-2.5-
Basket didn't become a self-defence expert. In fact, though agile, she was a slow learner, used to making herself run rather than stand and face what was attacking her. She was her own person in that, as Alphys used to just stand and take it, while Undyne attacked and never took it. Basket cowered, and ran, and tried to hide, even though she knew intellectually she was safe with her mothers. That instinct to run was just too overpowering.
"Come back here!" Undyne shouted. They were a week into it, now, and Basket had just hid behind the couch. Alphys stood across from Undyne, hands at her sides, her face sad, seeing her daughter run so quickly. She wondered how often Basket had to run in school, how much of her own safety depended on that instinct. Wordlessly, she walked over to Basket and knelt down beside her.
"Mummy," Basket began, her hair hiding her face. "I just can't help it."
"I know," Alphys admitted, brushing the hair from her face and tucking it behind her ears. "I just wish you could."
Basket's eyes filled, and Alphys hugged her, gesturing for Undyne to join them - which she did.
"Basket, why do you run?" Undyne asked gently.
"Too scared to deal with it. Afraid to get hurt," she sniffled in reply.
"Hm," Undyne replied thoughtfully, her gaze on Alphys, who looked back in question. "I wonder if we could find some way to work that in?"
Basket raised her head. "How? Isn't running just escaping the inevitable, like you always say?"
"In theory," Undyne agreed. "But you're also very fast and very agile. I'm wondering if we can use that somehow."
Alphys's eyes flared. "Avoidance," she blurted out. "We've been teaching you to defend yourself, to take the hits in a safe way if you must, but that's not good for you, not at all. If we taught you how to avoid getting hit at all, you can use that instinct to run - and the adrenaline that accompanies it - to avoid the hits and frustrate your attackers into giving up!"
Both Undyne and Basket stared at her, Undyne lighting up but Basket looking sceptical. "What's adrenaline?" she wondered.
Undyne laughed, and Alphys smiled, which in turn had Basket pulling a face. "Bassy, I know you know what adrenaline is," Undyne added. "The way you run away is proof of that."
Basket frowned, then blinked, her eyes widening. "Oh, that!"
Alphys was grinning now. "Do you think you could learn how to avoid attacks, Basket?"
"No," she said honestly. "But I'll try."
Basket was in her tree when it happened: a pinecone went by her head and landed in the branches behind her. Basket barely had time to process it before more missiles came towards her in varying sizes of cones from different trees. She shoved her phone and ereader into her bag and tried to climb up higher, but she kept getting hit, which stung and made her lose much of her balance as a result. The kids beneath her were faces she didn't recognise, or she did and her panic made them all blur together in a nightmare blob of shared hatred for her. When she realised she couldn't get any higher without the risk of falling down from those hits, she decided, with a racing heart, to climb down and hopefully be able to run for it.
Trying to move to the opposite side of the tree from where they stood, Basket easily climbed down the tree and landed on her feet. The group was already moving to intercept her, so she crouched and poised to run-
-then stopped.
Something almost feral filled her then, and Basket stood up to her full height, turning to face her attackers with a cold, angry calm.
Remember, Basket, Undyne's voice suddenly said in her mind. Throw them off-guard and always be ready to run if you can - but to avoid is the best way to do it.
She's right, Alphys's voice chimed in, words she'd heard only days before. Face your danger right on, and do it with a smile - or a grimace - and prove that though you're afraid, you're not weak.
But how can I be strong if I'm afraid? I am afraid, she thought grimly, feeling jittery and scared as they got closer. I'm terrified.
Use that fear, then, to make you quick, Peridot.
You can do it. We believe in you.
Basket turned to face the group, barely seeing them, now. Her eyes were instead on their body language, her instincts on hair-trigger. They were taunting her, saying the meanest things they could think of, which hurt her, but not enough to turn away or cry.
When a pinecone smacked her on the arm, she winced, the pain sharp and frustrating. When another one hit her on the side of her right arm, she gritted her teeth, but oddly still stood her ground. Something within her opened up, and suddenly she felt that anger take hands with her hurt, and together they made her move.
The next pinecone seemed to be strangely slow to her, and she moved to the side and avoided it easily. If there was a reaction, she didn't absorb it; instead, her eyes followed each person holding a pinecone, waiting for their next throw.
Her eyes were so sharp and focussed, it should be said that her attackers were rather confused by them - and by Basket, herself. By now, she would have run, but she just stood there, now just letting the various cones sail past her like errant bugs. In fact, she was looking at them as if that was what she saw them all as - and it as very disconcerting.
Sharing the same thought, most of them decided to throw their projectiles at her together. She avoided most, got hit by some, but managed to grab one in mid-throw, which shocked both her and her attackers. Holding it in her hand, she suddenly met the eyes of the one who threw it-
-and she grinned at them, the grin that mixed Undyne's determination with Alphys's deadly impatience. She held that pinecone as if it gave her energy and life - and indeed, it felt that way. Slowly, she stood to her full height and held the pinecone up, as if to throw it at them. Instead, she threw it up and caught it, several times, in silence.
They stared at her, clearly confused by this kind of behaviour from their favourite victim, who should at least be crying by now.
"So," Basket said suddenly, her voice wavering slightly but still stronger than she ever thought it could be. "Want this back?" She met the eyes of the one who threw it again, still smiling, and they swallowed.
"Why are you such... a freak today?!" one of them demanded.
"I'm tired of your crap," Basket answered honestly, catching the pinecone again. She raised her arm and aimed. "Oh, and I have my mom's arm," she added truthfully. "Ask Olceal."
Since everyone not only knew who her mom was, but also knew what had happened to Olceal, several of them decided to take off, including the one who threw the cone she now played with.
"Do you always hide behind your mothers?" one asked with a sneer.
Basket turned to them sharply. "Do you always hide behind your own weakness, by attacking the weaker?" she shot back. It was what Alphys had told her they did.
When they paled, she knew her mum was right at least in this case. Basket's smile widened, her eyes now on her pinecone. "Can you leave me alone, now?" she asked calmly. "You won't make me cry today."
A silence. Then, "Maybe not today, but sooner or later."
"Whatever," Basket answered cheerfully, nonplussed. There was another hesitant silence, and she held the pinecone and glared at them suddenly in warning. Seeing that glare - and recognising it as Undyne's - they decided to leave, though not without several immature, stupid words with their departure.
Basket waited until they were gone before she dropped to the ground, trembling from head to foot, clutching the pinecone to her chest and leaning against the tree for balance. She tilted her head back against it and cried, tears of fear and relief, and she realised that indeed they had made her cry - but they would never know that.
Because even though she didn't know it, as she cried, she was grinning.
For the rest of the day, nothing physical happened to her. Only emotional barbs were flung at Basket - though the term 'only' is of course used loosely here - but nothing was thrown or stuck onto her, which was a nice change. She was surprised by it, but oddly proud of herself. Clearly, something had shifted, and it was because she had stood up for herself.
When she got home, her hair was back behind her ears and she had the pinecone in her bag, considering it a war trophy. After surprised hugs and smiles, she told her mothers everything, including why she now carried her prized cone.
Undyne took it gently and placed it on the mantel, night between Undyne and Alphys's wedding photo and another of Undyne and Alphys holding the baby Basket between them, all three smiling.
"Damn right it's a war trophy," Undyne agreed with a grin.
Alphys sniffled a little, feeling proud. "And you did it without violence,"
"Yep, You did it just by being a smartass," Undyne agreed.
Basket blurted out, "So... I did okay? I did good?"
To which she was ambushed by hugs from both, causing delighted giggles to erupt forth - something they hadn't heard in what seemed like a long, long time.