Okay, I am finally back everyone. Sorry for taking such a while, but like I mentioned before, I had to put my full concentration on writing an original short story for my Creative Writing class. If you guys would like to read that story, go right ahead.

Since it's an original story, it won't be on . You have to go to www. fictionpress ?userid = 7941 to read that or to read the fic directly, just go here www. fictionpress read. php? storyid=1535895. You guys know the procedure, close up the spaces. My theme was loneliness and longing, which is pretty much what the story is about, a girl who feels alone and decides on suicide, but something stops her from doing so. It's called Because I Live, and thanks goes out to Scott for the title suggestion. I hope you all decide to read it.

Okay, I'm done promoting myself, so now let's get down to business! For this chapter, it's pretty much introducing Clio and the young boy Roderick, the "guest character," I mentioned earlier. Lars also has a discussion with Reggie.

Oh, as for Otto's punishment, I did hint at which was chosen through both Principal Healey and Clio, ironically, in the previous chapter. The clue is dealing with time.

Now, as always, I do not own anything dealing with Rocket Power. Klasky-Csupo has that honor.

Chapter 19: The Energetic Engineer, Roderick Vandenack and the Graceful Ice Queen!

Meanwhile, at the Rodriguez home...

"He's here, he's finally here!" an energetic soon to be 14-year-old boy exclaimed while jumping up and down in place. "Twister is finally home and Reggie is with him!"

"Calm down," a tall, 17-year-old girl with long, wavy light-purplish hair laughed.

"But it's been a long time since I've seen him, or Reggie, or Otto, or Sam!"

"Same here for me. Reggie and I have a lot of catching up to do." She then gave a satisfying smile. "I'm so glad I get out of school before they do. They still have about two or three more weeks to go."

Mrs. Rodriguez walked in the room. "Lars was surprised by both your arrivals today, and I'm sure Mauricio will be as well."

"Where is Lars anyway, Aunt Sandy?" the girl asked.

"He's on the phone right now, but I'm sure he'll be done in a bit. I'm sure you would like to catch up with both boys."

The girl nodded to her aunt.

"Come on, Clio! Let's go out and greet them!"

Before the girl could respond, the younger boy grabbed her hand and pulled her out the front door.

"Twister! Hey Twister!" the boy called excitedly.

Reggie and Twister blinked and stared in surprise at the two that were running towards them.

"Rod, Clio?" the two asked in unison.

The two stopped in front of Twister and Reggie. They couldn't believe their eyes. Twister's cousin Clio and the Rodriguezes' friend, Roderick, were visiting.

"Whoa, how did you get here?!" Twister managed to get out, staring at the short boy.

He gave Twister a cheery smile. "I was just in the neighborhood." The energetic boy then hugged Twister tightly. "It's so good to see you again, bro!"

"Roderick? You're here? At my house?"

He turned loose of Twister and smiled up at him. "Yep, I sure am. Are you surprised? Sandy said that you and Lars probably would be surprised!"

"Surprised...yeah...very...surprised..."

Roderick Vandenack was a 13-year-old boy, quite energetic and loving. His family was good friends of Twister's family; they had been for many years. He had short brown hair and loved baseball, one of his favorite teams being the Dodgers. The boy also took karate and was already up to his brown belt. He was pretty close to becoming a black belt. The family felt that it would be a good way for Roderick to get some sort of exercise, and to keep his strength up.

He was pretty smart for his age, and was a genius when it came to fixing things. That was mainly because his family ran a car restoration shop, so he learned at a very young age how to fix and work on cars.

Even though the boy was 13 - he would be 14 that upcoming October - he was pretty small for his age and he was only just a 7th grader. When he was eight, Roderick suffered from leukemia, and when he was ten, a brain tumor developed. He went under a lot of treatments, which caused him to miss a whole year of school.

The boy remained optimistic through those times, sorta like Olivia did during her painful ordeal.

"Wow, big sis!" Roderick said to Reggie. He gave her a hug. Reggie, still surprised to see the small boy before her, hugged him back. "It's been so long since I've seen you too! I wish we could visit more often!"

"Big sis," was something Rod called Reggie every time he saw her. He considered her to be one.

"Wow, hi Roderick!"

"Where did you two come from!" Twister asked again. He looked over at the tall, slim girl beside Roderick. "Clio, how'd you get here? Why are you here? Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"Because, it wouldn't have been a surprise," Clio laughed. "I'm staying with you guys for about a week before my real vacation starts!" the girl gloated.

Twister looked at her in confusion. "Real vacation?"

"As you know, school just recently let out for me, so my summer vacation starts before yours does. This year, I shall be going to Hawaii!" She flipped some of her long hair over her right shoulder.

"Whoa!" both Reg and Twist said in amazement.

"That is ultra cool!" Reggie exclaimed.

"My parents asked me where I wanted to go this year, and I picked Hawaii. Just think of all of the awesome waves I'll be catching while there! And the best part is that I'll get to hang out with Keoni!"

"He knows you're coming?"

"Of course, Maurice," Clio teased. Twister glared at the older girl. Clio smiled. She loved to tease her cousin. "Anyway, I got here round about mid-day along with Roderick here. He and his family got here right when Aunt Sandy returned here with me from the bus stop at the Pier."

"You mean Monica and Mike are here along with Arturo!"

"You missed 'em, Twist. Mom, dad, and my brother had to go out of town for a seminar and a car show in Detroit! One of dad's classic cars is on display. They both took my brother and his good friend, Armando, with them since both are too young to hang out with us big kids," he stated proudly. "Arturo is going to be eight soon and his friend is also eight. They both wanted to see Otto, especially Armando since he had been practicing his skateboard tricks, but they had to go if they didn't want to miss their flight in Santa Monica.

"I insisted on staying here since I didn't want to hang around with little kids, especially since that state surf competition is tomorrow! I bet Otto's in it!"

"You bet right," Reggie replied dryly. "He's in the competition tomorrow, and so are my friends Trent and Trish."

"That's also why I'm here. I must check out Otto and see how he does tomorrow. I wonder if he's improved any since the last time I was here."

"He's been practicing almost nonstop lately," Twister answered Clio with a half smile.

"Well then, who's up for a surf session!" Roderick asked excitedly. "I brought my surfboard with me, Twister! I've been practicing! I was hoping that you, or Lars, or Otto could teach me a few tricks."

Twister gave him a thumbs up. "You bet, bro."

"How long will you be staying, Roderick?" Reggie asked.

"Just until Tuesday when they come back. Sandy and Raoul are going to take me to school Monday and Tuesday, and my karate lessons."

"Hey, where are Sam and Otto?" Clio asked, noticing that they were two people short.

"We had a pep rally today," Reggie explained. "Otto's probably still at school, his ego growing larger than what it already was, and Sam left before us, so he's probably already at home."

"Let's go get him and hit Madtown!" Roderick looked like he was ready to explode since he was so anxious to hang out at the many sights that were around this part of Ocean Shores.

"Okay, okay, we can go to Madtown," Twister finally said. "But do you have your-"

"I have some new rollreblades and I have my bike with me so we can go mountain biking! I even have a new skateboard! A Variflex. It's not all fancy or anything like Otto's wheels, but it gets the job done!"

Reggie looked over at the boy gently. She knew of the boy's being sick years earlier. "Are you sure you're up to all of that strenuous activity?"

"Of course I am, sis! I can handle all of that stuff!"

"Yeah, Reg," Twister's voice sounded a bit stressed, "he can handle it." He then looked at the boy, a worried look etched to his freckled face. 'I hope he can.'

Before anyone else could comment, Lars walked out the door of the Rodriguez home, his head facing the ground. He looked a bit dazed since he couldn't believe the phone call he had just received.

He looked up and saw Reggie standing beside Twister, talking with Clio and Roderick. He had to pass along this info to her. Not caring whether his brother was there or not, he called to the younger girl.

"Hey, Rocket Dork's sister, get over here!"

Surprised, Reggie looked over towards Lars who was standing atop the stairs. He looked to be in need of something. She then inwardly smiled. 'Typical Lars to act so rude, but the urgency in his voice is a bit strange, I'll admit...'

"Oh why must he always be that way," Clio muttered in annoyance while rolling her eyes. "The boy's name is Otto."

"Give it up, Clio," Reggie said with a small laugh. "If he didn't call me Rocket Dork's sister, or my brother a Rocket Dork, then something would be wrong. You guys go on over to Sammy's. I'll go see what Lars wants."

Twister looked a bit vexed by Lars' calling Reggie. It didn't seem right to him. 'What could he want with Reggie?'

"Want me to take your backpack in, Twist?"

"Oh, um...yeah, I guess so," he said quietly. He slowly took off the backpack, and handed it to Reggie.

"What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," he said quickly.

"Well, you guys go check on Sammy. Make sure he's all right and I'll be right there."

"'All right'?" Clio asked. "What's going on?"

"I'll explain it on the way, let's go," Twister instructed dully.

Reggie climbed up the steps to Lars who was leaning against the pane of the door. "It's about time, Rocket Dork's sister."

"What's with being so rude to me!" Reggie demanded, tossing Twister's bag inside.

"Sorry, force of habit," he said quickly.

"So what is it? I want to go check up on Sammy."

"It's about your brother."

"What about him? Is something wrong?"

"No, well, I sense that something will be," Lars replied slowly.

"What are you talking about? You're not making any sense."

"Does your brother have a bad temper?"

"Well, um, I-"

"I personally don't think he has a bad temper, usually," Lars said as serious as can be, "but I sense that what he's about to find out is going to affect everyone around him."

"Wait, what did you find out?"

Lars sighed and ran his right hand through his long, brown hair. He then said simply, "It's about his punishment for the fight he got into today with that loser, Josh."

Reggie stared up at the boy curiously, eagerly awaiting his answer. Lars opened his mouth slowly, and finally gave the girl the news...
x x x x
Back at the Shore Shack, only earlier...

"Hey, Bruddah Ray is back," Tito said while waving from the counter.

Ray didn't say anything as he walked behind the counter with Tito and Mrs. Stimpleton.

"Oh dear, it didn't go well, did it?" Violet asked in concern.

Ray shook his head slowly. "It was terrible, you guys. Otto did get into a fight at school, and he actually had a good reason for it."

"Fighting is wrong no matter what the situation may be," Violet reprimanded, her hands on her hips. "Raymundo, I'm surprised at you, supporting Otto's fighting."

"Now hold on a minute there, Violet; I am against fighting since it never does solve anything, but Otto didn't fight for himself."

She stared at him and gave a small shrug. "I don't quite follow."

"Did the little Rocket-cuz stand up for someone?" Tito asked.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Well, I've known the kid since he was knee-high to a coconut tree, and Otto is not the type to fight unless provoked or teased, and both you and Olivia did a good job of teaching him not to fight when provoked and to find other ways to avoid those types of confrontations.

"The only way I could see a person like him fighting is if he was standing up for a friend, or for someone that is very special to him."

"Wow Tito, you're absolutely right," Violet realized. "Was it really bad?"

"Well, he luckily didn't break the kid's nose he got into the fight with, but his folks will probably get it checked out still to make sure"

"Thank goodness."

"So, what happened?" Tito asked.

"It's...Sam..." Ray said slowly.

Tito's eyes went wide. "Otto stood up for Sam?!" he asked in alarm. "He wasn't fighting, was he? Is he okay?!"

Ray nodded slowly and took a seat at one of the chairs located by the cash register; Mrs. Stimpleton gasped. "No, it can't be true! Not little Sammy!"

"I'm afraid so, Violet. See, the boy Otto got into a fight with punched Sam, and he stood up for Sam, and fought in his place. Sam had a slight asthma attack from the hard punch and according to Principal Healey, Sam didn't start the fight and was trying to avoid it. He resisted and got punched in the process."

Tito was now very worried. "Is the lil cuz all right!"

"I can assure you that Sam is fine, Tito. He went to the nurse's office and insisted on going back to class I found out. Healey called the nurse and got the information before I left."

"Maybe I should go see him," Tito slightly panicked. "I should call Paula and see how he's doing."

"Bro, Sam is fine." Ray gave him a reassuring smile. "He's a tough kid."

"I will most definitely check on him when I head back home," Mrs. Stimpleton insisted.

"The real problem, right now, is Otto's punishment."

"You mean the principal is planning on punishing Otto for standing up to a bully?"

"That sure is unfair!"

"It wasn't by choice, Violet, Tito. His hands were tied. He really didn't want to, given the situation, but had to. Rules are rules. He wanted to discuss which punishment I felt was more appropriate."

"I don't like the sound of that," Tito replied.

"The choices were to either allow Otto to be suspended from school, or to either let him not surf in the competition tomorrow." Ray sighed despairingly. "I didn't know what to do.

"I couldn't let him get suspended, and he would be terribly upset if he stayed out of the competition tomorrow."

"You couldn't work anything else out?"

Ray shook his head to the older woman. "Nope. It was a very difficult decision. What Otto did was bad enough to get him suspended for a month, but there's only about three weeks left of school anyway, which would've flunked him for the year. Miss the competition, it's just a competition," Ray said wryly.

"What about the other boy!" Tito asked, slightly angered. "Why should Otto take all the heat for this?!"

"That boy is facing expulsion charges for purposely harassing another student, and there are lots of students not friends of Sam or Otto, that can vouch for the entire situation, how Sam tried to avoid the fight, the boy continued to bother Sam, hitting him, and just laughed at him knowing that Sam could've died from his asthma attack."

Ray regretted the last sentence he said. He knew how Tito worried about Sam the same way he worried about Reggie or Otto at times. Tito was pretty much a parent to Sam.

"DIED!"

"He got his inhaler and is fine, bro."

Tito forced a nod. "Yeah, whatever bro."

"So, Ray, which did you choose?"

He looked up at Mrs. Stimpleton and asked her, "Which do you think I chose?"
x x x x
"Oh my gosh, Lars!" Reggie managed to say. "He's going to be totally tweaked, and this will definitely affect his school work!"

"I just don't feel that this is…fair," Lars managed to say, an awkward ring in his voice. "He stood up for Squid Dork. As much of a pain he is, even he doesn't deserve that kind of a punishment."

"I agree, he doesn't, but what can we do?"

"I have to go," Lars said quickly, walking past her. "I'll talk with you later."

"But-"

Before Reg knew it, Lars hopped into his car that was parked in the driveway, shifted into gear, and pulled off. She definitely found that odd. He seemed a bit distraught over the situation. To Reggie, it seemed as if Lars was concerned over Otto's situation, and that scared him since he wasn't used of feeling such a thing. He just didn't know how to react to it.

Reggie's interpretation was absolutely right. Lars was concerned about Otto, and he definitely wasn't used of that since he had always found him highly annoying. His caring was out of character for him. Since Lars didn't know exactly how to handle himself on such a subject, he ran.

Not having anything else better to do, she went to her house and put her backpack away, and then headed over to Sam's...
x x x x
Over at Sam's, before the gang got there...

"Sam, are you sure you're okay," Sherry asked for the tenth time. She had insisted on Sam's staying in bed and had tucked him in. Right now, she was seated at the foot of his bed. Sam had gotten rid of his bunk bed long ago.

He found Sherry's gesture nice, but he didn't need to be tucked in like a five year old. "I told you Sherry, I'm fine, but don't mention the fight stuff to my mom, please!"

"Why? She should know."

"Her worry wart would definitely explode this time if she knew about that," Sam whimpered slightly, sitting up, "and she's been sick lately. She's starting to get better and I don't want her to have to worry about something that almost happened. I'm alive, and well; let's leave it at that."

"But Sam-"

"Sherry, it's been me and my mother for a long time now, even before we moved out here. It doesn't take much before my mom worries about something and the last thing she needs is to worry about potential bullies. I know what's best for her."

"Well, if you're, like, sure," Sherry said slowly, standing up, "but I still think you should tell your mother. She's going to find out sooner or later anyway."

Sam gave Sherry a confident smile. "There's no way she's going to find out. Who would tell her?"

"I guess you're right," Sherry humored him. 'I wouldn't be surprised if, like, the school would tell her since the fight was so intense.'

He hopped out of bed and sat down in front of his computer. "So, since you're here, Sherry, would you like to play my latest computer game?"

"Okay." Sherry stood beside him as she watched him type. She smiled at the intelligent boy. For a computer nerd, she did find Sam to be very interesting, and a bit cute. "Sam, can you do me a favor?"

Sam turned his attention away from the screen and back onto her. "Yeah, Sher?"

"Don't ever worry me like that again. You could've died today!"

"Hey, Squid!" the two heard a voice call before Sam could answer. "I know you're in there, so come to the window!"

Sam rolled his chair over to the window to see Twister, and two people with him.

"Hey guys, come on in!"

"How about you come out!" the youngest of the group called.

"Roderick?"

"Who's there, Sam?"

"It's Twister, Roderick, and Clio!"

Sherry walked to the window and waved to the group. "Hi guys!" She then pulled on Sam's arm. "Let's go! Get your shoes!"

"Whoa, wait...hey..." Sam got out as Sherry literally dragged him out of his chair.

A few moments later, Sam and Sherry emerged from the house.

"Hey everyone," Sam could barely get out. Both Clio and Roderick hugged him tightly.

"Oh, Sammy, are you okay? Twister told me what happened!"

"That wasn't nice of him, bro," Roderick said.

"I'm, fine," Sam managed to say, his voice muffled from the hugs.

They let go of him.

"So, who are your friends here?"

"Oh, Sherry, this is my cousin, Clio, and the kid there is our friend, Roderick. His family and my family are good friends and have known each other for years."

"I don't think I've ever met either of you," Sherry said.

"They don't visit often," Sam explained, "and when they do, it's never for too long."

Sherry smiled at Clio. "Wait, I remember you now! Reggie's told me, like, so much about you! It's nice to finally meet up with you after all this time! We met, like, once before years ago when Otto needed players for that stupid game of his! We can all, like, hang out together on the strand! Tomorrow night will be so perfect and Trish can hang too!"

"I'd like that, Sherry."

"Yeah! We should, like, start planning."

"We're going to go shred Madtown, or either go surfing, Sam! Want to come, want to come!"

"Sure, Rod, I'd love to, but I should let mom know first. I could also get something for her while I'm out." Before going back inside, he noticed that they were one person short. "Where's Reg?"

Twister rolled his eyes slightly. "With Lars."

"Lars? Again?"

Twister gave Sam and Sherry a look. "What do you mean, 'again'?"

"Yeah, she like, spent her entire lunch period with him today."

"WHAT?!"

"Yo, cuz, calm down," Clio told the younger boy. "What's wrong with Reggie hanging out with Lars?"

"Nothing," he muttered.

"So which will it be, surfing or Madtown?" Sam asked to get some of the attention off of Twister. He already knew the answer was.

"Madtown!" Roderick cheered as a red convertible car drove out of the cul-de-sac.

"And then Guava Shakes at the shack!" Sherry added.

"And some Shack fries!" Sam almost drooled.

"Come on, Maurice," Clio teased, causing Twister to cringe, "let's go get your gear, and that camera of yours."

"Quit calling me Twister...I mean Maurice!"

Clio and the others laughed. "Come on Roderick, let's go get our gear and Reggie."

Sherry stayed with Sam, while Clio and Roderick went back to the Rodriguez home, Twister trotting behind. On their way home, Reggie was making her way across the street to Sam's.

"Reggie," Clio called, "we're all going to hit Madtown! Wanna come with?"

Reggie nodded distantly. What Lars had told her was still stuck on her mind. "I'll go get my blades." She turned and headed back to the empty Rocket home.

She sighed as she strapped on her helmet, elbow, and kneepads. She wasn't in the mood to skateboard, so she stepped into her blades, and laced them up.

When she went back outside, everyone was waiting for her. Since Sherry was the only one without wheels, Sam offered for her to ride his bike, while he skateboarded. They would drop by her house and pick up her gear.

Paula had also mentioned to Sam, as always, to be very careful, and to bring her some more of Tito's tea.

"Okay, let's get going now, shall we," Reggie said uneasily.

Clio gave her a look of skepticism while Twister looked over at her curiously (he wanted to know what business Lard had with her). Clio sensed that something was wrong with her friend. She hadn't tried to hug her once, nor did she jokingly call her "Lil' Miss Tutu." She normally would go on and on about things happening in her life, sometimes personal, or about everyone else.

'Something is bothering her, but I guess I'll find out what that something is later.'

With that, all of the kids started to make their way towards the pier.

"Last one there is a shoobie!" Roderick shouted as he skated ahead of the others. The other nodded to each other, anxious to keep up with the somewhat hyper boy, Twister a bit worried, and hoping that Roderick knew what he was doing...
x x x

Author's Note

I hope you all liked this chapter. It was pretty long, much longer than I expected. I know you all are probably a bit bothered over the fact that I didn't directly tell you which option Ray picked. There were many hints, though. As soon as one of you readers guess it, I'll come right out and state it.

Now, as for Roderick, he isn't my character. He's a character from mike2000's fics. To learn more about his character, take a look at his works, here on the site. They're very good. Oh, and I must also thank him and Scott, once again, for helping me out with this story. I also promise not to take so long with the next chapter this time. I'll try to have it up by next weekend, if school doesn't get in the way. I have another short-story assignment to do.