"For example?" Bruce asked quietly.
"For example, your moral sense and sense of justice might become stronger, completely gaining the upper hand without restraint? I don't really approve of letting one emotion hold permanent dominance. That would leave too many openings for you. Take pain sensation, for instance. It may bring you unpleasant experiences, but at critical moments, it can save your life. The Dark Side is the same." Stephen considered it before answering. The answer and analogy were not entirely accurate, of course, but they were enough for Bruce to grasp the meaning and draw further conclusions.
"I use it more to cut away psionic growths, to make people less extreme."
"So it has already been separated from me?" Bruce looked at Young Wayne, who was hunched over on the ground, his face twisted in agony. Though he felt lighter, an indescribable confusion also rose within him.
"He was infected by the Abyss, and he actively provoked it. If you still want to live—live healthily—then this is the only way. Cut it away before it turns around and infects you." Stephen watched the Mental World gradually divide along the fissure as he explained.
With a thunderous roar, the ground between Bruce and Young Wayne split open. At first, it was only a fine crack, but it swiftly snaked outward in both directions. What had begun as a mere slit expanded as though it were cleaving mountains and seas apart, forming a bottomless Abyss.
The manor that carried so many of Bruce's memories and emotions from his youth drifted farther and farther away with Young Wayne as the ground split apart. Young Wayne seemed to realize that he was about to vanish. Streams of black Flowing Slurry burst from his back like fountains, turning into spiderweb-like black threads in midair