The spatial passage opened by the Monitor was darker than any before. The light along its edges was so faint it was nearly invisible, as though some force had absorbed it during the opening, leaving only a barely discernible outline. Standing before the entrance, Ian could feel that the air seeping from the rift neither moved nor felt dry or damp. It was more like a medium stripped of every perceptible property.
"This universe's boundaries have already been contaminated," the Monitor said. "We can only enter once. After that, the passage will fail."
"How do we leave after it fails?" Wally asked.
"We reopen an exit ourselves."
Ian asked no further questions and stepped into the passage. The others followed behind him, passing through the boundary as it slowly contracted.
The moment he landed, he felt the ground beneath his feet. It was neither hard nor soft, like some material that had been used too many times and lost its original properties, with nothing left to wear away or consume. When his foot came down, the surface neither sank nor rebounded. It only left a brief mark at the point of contact before slowly returning to its former smoothness.
Smallville Superman and Wally entered the area one after another. Wally did not move immediately after landing. He scanned the surroundings, as though checking whether entering this place had disrupted his senses. Only after doing so several times did he return to normal. "The spatial stability here really isn't very good."
The elderly Aquaman stood at the rear of the group with his trident in hand. His gaze swept across the terrain. The plants were grayish and dim, some having already lost their original shapes, their edges blurred as though a slowly melting waxy shell covered their surfaces.
There were also