I also forgot to point out that Tiana is basically shaped like a convertible...with giant monster truck wheels...you know what I mean!
On with the story!
Chapter 7 - Maybe Some Day
"WHOA!" Pickle shouted when he saw end of the tunnel many yards ahead of them, and when he saw the drop that could only be the top of a waterfall, and he immediately began rowing back as fast as he could.
But before he could get the boat to go back, the force of the waterfall was already too strong, Crusher and Tiana even dipped one of their front tires to help paddle; therefore, pulling them closer and closer to doom.
"What're we gonna do?! What're we gonna do?!" Crusher cried out in a panic, nearly tipping the boat over.
"DETENER!" Tiana snapped and suddenly slapped a front tire across Crusher's face to get him to calm down, "we are going to be ok, but you need to calm down, Crusher!"
"Ok…ok, ok, I'm calm," Crusher sighed in relief, but then he remembered the problem, "BUT WHAT'RE WE GONNA DO?!"
"Use our tow cables, that's what! When I say go, launch them out and grab anything you can, anything that can pull you to safety. Got it?" Tiana explained firmly, and the boys both nodded rapidly.
But they began to panic inside the closer and closer the boat got to the edge of the waterfall, and since there was no going back now, they prepared to launch their tow cables.
And no sooner had the boat finally dropped out from underneath their wheels had they did exactly that, launching their own tow cables up in hopes to grab a hold of anything to stop them from falling.
Tiana and Pickle's tow cables wrapped their hooks around a large jungle tree, and Crusher was able to wrap the end of his tow cable around a large boulder on the side of the mountain, just above the waterfall; each of them now hanging on for dear life, but at least they were falling hundreds of feet like their unfortunate boat.
"Ok, seriously, I REALLY wish we'd stop falling," Crusher sighed in relief, earning a chuckle from Pickle.
"You boys ok?" Tiana called.
"Never better!" Pickle happily replied, "thank to you, Tiana!"
"Yeah, um…that was a pretty good idea, Tiana…you…you…" Crusher awkwardly tried to say the words, but his ego made it pretty difficult without sounding too cheesy.
But before Crusher could go on, the boulder Crusher was holding onto suddenly started to shake, as it was finally giving way with the added weight.
"Oh, no…" the large and dark blue truck whimpered in defeat, knowing there was no way out of this without some miracle…which is exactly what happened.
Just when the boulder finally fell, and it seemed like Crusher was doomed, a large helicopter suddenly swooped in from the side, catching the truck in the nick of time; the helicopter was none other than Swoops, as Blaze, AJ, and Rain were all riding in his cabin.
"Glad we didn't miss you, Crusher," AJ joked.
"Oh, guys, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" Crusher laughed hysterically while giving everyone big bear hugs, "you saved my life…again!"
"It wasn't me, it's Swoops you have to thank," Blaze pointed out.
"I guess that makes us even after I accidentally dropped ya…I-I'm really sorry about that, guys," Swoops sheepishly apologized.
"Oh, it's ok, Swoops! We all make mistakes!" Pickle called up to the helicopter.
"Well, I'll be more careful. And speakin' a' which, let's get you guys outta here," Swoops suggested as he approached the top of the tree Pickle and Tiana were in.
With that, Tiana and Pickle both unbuckled their tow cables from the tree, and they launched them up into Swoops' cabin, as Blaze, Rain, and Crusher all grabbed the two cables to pull them in.
It was a slow process, but as Swoops moved in closer, they were eventually able to pull the two trucks out of the tree and up to safety. And this time, Swoops remembered to close the glass panes on the two exits of his cabin, completely assuring that no one would fall out of him this time.
"Alright, now let's get you all back home fer a weddin'!" Swoops cheered and immediately turned around to fly back to Axle City.
Later that night, when Swoops finally brought them back to the city, he landed gently in front of the Monster Dome, and opened his cabin's glass panes to let everyone out.
"Thanks again, Swoops! Have a good night!" Blaze called before his green helicopter friend took off.
"No problem, Blaze! See ya at the weddin' tomorrow!" Swoops called back down, and flew away to go home for the night.
"Oh, this is SO exciting! You guys are getting married TOMORROW! Oh, I just can't wait!" Pickle cheered while happily dancing around.
"Yes, felicitaciones. Congratulations, on your engagement, Blaze, you too, Rain. Take care of him for me, ok?" Tiana asked Rain with a smirk.
"I will," Rain giggled in reply.
"Yay, a happy ending where we all go to the wedding tomorrow!" Pickle happily announced, but then he frowned when he saw his best friend quietly driving away, "where ya goin', Crusher?!"
"Back home—the one place I've been wanting to be over the past couple days. Oh, and ya know what?" Crusher began in annoyance while stopping and turning around to face the others, and he wore a sarcastic smile, "that trip was NOT fun at all!"
"What do you mean? We sang songs, camped out, and you even rescued a baby monkey, Crusher," Pickle pointed out with worry, "what's so bad about that?"
"The fact that I didn't get anything in return!" Crusher growled.
"Isn't an invitation to the wedding enough?" Rain questioned.
"No! And you can keep that invitation 'cause I'm not going!" Crusher snapped and whipped back around to head home, leaving everyone behind to stare at him in shock, until they all shared worried glances.
"Crusher, wait! What's wrong?" Tiana called as she sped up to catch up with Crusher, and she stopped in front of him to stop him in his tracks.
"What's wrong? You know what's wrong—it's like you said, we don't need any love. So, why go to the most romantically binding ceremony of them all?" Crusher hissed in reply, lowering his voice enough so that the others wouldn't hear.
And Tiana could only once stare at him with shock, and she did nothing when he drove around her and left without another word.
"Crusher…" Tiana muttered sadly, but she wasn't loud enough for the said truck to hear him, as he disappeared around a corner. And just when Pickle tried to approach her to cheer her up, she suddenly started sobbing and sped off in the opposite direction.
Blaze even tried to follow his old friend, but Rain stopped him and sadly shook her head.
But little did they know that as soon as Crusher rounded the corner, he suddenly stopped as his eyes went wide…he regretted saying those words to Tiana because as much as he tried to deny it…he kinda cares about her. And what makes it even worse is that he thinks she cares about him…or maybe he just WANTS her to feel the same way about him.
Oh, Crusher…what have you done? Crusher asked in his mind.
Despite being one of the happiest events in the world, there was one who was practically suffering on the inside during Blaze and Rain's wedding: Tiana.
As she sat and waited quietly on the left side of the aisle for the happy couple to complete their vows, Tiana tried to hold back her tears as she watched her oldest friend and crush getting married, and she could do nothing about it. Why would she? She cared about Blaze too much to ruin this for him. She would never hurt him like that.
But then those words came…
"Do you, Rain, take Blaze to be your lawfully wedded husband, through sickness and in health, 'till death do you part, as long as you both shall live?" the old priest, a large and white monster machine who was marrying the soon-to-be-weds, smiling sweetly at the said blue truck.
Being a vehicle, Rain couldn't really wear a dress, so all she could wear was a large, sparkling white veil over her hood; even Blaze had the same problem, as he could only wear a large red bow tie right under his fender.
Rain soon giggled and blushed at the priest's question, and her eyes nervously dotted between Blaze's and the floor.
"Hey," Blaze whispered, finally catching Rain's attention, "don't be scared."
Rain couldn't help but stare back into his eyes and sigh in relief.
"I do," she finally replied.
"Very good. Now, do you, Blaze, take Rain to be your lawfully wedded wife, through sickness and in heath, 'till death do you part, as long as you both shall live?" the priest asked while looking over to the said red truck on his left.
"Of course I do," Blaze gently informed, once again staring lovingly into Rain's eyes.
"Then, may we have the lug nuts, please?" With that, Gabby and AJ nodded at the priest, as they stepped out from behind their friends; Gabby was the Maid of Honor, wearing a light purple dress, while AJ was the Best Man, wearing a black tuxedo with a bright red bowtie.
AJ held up the pillow with two tiny golden lug nuts, as Blaze also gave him the honor of being Ring Bearer…or, Lug Nut Bearer in this case. And Gabby grabbed the two lug nuts and pulled out her drill, screwing on Blaze's to his right front tire first, and then moving on to Rain's front left tire.
But as they all waited for Gabby to screw the yellow gold lug nuts one their wheels, it took longer than expected, and the loud noise of Gabby's drill echoed loudly in the Monster Dome, as everyone waited quietly and awkwardly.
"Ahem!" AJ suddenly cleared his throat, "some time taday, Gabby!"
He got a good chuckle out of the majority of the crowd with that joke, as Gabby scoffed and rolled her eyes when she finished screwing in Rain's lug nut.
"I'd like to see YOU get it done faster," Gabby joked as the two teens stepped back behind their friends.
"Now, with that finally done…by the power vested in me-!"
"STOP!" Just before the priest could finish binding Blaze and Rain, a voice echoed throughout the entire stadium in protest, causing everyone to gasp and turn towards the owner of the voice.
It was Tiana. But she didn't mean to say that, it was an accident. And even she knew it was an accident, she still didn't know how to explain herself, so she suddenly started sobbing uncontrollably and darted through the crowd to get out of the Monster Dome.
"Tiana, wait!" Blaze called, but suddenly stopped to wait for the others, "c'mon, we gotta catch her!"
"Ok, Blaze. I know you care about her, so let's go," Rain reassured while joining his side.
"Thanks, Rain," Blaze thanked softly, while dipping down a bit for AJ and Gabby to climb into his cab, and then the four of them were soon joined by their other friends, Zeg, Stripes, Starla, and Darington, as they all sped after Tiana.
Crusher never left his room since last night, as he couldn't decide whether to just forget about everyone, or sulk about what he said to Tiana…or maybe regret his feelings for her.
Yes, Crusher couldn't deny it anymore; he had developed feelings for Tiana, but he just couldn't decide if they are as strong as the ones he has for Rain. He knows she doesn't like him that way, and that she was in love with Blaze, and the other problem is that he doesn't know how Tiana feels about him.
How could Tiana love him like that, though, after he treated her so poorly?
"Oh, why do I have ta be such…such a bad guy?" Crusher whined out loud.
"You're not a bad guy, Crusher, you're just misunderstood," Pickle reassured with a smile, as he tried to help Crusher cope with his feelings almost all through the night, despite really wanting to attend the wedding. But if Crusher wasn't going, then neither was he.
"You're right, Pickle. No one understands me, let alone cares about me," Crusher grumbled sadly.
"I understand you, AND I care about you—but I'm sure I'm pretty not the only one who cares."
"Oh, yeah? Well, then tell me, who else cares about me?" Crusher asked in disbelief.
"Can't tell ya—it'd spoil the surprise," Pickle giggled in a whisper, making Crusher scoff and roll his eyes in annoyance.
Suddenly, the sound of a very loud revving engine was heard echoing throughout the streets, and it sounded like it was getting closer to Pickle and Crusher's home. The two said trucks looked at each other in surprise, and they exited their house to look out into the streets to see what the commotion was about.
"Oh, look, it's Tiana!" Pickle pointed out.
"Where?!" Crusher quickly asked, following Pickle's gaze down the street on their left. And he soon discovered the little green monster truck was right when he saw none other than Tiana zipping down the street, and she didn't stop when she drove right passed them.
"Why is she going that way? Doesn't she know there's a roadblock down that way?" Pickle pondered aloud.
"A what?! Pickle, she could be in danger, we gotta stop her!" Crusher exclaimed in shock, and he and Pickle started their engines and drove off in pursuit of the Spanish monster truck.
Meanwhile, as she was speeding through the streets of Axle City, Tiana wasn't even looking where she was going, as her tears clouded her vision. And unbeknownst to her, Pickle and Crusher were right; danger was coming up fast.
As Tiana kept driving straight, she finally wiped all the tears from her eyes, but as soon as her vision was clear again, she instantly screamed in terror when she realized that she was heading for a wooden roadblock, and a few yards behind the block was a huge pit in the road under construction.
When she tried to put on her breaks, she wasn't able to stop in time to avoid the roadblock, and she soon crashed through it and was sent veering sideways down the street, with her tires screeching loudly.
And Tiana was sure she was doomed when she still couldn't stop, and it felt like time slowed down when she finally flew off the road; she could hear her heartbeat as she stared into the black depths of the pit, and she was getting engulfed by the darkness.
But just when all hope seemed lost, a miracle came to Tiana's rescue in the form of a tow cable, as the hook grabbed her back axle in the nick of time, and pulled her right out of the air and back up to safety with all its might.
Tiana finally snapped back into reality when she felt solid ground beneath her wheels again, and she was breathless after all the terror that just went through her.
And when she finally calmed to see who her savior was, she gasped when she saw that it was Crusher, as he was almost as breathless as her when he was scared he almost lost her. And when he pulled his tow cable back in, Tiana suddenly didn't think twice, and just gave Crusher a big hug, taking him by complete surprise as a blush formed on his face.
And when Crusher hugged her back, the others finally caught up with them, all relieved to find that Tiana wasn't hurt.
"Oh, thank goodness you're alright, Tiana!" Blaze sighed in relief.
"You give Zeg such a scare! Please, don't do that again!" Zeg pleaded while wiping his tears away, and then he suddenly pulled Tiana away from crusher and pulled her in for an even bigger one, "oh, Zeg so happy you ok too!"
"Ok, Zeg, ok…that's fine, but…no puedo respirar…I can't breathe!" Tiana called in a stained voice, and then the big dino truck gave her one last big squeeze before finally letting go.
"I'm glad too…thank you, Crusher, me salvaste la vida—you saved my life," Tiana calmly pointed out.
"It was the right thing to do after you saved mine and Pickle's lives at that waterfall. So, let's call it even?" Crusher asked with a smirk.
"Si," Tiana chuckled, but then she frowned and sighed, "but I still don't get it…why did you save me?"
"Well, I-I…I…I, um…ahem! Is it hot out here?!" Crusher mumbled hysterically.
"Oh, c'mon, Crusher, you can do better than that! Tell her how you feel!" Pickle urged while pushing his best friend closer to Tiana, causing them to accidentally bump fenders.
"But Pickle, everyone's watching," Crusher protested in a whisper.
"So? Just ignore them," Pickle pointed out with a smirk.
"B-b-but, I-!"
"Crusher." The said dark blue monster truck turned back around when he heard his name, as it was Tiana who said it, and she smiled sweetly at him.
"Did you rescue me because you care?"
"Of course I care! You think I'd just let you plummet into some pit to your doom?! I don't think so!" Crusher snapped hysterically.
"Well, I think you're very sweet, Crusher—and I care about you too," Tiana informed sheepishly while blushing a bit.
"You do?" Crusher gasped with excitement, and he blushed deeply and chuckled nervously when Tiana nodded.
"I just LOVE happy endings, but it's not over 'till the wedding's finished! So, whaddya say we all head back and finish marrying this happy couple?" Pickle cheered while standing in between Blaze and Rain, and the others all cheered in agreement.
"Ya know what, I think I'll go too," Crusher happily informed.
After a long reception, it wasn't until very late at night that the newly wedded couple was finally leaving to head out for their honeymoon together.
"Oh, hold on, Hon! Almost forgot something!" Rain sang happily when she stopped just outside the Monster Dome entrance, and she pulled out her bouquet.
She then closed her eyes, and tossed it as hard as she could in the opposite direction for a lucky someone to catch it. But as numerous women scrambled on top of each other to grab the bouquet first, they all somehow missed, as one female monster truck in particular caught in on accident.
It was Tiana, as she was just as shocked as everyone else when she caught it, and she was distracted while talking with Crusher and Pickle.
"Oh, I know who's gonna be walking down the aisle next!" Pickle shouted suggestively, as he excitedly danced around Crusher and Tiana.
And the two said trucks shared nervous glances before turning away while chuckling and smiling sheepishly, as they finally realized how ironic this looked for them.
But they did think about it…maybe some day…
The End
And there I go with the sappiness and drama again...oh well!
Well, there you go, that's the end of this story, but it's NOT the end of this series. There are still more sequels to come, so just you wait.
Also, I'd like to point out that I got the idea of trucks using lug nuts instead of rings when getting married from a Disney Pixar Cars fanfic writer, Nevuela, a great author and artist on DeviantArt, so be sure to check out his/her stuff. Alright? Alright.
Until the next story, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!