1/28/20-2/13/20
Lightning was surrounded by his hometown friends and Doc was standing next to him smiling.
"Oh, Lightning, Doc. Welcome home." Luigi said.
"Good to have you back, you two." Flo said.
"Congratulations, man." Fillmore said.
"Welcome home, soldiers." Sarge said.
"The place wasn't the same without you, son or Doc." Sheriff said.
"What? Did he go somewhere?" Lizzie said.
"It's good to be home, everybody." Lightning said smiling.
"McQueen!" Mater said running to his best friend.
They all turned around and saw Mater speeding into town, with Otis swerving behind him.
"Mater!" Lightning said smiling.
"McQueen!" Mater said while he skid into main the street and in one swift motion slingshots Otis' car forward -
"Woaahhhhh!" Otis said.
- right through Ramone's front door where it landed perfectly on the hydraulic lift. Ramone lifted his car up, routine.
"Hey. How far'd it make it this time, Otis?" Ramone asked chuckling.
"Halfway to the county line." Otis said shrugging.
"Not bad, man."
"I know, I can't believe it either!"
Back with the others Mater had just gotten out of his truck.
"McQueen, welcome back!" he said smiling.
"Mater, it's so good to see you." Lightning said smiling back.
"You too, buddy." he said while they gave each other their handshake. "Oh, man. You ain't gonna believe the things I got planned for us."
Everyone watched as the handshake continued.
Watching this got Doc to think about his friends from Thomasville. He smiled remembering all the races they had.
"These best friend greetings get longer every year." Mack said chuckling to Lizzie next to him.
"You ready to have some serious fun?" Mater said.
"Well, actually I've got something to show you first." Lightning said.
So Lightning, Doc and Mater headed to Radiator Springs museum.
When they got there they were close on the Piston Cup. It had changed, been adorned with a small likeness of Doc. It said 'Hudson Hornet Piston Cup.'
"Wow. I can't believe they renamed the Piston Cup after our very own Doc Hudson." Mater said.
"Me neither. After being gone for so long." Doc said shaking his head.
They were alone and the museum was closed to the public.
Lightning approached a 'Hudson Hornet' wall with Doc's three Piston cups, framed articles, other racing ephemera.
He sighed.
"I know you said these things are just old cups, but to have someone else win it just didn't feel right, you know?" he said looking at the picture.
"Well, I've been real proud of you. That's for sure." Doc said putting a hand on Lightning's shoulder.
Lightning took this in and they left the Doc Hudson Museum.
Doc went to have lunch with Sheriff after that.
"Alright, pal. I've been waiting all summer for this. What've you got planned?" Lightning asked smiling when they were back home.
"You sure you can handle it?" Mater said smirking.
"Come on, you know who you're talking to? This is Lightning McQueen. I can handle anything." he said.
Mater and Lightning rolled on an old train track, their cars tires off and on its rims.
"Uh... Mater?!" Lightning said a little nervous.
"Just remember, your brakes ain't gonna work on these!" Mater said.
'What is going on?' Lightning thought.
Then they headed into a dark tunnel.
"Mater!"
"Relax, these train tracks ain't been used in years!" Mater said waving his hand.
From inside the tunnel a loud train horn came causing the two friends to emerge, going as fast as they can on train tracks, uphill, with no tires.
"Come on, come on! Faster, faster!" Lightning said wondering why he agreed with this.
Moments later a harmless galloping goose appeared, oversized horn visible, cackling and laughing at his prank.
Later outside Radiator Springs an enormous earth mover slept and Lightning and Mater snuck up.
"This is gonna be good!" Mater said.
Then they blew their horns and he Tipped over, cow-tipping style. They laughed at the gag, but soon realized the earthmover's giant exhaust pipe was directly above them.
"Uh-oh. This ain't gonna be good." Mater said.
Then the exhaust pipe belched and they were blasted out of view.
Later while the sun set Lightning and Mater rolled into town. Lightning was exhausted while Mater was still full of energy.
"Boy, this was the best day ever! And my favorite souvenir?" Mater said and proudly showed off a dent. "This new dent!"
"Boy, Mater. Today was, uh..." Lightning started.
"Shoot, that was nothing. Wait til you see what I got planned for tonight." Mater said smiling.
"Mater, Mater. Whoa. I was kind of thinking of just a quiet dinner."
"That's exactly what I was thinking."
"No, I... I meant with Sally, Mater."
"Even better! You, me and Miss Sally going out for supper."
Lightning pulled around in front of Mater and stopped.
"Mater, I meant it would be just me and Sally."
"Oh."
"It's just for tonight. We'll do whatever you want tomorrow."
"Okay." Mater said disappointed.
"Thanks for understanding."
"Yeah, sure. Y'all go on and have fun now.
"Alright, then. See ya soon, amigo!" Lightning said.
While Lightning started to drive off. Mater watched him go.
"This is so nice." Sally said.
"I can't tell you how good it is to be here alone. Just the two of us. Finally, you and me -" Lightning started but was cut off.
"Good evening." Mater said at their table, dressed as a waiter. "My name is Mater and I'll be your waiter."
"Mater the waiter. That's funny right there." he said to himself.
"Mater, you work here?" Lightning said confused.
"Well yeah I work here. What'd you think, I just snuck in here when nobody was looking and pretended to be your waiter, just so I could hang out with you?"
Lightning and Sally exchange a look.
"Oh, yeah. How ridiculous would that be?" Lightning said.
"Now, can I start you two lovebirds off with a couple drinks?" Mater said.
"Yes. I'll have my usual." Lightning said.
"You know what? I'm going to have that too." Sally said.
Mater blinked.
"Uh, right. Your usual." Mater said confused.
Fillmore, Sarge and Doc were at the bar watching as Guido mixes drinks, ala 'Cocktail' when Mater arrived
"Guido! What's McQueen's usual?" he asked.
"How should I know?" Guido said in Italian.
"Perfect! Give me two of `em.'"
"Quiet! My program's on." Sarge said.
"Tonight on 'The Mel Dorado Show'!" Mel Dorado said.
"His story gripped the world! Billionaire Miles Axlerod, in an attempt to become the first person to circumnavigate the globe without a GPS, ironically ran out of gas and found himself trapped in the wild!" Mel Dorado said.
Then images of newspaper headlines, search crews.
"Feared dead, he emerged 36 days later, running on a water he'd distilled himself from the natural elements! Since then he's sold his fortune, converted himself from a guzzler into an electric car, and has devoted his life to finding a renewable, clean-burning fuel!" he continued.
Images of oil derricks torn down; Miles Axlerod getting converted to electric; lab scientists testing chemicals.
"Now he claims to have done it with his Allinol."
Images of fields, rivers, vegetables, and mountains all combining to form the Allinol logo.
"And to show the world what his new super fuel can do, he's created a racing competition like no other, inviting the greatest champions from around the globe to battle in the first ever World Grand Prix. Welcome Sir Miles Axlerod."
Sir Miles Axlerod arrived and sat cross from Mel's desk.
"Thank you, Mel. It is very good to be here. Now listen to me: Big Oil. It costs a fortune. Pollution is getting worse. I mean, come on. It's a fossil fuel. Fossil. As in dead dinosaurs. And we all know what happened to them. Alternative energy is the future. Trust me, Mel, after seeing Allinol in action at the World Grand Prix, nobody will ever go back to gasoline again." Miles said.
"What happened to the dinosaurs, now?" Mater said to Filmore.
"And on satellite, a World Grand Prix competitor and one of the fastest cars in the world, Francesco Bernoulli." Mel said.
Then a Formula racer from Rome, Italy named Rancesco Bernoull came.
"It is an honor, Signore Dorado. For you." Rancesco said.
"Miles, why not invite Lightning McQueen?" Mel asked.
Mater, collecting his drinks, looked up, half-intrigued.
"He was wise enough to take a well deserved summer break." Doc said looking at the screen.
"Of course we invited him. But apparently after a very long racing season he is taking some time off to rest." Miles said.
Doc nodded.
He was surprised Lightning wanted to take a break but was happy at the same time. He had taught him well for the past few years. They had gotten close and he considers Lightning a son and could tell Lightning considered him as not just a mentor but a father. He had grown up a lot since that day four years ago.
"Lightning McQueen would not have a chance against Francesco!" Francesco said.
Mater didn't like this.
"I can go over 300 kilometers an hour! In miles that is like, uh... way faster than McQueen." Francesco continued.
"Let's go to the phones. Baltimore, Maryland, you're on the air." Mel said.
"Am I on? Hello?" a caller said.
"You're on. Go ahead." Mel said.
"Hello?" the caller said.
"Go ahead, caller." Mel said.
But they got no answer.
"Let's go to Radiator Springs. You're on, caller." Mel said.
That caught Doc's attention.
'Oh please no.' he thought.
"Yeah, that Italian feller you got on there can't talk that way about Lightning McQueen. He's the bestest race car in the whole wide world." Mater said.
Fillmore and Sarge looked around then saw Mater in the back of the bar on an office phone like Doc.
"Uh-oh..." Sarge said.
"If he is, how you say 'the bestest racer,' then why must he rest, eh?" Francesco asked.
"Cause he knows what's important. Every now and then he prefers just to slow down, enjoy life." Mater said.
"Ah, you heard it! Lightning McQueen prefers to be slow! Of course, this is not news to Francesco. When I want to go to sleep I watch one of his races. After two laps I am out cold." Francesco said.
A crowd from the bar has been forming ever since Mater started talking.
"That ain't what I meant." Mater said.
Lightning and Sally heard the commotion inside.
"Hey, what's going on over there?" Lightning said and stood up.
When they got to the bar Sally and Lightning pushed through the crowd, see that they're watching Francesco on the television.
"Oh, it's that Italian Formula racer. His name is -" Lightning started but cut off by Sally.
"Francesco Bernoulli. No wonder there's a crowd." Sally said enunciating each part, as if Italian were her mother's tongue.
"Wait, why do you know his name? And don't say it like that. It's three syllables, not ten." he said confused.
"What? He's nice to look at. You know, open-wheeled and all." she said.
"What's wrong with fenders? I thought you like my fenders."
Doc snickered at hearing that thinking about what his old racing friend said once.
"Well let me tell you something else there, Mr. San Francisco -" Mater said.
"Mater?" Lightning said confused.
"McQueen's car could drive circles around you."
"Driving in circles is all his car can do, no?" Francesco said.
"No! I mean yes. I mean he could beat you anywhere, anytime, any track." Mater said.
Lightning looked at Guido who gave him a nod over to Mater, turned away from the crowd, still on the phone.
"Mel, can we move on? Francesco needs a caller who can provide a little more intellectual stimulation. Like a dump truck driver." Francesco said.
Lightning didn't like this at all.
"Ha ha! That shows what you know. Dump trucks driver is dumb." Mater said.
'That's it!' Lightning thought and started walking over to Mater.
Doc got up and tried to stop him but failed.
Suddenly, Mater was yanked from the booth and replaced by Lightning.
"Yeah, hi, this is Lightning McQueen. Look, I don't appreciate my best friend being insulted like that." Lightning said.
"McQueen! That was your best friend? This is the difference between you and Francesco. Francesco knows how good he is. He does not need to surround himself with tow truck drivers to prove it." Francesco said.
"Those are strong words from a racer who's car is so fragile." Lightning said.
Doc chuckled at that while everyone else was confused.
"What?" Sheriff asked.
"Just something us racers think about our cars." he explained trying not to laugh.
"Fragilé!? He calls Francesco's car fragilé? Not so fast, McQueen!"
"'Not so fast.' What is that, your new motto?"
Then Francesco went ballistic in Italian and they cut the music.
Watching what he's doing Lightning rolled his eyes at him while Doc just shook his head.
"Well, this sounds like something that needs to be settled on the race course. What do you say, Lightning McQueen? We've still got room for one more racer." Miles said.
"Well, I would love to. The only thing is my crew's off for the season so,"
But was cut off by a sound causing Lightning to turn to see Fillmore, Sarge and Luigi flank a tablecloth which is hanging off the bar. Ramone backs away, having spray painted "TEAM LIGHTNING MCQUEEN" on it. Guido quickly uncorks three wine bottles. And to his most surprise Doc had his headset around his neck smirking.
"Pit stop." Guido said.
"Go for it rookie, I never got the chance to do this. So as proud of you for rejection the offer I am of you the young racer in me came and won." Doc said smiling.
So Lightning turned back to the phone a little surprised that they wanted to go there. Especially Doc.
"You know what? They just got back. Deal me in, baby. Ka-chow!" he said smirking to hide his shock.
The place erupted in cheers.
General excitement went off as McQueen exited the phone booth where Sally waited.
"I know, I know. I just got back. But we won't be long and-" he said but cut off with a hand in front of him.
"Oh, no, don't worry about me. I've got enough to do here. Mater's going to have a blast though." Lightning stood there in silence. "You're bringing Mater, right? You never bring him to any of your races." Sally said.
Lightning turned to the bar where Mater privately tried their drinks, hates it, spits it back in the glass.
"Just let him sit in the pits, give him a headset. C'mon, it'll be a thrill of a lifetime for him." she said.
Then Mater arrived.
"Your drinks, sir." he said.
"Mater." Lightning said.
"I didn't taste it!" Mater said.
"How'd you like to come and see the world with me?"
"You mean it?" he said excited.
"You got me into this thing. You're coming along."
Mater smiled widely excited.