The entire family appeared in Madripoor through the portal.

As there was still more than an hour left, they decided to get some ice cream, so they hopped into a van and drove to a nearby ice cream shop.

"It's a big change going from sports cars to a van," Carol said sadly.

Everyone chuckled lightly but didn't comment.

A few minutes later, they arrived at an ice cream shop. They all got out and looked for tables to sit. Since there were many of them, there wasn't a single table large enough for everyone, so they pushed two tables together.

They quickly placed their orders and began eating while chatting.

The group of course attracted some attention, receiving occasional glances from the staff and the few customers in the place.

When the employee brought the ice cream and Carol noticed the lack of customers, she couldn't help but ask about it.

"Why are there so few people here?"

"Almost everyone is heading to the military parade, and those who can't go are waiting at home to watch it on TV," replied the employee with a smile.

"I see, thank you," Carol nodded.

"It seems like everyone is curious to see the army of such an advanced country," Sophia said with a slight smile.

"Indeed, they want to see what our soldiers can do," Damian agreed.

After finishing their ice cream, the family returned to the palace.

The scientist was waiting for them and stood up to greet everyone.

"My king, are you going to participate in the parade?" the scientist asked expectantly.

"No, we didn't quite like the idea. What do you have planned?" Damian asked, giving an apologetic smile.

"We will march through the streets before arriving at the central park, where we will showcase some displays of strength before concluding," the scientist said, slightly disappointed.

"I already have a tank at the park. I will have some soldiers lift it. Wouldn't that be impressive?" the scientist suggested with a smile.

"We can even have some volunteers try to lift the tank for a greater impact and no doubts," he added enthusiastically.

"You are really into this, aren't you?" Damian smiled, knowing how much the scientist wanted to show off his creations.

"He really wants everyone to see his 'babies.' I wonder what will happen if any of them get damaged in the future," Carol teased.

The scientist immediately made a sorrowful face just at the thought.

"My queen, let's not talk about that," he said, pretending to be devastated.

"From where will you watch the parade?" Damian asked the scientist.

"I'll be in a spaceship," the scientist replied.

"Alright, I'll take one with my family. See you later," Damian said, nodding.

The scientist nodded, and Damian took Alice's hand before walking towards the hangar.

"Daddy, hold my hand," Ivy said, quickly taking Damian's other hand.

Emma looked at Damian intensely but didn't say anything.

Damian couldn't help but chuckle; her gaze was reminiscent of Ana's.

Damian lifted Emma and placed her on his shoulders before taking Alice and Ivy's hands again.

Emma smiled slightly while sitting on her father's shoulders, holding onto his head and playing with his hair.

The women laughed softly at the scene from the back.

The entire group quickly reached the spaceships and boarded.

There was still about an hour left for the parade, so they planned to take a short flight.

Damian sat in the pilot's seat and looked back at Carol with a smile.

Carol stuck out her tongue and sat in the back with the others.

Damian gently flew over the city when suddenly Alice arrived and sat on his lap, looking ahead.

"Do you want to steer, sweetheart?" Damian laughed.

Alice vigorously nodded, placing her hands on top of Damian's.

"It's not fair; I want a turn too," Ivy said, sitting next to Alice and also putting her hands on the controls.

Emma didn't want to be left out and pushed her sisters aside to take a spot.

"My girls, how about taking turns?" Damian suggested, smiling ironically at their little hands pulling in different directions. He took his hands off the controls and held Ivy's and Emma's.

"Let Alice steer for a while, and then it'll be your turn."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Alice gave an excited smile and made the ship spin and dip.

Damian helped dampen the sensation inside the ship to make it less uncomfortable.

"You're doing it wrong; let me try," Ivy said, replacing Alice's hands with her own.

Ivy started to spin the ship in 360-degree turns with an excited smile. She lowered the controls, making the spins shorter and increasing the centrifugal force.

"Darling, stop, or your mother will get sick," Natasha said a bit dizzy.

When Ivy looked back with curiosity, Emma took the opportunity to take control.

Emma moved the lever to the right, accelerating the ship sharply.

Emma took the ship near the water, causing two mini-waves to rise on both sides.

Damian almost put his hands back on the controls when he saw how close they were to the water.

The girls took turns for a while before Damian stopped them and flew back to Madripoor.

Damian let the ship float in front of the palace; the parade would begin in a few minutes, and the soldiers would come out from there.

The streets were closed, and there were many people behind several barriers they had set up. It was impressive to see the number of people gathered.

After a few minutes, 100 soldiers in armor came out of the palace, marching with their weapons.

The crowd immediately cheered, marveling at the sight of the armor.

Many had phones and cameras, taking pictures and recording the event.

Behind the 100 Spartans, various futuristic ships and vehicles followed.

"Huh? I didn't know there would be vehicles too," Carol said, looking down.

"Perhaps the scientist thought the parade looked too empty with just a hundred people. After all, a hundred is not that many," Ophelia suggested.

"That guy," Damian smiled, shaking his head. It was clear that the scientist's main interest was to show off how technologically advanced they were.

The ship slowly advanced from a distance while they watched the parade.

The parade lasted almost an hour before they reached the plaza. A large space had been cleared, and many people gathered around.

In the cleared space, there was an old tank from World War II.

At that moment, the scientist appeared and began to speak through a microphone.

"Hello, everyone! I am delighted to see so many people here," the scientist said with a smile as he noticed that there wasn't any space left for another person.

"We will now demonstrate some physical feats of our soldiers. I'm sure you'll be thrilled to know that your families and friends are here to watch," he said enthusiastically.

"Let's begin," the scientist said with a smile.

"Now, to test our soldiers' strength, they will lift a 139-ton old tank from World War II," he said.

There were sounds of astonishment from the audience as they heard him say that, 139 tons is an absurd amount for any normal person.

Around 15 Spartans positioned themselves before they exerted their strength and lifted the tank to waist height.

There was a thunderous applause from the crowd, visually impressive to witness something so large and heavy separated from the ground.

The Spartans let the tank drop to the floor, creating a loud noise and shaking the ground slightly.

Even if there were people who doubted the weight of the tank, they could do so no longer.

"Now, we will perform a simple combat demonstration before concluding the event," the scientist said, feeling excited to showcase his creations to the world.

Quickly, almost all the Spartans stood to the side, leaving ample space for the two who would fight.

Both Spartans began to fight fiercely, the sounds of blows and the soft shockwaves mesmerizing all the spectators.

They exchanged blows at high speed while fighting all over the place, turning the lawn into a mess and leaving only upturned earth.

Finally, at the scientist's signal, both fighters stopped, and the audience returned to reality, cheering with excitement.

Many videos quickly spread on social media, causing a sensation worldwide.

The comments section was flooded with many skeptical people.

Many claimed that it was leaked footage from a new movie or just special effects. However, others explained that it was from Madripoor's military parade.

As soon as people knew that, discussions erupted in the comments to determine which armor was stronger, Tony Stark's or Madripoor's.

Others commented on the video of the soldiers lifting a tank, estimating that each soldier should be able to lift at least around ten tons to achieve such a feat.

The parade was leaked to the rest of the world, and many news networks aired the images and videos.

...

In a room, five dark holographic figures were having a conversation.

"What do you think?" the first holographic figure asked the others.

"I want a hundred," the second figure said mockingly.

"Let's think about how to get our hands on those armors. They fit our needs better than Stark's," the first figure said, ignoring the second.

"It's easy for you to say. Why don't you ask Damian if he'll give you some?" the third figure said, teasingly.

"Since when has HYDRA been full of clowns?" the first figure sighed, touching their forehead.

"This situation is bad. We need to be on their technological level, or we'll never achieve our goals. The gap will only widen, and even Stark already has superior technology," the fourth figure, who hadn't spoken until now, stated.

"We need something big," the first figure nodded.

"What if we go after Banner's project? It's uncontrollable at the moment, but we can work on that," the second figure suggested.

"Alright, after all, green is HYDRA's color," the third figure joked.

...

Dreykov watched the news with a grim expression.

No one is happy to see their enemy displaying overwhelming strength.

Although the strong suit of his organization was never direct combat, he couldn't help but think that his Black Widows seemed a little inadequate compared to those soldiers.

Dreykov took a file from one of his drawers, the AIM logo on the cover.

A while back, a somewhat raggedy man had asked to speak with him. At first, he didn't think it was worth paying attention to, but with some videos of his experiments, he quickly agreed to meet with him.

Although, in the end, it was a disappointment because their project was not yet ready, and it was even possible that they might never finish it.

Nevertheless, now, seeing the world's situation, he couldn't help but think that he needed more power.

Spies were no longer enough. The age of man was ending, and he must adapt or die.

...

Tony watched the Madripoor videos without expression as Pepper chuckled softly beside him.

"Fortunately, I've already handed over the armor, or we might have tanks surrounding our house," Tony said, laughing, joking with Pepper.

"Why do you think Damian showed off his military power?" Pepper asked Tony.

"Maybe it wasn't his idea. Although, in a way, it's for the best. We don't want some people getting arrogant just because they have my armor," Tony said, shaking his head.

"By the way, Natasha called me. She said she would come to talk to me. Don't tell me you had something to do with that?" Pepper looked at Tony with a slight smile.

"You're very smart," Tony said, smiling back at Pepper.

"Are you worried about Ivan?" Pepper asked.

"Yes, he's out there somewhere plotting against us, but it's alright. He's reckless and impatient. I'm sure he'll show up soon, and then I'll take care of him," Tony said with a serious expression.

"Hm," Pepper sighed as she held Tony's hand and gently stroked it with her thumb.

"What do you want for dinner tonight?" Pepper asked with a smile, trying to change the mood.

"How about we order some cheeseburgers?" Tony laughed softly.

"You shouldn't eat so much of that stuff. Remember, you're not as young as you used to be," Pepper teased as she went to order the food.

Tony coughed and made an uncomfortable face because it was true.

Seeing that Pepper would take a few minutes, Tony went down to the garage and looked at the new armor he had built.

Compared to his previous armor, it had greater flexibility, a triangular reactor in its chest, and much more power thanks to the new reactor.

It also had some silver touches in addition to the usual red and gold colors.

Tony ran his hand over the chest of the armor, feeling the metallic sensation as he thought about Ivan.

"Don't take too long," Tony murmured before making the armor disassemble into pieces, ready to be assembled again."