Kamen Rider DGP

Chapter 4 - Rest and Recovery

Girori leads Élise into a lounge area. "This is where participants can rest between rounds," he introduces her to it. It's a pretty sizeable room with a bar, large curved sofas, tables, and a few potted plants to add more life to the room. It's like walking into a well-kept apartment. "You can use it free of charge," he politely bows, welcoming her this far into the game. 

Élise smiles and does the same, "Thank you." 

"You are welcome. If you would excuse me, I need to see to the other participants." Girori walks offset, returning to the forest to help out the others, leaving Élise in the room.

She's not alone. There are a few other participants who made it through the game. They're split up, some keeping their distance from each other. Before she can decide on what to do next, a new face comes into her line of sight. 

"Olla, senorita. And who might you be?" He has a thick, warm accent to him. Green eyes, and a devilish smile, hair combed back with hair gel. 

Élise is a little shocked at first, but it fades upon seeing that it's a regular guy. "Oh...hi there. I'm Élise, nice to meet you. And you are?"

"Mmm, Élise , what a name. So beautiful. I am Javier Montoya, but please, just call me Javier. Or if maybe even yours," he laughs a little after that, intending it to be a joke. "Tell me, Élise. You must be quite a woman. I can tell, as strong as you are gorgeous."

She gives a nervous laugh, "What! What do you mean by that?" She blushes a little, giving a cute smile.

"If you weren't, I doubt you'd be here with us. Not many are as cut out to move to the next stage, so you must be something amazing, no?" His words have a sound bit of logic to her. She accepts it. Before she can say anything, he cuts her off, "Just a moment, I will be right back. I have some urgent business to attend to. I'll be right back." As soon as he appeared, he leaves the lounge and heads down to the corridor. Once out of sight, he legs it down the hallway toward the restroom.

Shaking the encounter off, she keeps walking until she sees some familiar grey hair. John is sitting down on one of the sofas, drinking a cup of coffee. She slowly approaches the sofa, and waves to get his attention, "Uh, hi. Excuse me...?"

He turns around to see her and smiles. "Oh, hello. Can I help you?"

"Actually, you already did. Earlier in the forest, you saved me from one of those things. I don't know if you remember. I just wanted to thank you." John vaguely remembers his encounter with the first Jyamato. He gets a flash of seeing Élise being attacked. 

"Oh...right. Yes, that was you. You don't need to thank me, my dear. I was just doing what I thought was right. And, I got a little bonus out of it," he pulls out his Shield Buckle as a visual aid. "You must be tired. Come, have a seat. When Girori comes back, you can get something to drink or eat while we wait."

Smiling, Élise sits down beside John on the sofa. "I'm Élise, by the way. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm John, nice to meet you too," he shakes her hand. He has a tight grip, almost hurting, especially with the wedding band pressing against her slim fingers. "I take it you're new here."

"Yes, I actually don't know where here is, or how I got here, but it's all so....exciting?" She's still trying to process everything she's gone through in such little time. Curious, she asks the question on her mind, "You seem to know a fair bit about this place. I'm guessing you've done this before?"

"Four times, in fact. This is my fifth in a row," he says it like it's no big deal, and that it happens to anyone. 

"Oh wow! So you've done the same thing five times now? Is anyone else here a regular like you?"

John thinks for a second, "Well, two others. One of them you should watch out for. A red-haired fellow, named Scarlet. He's bad news, be careful. And the other is a friend of mine...,"

John is cut off by Alex suddenly collapsing on the opposite sofa facing John and Élise, startling her. 

"Look, no word of a lie...I'm bloody knackered after all of that. I don't know how you could go through it and still look well-rested," Alex talks directly at John as if they were in the middle of a conversation. 

"Élise, this is my colleaue, Alex. Alex, this is Élise," John opens up introductions between the two. 

Alex just raises his hand while leaning his head back over the sofa, "...Hey." His speech is wavy as he breathes heavily. 

"Hi...," Élise greets him back out of politeness. "So...you two have been doing this long?" 

"...yeah, Johnny-boy and me have been doing this for at least three games now. I met John on his second," Alex fills in the gaps while trying to catch his breath. 

"It feels like so long ago when I started, but even still, you never get used to it," John says, sipping his coffee.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," Alex reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a buckle. "Think fast!" He tosses it at John, who catches it with ease. "I saw how you only had the one, and figured you could use something more offensive rather than just defense." 

John looks at it, "Chain Array? Are you sure?"

"I remembered how well you were swinging that baby in the last game, so it seemed right to give you an advantage for the next stage." Alex pulls out two more buckles from his pocket and presents them, "Besides, I can make do just fine with these." He reveals Claw and Propellor. 

Élise reaches into her pocket and pulls out the Magnum buckle. "Is this one any good?" 

"Hmm?" Alex lifts his head to find that Élise scored a rare piece of loot. "Woah, you lucky duck."

"That there is Magnum," John explains. "It's like these," he gestures to the smaller buckles, "But bigger, and much, stronger. It will equip you with a more durable piece of armor for protection, and give you a weapon to defend yourself. You got yourself a pretty nice piece of gear right there. Hold on to it. I've seen noobies being taken advantage of in the past for the buckles, so keep it close to you."

"What are you keeping close to you now?" Javier appears behind Élise, startling the poor girl. "Sorry about that. I had a meaty breakfast today, and for some reason, it wasn't agreeing with me." Javier looks over at John and Alex and smiles. "Ohh, I see this must be the winner's table since you've all got such...flame to you."

"Oh yeah?" John asks. "You can tell that about us?"

"I can tell a lot of things from what I saw earlier in the forest. You, sir, are big, and powerful, yet you have a strong caring nature, seeing how you were quick to help the senorita. I'm guessing father or father-figure type since you're married, hence the ring." Javier turns to Alex. "And you, relaxed, and breezy now, but in the jungle, you're a savage animal. Full of piss and vinegar, yet have a golden heart for your friends." 

The pair just look at each other, somewhat surprised by Javier's observation. Alex shakes his head, amused, "I'm saying nothing, mate."

One by one, a few more players enter the lounge with Tsumuri following behind them. She calls out to everyone in the room. "Congratulations! You have all passed the first stage of round 1. You'll all have a 30-minute break before round 2 starts. So please, relax, rest well, and prepare yourselves for the continuation of the game!"