DISCLAIMER: I do not own the film "Cars." "Cars" is owned by Disney and Pixar Studios. However, the new characters in this fic are own by me.
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Chapter 6: Enter Becky
For the next half-hour at the cafe, the '85 Ford and the '99 Jeep chatted and guffawed over anything and everything about racing, girls, pranks they've pulled in their respective communities, and more racing.
"So, I'm right alongside this here Dodge Ram, you know. Dude thought he was tuner," Crimson chuckled as he recalled an old dirt drag to Robert. "Anyway, the stupid sucker tries to ram me, so I hit the brakes, and the guy swings off the road, hits an earth ramp, and sails into an old barn on this piece of property we were on. I win, get about $2000; he loses, gets $8000 worth of damage."
The two 4X4s laugh riotously. After choking back a few tears from laughing so hard, Robert started to tell his own story. "That sounds similar to this one incident I had once. I was, uh, outside of Atlanta on leave, and this gang of muscle cars and their tuner girlfriends pulls up around me, and in a really southern accent, their leader goes, 'wanna drag, soldier boy?'"
The pick-up truck snickered a little before continuing. "Anyway, we pull up to a red light. Light turns green, the race is on. This hot-rodder Trans-Am attempts to sideswipe me two times. On the third time, I'm ready for him. I stop, my brakes lock-up, the Trans-Am bounces off the wall of a building, and I'm completely turned around. The Trans-Am corrects himself, so instead of taking the time to swing around and face forward, I continue the race backwards. I win, in reverse, and I took all of the tuner girls back to my hotel room."
"Oh shut up," Crimson said, not believing the part about the tuner girls.
"Okay, fine, I took home two of the girls," Robert said truthfully.
Crimson nodded and laughed slyly, impressed. "Sweet."
"Totally. Thank god for reverse," Robert chirped.
The Cherokee gave a hearty "Amen!" The two vehicles chuckled before Crimson continued. "I didn't know you were in the army. You look nothing like an army truck. Where's the camo and stuff?"
"Well, when you join, they paint you up with standard green camouflage," Robert explained, "And when you leave, they repaint you like you were."
"How long were you in the army?" the Jeep asked.
"Few years," Robert sighed. "I didn't know what to do after I dropped out of UT. I couldn't find a major, so I thought, 'why bother?' I joined the army so I could figure out what to do with my life, but I couldn't. Just been drifting around the country since."
Crimson shrugged and said, "Eh, that's cool. What else can you do?"
"Boys, I'm closing up shop now," Flo said, breaking up the conversation between to the two young cars. "You two better head for the meeting."
"Okay, Flo, we're going," Crimson replied as he hit the release for his gas pump. Robert did the same, and the three cars drove toward Town Hall.
----
"...and this will up the charge of 'tractor-tipping' from a misdemeanor to a felony," Doc read off the list of announcements to the crowd. Mater could be heard groaning within the room.
"Uh, over the next few weeks, NASCAR racers will be coming here for their fall training sessions, so expect traffic to be congested a little from the racers, their fans, and the press. A week from Tuesday, we have skater Vinny Buzzard coming here for his TV special, 'Buzzard's Extreme Half-Pipe Challenge.'" The Hornet paused and looked quizzically at the paper before muttering, "Is this what's passing for television these days? Uh, anyway..."
In the back row, Crimson glanced around the room. For such a small town, their courtroom is awfully big, Crimson thought. The room was packed with cars and trucks, even a few vehicles in the aisles. I guess Radiator Springs isn't so small after all.
"And on a final note," Doc said, a hint of cheer in his voice, "A month from Wednesday will be the Annual Carburetor County Festival. We're going to have dancing, music, games, truck-n-tractor pulls, and great food, so I hope you all come down. And that being said, this meeting is adjourned."
As the residents exited the room, Lightning and Sally sat in the front row for a minute. The red stock car turned to the Porsche, and asked like a shy teenager, "You wanna go to the dance with me?"
Sally laughed at the racer. "You use that same stupid schtick every year. Of course I'll go with you, Stickers." She pecked him on the fender as the two drove out of the courtroom.
As they reached the door, Mater popped up in front of the two cars. "Hey there, Lightning. Hi Sally," he said, a huge grin on his face.
"Hey Mater," Sally said, knowing what the tow truck was grinning about. "Listen, I think this year, I'll be going with Lightning to the dance, okay?"
"What? No, I wasn't gonna ask you that," Mater said. "I'm here to tell you you got a visitor."
The tow truck pulled out of the way to reveal a teenage, 2004 VW Jetta. "Hi Aunt Sally!"
"Becky!" The Porsche sped over the Volkswagon and they leaned onto each others' sides. (Like a car "hug") "You drive here by yourself? What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see you," the Jetta answered. "And your boyfriend." She glanced at McQueen and let out a giggle. "I never thought my aunt would ever hook up with a NASCAR racer." She let out another excited giggle.
The stock car in question didn't say anything, a surprised look on his face as he examined the mystery Jetta. "...Did she call you 'aunt'?" he finally asked.
Mater laughed at Lightning and said, "Lightning, this here's Becky Carerra. She Ms. Sally's niece from California."
"Niece? How come you know this and I don't?" Lightning asked Mater.
"She and Sally's brother came here to visit one time, when she was 14," the tow truck explained. He turned back to the Jetta and asked, "How is your old man, Becky?"
"He's fine," Becky answered. "Still working at the firm."
"How come you never told me you had siblings?" McQueen asked the Porsche next to him.
"You never asked, Stickers," Sally simply replied.
Meanwhile...
"Vinny Buzzard?" Crimson said in disbelief as he slowly exited the courtroom. "I don't even understand the logic in him coming here."
"More than likely, he'll try to pull a prank on that McQueen guy for publicity," Robert commented. "He does crap like that all the time on his TV show."
The courtroom had almost emptied out when a familiar voice behind the Jeep and the Ford yelled, "Hey Alpines!"
Ah hell, Crimson thought to himself, rolling his eyes. The two 4x4s turned to face the blue tuner from the boot camp. What they came face-to-face with, however, was not just the blue panel truck, but a muscle car and two imports as well, all with evil smirks on their face.
"Great. Three more of them," Robert muttered.
"Don't tell me you're friends with these NOS-heads," the Jeep asked DJ.
"Who, these guys?" DJ said innocently. "Yeah, they're with me."
"Your gonna be wishin' you never entered our turf, gas-guzzler," Boost said. The four cars snickered evilly.
What a joke, Crimson thought, sneering at the four tuners. He turned to Robert and said, "Come on man. Let's get out of here before Boombox gets cocky and I paint the walls with his oil."
"Ooo, the Jeepster's mad," Wingo cooed as the four cars followed slowly behind the pick-up and the SUV.
Out in the hall, Crimson and Robert pulled up to a door, the tuners lining up behind them. Crimson tried to force the door open, but it wouldn't budge. The Jeep looked around for another exit, muttering, "This is a fire hazard-"
The Jeep froze. ...is that her?
He squinted. No way. This has got to be a coincidence.
The crowd in front of him thinned out, and by the main entrance he could see the 2004 charcoal-colored Jetta he saw out at the boot camp, talking to Sally, Lightning, and Mater.
Robert nudged the spaced-out Cherokee with his tire. "Dude, what's the hold-up?"
"What's the matter?" Snot Rod chided. "Afraid you're gonna get whipped?"
Robert ignored the muscle car and searched the crowded hallway for what Crimson was staring at. His eyes widened when he finally saw the Jetta. "Whoa, what a hottie!"
The four tuners perked up at the Ford's outburst and searched the hallway for this "hottie" as well, finally seeing her between the cars leaving Town Hall. The tuners began whistling and doing cat-calls.
"My, my, my, she's quite a little traffic hazard," Wingo said slyly.
"Check out the chrome on her back bumper, man," Snot Rod added.
"I wouldn't mind bumping into her 'by accident,'" Boost coyly said.
"She's cute," Robert said to his now-catatonic friend. He nudged Crimson again and said, "Come on man. Go talk to her."
DJ laughed. "Please, dawg. Your boy Alpines is a little out of his league on this. There's no way that a fine honey like her would even go near a junker like him." Laughs ensued from the three other tuners.
Crimson, however, didn't hear DJ. Or any of the other guys, as he was too busy gawking at the girl car. He was just blown away that this beautiful girl was actually meters away from him, when earlier he thought he was just seeing things. He could feel something, deep in his engine, that he never even felt before.
The Jetta glanced over at the six cars at the end of the hallway, and locked eyes with the beat-up Cherokee. Crimson suddenly realized he was gawking, and looked down at the floor shyly. She smiled at his shyness, and turned back to Sally.
Robert said, "Dude, ignore the tuners and go talk to her."
"N-Naw, man," Crimson stammered. "Besides, sh-she looks busy, talking to Lightning and Sally."
The truck shrugged. "Eh, all right. HEY PRETTY GIRL!!"
The Jetta, as well as Lightning, Mater, Sally, and every other remaining car in the hallway, looked at the truck with the cowboy hat, the Cherokee next to him now with a terrified look on his face.
"My friend wants to talk to you," Robert said as he shoved Crimson in her direction. The SUV scampered frantically as he tried to get a grip on the slick wood floor, but he just sailed across the hallway.
Crimson hit his emergency brake, and came to a screeching halt in front of the Jetta. "Damn these waxed floors," he remarked bitterly. He looked up and was met with those stark, striking blue eyes of the Jetta.
He smiled and chuckled nervously. I'm gonna screw this up and make an idiot of myself; I just know it, his conscience said miserably, noticing all the eyes looking at him. "Uh, h-hi."
"...um, hi," The Jetta said back, her brow arched and a faint grin on her lips.
"Becky, this is Crimson," Sally said, introducing the teenagers to each other. "He's the boy I was telling you about. Crimson, this is my niece, Becky."
"So, you're the guy working for Sarge?" Becky asked. "How is he?"
"...uh, who? Oh yeah, Sarge! He-He's, um, cool," the Jeep stammered.
"Hasn't been too hard on you, has he?"
"Naw, he's not hard at all. He's very... uh very... uh, he's cool."
There was an awkward pause between the two young cars. The Jetta continued, "Uh, so what happened to you? Were you in an accident?"
"Oh, yeah," Crimson said, acting like it wasn't a big deal. "It was a few weeks back. Just a little roll-over."
"Looks more like a big roll-over."
"Well, not all of this damage was from the roll-over," Crimson explained. "Once I scrape a tree, got stuck between a wall and a pillar-"
"Hit a cactus," Mater added.
"Hit a cactus," Crimson repeated. "Just a lot of little accidents." The Jeep maneuvered around the Volkswagon towards the door. "Uh, I should probably be going. Sarge probably needs my help at the store." He shoved the door, but it didn't open. "What the hell's wrong with these friggin' doors?" he growled to himself.
"Uh, wait Crimson," Becky said. "Do you want to get a drink later at Flo's?"
The Jeep paused, and turned back to Becky. "It'd be nice to talk to someone my age," she added.
"...yeah, sure! That sounds wonderful," Crimson chirped happily.
"Okay, it'll be in about an hour," the Jetta said as she approached the door. "Lightning and Sally are going to give me a tour of the new places in Radiator Springs." She hit a release for the door (That Crimson didn't notice earlier) and said, "See you later."
"Bye," Crimson returned as he watched the Jetta leave.
"Shoot boy," Mater said to the teenager, "You were acting more nervous than a stalled car in the path of a train. I don't see what you'd be nervous about; Ms. Becky's the nice little gal you'd ever meet."
Crimson didn't pay any attention to Mater as he glanced over himself. "My god, I'm a mess," he muttered to himself. "Igottago!"
The Jeep peeled out of Town Hall and raced over to Luigi's place, leaving the other three cars sitting there, befuddled. "...I think he likes your niece," Lightning said to Sally.
----
Luigi and Guido were busy taking inventory when they heard a set of bald tires roll into their tire shop. Luigi spun around to see a familiar-looking Cherokee. "Ah, Mister Alpines," Luigi said happily. "I take it you've come to your senses on the tires."
The Fiat let out a yelp as the young Jeep shoved him against a wall and parked right in front of him, a determined look in his eyes. "Listen up Luigi, and you listen good," Crimson said sternly. "I don't have time for any of your nonsense; just get me the best damn 4x4 tires you got. No white walls, no racing tires, just tires with big, fat treads that'd make a Hummer envious of me."
"...I-I have some Lightyear Ranger XLs in the back," Luigi said cautiously.
"Ring it up!" Crimson barked.
Guido and Luigi zoomed into the back room. "Uh, I got some new rims back here that look similar to yours, if you want them," the Fiat called out.
"I'll take them."
Guido and Luigi came out, the forklift carrying five tires and five boxes. "Uh, Mister Alpines, this is going to be expensive. How will you pay for this?"
"Send the check to Lightning McQueen," Crimson said. "McQueen said he'd pay my bills; I'm gonna hold him to it. Bring that stuff over to Ramone's in a couple of minutes."
----
"Ramone!"
The newly-painted lowrider turned to face a young SUV in his garage. "Hey Crimson. What's up?"
"How quickly can you fix me up?" The young Jeep asked.
"...why? You leaving town shortly?"
"No, I have an engagement in an hour or so. I wanna look good," Crimson answered.
"Oh. Okay," Ramone said. He set down his paint brush and drove over to a closet. "Well, normally, it'd take three hours with the amount of damage you got, but since my supplier gave me a lot of surplus Jeep parts-"
He opened the closet, revealing brand-new, unpainted parts- doors, plastic fender parts, an antenna, headlights, the works. "...I can have you in and out in about 45 minutes. By the time I'm done, no one will even recognize you."
The Cherokee, a grin on his face, said, "Beautiful! Ramone, trick me out!"
----
An hour passed, and Becky had seen just about everything new Radiator Springs had to offer, Lightning's racing headquarters and the Wheel Well being the main attractions.
Back to town, the Jetta and the elder cars (Now including Mater and Doc) just cruised back-and-forth down main street, making small talk, until Mater asked why the college girl was back in Radiator Springs.
"I had to get away from Gary. And his friends too," Becky admitted. "He's just become too much of a pain to deal with."
"Did you break up with him?" Sally asked.
"I did," Becky answered, "I mean, I tried, I guess..."
"You guess??" Mater queried.
"It was complicated. I said good-bye, he didn't believe me. I went for the door, he said 'you know you can't resist this.' I open the door, he comes up next to me and asks what's wrong. I call him a machostic-selfish-pretty-boy, and I leave."
"Sounds like a break-up to me," the tow truck said.
"Yes, but Gary doesn't register things like you and me," the Jetta explained. "He thinks that because he's rich and a jock and can go from 0-60 in under four seconds and has a new paint job every week, he can control the school and have anything he wants. Including any girl of his choosing. So if someone says no, his brain, like, blocks it out. And if they say no too many times, he goes into the defensive and gets aggressive. Luckily, I left before he could get aggressive, but I can imagine he's tarnished my image throughout the campus by now."
"Man, that sounds pretty bad," Lightning replied.
"Oh, I'm sorry Becky," Sally said, nudging the Jetta.
"Don't be," Becky said. "It's my own fault."
The four cars did doubletakes at the Jetta. "Your fault? How'd you figure?" Lightning inquired.
"Because I always end up dating guys like Gary," she huffed. "It's like I've been stuck in this cycle for two years; some pathetic psuedo-tuner manages to get me to swoon at the sight of him, their charisma fades away after the first few dates, I stay with him because he's cute and/or rich, then a nasty break-up, and the process repeats! I don't even know why I put myself through that again and again. I'm a sucker; I'm pathetic!"
"Becky, don't say that," Doc said sternly-but-tenderly. "You are not a sucker, and you're not pathetic. You're just- ...uh..."
"...horny?" the red stock car suggested.
WHAP! "Lightning!" Sally said in a hushed voice after she smacked him with a tire.
"Look, Becky, don't worry about it," Doc continued. "When the right guy comes along, you'll know it."
Becky just shrugged and grunted, having already heard that saying time-and-time again.
Suddenly, two high-pitch shrieks caused the group of cars to stop in their tracks. "LIGHTNING!!"
"They're back again??" Sally said in disbelief as she watched two red Miatas race towards the stock car next to her. McQueen just laughed to himself.
SCREEECH!! "Hi Lightning!" the twin cars said in unison.
"Hi Mia, Tia," McQueen said as he attached a pen (hidden in his wheel-well) to one of his rims. "So, what can I do for you two girls? Photograph, bobble-car, plushie?"
"Actually, this isn't for us," Mia said.
"We've brought some of our friends this time," Tia added.
"Friends?" McQueen glanced over to two cars to see three more female cars coming towards the group: a white BWM X5 SUV, a yellow Subaru Baja, and a silver Saab hatchback.
The X5 said, "I wish you two would slow down. I might be a Beemer, but I can't handle curves like you guys."
"Yeah, sorry Cici," Mia apologized to the SUV.
"Lightning, this is Cici," Tia said, introducing the other cars. "The Baja is Rose, and the Saab is Kelly."
"Oh, you're right. He's so much cuter in person," the Baja cooed.
"Here's our stuff, Mr. McQueen," Cici said, opening her hatchback door, dumping out some plush toys and photos, and pushed them in front of the stock car. "Would you sign them, please?"
"Oh course I will," Lightning said. "I never turn down a fan."
As the stock car began signing the girls' stuff, the four resident tuners parked behind the group of cars, keeping a close eye on the female vehicles. "Look at that, boys," Boost said. "We got the pick of the litter!"
The tuners chuckled lecherously. "Take your pick. Wingo, who do you got?"
"The twins!" he said, almost salivating.
"Which one?" DJ asked.
"Both, I don't care!" The other three teens laughed at the green import.
Boost looked at the muscle car next to him. "Snot Rod man, what about you?"
A dreamy look in his eyes, he drawled out, "Sally..."
The three tuner cars rolled their eyes and groaned. It was common knowledge that the muscle car had a crush on the resident Porsche, which Snot Rod didn't bother to hide from the whole town (Much to McQueen's displeasure). "Dude, that's an order even I can't fulfill," Boost said. He shoved him with his tire and said, "Try again."
After a small grunt of annoyance and disappointment, the muscle car started eyeing Kelly. "I think I'll go with the Saab," he said. "She looks kind of cute."
"Better, man," Boost said. "I think I'm going after the Subaru. She'll be in for quite a treat."
The import turned to the panel truck. "That leaves you, DJ. What'll it be?"
The blue tuner looked at Cici, then at Becky. A grin formed on his face. "The Volkswagon."
"The Jetta, man?" Snot Rod asked. "Why her?"
"One, the Beemer's a little big for me," DJ explained, "And two, to smite Alpines."
The tuner snickered evilly. "I can't wait to see the look on that junker's face when he sees me with his little crush."
Meanwhile...
As Lightning signed some plush toys for the girls, he sensed the presence of two other cars come up on his right side. "Uh, if you want an autograph, just give me a minute."
"McQueen, it's me," Sarge said.
The racer glanced up at the military Jeep, the red-and-ivory Ford next to him. "Hey Sarge. What's up?"
"Have you seen Alpines around?" Sarge asked. "I could use his help for a minute."
"I haven't seen him since the end of the meeting. Don't know where he went."
"Hmmm," Sarge grunted. "This is rather unlike him. He doesn't just disappear like this."
A loud rumble from Ramone's House of Body Art made everyone stop for a second and glance at the building. The windows vibrated as the engine of a car inside revved up.
"Sounds like Ramone's got a customer," Mater said to no one in particular.
The garage door went up...
SCREEEEEEECH!!
...and everyone stopped and stared as a deep-red Jeep Cherokee zoomed out of the garage and came to a screeching halt in front of them.
Then their eyes widened in surprise when they realized who the Cherokee was.
"Damn! I didn't realize a turbo-charger was that powerful," The Jeep said in a familiar voice, panting in excitement from the rush he got from his new turbo-charger.
"Crimson!" Sally said in astonishment.
"Daggum!"
"Oh my god!" Robert chuckled as he drove over to the Cherokee. "Dude, is that you?"
"You better believe it, man!" the Jeep said. "Check it out, Ramone made this special 'hide-away' attachment for my winch!" The Jeep "nodded" his front bumper, and a new winch swung up from his undercarriage and clicked into place under his bumper.
The Ford in front of him laughed and said, "Awesome, man!"
The other cars sat there, staring at the Jeep they knew was Crimson, but, at the same time, didn't believe it was him. The dents and bare metal on his body were gone, now all painted in his shimmering deep-red hue. His faded grey side-rails, roof-rack, door handles, fender-corners, and side mirrors now all-new, dark-grey pieces. His cracked windows were also gone, and his bald tires were replaced with new Lightyear Ranger XLs, complete with rims! The battered teenaged Cherokee they knew was now a surprisingly handsome SUV... which the girls noticed.
Lightning's fangirls dropped their memorabilia and drove over to the Cherokee, circling him. "Hey big guy," Cici said, the X5 looking over the mysterious stranger.
"Look at you," Rose purred, "Right out of the showroom."
"Are you seeing anyone, by chance?" Mia asked, brushing against the Jeep.
Crimson chuckled heartily. "Sorry girls, but I do have a prior engagement." Collective disappointed "ah"s came from the five fangirls as Crimson parked himself front of Becky. "You ready for that drink?"
...oh my god, Becky thought to herself. He's so... hot.
Becky snapped out of her trance. "Um, yeah. Sure... Crimson."
The Cherokee and the Jetta drove over to the cafe, the other cars still looking at him in disbelief.
Of course, the tuners were just as surprised of the transformation was anyone else. And, since their future dates had their attention drawn to Crimson, they were more than envious of the Jeep. "I can't believe it," DJ said in humilation. "The gas-guzzler's a frickin' pretty boy!"
"No man," Boost said to his friend. "Gas-Guzzler's a player."
"Man, even Sally was gawkin' at him!" Snot Rod pouted.
Wingo rolled his eyes at the muscle car and muttered, "Shut up." He looked over at DJ. "What now, dawg?"
The blue tuner's eyes narrowed as he glared at the Jeep from across the street. "We'll get him. When we're done with him, he'll be a dead junker."