Chap. 9: Pond Aftermath: It had been 6 weeks since Filippa had moved into Radiator Springs and Fillmore had that amazing night with Sarge, and now the hippie was starting to feel weird: his back hurt, his abdomen ached, he felt tired 50% of the time, and a little nauseous. He told Dr. Garwood about it and the new doctor said he'll research it, but he said it was probably cramps and a stomachache, even Fillmore didn't have a fever. Unfortunately, that day was really hot, so hot, nobody could work or play. "So…hot…need…water…" Leo panted. "I'm frying like an egg over here," Juan complained. "That's what you get for wearing dark shades of green," Gavin told the military brat. "Kelly, why aren't you sweating?" Trenton asked the café girl. "Girls don't sweat, we glow," Kelly corrected. "(Well, then Iralanda is glowing all over me,)" Aneil sneered. "Sorry, I sweat a lot, one time, I managed to fill up two buckets with the sweat I wringed out of my clothes," Iralanda stated. The other teens groaned in disgust. "I know, how about we go to the pond far off from here," Yasin suggested. "You mean the one where the pond monster is supposed to live?" Mater asked. "Mater, that's just an old wives' tale," Lightning said. "Funny you should say that because I heard it from Amy," Mater stated. "Yep, definitely an old wives' tale," Harold joked. Amy hit him on the head with one of her canes. "Either way, we should still go, I need to cool off before I overheat," Adam said. "Okay, fine, we'll take the bus; it'll be easier," said Sheriff. Anyone who was interested in going to the pond, meaning all the teens, Lightning, Sally, Mater, Guido, Filippa, Fillmore, Sarge, Luigi, Sheriff, and Red, got onto the old Radiator Springs tour bus and drove to the pond. Considering that the tires were worn out, Guido packed a few spare tires and his power wrench, just in case. The pond hadn't changed much ever since Sarge and Fillmore went there a year ago. Sarge had actually been debating whether or not to tell the others about his and Fillmore's "pond monster attack," but decided not to, worried he might cause trouble, so he just kept the story to himself. "Water!" Travis shouted before leaping into the pond followed by Leo, Harold, Juan, and Yasin. "Maybe we should have packed the bathing suits before getting here," Sally confided to Lightning. "In weather like this, I don't think anyone would a care," Lightning told his girlfriend. "I'm coming in, too!" Mater announced before doing a cannon ball into the water. "Mater!" everyone shouted in an annoyed but humored manner. Fillmore stepped into the pond to swim around as well; his aching sides and back seemed to soothe as he moved around in the water. After at least 15 minutes, Kendra announced something alarming: "Uh…guys, where's Travis?" "You mean he's not in the water anymore?" Sarge asked, running to the edge of the pond. Did the beast strike again? "No, I can't see him in the water. Did anyone see him climb out?" Kendra asked. Everyone shook their heads no. "The pond monster! It probably grabbed him when we ain't lookin'!" Mater exclaimed. "Something just brushed against my foot!" Juan shouted, his eyes very wide. Sarge was seconds away from jumping into the pond to confront the water beast again, and perhaps this time kill it. Then, everyone heard a familiar voice holler "Crocodile attack!" Then, Travis did an impressive leap out of the water and tackled Leo and Juan. "What were you thinking?" Juan questioned. "I was thinking I was an aggamassom, sea lion from outer space," Travis told the military brat very casually. "Ask a dumb question, get a dumb answer," Sara muttered, before upbraiding "You idiot! We thought something happened to you!" "Sorry guys, I was just having fun," Travis apologized. "Great, just when I thought the pond monster was around in an attempt for a rematch," Sarge thought. "Hey, where's Aneil?" Iralanda wondered out loud. "He was right next to me." "Probably trying to pull the same prank on us again, okay Aneil give it up! I've had enough of this prank!" Juan snapped. When there was no response, some people started to get concerned. "I don't think he's trying to prank us, and also he's not like that," Iralanda said, looking into the water. "What makes you say that?" Luigi asked, seeing the fear in his student's eyes. Before he got an answer, Iralanda was immediately pulled under, screaming "HELP!" "What happened?" Gavin had to know, starting to freak out. "Everyone, just stay calm," Sally urged everyone. Fillmore knew what was going on: the pond monster was back, out for revenge no doubt. Then, he felt something grab his ankle, already knowing what it was. He looked at Sarge full of fear, then before he could say anything to his lover, he got pulled under! "SARGE!" he shrieked out of fear. "It's the pond monster! It's real! I told you!" Mater shouted. "Everyone out of the pond now!" Sarge commanded. The remaining teens and Mater climbed out of the water as fast as they could. Afterwards, Sarge did a shocking thing: He jumped in! "What is he? Crazy?" Juan asked no one in particular. Sarge theory was correct: the pond monster had a grip on Aneil, Iralanda and Fillmore! He swam over to it, heading into battle. Filippa, curious about what the veteran was doing, stuck her head into the water to look and saw Sarge fighting a fish-like monster. She took her head out and screamed "Mater was right! The pond monster is real!" "How do you keep getting all this evidence?" Lightning had to know. "I dunno, it just comes up sometimes," Mater admitted. "We got to get down there and help, come on, Guido!" Filippa stated as she kicked off her shoes. "(Why me?)" Guido asked. "You seem pretty brave," Filippa smiled at the Italian, making him fluster, before diving into the pond. Guido sighed before going after her. He and Filippa swam toward the monster and their friends to help. They and Sarge tried to fend off the monster, but so far, there seemed to be no damage. Guido was about to give up and resurface when he noticed something off about the creature. He took a closer look at it and his suspicions were confirmed: there was a slightly visible bolt on the thing's shoulder, therefore showing that it was fake! He still resurfaced, but this time with a plan. He ran back to the bus and rummaged around the trunk until he found his electric wrench. "Guido, what are you doing?" Luigi asked his friend. "(I'll explain in a few moments,)" Guido told his boss as he dove back into the pond. Guido swam back toward his troubled friends and used his wrench to undo the bolt that attached the arm to the shoulder, with high hopes of disconnecting it from the "monster" and setting Aneil free. As expected, the arm started to become loose and stopped moving, giving his student the opportunity to escape. He did the same for Iralanda, who was being held by the lower arm. Sarge had finally managed to knock the "beast" silly, when Filippa freed her brother and took him back up to the surface. Guido helped Sarge as the veteran pulled the creature back up and out of the water. Back on land, Sheriff removed the mask of the prankster, revealing none other than a young adult man. "Shoot, looks like my pond monster days are over," he said. "Oh yeah, big time," Yasin said as Sheriff got out a pair of hand cuffs, ready to take the man to the courthouse. Then, all of a sudden, Fillmore collapsed to the ground, clutching his stomach, moaning in what appeared to be pain. "Fillmore, what's wrong?" Sarge asked kneeling near him. "I don't know, my stomach hurts so bad, man!" Fillmore moaned. Sarge put his hand over Fillmore's, to see if he could feel exactly where he hurt most. "Can you stand?" he asked, helping his lover to his feet. Before Fillmore could answer, he doubled over in pain and threw up onto the ground. "Dear Dodge! What's wrong with him!" Adam shrieked, freaked out and disgusted at the same time. "I don't know, but what I do know is that we should get him to a doctor pronto!" Trenton said.