Dark Nights: Death Metal Trinity Crisis – 1

Synopsis

A Superman-esque voice talks about crises, which leave a destructive impact and heroes barely emerge victorious to save their universe in time. He states how Wonder Woman is reminding the same to her compatriots and states they have to stop multiple crises simultaneously, with Batman revealing they have to deal with three.

Diana tells everyone that Perpetua is using the crisis energy from three stable worlds in the Dark Multiverse created by the Batman Who Laughs, but she along with Batman, Superman, Harley and Jonah Hex will infiltrate Castle Bat to stop it. She adds that they’ll bring Jarro along to mask their presence. Diana assures Jarro when he becomes doubtful, but states he will be kept in a jar-like psychic amplifier, made of Eighth Metal and glass created from fire-pits of New Apokolips.

Superman soon directs Martian Manhunter and Hawkgirl to take a team to destroy Perpetua’s throne, while also telling the Green Lanterns to take out the antennae imprisoning people. Diana tells others to go to Themyscira as they’ll need them against Perpetua’s forces. Though the Dark Knights are unable to find them because of Jarro, they struggle infiltrating the castle due to the amount of traps the Grim Knight rigged. Superman suggests he fly in, but Diana dissuades him stating they’ll have multiple evil Batmen ready for every hero. Swamp Thing decides to go to the realm the Parliament of Trees despite Diana warning that absorbing them could result in his death. The Parliament agree to help and imbue Alec with the Green from all over the world. This allows him to create an underground path for the heroes to Castle Bat.

As they near the castle’s entrance, Jarro sees the vision of the Batman Who Laughs having become far more powerful and running after Wally West. Diana realizes if he catches up to the speedster, he’ll be even more powerful than Perpetua and will destroy the crisis worlds while they are there. Superman uses his X-Ray vision to see through the tunnel wall when they near its end, but soon learns that the Dark Nights have discovered them. The heroes confront them after they destroy the tunnel wall. Ark, one of the Dark Knights, states that he’s absorbed personalities of all the inmates of Arkham Asylum and offers Harley to join them. She rejects him and pierces his mask with the sharp Joker cards he threw at him. As Batman confronts the Pearl, he states that he wasn’t scared of evil Batmen any more. Pearl while attacking him reveals that she’s actually his mother, leaving him horrified.

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman struggles to beat Kull and remarks that her fighting style is like that of an Amazon. Krull tells her that it’s because she taught her and when she is confused, states Wonder Woman and Batman are her parents. Superman while attacking Black Monday assures Swamp Thing that they’ll win and Jarro states that they are equipped with defenses against mind manipulation. As the heroes struggle against their opponents, Clark tells Jarro to manipulate Castle Bat’s mind and cut them off from the Dark Knights. Jarro successfully does so and Diana after feeling the Alfred Boxes vibrate, states that they are near the portal to the Dark Multiverse. She takes Batman and Superman with her, while telling the others to hang back to guide them out.

As the trinity of heroes travels into a dark passage, Superman senses the presence of an evil powerful being due to being infected with the Anti-Life. Batman lights up a flare and they realize it’s Barbatos. Bruce blames him for their current situation, but Barbatos accuses the heroes of failing to inspire or bring hope to people, which filled the Dark Multiverse with more nightmare worlds than ever. Clark punches him in annoyance while outside, Swamp Thing senses something evil coming and Robin King soon arrives to confront them, telling them he has something special in his utility belt for everyone. The Trinity meanwhile reach the portal and Wonder Woman tells the others to capture the crisis energy from the villains on the crisis worlds. Alec attacks Robin King outside who dodges his attacks, while Jarro discovers that he some sort of blocker defending against psychic manipulation.

The Robin King uses his metallic logo to unleash the Rot he derived from Anton and Abby Arcane’s blood, destroying Swamp Thing’s arm. Harley attacks him in anger and he states how on his world he had tried to killed him with a mallet he uses to strike her. Jonah fires at him while he talks how he killed her and asks if he meant he did it with a gun. Robin King confirms and fires a bullet containing a substance called “Debrider”, which destroys his undead tissue. As Hex dies, Swamp Thing takes Harley and Jarro away. Jarro tells him that he needs to be close to the portal to guide the Trinity out of the Dark Multiverse, and he assures they’ll figure out a way. Diana while travelling with the others in the Dark Multiverse, tells them to focus on their victories in past crises and they soon see the moments they defeated the villains when they happened.

Batman gets attacked by mysterious beings after landing at the world where the Crisis on Infinite Earths is playing out and asks where Anti-Monitor is, but soon finds out that they are the Anti-Monitor himself. Clark while landing at the world of Final Crisis finds what happened there wasn’t how it was supposed to be. He soon gets attacked by a Superman under control of Anti-Life and a tusked Darkseid states that it is how it should be. Wonder Woman upon landing on the world of the Infinite Crisis realizes the moments she’s experiencing never occurred on her world. She soon gets confronted by the same Superman-esque figure who had been narrating earlier. As he notices her realizing the seriousness of crises, he states that they can cause great change very quickly. Stating the Batman Who Laughs had sent him, Anti-Monitor and Darkseid to defeat the heroes on crisis worlds, he reveals himself to be Superboy Prime.