Author's Note: Hi again! Here's a new chapter! I haven't really drawn Jane in a while, so I doodled her on my Instagram! I can't post any links, of course, so if you're interested, just search: 0lemons0 in your Instagram app.

Same way it's spelled here!

Enjoy, guys!

Chapter 21 - "Speed. She is Speed."

Jane was still gone.

"Well, I did it," Lightning said, trying to smile, "I drove four feet."

Sally attempted to smile back at her husband as well.

"That's great, sweetheart!" said Sally, "Now..now we can look for Jane together."

She rolled next to him and leaned her right tire out. Lightning leaned against her tire and drove to the exit of Doc's clinic with her.

"Wow, Lightning!" Nurse GTO exclaimed, "Looks like someone is ready to leave!"

"I sure hope so," said Lightning.

"You ready?" asked Sally. Lightning sighed and nodded. Sally slowly pushed the swinging doors open, holding them for him. The sunlight burst through the crack of the door and into Lightning's eyes that were so used to the gloom of the clinic. The race car squinted and put out his tire to open it more by himself. When his tire touched the door, he pushed, but the sunlight quickly vanished. The shadow of a car made an eclipse on Lightning's windshield. Lightning and Sally's eyes focused for a moment. It was a female, sparkling ruby red mustang. Her plump lips were just bent into a small smile and her eyes were masked with happiness.

"Oh, excuse us," said Sally, "We didn't know you were on the other side."

"Don't worry, now, hun! It's fine! I don' bite!" said the ruby mustang. She looked past the Porsche and over to Lightning. She looked at all of the racing stickers on his body.

"Oh, heavens! Sweet light! You're Lightnin' McQueen! So that means you're..Sally? Ya see, I was drivin' 'round here last night when I blew a tire. Poor little me was stuck in the middle of the road-," she thought for a moment, "When...a nice car came to me and fixed my tire."

"You must mean Luigi. Yeah, he's obsessed with tires. It's his family's business back in Italy," said Lightning.

"Uh, yeah, him. Anyways, I was told that there was one little room available in your motel, Sally. I was told to check in with you when mornin' came, so here I am! I would like to check in! I hope you don't mind, but since that there door was unlocked, I drove right on in. I promised I was gonna pay though and anyone who knows me knows that I always keep my dear little promises! I was told to go to the clinic to find Lightning McQueen and then find his wife. Surely a woman of your beauty would be his wife, right?"

Sally blushed at her compliment. The spot right where her hood met her windshield became a light pink color, "Sure, it's fine that you went inside the room. I'll just check you in now!"

Sally turned to Lightning, "Do you think you'll be okay on your own?"

"Sure I will, baby. I'll just drive on over to Luigi's and get my tires filled with air. Being off of them for so long, things feel a bit off."

"Okay, let's go, miss!" said Sally. The Mustang smiled and drove with Sally to her motel. She was looking around the town with a huge smile on her face.

"I never got your name," said Sally. The Mustang didn't answer. She was still in her trance staring around at the town. Sally cleared her throat and with a little more volume she repeated, "I said I never got your name."

The Mustang jerked, "I'm sorry, was too busy lookin' 'round here. I'm new so I don't know the sights too well. My name is Vermella."

"Nice to meet you, Vermella!"

When they arrived, Sally looked at her list of guests and found the empty space next to the words: CONE NUMBER FOUR

She started to write Vermella's name: V-E-R-M-A-Y-

Vermella noticed this and her front tires started to tremble. From the corner of Sally's windshield, she was able to see Vermella's shaking tires, as she was writing in her name. She paused and looked up, "Is there a problem? You're shaking."

Vermella snapped out of it and said, "Just a lil' chill," she bit her bottom lip and pressed her tongue to the back of her upper front teeth, then released, "You spelled my name wrong."

Sally looked down at her writing and said, "No, I just didn't finish writing your name because I noticed you were-"

"No, my dear, you spelled my name wrong."

Sally looked down at her name and then back up at Vermella.

"So how do you-"

"V-E-R-M-E-L-L-A."

Sally rubbed her tire on the paper and the pencil marks erased. She then corrected her name.

"Alright, Vermella! You're almost all set!"

"Almost?"

"Yeah, now I just need to go to your room and check if all is well in there. I apologize for not doing it last night, but I had no idea you were coming, so I'll go check it right-"

"No, that won't be necessary, Mrs. McQueen!"

"I hope you're not worrying about me going through anything private of yours. I'm very professional when it comes to both of my jobs. You have nothing to worry about."

"I would really like it if you just gave me a moment to give myself peace of mind."

Sally raised a lid, "No problem.."

"Then…be back soon!"

Vermella drove out of the lobby and over to cone number four. She opened up the garage door.

"Mommy!" Jane cheered, but it wasn't Sally, and so her smile faded.

"Where's my mommy?" asked Jane.

Mater looked down at his engine with a frown, then looked over at Vermella.

"You ain't that cold...you didn't do it…did you?" asked Mater.

"Not yet. I just need to take Leo with me for a few minutes."

Mater's engine sank and his pupils shrunk. His tow hook was starting to vibrate again – to the point of rust raining off of it. Vermella inched closer and closer to Jane. Jane wore an ignorant smile upon her front bumper. She put up her front wheels, "You're taking me to see my mommy now?"

Vermella didn't answer her.

"Ver-mel-ah, are you taking me to-"

"It's VER-MAY-AH!" screamed Vermella. She lifted her tire and slapped Jane across the face. Vermella's slap spun Jane's body. Jane, in so much shock, was still in her new position. Her mouth was hanging open and a small bit of thick oil ran down the corner of her mouth. Vermella's tire mark was printed on her once perfectly white paint.

Mater gasped and he slammed on his gas pedal, speeding towards Vermella. At the corner of her eye, Vermella saw Mater coming, so she threw herself in reverse and Mater slammed into the wall of the cone, which formed a huge dent with cracks all around it. A picture on the wall of a caution cone statute that mocked him, was now cracked on the ground.

Jane was still frozen. Vermella glared at her and yelled, "Maybe now you won't get my name wrong, GOT IT?"

Jane didn't answer her. She couldn't answer.

"Now get in my trunk, Leo. We're getting out of here for a little while."

Mater backed away from the wall and turned around.

"She never been hit by no one before," said Mater.

"It's about time someone did," Vermella scoffed. "Now, she's coming with me and-"

Mater flung his tow hook under the garage door and with all of his might, yanked it open just enough for Jane.

"JANE! RUN!" screamed Mater.

Vermella turned to the door fast, "WAIT."

"GO!" screamed Mater. Jane snapped out of it and heard Mater. Vermella clenched her teeth and grabbed at Jane to catch her, but she wasn't fast enough. Jane looked at the opening and put her pedal to the metal. She sped out of cone number four and out to the street. She looked both ways in the street and remembered that her parents always told her to never cross without them.

"YOU IDIOT! YOU FOOL!" yelled Vermella, slamming her wheels into the ground. Mater glared at her and said, "Stop makin' fun of yourself, Ver-mel-ah. It ain't nice."

Vermella growled. She grabbed the bottom of the garage door in her treads and pulled up as hard as she can, while Mater pushed down. Vermella huffed and she fought him, then she lowered to the ground, and pressed her hood underneath the door. She pushed up with all four tires, prying against Mater's weight. The door pressed into her hood, beginning to bend her, but she wouldn't give up.

Mater was tall enough and could see through the door's window that Jane wasn't moving because she was in the street without an adult. He yelled, "IT'S OKAY! GO! RACE, JANE!"

While Mater was distracted, Vermella gave it one last push, and the door opened up just enough for her too. As she tackled through, the bottom of the door scraped her roof.

Jane looked in her side view mirror and saw Vermella coming up fast. She looked down the open road to Ornament Valley, a world she's never explored before, right in front of her.

She narrowed her eyes and revved her engine.

Mater threw the door open, "RACE!"

Jane slammed forward and, within seconds, was speeding through the town. She was driving so fast, cars could barely see her. She didn't know the rules of the road, so she was driving all over the place. She didn't know that she needed to stay on the right side of the road, but after narrowly missing a bunch of cars, she got the idea. Vermella was speeding around all of the cars in front of her too. She was trying her best to stay on the right side of the road, but whenever there were no cars on the left side, she cheated.

"LOOK OUT!"

"HEY!"

"WATCH IT!"

"WHOSE KID IS THIS?"

Jane didn't care.

The race was on.