Gene winces. Sometimes he stays awake at nights thinking about what the Overlord's son had said, that Pepper was the most worthy among them to bear the rings. Was that because of her light, or her darkness?

He refrains from mentioning that's part of what had driven him too - an urge to take the world because of what it had done to him and what it had taken away. He's sure she won't like the comparison. "And then you know yourself completely, if that's even possible."

Then he shakes his head. "I'm glad you did that, Pepper, because it seems to have helped you. So you know what you're capable of, and when you'll stop."