"2 Years, at best?!"
That sentence echoed across all the stadium as Bobbie Fletcher, local race car drive and Lana Loud's racing idol, stood in front of the car racing stadium manager, and his assistant, Chunk. Yes, the same one who also worked as Luna's roadie.
What, do you really think a grown man can get enough money from a simple teenager?
"Yes, Bobbie, It's just as we told you," the manager stated, with Chunk sadly nodding in agreement as he added, "Your racing career, at best, can only last for about two more years before you're forced to retire."
"But my car's perfectly fine and functional!" Bobbie snapped, flailing her arms up and down. "In fact, I just had it upgraded and updated last week to minimize potential problems!"
"The car's not the problem, Bobbie, It's the fact that your test results simply suggest you won't be able to be part of the racing world for much longer," the manager stated. "I know it must be hard to accept such a harsh truth, but you have to try, just as I have to try and get on my next meeting."
The manager left, and Chunk walked closer to comfort the car racer, only for her to slap his hand and snap:
"If both of you knew about this, why would you wait until now to tell me?!"
"Because we just found out about it, Bobbie," Chunk explained, folding his arms. "If I had told you this earlier, I wouldn't have the proof to back it up. But, well..."
The man frowned and looked at the ground as he handed the results to Bobbie. The woman read the results, and her fear and worry only increased as she read it.
"W-What results are these from?" Bobbie asked, focusing solely on the paper. "I-I don't remember ever taking an exam of any sort!"
"That's because you, like all other racers in Royal Woods, were being tested during all of your races up to this point by a council," Chunk walked to the nearby window and folded his arms as he watched the racing track throug hit. "You see, Bobbie, several years ago, a great tragedy befell the racing tracks of Royal Woods. Back then, an average racer's abilities were taken for granted, without any sort of evalutation. People tought that racers could go on for five years at best, regardless of ability."
Bobbie leaned against the wall next to Chunk.
"However, all that changed during one particular racer's last race. This racer was known as Robert Santiago, and he was one of the more well-known race car drivers, if only because he seriously enjoyed it. So much, in fact, that rather than retire in a peaceful way, he decided to give it his all in one last race, even when it was clear he was past his racing prime."
Bobbie looked at the ground and closed her eyes as Chunk paused, allowing Bobbie to continue:
"In his last, final race, his car almost made it to the end line, until the engine blew up and the car slowly drove off into the dirt. Then, it slowly flipped until it bounced off the ground and eventually crash landed in the middle of the field, ending in a massive explosion that left a marking in the field that was to be forever remember, and never removed, no matter how hard they tried to fix it."
Chunk walked to the woman and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry that I had to bring up some bad memories, Bobbie, but it was necessary to get you to see the sort of trouble you'd be putting yourself if we hadn't learned from that tragedy."
"And I understand, thanks for reminding me, Chunk," Bobbie sighed and folded her arms. "It's just that, you see, I promised a little girl sometime ago that, when she got older, she could join my pit crew. But, if I really only have 2 more years on this business, I'll never be able to keep my promise."
"And you may also need to worry about looking for a new job," Chunk nonchalantly pointed out, earning him an angry look from Bobbie. "Sorry, I just thought that worth pointing out. However, It's still a legitimate concern. Listen, how about the next time you meet this girl, you tell her the bad news, and encourage her to find some other goal. It's the least you can do."
With that said, Chunk bid farewell and left the woman alone to think about what she should do next. Not that it took long, since she managed to see the man's point very clearly a couple moments later. So she sighed, and got ready to do the second hardest thing she's ever done in her life:
Shatter one of her fan's dreams.
Sometime later, at the park...
Bobbie sat on a bench, with a hand on her cheek and a saddened look on her face. The woman was trying to think of a proper way to... basically crush Lana's dreams. In any other story, the lady could probably find a way to cheat the system and find a way to continue racing and keep her promise to Lana, but sadly, this wasn't one of those stories.
"Bobbie Fletcher?!"
The racer turned around and saw Lana ran towards her, before sitting right next to her. "Oh hey, you're the girl who fixed my car engine... uh..."
"Lana Loud!" the plumber stated, adjusting her hat as she added, "Lana Loud, and your number one fan, to be specific!"
"Really?" Bobbie tilted her head. "You're the first fan I ever got?"
The tomboy laughed and corrected herself, "No, what I'm trying to say is, I'm your biggest fan!"
"But you look barely taller than my daughter," Bobbie pointed out.
It was at this point that Lana decided to ditch the subject. "You know what? Let's not focus on that. What are you doing on the park here today?"
"Oh right... um..." Bobbie hesitated, and sighed, "Well, I ask the same thing: What are you doing here?"
"I'm a volunteer for helping keep everything in check in the park, and also a sort of watchdog to make sure my sister doesn't wind up trying to act like an environmentalist as part of a joke," Lana casually explained. "But back to the important stuff, why are you here?"
Bobbie, seeing how it was only fair for her to tell the truth to the girl, took a deep breath and said, "Well... I may have something to tell you-"
"I'm all ears!" Lana chirped with excitement. "No matter what it is, I'll listen to you, even if it takes several hours!"
"Okay, that's a bit of an overstatement, but I'm happy you understand nonetheless," Bobbie clasped her hands. "Alright, first, calm down."
The plumber immediately obliged.
"Now, remember when I told you that you could join my pit crew when you became 18?" Bobbie asked, earning an excited nod from Lana. "Well, I... I may have spoken too soon in that regard."
Lana's smile turned into a frown. "What do you mean?"
"The manager of the racing track just revealed to me that, at best, my car racing career only has two more years before I'm forced to retire," Bobbie explained somberly. "And this is done just to prevent another tragedy from happening at the racing track."
"The Robert Santiago incident?!" Lana exclaimed.
Bobbie flinched and turned to the tomboy with worry. "You know about what happened in that incident?"
"I read some news about it sometime after we met," Lana scratched her chin. "Though the more gruesome details were censored or "Redacted", whatever that means."
"Lucky brat," Bobbie mentally growled before sighing and saying, "Well, that's the basic gift of it anyway. I'm afraid I can't keep my promise to let you join my pit crew when you become 18. I'm sorry, kid."
Though Lana looked disappointed for a moment, she quickly put up a smile and answered, "Nah, It's okay. Being part of a pit crew was really just a backup goal I had anyway. I wanna be something that deals with animals, first and foremost!"
"Oh really? You like animals? So does most of my family," Bobbie remarked, feeling her happiness surge as she explained herself. "So much, in fact, that my family owns a zoo close to the outskirts of Royal Woods, the Fletcher Plains."
"I've heard about that place!" Lana chirped, leaning closer to the woman. "Mom told me that the place holds about a dozen of different animal species, both common and rare in Michigan!"
"Well your mother's a dirty understater, because I lived close to that place back when I was your age, and that place held about three dozen different species of animals!" Bobbie proudly boasted, only to sheepishly rub her arm as she added, "Sure, things may have changed since then, but I'm still certain there should be more than just a dozen of animals in there."
"Awesome! And, this may be too much to ask, but do you think you could take me there one of these days?" Lana asked, twiddling her fingers. "I always ask Mom and Dad to take me there, but they're always busy, either with work or with my other sisters."
Bobbie, feeling flattered, blushed and smiled before answering:
"You can bet on it. One of these days, I'll take you there."
Lana then hugged the car racer, who returned the hug until Lana separated from her a couple moments later. "Well, I gotta go now, Mom and Dad are probably wondering where I am. It was nice meeting you again, Bobbie!"
The woman replied, "Please, just call me Bob."
The tomboy squealed and strolled back to her family in sheer delight, with Bobbie chuckling and waving goodbye as she left. And once she was out of sight, the woman leaned back and enjoyed the scenery, having just taken a heavy weight off her back.
Before anybody complains that "you made something up to yank Lana's chain!" or "You ruined a perfectly good ending just to make things dark and edgy!" Just, let me explain: Car racing careers don't last for a long time, and Bobbie gave Lana the offer-basically promised her-that she could join her pit crew when she became of age, 18.
Lana is 6 years old. That's 12 years worth of time!
And assuming that Bobbie's been in the business for some years, then that time is even more cut down. Even if Bobbie did remain in the business after 12 years, who's to say that she wouldn't quit or retire after a couple months afterwards?
At best, Lana gets her wish, and it ends shortly after it begins, due to simple reality. At worst, Lana's wish ends before she even gets to see it, and the only one to blame are her and Bobbie, because they didn't realize the dream would be over in time.
This needed to be addressed, and that's why I wrote this story. And besides, I do have plans to turn this into a full-blown story if people like it.
I mean, why else would I pointed out the "Fletcher Plains" if I only intended to draw a parallel with Bobbie and Lana?
Speaking of Lana, if you think she took the news too well, just remember she's probably keeping it in. After all, would you want to look like a crybaby in front of your idol?
By the way, and way to go me for remembering this too late, Bobbie Fletcher is an actual character. She appears in "Snow Way Out", as said before, and is the main reason Lana took the family to Burpin' Burger, causing the episode's plot to begin. So yeah, to an extent, she's important, and I hope that whenever people decide to start writing for her, that they use her to her best potential, rather than as a potential girlfriend for Lincoln or Lana.
So, yeah, this may have taken a sad turn of events, but at least they're heading for a bittersweet conclusion right now. And let's hope that both Bobbie and Lana are ready for what's coming next, 'cause the full story... will be a bit shocking.