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ROLL: Pepper +rolls 1d100 for a result of: 36
*
This was not the time or the street for a woman like Pepper Potts. But, after making a few calls, using her resources, and following the trail that Agent Coulson less than accidentally spilled to her, she knows this is the place. If she waits or walks this block long enough, sometime between ten and midnight, one of the city's most reliable suppliers for Vigor will show up. So, she's done her best to prepare for an illicit dealing as possible.
She's in pants, of all things. High waisted black slacks that are still way too nice for this area, but not as obvious as her normal clothes. A dark red shirt is tucked into them and mostly hidden by her ankle length black wool jacket. Her face? Normally so lovely and put together, looks like any other junkie tonight. Ashen pale, even her lipstick looks off over a gray mouth. Her red hair is perfect, though, and her shoes are nice. Even sickly looking or not, she clearly doesn't fit in here. But she's trying and she's waiting, arms folded across her chest, faintly shivering. Whether it's the winter or withdrawal, who knows.
*
With the onset of the vigor-driven problems plaguing the city, the Winsome Wasp has taken to nightly patrols, to see if she can counter some of the trouble before it grows too large. Why just the other day she dealt with a literal size problem, which she was able to cut down to size somewhat. She wonders what excitement this night will bring, as she's dressed in her skirted Wasp costume, in the motiff of the namesake, buzzing about in the air. Being Tinkerbell sized as she is at the moment, she's quite hard to notice.
From this height, she's not very likely to spot Pepper, but she could easily spot a dealer that seems to start making his way towards the woman who seems a bit off. This makes Wasp dive down for a closer look.
*
"…Buscelli?" Pepper rasps out quietly, having been given a name and a street corner. She's really NOT good at this buying drugs thing. Even if they are in a shadowed area, she's way too obvious about it, and using someone's name might kill the deal in the first place. But she's got to try. She completely misses noticing Wasp — she'd be hard pressed to notice the woman on a GOOD night, much less feeling like this — but her bloodshot blue eyes lock on the gruff man in the coat. She's staring at him hard. Desperate. Her shoulders shake, even if she's holding her arms against herself.
The man glares at her, "Get outta here!" He hisses, suddenly thinking his cover blown. But then he sees her, really sees her, and a drug dealer all too well knows the look of a drug addict. He gives a little groan and a roll of his eyes, a meaty hand coming out to grab Pepper by the shoulder and drag her back to the mouth of the alleyway nearest, "…can't talk in the road like this… " He hisses quietly. Pepper stumbles after him.
*
Wasp doesn't quite look at the woman, so she misses out on the fact it's the very Virginia Potts who offended her at the Hellfire Club sometime ago. Instead, her full focus is on the dealer, and he might be a bit confused when he hears a voice calling, "can't talk anywhere like this! What you're doing is illegal! You're hurting people, and I'll put a stop to that." One might expect an officer of the law. These days, maybe even a superhero. But the Wasp is tiny, and she's flying about rather than staying still, which really makes it hard to spot her. She enjoys attacking her foes out of the blue, like she did the Absorbing Man the other day. Element of surprise wins the day usually, and this guy will be sorry if he gives her an excuse to sting.
*
As the redhead stumbles after, her fingertips fumble for the roll of bills in her pocket. A ridiculous amount for this area of the city, but she wanted to buy as much of his supply as possible and be done with. She flashes the twenties, not too smooth about it, but her hands simply aren't steady at the moment. "I… I want to buy as much of the stuff you got. Vigor. I'll buy it all. Whatever price. Just… here… This… Hopefully enough…" Pepper stammers out, so achingly the rich girl in over her head.
And, of course, the dealer knows it. The moment he sees that chunk of money, his eyes go wide, greed and more behind his gaze. He whistles low, but handles her a bit more loosely, "…Stuff's expensive, lady…" And then there is this hissing whisper in his ear. His eyes go wide, hand jerking back as he felt, or heard, some sort of buzzing with it. Like swatting at a fly. "…What the hell? Are you a copper?? Did you say that?!" He hisses, going from generous to angry and violent in the turn of a second.
*
It's only natural the dealer would pick Pepper for an undercover, who else could have spoken those threats? Well, he doesn't have to wonder for long, because the Wasp flies by and zaps him with a bio-electric bolt in the cheek, those thing hurt! "No, she didn't, I said that! The Winsome Wasp!" And for a moment, Wasp flies still before the dealer's face, allowing him to see her in all her glory. Sure, she expects to be recognized for her work, but since the Avengers were short lived, and there are much fancier heroes, who are much more male than her, she doesn't really get that much coverage in the media if at all. At least she tries, bless her heart.
*
ROLL: Pepper +rolls 1d100 for a result of: 94
*
It might be for Pepper's benefit that the woman is not only making such a bother of herself BUT is actually a public figure. No, not the best known, but the man is a criminal. He's made it a point to keep an eye on the people who might be giving him issues, he saw the news, so the tiny woman who has shocked him (getting several curses in Italian more than English), is now glared at fully. "Tiny BITCH. Gonna regret not having your buddies here!" He hisses. Then two meaty hands are coming forward, trying to rip into the air around her, to catch the buzzing little woman before she causes him more issues.
*
Wasp is quite proud to have drawn the ire of the dealer, he actually heard of her! That doesn't happen often, but she's sure going to give him a memorable experience of meeting her. She proves to not only be small, but also surprisingly fast, as she avoids his attempts to swat at her, by flying directly at his face and punching him straight in the nose. Newsflash, tiny Wasp packs a surprisingly powerful punch. After all, she's strong enough to carry a grown man in her tiny size, albeit with some effort. Sam wasn't the lightest of guys, then again, at her size most thing should be too heavy. "Didn't anybody tell you that they all relied on me to save them?" Wasp points out, good thing the Avengers were disbanded and nobody can try to fact check her claim.
*
That was NOT something the man expected, as his nose explodes, blood flying down to the sidewalk, as that tiny fist firmly breaks his schnoz and then some! "WHAT THE FUCK!?" He hisses out, nasally, as he stumbles to the side, one hand over his face. Suddenly, the man doesn't look like he much wants to be in this fight. He keeps trying to wave the crazy tiny wasp woman off of him with one hand, but the other reaches over to Pepper, "Gimmie the money, Bitch, come on. Here!" He pulls out a single bottle of pills, but there are several there. He just wants to make the hand off and go.
Pepper is all too eager to do that. She needs the stuff, "…Please, miss…let him… just let us do this, please…" And she's trying to shove that money into his hand so she can take the bottle and run. Her fingertips shake, but she's trying.
*
Wasp plays around with her target, zipping by his swatting hands, proving much more maneuverable than a fly one might face in their homes, and even then people are not always successful. The Wasp is much faster, and far more aerobatic. "Oh no you don't!" Wasp calls out as she starts zapping his bottles, figuring if she makes his merchandise explode, he will try to save it by making like a tree.
The Wasp doesn't heed Pepper's request, she only calls out, "I'll talk to you after I'm done taking out the trash," and flying right by the dealer's ear, she whisper, "that's you!"
*
"No! Please!" Pepper rasps out, addiction and desperation getting the better of her. She's still reaching for the bottles, her fingertips slightly caught by a few zaps, hand jerking back and some money fluttering to the ground. She curses, hitting her knees, trying to gather it up, her beautiful black coat pooling around her like some gown.
The man is using a few other choice words about the little woman, one bottle shattering out of his hands, so little pills go flying among shards of glass. He hisses again, "… bug b*tch!" he growls at her, but indeed, it's not worth the trouble. Now he gathers what he's got left of his supply and just takes off running for the corner. Maybe he can save the night, at least.
Pepper sees the pills go flying and that's enough to make her eyes widen in hope. She reaches out, into the glass, not caring if she's cut. She just needs a few of them.
*
Normally the dealer would face the wrath of the Wasp until he was ready to turn himself in, or eventually find out she could well drag him to the police station for processing herself. But tonight is his lucky night, because during the struggle, Wasp finally realizes who the woman is. The very same Virginia Potts she met at the Hellfire Club, only looking much worse for wear. "Pepper?" She calls out, hovering for a moment over the woman as she dives for the pills, allowing the dealer to make his escape. It's not that she wanted to let him go, she's just stunned by the change that came over Pepper, "are you alright?" She asks, coming to flutter closer to Pepper's face, "you really don't look good…why are you buying Vigor?"
*
This moment is out of Pepper's absolute nightmares. How the mighty have fallen. The redhead is on her knees, picking up tiny blue pills through scattered glass, trying to find one that looks clean enough she can take it right now and start escaping the shakes and that pounding in the back of her head. Her breath is a touch ragged, adding to the raspiness of her voice. She's just shoving pills and glass into her pocket, to be dealt with later on, even as bloodshot eyes narrow on the tiny woman who is speaking to her.
"You? Oh god…it…It's you…T-The…Winsome Wasp….I remember you…now. I… I owe you such… such an apology. I'm sorry…I'm so sorry. Please…forget you saw this… forget I was here. Please… I'm fine, I'm… sorry…" The fine is a lie, clearly. Pepper is a withdrawal ridden wreck. But she's trying to pull herself back together.
*
The Winsome Wasp remains close to Pepper, tsking as she watches Pepper trying to salvage as many of those accursed pills as she can, "Pepper, you're better than this…I know, I saw you." Wasp notes, not smiling at all. Sure, here's a moment where she can truly get Pepper back for talking down at her, but it feels too wrong to do so. There's nothing heroic about it. If anything, mocking someone when they're down is exactly the sort of thing stupid heads like MODOK might do. Moving to land on Pepper's shoulder, Wasp whispers to her, "apology accepted…but, you really should let those pills be. What happened? You were forming a bad opinion of me just because I like to party, so how come you ever got near vigor? People like you don't do drugs, I know that much! Care to share?"
*
Finally, Pepper spies one pill. It rolled, so it's probably got dirty and street crud on it, but no glass. It might be safe. She stretches a shaky hand and scoops it up, sinking back onto her heels as she tries to buff it clean with the sleeve of her jacket. That will have to do. Unless Jan directly tries to stop it from putting it past her ashen lips, Pepper pops it down and swallows back like she had been starving. Her mind dimly registers that Jan is asking her questions, though, and she doesn't want to be rude again. She does genuinely seem to feel awful about their first meeting, or perhaps she just feels awful over all right now. "…I…I didn't take it… knowingly. Willingly. Was…was volunteering for the National Guard, evacuating the city, passing out supplies… and someone tainted our water. A… a bunch of people got hit with it… me included…"
*
"No!" Wasp snaps as Pepper prepares to take one pill from the dirty street towards her mouth, going as far as to zap Pepper's hand with such a painful bolt that it would force her to withdraw the hand and drop the pill. "Didn't your mother teach you not to eat stuff off the floor?" Janet scolds Pepper, taking the role of the responsible adult for once. "I'm sorry you were tricked into taking this…but I'm going to help you, Pepper, even if it means knocking you out until this craving stops…" does it stop? She might need to consult Mr. Stark about that one, or one of her science friends, but she certainly won't let Pepper ruin her life. "Look at you, hired by Mr. Stark, making a name in the business world. You know what they'll say about women if you fall to drugs? Oh…they can't handle real business, their silly little minds just snap…I won't let you do that to women, Pepper!"
*
The shock to her hand makes her yelp, loudly, the pain clear and the pill tumbling free to the glass strewn sidewalk. Pepper swears, quite unladylike like herself, her shaking fingertips reaching for it a moment, but her hands are already pricked with blood where she's caught herself on glass. There is no help for it now. So, instead, she clutches her slightly shaking hand against her thigh, trying to stop the trembling for a few moments, but it's too late now. The withdrawal is completely ravaging her. "..The…the craving doesn't… stop. I've tried… I've… held back, and I can't. I can't work like this. People WILL find out… if I'm like this. But… but if I can just take one a day, enough to push off the sickness, it'll be enough. N-no one has to know…until they can find a cure. Phil…h-his people…they're working on it…" But nothing yet. And right now, Pepper looks like she just wants to die.
*
"Okay…I'll talk to Phil…but for now, I'm sorry!" Wasp doesn't explain what she's sorry about, but Pepper won't have long to ponder it, as she pretty much behaves like a far gone addict, Wasp figures the only solution is to make Pepper unable to act on her craving. Bringing both her hands together, she unleashes a bio-electric blast at Pepper that means to overwhelm and knock her unconscious. She's done it to villains before to stop them in their tracks, but in this case, she'll have to make sure Pepper can't hurt herself. She assumes she should easily be able to knock Pepper out, unaware of any special resistances she might have. Should she succeed, Wasp will take her and fly her to her mansion, to put her in bed while she sends a message to Phil.
*
"…Sorry?" Pepper starts, confused for the second before that bolt comes. Then she abruptly stiffens before collapsing to the glass strewn sidewalk. It was certainly effective and Pepper's still breathing after it, so the Wasp can do with her as the tiny woman pleases. Pepper is beyond fighting now, or protesting. The unconsciousness was probably blissful compared to what she had been feeling.
*