Chloe McQueen: Spy Car Chapter 2: What the…!?
Chloe stared in shock as Rod's hologram spoke. "C.H.R.O.M.E., this is Agent Redline from the Detroit circuit coming in with new Intel on my mission."
"The lemons are starting to get suspicious of my interest in their camera weapon but it's nothing I can't handle. I've managed to get a picture of the car in charge of the operation." Then a picture showed up in the form of a car engine "I can't tell you now because I'm kind of in open space, anyway tell McMissile that I'll be waiting for him in and indiscreet place to make the drop and I'll signal him when I'm ready."
"If anything happens to me, just carry on with the mission, but it's very likely nothing bad will happen, I've been in tougher spots before. Redline out." And the hologram was deleted.
Chloe stared in shock for almost TWO WHOLE DAYS until she finally snapped out of it when she leaned against the TV remote. She was shocked again when she found out that the WGP was a scam run by Axelrod.
"The picture, it's him!" Chloe gasped as she compared the two. "I can't believe no one else saw that connection, wait, Lightning!"
Then she saw to a greater shock that Lightning and Mater were on TV and that Mater solved the crime!
"Well, he's pretty smart with car parts but… THIS?" Chloe finally gave in and blacked out.
. . .
When she went back to Detroit, Chloe decided to just keep the compass because when she tried to turn it on it wouldn't work. Besides, no police car would believe her story. She now knew that the WGP scam was now connected with what she saw that night, but she couldn't really comprehend it. She was more concerned about the car she had saved and if he was all right. She kept tabs on his recovery progress for about two and a half years when he was still in physical therapy. She felt exhilarated after that experience and practiced more self-defense moves. She wondered if her job was really right for her, when one day fate intervened.
"You wanted to see me sir?" Chloe said to her boss.
"Chloe, I'm afraid we have to let you go." Her boss said.
"Look sir, I'm sorry if I've done anything wrong but I feel like I'm still qualified…"
"No it's not that Miss McQueen, it's because you're over-qualified for this job."
"What do you mean?"
"You finish projects faster and more efficiently than anyone in this company's history, you even finish other projects that aren't yours. Also you pretty much sacrifice your vacation time to keep working. What I'm trying to say is that you've more stamina and um, strength, than anyone this company's ever seen. It's not an easy decision but I'm only doing this because you seem to be wasting your life with this office job. You're still young and hyper, go out and have an adventure once in a while, clearly the office isn't for you. Besides, I heard about your brother's incident, you can go and be with him, because that lowbrow tow truck isn't going to have much serendipitous chances like that any longer, and you're pretty much part of a one percent family. It's time you go out and splurge a little."
"I understand sir; I'll go pack my stuff ASAP, and by the way, that tow truck is NOT lowbrow and he could kick your dumb bumper any day."
Chloe slammed the door and gathered her things before the boss could even utter and angry word outside for everyone to hear.
"I'm gonna miss her, though she won't have any problems finding another job to be over-qualified at." Simon said.
"Well at least we don't have to worry about getting flipped." Debra said shrewdly.
"SUSAN!" the boss yelled into the speaker to his secretary "GIVE ME MY &%&$*^# MIGRAINE PILLS!"
"Whatever Chloe did to get the boss like that, I doubt she'll get another job." Susan said and hurried with the pills.
. . .
When she got back to her apartment, Chloe checked her messages on the phone. There were just three.
"Hey, Chloe." Simon's voice said. "Sorry about you getting fired, hey how about we see that new action mo…"
"Miss McQueen" The boss said. "LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THAT STU…"
Chloe was about to delete the last message when she heard a familiar voice.
"Ma'am, this is Redline, I wanted to thank you for saving me back there a few years ago. Also, if you want to meet me in person, just meet me in Tokyo at Dynasty Park at around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. I'll send you a ticket and if you don't show up I'll understand. I'll have a white bento box with a cherry blossom on it. I just want to say thanks."
Chloe almost went into shock when she snapped out of it. Come on Chloe, she said to herself, you hardly know this guy, besides it could be a trick. After a few hours Chloe decided to take extra precaution with this car. If he got caught, he probably won't be that hard to knock out.
Within days Chloe got her ticket to Japan with a Japanese flower pin attached to it. Figuring that it might be an identifying item, she wore it on her trip back to Tokyo at Dynasty Park. She started looking for a car with a bento box and cherry blossom on it. She stayed at the park for around two hours until she found herself in a secluded area near a lake.
She stayed on guard the whole time when finally she saw some shadowy car coming up from behind her. Quickly she turned and tried to flip him, but the car blocked her move.
"Nice, though it could use some work." He said.
Then Chloe saw that he had a bento box with a cherry blossom on it. This was the car that was on the phone, but he looked different. She tried to go at him again but he backed up quickly and she just hit air.
"Hold on, I just have to remove this." The car closed his eyes and slowly removed his disguise to reveal the same car that she had saved, Rod.
Chloe just looked at him with a raised roof brow.
"Aren't you surprised?"
"After these experiences, I'm hardly surprised."
Rod laughed "Well I don't blame you."
"So, um, are you alright now?"
"Yeah, it all comes from Detroit."
"Really, I live there; you cars have a lot of grit."
"Flattery will get you nowhere."
Chloe smirked "Anyway, how did that incident happen?"
"Well, I can't really tell you but the gist is that I was in deep cover, it got blown, I was almost killed, then you came along, and now I'm better."
"You're welcome."
"Also, I kind of saw you beat up those lemons pretty good."
Chloe shrugged. "I guess, but it was in self-defense."
"Though you could use some more practice."
"What do you mean?"
"Next time try tightening your kicks so that you can gain more momentum and power."
"Are you giving me pointers?"
"You could say that, anyway, I'm sorry you had to witness that."
"Don't worry about it, I've seen stuff on TV like that so I'm okay, it's you I was… well I don't like watching real death."
"Right, anyway thanks for helping me."
"You're welcome; speaking of TV did you see the new about what happened."
Rod laughed "Yeah, I still can't believe that a tow truck solved that mystery just by going on the picture alone."
"I know that tow truck, Mater, he's my…"
"Brother Lightning's best friend?"
"So you've been stalking me?"
"Stalking is a strong word; I prefer to name it as investigating."
"Really, that's what you're going with?"
"Okay so I might have been 'spying' per say, but I just wanted to make sure you were alright."
"I can let it go if you're one of the good guys."
"I am, rainbow roll?"
"Thanks, I gotta tell you that I felt exhilarated after that experience. It was actually kind of fun and exciting."
"You actually liked the thought of getting killed?"
"I'm not sure, but I just had this feeling that grew inside of me every time I stuck it to those lemons. I felt like I was at work but loving it more than I could ever imagine."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Mr. Redline, I know that there are a lot of bad cars out in the world, and you can't go around trusting hardly anyone. I feel like I really want to… nah."
"Become a secret agent?"
"Well, I can imagine it must be hard."
"It's common knowledge that it's hard, but you might actually like this career."
Chloe thought about it for a few moments. All her life she had been passionate about whatever she did, but never this passionate. All her life she wondered what career she was going to have and if she would enjoy it. Now this was a chance to experience this feeling. She wasn't a risk taker but now…
"I think I'm willing to do this."
"Well, if you're that passionate here's a card for the academy, keep it safe. We'll send you an email telling you what to do next."
"Thank you so… wait, here's your com…pass?"
When Chloe had turned around to get the compass Rod had dropped, he was gone.
"Okay, now that was pretty cool."
Chloe left Japan the next day to head for Radiator Springs. She had to talk to her brother before doing anything else.
. . .
When Rod went back to Detroit, he was a little worried if Chloe could handle this job. It's not an easy job and she's so cute… come on you hardly know her and you're crushing on her, keep it together Redline, he told himself.