Hi, guys! Got a brand new chapter for you all! We're down to the last ten chapters, which means a couple of things:

1. Now seems like a good time to bring the Q and A back... If that's what you guys want, that is. If you do, ask away. Just like last time, you can ask any characters (canon or OC) about any of the events in any of my stories so far or just anything else you wanna know.

2. Just for fun, I'm going to include a quiz question about my works at the end of each chapter. You don't have to give me your answers. You can just answer them in your head. Answers will appear at the beginning of the following chapter.

I do have a couple of announcements at the end of the chapter too, so I hope you'll stick around for that.

Chapter 29- Fading Fast

Well, Fudge never thought it would happen, but she found herself smiling when she awoke the next morning to a loud honking noise and flapping wings.

"Hi, Herman!" she greeted the goose softly, petting him.

It was funny; lying there in RJ's bed, knowing it was her last day in Thomasville made Fudge realise just how much she was going to miss the place and everything about it, even Herman. Evil geese and watermelon accidents aside, it had been an amazing couple of days. She got to see her sister again; meet some of the biggest legends of the sport; receive some fun, albeit unconventional, training and she got to race again. Once again, as she lay in bed, thinking back to her race in the woods, Fudge couldn't wipe the smile off her face. It was one of- if not, the- best night of her life and thinking about it made her just want to lie in bed and ignore the fact that she was leaving. So, she lay in bed, daydreaming for a while followed by pulling on her glasses and writing about her time in Thomasville- and the wonderful time she'd had the night before- in her journal.

She was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Hey, kid!" Sammy greeted her, entering the room. She was dressed in a denim jacket, red T-shirt with the Rust-Eze logo on the front, jeans and sneakers. "In the mood for some company?"

"Sure", Fudge replied, putting her journal away. "I'm finished anyway."

Her sister sat down on the bed. "I was just wondering how you were doing. I mean, this race is a pretty big deal. For both you and McQueen. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah!" the sixteen-year-old assured her. "I mean, I was nervous at first; I guess I still am, but coming to Thomasville has made me feel a little bit better about things."

Sammy nodded in understanding.

"Besides, last night was fun!"

The older sister smirked. "It was fun!" Then her smile vanished. "I guess I'm just worried that you'll be upset if McQueen doesn't win. Somehow, I can't envision him as a mud flaps salesman."

"Well, why wouldn't I be?" Fudge asked rhetorically. "I want him to win and I think he's got a good shot."

"He's definitely gotten better", Sammy agreed. "So has Cruz. And so have you."

"Thanks... Right now, I'm just hoping for the best." She sighed. "If he's happy, I'm happy." She paused. "Still, it's gonna be a hell of a big change if he starts selling mud flaps."

Sammy was quiet for a moment. She took a quick glance around, making sure the voices she heard were still downstairs.

"Speaking of big changes", she began finally and for the first time since Fudge had known her, she seemed nervous. "Fudge, can you keep a secret?"

"That sounds like a challenge!" the teen joked.

"Seriously."

"Sure. As long as nobody asks me any straight up questions about it. If someone had asked me if you were a spy, I wouldn't have been able to, but since nobody did, I kept that a secret... Why? What's up?

Sammy took a deep breath. "I'm having a kid."

"What?!" Fudge exclaimed in disbelief. She was initially surprised, but she probably shouldn't have been. After all, it explained why she'd been having Coke instead of alcohol at the Cotter Pin every night and why she wasn't using the conventional position for rider crew chiefs the night before. (Fudge hadn't thought much of that at the time.)

"I'm going to have a baby", Sammy confirmed.

"You mean... you're pregnant?"

"That's right." The rainbow-haired woman patted her stomach. "I'm not very far along. I only found out the day you guys arrived in Thomasville. You're the first to know."

"Not even the father?"

Sammy shook her head. "Nah. Bobby Miller-"

"Bobby Miller?" Fudge repeated. "You mean Jamie's father?"

"Yeah. He and I just ran into each other one night not too long ago and... stuff happened", she summarised, looking at her naïve, innocent sixteen-year-old half-sister. "I don't think he's interested in me. Or being a father. He wasn't with Jamie."

"Well, I think it's great... that you're pregnant", Fudge finished awkwardly.

Sammy grinned. "Me too! You'll be an aunt!"

The two sisters hugged until they heard the front door open and the others greet Lightning and Cruz.

"Everyone's downstairs, waiting for us!" the older sister whispered, pulling away. "You better get dressed. And hey! Don't tell anyone what I just told you. I only told you today so no matter what happens, you will have had some good news today."

"It's not my news to tell."

"Thanks, Fudge. I knew I could count on you."

Sammy left the room and Herman jumped down from the bed as Fudge got up reluctantly and proceeded to get dressed. It was race day! D-Day! For the first time since the day of the Los Angeles 500, the day of Lightning's big crash, Fudge had on her entire cheerleading attire- Rust-Eze racing jacket, 95 T-shirt, red shorts and red and yellow striped knee-high socks, Lightning McQueen high tops, red glitter top hat and star necklace. She was ready for race day.


"Hey!" Cruz exclaimed when she saw Fudge in her cheerleading attire as they all met up for breakfast. "You look great! I don't think I've seen you in that before."

"Look at you!" Sammy added, putting her arm around her sister.

Fudge couldn't help smiling. She felt great. "Thanks."

"You're ready for the race!" Lightning commented.

"Yeah. Are you?"

"Yeah, I think so", he responded, sounding more confident than he had in months.

"So, what did you do last night?" Luigi wanted to know.

"Oh, it was awesome!" Fudge exclaimed. "We went racing through the woods!"

"Racing?" Luigi repeated, his eyes widening. "Did you go racing?"

"Yeah..." Fudge shrunk down in her chair.

"Fudge, you know how we feel about you racing!" Luigi reminded her. Now, his eyes were narrowing. "Especially after your accident."

"I know how you feel, Luigi", Lightning explained. "I feel the same way, but Smokey made sure she was safe and we all really had fun."

"I understand that you'd be worried", Smokey added. "We used helmets and magnets."

"But don't get too comfortable with it, Fudge", Lightning added. "That was a one-time thing."

Fudge nodded, trying not to let her disappointment show. She should've known.

Luigi still didn't look particularly happy about the fact that his daughter had been racing, but didn't say anything else. He just returned to his breakfast in silence, as did everyone else.

"Are you ready to go?" Smokey questioned as they all finished up their breakfast. He was looking at Lightning and Cruz. "I wanna see how much you've learned."

"Yes, sir", Lightning responded determinedly.


So, they got all of the dishes put aside and left in soak in record time before the entire group gathered by the speedway one last time. Guido was positioned on top of the flag waver's platform. Cruz was in pole position, Lightning was at the back of the pack and Fudge joined her sister, Herman, Smokey and the Legends in the infield. This time, Smokey had Fudge put her headset on, so he could see how much she'd learned too. Mack stood close by to remind them that they had to get going soon. All of the other racers were in Florida already. In fact, they were making jokes at the oldest racer's expense.

"McQueen's still not here? Didn't he pull this when he was a rookie? At least, that's what my grandfather told me."

"Maybe it's best if he doesn't show up. You know, after how last season ended."

"Let me put it this way: I'm not losing any sleep wondering where Lightning McQueen is."

Yet Lightning refused to leave Thomasville a second before he had to. Now, it was do or die.

"GO!" Smokey shouted, to which Lightning didn't hesitate to obey, shooting off after Cruz.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Fudge whispered, jumping up and down anxiously. Then she remembered that she was on the headset. "Okay. You gotta dig deep and catch up to Cruz! Until you do, stay on the inside. I'll let you know when there's anything you gotta watch out for." With a brief smile at Smokey, she added, "I know this track."

"All right. Thanks." With that, Lightning picked up speed.

So, Fudge remained silent most of the time, occasionally calling out to look out for things like pebble number one hundred and forty-three and where the track terrain was a little tougher or slicker.

"Come on!" Smokey yelled as they got close to the end.

At that moment, Cruz crossed the finish line with Lightning right on her tail.

"Oh, my God!" Fudge cried excitedly. "I think that's the closest he's ever gotten!"

Smokey gave a small smile. "I think so too!"

"If he keeps going like this, I think he might have a good chance!" the human girl proclaimed.

Lightning came over to join them. "Yeah. We got time for a couple more runs, right?" He looked from Fudge to Smokey to Mack.

"We gotta get goin' soon if you wanna make it to the race at all", Mack reminded him.

"I know, I know! Just a couple more runs! I think we've got time!"

Fudge checked the time on her phone. "How long does it take to get to the Florida International Super Speedway?"

Mack told her.

"And the race starts at two, right?"

"Yeah, but we should be there a little earlier", the Rust-Eze driver responded.

"We have some time", the crew chief decided.

"All right!" Smokey's voice boomed out. "If you got time, then let's not waste any more of it! Let's go!"

Once again, nobody hesitated to obey. Lightning and Cruz were off and running and Fudge was on the headset. It was like second nature to all of them.


"All right!" Smokey called out after a couple of more close runs. "We got time for one last race!"

Lightning took several deep breaths and stretched his tyres, trying to stay in the zone.

"Hurry this along, boss!" Mack urged again anxiously. "We gotta get you to Florida!"

"Go!" Smokey shouted.

Guido waved the green flag and, for the last time in Thomasville, they were off! Lightning was more determined than ever and everyone was more nervous than ever. This was it. This was the moment of truth. Fudge gave her brother advice through the headset where necessary, but remained silent for the most part, letting him do his own thing.

Lightning was gaining on Cruz, pushing himself as fast as he possibly could.

"Come on!" Fudge cried. "You got this!"

"Let's go, McQueen!" Sammy added.

With how close he'd gotten every other time and continued to get better, the sixteen-year-old was convinced that he had this one in the bag!

"Come on, boy!" That was Smokey, who was watching the gap between the two racers grow smaller and smaller. "Come on!"

Lightning drafted behind Cruz for a couple of seconds before becoming level with her. Fudge's heart pounded. She was so excited and nervous that she began leaning up against Smokey subconsciously.

"Yes!" she squealed, jumping up and down and punching the air as Lightning overtook Cruz. "YesyesYES!" For a brief moment, she felt like hugging Smokey in her excitement, but fought to control herself. Not that it mattered because she found the pickup truck pulling her into a hug of his own. Oh, what the hell? she thought, hugging him back.

"THERE YOU GO, BOY! THERE YOU GO!" Smokey yelled.

Lightning was grinning to himself. He had overtaken Cruz! He had gone through the entire field in three laps! He knew he could win this thing!

However, the joy that filled the air was short lived. It didn't take Cruz long to catch up again. All too quickly, the yellow car was back in front.

"No!" Fudge wailed, utterly disheartened. He'd been so close!

As Lightning watched her go and struggled to catch up, he could hear Darrell Cartrip's voice from that fateful night come back to haunt him. "McQueen is fading! McQueen is fading! Fading fast!" Those awful words echoed in his mind as he remembered the terrible, life-changing crash he'd suffered months ago.

At that moment, Cruz crossed the finish line and claimed first place. Everyone was silent, feeling the weight of the 95 racer's defeat.

Well, not everyone.

"Whoo-hoo!" Cruz exclaimed gleefully, doing donuts. "Yes! Did you see that?! That was incredi-" She stopped short, glancing over at Lightning and realising what her victory meant for him. There was a long pause. "Uh... Sorry. I... I didn't mean to-"

"It's not your fault, Cruz", Fudge offered quietly.

For a long time, nobody said anything. The cars lowered their hoods and the humans did the same thing with their heads. Even Herman seemed to pick up on the melancholy mood around the Thomasville Speedway. In that moment, Lightning knew- he knew- that his career was over. He couldn't believe it.

"Hey, uh... boss?" Mack broke the silence finally. "It's time to hit the road."

"Yeah", Lightning agreed softly. That was it. He was out of time. Turning around, he addressed Smokey, Sammy and the Legends. "I, uh... I... I wanna... thank everyone for the training..." He cast a dejected look at Cruz and Fudge, beginning to drive away, and added, "We better get going to Florida."

So, unfortunately, their wonderful time in Thomasville ended on a sour note. With heavy hearts, Lightning, Cruz and Fudge made their way over to the trailer to head on over to Florida.

I just want to say now that Sammy's pregnancy is not really relevant or significant in this story, but once I get to that part in the Cars Origins trilogy, it will play a more significant part.

Now, for my announcement. *Drumroll* I have started a new Cars forum! I couldn't think of a name, so I just called it Cars Forum, I Guess. If you want to discuss Cars or introduce your OCs, then you are all definitely welcome. All I ask is that you read the rules first.

Finally, it's time for the first quiz question. I'll start off with something simple: What is Fudge's real first name?