Chapter 78: Daredevil

Pepper Potts looked at the thing on Tony's chest and asked:"You mean you're staying alive with… that thing?"

Tony gestured at the brand-new arc reactor in his hand and replied:"Yeah. But this old one's basically an antique now. In the foreseeable future, I'll be using this new one."

"I just need to swap them out. But I'm a little… stuck."

Pepper gave him a serious look."Stuck? What do you mean?"

Tony glanced down at the reactor."Nothing major. Just a little short. The exposed wire below touched the socket casing — short-circuited a bit. No big deal."

As he spoke, he yanked the reactor out of his chest with a sharp breath."There we go."

He placed the old reactor in Pepper's hands.

Pepper stammered:"W-what am I supposed to do?"

Tony waved her off."Just set it on that table. It's useless now."

Pepper set it down on the side table and gasped."Oh God."

Tony then looked at the new reactor in his hand and said:"Okay. I need you to stick your hand in here… and gently pull out the wire."

Turning back to face him, Pepper asked in disbelief:"Is that… safe?"

Tony closed his eyes."Mhm. Theoretically. Just like a little surgery."

"As long as it doesn't touch the socket, it won't shock me."

Pepper blinked at him."What do you mean, a little surgery?"

Tony smirked."Think of it like a little game. Don't be nervous."

"Just carefully pull out the wire, okay?"

Seeing how insistent he was, Pepper finally sighed."Okay."

She reached toward the hole in his chest, but immediately pulled her hand back."I… I can't do it."

Tony looked at her earnestly."It's okay. You can. You're the only one I trust with this. You're the most capable person I know."

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

Pepper quickly cut him off."Fine, fine."

Tony gave her a soft look."I really need your help with this."

Pepper took a deep breath and reached into the reactor socket.

As her hand went in, she gasped."Oh my God, there's pus in here!"

Tony calmly explained:"That's not pus. Just a little inorganic slurry from the device. Not real pus."

Pepper gagged."It stinks!"

Tony nodded."Yeah, a little. Did you find the copper wire yet?"

Pepper answered:"Got it. Got it."

"Good. Just don't touch the casing on the way out."

Even though she still brushed the casing once, she managed to remove the copper wire and magnet and then fit the new reactor into place — not without making Tony scream twice in pain.

Holding up her hand, now covered in sticky slurry, Pepper groaned:"Never. Ever. Ever make me do that again."

Tony gazed at her softly."But… I don't have anyone else but you."

They locked eyes for a moment. Tony pulled a funny face and said:"Anyway — thank you. And for calling Smith Doyle to rescue me, too."

"Even though I could've broken out on my own, thanks anyway."

Pepper turned away, muttering something under her breath, then picked up the old reactor and asked:"What do you want me to do with this?"

Pulling his shirt back on, Tony answered casually:"Trash it."

Pepper looked at the old reactor in her hand and asked:"You don't want to keep it?"

Tony turned to face her."Pepper, I've got a lot of flaws. One of them is I get bored of old toys."

Hearing that, Pepper's face darkened."Anything else you need, Mr. Stark?"

"No, Miss Potts."

Tony then turned to his dumb robot assistant."Dummy, take everything else — except my phone and my dad's photo — and toss it all in the trash. All of it."

Pepper left the lab holding the old reactor.

Elsewhere.

Assassin Brotherhood.

John Wick was reporting to Smith Doyle on the Brotherhood's progress, including the progress of the assassins' hunt for the Hand members.

At present, John was helping Fox handle affairs with the Brotherhood and the registered killers.

"Boss, now that word of the Hand's five leaders being dead is out, Tokyo's underworld has launched a full-scale assault on them."

"They'll be wiped out before long."

"Koji Shimazu is already leading his men and a number of killers to besiege them, and Soveya has brought her people from Monaco to hunt down the remaining Hand in New York."

"But according to reports from the killers, there's a masked weirdo in Hell's Kitchen who keeps getting in their way."

Hearing someone was interfering with the extermination of the Hand, Smith raised an eyebrow."Masked weirdo?"

"Any intel on him?"

John's usually stoic face showed a hint of awkwardness as he said:"The streets of Hell's Kitchen call him Daredevil."

Smith chuckled. No wonder John looked a little weird saying it.

"Daredevil… so it's that guy."

"Did he get away?"

Daredevil — Matthew Michael Murdock — had trained under Stick of the Chaste. A hero dedicated to punishing evil and upholding justice, but hard to like, especially with his unshakable "no killing" creed.

In Smith's eyes, those truly vile criminals should just be sent to Mephisto immediately. Petty thieves might still be redeemable, but murderers and drug pushers deserved no mercy.

And this "no killing" ideology was just nonsense. What's the point of beating criminals, locking them up, and letting them go, only for them to harm others again?

Justice required evidence, but what if there wasn't enough and they walked free? Or they broke out of jail and killed again?

The Assassin Brotherhood neither accepted nor recognized such ideals. Forgiveness was God's job — theirs was to send the scum to meet Him.

(End of Chapter)

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