I keep wanting to type 'Cosmic Lord' as 'Time Lord'. *whistles innocently*
[HIDE]Name: Alice Cooper
Age: 17
Nationality: U.S. Citizen
Appearance: Alice stands at a modest five-seven. Her hair is perpetually dyed black and kept straight, with large bangs combed down over her forehead. Her eyebrows are always neatly trimmed and, at the end above her temples, sharply pointed, making them look vaguely bat-like. Her features are light and somewhat haggard. She possesses a flat, soft nose and an equally pair of thin lips. There's always a hungry glint to her features, as though she's always sizing up those about her and contemplating their calorie count.
She likes the color black, finding it to be a fitting color to her persona, and she wears it heavily. A black lace collar circles her neck and she wears a black, sleeveless, V-cut top underneath a long-sleeved fish-net blouse. The addition of black opera gloves serves as her arm wear. A black skirt and matching leggings lead into a pair of boots to complete her wardrobe.
Alternate Identity: Kamen Rider Knight
` Alice's Rider appearance is similar to Knight's, although she lacks any connection to an Advent Beast or any Card support. Her powers are a bit more organic in nature and need no conduit, switch or token to activate.
History: It's been said that Kamen Riders are often born of tragedy, and that's embodied fairly well within Alice. Since she was a friendly and outgoing individual with an interest in foreign affairs, Alice was selected to be a foreign exchange student. She was to attend high school in Japan in order to increase cultural understanding. She was enthralled with this opportunity and determined to make the best of it. Her parents were a little less than excited at the prospect, but she managed to talk them into allowing her to make the trip.
There was the usual culture shock and misunderstandings at first. But Alice's open desire for understanding and friendship won the day and she began to fit in with her new class. She became especially close to another girl named Miko. Things passed by in a happy, excited blur for several months.
Then... Alice began to notice some strange things going on around the school-- but more importantly, she noticed those oddities spilling over into Miko. Miko began to act very nervous and began to close herself off from her old friends. Alice knew that Miko was having some problems at home and tried to get Miko to open up about them, but was rebuffed. Several other classmates began to act skittish as well.
Not willing to sit idly by while whatever was wrong with Miko ate away at her, Alice conducted her own investigation. She began slipping out of the dorms and tailing Miko during the evening hours. Alice discovered that Miko was meeting several other students at an abandoned warehouse. Alice quietly infiltrated the warehouse and hid behind a stack of rusted machinery to watch the group's activities. It didn't take much to realize that Miko had fallen in with a cult.
At first, it was just the usual mumbo-jumbo and shenanigans, talk of being chosen and power and the like. But when the cult leader began to make a point of sacrifice, Alice grew concerned. Apparently, Miko wanted power and was willing to undergo some kind of magically induced rite to get it. The cultists gathered around a strange summoning circle and began performing some sort of weird ritual. To Alice's horror, one of the cultists drew a knife and began to advance on Miko. He pricked her thumb and scattered several drops of blood on the circle.
Unable to stay silent any longer, Alice left her hiding place and burst onto the scene, demanding that the ritual stop and that Miko come back home with her. That proved to be her undoing.
At that precise moment, a strange thing erupted from the summoning circle. Alice, having never accepted the supernatural, was downright stunned at it's appearance. It was no mere parlor trick. She could tell just from the thing's presence that its power far eclipsed hers. However, her appearance had startled the entire group and caused the lead cultist's concentration to break. The group of magicians failed to properly channel and bind the entity, and it began to run wild with destruction.
As the entity began destroying the surrounding area, and cultists began to flee for their lives, Alice pressed on. She wasn't going to leave this place without Miko and Miko didn't seem to be leaving this place any time soon. The other girl was steadfast, staring at the beast, and demanding that the contract be upheld and the beast provide her with power.
That got the entity's attention. The entity chortled some reply and flicked a sphere of purple flame at the obstinate girl. Alice reacted on pure instinct. She tackled Miko, toppling the other girl to the ground, and threw herself bodily over her companion. The flame impacted the small of her back and passed straight through her clothing and skin unhindered and embedded itself in her body. Alice convulsed as a bolt of white-hot agony ripped through her. A scream left her lips.
She could feel her body changing and energy flowing through her. It was though a conduit had opened, and she now had access to channels of power and magic that she'd never known existed. Instinctively, she now knew that she had power-- a power that was corrupt to the core. She could access different abilities and create a myriad of effects, but only if she possessed the energy to do so. That energy... came from the life force of others.
The initial moment of transformation awakened a cold, demanding hunger within her. In wild abandon, she surrendered to it... and lost herself.
When Alice returned to her senses, she was horrified by what lay around her. The warehouse was little more than a glorified crater. The entity was gone. Miko lay a few steps away from her, and it didn't take much to see that she was dying. Alice quickly dropped to her knees next to her friend and began begging for forgiveness. Somehow, she knew that she had done this great evil.
"No. Forgive me..." Miko begged. "... all I wanted... was the power... to get my parents together again... But that... wasn't worth... this..."
In agony and despair, Alice screamed over the body of her dead friend. Then, determined to end it all, she rose and set off to make certain that she could never harm anyone again. But, en route to her demise, she was stopped by a Cosmic Lord. The Cosmic Lord told her that, while he could not break her curse, he could modify it. He made her an offer: he would grant her the ability to feed on the Writhing Things and provide her with the means to combat them. All he desired was that she would use her talents to combat the threat of the Writhing Things.
Despair turned to anger and Alice agreed. The Cosmic Lord adjusted the curse and gave her a suit of powerful, mystical armor to protect herself. From henceforth, she would be known as Kamen Rider Knight.
Several months later, Alice has come to terms with her new existence. She has learned to harness and control the hunger and her abilities, and she has become quite adept at utilizing them in order to combat the threat of The Writhing Things. Theirs is a curious relationship. Alice is now the hunter, and they are, quite literally, her prey.
Personality: Alice is distant from others, not out of any sense of angst or sorrow, but simply because she feels that it's better this way. Hers is not a life that can, or will be, normal any more; and she doesn't want others dragged into the current war between the Cosmic Lords and The Writhing Things. No one else is going to pay the price for her mistakes. On the flip side, if someone demonstrates that they have the power or means to stand against The Writhing Things, then she'll be more tolerant of that individual's presence. Not friendly, but tolerant.
She's a conflicted individual. Her focus is almost entirely on her need to feed and the war with the Writhring, but she's desperately trying not to become obsessed. She knows that life is a balance and that she needs to live hers. As a result, Alice tries to be spontaneous and to always enjoy what she does, it just doesn't always work.
She struggles with her motivations and why she does things. On some level, Alice realizes that she should be more motivated by the threat that the Writhings pose or the trouble that they can cause. She does want to save people and administer justice. But her own condition prevents her from being completely altruistic. Battling Writhings is a thing of necessity for her; it's hard for her to forget that.
One thing that she does enjoy, is copping to her powers and abilities. Most people look at her manner of dress and consider her a freak. She doesn't mind this, because, after all, she is one. She's comfortable with who she is-- perhaps a little too comfortable for her own good. If the opportunity arises to utilize her powers as a mundane utility, then she will. This has made her just a little bit lazy. After all, why bother studying to pick locks when you can just shatter the lock?
Likes:
`Ice Cream, chocolate preferrably.
`A regular paycheck, currently she's employed at a local bookstore.
`Reading
`Figure skating & Olympic sports.
Dislikes:
`Vampire movies & books. They hit just a little too close to home.
`People who don't realize how good they've got it.
`Obnoxiously loud music.
`Electronics in general. Have you seen how obsessed people get about their phones?
Relationships:
`Takoya - Her employer. Theirs is a rather average employee-employer relationship.
`Tom and Marleen Cooper - Her parents. They're unaware of her newfound status and Alice intends to keep it that way.
Extra: Every time that Alice feeds on a Writhing, she gains from its experience and talents. She can use this new knowledge to manifest a new ability or to strengthen an ability that she already has. For example, draining the life force of a cat monster would strengthen her claw abilities. She can use these abilities in and out of Rider form, but, naturally, their combat purpose is less reliable when outside of Rider form. These abilities are open to her as long as she has the life force on hand to pay for them.
Present Abilities
1) Metamorphosis - Alice can alter her being to that of a black cat. This allows her to move about undetected and squeeze through tight places.
2) Feline Claws - Alice can alter her hands so that they end in sharp claws. Perfect for rending Writhings.
3) Banshee Shriek - Alice can unleash a supersonic scream that can physically impact her surroundings.
4) Final Strike - Her Rider Kick. Alice performs a side kick that slams her opponent to the ground or wall and then seals them against the surface. This pins them in place so that she can drain their life force.
This is not going to be one of those Anikan-esque, I-could-lose-control-at-any-moment, stories (I've always found those horribly contrived). I'm simply trying to take the Dark is Not Evil trope to its extreme conclusion.[/HIDE]
