Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.
Chapter 10 – Just Add Lightning
Lightning and Sally's Mansion, Rochedale, Queensland – Monday, 14 March 2016.
Through the darkness, Lightning saw the light from his headlights shining down on the tarmac he was racing on. Just ahead of him were the red tail lights of Francesco Bernoulli. Grinning, Lightning floored it as he attempted to overtake his rival.
Halfway up the home straight, Lightning was just about to overtake Francesco, when all of a sudden there was a loud 'Bang!', and then Lightning started drifting out of control across the racetrack. Turning sideways, he flipped over and then he began to roll. Over and over he went, with his breath being knocked out of him every time he hit the tarmac. Finally, he felt himself come to rest against something soft, and everything instantly went black…
"Whoa!" Lightning exclaimed as he awoke abruptly. It was still night time. Groaning, Lightning glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It was 2:17 in the morning.
Lightning slowly drew in a deep breath to try and calm his racing engine. After a moment, he snuggled closer to Sally. She moaned in her sleep.
"Stickers…" Sally muttered.
Lightning planted a loving kiss on Sally's fender. That woke her up.
"Sorry," Lightning apologised.
"It's okay. Why are you awake?"
"I had a nightmare…"
"What about?"
Lightning drew in a deep breath. "My accident."
"I thought you were over that? I mean, it's been a whole year since it happened!"
"I know, but it hasn't been that long since I remembered what actually happened. I'm going to get a drink. Do you want one?"
"No thanks."
Nodding, Lightning left the room. In the hallway, he switched on his headlights, so he could see where he was going without disturbing their servants, Mr Hood and Gracie, by switching on the house lights.
At the top of the ornate ramp that lead downstairs, Lightning paused. At the other end of the house were the servants' rooms, and the newly prepared nursery. Lightning slowly made his way down the hall to the nursery, and he entered the room.
They had nearly everything they needed for their baby. Lightning could scarcely believe that in about a month and a half, he and Sally would become parents. It was a surreal feeling for him. And, if he was honest with himself, he wasn't sure if he was ready to become a father yet. But despite his fears, there was no turning back now. Like all new fathers, he'd just have to learn.
Lightning lovingly brushed his tyre against the soft, white blanket that was already inside the cot. They'd chosen to have most of the baby's things in white, since they wouldn't know what gender it would be until it was built. Smiling, Lightning left the nursery, and he headed downstairs to the kitchen to get his drink.
…
As usual, the Redbulldozer team headquarters was already busy by the time Lightning arrived there later that morning. After letting Susan, the receptionist, know that he'd arrived, Lightning drove upstairs to the training room. Jamie was already in there, talking to Dutto and Davo about his performance at Adelaide.
Lightning drove over to the centre computer hub, where Tony was busy analysing data. "Morning, Tony."
"Morning Speedster." He frowned when he looked at Lightning. "You don't look like you had much sleep."
"I had a nightmare last night," Lightning admitted. He shrugged his fenders. "Guess I'm just a bit worried about racing at the Australian Grand Prix. After all, that's where I had my big crash last year."
"Of course, that wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been so stupid," Dutto interjected as he drove over to them. Lightning cringed, and he looked sheepishly down at the ground.
"I'm going to do some sprint work with Lightning today," Tony told Dutto. "Hopefully, that should help him with his qualifying pace, which is what he needs now that his endurance levels are back up to where they used to be."
"Sounds like a good plan. I'll leave you to it then."
"Okay, Speedster," Tony said, turning to face Lightning. "Let's get started."
Once Lightning had been secured to his rolling road, he spent the first five minutes of his training session warming up. Tony then began connecting some extra sensors to Lightning's engine. Just as he'd finished, Shane and Craig showed up.
"Morning, everyone!" Craig said enthusiastically. "What am I doing today, Ludo?"
Lightning chuckled at his step-father's enthusiasm. It was great to see him so happy after everything he'd been through with his divorce.
"Lightning!" Tony snapped. "Pay attention, please! I asked you to go as fast as you can for the next ten minutes."
"Well, in that case, you'll have to disable my speed limiter," Lightning retorted.
"I meant, as fast as you can with the speed limiter."
Sighing, Lightning floored it. The clamps holding his front wheels securely in place strained against the sudden force they were put under, but luckily they held. Lightning raced flat out for about ten minutes, until Tony indicated for him to stop. By then, the others had started their training sessions too, so the training room was exceptionally loud now with the roar of racing V8 engines, and the only way everyone could communicate with each other was via the radio.
During the morning's training session, Leyland came into the room to watch. Tony had Lightning racing flat out for ten minutes, then resting at a slower pace for five minutes, and then racing flat out again. It seemed to be working, because Lightning's sprint times were gradually improving.
After watching for a few minutes, Leyland drove over to Tony. Lightning saw them both talking, but he couldn't hear a word of what they were saying. However, Tony didn't look very pleased by what Leyland was saying. A few minutes later, Leyland left the room.
Once the morning's training session was over, the four racers made their way downstairs for lunch in the cafeteria.
"I can get your lunch, Lightning," Shane offered.
Lightning nearly dropped his tray in surprise. "Thanks, Shane, but I've got it."
"Are you sure? I mean, I don't think Leyland would like to see his favourite racer carrying things."
Lightning sighed deeply and he rolled his eyes. "Give it up, Shane. I don't want to talk to you."
"Pity, because I have some racing tips that could really help you."
"Sure!" Lightning said sceptically. "The day you help me, you'll be six foot under."
"Why, you little…!"
"Guys!" Jamie interjected. "Cool it!"
"But he just insulted me!" Shane protested.
"'He' has a name, and it's Lightning," Craig added firmly. "And from what I heard, you were insulting him."
"I wasn't!" Shane protested. "He started it."
"Look, Shane, we've all had enough of you and your attitude around here," Jamie told him. "So you can either grow up, or shut up."
"Couldn't he do both?" Lightning muttered under his breath.
"Lightning?" Leyland called as he drove into the cafeteria. He paused when he saw the tension between his racers. "All right, what's going on here?"
"Nothing," Lightning, Craig and Jamie replied in unison.
"Lightning was insulting me," Shane whined.
"Well, even if he was, which I seriously doubt, I'm sure you thoroughly deserved it," Leyland replied evenly, making Shane gasp. Leyland decided to continue dressing down Shane in front of the others. "You have no one else to blame but yourself, because ever since you arrived here, you have made yourself very unpopular with the entire team because of your selfish, arrogant attitude. In fact, it's getting to the point where I might have to seriously reconsider our contract with you. You need to stop belittling the others and start acting like a team player."
"I tried to be nice to Lightning, but he lashed out at me," Shane muttered.
"Well, that's hardly surprising," Jamie said. "You've been so nasty to him, so why should you expect him to be nice to you? It works both ways, Shane."
Shane scowled, but he didn't bother replying. Leyland cleared his throat, and he turned to face Lightning. "After you've finished your lunch, I'd like you to come up to my office, please."
"Sure, Leyland," Lightning replied.
"There's a young lady from V8X magazine here, and she'd like to interview you," Leyland explained.
Lightning was surprised. "Me? Why me?"
"Because of the fourth place you won in Adelaide."
"But…"
"Don't question it, Lightning," Jamie interjected. "Enjoy it. If any of us came fourth, we wouldn't be newsworthy."
Lightning shrugged. Coming fourth was hardly worth an interview, so maybe she wanted to ask him about more than just that.
…
After lunch, Lightning went upstairs to Leyland's office. He found Leyland and Dutto in there, chatting to a little pale pink hatchback. She turned to face Lightning as he entered the room.
"Lightning, this is Kelly Osbourne," Leyland said. "She'd like to interview you."
Lightning parked at the end of Leyland's desk. "What would you like to ask me, Miss Osbourne?"
Kelly started a small recorder, which she then placed on the table in front of her. She glanced down at her notes.
"First of all, what were your impressions about Sunday's race at the Adelaide 500?"
"Well, I must say that it was the craziest race I've ever been in! You see, in the Piston Cup, whenever it rains during a race, it is immediately red flagged. I had a bit of a feel for racing in wet weather at last year's Bathurst 1000, but I've never even driven in weather as bad as that, let alone raced in it!"
"Were you scared you might crash?"
"Not really… As a racer, you try not to think about crashing, because if that's what you think about, it's what will happen. Racing's all about taking risks and seeing just how far you can push yourself. I've pushed myself to my limits countless times before, and I've never regretted doing so."
"What was your reaction when you found out that you'd come fourth?"
"I must admit that I was very surprised. For most of that race, I had no idea where I was, and in the post-race confusion, I didn't want to get too excited by it until it had been officially confirmed. A lot of the really good guys were crashing out in that race, so it was really anyone's game by the time the red flag was called. In the end, it all came down to who was able to get the compulsory amount of fuel, and who could best stay off the wall."
"You're now seventh in the overall Championship. Do you think you'll be able to maintain, or even improve on that?"
"I sure hope so, but it's still very early in the season and, as we saw last year, anything can happen. I went into this season with the goal of finishing in the top ten in the Championship, and so far that goal hasn't changed."
"Okay, thank you, Lightning," Kelly said, ending the interview. "That's all I need to write up my article about you."
"Be sure you send me the proofs before the article is published," Leyland told her firmly.
"Of course, Mr Dane."
"Very good then. Dutto will show you out."
"I didn't say anything wrong, did I?" Lightning asked Leyland once Dutto and Kelly had gone.
"No, the answers you gave were perfectly acceptable for print," Leyland replied. "I just want to be sure the article is only about your racing. Sometimes, these reporters try to twist what you say to make it sound like you're confirming a rumour about yourself."
"Oh. I haven't had that happen to me yet."
"You've been lucky." Leyland softened, and he smiled kindly at Lightning. "When is your baby due again?"
"Just over a month."
"Are you excited?"
"Yes, but I'm also very nervous."
"That's perfectly natural, or so I've been told. Sometimes I regret not settling down to have a family, but then I remember that this team is my family. I created Triple Eight Race Engineering from nothing, and now it's the most successful racing team both in Australia and Europe. My partner manages the European side of the business."
Lightning nodded slowly. "So, why did you chose to manage the Australian branch?"
"It's simple. I love the V8 Supercars. The first time I saw them race, I knew I wanted to manage a team in the series. I'd never seen anything like it before, and I was keen for a new challenge. I bought two pit licenses, and Craig was the first racer I signed up. He'd had a massive fallout with the Holden Racing Team, simply because he'd become bigger than what they were able to handle. He needed more than what they could supply to keep him at the top, so I jumped at the chance to have him on my team. Choosing the next racer wasn't as easy. Jamie came in for an interview with me one day. While he'd raced in the V8s before, he'd been without a team for a year, and I realised I couldn't let such potential talent go to waste. He was just a kid at the time, and nobody else could see the potential I saw in him. Even Dutto thought I was crazy signing him up, but he's since eaten his words many times over."
"And, why did you decide to sign me up?" Lightning asked quietly.
"Because I could see just how bored you were with winning all the time. You'd obviously outgrown the Piston Cup, so I wanted to introduce you to a type of racing where you could learn new skills while still maintaining the ones you already had. You're an incredibly talented racer, Lightning, and the V8s will only give you even more skills."
"So I found out in Adelaide," Lightning grinned. "I still don't know how I ended up in fourth, but I just hope I can continued to improve."
Leyland smiled. "That's all I want to hear. You can go now. Oh, and give my best to Sally."
"I will," Lightning promised, and he left the office.
…
Later that afternoon, with Leyland's approval, the article about Lightning was published online:
Just add Lightning
14/03/2016
By Kelly Osbourne
He impressed at the Adelaide 500 last weekend with a fourth place finish in torrential, stormy conditions on Sunday, but former Piston Cup star Lightning McQueen isn't moving the goal posts just yet.
The 28-year old kept it clean in what he described as the worst conditions he'd ever driven in, and surprised even himself with the near-podium finish. It was his first wet race in the Championship Series, and McQueen described it as "the craziest race I've ever been in".
He was happy enough just to finish in the conditions, let alone in fourth position. After the season opener, Lightning sits seventh in the Championship standings, but is still happy aiming for top 10 finishes in his first full-time season.
"I went into this season with the goal of finishing in the top ten in the Championship, and so far that goal hasn't changed." Lightning told V8X magazine.
"A lot of the really good guys were crashing out in that race, so it was really anyone's game by the time the red flag was called. In the end, it all came down to who was able to get the compulsory amount of fuel, and who was able to best stay off the wall." McQueen said of Sunday's race.
McQueen caught Triple Eight Race Engineering's team owner, Leyland Dane's eye about eighteen months ago, while racing in the American Piston Cup Series, and has been contracted to the team since 2015.
Lightning made no secret of how difficult the step up to main game was after spending last year getting a feel for the V8 Supercars by racing in the Development Series, but at the Adelaide 500, he's proved he is deserving of the opportunity. Days later, he's still thrilled about Sunday's finish.
Not only did he perform well in the race, he also qualified for his first Top 10 Shootout, finishing ninth after each car's solo lap around the Adelaide street circuit.
"I must admit that I was very surprised. For most of that race, I had no idea where I was, and in the post-race confusion, I didn't want to get too excited by it until it had been officially confirmed."
The Championship Series continues this weekend with the non-Championship round at Albert Park as part of the support races for the Australian Grand Prix.
Thank you so much for your reviews everyone! I am trying to include more moments between Lightning and Sally, and with the baby almost here, I'm sure I'll be able to fit in some more scenes with them together.
I'm also considering having Lightning and Shane have a physical fight to sort out their differences once and for all, but I'm not too sure about it, since I've been slowly trying to develop Lighting's maturity as he grows older. Please remember that Shane is 2 years younger than Lightning, so I'm not too sure about how such a fight would go down. As I said, I'm only toying with the idea at this stage. Yes, I've portrayed Shane as a little bit racist, but I can promise you that in reality he isn't. I just needed another antagonist in the story, and since he's the new guy on the team, he fit the bill.
Please, keep the reviews coming. They really do help keep me motivated to write more.