Ride

Chapter 4- ...That Ended in Disaster

"Back for more fun!"

The race car chuckled. "Well, come on. We don't have that much time!"

"Then let's go!" Fudge shouted determinedly.

Even as they rolled onto the asphalt, grey clouds had rolled over the night sky, making seeing the stars an impossible task. Still it was light enough to race with the stadium lights flooded over them.

"Let's go!" Fudge repeated, getting comfortable on his roof.

"You ready?" McQueen questioned, laughing at her impatience.

"Yeah!"

"Are you sure?" he teased her.

"Yeah!"

"All right!"

He revved his engine and was soon racing around the track again. Once again, Fudge took great delight in the great speed and got lost in her own little world, dreaming of being a real racer. Lightning, however, kept one eye on the track and the other on the sky. The clouds were constantly getting closer and the stock car wanted to make sure they didn't leave their departure too late. So, when he saw the first lightning flash during the middle of their third lap, he knew that it was time for them to get out of there.

"Come on, Fudge-O!" he announced as the familiar rumble of thunder sounded over the stadium and little bits of rain spat down on them. "We gotta get going now!" He started to slow down, much to Fudge's dismay.

"Are you serious?" she whined, unable to hide her disappointment.

"Yes I am."

"Already?"

"Yeah. Storm's coming."

"But that wasn't even three laps!" the human girl protested.

"I know, but it's raining and did you see that lightning? And by lightning, I don't mean me", he added, laughing. Fudge giggled too. As if on cue, another flash of lightning lit up the sky. "Plus, we got a couple laps in earlier, so that's something. Come on. We're goin' home!"

"Do we have to?!" she whined as McQueen came to a complete stop.

"Yes we do!" he insisted as more thunder rumbled and the rain picked up. "Weather's only gonna get worse now. Besides, it's getting late. You're tired", he added as Fudge yawned, "and your dads are gonna be worried about you."

"You've raced in much worse than this!" the twelve-year-old attempted to reason. "And it's only nine o'clock! And Papà and Babbo know where we are! I don't wanna go home just yet! Please, just a couple more laps!"

Lightning hesitated. That was true. He had been out in worse, training in all kinds of weather conditions, thanks to Doc. Though, Fudge hadn't. On the other tyre, what difference did that make? He was the one driving; not her. He stared up at the sky. Sure, it seemed as though they had some time before the weather got bad. Then again, the drive back would be three hours- probably longer in this weather- but maybe they wouldn't even run into the storm on the way back to Radiator Springs. He considered both of the options, knowing he'd have to decide fast.

"All right. Just a couple more laps", he agreed reluctantly. He knew, even then, that it probably wasn't the best idea, but what the hell?

"Yay!" the girl cheered. "Awesome! You're the best!"

"But then we're going home", he rushed on. "No complaints, all right? Just a couple more laps and we're going."

"I promise! Thank you! You're the best brother ever! This is awesome!"

Boy, did that turn out to be the biggest mistake of their lives.

The first lap was rather uneventful. It was fun, but nothing out of the ordinary. Fudge was laughing and grinning like crazy as Lightning moved at two hundred miles an hour. The stock car himself was also enjoying the feeling (well, he was a race car; how could he not?), but was partly distracted by the weather. The rain seemed to be picking up a little bit, making the track get slipperier and slipperier, but it was nothing that he couldn't handle. However, it was during the second lap that they took that the unthinkable happened.

Like every other typical racetrack in the Piston Cup, this track had four left turns. Again, that was nothing Lightning couldn't handle. Though, he did have to watch out when the track was wet. However, he soon found himself so caught up in the race- he considered it a race, despite the fact that there were no other competitors- that he was soon relaxed and concerns of the weather washed away. Before long, Lightning was pushing himself as much as he dared.

Not surprisingly, as it turned out, he should've paid more attention to the weather and the track conditions. As he attempted to make it around the fourth and final turn, one of his tyres slipped on a slick part of the track. His eyes widened as he felt himself slip. He veered out of control.

The good news was that he managed to correct himself in time before he was seriously injured. The bad news was that the same couldn't be said for Fudge.

It all happened so fast. The sudden jerk bounced Fudge- who, up until the slip, had still been laughing and hollering gleefully, having the time of her life, but was now very anxious- into the air a little. That proved to be a serious problem because the magnets she was wearing, which were there to prevent her from falling off a car's hood/roof, came loose. Normally, she could easily reattach them. Only this time, she didn't have time. Lightning wasn't still going two hundred miles an hour (it was much too dangerous in those slippery conditions), but he was still going pretty fast. The speed was way too much for her to handle without the magnets. In under a second, she slid right off Lightning's roof with a blood/oil-curdling scream!

McQueen had seen what had happened, but it had all been far too fast for him to fully comprehend it all, yet alone react. He clipped her hard before she could hit the ground, sending the human girl flying. Fudge hit the tarmac hard. She rolled a couple of times, her helmet cracking and leaving shards of plastic across the ground. Again, Lightning didn't have time to do anything- as previously stated, this all happened in under a second- so he drove right on top of Fudge, completely running her over!

Finally, everything that had just happened had sunk in for Lightning. His eyes widened as he tried to skid to a stop. He almost spun out of control again, but he didn't care. He only had one thing on his mind in that moment: that crumpled, unmoving figure, lying on the track several feet away from him.

"Fudge!" the race car exclaimed, horrified. He raced back to her; again, as fast as he dared. He had to hurry to see what kind of condition she was in, but he didn't want to hit her or run her over again. "FUDGE!"

There was no answer.

"FUDGE! FUDGE!" he screamed again, seeing and hearing that there was no sound or movement coming from the girl. Again, his calls were to no avail.

Cursing up a storm and more scared than he'd ever been in his entire life, Lightning approached the human girl that he saw as his little sister. Another flash of lightning pierced through the sky in what Lightning thought- but sure didn't hope- was a warning sign. He couldn't stop swearing to himself as he rolled up to her. McQueen peered at his sister to check the damage. It was all he could do to not throw up his pizza and ice cream and keep his balance. He was expecting the absolute worst...

*Waits for you to get your breath back* How was that? Are you still with me? Or do you all hate me?