Title: "In Best Practice"
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core
Characters: Zack and Angeal, mentions of Sephiroth
Rating: R
Word Count: 467
Notes: So, apparently, I can write more of New Game Plus. Yeah, I'm still inching along in Chapter One of CC, but the point of divergence is soon. Really. (Though who knows when I'll get to it...)

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The landing was the first sign that things were going to be a bit tricker than Zack expected. He'd prepared himself to touch down without thinking. Big shocker there. And that was where he fucked up. And almost broke something because his body didn't respond as fast as he thought it would.

Well, if he'd been a mundane, he probably would've died, so it was a good thing he wasn't a mundane. The power of positive thinking and all.

Zack managed to get himself upright and check himself over for injuries--nothing a Cure couldn't fix--before Angeal arrived. With a perfect landing, of course.

"I guess the fall didn't wake you up as much as you thought." So Angeal had seen him fuck up. Damn. "Focus." Yeah, like Zack didn't know about needing to do that already. "There are no Shinra troops on this train. Understood?" Translation: kill anything that's shooting at you, screw the uniform they've got on. Got it.

Zack nodded at Angeal, and set off. He wanted to sprint, but maybe a jogging pace would be better, for now.

---

Angeal frowned, thinking over Zack's actions. Something was wrong with the puppy. He was moving too awkwardly on the run, over compensating, underestimating... it was like Zack was a Third again, getting used to his new body. Now, though, there seemed to be issues of distance and strength.

His cell phone beeped; the AI was moving along to another phase of the sim. Angeal flicked open his phone to go through Zack's progress.

He almost dropped his phone.

Now and again, the Room's programs would kick in a curveball, a surprise on a run that would show how well a Soldier could think on his feet. "Spontaneous problem solving," the techs called it. The instructors would spout theories on learning that would say what a good thing it all was. Angeal thought the behemoth he'd thrown in was at about Zack's speed, and he'd been right. A sim-Sephiroth was not supposed to be on the agenda, let alone officially exist.

Angeal pocketed his phone and ran.

He took the stairs three at a time, weaving through the sim-civilians. Zack had handled the targets well enough, despite his shaky movement. Angeal gripped the railing and launched himself up and to the side, reaching the top of the wall. It wasn't that Angeal didn't have confidence in the puppy's abilities, but going up against Sephiroth alone, simulation or no, would be a Bad Idea for a Second Class. He ran towards the second set of stairs.

Concern for the puppy got him gut-checked by the railing, the momentum almost sending him over the edge. Angeal grabbed the railing and vaulted over it, ignoring the stairs and going for the landing.

Zack was already on the defensive. Damn it.