Chapter Summaries

Li Jie led Batman, Superman, Zatanna, Constantine, and Wilson through a magic gate into Nergal's Domain to rescue a captive girl. They survived the first demon attack and continued deeper into Hell, with their route back disappearing behind them.

• Wilson insisted on joining Li Jie’s mission, and Li Jie agreed to let him drive while ordering him to stay with the van if trouble arose.
• Batman and Zatanna arrived with weapons and protective magic, while Superman agreed to guard the gate on Earth and hold it open for the team’s return.
• Constantine drew a summoning circle, and Zatanna opened a portal that would remain stable for no more than thirty-six hours.
• The Batmobile and E-350 crossed into Nergal’s Courtyard, where Constantine warned the team about the hostile realm and its approaching creatures.
• Li Jie used the van’s machine gun to kill a swarm of Flame Demon Minions, and the convoy pushed onward into Hell.

The convoy reached Hell Gotham, where the city manifested the travelers’ memories and guilt, and Bruce and Zatanna confronted apparitions of their dead parents. As the group prepared to enter Wayne Tower, Constantine saw Li Jie readying an unexpected move.

• The convoy approached a twisted version of Gotham as Constantine explained that Hell shaped the city from memories, fears, and guilt.
• Faceless shadows whispered accusations to the travelers, and Wilson saw a man who had once given him free drinks in Florida.
• Constantine identified Wayne Tower as the anchor point where Hell Gotham’s realities converged and said the girl or a passage onward might be inside.
• Bruce saw Hell’s versions of Thomas and Martha Wayne on the tower roof, while Zatanna found her father, Giovanni, trapped behind a window and heard him accuse her of neglecting her magical responsibility.
• Constantine noticed Li Jie straighten up behind the van and began asking what he was about to do.

Li Jie and the convoy destroyed the demonic illusions in Wayne Tower and drove through a grove of tormented souls toward Nergal’s Royal Court. Back at the Hell Gate, Superman briefly left his post to stop a citywide arsonist, then returned after apprehending him.

• Li Jie fired rockets at Giovanni in Wayne Tower, destroying him and the flesh-built walls while Zatanna mourned the fake image of her father.
• Li Jie and the others saw Wayne Tower transform into a grove made of tangled souls, and Constantine directed them toward Nergal’s Royal Court.
• The convoy fought through the grove with grenades as Li Jie joked that unpaid overtime and holiday makeup days were what frightened him.
• Harleen and Poison Ivy offered to watch the Hell Gate while Superman flew off with James Gordon to stop fires in Gotham.
• Superman quickly extinguished the fires and captured the flying arsonist, then returned to guard the Hell Gate.

Li Jie, Wilson, Constantine, Batman, and Zatanna fought their vehicles through the demon-infested Greed Plains in Hell. Constantine spotted a possible route out, and the group charged toward it as their weapons and defenses began to fail.

• Li Jie and Wilson fought off demons attacking the Patrol Van while Constantine used his remaining silver dust to burn flying fiends.
• Constantine explained that the Greed Plains were filled with demons and souls devouring one another, and the living convoy drew the attention of the entire plain.
• Batman ordered both vehicles to charge through the demon tide, while Zatanna maintained a protective barrier and the group expended ammunition against the attackers.
• Li Jie destroyed a lava-covered magical construct with the Cheetah M3, but the two vehicles became separated by a mass of demons.
• Constantine identified a weak point at eleven o'clock that might lead to the next layer, and Batman directed the vehicles toward it.
• As the convoy fought into the heart of the horde, Li Jie killed a ghost and shouted slogans about prosperity, democracy, civility, and harmony.

Batman and Constantine’s group escaped the demon swarm into a strange canyon where Jason Blood and Etrigan could temporarily exist apart. After learning Raven had been taken by Nergal, Jason agreed they should help, but Etrigan demanded a bargain.

• The convoy crossed the canyon boundary, where the pursuing demons stopped, and Constantine identified the place as an interstice.
• The group found Jason Blood reading and Etrigan lounging separately, and Jason explained that the canyon briefly loosened the curse binding them together.
• Batman told Jason and Etrigan that they were searching for Raven, whom Nergal had brought to Hell.
• Jason warned that Nergal’s control of Raven’s power threatened her and the realm, while Etrigan refused to help until Jason decided to act.
• Etrigan reminded Jason that demons bargain and suggested that Jason give himself away.

Jason Blood explained that freeing Etrigan would cost him his life, while Etrigan demanded a duel before helping the group find the girl. Li Jie accepted and activated Divine Possession, which took control of his body and struck Etrigan down with a supernatural blow.

• Jason Blood explained that Merlin’s seal bound him to Etrigan and that breaking it would kill him, while Etrigan accused Jason of keeping them both imprisoned.
• Constantine discovered that Lucifer was not in Hell, and Etrigan demanded that one of the group fight him without spells, guns, or holy relics.
• Li Jie accepted Etrigan’s challenge after Batman offered to fight in his place, then activated his Divine Possession skill.
• Divine Possession took control of Li Jie’s body, and he struck Etrigan with the Nth Metal spear, sending the demon flying and wounding his chest.
• Li Jie stood over the aftermath and coldly called Etrigan a wretch.

Jason Blood led the convoy through Hell as Etrigan, clearing a path to Nergal's vault, where the missing girl's scent led. The group reached a forest guarded by Shadows of the Oathbreakers, and Li Jie and Constantine faced the spectral threats.

• Jason Blood summoned Etrigan, who incinerated the demons blocking the canyon and flew ahead to guide the convoy.
• Li Jie reflected on his brief transformation, while Batman questioned his power and Constantine explained Etrigan's demonic family ties.
• Etrigan led the Patrol Van past the Sea of Hatred and revealed the route to Nergal's vault.
• Etrigan warned that the forest's Shadows of the Oathbreakers attacked people's belief in their vows.
• A shadow's bloody contract caught fire when Li Jie dismissed it, while Constantine taunted the surrounding shadows.

Etrigan and the others entered Nergal’s pyramid, where its darkness trapped Batman and Zatanna in vivid visions of familiar lives. Zatanna broke through her illusion with Giovanni’s guidance, but just as he urged her to forget Hell, someone burst in and slapped him.

• Etrigan smashed open the pyramid gate and led the group into darkness that swallowed their lights.
• Batman experienced a burning Gotham and a Joker-like Robin, then awoke at home and was told he had been dreaming about Hell for two days.
• Zatanna’s attempt to dispel the darkness failed until an apparition of Giovanni taught her to disrupt it through magical resonance.
• Zatanna shattered the illusion and found herself on the balcony of her family’s old home in Venice with Giovanni.
• Giovanni told Zatanna to rest and forget her visions of Hell, but an unseen person burst in, slapped him, and shouted for him to get out of the way.

Li Jie learned that the golden motes were Sleeping Gold Dust, which trapped people in dreams, and began waking his teammates with slaps. He woke Constantine and Zatanna, then used Batman’s own familiar catchphrases to jolt him out of a dream.

• Jason Blood explained that Sleeping Gold Dust dragged anyone who touched it into a dream shaped by their subconscious, and that strong external stimuli could wake them.
• Li Jie slapped Constantine repeatedly until he admitted he was awake.
• Li Jie slapped Zatanna awake, shattering her dream of being with her father Giovanni Zatara in Venice.
• Li Jie hesitated to wake Batman because he feared Batman would retaliate or stop donating.
• In Batman’s dream, Li Jie recited Batman’s catchphrases until Batman recognized the dream and awakened in the Pyramid.

Batman entered a dream shaped by Nergal and confronted a nightmare version of his earliest days in Gotham. He overcame the fear by reshaping the dream and attacking the beast in a mech.

• Brad explained that the darkness was part of a broken dream and that someone conscious could reshape it.
• Batman caught a golden insect and fell silent as he entered the dream.
• Bruce Wayne relived his first brutal failure in Gotham before a giant, monstrous bat crashed through the window.
• Batman recognized the scene as a dream, summoned the Riot Mech, and struck the beast with a steel fist.

Batman recognized that Gotham's idyllic life was a dream and used his will to break free of it. He created a path through the Dream Abyss toward the answers and invited the others to follow.

• Bruce Wayne enjoyed the peaceful Gotham of his dream, where crime had vanished and his friends lived ordinary, happy lives.
• Bruce remembered Superman, the Hell Gate, and the deadline, realizing that his perfect life was a dream he had allowed himself to forget.
• Bruce rejected his imagined wedding and transformed back into Batman in Crime Alley.
• Batman used his will to summon light, shattering the dream's darkness and revealing a path into the treasure vault.
• Li Jie and Etrigan watched as the path formed, and Batman beckoned them to follow him.

Batman and Zatanna entered Raven’s nightmare of Azarath and found her hiding from Trigon, but she refused to believe they were real. Batman signaled Li Jie to use the Sheriff’s parental scolding to reach Raven, and her reaction suggested the plan was working.

• Batman and the others reached Raven’s golden cocoon, and Zatanna’s spell only strengthened its defenses.
• Batman and Zatanna entered Raven’s dream and saw Trigon destroying Azarath.
• Batman and Zatanna found Raven hiding in a shelter, but she mistook them for illusions and refused to leave.
• Batman called Li Jie and signaled him to begin plan B.
• Li Jie snapped Wilson’s belt and scolded Raven through the communicator about her homework, swearing, and school rules, startling her into worrying that the Sheriff would catch her.

Li Jie and the others woke Raven from her nightmare by confronting her with the truth about skipping class, then escaped Hell through her portal. They returned to the Patrol Van, where Li Jie left Constantine behind as the others piled in.

• Batman and Zatanna realized Raven feared Li Jie more than Trigon, and Li Jie’s reminders about Harleen and her skipped math class cracked her dream open.
• Raven woke on the altar and recognized Li Jie, then realized from the demonic surroundings and Etrigan that they were in Hell.
• Raven explained that Trigon had children across worlds and species, and Jason Blood suspected Etrigan might be descended from one of Trigon’s children.
• Raven found that her powers were being interfered with, but she opened a short-range portal and led the group back to the Patrol Van.
• Wilson took the driver’s seat, Li Jie put Raven in the back, and he told Constantine there was no room for him.

Li Jie and his companions fought their way back across Hell while running low on fuel and ammunition. Beelzebub arrived in the form of a vast swarm of flies, and Etrigan recognized him as a formidable enemy.

• Batman removed his Hell-specific Exoskeleton and chose to remain with Constantine as Etrigan flew ahead.
• The First of the Fallen, Beelzebub, and Araziel argued over Constantine’s contracts and the escaped mortals, while Araziel warned that Raven was Trigon’s daughter and the First of the Fallen decided the group should pay a final price.
• Li Jie’s convoy fought through attacking demons as Wilson warned they were running low on fuel and Raven used a portal to bypass two Lava Giants.
• Li Jie and Wilson discovered that only two ammunition belts remained as a gigantic swarm of flies darkened the sky and drove the lesser demons away.
• Etrigan took flight with his sword aflame and identified the approaching swarm as Beelzebub, who had come in person.

Li Jie and the others faced Beelzebub’s overwhelming swarm as Etrigan unleashed a devastating inferno, then stepped aside after the First of the Fallen offered a deal. Just as Beelzebub moved to attack the convoy, Michael’s Flaming Sword descended into Hell and pinned him to the ground.

• Etrigan chanted an ancient incantation and burned away a quarter of Beelzebub’s fly swarm with a ring of hellfire.
• Beelzebub reassembled the surviving flies into a giant form, while the First of the Fallen and Araziel appeared on the Greed Plains.
• The First of the Fallen offered to stay neutral if Etrigan stood aside, and Etrigan reluctantly accepted despite Jason Blood warning him it was a trap.
• Li Jie used Chinese-Style Iai against Beelzebub, but the attack appeared to have no effect, and he collapsed vomiting on the convoy roof.
• Michael’s Flaming Sword fell from the sky and pinned Beelzebub to the scorched earth, shocking the First of the Fallen.

The First of the Fallen and Araziel consumed Beelzebub’s authority after Michael’s sword pinned him, then negotiated with Li Jie over the group’s departure from Hell. Li Jie offered a solution to Hell’s dispute over John Constantine’s soul, leaving the demons waiting to hear his proposal.

• The First of the Fallen and Araziel devoured Beelzebub and divided his authority while Michael’s sword held him in place.
• The First of the Fallen asked the group to leave behind something valuable as compensation for their intrusion into the Greed Plains.
• Li Jie refused to surrender his belongings and offered John Constantine as compensation, but the First of the Fallen explained that he and the other Hell lords all held claims to Constantine’s soul.
• Li Jie offered to tell the demons how to resolve their dispute if they helped the group leave through the Hell Gate, and the First of the Fallen accepted with Etrigan as witness.
• Li Jie proposed that the demons set aside their disputes and pursue joint development.

Li Jie negotiated with the First of the Fallen to manage Constantine’s soul as a productive asset, prompting Constantine to flee while the demon agreed to pursue the plan. Superman brought Li Jie, Raven, Batman, and the others safely back from Hell, while Constantine hid and began plotting how to turn the proposed arrangement to his advantage.

• Li Jie proposed that the demons form a soul management committee that would assign Constantine work and profit from his enemies’ interest in watching him suffer.
• The First of the Fallen was intrigued by Li Jie’s proposal, and Constantine vanished before the demon could act on it.
• Superman waited with Harleen Quinzel and Edward Nygma near the Hell Gate, then carried the battered E-350 and Batmobile and their occupants back to Gotham.
• Li Jie and the others reunited with Gordon and the police, and Li Jie credited Batman and Superman for helping them escape Hell.
• Constantine hid among Hell’s rocks and planned to find leverage or a loophole in Li Jie’s proposal.
• A six-winged angel in the Holy Temple wondered where the sword had gone.

Bob McGinnis tested Oswald Cobblepot’s political instincts and hinted that he could become a powerful ally, while Li Jie returned to Gotham to face paperwork for the criminals Superman had captured. The chapter ended with Li Jie reluctantly beginning the case reports.

• Bob McGinnis asked Oswald Cobblepot about City Hall pressuring him to release the detained Magic Troupe, and Oswald cautiously criticized the decision.
• Bob suggested Gotham needed real friends in high places, exciting Oswald, then warned him that even an elected mayor would need support from officials to wield power.
• Bob advised Oswald not to set his sights so low with Sofia and told him the sheriff was available to visit.
• Li Jie entered his office and found files on more than a dozen people captured by his reporter friend, whom Nygma said they needed to screen and send to Blackgate Penitentiary.
• Li Jie reviewed files on Drew Walker, Garfield Lynns, Floyd Lawton Jr., and Eric Needham before Nygma refused to let him take a break.
• Li Jie gave up on reading Floyd Lawton Jr.'s file and began working through the reports, wishing he had stayed in Hell.

Li Jie negotiated a ten-million-dollar payment from Bruce Wayne, promised to keep Superman from intervening in Gotham, and persuaded Clark Kent to respect Batman’s jurisdiction. Bruce ordered a file on Li Jie without authorizing active surveillance, while Li Jie locked away the check and decided it was enough for now.

• Li Jie and Bob agreed to charge Bruce Wayne five million dollars for the time and harm caused by the Hell incident, but Bruce offered ten million and Li Jie accepted.
• Bruce asked Li Jie to release the Magic Troupe’s people and keep Clark from enforcing the law in Gotham, and Li Jie promised there would not be a next time.
• Li Jie gave Clark a Wayne Enterprises VIP card from Bruce and a luxury motorhome as a gift for Clark’s parents, then told Clark to stay out of Gotham unless there was good reason.
• Bruce told Alfred to record what they knew about Li Jie in a file called “Sheriff” but not to investigate him or activate the Watchman Protocol.
• Li Jie locked the ten-million-dollar check in his office drawer and told himself it was enough for now.

Li Jie reviewed his upgraded skills and spent his saved points on the Revolver card before learning that prisoner Floyd Lawton wanted help keeping his visitation rights and child-support payments. The chapter left Li Jie advising Lawton to find a lawyer rather than a guarantor.

• Li Jie reviewed his skills, noted that he had eight points, and spent them on the Revolver card.
• An officer told Li Jie that Floyd Lawton wanted to discuss visitation and child support.
• Li Jie took over from Wilson and heard Lawton explain that prison could prevent him from paying support and cost him visitation with his six-year-old daughter, Zoe.
• Lawton told Li Jie that he had no surviving family to guarantee the payments and did not want Zoe to lose her mother.
• Li Jie questioned Lawton’s choices and concluded that he needed a shyster more than a guarantor.