As soon as Ratigan found out that Basil put a slip of paper on his back, I'M A BIG UGLY RAT!, Ratigan decided to get his revenge on Basil for doing so by driving Basil away from his lair all the way back to Baker Street. In a hurry, Basil returned to his house, he shut the door on him and teasingly called him a rat.
"Basil, I'll get you for this!" Ratigan vowed with a growl.
"Why, rat?" Basil teased.
"Because you are a spineless, self-centered, racist mouse detective in all London!" Ratigan snapped, "And I know something else."
"And what will that be?" Basil demanded tersely of Ratigan.
"You used Olivia and Fidget the whole time, believe me," Ratigan smirked. "You have been completing each task in your cases for no one other than yourself, which means you let everyone else down. You failed and lied." Even though he lied more often than the hero had, he was the one in the right this time.
Fidget and Olivia gasped in horror at the truth being revealed.
"Basil, is this true?" Olivia cut in, desperate to know what was going on.
"How could you do this to us, Basil?" Fidget asked desperately.
"Oh, Basil. It looks to me you hurt their feelings," Ratigan said mockingly, acting sympathetic, "Think about what I said and have this talk with them. Ta ta."
From what Dawson had seen, this was not the Basil he solved mysteries with and this was not the Basil Fidget and Olivia trusted. Rather, Basil had Ratigan's identity. Basil's face showed he had.
Basil, who convinced himself that what he did was right, said to Fidget and Olivia with a superior look on his face after he recklessly called Ratigan a rat, "I guess I did a good job on upholding the law, Mr. Flamdumb."
"FLAVERSHAM!" Fidget and Olivia corrected, breathing fire.
"Whatever," Basil arrogantly replied, "Do your worst. I think I did great."
Olivia and Fidget shushed him upon hearing upcoming strangers by the secret door and closed it.
"No, you didn't because you recklessly discriminated my former mean boss, which I also don't like the same way you discriminated me and Livy doesn't like it!" Fidget snapped firmly, "It's not something you should feel good about." He crossed his arms like a child.
"I know it's not," Basil replied, "But I was trying to do my job and I was telling Olivia that there are creatures to stay away from such as yourself and Ratigan. She can't go anyplace without just mice. Please, at least listen to me and think about this."
Basil started to say something, but Fidget immediately cut him off. "I HATE YOU!" Basil was appalled by what Fidget had said. "You are not doing it right! Your way of doing it is wrong and Olivia knows that not all rats are the same as Ratigan and that bats like me can show good! Not all of us are lowlife bloodsuckers and monsters! So maybe the only person that she should stay from is YOU because you're brainwashing her the same way Ratigan brainwashed me! We understand that you hate Ratigan and would like to keep solving mysteries, but not everything is about you! Livy and I are more mature and respectful than you are! The only mistake we made was listening to you, the desperate man, who knows too well about everything! I've had it with you! GROW UP! ACT YOUR AGE!"
"See here, boy! Just because you're eighteen or older, doesn't mean you should…"
"You've said plenty, Basil!" Fidget interrupted, not at all threatened by the tone of Basil's voice for no matter what Basil said, Fidget was always willing to say something back. "Hatred and war will be all she'll ever know because of your arrogance if you keep up with this prejudice against my kind and rats. You talk smart about protecting the law and trying to keep the peace when you are actually making a war between mice, bats, and rats. For a fact, you don't like to admit it, but you and Ratigan are so much alike."
In that very moment, Olivia loathed Basil. "Basil, I've had it with you! You don't know Fidget," she pointed out bravely, "Which means, YOU listen to US! He cares about me for ME!"
Dawson, overhearing Fidget's and Olivia's heated confrontation with Basil, whispered, "This is not the Basil I trust."
The bat chuckled at his own statement, finding that he hit a nerve. With that, he smiled as he blew a raspberry at Basil, causing the mouse to roll his eyes in disgust and started to get flustered at every comment. "I sound like Ratigan?" He was also terribly embarrassed. "I can't believe it!" Recomposing himself, he added, "I am nothing like him! How do I sound like him? Tell me why you think that!" With a temper, he dropped his hat on the floor and squashed it with his foot in a childish manner, enticing Olivia and Fidget to laugh at him.
The fearless bat stopped laughing for a moment. "Cause you're both idiots toward anyone who doesn't want to start fights with you and you're the frivolous know-it-all around here, not Olivia or me! We ain't stupid and you know it!" Unlike Basil, who didn't like to admit his mistakes, Fidget and Olivia had enough common sense to admit theirs and check themselves whenever they'd gotten carried away.
"But I'm nicer than Ratigan is," Basil said cooly.
"Oh, really?" Fidget said sarcastically, "Because Livy and I checked out the permanent records in your desk about someone who likes to brag too much." He shook his head.
"I thought I kept it hidden because I didn't remember anything about it."
"Oh, yeah? What about your friendship with Ratigan?"
Basil gasped. "Fidget! How dare you say such a thing!"
"I found that out, too, also in your permanent records. You never helped him whenever he was picked on for being a rat. Now that's just lame and immature."
"I HATE YOU!" Olivia exploded at Basil.
At those three words coming from Olivia, Basil gasped in shock.
"There's nothing really wrong with me!" Olivia screamed, "I'm fine!"
"Me, too!" Fidget shouted.
"I never said you weren't," Basil assured them.
"You don't care about anyone but yourself!" Fidget ranted, "You can't save us now, can you?"
"We don't need you anymore!" he and Olivia both raved. They hardly needed him anymore, anyway (except on special occasions and holidays), although they never said they can take care of themselves on everything when they had each other.
Basil felt this set of words hurt his soul, but fully understood why Fidget and Olivia said it to him.
"What's worse is that you were never happy for her because you talked down to her the same way Ratigan talked down to me and you push everyone else away when they need you most. Sorry, but that's what makes you a jerk!" That hurt Basil more than sticks and stones even more now that Fidget mentioned it, yet the enraged bat went on, accentuating more words, "Although you're not good at dealing with kids and that you don't have any, it was wrong for you to talk down to her and it wasn't her fault that nothing she did pleased you. It's not that big of a deal, anymore, even though the trip was dangerous, but don't pin this on her or anyone else more mature than you because there are kids, teenagers, and old people that are more mature than the childish snob that you are. I'm in my early twenties. I find this outrageous."
Basil's face turned red as he growled in pain like a bear being bitten by another creature at Fidget's accusations, then leveled a glare upon Fidget, but the bat still refused to give in. "Do your worst as I said. I will make sure Olivia stays away from you." Instead of shying away, Fidget willfully glared a scary glare, scaring Basil, who covered his face in horror, which gave the bat a sense of satisfaction.
"Oh, no, not Basil." Dawson recollected this by heart and hoped that Fidget and Olivia will both win because he knew they wouldn't leave it at just that.
"I'm not pinning this on you, either," Fidget assured him, yet he still fought to hold on, "She isn't afraid to yell back! What does yelling at her get her? NOWHERE! Always the yelling and blaming part! Most of the time, she was trying to find her father!"
"I never said she wasn't."
"The more you yell, the madder everyone else gets and they will eventually yell back at you!" Olivia boldly stated.
Dawson saw that although Olivia was yelling back at Basil, she was also trying to get her point across as well as Fidget was. He had always spoken in Olivia's defense even before the Flaversham case had begun. So why not come forward to speaking in Fidget's defense, as well?
"So, Basil, since you don't seem to understand discipline like the rest of us do, you'll understand this: every time you lie to us, test our friendship with us, or do anything to piss all of us off, you owe us MONEY!" Fidget scolded.
"What?! You mean you're suing me?!" Basil shouted, shocked by the fact that he was being fined.
"For racism and attitude towards kids, old people, and such, you owe us $40," Fidget said.
Without a word, Basil handed him two 20s.
"You use trying to uphold the law as an excuse to keep yourself from getting fed to the cat!" Fidget declared, then managed to try and calm himself, "Even though Ratigan threatened Olivia's life and you wanted her to stay with Mrs. Judson and I appreciate that you are trying to protect her, Olivia couldn't stand by and wait on your promise, regarding her dad because she would've been emotionally sick to her stomach, she needed to get him back, there could be a chance that you could break your promise, you could've lost everything that was important to you, and she knew him more than you did. This was personal. He was the only living relative she had and she needed a trusted adult to help her do the job. Heck, I would've done the same thing she was doing and I would admit my mistakes if I made any." Fidget knew that if he was ever in Olivia's situation when kidnapped, he'd be terribly afraid, but he knew he'd have to think of a way out of it.
"It's not that I don't appreciate all that you and Dawson do for me, I just needed to get to know you a little bit more," said Olivia.
"Granted," Basil agreed, although at the same time, he was hoping the conversation would end, but they kept persisting onward. That didn't mean he disagreed with her.
"She did the right thing," Fidget sighed, his anger reducing.
"Again, I never said she didn't," Basil stated, his tune changing, "She had her heart in the right place; I was talking about the cradle she went to. You distracted not only her, but Dawson and me, as well."
"I know that," Fidget said, his voice wavering, just as guilty for throwing her in the sack.
"Will you please just listen to us?" Olivia begged, her rage also shrinking.
"Yes, Basil, please listen to them," Dawson pleaded to himself.
"I let her see her dad after she stomped on my foot, which I deserved; I just wasn't letting go," Fidget went on, "I also deserved to be called ugly, although it hurt me worse than getting my foot stomped on. She was mad and didn't know what else to say before I threw her in the bottle. In spite of this, I fed her and had Ratigan's gang feed her in case she got hungry. You know what I didn't expect? A thank you, which made a big difference. Later in the day, you let your mouth get you in trouble when Ratigan asked you this crappy question, 'Trouble with the Chemistry set, old boy?'. You could have just ignored him." Then he felt his outrage return, "Believe me, you aren't always careful with what you say! Your mouth could have gotten you in Felicia's mouth and it made Olivia's dad accomplish the project!"
"It's because of you and Ratigan that my father completed the robot!" Olivia's fury also renewed as she determinedly continued to side with Fidget.
They weren't going to apologize for sharing their views because they'd been waiting long enough to use their words, even though they could hurt the other person, instead of themselves. For a fact, Olivia and Fidget hardly felt ashamed of what they said later on because that was how they were, although they admitted that they overreacted sometimes. Luckily, Dawson and Olivia's father never reprimanded them for that because they truly understood them.
Dawson continued watching in horror, seeing the truth in his partner's eyes. It was a Ratigan person Basil had become so to speak.
Undaunted, the bat's self-control led him further into rejuvenation. "You act like a child for someone your age, Basil. Not to mention, you put Olivia and Dawson at risk that night. You're such a hypocrite! Do you even know what you've done?! You fooled everyone into thinking you are nice when you made kids, old people like Dawson, and creatures that are NOT mice look bad, you pompous, lying simpleton. Some job you're doing of saving London from my villainous boss I once worked for when apparently, you're doing it mostly for yourself! That's called lying and being a jerk. You lied to Dawson, Olivia, me, and everyone else! Just because they see you as a nice guy doesn't mean you are one and same goes for Ratigan. All I'm saying is you brought the whole rat thing on yourself and you can't change people! The only person that's doing what he shouldn't feel good about is YOU!"
"You lied to us, Basil!" Olivia admonished.
"If it weren't for me, I would've never met Livy! Do your worst, you say? You won't be so brave after you hear this: From now on, I'll spend more time with Olivia than with you if you're going to continue being this way!"
"You can't do that!" Basil gasped, appalled by what Fidget had said.
"I can and I enjoy solving cases with Olivia. I'll take full responsibility for her as she does for me. If you can't handle it, this living room will be empty and Olivia and I will never come back." Basil started to cry. "I'm not kidding, Basil. Rats and bats want to be friends and make peace with mice, so deal with it! You're a great detective and a gentleman, so start acting like one and admit your flaws! Geez! Quit letting your pride get the better of you and start treating kids and others like they have a voice and can do something! No wonder why everyone leaves you without giving you a second look, but a dirty one! Later on, you can ask yourself, 'Alright, maybe I should think about what Fidget and Olivia said and I should've been nicer?'"
Still unable to change his mind, Basil sarcastically replied, fighting his tears, "Fine!"
Fidget and Olivia started to leave the room. "Fine!"
Olivia and Fidget stopped for a second for her to add, "So what would you do if your family was at risk, whether or not you are my age?"
Basil sighed, his anger diminishing. "I would've done the same thing, but I will always be careful."
I knew he'd say that, Dawson sighed, feeling annoyed.
"You will never be Dr. Dawson!"
Their declaration of spite said it all. What they meant was Dawson wouldn't brag, he'd more than likely admit his mistakes, he'll take the risk of taking responsibility for children as long as he is careful in making that decision, and is willing to give rats and bats another chance.
The doctor saw the look on Basil's face and he'd seen the girl mouse and the bat as the victors of the argument for they were fed up with his pride and persistence and they were soon on their way to save Mr. Flaversham once again.
Basil was stunned over Olivia and Fidget revealing the truth.
After that, Olivia and Fidget ran out the door in angry tears.
Basil moped towards the restroom to take a glimpse at himself in the mirror in dread over his error, revealing his negative traits: dumb, snotty, meanspirited, fake, hideous by personality, arrogant, cocky, careless, self-indulgent, pathetic, egotistical, overrated, self-rightous, flawed, pathetic, self-centered, frivolous, two-faced, foolish, bitter, condescending, reckless, ill-tempered, conceited, smart mouthed, selfish, immature, a liar, and a know-it-all.
"Basil!" Dawson cried in an icy cold stern voice, instead of his usual low key and friendly one, breaking his partner's thoughts. Since this wasn't the Basil he admired, he was sure to get on his case.
"Dawson?" Basil jolted at Dawson's different tone.
"I heard your conversation loud and clear." Dawson's icy voice frightened the detective, but the detective's partner didn't care. He was bound to put some sense into him. He and Mrs. Judson were taking sides and they were on Olivia's and Fidget's, instead of his. "What kind of person are you? You are cruel to those who aren't mice and we should've gone our separate ways, meaning I'll take the girl and take care of her like I promised because this is getting out of hand!" He, however, remembered his failure to watch over Olivia, but quickly pushed it aside.
Despite everything Dawson had said, Basil was still convinced that what he did was acceptable and found his voice again, "Dawson, please let me explain."
"I think you said enough. What happened to the Basil we know? The one that defeated Ratigan on top of Big Ben? The one who saved London? You had just made your friends…our friends cry!"
Basil's voice turned strict once again. "But Dawson, Fidget worked for Ratigan. He was using Olivia as bait for that rat's sake. He-"
"That's not the point! Did you ever ask Fidget whether or not he was brainwashed by Ratigan and why? Did you give him a second chance? No! Fidget never meant to kidnap anyone. Your prejudice and injustice has gone too far. You say Fidget is as bad as Ratigan."
"And they were right, you will never be Dr. Dawson, Mr. Basil," Mrs. Judson huffed.
"Right now, you're acting more like Ratigan than he is just because he enjoys solving mysteries with her and saves her when she needs him most!" Dawson snapped. A look of terror from Basil showed that his partner and the landlady clarified his true nature and that they both did it correctly. Before Dr. Dawson and Mrs. Judson walked away to their rooms for peace and quiet, he added, "Mrs. Judson and I would like you to think long and hard on what you did tonight, Basil. When we say be careful, we mean it because if you aren't, you will lose these children for life and we will not ever forgive you if that were to happen. Not even Olivia and Fidget will forgive you."
As the two old mice parted ways from him to their rooms, Basil resumed his gaze to the mirror asking himself, Alright, maybe I should think about what Fidget and Olivia said? and Why did I do this to them?
…
Fidget and Olivia were still on their way to rescue their father from the clutches of the brilliant minded professor.
"Fidget, thank you for defending me," Olivia told him.
"Anytime, Livy," Fidget said, "And thank you for defending me."
Olivia sighed. "Maybe if we haven't met, none of our misfortunes would've happened."
"Olivia, I'd prefer death over never getting a chance to meet you." Then, they discovered footprints. "Look, Livy! Footprints!"
Olivia bent over to look at them with him. "Good work, Fidget."
Fidget took a careful glance at the small footprints. "It has to be Ratigan's because his shoes are small, no doubt about that."
"Fidget, we are getting closer." And down the dank sewer, they went…
Author's notes: To be continued…
Basil's prejudice against bats and rats reminds me of Adolf Hitler, Scar, Ratigan, Governor Ratcliffe, and way too many more Disney and Non-Disney villains to list.
I do admit that he is caring, but I saw him mostly mean as I grew up hating him. I hate Ratigan more due to how he treats his henchmen, including Fidget. I strongly agree to those who say that Basil is a jerk because from what I see, most people think so, whether or not they are Basil fans and that protagonists aren't necessarily good people because they can be jerks.
Stay tuned for more, GMD fans!