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It was yet another round of battle in the mission to mend time and reality itself, which was now pitting superheroes against other superheroes, and the occasional villain...
Like Ultron, who for some bizarre reason, found himself working alongside Johnny Storm, otherwise known as The Human Torch. The robot has retained his dislike for organic life, but the two worked surprisingly well together despite Johnny’s living status. The others they ended up working alongside with varied, including a strange little shark with legs, a raccoon, the occasional supersoldier or mutant humans, all sadly organic lifeforms, including his own creator, Tony Stark. Not all of those were on their side this time, but they had an acceptable team regardless.
Today, they had to escort some yellow bus and fend off its attackers. It was specified however that the bus was not as it seemed, and was instead a powerful artifact in disguise, something that would help mend time once they got it charged and to its destination. Ultron felt annoyance from it all, but that wasn’t anything new. He could be annoyed all he wanted, but it was still in his best interest to help them, because even a robot could be torn apart if time itself ripped.
As their team battled their way towards the bus, Ultron had long since become used to Johnny’s confidence and callouts to enemy and friend alike. He was a baffling cross between taunting and friendly, never quite committing to either, especially as he once again called him ‘scary robot’ after congratulating him, then spoke of eating Namor’s sea creatures. An organic burning star apparently needed a lot of fuel, and found amusement in talking about it.
They were the only two of their current team who could take to the skies, everyone else was on the ground, and Ultron admittedly felt an air of superiority about this. Johnny didn’t seem to, or if he did, he approached it from an angle that just had fun with the whole thing, which the robot didn’t understand. He was the most formidable life form on the battlefield currently, he could incinerate them all with ease. Yet he held back, claiming that he didn’t actually want to severely hurt any of them.
The concept of mercy was not something Ultron gave much thought about, besides believing most things didn’t deserve it, but he also knew that among their duo, Johnny called the shots. The Human Torch made that clear with the occasional casual threat of melting him into slag if he intentionally harmed anyone.
Which is why, as the rest of both teams battled, Ultron knew that when his scanners picked up something most alarming within the bus, he had to tell Jonathan Storm about it, or that he’d no doubt be angry afterwards if something unfortunate befell it.
Thus, while Johnny was throwing fireballs, for a lack of a better term, at the very determined Frank Castle below him who was actively chasing their team’s little Jeff, Ultron flew up beside him.
“Melted your bullets, Frank! Not sorry for a second.” Johnny remarked with lighthearted smugness as the Punisher was forced to stop and assess why his weapon stopped firing.
“My sensors are detecting the organic life-form of-” Ultron began, but was cut off.
“Well yeah, there’s organic life-forms everywhere buddy. Isn’t that what you’re always complaining about? C’mon toaster, I think Rogue needs our help.” He casually brushed him off, then reached over to give the robot an encouraging pat on the shoulder, before he took off.
Ultron felt a mechanical whirl of annoyance in his chest mechanism from the display of affection. He hated affection, it was... emotion-driven, and weak. A waste of time.
Shoving the irritation aside, the robot followed Johnny and spoke again, not even bothering to look down at the battle Rogue was having even as the man threw fire down to assist.
“This is not like any other life-form we have encountered before during our battles. This is not a mutant, it isn’t even of adult age-” He informed further, until he was ultimately cut off again.
“Woah-wait-wait, you’re telling me there’s a kid somewhere around here?” Johnny asked with genuine alarm now.
“Yes, within the bus.” Was all the answer Ultron bothered to give now, figuring that if he tried speaking anything longer, the flaming man would get impatient again.
Johnny had a truly disturbed look on his face from this, and his gaze soon snapped down to the bus. Said bus was currently being filled with holes by Rocket and Deadpool as they tried to hit Rogue, who was dodging between them.
Then the bus was set aflame.
“Oh that’s bad.” The Human Torch declared, before he dove into the fray at alarming speed.
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The young girl wasn’t exactly sure how it happened, or why. It was a day like any other with her mother, until there was this... tear in the very air before them, and numerous people got pulled in, including herself. Her mother tried to follow, but then it shut before she could make it.
And now, Lilly found herself here. The place wasn’t bad, with bright colorful buildings, pools, trees and the like, it seemed to be some kind of cozy vacation getaway. Which was fine, up until the fighting started.
The fighting... was a whole different story. Guns, monsters and magic flew everywhere, including what looked to be a fire triangle-shaped trap, or prison, appearing to drive one of those monsters back, the huge one that looked to be made of some slimy black substance. But what could make fire like that!? It was luckily not moving, and at the point of its arrival, she had scampered into this strange little short school bus for shelter. Which worked for a time, until the fight came to it.
Lilly ducked down, flattening herself upon the floor as much as she could as bullets and punches and the like rocked the bus, before she realized it was going somewhere! She felt it rolling! It wasn’t very fast, but it was actually going somewhere, despite not having a driver.
Everything was terrifying, she wanted it to stop. The poor child whimpered, then let out a small cry when something shattered somewhere behind her. It was the windshield, and there was now a fire upon the hood!
Heat wafted in with intensity, and Lilly started crawling to the back of the bus now. There were doors back there, maybe if she could reach the handles, she could escape from there.
However, as she neared, she quickly realized she wasn’t even close to reaching the handles, why were they so high up!? Or, well... she was pretty small, even for a kid. Some people’s boots were probably bigger than she was. But unfortunately she couldn’t go back out the way she came in originally.
Lilly felt the heat approaching from behind as fire crept into the bus, setting the first row of seats aflame and blocking the side doorway she used to get in here. But worse still, she also felt heat coming from in front of her, from behind the doors. This heat seemed slightly different, but still intense, maybe it was that fire triangle shaped thing, having moved somehow? If so, that would be really bad-
The back doors suddenly flew open, as if they were ripped off by a strong force. Lilly yelped and shielded her face as she saw more fire, tears threatening to form up as a result of her realizing she was now trapped and surrounded by flames threatening to engulf her.
“Hey there kiddo, it’s okay! I’m here to help!” A man’s voice suddenly declared from in front of her, sounding friendly, surprisingly normal, and even a little inviting.
Gunfire and chaos roared outside, and with the doors off, it was louder than ever. So much so that his voice was almost drowned out, but Lilly still picked up on it anyway. Yet when she lowered her arm, all she saw was that fire from beyond the back doors nearing closer.
However, before she could fully panic, she soon realized, after looking closer, that something was different. It wasn’t normal fire, this was more like... In the form of a man. A pretty big one to boot, with almost absurdly long legs, and the number 4 adorned on his chest.
The fire on his face settled down when she looked at him, revealing warm but human skin, friendly blue eyes and an inviting grin that flashed pearly white teeth, but not in a disturbing way. He just looked cheerfully friendly.
He was also holding the doors, at least for a second, before he promptly turned and threw them, hard, at something. Judging by the beastly growl that followed, he must have tossed them at that black goopy monster to drive it back.
“Take that, ugly!” He exclaimed with amusement in response to said monster, before the strange fire man looked back to the child.
Lilly wasn’t quite decided on whether he wasn’t a monster himself though, which could be debated. He looked to be entirely on fire and even his body was orange, yet the man wasn’t bothered by this in the very least… Much less how he effortlessly ripped those doors off its hinges and threw them.
However, she did need a helping hand, especially if maybe he could do something about the fire from the front end of the bus? Or-
“PURE… CHAOS!” A woman’s voice chanted, and in the same moment that she began, the flaming man reacted before Lilly had a chance to say or do anything.
“Oh, that’s my queue.” He blurted as he reached towards the small child and scooped her up in his arms, which Lilly was very alarmed by as she became engulfed in a mixture of fire and muscle.
The child tensed, expecting to be lit ablaze and burned the second he made contact with her, but that’s actually not what happened. Much like with his face, the flames moved aside for her, for lack of a better term, and left her surrounded by an intense, yet not uncomfortable heat. All without actually burning her, and if anything, the flames and the man himself seemed to be shielding her instead.
It was like being held by a friendly campfire, one that promptly took off into the sky at incredible speed, bringing them behind a pillar. She was held firmly against his chest, in which she realized that he wore some kind of suit, likely made of a material that was fireproof. He was incredibly warm in a way that was almost frightening, yet she never actually felt pain. Flames lapped around her but never fully touched her, they just made sure that if there was any deep cold in her bones, it was certainly gone now.
As the man shielded her with his body behind the pillar, wisps of sinister red magic blasted out from behind them, Lilly spotted just the edge of it from behind his shoulder. Thankfully however, the pillar was enough of a barricade that it didn’t actually reach them.
Once it was over, she heard a deep, throaty chuckle from her rescuer, before he relaxed his arms enough to look down at her.
His face was ablaze again, his skin was hot orange and his eyes were like pools of pure flame, yet he still had golden eyebrows, hair, and a sculpted face that made him look like a benevolent deity from a book. All giving him just enough of a human appearance that she didn’t feel too frightened.
“That was close, are you okay kiddo?” He asked her in a softer tone with an ironically warm smile.
Chaos still raged on below them, but at least it was just that, below. She didn’t want to quite think about how high up they were, and just decided to trust that he wouldn’t drop her. Despite that, and the terrifying nature of this entire experience... She was physically fine. Thus, she timidly nodded to him.
“Y-yes, thank you Mister Fire Man.” She told him with a timid smile.
She meant what she said too, she was grateful to not be in that bus anymore, and at least a little ways from the battle. The man smiled a little wider in return, though his brow furrowed a bit with concern.
“Call me Johnny, and don’t thank me just yet-” He began, but something made him pause, and Lilly heard it too.
It sounded like an engine of some machine, thus she turned to peer over his arms to observe the flying black robot that was approaching. It had reddish orange lights, sharp jagged edges, and nothing about it looked friendly.
Lilly yelped from this and huddled against Johnny, while he even protectively tightened his arms around her a bit more snugly again, with one of his hands almost completely engulfing her head by accident. Though he adjusted accordingly so she could still see.
“I see you have retrieved the child successfully. The battle could use your assistance however. What is the status of your... ‘nova’?” The robot asked in a cold, sinister tone that told her he wasn’t to be trusted, as if his appearance wasn’t obvious enough.
“Uuuh, about seventy-ish charged, I could use a bit more heat or fuel. But I’m not bringing the kid into that mess anyway, she needs to be brought somewhere safe.” He declared in a more serious tone.
“The child would provide sufficient fuel for your ‘nova’ and ‘meteor strike’ to turn the tide of this fight.” The robot suggested in a way that very much made Lilly scared, especially given the… obvious implications.
However, she wasn’t the only one who didn’t like that suggestion, much to her relief. Johnny’s burning eyes flared, for earlier they were a light yellowish orange, but now they looked nearly red as he scowled at the robot. At the same time, his body twisted in a way that held her back in a protective manner.
“I’m not some monster, Ultron! Suggest that again and I’ll see how much fuel YOU would provide me.” The fire man snapped. There was no levity or humor in his tone from that threat either, which meant he was probably dead serious about it. Lilly couldn’t help but briefly wonder how that’d work, could the man consume metal?
In response, the robot let out a whirling noise, one that strangely sounded annoyed.
“Fine. Then let me take the child, my drones will support you.” This ‘Ultron’ said and held out one of his clawed robotic hands that looked as awful and sinister as the rest of him.
Lilly shook her head fearfully and attempted to nestle herself further into Johnny’s chest, though it was like trying to do so with a rock wall. One that was at least smooth and warm though.
She considered openly asking him to not let the robot take her, but her plea was answered before she even made it.
“Yeah no, not happening buddy, not after what you just suggested.” He retorted with a bark of a laugh, the words thick with distrust.
“Could use some help over here, Matchstick!” Another voice called from somewhere behind and below, it was apparently one of his allies fighting. This one had a deep, gravely voice but he didn’t sound as scary as that black goo monster.
Lilly however couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt from those words. She didn’t like being a burden, but she also wasn’t sure what she could do, she was just a little kid. However, she was keeping him from helping his friends, and it sounded like they really needed him.
“Hang in there, big guy! I just need a moment!” Johnny called back, his tone taking on a friendlier edge, even as his throat glowed from his louder voice.
Ultron let out another annoyed whirling noise but didn’t actually speak. Instead, the robot made a simple gesture with his arm, and a sizable black and red drone appeared, hovering near Johnny. He then turned and flew away, seeming to be entering the battle again and thankfully leaving them in relative peace.
The fire man watched the robot leave for a moment longer, before he turned his focus back down to Lilly, though proceeded to close his eyes, as if it’d help him focus.
“Okay okay, think Johnny-” The man muttered to himself, but an unexpected noise came that cut him off.
It was a gentle groan that rumbled from slightly below her, guttural in nature... because that’s exactly where it came from, for it was the man’s stomach.
Lilly let out a small squeak from this, though the noise didn’t frighten her as much as she thought it would. A small part of her even thought the noise sounded strangely nice, especially in contrast to all the chaos. The man himself had also fallen silent, and Lilly found herself looking up at him, just in time to see his blazing eyes peering down at her with a specific kind of focus. Like he had thought of a plan for them, and was making a determination about it.
“Do you trust me to keep you safe, kiddo?” Johnny suddenly asked, his tone taking on a serious, but benevolent edge.
The child had a good feeling that she knew where this was going, and she did wonder just how wise it was. He was a man on fire from head to toe, she’d be surrounded by that heat, and she couldn’t help but be a little worried about his stomach acting like an oven because of that.
However, he’s not burned her yet, and they didn’t have a lot of time to debate this stuff. Plus she really didn’t want to keep him from his friends any longer than needed. Lilly also knew by his response to Ultron that he wouldn’t want to hurt her, and thus she decided that she did trust him.
“I-I do, Mister Johnny.” Lilly replied with only a lace of nervousness, but gave a brave smile to him all the same. A smile that was returned with a gentle one of his own.
“Awesome! Then in you go, you won’t regret it.” The flaming man declared with a sense of levity, almost an edge of playfulness even, though not in a bad way. It was friendly and benevolent.
The young one let out a shy little giggle, then watched as she was lifted from his chest and brought up to his face. The flame steadily parted for her again, and his blue human eyes returned. Which gazed down at her with a benign look of adoration, like she was the cutest little thing that he ever prepared to devour.
It was probably true, really.
When Johnny opened his mouth, Lilly was greeted with a warm yellowish orange glow that emitted from within his throat, but it thankfully looked like it was behind the flesh, rather than the throat itself being that hot. Otherwise, his mouth looked surprisingly human, with that glow at the back serving as a rather inviting light guiding her focus down and just out of sight.
His breath was incredibly warm though, not quite to an uncomfortable degree, but nearing it. She just had to trust that he could truly somehow regulate the heat inside of himself. It was also fortunate that the wee child enjoyed warmth over the cold.
What came next happened somewhat quickly, considering they didn’t have a lot of time. Luckily, it wasn’t that scary as Johnny began to ease her into his mouth, and thanks to that glow, she could still see! The curious child also did something a little unexpected, for as the man’s jaws neared, she raised her arms up above her head, so that her hands and arms slid into his gullet first.
This allowed her to feel that it wasn’t too hot, just cozily toasty! The kind of heat that made you just want to sleep for a week. Thus she wasn’t worried at all when her head and shoulders followed, becoming gently enveloped in that muscular but soft tunnel of reddish pink. Which happened to be one of her favorite colors, and thanks to that illumination, she could see it all the way down!
For most, the sight could have been considered disturbing. An organic, fleshy tunnel that pulsed and flexed with the man’s breathing and heart rate, thickly coated in clear, goopy slime, leading down to what appeared to be the unknown, but of what would likely be more of the same. All visible thanks to the heated core of the man himself.
To Lilly however, it looked and felt like a fun velvety slide down into a safe and cozy nook for her to huddle up in from all the danger and chaos. Neither of these outlooks were wrong, they were just different ways of looking at the same thing.
Johnny continued without a second thought, as if the process came naturally to him, or that he did it before. Who knows which was true, but considering his nature as a man emitting flames, it was possible that he did just have a knack for consuming things. It didn’t mean he was harsh about it though, quite the reverse actually, he was rather gentle as his fingers made sure her legs were safely behind his teeth, while the rest of her dipped down into his warm throat.
Before he even swallowed, that muscular tunnel already began to gently pull the little one down deeper inside. It was a soft process, just reflexive, and there was a good chance that Johnny didn’t actually have to swallow at all if he didn’t want to. But, ultimately, there was no reason not to, and they were still in a hurry.
So as Lilly peered down the glowing esophagus with wide eyes of wonder, the man tipped his head back, and sent the curious little one on her way with a hearty gulp!
The child let out an excited little squee as she slid down, listening to the steady heartbeat merely inches away as her journey took her through his chest, just in time to hear him take a deep breath in. His lungs expanded and tightened Lilly’s passageway, but it merely just made it a bit snug, something that continued as she slipped under his diaphragm. It was all kind of like a tender hug, right before she eased down into the cozy chamber that was Johnny’s belly.
A series of giggles escaped Lilly as she plopped upon the squishy, yet supportive floor of the stomach, and was in awe that she could still see! It was all illuminated by an unspecific warm light that steadily wavered and flickered all around her, behaving much like fire. It allowed her to admire the pink walls that sheltered her, softly moving and shifting with life in a way that was either disturbing or comforting, depending on who you asked. For Lilly, it was thankfully the latter, as it meant that she wasn’t alone!
The space wasn’t too big, but she barely stretched it too, given her little bitty stature. Still, she comfortably filled the space as she curled up with a cozy little wiggle, while the walls of his stomach cradled her with delicate care, as if his body knew that she was a guest to be protected.
A benevolent groan rumbled around her, as if welcoming little Lilly within, and causing the walls to ripple softly, before closing in a little bit more snugly once she got settled. She could still comfortably breathe, and the heat was, while very toasty, wasn’t dangerous or harmful. It just made her sleepy, enough so that she found herself snuggling into the walls of the flaming man’s warm tummy.
“There you go kiddo, don’t worry I won’t bake you!” Johnny declared in a friendly but sincere tone, his voice sounding deeper from inside as it came from all around her, subtly vibrating the walls of her current abode.
It was surreal to realize she was now technically flying, just hovering as a cozy lump in his abdomen. Yet obviously she felt secure enough to know that she wasn’t going to fall or anything. His assurance of not being baked was also a relief, even if at this point she felt like she was safe from that, it was still good that he thought about it.
“Thank you Mister Johnny! It’s all so... so warm and cozy!” The child chirped with enthusiasm, which she followed up with a happy little ‘tee-hee’ sounding giggle.
A deep, throaty chuckle echoed around her then. “Is that so? Well that’s a relief to know you like it, because this might get a little bumpy.” Johnny warned, though it didn’t sound too dire or serious, just a nice ‘heads up’ if you will.
Right after the words left him, she felt him move as a result. Her whole world rotated and Lilly found herself lying down. The heartbeat that was once above her was now... well, still above her but more to one side, and the rate of it picked up in pace. There was also a muffled ‘swooshing’ noise, and Lilly soon realized that the flaming man was diving somewhere.
“Weeee~!” She exclaimed, watching as the glow around her rippled and shifted more rapidly, like fire met with high speeds or wind.
It didn’t get dimmer though. If anything, Lilly was pretty sure that it actually started glowing brighter! And the stomach felt just a little warmer, not dangerously so, but it was starting to reach the limit that if it got any hotter, it would be uncomfortable.
“Hang in there kiddo, my friends need me, but things might get a little scary, and hot.” She heard him say in a more serious tone than before, and sure enough, she started hearing the sounds of gunshots and yelling and other signs of that battle over the bus, even if much more muffled now.
That’s right, this was the whole reason he swallowed her, so that he could rejoin that without putting her in jeopardy. Or at least... lesser jeopardy. But Lilly trusted him, and she knew he had to go help his friends. It was generous how much time he spared her already, but now, his belly would take care of her and keep her safe.
What came next however, took her by surprise.
That conflict grew closer, as if it was just right outside of her flaming abode. At the same time, she felt Johnny curl in on himself, his stomach grew tighter around Lilly as muscle warmly compressed in a grip that was almost too tight, but this lasted only a second before a singular word echoed around her like booming thunder.
“SUPERNOVA!”
It came from Johnny, his voice boomed with enough power that she was sure something broke around him from that alone, much less what accompanied that word.
It was a fitting word too, because Lilly felt a wave of heat and force like no other. The sheer power of it was genuinely frightening, and that heat wave was very much too hot. The only saving grace was that it passed over her quickly enough that it didn’t hurt, it was just alarming.
Judging by what she heard, that wave exploded from him, and the glow within became so bright, it was almost like the sun. She had to shield her eyes, while feeling her environment heat up in a way that did feel like if it remained this warm for too long, it would be too hot. At least he was upright again though, so there was that.
Seconds ticked by, the battle raged on, and she felt Johnny’s whole body twist and jerk in a way that could only be described as surreal, like he was a fire dancer in the sky while he fought. Feeling those muscles shift around her, yet still taking care not to crush her, it helped remind her that even his body knew how delicate she was, and this helped her hold onto the trust she felt for him. The heat would die down before it hurt her, she trusted him in that.
During all of this, Lilly also heard voices but couldn’t quite make out the words, except for Johnny’s side of things.
“Yeah I am, because this kid’s life is on the line now.” She heard him retort to someone, just in time to feel a gentle pressure push inward, from outside, like... like a hand upon his belly. Lilly was also pretty sure, as she looked over, that she saw the vague outline of that large hand greeting her on the other side.
In response, Lilly cuddled against where she felt and saw his palm, trying to show that she was okay despite being a little spooked and at this point, she also realized that heat and glow was settling down.
She was right after all, it ended before it became dangerous, the glow was returning to its normal soothing brightness, and that warmth was back to its comfy fireplace state, rather than the raging wildfire like it was briefly.
The child wasn’t quite sure how many seconds it lasted, but she did know that she now felt incredibly sleepy from it all. It wasn’t dangerously sleepy, everything was just catching up to her, and that heat was making her drowsy. It didn’t help that she was in a squishy, comfy little nook that cradled and occasionally kneaded her with tender care and benevolence, accompanied by a soothing backdrop of his steady breathing and settling, if still somewhat rapid heartbeat, all of which was lulling her to sleep.
“You’re okay kiddo, it’s over.” The man assured her, his voice deeper and more sincere than his previously more light-hearted and easygoing words.
What he said also came to great relief, and she soon realized that Johnny’s ‘supernova’ ended the conflict. She didn’t hear fighting anymore, just words being spoken by those outside. Although the child found her eyes closed and mind drifting too much to quite make out what Johnny said next, despite how his voice reverberated through her. Instead, it just served as another layer of figurative blankets that was being stacked upon the wee child to coax her into slumber.
And ultimately, that’s exactly what happened. Before she even realized it, she was a cozy and happy little snoozing ball within Johnny’s snug belly. Though not before speaking a few sleepy little words of gratitude.
“Thank you Mister Johnny.”
The words were barely louder than the gentle groans and rumbles of his stomach that helped lull her to sleep. And despite that, Johnny’s hand delicately pushed in a little deeper in response.
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A few moments earlier...
Once the tiny kid was settled in his stomach, Johnny didn’t have much time to deal with the emotions that followed. Like how he kind of felt slightly like some fairy tale monster for doing that, yet was shown gratitude via the delicate little cuddles that he felt within his belly. The kid liked it and was happy, which helped him in not feeling as bad about it.
Ultron was correct in one sense though, his team needed a good nova to turn the tide of the battle, and Johnny needed fuel to do it. Luckily, someone had recklessly started a fire upon the bus, and something had to be done about that anyway...
After warning his little passenger about a bumpy and scary ride, Johnny dove for that fire, listening to the happy little muffled squee from his abdomen in doing so, which prompted him to smile. It was hard not to feel all warm and fuzzy from the sheer innocence and joy that children brought, especially brave ones like this little bitty tot. As a superhero, Johnny kind of missed such wholesome interactions, playing with his fire to amuse children after a frightening event to help distract them, or carrying them around on fun flights across the city, things like that. Now it was multiverse this and time warp that...
He got his thoughts back into the moment as he entered the fire, and began absorbing it into his body! The flames flowed into him ironically like water, drawing into his core and fueling his power. He couldn’t hold it for long, but that was okay, he didn’t need to.
And just like that, the bus was only a bit charred and black, but otherwise intact. The flame was gone, and now had a new purpose.
Meanwhile, Johnny did make sure that the fire he absorbed wasn’t a danger to the child, holding it closer to the surface of his skin to keep his stomach as cool as possible. That heat was going to increase, he couldn’t fully stop that, but he could ensure her safety when it did.
He then dove his way right into the center of the conflict, nobody even saw him coming, but several gasped and moved back once he was already there. Almost everyone had a reason to be afraid of fire, and especially now, as Frank tried to shoot him down like he’d done before in previous clashings. However, Johnny wasn’t playing around anymore, not with a child on board. Thus, the sheer heat emitting from him melted the bullets before they could even make contact.
Johnny then curled in on himself, muscles tensing up and his legs softly pressing against the bump in his abdomen, while fire built up in his core. It was a dangerous level of heat for the child, but only if it stayed that way, which it wouldn’t. He knew it might be a bit scary or alarming, but he had enough control over it to keep it from causing any true harm. He just had to hold it for merely a moment...
“SUPERNOVA!”
It all happened within the span of a few seconds, from when he absorbed that fire from the bus, to now as immense heat then exploded from him with one powerful word. It was almost cathartic as his voice echoed around them and the blast knocked everyone back. Fire even enveloped his allies like a shield, while Johnny himself was so engulfed in flame, most could barely see his suit anymore. He felt like a true living star, and grinned as he threw a wall of fire tornadoes down upon the battlefield, pushing back the opposing team away from the bus so far that they were either knocked out or retreated out of sight.
“You are using more of your power, most unusual for these battles.” Ultron suddenly observed from partway behind, partway beside Johnny.
At the same time, he was hovering back up to throw some smaller fireballs down when a few foes dared to peek their faces back towards them. As he did so, he twisted and shifted his body with each throw, something done out of habit now to be a bit trickier to hit.
Once there was a moment of pause, he answered.
“Yeah I am, because this kid’s life is on the line now.” Johnny retorted not harshly, but firmly, while he moved one hand to tenderly rest upon that adorable lump in his abdomen.
In return, he felt the small girl snuggle against his palm through the layers of muscle and skin. This caused him to look down, and to his shock… the glow of his nova made his body so bright, he could actually see her shape within his belly. She was so little and happy in there, cuddling against his hand like she was. It was honestly quite surreal, for his smile softened, and a warmth not like his normal heat fluttered in his chest.
Speaking of that though, it was around now that his ‘supernova’ simmered down and his body returned to its safe temperature for her, though he almost felt sad when the glow faded enough that he couldn’t see her anymore. It was all just in time for the conflict to be over though, nobody else showed their faces, and their team was left in peace to escort the bus.
And to question Johnny about what he had done.
“My scanners are detecting that the child is... in you. I do not understand-”
Johnny cut him off, for his attention was on the brave child who endured all that, and he figured she could use some comforting words.
“You’re okay kiddo, it’s over.” He warmly assured her as he felt her lingering tension slowly melt away under his voice and touch.
The sheer amount of trust she held in him, both figuratively and literally, was nothing short of touching. And Johnny long since made it his personal mission today to make sure she didn’t regret it. That warm and fuzzy feeling only grew stronger from what response he heard back.
“Thank you Mister Johnny.” Came her delicate voice, muffled but at peace, if sleepy. By reflex, his hand pressed in a little deeper from that, sort of like a makeshift hug of comfort for the little one.
He had no clue how she could be sleepy after all that, and he still wasn’t used to anyone calling him ‘Mister Johnny’, but the sentiment of everything made what came next a fairly minimal concern. He just wanted to lose himself in this moment of pure, if unorthodox, heroics and the gratitude given for it.
Sadly, he wasn’t going to get his wish.
“Maybe it’s ‘cause I got hit in the head more than once in that fight, then you blinded us with your nova, but...” Ben began, his gravelly voice unmistakable to Johnny as he was first to approach, both figuratively and literally.
Johnny felt his nervousness spike a bit from this, but he didn’t let it show. Especially not when still riding the high of everything.
“Sorry about that, but hey! I protected you guys with it this time.” Johnny pointed out with lighthearted glee as he steadily began to play with a wisp of fire on his fingertip.
Though he didn’t notice his right hand still resting upon his swollen stomach, but everyone else sure did. As the bus rolled along, everyone was staring at him with a range of expressions that Johnny wasn’t exactly used to seeing on them, at least not like this. Namely it was confusion, alarm, and disbelief in a somewhat unique manner.
The first to speak up next among the group was possibly the member of the team that Johnny knew the least, save for Jeff purely for the fact that the little land shark couldn’t exactly speak words most of the time. But no, this small woman by the name of Luna Snow had the guts to address the elephant in the room.
“Thanks so much for that! But uh... I think what Ben here is trying to ask about is... What exactly did you eat there?” The girl asked, her voice slightly higher pitched than usual as she gave him a sheepish, almost nervous smile.
She also pointed one frost-tipped finger right to his abdomen, a gesture that wasn’t too hard given that he was now flying pretty low for the sake of discussion.
Johnny felt his fire waver, though he wasn’t quite sure in what way, he just hoped it wasn’t noticeable to anyone as embarrassment hit him. He let out a brief, if slightly nervous laugh, before he blew out the fire on his finger. Then he looked down at his stomach and moved his hand to see it better, as if that’d somehow help him answer the question, even if he knew exactly what that answer was.
“Uuuuhm-” He started, but then Ultron annoyingly cut in.
“The Human Torch has ingested an abnormally small juvenile female during the battle for unknown reasons. However, I am still able to detect that her vitals are in perfect condition for being in a state of sleep within the heated, humid environment of his stomach.” The robot declared, and luckily, thanks to his awkward wording, it took everyone a second to translate.
A second that felt like ages to Johnny Storm, who found himself hovering back a bit now, while his whole arm wrapped around his abdomen to hide the lump a bit better. It was... still noticeable, and if anything, his arm just brought attention to it.
“Ya really oughta speak more plainly, that’s a whole lotta words just to tell us that the flamin’ sugah ate a wee tyke! Hang on, is that truly what ya did?” Rogue retorted to Ultron first, before she looked to Johnny.
Thankfully Rogue didn’t look too judgmental yet, she was one of the more perplexed ones but seemed to be keeping an open mind. Ben appeared to be more in disbelief or maybe just trying to process the information, and Luna actually had a glimmer of fear in her eyes now, while Jeff just looked like he barely understood what was going on. Finally, Ultron simply observed with his cold, emotionless robot face as he always did, Johnny had no idea what he was thinking because of that.
All of them waited for The Human Torch to answer, and it seemed that they weren’t going to get attacked again anytime soon, which limited his chances of escaping the subject.
No, he had to answer them, and luckily there was a part of him that wanted to, simply from the fact that Ultron explained it so badly. Not that he was entirely confident that he could do it any better, but he was going to try.
“Okay... To start, I didn’t exactly eat, or ingest-” He said the word with a face of mild disgust before carrying on. “The kid. She was-” He continued, but was cut off by Rogue.
“Ya did put her in your mouth though, didn’t ya?” She asked like it was a simple fact, connecting the dots that haven’t been laid down yet, but were inevitable.
“Well-yeah I did, but-” Johnny answered, before Ben interjected next.
“And then you swallowed her?”
He felt a glimmer of frustration about not being given a chance to just explain, but he continued anyway.
“Yes-” Was all he managed before Luna spoke.
“And now she’s in your stomach?” The woman asked with that lingering fear, though she already knew the answer, Ultron just told everyone.
The Human Torch just nodded to her, avoiding eye contact as shame started creeping in.
“”“Then you ate her!””” All three of them declared in unison, and even Jeff let out a weird ‘murrr’ noise, though it was as if he approved of this.
“Alright, fine! I did!” Johnny roared back, his voice deepening as his fire grew hotter, if only briefly. He willed it to settle down for the child’s sake, and his own nerves, but he did find himself crossing his arms, frowning at the lot of them.
Luna flinched from this, while Rogue took a respectful step back. and Jeff burbled nervously. Yet it was Ben who actually took a step towards Johnny, his eyes holding a lace of sympathy upon his otherwise stoney face.
“I know you’re no monster, kid. So go ahead an’ tell us what happened.” He gently told Johnny, and shot a look to the others, as if making a silent request to not interrupt him this time.
Johnny held his frustration for a second longer, before he exhaled and lowered his arms to his stomach again, reflexively cradling the cozy little lump that was still sleeping through all of this. That allowed some tension to ease off of him, and thus he began to explain his side of the story.
“I was fighting with you guys, trying to get Frank off of little Jeff here-” The wee landshark in question murred with gratitude. “Then Ultron comes up and tells me that there’s a poor kid trapped in the bus. You know, while we were all fighting around it? Bullets and explosions and even fire everywhere? So I dove in to rescue her. I’ve done it before, it’s no biggie, except... Unlike before, I didn’t really have a safe place to take her to... And you guys needed me, so...” He trailed off and raised one hand to rub the back of his neck.
“I offered to take the child for you.” Ultron reminded, though he wisely spoke a little quieter than before.
Johnny still scoffed regardless and felt the spark of annoyance return. “Oh yeah, you mean right after you suggested that I use her as fuel? Yeah no, I wasn’t about to trust you with the kid’s life.” He snapped in return.
Ultron backed down, Luna paled even more than she normally was, while both Rogue and Ben glared disapprovingly at the robot.
“It’s a mundane lifeform.” Ultron pointed out, but knew better than to argue too much with any of them.
“Anyway, as... awful as it all is, the suggestion gave me an idea. A way to keep the kiddo safe, and all I needed was for her to trust me. Luckily for me, she does, and... And she even likes it. I just have to regulate my heat, keep it more external, which I need to do anyway because now I can’t be hit with Frank’s bullets and whoever tries to touch me is gonna get burned.” He explained further, starting a little more sheepishly, but as he went on, he relaxed, and even allowed a bit of his usual pride to seep through at the end.
“So you were using the full extent of your power back there?” Luna asked with a sense of awe now.
“Well no, not the full extent. Saying supernova is fun, it’s an awesome word, but that was still just a more defensive nova. I can’t go actual supernova or... you know.” He eyed those around him with a slight grimace.
Many of them hurriedly nodded in agreement. It was a well-known secret that Johnny could actually be rather devastating if he truly wanted to be. But half the people they fought out here were their friends, and all these fights were half for sport, half minor disagreements in how each other decided to repair these time wounds.
In The Human Torch’s own words, he set his flames to bake instead of broil for those reasons. And going easy on some of them made the competition a little more thrilling.
“And swallowin’ the kid... How’d ya learn t’do that?” Ben asked then, not sounding judgmental, but genuinely curious as to how he came about that trick.
Johnny allowed a cheeky grin to appear on his face then, and his focus turned to Jeff.
“Let’s just say this little shark isn’t the only one around here with a voracious appetite.” He declared with mischievous glee.
Jeff murred with innocent joy to this at first, before he yelped and dove under. It was as if he was a little worried about Johnny demonstrating just who was truly at the top of the food chain around here. The man in question just let out a deep chuckle of amusement, but didn’t assure that wouldn’t happen.
Suddenly, their coms buzzed to life before anyone could pry further.
“Reed here. Is that artifact charged yet?” The brains of this whole operation asked from the other end of the line, blissfully unaware for the time being.
“Not yet, probably one more good battle!” Luna answered him, with her confidence now returning, at least for the most part.
“Good timing, because I think I hear clomping boots!” Johnny declared, and held out a handful of fire, ready to throw.
“Remember Johnny, they-” Sue began, also from the same line Reed spoke through.
“I know I know, keep it cool. I got this sis, don’t worry about a thing! Oh and Ben too.” He winked down at his rocky buddy as he said so, who was readying his fists already.
“We doin’ this, Johnny?” Ben asked in an all-too-knowing tone that kindled Johnny’s burning heart like a sunday campfire with s’mores.
“With you, Benjy-Boy? Any time!” The Human Torch announced with glee, then closed his fist to get rid of the flame, before he dove down to snatch up his friend, hauling him up into the air with impressive ease.
Gunfire then opened upon them, Venom swung in from above, and they all knew the battle was on once more.
Despite Johnny’s eagerness, he didn’t forget his little slumbering passenger, still snoozing away. While his hands were occupied, his abdominal muscles gently tightened around her, holding her more closely and securely, something that helped block out the noises and keep her more stable and undisturbed during the fight.
The only thing The Human Torch didn’t look forward to was explaining this to Reed... But at least in doing so, his brother-in-law could help get the wee one back to wherever she belonged, even if it possibly took some time.
However, that was all for later. For now, they fought, and the opposing team witnessed Johnny Storm as a force to be reckoned with, now that he was not holding back as much.