Chapter Summaries

Su Ming merged the four great Origin Forces but found that the resulting power could not connect with The Source, so he planned to pursue the Force of Connection as a backup route. Before he and The Flash could act, the Adjutant reported that Lex Luthor had called for help from the Dreaming, and Su Ming set out to find him.

• Su Ming told The Flash, Bashir, and Machoke Woman that his combined Origin Force lacked an unknown component needed to contact The Source.
• Machoke Woman and Bashir left after their agreements with Su Ming were fulfilled.
• Su Ming told The Flash that gathering the Force of Connection might let them communicate with the Hand of Creation.
• The Adjutant reported that Diana and Cheetah had heard Lex Luthor calling for help in the Dreaming but had not found him.
• Su Ming suspected Lex's Door Handle of Destruction had made him a target and decided to go rescue him.

Deathstroke rescued Barry from the brides’ increasingly extravagant wedding plans and took him to Luthor’s underground laboratory in Kansas to investigate the time machine and search for clues about Luthor and the Origin Court. The chapter ended with Deathstroke searching aboveground while Barry examined the laboratory.

• The brides planned a wedding at the Hall of Justice, then proposed fast food, a live broadcast, and invitations to guests across the cosmos and multiverse.
• Barry panicked at the expanding plans and asked Deathstroke to take him away, while Deathstroke encouraged the women to make the wedding grand.
• Deathstroke and Barry traveled to the Kansas countryside, where Luthor’s father had founded the Veterans Club laboratory.
• Deathstroke explained that they needed to find out whether Luthor had used The Time Machine and search for whatever he had hidden, even if they could not rescue him.
• Deathstroke sent Barry to inspect the underground laboratory while he searched the buildings aboveground.

Su Ming reassured Barry about marrying four women and showed him how masks could protect their identities if the wedding was broadcast across the multiverse. After Barry found nothing at the cleared crime scene, Su Ming took him through a space wormhole to investigate Luthor’s voice in the Dreaming.

• Su Ming offered to arrange a bachelor party with Wade, but Barry rejected the idea and said he would only celebrate with respectable Justice League friends.
• Su Ming reminded Barry that a masked wedding would show The Flash marrying four women without exposing Barry Allen, and Barry’s worries eased.
• Strangle reported no new evidence at the crime scene, and Su Ming noted that the unused time transporter suggested Luthor was still at the current Time Point.
• Su Ming opened a space wormhole and invited Barry to the Dreaming to investigate the voice Diana and the others had heard from Luthor.

Su Ming joined Wonder Woman, Zatanna, and Cheetah in the Dream Forest as they headed toward the castle to investigate Luthor’s trouble. The group set off together, while Constantine remained unconscious after Diana knocked him out.

• Su Ming located Wonder Woman using the Tenth Metal attached to her head and met her, Zatanna, and Cheetah in the Dream Forest.
• Su Ming gathered the women and Barry onto his Cloak and asked where Constantine was.
• Zatanna said Diana had knocked Constantine unconscious, and Diana explained she had done it because he was being disrespectful.
• Su Ming handed out drinks and snacks, then discussed the possibility that demons or angels were causing trouble, though he had no clear clues and had not heard from Luthor.
• Cheetah thanked Su Ming for helping her regain her human form, then changed back into her Orc form and offered to serve him for free.

Su Ming and his companions visited Dream Castle to borrow Dream’s mask, hoping to use it to investigate a mysterious voice. Dream was away at the Goddess of Night’s wedding, so Su Ming went to retrieve the mask himself while the others stayed behind.

• Cheetah teased Diana and suggested they spar, but Diana postponed their fight until after the group’s business was done.
• Su Ming led the group to Dream Castle, where Lucien explained that Dream had not returned from the Goddess of Night’s wedding.
• Su Ming said he would borrow Dream’s mask, and Lucien admitted he could not stop him from taking it.
• Su Ming told the others to wait with Lucien and walked down the castle corridor to find the mask.

Diana asked Lucien about the search for a new Destiny, and Zatanna described the competing factions’ plans. Barry then revealed that he was getting married to four wives and invited everyone to the wedding.

• Diana asked Lucien whether the Endless Family had chosen a new Destiny, but he said he had heard no recent news.
• Zatanna explained that God, Elaine, Lucifer, and others had plans for who would become Destiny, so the choice would take time unless it served every faction’s interests.
• Barry told the others he was getting married to four wives and invited them to his wedding.
• Cheetah remarked that Batwoman had helped arrange Barry’s unusual marriage, and Barry said the Speed Force had forced him to choose it.

The Justice League discussed Barry's upcoming wedding before Su Ming explained how he would use Dream's authority to trace Luthor's distress call. The group waited for the signal to return, trusting that Luthor would call again if he still needed rescuing.

• Diana offered to attend Barry's wedding and proposed taking Jessica on a bachelorette outing, while Barry asked her to bring his other wives and find out whether any regretted marrying him.
• Cheetah and Zatanna criticized Barry's doubts, and Su Ming suggested inviting Harley to a group beauty-treatment day.
• Barry asked Su Ming to explain the plan to rescue Luthor, and Su Ming asked whether anyone had heard the distress call again.
• After Diana and Cheetah said they had heard nothing, Su Ming put on Dream's mask and said he would use Dream's authority in the Dreaming to identify the next call's source.
• Barry worried Luthor might not call again, but Cheetah and Su Ming argued that Luthor was smart enough to send another signal if he needed help.

Deadpool took over arranging Superboy-Prime’s activities on Earth Prime and pushed the Holy Grail War toward its conclusion. While the remaining participants awaited the next cry for help in Dream’s castle, Deadpool prepared to move on once the event ended.

• The group stayed in Dream’s castle, waiting for Luthor to send another cry for help after the first one reached the Dreaming.
• Deadpool argued with the narrator about being called dirty, then explained that he had filled Superboy-Prime’s night with attacks from Servants to speed up the production.
• Deadpool learned that Su Ming had been buying Barry a house and finding him four wives, and suggested taking Barry to a bachelor party at Margaret Sisters Bar.
• Deadpool noted that only a few hundred Masters and Servants remained, the Holy Grail War could end that day, and Laurie’s path to the presidency was being handled by Adjutant.
• Deadpool planned to stage an alien invasion that would eliminate most participants, give Superboy-Prime a final battle, and secretly determine the winner.

Little Superman saved a mother and child, then kept up Deathstroke’s public-relations plan while waiting for the next crisis. Back at the reception hall, Luthor’s eerie plea for help reached Diana, Zatanna, and the Flash, leaving Deathstroke to wonder why it sounded as though it came from beneath the floor.

• Little Superman cremated a beam-firing donkey, rescued a mother and child, and gave reporters an interview before flying away.
• Little Superman hid behind a cloud, touched up his bruised appearance with makeup, and grumbled about the effort of acting like a superhero.
• Little Superman checked his task list and anticipated Adjutant’s planned alien invasion, which would leave him to confront the aliens after they attacked.
• Cheetah had barely started her second plate of cookies when Luthor’s plea for help sounded again, and Diana, Zatanna, and the Flash heard it.
• Deathstroke asked Lucien whether he had heard the voice, but the butler said he had heard nothing.
• Zatanna and the Flash described the voice as chilling, while Deathstroke wondered why it sounded as though it came through the floor.

Su Ming analyzed Luthor’s distress calls and concluded that Luthor was trapped in the Nightmare Dimension. The group prepared to focus their rescue efforts there.

• Su Ming explained that Luthor’s first cry for help was heard only by Cheetah and Little Dai, suggesting he was trapped somewhere connected to the Dreaming and divine power.
• Su Ming and the others reasoned that Luthor had initially used a medium suited to his surroundings, then found a way to send a signal that could reach humans.
• Su Ming concluded that Luthor had moved from a dimension with strong divine influence toward a place closer to the real world.
• Zatanna guessed that Luthor was trapped in God’s Domain, but Su Ming corrected her and identified the Nightmare Dimension.

Su Ming investigated how Lex Luthor could have entered the Nightmare Dimension and decided to seek help from Dream of a Thousand Cats. He left Lucien’s castle with Barry and the others to find a cat and use its dreams to contact the entity.

• Su Ming considered the Nightmare Dimension’s history and wondered whether Luthor had been drawn there by a token or set up by someone.
• Su Ming asked Lucien how to find the First Dream, but the frightened butler warned him that the name was taboo and refused to help.
• Su Ming decided to ask Dream of a Thousand Cats instead of waiting for Daniel to return.
• Barry joined Su Ming, and the group left the castle to find a cat whose dream could reach Dream of a Thousand Cats.

Su Ming found the Cheshire Cat in the Dreaming and asked it to tell Dream that Deathstroke had arrived. While the group waited, Cheetah set out to prove she could catch fish from the lake.

• Su Ming and his companions followed Strangle's scent to a lake, where they found the Cheshire Cat asleep with a fishing rod.
• Deathstroke offered the Cheshire Cat a fish and catnip, and the cat told him Alice was playing cards in the Duchess's garden.
• Su Ming asked the Cheshire Cat to tell Lord Dream that Deathstroke was there, and the cat agreed.
• Barry and Zatanna argued over whether the lake held fish while Diana petted Cheetah and Su Ming explained the Cheshire Cat's teleportation ability.
• Cheetah dismissed the Cheshire Cat's fishing ability, went to the lake, and said she would show the group how a wilderness expert caught fish.

Cheetah caught a giant catfish and nearly sparred with Diana, but Barry, Zatanna, and Su Ming talked them into eating instead. Su Ming summoned the Dream of a Thousand Cats and asked it to take him to The First Dream so he could seek a way to retrieve Luthor from the Nightmare Dimension.

• Cheetah caught a huge catfish with her tail, killed it, and bragged about her fishing skills to Diana.
• Diana challenged Cheetah to spar, but Barry, Zatanna, and Su Ming persuaded them to put off the fight and share the fish.
• Su Ming put Cheshire Cat to sleep with the Sands of Time, then called the Dream of a Thousand Cats to him.
• Su Ming explained that Luthor had fallen into the Nightmare Dimension and asked the Dream of a Thousand Cats to introduce him to The First Dream.
• The Dream of a Thousand Cats warned Su Ming that seeing The First Dream could drive him mad, but agreed to take him there.

Su Ming invited Dream of a Thousand Cats to visit his Multiverse and discussed whether it could take over the vacant role of Dream. The cat agreed to take him to The First Dream, leaving Diana behind as they departed together.

• Su Ming offered Dream of a Thousand Cats fish, catnip, and a chance to visit his Multiverse, and proposed that it take the vacant position of Dream.
• Dream of a Thousand Cats warned that it might be unable to take over Dream because the Endless were bound to their cosmic system and could no longer contain more stories.
• Su Ming asked about Mother Night's wedding and the dispute over who would take Destiny's position, and the cat said Destiny's successor would be decided by Destiny's arrangements.
• Su Ming worried that the Origin Court might attack Multiverse 1 while he was away, so Dream of a Thousand Cats agreed to take him to see The First Dream.
• Dream of a Thousand Cats said only it and Su Ming could go because The First Dream was hostile to female creatures, and Su Ming kissed Diana before leaving with the cat.

Deathstroke and Dream of a Thousand Cats traveled through layers of dreams to meet the First Dream, an immense Old One whose presence radiated chaos. The First Dream addressed them in an inhuman language, leaving Big Cat to interpret.

• Deathstroke left his teammates with Big Cat and rode it as it used its dream power to travel through shifting environments.
• Big Cat brought Deathstroke into the First Dream, warning him that the Old Ones’ collective dream could mentally contaminate humans.
• Deathstroke prepared himself with chocolate and Felix Felicis, then said the First Dream’s chaotic aura felt familiar to him.
• Big Cat opened the flesh wall and revealed the First Dream floating in space, then completed its request for a meeting.
• The First Dream fixed its eye on Deathstroke and spoke in sounds he could not understand.

Su Ming met The First Dream and learned that Luthor was trapped in the Nightmare Dimension while creatures hunted him for a treasure. After The First Dream opened a passage, Su Ming assembled his team and led them into the dimension to retrieve Luthor.

• Dream of a Thousand Cats translated as Su Ming asked The First Dream whether the bald man in green armor was in the Nightmare Dimension.
• The First Dream confirmed that Luthor was there with a sought-after treasure, but refused to bring him out and opened a passage instead.
• Su Ming agreed to enter the Nightmare Dimension and asked Dream of a Thousand Cats to bring his teammates to him.
• Dream of a Thousand Cats brought over three women and Barry, and Su Ming told it to alert Batwoman if he had not returned after a week.
• Su Ming assigned his team their positions and led them through the White Hole into the Nightmare Dimension.

Su Ming led Diana, Cheetah, Barry, and Zatanna into the Nightmare Dimension, where the group struggled with its grotesque, living landscape. They traveled by cloak over several disturbing regions while sensing dangers in the darkness and checking on Luthor’s condition.

• Su Ming led the group into the Nightmare Dimension through the proper channel, and they arrived in a desolate land where the ground and ruins seemed alive.
• Cheetah vomited from the Old Ones’ foul atmosphere, while Diana helped her and Zatanna studied a wall that had briefly revealed blood-red eyes.
• Diana asked Su Ming to send Cheetah out, but Cheetah refused to leave and vowed to support Diana once she adapted.
• Barry sensed something watching from the distant forest, and Su Ming agreed that the group should move on while noting that Luthor was still intact but tense.
• Su Ming took everyone aboard the Cloak of Levitation and flew them over an abandoned church, a blood-red river, a barren region of malformed plants, and a fog-shrouded swamp.

Su Ming led the nauseated team across the Nightmare Dimension toward the city where Luthor was hiding, using chocolate and music to help them recover and resist the Old Ones’ influence. The group reached the city’s outskirts, preparing to land and find Luthor while guarding their sanity.

• Deathstroke’s teammates vomited over the flying carpet as they passed the grotesque landscape, where their vomit grew tumors and mushrooms.
• Diana, Cheetah, Barry, and Zatanna recovered enough to eat chocolate, and Zatanna complained that John had lied about the Nightmare Dimension.
• Zatanna heard a buzzing sound that the others could not hear, so Su Ming gave her headphones and music to counter the Old Ones’ murmurs.
• Su Ming located the city where Luthor was hiding and directed the group toward it.
• Su Ming warned the team that preserving their sanity was essential to escaping the Nightmare Dimension and prepared the carpet to land.

The Hand of Creation tried to overwrite Multiverse 1 with a new Multiverse, but the God of the Future and another force briefly intervened. After the new Multiverse collided with Multiverse 1, the Adjutant revealed that she had moved Multiverse 1 into the 40K Multiverse and ordered Deadpool to investigate the Hand of the Void in Multiverse 2.

• The Hand of Creation forged a new Multiverse from Tenth Metal and hurled it toward Multiverse 1 to overwrite it.
• The God of the Future seized the newborn Multiverse and repeatedly attacked the Hand of Creation, but a black hand intervened and stopped her.
• The Hand of Creation recovered the newborn Multiverse and sent it crashing into Multiverse 1.
• The Adjutant told Deadpool that she had used the Sheriff's backup emergency extraction plan to teleport Multiverse 1 into the 40K Multiverse.
• The Adjutant ordered Deadpool to go to Multiverse 2 and investigate the Hand of the Void, and Deadpool agreed while demanding extra pay.

The Adjutant explained that the Sheriff was unreachable inside the Nightmare Dimension while she coordinated disaster relief, and Deadpool prepared to travel to Multiverse 2. Meanwhile, Deathstroke and the others were caught in violent tremors inside the Nightmare, with Zatanna fearing they might encounter an Old One.

• The Adjutant told Deadpool that contact with the Sheriff had been lost in the sealed Nightmare Dimension and that the Council of the Sky was researching dream communication.
• Deadpool discussed extra pay, joked with the Adjutant, and agreed to head to Multiverse 2 while she handled Little Superman.
• The Adjutant suggested Deadpool might lure the Hands of Creation to Multiverse 2, but he left after joking about his chances of outrunning them.
• Deadpool activated his repaired Teleportation Belt to travel to his chosen time and place.
• Deathstroke and the others felt violent tremors after landing in a Nightmare city, and Diana and Zatanna reacted warily to the disturbance.