Hi everyone! So here I am again. Sorry it took so long for me to get the next chapter up. There's been some errors with the website preventing me from editing my documents on it and saving them or something. So yeah, here's the chapter, and I'd also like to thank everyone who reads my stories. But most of all, thanks, reviewers, I love reading your reviews and it makes my day! Keep it up please! Thanks.(:

Becky observed the atmosphere of the carnival as she and her family approached. It was teeming with moving crowds of people who were all talking, laughing, and yelling to be heard above the music of the rides and other carnival sounds. The air smelled like buttery popcorn, caramel, and filthy garbage cans. The warm, early-September sunlight was a little faded, as it was evening, but there were still a few hours left in the day for enjoying everything the carnival had to offer.

"Wow, look at everything!" Mr. Botsford exclaimed as they walked through the entryway. "Think of all the great deals we'll get with this Super Carnival Ticket I bought!"

TJ agreed by throwing a fist in the air, Bob chattered with excitement, and Mrs. Botsford smiled as she clasped her hands with delight. Becky just cringed a little. Her dad was great and all, but considering he and Mrs. Botsford were always clipping coupons and looking for sales, he spent a lot more money just because he thought he was saving more with the Pretty Princess Fan Club discounts or foot-care-product coupons shaped like a footprint.

"Hey, Mom, Dad, do you mind if I go look for Violet? She's here somewhere." Becky said.

"Go right ahead, hon," Mr. Botsford said. "Just take Bob with you,"

"Of course," Becky said, grabbing Bob's hand. "Let's go, Bob."

She had to be ready for Tobey. She speed-walked away from her family and ducked behind a very big, out-of the-way sign for fresh shredded cabbage and with her exclamation of "Word up!" she and Bob became WordGirl and Captain Huggy Face.

As WordGirl and Huggy strolled down the midway, the first person she managed to spot amid the crowds of moving people was Scoops. He was interviewing a clown just outside of the clown act tent. She watched from a distance until she could tell the interview was nearly over. Finally Scoops spun the pencil he'd been holding around between his fingers, and said something to the clown with a wink. WordGirl approached.

"Hey, Scoops," she said as the clown walked away.

"Oh, hey, WordGirl," he said with a smile. "So, how have you been enjoying the carnival?" He flipped his writing tablet to a fresh page.

The interest of the by-passers was aroused by the sight of the city's superhero among them. They smiled and called out greetings to her. She just smiled brightly and called "hello" back to anyone who said it to her. Then one girl called out, "WordGirl, you're awesome!"

WordGirl waved back to her with an extra-big smile, then laughed a little, she was feeling so flattered.

"Hey, WordGirl, interview going on here." Scoops said, tapping her on the arm with his pencil.

The gesture struck her as very pushy and she didn't like it. But she didn't give him a dirty look, even though she was thinking, Maybe I don't want an interview. She tried to shrug off the feeling. People didn't need to see her looking annoyed.

"Um, good," she said, smiling briefly at a few more of her fans, then turning back to Scoops. "I just got here so I don't have much to say."

"Well, that's okay, I'll catch you later," he said, beginning to fold his tablet shut.

"But everything looks totally exciting!" WordGirl blurted out, putting both of her hands up in a gesture to stop. "And the balloons! They look like the most fun! Uh...for Captain Huggy Face, that is. I plan on getting him one."

Huggy squealed with delight at the prospect of getting a balloon. She gave him an I'm sorry look to say that she had only said that for the sake of saying something. He pouted at her, wondering why she couldn't just get him one anyways.

"Now, that's news!" Scoops exclaimed, scribbling away with the pencil. When he had finished writing something that most people would not consider "news", he put away the tablet and said, "Mind if I take your picture for The Daily Rag? I can just see it now! WordGirl at the Carnival!" He held up his arm and moved his hand through the air as it he was visualizing the headline right there above them.

"No, go right ahead!" WordGirl said. "Let's take one of both of us! You should be in it!"

Huggy groaned and slapped his forehead. She was far too obvious about it.

Scoops considered this. "Well, I don't normally publish pictures of myself in the paper," he said. "But if you want me to, then sure,"

WordGirl didn't know that Tobey was watching her. He was standing behind the giant sign for shredded cabbage. As soon as he'd caught sight of her among the crowd, he'd ducked behind the sign, not ready to approach her yet. So for quite some time he'd been standing in the shadows, leaned against the sign, his heart pounding like a drum. Then, when he'd finally found the gumption to just walk over to her, she'd went over to that reporter kid and started gushing over him. Tobey had been forced to stand there and watch the whole disgusting encounter of them taking a picture together. Her blushed face, wide smile...it made him crazy.

She should be that way around me, he was thinking. Really, there were no good reasons why she shouldn't be. It didn't matter that she was a superhero and he was the villain; the way he looked at things, that would be one of the most ridiculous reasons for them to be apart. He knew she was just making up excuses for herself when she acted like she had her place and he had his and that possibilities of them as a couple were nonexistent. He could certainly see through that act.

He decided upon his mission of the day, as he had never really had one in the first place. He'd only told Becky he was going to the carnival with WordGirl to impress her; he hadn't actually considered the idea until he heard himself blurt it out. But now the day seemed to be brimming with possibility.

By the end of the day he would have a picture of himself with WordGirl, and it was going to end up in the newspaper. Somehow. He was going to make sure of that. Even if he was reduced to having to involve himself with that reporter-kid. It would be worth it.

He made up his mind that he would not bring out any evil robots unless push came to shove, and preferably not until after he got his picture with WordGirl, so she'd look happy to be in it with him. Maybe he wouldn't even need to consider bringing out robots, if things went well for him. He was waiting for the day when WordGirl would slip up and admit she liked him. Who knew, maybe that day was today?

WordGirl, at the moment, was explaining to Scoops that "unconventional" meant different from what is regarded as normal or regular, after having used the word when talking to him. When he had asked her what it meant, she had sighed a little, because even though she loved defining words, she wished he could be a little more impressive. She felt she shouldn't have to define words for him all of the time; he ought to know a few of the big ones now and then.

After a few minutes, they parted, but then she realized he hadn't mentioned ice cream.

"Darn it," she muttered.

"Well, Huggy, I don't know when to expect Tobey to show up." she said then, as they went on their way. "He could just strike at any moment. At least I got the heads-up at school when I bumped into him in the hallway. That's a big help."

Huggy made some chimp-sounds.

"Really?" WordGirl replied. "I don't think there's anything suspiciously coincidental about encountering him. It was just a good chance that we bumped into each other. I mean, after all, not to sound self-centered or anything of course, because obviously I'm not the most important person ever or anything, but the show is about me, you know. Things roll my way."

Huggy shrugged and chattered.

"I'm not being conceited. And I tend to think on the-"

WordGirl walked right into someone, she had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts. She and the other person both hit the ground.

WordGirl looked up.

"Tobey?" she said. Huggy narrowed his eyes.

She couldn't believe she'd bumped into him twicein one day. Too much physical contact, she thought. And on his part, it probably wasn't an accident this time.

"Oh, hello, WordGirl, fancy bumping into you here," Tobey said with a crooked smile.

"Oh, yeah, fancy that," WordGirl said, rising to her feet, though Tobey tried to take her hand and pull her up himself.

Oh well, he thought. Someday...

She simply brushed herself off and said, "We know why you're here, McCallister."

"I'm sure," Tobey said. "I mean, every genius such as myself must take a day off to spend at the carnival in hopes of having a good time and literally running into a friend who had been hoping to run into him as well."

"Okay, that was a run-on sentence." she was quick to point out. "And you've pulled this trick before, Tobey. I know why you're here. You're going to destroy the carnival with robots." Then she smiled. "Oh, by the way, nice new tie."

"Well, thank you for noticing, WordGirl, I put a lot of effort into picking the right one," he said, returning her smile.

"I'll bet." WordGirl said.

They stood there for a moment, WordGirl looking off into space with her arms crossed, contemplating how Tobey might strike, and Tobey rubbing his hands together nervously, wishing he had something to say. He was even more pressured, as the people who were walking by kept staring at the two of them expectantly. Finally he said,

"Would you like to...play some games together?"

"Robot games?" WordGirl asked with arched eyebrows.

He ignored her attitude. "How about we head on over to the dunking tank? That's my favorite game." Usually when he played, he had one of his robots throw the ball, for obvious reasons concerning his athletic abilities. But that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy it at the same time.

WordGirl rolled her eyes. He braced himself to hear her say no, but then she said, "I'm not good at that game."

"Really?" he said, surprised. "I mean, with your super precision and aiming, you'd think you'd be excellent at it."

She shrugged. "Yeah, you'd think. But I've never hit the target." Granted, she'd only tried once and had been feeling lousy that day anyway. Nonetheless, it clearly disgusted her. She said, "I don't know why."

Huggy snickered a little and she shot him a dirty look.

Tobey smiled bashfully and said, "Let an expert show you how it's done."

"Oh, I don't need you to show me how to play a silly carnival game, Tobey," WordGirl said.

"Are you sure?" Tobey pressed on.

All of the sudden she said, "Come on,", grabbing his arm and pulling him toward the dunking tank. "I'll play. But only if you volunteer to be in the dunking tank when I do."

The way she was grasping his arm, and the fact that she had done it all herself, sent chills shooting from his arm to the rest of him so that he didn't even care that he might get dunked in a tank of water. She grabbed my arm! he was thinking delightedly.

WordGirl just winked at Huggy. "I'll probably be motivated enough to hit the target if he's in there, don't you think?" she asked. Huggy gave her a thumbs-up.

Tobey didn't notice. He was trying to memorize the feeling of her hands on him.

And then she realized she was still gripping his arm, which was completely unnecessary. Why had she even grabbed his arm in the first place? She felt like letting go, but then somehow, she didn't think it seemed like she should. She made a face as they walked toward the dunking tank, examining the sight of her maroon-gloved hands around his arm in his light blue shirt, debating what she ought to do. Her grip had slid down to his wrist, and she wondered if anyone would not get a close enough look and think she was holding his hand. That made her want to let go more, but she'd been holding onto him for almost the whole walk there, and if she just dropped his arm out of the blue like that...

It didn't matter anymore, they were already at the dunking tank, and then she quickly let go of him. She put her hands behind her back and clasped them together, squirming a little bit and feeling altogether disapproving of herself for grabbing his arm. She glanced at him. He seemed like he was trying to suppress one of his goofy smiles. She just looked away.

Moments later he was sitting in the dunking tank, suspended above the water, looking like he wished he hadn't agreed to this so much anymore.

WordGirl had recovered from her undefined, awkward feeling and stood ready, holding a baseball. Huggy watched from the sidelines excitedly. He rather wished it was he himself dunking Tobey. But he'd daringly thrown a few banana peels at him during class last week, and this was WordGirl's moment to shine.

"Ready?" the guy running the game asked Tobey. Behind him stood the man who'd been in the dunking game before, wrapped in a towel and shivering; Amazing Rope Guy. It was part of his community service to help out at the city's carnival for some trouble he'd caused downtown the other day.

Tobey just nodded.

WordGirl brought her arm back, her eyes on the target and her heart pounding fast from excitement. Then she whipped her arm forward, the ball flying from her grasp, going at the target.

Tobey's face took on an even more scared-looking expression before he was dunked in the water, sputtering and yelling. The target, which had been smashed to pieces, lay on the ground, except for a small part that was still stuck impacted to the tank from the force of the baseball.

"Oops, I'm sorry!" WordGirl said when she saw the demolished target. Tobey burst above the surface, splashing water around in the tank as he reached for his glasses, gasping. The man running the game just shrugged monotonously.

So WordGirl let herself get excited over her triumph, knowing that she wasn't in trouble for obliterating the target. She jumped up with her hands thrown out and yelled, "I did it!" Then she had to rub it in by staying in the air, looking like an airborne cheerleader.

She laughed as Tobey climbed out of the tank. Then she had to sit on a bench, she was laughing so hard, because even though it was a little mean, it was just funny. Seeing Tobey get submerged in water like that...

He strode over, sopping wet and adjusting his glasses. She reduced herself to just smiling as he approached. Finally he stopped in front of her and said, "You told me you were terrible at this game!"

"Oh, come on, this is funny," WordGirl said, looking up at him with laughter in her eyes, although she felt the tiniest bit bad for laughing so hard at him.

"Not at all!" Tobey said. "Well, maybe a little. Alright, fine, I can see why you are laughing, but excuse me, you're not the one who looks like a fool."

"You don't look like a fool," WordGirl said. "Look, everyone's cheering for you,"

Tobey looked around at all of the people who had seen WordGirl dunk him. He realized they were indeed cheering for him. They were yelling in unison, "Boy with glasses! Boy with glasses!"

"See, no one thinks you're a fool," she said. "And hey, you agreed to go in it. Maybe you're not such a bad sport after all,"

"WordGirl, do you really mean that?" Tobey asked.

"Um, sure, why not?" she said generously. She had to admit, she wouldn't have thought he'd go in a dunking tank for her. She was rather impressed.

Tobey turned to face the people again and threw his hands up. "I got dunked by WordGirl!" he exclaimed.

They cheered even louder. It was an odd yet lovely moment for him. He couldn't help but be flattered, although he felt that they ought to have known his name, considering he was the city's evil boy-genius.

Someone suddenly snapped a picture of him standing next to WordGirl, and then Scoops stepped forward.

Tobey saw a balloon being deflated in his mind.

"So, Boy With Glasses," Scoops said, thinking he was so clever for calling Tobey that. "How's it feel to be dunked by the amazing WordGirl?" WordGirl laughed and blushed, and Tobey grimaced.

"Newsflash, my name is not 'Boy With Glasses', it's Tobey McCallister the Third to you, reporter-boy. And excuse me, but I don't feel like being interviewed."

"Fine with me," Scoops said, turning to WordGirl.

WordGirl groaned a little. Okay. Another interview.

"WordGirl, how's it feel to dunk your arch-rival, Boy With Glasses?" Scoops asked. He chuckled after asking her, as if he couldn't quite get over the hilarity of referring to Tobey as "Boy With Glasses".

"Fine," WordGirl said. "Especially considering I've never hit the target before."

"So do you think the fact that Boy With Glasses was in there helped motivate you to dunk him?"

Tobey was becoming more and more disappointed by the second. It wasn't often that he got to have one of those moments with WordGirl when he was happy and she was happy and they were both happy with each other. And then he had to come over and ruin all of the fun. Tobey wasn't stupid, he could see WordGirl had had her fill of Scoops as well. He just hoped the kid would pick up on the unoptimistic mood coming from them and leave.

"Maybe," WordGirl answered Scoops. "Personally, I-"

"What's your secret identity?" Scoops interrupted.

She froze and made a face. "Is that supposed to be some new tactic?" she asked.

Scoops made a face back at her. Then he said, "Tell me three words that best describe how fun it was to dunk Tobey."

"Uh-"

"Alright, I hate to break up the party, but I cannot stand another moment of this cruel degradation." Tobey said. He had completely given up on the idea of Scoops getting lost. At the moment, he figured he wouldn't mind getting in trouble too much. Then he pointed out, "And besides that, the way you keep calling me 'Boy With Glasses' lost its charm from the first time you said it."

WordGirl had to admit, he was right.

Scoops just shrugged as if he was a professional and anything negative that Tobey had to say was nonsense.

"So, without further ado, I will going to gladly put an end to it," Tobey said. "Robots attack!" He pulled out one of his remotes and pushed the big red button.

WordGirl sighed a little.

Gigantic robots leapt out from various places around the carnival. People ran screaming. Scoops was now writing away as fast as he could and all the sudden scary music started playing. WordGirl grabbed Huggy just as a robot was about to crush an ice cream booth. "Word up!" she exclaimed, then flew off.

Thanks everyone who read what I have so far and told me they liked it, I love you! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE review this! Thanks again, more to come, and God bless!(=