Lightning McQueen watched with barely contained amusement as Mater attempted to knock out aluminum cans with a slingshot. He had gotten the idea from a movie somewhere, and had been determined to become a slingshot master. Lightning was sure Mater would become caught up by something equally distracting soon. Lighting was amazed at how suddenly Mater could move on to the next obsession. Lightning was actually a very focused person, but lately his friend was having a pretty re;axing effect on him.

"Hey, Lightnin'?"Mater as he let loose another rock, "You wanna give it a shot?"

Lightning was going to refuse, but knowing Mater he would somehow get his to do it anyway. So with only a little bit of reluctance, he comes out from his hiding place behind his car (one can never be to safe around Mater and flying projectiles) and approaches his friend.

Mater hands him the crudely made slingshot and steps back. He's hovering a bit, but Lightning doesn't mind. Pulling back the cord a little, he lazily aims at one of the cans. To his surprise, everyone of the original cans are still there. Mater wasn't very good with a slingshot it seemed. He lets the rock go and it swishes through the air and knocks into a can. the rock scrapes its side and makes the can spin a little, but it ultimately stays upright. Mater cheers and Lightning grins at him, surprised that he had hit the target.

Mater reaches for the slingshot again, "I'm gonna try a few more times!" He says, excitedly.

"Mater?" Lightning comments,glancing at his watch as he hands over the slingshot, "Isn't it about the time Holley told you they would be here?" Lightning asks.

Mater's back straightens in shock, his eyes widen a little and the slingshot slips out from his grasp. "Oh no I forgot!" He yelps and shoots towards his truck, "sorry Lightnin', But I gotta go!" he shouts while jumping into his truck and pulling out onto the road. Lightning smiled good naturedly at his friends antics and goes to get the slingshot up from the ground. He brushed the wooden tool off and stares at it for a moment... then at the cans.

A few moments later all the cans are on the ground and Lightning is heading back towards town.

"Wait, so are you saying some one tried to assassinate you?" Sheriff asks. Almost all of the Radiator Springs gang is gathered around the trio, listening intently to their new story. It wasn't everyday you could hear stories from a spy, and they took advantage of that. It was one of the few sources of entertainment. The whole town wasn't that big on Tv's, Lizzie had her radio, and Mater had his made up stories... But that was about it.

Lightning was chewing on his straw absentmindedly, only half-listening to Finn talk.

"Yes. He wasn't a very good assassin, and I managed to incapacitate him easily." Finn explains and Lightning sips at his drink idly. "The most surprising part was that he was part of a gang. The Tawney Straws actually-" Lightning drops his drink. It doesn't spill, but it does clatter loudly on the table and draw all the attention to him.

He's still got the straw sticking out of his mouth. "I thought they had disbanded?" He finally chokes out.

Finn is a little alarmed. "You know who they are?"

Lightning shifts uncomfortably. "Not exactly. My Aunt was actually under their empire when it was still at large." He explains, "She had a ton of horror stories about them. Like how they feed you to live within their boundaries and how they weren't ever put in jail because she had a monopoly on all the law enforcement and judicial jobs. There were a couple of terrifying instances when they tried to set fire to her house when she didn't pay, or when they ambushed her when she tried to leave her house." He's frowning at his cup, "They put her in the hospital a couple of times, and they wouldn't let anyone leave."

"I'm sorry about that happening to her." Finn says gently, "And to answer your question, yes. They had disbanded. For a little while. But it seems someone had chosen to resurrect her empire again. The assassin had a strawberry cut in half etched into his watch. That was Kaylas sign, so either someone is trying to bring back the Straws of they're stealing it." Finn exhales hard, "But my guess is that the assassin that destroyed her empire missed someone, and that someone has deemed it safe enough to begin to rebuild, and why they sent an assassin for me... I don't really know." He admits, "I wasn't even a part of the Tawney Investigation, but I am at a high enough rank to know about it. All the details of the Tawney files are open to me, so I am a logical target."

"So, wait, she was assassinated?" Mater asks, eyes wide.

"Yes." Finn says, "I'm not allowed to say what I know about the assassin, and to be honest... I don't know much."

"Can't they just bring her assassin back?" Sally asks, "If he took out the leader once, can't they do it again?"

"Not exactly," Holley begins to explain, "An assassin that good... they would need to have a lot of training and experience, and her death was nine years ago. An assassin that started training when they were 20 wouldn't be a master until they were around 40, 45. Plus nine years amounts up to around 54. He would be too old now..."

"But what if it wasn't an adult?" Lightning asks quietly.

"Like a kid?" Siddeley asks, one eyebrow cocked.

Lightning shrugged a went back to picking at the peeling table top. Finn stares at him for a moment or two while everyone else begins to throw in their two-cents about what the assassin could be like. Lightning had guessed the assassin was a kid. No one else had even begun to entertain the thought of it. Finn assumes it was a lucky guess.

Something in his knows it was a little too lucky.