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Rita Ringtail Vs. Knockwork

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Introducing two new characters here. 

On the left, lowlife bum and small-time criminal Rita Ringtail. Formerly a teenage runaway, she was kidnapped by a group of morally-bankrupt geneticists of unknown affiliation. It wasn't long until she knew what they were up to - she, along with other homeless kidnapped all over the city, would be the subject of genetic experiments aiming to graft animal DNA to human bodies. The goal behind the experiments was unknown, but after countless failures, fear and resentment engrained in the test subjects. Those who survived the experimentation would be returned to their containment cages, deformed and displaying eclectic animalesque appendages, such as vertical-slit pupils, sharper teeth, and as the experiments went on, partial limbs, tails, claws and wings. The mutants eventually sought to overthrow the scientists, and prepared for a breakout. And they did, right as they brought started experimenting on a sixteen years old brunette, infused with raccoon DNA... When she awoke, the scene before her resembled a nuclear fallout - mangled machinery, corpses of both mutants and scientists, and the ominous calm and silence after the storm... With no recollection of her identity, the young woman instinctively made her way through the facility, looking for the exit. In the midst of the confusion and fear, it took her several minutes to realize her condition. She took a moment to look at trembling, fuzzy hands with leathery palms and claws instead of nails - her hands. Her feet had turned into raccoon paws as well. She then sought to find a mirror - she couldn't see or feel any other unusual appendage or obvious mutation... Until she saw her reflection in a puddle. She touched the tufts of fur around her eyes in a mixture of sadness and sheer incomprehension. What were they trying to achieve? A lot of unanswered questions stormed through her mind... After escaping the facility, the young woman returned to the only life she knew - begging. But people are less inclined to donate even a nickel to someone as "freakish", as she would be called, as the raccoon girl. It didn't take long for her to turn to crime. Adopting the moniker Rita Ringtail, having long forgotten her actual name, she began a string of hold-ups in small fast food restaurants and convenience stores. threatening to give rabies to anyone trying to stop her. She never had the ability to do so, but the threats alone were enough to ensure no one would want to mess with her. And in the off chance someone did attempt to stop her, Rita's newly gained agility would give her enough of an edge to escape most regular law enforcers. She was never enough of a menace to society to warrant superhero intervention... But her years as a homeless criminal were about to take quite a drastic turn...

On the right, humanoid alien superheroine Vh'an-Ess, better known as Knockwork. Despite revealing very little of her past, Knockwork is said to have crash-landed in a field in Utah some time during World War II. She adopted the alias Vanessa Verner and quickly integrated society with now one knowing her true origins besides herself. She applied for a job as a radio reporter, but during an altercation with a man on her way out of the station (probably someone who didn't think women could do as good a job reporting the news as a man - this was the 1940s, after all), she punched her detractor through a store window. Some say she punched the man so hard he flew through the store and landed in the alleyway behind it, but that might be exaggeration. The story quickly became nationwide news, and talent agents were looking to recruit her. Vh'an-Ess became one of the first serious woman boxer, and helped elevate the state of women in other disciplines as well as her own. The name "Knockwork" is taken from a Freudian slip by her former boxing coach. During a championship bout against the ruthless Olia Vanderfield, Vh'an-Ess' coach attempted to say "Punch her down like clockwork", but ended up only saying "Punch her knockwork". The word stuck in the alien's mind for years. Getting bored of boxing in the mid-60s, and aware of her physical prowess, Vh'an-Ess decided to turn to vigilanteism, and used the word coined by her coach as her superhero handle. She quickly joined the rank of the Righteous Coalition, then-America's foremost justice league. But a feud with the nefarious supervillain Frost Ferdinand left her congealed in a block of ice, which was subsequently buried under a glacier in Antartica. In 1993, the Knockwork-filled block of ice resurfaced in the Sixtus river, which runs through Glenmetropolis. She was recovered and taken to the F.L.O.O.D. headquarters, where their scientists safely unfroze the alien heroine. It took her an entire year to adapt to the new era and locale, but once she'd come to terms with what'd happened to her, she quickly volunteered to join in the superhero group. Besides from her alien superstrength, it seemed that being frozen for so long enabled Vh'an-Ess to unlock her true fighting potential, as she now had the capacity to trigger an aura that doubles her physical abilities for a short amount of time.

Unfortunately, it seems that aura was no match for Rita in this scenario. Despite not having rabies, her claws are infected with a non-lethal neurotoxin that relaxes muscles, leaving her foes momentarily paralyzed. She's taking advantage of her foe's weakness and, apparently, weak lungs as well...

I had a blast drawing this. The pose made me scratch my head quite a few times at first, and I completely re-drew it at least three times before being satisfied with it. I had a similar problem with Knockwork's colour scheme, which, to be honest, still might go through some changes. I really like Rita's colours however. Especially the ponytail, which I wanted to look like a raccoon tail. It becomes a ringtail when tied like this, and it wiggles about following her emotions and whatnot. Her hair returns to normal when it's loose though. Expect to see more of these two gals in the future.

Rita Ringtail, Knockwork, Olia Vanderfield and Frost Ferdinand © :icongpsbassist:
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2424x4870px 10.13 MB
© 2016 - 2024 gPsBassist
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