Chapter Eleven: Solving the Mission
"Mater, you've got to stop!" Emily cried as Mater raced through the London streets.
"Mater, stop!" Holley chimed in as she flew overhead.
"No way!" Mater protested. "You could git hurt!"
"Lemons at twelve!" Emily yelped. Mater was about to ask what she meant when he suddenly noticed Grem and Acer coming right towards them with guns drawn and ready to fire. Emily whipped out one of her pistols and fired a few warning shots, but the two lemons kept coming. Emily groaned and jumped out of Mater, hanging onto one of his mirrors before planting a foot in his fender and forcing him to make a hard turn to a more deserted street. Suddenly, Holley swooped in from above and scooped one of her wings under Grem's and Acer's fronts, sending the two cars flying through the air and crashing into a local bar. Though it was a little evil, Holley couldn't help but smirk at the sound of the two cars getting beat up in the bar.
Mater, finally seeing the danger passed, skidded a halt and put his rockets away. That was too close.
Emily jumped down, finally realizing she still didn't have her boots on but ignoring it for now. She sighed heavily in relief, leaning on Mater a bit. "Oh sweet land! I am never riding you again."
Lightning unhooked himself from Mater and came around to stare at the human woman. "Now will you tell me who you are?"
"Agent Emily Largo. Pleased to meet you." Emily said simply, staring at the bomb attached to Mater. Luckily, the remote only said "Remote On," meaning the bomb hadn't been activated yet.
"Agent? Like insurance agent?" Lightning asked. Emily rolled her eyes.
Holley finally landed before Mater, scanning the bomb to analyze it. "Mater, hold still so we can get that bomb off you."
"Bomb?" Lightning asked, staring in shock and confusion. He finally caught sight of the explosive attached to his best friend.
"Yeah, they strapped it to me to kill you as a backup plan." Mater explained.
"Backup plan?" Lightning asked, even more confused. But he pushed it aside for now, a bit angry someone tried to hurt his friend. "Mater, who put a bomb on you?"
"Mater! Lightning!"
The two mentioned cars turned to see a familiar brunette skating up to them, Finn still a ways behind her. Mater's face lit up in excitement. "Harley! Yer alive!"
"Mater!" Harley gasped, hugging the tow truck before hugging Lightning too. "Oh my gosh, I was so worried about the both of you! Are you all right?" She suddenly caught sight of the bomb strapped to Mater. "Holy Chrysler."
Finn finally managed to shove a now-tied up Zündapp forward, and the three spies of the group glared hard at the German microcar. Zündapp saw Lightning and glared. "You!" Harley moved protectively between Zündapp and her friends, thankful Finn was keeping him back. Zündapp still growled. "Why didn't my death ray kill you?!"
"Death ray?!" Lightning repeated, looking to Harley and Mater for an explanation.
"Long story. We'll catch you up later." Harley said simply.
"Turn off the bomb, Zündapp!" Finn ordered.
"Are you all so dense?" Zündapp droned. "It's voice activated. Everything is voice activated these days."
"Deactivate! Deactivate!" Mater cried hurriedly.
The remote on the bomb buzzed. "Voice denied." A timer suddenly appeared, giving Mater only five minutes before the bomb went off.
"Oops." Zündapp said with fake sheepishness. "That's right. It can only be disarmed by the one who activated it."
Holley rolled up, taser armed. "Say it."
"Deactivate." Zündapp replied without hesitation, confusing everyone until the remote said "Voice denied" and lopped a full minute off the timer.
"Don't say it! Don't say it!" Harley yelped, staring at Mater worriedly.
"I'm not the one who put it on him." Zündapp sneered. "Would anyone else like to try?" He convulsed into spasms as Holley tazed him, sending him collapsing to the ground.
"You read my mind." Finn smirked.
"He was getting on my nerves." Holley groaned as she put the taser away.
"What do we do?" Lightning asked worriedly. He had a hunch his friends were in trouble, but he never imagined it would be at this level. Harley stared at Mater worriedly, her eyes flickering back and forth between her brother and the bomb.
Before anyone could suggest anything, a voice said. "It's very simple. You blow up." Spinning around, the group found every roadway blocked by the Pacer, Hugo, Trunkov, and Gremlin family heads along with their henchmen. Even Ivan the tow truck and his human mechanic were there, along with several human guards.
"I'm gonna go out on a limb here. These are the guys that want me dead, correct?" Lightning asked as everyone backed up.
"Yeah, but you did ruin their plans for world domination." Harley said. "And if any of you come near him, I'll rip your undercarriage out!"
"You and what army?" Ivan laughed, causing laughter amongst the other evil cars too.
Suddenly, a powerful stream of water washed away several of the Gremlin cars, sending their boss into the bushes.
"Red!" Harley cheered at the sight of the fire truck and Sally. Four of the lemons tried to surround Finn, but he launched his grappling hooks and pulled them all together in a collision. Holley reversed from two of the lemons coming towards her, activating her jet mode and smashing two more cars into her attackers. Emily easily took out the humans that lunged for her, placing firm kicks and punches to each one and even flipping the last one over her shoulder. Harley noticed a lemon and one of the human guards rush towards her, but she whipped out her paintball gun and shot both of them in the eyes and windshield. She jumped over the incoming lemon, causing the blind car to ram into a wall instead of her, while she spun her wrench in one hand and slammed it against the human guard's face to force him to the ground. A couple lemons lunged for her, but suddenly found their wheels falling off.
"Peet stop." Guido huffed triumphantly. Flo approached the Trunkov and flashed her headlights, blinding him long enough for Sheriff to slap a parking boot on him like he did with many of the other lemons. Guido shouted in Italian as he shoved several of the henchmen aside. Ivan lunged for Lightning, but Mater shot forward and knocked the blue tow truck aside. He swung around and smacked two lemon henchmen away as they approached. The human mechanic with Ivan ran towards Mater, but Harley skated up and landed a solid punch to the young man's face before spinning and kicking him aside. Mater gave a mighty yell and hooked his tow cable under the lead Pacer's jaw, throwing him aside and towards Ramone. The Impala slashed his paint can across the Pacer, leaving a trail of purple paint across the smaller car's windshield and hood. The remaining lemons stared in shock at their opponents: three master spies, a police sheriff, and pretty much the entire town of Radiator Springs (made up of vehicles and a girl who seeemed to be off their rockers), all ready to pound them into a pulp.
"Retreat!" Pacer shouted, encouraging the remaining lemons to speed away down the road. But they skidded to a halt when they rounded the corner and discovered a small army of British military vehicles in their path, complete with helicopters and all of them training their weapons on the evil cars.
Harley smirked proudly and twirled her paintball gun, sticking it into her belt. "Now that's how we do things in Radiator Springs."
Everyone watched anxiously as the clock continued to tick down on the bomb. The timer read 2:39 already. Mater stood in the middle of the intersection with Luigi, Guido, Lightning, and Harley while everyone else stayed behind blockades a safe distance away. Finn, Holley, Emily, and Sheriff were talking to several Scotland Yard officers about Zündapp and the other lemons.
Harley strained and pushed with all her might, but her wrench couldn't unscrew the bolts attaching the bomb to her beloved brother. "It's no use!" she groaned. "The bolts are too tight for a hand wrench; we need a drill."
Guido had been working on that for a while, but when he tried to unscrew the bolts his drill made a strange grinding sound. He glared at the tool for a moment before shouting in Italian and throwing it down, kicking it aside as he drove off with crossed forks.
"What's he saying?" Lightning asked worriedly.
"None of his wrenches fit the bolts." Luigi replied sadly. Lightning paled a bit, if it were possible for a car. If they couldn't get that bomb off, Mater was going to die.
Harley growled in frustration. "Damn those stupid Whitworth—" She froze, her eyes wide. Mater's eyes went wide as well. "...bolts..."
Time seemed to slow down as Harley's brain worked into overdrive. How could Zündapp have known that when allinol was hit with an electromagnetic pulse, it would explode? That's an awfully specific thing to find out about a fuel source, and what were the odds it would happen in a normal setting? How could he have found it in time to make a pulse emitifyer and disguise it as a World Grand Prix camera? He would've needed to know about it for much longer than it would've taken for Miles to organize the race. But what about those spare parts from the picture? Why were they all British parts? Why was the Lemon Kingpin at the secret meeting in Porto Corsa only until the end of the race? What kind of oil did Harley slip in at the Tokyo party?
Harley looked to Mater. He had a look of realization on his face. "Mater? Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Oh yeah!" Mater said. "I know what needs ta be done."
"Then do it!" Lightning urged.
"What? No, I can't do it." Mater protested. "Nobody will take me seriously. This ain't Radiator Springs."
"Yes, it is." Lightning said firmly, with a warm smile on his face. "Look, you're yourself in Radiator Springs. Be yourself here. And if people aren't taking you seriously, then they need to change, not you. I know that because I was wrong before." He looked to Harley. "Family comes first." Harley smiled proudly and nodded. Lightning looked back to Mater. "You can do this. You're the bomb."
"Thanks, buddy." Mater said with a smile.
"No, you're the actual bomb!" Lightning reminded him. "Now let's go!"
"Oh, right!" Mater swung his tow cable around, hooking under Lightning's front axle. "Harley, let's go!"
"Right!" Harley nodded, hopping into Mater's flatbed. Mater drove off, dragging McQueen behind him as he smashed his way through the risers.
Mater stared straight ahead with a determined glare. "Computer!"
"Yes, Agent Mater?"
"I need that thing you done before to git me away from McQueen!" Mater said.
"Request acknowledged."
Mater's rockets activated again, propelling him along much faster than before. Lightning looked ahead to see they were shooting right towards a building. "Mater?" Lightning called worriedly.
"Now I need you to do the chute!" Mater told the computer. "The second kind, not the first!"
"Deploying chute."
A bright orange parachute shot up, carrying Mater, Lightning, and Harley high into the air. Mater managed to steer himself through the air, flying over buildings and avoiding towers.
"Mater!" Harley called over the wind. "Keep in mind that if we're both thinking the same thing, then our answer to this mission is based on a huge hunch that's surrounded by circumstantial evidence!"
"So?" Mater asked.
"What if we're wrong?" Harley asked.
Mater glared straight ahead. "We're not."
Harley smirked. "Good."
Mater finally touched down at the platform before the Queen of England herself and the rest of the audience before the race course. His rockets and chute disappeared just as the guards rolled forward and began barking at them to stay back.
"It's Lightning McQueen!" the Queen said excitedly. The guards continued shouting.
"No, it's okay!" Lightning assured as he rolled in front of his friend. Harley jumped out of Mater's flatbed to stand beside him. Lightning looked to his friends.
"It's all right, we mean you no harm." Harley assured.
"Yeah, tell them, guys." Lightning urged.
"Mater?" Harley offered.
Mater nodded. "Somebody's been sabotagin' the racers and hurtin' the cars, and I know who. Oh, wait. Yer Majesty." He gave a gracious bow, only to reveal the bomb still strapped to him.
"Bomb!" one of the guards shouted, the rest of the black Range Rovers unloaded their pistols. Their shouts caused instant mass panic as most of the spectators near the track suddenly took off. The Radiator Springs' residents, finally catching up, stood on the race track and watched in shock and concern.
"Yes, because mass hysteria is so what we needed right now!" Harley shouted sarcastically. "Thank you!"
"Hold your fire!" Finn suddenly shouted as he screeched to a halt on the stage. "He can't disarm it! Mater, I don't know what you're doing, but stand down now!" Emily and Holley approached, standing behind the police cars and staring at the scene with wide eyes.
"This ain't nothin' at all like Radiator Springs." Mater told Lightning as the police surrounded them.
"Mater, just cut to the chase." Lightning urged.
"Okay." Mater nodded. "It's him." He pointed to Miles Axlerod, still on the stage.
"Good, we're on the same page." Harley cracked her knuckles. "Let's beat 'im up."
"What? Me?" Miles chuckled.
"I figured it out when I realized y'all attached this ticking time bomb with Whitworth bolts – the same bolts that hold together that old British engine from the photograph." Mater explained. "Holley! Show that picture!"
"Okay." Though confused, Holley rolled forward and pulled up the engine picture on her computer.
"And then I remembered what they say about old British engines: if there ain't no oil under 'em, there ain't no oil in 'em." Mater said.
"What is he talking about?" Miles demanded.
"It was you leaking oil at the party in Japan." Mater declared, him and Harley beginning to roll closer to Miles. "You just blamed it on me."
"Electric cars don't use oil, you twit." Miles snapped.
"Then yer fakin' it." Mater reasoned. "You didn't convert to no electric."
"But how do you know?" Emily asked.
"Miles is a Range Rover L322. Though extremely modified, his original design in his year of building would include an engine identical to or very similar to the one from that photograph." Harley explained. "That being the case, he would need a lot more than a few solar panels and some fancy wiring to get enough electricity to power him properly."
"And what would you know about something like that?" Miles scoffed.
"Much more than you think." Harley assured.
"Oh please, you're nothing but a foolish child." Miles snapped, backing up as Mater and Harley came closer.
"Why don't we prove it?" Harley offered. "Right here, right now."
"If we pop that hood, we gonna see that engine from that picture right there." Mater said.
"This lorry's crazy!" Miles shouted to the police. "He's gonna kill us all!" He stopped when one of his back tires hit open air, and he realized with a start he had backed up to the edge of the platform.
"But Sir Miles created the race, Mater." Holley protested. "What would he gain by hurting the racers?"
"He'd make allinol look bad so everybody'd go back to usin' oil." Mater said. "He said it himself with that dee-sguised voice."
"'Dee-sguised voice'?" Miles scoffed.
"He means 'disguised'." Harley droned. "You twit."
"What are you talking about?" Miles demanded. "You're nuts, you are!"
"This is going nowhere fast." Prince Wheeliam said to the Queen. "We really should go, Grandmother."
"One moment." The monarch replied. "I'd like to see where this is going."
The timer only had thirty seconds left.
"Mater, he created allinol." Finn protested.
"Well, what if he's the one who created it to make it explode?" Harley noted.
"And what if he found that huge oil field just as the world was tryin' ta find somethin' else?" Mater added, glaring at Miles. "What if he came up with allinol just to make alternative fuel look bad?"
18 seconds.
"'What if?'" Miles growled, his escape route blocked by the tow truck. "You're basing this on a 'what if'?"
One of the guards began ordering eveyrone out, escorting the rest of the civilians and the royalty to safety. Only Lightning, Holley, Emily, and Finn stayed in their spots, staring at the confrontation between Miles and Mater and Harley.
"Wait, somebody save me!" Miles shouted. "The lorry's crazy!"
"You wanna live?" Harley snapped. "Shut off the bomb."
"You're both crazy!" Miles exclaimed. "Keep away, you idiots!"
"Mater!" Finn called warningly.
"Harley!" Emiliy called.
8 seconds.
"Mater!" Holley cried worriedly. Lightning stared with wide eyes, praying he didn't have to watch his friend blow up.
"Someone do something!" Miles shouted in desperation.
"You're in control, Axlerod." Harley said. "Make the choice."
5 seconds.
Harley was suddenly struck with a terrifying thought: what if Miles didn't shut off the bomb?
4 seconds.
"You're insane, you are!" Miles shouted at Mater.
3
Harley suddenly felt someone grab her ankle and pull her backwards, forcing her to the ground. She looked up to see Finn suddenly put himself between her and Mater, him and everyone else bracing for the explosion. Harley held her breath.
2
"Deactivate!" Miles screamed.
Just as the timer hit 1, the remote beeped. "Bomb deactivated. Have a nice day, Sir Miles Axlerod."
Harley grinned as she stood up, laughing a bit. Mater smirked proudly, seeming to enjoy Miles hyperventilating as two police cars pulled up on either side of him. Mater swung his tow hook around and caught the edge of Miles' hood, pulling it up to reveal an old engine underneath.
"How did the tow truck figure it out?" Miles scoffed.
"Because he's the coolest tow truck in the world." Harley said, lightly punching Mater's fender.
"It's official." Lighting smiled as he approached Mater. "You're coming to all my races from now on."
"Now yer talkin'!" Mater smiled broadly the two of them bumping tires.