Chapter 35 Buckingham Palace

Axlerod was with the Queen as we approached. "Who's winning the race?" the queen asks. Mater, Lightning and I came in for a landing on the platform. Four black cars drove up to us.

"Back off! Back away!" ordered one of the cars.

"It's Lightning McQueen!" the queen exclaims happily.

"No, no, it's okay!" Lightning said as he drove in front of Mater and I. "Tell 'em, Mater. Explain."

"Okay." Mater agreed as I hopped off of Mater. "Somebody been sabotaging the racers and hurtin' the cars, and I know who." Then he realizes something. "Oh. Wait. You Majesty." Mater bows. Everyone notices the bomb.

"Bomb! It's a bomb!" exclaims a car; all the black cars took out their wheel guns.

"Everybody, down!"

"Back up! Move it!" ordered a car to Mater. All the surrounding cars raced away.

"Get off the stage! Move it!"

"Hold your fire! He can't disarm it!" Finn said in a nick of time. I thought that, if he had not come, we would have been goners. "Silverwind also has one." I shamefully showed the bottom of my fanned tail. "Mater, I don't know what you're doing, but stand down now."

"This ain't nothin' like Radiator Springs." Mater said; I began to whimper.

'Mater, you better know what you're doing or we are all dead.' I told him.

"Mater, just cut to the chase." Lightning said.

"Okay." Mater agreed. "It's him." He points to Axlerod.

'I knew it!' I hissed.

"What? Me?" Axlerod was shocked. "You've got to be crazy."

"I figured it out when I realized y'all attached this tickin' time bomb with Whitworth bolts, the same bolts that hold together that old British engine from the photograph. Holley! show that picture.

"Okay." Holley agreed as she brought up her hologram computer with the same engine.

"Then I remembered what they say about old British engines: if there ain't no oil under 'em, there ain't no oil in 'em." Mater said; I thought those words over.

'He is right. Back at the party in Japan, there was oil on the floor. It did not seem that Mater leaked or it would have showed it.' I spoke to everyone's mind.

"What is he talking about?" Axlerod spoke up.

"It was you leaking oil at the party in Japan." Mater cleared it more up. "You just blamed it on me."

"Electric cars don't use oil, twit." Axlerod tried to defend himself.

"Then you're fakin' it." Mater said. "You don't convert to no electric." Mater closed in on Axlerod. "If we pop that hood, we'll see that engine from that picture." I agreed to this logic; Holley put away her hologram computer screen. Her expression was 'I can't believe he is doing this'.

"This lorry's crazy!" Axlerod said; I noticed that he was under pressure. "He and that beast is going to kill us all!" Axlerod moved to the edge of the stage and one of his wheels slipped off.

'Beast?' I exclaimed. 'You called me by name before and now you call me beast?'

Axlerod moved forward to get a footing. "Stay away." He ordered.

"But Sir Axlerod created the race, Mater." Holley pointed out. "Why would he want to hurt anyone?"

"To make allinol look bad so everybody'd go back to usin' oil." Mater said. "He said it himself with that disguised voice."

"Disguised voice? What are you talking about? You're nuts, you are!" Axlerod said.

"This is going nowhere fast." Said a car sitting to the right of the queen. "We really should go, Grandmother."

"One moment, I'd like to see where this is going." The queen spoke.

"Mater, he created allinol." Finn said.

"Yeah, but if he found that huge oil field just as the world was trying to find somethin' else?" Mater questioned. "What if he came up with allinol just to make alternative fuel look bad?"

"What if?" Axlrod spoke. "You're basing this on a 'what if'?"

"Okay, that's it." Said a black car sitting to the right of the queen.

"Lads, clear out." Somebody said and everybody began to move away from the stage.

"Wait!" Axlerod called out to the departing cars. "Somebody save me! The lorry's crazy! Keep away, you idiot!"

"Mater, Silverwind!" Finn called. It was 9 seconds left before detonation.

"Mater!" Holley calls out.

"Someone do something!" Axlerod exclaimed; everyone started to take cover. I was so scared. I can't do anything as there was a bomb attached to my tail. "You're insane, you are!" Axlerod said. "Deactivate!" He closed his eyes tight. It was 1 second before it was going to detonate and his voice was accepted.

"Bomb deactivated. Have a nice day, Sir Axlerod." The male computer spoke. Mater smiled and Axlerod was shocked. The British police came up to him. I sighed with relief. Mater then picked Axlerod's hood up. Under the hood was the same engine in the photo.

Finn drove up to Axlerod. "The engine from the photo." Finn said.

"It's a perfect match." Holley added as she had the picture up.

"How did the tow truck and monster figure it out?" Axlerod questioned with shock.

Lightning drove up next to Mater. "It's official." Lightning smiled. "You're coming to all my races from now on," and added with less happiness. "…and Silverwind too."

"No you're talkin'!" Mater said; I then noticed something at the corner of my eyes and followed it. Both friends bumped wheels.