First order of business, correct answer to the quiz question is... her phone.
Second order of business, Guest, I do like the songs you requested, but unfortunately, song lyrics are against site rules. Just thought I'd let you know in case you think I'm deliberately ignoring them.
Third order of business, the chapter...
Chapter 38- A Fabulous New Look
The bad news was that Finn and Holley couldn't stay in Radiator Springs for very long before heading off on their next mission. The good news was that the exact same day that they left, Sammy, RJ, Smokey, the Legends and even Herman showed up in town! Fudge couldn't wait to show them the town. While Sammy and RJ had been there before, there were quite a few of them who hadn't. The other good news was what also happened that very same day...
"It's here!" Fudge exclaimed, rushing towards Lightning and Cruz, who were down by Willy's Butte. She had a huge parcel in her hands and immediately, both race cars stopped what they were doing.
"It's here?" Lightning repeated.
"It's here", the human girl confirmed.
"It's here!" Lightning exclaimed excitedly. "All right! We all remember the plan, right?"
"We go to Ramone's", Cruz assured him that she knew.
"And I need to go see Sammy and then go to Ramone's", Fudge chimed in. "And when we're almost done there, I go around town and tell everyone it's time."
Lightning nodded. "Right. Now, let's go!"
Things began to happen fast. Ramone was free and more than happy to help Lightning and Cruz out (although Lightning refused to let Fudge and Cruz see what was going on with him). Fudge tore off through town, yelling, "It's time, it's time!" whenever she saw one of her friends or family members. They all grinned and made their way to Willy's Butte.
When all of them were ready, Fudge dashed off to get herself prepared. In a short amount of time, everything and everyone was ready. The residents of Radiator Springs, Smokey, the Legends, Tex and Sammy and RJ were gathered by the butte; Fudge, Lightning and Cruz's families and closest friends. Although most of them knew what they were being assembled for, what they didn't know- not even Fudge and Cruz- was that there was a big surprise coming their way too.
"Welcome, all", Luigi began excitedly, standing in front of the crowd, holding a green flag and looking after Fudge's backpack, "to historic Willy's Butte for today's great exhibition of speed!"
That was Cruz and Fudge's cue. Cruz came flying out of nowhere with Fudge riding on her roof.
"Whoo-hoo!" Cruz hollered while everyone else cheered for them and Herman honked in approval. Both she and Fudge were laughing.
"Yeah!" Fudge whooped with joy as they spun around in a circle.
When Cruz slowed down, everyone caught a glimpse of the new looks that she and Fudge were sporting: their new racing looks. Cruz had wanted to stay yellow, but she now had the word DINOCO written on her hood and her spoiler in shiny dark blue letters. On each of her sides were the Dinoco dinosaur and DINOCO 51 written in the same shiny dark blue paint.
Fudge was wearing a bright yellow full-body racing suit to match Cruz. It had a blue dinosaur and DINOCO 51 printed on the front and the logos of the other Piston Cup sponsors running down her right arm. The suit also had the words FOR DOC HUDSON scrawled across the back. Her new helmet was cobalt blue with FABULOUS FUDGE ROSSI-TOPOLINO written on each side of her head in sparkly golden letters. She had blue goggles and blue and yellow leather gloves too. On her feet were black leather lace-up boots.
"Thanks, guys!" Cruz called out.
"Yeah, thanks!" Fudge chimed in, sliding off Cruz's roof and removing her helmet.
When she removed her helmet, the others got a big shock. They could see that she'd had a haircut from her sister to prevent her hair from getting in her face while she was racing. Now, it stopped just above her shoulders. On top of that, she'd had it dyed too! At the halfway point, her brown hair became cobalt blue. Then it lightened into a light Dinoco blue. Finally, it went yellow at the tips. It kind of looked like Sammy's hair, only with fewer colours. She also wore a blue headband to make sure it was out of her face.
"Fudge! Yer hair's different!" Mater stated the obvious.
"Yeah!" Fudge giggled excitedly and nervously, fingering her newly dyed hair. "I just thought I'd try something new..."
"Well, I didn't think I would like it", Luigi began with a little smile, "but I do! I think you look very beautiful!"
"Nice!" Sammy laughed. "I wonder who inspired you to do that!" She ran her fingers through her own multi-coloured locks. (She and RJ were wearing jeans, sneakers and yellow T-shirts with the Dinoco 51 logo.)
"Thanks, guys!"
Herman came running up to Fudge. "Hi, Herman!" she greeted the goose softly, petting him.
"Is this the same Herman Fudge was terrified of?" Sally wondered, trying and failing to hide a laugh.
Smokey nodded. "The very same."
"But she managed to get on his good side with some dandelions!" Junior added with a laugh.
"He loves dandelions, so now, he loves Fudge", Louise explained.
"Herman knows a friend when he sees one!" River pointed out, nodding to the goose, eating up all of the attention that Fudge was giving him.
Not only were the Legends glad to see Cruz and Fudge as racers, but they were glad to see Fudge was no longer trying too hard around them. They found they liked the real Fudge.
"Nice get-up, kiddos!" Louise commented to Cruz and Fudge.
"You ladies look beautiful!" Sammy added.
"There's my superstar sister!" RJ proclaimed excitedly. As a professional photographer, he fired away with his camera. (The RS gang wanted the press and their cameras out of this event, but felt like they could make an exception for RJ. After all, he was Fudge's brother.) "And Cruz the superstar! You guys look awesome!"
"Pardon me!" Mater's voice called as he squeezed between Sarge and Fillmore. He'd disappeared briefly after seeing their new looks and when he returned, was wearing one of his signature massive hats. This one was a large blue dinosaur with the number 51 on it. "Big hat! Comin' through! Git R done, fifty-one!" he shouted. "Whoo-hoo!"
"Great number!" Smokey declared. "It was McQueen's idea. He felt Hud would've wanted you two to have it."
"I love it!" Cruz announced.
"I couldn't have imagined a more perfect number", Fudge agreed. With her connection to the racing world, ninety-five and fifty-one had always been Fudge's two favourite numbers. However, since Lightning was physically present, it didn't feel right taking his number. Doc, on the other tyre, was only spiritually present, so it felt right to honour him like this. She and Cruz would always be honoured to sport the number fifty-one and were determined to live up to its legacy.
Luigi rushed forward and gave his daughter the biggest hug he could muster. "You look beautiful, my angel! You look like a racer! I could not be more proud of you!"
The sixteen-year-old beamed as she returned the hug. "Thanks, Luigi! That means a lot." She grinned at the rest of her family and did a model-like turn jokingly. "So, what does everyone else think of the Fabulous Fudge Rossi-Topolino?!"
Everyone laughed. Most of them replied with, "I think she's fabulous!"
"Give us your best Blue Steel!" Sammy joked.
Fudge laughed and obliged. It wasn't great, but it was fun. She squealed with excitement and did a jump. "Oh, I love it! I love it, I love it, I LOVE IT!"
"Oh, it's perfect!" Sally proclaimed, eyeing the two young women. "Both of you! It's very old-school!"
"Did someone just say old-school?!" a familiar voice called out.
With a rev of his engine, Lightning rolled past. He was sporting a new look of his own! In fact, he was no longer red! He was a faded cobalt blue. On his hood was the Rust-Eze logo and on each of his sides were the words FABULOUS LIGHTNING MCQUEEN. He had FOR DOC HUDSON written on his rear bumper. The crowd went wild at the sight of it.
"Oh, my gosh!" Fudge exclaimed as her hand flew up to her mouth and she laughed. She was both amused and deliriously happy. When Lightning had told her and Cruz that he wanted a new paint job to "look the part" as their new crew chief, this wasn't what she'd been expecting at all, but she was beginning to think maybe it should've been. He looked awesome! "Ohhh, yes!"
"Trying something new!" Sally repeated her words of advice before Lightning left Radiator Springs. "I like it!"
"Shiny new paint!" River yelled.
"Doc's back from college!" Lizzie shouted.
"McQueen! Over here!" RJ called and he snapped some pictures.
"Wow! Subtle", Cruz joked as Lightning joined her and Fudge at the starting line.
"Figured if I'm gonna be your crew chief, I'd better do it in style!" Lightning informed them with a grin.
"Well, then, I think you should've gone for the primer!" Fudge teased, to which Lightning grinned and rolled his eyes.
"What's Mr. Sterling gonna say?" Cruz wondered.
"I'm actually more worried about what Tex is gonna say", Lightning corrected her, "considering he, uh, bought Rust-Eze."
"Wait. Really?!" Fudge's eyes widened.
"Really."
"When?! Why didn't you tell me?!"
"After the race and I wanted it to be a surprise. It works out well, too. Mr. Sterling said he preferred the mud flap business over the medicated bumper ointment business, anyway." Then, looking over at the crowd, Lightning called out, "Thanks, Tex!"
There was a familiar horn honking as Tex appeared. "I made that Sterling fella a Texas-sized offer!" he announced.
"Just before we begin", Fudge got her family and friends' attention, "I've got something I wanna say. And I don't know how else to say it..." She reached into her backpack and pulled out the pom-poms she used to use at Lightning's races before she was promoted to crew chief. Everyone else began to laugh and cheer.
"I made up a chant for Lightning a couple of years ago", Fudge explained, grinning at Cruz, "so it didn't seem right not to give you one."
"You wrote me a chant?!" The yellow car sounded flattered.
"Well, let's hear it!" Lightning requested excitedly.
"Okay. Well, this'll be the first time even I've heard it out loud, so..." Fudge took a deep breath, ready to begin. Then she yelled, "Ready? Okay!" She started jumping around, her brown, blue and yellow hair flying. Her chant went like this:
"Yo, Storm! You ready to lose?!
"I hope so 'cause here comes Cruz!
"Now that McQueen's far too old,
"Cruz is gonna win the gold!
"Go, Cruz! Go, go, go!
"Number one for Dinoco!
"Friends with Fudge, McQueen and Sal!
"A better racer than Cal!
"Too good to race for Sterling!
"Ramirez, always winning!
"Let me say it nice and loud!
"We are gonna make Doc proud!"
There was a long pause before every single person there burst out laughing.
"You took a couple of digs at some of us there, Fudge!" Lightning chuckled.
"Yeah, I'm just dishing it out!" the human girl laughed.
"And I'm gonna tell Cal what you said about him!" Tex added, amused.
"Eh." Fudge shrugged. "I'm not afraid of Cal."
"So", Lightning began once everyone had calmed down, looking at Fudge and Cruz, "ready to start training?"
"I don't know", Cruz quipped. "You ready to lose again?"
"Very funny!" Lightning snickered as Fudge hollered, "Ohhh! Roasted!" Then the stock car looked at the human girl. "Shouldn't you be getting into position?"
"Actually... I was wondering... Maybe just this once... If I could go with you? You know, for old times' sake?"
For a moment, Lightning hesitated. Then he broke out into a huge grin. "Sure. Why not? If that's all right with you, Cruz."
"Only if Fudge doesn't mind going slow!"
"Oh!" Lightning exclaimed as Fudge climbed into a good position on his roof. "Hope you got your fluffy cloud! And your Get Psyched Mix!" he added, looking up at Fudge.
"I hope you got your drip pan!" Cruz fired back.
"Got my drip pan and I've taken my nap", he confirmed jokingly.
"Yeah, we actually had our nap together", Fudge chimed in. She sighed with happiness. "Naps are great."
"Bring it on, old man!" Cruz challenged.
Lightning looked to the Fiat in front of him. "Luigi?"
"Go!" Luigi shouted, jumping to face the other way.
Lightning and Cruz rocketed off with Fudge while everyone else cheered like crazy and RJ took photo after photo. Fudge had a huge grin as she felt the rush of moving two hundred miles an hour with the wind on her face. She always felt free when she went out racing, but she felt it now more than ever. Maybe it was because Lightning had finally learned to trust himself to race with her. Or because she felt on top of the world. Both, she decided.
She also thought about her feelings before Jackson Storm showed up. Thoughts of how she wished she had some friends her own age and friends who appreciated her for who she was. Now, she saw Cruz beside her, whooping with joy as they raced together. Okay, maybe Cruz wasn't her own age, but she was close enough for Fudge- after all, she was still young enough to be Fudge's sister- and she genuinely cared about her. Plus, with Cruz, the Legends and Herman coming into her life along with her new racing friends, Sammy's baby on the way and Doc's presence close by growing stronger and stronger every day, she felt like her family just kept growing. On top of that, her new job seemed even better than her old one; if that was even possible!
"Fudge?" Lightning spoke up.
"Yeah?"
"You've been pretty quiet. Is something wrong?"
"No, no!" she assured him hurriedly. "I was just thinking!"
"About what?"
The sixteen-year-old grinned. "How good it is to be happy."
Lightning grinned too. "Yeah, it feels pretty good, doesn't it?"
Fudge didn't answer. She just smiled.
Lightning caught up to Cruz and laughed. "You're pretty good on the dirt!" he congratulated her as the two of them performed the "turn right to go left" trick.
"That's right, old man!" Cruz grinned. "I know all your tricks!"
Fudge and Lightning both grinned too. Those words sounded so familiar, which was what gave both of them the same idea.
"Hold on, Fudge!" Lightning whispered before he flung himself off the track, seemingly out of control and giving a loud yell. Fudge yelled out too as they disappeared down a ravine.
Needless to say, Cruz was horrified. She skidded to a stop and peered into the ravine. "Mr. McQueen?! Fudge?!"
At that moment, they leapt out of the ravine, shouting and laughing.
"Not all my tricks, rookie!" Lightning called to her as he roared into the lead.
"Mr. McQueen!" Cruz exclaimed in disbelief, racing to catch him.
Fourth order of business, I'm sure that last bit was familiar to all of you.
Fifth order of business, I like this chapter and I couldn't leave Herman out! XD
Sixth order of business, I hope you guys like Fudge's new look! I based the racing suit on designs I've seen for humanised Cruz on Tumblr and I thought the hair dye would be a nice new look for her. (And in case you didn't know the Blue Steel is a reference to the movie Zoolander.) I hope you liked her chant too!
Seventh order of business, the special occasion I was saving this for was when my new Dinoco 51 T-shirt arrived! So, I'm twinning (tripletting?) with Fudge and Cruz right now!
Eighth order of business, just some reminders. Reminder 1: Please review. Reminder 2: Next chapter is the last one, so this is your last chance to get questions in for the Q and A.
Ninth and final order of business, the final quiz question: What did Fudge give Lightning in the cruising scene of Life Could Be a Dream that he still has in his trailer in Driven to Win?
