MARVEL COMICS vs. DIGIMON!

Chapter Three

"Fighting Fire With Fire"

- - -

"...run that by me again?"
Giant-Man, the reserve Avenger also known as Doctor Henry Pym, stood
alongside his lover, Janet Van Dyne, code-named the winsome Wasp, within
Pier Four, the Fantastic Four's current base. Sitting around him, on
whatever was available to sit on, were the rest of the Avengers, the
Fantastic Four, Wolverine, Storm, Archangel and Professor Charles Xavier of
the X-Men. Also present were some very strange individuals - six children
with facial problems Hank tried to ignore, and six small creatures of
varying appearances, looking like nothing so much living cartoons.
"Well, thanks to Franklin's... expertise... in this area," Reed gestured at
his son, in the arms of Sue, "we've been able to conclude that these beings
are effectively from another dimension. In their dimension, we are comic
book characters, while here in our dimension, they are animation."
"Our individual worlds have somehow been merged together," Iron Man took the
reins, "apparently by some form of cosmic deity-like race. And sooner or
later, we're going to have to fight these kids and their monsters."
"Well, that's just peachy," Hank rubbed the back of his neck.
"Fight THEM?" the Wasp spoke up. "But... they're just kids... and they're so
small...!"
"Hey, lishen, lady," Veemon lisped, "we may be shmall, but we're tough!"
"Heads up, troops!" Spider-Man called, as he swung in through the open
window, somersaulting quickly and landing smartly. "There's a-doin's
a-transpirin'!"
A muscular figure clad entirely in red slid through the window after Spidey,
a horned mask covering his face. "Big crowd."
"I bumped into Daredevil when I was checking out the island," Spider-Man
explained. "He's all set to help, given that he just had a run in with a big
black dinosaur."
"Any new developments?" Captain America inquired.
"Well, there's a big, unpleasant-looking castle where the Empire State
Building used to be..." Spidey reported. "And there's a lot of THINGS
swimming around in the Hudson..."
"That base is still hovering over the city," Daredevil noted, "but my radar
sense isn't detecting any increased activity from it."
"Flamin' great," Wolverine grunted, puffing irately on his cigar. "Hey...
wait... does anyone else feel that...?"
"Indeed," Daredevil nodded.

- - -

"Experience is the benchmark of maturity," the Impossible Man squeaked, as
he watched DemiDevimon twiddling knobs on the disruptor. "So get a move on!"
"Don't rush me!" DemiDevimon snapped. "I have to be careful not to screw
time all to hell..."
"Aren't we doing that anyway?"
"How so?"
There was a pop, and purple and green Stephen Hawking was sitting in front
of DemiDevimon. "Well, combining the various aspects of two disparate
realities and temporal settings into one particular spatial location is sure
to had adverse affects, isn't it?"
"What am I, a scientist?"
The bat slapped his wing on the activator.

- - -

"It's growin'..." Wolverine growled.
There was a thundercrack, and Pier Four suddenly grew more crowded.
"TAI!" Kari exclaimed, as a boy who looked to be a couple of years older
than her, with a giant mop of brown hair, staggered backwards. Five others -
three boys and two girls, were equally staggered, as were the six
brightly-coloured little monsters who had materialised along with them.
"K-Kari?" he stuttered. "What the heck just happened?"
Franklin proceeded to dissolve into hysterics.
"We are to take it that these are... well-known individuals from your
world?" Reed asked Ken.
"You might say that," Ken replied.
"Matt!" T.K. greeted the blond boy. "Looks like you're here for the party
too!"
"Fascinating," a shorter boy with red-brown hair commented, steadying
himself and looking around. "Instantaneous molecular discorporation and
reconstruction."
"And we got zapped someplace else, too!" the girl with vibrant pink hair
added.
"Well, I learned one thing," a taller boy wearing spectacles said, "Instant
travel gives me hives." He began scratching his arm furiously, as Iron Man,
Captain America, Reed and Professor Xavier just looked at each other.
"Uhm... someone care to tell us where we are?" the last girl, a red-head,
asked.
"Welcome to the world of Marvel!" Davis squealed, jumping out of his seat.
"Marvel?" Tai echoed. "What, like the comics?"
"Take a look around, Tai," the small orange lizard at his feet said, pulling
on his pants leg.
"Huh?" the boy looked over his shoulder, and leapt about a foot into the air
when he saw the Thing leaning against the nearest wall. "Buh... buh-buh..."
"Yer no ol' paintin' yerself, kid," the Thing quipped.
"Time for explanations again..." Iron Man sighed, as Captain America
massaged his brow.

- - -

"Okay, okay, so we got them all together!" the Impossible Man said, bouncing
in circles around DemiDevimon. "Now what, now what, NOW WHAT?!"
"WILL you get out of my face?!" DemiDevimon snapped. "I keep telling you, I
need to concentrate...!" There was a "vwip" noise, and a temporal window
showing the inside of Pier Four opening in front of the Impossible Man,
showing the explanations being given to the older kids.
"OOOH, lookit that one's HAIR..." the imp pointed at Tai. "Ees so beeeeg...
let's do him first!"
"Nah, we need to start kinda smaller than that..."
"Well, he's small..." the elf indicated Cody.
"Please, give me some credit..."
"Ooookay..." the Impossible Man assumed the form of a Polaroid camera, and
quickly took a snapshot of the temporal window. With another pop, he became
his normal self, accepted adorned with a striped waist coat, a straw-boater,
a cane and a bushy moustache, and held the photo up in the air. "Step right
up, folks! Children and weird little bat-things play for free!"
"Heh, I guess it works," DemiDevimon shrugged. He bent his right leg
backwards, and when it came forward again, a large hypodermic needle was
clutched in it.
"Where'd you get THAT thing?" the Impossible Man asked.
"You don't wanna know," DemiDevimon assured him. "DEMI DART!"
The needle flew through the air, and jabbed straight into the photo. The
Impossible Man removed it. "We have a WINNAH!"
DemiDevimon grinned, staring at the hole which he had stabbed straight
through Johnny Storm's head.
"Perfect," he grinned. "And to go up against him..."
"Ooh, ooh, I know!" the imp chirruped. "I've been listening to that Franklin
kid, so I've learned a LOT about your world... I've got the perfect opponent
for the Human Torch!"

- - -

"THE FIRST CHOICE IS MADE!"
Pier Four shook as the Impossible Man's disguised voice informed the heroes
and DigiDestined of the situation.
"Uh-oh," Triathlon gulped.
The entire group tensed, as there was another thundercrack, and a bolt of
pure white light materialised through the ceiling, and struck Johnny Storm,
instantly teleporting him elsewhere.
"Johnny!" Sue cried.
"HE HAS BEEN TAKEN TO HIS SPECIALISED BATTLE GROUND," the voice came again,
"OUTSIDE OF TIME AND SPACE, WHERE BATTLE MAY RAGE WITHOUT AFFECTING THE
CONTINUUM."
"Who is he to fight?" Captain America addressed the heavens.
In answer, another bolt streaked down, striking Davis and Veemon, who
disappeared together.
"Davis?" Kari called up into the sky. "But Davis can't..."
"NOT THE BOY," the voice clarified, "THE MONSTER." With a "vwip" sound,
another temporal window materialised inside Pier Four, showing a rocky,
mountainous landscape - jagged, with orange, burning skies, and a volcano,
shuddering in the background, spewing ash into the air as lava rolled down
it's sides. There was a flash of light, and Johnny appeared on a rocky
outcrop, as did Davis and Veemon, on the other side of the battlefield.
"LET BATTLE COMMENCE!"

- - -

"Why'd you bring the boy?" the imp demanded, as the temporal window shut and
he assumed his normal shape. "He could get hurt, or worse!"
"Eh, one less DigiDestined... it's no great loss..." DemiDevimon muttered,
adjusting the disruptor, facing away from the elf.
"Hey!"
No response.
"HEY!" the Impossible Man cried, grabbing DemiDevimon, spinning him around,
and slamming him against the disruptor. "Don't you DARE turn your back on
me!"
"Hey, hey, ease up there, slick..."
"He's not going to get hurt, right?!"
"Hey, it could happen..."
The imp shook the Digimon. "I'm not asking, I'm TELLING! You make SURE he
doesn't get hurt! No-one but the fighters! No innocents!"
"Okay, okay!" DemiDevimon help up his wings. "Geez, calm down, awready."
The Impossible Man released DemiDevimon, who pressed a few buttons on the
disruptor. "There," the bat said. "Now the kid is out of phase with the
battlefield. He can't get hurt."
"Goody!" the imp said, snapping back into his happy persona. "Then let the
games begin!"

- - -

"It just doesn't seem fair..." Johnny said to himself, as he stared over at
the boy and his Digimon on the adjacent ledge.
"Sho who's thish guy?" Veemon asked. "He doeshn't look sho tough."
"Dude! That's the Human Torch! He's like, the DUDE!" Davis offered.
"Thanksh buddy," Veemon cocked his head at Davis. "That really clearsh it
up."
"Aww, never mind!" Davis said. "I know what to do!"
Davis's hand dove under his flame-jacket, and quickly produced his
D-Terminal and D-3. "It's time to Armour Digivolve!"
From Johnny's point of view, he saw the blue lizard began to glow with
yellow light, as electronic screeches came from the device the boy was
holding. Then, the lizard spoke.
"Veemon, Armour Digivolve to... FLAMEDRAMON! The Fire of Courage!"

- - -

Back in Pier Four, the heroes, DigiDestined and Digimon all watched as
Veemon transformed. There was hushed murmuring as the muscular blue lizard
stood in his place, decked out in red and orange armour, with several
threatening spikes protruding from his hands, feet and head.
"Can you ALL do that?" the Scarlet Witch asked, bending over to speak to
Armadillomon.
"Yes ma'am," Armadillomon replied. "Well, we can't all ARMOUR Digivolve, but
we c'n all grow an' change into bigger shapes. Heck, some of us c'n grow
bigger'n this room!"
"Gre-eat..." Wonderman groaned from a few feet away. "The little blue guy
packed a wallop before..."

- - -

"Flamedramon, huh?" Johnny looked at the new Digimon. "Sounds a bit like...
FLAME ON!"
With a roar of hot air, Johnny Storm became fire, transforming into the
Human Torch. His skin was replaced with pure fire, as flames danced across
his body, coalescing at the top of his head in imitation of his hair.
Superheating the air beneath him, he rose into the sky, and slowly floated
away from the dais on which he had stood upon.
"Go for it, Flamedramon!" Davis instructed. "But... uh... don't hurt him too
bad... he's my favourite FFer..."
"FIRE ROCKET!" Flamedramon cried, sheathing himself in flame and leaping
upwards, into the air, streaking towards the Torch.
The attack came with such ferocity and suddenness that the Torch could do
little to avoid it, and twisted his body so that Flamedramon merely raked
his side, rather than smashed straight into him. The long spike on the
Digimon's forehead tore a gash in Johnny's side, but the two combatants
combined heat instantly cauterised the wound. However, it was still painful
as hell.
"Ungh...!" Johnny groaned, gripping his side, and losing his equilibrium
slightly, as Flamedramon landed with a thump on a nearby mountainside. The
Digimon saw his chance once again.
"FLAME FIST!" he cried, thrusting his fist forward, sending triplet balls of
flame scorching their way through the air, whirling around each other as
they bore down on the Torch. At the last second, the Torch jerked around,
and held his hands out, as the fireballs shot towards him. They impacted
cleanly with his body, but there was no pain, not even any recoil on the
Torch's part, as all three were simply absorbed into his flame, which
flickered even brighter.
"Bring it on."

- - -

"Ohh, I LIKE that guy!" DemiDevimon said. "Okay, who should we do next?"
"Next?" the Impossible Man blinked. "But this fight isn't over yet!" He
pointed a long, thin finger at the temporal window.
"Oh, c'mon, be serious, we have to have more than one fight going at once!"
DemiDevimon told him. "If this were a fanfic, it'd take forever to write!"
"Point," the imp said, and bounded over. "I get to pick this ti-ime!"

- - -

Within Pier Four, everyone jumped as twin bolts shot down, teleporting away
two more combatants without a moment's notice. Nobody even saw who was taken
at first.
"Who left?" the Thing rubbed his eyes.
"Storm," Wolverine grunted, her scent having left his nostrils.
"And Kari and Gatomon!" T.K. cried.
"Wonderful," Wolverine snorted, as a second temporal window opened, showing
the new battlefield.

- - -

Kari would have stopped to think for a second if she didn't have the
immediate sensation of falling. The first sound that escaped her lips was a
long, piercing cry, which was matched by Gatomon, who fell alongside her.
The panic of the two partners prompted the needed act.
"Gatomon, Digivolve to... ANGEWOMON!"
With an explosion of light, the feline Digimon assumed the shapely form of
Angewomon, who spread her eight shimmering wings, and steadied herself,
before reaching for Kari. However, Kari had stopped falling, and was now
simply hovering in mid-air.
"What the...?" Angewomon raised an eyebrow beneath her helmet.
"NON-COMBATANTS WILL NOT BE HARMED," the being's voice echoed.
"That'll have to do for an explanation..." Kari looked downward. There
appeared to be absolutely no ground below her, just endless, indigo sky.
Above, thick black clouds rolled past. Angewomon hovered alongside her.
"So who are we fighting...?" Angewomon stared off into the blue-blackness. A
lighting bolt, accompanied by a peal of thunder, illuminated the sky, and
the opponent was revealed.
Storm of the X-Men, holding herself aloft on winds controlled by the powers
of her own thoughts, soared towards the girl and her Digimon, eyes glowing
with power.
"I do not wish to fight," she called to them, "but to protect the sanctity
of my world - so be it!"

- - -

"Time to turn up the heat!" Davis yelled to Flamedramon, and he grappled in
mid-air with the Torch.
"Don't make puns, Davis," Flamedramon called back, "it doesn't suit you."
The dragon Digimon twisted, and hurled the Torch downward, smashing him into
the rocks below Davis, showering the boy with grit and dirt, though he felt
nothing, as he was spatially out of phase with his surroundings.
"C'mon, Torch!" Davis called down. "Get up! You can do it!"
"DAVIS!" Flamedramon snapped. "You're supposed to be rooting for ME!"
"Oh, right," Davis sweatdropped. "Sorry. I forgot."
With a small explosion, the Torch propelled himself free of the
mountainside, and tackled Flamedramon around the gut, driving him into the
side of the neighbouring mountain. Davis couldn't quite see what was
happening from his vantage point, as the two fiery brawlers struggled, but
once again the Torch was propelled backwards into the air as Flamedramon
kicked him squarely in the stomach with both legs. Winded, the Torch gripped
at his injured side, as Flamedramon clambered to his feet and prepared to
attack again.

- - -

Angewomon weaved to the side neatly, as a lightning bolt tore through the
spot where she had been floating only seconds before. Storm drew nearer, her
outstretched hands crackling with whitish-yellow energy, as her purple cape
was whipped hard around her body by the harsh winds she commanded.
"Be careful!" Kari called to her partner, whose own clenched fist shimmered
with holy light. Angewomon gestured, and a brief volley of pink energy
bursts flew from the tip of her index finger, exploding in the air around
Storm, rattling her.
Storm's eyes glowed brighter, as she lifted her arms up to the heavens - an
action which was accentuated by a clap of thunder. "Come, rains, to wash my
opponent away!"
There was another thunderclap, and immediately, thick, driving rain poured
down from the black clouds above, saturating Angewomon within seconds.
Unable to see more than a handful of metres ahead of her, Angewomon was
caught of guard as Storm flew directly at her, driving her shoulder into the
angel's gut, and sending her spiralling backwards. Angewomon attempted to
steady herself, spreading her wings wide, wheezing and trying to regain her
breath. Another lightning bolt ripped down from the sky, and scorched one of
her wings, making her cry out in pain.
The angel scowled and looked up, managing to make out Storm's silhouette
through the rain. That was enough.
"CELESTIAL ARROW!"
Storm gasped as an arrow of pure light streaked it's way through the sky
towards her, and she was only narrowly able to avoid it. The arrow crackled
past, but tore a huge, charred slash through Storm's cape, startling her.
Her control over the winds slipped momentarily, and she dropped a few feet
through the air before steadying herself again. Her eyes shimmered, and she
rose to meet Angewomon again.

- - -

The Human Torch snapped his arm around, loosing off a rapid-fire barrage of
fireballs, which careened madly towards Flamedramon as he stood on the
ledge. The Digimon grunted and encased himself in his flame shield again.
"Yeah!" Davis supported him. "That'll protect you!"
The fire balls slammed into Flamedramon's shield, their force and momentum
throwing him clean off his feet and sending him plummeting down the
mountainside.
"Or not..." Davis watched him go, as the Torch swooped down low over the
cloud of dust the Digimon's tumble had kicked up.
"Come on out!" the Torch called down into the cloud, trying to goad
Flamedramon into the open, so he could finish the battle. He came down as
low as he could, attempting to see through the dust, when Flamedramon's arm
shot up, out of the cloud, and seized his leg, yanking him down and slamming
him off the ground.
The Torch's flame flickered off with the shock of the impact, as he tried to
see through the dust, which was beginning to clear. Flamedramon loomed over
him, his fist glowing with orange energy.
"Sorry, pal," Flamedramon said. "But it's my world over yours! FLAME FIST!"

- - -

"CELESTIAL ARROW!" Angewomon cried again, sending another force bolt
directly at Storm. The dark-skinned X-Man thrust her arms forward, summoning
a lightning charge, which she hurled directly at the arrow. Both energy
attacks disappeared in a flash of light, which momentarily blinded Storm,
but Angewomon's eyes were protected by her helmet. Taking the chance, she
tackled Storm, and tumbled downward through the air with her.
Storm's eyes regained their glow as he struggled to force the Digimon off
her, pushing her back with a strong gust of wind, then spinning around to
deliver a roundhouse kick to the angel's temple.
Angewomon screamed with pain as Storm's heel jarred her helmet aside and
impacted with her skull. Reeling, she looped off through the air, swaying
unsteadily, her head pounding and her vision completely distorted, unable to
make anything out.
"Arctic winds!" she heard Storm cry. "Bring ice!"
The next thing Angewomon felt was her body being buffeted by hailstones the
size of golf balls, thumping hard against her bare skin, paving the way for
serious bruises, and some slamming into her helmet, making it reverberate,
which did nothing but make the pulsing pain in her head worse.
"Angewomon!" she heard Kari's voice call to her.
"K... Kari...!" Angewomon moaned, as the hail continued to bludgeon her. A
large chunk crashed against her jaw, throwing her backwards, and,
thankfully, out of the localised hail effect Storm had created.
The X-Man watched this happen, and soared in towards the angel, preparing to
direct her storm into finish the job. Another feebly-aimed Celestial Arrow
shot past her, missing by several metres, as Storm gestured, and the hail
was upon Angewomon once more.

- - -

"POOP!" the Impossible Man screamed, as he watched Flamedramon seize the
Torch and slam him into the ground.
"Oh yeah!" DemiDevimon cheered.
"Well, at least my girl's beating yours..."
"You just like watching the two of them, don't you?"
"..."
"Ha!"
"Takes one to know one..."

- - -

Flamedramon's attack cry rang in Johnny's ears, as the lizard lunged towards
him from a few feet away. To Johnny, everything was moving in slow motion.
With the flip of a mental switch, he re-ignited his flame, becoming the
Human Torch again, just as Flamedramon's feet left the ground. The Digimon
was startled at the human's quick recovery, but, Johnny thought to himself,
he hadn't seen anything yet.
As Flamedramon's dive brought him ever nearer to Johnny, his fist primed to
launch the flaming attack, the Torch took a moment to concentrate... and in
that moment, his body erupted, unleashing his Super Nova Blast. Every
modicum of energy within him went to producing the blast, which lit up the
valley between the mountains for miles, radiating pure power in all
directions around the Torch's body.
As tongues of flame licked at the rocky walls that surrounded the two
combatants, Davis yanked his goggles on to try and get a better look down
into the valley, squinting through the powerful light. Slowly, it began to
die down, and Davis could see the result of the battle.

- - -

In Pier Four, everyone tensed as the light faded, while at the same time,
everyone winced as Angewomon was beaten around by the hail.
"I can't watch!" Tentomon exclaimed, slapping his claws of his large green
eyes.
"Someone tell me when it's over!" Patamon wailed, covering his face with his
ears.
"It..." Sora stared at the screen, "it looks like..."

- - -

"Turn down the high-beams, wouldja?!" DemiDevimon impotently screamed at the
temporal window, as the Torch's flame flickered out.
"It... looks like..." the Impossible Man squinted.

- - -

"VEEMON!" Davis cried.
Veemon lay slumped on the ground in front of Johnny Storm. The boy's flame
no longer burning, but he still looked considerably worse for wear. Davis
jumped off the ledge, and slid down the mountainside, to jump off at the
bottom and run to Veemon's side. Johnny staggered a little, and leant
against a boulder, watching the kid and his Digimon.
"Veemon, are you okay?" Davis asked.
"Nothing... a truckload of... Digi-Aspirin won't cure..." Veemon groaned
out. "Shorry Davish... guessh I blew it..."
"THE FIRST VICTORY!" the Impossible Man's disguised voice thundered. "THE
HUMAN TORCH!"

- - -

Hail rattling her body, Angewomon heard the being's cry and is rang out on
her and Storm's battle field.
"One to them..." the angel thought, grunting, and swinging her fist forward,
actually shattering one of the hailstones on impact. "Can't... let everyone
down...!"

- - -

TO BE CONTINUED!

- - -

NEXT:

Who will win? Can Angewomon pull through, or will Storm be victorious? Find
out next time! Also:

SPIDER-MAN vs. ARUKENIMON!

AND MORE!

Be on the look out for:

"COME INTO MY PARLOUR!"

- - -