"I saw what happened this morning, and knew that you weren't done with him. So I followed you two out here to see what would happen, and to try to stop the two of you. Looks like I was right." She said gently, watching as he slowly stood up, then tried to stand on his swollen paw. He took two steps, then began limping, holding the paw that Lennon had bitten off the ground. "Here climb on my hood, poor boy." She said sadly, helping him up. He laid down, and she saw the way that his nose had been slashed by Lennon. "That looks like it hurts; we'd better get you to Doc right now." She said, then she drove back to town as quickly as she could. Thunder whined as his nose, ear, and paw throbbed painfully, along with various other wounds Lennon had managed to inflict on him. When she arrived back in town, she saw that Doc's was dark. "Oh, dear, he's asleep. Here, let's go back over to the café." She said, then set him down gently in her café lobby as she went to get gauze.
She returned shortly, and began bandaging his ear and paw. She stitched up some of the deeper cuts, then rolled backwards slightly to look him over and make sure she hadn't missed any deep cuts. "I've done the best I can for now, sweetie. And I still don't know what to do about your nose, so be careful." She said softly, petting his head gently. He whined softly, but didn't move. The sun was beginning to rise by this time, and he whimpered.
Not only hadn't he gotten any sleep, but he had just been beaten by a lousy cat. That didn't make him feel better at all, only worse. "Poor boy." Flo said softly, before she picked him up gently and set him on her hood. He whined and began licking his nose, trying to stop it from bleeding. "If that creature has rabies, I don't know what you'd do, since you're covered in bites." She said worriedly. Thunder whined softly, and gave up trying to heal his poor nose, laying his head down. He was seeing double, which quickly multiplied to quadruple. His paw, ear, and nose were aching and throbbing intensely, along with the other wounds.
The pain was almost too much to bear, and certainly too much to even move. Gradually, his whole head began to ache, and he pawed at it, trying to make the aching pain go away. Nothing he did worked, and eventually, his whole body began to ache. Flo set him down on the pavement gently, and he staggered to his feet. He began hobbling off towards Willy's Butte, and Flo had gone to get things ready for the upcoming day, so she hadn't seen him disappear.
It began drizzling, which made the ground start steaming as it cooled off, fog rising up in great clouds that lingered heavily. Within fifteen minutes, the whole area was in a giant fog cloud.
Thunder staggered through the fog, confused. Now, where was the cactus patch? The fog was making it impossible to see, and the fact that there was four of everything, according to his vision, made locating anything even harder for him. With a sudden yelp, he fell right off the cliff and into the cactus patch. Covered with cacti, he scrambled out, then began to hobble back towards where he thought town was.
By this time, the rain was nearly pouring down and was freezing cold, preventing the fog from lifting. He made it back to town, and began to smell steak. His mouth began to water hungrily, and it wasn't long before he was drooling. He followed his nose to Flo's, and the fog lifted slightly. He heard someone scream, and he whined. The screaming was hurting his ears.
"Thunder?" Sally asked in shock.
Standing before her was a drooling, mangled-up, cactus-covered monster of a dog with gauze wrapped around it in some areas, blood in its fur, and due its hulking size paired with the fog, it looked positively rabid, out of its mind with murder.
Thunder whined softly, then laid down beside her. Sally sighed with relief, then looked him over again. She saw now that he was stitched up in a few places, gauze was wrapped around one of his paws, one of his ears, his nose was shredded, he had long cuts running along his sides and back, and he was covered in cactus.
She petted him gently, and Thunder whined, pawing at her tire feebly. "Thunder what's wrong?" Sally asked gently, and she saw all the bites that were scattered across his head and muzzle. Flo shrieked when she returned and saw him, then drove over to the two.
"Oh my..." Flo gasped as Thunder whined. His head was aching again, and he fainted. Sally picked him up and set him on her hood.
"Flo, you don't think he's got rabies, do you?" Sally asked in horror.
"He did get bitten a lot by that cat Fillmore took in. They were fighting last night, and if I hadn't stopped him, the two would've fought to the death."
"We need to get him to Doc, now." Sally said, driving over to Doc's, Flo following. Doc was just coming out of his garage when Flo and Sally arrived.
"What's the problem, you two? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"It's Thunder! He was bitten by Fillmore's cat!"
"Fillmore doesn't have a cat."
"That's because Thunder chased it out of the alley behind Luigi's two nights ago, and Fillmore took it home with him. Yesterday morning, he brought it over to my café, and it attacked Thunder because it landed on his head accidentally. It left him alone after a few minutes, but I could tell that it wasn't finished with him, and I could see that Thunder wanted revenge. Last night, I saw him hiding by Ramone's as the cat went up the street from Fillmore's, heading right for him. He chased the cat up near Tailfin Pass, and I followed, trying not to let either one get hurt. I was too late, because by the time I caught up with them, they were already fighting, and looked like they would fight to the death. I threw a lasso around Thunder as the cat ran off, and he was covered in scratches and bites. I brought him back here around four this morning, and tried to patch up some of his more serious injuries. I set him down to go get things ready in my café for today, and when I came back out, it was raining, foggy, and Sally had screamed. I drove over and saw Thunder next to her. He looked like he had just come back to life after being dead, and then he fainted! Oh, I hope he just doesn't have rabies!" Flo finished quickly, looking at Thunder worriedly.
"He most likely does. You said that cat was lurking in a back alley when Thunder found it?"
Flo nodded.
Doc lifted Thunder off Sally's hood and examined him closely. "That cat most likely did have rabies, because Thunder's got it now."
"What can we do? Will we be able to save him?"
"You two go back over to the café and calm down. He'll be fine. We're lucky that he's unconscious right now, or he'd be very aggressive." Doc replied, taking Thunder into the clinic. He exited the clinic in about an hour, going over to Flo's.
"Is Thunder all right?" Lightning asked worriedly.
"He should be fine now. Flo and Sally brought him over just in time." Doc replied, and Flo and Sally sighed with relief.
"Lennon really had rabies, man?" Fillmore asked in disbelief.
"He must have gotten it the first night you had him, Fillmore." Doc explained.
"Bad trip, man."
Just then, Thunder hobbled out of Doc's slowly, blinking in the bright sunlight. Mariana gasped and rushed over to him quickly, hugging him tightly.
"Oh, Thunder, you're okay!" She exclaimed, burying her hood into his fur. He winced slightly, then moaned and licked her roof. "What's wrong?"
"That feline used him as a scratching post, so he'll be sore for a while, Mariana." Doc said.
"Not to mention he'll hate cats for quite a while." Lightning said, and the others laughed. Thunder hobbled over to Flo's and laid down, Mariana laying beside him and falling asleep quickly. Doc took notice and asked Lightning if she had been up late.
"When I told her I couldn't find him, she refused to go to sleep until he was found. Nothing I tried worked."
Thunder moaned as he curled up around Mariana. He felt like he had just been hit by twenty trucks. He still had a dull throb in his head, and he fell unconscious again.
When he awoke, he found that it was dark. Once his eyes adjusted, he discovered that he was in his bed, and Jack was lying next to him, but no Mariana. He staggered upright, then hobbled over to the doorway. He hobbled out into the hallway, and heard low voices. He followed the sound of the voices until he was just outside the living room.
"Thunder still hasn't woken up yet. Do you think he'll be okay?" Mariana's voice asked, and Thunder detected a note of fear in it.
"I'm sure he'll be fine in the morning. He was out all night last night, remember that. He just needs some sleep." Lightning's voice was low as he tried to reassure Mariana.
"But he was just so... 'dead-looking' today!" Mariana exclaimed quietly, and her voice held a threat of tears. Thunder was sure that her windshield was brimming full of them.
"I know, I know. But he's all right now, I promise."
"Are you sure?" Mariana's voice quavered, and Thunder was sure she was crying now. "B-Because I don't want him to die. H-He was my first true friend that I've ever met, and I don't want him to leave." Thunder heard her crying softly, and it just about broke his heart. All that she had told him in the past was true, and he wanted more than anything to hobble into the room and show her that he was fine, but he didn't. He made it as far as standing in the doorway, then he backed up a couple steps.
Lightning was facing him, talking to Mariana on the couch. Lightning saw Thunder, but didn't say anything. Thunder waited and listened to what Lightning replied. "I've never made a promise that I can't keep, and I've never broken a promise." Lightning said firmly, and Thunder wagged his tail. He knew that Lightning never went back on a promise. Thunder listened for Mariana's response, which didn't come for a few minutes.
"O-Only if you're s-sure..." Her voice quavered again, then was muffled slightly as Lightning pulled her into a giant hug. The two stayed like that for a while, then Lightning said, "Any better now?"
Mariana nodded, and Lightning said softly, "Go on, back to bed. I have a feeling someone is waiting for you there." Thunder hobbled as quickly as he could back into his room, laying down in his bed hastily. A few seconds later, he heard Mariana come in, sniffing quietly. He raised his head up and watched as she froze when she saw him move. She darted to his side and hugged him tightly.
"You're okay? Really?" Thunder licked her side happily, wagging his tail. Mariana acted like she hadn't seen him in over a year until she fell asleep, curled up at his side. Thunder wagged his tail, then curled up around her, moaning slightly from the pain in his paw. He got comfortable, then drifted off to sleep quickly.
The next morning, he woke up later than normal. Once his vision came into focus, he saw a large plate with an equally large steak on it sitting in front of him. From the smell of it, it was still warm, and his tail wagged. He staggered to his feet and just as he was about to eat, Mariana came in to wish him good morning. "Lay back down, I'll get it."
Thunder obeyed, and Mariana cut up the steak, letting more of the delicious smell out of the meat. She picked up one of the pieces of steak and held it out to him. "You saved me from those awful cars, and now it's time that I repaid you."
Thunder sighed in defeat, and the steak was soon gone from the plate. Mariana took the plate back over to Flo's, then came back over to snuggle with Thunder. By the time she got back, Thunder had fallen asleep again. Mariana giggled as one of his back paws twitched, then she laid her blanket over him and went to watch cartoons. Lightning came in later to find Mariana, and found her laying next to Thunder, petting his side gently. Lightning smiled and rolled into the room.
"Is he any better than yesterday?"
"Yeah, he's lots better."
"Good. I knew he would be. He just needed a little time is all. I'm going to start racing season tomorrow, so it's probably just going to be you, Sally, Thunder, Red, and Lizzie here. Is that all right?"
"Yeah, it's okay."
Lightning smiled and petted Thunder gently. "All right." He looked at Thunder thoughtfully. "I'll keep an eye on him. You go out and have fun."
"What should I do? Thunder makes everything boring seem fun."
"Hmmm... Why don't you go and race Jack at Willy's Butte?"
"Okay! Thanks, Lightning."
"No problem."
Mariana left the room, and Lightning sighed as he petted Thunder gently. "What did you get into, Thunder?" He didn't expect an answer, and he got none from the sleeping dog.
Mariana returned a few hours later, panting slightly and covered with caked-on mud. "What happened to you?" Lightning asked.
"The track's all muddy, so Jack and I had a mud-wrestling contest!"
Lightning rolled his eyes and chuckled. His gaze drifted to Thunder, and he said softly, "Thunder would've liked that. He would've been down there with you two for hours, then when he came back you wouldn't have been able to tell there was a dog under all the mud." He laughed softly, petting Thunder gently.
"Now it's your turn to wrestle Jack, Lightning. She even said so."
"All right, but go get washed up before you watch Thunder." He sighed, and Mariana left to go find Red. She was back in an amazingly long time, and as soon as she came through the doorway, Lightning saw why she was so late. Her base color was a gleaming white with a glossy finish, a blue stripe running from her front bumper, over her hood, over her roof, then down her trunk to her back bumper, a red stripe placed about two inches away from the blue stripe that followed the path of the blue stripe, a white stripe between the red and blue stripes, and eggshell-colored circles on her hood, sides, and trunk that were outlined in black and had the number 53 inside them.
"Hey, you changed your paintjob back!" Lightning grinned.
"It is similar, yeah, but I never had this one before." She replied, turning around and revealing the circle on her trunk to Lightning.
Lightning chuckled, then asked why she had decided to change paintjobs.
"I searched around, and found out that this was my dad's paintjob."
"So your dad was..."
"That's right. Herbie, the greatest Beetle racecar ever." She giggled. Lighting was staring at her for a long time, then she said, "Jack's still waiting."
"Oh, right! Bye, Mariana!"
