Chapter Five
"You're going to keep racing?" Mom asked, hopefulness present in her voice. Mater had gathered the town together, telling them that Dad had something important to tell us. And as usual, Mater was right.

"You better believe it." Dad grinned, getting cheers from the town. Thank Chrysler. Thank Chrysler. I knew Dad wasn't going to give up on racing, but I didn't know if the town wanted him to continue.

After his crash, I figured most of the town wanted him to stop racing. They all love Dad so I thought for sure they would all beg him to retire and stay safe. After all, these past few months felt lonely without him around. "Oh, Stickers, this is great news." Mom smiled.

"Is he finally going to finish the road?" Lizzy asked. As usual, most of us brushed it off. Lizzy has always been...well...kind of behind on news. She usually figures it out in the end though.

"You better call Rusty and Dusty, bro!" Ramone shouted, getting multiple agreements as Dad punched in their number. I couldn't believe this was actually happening.

"Lightning! How's our favorite racer?" Dusty greeted as their faces appeared on the phone.

"The best I've felt in months. Actually, there's something I'd like to tell you," Dad replied, his smile growing. Yes, this was good. This was perfect. Dad was turning back into his old self. "I want to continue racing."

"We hoped you might say that!" Dusty cheered.

"Hoped? More like prayed. Do you know how much money we spent on you?" Rusty quickly asked. Dad shook his head as they continued to ramble on.

"We got this brand new racing center all set up for you!" Dusty stated.

"All for you! The Rust-Eze Racing Center is all yours, kiddo!" Rusty added. Dad furrowed his eyebrows, confused by this sudden information.

"Rust-Eze Racing Center?" Dad asked, making them talk even louder. They were so proud of this new building they built for Dad.

"You should come down and check it out in the morning!" Rusty quickly replied.

"Yeah! We'll send Mack the coordinates and we'll meet you here!" Dusty cheered.

"Alright. Sounds good to me." Dad agreed. Eventually, Dad got off the phone with his sponsors. I swear those three could talk for hours about absolutely nothing.

Dad turned back to the town, who were all conversing with each other while they waited for the call to end. "Dude! You're not going to the racing center looking like that, are you?" Ramone asked when everyone finally quieted down.

"I don't know, Stinky. This gray is a nice look on you. I absolutely love the way it brings out your eyes." Mom teased, making the rest of the town give their opinions.

"Well, I think he looks just perfect." Mater fired out, defending his best friend.

"Mater, he can't go out in public in primer." Sheriff groaned, rolling his eyes.

"I think he should try a nice green." Fillmore smiled, nodding his head.

"Green? I think not. He should go with his traditional red." Sarge argued.

"Guys, guys. Mr. McQueen can be painted whatever color he wants." Ethan stated, joining in on this madness. Oh boy. This will never end.

xxx
It was finally morning. Mack had arrived just a few hours ago. The sun was beginning to rise as the town gathered to send Dad off. Everyone had to say their goodbyes, especially Mater. "How do I look?" Dad asked, driving towards Mom and me.

"You look red-y." She grinned, looking at his new coat of red paint. As Sarge suggested, Dad went with his trademark color. Mom kissed his headlight before he drove to Mater.

Luigi quickly packed a few (a lot) of tires into Dad's trailer as Guido shouted at him in Italian. "Bye, buddy." Mater smiled as they did their best friend handshake.

"Don't worry, Mater. I'll see ya real soon." Dad replied as they left a tire mark on the road. Suddenly, Red and Sheriff began to cry.

"Oh, dude. Are you crying?" Ramone asked, looking at Sheriff. It was typical for Red to cry. Sheriff on the other hand...not so much.

"No! I just got somethin' in my eye." Sheriff replied, pushing back his tears.

I drove towards Dad, who was now alone. "Bye, Dad." I smiled, glad that he was going to train with professionals. Now he could get faster and stronger. After this, he will finally be able to beat Jackson Storm.

"If you think I'm leaving you behind then you're crazy." Dad chuckled. Wait. He's taking me on this trip?

"But, but-"

"Just quit your rambling and get in the trailer, Little Red." He laughed, leading me towards the trailer. Okay, this was definitely wasn't something I was expecting. I thought I was going to stay behind with Mom and watch the motel.

We turned around, looking at the town. "Ethan!" Dad shouted, making my best friend jump. He looked around in confusion, driving closer to us.

"Yes, sir?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Get your bumper in here. Stella's gonna need some company on this boring trip." Dad teased. Ethan looked towards his parents who gently nodded their heads. Okay, now this was like some weird dream. Ethan's parents never say yes, ever!

"Okay." Ethan softly laughed, entering the trailer. Dad and I stood near the edge, waving goodbye to the town.

"Good luck, Sugar!"

"See ya, Miss Stella!"

"Goodbye!"

"Farewell, Soldier!"

"Good luck in college!"

Dad looked down at Mom. "Bye, Sally. Love you." He grinned as the door began to shut.

"Love you more!" Mom shouted back.

xxx

"Lightning, your tires! They have a small leak. When we get to this a racing center, we will have them fixed! You can not train with flat tires!" Luigi cried out, staring at Dad's tires. This trip was taking forever.

"Alright, sounds good, Luigi." Dad laughed, making Luigi smile. I don't think Dad realized how small his trailer is. We were literally bumper to bumper in this thing. Honestly, I just wanted to get out and stretch.

"Mack, how much longer?" I asked, desperation dripping from my lips.

"Just a few more miles, Stella." Mack happily replied. I looked out the window, waiting to see this racing center. Ethan crept up behind me, joining me.

"This is some trip, huh?" He softly chuckled, trying to make conversation. For most of the trip, we slept, trying to gain back hours of sleep we lost last night talking.

"Honestly, I'm surprised we're even here," I replied, softly giggling. He nodded his head, a smile growing on his face.

"This is a nice change of scenery," He added. "Hey, what's that?" He asked. I looked towards where he was pointing. My jaw dropped as I looked at this brand new building. It was nothing I expected.

Mack pulled up, the press quickly gathering outside. "Ready, Team McQueen?" Dad asked, sending us a soft smile. We nodded our heads. Dad pushed the button, letting the door open.

"McQueen! Over here!"

"Would you mind answering a few questions, Mr. McQueen?"

"No questions! Please move along!" Luigi exclaimed, rushing Dad into the building.

"Mr. McQueen, are you planning on retiring?"

"Mr. McQueen, have you heard of Jackson Storm's latest record?"

"Get back you oil-thirsty parasites!" Mack exclaimed as we entered the quiet building. We all let out a sigh of relief, finally away from the flashes of light and annoying questions.

"Paparazzi. They are terrible." Luigi sighed. We all slowly drove around, getting a good look at the place. Standing tall in the middle of the room was a big red 95. We were quiet, none of us wanting to say a word.

"Lightning. Glad you could make it." Dusty greeted, as the two old cars entered the room. Dad's face light up when he saw his sponsors.

"Rusty, Dusty. This place is amazing!" Dad grinned, admiring the place. I had to say, I was impressed. I had no idea these two cars had enough money to build a place like this.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Dusty agreed.

"You brought along a big group. Afraid to come by yourself?" Rusty asked, making us laugh. Dad? Afraid? No, he wasn't scared. He could handle anything.

"How did you two afford this place?" Dad questioned, ignoring their playful jab. Immediately, their faces dropped. The atmosphere changed, bringing a bad vibe to the room.

"Lightning, we sold Rust-Eze." Dusty softly replied. Dad's face scrunched up, obviously not understanding.

"What? Why?"

"Lightning, we had no choice. We wanted to give you the best training facility and the only way to do that was to sell Rust-Eze." Rusty quickly answered. Dad frowned, shaking his head.

"You didn't have to do that." Dad quickly argued. I quietly drove to his side, wanting to offer him support. Great, it was like we were getting one bad thing after another. We just couldn't catch a break.

"Lightning. We wanted to do this for you. We want you to go out there and show them that there's still more in you. We want you representing Rust-Eze." Dusty replied.

"If we didn't, we would have just got a new racer!" Rusty quickly added.

"Oh yeah, we had the chance. We had the pick of the litter. We literally could have had anyone we wanted."

"Anyone."

"Yupp!"

"But we picked you and we would do it again in a heartbeat." Rusty softly smiled.

"Besides, you don't want two old guys anymore. We're too out of the loop on these new-fangled training devices. You'll need someone younger." Dusty quickly added, trying to help Dad see why they were leaving.

"But don't worry, we'll be at every race."

"Well, not every race."

"I'll miss you guys." Dad softly smiled, cutting them off. I looked into his eyes, seeing the tears building up. These guys were the ones who gave him his big break. They were the ones who have been with him his whole life. Things really were changing.

"We'll miss you too, kiddo," Dusty replied.

"But don't worry, you'll like Mr. Sterling. He's a good guy." Rusty added.

"Thank you. Thanks for everything." Dad sadly smiled. I could see him trying to hold back his feelings. He couldn't cry around us, otherwise, he would lose his manly status and Luigi would probably break down, too.

"No, thank you for all of the memories. I think my favorite will be the first time you tied for the Piston Cup." Dusty softly chuckled.

"I can remember the headlines, 'Tongue Tied!'" Rusty exclaimed, making all of us laugh. Dad had shown me those headlines. Those were right before he disappeared to Radiator Springs.

"How could I forget?" Dad laughed, wiping away his tears. Were these guys really just leaving? It wouldn't be Rust-Eze without them.

"So long kiddo. And don't forget, don't drive like my brother."

"And don't drive like my brother."

They exited the building, leaving us feeling cold. It was like they had taken all of the joy and happiness out of the room with them. They were always laughing, always cracking jokes, especially about Dad. What would happen without them? "There's my favorite racer!"

We turned around, looking at a shiny, silver car drive towards us. Who in the world? "The name's Sterling. I'm the new Rust-Eze owner. It's an honor to finally meet thee, Lightning McQueen." He greeted, driving towards us.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Sterling. This is my daughter, Stella, and her friend, Ethan, and Luigi, who works in the pit crew." Dad introduced, showing each of us off. Just being in a two-foot radius of the guy made me uneasy. Something about him was off.

"Wonderful! I'm glad you brought down part of the team." Sterling smiled. He looked towards me, his eyes locking with mine. I did not want to be near him. I slowly backed away from Dad, heading for Ethan.

"Is this guy freaking you out?" Ethan whispered as Sterling explained what was going to happen to Rust-Eze now that he was in charge.

"Oh yeah. He's sending me mixed signals." I softly replied.

"Woah! Is that asphalt from my first win?" Dad exclaimed as they began to drive away. We followed behind him, letting him walk down memory lane. I spotted pictures of him flying through the air, his face when he won the Hudson Hornet Memorial Piston Cup, him winning in Porto Corsa, Italy, and a picture of him and Doc.

"Wow, do you find it kind of strange how this is set up?" Ethan asked, his brown eyes scanning the pictures. Suddenly, things did seem weird. Why did Mr. Sterling go through all this trouble now?

"If you're going to train, you can't go in like that." Sterling smiled, looking at Dad. Suddenly, I felt offended. Ramone worked hard on that and now Sterling was just going to change it.

He dragged us towards the paint shop, watching Dad enter in. "This is an electric suit. It has everything you could ever need. It can check your vitals, track your speed, and much, much more."

Dad exited, already looking different. He was shinier and actually looked a little bit younger. At least Dad looked happy though. "Woah! Does this have a phone?" He excitedly asked.

"Race cars don't need phones, Lightning," Sterling replied. I glanced at Ethan, a scowl forming on my face. I was starting to get a bad taste in my mouth. How could Dad stand this guy? Just because Sterling was acting like Dad's biggest fan, doesn't mean that he is. He's rich! He could have just bought all of this to look like Dad's friend.

"Keep a smile on for old man McQueen," Ethan mumbled into my ear. Quickly, I plastered on a smile.

"Wow, Dad. You look great!" I cheered, hoping he couldn't see how upset I was with Sterling.

"Thanks, Little Red." Dad smiled. He looked so happy and I didn't want to ruin this for him. I had to act like this was something totally amazing, even though I figured something fishy was going on.

"Lightning, come here. I want to show you something really cool." Sterling softly smiled, cocking one of his eyebrows. Dad and the rest of us followed behind. The doors opened and my jaw dropped. No way.

~~~~~~~~~~