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Michael Marceau has always led an interesting and explosive life, but one constant through it all is his best friend Ursula Wrangler. Marceau finds himself in trouble in more ways than one when his trust in others leads him to talk about more than he ever should...
An art trade with
kaemantis who wanted to show off a bit more of what everyone's favorite grumpy coach, Marceau, and everyone's favorite Pokeball coach, Wrangler, are like and delve a bit more into their backstory. I hope this meets everything she was aiming for...and wish I could think of a better title for it.
Weaver, Wrangler and Marceau belong to the effervescent kaemantis
Zap and Miss Jiggles courtesy of
ebonyleopard
Tessa bouncing our way via
carlito
The diabolical Haunt mentioned belongs to Sad Fat Duck
Vince, of course, is mine.
Pokemon belongs to Nintendo
An art trade with
kaemantis who wanted to show off a bit more of what everyone's favorite grumpy coach, Marceau, and everyone's favorite Pokeball coach, Wrangler, are like and delve a bit more into their backstory. I hope this meets everything she was aiming for...and wish I could think of a better title for it.Weaver, Wrangler and Marceau belong to the effervescent
kaemantisZap and Miss Jiggles courtesy of
ebonyleopardTessa bouncing our way via
carlitoThe diabolical Haunt mentioned belongs to Sad Fat Duck
Vince, of course, is mine.
Pokemon belongs to Nintendo
Category Story / Pokemon
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 120 x 120px
File Size 52 kB
Better late than never:
“Vincent! Tessa!” the voice of Coach Michael Marceau, former Grand Champion and one of the most feared coaches at the PokeCombat Academy, boomed through the hallway that lead to the offices reserved for combat teachers. Students scrambled out of the way as he stormed through, a small bag in his hands, as no one wanted to get caught in his path of rampage. Some students stood their relative ground in an effort to show that they weren’t scared of the Mimic, though even they shifted just enough to stay out of his direct path. Marceau barely gave any of them a second glance as he pushed his way through the last set of doors and down towards his two primary assistants were at; doing paperwork in his office. Both of the students looked up and blinked as their benefactor blustered.
“Sir?” Tessa Ardillo del Relampago asked curiously at the entrance as she finished up one form.
“Something up, Coach?” Vincent Tellamapolou added as he looked up to the Mimic. Marceau didn’t answer for a moment as his gaze bore down on them in a menacing fashion.
“You two done with your paperwork yet?” He asked in a harsh tone. To someone who didn’t know any better they’d swear he was upset about something; thankfully for these two they did know him better.
“We’ll be done with it pretty soon, Coach,” Vince told him with a grin.
“Careful there, boss, or you might blow a vein,” Tessa teased him as she finished off another stack. Marceau continued to try and glare at the pair for several seconds before he finally gave up and grinned at them.
“That’s not fair, guys,” He said as he pulled out a couple of bottles of soda and settled them in front of his students, “Everyone else is terrified of me whenever I pull that,” Vince let out a laugh as he took his soda.
“Yeah, but we know you better than that, Coach,” the Poli popped the top off the bottle and took a swig.
“Yeah, yeah,” Michael said with a smirk, “Wouldn’t trust you guys for dating advice if you didn’t know me,” He took his own soda and opened it.
“So what’s the plan for the big second date there, champ?” Tessa asked teasingly as she rested her pen down and wiggled her eyebrows at the coach.
“Still working that out,” he admitted, “Vince here thinks that I should take her dancing or someplace with music,”
“Mmmm, not bad not bad,” the curvy Pachi mused as she took a drink, “It’s not a movie so that’s a good start,”
“Why? What’d be wrong with a movie?” Marceau asked curiously.
“No interaction,” she answered, “It’s not bad for the occasional one or for a first date because it can take care of some awkwardness. But for a second or third that’s when you should be getting to know her better,”
“Doesn’t hurt you already know her,” Vince added, “but you need to get in and really know her. People can be different when it’s just you and them,” Marceau nodded as he listened to the duo.
“How is it you guys know this stuff already?” the Mimic finally asked.
“We actually took the time out of school to have relationships?” Tessa jokingly asked. Vince snickered behind her.
“Took us a while to, but yeah, we both have significant others,” the Poli said. Tessa reached out to smack Vince’s arm lightly.
“Didn’t take us a while,” she corrected, “We just had to make sure that we got the right ones,” Marceau laughed as the two went back and forth.
“You two are really somethin’ else,” Marceau said, “I’m glad I’ve got you two around,”
“What’s this I hear?” another voice suddenly popped up above the others and caused the trio to turn towards it. Standing in the doorway was a rather statuesque Ursaring who grinned down at them. Dressed as a coach herself, Ursula Wrangler leaned casually against the doorframe, “Is that…is that Michael actually laughing?”
“Nah, you must be hearing things in your old age, Wrangler,” Marceau said with a smirk. The larger ursine laughed and walked over to pull him into a playful headlock and gave the mimic a noogie. Michael sputtered and pushed her off after a moment as he tried to glare at her. Tessa and Vince just laughed at the scene as they leaned back and enjoyed it.
“So what’s this I hear about you getting dating advice from students?” She asked as she glanced towards the two indicated. Vince and Tessa fell quiet for a moment as they figured now wasn’t the time to say anything. Marceau shrugged and looked back at Ursula.
“They know more about dating than I do,” He admitted, “And you don’t really date so…” the Ursaring gave him a sudden look that shot shivers down the spines of the students and froze the Mimic mid-sentence. The look was brief before it was replaced with an easy going smile that the police officer and volunteer Pokeball coach was better known for.
“I’d better get out to the practice field before the girls find a way to steal Zap’s pants,” she told them before she started out the door, “Again,” A light toss of a wave over her shoulder and the Ursaring was suddenly gone. Marceau watched her leave for a moment before he looked back to his two assistants who were also dead silent.
“So, uhhh, yeah,” Vince tried to start up a conversation again to deal with the silence and because of the rather disturbed look on Marceau’s face. It was the first time he’d actually ever seen the Mimic anything but happy, frustrated or upset. To see him crest fallen, almost lost seemed bizarre to the Poli. Neither of the other two people in the room picked up the conversation for several moments before another voice spoke up from the hallway again.
“Dude, I’ve never seen her that scary before,” Everyone glanced out to see Weaver standing in the hallway as she still looked down towards where Wrangler had gone. Tessa blinked a few times in surprise at seeing the Tapir.
“Weaver?” Tessa asked, “What’re you doing here?” Weaver blushed suddenly as she realized she’d gotten caught following after the tall and rather fetching Ursaring. She forced down the color of her cheeks and threw her yo-yo a few times.
“N-nothing!” She quickly asserted before she looked to Marceau, “What’s up with her anyway? Never seen her get actually upset about something,” the Mimic didn’t respond for several moments before he shrugged lightly and looked at the gathered students.
“It’s…kinda complicated,” He finally said.
“Complicated how?” Weaver pushed. Michael looked like he wanted to resist telling them, but looks from Vince and Tessa who wanted to hear it as well convinced the ‘mon. With a sigh he moved back to his seat and reached for his soda.
“Well, pretty sure everyone knows that growing up Ursala babysat for me when I was a kid,” He started. Tessa gave a quick snicker at something which stopped the Mimic in his tracks.
“Bet she’s got some great stories about you when you were a tyke,” the Pachi commented. A look from Marceau silenced the others before they could laugh too much.
“You wanna hear this or should I leave now?” He warned which set the three to quickly fall silent. Marceau cleared his throat before he continued.
“Anyway, yeah, Wrangler’s my oldest friend because she babysat for me and then helped keep me in line,” He continued, “few fights after school I would’ve really gotten in trouble for if she hadn’t been around to calm me down. It’s one reason her going to the academy to become a cop like her grandparents was so tough for me, because she wasn’t there,”
“Her grandparents were officers to?” Vince asked.
“Yup,” Marceau answered and nodded, “She was actually raised by her grandparents. Her grandma died in the line of duty and her grandpa was one so she wanted to go and become an officer in honor of them,”
“Sounds like as good a reason as any,” Vince mused before he leaned back to let Michael continue.
“So yeah, she got in and became a cop like she wanted to and has been pretty happy with it,” He continued, “She still lives with her grandpa near where I do so I see them all the time,”
“So how does that tie into her whole thing about dating?” Weaver prompted the Mimic as she made her way into the office fully. Michael sighed, but given that he was surrounded only by friends he decided to go into more detail.
“She actually was engaged at one point not to long ago,” He finally admitted; the three students all blinked and looked at each other in surprise, “she was a Lopunny named Serena. Oh they were in love…at least Wrangler was. You’d never think you’d see Wrangler as girly and giggly as you did around Serena,” The students all looked between each other, a bit shocked at that description. Sure, Wrangler was well known among students for being energetic and happy most of the time…but giggly? None of them could picture it.
“So what happened between them?” Vince finally asked. Marceau sighed again as he gathered his words.
“Well, about a month before the wedding was gonna happen Serena and some of her friends threw a bachelorette party,” He continued, “Wrangler didn’t go because she was on duty that night. Well, for some reason someone brought in a male stripper and a bunch of booze,” He paused for a moment and wondered how to put this or even if he should. The look of the students, his friends, hanging on his words pushed him to continue, “One thing lead to another and Serena and the stripper slept with each other. A few weeks later and she found out that she was pregnant,” silence hung in the air as the three students were stunned.
“Well, Wrangler flipped over it,” He didn’t pause this time as the story kept coming, “She didn’t take it too well, which was kinda odd since she’d been talking about having kids too. But for some reason she felt so betrayed that she just…rejected Serena. Took her a few weeks before she even started acting like herself again, it was kinda a scary time.”
“That’s so sad to hear…” Weaver finally said as she grew sullen for a moment. It was a rare moment for the Tapir to be anything but aloof or fawning over Ishtar. The stunned looks on Tessa and Vince’s faces snapped her out of it.
“Oh knock it off you two!” Weaver protested, “I can be sympathetic!” They didn’t say anything in response; instead they continued to look in the Tapir’s direction in shock. Marceau looked over as well before his eyes grew wide a moment later. Weaver blinked a few times as she realized it wasn’t her they were staring at. She gulped once and looked up to notice a rather tall and angry looking Ursaring tower over her.
“Eeep!”
“Michael Terrance Marceau, what the hell are you doing?” Wrangler practically exploded as she glared down at shorter Mimic. For the first time in a long time Marceau felt very small. He gave the Ursaring an apologetic and sheepish look as he tried to explain.
“Umm, Wrangler, well, it’s just, they asked and I thought…” He started, not really sure what he was going to do.
“No!” She cut him off, “You weren’t thinking! You shouldn’t know better than to tell them that! They’re students, Michael!”
“But, Urusla, they’re my friends! They’re not going to tell anyone,” the three students nodded quickly and emphatically in agreement.
“They’re students, Michael. You still need to learn that!” She countered, “You know what…forget it,” Wrangler turned and stormed off from the room. The four people who remained in the office sat there in silence for several seconds as they looked to one another. Marceau looked absolutely crestfallen that his oldest and best friend had just been so insulted because of what he had said. The students looked between each other for a moment before Vince stood up and pushed Michael towards the door. The Mimic turned to look at the Poli in annoyance.
“What’re you waiting for?” He asked, “Go talk to her!”
“Well what the hell do I say?” Marceau practically yelled at Vince.
“Apologize, explain, ask how you can make it better,” Tessa told him from behind the larger ‘mon.
“Do something,” Vince added, “We’re going to leave you guys to talk,” Weaver was the first to try and start out the room before Marceau turned a look on the tapir that made her stop in her tracks. The other two gulped a bit and didn’t move either.
“You all better be here when I get back or you’re all getting detention for a month,” Marceau wasted little time as he stormed out into the hall to try and track down where his friend had gone. After he left the three students in the room looked to one another in a measure of uncertainty.
“You know that month of detention probably wouldn’t be so bad…” Tessa said almost jokingly. Vince and Weaver didn’t laugh as they settled in to wait for Marceau to come back and hoped they’d stay out of any trouble after it was all said and done.
Rushing down the hallway and towards the Pokeball field Marceau raced to try and catch up with her before she could get out in front of the kids where he knew he wouldn’t stand a chance. As he finally caught sight of Wrangler he was surprised to find her not really all that far ahead and not stormed off like he’d expect. Instead the Ursaring had taken advantage of a nook in a hall abandoned by the students for the day to rest her head against some lockers. Wrangler had her back turned to everyone, though as Marceau drew closer he could feel the waves of sorrow and anger roll off of her like a rain storm. The Mimic hesitated for a moment and wondered if it’d be better if he didn’t push the issue just then; even though he wanted to do everything in his power to make it up to her. The hesitation cost him his choice.
“I’m not interested in hearing any excuses you have, Michael,” Ursula answered without even turning; seems she had others ways of telling when people were close. Michael sighed and continued towards her.
“Not an excuse, Wrangler,” He moved to rest a hand up and on her shoulder, “Just an apology,” Wrangler shrugged the hand off her shoulder which caused the Mimic to wince in response.
“How could you?” She asked, “How could you have told them? Students! Told students about all that?”
“Well…they asked?” He couldn’t exactly say that it seemed like a good idea at the time.
“And that gives them the right to know about the personal lives of teachers?” Wrangler finally turned to look at Michael who took a step back; Ursula was one of the few ‘mon who could actually scare him, and she wasn’t exactly calm right now.
“They’re my friends!” He countered, “At least Vince and Tessa are! They’re helping me with my dates…”
“They’re your students, Michael!” Ursula said again to reinforce the matter, “You’re not supposed to be friends with your students! It causes problems; it causes people to accuse you of favoritism!” Michael winced as though he’d been slapped across the face.
“I know, Wrangler!” He countered, “I…I mean I know I’m not supposed to…but it’s been hard for me to get along with other faculty, you know? A lot of them look down on me as some angry thug…like what Haunt does,” Michael gave a mutter as he thought about the sarcastic Rattata teacher who’d become like a nemesis to him.
“Michael…” Wrangler sighed, “First off no making this about you,” Marceau blinked and waved his hands several times as if to try and dismiss that thought.
“I’m not trying to make it that!” He quickly added, “No excuses here, remember?” the Ursaring let out another breath and nodded as she started to calm herself down; not that she wasn’t any less upset with the whole situation.
“Michael, what you did was wrong,” she began with a more even tone, “even if they are your friends, and that’s another matter entirely, you shouldn’t be going and telling them about my past. I don’t want people knowing about that, okay? By telling them you really broke my trust,” the Mimic’s shoulders slumped at those words. He knew she was right and he had no real argument against it.
“I’m mad at you, Michael,” she continued, “but it doesn’t mean I’m going to go and kick you out of my life,”
“Why’d you do that to Serena?” He asked before he could realize how stupid a question it could be. The look on his face said as much to Ursula. Wrangler just shrugged her shoulders.
“What she did was just so…it’s hard to explain,” It was her turn to sigh, “It hurt me a lot that she could be swayed so easily to do that, you know? I mean, it was a one night stand, yeah, but if she was that quick to sleep with the guy after a bit of booze... how could I ever know she wouldn’t do it again?” Michael stood there watching his best friend for a moment before he walked over and rested a hand on her shoulder again. This time it wasn’t shaken off.
“Is that why you hadn’t really gone and dated anyone else?” He asked her. Wrangler shrugged, but not enough to throw the hand off.
“I just…I don’t want to get hurt again,” She admitted, “And I’m terrified of it happening,”
“First time I’ve ever heard of you being afraid of anything,” he said with a bit of a smile as he tried to crack a joke. Wrangler let out a brief laugh in response.
“Yeah, well, I am,” she admitted, “I’m afraid of getting hurt again. There you go,”
“Weren’t you the one telling me I couldn’t act afraid of anything as a kid?” Michael countered pointedly. Every now and again the Mimic did make a good point. Wrangler nodded her head back and forth as if trying to deny that, but she couldn’t.
“When did you suddenly get old enough to give me relationship advice?” She countered quickly with another joke. Michael grinned a bit.
“What can I say? I’ve got some good teachers,” he pointed out. Wrangler’s expression grew a little more serious at that.
“Which is a problem, Michael,” She pointed out what she’d been reminding him of that afternoon. It was Marceau who sighed again and nodded.
“Guess I’m going to have to stop treating them like my friends, huh,” Marceau said with disappointment evident in his voice. Wrangler nodded and patted his shoulder in return.
“Sorry, Michael, but you are,” she reinforced, “Doesn’t mean you can’t hang be nice and chat during school hours, but it’d be wrong for you to keep hanging out with them in any way other than that. I’m sure they’ll understand,”
“Damn,” Marceau said, “I was hoping their student-assistant status would change things some…” Wrangler laughed and pulled the Mimic in for a headlock.
“I’m sure they’ll understand,” a quick noogie and she let the ‘mon go who adjusted his hair, “Just…make sure they know that I’ll find a way to get them thrown into solitary if they go and blab about what you told them,”
“Don’t worry; I think they’ll understand,” Michael said, “And Wrangler? I’m sorry. For what I did…it was dumb and careless and it won’t happen again, I promise,” Wrangler looked at Michael for a long moment before she pulled the smaller Mimic into a tight hug that surprised him.
“I know you won’t,” she assured him, “Otherwise it’s solitary for you too. And I tell Miss Jiggles that you wet the bed as a kid,” Marceau blushed at that even though he returned the hug tightly.
“I did not!” He protested, but she just laughed in response and let him go.
“I’ll tell her that anyway,” she assured him, and he could tell she was serious, “Catch you after practice, Michael!” The Ursaring waved behind her as she marched towards the Pokeball field to make sure the students had done anything stupid. Michael watched her go for a moment before he let out a breath and steeled himself. What he was about to do was going to be painful; friends were hard for the confrontational and volatile Mimic to come by. He had to do what was right for him and for them; though and if they stayed friends it could cause some issues. Michael marched himself into the office where sure enough he saw the three students he’d told to stay still there. Each of them looked up towards Michael with concern; or in Weaver’s case, some amount of disinterest.
“Everything okay, Coach?” Vince asked, though he could tell something was up.
“Yeah, Coach Wrangler and I straightened things out…” the Mimic assured them before he looked for the right words to continue. Tessa and Vince looked between each other before back to him.
“Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone,” Tessa assured him and looked towards Weaver, “Right?”
“Sure, whatever,” She said as she leaned against the wall and threw her yo-yo, “Not like I’d have anyone to tell,” her posture was defiant as normal but her voice was compliant. Michael nodded as he was sure they’d follow through on it.
“And, I’m sorry guys but…we’re going to have to, well…” He continued to stumble over his own words in hope of getting the point across without hurting them.
“Coach? Do we need to stop being so chummy with you?” Vince finally asked as things started to become a bit more obvious to them.
“I’m sorry, guys,” Michael answered, “It’s not anything against you two, it’s just…”
“It could be a bad thing if people started figuring out we were all friends,” Tessa finished for him. Marceau nodded in response.
“I still want you guys as my main assistants,” He assured them, “And…I appreciate all the advice you guys have given me,” Vince stood up and walked over towards Marceau; Tessa wheeled herself closer.
“Don’t worry about it, Coach,” Vince held a hand out to him, “We’re still here for you,”
“Yeah, you’re not getting rid of us that easily,” the Pachi added. Marceau blinked between them and smiled. He reached out to shake Vince’s hand as he rested the other on Tessa’s shoulder. The Pachi reached up and rested her hand on his.
“Do I have to be here any longer?” Weaver asked and broke them moment. The other three turned towards her and smirked in unison.
“Get out of here,” Marceau said, “All three of you. Before I start giving out detention,”
“Yes, sir!” Vince offered a salute as Tessa snickered. Weaver just rolled her eyes and rolled out as all the students cleared out of the office and left Michael alone. The Mimic let out a breath as he looked around at the now vacant room and realized just how sparse it seemed. He thought about maybe bringing in something to adorn the wall or set on his desk, but he wasn’t sure what. He reminded himself this didn’t mean he was alone and didn’t mean he didn’t have friends. He also reminded himself that he didn’t need to be afraid, that he shouldn’t be afraid of the situation. A knock on the door pulled him out of his reverie.
“Michael?” a melodious voice called to him from the doorway. Marceau spun quickly and looked to see Miss Jiggles standing in the doorway.
“Aretha!” He said in sudden surprise, “What’re you doing here?”
“Thought I’d come to see if you wanted to get some coffee,” she looked at the leaving students then back to the Mimic, “Everything okay?” Marceau thought on the question for a second before he smiled and nodded.
“Everything’s going to be just fine,” Michael Marceau assured her, “Let’s go get some coffee,”
“Vincent! Tessa!” the voice of Coach Michael Marceau, former Grand Champion and one of the most feared coaches at the PokeCombat Academy, boomed through the hallway that lead to the offices reserved for combat teachers. Students scrambled out of the way as he stormed through, a small bag in his hands, as no one wanted to get caught in his path of rampage. Some students stood their relative ground in an effort to show that they weren’t scared of the Mimic, though even they shifted just enough to stay out of his direct path. Marceau barely gave any of them a second glance as he pushed his way through the last set of doors and down towards his two primary assistants were at; doing paperwork in his office. Both of the students looked up and blinked as their benefactor blustered.
“Sir?” Tessa Ardillo del Relampago asked curiously at the entrance as she finished up one form.
“Something up, Coach?” Vincent Tellamapolou added as he looked up to the Mimic. Marceau didn’t answer for a moment as his gaze bore down on them in a menacing fashion.
“You two done with your paperwork yet?” He asked in a harsh tone. To someone who didn’t know any better they’d swear he was upset about something; thankfully for these two they did know him better.
“We’ll be done with it pretty soon, Coach,” Vince told him with a grin.
“Careful there, boss, or you might blow a vein,” Tessa teased him as she finished off another stack. Marceau continued to try and glare at the pair for several seconds before he finally gave up and grinned at them.
“That’s not fair, guys,” He said as he pulled out a couple of bottles of soda and settled them in front of his students, “Everyone else is terrified of me whenever I pull that,” Vince let out a laugh as he took his soda.
“Yeah, but we know you better than that, Coach,” the Poli popped the top off the bottle and took a swig.
“Yeah, yeah,” Michael said with a smirk, “Wouldn’t trust you guys for dating advice if you didn’t know me,” He took his own soda and opened it.
“So what’s the plan for the big second date there, champ?” Tessa asked teasingly as she rested her pen down and wiggled her eyebrows at the coach.
“Still working that out,” he admitted, “Vince here thinks that I should take her dancing or someplace with music,”
“Mmmm, not bad not bad,” the curvy Pachi mused as she took a drink, “It’s not a movie so that’s a good start,”
“Why? What’d be wrong with a movie?” Marceau asked curiously.
“No interaction,” she answered, “It’s not bad for the occasional one or for a first date because it can take care of some awkwardness. But for a second or third that’s when you should be getting to know her better,”
“Doesn’t hurt you already know her,” Vince added, “but you need to get in and really know her. People can be different when it’s just you and them,” Marceau nodded as he listened to the duo.
“How is it you guys know this stuff already?” the Mimic finally asked.
“We actually took the time out of school to have relationships?” Tessa jokingly asked. Vince snickered behind her.
“Took us a while to, but yeah, we both have significant others,” the Poli said. Tessa reached out to smack Vince’s arm lightly.
“Didn’t take us a while,” she corrected, “We just had to make sure that we got the right ones,” Marceau laughed as the two went back and forth.
“You two are really somethin’ else,” Marceau said, “I’m glad I’ve got you two around,”
“What’s this I hear?” another voice suddenly popped up above the others and caused the trio to turn towards it. Standing in the doorway was a rather statuesque Ursaring who grinned down at them. Dressed as a coach herself, Ursula Wrangler leaned casually against the doorframe, “Is that…is that Michael actually laughing?”
“Nah, you must be hearing things in your old age, Wrangler,” Marceau said with a smirk. The larger ursine laughed and walked over to pull him into a playful headlock and gave the mimic a noogie. Michael sputtered and pushed her off after a moment as he tried to glare at her. Tessa and Vince just laughed at the scene as they leaned back and enjoyed it.
“So what’s this I hear about you getting dating advice from students?” She asked as she glanced towards the two indicated. Vince and Tessa fell quiet for a moment as they figured now wasn’t the time to say anything. Marceau shrugged and looked back at Ursula.
“They know more about dating than I do,” He admitted, “And you don’t really date so…” the Ursaring gave him a sudden look that shot shivers down the spines of the students and froze the Mimic mid-sentence. The look was brief before it was replaced with an easy going smile that the police officer and volunteer Pokeball coach was better known for.
“I’d better get out to the practice field before the girls find a way to steal Zap’s pants,” she told them before she started out the door, “Again,” A light toss of a wave over her shoulder and the Ursaring was suddenly gone. Marceau watched her leave for a moment before he looked back to his two assistants who were also dead silent.
“So, uhhh, yeah,” Vince tried to start up a conversation again to deal with the silence and because of the rather disturbed look on Marceau’s face. It was the first time he’d actually ever seen the Mimic anything but happy, frustrated or upset. To see him crest fallen, almost lost seemed bizarre to the Poli. Neither of the other two people in the room picked up the conversation for several moments before another voice spoke up from the hallway again.
“Dude, I’ve never seen her that scary before,” Everyone glanced out to see Weaver standing in the hallway as she still looked down towards where Wrangler had gone. Tessa blinked a few times in surprise at seeing the Tapir.
“Weaver?” Tessa asked, “What’re you doing here?” Weaver blushed suddenly as she realized she’d gotten caught following after the tall and rather fetching Ursaring. She forced down the color of her cheeks and threw her yo-yo a few times.
“N-nothing!” She quickly asserted before she looked to Marceau, “What’s up with her anyway? Never seen her get actually upset about something,” the Mimic didn’t respond for several moments before he shrugged lightly and looked at the gathered students.
“It’s…kinda complicated,” He finally said.
“Complicated how?” Weaver pushed. Michael looked like he wanted to resist telling them, but looks from Vince and Tessa who wanted to hear it as well convinced the ‘mon. With a sigh he moved back to his seat and reached for his soda.
“Well, pretty sure everyone knows that growing up Ursala babysat for me when I was a kid,” He started. Tessa gave a quick snicker at something which stopped the Mimic in his tracks.
“Bet she’s got some great stories about you when you were a tyke,” the Pachi commented. A look from Marceau silenced the others before they could laugh too much.
“You wanna hear this or should I leave now?” He warned which set the three to quickly fall silent. Marceau cleared his throat before he continued.
“Anyway, yeah, Wrangler’s my oldest friend because she babysat for me and then helped keep me in line,” He continued, “few fights after school I would’ve really gotten in trouble for if she hadn’t been around to calm me down. It’s one reason her going to the academy to become a cop like her grandparents was so tough for me, because she wasn’t there,”
“Her grandparents were officers to?” Vince asked.
“Yup,” Marceau answered and nodded, “She was actually raised by her grandparents. Her grandma died in the line of duty and her grandpa was one so she wanted to go and become an officer in honor of them,”
“Sounds like as good a reason as any,” Vince mused before he leaned back to let Michael continue.
“So yeah, she got in and became a cop like she wanted to and has been pretty happy with it,” He continued, “She still lives with her grandpa near where I do so I see them all the time,”
“So how does that tie into her whole thing about dating?” Weaver prompted the Mimic as she made her way into the office fully. Michael sighed, but given that he was surrounded only by friends he decided to go into more detail.
“She actually was engaged at one point not to long ago,” He finally admitted; the three students all blinked and looked at each other in surprise, “she was a Lopunny named Serena. Oh they were in love…at least Wrangler was. You’d never think you’d see Wrangler as girly and giggly as you did around Serena,” The students all looked between each other, a bit shocked at that description. Sure, Wrangler was well known among students for being energetic and happy most of the time…but giggly? None of them could picture it.
“So what happened between them?” Vince finally asked. Marceau sighed again as he gathered his words.
“Well, about a month before the wedding was gonna happen Serena and some of her friends threw a bachelorette party,” He continued, “Wrangler didn’t go because she was on duty that night. Well, for some reason someone brought in a male stripper and a bunch of booze,” He paused for a moment and wondered how to put this or even if he should. The look of the students, his friends, hanging on his words pushed him to continue, “One thing lead to another and Serena and the stripper slept with each other. A few weeks later and she found out that she was pregnant,” silence hung in the air as the three students were stunned.
“Well, Wrangler flipped over it,” He didn’t pause this time as the story kept coming, “She didn’t take it too well, which was kinda odd since she’d been talking about having kids too. But for some reason she felt so betrayed that she just…rejected Serena. Took her a few weeks before she even started acting like herself again, it was kinda a scary time.”
“That’s so sad to hear…” Weaver finally said as she grew sullen for a moment. It was a rare moment for the Tapir to be anything but aloof or fawning over Ishtar. The stunned looks on Tessa and Vince’s faces snapped her out of it.
“Oh knock it off you two!” Weaver protested, “I can be sympathetic!” They didn’t say anything in response; instead they continued to look in the Tapir’s direction in shock. Marceau looked over as well before his eyes grew wide a moment later. Weaver blinked a few times as she realized it wasn’t her they were staring at. She gulped once and looked up to notice a rather tall and angry looking Ursaring tower over her.
“Eeep!”
“Michael Terrance Marceau, what the hell are you doing?” Wrangler practically exploded as she glared down at shorter Mimic. For the first time in a long time Marceau felt very small. He gave the Ursaring an apologetic and sheepish look as he tried to explain.
“Umm, Wrangler, well, it’s just, they asked and I thought…” He started, not really sure what he was going to do.
“No!” She cut him off, “You weren’t thinking! You shouldn’t know better than to tell them that! They’re students, Michael!”
“But, Urusla, they’re my friends! They’re not going to tell anyone,” the three students nodded quickly and emphatically in agreement.
“They’re students, Michael. You still need to learn that!” She countered, “You know what…forget it,” Wrangler turned and stormed off from the room. The four people who remained in the office sat there in silence for several seconds as they looked to one another. Marceau looked absolutely crestfallen that his oldest and best friend had just been so insulted because of what he had said. The students looked between each other for a moment before Vince stood up and pushed Michael towards the door. The Mimic turned to look at the Poli in annoyance.
“What’re you waiting for?” He asked, “Go talk to her!”
“Well what the hell do I say?” Marceau practically yelled at Vince.
“Apologize, explain, ask how you can make it better,” Tessa told him from behind the larger ‘mon.
“Do something,” Vince added, “We’re going to leave you guys to talk,” Weaver was the first to try and start out the room before Marceau turned a look on the tapir that made her stop in her tracks. The other two gulped a bit and didn’t move either.
“You all better be here when I get back or you’re all getting detention for a month,” Marceau wasted little time as he stormed out into the hall to try and track down where his friend had gone. After he left the three students in the room looked to one another in a measure of uncertainty.
“You know that month of detention probably wouldn’t be so bad…” Tessa said almost jokingly. Vince and Weaver didn’t laugh as they settled in to wait for Marceau to come back and hoped they’d stay out of any trouble after it was all said and done.
Rushing down the hallway and towards the Pokeball field Marceau raced to try and catch up with her before she could get out in front of the kids where he knew he wouldn’t stand a chance. As he finally caught sight of Wrangler he was surprised to find her not really all that far ahead and not stormed off like he’d expect. Instead the Ursaring had taken advantage of a nook in a hall abandoned by the students for the day to rest her head against some lockers. Wrangler had her back turned to everyone, though as Marceau drew closer he could feel the waves of sorrow and anger roll off of her like a rain storm. The Mimic hesitated for a moment and wondered if it’d be better if he didn’t push the issue just then; even though he wanted to do everything in his power to make it up to her. The hesitation cost him his choice.
“I’m not interested in hearing any excuses you have, Michael,” Ursula answered without even turning; seems she had others ways of telling when people were close. Michael sighed and continued towards her.
“Not an excuse, Wrangler,” He moved to rest a hand up and on her shoulder, “Just an apology,” Wrangler shrugged the hand off her shoulder which caused the Mimic to wince in response.
“How could you?” She asked, “How could you have told them? Students! Told students about all that?”
“Well…they asked?” He couldn’t exactly say that it seemed like a good idea at the time.
“And that gives them the right to know about the personal lives of teachers?” Wrangler finally turned to look at Michael who took a step back; Ursula was one of the few ‘mon who could actually scare him, and she wasn’t exactly calm right now.
“They’re my friends!” He countered, “At least Vince and Tessa are! They’re helping me with my dates…”
“They’re your students, Michael!” Ursula said again to reinforce the matter, “You’re not supposed to be friends with your students! It causes problems; it causes people to accuse you of favoritism!” Michael winced as though he’d been slapped across the face.
“I know, Wrangler!” He countered, “I…I mean I know I’m not supposed to…but it’s been hard for me to get along with other faculty, you know? A lot of them look down on me as some angry thug…like what Haunt does,” Michael gave a mutter as he thought about the sarcastic Rattata teacher who’d become like a nemesis to him.
“Michael…” Wrangler sighed, “First off no making this about you,” Marceau blinked and waved his hands several times as if to try and dismiss that thought.
“I’m not trying to make it that!” He quickly added, “No excuses here, remember?” the Ursaring let out another breath and nodded as she started to calm herself down; not that she wasn’t any less upset with the whole situation.
“Michael, what you did was wrong,” she began with a more even tone, “even if they are your friends, and that’s another matter entirely, you shouldn’t be going and telling them about my past. I don’t want people knowing about that, okay? By telling them you really broke my trust,” the Mimic’s shoulders slumped at those words. He knew she was right and he had no real argument against it.
“I’m mad at you, Michael,” she continued, “but it doesn’t mean I’m going to go and kick you out of my life,”
“Why’d you do that to Serena?” He asked before he could realize how stupid a question it could be. The look on his face said as much to Ursula. Wrangler just shrugged her shoulders.
“What she did was just so…it’s hard to explain,” It was her turn to sigh, “It hurt me a lot that she could be swayed so easily to do that, you know? I mean, it was a one night stand, yeah, but if she was that quick to sleep with the guy after a bit of booze... how could I ever know she wouldn’t do it again?” Michael stood there watching his best friend for a moment before he walked over and rested a hand on her shoulder again. This time it wasn’t shaken off.
“Is that why you hadn’t really gone and dated anyone else?” He asked her. Wrangler shrugged, but not enough to throw the hand off.
“I just…I don’t want to get hurt again,” She admitted, “And I’m terrified of it happening,”
“First time I’ve ever heard of you being afraid of anything,” he said with a bit of a smile as he tried to crack a joke. Wrangler let out a brief laugh in response.
“Yeah, well, I am,” she admitted, “I’m afraid of getting hurt again. There you go,”
“Weren’t you the one telling me I couldn’t act afraid of anything as a kid?” Michael countered pointedly. Every now and again the Mimic did make a good point. Wrangler nodded her head back and forth as if trying to deny that, but she couldn’t.
“When did you suddenly get old enough to give me relationship advice?” She countered quickly with another joke. Michael grinned a bit.
“What can I say? I’ve got some good teachers,” he pointed out. Wrangler’s expression grew a little more serious at that.
“Which is a problem, Michael,” She pointed out what she’d been reminding him of that afternoon. It was Marceau who sighed again and nodded.
“Guess I’m going to have to stop treating them like my friends, huh,” Marceau said with disappointment evident in his voice. Wrangler nodded and patted his shoulder in return.
“Sorry, Michael, but you are,” she reinforced, “Doesn’t mean you can’t hang be nice and chat during school hours, but it’d be wrong for you to keep hanging out with them in any way other than that. I’m sure they’ll understand,”
“Damn,” Marceau said, “I was hoping their student-assistant status would change things some…” Wrangler laughed and pulled the Mimic in for a headlock.
“I’m sure they’ll understand,” a quick noogie and she let the ‘mon go who adjusted his hair, “Just…make sure they know that I’ll find a way to get them thrown into solitary if they go and blab about what you told them,”
“Don’t worry; I think they’ll understand,” Michael said, “And Wrangler? I’m sorry. For what I did…it was dumb and careless and it won’t happen again, I promise,” Wrangler looked at Michael for a long moment before she pulled the smaller Mimic into a tight hug that surprised him.
“I know you won’t,” she assured him, “Otherwise it’s solitary for you too. And I tell Miss Jiggles that you wet the bed as a kid,” Marceau blushed at that even though he returned the hug tightly.
“I did not!” He protested, but she just laughed in response and let him go.
“I’ll tell her that anyway,” she assured him, and he could tell she was serious, “Catch you after practice, Michael!” The Ursaring waved behind her as she marched towards the Pokeball field to make sure the students had done anything stupid. Michael watched her go for a moment before he let out a breath and steeled himself. What he was about to do was going to be painful; friends were hard for the confrontational and volatile Mimic to come by. He had to do what was right for him and for them; though and if they stayed friends it could cause some issues. Michael marched himself into the office where sure enough he saw the three students he’d told to stay still there. Each of them looked up towards Michael with concern; or in Weaver’s case, some amount of disinterest.
“Everything okay, Coach?” Vince asked, though he could tell something was up.
“Yeah, Coach Wrangler and I straightened things out…” the Mimic assured them before he looked for the right words to continue. Tessa and Vince looked between each other before back to him.
“Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone,” Tessa assured him and looked towards Weaver, “Right?”
“Sure, whatever,” She said as she leaned against the wall and threw her yo-yo, “Not like I’d have anyone to tell,” her posture was defiant as normal but her voice was compliant. Michael nodded as he was sure they’d follow through on it.
“And, I’m sorry guys but…we’re going to have to, well…” He continued to stumble over his own words in hope of getting the point across without hurting them.
“Coach? Do we need to stop being so chummy with you?” Vince finally asked as things started to become a bit more obvious to them.
“I’m sorry, guys,” Michael answered, “It’s not anything against you two, it’s just…”
“It could be a bad thing if people started figuring out we were all friends,” Tessa finished for him. Marceau nodded in response.
“I still want you guys as my main assistants,” He assured them, “And…I appreciate all the advice you guys have given me,” Vince stood up and walked over towards Marceau; Tessa wheeled herself closer.
“Don’t worry about it, Coach,” Vince held a hand out to him, “We’re still here for you,”
“Yeah, you’re not getting rid of us that easily,” the Pachi added. Marceau blinked between them and smiled. He reached out to shake Vince’s hand as he rested the other on Tessa’s shoulder. The Pachi reached up and rested her hand on his.
“Do I have to be here any longer?” Weaver asked and broke them moment. The other three turned towards her and smirked in unison.
“Get out of here,” Marceau said, “All three of you. Before I start giving out detention,”
“Yes, sir!” Vince offered a salute as Tessa snickered. Weaver just rolled her eyes and rolled out as all the students cleared out of the office and left Michael alone. The Mimic let out a breath as he looked around at the now vacant room and realized just how sparse it seemed. He thought about maybe bringing in something to adorn the wall or set on his desk, but he wasn’t sure what. He reminded himself this didn’t mean he was alone and didn’t mean he didn’t have friends. He also reminded himself that he didn’t need to be afraid, that he shouldn’t be afraid of the situation. A knock on the door pulled him out of his reverie.
“Michael?” a melodious voice called to him from the doorway. Marceau spun quickly and looked to see Miss Jiggles standing in the doorway.
“Aretha!” He said in sudden surprise, “What’re you doing here?”
“Thought I’d come to see if you wanted to get some coffee,” she looked at the leaving students then back to the Mimic, “Everything okay?” Marceau thought on the question for a second before he smiled and nodded.
“Everything’s going to be just fine,” Michael Marceau assured her, “Let’s go get some coffee,”
Umm...I don't mean to sound like I'm completely out of the loop here, but I've got a small question...I know about Marceau having a love interest, but was there any other stories or pictures that explained how it came to be Ms. Jiggles? This is the first time I can think of that I've heard of Marceau's love interest, let alone it being Ms. Jiggles.
Nah, you're not out of the loop. This whole mention of Marceau and Miss Jiggles was kept somewhat secret for a long time until I recently helped start to get it out in the open. First even hint really happened in my story about two back...the one with Vince getting the new job and being approached by Marceau to help him with his dating. I'd intended to do a story about the two double dating but didn't get around to it when kaemantis asked me to do this story. I'll probably go back and visit the other story at some point in the future, though.
Hope that helps!
kaemantis asked me to do this story. I'll probably go back and visit the other story at some point in the future, though.Hope that helps!
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