Their plan had succeeded. Though the target had not been Batman, it was close enough. After all, they were returning to the same base. If Batman noticed anything unusual, he would certainly notice that something was off with Hal as well.
Steve had not initially supported the plan. No matter what, the Crystal counted as a Divine Artifact. Handing it over so casually really did seem like aiding the enemy. But Charles quickly persuaded him. "Think about it. If it were actually something good, even if we didn't want it, Schiller would. We already said we could study it together with Tony, but Tony refused, and Schiller never expressed any interest. That proves it really isn't useful."
Steve thought that made sense. Schiller was best at turning trash into treasure. He was always saying that "garbage is just resources put in the wrong place." If even he was not interested, then the thing was probably genuinely useless.
What made it unique was that its functions sounded incredibly powerful, and its appearance was intimidating enough to make it look like something extraordinary. Even if Batman figured it out and could activate it, he would never use it lightly. He was only here to train troops, not because he was some terrorist. Why would he want to destroy the universe?
He could not use it, could not return it, and would still have to bear the risks and curses it might bring. All that could be said was that no matter where he went, Batman always found himself trapped between two impossible choices. The Joker was still after him.
Back to the situation on the battlefield. Hal had actually noticed something. When he emerged from the other side of the portal, he felt a huge chunk of his energy vanish at once.