Description: S.I.N. isn't terribly popular with a lot of people in the aftermath of the Shadaloo participation in the invasion of Southtown... but after the little stunt they pulled with Leona Heidern and just a wee bit of BLECE, they shot close to the top of the Ikari Warriors' hit list. Heidern puts Clark Steel on the case and, by sheer stupid luck, he runs into the very person responsible for Leona's 'transformation'. A bit of good luck on his part -- and bad luck on Viper's -- leads to 'Miss Perfect' being carted off for an audience with an individual sure to be less... neutral.
The tanks rolled out; the rescue workers rolled in. How long ago was it that these streets and buildings were a war zone, torn apart by the struggle between crime lords that was the end for Geese Howard? For those who lived through it, it likely feels like it was just yesterday, especially since the very landscape seems to be a constant reminder of the devastation. Yellow tape cordons off construction zones, and cranes and trucks bring in the materials that will one day turn downtown Southtown back into its former glory. Much like New York after 9/11, the only thing that can't be fixed is the gaping hole that Geese Tower's absence leaves in the skyline.
Surprisingly, one little street cafe was left entirely untouched by the devastation. It's turning out to be quite a windfall for the owner since reporters, construction workers, and returning residents are now flooding in for drinks and conversation at all hours of the day. Thankfully, the afternoon heat has moved people inside... all except one figure, who sits at one of the outdoor tables with an iced tea in one hand, tapping away at a sleek black laptop of indeterminate make. Her outfit, at casual glance, says 'company exec': well-tailored black suit jacket, white shirt and tie, black slacks. But the fact that the white shirt ends at midriff height, combined with the serpentine style of her long red braid, suggests that this particular exec lives in a perpetual casual Friday, or is something a little different.
The tea, glass beaded with condensation, comes up to Maya's lips. What she's reviewing is the remote team's camera feed of her little 'test' on Leona Heidern. Something's been bugging her ever since the event itself, which Viper left a little early; she had no desire to stick around and see what Leona would be like once she was either unconscious or bereft of targets, though the Kusanagi boy seemed to be handling her alright. No... the effect the BLECE had on her was far over spec. Far, far, far over spec. The only one who even came close was the Oe brat from Taiyo, and while he gained the same berserker tendency his offensive power stayed about the same. Leona, well...
The dark red brows arc downward on her tanned face, as Viper watches Leona cough up blood before attempting to rip Kyo's face off with her bare hands. No, something is clearly wrong here. With a sigh, she sips the tea and looks back out on the scene. She'd hoped coming back to where it all went down would give her some insight, or spark some memory to crawl its way out of her mind and make some overlooked fact apparent. Currently: nothing of the sort.
"Damn," she mutters, setting the glass down.
Some might wonder why the Ikari Warriors didn't have as much of a presence in a mass invasion of Southtown as one might expect. While some of the Ikari did indeed show, as was obvious with Leona being there, the more prominent members like Clark and Ralf were not. The reason for this was simple: the Ikari were, in this one case, less interested in helping to defend Southtown, and more interested in discerning actions behind the scenes. It was perhaps a gamble to think that the people within Southtown would be able to fight off the combined might of "R", NESTs and Shadaloo, but in the end the Ikari had won that bet.
Sadly, they didn't gain much information.
Now, however, the Ikari had to turn their attention to something else. Some other thing that had happened during the invasion to one of their agents. The Ikari knew well about Leona's... other half. But not many other people did, and considering what some of the aims of those 'other people' have, letting them find out precisely why Leona acted as she did would be bad. Clark had been dispatched for this one. Intel from lesser Ikari agents had a vague description about a 'person of interest' involved in that incident that had disappeared shortly thereafter. Clark's goal was to bring her in for questioning, which could be nice... or not. Either way, Heidern would be the one conducting the interrogation. He just had to bring her in.
The description had been of a 'obviously figured woman' with 'odd red hair' and 'business-like clothes except not'. Considering Southtown, that could mean more than a few people. But as Clark turns the corner from the other side of the cafe - presumably to enter into it to question some employees about the activities that happened here, even if it was a weak lead (who stays around to watch a berserker fight someone with Kusanagi flames?) - the big man stops, his eyes glancing over, by chance, to the... obviously figured odd red haired woman in business-like clothes but not.
Huh. Score one for intelligence, finally?
It seemed unlikely that the same woman involved in Leona's Rioting could be here, but he wouldn't be one of Ikari's best warriors if he didn't at least check. Turning away from the cafe, the man walks towards the woman, not bothering trying to be discreet or secret-like. After all, he's well known as an Ikari warrior... and he's a huge American in Japan. It's kind of hard for him to blend in. Coming to stand at the table, gloved hands in his pockets, Clark casts a huge shadow over the table. Then, just to keep with the 'big scary American + Ikari warrior' bint, he asks: "Could you make my job any easier?"
Sure, he doesn't know -for sure- it's who he's looking for, but being so blunt might make her slip up and reveal herself if so. Being big and scary has its advantages.
Well, Kyo DID warn her, didn't he? 'Once Colonel Klink finds out you kidnapped his daughter here, you're gonna be in so much shit.' And Crimson Viper -- stonefaced double agent that she is -- had borne his warning with typical amused sangfroid. And now, casting a long shadow on her laptop, her iced tea, and her afternoon, is one of 'Colonel Klink's' most trusted seconds.
And the worst part is, she doesn't even close the video window. Clark gets a really most instructive and pleasant view of two things: Leona hurling herself at Kyo, and the S.I.N. logo on the truck in the background. A stylized eye surrounding the world... one of Seth's little jokes, and probably the reason why Vega is Not Amused with S.I.N. right now.
She doesn't respond immediately; she lets the video play on while she reaches down, picks up the glass of iced tea, and sips it. Clark Steel's dossier isn't exactly Freemason-level secret society stuff. Of the two really famous Ikaris, he's the calm, measured, capable one; the yin to Ralf Jones' yang. Jones would probably wade in here, punching first and asking questions later. Clark's not likely to do that, and as the CIA operative well knows, the most critical part of keeping your cover is keeping your cool. There's a reason why the S.I.N. employees 1.) refer to her as 'Miss Perfect', and 2.) have no clue about her identity despite the fact that her deep cover name is her damn real name and her apparent nickname in the circuits -- 'the Crimson Viper' -- is, beyond all probability, her CIA codename.
The very thought makes her smile before she sips.
But then the glass goes down on the table, a finger comes out to hit 'Stop' on the media player, then the whole hand snaps the laptop shut as Viper finally turns to Clark and, looking up, adopts an expression of innocent curiosity. "Well now... if Kusanagi was right, that would make you... Sergeant Schultz, wouldn't it?"
Sergeant Schultz? ...Oh, right. Though that stone-like face of Clark's doesn't show the vaguest hint of confusion at the reference, there IS a slight pause as he takes that comment in. Either he doesn't get the reference, is surprised, or just not amused. ...Considering he's silhouetted by the sun behind him, and he's already got the shades and the hat on, it could be any of the above. Or maybe he's just more interested in what he saw on the viewer. That seemed... a little too careless, even if removing the viewer from his sight would've illicited more suspicion. In whatever case, Clark turns his head slightly, and then says, "Unfortunately, I know something." There's a slight change to his voice, adding in a weak though good German accent to the 'something' so it comes out like Schultz: 'sahmtink'.
"I'd rather appreciate it if you made things simple and came with me. My employer would like to have a few words with you." There a slight pause again, and Clark's hands come out from his pockets, the man shifting his bulk backwards a touch. "If you'd prefer not to be simple, however, I have orders to likewise not be simple." Clark then lets that hang in the air. Despite the comedic shift of his voice to a German accent for but one word, there's very little joking about the big blond man. He knows he's intimidating simply to look at, and if his dossier makes any mention of it, he's known to be a rather kind man... but one that knows how to use those muscles, and not just for throwing people around.
"Which'll it be?"
It WAS a little suspicious, wasn't it? Almost as if Viper wanted Clark to see what was on the screen... of course, if she were a completely evil, thoroughly devious individual, she could be doing it to try and unbalance him emotionally, throw him off his game. Or she could be giving him a clear view of the logo for the organization that kindasorta Rioted Leona on accident.
Who can say, really.
Clark's buy-in to her joke elicits a genuine chuckle from Viper, who despite it all decides she rather likes this professional-seeming man. Something in the redhead's intuition says she'd probably want to put her fist through Ralf's face within 10 minutes, a vibe she doesn't get from his partner. She paid good money for that iced tea, and she's going to drink it; indeed, she takes one last sip and sets the glass back down on the table before she gets up and dusts off her black slacks. Standing, she's actually quite a bit taller than she looks sitting... perhaps because of the slightly chunky heels of her black boots. Heels that, amusingly enough, have a surprise inside.
"As one professional to another," the redhead says distractedly, reaching in her jacket pockets with slow, open gestures so as not to provoke an immediate, LAPD-'she's-got-a-gun!' response. Out come a pair of black gloves with, oddly, silver metal leads on the knuckles that stretch thin silver lines to the wrist cuffs. The S.I.N. superstar keeps talking as she pulls them on with, again, exaggerated slowness. "You've got to understand that I don't really want this to go the hard way, but well... I know your employer, and unlike Kyo's little joke, I don't feel like spending any quality time with Heidern. I bruise easy."
Preparations complete, she stands square, but her carriage is loose, ready to get moving whenever. She'd rather let Clark kick things off, if necessary... she doesn't really feel like fighting him, but a job's a job. "Sorry in advance. It's strictly business."
Perhaps surprisingly, Clark lets her drink the tea. Ralf would've just smashed the table already. And probably a few windows. Though Clark cared for Leona like an older brother might, Ralf was the one who... cared for Leona a little more than he did, though Ralf had never actually said as much. It was just an observation... and likely one Heidern had made as well, if he knew his boss. It seems Clark, too, has no real desire to fight this woman, but orders were orders, and if nothing else, he wanted answers to questions as well. Caring about her or not... Leona was an Ikari. That was enough by itself.
So the big man lets Viper finish her drink. Lets her stand up and arm herself. Lets her prepare herself. Tactically speaking, it was a terrible thing to do, but it speaks volumes of the situation. And once Viper signals her readiness? The big Ikari's response is to simply nod in acceptance. And then, he attacks. Rather than trying to close the distance, he simply lifts his foot and slams it into the table between himself and Viper, sending the object flying upwards and towards the redhead with crushing force.
COMBATSYS: Clark has started a fight here.
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Clark 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: C.Viper has joined the fight here.
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Clark 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 C.Viper
COMBATSYS: Clark successfully hits C.Viper with Large Random Weapon.
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Clark 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 C.Viper
Well, he did the nice and polite thing, you have to give him that. Perhaps where Viper goes wrong is that she's watching the man's hands. Clark has fought in enough public, sanctioned fights that the S.I.N. superstar feels like she has a handle on his style. He's a grappler, and a puncher. A versatile guy, for sure, but in her mind's eye Clark is all upper body. Thus when she sees his legs move she tenses to move out of the way of, say, an attempt at a grab, or a right cross. She does NOT expect the table to become part of the equation, so by the time she realizes the thing is headed for her it's a little too late. Viper's attempt to dodge sideways comes too slow, and while it's a little impromptu, Clark's an experienced fighter... you can't just dismiss something like that because it's *improvised*.
The result is that the table, the redhead, and now the fight move out on to the street, which thanks to the construction is blessedly free of traffic. Inside the shop, the owner -- who felt his good fortune in his cafe not being blasted to bits so far was a gift of divine providence -- breathes a sigh of relief, then goes back to saying a series of prayers that these two will keep things either 1.) civil or 2.) way the hell far away.
A gloved hand comes up and Viper wipes it across her mouth. That really, really stung, thanks. Despite it all, however, she keeps her cool, smirking back at Clark. "Man of few words. I like it." Snarky or not, the statement at least is genuine... though with the redheaded double agent, it's usually impossible to tell. "Not enough to keep me from kicking your ass, but I like it."
Then she attempts to back that statement up, starting things off with a bang: there's a burst of white steam from her suit's jetboot heels as Viper basically Rock Howards her way across the ground, barely even touching it as one fist comes out, extended, looking to make a nice, swift impact with Clark's face. Of course, it doesn't help that said extended, glove fist crackles with electricity, either...
COMBATSYS: Clark blocks C.Viper's Thunder Knuckle.
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Clark 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 C.Viper
Clark is, if nothing else, a tactical fighter. Someone who has spent years - since before he was an adult, actually - fighting in jungles against corrupt governments and their militaries. Since joining the Ikari Warriors, he's taken that fight from the jungles of South America to a more global stage, but one doesn't fight against people for practically all their lives, and remain alive, by sticking to formulaic approaches to everything. Certainly, he was a grappler primarily. But grappling only worked when you were close to someone. And, using that same tactical judgement, he'd deemed Viper as someone who relied on quick movements, moving out of the range of attacks, then closing in quickly to strike hard, then back out again. If that was so, he had a table between himself and Viper - that just wouldn't do.
So removing an obstacle had turned into an attack all at once. The attack forced the woman out into the street, and Clark began to follow. But predictably, she was already rushing in to strike him, hardly needing any time to recover herself. Planting his feet, the big man raises a hand, and the fist crackling with eletricity, rather than slamming into his face, slams into his forearm. Still painful, but much less painful than having his facemeats hit. Further, Clark is good enough to sweep the hand to the side as he's impacted, diverting some of the momentum behind the attack... and at the same time, knocking aside part of Viper's guard, or so he hopes. For the Ikari is already following up with his own attack.
The arm not knocking aside Viper's fist shoots in, and seeks to gain purchase by grabbing the woman's clothes. If that happens, the next thing is she's yanked straight forward, into Clark, then straight up into the air. Clark then goes down onto one knee, the other still raised prominently. At the same time, he pulls Viper downwards, hard - making her spine meet right into that raised knee, practically bending her over it should the entire attack go through.
As for her half-compliment-half-jab, much to the compliment's credit, Clark doesn't even respond to the taunt. At least, not with words.
COMBATSYS: C.Viper blocks Clark's Arabian Burglary Backbreaker.
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Clark 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 C.Viper
Had that hit clean, Viper might be in a better position to do something about it. As it is, she has a mere split second to react to Clark's attack, and the best she can hope for is mitigating the damage a little bit. She's in too close to escape Clark's expert grip, but she doesn't just stay still and take it once the Ikari starts bringing her down for the remainder of the grapple; instead she twists her body, using all the force she can muster, so that his knee slams into her side rather than her back. The resulting combination of strike and twist is still pretty painful, but just as Clark's deflection meant not taking the brunt of her electrically-charged fist, so too does this keep the S.I.N. superstar from the full force of Clark's wrath.
Stepping back, Viper decides to back the show into the street again. Keeping her distance, the redhead watches Clark carefully. He's tough, and that's to be expected of a career soldier... as is often the case, she's going to have to rely on guile and good old-fashioned trickery to make it through the day. And while she doesn't necessarily have any investment in dealing serious harm to Clark, Viper really can't afford to be taken prisoner by the Ikari right now. S.I.N. is already in hot water with Vega thanks to Seth's antics with the BLECE prototypes... anything else is more hassle than she can handle.
Better to rattle him some, then.
"I have to say I was a little surprised at Ms. Heidern's reaction to... certain stimuli," Viper says evenly, making slow, sideways steps around Clark in a tight circle. "I mean, we'd tested that thing pretty thoroughly but the geeks practically wet themselves with glee from that data." She doesn't ask any stupidly pointed questions; Clark won't answer them, even if she did, so why bother?
COMBATSYS: C.Viper focuses on her next action.
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Clark 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 C.Viper
The hit doesn't land clean, but like Clark had already surmised, Viper was a quick one. It doesn't seem to deter him any that she's not just a paper tiger. She's a fairly skilled individual in her own right, it would seem. Rising from his partially crouched position, the big man is all too willing to follow Viper out into the street, circling to the woman's side so that no longer are they fighting with the cafe in the direct line of fire; they're both facing along the street's direction, meaning fewer opportunities for excess damage. Seems they both had collateral damage on the mind as something to avoid. Odd, that Viper would have the same thing in mind... if that indeed was what she had in mind, moving out onto the street.
Then the comments, obviously meant to disturb his calm, come. There's a slight pause at the words, and then it's almost a sure thing that the man is frowning slightly. But is he /rattled/? ...That, can't be told. Considering the Ikari Warrior is about as emotive as the stone statues on Easter Isle. "Certain stimuli," he says, though doesn't make it a question. Instead, he seems intent once more to deal some damage. Rushing forward, Clark seeks to close the gap between them, and his attack is rather simple and straightforward. No picking up and slamming or anything fancy: he just seeks to ram his shoulder into Viper, and knock her to the street ground, gloved hands pressing down to her shoulders in order to pin her in place, one of Clark's most favored moves and a much more obvious wrestling influence than some of his other strikes.
COMBATSYS: C.Viper fails to interrupt Clark Tackle from Clark with EX Seismic Hammer.
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Clark 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 C.Viper
The Ikari employing a Moai. If she were more of a nerd, Viper would wonder, briefly, if Clark could fire ring lasers from her mouth. As it is, that would be a sight to see.
He's moving quickly, and what is interesting to Viper, as she continues to watch the man's movements with analytical exactitude, is that the real danger of this attack is the momentum. It's linear, in its own way... but the fact is you have to play an expectation of evasion against the probability that if that momentum catches up to you, there's going to be hell to pay. Deciding that so far she hasn't fared very well against Clark's attacks, Viper decides that she's not going to take any chances. The merest of physical motions on her part brings suit systems to life, the gloves and boots responding to controls only Viper seems to know fully. She braces herself for impact, setting the heels of her jet boots against the ground. One gloved hand comes up, and rather than the blue-white glow of electricity, it's surrounded by a hazy aura... the kinetic generators spinning up.
Sadly, her plan -- to catch the tackle and blow Clark clear across the street with a burst of kinetic force from the glove -- does not work out; she misjudges the angle of the tackle and ends up getting smacked in the stomach. However, prior preparation DOES serve her well in the end; rather unexpectedly, she does not seem to go down no matter HOW much force Clark applies. The reason why? Probably that loud sound, like steam escaping, coming from below... where, if he looks down, the Ikari can see Viper's jet heels on high output. The result is a ridiculous degree of counterforce... certainly enough to keep her from being bowled over by anything short of a wrecking ball in full swing. Thus what could have been a truly devastating blow is instead turned into a grazing blow... for which the double agent is quite thankful.
Disengaging herself from Clark, Viper steps back and gets into stance, but she's smirking a little bit as she does so, the boots turning off and depositing her on the ground gently, like a hovercraft shutting off. "Sorry, bright eyes," she tacks on, bemused. "Going to take a little more to get my on my back than that."
Usually, when Clark uses his tackling maneuver on people, there's a few responses to predict. One is the goal of the attack: to slam the opponent to the ground and pin them. That happens pretty regularly. Another is to have the attack evaded altogether. That, too, happens regularly. All other responses are typically variations of these two. But rarely, if ever, does Clark hit someone directly... and feel like he's ramming into a brick wall. The effect is a little jarring to him, and for a moment he isn't quite sure what to make of this. Speaking purely of mass versus mass, Viper had a lot less mass than he did. Which meant that there was a good deal more force. Unfamiliar with how this woman fought, he could only guess at gadgetry - the heels of her boots. Interesting.
The Ikari jumps back, settling onto his feet firmly, and seems to revise certain thoughts he'd had... or, tries. But then there's a slight, awkward pause as Viper makes that comment about getting her on her back. ...Could it be that Clark was shy? Or was it just surprising? Either way, there's no blush or anything like that, the big man just seems momentarily distracted. Then, he's, once more wordlessly, digging feet in to rush forward and strike. Gloved hand flashes out and once more attempts to grab the woman by her clothes. If knocking her back wasn't an option, then grabbing her and jerking her forward might be something he could do. If he's successful, the woman is pulled past Clark, the big man doing a 180 turn with the woman being held in the air. Then, the redhead would be lifted up, and quite simply slammed back into the ground, one hand being used only to deliver this punishing slam into the floor.
COMBATSYS: Clark successfully hits C.Viper with Strong Throw.
- Power hit! -
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Clark 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 C.Viper
She's underestimating him... or, perhaps, is letting not wanting to mess up the Ikaris any more than she already has get in the way. Or it could be that Clark is just that good... or Viper's just that not on her game at the moment. Either way, it spells bad news for the redhead and good news for the Ikari, as his grab snatches onto her suit jacket's lapel and from there, it's all over. Those boots need recharging, and they're not going to save her a second time. She's left with only an attempt to either force or wiggle her way out of Clark's grip, and without the benefit of her suit to back her up, that's just not going to happen.
The S.I.N. agent literally bounces off the ground after Clark hurls her down, sending her skidding across the ground even farther off the street. It takes a second for her to get up, but when she does, that glove is glowing again. She really, REALLY can't afford to get kidnapped right now, especially when perceptive little Heidern is going to ask so many *difficult* questions she really doesn't feel like answering... and the only way to ensure her safety is going to be to reveal Shadaloo secrets and piss them off at S.I.N. *even more*... or to let Heidern slit her throat.
Neither is an attractive option.
"Sorry it came to this," the redhead says to Clark in a neutral tone. "Seriously."
With that, she slams her hand into the ground. The glow diffuses... and just as suddenly, the ground under Clark goes up in a titanic explosion of kinetic force, enough to crack a crater 10' wide in the space around him. Water sprays into the air as a main is shattered by the force of the blow, dust fountaining upward in a spiralling cloud... and looking to take Clark with it if he's not careful.
COMBATSYS: Clark endures C.Viper's Seismic Sledge.
-+- CALCULATED HIT -+-
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Clark 1/----===/=======|=------\-------\0 C.Viper
Grabbing and slamming is something Clark does best, though he rarely sees someone actually bouncing from when he throws them... maybe he put a little too much force into that one. See, while Viper didn't much want to fight him, Clark had a job, an obligation and a duty urging him to fight. The core of him may not really want to fight, but that wouldn't stop him. ...But it was also for those very same reasons that he couldn't really just beat Viper black and blue. She kind of needed to be conscious and not broken to answer questions. Though the conscious part would probably be regained even if he knocked her out here, the latter... wouldn't be so easily fixed. Nevertheless, Viper now seems to be getting a bit more serious as she realizes that, despite the big Ikari's reluctance, he still will carry out his orders. And she shows that pretty well... when she slams her fist into the ground.
And then hell itself seems to explode under Clark's feet.
Though his eyes can't be seen behind the shades, there's a definite impression that his eyes widen as he feels the shifting below him. Then he looks down -- and then that entire section of the street is just flooded with light, kinetic force and water from the busted main, which surely will piss off the construction crews. The kinetic shockwave, directed all upwards from the big man's feet, rages up over him. There's a shout as he's hammered, simply being ravaged by the energy.
Yet, before that eruption of force can clear... Clark simply EXPLODES out of the fountain of light and water, and rushes straight for Viper.
He's hurt, but clearly not hurt -enough-. Rampaging forward, the big man seeks to once more grapple with Viper. But this isn't any simple slam. Instead, he's lifting her up off the ground without slowing, should he gain purchase, and then slamming her right into the ground. Then she's up again, a 180 spin, and Clark's running the other way. A short, rushed distance, and Viper would once more be spiked into the ground. And finally, once more she's picked up, rushed back the way she came... but then is thrown into the air. The Ikari continues to run, then leaps up into the air, grabbing the flying Viper by her oddly styled red hair.
And then, built up momentum and applied force through Clark's body falling as well as his arm pulling her down to the ground all combines to viciously -slam- Viper into the street.
COMBATSYS: Clark successfully hits C.Viper with Running Pirate.
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Clark 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 C.Viper
The last thing she can actually say is: "...we're going to have to update your file, Mr. Steel."
She really, REALLY wasn't expecting him to simply waltz through that. Obviously, Viper respects Clark enough to know that, despite the strength of the blow she just unleashed, it wasn't going to take him down. But she did expect that it might slow him down, or at the very least send him *away* long enough for her to regain her footing and take a second or two to assess the situation anew. The idea that he'd be able to keep his footing is truly more impressive than she would have thought possible. But she's not going to go down without making a good effort at a defense. She might not be as sturdy as Clark is, but Viper's a woman on a mission... a very important mission.
That jet boot trick probably isn't going to work a second time, so she doesn't bother to try. Instead, the gloves of her suit spark to life with electric power... not to attack, but to charge the suit she's wearing with static. The redhead makes an attempt to 'catch' Clark, like a bullfighter snagging a bull, but his momentum is too great. One, two, three times she's slammed to the ground... the suit's defensive measures cut down on some of the force of all three slams, but not enough. She's conscious, but that's just about all; there won't be any more resistance from Crimson Viper.
Grimacing, she rolls to her feet, thinks better of it, and slumps forward, hand over her stomach. It should be obvious to a trained soldier like Clark that she's not going to be any further threat. Despite it all, however, the CIA double agent has every intention of going down fighting... even if that fight is entirely verbal. "You're just lucky..." she says, voice somewhat raspy thanks to the injuries of the fight, "...the helicopter's in the shop."
COMBATSYS: C.Viper takes no action.
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Clark 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: C.Viper can no longer fight.
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Clark 0/-------/-------|
The attack he'd delivered was punishing... and might seem to go against his decision not to hurt her TOO badly. But in reality, it went perfectly. After all, he could try to daisy chain her out by doing low power attacks... but that'd promote prolonged damage, which would be just as dangerous, and probably MORESO, than just ending it in one strike. So that had been what Clark had in mind... and now, looking at the woman, subdued though not out, he'd made the right call. Thankfully.
"Fortunately, I've got more at my disposal than helicopters," the big man responds. And then he reaches for one of the many pockets on his flak vest, opening the flap and then removing a small yellow thing that looks like a local civilian walkie-talkie. "Echo this is Steel. Have found and subdued target. Need pickup at..." he rambles off the street corner. There's a squawking back at him, partly in disbelief. He already found her?! But then there's an acknowledgement. Clark, for his part, doesn't do anything more, just keeps his eye on the downed, injured woman. Assuming she doesn't try anything, in a few moments a personnel carrier makes its way up the street, despite it being closed off to traffic. Several uniformed men - Ikari soldiers - hop out, and begin to get Viper to her feet and haul her back to the transport, wherein they'll begin their rather long trip back to base.
And all the while, Clark remains silent and taciturn. Fairly stoic guy, ain't he?
COMBATSYS: Clark has ended the fight here.
Log created on 17:57:37 06/24/2009 by C.Viper, and last modified on 22:11:18 06/24/2009.