"There is no weakness in what you've told me," Wonder Woman was saying. "And I'm convinced that they are more than dreams."

Superman looked at her, puzzled.

She continued, "No mere dream, nightmare or not, would affect you so deeply. Some deeper elemental force is at play. And I need your permission to call for help."

"Help? Who will you call?"

"I don't really know. My mother, for one. And perhaps, Nightwing – he's been trained by Bruce. But we'll stop it." Then she continued more firmly, her eyes alight with fiery determination. "We'll put an end to it all. I promise you."

Their eyes met.

Superman said nothing, but his face conveyed a universe's worth of telling - pain, gratitude and relief.

"Diana," Superman said, his eyes hardening into chips of blue ice, "I vow it. I will never fall to evil, not this new force, or to any other. No matter how powerful, or how much it takes to push back. If it ever controls me completely, then you must do whatever you can to stop me. Use the kryptonite ring I gave Bruce. Don't hesitate to use it on me. Stop me."

Diana nodded but she had no intention of taking this ultimate step until she had explored all possibilities. But she couldn't help but be impressed with the force of will and courage and the sincerity that radiated from Superman.

"Promise me, Diana."

She looked into his eyes. Even in the dark of the night, she could see his eyes. Eyes as clear and blue as the sky on a hot and sunny day. Eyes that demanded no compromise. Eyes that would not relent. The eyes of the man she loved.

"Promise me, Diana."

"I promise, Kal."

Superman let out the breath that he hadn't even been aware that he was holding. "I'm not an island, Diana. Together, we are stronger. Alone, I might break or give in. But with you, I feel as if my own strength, my own willpower is doubled. You give me hope, Diana."

Diana allowed all her love for him to show in the smile she gave him. Superman looked at her and smiled back and it was as if a beam of bright sunlight had suddenly arced down from the heavens to light up the rooftop.


Nightwing puzzled over different permutations to Wonder Woman's story. He had been the first person she contacted. He was touched by her vote of confidence in him. After all, she hadn't contacted her mother yet, had she?

Wonder Woman would meet Queen Hippolyta only after she was completely reassured that whatever plagued Superman was not of this world.

As he allowed his thoughts to drift across different data points without forcing an analysis, the way Batman had taught him, he lined up the facts on the screen in front of him:

The events had a strange hold over Superman, playing with his mind, building a tempo when he let his guard down in sleep

The force was insidious preying on Superman's subconscious fears and insecurities

Superman had been under mind control before – i. By Dominus, an alien being who preyed on Superman's greatest weakness; his fear of failing the people of Earth; ii. Right before the Imperiex War and iii. By Maxwell Lord

Nightwing sighed. He hoped that the solution did not lie in some supernatural elements or battles with gods. These factors made him uncomfortable. Like his mentor, he was happier dealing with forces that rested on hard data and followed a logical course of events.

As his subconscious mind processed the data, Nightwing realized that there was something nagging him. Superman's dreams were just that – dreams. And dreams were illusions. It made sense that the dreams would revolve around the recent tragic incidents that had affected Superman deeply. And failing his loved ones, failing the people of earth

was a very real fear that Superman had.

What didn't make sense to Nightwing was that Superman projected himself as the evil element in his dream. Gloating over mayhem and destruction and human suffering.

That wasn't very Superman-like at all.

As he thought about it, Nightwing called up every file that Batman had ever created on Superman. Reading through, he hoped to find a clue.

He stopped at the notes Batman had made documenting the effects of Kryptonite on Superman. And then carefully read the paragraph again.

"Jewel kryptonite was made from the remnants of a mountain range on Krypton called the Jewel Mountains. Though no known effect was seen on Superman, it can be used by Kryptonians in the Phantom Zone to project illusions or perform mind control."