No Leg to Stand On [Elliot & Isaac]

If Elliot was going to get back into the heroism business, he was going to have to find the proper strength first. His current resolve, as much as he hated to admit it, was based on a lot of bottled-up worry. Fear. Desperation. Certainly a bit of anger, both at his brother and himself. He knew it was the kind of resolve that would stay rock-solid up until too much pressure was put on it, then explode into a million little pieces. Maybe it'd do for now, but it wasn't the kind of strength that Elliot ever wanted to rely on.

Peace was far preferable, in the boy's eyes. That was why right now he sat on the beaches of Whitewater in a meditative stance. His eyes were closed, his breathing was deep, and he had his bad leg folded under his good leg to the best of his ability. All of the thoughts holding him back were being pushed far into the back of his mind, their voices fading to echoes, then to silence. The patterns of the sun pressing against his eyelids were starting to fade, their shifting colors finally settling down into the proper level of black. The warm sand beneath his legs and the cool breeze dancing along his skin both had to go, too. They were the hardest feelings to shake, but if he just focused on the way they evened out maybe he could forget them . . .

Unfortunately, Elliot's attempt at solving this problem quickly came to an end. He suddenly felt a heavy pressure in the side, and then his back flat against the sand. The sound of the waves came back. The smell of the sea came back. The pressure of his thoughts came back. And then his eyes snapped open, Elliot's attempt at grounding himself all gone.

At least it wasn't too hard to see the source. The second Elliot opened his eyes, he saw he was face to face with a beautiful looking woman. She must've fallen, because she was basically completely pressed down on top of him. Immediately Elliot's face turned a neon red as he realized this, and despite being the one fallen upon rather than doing the falling he found himself letting out a weak "S-sorry!"

Thankfully, once Hiroyo lifted her head off of Elliot's chest, his heart would start beating again. It had frozen up enough that, mercifully, Hiroyo didn't have to feel it pounding like a jackhammer against her head. Now, thankfully, she was "just" straddling him in a very flattering swimsuit. Oh, wait. That didn't help much at all! The blush on Elliot's face started to deepen a little from the feeling, with Hiroyo rolling off finally helping spare the poor boy from embarrassment.

He was honestly surprised it was Hiroyo that started babbling first. The poor woman was practically wheezing in between every word, probably from getting sand to the face after her fall. She was going off on a long ramble about looking for something, and not paying attention, and whether Elliot needed medical attention, and how she felt bad about hurting him. It was, frankly, a lot of concern. Elliot had to admit, it sucked a little seeing her eyes full of so much worry. They were really nice.

Thankfully, once she had rolled off of him, Elliot was able to readjust some in a sitting position. Already one hand was back on his cane, helping prop himself back up to a standing position. The other he used to gently touch Hiroya's arm, as if trying to calm her down some. It was honestly the least intimate reassuring thing the poor boy could think of. What was he supposed to do? Put a hand on her shoulder? Hug her? "Hey, don't worry about it," he said, keeping his tone low but gentle to try and ease her out of her current panic. "I'm fine, see?" Naturally, being on the beach, it wasn't like Elliot was wearing a shirt or anything, so Hiroyo would get to see that he was actually pretty toned from his Digital World adventuring without any bruises or bumps on him.

It didn't seem like Hiroyo could say the same, though, considering that her rather revealing outfit was showing a lot of bruises and her stance was the telltale sign of a bad leg. "Are you?" he asked, a bit of concern coming into his voice as he looked her up and down.

Elliot laughed softly as Hiroyo apologized for all of her energy. "Don't worry about it," he said, voice warm. "It's a nice change of pace. Things have been really quiet on my end lately, so a little bit of excitement can be really refreshing." Why did people ever think they would need to apologize for being excited? If anything, excitement just got Elliot more excited! It was a nice, infectious way of brightening someone's day. Maybe Elliot could do the same for Hiroyo, too.

Elliot was oblivious, but compared to him Hiroyo was a hilarious trainwreck. The way she shifted her injured leg to show that she was okay was all too familiar to Elliot, the boy having done the same countless times to try and help assuage other peoples' concerns. That said, Hiroyo actually looked pretty tough. The bruises on her body didn't seem like they were hurting her too much. If anything, they accentuated that toughness. He smiled gently, trusting in Hiroyo that she wasn't lying about this. "That's the spirit! I'm glad you're okay, too," he said.

Wait, thieves? Treats? It seemed like Hiroyo's excitement meant that she was in quite a hurry, because suddenly the girl was saying all sorts of things and preparing to run off. "How about I help out, instead?" Elliot offered once Hiroyo mentioned running off. "Hat thieves are the worst. And two pairs of eyes are better than one, right?" Hiroyo seemed really nice, and also really flustered. Elliot couldn't just leave her to run after these thieves on her own!

He smiled slightly after making his offer. "Besides, we can talk about snacks after, right?" he added. Maybe Elliot was too innocent to realize how it'd come off, but the confidence in his smile looked quite teasing right now!

Elliot could hear the skepticism in her voice, and the teasing grin on his face turned a bit more confident. "I know, I might not look that fast. But thankfully, I have my ways," he said, following her motion and taking out a Digivice of his own. His looked different from hers, perhaps more like the one she may have seen Kan using. Regardless, the same conclusion would be drawn from both of their gestures; despite how it might look, these two were theoretically capable!

That said, the joy was taken away a little when Elliot heard how much work Hiroyo put into her hat. Having occasionally made costumes for him and Isaac on Halloween, Elliot knew just how much effort this kind of thing took. Having such efforts just spat on, especially by those you considered partners? That just wasn't right. "We'll get to it before they can do too much. I promise," Elliot said. Hearing Hiroyo's little laugh only strengthened this resolve, honestly. She seemed like a sweet, gentle person. It'd be really unfair for her to be screwed over by this too badly.

Elliot brought his Digivice to his heart and squeezed his eyes shut, and in that simple motion his Digivolution began. An orb of light surrounded him, slowly melding around his shape. Eight wings unfurled from his back, two from his shoulders, two from his wait, and two wrapping around his torso. A long, gown-like shape seemed to shimmer down from him, and his hair lengthened. A mitre formed over his eyes, and with that last step the luminous silhouette faded away. Now MagnaAngemon Priest Mode stood where Elliot once did, a warm smile as he extended a hand to Hiroyo. Frankly, he just looked like an even more mature Elliot, which considering how confusing his age already was might have just been a bit too much for the poor woman.

"Shall we take a bird's eye view?" he offered, hovering ever so slightly above the sand.

Even in the more relaxed state of emotions that MagnaAngemon seemed to feel, Hiroyo's roller coaster of reactions was quite amusing to Elliot. The way she snapped from disbelieving, to worried, to somewhat awe-struck earned an eyebrow raise from the angel once he had fully materialized, a small smile on his otherwise poker-faced expression. Hiroyo was certainly a strange one, with how quickly she had cycled through at least ten moods since the two had bumped into each other five minutes ago.

This one was the best yet, though. The poor girl was so dazed that she started mumbling something before snapping back into reality. "That is correct," Elliot said, his voice far richer than the lighter, softer voice he had as a human. "My brother and I have both had this power for some time now. This form is admittedly a newer one to me, but it already feels quite familiar. Perhaps that is the advantage of having one that is so . . . human." No shit, familiar! This was basically just an older, winged version of himself. Cut the flowing locks and Elliot'd basically be looking in a mirror. As far as ways of coping with his return to the Digital World went, this was hardly a bad choice of one.

The angel may have been stoic, but he wasn't unbreakable. As soon as Elliot felt the feather-light touch of Hiroyo's hand on his own, a soft pink blush started to dust across his cheeks. Mentally he was quite oblivious, but physical gestures? Those never failed to knock the wind out of the poor boy's sails. She asked if he could share the wings, which Elliot honestly wouldn't count out when it came to Digimon abilities. Heck, he might've even had a card that was capable of doing that. Unfortunately, though, cards didn't work on people, so Elliot would have to improvise.

He turned his hand over, taking Hiroyo's in his. Then he gently guided her towards him before scooping her up bridal style. Was it embarrassing? Yes. Was it also the easiest way to carry someone who would probably get nervous about flying? Also yes. Once he had Hiroyo secured his wings spread, a single beat of them causing Elliot to take to the skies.

He may have also taken advantage of this contact to do a little bit of healing. Perhaps Hiroyo would be too distracted by the weightless feeling of flying to notice the soft white glow on her bruises and wounds. Surely that would be nothing, right?

Past this point, it was really more like gliding than flying. Only occasional beats of Elliot's large wings would be needed to keep him aloft. Instead he focused his attention on the sands, looking for where a bee and a worm could be hiding. Their bright coloration, while great for telling predatory Digimon to buzz off, would be their downfall when sticking out against the bright white sands and crisp blue oceans. "Let me know when you see them," Elliot said, as if thinking nothing about how casually he had scooped Hiroyo up. "Or if I can make the ride more comfortable for you. I know first time flying can be nerve-wracking, for some."

Gee, Elliot. Why is that?

"I do not know what my brother turns into anymore," Elliot admitted.

He would have loved to explain more about how spirits worked, but he didn't have the chance before Hiroyo stole his footing out from under him. Her voice turned teasing as she practically twirled into his arms, wrapping her own around his neck in a firm yet gentle grip. It was as if Elliot picking her up was the most natural thing in the world, and something about the whole situation caused the blush to spread quite far across Elliot's face. It sure was a good thing that Hiroyo hadn't leaned into Elliot's chest while saying that, or she would've even been able to feel his heart skip a beat or two. "I-" he said, clearly a bit dazed and distracted. "My name Elliot. What is yours?" Yeah, even MagnaAngemon's serene voice and perpetual poker face were a bit flustered, judging by the shy way he was making eye contact.

As they took to the air, Elliot figured he could at least answer Hiro's original question. "Spirits are strange. There are at least four types of them that I have known of," he started. "The first one we find is like a small creature of sorts, the Sprite. Then we find one like this, either humanoid or flat-out humanlike. Afterwards is the beast, which is stronger yet more monstrous. Finally, the fused type combines the best qualities of the beast and the human, giving both greater power and greater control. My brother and I originally wielded spirits that were like dragons in nature, but . . ."

Oh, thank goodness. Elliot didn't have to explain things, because Hiro had noticed her partners! Immediately Hiro started nervously worrying, Elliot doing his best to prevent her from falling as she wiggled in his grip. If this had been a high-speed form like Isaac's Devidramon, maybe he would've been able to make an easy descent. As is, he'd really need to push himself in order to get down there in a timely fashion.

Thankfully, Elliot was ready to push himself. He held Hiroyo tight and close, eyes narrowing in determination as he looked down at the large kraken in the waters. "Please, hold on tightly," Elliot said as he started adjusting his position to be more aerodynamic. One of his pairs of wings helped wrap around Hiroyo as well, ensuring if the creature took issue with their approach that Hiroyo would be protected. Then, once he was properly set up, he rocketed down to the waters with a heavy wingbeat.

Thankfully, the squid-like Digimon didn't seem to notice or care about their approach, likely figuring it to be a Swanmon diving for food. That gave Elliot a chance to fly towards the launched-away thief, the smooth wingbeats of an angel creating no crests in the water despite his speed. He made sure to gently reach down a hand as he approached, assuring the young Digimon "Do not worry. I am here to help."

Elliot smiled softly at Hiroyo's kind words. A shame he was taking them as actual niceness and not flirting. "I would like to think that, even with gifts of the spirits, fighting does not always need to be the answer," he admitted. "I have had quite a bit of luck keeping it that way since coming back to the Digital World. I hope to continue to do so, even if I will still fight when I must." There was a resolve in Elliot's voice rarely seen among those his age. It probably didn't help with the perception that Elliot was a young adult much, did it?

Still, at least he now knew the name of the strange woman he was carrying around. "A pleasure to properly meet you," he said. "Your name has quite the nice sound to it, too." He had to repay the compliment from earlier, right? It would only be fair.

Now the time for pleasantries was over. Now it was time for action. Hiroyo seemed all too happy to snap into action, commenting it would be her pleasure, but Elliot figured that was just her concern for her partners showing. He nodded as she clung to his chest, making sure she was tightly and safely nestled into his wings before starting her descent.

His descent was fortunately as unnoticed as he had hoped, and Elliot was able to start making his way to Roger's location. The Kunemon was just as on the ball as Elliot was, hooking onto his arm and making his way into the angel's grip. Elliot's arm seized up a little from the last discharges of static electricity coming off of Roger's body, but thankfully the worst of the Kunemon's attack had passed. Elliot's sleeve would just be a little frizzed up, and his ears would already be filled with the sounds of Roger and Hiroyo squabbling.

The two were at it fast and furious, wishing they were both flung into the ocean. Frankly, Elliot didn't expect that. He knew partners could be at odds sometimes. Maia and Kuu, for example, tended to argue quite a bit, but it was always over goofy, inconsequential stuff. Or whether Isaac smelled or not. This, on the other hand, was different. They seemed outright frustrated with each other. Clearly, something was up here, but Elliot figured poking the rather literal hornet's nest would have only made it worse. He sighed, starting to fly the duo away from the Gesomon in the hopes that he wouldn't be noticed.

The good news was that he was able to easily support the duo's weight. The bad news was that, while bees were currently swarming Gesomon's face, Roger and Hiroyo's arguing was actually starting to drown out the droning of bee buzzing. Morgan had been able to hold Gesomon's attention until then, but now their luck had run out. With a bellow the Gesomon tore through the water, aiming a hefty tentacle smash right at Elliot's back. Elliot grit his teeth in concern, flapping his wings desperately to try and get out of the way of the incoming blow. It was a success, but quite the close call: Elliot's back was practically drenched from the spray kicked up as Gesomon's tentacle impacted the water.

"Your other partner is still out there," Elliot warned, looking back over his shoulder towards Morgan. "Should I bring you to sure, or keep you near the fight to keep an eye out on him?"