The Principles of a Grand Hunt // Part 1 - A Cars Story

Chapter 21 - Storytime and the Insider

Meanwhile...

After weeks of being off the grid, it was finally Jarred's time to shine. He sat in an abandoned lot with a close associate, one who would be aiding his quest to take Nettes down from the inside. Said associate wasn't there willingly, however. He was chained to a pillar and his mouth was taped shut. Jarred rolled up to the car in question, ripping the tape off the car's mouth.

"Eugh! Whew... finally... it was becoming very difficult to breathe out of my hood." the car said.

"Quit your whinging. Let's just be thankful that you're still alive at this point." Jarred said.

"I suppose... that, and the fact I'm not in Nettes' clutches... and the fact that I haven't had an oil in ages." the car mentioned.

"Oh! Sorry. Here... have this one." Jarred said, looking around and finding an evidently old, empty oil can.

"No thanks." the car denied, slowly shoving the oil aside.

"Speaking about Nettes though... where was I on that backstory?" Jarred asked.

The car shrugged as best he could with his restraints. Jarred paced around the lot for a moment as he tried to recall.

"Where was I? ... Umm... Oh, right! Did I tell you the childhood part?" Jarred asked.

"Probably somewhere around there." the car mentioned.

"Okay... early, mid or late childhood?" Jarred questioned.

"Just go to late-teenhood." the car said, groaning.

"Alright... hehe... thanks for listening. I've never had the chance to tell anyone my backstory before." Jarred said thankfully.

"Well... I don't have a choice." the car said, gesturing at their restraints with their eyes.

"Okay... so where to continue from... Oh! So, I spent my teenhood mostly working at a gas station. Boring old truck-stop-kinda-motel-thing. Then one day the craziest thing happened! A racecar got lost on the freeway-" Jarred began enthusiastically.

"And that was Dash Boltarius?" the car asked.

"No, funnily enough! This was way before, like, 5 years or so. Anyway, this racer looked super lost out in the truck yard. Being a waiter at the time, I went over to him and-" Jarred added.

"Wait, there are waiters at truck stops?" the car asked.

"Yeah. This place was weird! Anyway, I went up to this dilapidated racer. He looked like he hadn't had oil in years! So I went up, gave him a quart of oil, and asked him what his name was... get this... his name was Jackson Storm!" Jarred exclaimed.

"What? No way!" the car gasped.

"Yes, way!  He fell out of his trailer and got super lost, so he came to our truck stop and found shelter until his team found him again. He must've fired his transporter so hard! The guy was a jerk through and through." Jarred added.

"Who, the transporter or Jackson?" the car asked.

"Both, probably. Anyway, so I spoke with Jackson and at first, he told me to go away and find him a better-looking waitress, but I held my ground. I asked where he was headed and he mentioned that he was on his way to teach a seminar at the Dinoco Academy!" Jarred said.

"Whew." the car whistled.

"I knew he'd resist, but I asked him if there was any way I could get there. He just laughed aloud and said sorry. One of our waitresses - a really good-looking Audi - came up and Jackson got all flustered. He asked her if she wanted to help him find his transporter, and guess what she said?" Jarred asked.