Correct answer is... Wisconsin! More people got it than I thought! I guess I should be honoured people are paying attention to my work (or they're cheating; I hope not, but I guess I won't know if they are!). If you really wanted to be specific, I mentioned the orphanage was just outside of Green Bay, but those who just said Wisconsin, you're not wrong, so good job, guys!
I thought I would upload this very special chapter on the one year anniversary of when I posted the first chapter! I love this part of the movie and I love this chapter of my fan fic! I hope you love it too! I don't think any of you will be surprised by it, but I don't think you'll be disappointed either.
Enjoy! :)
Chapter 32- When a Window Opens, Take It!
Lightning dug deep, determined to give this race everything he had. While the others did cheer for him occasionally, for the most part, they were silent as they were so anxious.
"Ready?!" Fudge hollered, now that she was the cheerleader again. "Okay!
"Hey! Listen to me! I'm on the mike!
"Whatcha gonna do when the Lightning strike?!
"I said, whatcha gonna do when the Lightning strike?!
"Yeah! Whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do,
"Whatcha gonna do when the Lightning strike?!
"Uh-huh! He's on that track! He gonna take the lead!
"'Cause you know damn well that guy is speed!
"He'll get number one, not number two!
"And he's gonna beat the hell outta you!
"What's gonna happen when he runs that race?!
"Lightning will win fir-irst place!
"He won't just be in the top ten!
"He'll beat all of the Next Gens!" She missed saying the line about him beating Cal and Bobby.
"It's a great race, you'll feel alive,
"And guess who'll win, it's ninety-five!"
"C'mon, buddy!" Mater shouted.
"You got this, Mr. McQueen", Cruz whispered to herself anxiously.
"There ya go, kid!" Smokey reassured Lightning through the headset, trying to keep him calm. "Now, show 'em how the old guys race!"
Before long, he managed to climb his way up to nineteenth place.
"Yes!" Fudge shrieked. They had a lot of work to do, but they were making progress and at this rate, they had a good chance.
"Lightning McQueen is making steady progress in the early parts of this race", Bob Cutlass observed.
"Well, it won't be enough to catch Storm", Natalie Certain declared firmly.
Fudge made a face at that. What a b**ch!
"Considerin' he started dead last, I don't think he's doin' half bad out there", Darrell Cartrip voiced his opinion.
"Come on, come on, come on!" Fudge murmured anxiously.
"Not too shabby!" Smokey proclaimed appreciatively once they were up to lap fifty-one. "You keep this up, you'll finish in the top ten!"
"Top ten's not gonna cut it, Smokey!" Lightning countered. "I gotta go all the way!"
"So, dig in!" Smokey instructed. "Remember your training! Find Storm and chase him down!"
"Oh!" Cruz exclaimed. "Tell him he has three laps to catch me!"
"Cruz says you got three laps to catch her", Smokey obliged.
"Yeah, okay. Tell her thanks."
The race went on for a couple more laps. It was around about this point that Sterling approached Cruz, who was stood with Fudge on the opposite side of the crew chief platform as everyone else, and inadvertently triggered a chain of events that would flip the entire race- and maybe even the entire sport- on its head.
It started off with a simple question. "Cruz, what are you doing here?" he demanded.
Fudge and Cruz turned to look at him.
"Oh!" the latter exclaimed. "Mr. Sterling! I- I was just-"
"I'd like you to head back to the training centre right away", he broke in sternly.
"Oh! But why?"
"You can't go!" Fudge cried, horrified, turning to her best friend.
Cruz gave her friend a small smile. "Let me handle this." She turned back to her boss and repeated, "Why do I have to go?"
"I need you to get Kurt up to speed for the race next weekend", he explained. "Um... Wait, not Kurt. He's the bug guy, right? The other one. Ronald! Yes!"
Fudge and Cruz were stunned. Sterling was unbelievable! A: He didn't even know the names of the trainees in his facility. It was like Fudge knew he didn't know her name and didn't care. B: He was asking Cruz to leave only about a tenth of the way into the race to train a new racer. Clearly, he didn't have as much faith in Lightning as the rest of them did. Sure, it wouldn't hurt to be prepared, but couldn't it at least wait until after the race?
"But I wanna stay and watch!" Cruz protested as Fudge stepped back anxiously.
"That's not gonna happen, Cruz", Sterling informed her. "Now, go!"
"But- but- but..." Cruz stammered. "Mr. McQueen still has a chance-"
"JUST GO DO YOUR JOB!" Sterling's outburst made Fudge and several others jump.
Cruz admitted defeat. "Yes, sir", she obliged reluctantly in a depressed tone. She turned to go, nudging Fudge on the way and gesturing for her to follow, leading her to one side.
"I gotta go", Cruz stated the obvious, beginning her goodbyes.
"It's not fair!" Fudge cried. "You don't even like your job!" Fudge knew she was exaggerating; it wasn't that Cruz didn't like her job, but rather, it hadn't been the job she'd always dreamed of.
"I know, but I gotta do it", Cruz sighed.
"This has been an awesome two weeks!" Fudge proclaimed, a little embarrassed by how mushy she was getting. "I'll never forget you, Cruz. You were my first best friend."
"I'll never forget you either. It's been an incredible two weeks for me too and you were my first best friend. Tell Mr. McQueen I say thank you. And thank you too."
Fudge smiled. "My pleasure. And I'll tell him."
Cruz returned the smile. "Thanks." She started to go, but Fudge stopped her.
"Will I ever see you again?" the sixteen-year-old wondered. She had no idea, but she hoped the answer would be yes.
"I- I don't know", Cruz stammered. "I- I hope so. I mean, if you're ever in North Carolina..." She trailed off, sure Fudge got the idea.
She did. "Absolutely. And if you're ever in Arizona..."
Cruz nodded. "Yeah..."
"Hold on! I'll give you my phone number..." Fudge looked around. "Does anybody have a pen and paper?" she called out to her friends and family.
There was no answer.
At that moment, Sterling came forward and pushed Fudge away from Cruz. "All right. You, whatever your name is, stop distracting Cruz! She's got a job to do."
"I'm going! I'm just saying goodbye to my friend!" Cruz informed him.
"I'm not paying you to make friends, Cruz", Sterling snapped. "I'm paying you to train young racers to be better racers and fit our brand. Now, go! And don't make me tell you again!"
"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir", Cruz repeated sadly, giving Fudge one quick hug before driving off.
"And take off that spoiler and those racing tyres!" Sterling called after her. "You look ridiculous! You are a trainer, remember? Not a racer!"
Unbeknownst to them, Lightning was able to hear everything through his headset and Sterling's words echoed in his mind. Not a racer, not a racer, not a racer. With some shame, the stock car had a flashback to yelling at Fudge and Cruz after the demolition derby.
"If you were racers, you'd know what I'm talking about, but you're not! So, you don't!"
He remembered seeing Cruz up on the simulator and hearing Sterling's voice.
"No, no, no, no. She's not a racer. She's a trainer."
He remembered what a fast learner Cruz was on Fireball Beach, how she'd learned to drift in Thomasville and how she'd raced with him and the Legends through the woods. She had a look of sheer joy on her face every single time. Plus, she'd beaten him in every single race in Thomasville. Now, he could hear Cruz's voice.
"I've wanted to become a racer forever! Because of you!" Then it was, "It was my one shot and I didn't take it."
Watching Cruz leave with those words going around in his mind broke Lightning's heart.
Meanwhile, Fudge watched Cruz go, trying to fight the tears.
"You okay, Fudge?" Mater questioned, concerned.
Fudge nodded, taking deep breaths to try and calm herself down. "Yeah... I mean, I've been better, but I'll be okay."
"Come here." Luigi gave his daughter a hug.
"She was my best friend!" Fudge reminded the others. "I've never had a best friend before! And I don't know if I'll ever see her again!"
"Yeah, well, that's life, I'm afraid", Sarge pointed out sympathetically, but matter-of-factly. "Sometimes, it's hard to say goodbye, but you just gotta do it."
Sammy rubbed her shoulder. "It's gonna be okay", she assured her, but Fudge didn't look so sure.
Out of nowhere, a car on the track lost control and clipped another car, leading to a massive crash.
"Wreck in two!" Smokey called to Lightning through the radio. "Wreck in turn two! Go low, go low!"
Lightning weaved through the out of control cars with everyone watching anxiously. As he made his way through, there were a couple of close calls where he only just escaped being clipped. Luckily, he managed to avoid the wreck and come to a stop. By then, the yellow flag was out. Fudge felt a shiver run through her spine at the sight of all of the wrecked cars, having a flashback to Lightning's crash. Based on the shocked looks on her family member's faces, they all felt the same way.
"Kid?" Smokey ventured, having not heard anything from the race car in a while. "You okay?"
"Smokey, I need Cruz!" was Lightning's only response.
"Never mind that now-" Smokey began.
"No!" Lightning interjected. "I need her back here! Now! Get her back!"
Not knowing what Lightning was up to, but knowing he was serious, Smokey turned to the others and began barking out orders to get hold of Cruz.
Meanwhile, Cruz was just outside the speedway, exiting the grounds. She was still able to hear the announcers.
"The yellow flag's still out, folks! Wrecked cars everywhere!"
That was when Cruz heard a couple of fast beeps come from her radio speaker.
"Hamilton here! Call from Chester Whipplefilter!"
"Chester Whipple-" Cruz began, puzzled before she stopped talking and driving in realisation. "Mr. McQueen?" Hurriedly, she answered.
"Cruz, where are you?!" Lightning demanded.
"I'm just outside the speedway. Mr. Sterling wanted me to-"
"Yeah, I heard", Lightning cut her off. "I need you back here!"
"I can't do that, Mr. McQueen", Cruz protested.
"Yes you can! I need you to! And hurry!"
"I'm on my way!" As unsure as she was, Cruz turned around and headed back to the speedway.
"Fudge! Go meet her at the gates!" Smokey ordered. "She won't be able to get back in on her own."
"Roger that!"
So, off she went. Good thing she did. At the gates, Cruz ran into that exact problem.
"Do you have a pass?" one of the security guards demanded.
Cruz looked around. She didn't have a pass.
"I- I don't have it", she stuttered. "But- but- I- I came in with Lightning McQueen and-"
"Rules are rules", the security car informed her. "You can't get into the grounds without-"
"She's with me!" a familiar voice called out. Fudge rushed over as fast as she could. She flashed her garage pass at the guard, who happened to be the same guard Fudge had shown her badge to when she was getting Smokey and Sammy into the pits.
"Is everyone with you?" he grumbled. "Fine!"
Both Fudge and Cruz were overjoyed when he let the latter through.
Fudge grinned. "Hello again!" The two of them hugged. "You came back!"
"Well, yeah! Mr. McQueen called me."
"Then let's go! Is it okay if I get a ride back?"
"Sure. Come on!"
So, Fudge got onto Cruz's roof and they made their way back to the pits.
"Well, the green light's on, pit road is open and everybody's comin' in!" Darrell Cartrip announced.
"Get ready, guys!" Lightning called to his team as he made his way to the pits. "Luigi, Guido, tyres! Fillmore, fuel!"
That was when Cruz showed up with Fudge.
"Okay, I'm here!" Cruz announced as Fudge slid off her roof.
"What's going on?" the two asked in unison.
Luckily, Lightning showed up to give them the answer to all of their questions. Guido rushed forward to change his tyres while Fillmore tried to fill him up with gas, but the stock car stopped them.
"No, not me!" he cried. He pointed to Cruz. "Her!"
Everyone gasped, turning to look at the yellow car.
"What?" she asked, shocked and confused.
"Cruz!" Fudge exclaimed excitedly, hugging her best friend. She was so happy for her!
"What is she doing back here?" Sterling demanded.
"Come on, guys! Get her set up! Quickly!" Lightning ordered.
Just like that, everyone sprang into action. Guido changed Cruz's tyres into Lightyear racing tyres and Fillmore started filling her up with fuel. Fudge was checking that Cruz was physically ready for the race. She was examining everything from tyre pressure to oil pressure to her engine. Everything was happening so fast. Cruz just stood by in confusion.
"Wait! What's happening?" Cruz questioned.
"Hey! Ramone!" Lightning called out. "Got your paints?!"
The Lowrider grinned as he rose up on his hydraulics. "You know I do!"
"Wait! Guys! What are you doing?" Cruz demanded.
"Man, I don't understand it", Darrell Cartrip commented. "McQueen's just sittin' there! Somethin's gotta be wrong!"
"Mr. McQueen?" were the only words to come out of Cruz's mouth, but she was clearly wanting an explanation.
So, Lightning provided her with one. "Today's the day, Cruz! You're getting your shot!"
"What?!" Cruz yelped utterly disbelievingly.
"I started this race and you're gonna finish it."
"What?!" Sterling had heard the plan and wanted to put a stop to it. "She'll damage the brand! She's just a trainer!"
"No! She's a racer", Lightning corrected him. With a smile at Cruz, he added, "Just took me a while to see it."
Cruz didn't know what to say. At least, until she looked around at all of the other racers. She couldn't compete with them! "I can't do this! I can't!" Then she had an idea, catching sight of Blake Fitzgibbons racing with Rich Mixon; Joey Sparks riding with Danny Swervez and Flick Turner stood by Cam Spinner (they were out of the race after the wreck). She'd feel better with some support right there, out on the track with her. "Not on my own! I... I need a rider!"
"Where are we gonna find-" Lightning began.
At that moment, Fudge came past, checking the pressure in Cruz's front tyres. That shifted Lightning's thoughts to Fudge. He thought about all of the times, ever since she was very young, she would give him tips through a headset while he was running practise laps. He didn't ask her to; it was just something she took upon herself in order to help him. He remembered how much she'd helped him through races in the past. Not only that, but she, too, loved every second of being out on the track. Maybe he hadn't seen her face while she was racing in four years (he'd been unable to see her in the woods because it was dark and she was way ahead of him for most of that), but he could still picture it vividly. He even thought about how much it had broken her heart every time he refused to let her race. Like Cruz, Fudge had potential, but also like Cruz, she had doubts about herself.
"You need someone who's focused, there one hundred per cent and can do the job well", Fudge had told him, "and it's not like I can be a racer myself... Your accident may have ended your career... Mine ended mine before it even started."
Lightning was anxious. He was hesitant. But he knew it was the right thing to do. So...
Lightning grinned at Cruz. "I think that can be arranged!"
Fudge whipped around, having heard what Lightning said. "What are you-" she began, puzzled.
He grinned some more and raised an eye frame, hoping Fudge would get the hint.
She did. "What?! No! I... I can't!"
"You can and you will!" the stock car insisted. He thrust the sixteen-year-old's magnetic belt, gloves, shoulder and knee pads at her. "Now, get those magnets on!"
"Yes, sir!" Fudge obeyed in a shaky voice, putting her headset on.
"You're okay with this, right?" Lightning quizzed Luigi and Guido.
After a brief pause, they both nodded. They were nervous about her getting hurt again, but neither of them could deny their daughter had potential.
"Okay!" Lightning boomed out to the others. "Let's get Fudge suited up too!"
"Fudge!" Sammy squealed, hugging her just as she had done to Cruz moments earlier.
"Fudge!" Cruz exclaimed. "You're coming with me! That's great!"
Everyone turned around, both stunned and excited to see Fudge would be racing too before doing what Lightning said. Sarge began helping Fudge into the shoulder and knee pads before covering her glasses with goggles. Sally took off Fudge's necklace, giving it to Lightning. Now, Fudge was just as shocked, overwhelmed and excited as Cruz was. She was too shocked to even protest as butterflies settled in her stomach.
"I can't believe you're letting that glorified intern race too!" Sterling yelled.
Fudge couldn't believe it either. "Sammy!" she cried. "Can't you do it?!" She knew her half-sister had a lot of racing knowledge, growing up in Thomasville.
Sammy shook her head. "I can, but I won't. This is your time, kiddo. You're a racer."
Lightning nodded. "She's right, Fudge", he insisted, leaving Fudge was just as speechless as Cruz. "Someone, tie Fudge's hair back!" Lightning ordered his friends. He would've done that himself if he could. He could wash and brush Fudge's hair, but that was it; he didn't know how to tie it up.
"I got it!" Sammy produced a rubber band and began tying Fudge's hair up in a ponytail.
"Do we have a helmet for Fudge?!" Sarge wanted to know.
"Here. Take mine." Sammy thrust her old white racing helmet at the teenager. She wasn't a professional racer and never had been, but she'd raced with the Legends a couple of times. "It's a little old, but it should be just fine."
Fudge wasn't sure why her sister had the helmet with her, but wasn't about to question it. "Thank you!"
She put it on over her headset and, after finishing one of Cruz's sides, Ramone hurried over to spray paint a quick FUDGE 95 RUST-EZE onto it. It may have been a fast job, but it looked awesome! Ramone's artwork always did.
Sterling tried another tactic, clearly desperate to put a stop to this absurd idea. "That can't be legal!"
Smokey, who had been famous back in the day for bending the rules, jumped in. "The rules only say the number has to be out there. Doesn't say who has to wear it."
"No, you can't do that-" Sterling cried, jumping as Mater's tow hook grabbed hold of him, pulling him back.
"Hey! Did I ever tell you how much I love your mud flaps?" Mater asked Sterling, blocking his path to Cruz.
"Out of my way, bumpkin!" the silver car ordered, but whenever he tried to move, the tow truck would shuffle in front of him.
"Yeah, I got my fishin' flaps, got my church flaps, my goin' out to eat flaps", Mater rambled on, blocking Sterling.
"I don't feel right about taking this race away from you..." Fudge declared worriedly while all that was going on. Although, despite not wanting to do that and her fears of racing again, Fudge so wanted to be in the race. Her heart did, but her head wasn't sure.
"Fudge, you told me in the trailer that no matter what happened in this race, you'd be happy as long as I was happy", Lightning reminded her. "Well, this is what would make me happy. Besides, you've spent the last two weeks trying so hard to make Cruz and me happy and, well, I think it's time you did something to make yourself happy."
Fudge beamed. Then she stopped. "But what if I get hurt again?" Several months ago, she thought if she had the chance to race again, she would've taken it without a nanosecond of hesitation. However, now that the moment was here, she was afraid.
"Look, I wanna take care of you and I promise I always will as much as I can", Lightning informed her, "but if you really wanna race, that's a risk you're just gonna have to take." He looked her deep in the eyes. "You're a racer too, Fudge-O! But for a long time, I ignored that. Too long. You deserve to get your shot as much as Cruz does!"
Just like that, Fudge's smile returned.
By that point, all of the other racers were lining up, ready to restart the race, which meant that Team 95 were scrambling to get Cruz and Fudge ready.
"Come on, guys!" Lightning urged. "We gotta get 'em out there! Let's go!"
"Tyres, check!" Luigi hollered.
"Fuel, check!" Fillmore added.
"Fudge is ready to go!" Sally reported, making sure the helmet was secure.
Lightning was satisfied so far. That just left one little thing...
"Ramone?!"
"Uh... Best I could do in the time frame, boss", Ramone answered.
He reversed back to reveal that Cruz had her name, the word RUST-EZE and the number 95 blazing across her sides. She looked epic!
"That looks awesome!" Fudge exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Lightning was equally impressed. "That'll work." Then he added, "Come here, Fudge-O", as he began helping her up onto Cruz's roof by letting him climb onto his hood first. Fudge almost slid, prompting her to let out a nervous laugh.
"Well, I'm off to a great start aren't I?!" the sixteen-year-old girl proclaimed humorously, righting herself.
"Why are you doing this?" Cruz wondered as Fudge attached her magnets. "You said it yourself: This might be your last chance."
"Which makes it my last chance to give you and Fudge your first chance, Cruz", he pointed out. "And this time, I want you to take it."
"They gotta beat that pace car out!" Smokey reminded them.
"No, no, no! You can't do that!" Sterling yelled.
"Now or never!" Smokey urged them.
Now or never. Fudge's heart pounded at those words. So did Cruz's.
"Come on!" Sammy urged the girls. "We don't want you to miss out and end up regretting it."
"What do you say?" Lightning quizzed them.
Cruz looked up at the human girl. "Fudge?"
Fudge took a deep breath. "Let's do it and have no regrets!"
"I was hoping you'd say that! Because I don't wanna do this without you!" On those words, Cruz rocketed off.
"Whoa! Hey!" Lightning called after her. "Thirty-five mile per hour pit speed!"
"I knew that!" Cruz hollered, making her way to join the other racers on the track.
"Me too!" Fudge chimed in.
"GO, FUDGIE!" Luigi squealed on their way out of the pits.
"(Good luck, my baby girl!)" Guido added.
"Go, Fudge!" Sammy cheered. "Go, Cruz!"
"Come on, Cruz! Come on, Fudge! You show 'em what you got!" Lightning called after them.
Both Cruz and Fudge took deep breaths.
"This is it", Fudge murmured anxiously.
Cruz gave a nervous smile as they approached the track. "No regrets!"
Whaaaaat?! Fudge is racing with Cruz?! That's a huge surprise to... nobody. I'm sure you all knew I was going to do that! I hope you liked it anyway! :)
Now, for da quiz question. Pay very close attention to the wording of this one: In Life Could Be a Dream, who won the Lightning vs Doc race?
And hey! Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! I was really excited to show you guys!
