Doreen & Angelo: Self Defense

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The preliminary self-defense class for Doreen takes an interesting turn.

Doreen had been surprised when ‘Self Defense’ had ended up being a mandatory part of her class schedule. She didn’t consider herself an overly violent person and even when she had taken abuse back home she hadn’t returned it to the people who went after her.

But, of course, if what Julian had told her was true, she’d have to learn how to fight because that was something that Super Heroes did. So she’d have to learn that just so she didn’t get left behind. She was still squeeing about that, but was trying really, really hard not to show it that much.

As it is, she wasn’t even sure how this would work. She didn’t want to hurt the teacher with her claws and in gym shorts that were a bit too big and tailored for her tail and an oversized old raider’s jersey that she had brought from home she also didn’t look to threatening.

“So… um… how does this… work?”

"Today, we're just here to figure out what you can do", Angelo told her, watching her from his temporary perch on the gym mats. "The best way to work with your powers, an' if you've got any self-defense skills already."

“Okay,” Doreen said simply. “I… really never fought much. I mean, I really don’t want to hurt someone without meaning to,” she explained. She did worry about that, with her claws, with her arm strength or how strong her legs were now. It didn’t take that much in the way of brains to figure out she needed strong legs to be able to jump and run like she could.

“And… well, I took dance when I was a kid, but I don’t think that counts,” she added.

"That's what you're here to learn", he said reassuringly. "How to fight someone off without hurtin' them more than you have to, if you get attacked. Dance's got its place, even - helps you know how to move."

“I wasn’t very good at it,” Doreen admitted. It had been a cute thing, she was sure. To dress her up in those costumes and have her on stage until she was about eight or nine, “But yeah, I guess. Um… how do you want me to start? I mean, I’ve never hit anyone… well, that’s kind of a lie, I hit my brother once when he was six and I was eight, but I didn’t have claws then.”

"Little bit of role play to start with, I guess." He hopped down off the mats, stepping towards her. "I'm gonna attack you an' I want you to try an' forget I'm your teacher. Think of it like I'm really tryin' to hurt you." He knew she didn't have energy-based powers or anything else that could make her touch dangerous, and based on experience he expected her to hold back anyway.

“Um… okay,” Doreen said with a nod, “Not my teacher. Got it,” she could do that. Though it really wasn’t like she found Mr. Espinosa scary or anything, because he wasn’t, “I can do that.”

"Okay then. Ready?" Waiting for her nod, and getting it, he lunged, spinning her round and pulling her arm behind her back.

“Oww!!” Doreen said, and started to struggle to get out of it. She was strong, but not really overly flexible. “That’s not fair!” she protested, trying to get him off (without using the claws) and it was really, really hard.

"This is real, remember", he said calmly, not loosening his grip at her protest. "Real people attackin' you won't care about fair. What do you do now?"

But it wasn’t real. At least that’s what one part of her mind kept telling her. She kept trying to wiggle out and when that didn’t work she tried to elbow him. Doreen didn’t look strong, but she had enough strength in her arms to pull herself up a tree with ease climbing with just her arms. It may not have defined 'super human' but given her size she knew it would throw a lot of people off.

“I don’t know!” she said, “Get you off of me?”

The elbowing actually achieved something, if not a complete release, as Angelo grunted at the impact in his stomach and had to catch his breath, his hand loosening on her arm for a moment or two. "Right. What ways do you have to do that?"

She tried to wiggle free right then, “Elbowing, I guess? I mean, I’ve never done this before,” she said. And she totally was not going to step on his feet. Totally no. Completely no.
She got halfway clear before a hand latched onto her tail and pulled - not half as hard as he could have, of course, but making a point. "You do whatever you have to to get yourself clear. Use what you've got."

When he pulled her tail she shrieked, it wasn’t even definable as a human sound. It wasn’t the first time she had her tail pulled but it was one of those things that never got comfortable. The swipe with her clawed hand was done automatically before she even thought about it. And when Doreen did have time to think about it she panicked, trying to pull the blow before it hit her teacher.
He'd ducked as she turned to swipe, causing the blow to glance off him, not even drawing blood. "Okay, there's somethin' to work with", he muttered to himself, nodding to her. "It's okay, Doreen. I'm not invulnerable, but I'm pretty hard to cut, so don't worry about it, okay?"

“But… you pulled my tail! I didn’t mean to… I didn’t hurt you did I?” she asked, very concerned about that. She wouldn’t want to get hit by her claws, she couldn’t imagine how much it would hurt someone who… well… didn’t have them. Even if it didn’t cut it could hurt.

"No", he said firmly. "Maybe a bruise, but that's it. You want to keep goin'?"

“…Okay,” Doreen said, “I mean, since I didn’t hurt you,” she said. This wasn’t as fun as the trees out back, but if she was going to go out for the Hero team Julian mentioned she had to do it.
"I won't let you hurt me", he promised. "Now - this time you've got to get out of it on your own, okay? You do whatever it takes. Kick, elbow, claws, whatever you've got you use it until I let go."
“Okay,” Doreen said with a nod. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. He couldn’t really get hurt that easily, he said. It didn’t mean she was totally ready but she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. “We can try again.”

"Good", he said encouragingly, then moved to put her in another lock, this time using the other arm. "Now, make me let go."

“Okay,” Doreen said, and started trying to wiggle free. It was both frustrating and scary that she couldn’t get him to let go right away. She tried even harder to wiggle out without using claws. After all, she figured, it really should be a last resort. She really didn’t like this though…
He wasn't going to make her use her claws, especially since he wasn't absolutely sure his skin would hold up to them. And if she could get free without them, all the better, because he wasn't going to let go easily. "You can do it", he urged her on.

She started squeaking as she kept pulling at it and nothing worked. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, which frustrated her even more. When Doreen became more and more frustrated and more and more focused on ‘get him to let go now’ her motions became more jerking as she made more noises most students didn’t make.
"Hey. Doreen." He was mildly concerned by the squeaking, nothing more, but concerned enough. "Dial it back a little. Try to do this calmly, it'll work better."

Having to get out of the hold that she couldn’t break was the only thing she was thinking of and then, quickly, she really wasn’t thinking at all. She jerked hard and kicked back with one foot, making a wild clicking noise.
In other circumstances, he'd have praised her for that move, but with that noise... Angelo let go of her arm quickly and backed away. "Doreen?"

Doreen literally rolled away from him when he let her go and for a moment paused, making noises that sounded like they were coming from an overgrown squirrel. A moment later, she lunged, claws out, apparently deciding he was still a threat. And she was in this enclosed room. Both things that she didn’t like.

"Doreen, snap out of it", he said urgently, trying to keep a distance between them. "I really don't want to have to take you down."

It was hard to keep distance from a girl who could leap thirty feet from a stand still. She instantly judged the distance and pounced, moving a lot more like an animal than the girl who hand wandered into the gym.

He was knocked backwards by the pounce, try as he might to brace, and then it was just a matter of trying to keep her sharp parts away from his throat and chest. Ten strips of skin from his left hand flew out to bind her wrists, dragging the claws up and away, and a wide strip from the right went to her mouth and nose, as tight as a pressure bandage.

Doreen fought, which actually made her start to fade out quickly. This part of her didn’t know when to quit or that she’d save more air by not fighting. The throes were impressive though for a girl of Doreen’s size as muffled squeaks and half clicks were accented by kicking hard, even as the lack of air made movements slower and slower.
Angelo waited until the squeaks and clicks stopped altogether, until she slumped limply down on to him, and then he let her go. She'd actually managed to cut him a little before he caught her, and the bruises were making themselves felt already, but he didn't care about that.

When she woke up, he was cradling her carefully, having checked she had started breathing normally again.

Doreen’s eyes opened slowly. The last thing she remembered was being really, really frustrated and not wanting to take what would have been the easy way out. It didn’t take her long to figure out what must have happened. It wasn’t the first time.

“…Oh… oh no!” she started to sit up to quickly but was still dizzy so didn’t make it all the way, “I’m sorry!”

"Hey, ssh", he tried to soothe her. "Don't move too fast, you were out for a while there. An' it's okay, you didn't really hurt me. Wasn't your fault anyway."

“No, no, I’m sorry. I really am. I didn’t mean it,” she said. She saw blood, even though it really wasn’t enough to smell. “Oh my gosh, I’m sooooooo sorry.”
"I know you didn't." He moved carefully, helping her to her feet as he rose. "I pushed you too hard. I'll know what to watch for next time."

Her tail caught her balance for her instantly, adjusting as she stood up so she didn’t even waver. Doreen, herself, was looking down at the floor, not quite sure what to think. “Still… I’m really sorry.” She didn’t really have anything else to say about it. It’s not like she ever remember what she did when she got like that.
"Chiquita, I'm more worried about you right now. You feelin' okay? I had to cut off your air, sorry about that." He was still holding her up, just in case there were after effects.

“I’m kinda dizzy,” Doreen said after thinking about it, “But it’s not so bad. I won’t fall over. I don’t fall,” she said. Not since growing the tail anyway. Though the couple of months while it was growing were interesting. A lot of walking into walls had happened then.

"You don't fall, but if you're dizzy..." He looked her over for a moment. "Come see Doc Grey with me? Just in case, so she can check you over."

Doreen looked up at him, “Do I have to?” she asked. “I mean, it’s just a little bit…”

"Better safe than sorry", was the firm response. "Yeah, you have to."

Doreen groaned. She didn’t like doctors, but if a teacher was saying so she supposed she had to. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll go see the doctor.”

"Come on, then." He was going with her to make sure she went - and also because he'd pay for it if Jean found out he'd been hurt and not gone himself.

“Okay,” Doreen said, falling in step after him, “Does this mean I’m in trouble? I hope I’m not, I really didn’t mean to do that.”

"No", he said quickly. "This whole thing, it's part of your mutation. You couldn't help it, we've just gotta help you control it."

“Yeah well that part? That part isn’t any fun,” Doreen said pouting.