Kamen Riders: The Chosen
Episode 8 – Connections
Sandra slept through the next morning. At about 2pm she woke up, and stretched lazily in bed, much like a cat did. She smiled slowly, noticing her wounds were gone. Then, as she thought of what was said during the events of the previous evening, her smile disappeared.
'I care nothing but to destroy you. Anything that get in my way will get destroyed along with you!'
She moaned, then decided to attempt to shake her bad mood off by inviting Dale over, so they could work on some costumes for the upcoming anime convention, Jacon. She turned to the desk in her room, and logged into Yahoo Messenger.
In his hotel room, Dale sat at the desk, typing away at his laptop computer. He was making notes of the previous battle, as well as strategies for battles to come.
When his computer chimed that Sandra was on, he stopped what he was doing and answered her greeting. And when she asked, a few minutes into the conversation, if he'd be willing to come over to work on costumes, he readily agreed. Writing down the address she gave, he packed up his sewing supplies and took a cab straight over.
Meanwhile, at the airport, a young woman, appearing about 18 years old, exits the plane. 'I guess I should go get my bag and get to the hotel.' she thinks as she looks around. Sighing mentally, she starts looking at the signs pointing towards the baggage claim and followed them.
After picking up her luggage and adjusting the laptop bag she's carrying, Sabrena walks toward the entrance, looking for a shuttle to take her to the Ramada. A shuttle appears shortly after she walks out. Sabrena gets on the shuttle, greeting the driver as she enters and goes to sit down.
After a few minutes she arrives at the hotel and goes to the counter to check in for the weekend. After getting her room number and keys, she goes up to the second floor and after walking a ways gets her key out and enters the room. Sabrena sets her suitcase on the floor nearest the drawers and her computer bag on the bed, nearest the window. She sighs and flops down on the bed, deciding to take a nap before dinner.
Meanwhile, a young man also enters the hotel and signs in. He then carries his bags to the room he was registered for, then locks the door. He takes out his laptop computer and starts to get into his chat program when he hears a thumping noise come from somewhere in his room.
Getting up, he starts to investigate it and finds it coming from one of his bags. Opening it slowly, he is hit in the head as the 'noise' comes out. The young man looks at the bat flying above him. "Sorry bout that." he says, then goes back to his laptop. "You forgot about me again. That is just wrong." Kivat replies, and proceeds to chew Eric's ass out for his irresponsibility.
Back in room 205, Sabrena's eyes open, going unfocused for a bit. After coming back to herself, she wonders about why she kept 'seeing' some of the fictional characters as if they were real.
She shrugs, deciding at the moment to shelve those thoughts for a later time period as she pulls out her own laptop. She quickly connects with the hotel's connection, thankful that this hotel has one unlike some of the hotels she's visited in the past. Sabrena logs onto Yahoo automatically and glances at her list. After seeing no one on she'll want to talk to, she starts up Firefox. After checking her email accounts, she goes to TV-N to see if any new episodes for KR Decade have been released.
In Sandra's apartment, a "clank clank" sound can be heard from her room. Unsure and wary, her roommate walks up to the door and knocks. Not getting an answer she opens the door, expecting a battle (she had heard about them on the news). What she does find just makes her groan. Sandra and Dale are sitting at her desk, watching one of her 'Japanese shows'.
"Turn it down, will ya?" she says forcefully before slamming the door shut. Sandra turns to Dale and grins. "Guess we got on her nerves again, eh Mamo-chan?" she said.
"Hai, Usako," Dale replied.
After they finished their episode, they went back to finishing the last touches of the costumes they would be wearing for the nearby anime convention, Jacon. They would be surprising the con-goers as Tuxedo Kamen/EternalSailor Moon as well as MagiRed/MagiPink.
Later that evening, while Dale was asleep on the air mattress in her room, Sandra was at work. She had been called in, again, to aid in putting away the latest inventory that arrived at the store. Seems like they were calling her a lot lately.
After checking and downloading the latest Decade episode, Sabrena walks out of her room, hopefully to get advice on good restaurants in the area. She decides to get a drink first, and hopes that she can find a nearby store. After walking a short distance, she finds and enters a 7-11 and immediately goes toward the drinks, the opening for Boukenger playing on her iPod. Sabrena browses the selection, surprised to find they have bawls in such a place. She immediately picks out as many as she can carry in her arms before making her way to the front of the store.
Sandra watches the customer as she grabs nearly their entire stock of Bawls and carries them to the register. Amused, she waves off her co-worker and heads up to the register to ring her up. "Will that be all for you ma'am?" she asks after ringing up the sale.
"Yes, thank you." Sabrena replies as she fishes out her debit card, glad she doesn't store it in the same area as her ID card. As she hands over the card, their fingers touch and she sees a woman with blond hair. As she starts to come out of it, she asks herself who that was and why she saw such a thing.
Sandra watches as the woman goes distant for a moment, then come out of it. She swipes the card on the side of the register and hands the card back to her. "Everything alright?" she asks, worried.
Sabrena shakes her head slightly to clear the fog that overcame her as she takes her card back. "I am fine, sorry for blanking out on you like that. Maybe I can explain later?"
Before Sandra could respond further, she heard a scream come from outside the store. 'Imagin!' Ryuuta says to her. She turns to the young woman and smiles briefly as she nods her head. "Excuse me please." Sandra says and walks quickly out of the store to a secluded area behind it. Once she was alone, Sandra pulls out her Pass and henshins into GunForm, allowing Ryuuta to possess her. They run out to meet the imagin and the battle ensues.
Meanwhile, Sabrena slips her wallet into her left jeans pocket. After pulling her left hand out, one can see the two rings on it. She hears the sounds of a battle going on outside, and after grabbing her bag she walks out. After only a minute of walking, Sabrena sees a character she only thought existed in a show she has seen now and then. 'No way...' she thinks, stunned as she continues to watch the battle, neither of them noticing her.
After taking a number of good hits, Ryuuta finally was able to form his gun. He then takes out the imagin fairly quickly after that. Limping, he begins to make his way back to the secluded area. More injured than he originally thought, he falls to his knees, feeling faint. Leaning on a nearby tree, he attempts to catch his breath and regain some energy.
Sabrena sees Den-O limping towards somewhere and starts to follow him, abet slowly and at a distance. Unfortunately, she can't help the slight chink of the glass bottles from the bag in her arms.
Ryuuta looks up at the clink, and sees a young woman in front of him. But he saw something else as well. Something well hidden. He grins slightly as he looks at her. "Pretty Wolfie." he says before passing out and falling to the forest floor.
Sabrena, slightly startled that this person could see that, watches as there is a flash and the transformation reverses. She shows a bit of surprise on her face before sighing and grabbing one of the bottles out of her bag. After getting the bottle cap cut into her hand, Sabrena finally gets it open and starts to slowly pour the contents into a mouth that has opened after pinching the woman's nose.
Sandra automatically swallows the liquid, and winces as she comes to. She looks up at the woman she had helped just a short time ago. She slowly begins to sit up, embarrassed a bit from having her identity revealed. "Sorry for troubling you." she says automatically.
"It is no trouble, though I would like an explanation for all this. But first, I think you need to rest. My hotel room is nearby, come on." Sabrena starts to walk away, taking her bag with her.
Sandra nods her head and follows the young woman, not thinking about the fact that she was supposed to go back to work. After a short walk, they reached the hotel and the woman's room.
Sabrena digs her key out of her pocket and puts it into the electronic lock, after quickly pulling it out she gesture's the woman in before following behind her. Partly because of manners but mainly because of her paranoia.
As they enter the room, she goes to the mini fridge and starts to unload the rest of the bottles into it. Sandra watches the door close behind the woman, then goes to one of the plush chairs in the room and all but collapses into it, her head leaning on the back of the chair. She waited for the young woman's questions.
Sabrena finishes putting the bottles away and sees the woman all but passed out in one of the chairs. She lifts her up, carries her the few steps to the bed, then starts to undress her while blushing. 'Gods, she looks very nice.' Sabrena quickly strips the woman down to her underwear, and after tucking her in, goes to take a cold shower.
Sandra comes out of her thoughts, realizing she had passed out yet again. Looking around, she sees that she was undressed and tucked into the single bed in the room. Hearing the shower, she sits up, leaning against a pillow she props up against the backboard. 'What's going on?' Momotaros asked her. Sandra shrugs while muttering softly "Hell if I know."
Sabrena comes out a few minutes later, clad in one of the hotel's bath towels. "Ah, you're awake."
Sandra nods her head. "Again, I am sorry for troubling you like this." she replies, slightly embarrassed.
Sabrena holds her hand up to stave off any other apologies. "Like I said, it's fine. May I have the honor of knowing your name first?"
"Sandra. Sandra Brown. And yours?"
"Sabrena Pattat. Now, may I ask about the incident a few minutes ago?"
Sandra raised her hand and scratched her head. "Yeah, about that." she said, while thinking of how best to explain it.
"I am a Kamen Rider. Kamen Rider Den-O." she said, then began to explain what a Kamen Rider was.
Sabrena coughs, loud enough for Sandra to hear. "You do not need to explain" She walks toward her laptop and opens up Firefox.
Sandra looks over at the laptop, and sees TV Nihon's homepage. She chuckles. "Guess not." she says, then revises her planned speech. "Ok then. I was... chosen by some unknown person to receive the abilities and powers of Den-O." she said. "Since then, I've been fighting numerous imagin in the area." One thing Sandra decided not to mention was the fact that she herself had chosen numerous riders to join in the fight, all over the country.
Sabrena looks at Sandra, feeling like she's hiding something but says nothing.
"Are you hungry?"
"A little bit, yes. You?" Sandra asks her, hoping the questioning was over but highly doubting it.
"Very. I was about to ask for information when that imagin attacked. Do you know any good restaurants in the area?"
"Anything in particular you are looking for, or does it matter?"
"I have a preference for sushi and spicy foods but it doesn't matter really."
Sandra burrows her brows in thought. "Don't know of any Japanese restaurants in the area. But there is a Bennigan's that is open that I'm a regular at. We can catch a cab over there if you'd like."
"That sounds fine. It's been a couple of years since I was in one of those places."
"You'll like this one. I promise." Sandra said as she gets out of the bed and begins to dress in her clothes, minus the 7-11 smock, that had been placed in a chair.
Sabrena waits, trying not to groan at seeing Sandra cover up her beautiful skin.
Sandra, being used to dressing in crowds due to her stint in the Navy, didn't flinch about dressing in front of a stranger. And, due to her naivety, didn't notice the looks she was getting from Sabrena.
Once dressed, she turns to the young woman and smiles. "Ready?" she asks.
Sabrena grabs her room key and after checking she still has everything, replies "Yep" and starts toward the door.
After opening the door, Sabrena stands in the hallway. Looking at Sandra she asks "Where to?"
Pulling out her cell phone from her pocket, Sandra made a quick call. Once done, she turns to Sabrena. "A cab will be outside in just a moment. Lets wait outside for it." she says, starting down the hall towards the outside.
Sabrena starts to follow her, pulling out her player and starting to listen to Nightwish - Away, she puts her player back into her right pocket and continues following her.
Once outside the hotel, the two find a cab already waiting for them. Opening the back door, she gets in first and waits for Sabrena to follow. Once both are in, she smiles and tells the driver to take them to her usual Bennigan's and the driver drives off.
Sabrena pulls her mp3 player out slightly and taps a center button on the side before pulling her headphones off. "So anything you wish to know or do you want to wait until we arrive?"
"Let's wait til we are seated." Sandra tells her. Only a few minutes later, the duo arrive at the restaurant. Once both are out of the cab, she hands the driver a 20 dollar bill. "See you in a few hours!" she says merrily, then turns to her companion. "Shall we go in?"
Sabrena nods and walks in, they are greeted by one of the servers, who asks how many. "Two and non-smoking, please." comes the response.
The server nods, and recognizing Sandra, places them in her usual section. A minute later, a young man comes up to them and asks Sabrena what she would like.
Sabrena looks up at the man and politely asks for a minute before looking at the drink menu again.
The server nods and walks away. A minute later, a roving waitress brings Sandra's drink. Sabrena then tells her what drink she would like. A few moments later, the waitress returned with the White Sangria for Sabrena.
Sabrena looks up from her menu, closing it then setting it down. She takes a sip from her drink while waiting for their server to return. When he finally returned, he looked at them. "Are we ready to order?"
Sabrena nods. "I'd like the sirloin, rare with a side of shrimp and the pilaf please."
Tim took the order down, not even asking about Sandra's order, as he knew her order quite well, then retrieved the menu from the table. "Not a problem. You ladies enjoy yourselves." he said before walking off.
Not even 5 minutes later, a bowl of chicken fajita soup was placed in front of Sabrena and a salad with 2 sides of ranch in front of Sandra. When Sabrena looked at it curiously, Sandra winked. "Tim always gives me and my friends free appetizers." she said, smiling.
"So, are there any other questions you have about what happened tonight?" Sandra then asked after the server was gone.
Sabrena thinks for a bit. "Well for one, how is it possible? I thought such things were pure fiction."
"That's what I thought too. That is, until I put the belt on the first time and heard Momo's voice inside my head." Sandra replied. "And all four of the Taros are there. Well, currently on Den-Liner at the moment."
Sabrena humms to herself. "I see..."
"And...I believe there are others." Sandra continued after a moment's thought of how to proceed. "I have fought against a dark Blade and have fought with the aid of Ryuki as well."
"You believe or you know? Because to me it sounds like the latter." Sabrena shoots at her.
'Aw Shit. I think she knows.' Sandra thought before responding with "I know. Kinda have to when I fight against and with someone."
Sabrena looks at Sandra. "I knew from your wording."
"Umm...yeah." Sandra said, looking down. "Sorry bout that. I'm a little uncomfortable with talking about it to others."
Sabrena nods. "I can ask any other questions when we get back to the hotel, or would you prefer your place?"
Sandra thought about Dale sleeping in her room at the moment. "Best do it in your room. I've a friend staying with me who does not know of this." she said, being partially truthful. Dale indeed knew, but she did not want him to know that she knew.
Sabrena half shrugs. "Alright"
It was at that moment that their food arrived. Sandra grinned at the Monte Cristo placed in front of her. "Shall we eat?" she asked with a smile. Sabrena agrees and the two women ate their meal in companionable silence. After dessert and drinks, the two headed back to Sabrena's room. Sandra sat down in a plush chair and smiled. "Wonderful food. As always." she commented, almost to herself.
"Yes, I haven't been in a Bennigan's for at least five years now, sadly there isn't one back home."
"I am sorry to hear that." Sandra replied. "They have such wonderful food." she ended, the room going silent.
Sabrena smiles. "I know we have one back in Bloomington, as far as I know anyway. It could have vanished by now..."
"Such things happen. All things come and go as they are meant to." Sandra said.
Sabrena shrugs. "True, i've seen it happen in the sixteen years I lived in the area."
"So, I am guessing you are here for Jacon then?" Sandra asked.
"Yes, this is actually my first con." Sabrena replies.
"I've been to a few. Mainly with my hubby and a few of his friends." she said, then her face went sad. "Unfortunately, he is in Ohio right now, on parole, and can't leave the state. So he can't come with me on this one here. Is sad when you can't have family with you."
Sabrena nods. 'Geez, I was looking at a straight girl, probably monogamous too...' "I completely understand."
But then Sandra grinned slightly. "Thankfully, my hubby and I are in an open relationship. I am allowed, even encouraged, to seek others for companionship. Though I have yet to find one." she said with a small giggle, unsure of why she blurted that out to someone she didn't know too well.
Sabrena looks over at Sandra curiously. "Really? Interesting..."
She let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah. He wants me to take care of myself while away from him. Or try to anyway. Was never real good at that. Am very flighty and airy, and need a good, strong person to ground me."
Sabrena sighs. 'Which leaves me out, I'm stuck in Indiana for the present time, I have enough for this trip, barely but that's it...' "I'm only here for the con itself, I have to go back to Indiana afterward."
Sandra frowned just a little unknowingly. "I'm sorry to hear that." she said. "I'm sorry to trouble you, but would you mind if I used your bathroom for a bath? I need to get enough energy to get me home. Has been a long and tiring day today."
"It's no trouble, I guess you also have water as one of your elements?" Sabrena asks, curiously.
"Air and Water." Sandra said with a smile. "Water mainly for healing. I am a Healer. I do my best work in the bath."
After saying that, she bows slightly, heads to the bathroom and closes the door, not thinking to lock it as she usually did at home. She started the water and waited the few minutes for the tub to fill. Once it did, she turned the lights off and sunk into the water, casting a protective circle about the tub as was her custom. But instead of feeling the healing energy the bath normally gave her, she instead curled up into the fetal position and sank deep into dreams.
After a while, Sabrena pokes her head in and sees Sandra asleep in the bathtub. She closes the door and decides to check her email accounts as well as a few other things. 'I'll check on her in a few minutes...'
Within her mind, Sandra was beginning to see images she did not fully understand. Heard words she didn't comprehend. And a song, filled with remorse and sadness, floated through-out it all.
And in the real world, unknowing to her, she began to hum the song, tears in her eyes.
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