Chapter 23- Tragedy Strikes

"You know what I haven't done in ages?" Fudge quizzed the rest of her family one sunny morning in late July as she polished off her orange juice.

"What, Fudgie?" Luigi wondered.

"Gone up to the Wheel Well" the human girl responded. "I think the last time I was up there was when we had that farewell party for Francesco." The teenager felt a shiver run through her spine as she remembered that that night was the last thing she remembered before waking up in the hospital. It was pretty weird. Almost eerie in a way, even.

"Do you wanna go up there today, Fudge-O?" Lightning asked.

Fudge nodded. "Yes please."

"All right. Well, we can do that if you wanna do that and it's okay with your dads", the stock car offered. He looked to Luigi and Guido.

"Okay." Guido nodded.

Luigi hesitated for a moment before he huffed, "Fine."

So, he did. It wasn't exactly easy to push her wheelchair up the hills and through the winding roads, but Lightning managed.

"We made it!" Fudge cheered as the Wheel Well Motel came into view.

"Yeah! All right!"

"And it's all thanks to lightning speed from Lightning McQueen!"

The stock car laughed as he bumped her tyre lightly against her foot in a high-five.

Thanks to him, it wasn't long before Fudge was gazing at the breathtaking views of Ornament Valley.

"I love this place", the teenager commented.

"Yeah. Me too", McQueen agreed. "You know, I can't decide what time of day gives you the best view, though."

"I know." Fudge nodded. "Night, day, sunrise, sunset. It's all awesome!"

"Yeah. You're so lucky to have grown up here."

"I think so too." Fudge smiled at him. "Not just for the scenery, but for the residents!"

Lightning returned the smile.

"Remember when you came up here with Sally for a date and I was your maître d'?"

"Yeah!" Lightning chuckled. "And someone was already sitting where you put us."

"Well, how was I supposed to know that?!" Fudge cried defensively.

"I don't know! Maybe the fact that you supposedly work here?!"

"Yeah, well, I quit. I didn't really wanna be a maître d'. I wanna be an assistant crew chief."

Lightning didn't answer. He really didn't want to be talking about that. He knew that he'd have to tell Fudge sometime that he wasn't taking her racing again, but that time didn't have to be today. It could always wait until she was better (she was getting there, he noted happily); after all, it wasn't as if she could really expect to go out racing until then.

"Are you all right?" Fudge questioned, concerned.

"Yeah, yeah!" he assured her quickly. "I was just thinking of how great it is that you're getting better." Which was true.

Her smile expanded. "I feel better. I mean, I still don't feel a hundred per cent better- far from it- but I know I'm getting a lot better."

"That's good. I think we all saw it before you did."

"Yeah. I'm getting closer to starting therapy. The doctors have said so."

"That's good", Lightning repeated. "I sure hope it happens soon."

"Me too."

After about half an hour, Fudge was ready for another nap, so Lightning pushed her down the hills and back to Casa Della Tires.

"Hi, Luigi!" Fudge called out, giggling, noticing her father outside, neatening up a tyre display.

"Ciao, Fudgie!" He rushed forward and gave her a kiss. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..."

"And McQueen did not-"

"She's fine!" McQueen cut him off.

Luigi just glared and pushed Fudge back inside and up to her room. Lightning followed, not caring what Luigi said or thought.

Fudge spent the rest of the day eating, sleeping and watching TV, but mostly sleeping. That evening, she got a big surprise.

"Fudgie?" Luigi opened the door to her bedroom. "There are people here to see you."

"Really?"

"Yes", a familiar British accent piped up as Finn entered her bedroom.

She grinned. "Hi!"

"How are you feeling?"

"Okay. I guess."

"You do look an awful lot better", Holley observed, appearing behind Finn.

"Thanks."

"Yeah. You really do", Sammy chimed in.

"So, what have you guys been up to?" Fudge questioned

"We've been in Peru for three weeks", Finn explained "and after we successfully completed another mission, we thought we'd stop by on our way back to London to see how you were."

"And CHROME's got a big award's night comin' up in a few weeks!" Sammy added. "We're pretty sure we're gonna win a few awards! Things are going great for us!"

"Except for one thing..." Finn muttered.

"Shut your trap, Finn McMissile!" Sammy ordered.

"What?" Fudge asked worriedly.

"I don't believe Sammy's been feeling very well lately", Finn explained, despite the human sending him invisible daggers. "I keep telling her she needs to see a doctor-"

"And I keep telling you I don't need to see no doctor!" Sammy yelled, her southern accent thicker than ever. "I'll get over this!"

"So, tell me about this awards night!" Fudge requested, eager to change the subject. "It sounds pretty cool!"

By the time Finn, Holley and Sammy had left, Fudge was feeling very cheered up. The only thing was how Finn's words made the thirteen-year-old fear for her half-sister. What was wrong with her?

A few weeks later, by which point, it was early August, Fudge was being woken up by Luigi at sunrise. Even though the sun was coming up, the day looked bleak and it was probably going to rain.

"Come on, Fudgie. We need to go over to Flo's now."

"Okay..." Fudge mumbled, reaching for her glasses. She didn't even realise anything was odd until she took a peek at her clock and saw that it read 6:04. In the morning. She should've known, what with the sunrise. Ever since the accident, nobody ever woke her up that early. Maybe Luigi was just trying to make things go back to normal, but even if she was getting better, she still got really tired. "How come I have to wake up now?"

"Finn and Holley are here", Luigi explained. "They have something very serious to tell us."

Now, that got Fudge's attention. "What?"

"I don't know. We have to go over to Flo's and find out."

"Okay..."

As Luigi carried Fudge out of her bed, placed her in her wheelchair and dressed her, the human girl was puzzled, but not concerned. Her confusion grew when she saw that as well as the rest of her Radiator Springs family, Finn and Holley were there, like Luigi said. However, there was someone missing.

"Where's Sammy?" she questioned, puzzled.

Both Finn and Holley became quiet and looked rather uncomfortable, lowering their hoods. For several moments, nobody spoke.

"That's why we're here", Finn answered finally.

"Uh-oh!" Lightning groaned. "What happened?"

"Sammy wasn't quite well for a while", Finn began quietly. "After a long time- after she found an... an unusual lump- we were finally able to convince her to go to a doctor..."

"Oh, no!" Flo murmured softly.

"It turns out..." Holley trailed off before taking a deep breath and starting again. "It turns out Sammy has breast cancer."

Just like that, Flo's was dead silent yet again. You could've been able to hear a pin drop. Nobody could believe it. Of course, they all knew that Finn, Holley and Sammy had one of the most dangerous occupations imaginable and sometimes feared they wouldn't return from missions. However, Sammy was facing a different kind of danger and nobody knew how she would handle it. Besides, Sammy was so young. They knew she was only twenty-four years old. Her life should've just been beginning.

Lightning took a deep breath. "Wow..."

"Dad-gum!" Mater added, sounding both shocked and sad.

"I just can't believe it..." Sally shook her hood.

"I know..." everyone else added.

Red burst into tears. After a moment, so did Fudge.

"How is she?!" Luigi demanded, squeezing his daughter's hand.

"She's in hospital in London", Finn reported, "and she's about to start chemotherapy." He took a deep breath, as if he were fighting tears himself. "All we can do is hope for the best."

"She... She won't... die, will she?" Fudge ventured fearfully.

Finn took another deep breath. "I don't know. I just don't know."

Through her tears, Fudge's mind was working full power. She thought about when she first met Sammy and how she thought that the older human was her stalker. She thought about how Sammy had saved her from being held hostage by the Lemons. She thought about Sammy's frequent visits to Radiator Springs where the two humans would hang out together, talking and laughing. She thought about the two of them training on the CHROME simulators together. She thought about every time the two of them had been mistaken for sisters (which was quite a lot of times!) and discovering that they actually were sisters. That was followed by memories of meeting RJ and visiting Scotland with them. How could Sammy be facing this awful fight?

Not knowing what else to do. Fudge reached out to touch the wheels of her chair and began rolling away from Flo's. It was slow going at first since she'd never done it herself before.

"Fudgie!" Luigi called, starting after her. "Where are you going?!"

"Just let her go, Luigi!" Lightning instructed. "I think she just wants to be alone right now."

Once again, the Fiat gave him a cold look, but said nothing.

"Will she be all right?" Finn wondered anxiously once Fudge was gone.

"She'll be fine", Sarge assured him. "She did this when Doc passed too. She was just upset."

"Well, actually, she was angry when Doc died", Ramone corrected him. "Remember? She felt like he abandoned her?"

"Like Stickers said, she just needs some time alone", Sally confirmed.

It all felt too familiar to Fudge. She was fleeing from Flo's, her brain far too preoccupied to care about where she was going, knowing that someone she cared about was either dead or dying, although it didn't feel quite real. The only real differences were that it was now Sammy whose life was potentially ending and not Doc's and that Fudge fled on foot the first time around. Now, she was in a wheelchair.

Well, then there was the fact that she was angry when Doc died. This time, she wasn't sure how to feel. She wasn't angry like she had been at Doc. She wasn't ten years old anymore; she knew that Doc hadn't abandoned her at all. And neither would Sammy if... if she lost her fight. Of course, there was shock. Then there was the sadness that she could potentially lose her sister. And fear for the same reason.

That was why she'd fled Flo's. She just wanted to be alone to think about her sister. Normally, she'd write stuff like this down in her journal, but she wasn't quite ready to write again. She was so close to that, though. So, she would just have to worry about Sammy in her head.

Thoughts of Sammy's cancer kept going through Fudge's mind like a broken record. She had to be okay... right? After all, she was after the accident. Then again, Fudge wasn't fighting cancer. This was different. This was much bigger than a few bruises and broken bones.

"Please, God!" the teen whispered up to the sky. "Please just let her be okay!"

Fudge had never felt like this before. The shock, sadness and fear was refusing to leave her brain and it was making her heart race. It was almost like a physical pain in the brain. She didn't know what to do. As the rain started coming down, a specific memory with Sammy came to Fudge's mind...

An eleven-year-old Fudge- dressed in a black T-shirt, black cargo pants and black sneakers- nearly jumped right of her skin when she heard a loud bell chiming while she was gazing at the glittering lights of the Eiffel Tower. She glanced at her watch. Midnight. She had to hurry. Time was running out. Okay. Where were those jerkwagons? She examined her watch again and saw a red flashing light in the middle of a map of Paris. It was only two blocks away, but... underground? Right! Of course! The Catacombs! Duh! She had to get inside! There was no time to lose.

Thankfully, the nearest entrance wasn't too far away, but she still had a way to go before she reached her destination. Not only that, but she ran into another problem. Her footsteps were so loud and echo-ey in the dark tunnels. There had to be another way! With a huge grin, Fudge whipped a pen out of her pocket and clicked it right before dropping it. Within seconds, the pen transformed into a hover board! Fudge leapt on and she was away. CHROME had designed it, so she knew it was silent.

"Finn McMissile!" a cold German accent came from the distance. "You have no idea how much I have been looking forward to this!"

"You'll never win, Professor!" Finn responded angrily.

Okay. Now, she really had to hurry. Fudge set the speed on her hover board to the fastest it would go and in a matter of seconds, she could see Finn, Holley, Mater and Sammy tied up and surrounded by Lemons. This was her time to shine!

As quickly and quietly as she could, Fudge whipped out a sleep ray and began firing it at the unsuspecting Lemons.

"What is going on?!" Professor Zundapp demanded, scanning the tunnels to find the reason his minions were being knocked unconscious.

"Fudge!" Mater yelled. "Over here!"

"I'm coming, Mater!" Fudge pulled a knife out of her shoe and began freeing the tow truck from the ropes. Then the two of them worked together to free Finn, Holley and Sammy. Next, Fudge tossed another pen at Sammy, who grinned and activated the hover board.

"Let's get out of here!" the human woman shouted determinedly.

"Yeah! Let's!" Fudge agreed as the two of them tore through the Catacombs on their hover boards with the three cars in their team right behind them.

Unfortunately, however, so was Professor Zundapp.

"Oh, no!" Fudge cried, checking her weapon. "The sleep ray's out of gas! What do we do?!" Half a second later, she answered her own question. "I know!" She reached into her shoe and unearthed something else. It was a silver ball, which she didn't hesitate to throw as hard as she could. A yellowish-green transparent ball of energy burst to life and trapped Professor Z. He couldn't get out and started screaming...

"Simulation complete!" a computerised voice announced.

"Whoo!" Fudge cheered as the room turned back into the CHROME headquarters.

"Dad-gum!" Mater shouted.

Although Mater had turned down the offer to join CHROME and Fudge was still too young, the two of them would train with the agents. They especially loved using the simulators.

"Awesome job, Fudge-O!" Sammy cheered, giving her a high-five.

"Really?" Fudge felt proud, excited and doubtful. "You think so?"

"I know so! I've always said CHROME could use someone like you!"

"But I'm so clumsy!" the girl protested. "And I'm not very strong!"

"Perhaps", Sammy agreed. "But you're a good thinker. And you're getting better at being strong and coordinated."

"Really?" Still, Fudge didn't look or sound certain.

Sammy smiled and nodded. "Absolutely."

"Thanks, Sammy!" Fudge beamed.

"Well!" Sammy flashed a huge grin. "I think we've worked hard enough today! What do you say we kick back and have some fun?"

She pressed a button on the simulator, transforming the room into a beachside amusement park. The sun was shining and the ocean was shimmering.

"We can go on some rides and then hit the beach!"

"Sounds good to me!" Fudge proclaimed, grinning.

"Me too!" Finn and Holley added simultaneously.

"That sounds so dad-gum fun!" Mater voiced his opinion.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Immediately, Fudge started racing across the sand. The other four were quick to follow her.

BOOM!

Fudge nearly jumped out of her skin at the first clap of thunder. Within a matter of seconds, grey clouds and rain came gushing down. Fudge knew that she would have to get out of the rain and sheltered from the loud thunder. Quickly scanning her surroundings, she could see that she was in the middle of the Rolling Hills. How did she get that far? This was the first time she'd been able to push herself. Never mind that. The closest shelter was probably Tail Light Caverns. All she had to do to get there was get over these Rolling Hills and go past the Cool Pool of Tranquillity. Then there she was.

Fudge had been to Tail Light Caverns before, but it still took her breath away. All of the lights glowing above her were beautiful and while it was a little cold, it was a rather cosy place to weather out the storm. She decided to park herself far enough away from the entrance to stay dry and relatively warm, but also close enough to watch the rain. There was something comforting about the rain as long as she wasn't caught up in it. And Fudge felt like she needed all the comfort she could get.

After about twenty minutes of staring out of the caverns and at the rain, jumping at the sound of thunder and the flash of lightning, Fudge moved in a little. She remembered the last time she was there. It was in the fall. She, Mater and Lightning had gone exploring and tried to see if they could find any cool things hidden within the caverns. Fudge had found a really old nickel and Mater had found an old spark plug. That had been fun. Why not do it again? Sure, she didn't have a flashlight or the guys' headlights to help her, but that didn't mean it was impossible, right? Maybe it would do her some good to try and take her mind off Sammy for a while. She had plenty of time to figure out what she was feeling.

Fudge ventured deeper and deeper into the caverns, hoping to find something. It sure was dark and scary, even with all of the lights above her. She'd never been there by herself before and was beginning to get a bit creeped out. Every single little noise made her jump. Oh, God! She just wanted the rain to stop, so she could make her way home. She couldn't see the outside anymore, but could feel the rain pitter-pattering on the top of the caverns.

"Ahhh!" Fudge whimpered as she heard a mysterious bump in the caverns.

Maybe she'd feel better waiting near the entrance. It would be lighter there. If anything made a noise, she'd be able to see what it was. Plus, that way, she could leave as soon as the rain stopped.

By the time Fudge came to this decision, she was halfway through the caverns. It wasn't easy, but she was managing to swivel herself around when something caught her eyes. Something shiny lay on the cold floor just several feet away. Maybe it was another nickel. Maybe one that could still be used. Maybe it would be even more money! Slowly and carefully, Fudge began to roll closer to it...

Yes! The "something shiny" turned out to be a dime! It was the shiniest coin she had ever seen. It was beautiful! Not only that, but it was a heads up. Maybe that would bring her some good luck. Chrysler knew she needed it. She remembered when she was younger, she'd be given a dime (normally as a bribe to keep Doc's past a secret!) and she'd feel like she'd struck it rich! Nowadays, she knew that it wasn't much, but every little helped. She reached down to pick it up. Oh, God! It hurt so much! Her spine was in a really strong amount of pain. She couldn't do this! The teenager decided to try leaning back in the chair to try and pick it up with her toes. However, right as she struggled to get back up, she felt something cold and wet brush up against her shoulder.

"Ah!" Fudge cried, flinching.

Only, as she flinched, still bent down a bit, she fell out of her wheelchair! Then to make things even worse, there was a small drop in the ground. She fell down with a hard thud and a crunch, which could only be her glasses.

"Owww!" she cried as her face became wet with mud and blood.

Fudge looked around at her surroundings as best as she could with blurry vision. She was in what looked almost like a ditch. There was a small puddle of water nearby. The water seemed to be coming from a small hole in the top of the caverns where rain was coming in. Glancing up, Fudge could see that her wheelchair was way too far away to get back up. If she was able to get up and walk, she could've done it, but not now.

She couldn't walk. She couldn't get up. Nobody knew where she was.

What was she supposed to do now?

Uh-oh! Fudge is in trouble now!

Originally, as you may have guessed by some old author's notes, I was going to kill Sammy off during a mission, but I like her too much for that. Sammy getting cancer fit in more with a subplot of this story I had to remove for various reasons, but I kept that in because it comes up in Driven to Win.

By the way, I will now be accepting asks for the Q and A at the end of the story, so if you have any questions to ask of any characters in this story (canon or OC), then ask away!

Please review.