Driven to Win

Chapter 17- Racing is the Reward

Chapter 17- Racing is the Reward

"Ow!" Lightning cried. "Hey! Be careful, all right?"

"Oh, stop your moaning!" a forklift retorted. "We're being careful!"

Fudge, Cruz, Luigi and Guido, who had to be tracked down to help, and several forklifts who worked at the training centre had grabbed hold of Lightning and were trying to get him out of the screen. It was a difficult task for a number of reasons. One, it was dark and they were only relying on the vehicles' headlights as a light source. Two, they were still trying to figure out how and where everyone should grab the car. Three, Lightning's complaining wasn't exactly speeding things along.

"Okay!" one of the forklifts boomed out. "One... two..."

"Can we go on two instead of three?" another forklift questioned.

"Why?" Cruz wondered.

"Because it's faster."

Lightning groaned. "You know, you could've counted to three, like, five times without all this two talk!" he snapped.

"Okay!" the first forklift repeated. "One... two..."

"So, we're going on two?" the second forklift asked.

Everyone groaned. "Lift!" they all cried, having had enough.

It took a while, but they finally managed to free Lightning. Still, things were going to go from bad to worse. When he was out, a set of headlights approached the group. Lightning's heart sank when he saw who it was. It was Mr. Sterling. It was hard to see his face in the dark, but given that he'd just destroyed a multi-million dollar machine- the model the Jackson Storm wished he had- the group doubted that he'd be very happy.

The Rust-Eze owner turned to a couple of forklifts. "I need you to get the power fixed right away", he informed them.

"Yes, Mr. Sterling." They hurried off.

"Mr. Sterling", Cruz began, "we-"

"I'd like to speak to all three of you", he interjected, eyeing Lightning, Cruz and Fudge.

"Ooooohhhh!" some of the immature Next Gens taunted.

"Yes, sir", Cruz responded in a melancholy tone.

"Yeah, all right, Mr. Sterling", Lightning added in an identical tone.

Only Fudge remained silent. She feared whatever it was that Sterling had to say. Sure, he seemed calm now, but once they were alone, would he get mad? Would he yell? For a brief moment, she even wondered- and worried- that he'd sue.

By the time they got to Sterling's office, she was ready to faint.

"Lightning, why don't you wait here with..." Sterling looked to Fudge. She knew he didn't know her name and didn't care. "I want to talk to Cruz first."

So, Fudge and Lightning waited.

"Lightning?"

"What?"

"I need some water."

"Then go get some."

"Shouldn't we wait until Mr. Sterling talks to us?"

"Fine. Don't." He didn't even bother to hide his irritation.

So, Fudge went, mostly to get some water, but also to get away from Lightning for a while. He'd been in a bad mood for several days, so it would do some good to the sanity of both of them if he just had some space for a while. When she returned, she sat with Lightning outside the door to Sterling's office, trying to decipher what was being said on the other side. They felt like a couple of naughty little kids waiting outside the principal's office. They were nervous, but the water did make Fudge feel better.