(Untitled)

Arpeggio didn't really die when Neyla betrayed him. This is the end of Sly 2 from Arpeggio's POV. Please R&R.

By Fedora_Kid

(Untitled) Disclaimer: Fedora_Kid does not own Sly Cooper.

I was about to fuse with the Clockwerk frame, but then that horrible, wretched, traitorous feline knocked my cage over. I was lying sideways, watching as she told me how stupid I was for not thinking that she would betray me like she had done everyone else. She jumped into the mouth of the enormous robotic bird. The machine slowly rose into the air. I watched as its piercing yellow eyes zeroed in on me. She was planning to kill me.

I looked off to the side. Cooper just stood there, watching. He was going to watch the whole thing like a movie! How dare he! He wasn't going to do anything. I turned back to Clockwerk. That was supposed to be my new body! Then she betrayed me. Up until now, I had protected her. She was my protégé. But now, I hated her. I hated her more than Clockwerk hated the Coopers. She rose off the ground. She was going to attack. I had to think fast. I quickly scooted back against the back wall of my cage. I hoped the opening in my cage isn't too big. She looked at me. Even though there was no emotion in them, I could tell from those eyes that she realized that I outsmarted her. But she moved in anyway. That massive head moved in through the opening of the cage. It came down on me. I thought that I was dead. But I was still alive. The head wasn't heavy enough! I was still alive. But I felt a terrible pain. When the huge head flew up out of view, I saw that feathers had gone flying. I looked down at my right wing and see that most of the feathers had fallen from it, and that it was bleeding. I was also blind in my left eye. My monocle was missing. Over the flapping of those metal wings, I heard the sound of something…glass, rolling across the floor. I then heard her say, "Behold! Clock-La is born!" then the wings flapped even faster. Then a massive shattering of glass. I knew what it was: The 10-inch thick bulletproof Plexiglass dome on the front of the blimp was shattered. I heard footsteps growing fainter and fainter. I slowly turned around and looked to see Cooper standing before where the massive dome used to be. He then ran out to the end of the blimp's pulpit and jumped off. He pulled out a paraglider and floated back down to the main blimp.

I was alone. All the guards had been killed when the Clockwerk frame came crashing down. I slowly crawled out from my cage. I slowly worked my way to where my office was. I went over to the ruins of the desk and pulled out the first aid kit. I wrapped a bandage around my broken wing. Now I sat in that blimp, waiting. Occasionally, I would scream in agony as the pain in my wing got worse.

It seemed like an eternity had passed before I heard the sound of gunfire and explosions. Then there was a massive explosion. Suddenly, the blimp I was in caught on fire and exploded. I clutched onto a particularly large piece of debris. I look around to see other pieces of debris. My beautiful blimp was destroyed! So many years of hard work went into creating that blimp and it had been destroyed in less than a minute. I saw Clockwerk in the distance. In his talons was the northern light battery that I got from Jean-Bison. I then saw Cooper jumping from piece to piece of wreckage from my blimp. He then jumped onto Clockwerk, they have a brief conversation, which I couldn't hear, then he started smacking it in the head with that cane! Such a big, beautiful machine, getting destroyed by that foolish raccoon. Then, all of the debris, and Clockwerk, fell from the sky and landed in the water just off the coast of Paris. I held on tight to the piece I was on. Thankfully, it floated on the water. I then saw the wreckage of Clockwerk, and the Cooper Gang right in front of it. They were doing a bit of work to get inside the mouth, where there was a holographic projection of that backstabbing tigress. Then the turtle, what was his name? Bentley. He went in and removed the most important part of the entire Clockwerk frame: The Hate Chip. Then the mouth suddenly closed on top of him. The hippo…Murray, that's it, Murray, quickly lifted it up again and pulled the turtle from the mouth of the bird.

That Cooper Gang, they're such good friends. They would never abandon another. Such an incredible friendship. Never in my life have I seen such a bond. Probably because I never had such good friends in my life. Come to think of it, I've never had any friends in my life. Just because I was so short. They made fun of me. Even though I was the best in all those classes (it wasn't even much of a contest, since all of them had the IQ of a radish), they still laughed at me. From elementary school, to high school, through college, I never heard the end of those insults. Needless to say, I hated my childhood.

I watched as the Cooper Gang ran off just before Clockwerk exploded. The pieces were everywhere. Then, a helicopter landed in the distance. That cursed Interpol inspector, Carmelita Fox, came out. Cooper holds out the Hate Chip. She was looking at it like a bug that needed to be stepped on. Oh no! They…they had better not! That Hate Chip is mine! They had better not destroy it! They dropped it on the ground. I looked away. I could not bear to watch. When I looked back, it was not there. The Clockwerk parts suddenly started withering. I felt sorry for the old bird. The only thing that redeemed this act was the fact that by doing this, they had also killed that betraying, no-good cat with it. For that, I am thankful. Then the inspector held up her gun. She was arresting them. But then, Cooper talked to her for a bit. When he finished, she nodded. The other two walked, or in the case of the turtle, was carried, off. I thought I had seen it all. Just when I thought their friendship couldn't get any more impressive, this happened! Cooper had sacrificed himself to let his friends go! I knew that never again would I see such an act of friendship.

Eventually, the police arrived. Cooper was cuffed and led into the helicopter. It took off. A while later, a huge group of people came back, and started to gather all the debris in the water. I did not want to be caught. I then noticed a plank of wood floating in the water a few inches from me. I grabbed it, and used it as an oar to paddle the piece of debris I was on over to the shore. I slowly climbed out of the water several yards away from the citizens, and ran off into the night.

Over the years I tended to my wounded wing. After about six years or so, it finally healed. I continued on as a criminal. I kept my name. But despite all those years, even though I evaded the police, the pain in my soul had increased tenfold. It was bad enough that I could never, ever fly. Now I would never gain the immortality I had wanted for so many a year. Now, I live a life of obscurity. As far as the world is concerned, I have ceased to exist. And I'll never forget that terrible night, when my entire life went from bad to worse.