The annihilation and fragmentation at the molecular level thrust Sean into a peculiar state. Everything seemed to freeze. Darkness swallowed his vision, then flashes of white light blazed forth like an overwhelming tide.
"This is..." Sean's consciousness sank into contemplation.
Even though the Molecule Man had plucked the strings of matter and torn apart the stable molecular structure of his body, Sean, as the wielder of the Infinity Gauntlet, wouldn't be so easily defeated.
In the instant his body collapsed, an invisible force dragged him directly into this white space.
He lost all perception of the outside world, as though he had regressed to an embryonic state. All that remained was a faint glimmer of consciousness. Nothing else existed.
He could not feel his body. The motor commands sent from his brain vanished without a trace, receiving no feedback.
Even so, Sean did not panic. He maintained his composure.
In this boundless white space with no body, he could feel nothing; no breath, no air, no temperature. The only thing he possessed was consciousness, the ability to think.
Like a lone ghost, Sean drifted through the endless sea of light. After an unknown amount of time, the warm sea of ββlight rippled and gradually dissipated.
Color began to appear around him, and sound suddenly rushed in, like a painting being rendered.
Sean regained his senses; however, he no longer possessed super strength. His consciousness had returned to the body of a high school student. He looked around and discovered he was in Central Park, Manhattan.
He was sitting on a bench, surrounded by a flock of white pigeons pecking at the ground. In the distance, lush shrubs and low thickets stood, and cheerful laughter drifted through the air from time to time.
"Stories always begin like this..." A slightly aged voice spoke beside him, "You're sitting on a park bench, and then a stranger starts telling tales of the distant past."
Sean turned his head and said an old man with white hair and sunglasses. He wore a brown jacket and looked wholesome and spirited. He was breaking bread into crumbs and scattering them to the pigeons.
"Stan Lee!" A surprised exclamation escaped Sean's lips.
"I just used a form you're more comfortable with." The old man chuckled, as if he knew the meaning behind that name.
This sparked more speculation in Sean's mind. He had a vague guess, but dared not confirm it.
The omniscient and omnipotent being of the multiverse, the true master of the Living Tribunal, transcending and standing above all things, equal to the existence of the neighboring multiverse; an unimaginably supreme existence.
"Alright, next is the question-and-answer session." The old man grinned broadly, "Yes, it was me who brought you into this universe, and I generously gave you a bottle of the golden serum. I erased the original Sentry in an attempt to forge a multiversal watcher with greater potential. In that regard, you have not disappointed me, Sean."
The old man continued feeding the pigeons without a care. Seeing Sean's solemn expression, he couldn't help but smile.
The two sat on a bench in Central Park, utterly oblivious to the collapse and decay of the multiverse.
"It's because of the Beyonders?" Sean ventured a guess.
The old man nodded, scattering a handful of breadcrumbs, "The birth of the Molecule Man, Owen Reece, originated from the Beyonders' plan. They are extradimensional beings. They once slaughtered the Celestials and sent the Beyonder, a juvenile, into this universe as a breeding ground, sowing massive chaos. So I found a new outsider, intending to prune this unstable variable and deal with the subsequent crisis."
"It looks like Thanos did a better job than me. He wiped out the Beyonders and stopped their experiment to destroy the multiverse." Sean chuckled wryly.
He could not begin to fathom whether the old man before him was a conceptual entity that transcended existence and non-existence, reduced to a physical shell, or whether he was the supreme incarnation of the multiverse itself.
Whichever the case, there was no denying that the Beyonders, who had killed the five cosmic entities and the Living Tribunal, were as insignificant as specks of dust in the eyes of this sunglass-wearing old man.
"Everything Thanos did does not align with my original purpose." The old man said flatly.
Central Park dissolved into light and shadow, vanishing in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, they stood among the ruins of collapsing stars. This was not the destruction of planets one by one, but the extinction of countless parallel universes.
"The Beyonders come from Beyond Space. That is why the Living Tribunal and the five cosmic entities were no match for them. I knew this as early as the Beyonder's arrival. I erased that past timeline, allowing Owen Reece to destroy the Beyonder's external form; however, the Beyonders still existed. As observers, they had been collecting data since the birth of this multiverse..."
After a momentary pause, the old man added, "The Molecule Man was born because of the Beyonders. That is why Thanos had Owen Reece continuously replicate and kill himself, then use the corpses of countless 'Molecule Men' as bombs, hurling them into the Beyonders' home universe."
Sean looked down at the stars beneath his feet, watching Thanos and the Molecule Man from a god's perspective.
After killing the Beyonders, Thanos had stolen their power and was now gathering the fragmented remnants of the multiverse to create a brand new universe, just as he had said.
"The Beyonders are not the threat. A greater crisis lies beyond. Thanos is oblivious, lost in his own delusion of being a creator." The old man waved his arm.
The stars beneath their feet dimmed, replaced by radiant galaxies and deep, swirling nebulae. Behind them loomed a colossal wall.
It was the boundary of the universe, beyond the imagination of any living being. The great wall stood silently, as if it were both the origin and the end of all things.
Its surface was covered in ashen sculptures; figures contorted in struggle or twisted in agony. No matter how powerful they had once been, they had all been assimilated into the wall, insignificant and humble.
"That is the true crisis." The old man pointed at the great wall, his voice growing slightly more grave, "Two distinct, yet strikingly similar multiverses. They have begun drawing toward each other, unbeknownst to anyone. One day, they will collide..."
Sean stared wordlessly at the endless wall, a strange feeling rising in his heart.
Behind the wall stood shadowy, indistinct figures. They were important characters from that other multiverse, and Sean recognized many of them.
The Kryptonian in a red cape...
The silent Batman...
Wonder Woman, bearing a shield in one hand and a sword in the other...
The Flash, crackling with faint arcs of electricity...
The pillars of the Justice League emerged one after another, living in the multiverse behind that colossal wall.
Above these superheroes floated the Seven Lantern Corps, with black and white intermingling.
Sean narrowed his eyes, as if seeing more clearly. More figures appeared: the Anti-Monitor seated on the Mobius Chair, and a naked blue figure.
"The game has only just begun, Sean. You are the watcher of this multiverse. You are the Sentinel, and you are the Sentry in the truest sense." The old man chuckled.
"What should I do next? Kill Thanos and the Molecule Man, then rebuild the shattered multiverse? You deliberately allowed the Beyonders to destroy all of this just to erase the ending and restart a new era?" Sean absorbed all of this, gazing at the distant, unreachable wall, his eyes deep and contemplative.
Only now, at this moment, did he finally have the qualifications to participate in this game of the multiversal war.
"Do what you believe is right. In this game, the other Supreme Being and I are, at best, referees. The true players are you, and the chosen one from the other multiverse." The old man stated calmly, his true emotions behind those sunglasses imperceptible.
"With just the Infinity Gauntlet, I can't handle Thanos, who has stolen the Beyonders' power, and the Molecule Man." Sean said candidly.
The fully assimilated Sentry was, at best, a Universal-level being. Adding the Infinity Gauntlet, he could barely reach the Multiversal level and speak on equal footing with the five cosmic entities.
However, Thanos with his new power-up, and Molecule Man who originated from the Beyonders, are not existences a mere Multiversal-level strength can handle.
"I already gave you the thing long ago. You just haven't discovered it yet." The old man said meaningfully, looking at Sean.
Suddenly, realization dawned on Sean. The hazy white light in his mind gradually contracted and condensed. Tiny points of light swelled with earth-shattering, cataclysmic power.
The Heart of the Universe!
A supreme artifact that's way above the Infinity Gauntlet in terms of power!
Sean drew a deep breath and, with his immensely powerful will, grasped this unprecedented, ultimate power.
Now, the multiverse appeared as insignificant as a speck of dust in his eyes. He could destroy it with a single raised hand.
Gazing at the colossal wall, Sean smiled.
'We will meet eventually,' he thought silently.
.
.
.
.
At the center of the multiverse, deep within a slowly rotating nebula, stood a magnificent edifice.
Inside a spacious, luxurious bedchamber, a snow-white arm pushed aside the thin blanket. Fiery red hair half-concealed the beautiful spring scenery.
Jean Grey, now fully merged with the Phoenix Force, gently embraced her lover, who sat quietly before a chessboard. A hint of lingering passion flickered in her eyes, her flushed face filled with curiosity.
She pointed at a meticulously carved chess piece, one arm looped around Sean's neck, kissing his cheek as she asked, "Who is this?"
"Clark Kent, Kal-El, the son of Krypton. He's one of the leaders of the Justice League..." Sean recited a string of titles, gently picking up the red-caped piece and moving it two squares forward, placing it at the feet of a monstrous creature.
The monster piece was covered in jagged bone spikes and had the word 'Doomsday' carved into its base.
Surrounding it were many other pieces:
Batman standing on the 'Sage' square...
Wonder Woman on the 'Themyscira' square...
And Aquaman holding a trident on the 'Atlantis' square...
These superheroes on white squares, along with the villains and rogues advancing along black squares, formed the core of the chessboard. Occasionally, a few neutral gray squares were dotted with figures; such as a trench-coated man blowing smoke rings.
This man, Constantine, had one foot in heaven and one in hell, standing out quite conspicuously on the board.
Beyond the core region lay the Seven Lantern Corps of different colors. Among them, the Green Lantern glowed brightly, the Yellow Lantern was dim, and the other colors did not shine at all.
Black and white had not yet come into existence...
"And this one?" Jean asked, stretching out a finger with great interest.
At the very center of the board stood a dark-haired man, positioned between the black and white squares, yet unlike Constantine, he was not fully assimilated into gray.
Around this piece, superheroes and villains moved in orbit. The two camps of justice and evil both seemed to have inextricable ties to him.
"Him..." Looking down at the chessboard, Sean thought for a moment, then answered slowly, "He is the Wallfacer of that other multiverse, the Swordholder... one of the players in this game."
Turning his gaze away from the board, he scooped up the passionate Jean in his arms, kissing her deeply. The two indulged in unrestrained lovemaking within the vast, empty bedchamber...
...
After a long period of pleasure, Jean poked her head out from beneath the thin blanket, carefully wiping the corner of her mouth.
Then, lying in a warm, strong embrace, she spoke of their little princess at home, "That little Chloe has snuck out again. You spoil her too much. That's not good... She bullies Reed and Susan's child all day long. Franklin, that poor little thing, bursts into tears at the mere sight of Chloe."
"That's because Chloe is my daughter." Sean was quite proud of her. He said approvingly, "At three years old, she merged with the Phoenix Force. At eleven, she could play with the Infinity Gauntlet. That's my child. That little troublemaker of the Richards family used to be called the most overpowered mutant, but after meeting Chloe, he just runs home crying for him mommy."
"But you're the one who sent Chloe to her Aunt Hela. She's far too mischievous, not at all like a proper young lady." Jean said with a hint of playful jealousy, tracing circles on her lover's chest.
When it came to matters of women, Sean wisely shut his mouth. One was the supreme queen of the Legion of the Dead, the other the host of the Phoenix Force. The two had always been at odds.
"Gali's child is almost due. Chloe will soon have a little brother." he changed the subject.
As the daughter of Galactus, the life growing inside Galacta had been gestating for quite a long time.
"Chloe already knows. She said she wanted to find those colorful rings and give them to her unborn brother as a gift." A soft smile curved Jean's lips.
Sean frowned, then after a moment, broke into a helpless laugh, "That little gremlin is planning to rob the Seven Lantern Corps?"
'Chloe must have secretly read the notes in my study and discovered that the convergence of the two multiverses had spawned tiny passageways...'
For someone like Sean, who existed above the Multiversal level, somewhere between omniscience and the Beyonders... 'sneaking' through those cracks was impossible.
But Chloe could. The most dazzling pearl in the universe had always heard her father talk about the other multiverse. Her curiosity must have gotten the better of her.
Sean kissed Jean's forehead and spoke softly, "It seems I need to go pick up my daughter."
His tall figure was covered in a flowing golden light, vanishing from the spacious bedchamber in an instant.
All that remained was the massive chessboard, gleaming silently like a field of stars...
~~~
{T/N: The End!!}