Worlds Collide: A Cars Fan Fiction

Dropping In

Nearly every car in Radiator Springs (except Lizzie, a horseless carriage who was asleep on her shop's porch) agreed to go. Less than an hour after the kidnapping, Sheriff led the way across the desert. He was followed by Doc, Sally, Mater, Sarge, Fillmore, Flo, Ramone, Luigi, Guido, Mack, and Red. 

Mack, who'd agreed to bring the humans in McQueen's trailer, had panicked as much as Mater when his racer had been kidnapped. He passed the time telling them (through the phone in the trailer) about his favorite races McQueen had been in. While Zhara wasn't a racing fan (other than field hockey she wasn't into sports), the stories were pretty interesting. At least, they took her mind off of the current situation. Still, she didn't stop hugging Elsie's tote for one moment.

She almost hyperventilated when they made it to the compound. With his night vision goggles (it was still very dark outside), Sarge told them that there weren't any outside guards. Zhara relaxed, but Doc, Sarge, and Sheriff looked a little worried. 

"That means there are probably a lot of guards inside." Doc explained. 

"We'll have to be very careful and very quiet." Sheriff said this specifically while looking at Mater, Hector, and Abbey. They nodded (though Hector somewhat reluctantly).

"When we go in," Nikki whispered as they made their way to the elevator, "Mater, Sally, and Zhara will go look for Elsie and McQueen. They're probably being heavily guarded, so the fewer of us trying to sneak in there, the better. The rest of us will look for the device and try to get it working. Okay?"

"Okay," Zhara practically whispered. Zane was keeping an eye on her, and had tried to make her feel better, but he couldn't comfort her the way that Elsie could.

They entered the elevator (although it was much more crowded this time) and made it into the compound. As the elevator doors opened, they were surprised by a security car waiting for them.

"Hold it right there!" 

"No," Nikki responded, signalling to Red. He glared at the security car and blasted him with his fire hose. The spray sent the car flying across the room, where he hit a wall and was knocked out. They all got out of the elevator, with Guido and Luigi removing the car's tires so he couldn't follow them. 

"Okay," Sheriff said once he was sure that they were alone. "Let's split up now. Mater, Sally, Zhara, you three go find McQueen and Elsie. The rest of you, come with me."

"If only we had a clue as to where they were." Zhara wished allowed, still hugging her sister's bag. "Elsie's great at this kind of thing; I wish she were here."

Just then, they heard a clanging sound coming from the ceiling. Everyone looked up in time to see a vent grate pop off and fall to the floor. They all cleared the way, and watched in disbelief as Elsie jumped down, perfectly fine.

"I wish I had a hamburger!" Hector said, looking at the ceiling. Abbey gave him a weak slap on the back.

"Elsie!" Zhara ran into her sister's arms. She quickly looked her over. "Are you okay? What happened?" she signed. 

"McQueen and I got caught. But I'm okay now. Are you okay?" Elsie signed back.

"I am now," Zhara signed. "I love you."

Elsie smiled. "I know. I love you too."

Elsie was then tackled in a hug by Hector, Abbey, Nikki, and Zane. When she finally got to come up for air, Zhara handed her back her tote. She grinned, and put it on.

"Sorry to interrupt," Doc said, "but where's Lightning?"

Elsie's turned dead serious. She signed quickly while Zhara translated. 

"McQueen is in danger. Let's go!" Elsie took off running down the hall. Zhara, Sally, and Mater followed her. 

"Come on," Sheriff said to everyone else. "We need to find that machine!"

---

Elsie led Zhara, Mater, and Sally down the halls. Zhara was so happy to have her sister back that she'd have followed Elsie into a volcano. She noticed that she hesitated some at a few turns, but Zhara realized that this was probably due to her escaping through a vent. 

They finally made it to a room with an open door. The group of four became silent; there were security guards in the room. 

"My men have been watching the septic tank for nearly an hour, and no humans have crawled out of it. It didn't escape through the sewers, did it?" 

The group recognized the voice: it was the forklift that was Moteur's second-in-command. He sounded very, very angry.

"What are you upset about? I told you not to check there."

That voice was definitely McQueen's. Sally inched forward a bit, her fear obvious on her face. Mater seemed a second away from charging into the room, plan or no plan. Wait, what was the plan?

"What's the plan?" Zhara signed to Elsie. Her sister got an evil grin, and pulled her notebook and pen out of her tote. She expected her sister to write down a well-thought-out, low-risk plan. She did not.

Instead, she jumped into the doorway, and started loudly hitting her pen on her notebook like a drum. It got the attention of every vehicle in the room. 

"Get it!" The forklift screamed this six times as the security cars surged forward. Elsie ran back to her friends, with the cars following her. 

Zhara barely had time to get out of Mater's way. The tow truck had been an emotional mess since McQueen's kidnapping (or carnapping?), and, using what she could only call car-karate, he wiped the floor with the security guards. By the time it was over, the guards were all unconscious, and Mater was panting. Elsie and Zhara were shocked, while Sally looked impressed. 

"Feeling better, Mater?" 

"Much better, Miss Sally. Sheriff's self-defense classes are really payin' off!"

"What in Chrysler's name is going on out there? If that human got away again--"

Mater let out a karate yell, and used his tow cable to fling the (understandably surprised) forklift into the wall. Like his employees, he was knocked out cold.

"I call that move, 'What I Accidentally Did to My Friend Guido Once," Mater said proudly.

"Mater!" McQueen called from the room. The four rushed in and let the grateful race car out of the cell.

"You okay, Stickers?" Sally asked, worried. 

Lightning kissed her. "I am now."

They shared a moment before he noticed Elsie. "Are you okay? After you escaped I stalled them for as long as I could."

"I'm okay," Elsie signed. "Thank you."

Zhara couldn't help staring at her sister. What Elsie had done was reckless, impulsive, and....really cool.

As Mater started telling McQueen about beating up the security cars, Elsie took a breath and turned to Zhara. 

"I know," she signed, "that you're mad at me for doing something dangerous, but--"

"I'm not mad," Zhara said. "I'm proud of you. You scared me to death, and please don't do it again any time soon, but...it was the coolest thing I've ever seen."

Elsie beamed. She was about to sign something else when Sally interrupted.

"Come on, we need to find the others. They must have found the machine by now!"

"Wait," Lightning asked as they started back into the halls, "the machine? The one that zapped the humans here?"

"We'll fill you in on the way," Sally told him. "For now, just drive!"