- It would have made little difference. The forge dims by the moment. The creations of the one who laughs have no real souls. They have no hopes, no fears. They think only of winning. In moments, when your friends die, the fire will go dark.
- — Darkseid
Dark Nights: Death Metal #6 is an issue of the series Dark Nights: Death Metal (Volume 1) with a cover date of February, 2021. It was published on December 15, 2020.
Synopsis for "An Anti-Crisis, Part VI: The Truth Machine"
Earth-0, the Metalverse. The Battlefield
Batman and Superman lead their army against the forces of the Darkest Knight, and both agree that these could be all the soldiers he was able to create before they started destroying the Earth, stopping his powers. If they defeat this army, even if bigger in number than theirs, they will get closer to victory. And so they fight, without holding back.
Meanwhile, in outer space, the battle between Perpetua and the Darkest Knight continues. Perpetua understands that in the end her rival will win, so she tries to seduce him into a deal, telling him that if she dies, the Hands will come from the Source and will destroy everything. She does not realize that it is just what the Darkest Knight wants. He tells her that he understands how gods think: they tell humans to follow them, so that they might be saved, but in truth they are the ones in need of being saved, because they know, in their hearts, that humanity can kill them, and with the right chance will. And before killing Perpetua, the Darkest Knight tells her that right now he is talking to all whom pray to their better angels, and he's laughing in their face.
The Darkest Knight, by killing Perpetua, took the last of her powers and now stands as the most powerful being in existence. He realigns the Earth, and so he can keep on creating his Last 52 Multiverse, and with it he brings to the battlefield all his favorite soldiers. The heroes are condemned, but with faith, and a prayer, in Wonder Woman, they keep on fighting, one universe, together...
The way to the World Forge
Wonder Woman and the Main Men, clones of the mighty Czarnian Lobo, are trying to reach the World Forge, immersed in Dark Matter. They are surprised from the fact there are no hopes, no dreams, no desires living in the Dark Matter, as it is the fabric of all possibility. But after all, giving the situation the Multiverse is in, there is really no much to be surprised about. And then they realize: the only thing surviving is pure terror. And it all has the shape of the Batman who Laughs.
Lobo and his clones sacrifice themselves to allow Diana to reach the World Forge, but the journal of Carter Hall, where Lex put his project of the Truth Machine, is lost. Diana is in the right place, with the Element X shards Lobo retrieves, but cannot know what she must create to become able to fight the Darkest Knight. Darkseid and Mobius are also there, after the crisis worlds of the Dark Multiverse were destroyed, and Darkseid tells Diana there is no way she will ever win against the Darkest Knight. But then she thinks about what truth is: something that bonds everyone, and that makes everyone understand he matters, without exception. It's something that binds.
And then she looks at what was always in her possession: her Lasso. A rope which evokes the truth from whoever she binds. She understands what she must build.
Back to the Battlefield
The shadow of the Darkest Knight reigns over the whole planet, and leads the nightmare forces of the Last 52 against the remaining heroes. All seems lost. But then, they all feel something inside: all their past stories, lives, emotions connect together. They are bound to each other, and bound to the truth of their own existence. The knot has been untied. And then she appears, with the power of truth flowing through: Wonder Woman, the mightiest warrior of Earth, ready to face the worst enemy ever...
Appearing in "An Anti-Crisis, Part VI: The Truth Machine"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Abby Arcane
- Bat-Family
- Batwoman (Cameo)
- Catwoman (Cameo)
- Orphan (Cameo)
- Red Hood (Cameo)
- Robin (Damian Wayne) (Cameo)
- Robin (Tim Drake) (Cameo)
- The Signal (Cameo)
- Spoiler (Cameo)
- Claw the Unconquered
- Cyborg Superman
- Darkseid (Post-Flashpoint)
- Flash Family
- Green Lantern Corps
- Harley Quinn
- Ice (Cameo)
- Jarro
- Justice League
- The Atom (Ray Palmer) (Cameo)
- Batgirl
- Beast Boy (Cameo)
- Black Lightning
- Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) (Resurrected)
- Cyborg
- Donna Troy
- Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond) (Cameo)
- Martin Stein (Behind the scenes)
- Green Arrow
- Hawkgirl (Cameo)
- Martian Manhunter
- Metamorpho (Cameo)
- Miss Martian (Cameo)
- Mister Terrific (Michael Holt) (Cameo)
- Nightwing (Cameo)
- Raven (Cameo)
- Vixen (Cameo)
- Katana
- Killer Croc
- Legion of Doom
- Lex Luthor
- Sinestro (Cameo)
- Lobo (Apparent Death)
- Main Men/Lobo clones (Destroyed)
- Sgt. Rock (Narrator)
- Solomon Grundy
- Superman Family
- The Final Swamp Thing (Alec Holland)
Antagonists:
- The Darkest Knight/The Batman Who Laughs (Earth -22)
- Dark Knights (Dark Multiverse)
- The Dawnbreaker (Earth -32) (Resurrected)
- The Devastator (Earth -1) (Resurrected)
- The Drowned (Earth -11) (Resurrected)
- The Merciless (Earth -12) (Resurrected)
- The Murder Machine (Earth -44) (Resurrected)
- The Red Death (Earth -52) (Resurrected)
- "The Fear of the Batman Who Laughs" (Dark Multiverse) (Single appearance) (Construct)
- Groblins (Earth -22)
- Last 52 Villains
- The Batman Who Laughs-like Monsters (First appearance; unnamed)
- Bane (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Black Adam (Single appearance; dies) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Black Canary (Single appearance; dies) (Unnamed)
- Catwoman (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Cheetah (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Clayface (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Deathstroke (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Appears only as a corpse) (Cameo)
- Doctor Fate (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Doomsday (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- The Flash (Single appearance; dies) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Green Lantern (John Stewart) (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Mister Freeze (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Mister Terrific (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Nightwing (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Power Girl (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Red Tornado (Single appearance; dies) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Riddler (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Shazam (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Silver Banshee (Single appearance; dies) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Solomon Grundy (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Supergirl (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Superman (First appearance; unnamed) (Cameo)
- Unnamed Green Lantern (Single appearance; dies) (Cameo)
- The Last Sun (Unnamed)
- Long-Snouted Monsters (First appearance; unnamed)
- The Atom (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Batman (Single appearance; dies) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- The Flash (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Green Lantern (Jessica Cruz) (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Metamorpho (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Shadow-like Monsters (First appearance; unnamed)
- Bane (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Batman (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Catwoman (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- The Flash (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Green Lantern (Guy Gardner) (Single appearance; dies) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Penguin (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Superman (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Skeleton-like Spectre (First appearance; unnamed)
- The Swamp Thing (First appearance; unnamed) (Cameo)
- Swamp Thing Army (First appearance; unnamed) (Cameo)
- The Batman Who Laughs-like Monsters (First appearance; unnamed)
- Robin King/Bruce Wayne (Dark Multiverse)
- Dark Knights (Dark Multiverse)
- Perpetua (Dies)
Other Characters:
- Air Wave (Larry Jordan) (Cameo)
- Anthro (Cameo)
- Arsenal (Cameo)
- Aquaman Family
- Aqualad (Jackson Hyde) (Cameo)
- Aquaman (Arthur Curry) (Cameo)
- Bathomet (Dark Multiverse) (Cameo)
- Mera (Cameo)
- Bane
- Bat Lash (Cameo)
- The Batman Who Laughs (Earth -22) (Appears only as a corpse) (Reanimated)
- Bizarro (Cameo)
- Black Manta (Cameo)
- Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett) (Cameo)
- Booster Gold (Post-Flashpoint) (Cameo)
- Captain Cold (Cameo)
- Clayface (Basil Karlo)
- Deathstroke (Slade Wilson) (Cameo)
- Doctor Fate (Kent Nelson) (Cameo)
- Doomsday (Cameo)
- Dove (Don Hall) (Cameo)
- Dyna-Mite (Daniel Dunbar) (Cameo)
- Giganta
- Granny Goodness (Dies) (Cameo)
- Guardian (Jim Harper) (Cameo)
- Hawk (Henry Hall) (Cameo)
- Hawkman (Carter Hall) (Cameo)
- Human Bomb (Roy Lincoln) (Cameo)
- The Joker (Cameo)
- Johnny Quick (Johnny Chambers) (Cameo)
- Johnny Quick/Jonathan Allen (Earth 3) (Cameo)
- Justice Society of America
- The Atom (Al Pratt) (Cameo)
- Damage (Grant Emerson) (Dies) (Cameo)
- Green Lantern (Alan Scott) (Cameo)
- Hourman (Rex Tyler) (Cameo)
- Red Tornado (Ma Hunkel) (Cameo)
- The Sandman (Wesley Dodds) (Cameo)
- Mister Freeze (Cameo)
- Mister Miracle (Scott Free) (Cameo)
- Mobius the Anti-Monitor (Post-Flashpoint) (Rebirth)
- Ocean Master (Cameo)
- Parasite (Joshua Michael Allen) (Cameo)
- The Penguin (Cameo)
- Poison Ivy
- Red Bee (Richard Raleigh) (Cameo)
- The Riddler (Cameo)
- Scarecrow (Cameo)
- Superboy-Prime (Earth-Prime) (Cameo)
- TNT (Cameo)
- Angels (Mentioned only)
- God (Mentioned only)
- The Hands (Mentioned only)
- Hera (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Dark Multiverse
- The Passage to the Forge of Worlds
- Forge of Worlds
- Last 52 Multiverse
- Post-Flashpoint Multiverse
- Earth 0/Metalverse
- Promethean Galaxy
- Source Wall (In ruins)
- Speed Force (Behind the scenes)
Items:
- Batman's Scythe
- The Batman Who Laughs' Visor
- Batsuits
- Bio-Belt
- Black Lantern Ring
- Bracelets of Submission
- Captain Cold's Cold Gun
- Carter Hall's Journal
- Chainsaw of Truth
- Cryo-Suit
- Dark Matter
- Death Metal
- Truth Machine (First full appearance)
- Drowned's Trident
- Firestorm Matrix
- Green Arrow's Bow
- Green Lantern Ring
- Guardian's Shield
- Harley's Mallet
- Helmet of Fate
- Hermes' Helmet
- Kinetic Hammers
- Lasso of Truth
- Lex Luthor's Warsuit
- The Merciless' Helmet
- Mister Freeze's Ice Gun
- Natasha Irons' Armor
- Nth Metal
- Orm's Trident
- Robin's Battle Staff
- Steel's Armor
- Soultaker Sword
- Tantu Totem
- Trident of Neptune
- Yellow Lantern Ring
- Waterbearers
Events:
- Cosmic Judgment (Mentioned only)
- The Unknotting of the Timeline
Concepts:
- Anti-Crisis Energy
- Anti-Life Equation
- Crisis Energy
- The Green (Behind the scenes)
- Magic
- Omega Beams
- The Rot (Behind the scenes)
Notes
- The story continues from Dark Nights: Death Metal #5 and is continued in Dark Nights: Death Metal The Secret Origin #1.
- The events of Dark Nights: Death Metal The Last Stories of the DC Universe #1 take place the night before the events of this issue.
- Although it will be fully explained only after the ending of the Crisis, Diana alters the timeline of Earth 0 in a major way by unknotting it so that all the events from the main DC Comics history, from the Golden Age to DC Rebirth, have now happened in the same continuity.
See Also