The Scramble [Complete]

[Thaal Sinestro]

As the others postured, prepared their weapons, snarled and in general attempted to alter their situation, Sinestro did what he had always done best: he waited. Fading back into the background of the group, he sealed his lips and allowed the tides of soldiers to crash around them.

The two massive forces met directly on top of them. Part of the game that Omni had laid out made animals as fast as speeders or jetbikes, apparently. More “fair,” he supposed, if the savage could move as quickly as the enlightened. What could be more of an indicator of a child’s game than the requirement of equality between its competitors?

Both sides were clearly military forces, and their commanders led from the front. It was an admirable application of intimidation to show the face of true power, inspiring fear the peons below. And still there was so much they could learn about fear.

“These Primes are not yours-”
“This area is not your jurisdiction-”

Perhaps more to learn than he had thought.

“I’m telling you to leave!”
“You and your men back off now!”

This was more like listening to Guy Gardner than the leaders of their own armies. He remembered what it was like hearing the red-haired bastard prattle on as he drove him into the ground. How he longed to hear the screams of Kyle Rayner in that moment, how he imagined his suffering words flowing from the mouths of the whelps that surrounded him.

These fools played at order. They tricked themselves into the lofty ideal that their word was law, that anyone had anything to fear when looking at their smug, insane faces. They were men made of straw, waiting to be burned in a sea of Yellow flame.

“I propose we give these Primes a choice,” the one-eyed man said, as if he could strip them of their will.

The green one croaked out in a thick, gravelly voice, “Fine. But these Primes need to know what they’re getting into.”

“Prime,” the soldier asked from inside her suit. “What’s a Prime?” this time it was more of a demand than a question.

“And who are you?” the titan rumbled.

Those two questions, plain enough, opened the floodgates of frustration and confusion. Whatever false stoicism the Fountainborn once had crumbled to dust, their confusion and frustration overwhelming them.

The one-eyed general boomed over their squabble, “We are the Empire.”

“And we are the Kingdom,” the scraggly knight followed.

They postured and the posed, each puffing out their chests and made themselves to be the prettiest strong man for their audience. Speaking of gender, where were all the females in leadership? He was used to seeing at least one or two. It wasn’t a fact that worried him, only perplexed him. Perhaps he would have to find a way to bring Karu-Sil back. In this place, it might be possible to help her cheat death.

Again the man in blue opened his mouth, “I think everyone’s pretty confused right now. Let me start. You’re all in the Omniverse, and yes it is real. Everyone was like you at one point. We all arrived here, at this very fountain.”

Good, the Lantern thought. I can crush him like any other ant.

“The rest of us arrived elsewhere.” Sinestro smiled softly at the claim. “We,” he had said. As if he identified with the walking bags of meat he had lead into battle. That man, like any other King, sat upon a throne constructed of his lessers. It was his right. It was the way of the universe.

“We don’t know who Omni is, or what he wants. He explained omnilium to all of you, correct?” The warrior of a bygone age asked proudly. “We used that to build our Kingdoms, summon our friends. Primes are people like us, those who were chosen by Omni.”

“People who can use omnilium, that’s why we’ve come here. You see, you’re all important.” The two spliced their words like weavers. “And there are some, like the Kingdom, who would seek to use you for the wrong purposes.”

And then came the propaganda.

“The Empire is built on lies.”

“And what of your Kingdom?”

“We may not have your power but we have strength. You are different.”

“Different’s not the word I’d use. Better. I’ve seen your Kingdom, you live in muck. You want to use these people to make things better for yourselves, but you never will. Not with a weak leader like you.”

“If I hadn’t come here, you would have taken all these people.”

“And what were you coming to do, King Aragorn?”

He was wrong before. These men were nothing like Guy Gardner or Kyle Rayner. Somehow, they were worse. Squabbling children quipping back and worth, vomiting their aggression and attempting to grab at what they must have assumed were their feeble minds.

He was not a calf to be led to poisoned water. He was not a child whose hand had to be held. Did they expect him to be impressed? Expect him to be afraid? What idle notions of grandeur they must have had, to expect his knees to buckle and head to cow.

“None of you have any power over me!” he asserted from the back of the group, eyebrows furrowed, arms crossed and nose turned to the sky. None would break the courage of Sinestro with a revolting display of childish bickering.

“We are immortal,” one of the crowd chimed in.

“What I can do, is make you an offer. Come to my Kingdom. We will guarantee your freedom. We will house you, make you comfortable. It’s your choice.”

“And I will make our offer. Come to Coruscant. We will make you comfortable – and by that I mean a real place to live, not some stone-walled shack. Make use of the technology available to us. There’s no catch. You can stay there, or go somewhere else. Go see his Kingdom, if you want.”

The man from Korugar was still waiting to hear an appealing option.

“I’m not forcing anyone,” he said, thinking that he could somehow threaten a group of immortals. “You can go with him, or come with me, or you can go to any one of the other verses. I just don’t want the Empire to twist you against us.”

How little that simpering whelp had to worry about anyone sullying his name. Either side had twisted their own words and then choked on them. He wouldn’t be joining either of their pathetic hordes of thick-skulled goons.

And suddenly, as if by ironic magic, a red-swathed, sword-toting imbecile managed to come from the fountain, instantly make a decision and leap into the arms of the Empire. Sinestro scowled at the weakness of his fellows, almost disappointed in his loose association with the red-haired man. Some men were born to be dogs.

Thaal barely noticed as the small child wandered over to the large officer and began chatting. At this point, he was honestly feeling a bit beyond whatever they had to say. He was just a child after all, no matter how “interesting” he might have appeared to their mysterious host. It was all just going to be more pointless posturing and pointless carryi-

The lithe warrior couldn’t help but jump slightly as the bike suddenly exploded, tiny bits of hot, smoking debris flying through the air. He stared on in moderate astonishment as the encounter slowly diffused itself, somehow the show of force not drawing the rebuttal from either side. It appeared the child had some might to offer, after all.

It seemed that the freak show circuit had come to the titan, and he slowly advanced between the two parties. “First, allow me to thank you both for the cordial invitation,” more cordial drivel to cover whatever he was about to say. “However,” [i]Ah, and now comes the hook[i], “I’m afraid I’m going to have to decline.” The man had at least proven himself to be worth the attention that Sinestro had offered him. “I’m neither some dog, to run in a pack and pay homage to my master, grateful for the scraps given me. Nor am I such a fool as to run off alone, in some misguided show of bravado and strength, not paying any mind to the wisdoms of alliances or fellowship.”

He saw something in the Gerduo King that he saw in so many of his acolytes: ambition. Ambition is what tempers the strong from the weak, burning into them a sense of purpose, of meaning and place.

“No… I will not be beholden to any man. False promises of freedom under the rule of a King, and power directed by another’s hand… these things hold no value to me. I’m sure that there are those among you who can see the truth in what I say.

“These people seek to control and manipulate you in their childish posturing for power. I’ll have no part of that, but I can’t speak for the rest of you. Do as you like. However, I’m sure there is a place where we… WE can be the ones in charge. Where no man will dictate how your life should be lived. I will find that place.”

Yes, he certainly had ambition.

The leader of the Sinestro Corps couldn’t help but let his frown twist into a small smirk of appreciation. Ganandorf was a creature that he could stand by, at least for now, until he could bring his ring into this world. It would still do to wait until the others passed, though. Unlike the others, Thaal had no plans of revealing his motives to this new world so quickly.

“Bravo, my lieges,” and again the carousel turned. “Your double act was quite the little spectacle. And are we supposed to just take you at your word? What proof do you bring of the power you claim to hold?”

The point that the woman made might have made more sense if they hadn’t brought along a sample of their forces. Even if these rabble were all that they had in reserve, they were more than enough to overwhelm their ragtag group of strangers. Half of the idiots would stay and die while the rest of them ran if ever a weapon was borne. If only he had his ring, he would make a mockery of them all.

A gunshot rang out in the distance, a tiny red cloud forming in the ranks of the Empire’s men. Sinestro quirked his brow in confusion, unsure who was either strong or stupid enough among them to attempt such a bold act of violence so close to their leaders.

As a group of men led by the enforcer known simple as “Judge Dredd” quickly apprehended the man in a quick but poignant show of violence and intensity. It seemed stupid was the more likely of the options.