Correct answer is... River Patrick Rose, Junior.
Again, this is just a filler chapter. Enjoy :)
Chapter 37- Champions Return
The next morning, everyone was still talking about the incredible, unprecedented victory of Cruz Ramirez, Fudge Rossi-Topolino and Lightning McQueen, much to Jackson Storm's dismay. Not that anybody else really cared. Everyone else continued to chatter about the newcomers excitedly.
How did Cruz Ramirez and Fudge Rossi-Topolino spend most of that morning, though? Sleeping! Their friends and family had all gone off to have some breakfast and answer phone calls that were coming in to request interviews with Dinoco's newest racers, leaving them to sleep.
"They must be exhausted after such a big night", Lightning pointed out.
It wasn't until 10:34 that Cruz stirred. The first thing she noticed was that all of the others were gone, except for Fudge, who was still asleep. The yellow car wasn't sure what to do, so she parked there in silence for a couple of minutes, relieved when Fudge woke up.
Cruz smiled at her. "Mornin'!"
"Mornin'!" Fudge mumbled sleepily, not bothering to open her eyes.
"I had the most amazing dream last night!" Cruz announced.
"Me too", Fudge yawned, rolling over to face Cruz. "My dream was awesome!"
"I had a dream Mr. McQueen put us in the Florida 500 and we won the race!"
Fudge's eyes widened as she sat up. "I had the same dream!"
"It was so cool!" Cruz exclaimed.
"Even cooler", Lightning piped up, coming into the room, "it wasn't a dream!" He gestured to the trophy that was lying close to Cruz.
Both young women grinned.
"Thank Chrysler!" Fudge exclaimed, putting on her glasses. "I was worried it was a dream!" She sighed. "That's the problem with good dreams. You wake up, disappointed that it's not real. Then there's bad dreams and they're never fun!"
"Yeah", Lightning sighed, remembering his nightmares and Fudge waking up screaming and crying after having a bad dream. Then he brightened all of a sudden. "Well, if you want, we were gonna go to a coffee shop down the street for brunch. Wanna join us?"
"Sure", Cruz and Fudge agreed in unison.
So, Fudge got dressed and the two followed Lightning.
"All right! Let's go! After brunch, we got a lot of work to do!"
That day was pretty insane. A majority of it was spent doing interviews and responding to requests for interviews.
"Roy Gauge and Ericka Dent from Under the Hood want to do an interview with us!" Fudge exclaimed excitedly.
"When?" Lightning wanted to know.
"Next week before the next race."
"We can do that."
"Awesome!"
"And we've still got one more thing left to do while we're in Florida", Lightning announced.
"What's that?"
The stock car smiled mysteriously. "You'll find out tomorrow..."
"Should I be worried?" Fudge giggled.
"Maybe..."
As it turned out, she didn't need to be worried. Her eyes widened and she broke out into a huge grin when she saw where they were.
"DISNEY WORLD!"
"That's right!" Lightning confirmed. "I figured since we never got to go to Disneyland after the race in Los Angeles last season, we could go to Disney World here."
"Oh, my gosh! Thank you!" Fudge exclaimed, hugging Lightning. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" She was excited! She'd never been to Disney World before. She'd been to the Disneylands in California, Paris and Tokyo as well as the Disney Sea in Tokyo. The human girl couldn't wait to see how Disney World compared.
The race car smiled. "No problem. Now, let's have some fun, all right?"
"Yeah!" Fudge cheered.
Disney World sure didn't disappoint the sixteen-year-old. They all enjoyed the thrills of the roller coasters and other fast rides.
"But it's not racing!" Fudge had pointed out with a grin.
Lightning chuckled. "That's right!"
"Especially when you flip over another racer!" Cruz laughed.
"That was awesome!" Fudge agreed, beaming as she remembered doing that.
Later that night, after watching the parades and the fireworks, the RS gang loaded up the trailer with the stuff they'd brought with them as well as souvenirs (none more epic than the trophy!) and said goodbye to Sammy, Smokey and the Legends. They were preparing to head back to Radiator Springs. Fudge didn't want to leave, but at the same time, she couldn't wait to get home. She couldn't wait to see Red, Sheriff, Lizzie and Jennyfur again. She couldn't wait to sleep in her own bed. She couldn't wait to return to her hometown as a champion. She couldn't wait to show Cruz, Smokey and the Legends all of the sights of Radiator Springs. The gang from Thomasville would be heading to Radiator Springs in a little while. Cruz, however, would be staying in Radiator Springs for a while, so she could train with Lightning and Fudge. It was even possible that she might move there, but nobody wanted to get ahead of themselves just yet. Nothing had been decided yet. Nothing at all.
"You're gonna love it there!" Fudge informed her best friend once they were in the trailer, ready to go. "Willy's Butte is a great place to race! And Flo's V8 Café has the finest fuel in fifty states!"
"How would you know, Fudge?" Cruz wondered. "You're a human, not a car."
The teen shrugged. "I've heard it's good. And the food and drinks I've had there are good. Oh! And you'll have to come and get tyres from Luigi's Casa Della Tires."
"That's where you live, right?" Cruz remembered Fudge talking about living in a tyre shop.
"Yep. You can come over, get new tyres, hang out with me and meet my cat."
The yellow car grinned. "Sounds great!"
Fudge returned the grin. "Great!"
That was when Mack blared out his horn and yelled, "Radiator Springs, here we come!"
Fudge grinned. She had had many adventures over the last two weeks, but right now, there was only one place she wanted to be: home.
And they were there after several days of travelling. Only Fudge was asleep when they pulled into the small town.
"Fudge!" Lightning whispered, shaking her gently. "Fudge!"
"Mmm..." she mumbled sleepily, rolling over and opening her eyes just a crack.
"We're home!" Lightning announced.
The human girl smiled as she fumbled for her glasses. "We're home!"
"Yeah, we are!"
All of a sudden, Fudge was awake. She pulled on her glasses and hurried down the ramp to exit the trailer.
The first thing Fudge heard when she was outside was a loud bang from a glitter cannon.
"Surprise!" several excited voices yelled out almost in unison.
The human girl's eyes widened when she saw Sheriff, Red and Lizzie parked there under a big banner, which read CONGRATULATIONS!
"Congratulations!" everyone shouted, beaming at Lightning, Cruz and Fudge.
Fudge ran forward and gave Red, Sheriff and Lizzie hugs.
"Hey, kiddo!" Sheriff greeted her. "Where's the trophy?"
Fudge frowned a little. "Cruz has it. Apparently, I am not to be trusted with it."
Sheriff chuckled. "What did you do, Fudge?"
"I'd rather not talk about it."
Sheriff just chuckled some more and hugged the teen. "I'm glad you're back! And I'm so proud of you!"
She returned the hug. "Thank you, Sheriff. I'm glad I'm back too."
That was when the squad car noticed Cruz. "You must be Cruz Ramirez."
She smiled. "Yeah, I am."
Sheriff tried to hide a smile as he grumbled, "Just what this town needs! Another racer! D'you have any idea how many times I've busted McQueen for speedin' over the years?"
"Mr. McQueen!" Cruz gasped.
The stock car rolled his eyes, but he was grinning.
Meanwhile, Lizzie beamed at Fudge. "What do you say we get this party started?"
"That sounds like an excellent idea!" the human girl declared with a huge grin.
Lizzie looked blank. "What does?"
In a matter of minutes, the neon lights were on and the radio was playing "Sh-Boom" at full blast. Cruz's eyes widened at the rainbow of colours lighting up the night. "Whoa!" she exclaimed softly.
"I know!" Fudge grinned. "You should've been here ten years ago when Lightning got everyone to fix their neon and put it on for the first time in years."
"Mr. McQueen did that?" the yellow car asked incredulously.
Fudge nodded. "It was a surprise for Sally."
Cruz chuckled softly. She was remembering the moment of the post-race party in Florida when she found Lightning and Sally making out.
"Fudge, you are not going to believe what I just saw!" she'd exclaimed breathlessly, racing up to her friend.
Fudge, who had just been thanking Tim Treadless for his praise about their racing, turned to Cruz. "What?!" she had wanted to know.
"Mr. McQueen was just making out with his lawyer! You know, Ms. Carrera?"
"Really?" The human girl had tried to hide a laugh, but didn't do a very good job.
"What's so funny?" Cruz had wondered.
"Nothing!" Fudge had cracked up while Cruz parked there, looking kind of annoyed.
"What?!" she had demanded.
"I'm not laughing at you", Fudge explained. "It's just... Sally isn't just his lawyer. She's his girlfriend!"
"What?!" Cruz had gasped. She had always assumed that Lightning wasn't single, but she hadn't known Sally was his girlfriend.
"Yeah. They've been dating for over ten years!"
"If they've been dating ten years, how come they aren't married yet?"
Fudge shrugged. "They just don't think they need to", she had informed Cruz. "Not that they've said they'll never get married."
Now, Cruz watched the two of them nuzzle each other lovingly. She watched everyone cruising and dancing around the town.
"You know", Cruz began, smiling at Fudge, "I know I haven't been here that long, but I've got a feeling I'm gonna be really happy here."
Fudge returned the smile. "Me too, Cruz. Me too."
In the morning, after having breakfast at Flo's, Lightning and Fudge insisted on taking Cruz somewhere.
"Mr. McQueen? Where are we going?"
"You'll see."
Cruz turned to the human girl beside her. "Fudge, do you know where we're going?"
She grinned. "You'll see."
Cruz's eyes widened when she saw what their destination was: the grave of Doc Hudson. It was a quiet place hidden away from the prying eyes of tourists. Even though Lightning and everyone else felt like they could talk to Doc anywhere, sometimes they preferred to do it by his grave. It made them feel closer to him.
"Hey, Doc!" Lightning greeted the grave. "We're back! I guess you've seen what happened in Florida. At least, we hope so. We hope you're proud of us and I'm sure you would be."
"Yeah, I wonder what you'd say if you could see us now", Fudge commented. "And we could see you. We all wish you were here, but we always try to make you proud every single day. Once again, I'm really sorry for how I acted when you died." Fudge had only been ten years old when he passed away and therefore, hadn't dealt with it all that well. To this day, she felt guilty about the whole thing.
"What did you do when he died?" Cruz wondered.
"I'd rather not talk about it", was Fudge's only response.
Luckily, Cruz didn't push it. "Hey, Doc!" she took her turn of greeting the grave. "It is so nice to meet you finally! I can't wait to learn more about you from Fudge and Mr. McQueen. I've already learned so much! Did you hear that Fudge and I flipped over another racer like you did?! It was so cool!"
After talking to Doc a little while longer, their next stop was the late legend's garage. The trio had managed to get some pretty impressive photos during the two weeks they'd spent preparing for Florida. They'd gotten them developed while they were still in Florida and were now putting them up in the garage along with Doc's other photos.
"Racing at Fireball Beach was incredible!" Lightning exclaimed, looking at that photo.
"Hashtag beach life!" Cruz sang.
"Training at Thomasville was a dream come true!" the stock car continued, grinning at a photo of him and Cruz amongst the tractors.
"Hashtag old school!" Cruz chimed.
"And playing in the mud at Thunder Hollow was a blast!"
Fudge gave Lightning a Look. "Really?"
"Well, maybe not at the time", he admitted, "but it's kind of fun to think about!"
"Hashtag muddy tyres!" Cruz added.
This went on for a while, even Fudge joined in. When she was shown a photo of the entire group in Florida, she sang, "Hashtag squad!"
When they were done, they stood back to admire their work.
"It looks nice!" Fudge commented.
"Yeah, I bet Doc would love seeing these new memories hanging next to his old ones!" Cruz proclaimed.
Lightning smiled. "I agree!" With a huge grin, looking real proud of himself, he added, "Hashtag!"
"Oh, no..." Fudge moaned, hiding her face in her hands. Despite everything that had happened lately, this was the first time she felt like Lightning was an old man.
"Uh... That's not how it-" Cruz began. She stopped. "Never mind."
"That was even worse than when I showed Sarge Tumblr!" Fudge groaned.
"That's not how you do it?" McQueen guessed.
The human girl shook her head. "Nope."
"Well, how do you do it?"
"Not like that!"
Lightning chuckled.
That was when Sally came in.
"Hey, guys!" she greeted them. "There's someone here to see us."
"Smokey and the others aren't supposed to get here for another two days", Lightning pointed out.
"It's not Smokey", Sally replied.
"Who is it?" Fudge wondered.
"Go outside and see", the Porsche instructed with a smile.
So, they did. They found a familiar magenta sports car chatting away to Mater, hugging and kissing him. Fudge couldn't help smiling. They'd really missed each other and while they still wanted to be together and were trying to make it work, it was hard. Meanwhile, a familiar silver-blue Faultless GT was chatting away to the other residents of the small town.
"Finn!" Fudge gasped. "Holley!"
The two turned at the sounds of their names.
"Hello, Fudge!" Holley smiled. "It's so good to see you again!"
"Hello, Fudge!" Finn added. "We were just about to look for you."
"Well, here I am!"
"Who is this?" Cruz wanted to know.
"Cruz, this is Finn and Holley, our friends from London. We met during the World Grand Prix", Fudge introduced them. After a pause, she added, "They're in the import-export business." She'd told Cruz the story of the World Grand Prix and being mistaken for spies, but in case Cruz ever met Finn and Holley and they wanted her to keep the fact that they were spies a secret, she changed their names to Michael and Emily respectively while telling the story.
Cruz smiled. "Right. It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too, uh..." Finn waited for the yellow car to fill in the blanks.
"Cruz", she supplied. "Cruz Ramirez. I'm a friend of Fudge's."
"We're sorry we haven't been in touch with you much lately", Finn apologised. "We've spent six weeks in Africa with no way of communicating with you. We thought with that big mission out of the way, we'd visit Sammy and then you."
"Oh, that's okay", Fudge assured him. "You gotta do what you gotta do... How are you?"
"Quite well, thank you... How are you? What's new in your life?"
Fudge looked around at the rest of her family. Based on the excited grins on their faces, she could tell that they hadn't told him yet. And neither had Sammy. Plus, if he and Holley had been in Africa for the last six weeks, then they wouldn't have seen the race either. The others knew that it was Fudge's story to tell. The teenager giggled. "Everything!"
A couple of notes and bits of trivia on this chapter:
1. Finn and Holley won't be appearing again. Like I've said before, they're only here now because I'm not one of those people who act like Cars 2 never happened. I mean, I wasn't expecting Finn and Holley to appear in Cars 3 or even be mentioned, but I still thought there would be an Easter Egg (like a picture in the background) that acknowledges them and that Mater and Holley are still a thing. However, there was nothing. (By the way, does anybody know why I chose the names Michael and Emily when Fudge retells the events of Cars 2?)
2. Under the Hood is a segment in Cars related videos on YouTube for the RSN. There is another segment called Rearview Replay and Roy Gauge and Ericka Dent are the hosts of that.
3. The hashtag moment is an ad I found on YouTube; I thought it would be funny to include it here.
4. There was a throwback to Life Could Be a Dream... Did you spot it?
I'm saving the next chapter for a special occasion, but I don't know when that'll be. It could be tomorrow or next week. (I'll explain when I post it.)
Lastly, I want to remind you to please review and give you the quiz question: When Chick Hicks blackmails Fudge into stealing from the RS gang, what does Fudge steal from Sally?
