Only Once
Season 1
Episode 1: Scene 3: Pyrrhic
Her claws ripped a gash along the side of his face, leaving three tracks marching down over his eye. The pig let out a garbled howl and bit down HARDER. For one moment all Judy could think was that he was going to snap her arm clean in two. And then he released his grip, released her, and stumbled back a step.
Judy flopped back to the ground. Having something dig around in her flesh like a clumsy surgeon, pulling at her muscles and moving things in an entirely foreign, unnatural way was almost enough to make her black out. As she looked up at the pig, Judy almost wished that it had been. Staring, piercing eyes, sunk into its head, met hers. They were black pits, a shark's eyes. Blood dripped down from the slashes along the side of its face, into fur gone long and wiry and gnarled. Below the snout, glistening in the dark, was a row of fangs. That's my blood. She shuddered, feeling real fear pulse through her for the first time in the fight. As if sensing that, peeled back lips curved into an endless smile that threatened to peel its head in half. It took a step forward, eyes never leaving her.
Judy put her arm, her right one, her good one, down and pushed. Hissing through clenched teeth, she levered herself up. Still need to bring the bad guy down, Judy. Each movement sent a wave of pain coursing, flowing through her core. You can do this. It was almost too much but, vision swimming, she managed to stand. The bunny swayed for a moment. Then, cradling her arm close to her chest, Judy Hopps spread her feet and dropped into a one handed guard.
Silence.
Drip
She breathed in.
Drop
She breathed out.
Drip
The pig blinked first, eyes leaving her face to track a fresh string of drops. It was cold enough that little icy stars of red were beginning to freeze at her feet. So bitterly cold.
Drip drop
Black eyes lifted back to hers.
Just have to last
Ta too Ta too Ta too
Screaming sirens, still distant but drawing closer by the second. Judy's ears twitched at the sound, but she kept her gaze locked on the pig. It's only pain, it's only pain, it's only pain. He hesitated, the dead look leaving his eyes, and then the pig was gone, a blur disappearing further into the alley.
Ta too Ta too Ta too
She stayed hunched for a moment, half expecting him to come running back. He has to. We're not done! When no porcine form came, Judy dazedly let her guarding arm drop back to her side. Swaying from one foot to the other, she unpeeled her other arm from her body, wincing at the wet sucking sound it made. Is that mine? It had to be, right? There was a torn blouse, ripped away up to the elbow, that matched the fuchsia of hers. It was the bend that was throwing her off, the bend that had a distinctly unnatural look. There was even a bit of white sticking out, little flecks scattered amongst the red. So much crimson painted the space around the wound it might as well have been dunked in a bucket of the stuff. Whoever's arm that was probably needed some help. She did not think it was normal for it to have a bone sticking out quite that far. Maybe it's an aesthetic thing, some sort of jewelry. Really elaborate, embedded jewelry. That'd be cool.
But she knew it was not, knew it was bone. Though she wanted to call someone, she could not quite move. So she watched. A trickle of ichor coursed down, trailing along the arm. That was the best part to watch, the little streak of blood. Everything else about the arm, the tensed muscles, the hairs, the pads of the paw, seemed to be frozen in time, frozen in alternating flashes of blue and red light. The blood wove across the grey fur, leaving a trail of crimson-tinted hairs. A little river. The little drop at its head never seemed to get any smaller, though, no matter how far it went. In fact, it got larger, and larger, and larger. And then splashed down onto her uncovered feet.
It was in that moment that it clicked for Judy that the arm was her own and that she was the one who needed help. Swimming back into a bit more lucidity, she brought her arm down and cradled it to her chest, whimpering.
"I can be strong. I can be strong. I can be strong."
The chant seemed to steal her breathe away. Time slipped. She blinked and there was someone beside her. A wolf was kneeling over her and shouting back down towards the street. His words were muffled, but she could see the air fog as he called, could see the gleam of the badge slung low on his hip. A loopy smile crept onto her face.
Her voice cracked as she said "Fangmeyer."
"Hey Judy. You're going to be fine. Let me see that arm. There we go, let's keep it elevated. Come on, I'll walk you out to the street. Easy, easy does it. There we go, you have a seat right here. You know, when I said see you later, I didn't mean 'see you in 30 minutes'. That's alright though, paperwork is always fun. You did good. You're going to be fine. Just fine. Grizzoli! Any day now! Come on Hopps, stay with me. Stay awake. Hopps! Ho-"
End of Scene
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