Angela did freak, but not immediately.
While Lilith had still been having her wax job finished, Angela had gone to Fillmore. It was the final rose ceremony in a few hours and the Mini needed to make sure Fillmore was going to choose only one lady.
"Ang," Fillmore turned towards her as she entered his room. "What brings you here?"
"Hey, Fillmore," the Mini greeted, rolling right up towards him. "Look, I got something to tell, and I'm just going to cut straight. Is that ok?"
"It sounds serious," the van gave her his full attention, thus signalling to her to continue.
"It is," the Mini nodded. She needed to pick her words carefully. The van had a tendency to get defensive if she attacked what he believed in. "Look… man…." maybe if she talked like him she'd get through. "You're a really nice guy. Kind, gentle, and generous… Lilith and Karin, they both like you a lot. Because of that, they want you to be honest with them."
"I have been honest with them," Fillmore said slowly.
"Yes, you have," the Mini continued. "But tonight, it's the final honesty test." Angela took a deep breath and continued. "Fillmore, these ladies came here for love - the type of love you can only give with one rose. You gotta be honest with them tonight, and award the rose to the one car you want to."
Fillmore didn't say anything but glanced in the mirror. Lilith and Karin… Both of them liked him it seemed. Perhaps it would lead to romantic love.
He was about to reply when a terrified scream broke him out of his thoughts.
"Lilith," Fillmore recognized the voice. He raced out of his room with Angela and towards the front entrance. They could just make out the Beetle's terrified form as it whizzed through the gate.
"LILITH!" Angela called out, but it was drowned by another blood-curdling scream from the little car.
Angela watched in shock and despair. The final rose ceremony was coming up - and they only had one contestant! What were they going to do?
Angela was driving back and forth in the hallway, waiting anxiously for the telephone to ring. This wasn't just bad, this was a disaster! They were live in less than an hour and there was still no sign of Lilith. They were going to lose a contestant! If she wasn't found there would be an outrage.
The whole ceremony was a bit of a sham anyway. All of the contestants had FIllmore's contacts details, they could just visit after the show. Still, the public didn't know that! There was supposed to be drama! Suspense!
Fillmore and Karin watched her, waiting for any news. Although Karin knew she would win by default if Lilith wasn't found, she didn't want to win under those conditions. Lilith was alone in the dark, probably scared out of her wits there in the wild. Karin only hoped someone would find her.
Inside Sarge's tent, Luigi, Guido, and Sarge were watching the tv screen. The show would be live soon, but until then, several ads and highlight reels were playing.
"They'll have to shut it down," Sarge was grinning. Victory was within driving distance at last!
"Then can we finally go home?" Luigi asked.
"Of course," Sarge glanced at him. "We'll be there, waiting for Fillmore when he arrives!"
All across the country, several cars were tuning in who didn't usually watch the show. The whole of Radiator Springs was watching along with Bobby, Brick, and Junior.
"Finally, the last one," Doc grunted. This stupid show was distracting Lightning from training and Doc had had enough.
The Weathers family were watching as well, excited to see the conclusion and which lady they'd meet at the track next season.
"Angela…" Bill glanced up from behind his camera. "We're on in a minute."
"Alright," Angela sighed. "Listen, we'll just say Lilith decided to quit the process and Karin will get the rose."
"That is not a good idea," Karin commented. "Lilith was enraptured by Fillmore - no one will believe she quit."
"That's all we got right now," Angela said. "Now hurry, get into place. Fillmore, go wait until I give you the cue!"
The hippie, surprisingly silent, went to park in the other room. Angela placed Karin in position before settling in front of the camera. Bill had made sure not to show the shattered door in the camera shot.
"Five...Four...Three…" Bill counted down. Seeing the signal, Angela put on her best hostess smile.
"Good evening and welcome to the final rose ceremony on the Bachelor. It's been three weeks of emotions, turmoil, and love. Now, the ultimate question? Has our bachelor found his bachelorette. Karin and Lilith were the only ones left…" (at this, Sarge grinned unashamedly), "...but unfortunately Lilith has decided this process is…."
"WAIT!" The sudden scream called Angela to jolt. Bill instinctively jerked the camera to the left, used to following the action in races. There, by the broken doors, stood Lilith. The Beetle was covered in twigs and dry leaves, but there was a determined look in her eyes.
A moment of awkward silence passed on air, before Angela distractedly waved a tire.
"Cut to ad breaks," she muttered. The last thing the audience saw was Karin racing towards the other contestant, a happy greeting escaping her.
"Gentlecars," Sarge turned towards the Fiat and forklift, muting the volume. It was clearly a huge blow to the Jeep that Lilith was back. He'd stood stunned for an entire minute until Luigi's coughing had shaken him out of his reverie.
"We tried our best," the Jeep continued. "We gave it our all. We fought every chance we got, we planned right down to the last detail. We were outnumbered, outmatched." Sarge's eyes hardened as he continued. "Still, we fought. And we did so nobly. We can accept defeat knowing that the stubbornness and sheer luck of a little hippie is all that kept us from achieving our goal."
He finally tore his eyes away from the tent flap before looking the Italians in the eye.
"Gentlecars…It was an honour serving with you."
Sarge turned back towards the screen, standing to attention. Guido drove towards him, patting the Jeep affectionately on the side. He knew Sarge was taking this hard. The fear of losing his best friend was now a reality, one that Sarge was facing with a stiff upper lip and bravery. They'd done their best, Guido reckoned, and that's all they could do.
Luigi, on the other hand, rolled his eyes, and turned back to the television. Bianca was gone, he really didn't care anymore.
It was time. The stage was set. Lilith was back, her love for the van stronger than her fear of Dracucar. Fillmore knew he had a choice to make. Unaware of the thousands of cars who were watching, he rolled into the room. Lilith was parked next to Karin, not as shiny as the other car, but at least free of the twigs and leaves stuck to her. They were both so beautiful, radiating goodness and kindness with every word they said to him.
The van turned to look at both of them before speaking.
"Ladies…" he said. "As you know, I have a choice to make tonight. There's only one rose, and you're expecting one rose to be given. I don't want to let you down, not after the wonderful time we've had together."
The two cars nodded, eyes glued to Fillmore. Rod Redline rolled his eyes, mentally telling the hippie to get a move on.
"I've decided to listen to my heart," the van continued. "Because it's led by love, and has so much to give. I know you will understand. My mission is to give love, but you've given me so much in return."
The van turned towards the table and lifted the beautiful red rose. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife. Back in Radiator Springs, Lightning and Mater leaned forward a little, both of them willing Fillmore to pick their favourite.
Karin and Lilith watched as Fillmore looked at the rose, musing on its power. Finally, he looked up and spoke.
"Angela, will you accept this rose as a sign of my love?"
Every viewer, from LA to Dallas to New York, froze in silence. Karin and Lilith watched, wide-eyed and shocked, as Fillmore sauvely turned towards the hostess beside him and handed her the rose. Bill, after a moment of shocked silence, had enough sense to turn the camera towards the scene.
The Mini stood there, wide-eyed, glancing at the rose as if it personally offended her.
Rod Redline was the first to react and burst out laughing.
"Shh, be quiet!" Leland hushed him as Fillmore started talking.
"Angela," the van said. "You've given so much of your life and time to this show. You've talked to us, helped us, guided us through our times of crisis. Yet, you've gotten so little in return. Will you accept this?"
Karin realized what was happening and her love for Fillmore swelled. What a kind, sweet, generous van he was! Giving the rose to the hostess who ultimately got nothing out of her job other than a paycheck. She swooned. Lilith did the same, a dopey smile gracing her features.
Sarge's eyes twinkled and he grinned widely.
"I… uh… " Angela stumbled, trying to form an intelligent syllable.
Sheriff laughed.
"What I mean… I can't… No!" The Mini finally put her tire down.
"Come on, Ang," Fillmore gave his most charming smile. "We all need some love sometimes."
"Yes, I know we all need love sometimes," the hostess gritted. "But give the rose to one of them!" She pointed a tire to the two contestants, both of whom were looking at Fillmore with adoration.
"Ang, they understand," Fillmore pushed the rose towards her and she shrank back as if it were poisoned.
"I'M MARRIED!" The Mini shouted. That was enough for the cars who were still in shock and nationwide all the viewers started laughing.
"Why should that stop you from taking it?" Fillmore asked. Bill guffawed.
The last anyone heard of Fillmore on the Bachelor was Angela shouting frantically shouting, "Cut to ad break! Cut to ad break!"
The screen went black for a few seconds before the ads started rolling.
In their little tent, Luigi and Guido glanced at Sarge. The Jeep looked like he was in a haze. Slowly, his grin widened.
"Idiots!" He finally shouted. "You really thought you could trap Fillmore into choosing a lady! He's far too clever for all of you!" Sarge couldn't believe it. Fillmore had sabotaged the show on himself. It was just too good to be true!
And so, Sarge declared that they had won the war and prepared to start packing up. Soon they would go back to Radiator Springs and everything would go back to the way it was.
The season was pretty much finished after that. Jokes, hashtags, gifs, and memes spread over social media for a week afterwards. Angela quit her job as hostess and went on to pursue other career options. She'd had it up to her roof with reality television. Fillmore remained oblivious to all the drama and was returned to Radiator Springs the next day. He was the center of attention as his friends crowded round him, demanding answers to all of their questions.
Fillmore answered them easily, happy to be back home again. It wasn't long before the contestants made the trip to Arizona to see Fillmore's town for themselves. Three days after he'd returned, the van found himself parked outside of Flo's, in a stall next to Sarge. As promised, he'd introduced Bianca to Guido. Luigi had been livid. Guido was the one who Bianca was in love with? Fillmore could hear him railing on the forklift all the way from across the street.
He sighed contentedly, it was good to be back home. Casually, he glanced over towards Sarge.
"Just so you know, man, I know it was you trying to sabotage the show."
"What!" Sarge exclaimed indignantly, but Fillmore saw right through him. "That is outrageous! You can't prove a thing."
"Sheriff told me you were gone while I was."
"Traitor," Sarge growled, glancing down towards his can of oil.
"No, man, it's alright," Fillmore assured. "You helped me connect with the ladies on another level. All the fear and uncertainty was just a barrier for us to push through and build bonds through adversity."
"You know," Sarge glanced at him as if he were crazy. "The purpose of the show was for you to find love, right?"
"It was never about me, man," Fillmore smiled, glancing off into the distance. "It was never about me."