Worlds Collide: A Cars Fan Fiction

Arrival

In a desert valley in the American Southwest, there's a small town known as Radiator Springs. It's old, modest, and much like the rest of the world, occupied by living cars. 

The tourist season in Radiator Springs was winding to a close. The town had been incredibly popular, particularly among racing fans, during the summer, when their most famous citizen, race car Lightning McQueen, was on the race track. But the racing season was over, and the town's citizens were expecting him home any day. 

The town owed its continuing survival to McQueen. Decades before, the town had been part of Route 66, the most popular way for cars to travel across the country. But when the town was bypassed, its people were all but forgotten. A few newcomers, such as Doc, the town doctor (who was once the famous racing champion, the Hudson Hornet) and a former lawyer who owned the town's motel. But it wasn't until McQueen showed up that the town was put back on the map and sent tourists, including racing fans, pouring in. 

McQueen and Doc (who'd decided to train the fiery young race car) had been racing all over the country for the last few months. But the season was now over, and McQueen had sent a message that they'd soon be bringing home his second Piston Cup.

The entire town was eager to have the two back. But few were as impatient as Mater, the town tow truck and McQueen's best friend. Whenever he wasn't towing a broken down tourist or fishing off the cliffs of Cadillac Range, he was staring out into the distance, as if McQueen would magically appear if he waited long enough.

Sally Carrera, the owner of the motel, was eager to see McQueen again, too, but she was much better at keeping her restlessness in check. The last of the season's tourists were checking out, and she had a lot to do to get the motel ready for next season. Still, she and Mater nearly raced each other when they heard the sound of Mack's horn. Ugly gray clouds were beginning to fill the sky, but no one cared as they all left their businesses to see their friends.

Mack was a large, friendly truck that took McQueen and Doc to all of their races. He smiled and greeted the townspeople as he pulled up.

"MCQUEEN!" Mater raced to the back of Mack's trailer, and was the first to see Doc and McQueen roll out. 

"Hey, Mater!" The two greeted each other while the rest of the townsfolk welcomed Doc home. He seemed almost relieved to be back. After decades in a quiet town, the bright lights and loud crowds of the modern race track had left him a little disoriented. 

There were twenty minutes of pure chaos as everyone greeted the two race cars. McQueen and Sally were especially happy to see each other. Mater was asking too many questions for anyone to answer, and Doc was simply smiling and enjoying being back home. 

An exceptionally loud thunderclap interrupted their party, causing everyone to see that a large thunderstorm was building overhead. Ramone, the town's body artist, panicked and drove for his store, claiming that his paint was still wet. Flo, his wife and the local gas station owner, told everyone to meet back at her place that night for dinner. They all agreed and dispersed just as fat raindrops began to fall.

---

While the cars of Radiator Springs were celebrating their friends' return, something unbelievable was happening only three miles away. Just behind the town was a mountain range, known as Cadillac Range. Hidden in one of these mountains, the one closest to the town, was a compound. Here a group of scientists had been working for the last year on something they referred to as Project Rosen. 

They had just activated Project Rosen for the first time. While the machine had worked as expected, something had gone very wrong. The head scientist, a beige Vauxhall Vectra named Dr. Moteur, was yelling at his second-in-command, a white forklift and engineer named Stevens.

"We've been working on this project for over a year, we've tested every piece of the machine until we knew it would work, I've micromanaged every detail by tire...everything was going according to plan. But then you let them get away!"

"Sir." Stevens was more than used to being yelled at by his boss at this point, and was able to stay calm. "They didn't all get away. We caught one of them. The security guards are locking it up as we speak. And the others couldn't have gotten far."

"You caught one. Out of six. Meaning that there are still five of them on the loose--"

"I can count, sir."

"Those five freaks are putting everything I've worked for, all the resources poured into this project, on the line. Do you really think that one out of six is going to cheer me up?"

"Sir, we're already setting up search teams. We'll have over one hundred vehicles looking for them in less than an hour. The rain may help; the subjects may not want to travel far in it."

"Stevens, we know practically nothing about them. Maybe they move faster in the rain, did you think of that? Maybe they like it. Maybe they're immune to water. Maybe they can fly! We don't know. I want those search teams burning rubber in less than fifteen minutes. To heck with the rain. I want them all sitting in cages and ready for testing before morning, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." Stevens sighed, driving away to carry out his new orders. Dr. Moteur was not an easy car to get along with, and talking to him when he was angry was about as useful as talking to a brick wall. Still, the rich doctor was paying a ridiculous amount of money to each vehicle involved with his project, and Stevens had to admit that it was enough to buy his cooperation. 

He still remembered how he'd reacted when he'd first learned about the project. He'd nearly laughed, believing the offer to be a joke. But the last year had shown him just how serious the doctor was about Project Rosen. And the past hour had almost made him question everything he knew about the universe. 

He shuddered a bit as he continued through the compound, remembering the sight of the machine fully activating for the first time. The sight of those strange, alien beings being pulled from a distant, alien world. The utter chaos that occurred as they attempted to escape...

He'd been shocked at first. Horrified, even. But now, left alone with his thoughts, he began to smile. They were dealing with something undiscovered by science. His name would go down in history. 

He suddenly found himself speeding up. Dr. Moteur was right. If they were going to be famous for their work, than they needed to get those monsters back. No matter what.