The CANONICALS

A Deal's A Deal.

A pale-yellow skilled man with scraggly black hair and sandy-tan colored wings for ears spoke quietly to himself as he stared blankly into the distance.

"Gods are tricky; some are calm, and soothing, like me, and some are malevolent, like that imbecile Zero," he spoke softly.

"Boss," stated a small creature emerging through the doorway. "Are you talking to yourself again?..."

"Why yes," the godly figure stated, grinning. "You've been taking notice then."

"It's hard not to..." the creature stuttered. "Boss, I just wanted to tell you—"

"Please, Bart," the man grinned. "Call me The Bargainer."

"Yes Boss..." he muttered and then stuttered to correct himself. "Bargainer..."

"What is it, Bart?" the man urged. "I'd like to use my time with purpose."

"Uhm... he... your... uh... Tom... Tom is back," Bart stated sorrowfully.

"What?!" The man shouted. "How could you let him in?! After what happened last time?!"

"But sir..." Bart started.

The golden god thrusted into a stance and snapped his fingers in disbelief, staring at the ground angrily. Bart simply vanished into a golden dust, a golden papyrus falling gently to the ground in his place. The Bargainer shook his head solemnly.

"You said you wouldn't let me down, Bart."

He walked through his endless hallways, his eyes closed and his arms behind his back as his black loafers clacked on the ground. He was seemingly walking around aimlessly, no method or reasoning as he walked.

"Sal, I would've thought you'd bring Bart with you," a man stated at the doorway, frowning. "Such a shame."

"Bart is no longer with us," the godly figure stated calmly. "And I told you to not call me Sal."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Tom grinned, his eyes glimmering red.

"Your powers don't work on me, Tom," The Bargainer hissed. "I gave them to you. Just as I can take them away."

The Bargainer raised his hand as he got ready to snap.

"Sal, look at me," Tom smirked as he pulled a golden paper from his chest, his skin flaking ever so slightly where he pulled the contract from. "We have a contract."

"CONFOUND IT ALL!" The Bargainer shouted, punching the wall in anger. He turned back towards Tom, glaring angrily. "I'm sorry about that outburst. You see... your very existence pisses me off." He breathed in before letting out a sigh. "It's fine. I'm fine. I apologize. My temper tends to get quite... racey recently."

"I tend to have that effect on people," Tom grinned. It was childish, mischievous. "Anywho, I have a favor to ask of you, Sal. I was thinking... there's this... group you should know about."

The Bargainer turned to face Tom, "tell me more." He was quiet, trying to keep his composure.

"You know Zero, yeah?" Tom asked.

"Of course I know him," The Bargainer stated, closing his eyes. "How could I not know my own brother?" He opened his eyes and his expression was dull, distasteful. "Not that I could stand to call that fool my brother after everything he's done. Now, what about him?"

"He's shown interest in this group, which has caught my own interest," Tom grinned.

"You know I don't have all day, Tom!" The Bargainer reminded.

"We literally have the rest of eternity," Tom crossed his arms. "Anyways, my favor from you is that you look into this group as I am. You could... I don't know... help me stop them. They know too much about how us gods work and I believe they could start interfering if not put in check."

"Us gods?" The Bargainer hissed. "You are no god, Thomas. You never were and never will be. I granted you power on par with divinity and you used it to find a loophole and do as you please."

"Look, Sal, I asked you a favor, please just help me out," Tom pleaded.

"Why should I?" The Bargainer questioned.

"Because, Sal," Tom started. "We have a contract. You know you can't hurt me. And you know this could benefit you. I wouldn't be here if it was something I didn't think you would take interest in. So what about it?"

The Bargainer simply chuckled, turning back around to face away from Tom, "I despise you, Tom."

"Hey," Tom grinned. "A deal's a deal."