Hi again all. I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. Now, as the title implies for this chapter, Twister does a bit of detective work to find out what Otto was up to for the day. Conroy makes his debut for this chapter. Reggie also gets her phone call from Sherry. Okay, that's about all I can say for this chapter, so please enjoy it. The next chapter is where something more interesting happens. I'm the type who usually writes ahead so that all I have to do is upload the chapter. So far, I've already written seven chapters to this fic.

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

Chapter 04: Detective Rodriguez

'Wow, I wonder what's, like, wrong with her?'

"Poor Reg," Sam uttered as she watched the girl jog off, "she's still obviously upset over Otto. Reg turning down a good surf is like Otto actually beefing doing something as simple as a kick flip."

"Otto beefing period isn't normal."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Anyway, I'll catch you later, Twist."

"Wait, you're not going to the shack to get something to eat?"

"Nah, it just doesn't feel right since all of us aren't together."

"But we've all been going there for the past couple of weeks without Otto around, what makes this time any different?"

"No Reggie. It's depressing enough that Otto isn't around, but now that Reggie isn't…it just doesn't feel right. Besides, I'm not all that hungry today."

"Dude, the Squid not hungry is like-like Reg acting like a damsel in distress waiting for Prince Trent to come to her rescue!"

Sam found the way Twister had referred to Trent as "Prince Trent" a tad bit indignant and a bit sarcastic. He also seemed to come across as slightly resentful. It seemed that the freckled boy always reacted in this way whenever Reggie would address or reference Trent. Sam decided to ignore it since he figured he had to have been reading too much into it, given that Reg hanged with Trent a lot because they had many of the same classes together, were good friends, and also helped Reggie with her 'Zine. Given how much time they would hang around together, it shouldn't have been a big deal.

There were times, though, when Sam did wonder about these curious actions of his friend whenever it came to Reggie. Lately, Sam noticed how Twister seemed to act differently around Reggie and would sometimes talk about her nonstop, or casually bring her up in a conversation – whenever she wasn't around – or either constantly try to include her in his many video projects. In the past, he would usually only bother asking Otto, who would jump at the chance to show off for the camera. He still did ask Otto to be in his video projects, only not as much as he used to.

"I guess that does seem a bit surprising," Sam admitted.

"What about Madtown?"

"It's Reggie's call on what to do about Otto, and since she said to let him go, we probably should too. for now," Sam pointed out. "Anyway, catch ya later."

"Yeah, okay. Talk to you later, Squid."

With that, Sam headed home, leaving Twister all alone on the Pier. Given that Sam left, he wasn't really in the mood to eat either. He looked over towards the seaside restaurant, and saw that it was actually pretty busy.

'More shoobies,' the boy inwardly groaned. 'They sure are coming around earlier and earlier. School's not even out yet, but the good thing is that they're all eating now. If they're all eating, then if I wanted to go out for a quick surf, I could without any of them getting in my way.'

Twister, not having much else to do, and knowing that it wouldn't be practical to go home to pick up his surf gear before the "shoobies" finished their meals, decided to head over to Madtown anyway. Madtown was the best skate park in all of Ocean Shores run by a tall, slim Jamaican man who went by the name, Conroy Blanc. He had known Conroy for years, and at one point, he and Otto had him as their fifth grade teacher. Twister, as well as the others, considered him to be one of the coolest adults around, next to Tito. The coolest thing about Conroy, was that he could skateboard and blade just like them, despite his age and even as he was getting older, it wasn't slowing him down. He even saw him as being a better skater than Otto – given Conroy's experience – but he knew better than to mention something like that to Rocket Boy. He knew that Otto would totally wig out if anyone would suggest that anyone else was better than him at a sport, especially since he worked hard at them.

After the short walk, he finally arrived at Madtown. Twister didn't have any of his skating gear, but he didn't care much about that. He was just anxious to talk with Otto. He scanned the park, but didn't see him anyplace. At the entrance of the park, there was a metal trailer. He knocked on the door.

"Hold on, mon, hold on," he heard a voice grumble. The door opened, a man with a gold ring in his left nostril, wearing a colorful shirt with thick horizontal stripes, a pair of baggy shorts, and a pair of sandals appeared. "Twister my mon, what's happening!" the man asked, putting out his hand to do the special "woogity" handshake.

Twister eagerly returned it. "Nothing much, Controy."

"Where's ya gear? I've nevaa seen ya here without your blades or your board. Come to think of it, it's rare to see ya without your Twist Cam too."

"Sorry, I can't hang today, Conroy, and," he pointed to his backpack, "I always have my Twist Cam." He kept his camera with him always now-a-days. He really wished that he could afford a more modern camera, like one of the newer digital cameras, but he stuck with his old trusty camcorder. Given that he kept the big camera around, he would sometimes forget his school books just so he'd have room for it, or either he would carry his books in hand. "Anyway, have you seen Ottoman today?"

"Of course, mon," the older man nodded. "He was here earlier today, rippin' it up on the half-pipe, showing off to the shoobies hanging around, and showing off all of his latest moves that he'd been practicing nonstop lately."

'That sounds like him.' He liked the fact that Otto felt he was good at most everything he tried, but after a while, it started to get a bit annoying since he was such a camera hog. Otto pretty much ordered him to film him now, which was why Twister wasn't as anxious or as eager to film Otto much anymore. Well, that and the fact that for some inexplicable reason, he found Reggie a lot more interesting lately. "Do you have any idea where he could've gone?"

"I have no idea, Twister-dude. I guess he could've gone down to the beach for a quick surf."

'No, he couldn't have…I would've seen him before I came up here…'

"Twister?"

"Oh, sorry Conroy Do you know if he was with anyone today?"

"Well, he's normally with you guys."

"Yeah, I know. I think he's bummed out about something because he's not hanging with me, Reg, or Sam."

"Hmm, that explains it then. I've noticed his coming here by himself more and more lately." Right at that moment, they heard a faint ringing sound. "Oh, sorry mon. I'd chat with ya more, but I have to get goin'."

"Yeah, sure…"

Conroy went back into his trailer. Twister considered going down to the beach to see if Otto was around, but changed his mind and decided to just go home.

During the walk, he remained deep in thought, still trying to figure Otto out, but those thoughts soon drifted to someone else, Reggie. He was very curious as to why she was so anxious to run off. He figured that being bummed out over her brother was part of the reason and her comment about receiving a call seemed like the honest truth, but growing nervous over it was the strange part.

'I guess it's a girl thing,' he concluded, seagulls soaring overhead in the clear sky. Lars had always told him that normally when girls acted weird and had to talk to their "girlfriends", that it was always a "girl thing", that guys wouldn't understand. 'I don't feel like going home and I do have to drop this homework off for Ottoman, so maybe I'll drop by and see if I can cheer Reggie up!' Twister smiled at the thought. He didn't understand why he wanted to constantly find reasons to hang around Reggie more than he would ordinarily or why he wanted to be extra nice to her. He just did…
x x x x
Meanwhile…

"As if, Sherry," Reggie said over the cordless phone, pacing around the kitchen. "No way that's true!" She opened the fridge door and took out a pitcher of juice. "No way!" she blushed slightly as she searched through the cabinet for a glass. "He couldn't like me in that way; besides, I only like him as a friend!" She rolled her eyes as she poured her juice. "Oh, you would bring that up!" She gulped down some of her juice.

"Okay, okay, I admit it! When we first met years ago, I was attracted to him and I did act totally girly to get his attention, but that was it!"

…

"Sherry, stop laughing!" Reggie ordered, a hint of embarrassment in her voice. "I know how lame I was when I was in, what you called it, 'Regina mode'."

…

"Can we stop talking about Trent now, Sherry? I really doubt he likes me in the way that you're saying. I don't know why I ever listen to your gossip. Your sources are never reliable. It's always heard from a friend of a friend of a cousin of a brother of a second cousin or something. It's never from the person that it's supposed to be about."

…

"Because it's true? Whatever! If he likes me so much, then how come he's never said anything or tried asking me out?"

…

"Because he's shy?! Yeah right! Trent is anything but shy! He's captain of our Rugby team, he's a member of our Soccer team, and he's one of the best surfers our coed Surf Team has to offer next to Otto for the guys! I still can't believe anything you say about him. Trent so doesn't have a thing for me! If he did, he would've said something by now and I probably would've noticed it since we hang out together so much and so often! We're just really good friends, Sherry."

…

"Oh, Otto? He's still acting like a jerk for no reason and I don't care anymore about what he does. If he wants to keep acting like a lame-o, then that's his business."

Sherry wasn't convinced of Reggie's act of not caring, but decided not to dwell on it. She knew that Reg cared about her brother very much.

The girl sighed depressingly. "I don't know about the street hockey match, Sher. I just hope he gets his act together by then. If he doesn't, I'll have to ask someone to replace him for next week's game since forfeiting would rank us out of the league. I would ask Lars, but his team is the one we're playing against. I guess I could ask Trent, or Twister's cousin, if she's even available, but I would hate to bother them…"

…

"Yeah, you're right. I need to just hope for the best and relax my mind. I think I'll go back to working on my 'Zine. I have this article I'm working on that Trent submitted about his latest trip to New Zealand."

…

"Yeah, talk to you later, and I'll meet you and Trish at the Pier in about an hour, but no guarantees."

…

She laughed. "Yeah, a girls evening out is just what I need, but still, no guarantees."

…

"Okay, bye Sherry!"

The girl sighed as she hung up the phone. Both Sherry and Reggie, along with their other good friend, Trish, all played on the All-State Girls' Volleyball Team. The three of them dominated the sport. Due to their playing for the state, they were never able to play on their school's team. No time.

Sherry had called to invite her to hang out at the Pier that evening and to inform her of a certain boy who was, apparently, crushing on her. Reggie knew that she was going to mention him; she just didn't know what she was going to say about him. A handsome, dark-haired boy from New Zealand, named Trent. He'd moved to Ocean Shores about five years earlier, and Reggie totally fell for him, as did a lot of the girls. She didn't know what came over her, but she felt this need to impress him. In order to do so, she acted weak and helpless, and even allowed herself to be called "Regina". She also acted like a newbie surfer and skater. Due to this, she would hang around Trent and allow him to teach her how to surf, but her cover was blown when she saved Sam when he was about to get hit by a massive wave. Trent, the whole time, admitted that he knew she had been faking the first time he saw her get on a board.

After that incident, she and Trent became good friends, and Reg did still have a bit of a crush on him. As the years went by, though, her crush on him started to fade since she never acted on it, and neither did he. Since no actions were taken, she couldn't help but see him as a really good friend, but she still couldn't talk about him without getting a bit flustered at times, which both Trish and Sherry noticed. She normally kept her composure when around others whenever mentioning him, but sometimes she might let her guard down, like earlier with Twister and Sam, even though it was indirect.

Wondering why Sherry and Trish were both so anxious to hang out, Reggie started to head back up to her room so that she could get started on some of her homework, and to put on the finishing touches of the most recent issue of her 'Zine, when she overheard a noise coming from outside…
x x x x
Twister finally made it to the Rocket home, but when he got there, he heard the sound of a skateboard clacking against wood, and a familiar voice root, "Whoa-ho, this move is totally sick! Whoo!"

"Ottoman?"

He rushed to the side of the house, just as Reggie was since she'd heard the sound too. She was on her way out of the side door when Twister arrived. When the two got there, they saw Otto on the half-pipe, performing one of his latest, most impressive skate tricks.

"Otto!" Reggie gasped.