Location: Roanoke

Senshi: Leliel Knight, Angelus Senshi of the Night

Name: Richard Donovan Farrell (Goes by "Rick")

Meaning: Powerful dark warrior of proven courage

Age: 17

Birthdate: December 21st ((Shortest day of the year. Thus, longest night))

Astrological sign: Sagittarius

Blood type: B+

Family: Richard is an only child; in fact his parents never even meant to
have any children, and they almost act as if they hadn't. He receives very
little attention from them.

His father, Orton ((Means "Wealthy One")), 51, is a civil engineer, and is
home very rarely, constantly moving all over the state and even outside,
occasionally, working on projects. Richard and his mother do not accompany
him on these absences, though Richard's father will come home on weekends,
if possible, to visit. He is the family member from whom Richard inherited
the most, and is always very formal and proper in his attire and mannerisms.
He has a bony face and trim, greying hair (it was black in its heyday).
However, he acts very cold towards other people. He is responsible for the
family's wealth, receiving money from his immoral practices. Being a civil
engineer, he is alotted a certain budget by the company to finance
construction projects. However, he always makes his estimates a bit higher
than he ought, and cuts as many corners as possible: using inferior
materials and craftsmanship, omitting certain unnoticeable details, and
such. The result is a hefty gap between the projected price and the actual
cost of construction. He then uses his knowledge of banks and financial
systems to channel that money into his own accounts. Another source of his
income is actually an underworld connection he has. For a hefty reward, he
goes out of his way to arrange certain "accidents" on the construction
sites, sending the underworld's enemies to "sleep with the dirt", as it
were. These two things come together to funnel an impressive amount of funds
into his pocket. The only problem with his schemes is that they become
conspicuous with time, and he is beginning to become suspect to the firm's
other executives (he himself holds an executive position). The reason he
doesn't take his family along to his projects is to protect them should he
get caught.

Richard's mother, Carissa ((Means "Artful One")), 45, has nothing to do with
the money, but she is aware of the unlawful practices of her husband. She is
an extremely artistic woman and spends her days either painting, writing, or
playing her cello. She tends to wear tacky berets and has jet hair which
falls to her hips and (before she mastered the technique of braiding) used
to spill into her palette and make a terrible mess. Contrary to her husband
& son's more athletic physiques, she's built quite averagely. It's her
personality, not her looks, that are unique. She's quite eccentric and will
stop at nothing to do what she views as furthering the artistic world and
building upon the masterpiece that is life.

School: Cave Spring

Likes: Computers, Art, Theatre, and especially Music. Animals of any kind,
and driving.

Dislikes: R a p m u s i c ! ! ! Annoying/hyper people, long queues,
anything else that annoys him.

Favourite food: Chicken Piccata ((Sorry about this last time, Em: I'll shove
some stuff in the explanation section so you'll know what it is ^_^))

Hated food: ONIONS!!

Favourite subject: Music (with Art a very close second).

Hated subject: History.

Colour: Primary: Black. Secondary: Dark Blue.

Hobbies: Is in both the Drama & Art Clubs ((This school has a website to
research from ^_^)), playing his guitar (that one's the biggie), driving
and, oddly, cooking.

Aspirations: Become one of the following: To become a famous actor or,
preferably, musician.

Gemstone: Onyx ((Because it's dark, black, and generally night-like))

History: Richard was born in San Francisco, where almost all of his family
still lives. It was there that his father first used his cheating tactics to
channel money to himself. He was an accidental child, the result of a bit of
irresponsibility on the parts of his parents, and is only alive today
because his mother is a sort of anti-abortionist hippie and refused to put
him up for adoption. He may have been better off that way, though, because
his parents constantly ignored him and generally didn't pay much attention
to him. Finding the pressure to take care of him too stressful, the parental
units hired a nanny to look after him, and he developed a closer
relationship to her than to his own mother. When he turned 5, however, and
he was fully potty-trained and able to change his own clothes, the nanny was
dismissed, leaving him alone. Then he started Kindergarten.
At school, he filled the gap that most kids' parents occupied with the
other kids he met there. He was generally a nice little tyke to know, and he
became quite popular in his kindergarten class.
As the years passed, and Richard continued to grow like a weed, he
maintained his reputation and was generally respected by the other kids in
the school. Simply put, he was a member of the "in-crowd".
Nothing lasts forever. During the summer between 5th and 6th grade,
Orton's financial scheming was discovered by a colleague. Knowing that his
money, his family, his reputation, his clean record, and perhaps even his
life were at stake, he reported the incident to his underworld friends, who
saw to it that the guy was silenced indefinitely. Knowing better than to
stick around, Orton immediately packed up the family and whisked them across
the country to the small state of Virginia, where he knew he would be safe
for the time-being. He chose the relatively quiet city of Roanoke in which
to settle, due to its inconspicuousness. He set himself up with a
construction firm there, and has risen to an executive position. Meanwhile,
the sudden move only served to increase Richard's disdain for his parents.
He has grudges against both of them, but far more seriously against his
father, who plucked him out of his perfect life in San Fran to drop him into
this little dump ((No offense, just his opinion)). He has since warmed up to
the town a bit. When he first arrived in Roanoke, he already had a love for
music and had learned the basics of guitar from one of his mother's friends.
He was inspired by a small-time local band, and took up guitar playing more
seriously. It has grown into his favourite pass-time and he has become an
excellent guitarist, able to mirror professional guitarists with relative
ease. He plays at home and at coffee houses and such dives around Roanoke,
whenever he gets the chance, to make a few extra dollars.
During middle school, after the big move, Richard was a bit of a loner
and sort of kept to himself. However, he was a born socialite and eventually
the craving for human interaction led him to reach out to others once again.
By the time he entered high school at Cave Spring, he had grown into a
pleasant, attractive young man and quickly worked his way up the social
ladder, flaunting his guitar skills as necessary to gain the favour of his
schoolmates. Now he has made up for the lost time and has a multitude of
friends, in fact he and his musically-inclined best friends are starting to
talk about forming a band.
His parents were always willing to buy him just about anything he
wanted; apparently they believe that having all kinds of material goods make
up for their lack of attention. When he first became interested in guitars,
they bought him a modest Yamaha, but he has since abandoned that in favour
of an expensive Fender. He was very eager to get his driver's license
(mainly for the purpose of not having to sit next to his parents when
driving somewhere) and his father, deciding he was a terrible inconvenience
to shuttle around (on those rare occasions when he actually did) saw to it
that Richard got his own car as soon as he got his license: a Toyota Celica
GT-S, which Richard absolutely adores. His free time is divided between
using and taking care of both his car and guitar.
That brings us to the present day: he is a popular, energetic young
man, with a circle of friends earned by his magnetic personality and good
looks. Things have really begun looking up for him after the big move, and
he's settled quite well into life in Roanoke. Life is just peachy ^_^. ((I'm
thinking an interesting plot element might be if Orton got caught again and
tried to move him away like before. *Shrugs* Time will tell))

Personality: Richard is a very pleasant person to be around, which is one
reason why he's so popular. He doesn't tease people or put them down
intentionally; he considers that kind of thing a display of immaturity and a
waste of breath better used singing to the strains of his guitar. He's very
driven and determined, working hard to get the job done... too hard, in
fact. He can be a workaholic and he will very often rush into things too
quickly. ((Which may get him in trouble as a senshi)). All too often he
finds himself in sticky situations because of rushing into something. He is
charismatic, though, and usually he can charm his way out of problems.
On the other hand, he tends to be somewhat forgetful, one of the
reasons he doesn't enjoy History very much. About the only things he can
remember are the songs he plays on his guitar. This wouldn't be too bad a
problem, if he weren't a touch disorganized. He usually manages to keep
important things in places where he can find them, but he has nevertheless
simply forgotten where he's put a number of things. He can remember cold,
hard facts without too much difficulty, though he will forget them on
occasion as well.
Richard is very optimistic and can put a positive face on just about
any situation: when he first moved to Roanoke he hated the place, but he
recognized it as an opportunity to meet new people and immediately set out
to appease his social tendencies.
Finally, there is the issue of his aforementioned magnetic personality.
As I said, he doesn't like to put other people down. He's very friendly and
his natural charisma allows him to make a good first impression on just
about everyone he meets. He's also a skilled public speaker, and has no
qualms about being in front of an audience.

Appearance: Richard is almost exactly 6 feet tall, weighing about 170lbs. He
has a lean, athletic frame ((If I totally screwed up the height/weight
ratio, let me know, I never was good with those things)), maintained by the
training that his Guardian puts him through; he could be quite a success at
sports if he tried but they never really appealed to him. He's not very
bulky, but part of his senshi training consists of weight training, and he
is quite strong. He also has very quick reflexes.
His skin is relatively fair. He has jet black hair, with a plain,
no-nonsense, taper-trim haircut. His face is attractive, with gently curving
eyebrows that serve to bring out his eyes. His eyes are his most
distinguishing feature. They are as black as his hair, and very deep: dark
black pools that you could lose yourself in if you looked at them long
enough. His nose is pretty plain, and his mouth is narrow, shaped just right
to compliment his obvious cheekbones.
He always wears sunglasses outdoors, and his clothes vary depending on
his mood on any given day.

Fuku: Leliel Knight's fuku is every bit as dark as his hair and eyes. For
this reason, and others, he's difficult to see in the shadows. He wears a
simple outfit: a long, black, belted tunic is superimposed on his pants,
also black, which are tucked into the top of his long navy-blue boots. The
only trim is navy blue accents on the tunic, and black soles on the boots:
anything else would make him too visible. He also has navy blue gloves. The
most interesting parts of the fuku are his cape and mask.
The cape is not a simple sheet like most, but instead is composed of a
half-dozen or so wide, ribbon-like hanging pieces which converge upon each
other to look like a single piece when he's not moving, but when a gust of
wind kicks up or Leliel Knight moves quickly, they separate and flap
individually. ((Best reference I can think of is it's like the Dark Templar
from StarCraft)). The strands are navy blue on the inside and black on the
outside.
Leliel Knight's mask is an area of interest as well. His entire fuku is
tied into stealth and the night (that being his power), and the mask is no
exception. It covers his nose and eyes, held in place by a nearly invisible
string of material that loops around behind his head, and is covered by his
hair. The mask is the only ornamented part of his clothing, inlaid with a
number of onyx's. However, Leliel Knight's mask does more than just look
pretty. It acts as the senshi version of night-vision goggles, allowing him
to see adequately even in the darkest conditions (this is particularly
useful with "Cover of Darkness", allowing him to escape, or perhaps even
attack, while most of the other senshi cannot see well at all). Naturally,
if the mask is removed for some reason or knocked off, he loses this
night-vision ability.
Finally, whenever he is in senshi form, Leliel Knight radiates an aura
of darkness. Even during the day, in the middle of a field, he looks like
he's obscured by a shadow. This makes it easier for him to intimidate other
people, and, in fact, has been known to downright freak some people out
((how would you feel if you saw a large shadow walking towards you?)). At a
distance he looks like a shadow, plain and simple, but the closer he is, the
more of him you can make out beneath the aura.

Transformation: Leliel Knight's object for transformation is a sword hilt,
its blade broken off, according to his Guardian, in a legendary senshi
battle long ago. It is made of pure onyx, and is pitch black in colour. The
following is a description of the actual transformation: Richard holds the
hilt up in the air above his head (end that the blade used to be on facing
upward) and shouts his line, "Leliel Angelus Power, Suit Up!" ((I'm too nice
to make him say "make-up")) When he speaks the phrase, what appears to be a
dark mist ((looks like a pitch-black smoke machine in operation)) begins to
rise from the ground. It envelops him and its darkness becomes completely
opaque, obscuring him from view. Shortly, the mist becomes more transparent,
but remains, forming his aura of darkness, and reveals him (if you call a
shadowy figure revealed) in his fuku. At that point, The Shadowblade forms
on the end of the sword hilt and Leliel Knight assumes his finishing pose,
looking as if he's about to strike an enemy in front of him with the sword.

When Richard is in his Leliel Knight form, he tries his best to intimidate
people (which isn't very difficult given his generally dark fuku), and to
seem mysterious, using his social skills to a different end than usual, and
often confusing people by saying unusual things.

Powers:
The Shadowblade: This is not one of Leliel Knight's powers, but rather is
the post-transformation version of his Henshin item, which becomes his
weapon. The sword hilt is as black as ever. The metal blade is, as I said,
long gone, what forms instead is a nearly-opaque, inky shadow. You would
have to have your eye within a foot of the blade to be able to see through
it. Despite the fact that it's a shadow, it functions just like a real
sword, minus the weight ((how convenient! ^_^)) but with the added bonus of
being as cold to the touch as the chilliest night of the year. Leliel's
ability with the sword is limited only by the time he puts in practicing.
Now, for the real powers. Leliel's powers are performed not by speaking
phrases, but rather by concentration and hand gestures.
Cover of Darkness: This is a strictly defensive tactic, useful for
getting out of tough binds. When Leliel Knight concentrates on, quite
simply, darkness, and drives the Shadowblade into the ground slightly, a jet
mist will begin to rise from the point of contact of the sword, much like in
his transformation. It rises and spreads as long as he continues to
concentrate, with no real minimum but a maximum radius of about 40 feet
before he's forced to break his concentration. Whatever he intends to do
under the Cover of Darkness, must be done quickly, because it slowly begins
to fade after just a few minutes and, after it begins fading, starts sinking
back to the ground and also becomes gradually more transparent. It takes
quite a long time to recede, but the only period during which others' vision
is completely obscured is the first few minutes before it begins its
decline. This ability can be used twice a day.
((Scientific explanation: Basically, it absorbs the light rays from the area
it affects.))
Nightmare Revisited: This is also a defensive maneuver, and is used to
intimidate his opponents. It can be quite crippling, but it depends on the
dreaming history of the individual. Leliel Knight concentrates on the face
of an opponent, holding out his hands towards them. When this is
sufficiently completed, it throws the target into a sort of virtual reality:
they not only review, but actually live, one of the worst nightmares in
their memory (just how bad is determined by the amount of time Leliel Knight
spends concentrating). They feel like they are in the nightmare world, but
it is actually a distorted view of their actual surroundings. For example,
let's say that Senshi A had a nightmare once about a roller-coaster they
absolutely hated. Their parents stood there and laughed at their cowardice,
and the person running the ride kept shooting them dirty looks. When
Nightmare Revisited is used on them, two other senshi on the scene appear to
them as their parents. A nearby shop becomes the coaster's pavilion, and
we'll say Leliel Knight appears as the ride attendant. The victim will
experience exaggerated emotions as in a nightmare, and is quite likely,
depending on their personality, to either attack or run away from the
parents and the attendant, or to run from the pavilion, or perhaps to kick
it. What would actually happen is the affected senshi would run from /
attack an enemy senshi, or perhaps even a teammate, or run up to some random
shop and start pounding on the wall, or else run away. I hope that
looooooong example made it quite clear what I mean by this. Leliel Knight
can use this ability once per day.
((Scientific explanation: Causes the target to have hallucinations that they
are living in one of their worst nightmares))
Chill of the Night: This is more of an offensive move. It's a
well-established fact that at night the temperature plummets. When Leliel
focuses on the cold and points the Shadowblade at an enemy, he invokes this
ability. It causes the target to immediately experience feelings of intense
cold, sending all but the most rugged into fits of shivering. The chill
persists until it is expelled by a healing ability, the victim is taken
someplace especially warm, or after five minutes has elapsed. This is a
three times / day attack.
((Scientific explanation: Lowers the body heat of an individual by making
the immediately surrounding air frigid))
Blackened Spear: This is Leliel's most aggressive attack. It can only
be used at night, due to its nature. To invoke the ability, Leliel Knight
holds the Shadowblade straight up above his head, pointing it at the sky. He
concentrates here on two things: the tip of the sword and an opponent.
Because of this "concentration multitasking", the attack is mentally very
taxing and Leliel can only perform it once per day. As he holds the Blade
and concentrates, the darkness of the surrounding air actually seems to be
drawn to and converge at the tip of the Shadowblade. Once there is enough
darkness radiating at the tip of the sword, Leliel brings it down and levels
it at the opponent he was concentrating on before. He then swings the sword
in the air, in the opponent's direction, and the darkness manifests itself
into a projectile of, more or less, pure blackness, which assumes the form
of a sharp spear after leaving the tip of the sword, hurtling towards the
target. Its damage is just like an ordinary spear if and when it hits the
opponent. As always, the longer Leliel Knight concentrates on the attack,
the more powerful it will be.
((Scientific explanation: Draws molecules of air into the one location,
packing them extremely close together such that they form the shape of a
spear, then moves them like a wave towards the target. It is basically made
of air pressure. The Shadowblade operates in a similar way.))

Guardian: ((Okay, I had to scrap the monkey... though I did do research, he
was a Cinnamon Capuchin ^_^. Anyway, if I get around to making another
senshi, he may return... His name was going to be Nepomucene too....
At any rate, I've come up with a guardian that I think is well suited to
this character. I hope you agree. Enjoy! I thought I'd include some of the
list items that normally go with senshi to add a bit of depth))

Name: Giles ((After Saint Giles, patron saint of the fear of night))

Species: Raccoon ((Because it is a nocturnal animal. Also, masked, much like
Leliel Knight. The bands on a raccoon's tail remind me of the strands of
Leliel's cape))

Likes: Food (as per the tendencies of ordinary raccoons), television, rock
music, computers...... ((Giles is fascinated by modern technology,
considering none of it existed during his time))

Dislikes: People who think he has rabies or are afraid of him because he's a
"wild animal", wild raccoons, impatient people, and noisy things (except for
rock music, which is well-known to be noisy. He considers that "sensible
noise" because it has rhythm. It's non-rhythmic noises that he hates, such
as loud machines and people screaming for no good reason)

Favourite Food: Apples. He loooooves apples. Apple pie, apple crumble, plain
apples. Anything with apples.

Hated Food: Anything that comes from the trash (this is one reason why wild
raccoons disgust him).

Hobbies: Training his senshi, learning to use the computer (raccoons have
pretty good manual dexterity).

Aspirations: In order of priority from highest to lowest: Gather the Angelus
senshi in the city (he has no idea they are, for the most part, already
gathered), wipe out the DU senshi that have just recently arrived in
Roanoke, get rid of the other senshi groups. ((He knows that's what's
supposed to happen and he's driven to fulfill his duty)).

Personality: Like Richard, Giles is very driven; he's determined to do what
must be done, though not quite to the extent of Richard. He is much less
likely to rush into things than his charge, being very patient and
preferring to make a plan, considering all the possible courses of action,
beforehand. Giles is very timid around new people. He can warm up to new
people, but it isn't easy for him, contrasting sharply with Richard's social
tendencies. Giles has a lot of wisdom stored away in his little raccoon
brain, and is liable to cough up snippets of Zen. He gives pretty good
advice, too. Though he can't quite shake his species' habit of eating and
scavenging: he's always digging in the bottom of the closet for no apparent
reason (though sometimes he finds things that can be quite useful) and he
loves to eat (especially apples). He loves shiny, new things and is,
therefore, addicted to new technology (he spends his free time learning how
to use Richard's computer, though he's almost been caught by Carissa several
times.

((Moving right along, now, let's get back to Richard / Leliel Knight))

Explanation: After my previous application for Gabriel / Dominick Jeremy
Gallagher was preempted by that super-awesome one (I hope to be working with
Ian in the future, he's a wicked cool senshi), I reconsidered my situation
in applying and I came to the conclusion that I had created him far too
hastily and I hadn't thought enough about him. Also, I was trying to make
him fit an image that wasn't really what I wanted in the first place. So, I
decided that I would make a new character, and that this time I would sit
down and think about it well before I made up my application. After almost a
week in the making, Richard emerged. He's much more like what I wanted from
the start. I tried to stay true to him instead of twisting him out of shape
like I did Dominick.... ((Ties the introversion up, places it in a burlap
sack, soaks it in gasoline, sets it on fire, and drops it over a cliff)) I
was really going after the socialite anyway.
This time I decided my element before my angel, unlike before. I
decided a dark, intimidating senshi of the night (whose personality was
quite the opposite!) would be more up my alley, so I looked through the list
on the Angel of the Day site ((ALL of them... it was quite tiring)) and I
only found two angels related to the night. I chose Leliel because he had a
higher position in the "night heirarchy" and I was planning on making a
relatively powerful senshi. As for the guardian, a raccoon sprang
immediately to mind. I browsed the Saints list linked to on the resource
page and came up with Giles, patron saint of a bunch of things including the
fear of the night.
Now, about Chicken Piccata... it's a variation on a recipe for turkey
piccata, which is turkey scallopine (basically that just means it's really
thin) fried in a coating of salt, pepper, thyme, and grated lemon rind...
it's delicious. But don't take my word for it...... that's the best I can
describe it but I'll throw in the recipe. Try it yourself sometime; you
won't be disappointed:
(If you don't care to visit senshi cooking corner, just skip down to the
words "Recipe ends here")

Recipe begins here.

Turkey Piccata:
Traditionally, piccata consists of seasoned and floured veal that's sauteed
and served with a quick lemony sauce. It's also perfect made with turkey.
-1 Egg
-1/2 cup All-purpose flour (125 mL)
-2 tsp Grated lemon rind (10 mL)
-1/2 tsp Each salt and dried thyme (2 mL)
-1/4 tsp Pepper (1 mL)
-1 lb Turkey scallopine (500g)
-2 tsp Each butter and olive oil (10 mL)
-Chopped fresh parsley
In a shallow dish, lightly beat egg. In separate shallow dish, combine
flour, lemon rind, salt, thyme and pepper. Dip turkey into egg to coat well;
press into flour mixture, turning to coat all over.
In nonstick skillet, heat half each of the butter and oil over medium heat;
cook half of the turkey, turning once, for 6 minutes or until no longer pink
inside. Wipe out pan; repeat with remaining butter, oil and turkey. Garnish
with parsley. Makes 4 servings.
Per serving: About 210 calories, 29g protein, 7g fat, 4g carbohydrate.

*This has been an exact quote from an article in Canadian Living magazine,
all about inexpensive meals (That whole thing supposedly only costs
CDN$2.22). That's the exact recipe. When I make it, I use turkey instead of
chicken, I don't use the parsley or lemon rind, and I find it fries better
with a bit more butter & olive oil (the first time I tried it I singed it a
bit and it was too dry so it wasn't very good. Anyway that's it for the
senshi cooking corner, I hope that gives you an impression of what "a
piccata is, period." I encourage you to try it sometime!*

Recipe ends here.

Ok, I don't think there's much else to explain, so I'll get on with my
writing sample. I wrote a brand new one for this application, though it
seems pretty boring to me. Enjoy anyway!

-------------------------------------------------------
W r i t i n g S a m p l e
-------------------------------------------------------

((The story of how Richard met his Guardian and was introduced to
Senshidom))

Richard said goodbye to his friends standing in the hall as he stepped
out the door of Cave Spring High School. He unlocked the sleek, black Celica
parked on the side of the street and carefully lowered himself into the
driver's seat. After starting the car, he paused for a moment to listen to
the engine. How he loved that sound. Slipping a homemade CD into the
corresponding slot in the dashboard, Richard put the car in gear and pulled
away from the sidewalk to the strains of Alien Ant Farm's "Smooth Criminal".
He knew the streets of Roanoke like the back of his hand.
Soon he arrived at a well-kept, two-storey house with an equally
expansive and well-kept yard, yard care mostly done by Richard himself. He
parked the car next to a late-model Accord in the wide driveway and let
himself into the house via the most convenient door, entering the living
room. It was an impressive space: a large room whose ceiling sloped gently
two storeys above, reaching its vertex above the upper hallway, which wasn't
really a hallway at all, separated from the living room by a railing. An
older man with neatly trimmed, greying hair sat in a comfortable recliner,
reading the newspaper, completely oblivious that anyone had just entered his
home.
Richard walked past the man, also silent, and climbed the staircase at
the far end of the room. Starting down the hallway, he passed a room inside
which the most prominent sights were a massive black braid and a wide
assortment of unfinished paintings. Continuing down the hallway, he arrived
at the last door on the right and proceeded to open it and pass through into
what looked more like a disaster site than a bedroom. The only corner that
appeared vaguely neat held a top-of-the line computer on a plain desk.
Somewhere in the middle of the mess, an expensive-looking electric guitar
sat on its stand with an amplifier half-buried beside it. After opening one
of the two windows in the room to let in some fresh air, Richard removed the
obstructions and turned on the amp in one fell swoop. Plucking the guitar
from its stand, he sat indian-style on the nearest mountain of clothing and
began playing "How You Remind Me", covering the original very well. As he
played he sang; though he didn't sound much like Chad Kroeger, his voice was
pretty good. As he finished the song he was surprised to hear the faint
sound of clapping.
"Nicely done!" said a voice amidst the clapping sound, "it seems to me
I've heard that one before. Nickelback, isn't it?"
Richard looked around in surprise. Finding nobody else in the room, he
queried, "who's there?"
"I'm down here," said the voice. "What's the world coming to when all
the senshi are blind as bats?" Richard looked down to the last sight he
expected to see. Perched at the base of the pile of laundry, just beyond his
feet, was a small raccoon with grey fur, except for the dark "mask" across
its eyes. It was leaning on the amplifier.
"A raccoon did not just speak to me," he told himself. "A raccoon did
not just speak to me. A raccoon did not just speak--"
"If I didn't, then who did?" Came the voice. But this time, Richard
watched the raccoon and, seeing that its mouth moved, all notions of logic
and reason flew out the open window. Richard was about to do the same with
his body, but then it occurred to him that maybe he could talk the
hallucination into leaving.
"I knew I shouldn't have opened that window," he muttered to himself.
"I heard that," quipped the raccoon. "Do you want to hear what I'm here
to tell to you or not?"
"Well, of it'll make you go away.... but first, what the heck is a
senshi? And I still haven't found out why a raccoon is talking to me."
"Well," began the furry little creature, "first and foremost, my name
is Giles. And you would be...?"
"Richard. You can call me Rick."
"Very well, Rick. Pleased to meet you," confirmed Giles, "and, to
answer your question, the senshi were great warriors in a time long past,
fighting for entire planets and even star systems. Each was a manifestation
of a particular element or deity. However, a great war erupted and all of
the senshi were destroyed."
Richard looked puzzled, "if the senshi were all killed off, how can I
be one?"
"Simple," replied Giles. "Today's senshi are resurrections; a mere
shell of their former selves, though they gradually regain their power given
time and experience."
"So, what does this have to do with me?"
"Well, you see, there are several different types of senshi, though you
won't have to worry about all of them in Roanoke........"

And, so, Giles explained to Richard the intricacies of senshidom: the
types, the conflict, and everything in between.

After this sermon, it began to sink in that this was not a
hallucination. "So, what about me? What kind of senshi am I?"
"You, my friend, are Leliel Knight, Angelus Senshi of the Night," Giles
beamed.
Mystified, Richard inquired, "and this means...?"
"It means that when you wield your henshin item and say the words,
"Leliel Angelus Power, Suit-Up!" you get a change of clothes and a handful
of night-related powers.
"What's a hensh-thingy?"
"A henshin item," Giles corrected, "it is the source of your power and
becomes a weapon when you transform."
"Where am I supposed to find one of those? Pull it out of my--"
"That won't be necessary," said Giles, interrupting before Richard
could get any further, "I have it." There was a flash of weird colour, as if
a black light had been turned on for a moment, and a large, twisty black
thing fell onto the pile of clothes from thin air with a dull thud.
Wondering how he had come to be taking gifts from a raccoon, Richard reached
down and picked it up from where it had fallen.
"Try it out," encouraged Giles as Richard held the item.
"What is it?" was Richard's reply.
"You'll find out when you use it."
"Whatever you say," replied Richard sarcastically. Thinking that
perhaps when it didn't work the hallucination would cease, he held up the
item and suddenly, as if he had been doing it all his life, he knew what to
do. He held it above his head.

"Leliel Angelus Power, Suit-Up!"

Richard looked on, amazed, as a black mist began to rise all around
him.
"What the h--." He was cut short as the mist fully enveloped him. He
could see nothing but darkness. At that point, he could feel his clothing
changing though he hadn't touched it. Suddenly he felt a mask over his eyes
and nose and the moment it came into being, he could see again, as if the
mist was gone. He looked up at his hands just in time to see a dark shadow
form on his item, shaped like the blade of a sword. 'So it's a sword hilt,'
he thought as he moved without quite realizing it, assuming a position as if
he were about to slice the guitar in half.
"Wow..." he breathed. Everything seemed so surreal. Giles looked on
with genuine pride.
"Well done! You look positively dark, mysterious, and intimidating!"
Leliel Knight was too wrapped up in his new state of being to notice the
raccoon at his feet. He looked himself over in a mirror on the wall.
"I feel... powerful." He ran his finger along the edge of the
Shadowblade, surprised to find that he could actually touch and feel the
shadow. Even through the gloves he found himself wearing, it felt very, very
cold. He winced slightly as a cut appeared in the glove, framing a
background of bright red blood. 'And sharp, too,' he thought.
"Now, then," said Giles, interrupting Leliel's thought, "how about we
go try out some of those powers?" Leliel Knight could only nod slowly and
followed the raccoon out the large open window and down the tree outside.
This was going to be one heck of an evening.