24

For two whole months, Tony was up to his neck in business. He'd been attacked from all sides because of the announced cold fusion reactors and the products already in production. Lawyers were scrambling, hearings around the world were taking place almost every day, and Stark recognised that if it wasn't for Pepper, Jarvis, the military contracts, the partial Shield cover, his staff and himself, who, in the most serious cases, would have been hit like a bulldog's pillow. It wasn't just GMC and ExxonMobil that turned against him - it seemed that half the world's oil and gas companies, car manufacturers, smartphone makers and aircraft manufacturers had decided to do whatever it took to crush Stark Industries. But this was war. His company, employees and his beloved were being attacked in his own company. He could back down, wipe himself and refuse to produce such progressive goods, but that would mean the death of the company. And it didn't cancel the assassination attempts because Stark could sell the patents to others. But in the end, two months later ... He did not win, but the confrontation entered a protracted phase.

Jarvis, taking advantage of the fact that the stock market was feverish, not only earned a couple of tens of billions but also bled the competitors to such an extent that they are now thinking about how to stay afloat rather than fighting Tony, whose company, on the contrary, only strengthened its position and getting rich at a rapid pace. Despite resistance, many people appreciated the price, convenience and prospects of flying and driving practically invulnerable cars with autopilots and almost perfect safety for drivers, passengers and pedestrians. Of course, other countries also had to face resistance from the authorities. Still, the proposal to build Stark factories on the territory of these countries, which allowed them to give jobs and leave taxes inside the countries, often changed the answer from refusal to consent.

The U.S. policy, aimed at expanding foreign markets and full support of its own companies abroad, also played a role here... But it did not face the problem when this very expansion harmed American companies, so no methods of counteraction were developed. Accuse them of monopoly? The number of Stark Industries products is still minuscule globally and has analogues. And cold fusion stations are still undergoing extensive testing and threaten only in theory.

Moreover, many senators and business sharks understood that the power of the USA is built on petrodollars, but what to do if this oil is practically unnecessary? More precisely, it will still be needed for the production of plastics and fuels and lubricants, but more is needed now. In that case, the dollar would also be useless to anyone. But Stark himself cared little about that. He was interested in progress, and if, for the sake of that, the whole country would have to endure not the most nourishing years, so be it. But cheap and environmentally friendly energy in the future will bring mankind to a new level of development. Those projects that are unavailable now, like the orbital lift, will become available.

However, the biology lab, led by Betty Ross, Helena Cho and Hank McCoy, with the help of talented assistants, including Peter Parker, as well as the help of Dr Connors, who did not join the project fully as he taught at the New York Institute, but helped with calculations and research, did not sit idle either. With Jarvis's help, they did the seemingly impossible. Biology used to be more of a practical subject than a theoretical one. You set up experiments, dissect bodies, and run analyses.

With the help of the most powerful A.I. in the world with incredible computational power, which is difficult to estimate in numbers, as there are simply no tasks that have made it fail, it became possible to virtually reconfigure DNA with a simulation of the resulting organism. In fact, the experiments first on mice, then on pigs, monkeys, and finally cloned humans were not primary but secondary and needed to calibrate the program. So instead of several years, the research was reduced to three months. It was possible to achieve what no one had been able to do before - to recreate the original serum of the super-soldier Abraham Erskine. This was accomplished thanks to Wakanda "heart" flowers, which grew in vibranium-fertilised soil and mutated. They gave similar powers; it's just that Erskine's serum was synthesisable.

What was the point of their work? They didn't change the genome; they just pushed the potential to the limit. Harmful parts of genes were switched off by epigenetic switches, useful ones were activated, and the body was brought into perfect shape with time or instantly with Vita-rays' help. That is exactly reaching and maintaining the limit of organism development at this level. The serum modified by Betty Ross and used on Dr Benner had an adaptive effect. By trying to adapt to the DNA being destroyed and cells dying off from the monstrous radiation, the serum produced a monster that absorbed radiation and mana light of all spectrums and, within some limits, temporarily adapted to any damage. With Peter, things were a little different. In addition to taking his body to the limit, Ozcorp's serum introduced the genes of spiders of various species into the human genome. However, it hadn't been finalised, so Parker nearly died. Hank McCoy didn't come without a gift either; his version of the "mutation cure" temporarily disabled X chromosomes. However, the super soldier serum does this better and permanently. So the disabling of the X gene became the second success of the biology team.

- I... I... I... I look human again," Hank McCoy said disbelievingly in a clean area separated from the other rooms by a thick transparent film, looking at how his previously blue and hairy arms had become bald and white.

He began groping himself, not noticing the tears flowing from his eyes. He no longer believed he would become ordinary; he thought he had accepted his nature. But like everyone else, he wanted to love and be loved, and who would love a huge blue gorilla? Putting aside the zoophiles?

- Dr McCoy, the serum still needs to be tested! - Betty Ross was outraged.

Hank used it before all the tests were complete.

- Come on, we've already tested it many times; we can't do much more. Even my clone was cured.

- We need to find out the long-term effects.

- The simulations say there are none.

- All right! As head of the lab, I'm reprimanding you with half of your bonus this month," Ross said with a grudging smile, her arms at her sides. But then she changed her anger to mercy and smiled radiantly: "But as a colleague and person, I congratulate you. Now get to the tests; we need to double-check everything. And by the way, I'm not protecting you from Helena!

- Oh, no!

Next thing you know, the ex-mutant's life became a living hell. Not only that, the little Chinese woman frightened him more than Tony Stark himself, not only because he felt sympathy for her but because of her strictness and scrupulousness. So they took tests from all sorts of places. Yeah, that, too. They even pulled his spinal fluid for analysis. At least it wasn't all of it. There was one silver lining to all of this. Hank didn't get weaker. Yes, he couldn't grab branches and other objects with his legs either, but he didn't lose physical strength thanks to the withdrawal to the limits of the human body.

On the other side of the country, in Death Valley, one of the world's most desolate and hot places, a new kind of reactor was being tested underground. Produced top secret, hidden by Fidelius and a host of magical barriers so that if it failed, it would destroy only a kilometre of soil, not half of the United States. Dr Benner, Dr Octavius, and the top nuclear physicists Stark was able to recruit and vetted personally were developing a hot fusion reactor based on the collision of tritium and deuterium nuclei. The shape of the working area of the reactor was toroidal or, more simply, a doughnut. The spherical shape had to be abandoned as it was too unstable and complicated to hold super-hot plasma uniformly, so a stellarator was used as a basis. This is exactly what Stark did in his time. His reactor was the "ignition" main, feeding power to an incredibly powerful laser, which set off the thermonuclear reaction. In addition, Tony provided both his designs and ideas, as well as those of the Wakanda and the Protean, naturally excluding the null element. A layer cake - adamantium-vibrantium-adamantium-adamantium - was used as the inner skin.

So far, it was only a prototype. With Jarvis's help, the scientists sought the most effective field configurations and possibilities for more efficient capture of the generated energy. Still, already the reactor could operate for three hours, while the best competitors' samples lasted for minutes or even seconds. However, here Tony expected more than quick results. Not even if, but when a fully working and tested sample appeared, they would be more nervous than with the safer but less energy-efficient Stark reactor. And even after inspections and licensing, it is still being determined that the IAEA will allow them to be built, especially by a private organisation involved in weapons development. And a fusion reactor is a potential weapon of several megatons. Expensive as an antimatter horse, but a weapon nonetheless.

However, at the moment, Stark and Pepper were sitting on his island in French Polynesia in a gazebo of snow-white marble. It was bought back in the days of rampage stray billionaire on one of the booze. And Tony himself did not even remember when and how he did it. Because of the Pacific Ocean's location and the island's remoteness from the United States and civilisation in general, he forgot about it for a long time. He recently remembered building a copy of his mansion and surrounding the island with charms. And the defence system was already there, modified after the attack of Wakanda and ready for a full assault of the whole fleet. Especially pleased with magically improved Railguns, capable of shooting down not only aircraft, drones and cruise missiles but even ballistic warheads and satellites. And Fidelius and dozens of defence charms only help in this. Stark worked on the modification at night, taking time away from his not-so-necessary sleep and using magic as a substitute for rest. After that, he took the matrix from the whole piece of land with the building and the foundation and embodied it on the island so that he felt at home, only safer and in a no less pleasant climate. It was nearly a thousand miles to the nearest mainland and two hundred and thirty miles to another inhabited island. There aren't even any ships or aeroplanes - it's nice.

- It's so nice here," the girl stretched contentedly, eating crabs and exotic fruits, half of which she didn't know.

Despite her wealth, she was rarely on holiday, and was she ever on holiday at all?

- It's quiet, the birds are singing, and there aren't even any mosquitoes.

- It's an island in the middle of the ocean," the man chuckled. - Even the seagulls don't shit here.

- Tony, sometimes you're such a jerk!

- Sometimes? - He came up to her, leaning in.

- Always," Pepper kissed him on the lips.

Given the woman's fatigue, the bottle of fine champagne had just made her drunk and clouded her judgement.

- And yet I'm waiting for you to propose.

- Oh, that's right, I almost forgot," Stark smiled, who had indeed forgotten.

However, he had hung the ring in his spatial pocket for a few months. He pulled out of his pocket a thin but extremely elaborate figure of a fox with orange metal sapphire eyes. Even every single hair was visible. The fox suddenly twitched, shook itself off, and, wiggling its nose, ran up onto Pepper's ring finger, wrapping itself around it and covering its nose with its tail.

- Will you marry me?

- What a lovely thing to do!

The sight of the vixen was so funny and unexpected that the girl didn't even realise WHAT Tony had just told her for the first few seconds. And when she did, she hugged him and screamed:

- Yes! Yes! Finally!

After that followed a long, passionate and full-of desire-kiss, which turned into preliminary caresses and mind-blowing sex, first in the gazebo, then in the house, and then in bed. It was hard, if not impossible, to tire Stark out, but Pepper had had her fill. Tony, on the other hand, was more focused on his efforts. He was sure he had enough control over himself, but he was afraid of hurting his beloved, but he did not stop her. Pepper was awakened in the morning by the aroma of the breakfast Tony had brought her on a special tray. Stretching contentedly like a fox on her finger, she smiled and asked in surprise:

- Did you really learn to cook?

- Teleported to a restaurant," Stark grinned. - Cooking is not my thing.

- Not mine either," Pepper admitted. - It's a good thing we're rich, or we'd starve to death. Mmm, these pancakes are delicious. Three Michelin-starred restaurants, right?

- For my future wife, all the best.

- So I wasn't dreaming," Pepper stroked the ring fondly, and the fox licked her finger. - Oh!

- It's as if she were alive; I tried with this ring, - Stark boasted without disturbing his beloved eating. - I studied the behaviour of foxes... You look like a fox yourself. Red and sly.

- Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm," Pepper mumbled, filling her mouth. She was hungry after last night's sexual exploits.

- I also put a teleporter inside the same armour as mine, in case the fox can increase to one and a half meters in height and eat the offender.

At such revelations, it was no wonder that Potts almost choked but still swallowed the piece that rose in her throat.

- And, of course, a shield and stasis charms, just in case.

- The ring was enough for me.

- Not for me," Tony said, suddenly serious. - You don't know how scared I was when I heard you attacked. I thought about many things and realised that I couldn't see my life without you. Just a miserable existence. This is why I have one more serious question for you. As you know, I'm not really human. In fact, if they don't kill me, I'll live a very, very long time. I don't even know how long. My lab is in the final stages of production and has a serum almost adapted to my genome. Are you ready to share not only life but eternity with me?

- Is it really safe? - Pepper asked doubtfully. Such a serious question chased away all the good cheer. - And I won't cease to be human?

- I can't give absolute guarantees, but you know I wouldn't want to experiment on you," the man sighed.

He didn't like this kind of serious talk, so he'd created the image of a hustler. He had been trying to escape from all the difficulties and sorrows of this world since the death of his parents. Still, those sorrows had caught up with him and kicked him into the Afghan desert.

- And you're still the same person, at least outwardly. Except you'll be taller.

- Taller is good; I'm sick of heels.- this time, it was the turn of the miniature girl, who wore heels to keep up with the still unchanged Stark, as she was 157 centimetres tall, to joke nervously. - Does it really matter to you?

- Nothing else matters more.

- Then I agree. But if I die because of it, I'll haunt you as a ghost! - Potts joked nervously, but she trusted Stark's genius.

He was unreliable in business, always joking and trying to shirk his formal duties. Still, when it came to his mind for inventions, he had few equals. Especially this time, as she knew he wasn't the only one working on it, which reassured her even more. And besides, who didn't dream of long life and youth, even if not eternal?

- I'd rather die than let that happen," Tony said grimly. And the certainty with which he said it convinced Pepper that he would die. - All the more reason for me to be the first to go through a similar serum.

- What about the Ozcorp invitation? Shall we go? - Pepper asked after a few minutes of silence and hard thinking and decided to break the tension.

- Sure, let's go," Tony returned his wry smile, and the bride sighed with relief.

She'd never thought she'd be happy with that non-serious, goofy tone.

- After all, my apprentice and his girlfriend will be there; I can't miss that kind of fun!

***

Three months ago. The day after Parker and Hardy's adventure in Stark Tower.

Returning from duty at noon on Sunday, Peter wanted to call Felicia to meet her. Except that his old, worn-out Nokia had broken down after falling from a skyscraper. Parker didn't notice it immediately, but only when he went through his pockets. It must have come out just as he was rescuing the girl. And that's okay; he remembers all the numbers by heart... All except Hardy. However, given that the next day was Monday, he'd meet her anyway. But the worm of doubt began to gnaw. Would she be offended by this? Wouldn't she think he had decided not to contact her after the revelation, deciding that she was "dirty" and "spoilt"?

The guy was so mad that he bought a Starkphone, which was half the price of the employee discount. But you can't resell it, as it is immediately registered to the person whose discount you bought it for. This is a kind of defence against tricky resellers. Still, a thousand dollars is a thousand dollars. But at least it's unrealistic to break it. So he went to school on Monday looking like a man sentenced to death. Because he didn't sleep well and everything was a mess. He couldn't even do his homework. When he took the underground and entered the lobby, he didn't even pay attention to the angry faces of Redford and his lackeys, who had sent the nigger ghetto thugs after him. He had trivially forgotten about it as an episode of no particular significance! However, the faces of the two majors stretched out when Felicia approached Peter with a confident step, looked sternly into his guilty face, and, with a peck on the cheek, seized him under the arm and led him away.

- Why didn't you call? - she asked sternly, stepping away.

The girl was not stupid and realised that to make not even a scene but just question in front of others was unethical and trivialised his dignity. So in public, she only showed her attitude to him, which, on the contrary, increased his authority. Of course, some jerks would want to pick a fight, but she was sure about the guy's strength. He wouldn't get hurt unless a stronger mutant came along, especially with Iron Man's cover. She couldn't explain his sudden appearance any other way. And she was also torn with curiosity! Parker, however, was as silent as a fish, which only increased her interest.

- I broke my phone," Parker sighed, showing her a new one. - I had to buy a new one. You're not angry?

- Simple guy Peter Parker, - the girl said snidely, leading him into a nook under the stairs, - it's time for you to realise and learn that your girlfriend is not an ordinary girl and is not offended by trifles. Especially if there's an adequate excuse for them. Should I have told you that you had to memorise the number the first time? Or scour the entire city to find my house that I didn't tell you the address of? Relax.

- My girlfriend? - A hopeful look was fixed on the blonde's pretty face.

- Do you mind?

- If I minded, I'd be the dumbest man on the planet.

- Great answer, Peter," Felicia kissed him, and the teenagers stopped only when there were a couple of minutes left before the bell rang.

A couple with swollen lips walked into the classroom, and only a blind or really dumb person wouldn't have realised why, especially by Parker's stupidly restrained smile.

- How?!" asked a shocked Michael Morbius. - How did you pick up the most beautiful and rich girl in the school on the first day?

- If I knew, I would have done it a long time ago, - Parker replied, trying to restrain himself from smugness, happiness and pride.

Inwardly, he realised that Felicia had originally been attracted to the changes that training and the spider bite had made. She wouldn't have looked at him without that and the flyer's arrival. However, that was only a third of the success, the other two-thirds... Because he was himself. It was hard to believe and still wasn't, but he'd noticed that the girl's attitude had changed when he'd told her everything at McDonald's. That's when he went from being an "interesting toy" to an "interesting person". And then he found out her secret, she found out his, and... Somehow. Of course, this is just the beginning, and he's afraid of messing it up since this is his first relationship. However, looking at her, he's determined to do his best not to mess it up.

Initially, he was also attracted by her unusual and colourful appearance. Still, after learning Felicia's life story, he could no longer relate to her as he used to. She is not a major with impunity but a person with a difficult fate, difficulties and tragedies, like him. And that's what makes her interesting to him. She is unusual and at one moment can eat in the school canteen with an icy expression with full observance of the rules of etiquette. At another moment, she can smear herself with sauce from a Big Mac like a piglet and laugh gleefully; at a third moment, she can walk on a railing over a precipice. At a fourth moment, she can cry on his shoulder. And unlike M.J., she doesn't use him solely to vent her emotions and assert herself as a saviour so that she can jump on his abuser's dick and persuade him to withdraw his application from the court but actually listens to him and gives him advice, like with the same patents. Sure, maybe it was just rose-coloured glasses. However, Parker wished they'd never broken.

Three months later. Times Square.

The couple walked through one of the most populated squares in New York City and the United States. The people around them paid attention to them, but nothing more than that. There were enough beautiful people in the big apple, but even so, they still stood out with their positive vibe, so the gaze lingered on them a little longer than others. Few people would recognise them now in the fashionable haircut and dressed in a hip-length grey jacket, red bomber, Nike's and wide dark green trousers of that old Peter Parker. And in a smiling and happy platinum blonde dressed in the same style, ice queen Felicia Hardy. People influence each other, and they naturally do. Peter slowly but relentlessly melted the young maiden's heart with his gentleness, kindness, and, what to say, silly jokes. And she, in return, made him more self-confident and instilled some style in him to the best of her ability. Thanks to his work for Stark, he had money and didn't have to feel the shame of having a girl pay for him. It didn't stop them from giving each other gifts, though.

- Peter," the girl said, resting her head on his shoulder.

It was chilly; it was already January. She was dressed warmer than the guy, and she had a jumper and a hat under her bomber. It wasn't like she was a mutant in a good way, so she wouldn't freeze anywhere. The girl was only sorry that they couldn't spend Christmas Eve together - she had to go to another party with her mother, and there was no way to escape it. It was a miracle her mother hadn't forbidden her to see Peter. However, since Tony Stark had once visited them and talked to her mother about something, she could see the billionaire's hairy arms sticking out in the case. But you can't put suspicion on a case. Especially since Peter will be transferred the first dividends from the sold patents soon enough, and then the mother will not be able to interfere with them in principle. Even if she didn't have the money, she wouldn't let the boy go because she was completely and unconditionally in love and didn't hide it.

- My mother and I got invitations, plus one, to the Ozcorp reception. Will you go?

- Do you have to? - He asked, warming the girl's hands with his own.

- I have to," she sighed heavily. - You have to be introduced to society; they have been dragging it out until the very last minute.

- There will be politicians, military men, journalists, and millionaires everywhere...

- Said the future millionaire. The girl giggled. Or I can share it with you if you care so much.

Parker already had a simpler attitude to money. However, she still remembered how he lamented about a thousand quid for the phone. And the agony on his face when he bought trainers priced above fifty dollars... A fairy tale. However, not to say that she was mocking because she realised that the guy had lived almost all his life, if not in poverty, then not in particular wealth. He was used to saving money, primarily for himself, as he did not want to burden his aunt.

Interestingly enough, Peter never saved money on Felicia himself. By the way, he never admitted where he'd got the stunningly detailed earrings in the form of two white ferrets. And the fact that they cost a fortune, the girl could tell at a glance.

- I still can't get used to it," Peter said.

- I've lived like this all my life. Don't be afraid; no one demands the aristocratic manners of the nineteenth century. Just don't fart or burp loudly.

- Shit, I was so excited. Why do I have to go there now? Three of the only pleasures of my life, and I can't do them.

- Three? What's the third?

- Kissing you," he kissed her on the forehead.

- Okay, you can fart, but only quietly," Felicia graciously allowed, and they laughed a couple of laughs.

After they wrapped up in the boutique, they had to choose suits and dresses for the reception...