I'm taking a little break from re-doing old chapters and am presenting you with chapter 10! If you haven't already, then I suggest you should really check out the Prologue redone, I like it a lot more than the original one. And we're getting so close to the crash!
(Guest #1): Thank you! hi
(Guest) Natalie Derpner: You'll see what I have in store for the crash ;) And the cars you suggested, I have no clue who they are.
(Guest) Sam Fraser: You'll have to wait for the crash and what happens after it. ;) Oh no! You have found my Google identity! I need to go into hiding! Thanks for the feedback on Guilt and Storms as well. As for Sally, you'll see what I have in store for her, it may be good or it may be bad. And yep, it's official, Lightning McQueen's birth name is Monty McQueen.
(Guest) CarsGeek24: Lol, we really do think alike. And GAHHH I keep on typing 'Bryan Laney' because Ryan's voice actor is named Ryan Blaney so I keeping on accidentally putting the 'B' in somewhere. And believe me, you're not one of the ones that spams me with reviews.
Cristalstarmochi: You're totally not a bad person. But I would have included Usain Bolt if I would have known more about track racing. I'm a swimmer so it's like mandatory for me to know about Michael Phelps. XD And thanks for the support!
(Guest) Peaches Lamb: I have something in store for Jackson after the crash :)
(Guest) Harisfool 54: You won't be disappointed. I'm making the crash as detailed as possible.
(Guest) tin van Kraling: Most definitely the crash will be stopped! Look at all the serious NASCAR crashes, the whole race is canceled sometimes!
(Guest) Jordan Camillie: Yup, that is the picture for Mr Brown. Also thank you for the support!
(Guest) Mr Brown: You'll have to wait and see!
(Guest) Iwishihadapuppy: Maybe, maybe not. It really depends on a. how lazy I am, and b. school.
(Guest) Knight Rider: Of course I'm going to show what happens in between the garage and the race.
(Guest) Grey: Thanks!
(Guest) JackSpicer2311: Like I said to the others, I have something in store for the crash ;)
PlatoOfAncientRome34: ikr lol!
(Guest) mike kemp: That is true.
(Guest) NinjaCheif547: Well they have to get their ideas out somehow.
Whew that was a lot of reviews, now…..ON WITH THE STORY!
This was it. In less than 24 hours Jackson would be proving to everyone that he isn't a complete failure. In less than 24 hours Jackson would race that final race, leave McQueen in the dust and win that Piston Cup. It's kind of funny, two years ago Jackson never would have pictured himself being a racer much less actually winning the Piston Cup! If he kept this up, it would make him a millionaire in no time. But that's not what Jackson really wanted. What he really wanted was to see his parents happy with him again. He figured since he was already in LA for the race, he could maybe visit his parents…..if they would even allow him.
Jackson left his hotel mid afternoon to his old house. There were two separate parts you had to go through in order to get to his old house. The security guard, and then the gate. The security guard was easy to get by, all he had to do was show his ID and pass. As he entered the gated neighborhood though, he noticed not much had changed since he left two years ago. The tree house that he used to play in with Chase was still there, he had found out last week that Chase was in fact racing with him. Jackson felt slightly dumb for not recognizing Chase but they had been getting closer again. Jackson continued down the road and saw the same lawn decorations from fifteen years ago remained in his neighbor's yard. The Bestleys always had the same stones and flamingos in the same exact spot. But his house however seemed to be lacking any real personality. The sun shown down on the mansion making the white and grey paint blinding to anyone who looked at it. The grass was trimmed to a T with not a single blade longer than the other. Jackson drove up the long pathway to the light beige door and took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. Instead of one of his parents answering the door, it was one of the house maids, a dark blue 1999 BMW 328i, Brianna. She looked at Jackson almost not recognizing him due to his decals, spoiler, and outer skirt. She was practically the mother to him. His own mom hardly ever saw him in his younger years, the most she ever saw him was a couple days at a time due to her work constantly being in and out of the house to do photo shoots or star in a movie.
"Ja-Jackson?! What are you doing here? Your parents are going to kill you!" Brianna whispered loudly which caused Jackson to give his sarcastic laugh.
"So what. I'm faster than them and besides what's the worst they can do to me. I'm a legal adult now, it's not like they can spank me on the bumper or something. I just want to talk to the old man for a little bit before my race." Brianna nodded and let Jackson in who then proceeded to nod as if it was his way of saying thank you.
"Your mother and father are in the living area..." Jackson left before she could finish already knowing where his parents would be. He drove through the many halls before he came up across the living room. He saw his mother along with his father outside the living room on the porch. The sparkling silver 1997 Lamborghini Diablo and the navy blue 1995 Ferrari f355 sat laughing over something probably not worth Jackson's time. Jackson frowned at them not surprised they were having the time of their life without him. He opened the sliding glass door and saw their faces of pure shock as he drove outside to meet them. Jackson smiled at this bittersweet moment.
"Jackson….shouldn't you be somewhere else? Like maybe getting your life sorted out to be successful?" Joanna almost hissed at her son but still had a hint of surprise in her. The Lamborghini rolled over to him with what could be described as awe as she looked over him, studying his decals and spoiler.
"I think not…..mother and I am successful. I th-" Jackson was cut off by his father's deep voice.
"I think so Jackson, you have no business being here unless you have finally decided to do what's best for you." John spoke as if he were mocking Jackson. Jackson stared at them and glared.
"I think I do and you know what? Are ya happy now ma, pa? That I'm finally a success? Well a success in everyone else's eyes except for yours?!" Jackson's temper started showing through slightly.
"Oh please." Joanna exaggerated. "Racing in the Piston Cup is hardly worthy of recognition. Worthy people such as your father and I will go down in the history books and be remembered. Your father will go down as the doctor who gave all of those celebrities you see their modifications and I will forever be remembered as one of the greatest actresses of our time." John piped up again.
"Your mother's right Jackson. Racers hardly ever help people and they don't even get remembered. And don't go and say some random racers like Lightning McQueen or some other guy who I already forgot about." John shrugged his tires. "Who even cares about racing, you can only do it for a short amount of time because once you get old they'll throw you out and you lose the little money you will make."
"I'll make millions! I'm practically a celebrity like you mom! And apparently a lot of people care about racing! Enough so that all the good racers out there make millions!" Jackson raised his voice slightly.
"You are nothing like me Jackson! And unless you quit this phase you will never be like me or your father!" Joanna yelled at her son. Jackson had had enough of this, he thought that he could maybe visit them peacefully but no nothing good ever got to happen to him.
"FINE! If you don't want me, and YOU don't love me enough to even support me the slightest then I'll stay out of your life for good. Ya know I never wanted to be a racer, I just wanted to do simulations and get into computers, game designing, professional gaming! But you had to rip that away from me didn't you." Jackson calmed down and returned to his cool state. "So if you wouldn't mind, I do in fact have no business being here. You guys are just weighing me down anyway. I don't need any of you in my life so good bye for what I hope is until your guys' death." Jackson left through the house not waiting for his parent's reaction, bid Brianna a quick farewell and looked back at his parents one last time. Seeing that they had resumed their conversation as if nothing happened, he left the neighborhood. As Jackson drove through the afternoon traffic he felt pressure build up behind his eyes. NO! Jackson thought to himself Not today! If they don't need me, I don't need them! I will prove them wrong and I will win that damn Piston Cup!
Jackson returned to the hotel feeling like time had stopped...again. He lowered his shocks as he sat at the desk, staring at the clock. Tick, tick, tick, tick. He would switch between his phone and the clock. He sometimes would grab a piece of food. In his mini refrigerator, he had a grand total of a pint of milk, a quart of oil, and a half eaten hamburger , which Jackson's crew chief, Rey would have killed him if he found it. Jackson finished his hamburger and returned to the clock. This was getting old, everything Jackson seemed to be doing right now was old. He wanted his life to change for the better for once, but he guessed that wasn't going to happen soon, especially after todays encounter and all his encounters with McQueen. Sometimes Jackson really envied McQueen, there probably wasn't a single car he knew that hated McQueen. Jackson himself didn't even hate him, he was just annoyed by him. Though it was only around 4 PM, Jackson felt extremely tired. That wasn't a good sign, especially for tomorrow…..tomorrow. Jackson smiled to himself as he thought about it. He would find a way to get into McQueen's head, it was very effective and didn't require any pushing or shoving which could result in a fine so it was perfectly legal. Then he would win the cup, Jackson imagined the race tomorrow with only smooth sailing. Jackson smirked as he closed the curtains to shut out any glimpse of light and secluded himself in the room.
For what felt like in years, Jackson actually felt at piece in this moment. He felt like a weight had been lifted off of his fenders after his encounter with his parents. He felt somewhat free and that he didn't need anyone at that moment. Jackson crawled in the bed with a small smirk knowing that the next day would only be better for him, knowing that McQueen had met his match, knowing that he didn't have to worry about his parents anymore. For once, he actually got more than eight hours of consecutive sleep and Jackson felt great about it.
Meanwhile on the other side of town, Lightning too had been preparing for tomorrow. He was thankful that this season was coming to an end. Man, 2016 as just been full of surprises. I'm just glad this season and year are ending soon. Lightning knew for a fact that he wasn't winning the Piston Cup this year. He was far to many points behind Jackson to even come close to winning it. This year almost felt like a disaster, first Sally, then Jackson, Cal, the Piston Cup. Even Rust-Eze was making less and less money with each loss. This was looking very bad for him. He might even get replaced if he didn't get more wins! But he also knew that Dusty would never do that to him. They were too close for that to happen suddenly. Lightning drove around town trying to ease his nerves and eventually found himself in the local park. It wasn't unusual for his nerves to act up, especially as he got older. He just wished he was as confident as he used to be in his early racing days.
Lightning once again thought about the past even though he was really sick of doing it by this point. He would replay the same scenes, good and bad, in his head over and over again. He would think about the first time he came to Radiator Springs, think about his first Piston Cup with Doc. More emotional times such as when he found out his mom had died a little after he moved to Radiator Springs, or when Doc died, or other times like that. But this time, he thought of the World Grand Prix. Even though it was one of the best times in his life, it was also one of the worst. Lightning kept on replaying the moment where he found out he had almost been murdered in front of everyone. The spies later on explained how he would have died, much to his, Sally's and Mater's displeasure. He first would have felt a burning sensation under his hood which would have then erupted into flames. Lightning couldn't believe how close he was to dying that day. Lightning replayed every single scene he could remember where he had been in a life threatening incident. Several times in his races he had almost wiped out completely.
Lightning shook his hood, trying to erase the memory and resumed his stroll through the park. He tried focusing on tomorrow. The final race was now in less than twelve hours. Warm up would be at noon, then four hours later the race itself would begin and if it went according to plan, it would end around 9 PM. After the race, Lightning thought he should actually try to bond with Storm. Storm seemed a little lost in his way. He seemed like he was stuck in the same emotion or the same day for that matter. Lightning would look at Storm and see a slight image of himself in his rookie year with the exception of Lightning being more energetic. However he knew that Storm would never welcome his attempt but it was worth a shot. Each time Lightning saw Storm and the other Next Gens, he knew that his time on the track was running out and it seemed to be running out fast. Lightning shivered at the thought of him not racing anymore, of him getting slower and slower with age and getting kicked out. His top speed had already started dropping. His fastest speed used to be 202 MPH at his peak when he was 25 but now it was only 198 MPH and even that was a stretch.
The gentle autumn breeze blew warmly across his hood. It wasn't that cold due to the fact that they were in Southern California. Lightning relaxed his shocks and suspension as he lowered down so that his undercarriage touched the grass beneath him. He was glad that there were hardly any cars outside today. The paparazzi had slightly died down ever since he became shadowed by Storm. It was a blessing and a curse. A blessing because he finally got some privacy and a curse because he wasn't getting the attention like he used to which meant less publicity which also means the more likely Lightning will get kicked out of racing. Lightning stared at his reflection in the pond he sat by. Damn I'm getting old. Lightning thought to himself. He definitely didn't look as young as the other guys and it didn't help that racing was known to make you look years older than what you actually were. His model was from 2006, ten years ago. Mater at times looked younger than he did or it might have been based on maturity but it didn't matter. He was almost thirty one but he looked an estimate of seven years older. Even Sally didn't look as old as him. She actually looked her age, but Lightning would always tease her about her looking way older than what she really was. Most of the time it would be playful banter and other times it would be like adding gasoline to a flame, which in those times Lightning ended up sleeping downstairs. Lightning really wished he could turn back the clock, not just because he looked better back then but because he missed those old days. He didn't have to worry about his life too much back then. However Lightning still had all the energy imaginable and that was probably what kept the town so alive. In a way, he kept them young. But now Lightning felt like he was becoming almost a more and more distant version of himself with each race that passed by. He felt like he was a bomb just waiting to explode at any given moment, just waiting to trip, crash, or fall somewhere and he'd fall hard.
Lightning jumped slightly as he felt something buzz throughout his body. He had forgotten he set an alarm to remind him when to start heading back to the hotel. He needed to get as much sleep as possible. He found that out the hard way during his second season. No matter what time he went to bed, on race nights he would always wake up not a second after dawn. Even if he went to bed at 3 AM he would still be up before the sun. 'The Rookie Mistakes List' Doc would call Lightning's one of many mess ups. He returned to the hotel not even feeling the slightest bit sleepy but he knew better. He shut the thick blinds that blocked out the sunlight and climbed into the twin sized bed. Normally Sally would be with him at this time but she said she was feeling slightly too ill to travel so she was coming tomorrow morning. At first Lightning was real worried about her. It turned out to be just the side effects of a cold. She had a slight fever that broke a couple of hours ago much to Lightning's relief. Lightning just prayed that tomorrow would go by smoothly and that he could just get it over with it and have Jackson win the Piston which Lightning himself wasn't too happy about. He closed his eyes just dreading tomorrow. This was certainly going to be a season that Lightning didn't want to remember.
WHOOP WHOOP! You guys know what next chapter's going to be about! And is that possible separate story ideas I spy with Chick and Bubba? Honestly though, after reading the World of Cars comic books from 2008-2010 or 2011, there's a book that shoes Chick teaming up with Bubba and I think it might be interesting to write about. If I don't write about Cruz and Jackson first ;)