Dreamstone
From DC Database
History
Pre-Crisis, the Materioptikon was a weapon designed by the villainous Doctor Destiny, who wielded it against the Justice League, creating illusions of a false world ruled by a fascist League. Its power was so great, it was able to start the forceful integration of Destiny's world into the real timeline. While defeated and separated from the Materioptikon, he was able to simply make another one out of his own dreams. When Destiny then proved he could continue doing this for as long as he could dream of the Materioptikon, the League then resorted to changing Destiny's mind so he could not dream at all, causing his transformation into the monster he later became.
Post-Crisis, the Dreamstone is one of twelve stones crafted by Dream of the Endless. The gem known as the Dream Ruby was the one that Dream poured the most of his essence into, making it is the most powerful of the twelve. The other known ones are a Rose-Quartz, which presumably became the Porpentine, a Fire Opal, a Black Pearl, a Topaz, and an Emerald, which was the least powerful of the stones. Some have been scattered, others destroyed.
When Dream was imprisoned, the Dreamstone passed into the hands of Doctor Destiny by means of his mother so he could escape Arkham Asylum; Ethel Cripps had purloined it from one of her old lovers (one of the caretakers of Dream). Destiny changed it and tampered with it, forcing flaws in the stone and warping it with circuitry, so it would offer the totality of its power to him and no one else, including its former master Dream. He also added more power to it until it became the next generation of his tremendously powerful Materioptikons, reality-warping weapons, so it would use the stone's natural magical energies as a power source.
When Dream tried to repossess the stone he was hurt, repulsed by the alterations Destiny had inflicted upon the Ruby. These alterations had seriously inflicted damage upon reality; this damage could only be undone by Dream, possessing the fullness of his power, which included the celestial energies now contained within the Materioptikon. Destiny of course refused to surrender the stone. Destiny then used the Ruby to escape containment and go in a vicious rampage, ending whe he took over the minds of the people in the Late Nite Diner, toying with them by showing them their ultimate nightmares. Dream arrived, and Destiny destroyed the stone while trying to use it against Dream, incorrectly believing that if he shattered it, Dream would die. Instead, the destruction of the stone released its infinite energies and re-empowered Dream, who proceeded to gently defeat Destiny and gave him back his ability to dream.[citation needed]
However, Destiny was no fool, and by then had the knowledge to create another Materioptikon, one created for him, by him. However, it was heavily flawed; Destiny believed that if he managed to clear at least one full facet of the gemstone, he could use it as well as Morpheus' Dreamstone. While Destiny succeeded in forcing a confrontation between the JLA and him in the Dreamscape, he lost the gem, with his consciousness still trapped inside, to a petty loser named Darrin Profitt, who would use it and the gemstone's flaws in a ploy to dominate the world as the Red King.
It turned out each flaw in the Materioptikon represented an alternate, possible universe, each a terrible threat to the mainstream reality; by destroying each of the six and a half billion flaws, Destiny made it more likely he could eventually escape without damaging reality. Profitt, however, imprisoned Destiny and used these Parallels to forge a successful living by manipulating the stock markets by using the universes as testbeds for his market gambling, not caring about possible consequences. Bored with the pinnacle of wealth and admiration he had created for himself, he responded to a challenge issued by the captive Destiny to conquer the world. Using the gem's flaws, he convinced the greatest scientists on each to create immensely powerful technology easily capable of bringing down the Justice League. Arming himself with the armor and weaponry designed by these men, he became the Red King.
However, he was met with an unpleasant surprise: the four final flaws of the gem were the last, having destroyed all of the others in his ascent. Destiny believed he would lose, and he did, with a coalition of two Justice Leagues tricked him into destroying the gate to the final Parallel after releasing the imprisoned Destiny, leaving him stranded within an artifact he could not use or comprehend at the mercy of Destiny's released mind, who, understanding the Materioptikon like none other, prepared to start torturing Profitt with the powers of the complete Materioptikon. Thus, Profitt forever lost the chance to integrate any of his upgraded selves into the mainstream reality with the Materioptikon, and Destiny, while still imprisoned, now has in his dreamself's hands a fully powered Materioptikon capable of ranking against the Dream King's.
See Also
Links and References
- None.
