Author's Note: Here is the sequel to Sidelined!! I hope you enjoy it! I will venture to say that I don't like it as much as the original, but I plan to go far with the sequel to this one! (It'll be a while before that one comes around though…Also—I don't know/understand the racing season in Cars, so I kinda made up my own…so yeah….lol
Disclaimer: Nope, I really, really, really, really, really, really, REALLY don't own Cars.
Lightning McQueen drove out of his trailer and into the familiar town on Radiator Springs.
"Thanks, Mack," Lightning said to the huge truck that hauled him all around the country.
"No problem, Boss," Mack replied. "I'll see you in a week."
"Sounds good," Lightning said. He drove down the familiar main street of Radiator Springs and to the hospital where he knew his crew chief, Doc Hudson, would be.
"Hey, Rookie," Doc said, glancing at him when Lightning rolled into the open room. "Did you have a good trip back?"Yeah," Lightning replied. He had just raced in this twentieth race of his third season in the running for the Piston Cup. Lightning had won fifteen races so far.
"Good," Doc said. "Do you want your check-up now or later?"
The year before, Lightning had been in a severe wreck. He had sustained a crushed engine, broken wheel axles, and countless other injuries. It had taken the rest of the season and the off-season for Lightning to heal and get back in shape.
"Later, if possible," Lightning said.
"Are you putting it off to go see Sally?" Doc asked.
Sally Carrera was Lightning's fiancé. She had said yes to Lightning twenty long weeks before when Lightning won his first race of the third season.
"That's a possibility," Lightning said, smiling.
"Get on the examining table," Doc said curtly. "You have a whole week to spend with her."
"Fine," Lightning said, a little surprised at Doc's short-tempered remarks.
"Everything looks okay," Doc said ten minutes later. "You have a little oil build up in your front right axle, but overall you check out okay."
"Thanks, Doc," Lightning said, rolling down off the elevated table.
"You're welcome," Doc said.
"Bye," Lightning said quickly. He left Doc's office. Doc was not acting normally. Lightning did not know what it was that was bothering Doc, but he definitely wanted to find out. He drove down Radiator Spring's main road again and down to the Cozy Cone Motel, Sally's business. All of Radiator Spring's customers stayed at the motel where the rooms were gigantic caution cones.
"Hey," Lightning said, smiling as he entered the office. He had missed Sally terribly.
"Hi!" Sally said excitedly. She drove around her desk and quickly hugged Lightning. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too," Lightning murmured. He kissed Sally, which was something the couple had not been able to do in five months.
"I love you," Sally said softly. "Five months is too long not to see someone you love."
"I know," Lightning said. "But before you know it, it'll be the off-season."
"Good," Sally said. "It's not that I don't want you racing, I just miss you too much."
"I know," Lightning said. "So what have you been up to?"
"Nothing much," Sally said. "We need to plan some things while you're here though."
"Wedding stuff?" Lightning asked.
"Yes," Sally said. "I've done a few things already. I hope you don't mind."
"Don't worry about it," Lightning said. "I'm not good at that stuff anyway. What did you do?"
"I made my part of the guest list," Sally said. "I also found our caterers, our honeymoon spot, the wedding date, and the place we're getting married."
"Oh wow," Lightning said, slightly flustered. "Where are we getting married?"
"L.A!" Sally said, obviously thrilled. "The same place my parents got married!"
"Oh," Lightning said. He had wanted a small wedding in Radiator Springs. "That sounds good."
"I know!" Sally said. "And my guest list has over one hundred people already, so don't leave anyone out."
"Over one hundred people?" Lightning asked faintly. "Wow."
"Yeah," Sally said. "I've wanted a big wedding my whole life!"
"Looks to me like you're getting your big wedding," Lightning said, trying his hardest to sound happy.
"Yeah," Sally agreed. "We're getting married October sixth."
Lightning's tank lurched. That was only three days after the final race of the season. "Oh," he said. "That's really soon. It was already mid-August."
"The sooner the better!" Sally said. "And guess where we're going on our honeymoon?"
"Where?" Lightning asked, not sure if he really wanted to know.
"Mexico!" Sally said. "It's an exclusive resort. The only week open was October seventh through the fourteenth."
"Cool," Lightning said. He actually liked the idea of going to Mexico, but he did not want to go only three days after the Dinoco 400.
"Does that sound good to you?" Sally asked.
"Yeah," Lightning lied, trying to seem happy with the news again.
"Good," Sally said smiling. "It took forever to organize all that."
"Well I'm glad it all worked out," Lightning said in a voice he could only hope was convincing. "Anyway, I'm going to go see Mater. I haven't talked to him in a while."
Mater was an extremely uneducated tow truck who happened to be Lightning's best friend.
"Okay," Sally said. "He's been lonely lately.
Lightning smiled. "He gets that way," he said. "I'll see you later."
"Bye," Sally said.
Lightning backed out of the office and drove down to Mater's towing lot. He saw the truck fast asleep under a tree that had seen better days.
"Mater!"Lightning said. "Wake up!"
Mater slowly opened his eyes. When he saw it was Lightning, he jumped fully awake.
"Hey, Bud!" Mater said. "Yur home!"
"Yeah, I'm home, Mater," Lightning said, almost glumly.
"Well what's wrong, Bud?" Mater asked.
"Nothing really," Lightning replied. "It's just Sally made all these wedding arrangements and none of them work well for me. I think I'm just being too selfish."
"Well what was she doin'?" Mater asked.
"It's nothing that big," Lightning said. "The wedding is only three days after my last race in the season, so I'm already going to be stressed about the race and then I'll be even more stressed about the wedding."
"Well," Mater said, obviously thinking hard, "why don't you just tell Miss Sally how you feel?"
"Because she's so excited about everything," Lightning sighed. "She's worked really hard for all of this, so I can't just say that it won't work. I'll just have to deal with it."
"But then you won't be happy," Mater said slowly.
"I will be once it's all over," Lightning said.
"Well, I still reckon you outta tell Miss Sally," Mater said. "But you do whatever you want, Bud."
"I'll think on it, Mater," Lightning said. "So what have you been up to while I was gone?"
"Well, nothin' much really," drawled Mater. "I went tractor tippin' a couple times, but then Frank got Luigi so I decided to stop for a while."
Frank was the huge combine that guarded the tractors Mater often scared into tipping over backwards.
"Frank got Luigi?" Lightning asked, taking a quick intake of breath. "Is he okay?"
"I reckon so," Mater said. "He just got himself nicked on the bumper. He'll be fine in a week or so I guess."
"Oh," Lightning said, making a mental note to go see Luigi. "Well you be careful, Mater. I don't want you getting hurt."
"Aw, I'm a-okay, Bud," Mater said happily. "I reckon nobody could catch me 'cept you."
Lightning laughed. "Maybe so," he said. "Hey, Mater, I wanted to ask you something."
"Okay, Bud," Mater said. "Fire away."
"Will you be one of my groomsmen at the wedding?" Lightning asked.
"Of course I will!" Mater exclaimed. "I'd be honored ta be in urs and Miss Sally's wedding!"
"Thanks, Mater," Lightning said, grinning. "I appreciate it."
"No problem, Bud," Mater said.
Just then, a bell mounted upon the dead tree started ringing. The sound vibrations caused the tree to sway ominously.
"Oh!" Mater said, obviously startled. "I've gotta go tow someone! I'll see ya later, Bud!"
"Okay, Mater," Lightning said. "I'll see you later."
Once Mater left, Lightning decided to go up to Wheel Well, his racing headquarters. Lightning sped up the steep, scenic incline to Wheel Well. When Lightning got there, he was surprised to see Doc parked at the edge of the cliff that looked upon the beautiful Midwest.
"Hey," Lightning said, driving up and parking beside Doc.
Doc jumped. "Oh, hey, Rookie," he said.
"What are you doing up here?" Lightning asked. "Just enjoying the view?"
Doc shrugged. "You could say that," he said shortly.
"Are you okay?" Lightning asked. "You've been a little distant lately."
Doc shrugged. "I'm fine," he said shortly.
"Well," Lightning sighed. "I wish I could say the same."
"What's wrong, Kid?" Doc asked, turning to face Lightning. "You didn't hurt your wheel axle again, did you?"
"No," Lightning said. "Don't worry, it's nothing like that. It's wedding stuff. Sally's already gone and made all these plans, and she has the wedding scheduled for October sixth."
"Three days after the Dinoco 400?" Doc asked, his voice icing over.
"Yeah," Lightning sighed. "It's definitely not convenient."
"That's an understatement!" Doc said angrily.
"I just don't know what to do," Lightning said.
"I'm not the one to ask," Doc said, backing away from the edge of the cliff and driving away.
Lightning simply stared as Doc sped away. That was very unlike Doc to just leave. Normally, he would lecture Lightning.
After a few minutes pondering, Lightning decided to go into Wheel Well and get some paperwork taken care of. Lightning unlocked the huge structure and drove down the long hallway and into his office. He started signing his racing forms and the next time he looked at his clock it was nearly midnight.
"Wow," Lightning said quietly to himself. "I need to get home."
Lightning drove out of his office, down the long hallway, and out of the structure. He locked his headquarters and set off down the extremely dark road. It was times like these that Lightning truly wished he had headlights. Lightning made his way carefully down the long stretch of road that lead directly back to Radiator Springs.
Once he finally made it back, Lightning drove to the Cozy Cone's office to say goodnight to Sally. Lightning drove into the office and found Sally at her desk.
"Hey," he said. "Sorry I'm back a little late. I started some paperwork and I lost track of time."
"Huh," Sally said. She looked up from her desk. "So you didn't bother checking your phone or call me to tell me you were going to be late?"
"Sally, I'm sorry," Lightning said. "My phone is in my trailer, and I just completely lost track of time. I had some stuff I really needed to get done."
"Okay," Sally said. "You just scared me. Call next time, okay?"
"I will," Lightning said. He pulled up next to Sally. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"I know you didn't," Sally said. She then yawned. "I'm going to sleep though. I'll see you in the morning."
"Okay," Lightning said. He kissed Sally's cheek, drove out of the office, and into his own cozy cone. After sitting and some thinking about the inconvenient wedding plans, Lightning fell asleep.
The next morning, Doc woke Lightning up at six. "Come on, Rookie," Doc said. "It's time to train."
"Okay," Lightning said groggily. He opened the door and drove out. Lightning had only gotten five hours of sleep, so he was very tired.
"What time did you get back here last night?" Doc asked.
"Around midnight," Lightning yawned. "I finished all my release forms and applications for next season."
"Good," Doc said. "I thought I heard you come back around midnight last night. I'll go easy on you today."
"Thanks," Lightning said, relieved. As the two cars neared Willy's Butte, Lightning wondered whether or not it was a good idea to ask Doc to be his best man in the wedding. Doc had seemed depressed to Lightning ever since Lightning proposed to Sally and Sally said yes. Lightning decided to ask him after the training session.
Once he and Doc arrived at Willy's Butte, Lightning did a couple of warm up laps around the track and slowed down.
"What am I doing today?" Lightning asked.
"What do you need to work on?" Doc asked.
"I don't know," Lightning said, racking his brain. "Maybe agility. My wheel axles aren't as flexible as they used to be before my wreck."
Doc nodded. "I've noticed that," he said. "I know something that may help though."
"What is it?" Lightning asked.
"Wait here," Doc said. "I'll be right back."
"Sounds good," Lightning said.
While Doc was gone, Lightning drove a few laps around the track. He drifted from side to side, mainly killing time.
Two minutes later, Doc returned to Lightning with ten traffic cones. Doc set the cones in a straight line on the track with ten feet in between each.
"Weave through them," Doc said. "It should loosen your axles up."
"Okay," Lightning said. "How fast?"
"Start at thirty," Doc said. "Then we'll take it from there."
Lightning started his engine and started off at thirty miles per hour through the cones. He felt a tight pull in his right front axle, but he kept going.
"Good," Doc said. "Did you feel the pull?"
"Yeah," Lightning said. He stretched his bad axle, wincing at the pull.
"Try forty," Doc said.
Lightning turned around and picked up speed heading towards the cones. He turned his tires for the first cone and weaved through quickly. This time, the pulling in his axle was worse, but it felt great to stretch them.
"Good," Doc said. "Try fifty."
Lightning grinned and went through the cones again.
Before long, Lightning was ripping though the cones at seventy miles per hour.
"I'm going to try one hundred," Lightning said eagerly. He lined up with the cones.
"Go ahead," Doc said. "You probably won't make it though."
"Oh well, I'm still going to try," Lightning said. He revved his engine loudly and sped through the cones, throwing his wheel s from left to right and to the left again. He went through the last cones and stopped.
"You were saying?" Lightning asked smugly.
"You've got stuff, Kid," Doc said, obviously pleased. "My record was eighty-five."
"That's good too," Lightning said.
"Yup," Doc said. "You're done. Don't worry about training tomorrow, just be ready for a hard day after that, okay? You'll be sore tomorrow."
"Got it," Lightning said. "But Doc, I have to ask you a question, okay?"
"Okay, Rookie," Doc said. He began to pick up the cones on the track. "Shoot."
"Will you be my best man at the wedding?" Lightning asked.
Doc froze. He dropped the cones. "It's not a good idea," he said quickly, speeding away again, leaving Lightning coughing and dumbstruck in a cloud of dust.
Lightning furrowed his brow. He had never seen Doc act in that manner before. Lightning began to wonder if Doc was not completely against him getting married. Lightning picked up the cones and drove back to Radiator Springs.
Once he made it back to the tiny town, Lightning put the cones away and drove to Flo's where he saw Sally eating breakfast.
"Hey," Sally said. "How did your training go?"
"The training went well," Lightning said in a flat tone.
"That's good," Sally said, obviously confused. "Why do you seem so upset?"
"Because I don't think Doc wants us to get married," Lightning replied. He shifted uncomfortably; his wheel axle was sore.
"That's a little paranoid," Sally stated. "Are you sure? How do you know?"
"Yeah, I'm sure," Lightning said. "Whenever I try to bring the topic up, he says something short and speeds away. It's happened twice in the past twenty-four hours."
"I'm sure there's a logical explanation," Sally said.
"Maybe," Lightning said slowly. "But Doc has been too distant lately to ask him if he's okay or not."
"Just be there for him," Sally said. "He'll open up sooner or later."
"I hope so," Lightning replied. "I really do."
A/N: Okay, there's chapter one!!! I hope you enjoyed it, it does get better! I'm just trying to get into the plot for now. Due to my elatedness at USC (University of South Carolina, not University of Southern California) beating UGA (IN ATHENS I MIGHT ADD!!!), I am in a good mood and will try to start on chapter two right now. I can't promise it will be up tonight because my mom has given me a one o'clock curfew on the computer, but I'll try my hardest.
Go Gamecocks!!
And review if you REALLY want chapter two up right tonight…it may make me type faster