The Sandman – Ep05 – 24/7
Now in possession of the ruby, John takes refuge in a local diner. There, he uses the ruby’s power to prevent the patrons and staff (and the world at large, shown via the television) from being able to lie in an experiment to see if a world without lies would be a better one, eventually driving them to give up on their aspirations, give into their base desires, and either murder each other or commit suicide. Morpheus arrives and transports John to the realm of dreams where John appears to use the ruby’s power to defeat Morpheus. Crushing the ruby in his hand, John exults in his victory before Morpheus reveals himself and tells him that by destroying the ruby, its power was released back into its true master which is Morpheus. John says that he just wanted to stop all the deception and treachery in the world, but Morpheus tells him that people can’t have dreams if they can only experience the truth. Without hopes and dreams people can aspire to, life is not worth living. Taking pity on John, Morpheus returns him to the institution, seemingly in a state of long-term sleep. Elsewhere, Morpheus’s sibling Desire plots against him.