So here I am again with another chapter, and also thanking you all over again for the reviews, especially those of you who always review, like KT 129, Violet, Solstace0990, T girl, thanks! I'd send you all personal thank-you's, I'm so grateful, but pressed for time on internet, so this will have to do. If I'm a famous writer someday, I'll remember you.(: And yes, Violet, I AM AN EXTREME WORDGIRL FANATIC! Thank you so much for noticing those little details and stuff and appreciating them! You are all so cool.(:

On with the story...we left of with the clowns running in with buckets of water, just in case you forgot.

~O~O~O~

Tobey stood in the opening of the tent, out of breath, just in time to see the clowns, too.

"No!" he and WordGirl both shouted simultaneously, and WordGirl flew down to grab the buckets, but the water was already splashing out into the air at the robot.

Even the littlest bit that had come from the buckets was dangerous enough once it got inside of the robot. That was one of the things WordGirl had appreciated about Tobey's robots; she could always count on water to defeat them. But sometimes if only a small amount of water was involved, all it did was make the robots berserk.

The robot went crazy. It started jumping up and down, its heavy weight making the ground vibrate. People screamed and tried to stand up and run, but the shaking of the ground made them fall. It was total chaos. WordGirl darted over to try and get Scoops loose; he was in the most danger of everyone, unless she counted Tobey afterward when his mother would find out about this.

"Hey, WordGirl, a little help over here?" Scoops yelled as the robot, still jumping so that its antenna tore a hole in the top of the tent, swung its arms around wildly. It was crushing the small platforms and metal garbage-can cars that had been part of the clown act in the process.

What do you think I'm doing?WordGirl thought, circling the robot in search of its weakness. She hated how all she seemed to be doing was going in frantic circles while things just became more and more of a catastrophe.

Then all of the sudden the robot reached out and grabbed her, too.

Its steel grasp was strong and she struggled in vain to burst free.

"By the way, WordGirl." Scoops yelled in the midst of the confusion. "Want to get ice cream later?"

For just one moment, she wondered why in the world he was asking her this, until she remembered that she had dared him to.

"Sure, yeah, whatever," she groaned, still trying to break free, wondering why he had to ask her this now.

Tobey was still standing in the tent's opening. "Why don't you ever want to get ice cream with me?" he shouted, reminding WordGirl of a child who had been refused candy.

"Why don't you just stop this robot?" she yelled back at him, even though the robot was so deranged, Tobey couldn't have stopped it if he'd wanted to. She just fought with all of her strength to pry herself loose.

Then a lot of things happened in only a few fast seconds. As the robot was jumping, it kicked one of the make-shift cars, which went flying in Tobey's direction. With a sudden burst of energy and fast-pounding adrenaline, WordGirl shot out of the robot's hold, just in time to speed after the garbage-can car and grab it. She slammed to a halt in mid-air just inches from Tobey, who had reacted quickly and tried to get out of the way. But, she thought, he probably wouldn't have made it far enough.

Gasping for air, she froze for just a moment to glance at him, her heart still pounding fast and hard in her chest.

He was looking at her with wide eyes and said breathlessly, "Thanks,"

"You're welcome," she said, breathless, too.

She was glad she had broken free when she did.

Then Scoops started yelling again and WordGirl became once again aware that there was still an evil, mad robot to destroy, and that the earth was still quaking as it stomped around. At that she recollected herself and realized she had to stop this robot right now, before anything else bad happened. She was lucky she had been able to burst free when she did, she thought as she tossed the garbage-can car away. Especially considering running wasn't one of Tobey's strong suits. What if that car had smashed into him?

She had to dispel any thoughts from her mind such as that one and concentrate on herding the robot in the other direction, as it was coming too close to the stumbling, screaming people who had yet to get out of the tent. By this time, the tent was entirely ripped open on top and more of just an enclosed space of torn, colorful, striped canvas around them.

The robot was still swinging its arms around, and Scoops was no longer trying to make the best of it. He'd dropped his tablet and started yelling out nonsense, mostly for WordGirl to help him, but also saying something about his tablet being crushed under the robot's feet. She ignored him and tried her hardest to just gain some control over the situation.

Meanwhile, Captain Huggy Face was now trying to wrestle the remote away from Tobey, as he hadn't witnessed the water being thrown on the robot and didn't know that Tobey had no control over the situation. He had hold of the remote with one hand as they played tug-of-war, and with the other hand he was dealing out karate wacks to Tobey's arms. But Tobey was holding on tight as he watched WordGirl try smashing herself into the back of the robot, making it fall to the ground and throw the reporter-kid into the air as it went down. At that Huggy finally got the remote from Tobey and switched the robot off. At the same moment WordGirl flew and caught Scoops, by the arm.

Turning the robot off didn't do any good of course, since it was deranged from the water leaking into it. WordGirl quickly set Scoops down to go do something about it. It was still flailing on the ground, smashing itself in the head until she flew down and punched it really hard. And that was the end of it.

Huggy was standing with his arms crossed and Scoops was - of course - writing away fast, as he had discovered his tablet, flung to the side by the robot's frantic motions. Tobey just watched WordGirl fly over to them, thinking even though he was now in a heap of trouble because of her, she sure was beautiful, smashing up robots in mid-air like that. And she had possibly saved his life, too. Now, there was something good to think about later on when he couldn't sleep at night.

WordGirl landed in front of Scoops, and Huggy rushed over with the remote. Tobey fallowed Huggy quickly.

"Wow, WordGirl, that was amazing!" Scoops said. "I owe you one now!"

Tobey rolled his eyes.

"Well, let's just have some ice cream and say we're even," WordGirl said, but there was a tiredness to her tone. "Good work, Huggy," she said once Huggy handed her the remote. And then she turned to Tobey. He already had a nervous smile on his face.

She forgot about her tiredness, and emotion flared up inside of her.

Before he could say anything, she burst out, "You know, Tobey, every time I start to actually have a good time with you, you go and blow it by doing something like this!" She flung her arms out at her sides to imply the mess all around them, and just stared at him.

She expected him to pretend it was no big deal to avoid getting in trouble. Instead he just looked at her for a moment with a serious expression.

This was what he was thinking: why would she be so mad at him if having a good time together and then having it ruined meant nothing to her? The only reason she would be so angry with him would be that she cared. Even if it was only the slightest bit, she must have cared.

He said, "Are you saying you had a good time with me?"

For a moment she just stared at him dumbly thinking, did I? Then snapped back with it and burst out,

"I'm not saying that!" Ugh, why did she have to have worded her sentence that way? It was like a deja vu of the last time Tobey had gotten it into his head that she secretly enjoyed being with him. Only worse because this was the second time, and it was not so easily blown over.

He just looked thrilled at her fierce objection. "You did too!" he said. "You dunked me! And you know you had fun doing it, too! And now there's going to be a picture of us in the newspaper having a wonderful time together!"

"What?" she exclaimed. She glanced at Scoops. He patted his camera with a smile and nodded.

"I never intended to imply by what I was saying that I meant we were having a good time together!" she said, not even really paying attention to what she was saying, just blurting out whatever. "I wasn't even trying to have a good time! The only reason we were even talking was because I was waiting for you to show up-"

"You were waiting for me?" Tobey asked, stunned.

"No!" she said. Ugh, that's not true. "I mean, yes, but it was because you told me-" Then she realized she couldn't say that, since, in her last encounter with him that she was about to mention, she'd been Becky. Then he'd know.

So she said, "I picked up with my super-hearing a conversation in which you told someone you were going to come to the carnival with robots."

Tobey rolled his eyes with a dreamy smile and sighed. "Ah, WordGirl, I'm not a fool."

For one terrifying moment she thought he was going to say that he knew she was Becky Botsford, and so relief flooded through her when he said,

"Maybe you just don't realize how deep down you really have had a good time every time we've encountered one another. You always act like none of it matters, but right now you seem so flustered - "

"I don't need you to tell me what I'm feeling." she said defensively, but with a tentative expression as she wrapped her arms around herself self-consciously.

"I wouldn't be too sure," he said teasingly, although inside he was thinking, Does she actually have a vulnerable expression on her face or am I just imagining things?

Then he realized that Huggy and Scoops were just observing him with amused looks. At first he started blushing from realizing all of the things he'd just said to WordGirl in front of those two, but then he realized they were looking over his shoulder, at something behind him.

He turned around and bumped into his mother.

"Oh!" was all he said.

Mrs. McCallister just looked at him shaking her head and said, "No robot privileges for a month, Tobey! And you're grounded!"

Usually when Tobey's mom showed up, WordGirl watched her get mad at him with a smirk. This time she just stood there and tried not to pay too much attention. She wasn't sure why. At least his mother didn't grab him by the ear like he was some small child and stalk off with him.

But she was certainly relieved when he was gone. The way he'd gone on and on insisting that she'd had a good time with him...

And what if he was right about all of the other things he said? She shook her head and dispelled those thoughts from her mind.

Scoops said with a smile, "So, WordGirl, did you have a good time with Tobey?"

She made a face. "Uh, I don't know, whatever. Um...I'll see you around, okay?" she said. "Come on, Huggy." Huggy jumped into her arms. With a short parting smile, she exclaimed, "Word up!" and flew off to become Becky Botsford again and re-join her family. Do something to wind down a little from the stress of the battle.

Or maybe she'd go find Violet. Violet was probably walking around the midway with Hunter, and holding his hand.

WordGirl remembered Violet saying "Too bad you won't be at the carnival with a boy, Becky!"

Well, as it turned out, she had been. Though it hadn't quite been the boy she'd had in mind. And it hadn't been relaxing like what she'd imagined a day at the carnival with a boy should be. She ended up saving his life and then watching his mother yell at him.

She really had had an alright time with him, as short as the moment before Scoops had come over was, she had to admit. But that was all that she was going to think. She didn't need to start questioning whether Tobey McCallister was as bad as she always thought, right?

The story is not over yet. There'll be one more chapter. So thanks again! If you review this, I love you. (not in a creppy way. XD) More to come. God bless.(= Bye.