Match of the Millennium

Description: Arisa, Ishida and Kenzo serve as Zack's escort to his meeting with the mysterious laboratory liaison, but will this be a four-on-one encounter solved through simple strongarm diplomacy or appeal to reason? Somehow, one does not suspect so.

[ZACK]
With the duration of the NFG crew's stay on the island uncertain and limited fuel supplies located, the team (as headed by Tom and Lou) has been reluctant to make use of the Jeeps that they used when they first arrived. However, an executive decision was made earlier that the meeting between Zack and his liaison from the possibly-incredibly-sketchy biolab that's been allowed to discreetly operate on Isla Zaca by the previously-disappeared DJ constituted a critical enough venture to warrant the use of one of the vehicles. Thus, Zack is driving the Jeep, with Arisa, Ishida and Kenzo left to decide amongst themselves which passenger seats to arrange themselves in. There's plenty of space, of course, but only the one coveted shotgun seat.

The Jeep's radio, predictably, is tuned to Radio ZACK, which has been left on a mix for the morning while the DJ himself is out. Normally, Zack would be blasting the tunes with as much bass as the passengers could physically handle, but he's got it turned respectfully low given the covert nature of the meeting - and not wanting to involve a certain angry bird goddess in the negotiations to come.

Also absent are any members of the camera crew. One tends not to want photographic or video evidence when one is aiming to renegotiate dubious terms of dubious agreements with dubious people. Even Zack knows that.

*BUMP*

"Sorry about that! Don't get a lot of chance for maintenance out this way. These roots are nasty!" Zack calls to the passengers as the Jeep catches air off of yet another bump in the backroad to the remote beach at the far end of Isla Zaca from where the Sprat originally landed (and caught fire, exploded, and sank into Niki Bay forever). "Or maybe it was one of them invisible lizard things. In which case, good riddance. Alright, we're comin' up on the beach just now. We'll be meeting our li-aison down here. She's sweet and smart, this lady! If I weren't in love with my poor bereaved Niki - ahh, there she is!"

As it turns out, waiting on a wooden swing near the small beach tied to palm trees is a woman with a deep tan complexion and voluptuous and athletic build, with brown hair cut to neck-length, dressed presently in a bright green bikini appropriate to the environs.

"Hi, Zack!" the woman says as the Jeep rolls up near the swing, smiling and giving a little wave. "You didn't mention you'd be bringing friends when you called."

[KENZO]
Kenzo sits in the jeep, his body tense due to having be in close proximity to Zack. Especially because of his gacha induced freak-out at the pool. With the ninja being so tense, it doesn't seem like he's particularly inclined to bob his head or otherwise engage with the music.

His mood is probably doing him no favors with the rest of his companions. He has been uncomfortably quiet. It's unfortunate too. He likes hanging out with Ishida and has been wanting an opportunity to talk with Arisa for a while.

The drone was left at the team cottage to remove one possible recording device off the table. Zack was /not/ going to get Kenzo to agree to leave the combat specs at Shock and Roll cottage. The most Zack would get is the recording stays off as long as things remain peaceful. If a fight starts, so does his recording.

As for the pressing matter of discussing gachapon machine keys, that can be tabled until their business is completed.

They get to the meeting location and upon pulling up, Kenzo's door swings open and he steps out before giving a nod. He then stands with his hands to the side, feet shoulder width apart, and a nigh emotionless expression on his face.

[ISHIDA]
Riding 'shotgun' is an honor Ishida did not feel worthy of -- and was unwilling to really fight for. He was content to stay in the back seat, given that the jeep, unlike the ill-fated boat, provided enough fresh air flow to counteract the onset of motion-sickness.

Plus, well. The music is better. Ishida might not ever have much to say, but the man loves him some bass.

He does, however, hold on tightly as the jeep roller-coasters over a raised root. Or so he hopes.

Occasionally he glances over to Kenzo. The nin-gineer's quiet has been... challenging, considering he tended to appreciate his fellow countryman's view on things. But, thankfully, there isn't -as- much to fret about, between the music and the conversational aptitude of the two Americans. He'd respond, of course, if either Zack or Arisa were to ask him a question -- but by and large, he's content to play the role of a tourist. Or hired help.

It's... surprising that Kenzo agreed to leave the drones behind. Though, Kuroiwa's defensiveness keeps the idea that there likely -will- be combat firmly lodged in the back of Ishida's mind.

He's just about to say something when a beautiful liaison makes her appearance. ... And Ishida, stoic though he may be, can probably be caught staring, in something of a spellbound fashion.

He's quick to hop out of the jeep when Kenzo does. And rather than be rude -- he steps out, and bows to the lovely lady.

"I am Ishida. Pleased to meet you, ma'am." For now, he hopes to make a good impression.

[ARISA]
Comparatively, Arisa Hawkins had no reason to CALL shotgun, other than she is probably the only person in the jeep who can say she's handled a shotgun. And of course, the reason it's CALLED 'shotgun' in the first place is because mail coach deliveries in the American frontier (like Texas, back in the day) often took a bodyguard with them to dissuade would-be thieves, who sat to the driver's right.

So, it probably makes sense that the passenger with actual firearms is the one sitting up front, right now.

Much like Kenzo, she's been wanting to say hello to both members of Shock and Roll for a while, now; after all, they're Japanese, and Arisa is at least SOMEWHAT Japanese, so you'd imagine they'd at least have something in common. But this entire situation is starting to fray on the Texan's nerves. She was feeling better after her little not-quite-a heart-to-heart with Max and burying that particular hatchet, but the entire thing is a reminder that: oh right, they're all trapped on a tropical island together and there's now not just some weirdo supernatural force keeping them here, but also some weird science nonsense! Zack was a giant zombie maybe? Or it was a cloned double? Arisa's reaction to that news had been 'clones are REAL?!' which feels weird for a half-oni somewhat-onmyouji to say, but so it goes.

Thus she spends most of the trip in silence, too, looking out over the jungle through a pair of pink-framed, heart-shaped novelty sunglasses she'd picked up.

Then they arrive, however, and a supermodel in a green bikini walks out of the freakin' jungle and waves flirtily at Zack, which takes the recently de-Jeeped Arisa by surprise and a half. The demon hunter's daughter backs up a step, so that she can speak to Ishida and Kenzo in a corner-of-the-mouth sotto voce. "Whaaaaaaaat is this James Bond villain girl situation?!" the Texan hisses, suspicion evident in her voice. "I mean look at her! You KNOW she killed a guy with her thighs off-screen!"

[ZACK]
Fortunately, even if he were aware of the capabilities of Kenzo's equipment, Zack isn't the kind of guy to question another man's choice of eyewear anyway, leaving the nin-gineer free to use his specs as he will.

"Lisa! How you been, babygirl?! You know an island superstar like Zack can't help but attract an entourage! Zack decided to throw a house party with all the guests on the island, just like old times!" Zack is saying as he kills the engine and hops out to approach the scientist (?) supermodel.

"Oh, yes. We were quite surprised by all of the... guests arriving on the island," Lisa says, a slight strain in her smile flashing momentarily as she approaches each of the three for a handshake in turn, starting with Ishida and ending with Arisa. One could detect a slightly analytical look in her eyes despite her otherwise amicable demeanour.

"So nice to meet you all! I'm Lisa."

Insects can be heard buzzing faintly above in the morning sun before Lisa breaks the silence again, turning to Zack.

"Hey, how's our mutual friend been? I don't see him around."

"You mean Jay Dee?" Zack says, apparently not taking the cue for subtlety. "Just great. It's been real helpful havin' him around - other than him gettin' himself locked in the shop by mistake.

"Oh? Well, glad he's okay," Lisa says with a smile before her expression turns just a little more serious. "So, I don't want to spoil the mood, but, be honest, Zack - do you trust these guests knowing about our deal?"

"Who, Ari, Ishi and Kenny? Of course, babe!" Zack says, turning to follow Lisa's gesture toward the trio.

"Okay, just making sure," Lisa says, before producing a dart pistol from behind her back and promptly firing it into the unsuspecting disc jockey's neck.

"As I thought, you're just a little too trusting," the American supermodel says.

"Fffffuuu-" Zack starts to say as he turns around to face Lisa. "-uuuunky," he concludes as he slumps to the sand.

Strangely, Zack's words seem to echo through the treeline.

"Funky!"

"Funky!"

"FUNKY!"

And even more strangely, it's getting closer rather than further away.

The trees rustle with steadily-increasing intensity as Lisa turns her dart pistol toward the trio of body-guests (clearly the optimal mashup of bodyguards and guests).

And then, perhaps a dozen or more near-perfect replicas of Zack jump out of the jungle, each clad only in a pair of heart-covered boxer shorts and a pair of Crocs.

"Funky!!" says one of the Zack clones. Somehow, they all share the same multi-coloured hairdo as the host himself.

"Unfortunately, while we managed to balance the testosterone and HGH levels a bit, we couldn't quite get their speech faculties where we were hoping for this iteration on such short notice," Lisa continues her mid-boss monologue as the shock of such a sudden increase in Zack content sets in. "Obviously, we would have preferred to have an army of Hayabusas, but you work with what you've got. Boys!"

The Zacks all stop exchanging their funky greetings with each other to snap their attention to Lisa.

"Engage capture mission, attack formation alpha."

"Zack?" one of the clones asks as confusion is sown amongst the ranks.

"Funky," another Zack replies with a shrug.

Lisa rolls her eyes. "Ugh. They always bug out on alpha formation. Attack formation sigma!"

"Excellent~!" one of the Zacks says with a thumbs-up and a smile, before all of them adopt Muay Thai stances as one.

"Funky!" they cry out in unison.

It appears that combat is imminent.

COMBATSYS: Lisa Hamilton has started a fight here on the right meter side.

                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |=------\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton

COMBATSYS: Zacks has joined the fight here on the right meter side.

                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |=------\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |-------\-------\0            Zacks

COMBATSYS: Kenzo has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Kenzo            0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |-------\-------\0            Zacks

COMBATSYS: Ishida has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Kenzo            0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Ishida           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Zacks

COMBATSYS: Arisa has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Kenzo            0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Arisa            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Zacks
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           0/-------/-------|

[KENZO]
The reasons he was willing to leave the drone behind were he didn't know if they were going in an open location so there was no guarantee that expanded movement options it provided would be useful, he didn't need it for storage of a change of clothes since it was supposed to be a quick run, and the honestly most important reason recharging drone post trip would cost him energy that he couldn't afford to spend when he had other options.

Where his kouhai had opted for the polite approach, Kenzo was choosing to play his role as background, only interacting as needed whether in response to being spoken to or response to attacked. This /almost/ results in a break in the ninja's composure when Arisa makes the Bond girl comment. Dammit... He was going for the intimidating bodyguard look. Or as close as he can manage considering his lean build.


When Lisa goes to shake his hand he returns it with a smile but once the grip is released he goes back to the emotionless mask he was using for this interaction. The moment Lisa draws the dart pistol, is the moment that it registers that it has become a combat situation. His hand goes to the combat specs just in time to record Lisa saying Zack was a little too trusting. If there was one good thing to come out of his time in Metro City and Sunshine City, it was exposure to Bell, Biv, and Devoe. Their advice to 'Never trust a big butt and a smile' seems relatively appropriate for this moment. It is too late to actually prevent Zack getting dropped by the dart. It's clear that this Lisa Hamilton is poison.

The Zacks approach and Kenzo starts devising a battle plan.

"Ishida-san go for Lisa. Get in her face and don't let her have any more opportunities to get any more darts off. Arisa-san, start off by going after her too though I'll trust you to use your best judgement to switch targets as needed."

The unsaid but obvious action that Kenzo is taking is him going after the clones. He draws his kusari-gama, instantly electrifying it as he whips it around as many of the Zacks he could and then pulls them towards him and out of their formation right into a slash from the sickle in his other hand.

[ISHIDA]
Ishida is... Honestly, a little embarrassed when Arisa just calls the shots the way she sees them. Does he disagree? Not -entirely-... But he does scratch at the back of her neck at the unfiltered appraisal, laughing softly to suggest: that's a -joke-, right?

When he shakes Lisa's hand, he is cordial and polite; he's careful to keep his gaze locked upon her eyes throughout the process. He may be a little shy -- but he's doing his best to give Lisa the honor of his respect.

He's a passive observer to the banter that follows between Lisa and Zack -- it's clear they know each other, and there's a wealth of interactions that the Shaolin student would be happy to delve into at a later date. He's content to keep his distance...

Which ends up being a good thing, as the dart pistol is brought to bear. Indecisive, he glances towards Arisa, and then Kenzo, for advice...

And the moment said advice is offered, Ishida offers a brief nod before taking an abrupt step towards Lisa! His right hand trails behind himself for a moment, but as soon as his feet churn into the dirt before him, the heel of his palm slingshots around in an attempt to crack that dart pistol out of Lisa's hand! With his right shoulder rocked forward, he then thrusts forward into a follow-up step, aiming to slam -both- his palms into Lisa in an attempt at slamming her into the nearest tree trunk -- and quite possibly entangling her within the breaking branches!

"Mood," he states through the midst of his attack, in an echo of her earlier apology to Zack.

[ARISA]
"CALLED IT," Arisa shouts, dropping into a low crouch with as much cover as a jeep door can give her once Bond Villainess pulls out a dart gun and tranqs Zack like an endangered animal. "Cannot imagine how this went wrong!" she continues, before reaching into her... well, by this point, it's probably not clear to ANYONE where Arisa's weapons come and go from. Possibly some sort of onmyoujutsu pocket dimension? Is it full of hammers?

Kenzo's shouting orders, Ishida looks like he's thoroughly in NEED of orders, or at the very least some direction, but the naturally free-spirited Texan bridles a little bit at being told what to do by a complete stranger, season 1 competitor or no. "Hey!" she shouts, still crouching behind the door of the jeep. "Nobody--" *CLICK* "--puts baby--" *CLICK* "--in a corner!" *KCHK KCHK*

This is when she stands up and walks around from behind the door, squaring off with Lisa in terms of angle of attack. In each hand is a custom SMG, with the trademark charms -- a blue topaz star and a yellow quartz rose -- dangling from the grips.

"Also as a sidebar, don't bring a dart to a gun fight," the demon hunter's daughter adds, before... well, opening fire on Lisa.

PROS: Arisa is an excellent shot who is fully capable of aiming around Ishida.
CONS: Ishida might not be aware of that fact.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo successfully hits Zacks with Lightning Snare.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Kenzo            1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Arisa            0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0            Zacks
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Lisa Hamilton blocks Ishida's Taken for Granite.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Kenzo            1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Arisa            0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0            Zacks
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Arisa successfully hits Lisa Hamilton with Blue Topaz and Yellow Rose.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Kenzo            1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Arisa            0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0            Zacks
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           0/-------/-------|

[LISA HAMILTON]
While the NFG fighters may be outnumbered at least four-to-one, Kenzo at least has the advantage of reach over the horde, who, in their numbers, have little room to outmaneuver the sweeping arc of Kenzo's kusarigama. He manages to entangle two-and-a-half Zacks, pulling a pair into close proximity while a third has an arm trapped between the two. The trio all shudder and gibber as electricity surges through them before Kenzo's sickle slashes the two lassoed Zacks across their stomachs, causing both to look down at their injuries through their shades (the narrator of the previous pose lied about them only wearing boxer shorts and Crocs - Zacks apparently all come standard issue with sunglasses).

"Zack?" one of the wounded warriors whimpers to the other.

"Fuuunky," the other says, before both slump bleeding to the ground.

"Excellent~" says the still-smoking third Zack as his arm is freed from its Zackly prison to give a thumb up.

Meanwhile, Lisa finds herself being rushed by Ishida. She's initially caught off-guard, having expected the Zack clones to provide sufficient cover to keep her safe, and the shot on her sidearm is practically an open goal - sending the device rolling across the beach.

"Looks like you lost your chance at doing this the easy way," she says as she leans out of the way of the follow-up double-palm strike and into a bouncy lucha libre stance, of all styles. Her rhythm is thrown off when shots are suddenly flying her way, one slamming into her shoulder.

"Boys! A little help, here!" she calls out, clenching her teeth as she holds a hand against the injury.

Immediately, "Zack!"s are shouted all around, and the clones engage with surprising synchronicity. All three of the fighters will find themselves being double-teamed, one Zack aiming to drive a high knee into their upper bodies and launch them into the air before a second leaps in from another angle to throw a flying punch and drive them back to the ground.

At the same time, Lisa lunges toward Ishida, aiming to push off of his shoulders with her hands so that she can land on the other side of him, then hop onto his shoulders from behind - using her weight to force him down onto his knees in the sand, then rolling sideways onto his back with her legs around one of his arms and her arms around the other, then wrenching both limbs by bending her body if she can manage to get him into the submission position!

COMBATSYS: Kenzo interrupts Condor Dive from Zacks with Whirling Chain Blitz ES.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Kenzo            1/--=====/=======|====---\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Arisa            0/-------/------=|=======\=------\1            Zacks
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           0/-------/-------|

[KENZO]
There's a visible body cringe from the tech-ninja due to hearing the objection to him giving orders to Arisa. Under more ideal circumstances, he might have phrased it more as a suggestion but he wasn't sure he would've had the time to do so. He makes a note to apologize to the dual gunwielder later should they get out of this situation safely.

Kenzo does have other problems to deal with, like the two Zacks flying towards him. The ninja manages to side-step the flying knee as the chain crackles with more of that electric energy of his. Of course that puts him path of the airborne Zack who clips his shoulder just as Kenzo connects with the electrified weight to the high flying Zack's head. Even though getting clipped forces a grunt from Kenzo's lips, he doesn't stop moving and in fact whips his chain around in a figure 8 pattern, rapidly bashing both flying punch Zack and flying knee Zack with the electrified weight before stepping between them and then past to deliver some additional electrified smacks to any Zacks that happen to get too close.

"Oh, yes. Because dart pistols scream informed consent and ethical research."

COMBATSYS: Ishida blocks Zacks' Condor Dive.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Kenzo            1/--=====/=======|====---\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Arisa            0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1            Zacks
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Ishida fails to interrupt Deja Vu from Lisa Hamilton with The Hard Place.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Kenzo            1/--=====/=======|======-\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Arisa            0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1            Zacks
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           0/-------/---====|

[ISHIDA]
Ishida bristles slightly as Arisa shouts right behind him. She may not be -particularly- loud, but Ishida isn't -particularly- used to folks shouting like the young Texan is.

He arches an eyebrow as Lisa chides the three -- and possibly him in particular -- for not taking the easy way out.

"Nothing worth having comes easy," recites the pseudo-monk from the book of aphorisms. The picture of grace under fire, Ishida draws carefully back from his strikes as Arisa cuts loose. Indeed -- if she -hadn't- shouted, he might be less prepared.

But after the hailstorm of gunfire, in swoop the Zack homunculi. He greets one Zack-like assailant's attack with a doubled-up right arm; the stony muscle twitches slightly but allows Ishida to hold his ground. By this point, though, Lisa is starting to move in -- and he attempts to pre-empt that by winging his left elbow at her. He falls short -- and Lisa's able to bound over his shoulders.

Gritting his teeth, he tries to pivot around and capitalize -- only to be greeted by a flying punch from another of the Zack minions. He turns his back into the blow, turning it from a direct strike into a graze...

But in doing so, he leaves himself open for Lisa to close in, forcing him to kneel in the sand! Beset by the Zacks, he has no recourse to break free of the hold, soon finding himself stretched out like a piece of taffy in a candy factory.

His forehead weeps with sweat from the sudden exertion. But he manages to hold his ground, all the same -- with the slightest of smiles.

And he even barks out a small laugh.

For he knows in his mind that all he needs to do is hold Lisa in place long enough for Arisa to get her shots lined up -- and to provide a sufficient distraction for Kenzo to continue mowing down the subpar Zack simulacra.

COMBATSYS: Zacks successfully hits Arisa with Condor Dive.
?!? Weird Hit! ?!?

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Kenzo            1/--=====/=======|======-\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Arisa            0/-------/---====|=======\=====--\1            Zacks
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           0/-------/---====|

[ARISA]
Why are they only saying 'Zack' etc.?

Actually... [tape-winding noise]

"WHY are they just saying the same three things over and ov--" Arisa begins, stowing her guns into god knows where as the rest of the fight happens around her, until a couple of the Zacklones (pronounced "zack-low-nays") decide to pounce on the Texan and bring the problem to her in a more direct way. Frowning, she attempts to duck back, crossing her arms to halt the rising knee, but misjudges the height of the strike, meaning the first clone's strike under her guard and indeed send her rising into the air.

PROBLEM: Arisa was more or less standing right next to the still-open jeep door she was using for cover, meaning that instead of her momentum taking her upwards and out, she just slams into the jeep door, HARD, and then starts sliding back down.

PROS: The second Zack's fist sails harmlessly overhead.
CONS: She still got slammed into a car door so the end difference is minimal.

Staggering her way to her feet, gripping the jeep itself for support, the Texan gets to her feet, grey eyes glittering, brow furrowed in deep annoyance. "Okay, lady," she mutters, reaching into [redacted] and producing a very big sheet of origami paper, which she begins folding at redonkulous speed. "I coulda kept it civil but this entire vacation has sucked and now I'm just ANGRY."

Is Ishida's intuition that all he had to do was keep Lisa from running away accurate? We'll see, as Arisa suddenly rushes past him, twirling an onmyoujutsu-hardened origami naginata over her head with an inarticulate yell before attempting to just swing the haft into the geneticist's side like a baseball bat.

COMBATSYS: Lisa Hamilton counters Fierce Strike from Arisa with Waterfall Leap.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Kenzo            1/--=====/=======|=======\=------\1    Lisa Hamilton
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Arisa            1/-------/=======|=======\=====--\1            Zacks
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           0/-------/---====|

[LISA HAMILTON]
The sweeping kusarigama carves a swathe of carnage through the ranks of the clones as Kenzo swings the chain in the figure eight. Both the jumping Zack and the one that went for the knee are clobbered by the weighted end and fall to the ground, twitching. The one that had been entangled with the other two is smacked in the side of the head and goes flying against a tree without having provided much ROI for his creators. Another Zack that was going for Ishida is also taken out by a weight to the knee, left to clutch the shattered joint on the sand while plaintively crying, "Fuuuunky!"

"Of all people, are /you/ going to throw stones when it comes to research ethics, Kuroiwa? Should we bring your sponsors into this?" Lisa is grunting as she struggles with Ishida, clinging to his back like an especially ill-fitting (but stylish) backpack. As Ishida maneuvers to leave Lisa open to Arisa's assault, the swimsuit-clad scientist gets a clear view of the intent. Responding accordingly, she relinquishes her grip, log-rolling across the sand and up to her feet to face the Texan just as she's charging with naginata a-whirl. With an unsteady last-moment swish of her hips, Lisa narrowly avoids the crux of the attack, instead capturing the hardened paper weapon under her arm.

"We're working on our own in-house rapid-development cloning programme," Lisa explains to Arisa with a rapid-fire tone that suggests both that she's dealt with this line of questioning before and that it's a point of personal irritation, all while using the weapon as a lever to flip Arisa onto her back on the sand. She then throws herself into the air, landing belly-to-belly across Arisa at a perpendicular angle as she executes a splash attack much more painful than that of your typical water-type Pokemon. "We've done wonders with muscle memory, but unfortunately, fast-tracking linguistic development remains a fly in the ointment. We'll have it ironed out for launch. Boys! Attack pattern Funky Paradise!"

"Funky!"

As one, the remnants of the Zack armada attack - numbering now two to one against the NFG fighters. Kenzo and Ishida are each confronted by a pair of Zacks aiming to clobber them with a staggering overhand punch before sliding in with a pair of heavy hooks, before winding up to deliver devastating haymakers and send them flying!

Arisa, instead, is confronted by the sight of the Zacks standing over her rearing back and bobbing their heads before breaking out into full Funky Chicken moves.

Whether the insult or injury is the worse potential fate in this situation is debatable, but certainly, visiting vengeance on the Zacklones is an inviting prospect.

COMBATSYS: Zacks issues a challenge!!

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Kenzo            1/--=====/=======|=======\=------\1    Lisa Hamilton
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Arisa            1/-------/=======|=======\=====--\1            Zacks
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           0/-------/---====|

COMBATSYS: Kenzo blocks Zacks' Funky Paradise.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Kenzo            1/--=====/=======|=======\====---\1    Lisa Hamilton
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Arisa            1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0            Zacks
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           0/-------/---====|

[KENZO]
Admittedly, Ultratech did a /mostly/ good job of sheltering their charges from their more unsavory experiments. Other than the infamous elevator incident with Greg, and the weirdness with how they said Djamila's sperm donor was no longer a problem in a way that seemed to disavow the process of making him no longer a problem. His top floor meeting pre-Junko fight also opened his eyes as to what was going on in the supernatural world. Lisa's comment about Ultratech's hands not necessarily being clean from a research ethics standpoint makes Kenzo wonder what has Ultratech done in their pursuit of prepping for the next danger to humanity. While he hasn't directly seen those ethics violations that doesn't mean they aren't there.

He says in response to Lisa's comment, "I can only go by what I have seen with my eyes."

With quick reflexes, and quick hands, Kenzo manages to swap out the chain weapon for the metal warfan just in time to deflect the hooks with the closed fan like it's a baton. When the haymakers come in, Kenzo flicks the fan open to intercept them while bracing his forearm against it to reinforce his defense. He found himself gritting his teeth from the intense pain of just defending the haymaker that slid him backward. If defending against it was that bad, he's glad he didn't catch those punches in full.

Kenzo closes the fan once more darting around one of the Zacklones and attempting to choke him out with the fan. Should he manage that, he'll attempt to ragdoll the clone, slamming him into other Zacks to thin the herd a bit more.

COMBATSYS: Zacks successfully hits Ishida with Funky Paradise.
? Strange Hit! ?

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Kenzo            1/--=====/=======|=======\====---\1    Lisa Hamilton
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Arisa            1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0            Zacks
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           1/------=/=======|

[ISHIDA]
All Ishida can do is to try and distract Lisa. The moment she decides to evade that paper naginata, he's dropped in favor of her escape route. He softens his landing as best as he can, curling up to make sure it's on his side and not his back, and then tumbling back to his feet.

He bristles just a bit at the witty rejoinder towards Kenzo's previous sponsor. He hadn't given thought to Ultratech's breaches of moral integrity before -- defense contractors are often seen as a necessary evil for global security. But to hear of their wrongdoings suggests that Lisa might have knowledge that even Kenzo doesn't -- and that gives Ishida cause for concern.

Not that he isn't already concerned with how sore he's feeling when he pushes back to his feet. Nearly -everything- aches as Lisa continues sassing up the jungle.

"Words are not the only means of expression," he states quietly.

It's hard to remain -too- zen in the face of a pair of prototypes producing a "Paradise" of pronounced pugilistic pressure upon him, though. When the two Zacks swoop in, Ishida raises his arms in defense. The first Zack clocks him in the face so hard he spins around half way, making the second Zack's strike whiff completely! It's only a minor setback though, as the pair of Zacks manage to synchronize their Ishida-pummeling from that point further, their strikes juggling him backwards a good bit.

It's easy to be mad at the products of the 'rapid-development cloning programme' -- but Ishida doesn't hold a grudge against them as their punching parade allows him a moment's peace. Gritting his teeth, he nonetheless had a mission -- and that's to coordinate in taking down Lisa. He's come to respect Kenzo's judgment in such matters. Noting that the most direct route to Lisa is blocked by the pair of Zacks, he decides to make use of his environment -- leaping towards the nearest tree!

He manages to catch enough air to zip right past the nearest Zack -- and then he will rebound off the tree into a flying kick at Lisa's shoulder! He's not sure what Arisa or Kenzo have in store -- but the Iron Shirt monk is planning on delivering his own crushing impact!

[ARISA]
Handbook for the Recently Deceased cover but it says "So You've Been Belly Flopped By A Supermodel Mengele."

Shoving Lisa on her and hopping backwards to create more space, the Texan looks around her with... disbelief isn't the right word, since she knows better than to say 'that couldn't happen,' but incredulity might be a reasonable alternative. Why is the geneticist a pinup model? Why are there so many Zacks? How does one describe a chicken as "funky"? These and more questions will never be answered.

It's a good thing Arisa gets a reprieve from the Zacks, however; she took a couple of relatively heavy blows back to back, there, and maybe needs a second to clear her head. Unfortunately, 'clear her head' appears to refer to the act of getting her house in proverbial order. It DOESN'T mean that she's any calmer about this situation. If anything, it now feels like she's getting *more upset*. Something about clones and Lisa and being trapped here and only just now getting to do some actual therapeutic violence, as it were, appears to be having a bang-on effect on a young woman who thankfully has her father's temper... until she's pushed to the limit, anyway.

Then the Texan comes out.

"I dunno, lady!" Arisa snaps, crossing her arms in front of her and drawing two more sheets of origami paper ninja-style, swiftly folding them into a pair of combat fans -- what if a harisen and a tessen had a baby? -- much like the one Kenzo just deployed. "You cloned a Black guy to create a bunch of *slaves* and now you asked 'em to kill three Asians?"

Ducking forward with impressive speed, she swipes the fans at Lisa, one-two-three, using the offhand fan to guard her weak spots in the process. "Feels kinda racist to me, Doctor Karen!"

COMBATSYS: Zacks endures Kenzo's Strong Throw.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Kenzo            1/=======/=======|=======\=====--\1    Lisa Hamilton
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Arisa            1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1            Zacks
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           1/-------/=======|

COMBATSYS: Lisa Hamilton blocks Ishida's Under Pressure.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Kenzo            1/=======/=======|=======\======-\1    Lisa Hamilton
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Arisa            1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1            Zacks
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           1/------=/=======|

COMBATSYS: Lisa Hamilton dodges Arisa's Touten Jutsu - Shoukou.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Kenzo            1/=======/=======|=======\======-\1    Lisa Hamilton
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Arisa            1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1            Zacks
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           1/------=/=======|

[LISA HAMILTON]
While they initially had a clear advantage in numbers, individually, the Zack-alikes seem to be more like Zack-alacks. Certainly, in contrast to Kenzo's command of the battlefield through agility, reach and versatility, they seem to lack the individual impetus and quick thinking needed to deal with the ninja mano-a-mano. The Zack that finds himself being outflanked with a warfan appears genuinely uncertain of how this has happened, kicking his legs and gagging out a '...Z-ackkk...!' as he's rapidly deprived of the requisite oxygen to maintain consciousness. Soon, he goes limp, slung into two more Zacks and bowling them off of their feet. However, the struggle gives the other three Zacks still standing a chance to maneuver for better positioning...

"Try opening them, then," Lisa challenges Kenzo with a simple lash of her tongue before turning her attention back to Ishida. "As with most tools, reverting to something more primitive is always an option," she says. Her eyes track him as he leaps from tree to tree, steadying her stance as she does, and when he eventually does leap down to kick at her shoulder, she throws up her arms to catch the blow, letting herself be pushed down into a roll along the sand and straight back to her feet.

When her attention turns to the Texan origami-slinger, it's with an incredulity to match her own, albeit for entirely different reasons. "Seriously? /That's/ the narrative you're going to push on /me/?" she says as she leans to one side to avoid the first of the fan strikes. "A professional female Pee-oh-Cee," she says, shifting her weight in the opposite direction to dodge the next attack, "working in a bleeding-edge scientific research field --" She handsprings backward to slip the third and create some space within which to finish her dissection and analysis of the verbal half of the assault. "-- who literally just said 'we' -- inclusive -- would have happily cloned a famously Japanese fighter, but only had access to a willing donor in Zack?" She gesticulates emphatically as she speaks before shifting back to an aggressive posture as she finishes with irony, "And /who/ wanted to speak with /whose/ manager, again?!"

She turns to the Zacklones, who appear momentarily dumbfounded by the exchange. "Boys! Just do what you want!"

Rather than retaliating against Arisa or Ishida directly, though, she instead takes an opportunity as Kenzo is dealing with the downed Zack to cartwheel behind the tech-ninja, attempting to wrap her arms around his neck in an inverted headlock and slip a knee under his spine as she executes a complex submission hold. "And you! Stop breaking my test subjects!"

If she manages to get control, she'll slip a hand under his knee and scoop him up by the leg and upper back to drop him with a seated piledriver into the sand. If that works, she'll leap forward while flipping backward to fall across him in a shooting star press!

Meanwhile, the Zacklones, having been granted autonomy out of what might have been sheer spite, decide to assert their independence with all the zeal of a group of incredibly violent school kids two seconds after the recess bell.

"Zack! Zack! Zack! Sexy!" one of them shouts as he aims a series of kicks - one high, then a sweeping axe, followed by another high kick and into a straight forward kick - at Ishida, simultaneously mirrored by another attempting the same combination against Arisa.

"Ooooweeee!" Three Zacks in unison - both that just attacked the second-generation NFGers, and one that's just managed to stand up after being bowled over earlier by the Zacklone callously tossed aside by Kenzo previously - add another term (?) to their vocabularies (?) as they wind up before uncoiling in impressively powerful spinning kicks at all three fighters.

COMBATSYS: Zacks blitzes into action and acts again!

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Kenzo            1/=======/=======|=======\======-\1    Lisa Hamilton
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Arisa            1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1            Zacks
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           1/------=/=======|

COMBATSYS: Lisa Hamilton issues a challenge!!

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Kenzo            1/=======/=======|=======\======-\1    Lisa Hamilton
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Arisa            1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1            Zacks
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           1/------=/=======|

COMBATSYS: Zacks successfully hits Arisa with Mephisto Rush.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Kenzo            1/=======/=======|===----\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Arisa            1/---====/=======|=======\====---\1            Zacks
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           1/------=/=======|

COMBATSYS: Arisa blocks Zacks' Zack Hurricane.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Kenzo            1/=======/=======|===----\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Arisa            1/--=====/=======|=======\=====--\1            Zacks
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           1/------=/=======|

COMBATSYS: Kenzo dodges Zacks' Zack Hurricane.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Kenzo            1/=======/=======|===----\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Arisa            1/--=====/=======|=======\======-\1            Zacks
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           1/------=/=======|

COMBATSYS: Lisa Hamilton successfully hits Kenzo with Shooting Star Press.
- Power hit! -

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Kenzo            2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Arisa            1/--=====/=======|=======\======-\1            Zacks
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           1/------=/=======|

[KENZO]
It would appear that Kenzo might have been a little too focused on getting rid of the Zack copies seeing as Lisa has absolutely no trouble getting the drop on the ninja. He growls in pain as he feels the knee dig into his lower back. The relief of having the hold released is short lived as he's picked up and then dropped head first into the ground before having the woman drop her body across his chest.

Kenzo bridges his hips upwards allowing him to roll the lucha scientist off of him before scrambling to his feet and putting a bit of distance between himself and Lisa. In the scramble, he somehow had the fan replaced with the chain weapon that he now is spinning at his side.

"It sounds like you want me to break you instead."

The chain once crackles with electricity as he sends the weighted end in an attempt to wrap it around her neck. Should Kenzo manage that, he'll yank her into a side kick then stomp on the chain to force her into a kneeling position, whip the chain up and over to slam her on her back. This would give Kenzo the opportunity to get into a knee on belly position with the closed metal fan making another appearance, also electrified, to bash her face with it, repeatedly.

COMBATSYS: Ishida blocks Zacks' Mephisto Rush.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Kenzo            0/-------/---<<<<|====---\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Arisa            1/--=====/=======|=======\=======\1            Zacks
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           1/-----==/=======|

COMBATSYS: Ishida interrupts Zack Hurricane from Zacks with Rolling Stone.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Kenzo            0/-------/---<<<<|====---\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Arisa            1/--=====/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2            Zacks
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           0/-------/--=====|

[ISHIDA]
Ishida generally doesn't have much to say. It's a character trait that appears to serve him well in the moment, as it means he can keep out of the spicy banter between his Texan companion and the dark-skinned researcher who seeks to turn them into experimentation fodder.

That, and, there's three -other- fighters still standing whose discourse is... well, disruptive at best. As much as he might like to join in with Lisa -- reducing the noise level will probably help all three of Zack's bodyguard team.

The art of Muay Thai and the path of the Iron Shirt -- practiced, respectfully, by Zack and Ishida, are both founded on the principle of conditioning the body to deal with brutal stresses. The foundation of both arts, quite simply, is built upon fortifying the body to shrug off strikes that could easily overwhelm other fighters.

So Ishida comes well-prepared to deal with Muay Thai kicks. He steps back to greet the high kick from one Zack with a raised forearm. He addresses the sweeping axe kick that follows with the flat of his shoulderblade. His forearm is once again leveraged into a defense of the second high kick -- and the straight forward kick meets -both- of his forearms, brought as a shield. Each blow forces the young Japanese man to stagger backwards, carving a small rut into the jungle path.

When the Zacks howl in perfect, seemingly rehearsed unison, he sets his jaw, readying himself for trouble. Lisa may have told them to do what they like -- but they seem to 'like' the exact same thing at the exact same time, somehow. That's just a -little- bit creepy.

The path of the Iron Shirt was not developed solely for defense, however. Ishida realizes that the time to strike is now.

The Zack clone's spinning kick is greeted by a winged elbow, as Ishida charges forward! Caught at a high angle, the Zack clone will find himself off-balance as Ishida twists himself around, wheeling a rolling sobat kick into the clone's momentarily defenseless back. But Ishida has something else in store: his revolution continues, allowing him to deliver a -second- rolling sobat kick at the clone, aimed with the intent to send the surprised clone flying towards his 'brother' that's harassing Arisa!

"Incoming," he cautions with only the barest sense of urgency in his tone.

[ARISA]
"Do you--"

Why was Arisa's sentence cut off abruptly? Well, because there's a lot of Zacks here, and one of them just did some ridiculous three-hit kick rekka (bye fourth wall) at an unexpected angle, which takes the Texan entirely by surprise, sending her stumbling backwards until a tree arrests her backward momentum. Thankfully, that impact gives her time to adapt to the other Zack's followup, interposing one of those origami fans from before to help turn the kicks aside and blunt their momentum.

Turning to the side, she sees Ishida attempting to lend her a hand and gives him a little grateful quirk of a smile, before turning back to Lisa, who is apparently just her goddamned nemesis now. "Do you even HEAR yourself?" Arisa snaps, tapping a toe on the ground like a sprinter might before starting a run. "You really tried to 'women in STEM' me?" A hand produces not more origami paper, but a sealing ofuda, and Arisa starts heading toward the Kenzo/Lisa fracas at a healthy jog and an oblique angle. "'Hey, we don't know what informed consent is in our weird eugenics slavery program but we harvest all races equally'? Come on!"

Is this psychological warfare? Is Arisa actually having a social justice moment right now? BZZT false binary IT CAN BE BOTH.

It's also more conventional types of warfare, however, because the Texan suddenly hits the jeep, hops onto the roof, and then somersaults off it, drawing Blue Topaz in midair, upside-down, and slotting the ofuda bullet she folded on the way into the chamber. "You who preside over warriors, descend!" she shouts...

...before sighting carefully for any vector Lisa might take to evade Kenzo's simultaneous attack and literally firing to prevent it at all costs, the curse bullets -- two, this time, just to be sure -- trailing purple-blue light as they streak across the distance.

And Arisa's typical onmyouji incantation is replaced with a very different and more modern exorcism chant: "THOT, BEGONE!"

COMBATSYS: Lisa Hamilton dodges Kenzo's Violent Electrocutioner's Snare.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Kenzo            0/-------/---<<<<|=====--\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Arisa            0/-------/----===|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2            Zacks
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           0/-------/--=====|

COMBATSYS: Arisa successfully hits Lisa Hamilton with Hybrid Jutsu - Tansei Overdrive.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Kenzo            0/-------/---<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\1    Lisa Hamilton
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Arisa            0/-------/--=====|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2            Zacks
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           0/-------/--=====|

[LISA HAMILTON]
As Kenzo pushes her off, sending her rolling across the sand once more, Lisa's brows flatten, her jaw clenching. "That is /not/ what I said," she says as she pushes off the beach with her elbows and wipes away the irritation of accruing sand around her bottom half. As the electrified chain comes at her before she can finish, she's forced to show that she's as flexible physically as she appears to be ethically - spreading her legs apart and dropping down onto her palms to avoid the whirling weapon.

Meanwhile, the 'Ooooweee' of the Zacklone that was assaulting Ishida is cut short as Zack #13 (unluckily) catches an elbow in the chin. He staggers before getting kicked in the back - twice - and sent flying into Zack #14, removing another one of the dozen problems previously presenting themselves to the NFG posse.

(Zack #1, of course, is the one lying out cold with a tranq dart in his neck. Zack #2 was more of a Rhythm Renegades problem and is currently Whereabouts Unknown.)

Zack #12, who had previously been discovering the futility of trying to spin kick a particular ninja, looks distressed as he realises that he's the only Zacklone that appears to still be standing.

"Zack..." he says with wonder as he slowly surveys the carnage.

Then, oddly, his face lights up in a blinding smile at Lisa, presently in a rather presentative pose. "...King?"

He points a finger at his face.

"Not while they're still standing," Lisa says with an indicative head tilt and eyeshift at each of Kenzo and Ishida.

Zack #12's smile turns upside down.

"Excellent~," he mutters darkly.

It's with uncanny alacrity that the Final Zack throws himself at Ishida and Kenzo. "Let's get funky, baaaaybeee!" he declares, as if having assimilated the linguistic power of all of his fallen comrades. It's a herding maneuver - attempting to push Ishida back toward the ninja so that the Zack Remnant can hook both into a shared clinch - trying to bring both their upper bodies down into his knees as they alternate between the two targets.

At the same time, Lisa is still in the midst of her evasive maneuvers as she's confronted with another barrage from Arisa behind her - this time one that would certainly leave an assortment of punctuation visibly popping up above her head if depicted in most graphical mediums. She starts to straighten up and turn around to face the Texan with an eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Seriously - GYAAAH!!"

She stumbles as the cursed bullets slam into her hips while she's trying to rise, causing her to clutch at her wounded regions.

"Right, I almost forgot about that point of hypocrisy," she grumbles. "The part where /I'm/ supposedly trying to kill /you guys/."

Willing away the pain to be dealt with another time, Lisa cartwheels toward Arisa, twisting into a backflip kick aimed at the Texan's upper body. If she can land it, she'll follow up by sliding along the sand to kick up toward Arisa's stomach, before trying to trap her legs with Lisa's own and twist to send her face-first to the ground! If that works, she'll proceed by keeping Arisa's legs trapped and rolling to try and loop her arms around and wrench the Texan's neck and spine back with a painful facelock submission hold!

COMBATSYS: Zacks successfully hits Kenzo with Nightmare Stand.

[                            \\  < >  //////////////                ]
Kenzo            0/-------/---<<<<|>>>>>>>\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Arisa            0/-------/--=====|>>>>>>>\-------\0            Zacks
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ishida           0/-------/--=====|

[KENZO]
Kenzo eyes go wide as soon as he sees the weight go sailing past Lisa. It was a surprise to see it not connect. After his modifications to the move, he could count on one hand how many times it failed to connect and still have fingers left over.

The surprises (of the unpleasant variety) keep coming for the unfortunate ninja as knee after knee gets driven into his ribs. One shot even causes Kenzo to suspect he's going to be pissing blood.

Suddenly Kenzo disappears in a bright flash and reappears right behind Lisa. The only harbingers of what Kenzo's about to do are the sound of crackling electricity from below her chin, and the smell of ozone. After that, Kenzo pulls the chain taut across her neck and tries to jam his knee into her back.

Having sacrificed his escape for the attempt to hinder their adversary, he then falls to the ground unconscious.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo can no longer fight.

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Arisa            0/-------/--=====|>>>>>>>\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Ishida           0/-------/--=====|>>>>>>>\-------\0            Zacks

COMBATSYS: Zacks successfully hits Ishida with Nightmare Stand.

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Arisa            0/-------/--=====|>>>>>>>\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[                          \\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Ishida           1/----===/=======|>>>>>>>\-------\0            Zacks

[ISHIDA]
Ishida was given an assignment at the beginning of the encounter: to take care of the number of Zack dopplegangers that had sprung up. He and Arisa had managed to dispatch all but one -- no mean feat, as the fighter these clones were based upon was, himself, no slouch in combat.

But, somehow, Zack #12 manages to defy any attempts at suppression. As one fighter, the clone had managed to not only -evade- attack, but position himself in such a way that both the speedy nin-gineer and the sturdy first-year are trapped in the same grapple hold. Ishida is visited with a blistering series of knee strikes that leaves him battered and dazed. He's granted the mercy of falling to the ground only after Kenzo's sudden ninjutsu-aided departure leaves Number Twelve offset in such a way that he can break himself free.

Tumbiling off to one side, he draws in his breath -- and is treated to the sight of his senior unleashing a barrage upon the remaining clone. Rolling off to one side, he draws in his breath. Blackness crowds in upon his vision as he catches sight of Kenzo's reappearance. And with as much is going on...

He sticks to the plan. Kenzo and Arisa seem to have their hands full. But with as many problems as the Zack clones have provided, he feels that if he can accomplish that -one- mission... it may be enough.

He leaps back to his feet -- swaying unsteadily for a moment, before collecting himself. In the next breath, he charges in, snapping a quick left jab to Number Twelve's chin. It looks like he might be barreling forward with another strike from his right foot -- but, instead, he drops down, sweeping his foot around for an attempt to sweep kick the Muay Thai doppleganger's feet out from under him.

Should he succeed in that swift attack, he'd drop one more fist down into the sunglass-adorned fighter's chin to complete knocking him out. And only then would he feel a moment of contentment before turning his attention back to the contact that Alpha Zack had, at one time, trusted.

COMBATSYS: Arisa counters Trick Viper from Lisa Hamilton with Chouten Jutsu - Mitsuboshi.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Arisa            0/-------/------=|>>>>>>>\>>>----\1    Lisa Hamilton
[                          \\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Ishida           1/------=/=======|>>>>>>>\-------\0            Zacks

[ARISA]
Ah, but the trick is, if one is solely watching and/or listening to the Girl Fight(tm) going on between (Ar)(L)isa right now, then one might miss that the Texan is not as unprepared for all this as it might initially seem:

[rewinding noise] When she drew the ofuda before to prepare her cursed bullet, it simply LOOKED like there was only one. She in fact produced a small sheaf, a couple of which she began to prepare even as she folded the rest into the bullets that were fired at the erstwhile geneticist.

That comes in handy now as the scientist-luchadora backflips in for a kick; performing a quick kuji-in, Arisa flings the remaining ofuda into the air, which in a burst of sacred blue flame become a trio of vaguely bird-shaped shikigami. One of the birds angles hard into Lisa's leading, attacking leg, slamming into it to ruin her aim; the other two criss-cross at the buxom battler in an X-shaped pattern with their fiery bodies, while the Texan uses the interruption to retreat a bit to safety.

Perhaps blessedly banter-free for a moment, she crouches near the fallen Kenzo, checking to make sure he's just out and not seriously wounded, before looking over at Ishida and saying a little internal prayer to whatever gods are listening that his assault on the final Zacklone will put it down. "You doin' alright over there, Ishi-kun?!" Arisa yells, trying to track Lisa's response with her gaze at the same time.

COMBATSYS: Ishida successfully hits Zacks with Rockslide.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Arisa            0/-------/------=|>>>>>>>\>>>----\1    Lisa Hamilton
[                          \\\\  < >  //                            ]
Ishida           1/-----==/=======|>>>>>>>\>------\1            Zacks

COMBATSYS: Lisa Hamilton dodges Kenzo's Shocking Ambush.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Arisa            0/-------/------=|>>>>>>>\>>>----\1    Lisa Hamilton
[                          \\\\  < >  //                            ]
Ishida           1/-----==/=======|>>>>>>>\>------\1            Zacks

[LISA HAMILTON]
As the Last Zack Standing delivers the final pair of knee strikes in his barrage, he finds only air, having been blinded by the flash of light from Kenzo due to inadequate ninjitsu protection factor on his sunglasses. He turns around only to be greeted by a jab connecting with his chin. "Thhaaaack!" he protests, having bitten his tongue and staggering back. His feet are swept out from under him, causing him to fall to the ground and bite his tongue again before the coup de grace falls on him, his glasses forming a crack from the impact.

Meanwhile, it appears that birds trumps butterfly as Lisa is blown out of her cartwheeling kick by a trio of blazing blue bursts that send her spiralling to the sand, now burnt as well as bloodied. She groans as she rolls over with a bit less gusto than previously, sand cascading off of her body as she makes it onto one knee, then unsteadily pushes herself up. She only narrowly notices the appearance of the ninja to her rear before he can tighten the electric noose around her neck. She ducks down, delivering a quick Nelgada Tecnica to the ninja to make sure he's down and out and stumbling to a stop as she faces Arisa and Ishida, panting.

"And another thing -" she starts to say before she's suddenly cut short by a horrible noise.

"GaaAAaaCKk," a dazed but dedicated dozenth duplicate with a thrice-bitten tongue groans, zombie-like, as he rises up, oblivious to the blood pouring out of his nose and mouth as he winds up both arms, "Theckfee Kiiiiiing!"

With that, the Chosen Clone hurtles at Ishida, aiming to crash into him with a leaping uppercut, his account already overdrawn in the consciousness department, destined to fall regardless of the result.

Lisa's eyes are simply wide with horror at the sight, a visible cringe hunching her shoulders as the clone leaps into final action. She turns back to Arisa, straightening her features. "Nevermind. Let's just get this over with," she says, starting to bounce on her heels again as she tightens up her fighting stance.

COMBATSYS: Zacks can no longer fight.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Arisa            0/-------/------=|=======\=====--\1    Lisa Hamilton
[                          \\\\  <
Ishida           1/-----==/=======|

COMBATSYS: Lisa Hamilton focuses on her next action.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Arisa            0/-------/------=|=======\=====--\1    Lisa Hamilton
[                          \\\\  <
Ishida           1/-----==/=======|

COMBATSYS: Ishida dodges Zacks' Twin Twisters.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Arisa            0/-------/------=|=======\=====--\1    Lisa Hamilton
[                          \\\\  <
Ishida           1/-----==/=======|

[ISHIDA]
Ishida rises from his last strike against Zombo-Zack just in time to catch the blue blazes that send Lisa sailing into the dirt. Steeling himself for attack, he starts to move in to assist -- but Kenzo himself is much much faster. The Shaolin student gasps with shock as Kenzo is given one parting shot from the dark-skinned researcher...

But then his good ol' buddy Number Twelve rises to his feet -- and seems to be making an attempt to raise his knuckles into the would-be monk's jaw! Ishida acts reflexively, kicking up a small plume of sand in his wake as he harshly throws himself to his left. The twelfth Zack's fists whistle right past Ishida's descending shoulders with no particular fanfare -- and a moment after that, Ishida rises from his tumble to give one quick spin-kick to the Zack clone to gravity-assist him back to the ground!

It's here that he's finally able to catch his breath, nodding in Arisa's direction. He ... Isn't *quite* sure what to make of the new nickname he's been given; there's a mild furrowing of his brow that suggests some measure of approval... but mostly just confusion.

"... I am fine," he states, upon recognizing that there was a -question- attached to that unexpected nickname.

Lisa rises back to her feet, and suggests that the fighters... get this over with.

Ishida draws his hands up into a Chinese boxing posture. "Mmm, yes." He could say a number of things -- like how he'd hope she'd forgive them for doubling up their attacks upon her. But considering how this little scuffle -began-, there might not be much room for mercy...

"Let's," he agrees, with a brief nod to Arisa.

In the next breath, Ishida will lurch forward, unhinging his forearm into a backhanded smash against Lisa's guard. The Iron Shirt practitioner would then pitch forward to slam his forehead into the researcher, hoping to create an opening for Arisa. He'd then whip around to drop a guillotine kick onto Lisa -- one that, even if it -misses-, would be likely to shear a furrow into the ground beneath her!

"Hnn... Hnn... HAAAA!"

[ARISA]
This has all gotten a little extreme for Arisa's taste, all things considered. Zombie clones? Kicking Kenzo when he's down? Someone bit through their tongue, maybe?! Never mind that she's feeling pretty bruised and battered and, for better or worse, Ishida -- who practices a fighting style all about body hardening! -- is probably faring even less well. This isn't to say they haven't made Lisa and her army (well, squad) of Zacklones feel it, but the longer this goes on, the more it feels like something bad might happen.

When Ishida gives his laconic affirmative, the Texan grins, rolling her shoulders a bit. "Good to know! Be a shame if either of us got shanked before we could properly hang out or whatever," she adds, as much trying to keep her own spirits up as his. Because the truth is... this really doesn't seem like it's gonna turn out well for Our Heroes unless luck is on their side, given Lisa's greater experience.

Reaching into... wherever it is she gets these things from, Arisa produces a length of thin but resilient chain with a grappling hook on the end of it; letting the chain part fall on the ground before her, the demon hunter's daughter starts swinging the hook, the air whistling heavily as she does so. "Ken the Eagle over there isn't the only one who knows how to use one of these," she says aloud, her grin actually getting a little wider.

Ishida takes off like a shot, and Arisa takes a few heavy steps forward before giving the hook one last decided spin and then hurling it at Lisa. Arms, legs, torso, it truly doesn't matter; all she needs to do is get purchase on the luchadora, and then yank her forward into Ishida's waiting forehead and/or kick... and if Lisa doesn't break free after, so much the better: it'll leave her right where Arisa wants her.

COMBATSYS: Lisa Hamilton dodges Arisa's Rodeo Dynamite.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Arisa            0/-------/-----==|=======\======-\1    Lisa Hamilton
[                           \\\  <
Ishida           0/-------/-----==|

COMBATSYS: Lisa Hamilton counters Fissure King from Ishida with Tornado Neck Twist.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Arisa            0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton
[                                <
Ishida           1/-------/=======|

[LISA HAMILTON]
Alas, even with the Law of Conservation of Zack-jutsu having finally swung in his favour, Zack #12 fails to find purchase, finally kicked over to collapse on the sand like a child making angels from the first snow before going still.

And with that, the numbers have finally swung against Lisa.

"Me without my clones, and you without your ninja," Lisa says with a wistful sigh. "Guess we're even, then." She does flit her eyes briefly behind herself to confirm that the ninja in question /is/ actually lying amongst the Zack Squad and not simply using a ruse to carry on doing ninja things.

When she turns her eyes back ahead, it's to the sight of Ishida lurching toward her and Arisa, by all appearances, looking to lasso her with a chain. She's pretty sure she heard the Texan suggest that she, despite having failed to do so thus far, was going to produce a bladed weapon with lethal intent against them, but decides not to take it the wrong way. Besides, she's too busy throwing herself into a series of flips and round-offs to leap over and under and around the weapon being swung her way, apparently having been a champion jump roper in a former life.

"It didn't work out for him, either," she points out to the Texan as she pants for breath. "I'm not actually big on being put in chains -"

There's still Ishida to deal with, though. She's already managed to slip the forearm smash just on merit of creating distance during her evasive tumbling. She leans backward, denying Ishida's invitation to a tete-a-tete with a sharp involuntary intake of air.

Then, he drops the kick - and that's when Lisa aims to turn the momentum. She grabs his leg as it descends, using it for leverage to flip herself up and catch his head between her legs, then flip him down to the beach on his back with a spin of her body, still holding onto the limb when they land and wrenching it painfully from her prone position - possibly enough to produce a sprain, or worse. With this encounter so much closer to the wire than the scientist had anticipated, the stakes feel too high for half-measures.

[ISHIDA]
Ishida's barely able to hide his frustration at seeing Kenzo confirmed down. The most frustrating part of this all is that he lacks the experience, the speed, or the skill to -keep- the researcher from effectively having free reign over the first-season fighters.

It's... even tougher to hide his disappointment once his attacks miss their marks. But, oddly, once Lisa grabs hold from him, it's no longer a concern: it's pretty easy to put on a pained expression when he's being twisted to such a point that he's nearly about to pass out. Something didn't bend just right, just then -- and he's not in any position to -deal- with it as Lisa is showing her refusal to let go.

He could strike back. He could try and unleash one of his prior attacks again. But ultimately, the one comment he chooses to make is not an answer to Lisa -- but to Arisa.

"Drinks on me if you can knock her out."

As long as Lisa's holding onto him -- he'll do what he can to hold onto -her- in exchange. Ms Hamilton is fast -- but if he can use the last of his strength to root her in place, maybe that'll be worth it.

COMBATSYS: Ishida assists Arisa.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Arisa            0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton

COMBATSYS: Ishida can no longer fight.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Arisa            0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0    Lisa Hamilton

[ARISA]
"Why is it," Arisa mutters to herself, as she twists her wrist and hauls the grappling hook back her way with a sharp tug, "that so many people in pro fighting are so freakin' *smug*?" The chain is retrieved and stowed in whatever place it is she hides those weapons, but Arisa never took her eyes from Lisa, meaning she gets to watch with frustration as the ever-resilient Ishida also takes one blow too many for this fight. The Texan's fingers curl in and outward as she tries to work out what to do now.

And then Ishida -- risking further injury, considering Lisa kneedropped an already-unconscious Kenzo 'just to be sure' -- puts himself on the line to give her as good an opening as she's gonna get at this point... one, considering the gap in experience and resources here, Arisa pretty much fully needs.

Origami paper is produced as the demon hunter's daughter takes off at a low run, furiously folding as she skims along the ground in a slight serpentine toward Lisa. "I'm not drinkin' age here, I don't think," Arisa says, as she closes in on Lisa, plants one foot, and then pivots, swinging her paper creation -- a pair of nunchaku -- in a little triple twirl of strikes at Lisa's shoulders, before swinging one last time upwards toward her chin like a little mini uppercut. "But if I'm wrong, you got yourself a deal!"

COMBATSYS: Lisa Hamilton counters Medium Strike from Arisa with Spine Striker.
- Power hit! -

[                          \\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Arisa            1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1    Lisa Hamilton

[LISA HAMILTON]
Lisa doesn't smile as she feels the leg give way in a fashion that suggests she won't be having to worry about Ishida for the time being if she can get herself up and away from him. Accordingly, she decides to try and roll away - but finds herself stopped by Ishida's clinginess. "I'll have you know that I do /not/ play smug when I'm in the ring," she protests as she uses the moments Arisa needs to form her next paper nunchaku to pull herself free of her teenage entanglement.

Still slightly off-balance from Ishida's efforts and badly battered, Lisa almost trips toward Arisa as she moves to the outside of her weapon arm to avoid the spinning strikes. She steadies, though, by grabbing hold of Arisa's outstretched arm - then using it to drag Arisa toward the ground face-first. "As for my day job, I actually score well below the professional mean on the NPI for bio-engineers." She jumps up in the air, bending her knees as she aims to drive them into the Texan's lower back.

[ARISA]
"You started this whole thing... with a dart gun and an attack squad..." Arisa bites out, as she gets to her feet from yet another of Lisa's series of complicated counters, gritting her teeth and gripping her left elbow with her right hand, one eye squinted mostly closed. "And now you're... trying to boohoo about... pay disparity?" There really is no meaningful expectation for why Dr. Hamilton appears to have gotten on Arisa's last good nerve, though the fact that after days of captivity, not-quite-starvation, and isolation, there was only one last good nerve to get on might be involved.

She's maybe got one more move in her before she blacks out, but the Texan is determined to make it before she gives in, a fan of sealing ofuda appearing between her hands. The kuji-in she makes might be a little shaky, her posture a little wobbly, but Arisa squares off with Lisa with one last defiant surge and lets the now-glowing talismas fly into the air, each one becoming a chi-formed clone of Arisa herself, a more advanced type of shikigami than the birds from earlier... but each one burns with the same sacred blue flame and is more than capable of delivering a burny beating to Lisa if she's not careful.

Dropping to one knee afterwards, Arisa puts a hand on the ground and takes big heaving breaths. Unlike Kenzo and Ishida she's still conscious, but it's obvious there's no more fight left in her either way.

COMBATSYS: Arisa can no longer fight.

                                  >  ////////                      ]
                                  |=======\====---\1    Lisa Hamilton

COMBATSYS: Lisa Hamilton blocks Arisa's Chouten Jutsu - Hakkekyou.

                                  >  ////                          ]
                                  |=======\======-\1    Lisa Hamilton

[LISA HAMILTON]
Lisa rolls away after the knee drop, stumbling as she gets back to her feet, head tilting back as she breathes in deeply. "No! It's a test for diagnosing narcissism," she says with a scowl, before her shoulders sink at the sight of Arisa unleashing one more gambit against her. "Seriously?!" The staggering scientist summons up one final burst of her own, forcing her form into action as she fends off the fiery figures with a series of twists and thrusts to push them away. She's left with singed hands and shoulders and shins from where she's redirected the mystical forces in the end, and almost falls down herself afterward. It takes a long, deep drag of fresh air through her nostrils to steady herself before she can stand straight and assess the situation.

Looking around at the bodies strewn around the beach like a college basketball team that got caught in a tornado, Dr. Lisa Hamilton pronounces her thoughts succinctly:

"Dammit."

She strides over to where the proto-Zack is lying, bending down and rifling through his pockets before producing a keyring with a miniature Niki plushie at the end. "Ugh." She then hefts the disc jockey in a fireman's carry - fortunately trained for such situations by her time as a luchadora - and dumps him into the passenger seat of the Jeep, leaning across to test the engine with the pilfered keys.

She then does the same with Ishida and Kenzo - carrying each in turn, a little more weary each time, the sun by now hitting the secluded beach in full force.

Drenched in sweat, she finally turns to Arisa, then the other Zacks, and considers for a few moments.

"Screw this," she concludes, "cleaning up is assistant work." She turns and staggers to the Jeep before slumping into the driver's seat and firing it up properly.

Pulling out a small two-way radio communicator from somewhere, she presses the send button. "This is H. You're gonna want to make a pickup on the far beach. And by the way, I'm taking your car."

With that, she floors the accelerator, sending the vehicle tearing off up the jungle road.

A few minutes later...

"Stupid roots," a foul-mooded Lisa mutters as the vehicle jostles for the third time in as many minutes of driving, before flitting her eyes aside and addressing her snoring copilot. "Haven't you hired people to clear this crap up already?"

Turning her gaze back to the road as she turns around a bend, she suddenly goes wide-eyed as the road is filled with what appears to be a massive length of hosepipe several feet in diameter.

"What the...?!"

*CRASH*

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

Lisa blinks as she takes in the scene after a forceful sudden stop that sees both Kenzo and Ishida jostled out of the back of the Jeep. Upon closer examination, it becomes clear that the giant hose blocking the path is actually an exceptionally large, deceased snake. This surprises Lisa less than it should.

She then realises that there are two bikini-clad teenagers taking a selfie next to the snake, one of them covered in bile. While the purple-haired one is still gawking in confusion, Lisa reaches out and snatches the phone out of her hand. "N-D-A," she says simply before reversing, then steering around the snake's tail and off into the jungle, abandoning the two Japanese fighters.

The gloopy purple-haired girl's eyes go wide before her face contorts into fury.

"You bitch!!!"

COMBATSYS: Lisa Hamilton has ended the fight here.

Log created on 17:28:29 08/15/2024 by Ishida, and last modified on 11:33:18 08/29/2024.