Chapter 4 - Some Help
"You want to what?" Queen asked in disbelief, as she stared down the barren track of Willy's Butte.
"You heard me—I wanna race, just me and you. If you beat me, you'll earn my respect," Boost explained with a smirk.
"And what's in it for you if I lose?" Queen questioned with a squint.
"You'll have ta join the Tuners."
"What?!"
"AND you'll have to use nitrous."
"But I don't have a nitrous oxide engine!"
"Then you'll just have ta get one installed when ya lose, Queenie," Boost informed with a sneer.
"Well, it's not 'Princess', but I still don't like it," Queen muttered under her breath, wondering if Boost actually knew that that was her real first name, "ok, I'll race you, but the loser also has to buy drinks for the whole gang at Flo's."
"Deal."
"So, how's this gonna work?" Queen asked as she once again stared down the track, having to squint her eyes from the bright afternoon sun.
"One total lap around the track; first one to cross the finish line is the winner," Boost explained while turning himself straight towards the old rope weighed down by two tires on the sides that served as the starting line.
"Oh, really? 'Cause I thought the one who came in second would win," Queen chuckled sarcastically, and joined Boost at the starting line.
"Shut up," Boost hissed.
"YOU shut up! Hope you realize that this is a DIRT track, so don't make promises your mouth can't keep, Booster Seat."
"You also can't call me that anymore when I beat you."
"Whatever. And it's not a matter of 'when', it's a matter of 'if'. You don't look like you've raced on dirt a day in your life. But me? Oh, I've had my fair share of fun races on dirt tracks, so you better be prepared for the sight of my bumper for the whole race."
"Now who's bein' too cocky?" Boost asked in frustration, but Queen only responded with a sudden loud rev of her engine, and she flashed the gang leader a boastful smirk.
And Boost responded back with an even louder rev of his engine, as bright purple flames danced from his two tailpipes, and he scowled at the yellow Ford Mustang for a moment before focusing on the track ahead.
"You ready, Booster Seat?"
"Are you, Princess?"
"You bet your purple ass I am!"
"Well, ladies first!"
With that, the two suddenly sped down the track at the exact same time, and Boost instantly took the lead with the help of his nitrous oxide. But Queen didn't let him have the lead long when they came up to the first big turn with a rock wall, and she effortlessly drove up onto the wall, Boost was left in the dust when he was having turning on the dirt.
But he started to keep up with her at the next straight away, so Queen jumped right in front of him, and kept doing so every time he tried to pass her.
"Ya know, Princess, if ya like me so much, you don't gotta prove it to me by tryin' ta making me kiss your bumper!" Boost shouted mockingly, which took Queen by surprise like he wanted, allowing him to finally drive up to her right side.
"If you don't like the view that much, then don't stare, Johnny Bravo!" Queen hissed back while trying to back into the lead.
"Oh, I'M not the pervert, not when YOU'RE the one wearin' that obscene bumper sticker!" Boost shouted, and he grinned evilly when he saw Queen look back at him with fear in her rearview mirrors.
"What do you mean?!"
"I mean, I've seen a lot of suggestive bumper stickers before, but THIS one takes the cake! But there's still two problems with it; I don't have a horn, and I don't like you at all!"
"What the hell are you talking about?! What does it say?!"
"'Honk if you're horny'!" Queen immediately blushed while involuntarily slowing down out of embarrassment, cursing Lizzie's name under her breath for giving her such a bumper sticker.
And this gave Boost the chance to fully pass her, leaving her in the dust like she did on the first turn. But the Kyoku-Jitsu car once again wasn't able to stay in the lead for much longer when he was coming up to the second, last, and most difficult turn on the track.
It was nothing but dirt, which Boost already knew he couldn't drive very well on, especially not at high speeds, and there was no rock wall to catch him if he slipped off road too far.
Just the fear of suddenly swerving off the tracks and plummeting into what's most likely a pit of deadly cacti made Boost's engine stall for a few seconds, this time giving Queen the advantage as she ignored her bumper sticker and quickly caught up with the gang leader.
And when Boost started to swerve, the yellow Ford Mustang quickly turned sideways and flawlessly drifted on the huge turn, kicking up an even bigger cloud of dust than before, and a majority of the debris cloud hit Boost in the eyes and hood, causing him to temporarily lose his vision.
It all took a turn for the worse from there—quite literally. When Boost lost his vision, he focused on wiping his eyes with his windshield wipers, failing to remember to put on his breaks, as he quickly skidded out of control closer and closer to the edge of the track and down into a deep pit of cacti.
And by the time he could finally open his eyes again, he was already skidding down the steep slope into, and he screamed before colliding hood-first into a boulder amongst the prickly plants. The impact was so hard, that it not only dented and scratched his fender and hood rather badly, but it also knocked him out cold.
Boost suddenly woke up to the disturbing tug of something rusty pulling at his back axle, and his eyes snapped open as he watched the boulder and cacti slowly get farther and farther away, as the hook at the end of the tow cable was pulling him back up onto the track.
He finally felt the throbbing pain in his grille and engine, as he grunted in pain when he was finally pulled back up to safety, and he was surprised to see Queen there with an old and rusted tow truck, the same one who pulled him out.
"Thank you, uh…" Queen tried to thank the tow truck, but paused when she realized she didn't catch his name.
"Tow Mater, Ma'am," Mater happily informed as he detached his hook from Boost.
"Right. Thanks again, Mater. How much do you want for the tow?" Queen asked while pulling out her wallet.
"Oh, no, don't worry 'bout it!" Mater suddenly laughed, and then he leaned in and lowered his voice, "don't tell nobody dis, but every first tow's freebie."
"Aw, are you sure? I can still pay you full price."
"Yeah, I'm sure! It's mah policy, anyway. Ya'll have a nice evenin' now, ya hear? And if ya ever need another tow, jus' give ol' Tow Mater a holler!" With that, the buck-toothed tow truck drove off with a smile, and Queen smiled back.
But when Mater said "evening", Boost finally realized that he was right, as he stared out onto the horizon to find that the sun was already starting to set. He then turned towards Queen and looked at her with worry.
"How long have I been out?"
"Only a couple hours, don't worry," Queen replied with a smirk.
"Well…what about the race?"
"Didn't finish it."
"What?! What do you mean 'you didn't finish it'?!"
"It's exactly what it sounds like. I simply didn't cross the finish line; therefore, I didn't finish it."
"But…why?!"
"'Cause you got hurt," Queen simply replied, but there was some sympathy in her tone, which took Boost by surprise, "and speaking of which, you better come with me. I know someone who could fix you up."
The neon purple and green lights of Ramone's House of Body Art shown brightly when the sky went from sunset orange to nighttime dark blue, and lucky for Boost and Queen, the lights were still on inside the building.
"Hello?! Are you still open?!" Queen called as she lead an exhausted Boost into the shop, and the brightly color painted hoods on display in the windows quickly caught their attention, as they were very exotic designs.
"Hey!" called a raspy voice, nearly causing Boost and Queen to nearly jumped at how loud it was, and they turned around to find a 1959 Chevrolet Impala Low-Rider painted grass green, and he was soon joined by a petite female Chevrolet Camaro with sky blue paint and bright purple eyes.
"Welcome ta Ramone's House of Body Art! How can Ramone help you?" Ramone continued on.
"Well-," Queen began, only to be cut off by Boost.
"Wait, so, who's Ramone?" Boost questioned with cocked brow.
"I am," Ramone replied with a smirk, only putting an even more dumbfounded look on Boost's face.
"Anyway, Boost here had an accident at Willie's Butte. You think you could fix him?" Queen quickly continued.
"Hey, if Ramone couldn't, he wouldn't be here."
"Do you always refer ta yourself in third person?" Boost asked grimly.
"No, I don't," Ramone simply replied with a chuckle.
"Now, if you would, please, get up on the lift, so we can see what's wrong," the Chevrolet Camaro politely instructed while pointing a tire at the hydraulic lift, and Boost slowly followed her and drove up onto the lift.
"Why don't I just make this easier and tell you what the problem is? It's my engine, it's killing me," Boost informed with a growl, as Ramone pressed a button to slowly lift Boost.
"Well, what'd ya do, man?" Ramone questioned when the lift stopped three feet up in the air, but Boost never replied when he was too embarrassed to tell him what happened.
"He crashed into a bunch of cacti," Queen finally explained.
"It was a boulder," Boost corrected as he blushed deeply red.
"Guau! That's even worse than Lightning McQueen's crashes out on Willie's Butte!" Ramone burst out in laughter.
"McQueen? As in the famous racer?" Queen asked with surprise.
"No way!" Boost protested in disbelief.
"Honest ta God, man. He lives in this very town, always comes out during breaks between races," Ramone explained defense, but then he drove out in front of Boost, "alright, Ramone's gonna need ya ta pop the hood, man."
"What?! No!" Boost exclaimed with shock.
"But how else are we going to fix you if he can't see the problem with your engine?" the Chevrolet Camaro questioned with worry.
"Yeah, Boost, quit bein' a baby, and just open your hood. It's not a damn prostate exam, fer cryin' out loud," Queen pointed out in annoyance.
"No, I ain't exposin' my engine to a couple a' girls! Now, get out!" Boost hissed while glaring down at the yellow Ford Mustang and sky blue Chevrolet Camaro, nearly falling off the lift in the process.
"You're such a wimp, man. You tellin' me some girl hasn't already seen your engine before?" Ramone asked with a smirk, and when Boost only responded by blushing once more and refused to look at him, it instantly gave it away, "you're one only guy, dude."
"Oh, how would you know anything, Michelangelo?!"
"Hey, Ramone doesn't paint pictures, he paints bodies, which is REAL art."
"Then why don't you go look in the mirror, and paint a dick on your face?!"
"Boost, what is wrong with you? He's just trying to help," Queen snapped.
"Yeah, some help!" Boost scoffed, "at this rate, he can just kiss my-OUCH!"
Before Boost knew it, he felt a pinching pain in his bumper, and he started feeling incredibly drowsy as he checked his rearview mirrors to find Ramone standing behind him with a syringe.
"W-what's…that?" Boost asked groggily.
"It's an anesthetic, which are just gonna put you ta sleep, man," Ramone calmly informed.
"What?!"
"We can't fix you if you won't sit still, so our only other safe option is to use this to put you to sleep long enough for is to fix you," the Chevrolet Camaro gently explained.
"And don't worry, by the time you wake up, you'll be good as new, dude!" Ramone added with a smile.
And soon enough, the affects of the anesthetic started kicking in, making the gang leader's eyes very heavy and his whole body start to go limp with weakness. The last thing he saw before his eyes shut against his will was Queen staring back at him with concern, as Ramone finally opened his hood.
You know what they say: If you're not gonna sit still, ya might as well get injected with anesthetics! That is what they say, right?
...Right?
Anyway, yes, the Chevrolet Camaro who's assisting Ramone is another OC, so remember her. We'll learn more about her later.
Oh, if you guys are hoping for Doc to be in this story, well...I'm not exactly sure if he is going to by in here, so if he isn't, then I'm sorry all you Doc Hudson fans. I know what it's like to read a fanfic without your favorite characters featured in it.
Also, credit goes to Disney Pixar Cars fanfic writer and artist Nevuela, who gave me the idea of the "Honk if you're Horny" bumper sticker. You can find his/her work on DeviantArt, and it's pretty cool, so you should really check out their stuff.
Oh, and just one more thing before I go. I'm also sorry if it seems like I'm focusing too much on Boost and Queen. Don't worry, we'll be getting to the rest of the Tuners and other OCs very soon, so just be patient.
Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!