18I know, I know! This one is going to be a little sad, but it's a scenario I wanted to explore. So, here it is!
Just a little bit of information before we begin:
1. As I've said before, different chapters will focus on different characters, so if you're thinking, "They're should've been more on how this character was feeling", then don't worry. I will probably be getting to that character.
2. I just want to be clear that this story doesn't happen! I'm just exploring if it did!
3. Even though this story doesn't happen, everything prior to it is the same. So, any flashbacks to Fudge's life (I mean, let's face it; in a story like this, of course I'm going to have some) will have happened in canon to my other stories, unless otherwise stated.
4. If you want to listen to music while reading this story, may I recommend "The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan" by Chris Zabriskie? I feel it really fits the tone. If you look it up, let me know what you think.
5. Unfortunately, I still don't own Cars. All recognisable car-acters belong to Disney/Pixar. All OCs belong to me, unless otherwise stated.
The Last Ride
Lightning McQueen (Part 1)
"Come on, Fudge-O!" Lightning announced , slowing down as the thunder and a light rain started. "We gotta get going now!"
"But that wasn't even three laps!" his twelve-year-old surrogate sister, Fudge, complained.
"I know, but it's raining", he pointed out, "and did you see that lightning? And by lightning, I don't mean me." (Fudge giggled.) "Plus, we got a couple laps in earlier, so that's something. Come on. We're goin' home!"
"Do we have to?!" Fudge whinged.
"Yes we do!" her brother insisted. "Weather's only gonna get worse now. Besides, it's getting late. You're tired", he added as Fudge yawned, "and Luigi and Guido are gonna be worried about you."
"You've raced in much worse than this!" the human girl begged. "And it's only nine o'clock! And Luigi and Guido know where we are! I don't wanna go home just yet! Please, just a couple more laps!"
Lightning weighed up his options. Fudge did make some good points. Still, he really didn't want her out in this weather. She could get a cold and besides, wasn't she scared of thunder and lightning? Then again, how often did she get to have a fun day like this and stay up late? Not often. It probably wasn't the best idea, but...
"All right. Just a couple more laps. But then we're going home. No complaints, all right? Just a couple more laps and we're going."
"I promise!" Fudge responded hurriedly. "Thank you! You're the best brother ever! This is awesome!"
But boy, did that turn out to be the biggest mistake of their lives.
For the first and most of the second lap they took, Fudge was laughing and whooping in pure delight. She was always happy when she was racing and she couldn't wait to do it on a real track with real racers. She knew it would happen; Lightning had told her several times that he'd sign her on already if it weren't for her age.
"Just wait a few more years, all right, Fudge-O?" he kept telling her. "Maybe when you're sixteen."
As eager as she was to get started, Fudge didn't mind too much. That meant she had four years to make sure her skills were top-notch. Lightning, Rusty and Dusty would hold a place for her until she was ready.
"You're a natural, Fudge!" the Rust-Eze brothers would gush every time they saw her race. "We can't wait to have you race for Team Rust-Eze!"
Fudge grinned softly, thinking about that as she circled the track on Lightning's roof. She looked forward to that day feverishly.
She was brought back to Earth by a very nasty shock. Lightning's tyres slipped in a wet part of the asphalt as rain came in. They went sliding around the track for about half a second. Unfortunately, that half a second was all it took for Fudge's magnets to come loose. She tried to hold on and reattach them, but she didn't have time. She slid off Lightning's roof with a terrified scream.
Lightning saw it all happen, but it was all so fast that he couldn't do anything about it. Fudge was falling in front of him and he was unable to stop himself from colliding right into her. She slammed into the asphalt hard and rolled over a couple of times. Lightning was still heading straight for her and tried to slam on his brakes. However, he couldn't stop in time and completely ran Fudge over.
Oh, my God! Lightning was finally able to stop and think. He hit the brakes and spun around so fast, he nearly lost control again.
"Fudge!" he screamed. "FUDGE!"
There was no answer! He raced over to her, cursing over and over again and rolled her onto her side. He shook her gently and squeezed her shoulders.
"Fudge, can you hear me?!" he screamed. "Fudge! Fudge! Open your eyes! Please! Fudge! Goddammit, Fudge!" the hysterical race car groaned as he placed his tyre in Fudge's limp hand. "Can you hear me?! Squeeze my tyre if you can hear me, Fudge! Fudge!"
Nothing.
"Oh, Fudge..."
He tore off to grab his phone and, with shaking tyres, he punched in the number 911, praying for someone to pick up quickly.
"I need help!" Lightning shouted hysterically as sobs came out. "It's my sister! She's twelve!" Trying and failing to stay calm, he blurted the words out as he told the operator what had happened and gave them information like their names and location. "She's unconscious! She's not moving! There's blood everywhere, bones sticking out! You gotta hurry! I'm really freaking out here!"
"All right", the operator told him evenly. "The most important thing for you to do is remain calm. An ambulance is already on its way. Now, is your sister breathing at all?"
"I... I don't know", he admitted. "I gotta check."
Lightning listened carefully to see if he could hear breathing. It was a very difficult thing to do when it was competing with all of the noises around him. Howling winds, roaring thunder, crashing rain. He was sure that the weather had gotten worse since Fudge's initial fall. It was pretty hard, but he was confident that he could hear nothing coming from Fudge.
"No!" he cried, horrified. "No she's not!"
"Stay calm", the operator repeated. "I need you to try and calm yourself down and pay very close attention to me."
The operator guided him through clearing Fudge's airway of the blood and vomit in her mouth, but that didn't do anything either.
"Okay. Now, you're going to have to administer CPR", the operator instructed."Do you know how to do that?"
"Ye- yeah", Lightning stammered.
"Thirty chest compressions followed by two breaths to the mouth", the operator reminded him. "Count them out loud. Don't stop until I tell you to stop or the paramedics arrive and take over. You may break a couple of ribs, but don't worry about it. Just keep going."
"All right..."
McQueen didn't hesitate to obey the operator's instructions, counting thirty chest compressions out loud. He tried to ignore the rain beating down on him and focused on the task in front of him. He had no idea if this CPR was going to work, but, still, he had to try. Fudge was his little sister. He had to try and save her and he was willing to try just about anything to do it.
Lightning continued to give her CPR, but to no avail. Even so, he kept going, blocking out what he believed to be the worst of the storm. He could see, hear and feel himself break a couple of Fudge's ribs, but he paid no mind to that either. His mouth said the numbers one to thirty over and over again, only stopping to give her mouth to mouth in between each round of counting. But his mind only said, Gone! She's gone! Gone, gone, gone! It's all my fault! Why did I let her talk me into those last few laps?! I should've said no! I should've told her we were going home! I should've... I should've... But you didn't! he scolded himself. Now, because of you, Fudge is dead! It's all your fault! He was crying harder than he could ever remember crying in all his adult life. Part of him felt, for many different reasons, like this was even worse than Doc's death. First of all, Doc had been unwell for a very long time. To some extent, he- well, everyone, really- had been prepared for it. Fudge, on the other tyre, had been in a freak accident. She had been taken from them with no warning.
And it was all his fault.
"NOTHING'S HAPPENING!" Lightning shrieked into the phone, his voice so hysterical that it didn't sound like him. He'd been told to stay calm, but how could he when Fudge was dead?
"Just keep going", the operator instructed him calmly.
So, Lightning kept going. He kept going for a long, long time.
"Where the hell is that ambulance?!" he demanded.
"They've been held up because of the storm", the operator explained. "They should be there in about five minutes!"
"That's not fast enough!" Lightning wept. "She's not breathing! If you don't hurry up, she... she'll die! She's just a little girl!"
"I understand that, sir. The ambulance will be there as soon as they can. Just focus on the chest compressions."
So, Lightning kept going. And going. And going. He didn't even stop when he heard the sirens and saw the flashing lights.
The paramedics pushed him aside and took over with the chest compressions. Lightning barely acknowledged them, but he watched as best as he could with his eyes blurred behind the tears. Why hadn't Fudge responded yet? He'd been doing CPR for what felt like years!
All of a sudden, the paramedics stopped and looked towards him sympathetically, confirming what Lightning wanted to deny, but he knew it was true.
The auburn-haired young woman with the name Emily written on her uniform approached Lightning, holding out a hand. "Sir?" she began quietly.
Lightning didn't even hear. Not because her voice was so soft or because it was competing with the wind, rain and thunder. It was because the voice in his head was so loud, telling him, No! NO! It can't be true! It just can't be! Fudge isn't dead! She can't be! She's alive! She'll be fine!
His heart was pounding, his breathing became laboured and everything he saw and heard appeared to be fading further and further away.
"Sir?" Emily repeated a fraction louder.
That was the last thing Lightning remembered before he blacked out.
"Is he gon' be okay?" a vaguely familiar voice asked quietly.
"I don't know, Mater", another vaguely familiar voice responded just as quietly. "He was in shock."
Lightning let out a low groan as his eyes fluttered open. There were Mater and Sally right in front of them. Each of them had wide red eyes and expressions like they simply couldn't comprehend what was going on.
When Sally noticed that her boyfriend's eyes were open, she managed a tiny smile. "Hey, Stickers."
"Hey, Sal", he muttered.
"How you feeling?"
"Not great", he replied. "What happened?"
There was a moment of hesitation.
"You fainted from shock", Sally began slowly. "What's the last thing you remember?"
Lightning scrunched up his face in concentration, trying to answer that question. Then he gasped. "Fudge!" he screamed. "Where is she?! Is she all right?! Is she..."
He trailed off as both Mater and Sally started crying, confirming his worst nightmare.
"I'm sorry, Lightning", Sally told him quietly. "She... She was killed instantly."
Lightning shook his hood in disbelief as he began hyperventilating. He couldn't believe it! He didn't want to believe it! He'd really killed someone that night? No. Not just someone. Fudge! His baby sister! That innocent little girl that he loved very much and always took care of! She was really gone! And all because of him! How could he have done this?! How was he going to live with himself now?
"C'mere, Stickers."
The second Sally's tyres were around him, Lightning started sobbing. He cried for such a long time, unable to speak as he thought about how had done the worst thing in his life. And that meant he would never see one of the most important people in his life ever again.
"Ssh! Ssh!" Sally whispered soothingly. "It's going to be okay. We'll get through this." Only, she didn't sound so sure of that at all. "You know the people we love never really leave us. Doc will look after Fudge."
Lightning didn't answer. He was crying too hard. Besides, to him, everything felt so final. Fudge was gone and that was all there was to it. Sally just held him and let him cry.
"This... This is all my fault!" he was finally able to utter when his sobs slowed a little.
"Oh, Stickers, that's not true!" Sally insisted sympathetically.
"YES IT IS!" he shouted and Sally jumped back. Lightning had never yelled at her like that before. "I knew we should've left, but I let her talk me into staying! I should've said no! I should never have let her come with me! I should've..." He trailed off again, breaking down and crying harder.
"Shoot, buddy", Mater piped up in a quiet, gentle voice that sounded so foreign for the tow truck. "It ain't yer fault. You didn't know this was gon' happen."
"But I should've!" he affirmed. "I should've known she'd get hurt, but I didn't think she'd... she'd..."
"I know", Sally whispered. "I know."
Those were the last words any of them said that night. All they could do was cry. Not just for Fudge, but for themselves.
I'm sorry, Fudge! Lightning thought to himself through the tears of hurt and shame. I'm so sorry!
Lightning was released from hospital the following afternoon. Sally and Mater stayed with him all morning, but they didn't really do anything. They didn't talk because there was nothing to talk about, except Fudge and it hurt too much to do that. They didn't cry either because they were all cried out from the night before; they just felt numb. They just parked there in silence. The only times the silence was broken was when the doctors and nurses came in to talk to them.
Sally sighed as she and the nurse got Lightning ready to leave. "Come on, Stickers. Let's go find the others. They've been worried about you."
"They're all here?" Lightning asked in surprise.
"Of course!" Sally confirmed. "They want to make sure you're okay. Besides, it's... it's hard to stay in town right now."
Lightning didn't doubt that. He had no idea how he could go back to Radiator Springs without Fudge. She wasn't going to be there. She was never going to be there ever again. He thought about all the times he'd watch her arrive at Flo's...
"Buon giorno!" she'd greet everyone warmly as she bounced up to the cafe.
"Mornin', Fudge!" they'd all return the greeting, happy to see her.
"Did you sleep well?" Sally would ask her.
"Yep!" Fudge would answer.
"Well, I got your breakfast here for ya, honey." Flo would give her a plate of pancakes or bacon and eggs.
"Thanks, Flo! It looks delicious, as always!" She would start eating, all the while yammering away about racing or her favourite movie or the latest news around town, anything that interested the young human girl, really. The others would just smile politely and humour her.
"Well, honey", Flo began when Fudge was finished eating, "why don't you come and give me a hand with these dishes?"
"Okay!" the girl would agree easily, bouncing to her feet.
"And then when you're done, d'you wanna help me get ready for my next race?" Lightning would add.
"Okay!" That never failed to put a smile on her face.
Lightning just couldn't believe that that was all in the past now.
That was definitely the worst part, but that wasn't all. How was he supposed to face the others after what he had done? What were... What were Guido and Luigi going to say to him? Fudge was their daughter! She meant more to them than anything. How must they be feeling? Would they be mad at him? Probably. These were the thoughts going through Lightning's brain as Sally led him towards the lobby, sending his heart rate shooting up again.
"There he is", Sheriff announced quietly.
"Hey, McQueen", everyone greeted him softly.
The first thing Lightning noticed was that Luigi and Guido weren't there.
"They'll be back in a sec", Sarge informed him.
"How you feeling, McQueen?" Fillmore wanted to know.
Lightning's only response was to start up in tears again. Sally hugged him.
"This is all my fault!" Lightning shouted. "Fudge is dead because of me!"
Everyone looked his way sympathetically.
"These things happen, son", Sheriff pointed out.
"Not if I'd told Fudge we were going home like I should've!" he countered. "I knew we shouldn't have stayed! I... I..."
Lightning looked around to see Luigi and Guido approaching. They looked as though they had been subjected to the worst, most excruciating torture imaginable. That's because they have, Lightning realised.
When Luigi saw Lightning, he felt his oil boil.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" he exploded, trying to lunge for him, only to be held back by Sarge and Sheriff.
Lightning was just sobbing as he repeated over and over again, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I am so sorry!" It was no secret that he felt terrible.
"I trusted you with my daughter and look what happened!" the Fiat went on.
"Luigi-" Sally began gently.
"How could you?!" Luigi demanded, ignoring Sally. He rolled closer to Lightning. Everyone watched fearfully. He was really getting angry. "How could you?! You... You killed my daughter!" He cried harder than any of his friends- even Guido- had ever seen him cry, but he stood his ground.
"Luigi, you know I love Fudge!" McQueen insisted. "I would never intentionally hurt her! I never meant for this to happen!"
"What about that time you pushed her into a wall?!" Luigi retorted.
The stock car's face flushed. That was on his very first day in Radiator Springs. Fudge had been annoying him while he was trying to fix the road. So, he pushed her, only for her to stumble backwards and smash her head up against a brick wall. Lightning remembered that vividly and it was most definitely not one of his proudest moments. Fudge, who was only five years old at the time, had screamed and cried. There was a lot of blood. Doc had to give her stitches, which prompted even more screaming and crying. And, for the rest of the day, Fudge would give Lightning a death stare every time she caught him looking at her.
"Yeah, well, I was an idiot back then!" Lightning countered through his tears of shame. The night before, he'd been an idiot again! Only this was a million times worse! "I've changed since then! You know I have!"
"I thought you had!" Luigi snapped.
"What? You think I wanted to hurt Fudge?! To... To kill her?!"
"None of this would have happened if you were looking after her like you said you would! You are a liar!" Luigi lunged forward yet again, swearing in Italian.
Up until this point, everyone else had been anxious spectators. However, it was time for action if they didn't want the situation to escalate. They all knew how much Fudge meant to Luigi. Who knows what he would do if they didn't stop him?
"Luigi!" Guido exclaimed, trying to grab hold of his best friend.
"Luigi!" Sheriff also grabbed hold of him and pulled him back. "I know you're upset right now and you got every right to be, but you gotta calm down! You're overreactin'!" He sighed sympathetically and added softly after a pause, "This ain't gonna bring Fudge back."
The Fiat's eyes swam with tears as he took a shaky, deep breath. He knew that Sheriff was right. "Fine!" he huffed. He gave Lightning the coldest look he could possibly muster, but left him alone after that. Although, they all knew that Luigi's anger was far from over.
"Luigi, I'm sorry!" Lightning insisted, tears streaming down his hood, but Luigi didn't answer.
Lightning sighed.
One Week Later:
That week was a blur in Lightning's mind. He knew phone calls had been made, the RS gang had received phone calls in return. Lightning had been far too depressed to answer any of them; he just holed himself up in the Cozy Cone (both because he was depressed and to avoid Luigi), getting drunk. Sally had tried to stop him at first, but it was fruitless. She knew he must be feeling awful; she was too and kind of wanted to join him. Still, she knew she had to be strong for the both of them, especially with the nightmares he was having over that horrible night.
Funeral arrangements had been made in Lightning's absence and now, he was parked at the funeral with the others. He could barely watch as the coffin was brought out, decorated in flowers and it was placed into the ground next to Doc. Right near Willy's Butte; everyone knew that Fudge would've liked that.
No she wouldn't! Lightning thought to himself. Fudge didn't want to die! She'd want to be racing on the track, not buried next to it! I can't believe I've done this! I never meant for this to happen!
He looked around. All of the the RS gang were there, of course. So were Finn, Holley, Sammy and RJ. Behind them were some of his closest racing friends: Bobby Swift, Brick Yardley, the entire Weathers family, Mack, Rusty and Dusty, all of the World Grand Prix racers and even Mama Bernoulli! Half of Italy had shown up as well, all of Luigi and Guido's relatives who had known Fudge. At the very back of the crowd hung Siddeley, watching over everyone. Just about everyone there was crying.
All of these people are here, mourning because of me! Lightning realised. It was not just Fudge he'd impacted, but everyone who knew and loved her. He'd hurt all of these people and who knew how many more! (This was just the private ceremony; there would be a public memorial before the first race of the season.)
Just as the coffin disappeared into the ground, Lightning felt his heart sink, like part of him had gone into the ground as well. The reality of what had happened and the enormity of it began to sink in. Fudge was gone. She was only twelve years old! She was far too young! His baby sister... dead! And all because of him!
He bawled his eyes out; not just for Fudge and the hurt and shame he was feeling, but for the unfairness of life.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Luigi, the Fiat sobbing violently in sheer agony. He must've noticed Lightning looking at him because he faced the race car and gave him another dark, cold glare. Well, he tried to, anyway. It was hard for him to appear threatening when he looked so vulnerable. Despite how angry the Italian car was at him, Lightning took pity on him and cried even harder.
The burial was followed by a memorial service up at the Wheel Well. Like they'd done for Doc's funeral, the walls were covered in photos of Fudge. It was hard for Lightning to see her smiling up there.
"I'm sorry, Fudge!" he whispered, choking on the words as he gazed up at the most recent photo of Fudge, one of her at the New Year's party, a week before she died. "I'm so sorry!"
Each member of the RS gang went up in turn to make a small speech about Fudge. They all tried to focus on happy memories of the young human girl- birthdays, trips to Disneyland, water fights- but not a single one of them was immune to breaking down in tears, knowing that Fudge was never coming back. Even Sarge was crying too hard to speak.
Lightning thought it would be too hard to go up there and make a speech. He parked there in the front row, unable to breathe with his sobs, once beautiful memories turned ugly by what he had done. One memory he had always found pretty sweet and adorable now came back to haunt him...
Fudge was six years old and was staying with him for the night while Guido, Luigi and most of the others were out for dinner with old friends. The little girl hadn't wanted them to leave.
"Fudgie!" Luigi called out.
"What?"
"Luigi can't leave without a kiss!"
"Then I won't kiss you, so you don't leave!" Fudge insisted.
Luigi chuckled. "Fudgie! Give Luigi a kiss!"
Reluctantly, Fudge kissed each of her fathers and let them kiss her, calling out cheery goodbyes. She cried when they left.
Lightning stared at her sadly for a moment before scooping her up. "All right. Come on, Fudge-O! Let's dry those eyes!" He carried her into the kitchen where he sat her down on the counter.
"What if they don't come back?" she wept.
"Of course they'll come back!" Lightning assured her. "What makes you think they won't?"
"My mom didn't!" Fudge pointed out.
"Oh, Fudge! Luigi and Guido would never do that to you, all right? I promise they'll be back when you wake up tomorrow morning. Yeah?"
Fudge nodded, wiping a tear away.
"But we're gonna have some fun first! You like macaroni and cheese, don't you?" (Another nod.) "And you like hot dogs?" (A third nod.) "Well, guess what we have for dinner! Macaroni and cheese with hot dogs in it!"
"That sounds yummy!" Fudge proclaimed.
"Yeah? And after your bath tonight, we can watch a movie and I've got ice cream and M&Ms! Sound good?"
Fudge beamed. "Yeah!"
So, that was what they did. Fudge cheered up considerably when she and Lightning did all of the things he promised they would. Things were all right until hours after both of them had fallen asleep...
Lightning was dreaming of winning the Piston Cup. He was so sure he could do it. He had a huge lead.
"Lightning! Lightning! Lightning!" the crowd chanted as the white flag was waved.
"Last lap!" he whispered to himself. He had his eyes set on the checkered flag.
"Lightning!" the fans' shouting grew louder. "LIGHTNING!"
Lightning opened his eyes to find Fudge peering at him and he let out a surprised shout.
"Oh!" he exclaimed in relief when he saw who it was. She looked so innocent stood there in her pyjamas, cuddling her stuffed cow, Moo-Moo. "Oh, it's just you! Fudge, you scared me! What are you doing?"
"I had a nightmare", she replied simply.
Instantly, Lightning was sympathetic. He knew she got nightmares a lot. "Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah! I don't wanna talk about it, but it was really scary!"
"Oh, Fudge! C'mere!" He gave her a hug.
They cuddled for a few moments before Fudge asked Lightning, "I don't wanna sleep by myself... Can I sleep with you? Please?"
Lightning hesitated. He liked having his own space while he was sleeping, but he couldn't say no to that adorable face, especially not after having a bad dream.
He sighed. "Sure."
"Yay!" she cheered.
"But you gotta be quiet, all right?" he informed her. "I'm tired too and I wanna sleep."
"Okay!" Fudge agreed, climbing up onto his hood.
Fudge did try to talk to him for a little while, but Lightning reminded her gently that she promised to be quiet. So, she settled down and fell asleep. Lightning smiled softly. She looked so adorable when she was asleep. Like a little angel-
"Stickers!"
Lightning was brought back to attention by her girlfriend's voice. He could see everyone was moving around slowly. It was time for the reception, but Lightning couldn't bring himself to move. He was left all alone in the room surrounded by photos of his baby sister, smiling down at him. She shouldn't have been smiling. She should never have said her very last words...
"I promise! Thank you! You're the best brother ever! This is awesome!"
Well, no. He most definitely wasn't the best brother ever and it most definitely wasn't awesome. He wondered what Fudge would think if she knew what he did to her.
"I'm sorry, Fudge", he repeated softly as his tears started up again when he gazed at the New Year's Eve photo. "I am so sorry! I love you! I'll really miss you!"
I felt like this could get a little long, so I split it into two parts. I don't know when my next update will be because I want to finish something else first and I'm moving soon.
If you have any characters (canon or OC) you want to see included, let me know. I do have some in mind already, but I want you guys to have a say as well.
