Damian finished all his calls and entered his house. The living room was empty, and he assumed everyone was getting their things ready.
So, he just sat down on the sofa, propped his legs up on the small coffee table, and turned on the TV to see what was interesting.
There was still some chaos from everything that had happened recently, from the Hulk's fight at the university to Sassy's appearance.
There was no information about what happened in Texas, but that was pretty normal since it was a small town, and SHIELD made sure there were no leaks.
The higher-ups didn't want people to know about the existence of gods.
Damian spent about half an hour watching television.
At that moment, the door opened, and Maria entered with a small suitcase in her hand. She casually dropped it next to the sofa before sitting down next to him.
"Hey, what's up?" Damian said, looking at her.
"Nothing, I had to cancel my work for the rest of the day," Maria said, looking at Damian with annoyance.
"I really don't understand your work addiction," Damian said, shaking his head.
"I just want to create a good organization. I'll live for a long time, and I want to accomplish things."
"Just because you'll live a long time doesn't mean you should obsess over it."
"Anyway, did you hear about Thor in Texas? Technically, he's an alien," Damian said, looking at Maria with an almost mocking smile.
Maria looked at Damian seriously. Her organization dealt with any extraterrestrial threat, and it wasn't like they had been inactive. Her organization was over 10 years old and was much more advanced in aerospace than anyone would believe.
Their ships could go to and from the moon relatively easily; they were already starting a project to go to Mars for the first time.
"Fury?" Maria asked, narrowing her eyes.
"SHIELD covered that matter. I thought you knew," Damian said, laughing.
"Why would he? He was the one who recruited me and came up with the idea of creating SWORD," Maria said, a bit confused.
"Fury's paranoia has only grown over the years," Damian said, shrugging.
"I need to talk to him."
"You had to tell me this now? Do you want me to enjoy the trip or not?" Maria said, giving Damian a annoyed look.
"Don't overthink things. If it doesn't work out, you can make your organization independent," Damian said, laughing.
"It's easy for you to say," Maria said, rolling her eyes.
"And tell me, have you been dating anyone? At this rate, you'll become a virgin again," Damian said, leaning in closer to Maria and whispering.
"That's none of your business," Maria said, furrowing her brow in annoyance and elbowing Damian to push him away.
"Come on, tell me. Aren't we friends?" Damian said, laughing.
"Don't annoy me, or I'll tell Monica," Maria said, using her strength to push Damian away.
Damian didn't resist and was pushed back while laughing.
"I'll go greet the others," Maria said, walking away.
Damian shrugged and followed her upstairs.
In her room, there were Carol, Ana, and Ophelia, packing several changes of clothes for the girls. When they saw the door open, the three of them, along with the seated girls, looked in that direction.
"Aunt Maria!" the three girls exclaimed before running over and hugging her.
"My girls, they're bigger and heavier," Maria said, pretending to strain as she lifted them.
The three little ones chuckled softly at her remark.
"If you came more often, you wouldn't notice these changes," Carol teased.
"How are you?" Maria asked, smiling as she hugged Carol and ignored her comment.
"Fine," Carol said, glancing at Maria before continuing to pack. Once everything was ready, she closed the suitcase and placed it on the floor.
"By the way, where are we going?" Maria asked, looking at Damian.
"It's a surprise," Damian said, sending a text on his phone.
Maria rolled her eyes before continuing to chat with everyone.
Damian finished typing on his phone before heading downstairs and going to the backyard. He could sense Natasha approaching.
When he reached the backyard, he saw the ship exiting stealth mode before Natasha opened the hatch and jumped to the ground.
Damian quickly jumped slightly to catch her in the air and carried her like a princess.
Natasha chuckled softly as she wrapped her arms around Damian's neck.
"Did you get everything ready on your end?" Damian asked, looking at Natasha.
"Yes, I planted some microphones on his clothes and left a drone following them," Natasha said.
"Hmm, I hope they don't interrupt our trip," Damian said, carrying Natasha inside.
"You know... I was keeping an eye on Bruce, and I could infer that his transformation is triggered by an elevated heart rate. I also saw his file and the accident that happened, but why was he able to gain powers instead of dying?" Natasha asked while in Damian's arms.
"That's a good question, and although anyone would say it was an accident, it's not entirely true. Humans are special in their own way and have the ability to acquire abilities under certain circumstances," Damian said.
"I haven't fully figured out these circumstances yet, although I have my suspicions. I think it has to do with a person's mentality, although there's still a lot of testing to do," Damian said, smiling.
"So theoretically, anyone could gain powers?" Natasha asked, a bit surprised.
"That's right," Damian nodded as he carried her inside.
"I'll go prepare my things, maybe I'll bring that black swimsuit you like," Natasha said flirtatiously before giving Damian a kiss and running upstairs.
Damian chuckled softly as he watched her go up.
At that moment, Sophia started coming downstairs with a small suitcase carrying her belongings.
Sophia was wearing a loose dress and a large hat.
Damian extended his hand to help her down the last step.
"You look beautiful," Damian said, smiling at her.
"Of course," Sophia said, acting proud before laughing along with Damian.
"Can you please hold my suitcase?" Sophia said, handing him the suitcase.
With a somewhat helpless expression, Damian stashed it in his dimensional pocket.
At that moment, the rest of the family came downstairs, each carrying a small suitcase or a backpack with their belongings.
Damian chuckled softly at the sight of his three little daughters wearing small caps on their heads.
"Let's go to the patio, the ship should be arriving soon, and we also need to wait for Monica and Jane," Damian said, laughing as he lifted Alice.
She looked truly adorable with her blonde hair and her tiny cap.
Ivy pouted before leaping onto her father and settling on his shoulders.
Emma did nothing but stare intensely at Damian until he picked her up.
With the three girls on him, Damian stepped out onto the patio, with everyone else following with resigned smiles.
"Daddy, where are we going camping?" Ivy whispered.
"Yeah, Daddy, tell us," Emma said, looking at Damian with an adorable expression.
Unable to resist, Damian was instantly defeated and spilled all the information, making sure only the three of them heard.
The girls were very excited to hear that the place they were going to had dinosaurs and animals they had never seen before.
"Make sure to keep it a secret," Damian whispered quietly so that Maria wouldn't overhear.
"Hmm, we promise," Alice whispered back.
"What are you whispering about, huh?" Carol said, hugging Damian from behind and looking at the three girls, who fell silent and put on innocent faces.
Damian just chuckled softly, resting his head against Carol's.
At that moment, a medium-sized craft appeared overhead and began to descend.
Damian moved back to give it space, and soon the ship landed, opening its hatch.
Everyone approached and placed their suitcases on the ship before sitting down and chatting, still waiting for Monica and Jane.
"By the way, have you noticed that the world is getting stranger? From Stark to all the recent events," Maria said, looking at everyone.
"Sassy had gone unnoticed for over a decade, and she was conveniently discovered today. It makes me think things are going to get complicated later on."
Sassy let out a slight grumble of annoyance upon hearing Maria before turning her position so she couldn't look at her, lazily flicking her tail.
"It's true, since the arrival of the Kree on Earth, everything has been very quiet," Carol nodded.
"We can only wait and see what happens in the future," Sophia said with a calm smile.
Another ship was approaching in the distance, landing in the yard. The door opened, and out came Monica, Jane, Darcy, and Erik.
Damian raised an eyebrow slightly, noticing the two unexpected guests.
"Dad!" Monica exclaimed happily, running over and giving her father a small jump before hugging him.
"Monica," Damian said, smiling gently as he hugged her.
"I brought two more people, hope you don't mind," Monica said, laughing as she looked at her father.
"That's fine," Damian said, not really minding.
"Hello, Damian," Jane said, smiling and greeting him with a hug.
"How have you been? Have you been eating well?" Damian asked, smiling at Jane as he hugged her. He knew her tendency to forget everything and focus solely on her work.
"You keep sending me messages to remind me constantly," Jane said, playfully pursing her lips.
Jane let go of Damian and was about to introduce Darcy and Erik when she suddenly saw Darcy opening her arms as if to hug Damian.
Jane quickly placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed tightly.
"Ouch, Jane, that hurts," Darcy said, looking at Jane.
"What did you think you were doing?" Jane asked, exasperated.
"Don't people greet you with hugs?" Darcy asked, acting innocent while secretly pouting; she was so close.
"Hello, Mr. Damian," Erik said, extending his hand to Damian somewhat awkwardly.
"Hello, Erik, welcome," Damian said, smiling warmly at him.
"Let's get going," Damian said to everyone before gesturing for them to board the ship.
Erik and Darcy climbed aboard, looking somewhat amazed at the highly technological surroundings, although it wasn't too surprising considering it was Madripoor.
Carol sat in the pilot's seat before starting the ship and taking off into space.
"Aren't we going pretty high? I didn't bring my astronaut suit," Darcy said, a little nervously, trying to make a joke as she could now see the entire continent.
"We're going higher to get there faster. You can't go too fast within the atmosphere," Carol said casually from the front.
Jane, who had sat beside Damian, began to ask him questions in a low voice.
"Can you tell me a bit about the Asgardians?" Jane whispered, a bit embarrassed.
Damian couldn't help but feel a bit grumpy hearing Jane ask about this.
"Sure, ask me anything you want," Damian said, looking at Jane.
"What are they like biologically?" Jane asked with curiosity.
"Well, as you might have noticed, in appearance, they're not much different from humans. It's just that all their physical abilities are much superior, and they have a very long lifespan. These qualities are greatly enhanced in the royal family, who become stronger with each generation," Damian explained.
"They've been on the decline lately, though. Their king is old and weak for certain reasons, Thor has not yet mastered his powers and has been acting like an idiot all these years".
"Odin is old and weak? Then why was he able to turn Thor into a normal human?" Jane asked, confused.
"He's weak compared to his prime. He used to be one of the most powerful beings in the universe."
Jane nodded, indicating that she understood. When she saw how strong Thor was, she thought he was definitely very powerful. She didn't realize that he would be much more formidable once he mastered his powers.
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">The spacecraft reached space and accelerated at high speed toward Antarctica before it began to plummet.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">A layer of heat formed around the spacecraft, but none of it affected the interior.</font></font>
"Are we going to Antarctica?" Jane asked with uncertainty, realizing she hadn't brought warm clothes.
Darcy and Erik also looked at Jane with confusion, unsure of where they were headed.
"Don't worry, just wait. You'll understand soon enough," Damian said, chuckling softly.
The ship gradually slowed down as it descended before suddenly all the ice vanished, revealing a prehistoric jungle with many volcanoes around.
Jane, Darcy, and Erik had their faces glued to the windows as they marveled at the flora and fauna.
Erik's gaze was especially striking, he looked everywhere without missing anything, even though this was not his specialty, he still saw everything with great excitement.
"Is that a freaking dinosaur?" Darcy asked in amazement.
"Hey, there are kids here," Ophelia scolded, looking at Darcy.
"Sorry," Darcy said, timidly under the gaze of Ophelia's red eyes.
"Find a nice spot to camp," Damian told Carol.
Carol nodded as she hummed and looked over the landscape below.
To one side, near one of the volcanoes, she spotted a clear area with a lake, so she headed there.
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