Ride

Chapter 28- Finding Fudge

Well, I once again spoiled what happens in this chapter, didn't I? I need to stop doing that! XD Either way, I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 28- Finding Fudge

That night, it rained. It was really late. The entire town of Radiator Springs, the spies and the search crews were all gathered at Flo's. All of them had drinks in front of them, but very few were actually drinking them. They were all losing hope.

"So, what are we gonna do now if she has been kidnapped?" Lightning wondered.

"We'll probably have to get her photo on TV and see if anyone has any information on her whereabouts", Sheriff replied.

Everyone nodded silently.

"That reminds me", Sarge piped up. He glanced at the spies. "How did you know Fudge was missing?"

"It was on the news in the States", Finn explained. "We had a mission in New Mexico. Well, it didn't actually mention her name. It just said something about a missing thirteen-year-old girl in Radiator Springs, Arizona. We just assumed..."

Again, they all nodded quietly.

Luigi glared at Lightning again. "What are you going to do if Fudge has been kidnapped?!" he demanded angrily.

The stock car was taken aback. "What... What do you mean?!"

The Fiat's voice rose. "First, you almost kill my daughter! But then, that is not enough for you! She gets lost and unable to get home because she cannot walk and now she is missing!"

"You can't blame me for Fudge going missing!" Lightning cried defensively. "She got upset because we were all fighting!"

"Yes, but wherever she is, if she has gotten stuck somewhere, then maybe she would have been able to get out if she was not in that wheelchair!" Luigi repeated angrily. "Because of you!"

All of them had seen Luigi seethe with rage every time he saw Lightning, but still, nobody was prepared for what happened next. Luigi lunged forward at Lightning like he did on the night of Fudge's accident. Only this time, nobody had time to stop him. He rammed into Lightning as hard as he could.

"Luigi!" just about everyone cried at once.

He ignored them all and rammed into him again! Lightning winced and cried out in pain. Luigi was about to ram into him a third time when Sarge, Sheriff and Guido lunged for him and grabbed him.

"If you do that one more time, I will put you in the impound!" Sheriff informed him and it wasn't a threat; it was a promise. "This has gotta stop, Luigi!"

"We know this has been hard on you", Sarge added, "but you can't keep blaming McQueen for all this. Maybe Fudge's accident was avoidable, but this was no one's fault!

"Or, if anythin', it was everyone's fault", Flo voiced her opinion.

Luigi just grunted in disgust and stormed off.

"You all right, McQueen?" Sheriff wanted to know.

"I'll be fine!" he assured the squad car.

Ramone studied the race car's sides. "You got a lotta nasty dents there, man", he observed. "You should probably get those fixed up. I can do it right now if you want."

Lightning nodded. "Yeah. I probably should." Even though it was late, it wasn't like he was going to be able to sleep with everything that was going on. "Thanks, Ramone."

It was nearly one o'clock in the morning by the time McQueen returned to the Cozy Cone Motel. Even with all of his dents and scratches taken care of, he was still feeling pretty sore. So, he was grateful when Sally provided him with some painkillers when she returned from showing Finn, Holley and Sammy to their respective cones for the evening.