Conflict

Part 3, Chapter 8

"Alright kid, that's enough for today."

Doc slowed and pulled off the track. Lightning followed suit, smirking as the dust settled.

"Too much for you?" the rookie asked. "Don't tell me you're starting to feel that old age."

"Lesson of the day," Doc said, casting him a flinty stare, "learn to quit while you're ahead. You'll never tire yourself out."

"Mm-hm, sure," Lightning responded sarcastically. Doc didn't need to know that he was going to go write that down once they got back to town. He didn't need to know about the list of recorded advice Lightning kept hidden.

The two of them cruised back to town, silently aware of the bustling road in the distance. It hadn't been but the day after the tiebreaker race when business returned to Radiator Springs as quickly as it had vanished. Lightning remembered finding Sally in near tears the night he came home – tears of joy. He smiled at the thought of her.

Lightning, oblivious to the world around him, had plans to shoot straight through town to the Cozy Cone Motel to pay her a visit. First, that was where he hid his journal of hastily given advice. Second, he had some questions that had been burning through his mind for a couple of days. He thought she was his girlfriend, and he felt certain she would agree. However, they hadn't ever actually said so, and the miniscule fraction of his mind that doubted how she felt plagued him. He was going to get answers.

McQueen worked out how to phrase the question as he and Doc rolled past Flo and Ramone's house. His train of thought was abruptly interrupted at the sound of the old car's scoff.

"Who the heck invited that guy?"

Lightning followed Doc's gaze to Flo's station and felt the wind go out of his sails. Parked across the bay was the stickered-up battering ram of a competitor he thought he'd left in California. Chick saw Lightning at the same time Lightning noticed him. A scheming glint crossed the Buick's eyes as he moved out of his spot toward the rookie.

Lightning frowned. He'd seen the interviews. Heck, he'd been there for some of them. He remembered seeing the footage of Chick being booed out of Victory Lane. They'd attended a press conference together after the King had been airlifted from the track to who knows where. Chick did nothing but brag about his fearless techniques and bash the older racer, as though he wasn't getting up there in age himself. Lightning knew how the majority of the racing world had turned against him. Something in the back of his mind told him Hicks held him accountable for that. McQueen had been as polite as possible at the time, but no one was going to bring that sort of trash into his town - not if he had anything to say about it.

"Hey, McQueen," Chick greeted him as if they were best friends. "This is the place you ended up in? Gotta tell you, kid, if you're into dusty antiques, you've hit the jackpot here."

"What are you doing here, Chick?" Lightning didn't bother to disguise his annoyance.

"What, can't I just come hang out?" Chick retorted lightheartedly. "Life of a Piston Cup champion can be kinda lonely, you know. The girls, the attention – it all gets old pretty fast."

"Gets old pretty fast, huh?" Lightning mocked, his usual filter gone. "I guess you'd know all about that."

Chick frowned at the remark and opened his mouth to strike back, but Doc cut him off.

"Listen, there ain't gonna be any troublemakers in this town under my watch," Doc informed him gruffly. "If you're here to stir up racetrack politics, you might as well leave."

"Wow, not a very welcoming bunch, eh?" Chick mused, struggling to reign in his agitation.

"We're not lookin' for trouble," Doc responded. "If you're here to enjoy the town, then have at it. Just know that we've got no tolerance for -"