I wrote this at school in about ten minutes and decided I liked it. So it ended up here. And it's exactly 300 words... how cool is that? XP
Disclaimer: I own none of this. Sucker Punch does. I just happen to really like Arpeggio. Cutest anthro parrot EVER ;)
As told from Arpeggio's POV just after Neyla knocks him over...
How could you?
You were my protege, my friend. Sometimes I even thought of you as the daughter that I never had. And, maybe, something more...
I remember when you found out about your father's death. I was there. You cried on my shoulder for days. Well, perhaps not exactly on my shoulder. But I was there, to comfort you.
And when you first got into Interpol, when you were picked on. At the end of the day, I was there.
How could you?
It was going to be your 25th birthday. I knew you for twenty years. With all of the work we were doing with the Klaww gang, I doubt you even remembered. But I did. I had something planned out. At first, I debated if I should give you what I had in mind. Immortality is, after all, a rare gift.
I'm not sure how I finally decided. Perhaps I was feeling generous. Or perhaps I was feeling very affectionate.
But either way, it doesn't matter now. You merged yourself with the frame. The one that was meant for me, not you. That brain was coded to my brainwave patterns, not yours. With that body, you can't become immortal.
But now, it's too late to tell you. I can see in your eyes, machine though they may be, that you intend to snuff my life out. Cooper won't help me, and I'm defenseless here.
You're shifting your weight, preparing to strike...
I regret many things. Perhaps if I had told you about what I was planning this wouldn't have happened. Perhaps if I had told you how I really feel...
But it's too late now. Too late for anything except four whispered words...
"I love you, Neyla..."