Everything was just as Clark saw it—a Source Wall stood there, with countless giant statues piled atop one another like a human pyramid, their eyes glowing ominously.
"They are trying to communicate with me. I can feel life within them." J'onn flew swiftly, hovering before the giants and observing their statue-like faces.
"Be careful, J'onn. I can't be sure they're not dangerous." Superman warned, clearly uneasy with the unknown.
When these things were still part of the Source Wall, anyone who made contact with it would become petrified, becoming part of the Source Wall, sealed away as an unknown legend in the DC Universe.
Now that they had fallen to the ground, there was still no guarantee they had lost their petrifying powers.
"Don't you understand yet? The Totality is trying to communicate. I can read their thoughts." J'onn strangely disregarded Clark's suggestion, extending his hand slowly towards one of the statues.
"Take it easy, J'onn." Clark maintained some distance; if anything happened to J'onn, he could still save him in time.
"No, I can't take it easy, Clark." J'onn smiled strangely. "This is a leap for the world—we must trust the positive intentions behind it. I have to see it for myself."
His red eyes glowed as he activated his psychic powers, linking his mind to those before him and connecting with the Totality behind the wall.
He turned their chaotic noise into a Martian gospel, with symbols his brain could comprehend, just as he had done before.
He hoped for some sort of reassurance, comfort, or hope from it.
However, things were completely different from what he had imagined. He did indeed see some symbols.
He saw humanity's end, saw everything destroyed, saw his family turned to ashes in flames...
He saw a nightmare.
"No! What am I seeing?" J'onn quickly withdrew his hand, stumbling backward. Before his eyes, the giant statue came to life.
In a voice that sounded human, it shouted.
"You! The most abhorrent thing, you must be destroyed!"
"Get away from there, J'onn!" Superman flew towards him immediately, trying to save his teammate: "This is another defense mechanism!"
The giant statue's arms had originally been spread in a cross against the wall, but now they moved, their massive hands swinging towards Superman and Martian Manhunter like walls, trying to crush them.
J'onn found that he couldn't break the psychic connection—the strange thoughts of these statues stayed linked with his mind.
"No! Get out of my head!"
His eyes shot out red beams, and he punched the giant hand with all his might.
There was a theory that these statues, trapped in the Source Wall, were once multiversal-level beings—like Darkseid's father, Yuga Khan, or some deranged alternate Superman.
J'onn's powerful punch, strong enough to shatter mountains, had no effect on the statues. They simply swatted at him like trying to catch a mosquito.
More and more statues in the distance were awakening.
"J'onn, what did they say to you? Tell me!" Clark yelled as he deflected another massive hand, flying up and punching the statue in the chin. The mysterious being only moved its head slightly.
Before J'onn could answer, the giant, its head knocked back by Clark, immediately fired a beam from its eyes. The powerful energy burned everything it touched like a pillar of light, and J'onn narrowly dodged, losing half of his cape.
The giant let out an earth-shattering roar, relentlessly attacking Martian Manhunter: "We are her creators! And you are her first decaying cell! You must be destroyed!"
J'onn clenched his teeth, not trying to break away from their thoughts but instead digging deeper into their minds with all his psychic power.
He didn't want to run; he wanted to see the truth.
"J'onn, get out of there!"
"No, Clark. This must be some sort of test—a defense mechanism meant to challenge me."
"Damn it."
Clark flew forward, grabbing Martian Manhunter and dodging away, barely escaping as two massive beams scorched the space they had just occupied.
If they hadn't dodged, J'onn would have been seriously injured.
The two found themselves under siege by the statues, while Martian Manhunter, focused on seeking the truth, channeled all his strength into his psychic powers, leaving his body a mere puppet.
As they faced this peril, they were unaware that Batman and Hawkgirl, still inside their minds, had been out of contact for some time.
"Batman? Superman? Martian Manhunter? Come in, please! It's Hawkgirl!"
Inside Martian Manhunter's mind, Hawkgirl piloted the ship while continually destroying mutated cells, trying to re-establish contact with her teammates.
But for several minutes, she hadn't managed to reach anyone.
While she kept trying in vain, a shrill laugh echoed behind her: "Ya hahahaha! They can't hear you!"
"Joker! How did you..."
The Joker didn't answer. He raised a chainsaw high above his head, laughing wildly as he brought it down towards Hawkgirl.
Hawkgirl tried to use her wings to block Joker's attack. Since learning that Hawkman had his wings torn off and was severely beaten, she had replaced hers with full Nth metal ones.
An ordinary chainsaw couldn't cut through Nth metal.
But would the Joker act like others? In his hands, the chainsaw was merely a blunt instrument. He revved the engine just for the sound and the atmosphere. In truth, he could have used a brick or folding chair just as easily.
Laughing, he slammed the handle of the chainsaw into Hawkgirl's head. He hadn't poisoned the saw blade but instead smeared his best toxins all over the engine casing.
The Joker's erratic actions, along with his bizarre fighting techniques, left Hawkgirl struggling in the confined space, especially while also piloting the ship.
He knocked her out, pulling her from the chair and tossing her aside. Joker sat down in her place, wiggling his fingers over the controls, then burst into laughter.
As Hawkgirl tried to make contact with the outside, Batman was doing the same inside Superman's mind. The moment the signal cut off, he had instinctively sensed that something was wrong.
But now, it was already too late.
He heard a faint, cold laugh.
It sent a chill down his spine, like every hair on a small animal standing on end.