Wind whipped dust into the air and cars cleared out of Radiator Springs in record breaking time. They could recognize trouble when they saw it, and this thing was definitely trouble. It was a large jet plane, bigger than CHROMEs and far more intimidating. It was painted black and had a walkway equipped on the side so you could walk out onto it without having to go lower to the ground. Finn, Holley, Siddeley, Mater, and, surprisingly, Lightning went out to investigate. They waited for the plane to land before venturing out farther than the edge of the sidewalk, Finn leading them and Siddeley the farthest behind. As soon as they made it close enough the door opened and out stepped a smug Professor Zundapp, whos smile only widened at the comical look of shock on Finns face. Apparently no one at CHROME had taken the time to tell him he had escaped!
"Finn McMissle!" He called out, voice carrying across the sudden silence as the engines were cut. Finn chose not to respond, it'd save much more time that way.
"Not going to respond? Fine! I won't tell you then!" He turned to leave, smiling wickedly as Finn called out for him to wait.
"Tell me what?" He could hear the hint of skepticism, but listening deeper you could make out a layer of curiosity.
Zundapp spun around with a mock gasp, "You don't know? Well, why don't I show you?"
The doors to the plane opened again and two Lemons dragged out a unconscious and slightly bloody body. Zundapps grin grew watching every emotion play across Finns face. He may be trained to hide them, but right now, in the face of his best friend, his shields had fallen revealing the shock and sorrow clearly. His mask shifted back in place, turning his face to stone and his eyes to ice.
"Let him go." Maters eyes widened. He'd never heard Finn sound this angry. This... Dangerous.
"Ah, ah, ah!" He heard the promise for a slow death in Finn's voice, and did not want to meet him in battle, "I have a little question to ask you! What are the codes to CHROMEs' storage facility in Germany?"
"Which one?" Finn diverted, trying to come up with a way to save his friend.
Zundapp patience snapped, "Do not play dumb with me, McMissle! Answer me or I will have to do something rash!"
Finn knew he wouldn't kill Leland, he needed him. The moment he was dead he would attack, so what could he possibly do? "I will not tell you the codes."
Like a switch turning Zundapp was calm again, a hint of sadness on his face, "I wanted to be civil about it..." He turned to one of the lemons holding Leland and barked out a few orders, they disappeared inside the plane. "I'll give you one last chance..." his voice was soft, as if coaxing a child to give him back his keys, "Tell me the codes."
Finns voice was just as soft, "No."
All hell broke loose.
Lemons dropped from the plane by the dozen with the same war cry on their lips as the last, "Get Mater!"
Lightning, having heard the cry, crouched into a defensive position next to his friend. He knew he didn't stand a chance against the horde coming, but if they were going down then they were going down swinging. As the first of many attacked, Lightning was immensely grateful for the self defense classes he had Finn teach him, but as they bore down on them he began to take more and more hits. He wouldn't be able to hold them for long.
Finn was doing his best to fight through the fray to reach them, and was getting shockingly close, Professor Zundapp was getting nervous. If they couldn't get mater then they would never stand a chance at getting the codes.
Be spontaneous, he reminded himself.
"If you can't get one, get both!" He shouted over the railing, the gears in his head began to spin, calculating all possible consequences of his decisions. He shut the process down quickly, no time to think. Only action.
The lemons, having heard their leader, changed their fighting style and took Lightning and Mater down quickly, dragging both on board and away from Radiator Springs. Professor Z had already shut himself back inside the plane and was giving out orders immediately. The plane's engines turned on and as soon as they were able, all lemons were pulled back in and they were gone.
In the aftermath there was only silence as they took in what just happened.
Finn had chased after the plane for a few seconds before dropping to his knees in defeat.
Leland was alive! But Zundapp had him, as well as Mater and Lightning. Zundapp had done something Finn had never expected. He hadn't thought. That was the down fall of his every battle against Finn, his need to calculate out every possibility and figure out the best decision is what Finn relied on to defeat him. Without that things were a lot more complicated. Where could he have taken them? There's no telling. He could have done the smart thing and taken them to one of his bases in Germany, but there's no telling anymore!
What was he going to do?
"Finn." Holleys' voice jerked him out of his thoughts and he glanced up at her.
"Oh Holley." He whispered, starring at her red eyes and broken smile.
How could he be so insensitive? He rose up and wrapped his arms around her as her form began to shake with tears. They both knew how brutal Zundapp could be when he wanted something, and who's to say he won't do something horrible to Mater? Who's to say he won't decide to just kill him? He held her close and kept a lid on his own tears, and that's when Siddeley caught his eye. He was moving slowly towards the V8 cafe. His movements almost mechanical and disjointed as he pulled open the door. Finn watched through the clear glass as Sally fell to her knees, agony written all over her face.
Finn felt raw and unwhole and just a little bit lost.
"I killed him..." Holley whispered, pulling away from Finn to look him in the eyes, "If I had never met him-!"
He pulled her closed and ran his hands through her hair soothingly, starring at Sallys crumpled form through the window, "We'll get them back, I swear we'll get them back."
I'm in a really cars mood today, and I've got a ton of free time to write for you guys. I'm just really into this, and am super excited for the plot twist so yeah!
