Wish's Folly

Extra Two: Radiator Springs 500

"Heeeeeeey Liiiiiiiv!!!" Someone was calling in the street. Liv sat up, her hoodie falling down around her. It had been a simple blanket- honestly kind of ridiculous, but it was better than nothing. "It's time f'r th' drive!" She rolled out of bed, running a single hand through her hair before standing up and moving towards the front door.

The metal was slid to the side, now actually on an oiled set of wheels that prevented the squeals that would give her away before. Outside, the town was lit from rooftops to pavement with neon lights. Mater was waiting just outside her home, dressed like a horrendous impression of Stanley.

"You're not taking her on that drive, are you?!" Lightning shot into sight. He was dusty, and... Taller. His tires were all ratcheted down from his frame, giving him an extra few feet of height. He had a set of headlights above his eyes, nearly appearing like those lights one would find on football fields. Liv noticed an additional tire strapped to his back, covering his rear window. "Liv- don't go, it's dangerous!" The odd fender he had during the Piston Cup had been replaced by a spoiler, of course painted with a lightning bolt on either side.

"Awww shoot, Ah'm jus' takin' her on Stanley's leisurely drive!.... Wait ah minute...." Mater did a once-over of McQueen while Liv stepped out of her home. She silently slid the door back into place before facing the two vehicles once more. "... Ya did take a lef' at th' tract'rs, righ'?..." McQueen froze.

".... No... We went right!!" Mater's eyes shrank, focusing on Lightning with sudden worry.

"Y'wen' through th' Crushin' Mountains?!"

"YES!" Liv covered her ears, before exhaling and uncovering them slowly. Okay... What...

"... What did I miss today?..."

"Well some fangled new comers came int'town... Insul'ed Ligh'ning, and they decided t'up n' have a race! They were s'pposed t'take the same path as everyone else, but... Ah guess th'didn't..." Mater grinned. "Ah bet i'was fun, though! And now Ah can say m'best friend survived th'Crushin' Mountains!" Lightning's mouth slowly fell open.

"... I... Could have died?!"

"But y'didn't!" Liv snickered.

".. You're alive, and that's what counts... Now, I'm gonna go for a walk on the route through Stanley's liesurely drive... Left at the tractors, right?"

"Right!" Mater beamed. Lightning yelped, doing a quick side-drift until he was beside Liv.

"How about- I'll just- take Liv!- I already went the wrong way once, so I'm sure I'll go the right way this time." Mater shrugged.

"If'n ya say so!" Mater waggled his eyebrows. "Have fun, you two~." Liv facepalmed. The smack was incredibly, painfully audible, but she ignored that in favor of dragging her hand down her face.

"... Mater....!" An engine. Sonova frick... She was gonna kill that freakin' tractor one day...!- A tire bumped against her arm.

"Hey, you wanted to go for a walk-drive, right?" Liv removed her hand from her face, focusing on the bright-red sports car. His modifications made him appear much more like an offroad vehicle than anything else... Which was probably the point.

"Yeah." She chuckled. "Hope you don't mind going slow, Lightning." She turned to begin walking. "Gotta keep my exercise up somehow!"

"I don't mind at all... But let's just... Make sure to go left at the tractors." Liv quirked an eyebrow.

"... What was 'the Crushing Mountains' even like?" And so began the explanation as the two walked. Lightning told each moment in detail as he drove, gesturing with a tire in a way that had Liv fighting back a chuckle every time. He was far more emotive than he used to be, but in a kinder way.

He had apparently been planning to dress as Stanley for Stanley's Day, when some hotshots drove into town. Liv silently thanked the stars that her home had been better insulated against noise ever since Lightning moved into town.- He had gotten some modifications for driving offroad, and challenged the hotshots to a race when they insulted Radiator Springs.

They had gone right at the tractors. That led down a winding path of insanity- from scaling a rocky mountain that they thought was the Rolling Hills to dashing through a forest full of car parts that may as well have been something out of a horror movie over a 'Enchanted Forest'... They had been scared half to death. Probably the funniest thing to Liv (and equally terrifying) was the portion about the Tailpipe Caverns- the Taillight Cavern's uglier counterpart that had filled with exhaust.

Lightning had made it home first, just minutes before Mater made a move to wake Liv up for her turn. The hotshots had been so freaked that they considered Stanley the toughest car in the West... Which, strictly speaking, Liv liked to believe he was.- He had set up a town in the middle of the desert, after all.

By the time that Lightning's story had concluded, they were already walking over the true Rolling Hills, in fact- they were nearly at their end. Liv noticed a forest was beginning to crop up ahead. She fell silent after a brief laugh, and the two continued in silence.

As they passed the Cool Pool of Tranquility, Liv took a moment to peek at the waters. She was small, a human with nary a hint of technology upon her- walking beside a living, breathing car, that far outclassed her in actual speed and size... And yet... She found her heart fluttering. Liv paused, her steps breaking into nothing as she continued to watch the waters.

Lightning drove up beside her, his eyes wandering down to the water until he noticed the reflection. A soft smile crossed his face then... One that Liv wished she could memorize. In a blink of an eye, she felt something pressing to the side of her head. Lightning pulled away, refusing to look at the reflection any further while Liv tried to process what had just happened.

"... C'mon, we've still got a ways to go." Lightning grinned. Liv found fire rising to her cheeks, slowly burning across her face until she had a nice, light-red hue.

"... Y-yep." The rest of the ride passed in silence, but one thought was on her mind...

Did she seriously enjoy this stupid ex-hotshot of a car's company that much?