Rain so thick it could be barely be seen through punished the sea, but in this vast body of water was a speck. The speck was much larger in practical size than it appeared, it was a large wooden boat. It was so large, in fact, that it held two of all kind of animals inside. Upon top of the boat sat two human figures, save the fact that each had large feathered wings growing from thier backs. Both were dressed in robes as well. But they contrasted greatly, one was dressed in a black robe and his long feathers on his wings were black as well, the other was of pure white in robe and feathers. They sat together, neither getting wet from the torrential rain and wind, and the one in black, who as well looked identical to Earnest T. Bass, said, "The whole Earth. Look at that. Everything covered in water."

The white dressed angel, who looked just like Floyd Lawson the barber in Mayberry, said, "I know. Wonder when it will let up?"

Earnest said, "Does it matter. Everyone is dead. The entire human race."

Floyd smiled, lifted his chin, and knocked on the wood roof of the ark, "Not all of them."

Earnest laughed a tiny bit, "Yeah, but you have to admit, the difference in the totals makes me the winner on this one. I told you. They just need a nudge here and there, and they will commit their lives to greed and lies."

"I'd call it draw. It's not always about the numbers."

Earnest dropped a glare on Floyd, "I won this one. Really. You can see that."

Floyd put his head down, "Yeah. You won this one. But you won't win them all. I believe in mankind and free will."

Earnest gave Floyd a pat on the back and stood up, "You keep believing, but this is a hell of a start." Earnest spread his wings and bolted into the sky.

Floyd said, "He's going to be difficult to get along with."

A blazing fire engulfed an incredible city. People scrambled in panic, some on fire, but there was no saving the incredible buildings. Into a window of a large domed citadel a dark winged creature flew; when it landed inside it took a sniff and smiled. Earnest T. said, "Beautiful." He instantly transformed from his black robe to the atire of a Roman counciler. He walked into the main chamber.

A thick man with a bulbous throat under his chin stood at his own large window and was frowning, there was almost tears in his eyes. Earnest put his arm around the fat man's shoulders, "Nero, Nero. Hey, you did the right thing. These people had it coming."

Nero said, "I'm not so sure."

Earnest stood between him and the window, blocking the view of the blaze, "I know what will make you feel better."

"Nothing could make me feel better," Nero sobbed.

Earnest dashed to the corner of the room and returned with a violin, "Sure it will, here," he pushed the violin into Nero's arms. "You know how much joy playing your violin gives you."

Nero took the instrument to his neck and began playing. A slow, soothing tune filled his ears. He began to smile, his eyes closed, and stepped around the room to the rhytm of the melody he played. The fire had began to crawl up the wall outside his window. Nero said, "Lovely, isn't it?" There was no answer, he opened his eyes and could not see Earnest any longer. Earnest was now again robed in black with his wings showing. As Nero pranced he passed through Earnest as though Earnest was made of vapor.

Earnest muttered, "Fat idiot." Earnest walked to the dimly lit corrider, inside which was Floyd. He held his arms out as if expecting a hug from Floyd, "Aren't you going to congratulate me?"

Floyd said, "Proud of yourself?"

Eanest said, "Of course. And oh, by the way, I win again. Of course you know this means you lose again."

Floyd did not reply, Earnest pat him on the back and flew away. Floyd muttered, "... one day..."

A flash, brighter than the sun went off, and suddenly a tremendous yellow cloud mushroomed into the sky. It was the end of World War Two. Sitting on roof top, far away from the blast, Earnest and Floyd sat. Both were wearing shielded eye goggles. Earnest turned his head to Floyd and asked, "Are you even trying anymore? Or have you just given up?" Floyd said nothing. Earnest stood and gave him a pat on the back, "I win again," and Earnest flew up into the orange sky.

Floyd continued to sit there, the bright orange glow bathing him, his lips flat and unmoving.

Floyd's barber shop was empty at ten in the morning on this particular Wednesday. He was inside, dusting and humming. His entrance bell dinged, and in came Earnest T. Earnest T. promptly plomped his dusty trousers making the chair filthy again. Floyd remained calm and asked, "Hair cut?"

"No, no. I've come to tell you the good news," Earnest said.

"And what would that be?"

"I'm leaving Mayberry. I'm all packed. My work here is done," Earnest gloated.

Floyd asked, "How do you figure that?"

Earnest said, "Simple. Mayberry has fallen. It is completely unredeemable. It's time for me to move on to bigger and better things."

"I'm not so sure about that," quipped Floyd.

"Come on now, Floyd. It's a simple matter of the math. There are so many lost souls in Mayberry, there is no way it's coming back. The few remaining good souls will fall soon enough. It's the slippery slope my friend."

"Numbers aren't everything," said Floyd.

Earnest laughed, "You know as well as I do, the few can't hold up to this. It's just a matter of time. We've done this many times. I always win at this point."

"You're not taking into account quality over quantity."

"Quality? Who in this town has the quality to not fall to this corrumption. I have this town sown up so tight it is on the verge of smothering everyone."

Floyd lifted his chin and pointed his duster at Earnest, "There's Barney Fife."

Earnest doubled over in laughter, "I think you have gullibility confused with honor."

Floyd crossed his arms, "Do I, now?"

Earnest slowly stopped laughing, "You're serious aren't you?"

"Check the numbers."

A chart magically appeared in Floyd's hands, he sat it in Earnest's lap, "What do you see there?"

Earnest didn't even look at the chart, he dismissed it with a flourish of his hand, "Oh, I know. The amount of purity in Bernard Fife is greater than all of the sum wickedness in the rest of Mayberry. But that's not going to last long."

"I happen to have a lot of faith in that young man," said Floyd.

Earnest flourished his hand again, a newspaper magically appeared, "You should really read the papers more."

Floyd read the headline aloud, "Killer at large. Seven bodies discovered in crimshaw woods in the quiet town of Mayberry has the attention of the entire state. Victims include men, women, and children of all ages. The killer seems to have no preference in his victims and a thirst for killing..."

Earnest smiled, "Yes. Even Barney, ESPECIALLY Barney, can't stand to an evil like this."

"Not even if he catches the criminal?"

"There's no way."

"If Barney catches the criminal and keeps his head above water, will you concede that you haven't won yet?" asked Floyd.

Earnest placed his hand on his chin, contemplating. He then stated, "I'll take those odds." Earnest stood from the barber's chair and opened the front door, before stepping out he looked back to Floyd, "Good luck, you're going to need it."

The door closed and Floyd mocked Earnest in a nasal tone, "You're going to need it." Floyd took a deep breath and exhaled, "Yeah, I'm going to need it."