Hey readers! Thanks for the reviews, and keep'em coming. I couldn't resist the car thing. I'm sorry, but I love all the cars I mention in here and couldn't resist adding the them in. Enjoy.

Chapter 5: A Car
Rika decided to go see Ryo. It was time she built her car. Takato had told her that after a few days, everyone got a car simply because they were so necessary, but that you had to build your own. He had a Ford Bronco II, Susie had a Honda Civic, Ryo had his Subaru WRX, and Henry had a Dodge Hemi Charger. Except for Henry's, all the vehicles were extremely customized for the most performance. Henry's Charger was powerful enough bone stock and all original. Rika went up to where Takato said Ryo's room was, and knocked on the door. It was insanely quiet up on the loft. After a minute or so, the door opened to a room where music was blasting at 100 decibels, or close to it. 'He has a sound-proofed room,' Rika thought. 'Interesting.'

"Hello, Rika," Ryo said after he opened the door and turned down the music. "What's up?"

"Takato told me I had to get a car, and to come to you about the procedure," Rika responded.

"In that case, please come in."

Ryo's apartment fascinated Rika. It had Pergo flooring, cream walls with green sponged on, and an off-white ceiling. The lighting was nice, and there were several shelves with hundreds of books, CDs, DVDs, and collectable cars and souvenirs. She noticed that she and Ryo had many of the same CDs, and they also appeared to like the same kind of movies. The collector cars surprised Rika. About sixty-five of them, they were in mint condition and showed a history of American cars from the Ford Model-T to last year's Chevrolet Cavalier SS. There was a large, dark desk with a very powerful laptop, and a huge, separate back-up CPU. A 47-inch wide screen TV and nice home theater/sound system were present. There was a large antique dresser and chest of drawers. Four stainless steel footlockers were stacked on one wall. An open door showed a room about fifteen by fifteen feet full of weapons and gear, and a walk-in closet about ten by six feet held many clothes and several, different-colored trench coats of different lengths. The most captivating thing was that Ryo had no bed, but a very heavy cast iron bathtub in the center of the room with some kind of door that slid over it.

"Hey Ryo. What's with the tub?" Rika asked.

"Oh.....well, it's the only way I can sleep.....the noise, even in this sound-proofed room is loud to me I can't sleep. That custom sensory deprivation chamber keeps out all sound. I guess that's one of the prices I pay for opening up my mind." He chuckled to himself.

"Ah.....will that happen to me?" Rika questioned.

"Honestly? I don't know.....Everyone reacts differently. It didn't happen to Takato, but he became some kind of incredible computer genius and I didn't. Who knows? Anyhoo, what are you looking for in a car?"

"Umm.....I want something that is fast and nice looking.....what've you got?"

"In our storage area, we have everything but the chassis and body. Pick one."

"Well.....I've always wanted a 1970 Chevrolet Camaro. Could you do that?"

"Let's see what's in the local scrap yards." Ryo got on his computer, and started typing at a furious pace. "We've got a body and chassis, but nothing else in bad shape, with no hood, windows, or doors at Phil's. That sounds good. Let's go." He jumped up, and out the door he went. She followed.

"Are you sure that's the part for me, Ryo?" Rika asked him.

"Sure.....you will create a beautiful beast, Pumpkin.....I'll help you."

"Don't call me 'Pumpkin', Hero Boy."

"Okay then.....May I call you 'Supreme Goddess and Queen of My Universe'?"

"Maybe....." she said with a laugh.

They headed down to the main area, and to a U-Haul 28-foot truck. From here, the two drove out through the parking garage and onto the street. They drove a few miles, and turned into the scrap yard. Ryo picked up the whole car and chassis by himself and set it in the truck. He closed it up, and paid $100.00 for it. They drove back to the home base, and unloaded the wreck.

"Now, Rika, help me take this all apart."

"Sure, Ryo."

The took the body apart, piece by piece. They welded the chassis to a construction frame that allowed them to move the chassis up, down, left, right, or rotate it in around to work on the bottom. The chassis was then dipped in an acid bath to remove the rust. After that, it was painted and reinforcements were added to stiffen the frame. That done, the body was dipped to remove rust and paint. Then, the chassis was painted chassis black, and construction of the stripped and repaired body around the chassis was done. A Ford 10-inch rear end went on, with a five-speed manual transmission built by Ryo himself, and a Chevy 502 cubic inch crate engine that generated six hundred horsepower and six hundred and fifty pound feet of torgue. It had two four-barrel carburetors, and a blower. In the interior, black and red racing seats like Ryo's went into the gray design. A custom steering wheel, shifter, and roll cage went in as well. Several small screens, a game system, and a really nice audio system went were installed.

Back on the outside of the car, chrome rims and low profile tires were a beautiful addition. The reproduction doors fit perfectly. They cut the hole in the reproduction hood for the blower, and installed it. The whole thing was painted so that as you looked at it from the front, it was dark blue, and as it switched angles going by the car appeared a deep purple. The whole engine compartment was chromed out; chrome was around the doors and lined the wheel wells. Warrior angel decals were added to the sides, and Ryo built the hidden compartment into the trunk. The job was done, and now Rika had one of the most beautiful cars she had ever seen.

"Thank you Ryo. This car is wonderful," she said. 'I don't think he has helped anyone else with their cars...Takato said you have to build your own...Why did he help me?' she thought to herself. With that, she walked over to him and gave him a hug. "What do you say we go for a test drive?" Rika inquired with a grin.

"Why not," Ryo replied.

With that, Ryo got in the passenger side, and Rika got in the driver's seat. She started the car, and the both of them buckled their seat belts. She pulled out of the little garage and into the main room. Takato waved as they drove by. It was 2:00 p.m. two days after they had started the project. They had a few snack breaks during the job, and Rika had slept for a few hours to awaken and find Ryo had painted the car and installed the chrome. He had done the paint scheme without even asking her, yet he knew what she wanted.

They pulled out into the parking garage, and onto the street.

"Rika? Do you know anything about racing or stunt driving?" Ryo asked her.

"I spent two summers at a racing school and two at a stunt and performance driving school," replied Rika.

"Good...you should love this car, then. Let's see what you can do."

"Alrighty then." With that, she floored it. The Camaro shot off. Ryo was impressed by her judgment of distance, her fast turns, and how well she could handle the high speeds this car was capable of, in excess of 190 miles per hour. After about an hour, they pulled back to the headquarters. She parked next to Ryo's car.

"Ryo, thanks again." She leaned over and put her hand under his jaw and turned his head towards her. She kissed him on the lips. "I'll see you later." He blushed brightly as she got out, and then he got out. "I think I'm gonna go have a late lunch." She walked over to and into the eating area.

"How's she doing?" Takato asked, suddenly next to Ryo.

"The car or Rika?" Ryo replied, smiling.

"Tell me about both," Takato smiled back.

"The car's running great...it's fast, sticks to the road, stops good...I think Rika's happy with it."

"And how's Rika? Oh, I saw the kiss by the way."

"She seems much better than she did years ago. She is still a little grim sometimes, but she has opened up much more. I had such strong feelings for her long ago...and now they've come back. Tell me Takato, why did she kiss me?"

"Because she likes you...she has since way back when we destroyed the D-Reaper. At the moment, she had a legitimate reason to put her mouth to yours. She had probably been wishing for that moment as long as you have, just she couldn't do it because of her reputation and the toughness she had to show. Rika doesn't think warriors are supposed to love, and now she doesn't want to admit she was wrong. That may be the only advance she ever makes on you, or it may not. I can't tell you."

Ryo nodded. "What do you think I should do?"

"Give her time."

"Alright...I'll be back in a little while." Ryo left, and went up to his living space. He sat at his desk, and pulled out the snow globe. He had cleaned it up, and was now just staring at the beautiful rendition of the park he loved as a kid. The little globe was just so damn lovely. "It's like God himself made it," Ryo said to himself. With that, he stood up and pushed the chair in. He turned the light off. Another lovely thing that comes with no mental limits it the ability to mentally magnify the light your eyes perceive, and well as pick up frequencies of light not normally visible. To Ryo, every sight became beautiful. To him, Rika looked like some kind of seraphim...a creature the Almighty would not normally allow on Earth. He closed his eyes, and his hearing put a picture of the room in his mind made by sonar. Just like a bat or a dolphin, Ryo could see the room without seeing the room. Every sound created a picture in his mind, and the noise Takato was making downstairs on his Bronco was enough to light up the room for Ryo. He took off his clothes, and put them in the hamper next to his closet door. He slid open the door on the tub, and set the alarm that simply slid the door open for six hours. It was 3:30 p.m., and he hadn't slept in seven days. A little extra sleep would be nice. He got in, and closed the lid. He then literally floated on the water into a deep sleep with dreams of digimon a decade before.

Rika went to see Henry. His bandages were off, but he was still injured. A cast was on his leg, and she could see stitches and bruises on him.

"Hey there, old man," Rika said, smiling at her oldest human friend.

"You should respect your elders, Miss-One-Month-Younger," he said grinning back.

"SSsshhh...don't tell anybody I'm that old."

"Ha. So, what's up there in your world?" Henry asked.

"Not much. I have a car now...a '70 Camaro."

"Sounds nice."

"It is...Ryo helped me build it."

"Huh? Did I hear that right?" Henry said, looking quite surprised. "He hadn't been able to help anyone else create their works of art...he must still like you," he mused.

"Pardon me, Henry, but since when does Ryo like me?"

"Since the day he met you...we talked about it a couple times...he wanted to go out with you, but never worked up the nerve. When we had talked, you made me promise not to tell him you cared for him, so I didn't say a thing."

"I KISSED him today!"

"Huh again? Why did you do that? I thought you didn't want to love people?"

"He's done so much for me...I couldn't help it."

"Well...if things are going like this, maybe the two of you should go on a date."

"Maybe in the future...I never felt like this about anyone else...oh I don't know what to do!"

"Hey hey hey...you have time, so don't worry. Nothing's gonna happen to Ryo or you...he will never allow it. You two have a future together, but that's the future, not the present."

"Get well soon, Henry...I'm gonna need your council more often."

"Don't worry about that...I'll be up and fighting in a few more days."

They had some small talk for a while, and then Rika left. She had been in Henry's company for two and a half hours, and it was now 7:00 p.m. At 7:15, she was in her living space listening to her music and thinking about upcoming days. At 10:00 p.m., Ryo knocked on her door. He had showered and changed into some loose jeans, tennis shoes, and a green T- shirt.

"You coming? We are gonna go save the world again," he said with the normal Ryo grin.

"Sure...why not?" she replied with a grin.

"Let's go." They started down the hall, side by side. Then, Ryo was gone. Rika shrugged and continued down. She listened to Takato's briefing. It was going to be Takato, Susie, Ryo, and her. They were going to attack an office building that stored computer information that belonged to "Them". They were going to tranquilize the guards, put them in a truck outside, and blow the building. After the brief, they headed to the cars. It was going to be Ryo and Takato in the WRX, and Rika and Susie in the Camaro.

"Where's Ryo?" Susie asked. With that, Ryo was suddenly on the catwalk, in all black dress. He jumped, opening up his arms like he was flying, stopped two feet in the air, and floated down.

"Let's go," he told the small group. They go in their cars. Off they went. A few miles down the road, Takato talked to Ryo.

"Where'd you go to?" Takato asked Ryo.

"Handling some business," was the reply.

"Like?..."

"You know that snow globe I found at Rika's?" Takato nodded. "Well, I put in Rika's apartment. It's now on her desk. I cleaned it up a little. Something told me she thought I forgot it, but this should change her mind."

"Sly one, ain't ya?" Takato smirked.

"Oh you know it," Ryo replied with extreme sarcasm.

In Rika's car, she and Susie talked.

"Okay...spill it," Susie said.

"What?" Rika said.

"What's up with you and Ryo. There is some extreme sexual tension, there."

"No there's not!" Rika said with unbelieving eyes.

"So...are you two gonna go out?" Susie continued.

"No no! We don't even like each other."

"Oh get off it, Rika. I've been here since Henry and Ryo joined, and I've never seen him look at another person the way he does you. And if memory serves me, you never have looked at anyone the way you look at Ryo."

"You're only fifteen. What do you know about love?"

"Enough by know to see that you and Ryo belong together."

"I don't think so."

"You wait and see, Rika. You just wait and see." With that, Rika and Susie looked straight into each other's eyes and Rika saw how serious Susie actually was.

"So, Susie...what have you been up to?"

And the small talk continued.
Hey all! I know this chapter is the longest and it may not be the best, but I hope you like it! Everyone seemed to want me to introduce the Ryuki thing, so I thougt "what the heck! I'm outta inspiration at the moment anyway!" R&R please. And a message to some guy who e-mailed me: this is not a rip-off of Fahrenheit 457 or whatever it was, or the Matrix. There were several movies and books I could say the Matrix ripped off, and this is my own plot. I have looked to no one but modern America, Digimon, and myself for help. I ripped off no one else, lol! THANK YOU READERS! PLEASE STICK WITH ME! GOD BLESS AMERICA, THAT JERK GEORGE W. BUSH AND ALL!