[ Creators ]

Chapter 5

It's been a little less than a year since Straus' grand escape from Gaia's palace. Since then, he settled in a remote Space and continued to work on his World. At this point, some particular people who live there had reached the status of Incarnate: essentially a Creator's extension of themselves that watches over the World they reside in. Of course, Incarnates are usually meant to observe from a distance, but we all know by now that Straus' ways are quite unusual. On his own, Straus began to hone skills that were outside of Gaia's teachings: storytelling, conflict, character development, and other things. Today, he was practicing building weapons.

Straus was amusing himself by making a sword. "Coooool...I wonder if I can make it look better..." With a wave of his hand, the sword became more detailed, some would even call it "spiffy."

"...I love being a Creator.", he said smugly.

He put down the sword and turned his attention towards his World, "Let's see how everyone's doing...Hello, Ex. Hello, DarkClaw." He smiled while looking upon the lives he crafted. Ex was a local hero who would thwart the devious acts of an evil mad scientist. DarkClaw was a soldier, he was enlisted in a cybernetics program and was proficient with technology in his own right, oftentimes inventing his own equipment. "...It's like art come to life", Straus sighed, "I wish I could talk to you guys..." He then went to sleep, holding the World orb close to him.

A few hours later, Straus was awoken suddenly by a portal opening in the middle of his Space, to which he fell over and yelped in fright. A boy, a little older than him, was not-so-gracefully flung from the portal and landed on his face.

"...OWW."

Straus immediately recognized him: black hair and clothing, with claw-like gloves on. The boy shook himself back to his senses, and the two made eye contact with each other. There's a brief moment of silence before...

They both freak out.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

"DARKCLAW?!"

"WHO IS YOU? And how do you know my name how is that possible but still- WHO IS YOU!????"

"I-I'm Straus. I'm-...uh- how does one put this-? Uhhhhh.... I'm- your maker?"

"My maker? Like...you made me? Don't be silly my mom made first off- "

"NONONO- I mean- I made your World...I'm guess- Uhm- I'm the God of your universe?"

"...uhm- God doesn't exist?"

"Well apparently I am one- trust me- whaaaat are you doing-?"

At this point, DarkClaw was scanning Straus with some sort of device, "Stay still I'm gonna science this and see if it's true."

Straus was baffled, "There's your World right there by the way if you want proof- "

DarkClaw put down the device and went to look, "...Well goddamn no kidding. All of my endeavors are right here...Who's the red fluffball?"

"D'uh- uhm- another guy in the same area as you. You'll meet him at some point, not now though." Straus looked embarrassed as he was saying all of this.

DarkClaw smirked, "Welp. You've convinced me. It's funny, you know, all this time I've heard people talk about how we were made by an all-seeing God, and now I've actually met my maker." He chuckled and looked around, "It's no wonder you're all-seeing. Our world is literally the only one you've made..."

"Uh...eheh- "

"I'd say you've done a fair job at looking out for us, bud." DarkClaw smiled and tussled Straus' hair.

Straus closed his eyes and smiled, "Of course I have..." He hesitated to tell him about how he protected them all from Gaia but decided it would be better to tell him later.

DarkClaw interrupted his thoughts, "hm...I dunno how I'm gonna get back home now."

"I've got you covered. Oh- and, DC?"

"Yeah?"

"...Please tell nobody that you saw me, ok?" Straus wanted to make sure he wasn't revealed to the public, it might disrupt things in ways he didn't want.

DarkClaw salutes at him, "Roger." And with a snap of his fingers, Straus sent DC home. After a moment, Straus relaxed and sighed happily,

"Wow...that is so cool. I'm so cool!"