia, realizing his chance to act was gone, decisively dispelled the Flash's dream. "Damn it, you'll find out soon enough, everyone who's awake must enter the Land of Sleep! Otherwise, they face eternal death!"

"How interesting." Green Lantern was about to make his move when he realized he had left the dream realm. The plane was still flying steadily forward, not because of any autopilot function, but because a large blue figure was supporting it from below.

"Superman?" Green Lantern was taken aback. "What are you doing here?"

"I discovered that everyone in the world had fallen into a deep sleep, so I quickly summoned Merlin Mage, Captain Marvel, Diana,..."

"Doctor Roman and Doctor Fate used magic to stop physical time," Superman explained, "But that doesn't seem to work for you, so I had to come pick you up."

"What kind of magical superstar team is this?" Green Lantern said. "Who's awake right now?"

"Most of our Justice League members are awake now," Superman said. "Except for Green Arrow rest, there are also the Deadman and a few Old Gods."

"In that case—" Green Lantern thought for a moment, "That makes things easier."

Gotham City.

The five-person team is still searching for Insomnia's location in reality; Gotham City has been turned into a maze by the monsters manifested in the dream.

"But why do we call ourselves a five-man squad?" Batman asked, puzzled.

"Isn't this quite concise and clear?" Roland shrugged.

"It's certainly concise and clear, but not accurate enough," Sandman said. "I am a member of the Endless, Cain is Vampire."

"That's no longer the case." Cain shrugged.

"Bruce is in a primordial spirit state—which means I'm the only human one here," Roland said after thinking for a moment. "Deadman aren't considered human either—wait, where did the Deadman go?"

In a small, empty theater, the Deadman and Superboy-Prime huddled together.

"What's with Roland's arrogance? Honestly, on stage, it all comes down to who has the best performance!" The Superboy-Prime shared his experience with the Deadman. "Listen carefully to what I have to say—first rule: don't let your opponent have the right to speak. Performances are something you have to fight for—in short, you can't be without a role."

"----Does this feel right?" The Deadman felt that something was amiss.

"Of course, you have to believe me," Superboy-Prime coaxed. "Think about it, compared to Superman, Batman, and the Flash, it's understandable that you're not as popular as them, since they're regulars on mainstream commercial covers, and characters like the Joker and Lex Luthor can also gain popularity by associating with them; but characters like John Stewart, Darkseid, and Blue Beetle, who are considered second-tier characters, are more popular than you. Isn't that a big problem?"

"----Does popularity really matter?" The Deadman's lips twitched.

"I simply can't believe a comic book character who breaks the fourth wall would ask such a question, don't you think?" Superboy-Prime rolled his eyes. "Anyway, although you're frequently active in the Justice League Dark's publications, the new..."

There are also individual issues for characters in 52, but they're only slightly better than those with few appearances, lacking depth, and relegated to background or comedic supporting roles. Their fame is still far too low. Look at your teammates, Constantine and Zatanna are so popular! Imagine if someone asked, "Who's that person standing next to them?" How embarrassing would that be?

"I'm still better Sage of Orqwith, Mighty Heron, Mento, and Doctor Mist, right?" The Deadman curled his lip. "They're the ones who make people recognize them just by showing up."

"Look at the person you're comparing yourself to," Superboy-Prime curled his lip. "Anyway, you should understand what I'm saying. This is an opportunity. This is the Roland Universe; any third- or fourth-rate character could be dragged into the spotlight. You have to seize this opportunity; the time to make a name for yourself has arrived."

"Cough cough----"

The Superboy-Prime disappeared into the small white theater. The Deadman straightened his clothes, put his hands behind his back, and walked out like a professional stage actor.

Greetings everyone!

"In the past, before I was buried deep underground, I was often invited to act in movies."

"However, I refused! The disconnect between me and the audience doesn't suit me—on the other hand, theater is very meaningful to me; I can see the audience and know their reactions."

"Sigh, I can never remember my lines."

"Oh, alright, now I'll present you with today's entertainment----"

"Deadman vs. Sleepless Knight!"

"Who is this guy talking to?" In Arkham Asylum, which had now turned into a labyrinth, the Sleepless Knight punched Deadman had somehow appeared there. "Unless you join the Nightmare World, we won't give up!"

"Who cares if you give up or not, now is the time for the Deadman!" The Deadman charged forward and ripped off the Sleepless Knight's Hat. "Manipulating Nightmare, huh? What can you do to me, the Deadman?"

"Tell us where the Nightmare Stone is, or we'll devour your souls!" The Sleepless Knight's arm transformed into Mantis's blade, cleaving the Deadman in two. "Come on!"

"You thought you found me? Quite the opposite, I found you!" The Deadman laughed, his severed body turning into wisps of smoke and entering the Sleepless Knight's body. "Let me peek into your dream and see what it holds."

Gotham City.

"This isn't the Gotham I know—" The Deadman looked around; the technology here was a bit too advanced. "Strange, Insomnia —where did you come from?"

"Honey, I'm home!" A very cheerful-looking young man walked into the house, wearing a shirt with the Batman logo.

His wife and three children were waiting for him at home. They were all very happy to greet the young man when he returned.

"Dad!"

"Honey, you're home early!"

"Because of a disaster, the Justice League is fighting monsters in the streets," the young man said with a laugh. "They say we need to evacuate, but I know the League will save the world—"

With a loud bang, the young man's house was destroyed by a stray bullet, and he lay in the ruins, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Damn, so that's how it is—" The Deadman frowned. In the explosion, he saw a figure he had only ever seen in the Justice League database, "Evil Batman — the Murder Machine?"

"Darling? We have to leave—no, no, no, no—" The young man dragged his badly wounded body and began searching through the ruins, but as he turned over the piles of bricks and stones, he gradually succumbed to despair. "Help! Help! No— Justice League! Where are you? Please come here! Save us!"

Two weeks later.

Survivor meet-and-greet.

"It's great to have you here today, Christopher, but you seem a little... nervous."

"I haven't slept for days, I've tried everything to keep my eyes open." Christopher's hair was disheveled, his beard unkempt, and he looked utterly dejected. "I was arrested while trying to stay awake while shopping. The Police knew my background, so they released me, but recommended you—I just—can't sleep."

"I know very well that what you've been through is incredibly painful; it's a tragedy no one should have to endure—but you need rest," the psychologist who organized the survivor meeting said sympathetically.

"You don't understand. I see them, over and over again. Every night, I see what happened—every night—in my dreams—" Christopher refilled his free Coffee.

"I sympathize with you deeply, and we are here to listen and support you, hoping that one day—you will forgive the Justice League —after all, they didn't do anything wrong, it's just—"

"Forgive them?" The next moment, Coffee appeared on the psychiatrist's head, Coffee mixed with blood spilling onto the floor. "Just you wait!"

"Oh my god! Someone, stop him!"

Dial 911!

"Help! Help!"

We have to get out of this awful place!

The survivors were stunned by the scene and jumped to their feet in shock.

"You will know what I know!" Christopher picked up a shard of broken porcelain from the ground and charged into the crowd, wreaking havoc. "I just want everyone to open their eyes and see the truth—I think I must lead by example—"

"I will never sleep again—unless the Justice League pays the price!" he said, tearing his eyelids off with shards of porcelain. The Batman Who Laughs at the peeping Deadman, he declared, "This is my dream—this is everything I see when I close my eyes—do you understand now? Do you get it?"

"All I can say is—I'm sorry." The Deadman sighed, but he felt something was off, as if he had overlooked something.

"The Justice League was busy fighting the evil Batman, they were busy saving the world!" Christopher said painfully. "My family was my reason for living, and then in the blink of an eye, they were gone! These so-called world heroes—they put on bright costumes hoping to save the world, but half the time, they create danger!"

Is the Justice League's fault that Batman is evil? The Deadman thinks this is a very problematic statement, but for someone whose entire family was brutally murdered and who has lost their mind, discussing this seems pointless. The Deadman can only offer the dry advice. "Killing them won't bring your family back to life."

"I don't want to kill them, the death of my family is my Nightmare! And then the Justice League made it a reality, so I think I should repay that debt—" Christopher was surrounded by purple lightning, like Demon descended, "But that's not enough! I just want the whole world to see them the way I see them, not as heroes, but as—horrors!"

"You've lost your mind, Christopher. The Justice League isn't the one who caused this—" the Deadman said. "To prevent the Dark Knights from causing destruction, they even opened up a parallel Universe for the battlefield—wait, where did you come from?"

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Christopher's mind was already somewhat twisted, but he still instinctively retorted, "Those evil Batman invaded our world, and that's when the tragedy happened!"

"----You're from the Flashpoint World? Wait, the Timeline there has been rebooted by the Flash." The Deadman began to ponder, but Christopher, ignoring all that, unleashed his Nightmare, "Come witness my own Nightmare; Metahuman in colorful, outlandish costumes are actually quite frightening----"

Three Demon appeared before the Deadman: one had scarlet wings and a body that looked like a skeleton wrapped in skin; another wore a Helmet with ram's horns covering his face and had six arms; and the most bizarre of all was Bat with the lower body of a human and a gun on its head.

"Roland isn't even here. There's definitely a big problem," the Deadman commented.

"Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, let him see what you're really like!" Christopher shouted fervently.

"----It really is the three of them." The Deadman's lips twitched.

"I used to have Nightmare about you all."

"Every!"

"-!"

"Night!"

"I am now your Nightmare!"

"You're making such a big deal out of it, but are these three the only Nightmare you have?" the Deadman scoffed. "Not even Green Lantern or the Flash? Let alone a pathetic second-tier character like me."

"That's right, that's why I said status is very important." Superboy-Prime suddenly said, "See? I didn't lie to you." The most important question isn't—how did you get in here?"The Deadman was stunned.