Natasha woke up as she rubbed her head against Damian's chest.

Last night, they had engaged in some quite intense nighttime activities, so she was somewhat tired.

After five minutes of stretching and letting out a slight moan, she got out of bed and headed to the bathroom.

After a quick shower, Natasha came out dressed and ready to leave.

She approached Damian and whispered that she was going.

"Take care and have fun," Damian said, kissing her on the cheek.

Natasha left the room with a faint smile, humming a song.

She went downstairs and had a quick breakfast before heading out to the yard.

Taking a small device out of her pocket, Natasha pressed a button, and a small ship appeared a few meters above the yard.

Natasha crouched slightly before propelling herself towards the ship and holding on with one hand before climbing up to take the pilot's seat.

Looking at the controls, Natasha quickly turned on the ship before starting to fly toward Los Angeles. Carol had taught her how to fly, so she wouldn't have any problem.

After about an hour of flight, Natasha arrived in Los Angeles and began searching for Tony's house.

In the distance, she saw a modern-looking villa and knew she had arrived. She flew over the parking lot before descending and hovering a few meters above the ground, setting the ship to camouflage mode and turning off the engines, leaving just enough to keep it floating.

Tony had already detected that a ship was above his house, but he didn't put on his armor because Damian had warned him in advance that Natasha would be coming on the ship. Nonetheless, he waited in the garage just in case.

Natasha opened the ship's door before jumping out with her suitcase, landing in front of the house's entrance. She rang the doorbell and waited for someone to open it.

A few seconds after ringing the doorbell, Pepper opened the door and greeted Natasha with a smile.

"Hey, Pep," Natasha said, greeting her with a smile.

"Nat, it's great to see you," Pepper replied, greeting Natasha and giving her a slight hug before stepping aside to let her in.

"Come in, have you had breakfast?" Pepper asked with a smile as she closed the door behind her.

"Yes, I've already had breakfast," Natasha replied, nodding.

"Come, I'll take you to your room," Pepper said, leading Natasha to a guest room.

"Was this your room before?" Natasha jokingly asked Pepper.

"No, I didn't used to sleep here before," Pepper laughed.

Natasha placed her suitcase to the side before sitting on the bed and looking at Pepper with a smile.

"So, how about I work as your secretary for these days?" Natasha suggested. She had acted as a secretary before, so she had some experience.

"I wouldn't want to bother you," Pepper said a little embarrassed.

"Oh, come on, don't say that. It'll be fun," Natasha said, smiling at her.

"Then let's get ready to go. We'll leave in half an hour," Pepper said, nodding while pretending to have a stern expression.

"Sure thing, boss," Natasha joked before starting to change into the outfit she had prepared.

Pepper looked at Natasha a little confused, but she quickly left the room and closed the door, thinking that Natasha was very open-minded.

30 minutes later.

Natasha and Pepper left in a car for Stark Industries.

Natasha chatted with Pepper about things she needed to take care of and important people in the company.

She nodded with a smile as she listened. She was sure she would have fun these days.

...

Ivan was watching his bird while listening to Justin's speech.

"When I told you what I wanted, you said 'no problem,' and now you give me androids," Justin said, sighing.

"Androids are better. People can disobey or betray, but you always have control over an android," Ivan replied.

"Your goal is to sell these suits to the military, but are you satisfied with just selling to the military? How about having your own private army? It would be even better if they were androids willing to do whatever you want, right?" Ivan said, smiling at Justin.

"Besides, androids are cheaper. You told me they cost 125 million each,"

"Nobody can build an army with those costs," Ivan said mockingly.

"Not to mention that you don't have Stark's technology. These suits are not as agile, and the repulsor technology Stark uses is not something I specialize in, so their flight will be a little less efficient."

"Alright, I understand," Justin said, sighing.

"You don't have to be just like Stark," Ivan said, ending the conversation.

"I showed some pictures to several politicians, and they will support me to make a presentation at the Expo in a week. That will be the moment to outshine Iron Man. I hope you're ready by then," Justin said.

Justin left somewhat annoyed, followed by his butler.

Seeing them leave, Ivan chuckled lightly. It was truly his good luck that an idiot like Justin got him out of prison.

Turning his gaze to the suits, he smiled slightly. His revenge would come soon.

Best of all, it would be at his own Expo and in front of the whole world.

The modified suits weren't much worse than the ones initially showcased by Iron Man. The only shortcomings were agility and repulsor technology.

"But with so many suits attacking him, let's see if that makes any difference," Ivan thought, excitedly smiling. He could almost see Stark on the ground with his armor almost destroyed, looking at him.

Getting up, Ivan approached the last suit that didn't have a circle on its chest.

Justin was truly an idiot. When he arrived, the suits were barely functional and could only be operated with connected cables. He really didn't know what he was expecting.

Placing the reactor in the android's chest and making sure it fits well, Ivan gave a slight smile.

The androids were almost ready; now he would take these days to finish his own armor. With Hammer's resources and workforce, he could make armor much faster than Stark, who relied only on himself.

He told Justin that he wanted another suit for experimentation, and as soon as he mentioned that it would advance his technology and make it better than Stark's, Justin's eyes lit up, and he agreed to make another one.

...

Damian woke up and let out a soft yawn. He looked to his side and remembered that Natasha had left early.

Looking to the other side, he smiled faintly at Carol and Ana; Ophelia wasn't there since Ana had sent her away the night before.

Ophelia made a displeased face and protested, but she still left. She knew that her relationship with Damian at the moment was more than friends but less than lovers.

In the end, she slept with the three little ones with a smile.

Giving Carol and Ana a kiss on the cheek, Damian got up and dressed before teleporting to Madripoor where the scientist was located.

"My king," said the scientist with a cheerful smile. He was still happy about the comments on the internet regarding his armors.

"Hm, how is what I asked for going?" Damian inquired, nodding.

"The soundproof room is ready," replied the scientist, becoming more serious and leading Damian to a large room.

In the room, there were five men locked up, conversing among themselves. As soon as they saw the door open, they looked at the two figures with hatred.

"These five people are criminals, the worst you can find. If you think of any crime, they've probably done it," said the scientist, pointing at the individuals.

"Alright, I'll take it from here," Damian said, nodding to the scientist.

The scientist bid farewell to Damian before closing the door, wondering idly what his king wanted to achieve. One thing was certain: these people wouldn't have a good ending.

Looking at the five men, Damian smiled faintly.

"I'm sure you're wondering why you're here. Well, you'll help me with some experiments," Damian said as he walked towards the walls and quickly inscribed some runes.

These runes had the effect of containing magic, so Damian began releasing his magic while making it less dense.

He wanted to see if he could create mages; he was curious about the effects of exposing regular people to magic.

The room quickly filled with magic, although the men couldn't see it, they could feel that the atmosphere was different.

Damian narrowed his eyes and noticed that only a small amount of magic entered their bodies through breathing.

Analyzing them, he realized that there was a very slight anti-aging effect in addition to slightly increased body regeneration.

Nodding slightly, Damian made one of the men appear on a table and restrained his movement.

The men let out small cries of fear as one of them suddenly disappeared and reappeared somewhere else.

"I'll call you subject 0," Damian joked.

Damian approached the man on the table and began forcing magic into his body.

Subject 0 gritted his teeth and seemed to experience some pain. Damian observed with astonishment as his body seemed to gain the ability to generate magic.

It appeared to have a kind of core that generated a small amount of magic.

Damian looked puzzled at the situation until he brought another of the men and inspected the same area.

Subject 2 had exactly the same core, but its size was insignificant, like a dried seed.

Damian wore a thoughtful expression before returning Subject 2 to his place.

Focusing his gaze on Subject 0, he saw that his bodily functions increased slightly, but any other changes couldn't be seen at the moment.

Damian returned Subject 0 to his place before disappearing and appearing in a hospital in New York.

He moved invisibly through all the rooms while analyzing the patients' bodies.

He was examining the cores of each one and noticed that some patients' cores appeared very withered.

Damian approached a girl who was about 10 years old. Her core looked very withered, so he extended his hand and tried to fill it with magic.

The core seemed like a seed that had received water after a long time and quickly became the same as Subject 0's core.

Damian ignored the girl's expression of pain as he thought.

It seems that humans can use magic, but only in a tiny amount, just enough to survive.

Damian had another idea before appearing over a highway, where he saw a bus filled with passengers.

Invisible, Damian appeared inside the bus and specifically looked at a man sitting at the back. He had been tracking him for a few days.

Focusing his gaze on the man's abdomen, Damian saw his core. It was completely different from that of regular humans; it was very large and green, thousands of times larger than a normal human's core.

Damian disappeared from the place and appeared on top of his palace. He sat on the edge and looked at the entire city while contemplating.

It seems that the core in each human gives them the ability to receive radiation or radioactive bites and transform rather than die, although this is somewhat different from the x genes that he had discovered previously.

Damian supposed that was what differentiated this world from his previous one.

Although the ability to gain powers must have some conditions that he doesn't know about, or the world would be full of people with superpowers.

Damian didn't really expect this situation, nor does he know the reason why humans have this core that gives them the ability to evolve practically.

Nonetheless, Damian isn't upset with this situation. It will only facilitate his plans.

Damian also investigated his own body and, of course, doesn't have this core, but something similar to it, which would be his heart, the place where his magic and familiars are stored.

Damian appeared at home invisibly while scanning everyone.

Ana, Sophia, and Ophelia, who were humans before, did have the core, but it seemed to be inactive, and like Damian, their power appeared to concentrate in their hearts.

Damian also took a glance at his daughters and saw that they didn't have the core; they were pure vampires, and their power was concentrated in their hearts.

Finally, Damian focused his attention on Carol. She did have a core, shining in an intense golden color with tiny stars moving inside.

Damian nodded slightly before reappearing on his palace. There's still more experimenting to be done with regular people; he still needs to find out what happens if a core is saturated with magic or destroyed.

He can already see a new world with a magical civilization in the future.

"It's too soon to dream; there are still many experiments to be done," Damian murmured as he looked at his city before disappearing.

----

Remember that you can support me and read 10 advanced chapters at patreon.com/Fast_Reader.

Guys, the core thing is the way to explain non-mutant powers in this alternate universe, I've always wondered why so many people seem to get powers and there's no explanation other than gamma or cosmic radiation.
I don't know what you think.