Snot Rod awoke the next morning, yawning. He rolled over to Flo's to find the others watching him with slightly kind expressions. He looked around at them in confusion, and asked what everyone was so happy about.
"Sara's reached a problem, and we wanted to surprise her with the answer." Sarge replied, his grille lifted upwards slightly at the corners.
"What's her problem, first of all?" Snot Rod asked, curious.
"She couldn't decide to go live with you, her real father, or with Sarge, here. We've come up with her decision, and it's got to do with you four boys." Doc replied. "You see, there's been some requests of a 'DJ' at Wheel Well, and we were going to offer your music-loving friend the job. The only problem is that it wouldn't be fair to the rest of you three."
"So, Doc and I admitted that we need another racing competitor down at the Butte." Lightning explained, trying to hide his grin.
"And it would be nice to get some help from another dude with a stylin' paint job like mine, man." Ramone called out from where he was parked near Flo.
"And of course, we never know when that ornery Chick Hicks will show up, so we need someone to chase him off, since we're much too busy, hon." Flo chirped, smiling warmly at Snot Rod.
He looked around at them disbelievingly. When they arrived at the break of dawn, the cars couldn't stand them, but now they were inviting Snot Rod and the other three to live with them, just for Sara? He broke out in a grin.
"Does that mean the four of you will stay?" Sally asked.
"Of course it does." He replied, and the others all cheered.
"Yo, Snot, what's goin' down?" DJ asked around a yawn as he rolled up beside the muscle car.
"Not much, except I've found a place to live with the triplets." He replied calmly, but his grin betrayed him.
"Sweet! I can't wait to tell Harry and Paul, and Squirt too!"
"Let's keep it a secret from Sara for as long as possible." Doc chuckled, then looked over in Lightning's direction. "That means no screaming it as loudly as possible-"
"I don't do that!"
Doc just sighed and shook his hood. "-And no sneaking into my clinic to tell her, either." Doc continued, looking sharply over at Sarge, who was gradually driving closer and closer to the clinic.
When he saw Doc looking at him, he sighed, rolled back to his spot and parked once more.
"It needs to be a complete surprise to her." At everyone else's nods, Doc smiled. "And let's leave the two boys out of this as well. Knowing them, they'll tell Sara the first chance they get."
"Let's get you boys into some of those spare buildings." Sally replied happily, and the two nodded eagerly.
They drove off, and it wasn't long before DJ found an old, boarded-up shop he liked. "I could do somethin' really sweet with this much space, man." DJ nodded approvingly, looking around the inside of the shop. "I'll just need to give it my own kinda style, and it should be easy, workin' with a huge place like this. I'm gonna need help movin' the stuff from my old house over here. You got anyone who can help?" He asked, turning to the light blue Porsche.
Sally smiled and nodded, then called Mack.
"Hey, Sally. Whatcha need?" He greeted her.
"DJ needs to move his things from his old house over here. Do you think we could use Lightning's trailer?"
"Sure! When did you wanna be moved in by?"
"Hmmm... Three days?" DJ asked, looking up at Mack.
"Sounds great! We'll be done before then!"
"Oh, sweet! This is gonna rock!" DJ cheered, and Sally giggled. "Any requests?" He asked her devilishly, and she thought for a few seconds.
"'Strut', by Adam-" Before she had even finished the request, the song was already pouring out of DJ's speakers. "Wow, you're fast!" Sally replied, and DJ grinned, dropping the base of the song until it thumped.
"Thanks. I would sure hope so, since I am a DJ, after all." He laughed at his pun, and Sally laughed.
"That was good!" She said after their laughter died down.
"Thanks. It was one of my worse jokes, dude." He replied with a smirk, and they drove off to Flo's, Mack already back at the café. A short while later, DJ and Mack set out to get DJ's belongings from his old house. Boost and Wingo exited their cones just as DJ left, following after Mack.
"Where's Deege goin', man?" Wingo asked sleepily around a large yawn.
"I dunno, dude. Let's go ask Snot." They rolled over to the café and asked Snot Rod how Sara was.
"I didn't see her this morning yet." He replied, and they nodded.
"You boys wouldn't want jobs here, by any chance, would you?" Flo asked casually, although the glint in her eyes said that this was anything but a casual discussion.
"As long as there's somethin' entertaining here, then sure." Wingo replied, while Boost was silent, thinking hard, his eyes cast down to his hood.
He abruptly looked up at Flo, who said nothing, almost as though she was waiting for him to speak first. "What sort of jobs?" He asked warily, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"DJ is going to be a D.J. at Wheel Well, I'm going to be a 'bodyguard' for the town, Wingo's going to help Ramone, and you could give McQueen and his crew chief some friendly competition at the track, if you wanted." Snot Rod answered shortly.
Harry and Paul sleepily drove over, veering slightly as they yawned widely. "Morning, everybody." Paul said shortly, plopping down at Doc's side. "Yeah, morning." Harry said shortly before laying down at Sheriff's side and falling asleep again. Paul fell back asleep, curled up into a ball at Doc's side against the early morning chill.
Doc chuckled, looking down at Paul. "Awake just long enough to drive out here, then he's asleep again."
"That's how his day goes." Flo told Snot Rod. Snot Rod laughed, watching his two sons.
"You can go see her if ya want." Doc told Snot Rod, nodding his hood in the direction of the clinic.
"You go, Wingo. She hasn't seen you in a long time."
Wingo, looking slightly puzzled, left for Doc's. He pushed open the doors, and called out quietly. "Sara?"
"Who is it?" A cheerful voice came from the clinic, and he drove inside farther, the glare from the sun outside making everything darker to him. As soon as he was out of the sunlight, he could see Sara, parked up on the lift. "Hi, Wingo!" She giggled, obviously happy to see him.
"Hey, squirt. How ya feelin'?"
"I'm okay now." She offered him a soft smile, which he returned.
"That's better." He said, and nudged her tire gently with his bumper. She slipped off the lift and onto his hood, splaying her tires out in a hug.
"I can't thank you guys enough for saving me, especially my daddy."
"We couldn't have ya dyin' on us, man!" Wingo teased gently, and Sara giggled. She rested her bumper on Wingo's hood gently, looking down at her hood as he watched her.
The doors opened, making them both yelp in surprise and jump. "Sorry about that. I was going to tell Sara that she can come outside now." Doc chuckled, and Sara giggled.
"Let's go, Mr. Chauffeur!" She teased, tapping Wingo's hood with a tire.
"Hey!" Wingo exclaimed, looking down at her sharply. "I ain't nobody's chauffeur, man." He replied, but ruined the effect by snickering. "For you, I'll make an exception." He replied in a serious tone, and Sara smiled up at him. They drove out of Doc's clinic, and headed over to Flo's.
"How ya feelin', man?" Fillmore asked, giving her a faint smile.
"Hi, Fillmore!" Sara giggled, and the group visibly relaxed.
Lightning came over to where Wingo had set her down and gave her a gentle roof noogie. "Glad to see you out here, finally. I was getting tired of waiting." He teased, laughing as Sara growled at him playfully and jumped onto his hood.
"Look here, buster!" She exclaimed, puffing herself up.
"What am I supposed to be looking at? A scrawny Barracuda?" He teased back, unable to hide his grin.
The others were snickering loudly as they watched.
"I am not scrawny!" She shrieked, almost cracking up. "And anyways, I play by my own rules!"
"Yeah, okay." Lightning laughed, making Sara snort in disgust.
"I do!"
Boost drove over and plucked her off Lightning's hood.
She froze for a few seconds, a dumbfounded expression on her face, making the others laugh. "Let go!" She whined finally, kicking her tires frantically.
Boost laughed along with the others, then let her go.
She sped away, hiding underneath Sarge, who chuckled. "Sarge, they're being mean." She whined, and he snorted.
"No they're not. I was watching the whole time." He replied, cutting off her temper tantrum.
"Oh." She said softly as she realized this. Sarge snickered, then rolled backwards.
"Go fool around." She pouted, then jumped onto his hood.
"No." She replied, but giggled. "Okay." She got down from his hood, landing in a heap on the ground.
The others rolled towards her, concerned, but rolled backwards when she started laughing. "That was too much!" She giggled, and Sarge tickled her. "Noo!" She whimpered, still giggling. Sarge chuckled, but kept tickling her. She scrambled to her wheels and made a break for it, hiding underneath Thunder. She was about half as big as he was, and lifted him up off the ground by about a half a foot. He yelped in surprise, and scrambled off Sara, much to the others' entertainment.
Snot Rod rolled over to Thunder and Sara, and parked beside them. "This is my daddy." Sara told Thunder, and Thunder barked a friendly hello, his whole body wagging.
"Hey, buddy. Who's your puppy here, Sara?"
"His name's Thunder."
"Did they name him after the storm?" Snot Rod joked, and Sara nodded, smiling.
"He likes the spot behind his ears scratched. Try it."Sara commanded Snot Rod, and he hesitantly reached behind Thunder's ear and started scratching. Thunder sighed happily and relaxed as one of his back paws began hitting the ground repeatedly. The others laughed and Snot Rod gently scratched harder, getting a soft, happy moan in response. He laughed harder, shaking his hood in bewilderment.
"He must've had an itch." Sara said, giggling.
Thunder laid down at Snot Rod's side, and Snot Rod noticed his bandaged tail. "What did you do to your tail?"
"He had a bad run-in with Lightning, and Sally too." Doc replied, chuckling.
Thunder set his head down, and Snot Rod petted him gently. Thunder sighed happily, his eyes falling shut as Snot Rod scratched an itch in the middle of his back that he couldn't reach.
"He likes that." Sara said, smiling as she watched Thunder. Snot Rod looked over at her, smiling, then gently began scratching harder. Thunder all but squealed with satisfaction, making the others laugh.
"I don't think he likes it. He loves it!" Lightning exclaimed, watching Thunder. "Is Snot Rod your real name, or is it just a nickname?" Lightning asked, looking at him curiously.
"It's just a nickname. My real name is Brian. Brian Roderick." Snot Rod replied.
"Interesting name." Lightning offered a smile, and Snot Rod continued petting Thunder, who was more relaxed then any of them had ever seen him.
"Fillmore, he wasn't sniffing around your hut, was he?"
"Not that I know of, man." Fillmore replied in his slow, carefree drawl, watching Thunder. "He's just got no carma right now is all."
Sarge rolled his eyes. 'Here comes the hippie crap.' He thought bitterly.
Fillmore had caught Sarge's eye roll, and was now explaining that Thunder's carma was lower then Sarge's because he was never mean without a reason for being so. The others could tell Sarge wasn't listening to a word Fillmore said, and did their best to hold in their snickers.
"Does he play fetch?"
Thunder barked and leapt up at the word 'fetch', whining happily.
"I'll take that as a yes!" Brian laughed, and Thunder raced towards Willy's Butte, whining and barking happily. Snot Rod followed after him with a bewildered expression. Thunder scooped up the stick in his jaws and dropped it in front of Brian, barking happily.
Snot Rod threw it as far as he could, and Thunder flew after it.
He brought it back, and Snot Rod playfully tugged on it, trying to get him to play tug-of-war.
Thunder tugged back, growling playfully and jerking on the stick, trying to win it over.
Brian laughed and let Thunder have it.
The stick was quickly dropped in front of him, and he picked it up. Thunder raced a few feet away, barking impatiently.
The stick was thrown far over his head, and he raced after it, jumping up to catch it.
"Great catch!" Brian exclaimed, and Thunder trotted back over to him, dropping the stick.
They played fetch for hours, until Thunder was sufficiently tired out. "Let's go back." Brian said, ruffling Thunder's ears, and Thunder walked back up with his new playmate following behind him.
As soon as he reached Flo's, he laid down at Sara's side and dozed off.
"You really tired him out." Lightning replied, seeing Thunder.
"I used to have a dog, and that's the only way to do it." Brian replied with a firm nod and grin.
Just a filler chapter, nothing too exciting here. And we're almost at the end of the story! :( But not to worry, I'll be giving you guys the chance to ask the triplets questions! Any question you want, and as many as you want, all will be answered at the end of the story. So you can ask just one triplet a question, or you can ask all three, and they'll all answer. You'll also get some little tidbits of information about the triplets, or the others based on this story! So even though we're nearing the end, there's still lots more surprises! See you guys on Saturday with another chapter(not the last one) ~Liz