Okay guys, time for the next installment. For this chapter, Reggie and Twister are enjoying themselves at the amusement park, trying to do their bests to get their minds off of all that happened with Otto. That's pretty much it, for the most part. Oh, and you all will have to hold out for a little bit longer to discover Otto's issue. Maybe in about three chapters from now.

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

Chapter 08: Forget about Otto: Reggie and Twister's Attempts…

"What should we get on first?" Reggie asked after the pair had entered the amusement park. It had been expanded on over the years.

"It doesn't really matter. Let's ride on everything!"

Reggie laughed. "I don't think we have enough time for that."

He thought for a moment and then grinned. "Okay, almost everything."

"I'm all for that," she nodded. "How about we get on the Merry-go-round first?"

"Okay, Reg."

The two ran over to the carousel. It was pretty much the only ride in the small seaside amusement park that didn't require one to have a ticket, the Ferris Wheel, being the other. The line was also never long since it was such a simple, old-fashioned ride.

When the two got on, Reggie took a seat in one of the carriage cars, while Twister got on the horse nearby. Reggie always enjoyed riding on the carousel. It took her back to her relaxed days, when life didn't seem so complicated and a time where her brother didn't seem to have resentment towards her. It always left her mind at ease.

The ride also reminded her of an important person who was once very close to her…her mother. As a child, her mother used to take her to the amusement park all the time, since it was so close to the Shore Shack. Reggie remembered the first time she and her mother had gone there together, just the two of them. Otto was spending his day with Ray at the doctor's office for an injury he'd received while trying to skateboard. He was first learning. Her mother would talk about how she'd always loved the simplistic ride and how it reminded her of carefree times.

Her mother wasn't into the big, scary rides, like the roller coasters. She could take them or leave them, but would generally leave them as they were only so-so to her. Whenever Otto would go along with them, he would always complain about not being able to ride the big rides that he was much too small for, and would then call Reggie "a baby" for liking something as boring as a carousel. Even back then, Otto was into the extremities, like their father, who had the saying, "Go big, or don't go at all." Otto definitely lived his life by that motto.

She was quiet as she sat back and enjoyed the ride. The wind blew through her short, wavy hair, and kept her eyes closed, as if in a dream world.

Twister, as well as Otto and Sam, noticed how entranced she became whenever riding on the carousel and always wondered why. Whenever they all came to the amusement park, they couldn't leave until they rode on the carousel at the girl's insistence.

Sam was all for it since it was "safe". Otto would just grumble and complain about how it was a "baby ride for lame-os". Twister never said much of anything since he didn't have anything against it, but of course, he'd generally side with Otto, so that he wouldn't get ragged on by him, like Otto would with Sammy. Otto would usually stay on his case until Reggie would tell him to "lay off", which he always surprisingly did.

The ride was nearing the end, and Reggie still continued to ride on in silence. Twister wanted to ask her why she seemed to get so spaced out whenever riding on the carousel, but decided against it since the girl looked so content and carefree. He'd never asked before since, usually, Sam or Otto or other kids were around.

The ride finally ended, and Reggie's nostalgia trip was over. She stood up, almost regrettably, and exited, as did Twister. She wasn't ready for the ride to end, as always. Without her realizing it, a small frown made its way to the young girl's face. Twister noticed the frown when he glanced over at her as they walked away from the 19th century pastime.

"Reg, what's wrong?"

She looked over at him. "What makes you think something's wrong?" she asked dully.

"Well, you sorta have a frown on your face."

"It's nothing," she answered quickly as she faced forward.

"No, it's something Rocket Girl." Twister grabbed her shoulder to stop her from walking any further. "If something is wrong, you should tell someone."

She thought for a moment as she turned to face him. Should she explain why the carousel meant so much to her?

"Does it have something to do with why you like riding on the Merry-go-round so much?"

She stared at the boy in disbelief, her heart skipping a beat. Twister was that observant? Since when did he notice anything outside of fish tacos and getting the best video footage? "Um…I…"

He started to feel strange, holding the older girl's bare shoulder, so he let go of it and took off his hat. He started to fiddle around with it anxiously, diverting his attention to the pavement below. "I-I'm your friend, R-Reggie. If something is wrong, you-you can tell me."

Reggie's look of disbelief turned to that of sheer confusion. She found Twister's concern over her a little surprising, but only because he'd actually noticed. He usually wasn't too observant of such things, unless one was completely obvious about it, like if she'd fallen while skating, for instance, of course he'd ask, "Are you okay?" like he would with anyone. She knew that he was a good person with a good heart, but this was still weird to her, especially since this hadn't been the first time he'd acted in such a way.

Deciding that she shouldn't bother trying to figure her freckled-faced friend out, while ignoring the way it was making her feel, she gave the boy a half-smile. He was acting like a good friend, that's all that should've really mattered. "Well, I'll tell you later," she told him quickly. She figured as scatterbrained as Twister could be, that he'd probably forget all about it, if distracted long enough. "Now, let's hit some of the better rides! Like the roller coasters!"

He put his hat back on and nodded. "Yeah! The biggest and fastest one in the entire park!" He was ready for some action-packed rides, or what he liked to call them, "Squid Hurler" rides.

A little over an hour had passed since the two had arrived at the park, and had managed play most of the games and were able to ride pretty much everything that weren't infested with "shoobies". Reggie was having so much fun, she'd forgotten all about her encounter with Otto. She had other things on her mind, like Twister's peculiar actions. She also had the feeling that she was forgetting something important.

Getting tickets for the rides had been done differently too, mainly because Twister did something even more surprising and unlike himself to the girl. After the carousel, they headed over to the Torpedo ride. Twister offered to get her a ticket for the ride and any other they rode after it. Reggie kept telling the boy not to worry about buying her tickets for the rides and that she could always buy her own. Twister only shook his head and then said, almost like a gentleman, that he insisted, that he wanted to, and that he wouldn't "take no for an answer".

After Reggie heard him say that, she blinked, a perplexed expression etched to her narrow, tan face. She shook off her confused thoughts, as well as another heartbeat skip, and sternly told Twister, "No!" He kept insisting and was quite adamant about it, but in a gentle way. She, finally, gave in since he seemed so anxious and desperate, and told him that she would let him buy two tickets, and that she'd pay for the other tickets herself. He, reluctantly, agreed. She didn't want him to use up all of his money on her when she was capable of paying for herself. She also knew that Twister was saving up for some new video equipment, like always. He really wanted a digital camera to replace his VHS camcorder. The digital cameras were lighter and easier to carry around.

"Wow we've been here a while, haven't we? The sun's going to set soon and we haven't eaten anything yet," Reggie said, staring up in the sky towards the slowly setting sun.

"I'm hungry too." He started to rub his tummy and lick his lips. "I could sure go for one of Tito's Limburger Mackerel Fish Tacos! *¡Ese taco es el mejor de todo el mundo!" He then sighed dreamily. "¡Muy delicioso!"

Reggie scrunched up her nose at the thought. That had to have been the worst combination of food concocted by Tito ever! Even Sam wouldn't touch it, and he liked pretty much anything that was edible. Twister was the only person she knew that actually liked the Limburger Mackerel Fish Tacos. He was also the only person she knew who passionately liked the plain fish tacos. She always found that aspect about him strange. For someone who didn't like fish, he sure liked fish tacos, but not as much as he liked gas station bean burritos. Reggie inwardly shook her head. Those foods were so unhealthy, but you never would've guessed that he ate those types of foods on a regular basis since he was such a slim guy.

"I think I'll pass on that," the girl told her companion dryly. She would definitely have to distract him from those tacos if she was going to eat around her. The smell of it was absolutely horrid. 'What was Tito thinking coming up with something like that?' She was grateful that it wasn't part of the Shore Shack's menu. "So, how about we go on one last ride before hitting up the shack?"

"Yeah!" Twister pointed ahead of them, an anticipating grin on his face. "The Tidal Wave! The highest and fastest roller coaster in all of Ocean Shores! It has the deepest drops, six loops, and the speed is totally awesome! We have to get a ticket for that thing!"

"Thanks for the summary, but I want to ride, not talk! C'mon, Twist!" She jogged off.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, okay!" He jogged after her, trying his best to catch up, but he was still a few paces behind her.

She looked back. "Hey, with all of those loops, how are you going to wear your hat? It might fall off during the ride."

"Don't worry about that, Reg. I'll just sit on it!"

"Nice," she commented as he caught up with her. 'Well, what else would he have said? Getting down to it, why was I expecting him to say more?'

"There's no guarantee that the hooks'll hold to keep it on." He pointed to the side of his hat. "See, I have two small holes on the sides and," he went through his pocket, and pulled out a thick piece of string which had a hook tied on each end, "I have this. I hook them on to my hat, tie it on, and it'll keep it from flying off, but I still don't want to take any chances with the Tidal Wave, so I'll just sit on it."

'Okay, that's the type of explanation I was expecting from him…something a bit more imaginative or just plain silly,' she thought with a laugh. "Quite ingenious, Twister."

When they managed to get to the ride, Twister frowned. "Aww man! The line is long and full of shoobie kooks!" He held his head in frustration. "Where do they all come from?!"

"So much for this ride."

"No way, let's get on at least one more thing before we go." He looked around, scanning the rides that were near them when something caught his eye; a bright sign with blood-red neon lights. "Hey, let's go on that haunted cave ride!"

"The Cave of Terror? That ride that's supposed to be haunted by a family that got trapped in there years ago whose bodies were never found?" He nodded. "I've never been on it. Have you?" He shook his head. "How come we've never gone before?"

"Because by now, the Squid would be totally sick, yakking all over the place."

Reggie laughed a bit. He was right. The two made their way over to the Cave of Terror ride. It was pretty much a boat ride through a cavern. Reggie was definitely amazed over how the small seaside park had grown over the years, and how they were able to add so many things because of the expansions. It was nice to have more rides and attractions to try out.

The two stood in line; only about four people were ahead of them. Reggie assumed that people only liked going on this type of ride when night had completely fallen, so that it would seem spookier. The line moved along fairly quickly and they saw others who had gone on the ride coming out with horrified looks on their faces. Others didn't seem fazed at all, and some just laughed about some of the "cheesy effects". As for the ride itself, the pair did hear some screams echoing from inside, but they weren't sure if they belonged to whatever was supposed to have been haunting it or the actual riders.

"Hey, I just noticed that it's two people to a boat car."

"If Ottoman or the Squid were here with us, they'd have to ride in the next one."

After the short wait, the two had finally made it to the front of the line. Twister bought the tickets for the both of them.

"It sure looks d-d-dark in there," Twister gulped as he looked towards the cave's entrance, nearly dropping the tickets due to his trembling hands.

"Don't tell me you're…scared," Reggie teased.

Twister puffed out his chest, and deepened his voice. "I'm not afraid of anything!"

"Oh really?" She gave him a crafty look. "What about," she playfully narrowed her eyes, leaned in close to him, and whispered, "giant monkeys?"

"Ahh! Giant monkeys!" the boy nearly screamed, while fretfully looking around. "Where, where?!"

Reggie laughed. "C'mon Twist, it's our turn to ride."

"Are you sure there aren't any giant monkeys?"

She grabbed the boy's hand, and pulled him along, while giving him an earnest smile. "C'mon." She also grabbed the tickets and handed them to the man who was operating the ride.

The two seated themselves into the boat – no seat belts were necessary since it was as slow ride – Twister being a bit apprehensive since the thought of giant monkeys still scared him. Why he had a fear of them in general was a mystery to all who knew of it since he never discussed it. Reggie, Otto, and Sam all assumed that Lars had frightened him in some way when they were kids, and the fear just stuck with him.

The boat started to drift slowly into the mouth of the cave, Reggie growing a bit excited over what was to come.

"No giant monkeys?" Twister asked in a daze as they entered the dimly lit tunnel…
x x x

Author's Note

Note 1: ¡Ese taco es el mejor de todo el mundo! ¡Muy delicioso!" translates to, "It's the best taco in the world!/That taco is the best in the world! It's really good!/Very delicious!"