Chapter 77: Daredevil

Pepper Potts stared at the thing in Tony's chest and asked,

"Are you really relying on that to keep yourself alive right now?"

Tony gestured to the new arc reactor in his hand and replied,

"Yeah, but this old one's basically a relic now. I'm switching to this new one for the foreseeable future."

"I wanted to take the old one out earlier, but it kind of jammed."

Looking seriously at him, Pepper asked,

"Jammed? What do you mean, jammed?"

Tony glanced down at the reactor in his hand.

"Nothing big. Just a little technical hiccup."

As he began removing the reactor from his chest, he explained,

"There's an exposed wire underneath this thing. It touched the socket housing and caused a little short circuit—no big deal."

With that, Tony yanked out the arc reactor, wincing as he said,

"Hisss— nice."

Then he placed the old reactor in Pepper's hand.

Pepper looked startled and stammered,

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

Tony waved it off.

"Just put it on the table over there. It's useless now."

She turned and set it on a nearby table, then gasped,

"Oh my god."

Tony studied the new reactor and said,

"Okay, I need you to reach in there and gently pull out the wire."

Pepper turned back to him, confused.

"Is that safe?"

Tony closed his eyes.

"In theory, yes. It's like a tiny surgery."

"As long as you don't touch the socket, I won't get electrocuted."

Pepper looked baffled.

"What do you mean, 'tiny surgery'?"

"Think of it like a minigame," Tony said. "Don't worry."

"Just be careful and pull the wire out. Alright?"

Pepper hesitated, then nodded.

"Okay."

She leaned in, reached out—and immediately recoiled.

"I—I don't think I can do this."

Tony looked at her and said gently,

"It's fine. You can do this."

"You're the most capable person I know, and the one I trust most. If anyone can do this, it's you."

"This isn't asking too much, right? Because I'm about to—"

Pepper cut him off quickly.

"Alright, alright. Fine."

Tony looked her in the eyes and said earnestly,

"I really need your help right now."

Taking a deep breath, Pepper finally reached into the open cavity in his chest.

The moment she did, she yelped,

"Oh my god, there's pus in there!"

"That's not pus," Tony replied. "It's just inorganic plasma. Discharge from the device. Totally not pus."

Pepper grimaced.

"It stinks."

Tony nodded.

"Yeah, it's got a bit of a smell. Did you find the copper wire?"

"I got it—I got it!"

"Good. Just don't touch the housing when you pull it out."

Despite his instructions, she accidentally bumped the housing once, but after a bit of fumbling and a couple of yelps from Tony, she finally got the wire and magnet out and installed the new arc reactor. Tony screamed twice during the whole process.

Wiping her hands, now covered in plasma gunk, Pepper snapped,

"Never—ever—ask me to do that again."

Tony looked at her tenderly.

"But you're the only one I can count on."

They locked eyes for a few seconds before Tony cracked a goofy grin and added,

"Anyway, thank you. Also, thanks for finding Smith Doyle and sending him to rescue me."

"Not that I couldn't escape on my own, but… still. Thanks."

Pepper turned away with a grumble and picked up the old arc reactor.

"What should I do with this?"

Tony, now buttoning up his shirt, replied casually,

"Trash it."

Pepper looked down at the reactor and asked,

"You don't want to keep it?"

Turning to face her, Tony said,

"Pepper, I have a lot of flaws—and one of them is that I like new things and ditch the old."

Her smile faded a bit as she muttered,

"Anything else you need, Mr. Stark?"

"Nope. That's it, Miss Potts."

Then he turned to a nearby AI bot and said,

"Dummy, unless it's my phone or a picture of my dad, toss the rest in the trash. All of it."

With that, Pepper Potts, still holding the old arc reactor, left the lab.

---

Meanwhile—

The Assassin's League

John Wick was reporting to Smith Doyle about the recent progress in dismantling the Hand and tracking remaining members since yesterday.

John, along with Fox, was coordinating operations between the Assassin Brotherhood and the remaining registered killers.

"Sir, with the confirmed deaths of all five leaders of the Hand, the Tokyo underworld has launched a full-scale assault on what's left of them."

"It's only a matter of time before they're wiped out."

"Shima Koji is leading a team of assassins in the siege, while Sofia has flown in from Monaco with her people to hunt down survivors in New York."

"But… according to reports, there's a masked weirdo in Hell's Kitchen who's been interfering."

Smith raised a brow.

"Masked weirdo?"

"Got any intel on him?"

John Wick's usually stoic face twitched slightly in awkwardness.

"They're calling him Daredevil."

Smith Doyle chuckled. No wonder John looked uncomfortable.

"Daredevil… that guy."

"He make it out alive?"

Daredevil, real name Matthew Michael Murdock, had trained under Stick of the Chaste. A righteous hero, yes, but someone whose beliefs grated hard against Smith's worldview—especially that "no-kill" rule, which was practically sacred to Daredevil.

To Smith, when dealing with violent scum, the only option was a clean execution—send them straight to Mephisto. Pickpockets might be worth reforming, but murderers, arsonists, drug lords? There's no redemption there.

And this "no-kill" nonsense? What good is beating someone to a pulp, tossing them to the police, only for them to be released on technicalities?

The League had no patience for that kind of idealism. Forgiveness is God's job. Theirs was to send people to meet God.

—End of chapter—

Author's Note:

Enjoying the story and want to read ahead?

Join my Patreon.com/TenaciousHare and unlock 20+ chapters in advance, plus faster updates!

Your support keeps this story alive I truly appreciate it!

Thank you, everyone! 🗿👍

~ Tenacious Hare 🥕❤️