Do read my Author's Notes, if you're reading this!
justuslogan225, Okay, here it is! Here it is! For you, here is Chapter 6! And thank you once again for faving me and my story!
Britishlover123, Short stories can be amazing, but I like my tales to be long. And Finn's evil side will come out shortly; I like to build up to things like that :)
Flame, Chick's backstory has been revealed?! I've never heard of it. Wonder what it is... And there's plenty of surprises waiting you all in this story!
And liyah loves ninjago, Thank you for the follow and fave! Also, I like your username; Ninjago is my all-time most favorite TV show ever!
Well, that took some time to upload! I had to write about ten characters in this one, and translate five languages! Plus, I have been on vacation at the Grand Canyon, and it was very awesome! Especially since we traveled on Route 66 very little, and I made my parents stop at Jackrabbit Trading Post. Yes, THE Jackrabbit Trading post. The one that was the inspiration for the sign and Lizzie's Curios Shop in the movie Cars! And yes, I bought a bumper sticker there too, lol. That was one of the best highlights of my trip. Okay, enough of me rambling off.
For the foreign languages in this one, you can use Google Translate. I worked it out enough to where you should get the exact translations. Also, I apologize for any grammatical errors I missed. All my computers have been super slow, and the length of this chapter made it harder for me to spot them myself.
For some reason, FFN would not let me use asterisks to separate the racers. Is that a bug, or am I doing something wrong? It lets me put them in it, but when I hit save, the asterisks are gone! I had to use horizontal lines instead.
And now I give you a present: An about 10,331-word-long chapter! More than double the length of the last one! You're welcome.
Six
The sun shined brightly, reflecting his yellow paint into his eyes. He ignored it, keeping his eyes on the beast before him. The bulldozer snorted, maintaining eye contact with the racecar. Miguel Camino turned to the side, driving forward slowly while the bulldozer did the same. They were encircling each other, something Miguel liked to do before angering the beast with the swipe of a red cloth. His lustrous, dazzling green eyes burst with a playful shimmer as he raised what he was hiding beside him: A bright red cape. The bulldozer saw it and gave an angering noise of disapproval, charging at the daring car. Miguel let him get close before darting off to the side, leading the bulldozer along the fence. The mechanical arm that was attached to under his rear bumper held the red cape high in the air. Miguel swung it tauntingly back and forth; one of his ways to really get the yellow beasts railed up.
"¡Liberar otro!" he commanded, and another bulldozer accompanied the first. They chased the beautiful racecar around the large pen, splitting up at one point. Both dozers were on opposite sides of Miguel, and all three were still. Slowly, the bulldozers circled him, stopping in front and behind him, snorting and snarling. The racer was unfazed and rolled his eyes in a bored fashion. He looked over to the fence, where he noticed a very pretty red Hyundai Elantra GT watching him with her dark brown eyes. She shyly waved a tire at him and Miguel raised up a little, winking at her. The Spaniard held the cloth in front of him, covering his face entirely. He moved it to the side, revealing his left eye looking lustfully at the bulldozer. This was his other way to get them angered, and he swung the cloth in a flirtatious way for added effect. The dozer could not stand Miguel's mock seduction and charged forward. The Elantra's eyes widened slightly when the beast got within ten feet of the racer playing matador. Miguel reversed turning left, and the bulldozer could not make the sharp turn. It ran into the one that was behind the racer and knocked it over. Miguel sped past the one that was still up, and it angrily turned and charged again at him. He turned sharply, holding the cloth out and letting it kiss the bulldozer as he drove past. The flash of red that touched it made the dozer see red, and it turned to see Miguel by the other dozer. It was on its right side, and the racecar was gracefully sidestepping around it. He got behind it and slid his tire along its horn, chuckling at the downed, enraged beast. He looked up and smirked at the other bulldozer, batting his eyes and holding the cape in front of the downed dozer. That just enraged both of them, and Miguel let the mobile one get close before darting off again. He led the angry bulldozer around the pen, brushing the cape against it every time he went past it. Finally, after he got it as mad as he could, Miguel went in front of the downed bulldozer once more. The other one stared at him from the other side of the pen, completely livid. It clearly did not want to charge again and miss the racer, so Miguel did one last thing. He turned around completely and, well, stuck his bumper in the air, shaking it slightly.
One can just guess that shaking their butt at a bulldozer is the fastest way to get killed. That's not what happened, though, but it sure did make the beast so mad, that Miguel saw its eyes were tinted red. He watched his rearview mirror and let it get close, then jumped out of the way just in time. It crashed into the other one at full speed, flipping itself right over it. Now there were two bulldozers on their sides. Miguel proudly stood tall and held out his red cloth. "¡Olé!" he called out, and the crowd that was watching cheered. He went over to the entrance of the pen where a forklift took the arm off of him. As he rolled out, he searched the small crowd for the Elantra.
"Muy impresionante, Señor Camino." said a voice behind him. "But you Spaniard racecars are always so exciting to watch."
"Ah, so you think?" Miguel responded. He turned to see the Elantra behind him. "I have never seen you before, señorita. You sound like a southern American, so you are not from Spain, are you?"
"Never been here before, actually. And I sound American because I am from America." she confirmed with a laugh. "Name's Duchess, and I was just touring Spain and decided to stop by where the famous racer Miguel Camino was at. Didn't know you were also a matador."
"Well, it is nice to meet you, Duchess. I am not a professional matador, I just enjoy playing one sometimes. Racing is what I do, but I am sure you knew that." corrected Miguel. Then he realized something. "Espera un minuto… I have never met you before, and this is private property that only family and close friends can visit. How did you get here without security or anybody noticing?" Duchess just smiled secretively.
"Cars like me don't reveal those kinds of secrets." she casually responded. Miguel was about to ask when his crew chief hollered at him.
"¡Miguel! ¡Tengo un mensaje urgente para usted!" Petro Cartalina called.
"¿Eh?" Miguel turned towards him.
"Es algo de proveniente un lugar llamado C.H.R.O.M.E." Petro said when his racer pulled up to him.
"¿C.H.R.O.M.E.?" Miguel repeated. Why did that name sound so familiar to him? It only took him a second to remember the racing simulations. "¿Desde un lugar llamado-" Miguel cut himself off when he noticed a couple cars seemed interested in what he was talking about. He switched to English. "From a place called C.H.R.O.M.E.?"
"Sí. They need you for some reason."
"Why does that organization need me?" Miguel pondered out loud. Petro shrugged his tires.
"I do not know. I was informed by a red vehicle." he answered. Miguel turned around to see if Duchess was still behind him. She was not. He turned back to Petro.
"Nothing else? Just that C.H.R.O.M.E. needs me?" he asked.
"Well, she did say you know more than regular civilians about spy things." Petro recalled. "Honestly, it sounds pretty ridiculous to me. I think she was mistaken. Secret spy stuff. Heh, you are no spy. Just Spain's greatest racer and most renowned, admired, and captivating car." Petro looked proudly at Miguel, and the yellow racer looked at the ground, scuffing a tire on it.
"Heh, if you say so." he said, smiling. He looked up again. "And yeah, spy stuff. Totally got the wrong car. No idea what any of that is about."
"I have no idea either. But I know you are no spy." Petro said confidently.
Miguel couldn't help but chuckle at the fact Petro really had no idea; the Spaniard told nobody about it when Mater invited him and the others to C.H.R.O.M.E.'s training headquarters.
"Yeah, I am not…" he "confirmed". "But just out of curiosity, was there anything else this red car told you?"
"No, just that a place called C.H.R.O.M.E. needed you, and nobody was to know. It was a female Hyundai who told me." Petro told him. Miguel nodded and looked past his crew chief. His emerald eyes scanned the landscape and caught the red glint of an Elantra heading for a jet farther away. "By the name of Duchess, if that means anything." Petro added.
...
"I cannot help it… Sono straordinario!" Francesco called to the crowd. It was a small competition, and small by Francesco's standards. It was a race with other Formula One cars that Porto Corsa held every year, just for fun. It wasn't a grand event or that big of a deal, but quite a few cars came from all over Italy to watch those fascinating open-wheeled speedsters. Ever since Francesco Bernoulli decided to partake in the event, more and more cars had been coming to race and watch every year. For the past five years, that is, and Francesco had a winning streak of all five. Because of that, competition was extremely high to beat the champion of Italy, so the small race had become a bigger deal every year. And the next year it would be an even bigger deal; this sixth year was just another win for Bernoulli. "Everybody loves-a Francesco." he confidently told himself in English. As he was making his way back to his pit, Giuseppe Motorosi was looking questioningly at his racer.
"Francesco! Vieni qui un momento, per favore." he called. The Formula One champion rolled over to his crew chief.
"Sì, cos'è?" he asked. Giuseppe looked around cautiously before leading Francesco away from everyone. The racer took that as a sign to be a little worried.
"Ho un messaggio strano per te." he said quietly. "Sembrava essere molto segreto."
"Che cosa era esso?" Francesco asked, now very curious. As if to make it more alarming, Giuseppe started speaking in English.
"It was a message from a red car about needing you somewhere. A place called Command Headquarters for Recon Operations and Motorized Espionage. What could that possibly be about?" he said.
"C.H.R.O.M.E…" Francesco whispered under his breath. Certainly, if that place was calling on secret business, this didn't mean playing in simulations. A flash of worry went through his chassis. He looked back up to his crew chief. "Francesco has-a no idea what you are talking about."
"Are you sure?" Giuseppe asked. "This car was very specific in needing only Francesco Bernoulli, and she sounded quite rushed. Like you are needed at this place immediately."
"Still, does-a Francesco look like he knows what you are talking about?" the racer asked in a bored, uninterested tone. Giuseppe's eyes searched Francesco's brown ones.
"I guess not." he said after a moment. "It just sounded very interesting."
"Sì, it does." Francesco reversed and started leaving. "I'm-a going to have to leave, Giuseppe."
"Where are you going?"
"Francesco is-a needed elsewhere, now. Say goodbye to everybody for me, per favore." Before his crew chief could ask anything else, the Formula One racer took off, quickly finding his mother.
(A/N: I'm trying to keep this story canon language-wise, but there was no way I was gonna translate this whole conversation. Just pretend it's in Italian.)
"(Mamma! I am going to visit some friends in another country.)" Francesco said when he caught up to his mother, who had just gotten away from the crowd.
"Oh? (Right now?)" Mama Bernoulli asked, a little surprised.
"Sì. (I told them I'd leave after my victory from this race.)" Francesco lied.
"(Which friends are you going to see, dear?)"
"Um, Lewis Hamilton e Nigel Gearsley." Francesco's mother thought for a moment.
"Oh, sì. (I remember them. You're going to England?)" she asked.
"Sì, (but do not tell anyone. I don't feel like having fans following me for this trip.)"
"(Okay, I will not say anything.)" Mama Bernoulli kissed her son's cheek. "(Have fun with your visit, dear.)"
"(Thank you, mamma. I will have fun.)" Francesco assured, waving a tire as he started driving off. "Trust me, Francesco will have fun…" he added, just knowing C.H.R.O.M.E. was recruiting for a mission. Off in the distance, he saw a familiar spy jet and a new red vehicle waiting in front of him. Francesco sped up and headed for them before anyone noticed him.
...
He was having a pretty good dream about racing on the winding roads of the Black Forest. The turns seemed sharper since it was a dream, but he was able to turn each corner gracefully. The deeper he went into the forest, the more he thought of the Waldgeister Monster. An old legend of a scary monster who lives in the Black Forest and terrorizes those who go in. There were many stories of bored cars looking for adventure and racers who thought they were brave going into the forest. Some were never seen again, and others came out telling of a huge metal beast that ripped up everything he could catch. He loved to go after fast cars the most, but Max Schnell was not afraid. The other racers had given up long ago from fear of running into the beast, but he did not. He rounded another sharp turn, feeling lighter than air as he drifted, and stopped dead in his tracks. There, in front of the German racer, was a looming black shadow.
Resembling a John Deere 4720 sprayer, the beast stood on his four enormously tall 380/90R46 tires, leaning forward. His ghostly pale grey paint seemed to absorb all the moonlight the moon dared to shine down upon him. Dark splatters dotted the monster all over his frame, marking countless lives he has taken. His eyes glowed eerily red as he stared Max down. Two long sprayer arms unfolded from his sides, each ending in razor-sharp claws thirty-nine inches long. The entire width of his sprayers measured to ninety meters long, giving him incredible reaching range. Finally, he opened his mouth, showing two rows of oil-stained fangs and leaned forward with a metal squeak. He growled deeply with a sound that rumbled through the thick trunks of every tree in the forest. The racer only stood still, planting all four tires on the ground. The monster did the same, preparing itself to attack. They both charged at each other, and to Max, it was a moment of becoming. Becoming the first vehicle ever to face the Waldgeister Monster. He clashed with the beast, hearing the metal crush and feeling a surge of adrenaline course through him. The car tackled the monster several times, each time the metallic beast getting smaller as parts of it flew off. They both latched onto each other and rolled down a hill, hitting trees and rocks. When they reached the bottom, the monster was badly banged up and lying on his side, but Max stood tall. He slowly limp-rolled over to the beast and looked him right in the eye. One final hit to the face, and he would be done for. Max raised his right tire and gathered the last of his strength to slam down on the monster's cab. The loud knock at his door woke him up, though.
"Was war dass?" Max mumbled. He lifted his front a little, then rested it back on the pillow. It was too early in the morning to be disturbed, the racer thought. But the knocking sounded again, and this time Max raised up. His dark purple eyelids parted, revealing his blue eyes. He stretched, and the knocking banged on his door once more. "Ich komme, ich komme!" Max called out as he rolled off his car bed and to the door. Yawning and almost running into it, he slid the door open to see his crew chief. "Otto? Was machst du hier?"
"Ich frage mich dasselbe." Otto Bonn responded. He lowered his voice. "Es tut mir leid nach stören dich beim dies zeit, aber ich haben ein Geheimnis Nachricht für dich."
"Geheimnis?" Max repeated, pulling his crew chief into his house. "Vhat vas it about?" he questioned in English.
"I am not sure. It vas over the phone, und the car on the other end told me that you have to go somevhere." explained Otto. "Somevhere in London, England. It sounded sketchy, but your name vas asked for. The caller sounded either urgent or frustrated, but I could not tell." Max only blinked, confused and surprised.
"That vas it? I do not know any place in England that I vould have to go to." Max replied, turning around to look out the window of his house. It was still dark outside, and that just reminded the German racecar he was still tired.
"Does a name like C.H.R.O.M.E. ring a bell?" Max's eyes shot open all the way; he was completely awake now.
"C.H.R.O.M.E.?" he repeated. Of course that name rang a bell. It was that agency who discovered who was sabotaging the World Grand Prix. Well, that tow truck did, at least. But he was with those two agents who worked for C.H.R.O.M.E. Max remembered being invited to the agency's HQ by that tow truck and messing around in simulations. Of course he knew that name. "No, it does not. I have never heard of a place called C.H.R.O.M.E. before."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
Otto bit back the urge to make a joke and didn't stay to ask more questions. As soon as he left, Max was out of there. And it didn't take him long to find Duchess and Siddeley.
"Are you Max Schnell?" Duchess asked when the racecar saw her. She was hiding near Max's house, and almost didn't see him since he was carbon fiber dark purple.
"That vould be me." he affirmed. "Did you inform my crew chief of C.H.R.O.M.E. needing me?"
"Yes. Trouble is going to be happening soon, and we need help." Duchess told him. "I understand that all the World Grand Prix Racers have had some experience in the training simulations?"
"Almost. Lewis Hamilton und Rip Clutchgoneski vere unable to join." Max paused. "Who are you?"
"My name is Duchess and I am here to take you to C.H.R.O.M.E. This way to the jet, if you will." Max followed her without another word.
...
"To America next?" Siddeley asked.
"Yep. To my home country." sighed Duchess. Recruiting all these racers was taking a while, and there were still six more to get. "Why did they send, of all cars, me to go get ten cars I have never met before in my life?" the Elantra grumbled to herself. Duchess was unhurt and already a spy, plus she was really the only one who C.H.R.O.M.E. could trust to get the racers. Still, it would have been nice to have someone who knew these guys personally, to help. She sighed again and looked out Siddeley's window.
"You do not sound very happy." Miguel noticed.
"You should be elated. It is an honor to meet Francesco." the said Italian announced. Duchess just looked at Francesco and rolled her eyes, trying to be uninterested. It was pretty exciting to meet all these famous racers. But she had to keep business first, no matter how much they flirted with her. And no matter how attractive they were. They sure were pretty. Pretty handsome, and it was pretty hard not to look at them like she had interest. But Duchess was doing good so far.
"I don't even know them personally… But they do have beautiful paint jobs, and they are gorgeous… Wait, no no no what am I thinking? Business first, Duchess… Business first…" she thought. "I am a strong, independent woman… I'm not gonna let myself be distracted…"
"-needed for, exactly?"
"Huh?" Duchess was thinking and not paying attention to the others, getting ripped from her thoughts.
"I said do you know what we are needed for, exactly?" Miguel asked again.
"Somewhat, but I'll let the guys at C.H.R.O.M.E. tell you about that." Duchess didn't want to tell them something that was going to be repeated later.
"Vhy can you not tell us? Surely you know vhat it is." prodded Max.
"I do. But I'll let the folks at the agency tell you what this is about."
"Francesco does-a not like this." said (guess who?). "He wants the details now. You dragged me away from my home, so this better be good."
"Oh, trust me, it will be adventurous." was all Duchess said before she pressed a button and a privacy shade came down between her and her new friends.
"Hey, come back and tell us!"
"Please? Francesco never begs, but he might now!"
"Duchess, vas it? Yes, Miss Duchess please tell us!"
The Elantra giggled at them. "Nope. Gotta wait." she taunted.
Luckily, Siddeley was fast and they arrived in London in no time. Once the racers were dropped off at the damaged C.H.R.O.M.E. HQ, the spy jet and car left for America. They found John Lassetire pretty fast and waited for him to tell Jeff Gorvette…
"They want me for what?" Jeff questioned once John told him.
"I really have no idea." The racer's crew chief shrugged. "Some red female Elantra told me all this. I have absolutely no idea of what all this is about."
"Then why should I go if you have no idea what it's about?"
"Maybe they got the wrong guy. I don't know." John guessed. "I was just told to tell you some secret organization wants you to help with something." Jeff looked puzzled.
"Hm, interesting." He dwelled on it, turning to the side. "Was the name of this so-called secret organization given?" John thought for a moment.
"Um, I can't remember." he said. "It was something that ended with 'ome'. Rome? No, no. Home? No, that's not it either. Gnome? Bah! I can't remember. It rhymed with those words, though." Lassetire tapped his front tire on the ground. "Maybe it was chr-"
"C.H.R.O.M.E.?" Jeff said suddenly, cutting John off. The yellow truck just looked at the Corvette with half his windshield frame raised.
"Yeah, that was it! How did you know?" he questioned.
"Uh, I didn't. You started saying 'chrome', so I finished the word for you." lied Jeff, hoping he didn't sound suspicious.
"Right. Well, that was the name of that organization. Sound familiar?" John wondered.
"Not at all, John. Not at all." the yellow Corvette lied again. He started driving off. "I'm gonna go do a few laps around my personal track. I'll probably be gone if you need me."
"Okay. I'll see you later, then." John drove off, and as soon as he was out of sight, Jeff went to his personal track. He did about ten laps before stopping in front of an Elantra who had somehow snuck in and was on his track, in his way. He was expecting her, so he stopped just in time.
"I have to give you racers credit." Duchess said when she was looking at Jeff's Corvette emblem, the racer just five feet in front of her. "Y'all have had the practice to drive with such grace and know exactly when to stop. I almost thought you were gonna hit me."
"I would never hit a lady." Jeff promised. "And you could say I was expecting you, so of course I knew I had to stop."
"If you say so, Jeff Gorvette."
"And you are…?"
"Agent Duchess Rogers. I suppose you know where you're going?"
"C.H.R.O.M.E. I wouldn't miss it for the world, Agent Rogers."
"Then let's go, shall we? Siddeley is waiting."
"That super cool spy jet? Sweet!"
...
Traveling to Warwickshire, England took some time as did the other trips, but Duchess didn't mind. She enjoyed hearing stories of racing and other whatnot from the racers. She didn't put the privacy shade between herself and Jeff this time, but she was able to keep herself from staring too much. Jeff told her all about the World Grand Prix races, and how the Lemons used electromagnetic pulse guns to blow up the engines of cars using Allinol. Duchess was happy somebody had finally told her the whole story. She had only heard bits of the WGP incident since nobody could take the time to sit down and tell her. Everyone was too busy at C.H.R.O.M.E. - repairing it and themselves - to do story time. Now she finally understood what these Lemons had done, and why she was gathering these racers. Though she was only gathering them because eight of them already had training experience, and C.H.R.O.M.E. needed all the help it could get.
After a while, Siddeley landed in Warwickshire. Duchess left Jeff with Sidd, and began her search for Austin Littleton, Nigel Gearsley's crew chief. She found Nigel's house, but the large gate in front prevented her from getting near. She could have easily snuck in using her spy equipment and almost did, but decided not to. The risk of getting caught made her change her mind. Instead, she just poked around until someone came out of the house. Duchess pretended to be casually driving around, keeping an eye on the front door. After no one came out for about fifteen minutes, Duchess saw an excellent hiding place to stay and snoop from. Hiding in the bushes across the street, she used her spy gear to scan the house and discovered there were a few cars inside. A small lens popped up in front of her windshield, and she looked through it. Like thermal imaging, the whole house became a blue outline and there were about ten or more red, orange, and yellow shapes in it. Those were cars, and Duchess could not tell who was who.
"I wonder what the security here would do if they knew about this." she whispered to herself. "Does this even count as an invasion of privacy?" She zoomed in with the lens and watched a car turn to the side. It was his spoiler that gave him away. "There you are, Nigel. Now, where's your chief?" Duchess watched as a small car drove up to Nigel and said something. By their movements, it must have been funny because it looked like they were laughing. The small car and Nigel waved at each other, and the small car headed for the door. It opened, and Duchess put her thermal detecting lens away. From where she was, she could tell he was definitely Nigel's chief. By now, she had gotten pretty good at being able to tell which vehicles the crew chiefs were. It was easier than one would think, unless it's dark outside. Darkness tends to hide the paint jobs, which are the same color as the racer's.
Duchess made her way over to the front gate and waited until Austin opened it. He saw her when he closed it.
"Hello, ma'am." he greeted. "Can I help you with something? You look lost."
"Well, I'm not exactly lost, but I could use some help." Duchess started off.
"I'll be glad to help." Austin offered.
"Great!" Duchess looked around, then got closer to him and lowered her voice. "I need you to tell Nigel Gearsley something." Austin looked at her strangely.
"My racer?" he said, surprised. "Is this some sort of fan message?"
"Not at all. If it was, I would already be in the house and talking to him." Duchess deadpanned. Austin began to say something, but she cut him off. "All I need you to tell him is that C.H.R.O.M.E. is looking for recruits. Something big is happening, and the spy agency is requesting Nigel again."
"What in the world? Spy agency? Something big? Recruiting? Again?" Austin repeated, taken aback. "What's going on? Who are you?"
"My name is Duchess. Now please, I know it sounds crazy, but tell Nigel." Duchess pleaded.
"Are you sure it's Gearsley you're looking for? I hope you know he's a racer, not a spy." Duchess didn't want to stay and beg.
"Yes, I know. But please, tell him anyway. Even if he's the wrong car, it doesn't matter. Now go inform him."
Austin looked with doubt at Duchess but went back to the house anyway. Of course, Nigel was ready to go when he was told.
"A spy agency is recruiting for something big?" Nigel repeated with interest.
"Apparently so. I say, she got the wrong car." Austin doubted the situation.
"Yeah, maybe."
"Listen, I have somewhere to be right now." said Austin as he turned to leave again. "Goodbye again, Nigel."
"Cheerio, Austin." Nigel bid. He quickly drove out a side door once his chief was out the front.
"Psst! Nigel! Over here!" hissed someone from the bushes.
"Who said that?" Nigel questioned, his eyes darting towards the greenery.
"Me." announced Duchess as she came out from behind another bush. "I'm Duchess, and I'm here to take you to C.H.R.O.M.E.'s base in London."
...
"Why is it so difficult to get these guys to tell their racers?" Duchess said to no one after she told Mach Matsuo. Shu Todoroki's crew chief thought Duchess was out of her mind.
"Secret organization? Ha! That sounds like a made-up tale!" Mach had laughed about it.
"Please tell Shu about it." Duchess begged after.
"Why should I? Surely this is a joke."
"At least mention it to him. I promise it's not a joke."
Mach had to give it some thought, but eventually, he did tell the Japanese racer. He found Shu racing around at the base of Mount Asama.
(A/N: Because we all know how reliable Google Translate is, I did not translate the Japanese speaking parts)
"Shu!" he called when Todoroki slowed down for a quick rest. "(I think I need to tell you something!)"
"(You think you need to tell me something?)" Shu repeated, slightly amused at the wording. Mach drove over to him.
"(Yes. It was ridiculous-sounding, but the car who told me begged me to tell you.)" Mach told Shu everything, leaving the red and white racer expressionless.
"Hm." was all Shu said.
"Is it something serious?" wondered Mach in English.
"Perhaps." Shu looked his crew chief in the eye. "I must go for now. My practice session is over for the moment."
"Where are you going?"
"Somewhere that you know not of." Shu turned and drove away. "Somewhere that sounds like it is in need of my help." he whispered to himself.
"What was that?" Mach questioned, startling Shu. Apparently, he had heard that.
"Um, nothing." Shu said quickly.
"I heard that. You said somewhere that sounds like it needs your help." Mach raised half his windshield frame. "Is there something you are failing to tell me, Shu Todoroki?" The red and white racer was quick to lie.
"No." he lied with a serious face. Then he smiled. "I was just messing with you, to see if you would have heard me." Mach returned the grin and shook his hood a little. He may not seem like it, but Shu does have a sense of humor. He doesn't let it show that often, but when he does, it's usually in situations like these.
"You had me in belief of you hiding something." Mach shot jokingly, much to Shu's relief. "Go on, to whatever it is you must attend."
"I shall be off, then." Before Mach could ask where Shu was going, he had already taken off. Mach did, however, see Duchess one last time with Shu behind her a few minutes later. Curious, he started to follow them.
"It appears my crew chief is curious of my whereabouts." Shu announced when he glanced at his mirror and saw a familiar 1970 Nissan Fairlady Z following in the distance.
"Looks like we do have company." Duchess noticed him too. "How do we lose him? You know the streets around here better than I do."
"Tell me where Siddeley is and follow me." Shu got in front of Duchess, and the Elantra stayed close to him as they went onto the roads.
"Sidd should be just outside the Tokyo International Airport." said Duchess. "I took a transit bus here from Tokyo to Nagano to here, so we need to go to the station."
"Alright. Stay close, and when we reach the busy streets Tokyo, do not let anyone push their way in front of you as we head to the airport." Shu instructed. "We must lose Mach, so speed up!" The two hit the gas and made their way down roads rather quickly until they lost #7's crew chief. Soon after, they boarded a transit bus at the Komoro Station and headed to Nagano, and from there to Tokyo. Upon arriving after a few hours of nothing but riding the bus, they drove on the bustling streets of the Japanese city. A few cars tried pushing their way in front of Duchess, but she easily shoved them back and kept her eyes on Shu. She knew zero Japanese and didn't feel like getting lost in Tokyo. Luckily, Shu kept himself pretty invisible somehow and led Duchess down alleyways so he wouldn't be noticed by fans and they could get through faster. They stayed out of sight and drove fast down the alleys, through a parking garage, slowed down and sneaked around the cops at the Donut House, and finally reached the airport.
"Well, that did not take too long." Shu jokingly said when he noticed Duchess looked tired of driving so much. "Now, where might Siddeley be?"
"Right here, mate." said a familiar voice behind them. "Now let's get out of here before your crew chief figures out where you two went."
...
Lewis Hamilton wasn't busy at all, for once. Good thing too, because when he got word of the whole 'C.H.R.O.M.E. needs you' thing, he could finally go. But he couldn't remember the organization at first.
"Okay, say that one more time." Lewis requested when his crew chief told him.
"A secret organization called Command Headquarters for Recon Operations and Motorized Espionage is inviting all the racers from the World Grand Prix to team up and fight against these cars called 'Lemons'." Bruce Boxmann reworded it for the third time. "That's what I was told to tell you. Very crazy sounding, but since you've done your one-hundred laps and two hours of chicane, I don't really care what you do now." Lewis looked doubtfully at Bruce.
"Yeah I'm not buying it." he snorted. "A command HQ for motorized espionage? Sounds ridiculous, man."
"It does. But I was told your Grand Prix friends have gone to this place before. That sounds a little suspicious. You sure you're not going to check it out?" Bruce looked suspiciously at his racer.
"I'm sure." Lewis paused. "Command Headquarters and what else was there again?"
"Command Headquarters for Recon Operations and Motorized Espionage. Long name they have. An acronym would serve then well." suggested Bruce.
"Hm. Command…" Lewis went silent, mouthing the whole name and putting together the first letters. "C.H.R.O.M.E. would be the acronym."
"I think C-H-F-R-O-A-M-E would be it, but that's including 'for' and 'and'. C.H.R.O.M.E. sounds better anyway." Bruce said.
"Of course it does. You don't include words like those in acronyms." Lewis shook his hood slightly. "Was that all?"
"That's all I was told to tell you."
"Weird. If that's all you had to tell me, then I'll see you later, man."
"Where are you going?"
"Just for a casual drive around town. Like you said, I've already done my morning things, so I'm free to go." Lewis bid Boxmann goodbye and started off. "C.H.F.R.O.A.M.E. Heh, that sounds funny. Just like C.H.R.O.M.E. being a thing." Lewis told himself. He went about fifteen yards before it hit him. "Ohhhhhh yeaaaaaah. That C.H.R.O.M.E…" Being busy (and having a strict crew chief) had prevented him from joining the others when Mater invited them a while back. But now he finally had the chance, and was surprised Bruce was going to let him go this time. Even if he had no idea Lewis was actually going now.
He drove on the outskirts of town, and Duchess found him shortly after.
"You know, if I had known you were also from Great Britain, I would have gone for you after Nigel Gearsley." was the first thing Duchess told Lewis after she introduced herself.
"Really, now?" Lewis said, amused. "You mean you knew who I was, but didn't know I was a Brit?"
"Kinda. Yeah, pretty much." Duchess admitted, leading Lewis into Siddeley so they could go. "I've only heard your name and seen a picture of you for about three seconds."
"Wow. C.H.R.O.M.E. isn't very good at giving information, are they?" Lewis joked.
"I actually don't know." said Duchess, smiling in agreement. "I don't work for them, but I am helping them out by recruiting and fighting alongside them."
"Fighting alongside them? What's going on?" questioned Lewis.
"Stuff we're actually not sure about ourselves." Duchess became serious. "We don't know what exactly is going on, but we need as many cars on our side as we can get. That's what Finn told us, at least."
"Finn McMissile?"
"Yeah. You know who he is?"
"Us racers found out everything about the World Grand Prix, what it was actually about, and the organization that was dealing with those Lemon cars. If this is something that needs those spies again, then it must be serious." Lewis was definitely going now. "And he said to get as many cars as possible to help?"
"He did." Duchess replied. "It's almost as if he knows something we don't… "
...
"Siddeley! We're going to, heh, The Republic of what, Lewis?"
"New Rearendia, Duchess. Sounds a bit funny, I admit."
"The Republic of New Rearendia, Siddeley. Hehehehe, do cars get rear-ended there a lot?"
"I don't know. Ask Rip."
Next on the list was Rip Clutchgoneski, the racer of The Republic of New Rearendia. Even though he had never been to C.H.R.O.M.E., he had heard of it for the same reason everyone else had: The World Grand Prix. Excluding Lightning McQueen, eight out of the ten WGP Racers were able to go to C.H.R.O.M.E. and play in the simulations. They were all invited by Mater, but Rip and Lewis were unable to go for being busy. Now they had another chance, except this time they were going to be forced to go no matter what. And Rip had no idea what was coming his way. Neither did his crew chief.
"Who are you, again?" Brian Gearlooski questioned Duchess after receiving the information.
"Duchess." was the response.
"I need to know more than that, Miss Duchess, so I can make sure this isn't a trick or something." The Elantra only smirked and began turning away.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Gearlooski, but that's all I can give." she simply said. "If you can't take me to Rip himself, then I'm afraid I can't give you any more info about me."
"That's the thing. I have to know more so I can bring you to him, or him to you." Brian said. Duchess backed up to turn.
"Then that's unfortunate, huh? I was ordered by two cars to not give any personal information but my name." she explained. "Just promise me you'll tell Rip what I told you. Please? I've pretty much been all over the world trying to track down everyone who participated in the World Grand Prix. So please, tell him." Brian looked Duchess in the eyes for a second.
"Okay, I will." he finally gave in. "I just hope you're not doing anything illegal." His gaze hardened a little and he narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Oh, trust me, it's not." Duchess turned and rolled away, but before she got too far, she stopped. "In fact, you might thank us if it all turns out well in the end." Brian had been turned around, but when he faced where Duchess was to say something, she was gone.
"Well. That was weird." he mumbled to himself. He quickly drove away to where his racer was, which was at a little café. Unsurprisingly, there were fans around him. "Hey, Rip? Could you come here please?" Brian called once he got Rip's attention.
"Huh? Oh, sure." the orange racer said. He carefully made his way around the cars and to his crew chief. "What's up?"
"Can we go somewhere private? I've got a strange message to tell you and I don't want others hearing." Brian said quietly.
"Uh, okay." Rip followed Brian out of the café and far away from others. "Is something wrong?" Rip asked. He suddenly looked panicked. "Wait, am I being replaced? Are you getting rid of me?" he asked worriedly. "Is the reason you didn't want others hearing because of that?!"
"What? No no no! That is not at all what I have to say. Calm down, Clutchgoneski." Brian assured, chuckling at how quickly the young racer was to assume the worst. "No, you're not getting fired from racing." Rip visibly relaxed at that.
"Whew, okay then what is it?" he asked, less worried.
"Some secret organization called C.H.R.O.M.E. is requesting you to go to their headquarters and help with something huge." Brian told him. "I was told by an Elantra named Duchess."
"C.H.R.O.M.E…" Rip repeated, thinking. "Hey, I kno-" But then he stopped himself, as he remembered two lines from Mater's invitation.
"Y'all are invited, but it's you racers and you racers only. That means don't tell yer pit crew or friends about it 'cause remember: It's a SECRET!"
"-know not of a place by that name. Nope, I've never heard of that before." Rip finished his sentence.
"Really? Because this Duchess vehicle said she had been looking for all the other racers from the World Grand Prix." Brian prodded. "Probably to give them the same information I just told you. You sure you don't know what C.H.R.O.M.E. is? Or a car by the name of Duchess?"
"Yes, I'm sure." Rip half-lied. "Now, can I go back to the café? I got this new oil-atte, and it is amazing, and I left it behind…" Brian just stared at his racer.
"I guess." he said, unamused.
"Great! I'll be, uh, who knows where if you need me!" Rip said hurriedly, then took off. He swung by the café to pick up his fancied oil and slipped away unnoticed. "Wow. I'm actually going to go! I'm actually getting to go to C.H.R.O.M.E. this time!" Rip said happily to himself. Those simulations Mater wrote about in his invitation sounded like tons of fun, but he didn't get to go because Brian had him busy training. Now that New Rearendia's racing season was over, he was free! "Okay, Duchess. Where are you?" he pondered out loud as he left the town.
"Right here, Rip." answered a voice. The racer turned to see a red Elantra behind a building.
"Oh, hi. I take it you're the one who told my crew chief everything?" Rip assumed.
"Not quite everything, but enough to get you interested." Duchess responded. "Follow me, if you are, and you will learn more about everything soon." She paused for a second. "But before we go, I have a serious question for you."
"What is it?"
"Do cars get rear-ended here a lot?"
...
The stars were coming out as night was falling across Rio de Janeiro. Volkswagen crickets chirped their tiny horns, and VW firefly bugs lit up the night sky. The day was coming to an end, but the parties were just beginning. That meant another fabulous day of racing was over, and the gorgeous Carla Veloso could dance the night away. Well, she was planning to do that, but her usually aggressive crew chief Cruz Besouro found her before midnight.
Carla was dancing with her friends and catching the attention of many male vehicles. They were being held back by security, letting the ladies have the floor to themselves. Carla was especially showy. With her Car-nival paint job and curvy body, she flaunted her sexy self as she moved with the music. She was paying no mind to any of the men; all she was focused on was a night full of dancing after a day's worth of racing. In fact, the Brazilian racer didn't even notice her crew chief come in.
"Carla!" Cruz called. He pushed past the men watching his racer and, much to the jealousy of the watchers, went right up to Veloso. "Carla, devo dizer-lhe algo que eu ouvi hoje." he announced quietly.
"O que fiz você ouve hoje, Cruz?" Carla asked.
"Something that makes me wonder what else you do in your free time." said Cruz in English. He rolled off the floor with Carla following him.
"O que quer dizer que você quer saber o que mais eu fazer?" Carla questioned. Cruz didn't answer until they were outside away from everybody.
"Oh, I was informed of something quite interesting." he said plainly.
"What was it? And why must we speak English?"
"Because I would rather not have many cars hearing us." Cruz looked directly at Carla. He didn't seem mad, just very confused. "Do you work with spies when you are not racing?"
"Do I work with spies?" The racer laughed. Of course she didn't work with them. She was only trained once by two. "What kind of a question is that, Cruz? Surely you are not serious."
"I am." said Cruz firmly. "Some red car told me a spy organization needed as many cars as they could. This red car asked for you, specifically."
"What kind of red car? Did they give a name?" Carla asked.
"She said her name was Duchess, and I could not tell what she was." Cruz tried remembering. "The word on her back end started with an 'E', but I could not tell the rest."
"Duchess? That is a pretty name. And I officially do not know what you are talking about." Carla lied.
"Then why would that car be asking for you specifically?"
"That is a good question. Let me find her and ask."
"Alone? I don't want you going out there alone. Especially at night." Cruz argued, blocking Carla.
"Do not worry about me. I am not going alone." Carla assured him.
"Who is going with you?"
Carla's friends followed her out of the club once she asked them to go with her. They all kept a lookout for the red vehicle, and one of them spotted Duchess in no time.
"Carla, é que o carro que você está procurando?" she asked, pointing. The Brazilian racer saw the red vehicle who looked out of place.
"Eu penso assim. Aguarde aqui, e se eu partir, não diga o meu chefe de equipe." Carla then told her friends no one was supposed to know where she was going and told them goodbye. "So, you must be Duchess?" Carla assumed when she drove over to her.
"Yes, that would be me." the Elantra affirmed. "How did you know? Usually, I have to find the racer."
"You look very out of place. Not painted for partying." Carla explained with a smirk. "I mean no offense with that. You are very beautiful, but your beauty comes from somewhere else, not here. By your accent, I guess America?"
"That would be correct. Manufactured and raised in Oklahoma." Duchess said proudly. "But since I'm a spy, I'm all over the place now. I gotta keep strong and independent." Carla smiled.
"I like strong, independent women. We show men that we do not need them to stay ahead in life." she stated.
"That is so true." Duchess said with complete honesty. "And by looking at you, I can tell you probably have men trying to get with you all the time."
"Yes, and it is so cute when they think they can win me over. I have my racing career to focus on. Having a man would just slow me down, and I love nothing more than to go fast." Carla said in an eager tone.
"Same here. Except I'm a solo spy, not a racer, so I really can't be distracted." Duchess almost sighed.
"I would hope not. Whatever this thing is you are calling me for, sounds like it does not need distractions." said Carla. "What is it about, anyway?" Duchess started leaving, and Carla followed.
"C.H.R.O.M.E. needs help big time. It's the Lemons from the World Grand Prix."
"Are they back?"
"Pretty much. They're cooking up some big scheme, complete with vehicles who aren't Lemons."
"That sounds horrible!" Carla exclaimed when they joined Lewis and Rip on Siddeley.
"What sounds horrible?" asked Lewis.
"The cars who blew up our engines at the races. They have cars with them who are not Lemons!" exclaimed Carla.
"What?! Really?! We're supposed to be fighting against them, and I thought it would be easy since they're really crappy cars. Now they've got better vehicles with them!" Rip complained in a sigh. "Oh great. This might be harder than we thought." he added.
...
"Okay, last one. Finally!" Duchess said to herself when she got off Siddeley. This was beginning to get ridiculous. No, it was already ridiculous since the fifth racer. In order to get the racer, she had to find their crew chief first. That might have been for security reasons, but to the Elantra, it was just a waste of time. It took forever to find the crew chiefs, and then she practically had to beg for them to tell their racers. They either thought she had the wrong car or was insane, so she had to do much begging until they agreed. So far, everyone had been picked up and were all waiting in London, which meant the begging was at least not in vain. They had all been accounted for, except one. Whoever this Raoul ÇaRoule is was in France and it was going to be difficult for Duchess to find him. She had always wanted to visit that country on vacation, not business matters.
"This is not fun…" Duchess thought. Not only was she distracted by the sights, but she also had no idea where to look for Raoul's crew chief. She had no idea where he even lived! The only information she was given about these ten racers was their name, their crew chief's name, and the country they lived in. While she got nine of the racers' pictures and places of residence, she got the least information about Raoul for some reason. No picture of him, no place of residence, and no crew chief name. It was a last-minute decision to find all WGP Racers to help against the Lemons, and the Elantra was practically shoved aboard Siddeley while learning about them. Of course the last racer had the least information given about him. Duchess ended up spending the whole day searching, trying to find either Raoul or his crew chief, but it was as if they didn't want to be found. There was not a single piece of information about them to find anywhere. Asking for help was useless; she didn't know a lick of French. Duchess began to think she was in the wrong part of France, given the fact she was almost in Germany. Siddeley had flown to one side of France so that Duchess could wander about and try to find anything about this racer. Clear on one edge of the country, Duchess had driven and found herself in a region called Alsace, confused about not being sure if she was in France or Germany. "Ooookay, Mister Raoul ÇaRoule, where are you?" she grumbled to herself after the sun had gone down. The longer and longer it took, the more and more she didn't like him. Duchess heard not enough about this French rally car and had no idea what to expect. He sounded cool from hearing the others talk about him, but the Elantra had met cars who were considered cool and were completely full of themselves. They were arrogant and thought they were better than everyone else. Duchess had also been told a quick fact that Raoul was an acrobat in a circus at one time. "Great… He's a rally racecar who's an acrobat… He's gonna know so many tricks and be such a showoff…" Duchess was still thinking about that when she unintentionally drove into someone.
"Hey! Regarder où vous allez, dame!" the car snapped.
"Oh, I'm very sorry! Didn't see where I was going!" rambled off Duchess. She looked to her right and noticed a crowd gathering at a large, fenced-in area. It was lit by big floodlights, and the crowd seemed to be very impressed by whatever was in that fence. "What's going on over there?" she asked.
"Oh, you speak English." said the car Duchess ran into. The Elantra looked at him.
"Finally! Someone who speaks my language!" she exclaimed in relief. The car just smirked at her.
"Tourist, I assume?" he guessed. "You must be if you do not know what is happening over zhere."
"I guess you could say that." Duchess sighed, just wanting to get the racer and get out of there. "So, what's everyone so amazed about?"
"Only France's best racer and most loved rally car, Raoul ÇaRoule!" he announced proudly. Duchess's entire body drooped.
"Oh…" she said.
"You do not seem very excited to see him." noted the car.
"Oh, um, well, I've been looking for him all day. Or his crew chief. I have a message for him and him only." explained Duchess, sounding like she just wanted to leave. She noticed the car was looking her up and down, partly suspicious. Then his expression changed suddenly. "You don't happen to know where his crew chief is? Since I obviously can't get near him with that crowd." The car's eyes sparkled.
"Well, I do know where Raoul's chief is, but if what you have to tell him is for his ears only, I can help you." he offered. He drove next to her, causing her to turn the direction he was facing. "Come zis way, I will show you zee best view of zat amazing Raoul."
"Oh great… Even random strangers are bragging about this car… He's famous, and I just know it's probably all gone to his hood…" Duchess thought. "I feel like I won't like this Raoul ÇaRoule at all…" The car led her past other cars, and they all made room for the two as they went. Duchess wondered why all the vehicles took one look at the guy she was following and instantly got out of his way. Eventually, they came to an area that looked like it was blocked, but it was just the way the trees were growing that made it look that way. No one was there.
"Ah, here it is! Zee best spot to see him!" the car proudly presented.
"Look, I appreciate knowing the location of the best spot, but I really don't have time to mess around and watch a-." At that moment, Raoul sped past them. "-very… beautifully… handsome… hatchback…" Duchess's eyes were glued to the rally car. The car next to her was smiling.
"Heh, heh. I take it you find interest in Raoul, no?" he said slyly.
"Huh?" Duchess was still looking at Raoul, taking in the view of his…tail lights. "What? No no. He's just really… pretty…" The car next to her laughed a bit.
"He gets zat a lot. I am always having to shoo fangirls off of him because he is never interested in any." he said.
"What? Really? He's famous. Just by looking at him, I thought he had someone already." Duchess admitted.
"Oh, he is quite famous, and no he has no one right now." the car told her. "Not yet, anyway." he added quietly.
"How do you know?" Duchess asked. The car smiled at her.
"I should know." he said with a smile. "I am his crew chief." Duchess stared at him, surprised.
"Really? You're his crew chief?"
"Oui, I am." Bruno Motoreau nodded. "You can tell my racer whatever it is you need to. Look, here he comes!" Duchess turned around and saw Raoul coming around the bend backwards. He wasn't looking her way, though.
"But I don't…" Duchess turned to ask the car something, but Bruno had already left. "Oh fun… How will I ever get his attention?" She faced the bar metal fence and watched the show. It was very impressive, seeing this rally car do all his stunts. He sure did wow the crowd, and Duchess wondered how often he put on shows just for fun. The way he flipped and drifted and performed definitely showed he had the practice. "And he looks beautiful doing it…" Duchess thought. Raoul came around the bend again, but he was driving on two wheels. Specifically his left wheels, so Duchess could only see his undercarriage and not his face. One last time, he went around the stunt track, and Duchess put her face against the fence. Her engine pulsed rapidly when she saw Raoul drifting around the bend turned around, so he was facing her. They made eye contact almost immediately.
Raoul loved entertaining crowds. When he wasn't racing, he was performing. And performing was like playtime for him. He was doing all sorts of acts, like two-wheeled driving and flipping and going backwards up a ramp, doing several air tricks, then landing, still backwards. The crowd loved it all, and Raoul enjoyed making them happy. The only time his fans complained was when he said "Dernière une!" and he did his last trick. This time, he decided to show off his talent at drifting and did it backwards. Instead of facing the inside of the curve, he faced the outside and drifted like that. How he did it, no one would ever know. But Raoul felt it had something to do with that beautiful Hyundai he saw.
As soon as he began drifting, he looked at the cars standing on the outside of the arena. He smiled at them all, making the ladies crazy, except for one. And this one in particular, caught his eye. It was like slow motion as he drifted past her. She was a red vehicle, he couldn't tell what exactly she was, but what he could tell was that she was beautiful. They stared at each other, and the rally car wished that moment never ended.
"Quelle beauté…" Raoul whispered to himself. He quickly whipped his body around, ending his drift in a donut, jumped in the air and did a counter-clockwise flip, then ended it with a bow. The crowd went nuts, and Raoul yelled 'thank you' to them twice. "Je vous aime tous!" he added. He stole a glance over at the red car, which he could see was a Hyundai. She looked at him with impressed eyes, so he gave her a lustful look and winked at her. She smiled shyly and returned the lustful wink. The rally car felt a beating in his engine. "Être encore, mon moteur…" Raoul told himself.
Duchess did not leave her spot. Especially since Raoul motioned for her to stay there. Her engine was pulsing, making her nervous. The longer she waited, the more she felt like she was going to leak oil. Duchess decided whether or not to look for Bruno, but her nervousness got the best of her. She started speeding off to find Bruno, but Raoul's front end prevented her from doing so.
"Oh!" Duchess exclaimed when her front bumper pressed against his. She backed up, glad she already had red paint to hide the blush. "I-I'm so sorry, Mr. ÇaRoule! I-I didn't know you were coming over here!" she rambled off, looking at the ground. Raoul just smirked.
"Ah, zhere is no problem!" he assured. "Was me gesturing you to stay not enough?" Duchess looked shyly into his friendly, icy blue eyes.
"It was. I was just, just going to find your crew chief and tell him what I need to tell you, Mr. ÇaRoule." she tried not squeaking as she said so. Raoul raised half his windshield frame at her.
"Mr. ÇaRoule?" He laughed. "Oh, ho ho! Please, sweetheart, call me Raoul." He began circling her slowly. "Besides, a beautiful car such as yourself needs not to refer to me as a Mr., anyway."
"Uh, heh heh, heh…" Duchess's hood was swimming as Raoul checked her out. She pulled herself together and cleared her throat. "Okay, wow… I uh, I have a message for you, Raoul."
"Is zat so?" he asked with interest, coming to a stop in front of her. Very close. "What is it you must tell me?"
"C.H.R.O.M.E. is requesting your presence at the headquarters." stated Duchess. Her axles were trembling nervously since the slightly bigger, handsome rally car was close enough to kiss.
"C.H.R.O.M.E.? Zat is not a name I have heard in a while." He looked at her. "Is zhere somezhing wrong?"
"Yes. It's a serious issue with the bad guys from the World Grand Prix. We need as much help as we can get. Come, please." Duchess backed up, not wanting him to see her lovestruck shaking. She urged Raoul by motioning him to follow her.
"Zee bad cars from zee World Grand Prix? And C.H.R.O.M.E. is in need of help? Zis sounds exciting. Okay, I suppose I shall go." He followed her to Siddeley.
"What took you so long, Duchess?" Sidd questioned when he saw her and the rally car.
"Couldn't find Raoul's crew chief, so his crew chief finally took me to Raoul." said Duchess awkwardly.
"What?"
"Long story. Don't ask."
Once they boarded the jet, they were off to London. Raoul and Duchess were alone in Siddeley, and the Elantra wished they weren't. It was too awkward. "Oh yeah… Ten racers…" she thought, gazing at Raoul's paint. "Dropped them off three at a time… Seven, eight and nine were the last three… They were Lewis, Rip, and Carla…"
"You like my paint?"
"Do what?" Duchess said. She was ripped from her thoughts by a racer. Again.
"I asked, you like my paint?" Raoul had turned his body to the side a little. "I noticed you staring." Duchess smiled awkwardly.
"Yeah, I guess so. It's kind of splatter-painty, and I like it."
"Zen I shall keep it zee way it is." Raoul smiled at Duchess in such a way, her engine fluttered big time.
"No Duchess… You don't like him… You must keep business first…" she thought to herself when it was obvious she was wrong. Raoul was very kind and not arrogant or full of himself. He was also quite handsome, if Duchess had to admit. In fact, she fell for him the moment she saw him. "No, what am I thinking?! I gotta keep my duty first… Just like Carla and I talked about: Strong, independent woman who needs no man… A man would just slow my job down… I'm a solo spy, not a lover…" She looked at the rally car again and saw that he was also gazing at her. His eyes were beautiful, just like him. "But I could be… No no no no… I don't like him… I have no interest in him at all…" And Duchess denied herself the whole way to London.
But Raoul was quite the opposite. "I like her, but does she like me back?" he thought. He could tell she liked him, with the way she looked at him and how shy she was. But he didn't know how much. Every time they made eye contact, she looked away real fast. She stopped talking to him, and every time she did have something to say, it was about spy business. She was a bit stuttery, too. It was a sudden change in behavior, and he wondered what was wrong. "I do want her… But she seems so shy…" Raoul decided not to make conversation, so he just sat in silence and looked out the window. "I shall impress her and get her attention…" he thought. "Surely she cannot resist zee charm of Raoul ÇaRoule!"
Oh goodness... I am guilty of a ship...
Whew! That sure was a long chapter! Remember how I said I'm putting as many Cars characters in it as I can? Well, this was my way of including the WGP Racers and their crew chiefs. Also, since everybody at C.H.R.O.M.E. is hurt and busy fixing their HQ, I decided we would follow Duchess as she's getting all the WGP Racers for C.H.R.O.M.E. (and throw in a ship because Raoul's my favorite). Well, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, including the people who read it and didn't review! Yes, I think of all of you because I enjoy entertaining people with a story of a dark Cars tale!
Alright, I'll be honest with you all again. I do have another Cars fanfic where I travel to the Carsverse, and I have been working on that a bit, which is why it took quite a while for this one to be updated. It's called I Was Bored, and I've actually had that one longer than The Way They Seem. It's got about six chapters right now, and I might post it after this one is completed. Tell you what, if I get at least five reviews by the end of The Way They Seem saying they would read I Was Bored, then I'll post it. That way I'll know at least five people will read it!
Annnd that's all I can give right now, folks! Chapter seven will be up... I don't know when. But it will be up when I complete it. It might not be as long as this chapter, but that's okay. At least I'm writing it! See you all in the next chapter!
