I really like how this doodle came out, it was already great alone, but after some slight retouch, it's even better! I honestly might try to include more base shadings in trad!

Anyway, have a short story below !
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It's a dark night...

You were just strolling around the street like usual, until you hear some hustle in the distance.



It was a group of rascal picking on someone much weaker than them. You want to help, but deep in you, you know farewell you are not strong enough to face those brutes. Still, you can't let that poor person alone, even if it means getting in trouble yourself as well, you never know how far those individual will push their bullying.



You interfere, grabbing the attention of the rascals, but... like you expected, now they are on you... you are the new target...

You can barely see behind them the person they were picking on, it's a poor guy who got beaten-up, what a rough day for him. But now it seems you are about to endure the same fate as this poor guy.



Right as the biggest rascal picked you up, you can hear a voice in the distance:

"Hey, losers!"



Has everyone looks in the direction of the voice, you can spot the figure in the distance, resting on a streetlight, flipping a coin over and over again. It was a dark-skinned woman, rather small, with large messy orange hair topped by a big gray cap. She was sporting a simple orange crop-top and baggy red pants, ornate with a big belt and what seems to be some kind of jewelry on her midriff.



You're thinking to yourself, and wondering why on earth would she get into trouble like you did. "We are outnumbered, lady!" you said in your head, "There's no way we can deal with them...". Has your internal voice keeps doubling down on the doubts, the leader of the rascal talked back to her:



"Would you look at that! Another victim trying to stop us, like this dumbass." he pointed a finger towards you; "You really think you can take all of us on, just like that? How foolish..." he laughs, the group also exploding in laughs.



The short stack doesn't respond, flipping her coin at a consistent rhythm, observing the scene with attention.



"Nothing? Really? You will just stand there and enjoy the view? What was even the point of calling us all losers, then? You are the loser here! Just like those two other losers. And you know what we do to losers ?" has the leader finished is sentence, he looked towards you. Soon after, the big rascal prepares what looks to be the biggest pummel of your life. You ready yourself to take the blow, closing your eyes...



...



...



...



But it never came. Instead, you heard a strange noise, it sounded like a bullet ricocheting off a wall. As you reopen your eyes to see what's going on, you're met face to face with the big rascal head having a noticeable hole on is forehead. You quickly looked around, noticing all the rascals being frozen in place, shocked by what just happen. Meanwhile, the orange short stack was still laying on her streetlight, still playing with her coin. You thought to see something strange about the coin, until you get abruptly interrupted by the big brute falling over. You managed to free yourself from the giant corpse and decide to take the opportunity to check on the other guy, who wasn't so lucky.



"H-H-How did you... You got a sniper friend lying around somewhere, ADMIT IT!", the leader in his panic reasoning made all the other rascals to also start panicking after a few sec. They start looking everywhere around them, praying to not be the next target of this invisible threat.



The short stack, stopped her coin flipping. Taking a look at said coin for a moment, before preparing what looked like another coin flip, until she launched it at very high velocity in the direction of one of the rascals, claiming another one with this makeshift bullet, before it ricochet off another wall and gracefully came back to her.



The leader, stunned by this feat, double back on its words. "Huuh... We can talk? Please? I swear we never meant harm on those nice fella's, we are just good friends! Right?", he smiles nervously, looking at you and the beaten up guy. "We were just teaching them how to... defend yourself late at night!", some nervous snickers coming out of is mouth.



The short stack flipped her coin one last time, and as she catches it, one of her eyes start to glow a bright orange. She finally left her pole and started to walk in your direction. You quickly glance at her, one of her eye is on fire, soon after, you notice rising flames around her. Is this a demon? Or a fallen angel? Many questions start to pile up. In the meantime, some of the rascals start to run away, many follows, but the leader is too scared to even move.



"S-S-STAY AWAY! STAY AWAY FROM ME!", he screamed. Is screaming started to fumble into an incomprehensible mess of words, before he got engulfed in flames with the remaining rascals in the area, leaving behind just some carbonized corpse.



You and the other person, took cover behind some trash bin. You took a sneak pick at the scene after the roaring flames want away, only to be met face to face with the short stack.



"You guys're ok?" she asked. You simply nodded in response, still too much in shock by what just happened. "Good... I was following you in the shadows just for fun... until I also heard those jerks messing someone up" she looks to the side, "If only I was there sooner... I could have prevented this other person getting beat up...".



While she speaks, you get a better look at her, at first glance she looked like a simple dark-skinned woman, but you soon notice that something is off, it feels like an imitation, the skin looks... fake... not human. All those suspicions were quickly confirmed has soon you finally take a good look at her face. It was white, not painted white, but ivory white. It was a mask, her eyes being doors to an eternal darkness, with red cheeks on each side of her sorrowed mouth. She looked like a big life-size grumpy doll, who seen better days...



"Hey! Quit staring!", this simple sentence called you back to reality. "S-Sorry… I've never seen someone like you before." you said. "Ye, ye... I know, I'm not from your world and all that jazz. Don't bother trying to remember this moment, they will call you crazy... Just say it was an accident, they tried to play with fire and ended up burning themselves, or whatever feels credible.".



She looked behind her, as if she heard something. "I will have to leave, they are coming...", she looked back at you and the other guy. "Stay safe, you two, and recover well". As she was about to leave, you ask her one last thing: "What's your name?".



She pauses for a second, she rose her head to the sky and quickly look back at you. "Call me Distopia.", flames suddenly rise under her, forming a fire pillar before dissipating, her disappearing with it.



You finally hear the sirens of the police, has you recall her name in your tired head one last time, before resting next to the bruised guy. What a tormenting night...