Hi, folks! Normally, I hang around (and contribute to) but this time, I'm making a fic that has slightly more depth to it. Mind you, it will be rated R for hints of sex (both consentual and non-consentual), so unless you are over 15 or a pervert, leave now.

Disclaimers: I do not own Digimon, Dragon Ball Z, the Metroid series, or Star Fox.

I also do not own PlayStation, GameCube, or X-Box

Poor Henry. The young (12-going-on-13) boy ran as fast as he could for shelter, but alas, he was caught in the downpour. Giving up on staying dry, he resigned to his fast and slowed down to a walk, hoping his green raincoat and umbrella would keep his clothes and hair as close to dry as possible. 'Oh, man', he thought, 'What am I gonna do now?' He looked around, then noticed that his present surroundings looked familiar. Then it hit him. This was the street Rika looked on. And, sure enough, when he looked down the street, he saw the gateway that led to her house. He looked at his watch - it read 7:30 p.m. "Oh, well" he muttered to himself, as he ran towards her house, hoping she wouldn't pound him for dropping in unannounced.

Rika was bored. Very bored. She was alone in the house in the weekend, since her mother had several big photo shoots to be in, and her grandma was gone running several errands for the weekend. The 13-year-old girl had tried to entertain herself many ways, but she had played so much DBZ Budokai 3, Star Fox: Assault, and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, that she had quickly had enough (that and she didn't want her game systems overheating). Her thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell.

When Rika opened the door, she was, to say the least, surprised to see a soaking-wet Henry at her doorstep. "Hi," he said, "Uh, can I come in? It's kinda wet out here". "What are you doing out in this weather?" she asked after a few seconds. "Uh... I kinda... forgot" he said sheepishly. "Whatever" she replied, "Just get in here before you freeze, and take off your shoes so you don't track mud" "Thank you" he said. 'She looks nice with her hair down' he thought.

After removing his shoes and setting his soaked umbrella and raincoat aside near the door, Henry walked into the living room to see Rika sitting on the couch, a very bored look on her face. "Hey," he said, "You okay?" No response. "Hello?" he said waving his hand in front of her face, "Rika?" "Huh?" she snapped back into awareness, blushing slightly. "Y-yeah, I'm fine" She quickly tried to think up something to change the subject. She then remembered overhearing Henry explain Star Fox to Kenta, and she got an idea. "So, Henry," she said, "you have Star Fox: Assault, right?" "Yeah" he replied. "Well, then" she said, "How about some Vs. Mode matches?". Instantly a cocky grin appeared on his face. "You're on".

When they arrived in Rika's room, Henry was not that surprised to see that Rika had a PlayStation 2, GameCube, and X-Box - after all, her mom was, after all, a supermodel. They both sat down on the floor, grabbed a controller, and switched the GC on. After picking their characters (Krystal for Rika, and Falco for Henry), they proceeded to have three matches: an Arwing match in the space Station, a Landmaster battle in the Titanis desert, and an on-foot battle in Corneria. 20 minutes later, Rika had won, two-out-of-three. She still remembered the look on Henry's face when she got the Demon Launcher.

After playing their matches, they looked over at the clock and noticed it was now about 8:15. "Oh, man," Henry said, "My parents are gonna kill me". He looked out the front door, only to see that the entire street was flooded - he was stranded at Rika's house. "So," Rika said from behind him as he shut the door, "I guess that means you're stuck here". "Yeah, I guess". he said. "Hey, can I use your phone?" he asked. "Sure," she said, "Just don't take too long".

After finding the phone, Henry dialed his house, and after a few seconds, he heard his mother answering the phone on the other end. "Hello?" she said. "Hi, mom." he answered. "Oh, hi, Henry! Where are you?" "I'm at Rika's house, Listen, the streets are flooded, so there's no way I can get home right now". "Oh, I figured that would happen. Unfortunately, the rain's not going to let up until early tomorrow morning, so I guess you're stuck there for the night." "What! But mom, I-" "Don't worry, hon. It's okay. Besides," she said, "Think of it as a chance to get to know her better." He blushed slightly at this. "Okay. See you tomorrow, mom. Bye".

"So?" Rika asked, "What's the word?" "Well," Henry said, "From what my mom tells me, I'm stuck here for the night. I'm sorry". "It's okay," she said, "It can't be helped". "Really?" he asked, "You're okay with it?" "Sure" she replied, "Besides, I could use the company" she said with a slight smile. In truth, she had developed a crush on him back during the battles in the Digital World, and during the D-Reaper battles, it had developed into full-grown love. she liked how he was so gentle, kind, and wise during normal life, and yet courageous and strong in battle. Although she did think he was somewhat on the skinny side. Henry also had similar feelings to Rika. He liked how she could be very kind and sweet when she wanted to, but he wished she wouldn't hide her true self - at least not around him.

They made their way to the couch and sat down. But since the couch was kind of small, they were kinda close to each other, and they each had to fight off a blush. They then noticed that the rain had become stronger and harder, which made Rika somewhat uncomfortable. 'Oh, man,' she thought, 'Please don't let ther be any' At that point, as if on cue, lightning flashed, causing her to wince slightly, then the thunder came. It was far-off, but she still whimpered from it. "What's wrong, Rika?" Henry asked, a slight bit of worry evident in his voice. "I never liked thunder..." she replied shakily. "How come?" he asked. "I can't tell you" she said. "How come? "I just can't, okay!" she yelled, scared and angry.

At that point, a brighter lightning flash came down, followed quickly by a louder clap of thunder. This time, Rika literally squealed in fear and cowered into a ball, tears starting to form in her violet eyes. "Rika!" Henry said in concern. "Are you okay?" He sat right next to her, putting one arm around her. "What's wrong? Please tell me". "Okay" she said, "I guess there's no way around it". She took a deep breath, and began to tell her story.

"Four years ago," she said, "My mother and father had gotten into another argument, but this time it was worse".

FLASHBACK

9-year-old Rika sat in the corner, cowering in fear as her mother, with a slight bruise on her arm, was in a losing argument against her father. He was a tall man, with dark orange hair, dark violet eyes, and a crazed look on his face. She watched in horror as his fist came into contact with her mother's face, and as her mother fell unconscious onto the floor, then screamed and tried feebly to run as her father began to advance toward her.

Her father simply snatched her up, and when she began to flail around, he quickly responded with a powerful backhand to her face, and she tasted the blood inside her mouth. She felt utterly helpless as she was dragged to her parents' room, and she was consumed by true fear as she was stripped of all her clothing. All that night, the only thing louder than her screams was the thunder

END FLASHBACK

Henry was in shock. He had noticed how Rika had always looked slightly uncomfortable when the topic of her father ever even came close to being brought up. Now he knew why. "Ever since then," she said, the fear evident in her voice, "I've been completely terrified of thunder. and the worst part is..." she said, no longer bothering to hold back the tears forming in her eyes, "is that he was never found. He's still out there, and for all we know, he could come back". "I.. never knew" Henry said. "Of course you didn't" she said. "You think I'd want this to get out? Now you probably think I'm some spineless weakling".

"Of course I don't, Rika" he said, "No one in their right mind wouldn't be scared after something like that". "You mean that, Henry?" she said, a childlike innocence evident in her voice. "Of course I do" he said, gently wiping the tears away from her face. "I hate to see you unhappy, Rika. In fact," he said shyly, "I..." he hesitated on the last part, "I.. gulp love you" he whispered, then closed his eyes, bracing for impact. However, no impact came. He opened his eyes to look at Rika, and noticed a deep blush on her face. She then looked up to him and said the words he'd hoped she'd say for a long time - "I love you, too". Their faces slowly got closer and closer, but just before the magical moment arrived, another clap of thunder came, followed closely by Rika crying out slightly in fear, and the power going out, which only served to scare her more.

"Don't worry," Henry said, "I'll protect you, Rika" "Y-you will?" she asked. He nodded, a sweet smile on his face. At that point, what seemed like 20 thunderclaps came down in about a minute's time. The whole time, Rika clinged tightly to Henry, and he held her gently, occasionally whispering reassurance to the frightened beauty in his arms.

At that point, they thought it was over. Than, a truly tremendous thunderclap arrived, shaking the very house itself. Rika cried out in a terrified voice "DADDY, NO!", latched onto Henry, and proceeded to burst into tears, burying her face in his shoulder, crying her heart out in terror. All he could do was hold her, and try to make her feel as close to safe as possible, as he began to slowly rock her in his lap.

After about 5 minutes, Rika was quickly drifting off to sleep in his lap, but she was whimpering occasionally whenever a thunderbolt struck. Soon, she was finally asleep, and Henry gradually layed down, his head resting on the arm of the couch, and Rika laying on top of her, her arms still around his slender waist. After about a minute, Henry was finally asleep.

Well, tell me what you think. In the next chapter, there'll be some more character development... that is, if I get enough reviews to convince me to make another chapter.