High Velocity

A little place to document my work on this little world of mine. My art style is very inconsistent, so please bare with me. Instagram Twitter/X -Page currently under construction-

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The First Incident

It was a typical day of training for the younger staff at Vortexurity. Everyone was following their usual schedules; warm ups, basic sparring with each other and their own personal training regimes. The standard for an early Wednesday morning.

Zena was sloppy during her warm-ups. Her form was off in the most basic of stretches and it was easy to tell she wasn’t pushing herself at all. Every now and then she’d snap out of whatever trance she was in and do a couple push-ups or a small arm stretch while staring into space. No-one in the gymnasium was paying attention to her while doing their own thing in their own little groups. Something had been keeping her mind at bay for weeks and she couldn’t seem to shake it. She got up from the last stretch on her program and walked towards the board that had the sparring ladder for that day, not like it was a competition it just kept training simple and straight-forward. Zena was against someone called Kaelia, she looked around and spotted the girl waving at her with a big smile on her face. Zena walked over to her and met her smile with one slightly smaller.

“Hey Kaelia. I’m looking forward to sparring with you.” Zena says as cheerfully as she can.

“I am too! I’ve seen you fight in other training sessions before and you really inspire me, so it’s an honour to go against you today. Let’s give it our all!” Kailia exclaims, placing an arm on her slightly flexed bicep and the grin on her face becoming even wider. Zena responds with a smile and a nod. Damn, she’s got a lot to live up to in this fight and she is not in the right mind for that much pressure right now.

The girls weren’t up for a few rounds so Zena was given some time to sit and just think. Maybe clear her mind even slightly so no one would think anything was wrong. She sat staring into space while the other’s sparred. After a few rounds, it was her turn to fight. But something was holding her from getting her to stand up. After a few seconds of seemingly staring into space, Kaelia walked up to her and offered her a hand.

“Is everything okay Zena? You’re usually up already.” She asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

“I’m fine, just feeling a little sore, I think. But that won’t stop me bringing my A-game for you!” Zena says, taking the hand out in front of her and jumping up, shaking her hands while hopping on the spot to ‘hyping’ herself up.

They took their positions on the mat, facing each other and taking their starting stances. Zena with one foot in front of the other and her hands in a similar position. Kaelia opted for a more low to the ground wide stance with her arm at her knees and out in front of her. She meant business, and any other day Zena would’ve been more than happy to match the energy. But she had to try her best, push the thoughts away, even if it’s just for this fight. A chime rings signalling to begin. Kaelia makes the first move, taking a few quick steps towards Zena, eyes wide with determination. Zena snaps back to reality just in time to block the incoming punch by ducking and using that opportunity to kick Kaelia’s legs from under her, making the contact before rolling to the side and quickly standing up. Kaelia drops to one knee but recovers quickly and stands back up to a regular stance.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Kaelia says with a smirk.

“Y’know I’m only just getting started.” Zena says with a wink.

The two continue to trade hits for a few minutes, neither of them taking a moment to touch the ground. Zena goes for a low hit on Kaelia to get her off balance if she’s sneaky enough but her mind becomes foggy in the moment she’s about to make contact, leaving her back open which Kaelia takes full advantage of, pushing down on her back, pushing Zena to the ground. The impact of her chest hitting the ground immediately knocks her out of whatever was going on. Kaelia moves her arm and offers her hand to help Zena up off the ground.

“Are you okay? Sorry if I went a bit hard there, had to give my all to even stand a chance.” Theres obvious concern in her voice.

“Yeah I’m fine, nothing I’m not used to.” She cracks a half-smile and takes the hand, brushing herself down as she stands up. Zena walks back to where everyone is waiting for their round and sits down, slightly off to the side from everyone with her knees in her arms.

The rest of the rounds go as usual, and now its time for solo training. Finally.

Zena’s first exercise was barbell squats, not her favourite but it felt good no matter the day. She walked over to the racks and started setting up the bar for her exercises. While putting the plates on the bar, a colleague she’d been on a few missions with walked up to her.

“Hey Zena?” she sheepishly asked.

“Hm? What is it Rane? Zena turns her head to face her while putting the plate on the bar.

“Is everything okay? You haven’t been your usual bubbly self today. And it’s not like you to accept a defeat just like that even one you could’ve come back from.” Something so kind yet to Zena it came across as accusatory, as if she wasn’t allowed to have off days and there was something wrong with not being herself.

“I have a lot on my mind, is that a problem to you?” she almost hisses through clenched teeth.

“No, no, it’s definitely okay, you’ve just never seems like someone to have bad days, everything about you seems to be perfect all the time.” Rane responds, hoping she hadn’t said anything wrong. Zena takes a sharp breath in an attempt to calm herself enough to respond but its not enough. Whatever is fogging up her mind just want to escape.

“Well Rane, I hate to break it to you, but I can’t be the ‘Star Child’ every day and I’m sorry I’ve disappointed you all.” She barks at the woman now standing a step away from her. Before she can even think about what she said, a black mist starts to leak out of her left arm, a subtle crackling sound coming from the joints in her metal fingers. The mist gets thicker and without thinking, her arm raises and pulls Zena towards Rane.

“Wait! What’s happening! Zena I said I was sorry!” Rane begs, while quickly stepping back before stumbling and falling backwards. While still being pulled toward the woman, Zena starts frantically trying to grab her arm, begging it to stop but to no avail. Tears are welling up in her eyes. What’s happening!? Mere steps from Rane, Zena feels a sudden warmth around her torso before hitting the ground with a thud, her arm immediately being restrained but the person on top of her, both their leg and hand, moving their leg as the dark mist begins to fade away.

“What the hell is wrong with you!” the person shouts in her face, which is already covered in tears. It’s Araden.

“I-I don’t, I wish, I don’t know, I-I promise!” Zena says with tears running down her face and into her mess of hair laying underneath her. After a few moments when he decides she won’t be a threat anymore, he helps her stand up and immediately leads her out of the gymnasium and the two head towards the medical wing of the headquarters.

While walking, Zena is silent. The tears on her face have dried up, leaving her cheeks red and sore. Araden made sure to stay on her left hand side in-case her arm was to act up again. They arrive at the med bay and Araden explains the situation and asks them to call Ceara down. Somethings not right here and he’s going to get to the bottom of it for Zena’s sake.

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Something I drew ages ago but only decided to clean up recently

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Hello!! It’s been a while! This account turned 6 years old today! Crazy stuff and I figured I should bring some life back into it!! I had a little break from drawing over Covid but I’m back and hopefully gonna start work on this project properly again. Until I get back to work building, here’s some recent drawing I’ve done of my children that I’ve posted on my Insta!

I hope to bring more art and lore to this account in the coming year!

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Change

I’ve been hating some designs and story aspects lately, so I’m changing things up a little bit. Nothing major, just maybe new characters and some other minor character and story changes.

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wow i havent uploaded anything here in forever

um, here’s a poorly written interaction between these idiots

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SO, Ceara got an update and I’m really likin’ how she looks now!

Second pic is her old look from like Feb

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High Velocity - Prologue :: Cover | Tapas

The beginning of Zena's journey. From her training to meeting new people and big changes in her life.

The cover and first page are up! Second page coming next Monday.

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Golly gosh, digital painting is quite difficult. But I wanted to give it a try to step out of my comfort zone of always using some form of cell shading in my art.

This was quite a challenge and it took me at least two days and it doesn’t even look super finished but I was sick of looking at it.

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“You’re An Idiot”

“Zena, I said I was sorry.”

“Sorry isn’t gonna bring our target back Araden.”

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Just two bros chillin’ after yet another failed mission.

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I never join twitter hashtags but I had slight artblock so yeah

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“Smart Casual”

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Hi, I’ve been working a lot lately so I haven’t had much time to actually finish a drawing that I didn’t hate

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I'm not a writer by any means, but I wanted to try writing about this drawing in a kinda fan-fictiony way. Enjoy I guess. _______________________________________________________________________ The cafe was quiet. A few patrons walked in, bought their fill and walked out. None paid any mind to the stranger sitting by herself in the corner of the small, run-down establishment. Zena kept her notes brief, making sure to only to jot down anything that her mentor may find to be of any use. She had been stationed in Dosmore for not even a day and she had already gathered up at least two pages of information regarding the Medon criminal empire. The Medon criminal empire was a group of highly sought after criminals who dealt in mass murders and heists all over the inworld. The empire had many sub-groups splitting off from it which dealt with smaller jobs including petty theft and illegal weapon trades. Zena had been sent by her mentor, Ceara, to gain as much intelligence on the empire as she could in a weeks time while undercover as a journalist. During her assignment, she was ordered to avoid speaking to anyone unless absolutely necessary. Simple enough, it was only a week, she could handle it. She continued discreetly surveying the entering and exiting patrons while casually sipping on her now cold black coffee. An hour had passed and the sun had begun to set, signaling that it was time for her to pack up and head back to her temporary residence. As she was about to stand up, a woman who seemed maybe a year younger than her approached her table with what seemed like a hot drink in her hand. The woman was dressed in baggy teal pants with a light tan satchel hanging from her right hip down to her left thigh, her top left almost nothing to the imagination as it clung to her chest, clearing showing off her lightly freckled skin. Her hair was almost the opposite as the pale blue mess covered the entire right side of the woman's face, showing off an intricately designed side-shave. The tattoos on her left shoulder and right wrist looked almost familiar to Zena, she knew the empire had certain marks that would show which group someone was from, but the ones on the women didn’t seem to fit with any that she had seen earlier in the day. “Who are you, and why are you here?” the woman almost shouted, slamming her cup on the hovering table in front of the two of them. “I’m a journalism major, I’m doing research for an article I’m planning to write on this city,” Zena replied with the confidence of someone who was telling the truth, which she surely wasn’t. “Is that so?” the women snapped. “Seems pretty odd to be writing about a city that’s outside inside this tiny cafe.” Zena gulped. “I needed a break from walking around the city, and this place seemed like a pretty nice spot to try.” She responded, her robotic fingers slightly twitching behind the laptop out of the other woman's view. She sat down on the seat opposite Zena, not taking her eyes off her once, causing Zena to force her hand to stop moving by adjusting her position to cover it with her natural arm. “Where’re you from?” the woman asked, glancing down at Zena’s now still robotic arm. “Ophyria.” That was a lie “Ophyria, huh? So you must practically live the high life when you’re not in a dump like this.” She queried, taking a sip of her drink while still keeping her uncovered eye on Zena. “If you could call it that. I’m almost always at the university so I don’t really get to live much unless it has to do with a project.” Another lie. The women placed her cup down and continued staring at  Zena. “If it isn’t too personal, can I ask what you’re name is?” she asked trying not to sound too professional or inquisitive. “Nah it’s good, you seem pretty chill so I have nothin’ to worry about. The name’s Taron, you?” Shit, she hadn’t thought this far. She couldn’t give her real name to a possible member of the empire, although Taron did seem pretty trusting. Shouldn’t someone who’s part of a major criminal empire be a little more vigilant? May as well test it. “Perzena, though my pals back home call me Zena.” She said with an almost worried smile. “Well Zena, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She said while holding out her right hand, Zena took it with her robotic arm and gave it a firm shake. “You too.” she replied. The two sat in silence while Zena pretended to work on her ‘article’ while Taron continued her drink. Every so often, Zena would glance up from her laptop to look at Taron’s tattoos, subtly enough to hopefully not be noticed. “See something ya like?” She loudly questioned, causing Zena to lock eyes with her. “I was just admiring your tattoos. Do they have any significance?” She asked with curiosity. “Oh these?” she said pointing to the tattoos in question. “The skull is the logo of the gang I’m in, and these three lines are how many generations of my family have been apart of the gang.” She stared at her wrist before looking back at Zena. “Why the sudden interest?” “Oh, I just thought they looked cool. Mine ain’t too interesting since it’s just a bunch of shapes. I’ve always wanted to get one that’s a bit darker, but I don’t think the university would appreciate that.” She forced out a small laugh in hopes to continue the lie. “I honestly don’t believe that you would be attending such a prestigious university with that many scars on you, plus the arm,” Taron stated suddenly. “Are you sure you haven’t been lying to me?” She didn’t even bother looking up from her now finished drink. “Okay, I’m sorry. I’m not a journalism major, and I sure ain’t from Ophyria.” No going back now. “Then where are you from, tell me everything.” Taron basically commanded. May as well comply. Zena began telling her everything, keeping names secret as to not get herself in trouble. She also didn’t mention the name of the agency for obvious secrecy. During the rest of the week, Taron began to tell Zena more about herself, from also losing her mother, to joining and leaving the gang. “Wait, you left your gang? Are you allowed to do that?” Zena questioned while the two sat in the cafe on Zena’s last day in Dosmore. “Well technically no, but that didn’t stop me. The gang I was in was one of the groups closer to the top and the other members just weren’t acting like that was the case, so I attempted to fix that. The head of the gang didn’t like that too much, being the softy that she is and had me locked up.” she rambled on about her whole escape, leaving Zena practically in awe as she had always looked up to women who could take care of themselves. “How would you like to help take down the Medon empire?” Zena practically blurted out as Taron was about to finish her story. “Excuse me?” She asked, confused about the proposition. “You seem pretty against where they’re heading so why not help my agency stop them, in secret of course.” Zena briefly explained. “You know what, hell yeah!” Taron reached over the table and placed her hand on Zena’s shoulder. “I’d be happy to help a chill girl like you.” “It’s settled then, I look forward to working with you.” Zena smiled and placed her robotic hand on Taron’s.

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Hi, new character.

This is Taron. I didn’t really want to upload her full ref because it’d probably give away too much about her, but here’s some general info;

Name: Taron Imanke

Age: 22

Occupation: adventurer and mercenary

Home: Dosmore

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The full version isn't super nsfw, but I thought it best to be safe. Full version under the cut.

This is Zena’s sister when she was younger. Before she met her husband, she was an exotic dancer at the club where she actually ended up meeting her husband as he was the bartender at the bar.

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I attempted a colour palette thing with a sleepy Araden who’s about to head to training early in the morning. It doesn’t even look like him I’m sad.

I may not have mentioned who this boy is, info will arrive soon just not too soon