Worlds Collide: A Cars Fan Fiction

Battle for Home

"It isn't nice to leave without saying goodbye," Moteur sneered as he and his cohorts entered the room. "Weren't you humans taught any manners?"

He stomped his tire and a Taser emerged from his hubcap. "Now here's how this is going to go. You hillbillies," he said to the cars of Radiator Springs, "get lost. Never say anything about any of this. The humans are staying here. That red race car is staying, too; he knows too much. If you don't behave..." He clicked his Taser, allowing electricity to flow. He turned it off and smirked at the intruders. "Is that clear?"

While he'd been speaking, Elsie had pulled out her notebook and had been quickly jotting something down. She tore out the note and handed it to Zhara to read while she stared Moteur down.

"'Why don't you take that that Taser and...'" Zhara blushed and she crumbled up the note. "I'm not comfortable reading the rest of that." She elbowed Elsie in the ribs. "Again, language!" Elsie shrugged and smirked. 

Moteur was not amused. "Yes, hilarious. Now you six freaks get over here before things get ugly."

Abbey spoke up. "If you want to see something ugly, go find a mirror." Mater and Ramone cracked up.

"That's it!" Moteur and his right-hand forklift would have charged forward and done a lot of damage...if a certain firetruck hadn't blasted them across the room with a firehouse at that moment. 

"Nice one, Red!" Zane shouted. 

Nikki had been somewhat frozen in shock by the sudden turn of events. But she knew that she wasn't about to let that megalomaniac capture her friends. "Keep them away from the machine!"

"You've got it," Hector said. He threw down three smoke bombs as security cars tried to come over to them. As the smoke rose, the friends scattered. The security cars spent a few moments in confusion before someone threw an energy bar wrapper at them. 

"Try and catch me, you jerks!" Hector, having gotten their attention, then did three back flips in a row (a skill he'd retained from gymnastics camp). The security guards charged after him. But they'd forgotten about the cars from Radiator Springs. 

Despite Doc and Sheriff being preoccupied, the rest of the Radiator Springs cars raced into action. Lightning used his speed to his advantage, Mater used his "karate skills", Sally darted around to confuse the security cars, Flo used her headlights to blind them, Ramone put his spray paints to good use, Red blasted at their enemies with his hose, and Fillmore (who'd never been much of a fighter) stayed near Doc and Sheriff to make sure they were okay.

While their friends distracted the enemy, Luigi and Guido removed their tires. The forklift with the gun was quickly disarmed by Sarge. Hector kept acting as bait (and showing off his above-average gymnast skills). 

Meanwhile, Nikki ran back to the machine. Zane, Elsie, Zhara, and Abbey were hot on her heels. It was still on, as Doc had been too busy with Sheriff to further mess with it.

"How is he?" Zane asked. 

"Alright," Doc answered, "the bullet only hit his tire. Once he gets a new one, he'll be fine. We need to get this portal open. While they're distracted, you can get home. Hurry!"

"Wait," Zhara said. Elsie had been quickly writing something in her notebook. She handed the paper to her sister, and looked worried. 

"'If we leave them behind now, they'll be outnumbered. They won't be able to turn up the temperature. The only way to destroy the machine'..." Zhara paused, then looked at Elsie, unsure. Her sister nodded, and Zhara continued, her shock obvious in her voice. "'The only way to destroy the machine is if we stay here.'"

Nikki froze. Elsie was right. If they left now, their friends would be overpowered before they could destroy the machine. Allowing Moteur to begin all over again with six other humans. Only this time, there wouldn't be a Radiator Springs to help them. "She's right," Nikki said to her friends. "We can't leave."

No one said anything. Sheriff spoke first. "That's ridiculous. We can hold them off. I'm the sheriff, and this mountain is in my jurisdiction. Get Hector and go home."

"You're just one officer, Sheriff," Abbey said, "and there are hundreds of those bad guys!"

"Nikki," Zane said, turning to her. "They can't do it without us. But I'm willing to stay and work the thermostat. The rest of you go. Just...tell my dads I love them, okay?"

"No!" Nikki exclaimed. "You'll tell them that yourself. I'll stay, and the rest of you go."

"We won't let you do that," Zhara butted in. "I'll stay."

"Not you," Elsie signed. "Me."

"Don't you get it?" Abbey spoke up. "If only one of us is left behind, they'll still be outnumbered. To win this fight...we're all going to have to stay." 

"Nix," Zane said, "it's your call. We'll do whatever you think is best."

Nikki's mouth was dry. Her heart was pounding. This wasn't the plan. They needed to be home. They couldn't make it in this world. She thought of Hector's parents and siblings, Abbey's dad, Elsie and Zhara's parents, Zane's parents. Her parents. How they'd feel if they never saw her again.

But then she remembered Radiator Springs. How much Lightning McQueen, Mater, Sally, and all of the other cars had risked to help six strangers from another world get home. She felt her fingers curl into fists. They'd sacrificed their safety to help the humans. It was time for them to return the favor. 

"Zane, Zhara, you two help Hector distract the guards. Get some of his smoke bombs if you can. Abbey, turn the machine up to full power. That'll make it more sensitive to the heat. Elsie, come with me. You and I need to redirect all available power to the heating system in this room. Let's go!"

"No," Doc told the kids, his worry clear in his usually calm voice. "You won't be able to go home. You don't have to do this." 

Nikki gave the old blue car a reassuring smile. "Yes, we do."

Zane, Abbey, and Zhara ran off to help in the battle (which, thanks to Radiator Springs' unorthodox fighting style, was still going strong) while Nikki and Elsie raced to the thermostat. The door was still ajar (and slightly dented) from Abbey's "lock-picking". 

The two brilliant girls worked quickly. In less than a minute, the only thing left to do to destroy the machine was to press a button. Nikki reached for it...and hesitated. She hadn't asked the others what they thought about staying there. Was this the right thing to do?

She felt Elsie put her left hand on hers. She looked into her friend's eyes. Elsie gave her a small smile, and nodded.

Nikki, tearing up, nodded back. They had no choice. Together, the girls pressed the button. Almost instantly, heat surged into the room. A beeping noise and flashing red light came from the machine. The security cars (at least, those who still had their tires) sped out of the room; they knew what the beeping meant. 

"NO!" Moteur yelled. 

Electricity surged over the device. Doc and Abbey helped Sheriff get away from the machine. Everyone looked away or covered their faces. There was a flash of light, followed by a thunderous boom. 

Finally, Nikki looked up. The machine was in one piece, but it had stopped moving. The room smelt like hot metal. And thick smoke was coming from the machine. 

It is done, Nikki thought. She wiped the tears from her eyes.