If we were to turn back the hands of time, the confusion in Sean's mind would find its answer...
Ten minutes earlier, the Sentinel had stormed into HYDRA's underground base with unstoppable force. The rigorously trained HYDRA agents were powerless before the golden figure's lightning-fast assault. They were as helpless as lambs awaiting slaughter.
His consciousness spread out like threads, sensing the Cosmic Cube through thick walls. It was a glowing cube that had a dazzling halo rippling outward in gentle, yet luminous waves.
An inexplicable longing arose within him. The golden torrent inside his body surged forth as the Sentinel smashed through reinforced concrete like a human-shaped tank, effortlessly breaching the workshop where Dr. Selvig was constructing the reactor.
Even sealed inside its container, the radiant cube projected itself into Sean's mental world in some peculiar way.
The obscure fluctuations grew more pronounced, making him hold his breath for a second, until gunfire erupted outside...
"You can't take the Tesseract! It's meant to reveal a whole new universe to us!" Dr. Selvig blocked the Sentinel's path, his mind wholly consumed by the knowledge and mysteries hidden within the Cosmic Cube.
The small cube was like an endless galaxy. The more he learned, the more intoxicated he became.
"That's exactly what I want to see." Sean casually knocked Dr. Selvig unconscious and turned his gaze to the briefcase on the workbench.
A brilliant blue light pulsed from within, subtle energy waves spreading outward like a spider's web.
The azure glow resonated with the golden torrent inside him, instantly seizing Sean's full attention. It was as if his consciousness had been forcibly peeled from his body, extracted from reality, and cast into a mental realm.
A gentle power flowed through him. For the first time, he could almost touch that nonexistent dimensional gate... the link to an unknown world that was the source of the Sentry's power, and the ultimate goal he sought.
Lost in the blue radiance, Sean failed to notice the strange changes occurring around him. Ripples stirred in the void as intertwining halos of light formed a breathtaking starscape.
Like an endless, boundless galaxy, swirling nebulae of dazzling colors rotated slowly. The pale blue light washed over his body like flowing water, while golden energy flickered repeatedly.
Layers of fine mercury-like ripples surfaced, bringing with them a faint tingling sensation, followed by an overwhelming sense of fulfillment.
HYDRA's Red Skull had once harnessed the Tesseract to develop infinite energy, and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Nick Fury had similar plans. This Space Stone that had fallen to Earth possessed the wondrous ability to absorb energy.
And now, it seemed drawn to him. Even locked inside its container, it couldn't conceal its obscure energy fluctuations. Threads of pale blue light seeped into Sean's body like water, merging with the vast golden torrent within.
As the energy poured in, the half-open dimensional gate expanded, albeit at an excruciatingly slow pace.
Meanwhile, the Sentinel armor shone with increasingly dazzling golden brilliance as it absorbed this energy.
Surging currents of power spilled out, causing the equipment-filled workshop to erupt in crackling arcs of electricity as the harsh white lights dimmed.
Only the motionless golden figure remained, radiating light like a brilliant sun!
"Who am I? Where am I? What should I do?" Three ancient philosophical questions surfaced in his dazed mind.
Sean lingered before that gate. Though he yearned desperately to step into that unknown world, a sliver of clarity warned him; it wasn't time yet...
In the darkness, a squad of figures crept closer. Witnessing the spectacle before them, their eyes widened in shock.
The translucent cube inside the case emitted a pale blue glow, its overflowing energy gradually expanding into a swirling galaxy dotted with twinkling starlight, as if containing an entire cosmos.
The vortex above grew larger, quickly approaching a critical threshold. Its hidden fluctuations synchronized with Sean's breathing, forming a harmonious rhythm. Within two breaths, an invisible passage slowly opened. It seemed like a gateway to an unknown realm.
Sean remained oblivious to all this. The eerie blue light bathed his body, seeping into his cells drop by drop while pushing against that massive dimensional gate. All he needed was patience, and the progress bar in his mind would break through its shackles.
His consciousness and body had separated; the former lost in the mental space, while the latter was on the verge of being sucked into the unfamiliar starscape above, much like the fate that had befallen HYDRA's Red Skull.
*BOOM!*
In the confined space, a grenade launcher's shockwave detonated instantly.
The tremendous force sent the Sentinel stumbling backward, the briefcase flying from his grasp...
Severed from contact, the Tesseract's glow faded like a device cut off from its power source. The magnificent galaxy shrank back to its origin, and the starry sky above vanished without a trace.
His consciousness snapped back into his body, and a groggy sensation flooded his mind. Sean awoke as if from a dream, blinking as he surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings.
Instinctively, he swung his hand. A surge of wind pressure infused with energy shot out like a compressed cannonball, reducing the approaching HYDRA squad to ashes.
Returning to the present moment, realization dawned in Sean's eyes, "So that's how it is..."
He tore open the sturdy metal case with his bare hands and retrieved the translucent cube.
The Tesseract and the Sentry's power had triggered a strange chemical reaction, nearly pushing the system's progress bar past the 50% mark, while almost condemning him to Red Skull's fate... exile into an unknown cosmos...
"It really is beautiful." Sean held the cube up to eye level, the surging energy within him resonating faintly with the swirling galaxy inside the Tesseract, weaving together into dazzling halos of light.
Suddenly, a deafening explosion reverberated through the underground base. Violent plumes of dust surged forth like a rampaging dragon, the ground shaking as if ten thousand wild horses were galloping across it.
Massive cracks split the reinforced walls, sending debris flying.
The base's internal structure collapsed in a chain reaction of explosions, roaring like continuous thunderclaps.
It was clear that HYDRA had activated the self-destruct sequence, intending to bury the Sentinel alive within this nuclear-proof fortress.
Once collapsed, a structure buried forty meters underground would trap anyone beneath hundreds of tons of steel, concrete, and compacted earth... regardless of the terrifying shockwaves. Even the Hulk would find escape nearly impossible.
Sean remained calm. Gazing at the cube resting peacefully in his palm, his eyes gradually gleamed with golden light.
The dormant Tesseract began rotating again, erupting in a flash of brilliant blue radiance. The mist-like halos intertwined and merged.
His brief contact had not been fruitless. He had gained some preliminary understanding of how to wield the Tesseract's extraordinary power.
An azure force field slowly materialized in the void. Under the golden torrent's impetus, the invisible passage expanded, and space rippled like water as glimpses of a magnificent starscape flickered within.
As the hidden fluctuations stabilized, Sean smiled faintly. He scooped up the unconscious Dr. Selvig and stepped leisurely into the portal.
Behind him, the apocalyptic shockwave of destruction surged forth, like a roaring thunderous tsunami of annihilation, obliterating everything in its path.
With a flash of blue light, the Sentinel vanished, untouched by the devastation...