Chapter 23 - Ace Reporter Angeal Hewely

Note: I decided on a short and fun little chapter, hope you enjoy. Shelke & Jenova are next chapter, followed by a chapter of Aerith going on various missions with different people.

The grin on Angeal's face as the man approached him in the hallway outside their apartments has been something Sephiroth had been missing for a long time now.

The stench coming off him however, was not. "Angeal, why do you smell like that?"

The grin spreads, and Angeal lifts up his hands, a video camera in them. "A reporter has to go through the worst of places to catch their prize."

Sephiroth raises an eyebrow.

"I've started carrying this around to record my training with Zack, among other things," said Angeal, "As something to look back on in-case..."

His smile cracks for a moment before restoring itself, "Just for good memories."

Sephiroth chooses not to comment on the slip up, the moment of pain, and steers away from it; the less Angeal focuses on the negative, the better. "Its a good thought. I take it you captured something amusing?"

Angeal just hands him the video camera, trying not to crack up. "Watch."

Sephiroth hums to himself as he turns it in his hands, looking over the buttons, sharp eyes reading print far to tiny to realistically see in his opinion for normal people. He presses the button for recordings and goes for the newest one that Angeal had titled 'Puppy Adventure'...

*The camera shifts upward to catch Angeal's face from the chin up*

"This is Ace Reporter Angeal Hewely," he whispers, "Catching a glimpse of the elusive and rare Pup in his natural habitat."

*The camera shakes and shifts as Angeal moves it to peek around a corner*

Aerith Gainsborough stands near the elevator, arms crosses, an exasperated look on her face, bouncing on his heels in front of her is Zackery Fair. "Zaaaaaaack!"

"C'mon Aerith, lets go on a mission! You're cleared, right? C'mon cmon lets gooooo!"

"I was only cleared yesterday, shesh, give me a bit to get ready."

"SOLDIERs always gotta be ready, besides, you got your sword and materia, you're good to go."

"How do we even get missions? No one ever explained that to me."

"Here, gimi your PHS I'll show you."

"Fineeeee."

"You click this button, scroll down, hit this one then this one then this one er... no click the back button, scroll down, there it is! Now lets see... oh this is a good one, doing a patrol of the Train Graveyard, kids playing near it reported a bunch of monsters."

"Honestly, who lets their kids play there?" exclaimed Aerith.

"Whats wrong with the Train Graveyard?"

"Oh I don't know, all the broken rusty metal and glass?" said Aerith dryly, "The place is a maze of metal that's easy to get lost in. And Gaia forbid if Shinra never fully cleared out any hazardous materials, weapons, or explosives in some of the old Military trains because that would require effort on their part."

"Owch, that's harsh 'Rith."

"Not to mention some of the monsters there can go invisible, so children don't even have a warning," continued Aerith before going thoughtful, "There was this one rare monster that came out of nowhere the last time I was there. Some kind of rider-horse-cart thing. I think Tifa stole me a nice staff from it..."

"Whose Tifa?"

"Uh... lets just go."

*The Camera shifts and looks back up at Angeal after the pair get on the elevator*

"The Pup is naturally a social and excitable creature that enjoys showing off, especially to available females," whispered Angeal sagely, "Lets see if we can get to its hunting ground before it and its companion arrive to prowl..."

"Angeal, why are you speaking like that?" asked Sephiroth, looking away as Angeal on the camera started bounding down the stairwell.

Angeal grinned. "Adds to the atmosphere."

Sephiroth raised a single eyebrow.

"You've never watched any of those animal or monster documentaries, have you?" asked Angeal, sighing.

"No."

"That ruins like half of the fun Sephiroth," whined Angeal.

"Stop taking after your mentee," scolded Sephiroth lightly, "Whining is beneath you."

Angeal rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say Sephiroth."

"What are you two deadbeats doing?"

Sephiroth turned to see Genesis approaching, the glancing down at the camera. "Hmm? What do we have here...?"

*The camera shakes until Angeal has situated himself up above on a ruined building, looking down over a graveyard of scrap*

"Behold the Pup's hunting grounds," said Angeal, waving a hand over the area, "Well, one of them anyway. A place of twisted scrap and fiendish monsters where the young Pup tries to improve himself and impress others. Oh, there the Pup and its companion is now!"

*The Camera shifts and zooms in to see Zack and Aerith climbing over a ruined train at the edge of the area and jumping in*

"Now, we will have to approach carefully in order to not give ourselves away," whispered Angeal, "But we will have to first wait for them to..."

*There is explosion down below, where once there were two people walking, now half a train has blown away, Zack is covered in dust on the ground, Aerith is trying to dodge a group of miniature drake monsters chasing after her*

"Well, let it not be said the Pup doesn't know how to make these excursions excitable," mused Angeal, "It would appear they've found a nest of Deenglows. Voracious little buggers. Not quite sure how a train ended up exploding, but these things tend to happen around the Pup. Lets see if we cannot get to a more advantageous position."

*Angeal carefully leaps from one building to another, then onto a train, and crouches down as he draws closer, laying down on his stomach to hide himself while he props the camera closer to the edge*

"What the hell was that Zack!"

"How was I supposed to know there was something flammable in there?"

"I literally told you!"

"Yeah yeah yeah," said Zack, waving a hand, "You harp worse than 'Geal does!"

Aerith wacks the back of his head, making him stagger forward. "Hey!"

*Before anything else happens, a dark-fleshy monstrous horse attached to a cart dragging a monster with a staff slams into Zack and crashes him into and through a nearby train in a shattering of metal*

Aerith yelps in surprise and rushes after them. "Zack!"

"Well, that had to hurt," mused Angeal quietly, a wry amusement in his voice, "The Pup is usually more attentive during its prowling as to not get caught offguard like that, must be distracted by the opposing gender. Lets see if we can keep up."

*Angeal begins to leap from one train to the next, staying a bit behind to not be seen, but keeping pace enough to see Zack and Aerith try to pin down the horse-rider monster as it keeps wheeling around them in a circle trying to run them over and smash them with its staff*

"What in the hell is this thing!" cries out Zack.

"I think my Bodyguard called it an Eligor or something, I don't know, who even goes around naming monsters?"

*There is an audible cry of many monsters as more and more are drawn to the noise and pour into the area in small clusters*

"Uh... Aerith!"

"I see them, can you pin down the Eligor or do you want to handle these?"

"This stupid thing is so damn fast-omph!"

*The Eligor runs Zack into the ground, its wheels bumping over him, earning a wheezing squeak from him*

"I'll take the Eligor," said Aerith dryly.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," whines Zack, rolling over, springing up, and diving towards the nearest group of monsters.

Aerith throws her sword at one of its wheels, embedding into it, and causing the monster to careen to the side and crash, flopping onto its side. She rushes over, withdraws her sword, and stabs down to end it before going to help Zack. It takes them a few minutes, but they cull the monsters.

"So... that was fun," said Zack cheerfully.

"You have tire marks all over your face."

Zack put his hands behind his head and laughs. "Zack Fair, roadkill."

Aerith giggles a little. "You are impossible Zack, you really are."

He grins and starts walking. "Maybe a little. So you think that's enough for the missi-yeaaaaaaaah!"

*The camera zooms on Zack falling down a manhole. Aerith jogs over to it and kneels down. "Zack? Are you okay?"

"It reeks down here!" called up Zack.

"Its a sewer, of course it stinks," said Aerith before frowning, "Actually... don't come back up, I'm coming down."

"What? Why?"

"If I recall, there's a nasty sewer monster down there."

"Okay, soooooo?"

"So we should go take care of it now rather than let it be a nuisance for us or someone else later."

"How often is anyone going to actually be in the sewers and find this thing?"

"You'd be surprised."

*Angeal shifts the camera to look back up at his face*

"Looks like we're going down then."

"Your apprentice makes me regret ever deciding to become a SOLDIER," deadpanned Genesis.

Angeal snickered. "Just wait, it gets better."

"Better in what regard?" asked Genesis.

"The one where we get to laugh at their expense," answered Angeal innocently.

"Hmm," mused Genesis, "Tempting, but there was a LOVELESS play I was planning on going to..."

"You see LOVELESS every other week Genesis," pointed out Sephiroth.

"And for good reason! Its quality, thoughtful entertainment," countered Genesis.

"So is this," said Angeal, voice cracking with amusement, "C'mon Genesis, I'll buy you tickets to one of those high class re-enactments another time."

"Oh fine, fine," said Genesis, flapping a hand, "Lets see your Pup and the Ancient make a fool of themselves..."

*Angeal is carefully sneaking behind the pair of 3rd Class SOLDIERs as they delve deeper into the sewer system, defeating packs of monsters as they go. He sticks to the shadows, out of the water,*

"So, what does this monster look like anyway?" asked Zack, "It better be worth trudging through literal shit to fight."

"Well, its huge, double your size and width easily," said Aerith.

"Oh, that's encouraging."

"Its got a tail if I remember, blue skinned top, greenish bottom, umm... I think it hard horns growing out of somewhere, cant really remember much else."

*Loud growls fill the area*

"Well, that's familiar," said Aerith.

"Sounds ominous-look out!"

*Zack pulls Aerith out of the way as a huge hooven bipedal blue muscular monster leaps down from one of the sewer walkways and slams giant fists into where Aerith had just stood, sending a spray of sewage everywhere. It has a spiked tail, covered in sewage, and a spiked back. Oddly, its got broken chains on its wrist, and what looks like a harness over its face. Under its chin is a lengthy, if but nasty, brown beard.*

"Fifty gil says that's an escaped Hojo creation," muttered Angeal, settling down to watch.

"Uhhh Aerith, that looks at least a bit above our pay-grade," exclaimed Zack.

"Pshaw, one SOLDIER, a brawler, and a measly untrained flower girl beat it before, we'll be fine," said Aerith.

"If you say so," said Zack uneasily.

*Aerith and Zack separate, leaping out of the middle of the sewerway, landing on walkways on either side, and then leaping at the monster. The monster swings its arm, catching one with its chain and the other with its fist, sending both flying*

"Owch," whispered Angeal, smile fading a bit, commentary nonsense gone, "I'm a little with Zack on this. That thing looks rough for a pair of 3rds."

*The pair continue to leap around, stabbing and slashing, but for all the pained roars they get out of it, the monster doesn't slow, barreling around and throwing brutal punches, tail swipes,and hooven kicks. It catches them both with its tail, slashing into their uniforms, a bit of blood seeping down before Aerith casts cure on them. They separate as it jumps at them again.*

"I've official decided you aren't allowed to lead us on side-adventures anymore Aerith," called out Zack, ducking under another tail swipe to swing his blade at its leg.

"I don't get it!" yelped Aerith, dodging a massive fist, "It was way weaker when we fought it years from now! My Bodyguard made mincemeat out of it. It sure as hell didn't hurt that much when it got me before when I was unenhanced!"

"Well, one, it might have gotten weaker if its getting old, could have been diseased or starving or whatever, and two, what class was that SOLDIER?" asked Zack dryly.

Aerith paused. "1st Class equivalent."

"We're both inexperienced 3rds Aerith," said Zack, deadpan.

*The monster beat on its chest, and a massive wall of sewage rose up and slammed into the monster and the pair of SOLDIERs*

"ITS IN MY EYES! IT'S IN MY EYES!" wailed Zack, running around trying to wipe his eyes, only to trip and fall face first into sewage.

*Angeal brought up a hand to block laughter from escaping*

Zack raised his head and spit our brownish water, groaning and whining, "I'm never getting this taste out of my mouth, Aerith, I'm sooooo making an official complaint against you."

*Aerith huffed, wiping sewage off her face before rushing and stabbing the monster's knee. It roared and backhanded her, sending her slamming into the edge of the wasteway with a hard crunch. The girl cringed and dropped her sword into the muck, clutching at the back of her head. Zack made to rise and help before the monster pinned him under a hoof and forced him to submerge under the sewage, arms flailing trying to get it off and his head back above*

"Okay," said Angeal, "In the interest of protecting endangered species, I.E. my Pup, I think I better step in... ah crap, I forgot my spare blade. Hrm... decisions decisions, Buster Sword or Zack..."

*Angeal sighs, sets down the camera, then surges forward at extreme speeds, drawing and embedding his sword deep into the monster's chest before slamming his shoulder into it and shoving it backward. Zack surges up from the muck, gasping for breath, spewing sludge, and wiping at his face. Aerith wobbly raises to her feet, staggering a bit, still clutching her head, looking dizzy and disoriented. Angeal pays neither of them any head, merely withdrawing his Buster Sword and proceeding to pummel the monster into the floor until it stops moving*

"Oh, hey Angeal," said Zack, blinking through sewage covered eyes, "When'd you get here?"

Angeal placed the Buster Sword on his back and turned, crossing his arms. "You look like shit Zack."

"Well yeah, I'm covered in it," said Zack sourly.

Angeal's lips twitch in amusement before glancing over at Aerith. "You alright Gainsborough?"

"Vrythins dizzy," said Aerith, swaying a bit.

"Mmm sounds like a concussion," mused Angeal, bangle on his arm glowing green from materia, "Here, Esuna."

Aerith rubs her head after the glow fades. "Thanks."

"Anytime, more than willing to help out for a few good laughs from my shit covered apprentice and his friend," said Angeal cheerfully.

Zack groaned. "I'm never going to hear the end of this."

Angeal walks back towards the camera. "Oh it gets better than that."

He leaps up and grabs it, turning to face them. "Smile for the camera!"

*Both Aerith and Zack, who had been wiping sewage off their uniforms, freeze, stained faces and widened eyes looking right into the camera*

"GET HIM!" hollered Zack.

*The image grows wild with Angeal running, leaping, and diving away from the pair of 3rd Class SOLDIERs*

"It's in my eyes, my eyes!" mocked Genesis with laughter.

"Hmm," muses Sephiroth, non-committal, lips twitching upward despite efforts to suppress it, "I'm not sure the boy is worth having to clean all of that off your sword."

"Some days more than others," answers Angeal before pausing, cocking his head, and then taking the video card out of his camera and slipping it into Sephiroth's hands, "Go see if you can get a Turk to edit out the mentions of the vision stuff, this is quality material here."

Sephiroth hears it a second later, the squish-splotch of wet boots and clothes, along with an even fouler smell than what coats Angeal currently. Sephiroth slips the video card into his coat pocket as Aerith and Zack round the corner, still covered in filth, honing in on Angeal.

"Oh hey Zack, Aerith, I was about to show these guys this awesome footage of a pair of ridiculous SOLDIERs...," begins Angeal cheerfully.

Zack dives for him. Angeal leaps over. Aerith goes for the camera, Angeal spins and trips her to the floor before bounding off. The pair chase after him, hollering for that camera. Sephiroth hums to himself, both amused and slightly annoyed by the childish behavior in public, patting his pocket gently before glancing at Genesis. "Should I?"

"Oh come now Sephiroth, he's right, this IS gold," said Genesis with cheerful malice, "They're never going to live this down."

Sephiroth considers it, considers if he has the time today for a walk to the Turk floor before shrugging. Paperwork never ends, might as well. He leaves Genesis to his own devices and catches the elevator, hitting the button for the Turk's floor. He ponders if the infamy would really befit Fair and Gainsborough or not. He decides he'll leave that up to the Turks, and Angeal if he can nag them into getting back his video card. The elevator dings and he strolls out. There is a single Turk, looking rather bored, sitting at the front desk. Veld's daughter if he recalls correctly.

She looks up. "Sephiroth, what can the Turks do for you today?"

"Is Tseng in?"

"He should be getting out of a meeting in a few minutes, I can take you to him," she says, muttering after, "Better than sitting around."

He makes light talk as they walk. "Are the Turks everything you expected?"

She frowns. "I haven't got to do much yet. Its mostly shadowing and desk work so far."

He hums in acknowledgement. "You still need quite a bit of training before they'll allow you to do fieldwork."

She goes silent, a light scowl on her face. She's still rather young, and the young never like sitting still from what he's seen. Of course, he's not that much older than her, if he is at all, but he's always been an exception. She leads him to a conference room that's starting to spill Turks out of it, many giving him curious looks. He can see Veld speaking quietly to Tseng in the room as he picks up a packet of papers, going silent and giving Sephiroth a slightly raised eyebrow when he's led inside.

"Tseng, Sephiroth is here to see you."

Tseng schools his face and nods. "Sephiroth, what can the Turks do for you today?"

Well, he can already see who Veld's daughter has been shadowing, that was a perfect imitation. He considers how to approach this before deciding to be... playful. He fishes the video card out of his pocket and hands it over, forcing his face to be dead serious. "I've received blackmail material on Aerith Gainsborough and Zackery Fair."

There is an air of incredulous from Veld, irritation in his voice. "What in the world did they get into?"

Sephiroth breaks the facade, allowing his face to twitch with amusement, lips tugging upward, letting an attempt at humor enter his voice, "Ace Reporter Angeal Hewely decided to shadow them on their mission today, and would like any mentions of classified material to be edited out so he may hold it over their heads for the rest of their days. You can do so at your own discretion, I am merely the delivery boy as they would say. I do recommend you watch it for... purely educational purposes."

Veld hums, a wry grin on his face. "Well, if you insist. Send my boys and girls back in if you pass them, we could use a good laugh."

Sephiroth briefly searches his face, comparing stress lines to the last image he has of the man, before giving a nod and walking away. The last thing his enhanced hearing picks up before the elevator dings closed is 'It's in my eyes!' followed by a chorus of snickering, huffs, chuckling, and laughter...