Wow, thank you so much for those reviews (And special thanks to Mike for the encouraging words, I really needed that)! They are very very highly appreciated! I rather enjoyed them. Oh, and sorry for not uploading this on July 23 like I promised I would. I was just a bit busy.

Well, this story is winding now. Only one more major thing to happen to go and I think that'll happen in two chapters. Who knows, that may change. Either way, a sequel to this story will be written, and I've changed the plot a bit. It will be dealing with Roderick's character mostly, but will also be about Otto's coming to terms with a certain redhead and about Twister and Otto's becoming best bros again. For this story, their getting back on good terms just isn't going to happen.

Oh, that aside, I hope you all enjoyed watching "The Big Day" this past Friday (July 30). I didn't catch it from the beginning, but it was cool. Otto can be a really cool guy.

Well, for this chapter, it shows the exact outcome of the Surf Competition and who wins it, etc. and what happens after it. Originally the beginning of this chapter was supposed to have been the ending of the previous one, but I changed my mind and decided to open this chapter with the aftermath. This chapter also features "cameo" type characters, so enjoy. The character being "cameod" is my way of saying thanks for reading, and you know who you are. Also, thanks go out to both Scott and Mike who are always helping me brainstorm for this fic on occasion so let's give them all some applause!

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

Chapter 26: "Let's rip it up!" The Quiet One's Victory!

The competition showed to be very ferocious. Otto definitely wasn't kidding around when he said that Ocean Shores' representatives would be a challenge. The best teams there were San Clemente and Ocean Shores.

The competition between those two teams was fierce as each team's representatives surfed their very bests.

Lars showed to be very good and the support from those around him - Coach Fletcher shouting the loudest - as well as those cheering for him gave him even more confidence. He refused to mess up in any way - didn't want to let anyone down, and he also wasn't used of this type of attention - as he pulled off a Layback perfectly.

For one part of it, Lars and Trent nailed surfing A-Frame flawlessly (Lars going backside and Trent going front side). This just showed how much teamwork the team possessed and how synchronized they all were. The other teams had a bit of a communication problem amongst one another. Fletcher had always made it a number 1 priority to communicate when having to surf together. It was one of the first things he taught the group.

At the end, thanks to Trish's pulling off a *McFlip that neither Trent nor Lars could, efficiently - both messed up and lost their balance -, it gave Ocean Shores the win.

It was surprising how the two boys managed to mess up such a trick; especially since that was one move that Fletcher had them practice constantly due to its being such a rare one. It was so unique that no one else had been known to do this move in the area, although, Otto had always managed to pull it off (just not as gracefully) and Trent could, somewhat.

When trying that trick - he wanted to try something fancy - Lars just lost his footing - since he did start to show off - and Trent actually got a bit distracted. A certain dark-haired girl with sunglasses propped up on her head smiled to him and cheered, which caused him to lose his balance and wipe out.

Luckily, Trish - who had made no mistakes what so ever and had managed to stay on the board 100% of the time - kept the team's status high. Fletcher was extremely surprised since Trish had never managed that move before. She could never do the full 360.

After the competition, everyone - who knew about it - went over to the Shore Shack for the party that had been planned since news of the competition and Otto's being in it weeks earlier was announced. Everyone cheered for the girl's victorious McFlip who could only smile timidly. Trish was never all that great at receiving praise or compliments. She was most definitely the laid-back type who didn't care for a lot of attention.

"Way to go mate!" Trent practically screeched while giving the girl a giant bear hug. The boy doing that just caused Trish to blush slightly and laugh sheepishly, "Thanks, Trent." She had never received that kind of attention from the New Zealand teen. It was actually quite nice; very nice in fact.

Lars stomped over to Trish and actually smiled to her. He had never had anything against Trish or Sherry so he never did treat them too meanly or bullied them as kids. He told her, "Good job," and patted her on the back.

He was glad that Trish had gotten them the win, especially since he didn't care for Trent at all. He wasn't as vocal - or as bad - as Otto or bragged as much, but it was the little things he'd do that would irk him. He'd seem to act a bit snooty at times.

Others were still chatting lively about the final part of the competition and of course Trish's surfing in general…

"Oh man!" a curly-haired blonde 6' tall OSH sophomore boy exclaimed. "The way she entered the wave was just awesome! I had never seen anyone else do a perfect barrel like that, at least not in this category!"

His older friend with the thin-rimmed glasses nodded in agreement, also quite excited over the outcome of the event. Both were sipping on Guava Shakes standing near the fire alarm.

"Oh yeah! And the way she zig-zagged on the wave was even cooler, Scott! She was really riding it!" He chuckled lightly. "I must confess, though, I got sick of only seeing her at some points, but when that wave covered her, it was unbelievable!"

"Hey, Miguel, which do you think was the most exciting part out of all of the moves Trish pulled off?"

Before the 17-year-old could speak, a light voice answered, "The best part was when she exited the curl! That was a totally difficult stunt there!" The two boys jumped in surprise from the uninvited intrusion on their conversation.

They turned to see a pretty, intelligent girl a bit shorter than the two of them with tan skin and shoulder-lengthened dark brown hair, which she always decorated witch a peineta. She would usually wear her typical sweatshirt and jeans, but today she was wearing a bright yellow sundress, due to how warm it was watching the competition.

The girl wasn't very fond of computers or other technological things, but she enjoyed reading very much as well as biking and your other typical activities, such as going to the movies and hanging out with Miguel or her friends.

"Whoa, hi Claudia," Scott greeted. "We didn't see you there."

Miguel smiled to his future wife, while staring dreamily into her beautiful, captivating brown eyes. "You scared us."

"Of course not," she said in response to Scott, "and sorry for scaring you. You were too wrapped up in your discussion about today's competition to notice my sneaking up behind you, but I don't blame you!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Trish was totally awesome! So were Trent and Lars, but Trish had close to no mistakes! That part where she exited that curl, man! What was that move called again? *A Frontside Railgrab 720 Air?" She sighed admiringly. "Makes me wish I was more of a surfer."

"Yeah, not many girls are strong enough to stand on their boards upside down and balance on their hands, while the wave is collapsing behind them," Miguel stated as if he were a professor. "That had to have been the determining factor in Ocean Shores' win. A girl being able to pull off such a grand move."

"That's gotta be something really hard to do!" Scott said. "I surf quite frequently, but I've never been able to pull that off!"

Claudia sipped on her Pineapple Coconut Smoothie, one of Tito's specialties. "Oh, but of course Trish managed to pull it off, mainly because she rules…"
x x x x
For this glorious celebration, Lars even managed to hang around for a while, Pi, Sputz, and Animal right behind him. He muttered regrettably as he walked up to Otto - his three cronies a few feet behind him - who was sitting at the counter, surrounded by all of his adoring fans, which consisted mostly of girls. Lars wore a sneer on his face and his arms were crossed.

"Yo, Rocket Dork!"

Otto sniffed and gave the older teen a wary look after being called. "What do you want Lars?"

Lars pushed his way towards Otto in front of those who surrounded him. Everyone knew Lars and what he and his crew were capable of, and knew better than to mess with him, so when he pushed innocent others out of his way, the people didn't object.

"Look, dork, I didn't need your okay to surf today!"

"I didn't give you the okay," Otto replied dully.

"Whatever!" he snorted while rolling his eyes, his arms once again crossed. He noticed his parents looking his way. He sighed and decided to be nice. "Anyway, what you did for the Squid was cool, and stuff," he said quietly. "Now don't expect me to say thanks for what you said about me today, because I don't gotta do nothing!"

Otto stared at Lars incredulously, and then flashed a smug smile to the taller, tanned boy. "You're welcome Lars," Otto told him, trying to hold back a laugh.

"You-you...whatever man! I am out of here!" Lars turned to leave. "Animal, Pi, Sputz, let's go!"

Otto chuckled at the irony of the situation as he watched Lars leave hurriedly with his gang…
x x x x
While everyone was off doing their own things, Ray and Tito were talking with a few of the pro surfers at the competition, which included the Rhino - or as Ray liked to call him, Walter - Coach Fletcher, and Michael Lambresi, all reminiscing about their pasts, and also talking about what a great kid Otto was for what he did and said.

Shortly before that, Otto had managed to apologize to most everyone directly whom he had treated crappily.

Otto - who was finally getting tired of all of the attention from the girls and other fans of him - wanted to talk to someone else a bit more important. He jumped off the stool he had been at the entire time and walked up to Ray.

"Hey, where's Reg? I wanted to talk to her."

"I don't know, Rocket Boy. She was here congratulating Trish, Trent, and Lars along with Clio, Sam, Roderick, and Sherry. I think I saw that Van Rossum kid here too, along with Eddie." Otto frowned slightly; Ray placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, she'll turn up sooner or later." He then smiled. "What you did today was great, son. I'm really proud of you, and Olivia would've been very proud too."

Otto blinked. "W-wait, what?"

"Your mother would've been proud. You showed a lot of maturity today with your apology."

"Wow, th-thanks…dad," Otto answered in a daze. He could barely believe his ears. His father had acknowledged that his mother would've been proud of him! Something he's wanted for years. His heart felt heavy and so did his eyes. 'I did it mom! I made you proud of me in Raymundo's eyes!'

"But that aside, don't worry about your sister. Like I said, she'll turn up. Maybe you could go hang with Twister for a while," he then muttered, "although I haven't seen him around either..."

Otto came out of his daze, and shrugged. He walked out to the front of the Shore Shack and looked over the railing down at the ocean. He listened to the waves crashing onto shore and the seagulls soaring overhead - music to his ears - and salty sea air invading his nostrils. The last thing he wanted was to talk with Twister, even though he hadn't seen him around much either since the party officially started. He did see the two interviewing Lars directly after the competition before heading to the Shore Shack.

"Otto!" the boy heard a voice call. He turned to see a certain, pretty, wavy-haired girl running towards him.

"Hey, Clio!" Otto gulped out.

She hugged him tightly, the boy not having any time to react. "It's great what you did for Sammy!"

"Er, um...ehehe. H-hi Clio. Y-yeah, guess it was."

Clio broke the hug and stared at the boy, who was pretty much eye-level with her now. "Sammy's lucky to have a good friend like you."

"Y-yeah, guess he is."

Otto decided to calm himself and stop acting like a kook. It was only Clio, why act strange around her? He always did whenever she would visit the Rodriguez family, but never fully understood why.

"How come you're standing out here by yourself?" Clio asked, staring over the railing with him.

He laughed nervously and started to scratch his head, as if embarrassed. "You know...just-just hanging." Otto mentally smacked himself for sounding so lame. "So, Clio," he replied coolly, "how did you like the competition?"

"It was totally intense! Too bad you didn't get the opportunity to surf for it. I wanted to see if you'd gotten any better."

"You bet I have!" the boy stated as he stood tall, high, and mighty. "I'm Otto Rocket, best surfer in all of Ocean Shores, California!" He narrowed his eyes playfully at Clio. "And I can prove it!"

Clio folded her arms across her chest and smiled at Otto. "That sounds like a challenge."

Otto laughed at the girl's proposal. "You think you can outsurf me?"

"Now that's the Otto Rocket I know! Let's hit the beach later so I can show you what I learned from my trip to New Zealand this past winter."

"Ooo!" a voice exclaimed. "Cuz Clio, can I come too?"

Otto and Clio turned around, surprised to see a small boy behind them.

"Roderick, where did you come from?"

The boy was chomping away on a hula burger, which was in his left hand, and sipping on a soda that he was holding in his right. He swallowed down some of his burger before answering Clio. "I wanted to hang out with Otto-man and Twister, but Twister's gone."

"Yeah, Reg isn't around either," Otto mumbled. "I really wanted to talk to her. I didn't get to see much of her today. She barely got out a 'Good job Rocket Boy,' before a stampede of girls broke us apart."

"Oh, I was talking with her earlier. She and my cousin decided to go work on videos."

"Aww, they left just like that?" Roderick frowned. "I was hoping we could all hang."

"Ahh, Rod, don't worry about it," Clio told him gently, "you can hang with the rest of us until they come back. I wonder if the others are up for a surf session."

"I don't know about Trish or Trent, but I'm sure the others won't mind!" Roderick's face lit up and he smiled. "I'll go ask if they want to surf with us!" The boy took off before either teen could respond.

"Looks like we get to see you out on the water after all, O-man."

Otto looked back out at the ocean as if distracted. "Yeah, yeah. Guess so."

So Twister was alone with Reggie again. Why did it bother him so much? Twister was his friend, he was Reggie's friend too, but still the way he had been acting around her lately and his always casually hanging with her was bugging him in general.

'Some best bro,' he inwardly scoffed as he and Clio walked back into the Shore Shack...
x x x

Author's Notes

Okay, hope you enjoyed this chapter. I had fun writing it. Bet you all were surprised somewhat, right? Trish perfected a move. We all know how she's one of the best female surfers in Ocean Shores.

Now, some information for the moves mentioned above:

McFlip
A move that was developed by a locally famous surfer in Indialantic, Florida at a spot called Two Roads (Uluwaturoads, Imperial Suites) that was developed when nobody else was watching. A maneuver that entails a full flip and a 360 degree turn mid-air turn that has yet to be seen by many other except for locals. None residing in San Diego, California, and this maneuver has never been perfected by anyone else.

Frontside Railgrab 720 Air
Well, I think that was described well enough with the conversation between Claudia, Scott, and Miguel. Thanks goes out to both Mike and Scott for the inspiration for that one.