Disclaimer: I don't own the Nickelodeon show, Rocket Power. In fact, I rarely watch it anymore.

However, not to spoil the plot, if I did in fact have any influence whatsoever about what happened with Rocket Power, I would promptly suggest that a certain two characters in the show get together..

Dedication: To my friend, Kristen, who has taught me to see the humorous side of things in life,

and that if somebody doesn't like you, "screw them!!"

Author's Note: This is the prologue to my story, or in other words, the chapter that gives you a little background information that will set up the plot. Enjoy..

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Getting There

By Taryn

Prologue: The Legends of Ocean Shores

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The town of Ocean Shores, California was not a big place. A good amount of tourists went there over the summer with the simple intention of just having a good time. After all, the thought of huge ocean waves, all day surf lessons and gorgeous people in skimpy swimsuits would be enough to lure almost any impressionable person onto a plane headed for California. But after spending a few days in Ocean Shores, tourists quickly realized that it was a dwelling like no other. The ocean did indeed produce beautiful, humongous waves that radiated a type of awesome power. However, there were no teachers available to show tourists how to surf those waves. And there were no super-models prancing around the beach in skimpy bikinis.



The beach of Ocean Shores was certainly populated, but all the residents wore wetsuits and carried surf boards. When asked for surf lessons, most simply turned away. The few who actually spoke to the tourists said that anybody who lived in Ocean Shores was born an athlete - they did not need lessons to learn how to surf. It was just a natural thing. And when the tourists cast their gazes back into the ocean, they could see that the residents were right - every surfer who populated a wave glided on it so smoothly, it was as though they were flying. When asked about the wetsuits they were wearing, the Ocean Shores surfers held their heads up with a certain pride that the tourists had never seen before, and declared that they didn't need to show off anything but their skills on the beach - a true athlete could impress anyone with pure talent.

So, somewhat put out and more than a little irritated, the tourists would stop and ask about a good place to eat. As usual, most town residents would walk right by, or more commonly glide right by on a skateboard, completely ignoring the annoyed tourists. Some teenagers would even mutter a barely audible word under their breath that most people heard to be "shoobie." But there was always one woman who would stop to answer questions. With a warm smile and infectious laugh, she would kindly point the tourists to the most popular fast food restaurant in Ocean Shores, called The Shore Shack. As they headed toward the eatery, the tourists couldn't help but look once more over their shoulders at the unusual bright violet-colored hair that stood tall atop the helpful woman's head.

The Shore Shack was, by far, the greatest restaurant in all of Ocean Shores. There was nothing fancy about the place - it was a small outside diner located right near the beach. They served hamburgers, tacos, hotdogs, and just about any other type of fast food you could think of. The odd thing was, the diner was only run by two men. You'd think that a place as popular and stocked with food as theirs would have many employees, but somehow the two managed to run the place smoothly all by themselves.

There was Ray, who mainly took orders and handled the money. Tall, tan, and muscular, Ray was a very good catch to most of the female tourists. As long as he didn't take off his old fishing cap, which carefully concealed a bald patch in the center of his head that just didn't seem to belong, Ray usually looked as though he were a male model. But in reality, he was a single father who lost his wife years ago to a fatal case of cancer.

Tito was Ray's business partner and the man who was always behind the grill. He could make anything and everything that you could ever ask for, as long as it was on the menu. Tito was born and raised in Hawaii, and moved to Ocean Shores, California somewhere along the way. But living in Hawaii for so many years had equipped him with plenty of wisdom. Tourists stopping in for a bite to eat would either see Tito taking a break from the grill and giving another person advice, or be lucky enough to receive some directly from the man himself. Tito often quoted Hawaiian phrases that he claimed to have learned from his great-grandfather. And although what Tito said rarely made much sense to the tourists, they listened intently, and assumed that whatever Tito told them will eventually be of some great importance in their lives. Tito's plump build made him seem very friendly, warm, and inviting, and the tourists rarely turned down the opportunity to chat with him.

And as the tourists sat at the diner table and ate their food, they were content. Their vacation to Ocean Shores hadn't exactly worked out as planned thus far with no surf lessons or bikinis, but a nice hamburger, crispy fries, and an ice cold soda seemed to make it all better.

If the sun was hot, the day was ripe, and the waves were still, something else would usually happen. The pounding of several pairs of feet would be heard on the blacktop just outside the Shore Shack, usually accompanied by four voices. One would say something like, "Dude, do a trick for the camera!" And then a very high-pitched voice would shriek, "I'm getting sunburned, let's go inside!" A third voice, sounding rather mature and reprimanding, would say, "Come on, you guys, quit goofing around!" But the fourth voice stood out the most to the tourists, and they would curiously turn around in their seats to see who it belonged to.

They were about to meet Otto Rocket.

"Why do guys have to be so lame?" Otto would demand impatiently as he led the way over to the Shore Shack, with his close-knit clan right at his heels. "We don't need to take a break yet." Then the teenage boy would plop down carelessly into a chair in the diner, completely unaware of the attention he was drawing to himself.

"That's my son Otto," the tourists would hear Ray announce gruffly. "Always has to be in the spotlight, wherever he goes," he would mutter as he shook his head and quietly chuckled.

The tourists would turn their heads from Ray back to Otto and his friends. With skeptical eyes, they would look the four teenagers over, noticing everything from the worn-in black tennis shoes they were all wearing to the skateboards they were all clutching tightly to their sides.

Then the tourists would merely turn back to their plates of food and finish eating, automatically assuming that Otto and his three friends were just a few ordinary surfer teenagers with the same ridiculous pride and arrogance that seemed to belong to every other citizen in the town of Ocean Shores.

Little did they know, those tourists had just caught a glimpse of the four people who would become the living legends of their time.

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Author's Note: To be continued.. Please review. Also! The summary for the story is as follows:

Otto Rocket is a self-obsessed, over competitive, thirteen-year-old boy from Ocean Shores, California. He and his three best friends decide to team up and enter a very popular annual competition in New Zealand, in which kids from all over the world pair up in teams and compete in very difficult races for a shot at getting a sponsorship by the most famous X-treme sports brand in the world. At the end it is decided which team is the best, and also who is the lucky athlete that gets the sponsorship. Otto, who was expecting to win, quickly realizes that things are a bit different in New Zealand, where he isn't the star athlete as usual. His focus slowly shifts, however, as he soon finds himself drooling over a fellow competitor, Audrey Parker. Both her and Otto are excellent athletes, which makes the races very close. Otto's attempts to get to know Audrey better are often successful. But one of Audrey's other admirerers, Theodore, get jealous and tries to make Otto's life harder in any way he can, hoping to snatch Audrey up while he's do it.. Meanwhile, Otto's best friend, Twister, developes a crush on Otto's sister, Reggie. As feelings become mutual, Reggie starts to lose interest in her first crush, who now likes her even more and is completely unaware of Twister's newfound feelings for her.. These love triangles begin to intensify along with the competition. Things take a surprising turn as the final race comes to an end. Which team will win? Audrey's? Otto's? And who will end up being named athlete of the year and be awarded the sponsorship? As the competition ends, Otto gets ready to leave, knowing he'll never see Audrey again. But Audrey unexpectedly surprises Otto and gets him in high spirits once more. A series of dramatic events follows as heartbreaking secrets are revealed, and crushes become reality. To top things off, a very rare hurricane hits the beach, giving Audrey the chance of a lifetime to conquer her deepest, darkest, fear. All these unusual incidents guarantee Audrey and Otto a summer they'll never forget..

*IF* you recognize the summary somewhat and/or have read 'Getting There' (chapters 1-17) before, you're probably wondering what in the world I am doing! Well, I have decided to restart the story, adding more details to the beginning. NONE of the other chapters will change - I'm just going to re-add them day by day, giving me the time to write chapters 18 and beyond in the process. If you want, you can just skim the chapters until I get to #18, which will be new to you. If you have NOT read the story before and don't know what I'm talking about, never mind. :-)