Speak Before Destruction
It was an incredible flash of light spreading across the horizon. Devouring every inkling of life, the all-consuming ray rose. Faint screams were silenced the second the light crushed them. It was if the domineering sun smashed onto Mobius and eviscerated everyone in a horribly brilliant glow. Forests, cities, and mountains alike, from what he could tell, were decimated by the massive pulse spreading across the word.
Bark watched in solemn silence. While his cohorts yucked behind him with eager aplomb over a recent heist for Dr. Eggman, Bark observed the light creeping towards their hideout in an abandoned hotel within Renfield T. Rodent's putrescent restoration of Casinopolis. The glossy windows were smeared with stains, and the floral wallpaper was stripped. They each had a standard bed with comfortable pillows and sheets made of pure silk linens. He remembered Nack exclaiming how foolish Renfield had been in his doping scheme as they settled in to discuss plans for more robberies and how the Freedom Fighters would besiege their efforts. The lights occasionally flickered and drinkable faucet water was scarce from months of inhospitality, but the trio lacked the effort to care. Any place was suitable for hooligans.
He wondered, as the light drew ever nearer, if the sleazy hotel room was a fitting ending for him. He thought of his home in the Aurora Icefields with its immense snowstorms and warm clothes. How he had to trudge through layers of thick snow to even reach a nearby merchant to offer his services as a bodyguard before abandoning everyone to work on his own flashed across his mind. He quickly banished the thoughts, watching as the horizon and sky were consumed by the disastrous wave. He had no reason to think of home when it no longer existed.
Bark glanced over his rounded shoulder. As they sneered, Bean and Nack shot insults and jeers at one another. Jewels were laid out on the wooden coffee table. Diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and gold rings would have been sold off or gambled away considering Nack's impetuous nature and Bean's careless adherence for wealth. Considering his partner's undesirable greediness, Bark used their obtained wealth to buy necessities, and he observed the gemstones glimmering underneath the overbearing fluorescent lights, finding his dim grieving reflection in their edges.
Bark returned to the window as Nack threatened to drop Bean off the hotel's roof, and Bean promised to shove bombs down Nack's snout until his belly exploded. All manners of threats were suddenly hollow and empty as they rolled around in Bark's mind, but their bantering was a comforting tonic. He swallowed, pressing his gloved palm to the dusty window.
The blast of pulsing energy seemed to materialize out of thin air. He realized the Freedom Fighters and Dr. Eggman really had gone beyond any rational limits as the decaying Casinopolis, formerly fat with brazen people and boisterous colors, dulled into dying gray before illuminating once more under the feverish, incoming glow. The dried yellow paint on the doors, windows, and plaques burst with sunshine luminosity. Scarlet and azure hues from the decimated slot machines on the cracked pavement brightened for one final gamble.
Bark watched the world explode and cave in around him. No one shrieked anymore. It was as if only the Hooligans were left in the world, and Bark was the sole survivor aware of their imminent destruction. Renfield's version of Casinopolis, like sunspots brightening and blinding him, joined the ranks of the rest of the world in the requiem of endless light.
As the wave drew into the window, Bark noticed Nack and Bean were suddenly at his side. The deafening roar of chaotic destruction drowned out Nack's shrill screaming while Bean grinned, laughing about the brightness of their surroundings. Nack's elongated tail slapped against Bark's backside as the weasel dove for his bike, hollering for them to hurry amid his hushed insults and curses. Bean backflipped into one of the sidecars, and Nack fumbled for his key already in the ignition. His hand jerked, fingers slipping as he tried to turn the key, and Bark saw the pricking, frightened tears in the corners of his eyes obscuring his vision.
"Come on, come on, come on, come on! Start! Is there no gas in this rustbucket?" Nack cried, slamming his heel against his bike and glared at Bark, who simply remained by the window. "Bark! Get the jewels! We gotta go! Eggman and those stinkin' Freedom Fighters have really done it now!"
"It's like the whole world has become one big shiny! It's way prettier than those flimsy jewels, Nack," Bean exclaimed, smiling only for his grin to fade when he found Bark standing still. "Hey, Bark! Get a move on! Don't tell me your legs are made of super sturdy duralumin or something?"
To Bean and Nack, through the feverish revving of a dying engine and the rumbling roar of the end of their world, Bark's silhouette was devoured by grayness. The wave pulsed at Bark's backside, and their eyes widened, hearing the undeniable cracking of the window behind him. Shadows flickered from behind Bark like wispy, rising smoke.
Bark raised his head to his cohorts. He fixed his worn scarlet cap and adjusted his frayed scarf. He was immovable compared to the world's desecration, untouchable even as the erasure of world almost completed itself. Denying the destruction a final scream was his sole defense. He smiled while the others trembled under the dawning realization of their forthcoming doom.
A hoarse voice, dampened by years of silence, entered the room as the light smashed through the window. Tired, husky, meaningful words echoed before their bodies became nothing as the blaring light cut through them. As their lives were split and memories chopped to suit the new world, Bark's final words lingered.
"See you again."