Chapter 14. - Training For The Big Race -

The next morning: Lightning's training went very well. He got up to one hundred and seventy miles per hour and power slid with better consistency than before. "

Great job, Kiddo." Doc said, looking incredibly happy "You're done for today."

"Thanks, Doc." Lightning said with a huge grin on his face "Do you think I'll be ready for the Dinoco 400 in time?"

"You'd be ready for it if it were tomorrow." Doc replied "Besides I need to register you for the race, today is the last day for entries."

"Do I have a chance at winning the cup?" Lightning asked "If not, I'll wait for next season."

"Sapphire has won every race since your accident." Doc said "She does have a chance to win the cup if, you don't race well. As you know, all the points are doubled for this race."

"Register me then." Lightning said tiredly "I'm sure Sally has something for me to do."

"Oh That's right, the wedding is only three weeks away. I need to start working on my part." Doc said "Oh, I almost forgot. Because of your accident, the league management and racing officials had an emergency meeting. A new policy was immediately put into place. From now on, there is to be no racing in the rain. Light showers are fine, but when there's a down pour, the race will be suspended until it stops raining. There are severe consequences if the officials don't abide by the new rules."

"Well that's good news." Lightning said while yawning "At least nobody else will have to go through what I have."

"All right." Doc said "See ya, Rookie." Lightning yawned again as he headed to the cone.

On the way to the Cozy Cone's office: It was quieter than usual. Sarge and Fillmore hadn't started blaring their music yet. Enjoying the quiet morning, Lightning reached the Cozy Cone's office.

"Hey there sexy!" Sally said as Lightning entered the office "Did you have a good workout?"

"Yes I did. Doc is happy with the way things are going." Lightning replied "We're done training for the day so, what needs to be done wedding-wise?"

"You're wanting to help with the wedding stuff?" Sally asked, raising an eyebrow "That sounds a little suspicious."

"I feel like I haven't exactly been a huge help." Lightning admitted sheepishly "I feel a little guilty."

"Don't worry about it." Sally said "You've been very busy."

"So there's nothing I can do to help?" Lightning asked, eyeing his cone hopefully "I'm tired and would love to take a nap. But I want to help you."

"You can keep me company." Sally said "The cone doesn't have a lot of guests today so I have some time to work on sorting RSVPs. Then in an hour we have an appointment with Flo."

"I think I can stay awake for that." Lightning commented "How many people can't make it?"

"Two, so far… old college friends." Sally said "You don't know them."

"Oh, okay." Lightning said before trying to hide a yawn "How many people have returned their RSVPs?"

"Four hundred and thirty-six." Sally said "There's only a few people we haven't heard from."

"Wow! That's a lot." Lightning said "Big wedding, here we come!"

He started humming the wedding march. Sally giggled and was relieved that Lightning was excited about their wedding.

An hour later:

"Are you ready to go to Flo's? I asked her to make our wedding cake." Sally said "We need to finalize the plans so she can start getting everything ready."

"Flo's making our cake?" Lightning asked "I have two words for that… yum, yum."

Sally laughed as they headed across the street.

"Hi Flo!" Sally said as they pulled into the café "Were here to finalize plans for the wedding cake."

"Hi Sally, Hi Sugar!" Flo called from the kitchen "Give me a minute and I'll be with you."

When Flo was done giving instructions to her kitchen staff, she took them to her office.

Being inside Flo's office, you had the impression of going back in time to the 70s. Motorama pictures were all over the walls, a disco ball hung over her desk, and there were pictures of Flo in her glory days.

"I know I'm not my husband when it comes to drawing." Flo said as she drove to her desk and parked behind it "What do you think? It's not bad if I say so myself."

Flo showed the drawings to the couple. Lightning and Sally looked them over.

"What flavor would you like?" Sally asked "That's something we have to decide on."

"Ugh… wedding cake flavor, I guess." Lightning said "I didn't know we had a choice."

"Sugar, you can have anything you want." Flo said "Let me call the kitchen and I'll have Chef Rob bring you some samples."

"You mean if I wanted a chocolate cake with blue icing and sprinkles, you'll make it for me?" Lightning said playfully, Flo nodded "That's so awesome! *mimics Homer Simpson.* mmm… sprinkles!"

Flo and Sally laughed so hard that they nearly wet themselves. After sampling different cake flavors, they decided on Orange Galliano Infused. Orange Curd as the filling and Galliano Infused Buttercream for the frosting. For the decorations, Lightning and Sally went with Flo's original design.

"Are you okay?" Sally asked as Lightning stifled a yawn "You look like you could fall asleep at any moment."

"I'm fine." Lightning replied "I didn't realize how out of shape I was."

"Go take a nap." Sally said "Flo and I can finish up without you."

"Sounds good to me." Lightning said, before kissing Sally on the fender "Get me up in a few hours."

He drove to the cone and parked on the couch that was in the lobby. Lightning closed his eyes and was asleep in minutes. Sally woke him up at lunch time.

"You want to stop by Flo's and get something for take away?" he asked "I'm buying."

Lightning winced as his axle had a sharp pain.

"Go to the apartment." Sally said "I'll go to Flo's. What do you want?"

"Whatever she has ready." He said "I'm starving."

Lightning handed her his wallet and headed to the apartment, Sally headed to Flo's.

The next morning: Doc woke Lightning up at six.

"C'mon, Kid." Doc said "It's time to train, so get your butt out of bed."

Lightning groaned and opened his eyes. He opened the door to his cozy cone and rolled out.

"We're doing some serious training today." Doc said "We need to do this before it gets hot."

"The fun never stops with you does it?" Lightning yawned "Besides, we're in a desert, it's always hot."

"Very funny, Rookie. Are you keeping the brace on all the time?" Doc asked "I don't want to mess up the alignment of your axles. If it heals in the wrong position, I'll have to re-break it and then you won't be racing for a long time."

"Yeah." Lightning said, gently stretching "It's getting a little better each day."

Lightning winced as he stretched a little more then he should and his injured axle balked.

"Go ahead and warm up." Doc said once the two cars reached Willy's Butte "Just let me know when you're done."

Lightning nodded and headed to the track and started going around at fifty. After a couple laps, Lightning took it up to seventy, and after seventy to one hundred miles per hour.

"Good warm up." Doc said "We're going to try two hundred for at least two hundred laps."

"Am I ready for that?" Lightning asked nervously "I don't want to injure myself."

"You'll be fine." Doc said "You shouldn't have a problem with it."

"You're the doc, Doc." Lightning said "You realize this is going to take forever."

He was still slightly nervous, but he got on the track and took off anyway.

"It won't be too bad." Doc said as Lightning power slid through his first turn "Good work, Kiddo. Keep it up!"

An hour and a half later: Lightning finished his two hundredth lap.

"Great work, Rookie." Doc said as Lightning drove up to him "Take a couple of cool down laps. How does your axle feel?"

"It's throbbing." Lightning admitted, slowly driving around the track "But, I just did two hundred laps at two hundred miles per hour."

"Go get something to eat and then sit on ice for an hour." Doc said "After you're done icing, I want to x-ray your axle to make sure you're not tearing it up."

"Food, ice, x-rays, got it." Lightning said "Anything else?"

"Nope." Doc said "Oh, and the Piston Cup circuit managers called me. Your spot has already been filled. I managed to get you the provisional position."

"That's great." Lightning said "That means I have to start from the back?"

"Yes it does." Doc said "But you're a great racer, where you start the race won't matter."

"And after that, it's on to the wedding." Lightning said "Sally has hired a private jet for us, so we can fly directly to LA."

"I heard instead of helping Sally yesterday, you fell asleep and took a four-hour nap." Doc said "That's a great way to help."

"I was tired!" Lightning said indignantly "Hey! I helped… a little."

"Okay, Kid." Doc laughed "Go get something to eat."

Lightning drove up the bank, onto the main road, and to Flo's café where he ordered two cans of electrolytes.

"Hey." Sally said, driving up as Lightning finished his first can "How did things go?"

"Really good." Lightning replied "I did two hundred laps at two hundred miles per hour."

"That's great!" Sally said "And to think a week ago, you said you were quitting."

"What are your plans for the rest of the day?" Sally asked "I might need you later."

"I'm going to take a nap while sitting on ice. Then I'm getting my axle x-rayed." Lightning said "I don't have any plans after that."

"Okay." Sally said "I'll call you later."

"What do you need help with?" Lightning asked "If you want, I can do that while I ice my axle."

"No, go take a nap." Sally said "You've been training hard."

Over the next three weeks: Lightning trained very hard. Doc kept his promise and gave Lightning a drug test before they left for the track.

"Good news, Rookie." Doc said, before boarding his trailer "You only have trace amounts of painkiller in your system."

"That's not going to cause a problem is it?" Lightning asked "I don't want to be disqualified."

"You're fine." Doc said "The levels are so low; you wouldn't have a problem if the race was tomorrow."

"Thanks, Doc." Lightning said "That's good to know." "All right Kid." Doc said "Let's load and go."

Two days later, late morning: Lightning and Doc arrived at the Motor Speedway of the South. It was five days before the Dinoco 400 and the track was buzzing with activity. Riley and Merida were there to great them.

"Hi Minion!" Lightning said as Merida hugged him tightly "Do you want to loosen that death grip? I can't breathe!"

"You're already brain dead, so what's the point?" Merida said playfully "I just came from LA, everything is going great. Sally is suffering from a case of pre-wedding nerves… but then you are the one she's marrying!"

Lightning knew Sally was in LA finalizing everything for the wedding. Before they left, Sally promised she would watch the race on TV. Lightning also knew that his mother had problems with him racing, so he suggested that she head to LA and help Sally.

"At least I found someone to love." Lightning said "How many boyfriends have you had… I know of only two."

"This family needs only one slut/whore and you beat me to it." Merida said "Besides, my prince charming isn't riding a white horse... he's riding a turtle and definitely lost. You have to say something to Dad, he got his rear view mirrors pierced."

Riley was on his phone to somebody when Lightning looked at him. In each of his rearview mirrors, Riley had a large diamond earring. Lightning had to admit, it made him look sexy.

Moments later: "Solas Brón. (Sorry Light.)" Riley said "Ba é sin an stiúideo, bhí cúpla rud le críochnú agam. (That was the studio, I had a few things to finish.)"

"Tá sé ceart go leor (It's fine.)" Lightning said as they hugged "Cén chaoi a bhfuil tú? (How have you been?)"

"Suas go dtí coicís ó shin, bhí mé go maith. (Up until two weeks ago, I was fine.)" Riley said "Ghlac mé le moladh do dheirfiúr agus cuireadh mo scátháin i dtoll a chéile ... Ach tá sé ceart go leor, sílim go n-ullmhaítear fir a bhfuil scátháin pollta acu le pósadh. Tá taithí acu ar phian agus cheannaigh siad seodra. (I took your sister's suggestion and had my mirrors pierced… But it's okay, I think men who have pierced mirrors are prepared for marriage. They've experienced pain and bought jewelry.)"

Lightning laughed at his father's joke.

"Ós rud é nach bhfuil scátháin réamhamhairc agam, ní gá dom a bheith buartha faoi sin. (Since I don't have rearview mirrors, I don't have to worry about that.)" He said "Cad a cheapann Mam? (What does Mom think?)"

"Níl a fhios agam ... Ní raibh an t-am agam ceist a chur uirthi. (I don't know… I haven't had the time to ask her.)" Riley said "Gach oíche nuair a théim abhaile, déanann sí beeline do mo chód. Ní féidir gearán a dhéanamh áfach, ní raibh an oiread sin gnéis againn ó mhí na meala. (Every night when I come home, she makes a beeline for my codpiece. Can't complain though, we haven't had this much sex since our honeymoon.)"

For the entire week: Lightning trained every day, twice a day. He managed to do five hundred laps at two hundred miles per hour on Friday. He took Saturday off, because Doc wanted him to rest and relax. Besides he had a full day of doing interviews with different news crews. Lightning was happy to meet Anderson Mini-Cooper from CNN (Car Network News).

After dinner on Friday night: Lightning and Merida were headed back to her hotel room when one of Merida's fans stopped and asked if he could have a picture with her. Merida agreed and stood very close to him for the picture. After the picture was taken and they were about to pull apart, the fan reached under Merida and grabbed her codpiece. Ever the professional, she just rolled away and smiled awkwardly. However Lightning saw what happened. Enraged, he punched the car in the face, making oil flow out of his grill.

"If I ever see you grabbing my sister like that again." Lightning raged "I'll beat the fuck out of you."

"Your career is over McQueen. I'll see to that." The car said "My father is a major sponsor. I'll make sure he knows what you did."

"Go ahead and try." Lightning challenged "And I'll make sure the world knows what a pervert you are."

Hotel security officers booted and towed the car away.

"Do you want to press charges?" The security chief asked "You're not the first car he's harassed. I've been getting complaints about him for a couple of days."

"No, he's not worth the effort. Just make sure he can't come back into the hotel." Merida said as Lightning opened his mouth to protest "Light, let me handle this. This is not the first time I've had to deal with somebody like this."

AN: Next chapter: Doc experiences Merida's anger.

ALSO: SIDELINED: A New Beginning, has been reformatted. There has been a few tiny changes, but not a lot.

COMMENTS:

Guest 2 - Lightning's temper really drove over him with his attitude towards Sally there.- Everyone has a breaking point, Lightning is no different. We all say things we don't mean in the heat of the moment. But Sally was pushing a little to hard. She sees her error and backs off a little.

Flo loves Sally like a mother and won't tolerate bad attitude like that about her. Flo loves Lightning too but then Lightning had that glare coming.- Flo mothers everyone, even to those who don't want to me mothered.

Reporters have some nerve harassing til they get warned with karma.- Some reporters are a total pain in the ass.

Doc really knocked Lightning out of his tailpipe with that amount of sense and scolding making.- Now and again, we need someone to grab us by the ears and "What in the hell is your problem?"

Lightning realize he still has what makes him happy. I like Doc being a father figure to Lightning. A real spark lit up in Sally from Lightning there. Still as horny as always.- You know how young lovers are!

Very cushy of Sally helping out with Lightning's brace. Naughty Lightning though! Sally may not be racer but Porsches are designed with racing pedigree in mind. Hahahaha!- Sally has only portrayed as a brainy woman. I wanted to show she has an athletic ability too.

Oh that horny talk made me laugh. Thank you.- I wanted to show that the girls are just as bad as their boyfriends.

Please write a little hot moment between Lightning, Sally, Doc and Sophia. I know it'll be a matter of time but please make Lightning a stealthy Deputy Sheriff in your later story. For now I'll let you carry on surprising me til I think of some ideas.- Ok, I have all the time in the world right now, so I might publish a few chapters early, so keep an eye out for them.

I know this whole Corona Virus is causing impact but don't let it put you off your stories. Stay safe- I haven't worked in 2 weeks, but we were getting paid. We're now officially furloughed, don't know when the store is going to reopen. I'm so bord, I'm losing my flipping mind. The house is so clean, you could eat off any surface you wanted. The only one enjoying this is Stella, she likes having me home all day… every day.

I've just had another idea. Don't know if it'll fit but see if you like it. You might be familiar with coin master. For a little fun between Lightning and Sally. Do it where one of them attacks each other's village and they get payback by taking each other's phones and attacking their families making them get a slapped bumper. Then they punish each other with a hard hot session. Bad moment like Sophia and Doc had in sidelined new beginning. You know how funny pranks can be. I can see Sally saying 'Oh you're in trouble now bad boy'- I don't know that game, but it sounds a lot like Lords Mobile. I'll see what I can do.

Scarlet-

This is very good! – Thanks and welcome! It makes me happy that you're enjoying the story.

I like how you add in Doc and Sophia in some parts, Really spices up the story!- I wanted to show even they are a "mature couple" they sometimes don't act like it.

Also, I have a few ideas in mind. Maybe add a sexual scene with lightning parents- I've been working on a little something. It happens a little later in the story.

Or, Maybe throw and After party for Doc and Sophia. Maybe Sally could start racing with Lightning. Just a few ideas!- I like your ideas, let me see what I can do with them.

I do not own Cars or any of its characters. PIXAR AND DISNEY CLAIM THAT RIGHT. READING ENJOYMENT ONLY

Please read and review! I need criticism and encouragements! Rated M for language and sex.