"Neyla… how could you?" Arpeggio's voice was nothing more than a choked whisper. Crushed under the weight of machinery and his old inventions, he looked up into the tigress' cold eyes, nothing more than agony and loss shining in his own. Betrayed by his own protégé, the mastermind could only watch in silence as his years of hard work and dedication came to life and fell into the wrong hands. Neyla's spirit found its way into the Hate Chip, Arpeggio's most prized invention, and the very essence of Clockwerk.
"I need nothing more from you, Arpeggio. I've betrayed everyone else; what makes you think I wouldn't do the same to you? Farewell, worthless creature! Clockwerk will be all that you wish you were!" With those final words, the immortal frame of the ancient bird came to life, effortlessly splitting the metal ceiling, revealing the chilling night wind. A flash of silver talons sliced into the inventor's back, crimson blood staining his feathers and pooling around the scraps of metal.
"Arpeggio!" Maddie howled, her voice scratchy with tears and sorrow. The wolf rushed over to her friend, clearing away the rubble with intense strength, lifting things she never thought possible. Eventually the tiny bird was exposed, his monocle shattered next to him. Maddie's tears fell like rain onto him, the salty drops of sorrow caressing his wounds, leaving wet streaks to dry on his green feathers. His blue eyes, once bright with malice and inspiration, had grown dark with pain and betrayal. With her medical background, the newest Klaww Gang member was certain the wounds would be fatal, but she denied it, abandoning her rationality for hope, all in vain. Carefully, Maddie lifted her wounded friend, cradling his tiny shattered body in her warm, furry arms that had been the only comfort in his life. Placing her hand over his chest, she could feel his heartbeat, fading slowly, struggling to pump the blood through him. It wouldn't end like this. It couldn't end like this. Ever.
"Maddie dearest… please don't cry for me. I suppose I deserve this, after all that I've done. The fate of a mastermind is never a happy one…" Arpeggio trailed off, fighting to find enough breath to speak his final words. His attempt at comforting his beloved only made her tears more furious, and all she could do was bury her face in his feeble chest and pour her grief into his bloody body. Using the last ounce of his strength, Arpeggio put his beret between the wolf's ears, giving her something to hold on to after he was gone, which he was sure would be his ultimate fate.
"You've always wanted to be immortal, and you can't give up that dream! I can fix you, as long as you don't give up! I can perform surgery, find some new herbal remedies… a few stitches… it should work… won't… can't work."Her words grew heavy with dread, knowing that her dearest friend had already begun to give up. Neyla had stolen the last scrap of his happiness, stealing Clockwerk's frame. Arpeggio had lost sleep and sanity assembling the mechanical body of the powerful bird, costing him his health, his virtue, and now, his life.
The realization struck the young wolf, her denial shifting into inevitable reality. Maddie's heart told her that there was a chance of survival, but her mind and medical background had a grim diagnosis. No matter how hard she tried, her friend would certainly bleed out and die in a matter of minutes.
"If there's a way, I'll find it. I can't lose you… I love you too much." Even through her fur, the wolf's skin was visibly red from her blood flow and nonstop sobbing. Her eyes, glassy and blinded by tears, distorted her usually graceful, confident expression. The wounded bird stroked her cheek with the tips of his shredded wings, enduring the pain of broken bones and torn muscles just to give her a tiny bit of comfort.
"Maddie… you're still beautiful, even when you cry. That's one thing I've always been fond of." The heartbroken wolf managed a half-hearted smile, followed by another round of tears. Arpeggio's will to live finally ran out, and the little parrot prepared himself for death, snuggling up next to Maddie's warm chest, which he found to be a secure, loving place to spend his final moments. Maddie wanted to say good-bye before he left the world, yet she could barely utter the most painful words of her life.
"Good-bye, my little genius." Maddie kissed his broken beak, the touch of her shaking lips as gentle as a blade of grass disturbed by a meadow's breeze.
"Farewell, my dear. Perhaps we'll meet again someday… beyond this world." Taking a final, shuddering breath, the last of the air left his damaged lungs, and his chest rose no more. His heartbeat slowed, pumped one last time, and fell still. Numb to any feeling, Maddie rested his tiny body in her lap, folding his broken, useless wings gracefully.
And there she sat, cold and alone, enduring the unforgiving wind of the night, with nothing to comfort her but the fading warmth of Arpeggio's corpse.