Driven to Win

Chapter 11- Back in the Game

Now, we're getting back into the movie.

I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 11- Back in the Game

"Welcome back to Piston Cup Talk Round the Clock", Mike Joyride's voice was heard on the radio all throughout Radiator Springs, "where we do nothing but talk racing. So, let's get to it, starting, of course, with Lightning McQueen."

Of course. Starting, of course, with Lightning McQueen. Fudge was just exiting Casa Della Tires with Luigi and Guido, still in pyjamas, robe and Ugg boots and still absolutely exhausted. In fact, she was stumbling around, barely able to keep her eyes open.

Luigi laughed at her typical behaviour. "You are not a morning person, are you, Fudgie?"

"Nope!" She yawned loudly. "It feels like the middle of the night!"

He laughed some more and yawned as they rolled the front door up. "Do you remember when you used to wake us up at six o'clock in the morning, wanting to play?"

"Yeah." It was Fudge's turn to yawn again. "What was I thinking?"

Luigi and Guido laughed. Whenever Fudge did that, they would just pick her up and let her sleep with them for a couple more hours till they were ready to get up.

"Oh!" Fudge exclaimed, having heard the radio at that moment. "Hey! They're talking about Lightning on the radio!" She took off as fast as she could to Lizzie's to hear better. The Model T was still asleep on her porch, so Fudge decided to wait at the bottom, so she didn't disturb her.

"With the season start just two weeks away, there's still no official announcement", Mike Joyride explained. "But with number 95 coming off his worst year on record- don't shoot the messenger here, folks- I think it's safe to assume that Lightning McQueen's racing days are over. Meanwhile, Jackson Storm is looking even faster than-"

Over in Doc's garage, Lightning switched off the radio and sighed. It had been four months since his massive crash. It was now the middle of February and, like Mike said, the new racing season was just two weeks away. Nobody knew if Lightning McQueen was going to be there because even Lightning McQueen himself didn't know if he was going to be there. The thoughts for and against going went around in his head constantly. He also tried to think about what Fudge had said: "It's your decision! Not Storm's! Is retiring really gonna make you happy?"

So far, he'd come up with nothing.

He looked over at the photo of him and Doc racing by Willy's Butte, unable to believe how young he'd looked back then. He never thought things would change. Of course, he didn't think he'd be a young rookie forever, but going through these changes of reaching veteran-hood or whatever you'd call it would have never occurred to him and just didn't feel real. It was like how every time he looked at Fudge, he thought that she shouldn't be a teenager. She was supposed to be a five-year-old girl just like when he first met her.

For a while, his brain went on autopilot as he got out Doc's old film. Something inside him was telling him to watch it as it had done quite a few times over the past few months. So, in a matter of minutes, an old-fashioned film lit up with old-fashioned cars racing around an old-fashioned racetrack, complete with dirt and sand.

"As they enter the final lap, the number six and number twelve cars are still fighting it out for the lead!" the energetic announcer observed.

By that point, Lightning had seen the footage so many times he felt like he could recite the dialogue along with the announcer.

Then he could see a familiar flash of cobalt blue roaring past several racers.