The Last Gasps of Jimmy Crystal

Had this idea bouncing around in my head for a while now and finally got the inspiration to write it out. This is a standalone one-shot and not connected to any of my other Sing stories.

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Across the prison yard, a boyish falsetto serenaded the prisoners. Sitting on a bench and surrounded by an entourage, Jimmy Crystal scrutinized the singer with his arctic gaze. Benny, a caracal no older than nineteen, finished his song and watched Jimmy with an eager grin.

"Did I do good, Mr. Crystal? You think I have a shot?"

Perched near Jimmy's side was his current right-hand man, a grizzly bear everyone called Smoky, named not after the famous bear but the geographical range due to his mountainous musculature, and he seemed just as eager as the caracal to know Jimmy's opinion. He slapped Jimmy's back, much to the wolf's chagrin.

"Yeah! How'd he do?"

Jimmy mulled it over, letting the yard teeter on suspense until he said, "You got potential, kid. Keep working on it."

Benny beamed and left with a bounce in his step. Even that level of praise was rare from the famous Jimmy Crystal.

"That's enough for today," Jimmy said. He got up and dusted off his hands, signaling that today's episode of Prison's Got Talent was over. As the crowd dispersed, a leopard with piercing eyes of amber stood his ground as if awaiting his turn.

Smoky was the first to notice. "You deaf, Delgado? Auditions are over."

Jimmy and Delgado's gazes matched, a silent language passing between the two. Just as Smoky began to descend upon the leopard, Jimmy said, "Wait. I wanna hear this."

Delgado folded his arms behind his back, planted his feet on the ground, and cleared his throat. Then he took a deep breath, and a silky-smooth baritone filled the yard.

Somewhere over the rainbow

Way up high

There's a land that I heard of

Once in a lullaby

"Stop," Jimmy interrupted, his voice bored and flat. "Bold song choice, but I've heard farts with more range."

"I barely got into the song," Delgado protested.

"That was more than enough. I know a loser when I hear one." When Jimmy realized the leopard wasn't budging, he made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Why are you still here? Get out of my face while you still can!"

Delgado's dangerous glare was only broken when he spit on the ground and finally stalked away.

"That one needs to know his place," Smoky said.

Jimmy broke away from the rest of the inmates and found a private corner, where he took in shade and some solace from his crushing reality. Meanwhile, Benny did a victory lap around the yard to let everyone know that his performance was one of the few to elicit anything other than scorn or disappointment out of Jimmy Crystal. After coming across a few skeptics, Benny turned to look for Jimmy as proof when he saw Delgado closing in on the wolf and recognized the dull glint of a shank. Everything happened before Benny could warn him.

"Here's some range for you, bitch!" Delgado cried out.

The shank went in three, four, five times before Jimmy kicked the leopard away from him.