Into the Dark

[Shang Tsung]

They said goodbye to Magus and Thaal Sinestro with a simple nod of their heads.  From their time as the Harbinger, all four men knew everything about one another, and while none of them could be sure, Shang was certain that their time fused had probably had some sort of effect upon their psyche.
 
All the sorcerer knew was that he held the small silver token in the fist of his hand.  As they had set out to do, the pair had gone to the Nexus and claimed their part of the treasure.  Although he knew very little about any of the recently deceased, Shang had little doubt that most of them had probably deserved it.  The ninja and his associates had been turncoats, and that alone damned them.  The others?
 
You don’t jab a napping tarkatan. The phrase was derived from the Earth equivalent that dealt with sleeping giants, but more so than any oversized person, a vexed tarkatan was not something anyone should ever willingly subject themselves to.
 
“That was different.”
 
Shang stuffed the egg into a pouch on his belt and turned to look at Atelos.  The Spartan grinned as they drew closer to the Pale Moors gate.  Once they were on the other side, they both paused to soak in the gloom and doom ambiance before proceeding on the pathway toward Darkshire.  “It was,” Shang finally replied as he lifted a hand and smiled as green vapors formed and started to swirl around his spread fingers.  “I think it’s safe to say that we both took a lot away from that exchange, right?”
 
Atelos continued to smile.  “Fusion is something I’ve never witnessed… and we just saw three of them.  You think that is common in the Omniverse?”
 
The sorcerer responded with a shrug of his shoulders.  “Maybe.”  Before he continued his thought, Shang opened up his other hand to reveal a seemingly mundane-looking piece of bronze jewelry.  “This place never ceases to amuse me.”  He concluded as he held the ring up to his eyes.  It was the very one that Sinestro had ‘bestowed’ upon him, but the device seemed to be inert.  Whatever strange power it held before the battle was gone.
 
“You still have that?”  Atelos asked upon seeing the ring.  The Spartan paused to pat at the small satchel around his waist, but he didn’t bother to tug it open.  From the expression on his face and the tone of his voice, it was obvious that the warrior had not only lost the little token but had also forgotten entirely about it.
 
“I am a curious man, Spartan,” Shang muttered as he ran his thumb over the runic symbol that denoted the…
 
Sinestro Corps.  Named it after himself, it seems…
 
Shang knew that he was staring at a ring of power.  That much he seemed to know from having been fused with Sinestro and experienced the power somewhat firsthand.  Beyond that, the thoughts were fuzzy.  Alongside the yellow lantern’s memories, Shang felt the experiences of Magus and Atelos tickling at the corners of his brain.  Buried just a little deeper were the dead.  As he suppressed the swirl of thoughts and memories, Shang felt a little sadness at having failed to once again destroy Strazio Rockwell.  The brash, violent mage had stormed into the Nexus swinging his fists, and in the end, he’d killed himself to try and sell a point.
 
We’ll meet again very soon, Mr. Rockwell.
 
While there was much to talk about, the twosome fell back into a silence that stayed with them through the gates of Darkshire.  Once they were on the other side, they made plans to discuss their plans over the coming days.  Shang knew that they would both need some time to figure out how much work they may have missed due to the strangely erratic passage of time when multiple primes converged on a single locus.