“Good job, Miss Shiftwell!” Finn said, liking the idea.
Mater had no idea what was going on. He was still blinking from the camera flash.
“Wait, what’s the plan?” he asked.
But Finn and Holley did not reply. They simply stared at Mater, looking for flaws in the disguise. As the spy train screamed through the darkness, Holley worked on outfitting Mater for his mission. After adding the finishing touches, she fastened a tiny device behind the emergency light on his roof.
“That should just about do it,” she said.
“Perfect,” Finn said to Holley.
Mater looked in his side mirrors. He didn’t notice anything different. He was still the same old dented red tow truck he’d always been.
“So, Mater,” Holley said, “it’s voice-activated. But, you know, everything’s voice-activated these days.”
“What?” Mater asked. “I thought you were supposed to be making me a disguise.”
Instantly, a computerized voice responded: “Voice recognized. Disguise program initiated.”
At the sound of Mater’s voice, a holographic image suddenly spiraled out from the device on his roof. The device dropped the cloaking image of the sleek European tow truck right over Mater’s body.
“Cool!” Mater exclaimed when he looked into his side mirrors again. “Hey, computer!” he called out. “Make me a German truck!”
Mater was delighted to suddenly see himself transformed into a German model.
“Make me a monster truck!” Mater said, loving this new gadget. “A funny car!” he said next, laughing.
The computer easily rotated through Mater’s commands. Holley rolled her eyes and switched it back to the European tow truck. Mater frowned. He was having fun and didn’t want to stop!
“The idea is to keep a low profile,” Finn reminded him politely but firmly.
“So I just go in and pretend to be this tow truck?” Mater asked anxiously.
“And leave the rest to us,” Holley answered as she deployed a bond sprayer to fill Mater’s dents.
Mater suddenly pulled away. “Hey, what are you doing?” Then he took a breath. “For a second I thought you were trying to fix my dents.”
“I was,” Holley replied.
Mater straightened up. “Well then, no thank you. I don’t get those dents buffed, pulled, filled, or painted by nobody. They’re way too valuable.”
Holley seemed surprised. “Your dents are valuable? Really?” she asked.
“I came by each one of them with my best friend, Lightning McQueen. I don’t fix these. I want to remember these dents forever.”
“Friendships can be dangerous in our line of work,” Finn said to him.
“But my line of work is towing and salvage,” Mater answered. He was supposed to be friendly!
Finn laughed, admiring Mater’s brilliant cover. “Right!” Finn said, chuckling.
Mater frowned. “No, I meant that for real. I—”
“No, no. It’s okay.” Holley stopped Mater. “Say no more. I’ll work around the dent.”
“In the meantime, you look a little light on weapons,” Finn said as the spy train began its descent into Italy. Mater brightened right up when Finn hit a button and an entire wall of the train transformed into a huge store of gleaming high-tech weaponry.
In the sunny town of Porto Corsa, fans from all over the world gathered to watch the second race of the WGP. Luxurious yachts dotted the sparkling harbor, and expensive shops had their doors open ready to greet them.
The town’s winding roads had been converted into a racecourse. The billboards that lined the quaint streets and hairpin turns proudly proclaimed the hometown favorite to be Francesco Bernoulli. His face was everywhere.
Brent Mustangburger and Darrell Cartrip were on hand to broadcast the color and excitement. “Welcome, everyone, to the beautiful town of Porto Corsa!” Brent said into his microphone. “The big news here continues to be Allinol. Sir Miles Axlerod spoke to the media earlier today to answer questions about its safety.”
Brent cut to a video of Axlerod, who seemed very distressed. “An independent panel of scientists has determined that Allinol is completely safe. Okay? Safe!” he emphatically told the reporters.
“So the race will go on,” Darrell Cartrip said. “But the question everyone is asking is: Will the real Lightning McQueen show up today?”
Darrell highlighted a graphic image of the race standings, showing Francesco at the top with ten points. “Well, he’d better,” Darrell said. “Talk about a hometown advantage. Francesco Bernoulli grew up racing this course!”
The announcer barely had time to introduce Francesco before the crowd began wildly chanting Francesco’s name.
“Bellissima!” Francesco said, loving the adoring crowd. “Thank you for your support, and thanks to Lightning McQueen for his big mistake!”
The track announcer continued. “In the second position: Numero Novantacinque, Number Ninety-Five, Lightning McQueen.”
The crowd cheered, but Lightning didn’t seem to notice. His crew was watching him on the pit monitor.
Luigi became anxious. “Is everything okay?”
“If you’re worried about your fuel, man, don’t be,” Fillmore said into the radio. “It’s perfectly safe.”
“No, guys. I just wish Mater were here,” Lightning answered as he rolled into the starting grid.
The day of the big race was also the day of the meeting of the Lemonheads, the leaders of the Lemon families, in Porto Corsa. Outside the town’s elegant casino, a group of rough-looking Hugos were impatiently waiting for the Lemonheads to arrive.
Ivan, the Eastern European tow truck, was telling his Hugo buddy Alexander how ugly Gremlins were, when a very pretty little sports car pulled up.
“My grandfather has broken down,” Holley said to Ivan and Alexander. “If one of you could help, I’d be so grateful.” She was disguised as an Italian model, and they both fell for it.
Ivan revved his engine. “Sounds like you need some ‘roadside assistance’?”
Holley nodded, and after a brief challenge from Alexander Hugo, Ivan happily followed Holley down the street.
Mater peeked around the corner and saw them coming. Suddenly, the whole plan made him nervous.
“I don’t know about this,” he said to Finn, who was sitting casually in an outdoor restaurant. “What if I screw things up?”
Finn smiled. “Impossible,” he radioed to Mater. “Just apply the same level of dedication you’ve been using to play the idiot tow truck and you’ll be fine.”
Mater was stunned. “Wait, did you say ‘idiot’? Is that how you see me?”
Finn radioed back, “Of course—that’s how everyone sees you. Isn’t that the idea? I tell you, that’s the genius of it!” he exclaimed. “No one realizes they’re being fooled because they’re too busy laughing at the fool. It’s brilliant!”
Suddenly, Holley turned the corned and zapped Ivan the tow truck into unconsciousness with her electrified stun gun. She looked at Mater.
“Why aren’t you in disguise?” she asked him. “Come on! There’s no time.”
Mater quickly deployed Holley’s cloaking image to turn himself into Ivan’s double and rolled toward the casino. Victor, the Lemonhead of the Hugo family, was just arriving.
“Ivan!” Victor called out. “Why do you disrespect me so by making me wait here?”
Mater quickly attached his hook to Victor’s polished fender and rolled the distinguished Hugo Lemon through the casino entrance.
“He’s in,” Finn radioed to Holley.
As Mater moved through the elegant, high-ceilinged casino, he was overwhelmed by the palatial gaming room. “Wow,” he said. “This place looks like it’s made of gold!”
The Hugos on either side of Mater gave him funny looks. Their friend Ivan had seen this place before.
“That’s because it is!” Holley said to Mater over his radio. “Be careful what you say.”
“Why’s that?” Mater spoke into his headset. He kept forgetting that everyone around him was listening, too!
Alexander Hugo stared at Mater. “You’re acting strange today, Ivan.”
Holley had also equipped Mater with a digital device to identify the cars he met. It quickly produced a readout that only Mater could see.
“Alexander Hugo, aka Chop Shop.” Mater began reading out loud. “Hey, you got a lot of aka’s, Alex. But I guess that tracks, seeing as how you’re wanted in France, Germany, and the Czech Republic.”
“Mater!” Holley screamed as her face appeared on Mater’s monitor. “Stop it!” She knew Mater was about to blow his cover. She simply could not figure out why the American agent behaved so outrageously sometimes.
Alexander looked over at Mater.
“Keep your voice down. You’re gonna get me arrested,” he whispered. Then Alexander said to the other Hugos, “Don’t mess with Ivan today. He’s testy.”
Finn and Holley stared at each other in disbelief.
“Ohhh, that was a close one,” Finn commented.
Mater towed Victor into a private room. The Lemons were already seated around a large table. Holley’s monitor scanned the room. Immediately, her computer began scrolling information on the Lemons.
“Maybe now we can find out who’s behind all this,” she said, then settled in to listen as the Lemons began a heated discussion. They seemed to be waiting to meet their mysterious leader.
Inside, Mater continued to observe.
“Is the Big Boss here yet?” Victor asked.
“No, not yet,” a Trunkov replied impatiently.
WHAM! A door swung open. The room went silent as the Lemons stared at the door and waited.
And suddenly…Professor Z appeared!
Everyone looked disappointed. All the Lemons knew Professor Z. They wanted to meet his boss, the Big Boss, who was their true leader.
“When is he coming?” Victor, the Hugo Lemonhead, demanded.
Professor Z smiled slyly.
“He’s already here,” he announced.
A bank of monitors that lined the back wall suddenly crackled to life. An image appeared. It was an image of an engine.
Mater stifled a gasp. He recognized it as the engine that belonged to the car that was leading the whole operation. It was that Lemon engine with the Whitworth bolts!
It was a live feed. The voice of the Big Boss was electronically distorted so that he couldn’t be identified. Everyone in the room stared at his engine—a bad Lemon engine that was being repaired—as its owner spoke to the Lemons.
“Welcome, everyone,” the voice announced over the video feed. “I wish I could be with you on this very special day. But with my clutch assembly broken, you know how it is.”
The Lemons all nodded. Every single Lemon knew what it was like to live a life disrupted by constant repairs. They had wanted to see the Big Boss, but they understood his situation.
Outside, Finn desperately asked Holley to unscramble the voice of this mysterious leader. They had to find out his identity!
“Trying,” Holley muttered as she worked. “I can’t. It’s too sophisticated.”
Inside the casino, the disguised voice of the mysterious, evil leader continued: “We’re here to celebrate. Today, all of your hard work pays off. The world turned their backs on cars like us. They stopped manufacturing us, stopped making our parts. The only thing they haven’t stopped doing is laughing at us!”
The mastermind behind this terrible plot continued to rally his fellow Lemons: “They’ve called us terrible names: jalopy, rust bucket, heap, clunker, junker…Lemon!”
The cars grumbled in agreement.
The voice continued, “But what they consider taunts just give us strength, because today, my friends, that all ends.”
BOOM! Mater jumped as the video monitors showed the racer Carla Velosa on the course with smoke pouring from her engine.
“They laughed at us!” the distorted voice continued. “Now it’s our turn to laugh back! They called us Lemon! Embrace it!”
BOOM! Another racer’s engine blew up.
Outside, Finn and Holley were desperately trying to figure out what was going on.
“I’m detecting high levels of electromagnetic radiation!” Holley reported. Working swiftly, she traced it until she zeroed in on the point of origin. Focusing with her binoculars, she saw Grem and Acer with the fake WGP camera aimed at the racecourse.
“Finn! It’s the camera!” she cried.
“Where?” Finn shouted.
“On the tower!”
Finn took off at top speed, racing along the winding cliff roads toward the WGP camera. He needed to stop Grem and Acer fast, before more racers were injured.
Mater continued to listen to the mysterious car who was the mastermind behind this explosive operation.
“This was to be alternative fuel’s moment in the sun. But after today, everyone will race back to gasoline. And we, the owners of the largest untapped oil reserve in the world, will become the most powerful cars in the world! They will need us. And they will finally respect us!”
Mater gasped as the roomful of Lemons burst out into cheers.
Finn zigzagged up the steep cliff until he reached a large crevasse. He could see Grem and Acer on the opposite side, holding the WGP camera. Finn hit the gas and leaped toward the two Lemons.
That was when Finn felt himself freeze in midair. A helicopter had captured him with a large magnet.
Grem and Acer started laughing at Finn.
“We figured you might stop by,” Acer shouted to Finn. The two Lemons gleefully turned back to the camera and aimed it at Number 4, Max Schnell. This time it was Grem’s turn to zap the racer.
Down on the racecourse, plumes of smoke suddenly billowed from Number 4. The car swerved out of control and crashed into another racer, sending them both tumbling. The crowd gasped when another car—Shu Todoroki—spun out as his engine exploded in black smoke. Grem and Acer chuckled as they watched the car skid to the railing, taking two others with it. The race was becoming a monster pileup.
Up ahead at the finish line, Lightning and Francesco were still battling it out for the win. They had no idea what was happening on the track behind them. Each was focused on winning!
“Ka-chow!” Lightning shouted as he narrowly crossed the finish line first. He was about to thoroughly enjoy beating Francesco when he saw the smoke rising from the multiple car wreck.
“Oh, no,” Lightning said to himself.
It wasn’t long before Sir Miles Axlerod had to face the media. The reporters all demanded to know whether the last race, in London, would be run on Allinol. Was it causing the race cars to crash?
Axlerod seemed completely defeated.
“I cannot in good conscience risk the lives of any more race cars,” he told the anxious reporters. “The final race will not be run on Allinol.”
Inside the casino, the Lemons were still cheering when Lightning suddenly appeared on the screen.
The room went quiet as Lightning announced that he would still use Allinol in the last race.
“My friend Fillmore says the fuel’s safe,” he told reporters. “And that’s good enough for me.”
Mater held his breath as he watched Lightning add: “I didn’t stand by a friend of mine recently. I’m not making the same mistake twice.”
The sound of a ringing phone suddenly cut through the silent casino. Professor Z quickly answered it. It was the Big Boss.
“Yes, sir. Of course,” he said into the phone.
He turned to the Lemons and announced what the Big Boss had said: “Allinol must be finished for good. Lightning McQueen cannot win the last race.” The Lemons had to stop Lightning.
Mater’s eyes grew wide. Professor Z was going to ask Grem and Acer to take aim at Lightning next!
“No!” Mater said. He turned to leave and banged his hood on a chandelier. An electric jolt passed through him—just enough to cause h
is holographic disguise to disappear. The Lemons stared in shock as Mater turned into his rusty old tow truck self.
“The American spy!” Professor Z said. The Lemons immediately drew their weapons.
“Dadgum!” Mater said into his radio.
“Gaitlin gun. Request acknowledged,” Mater’s computer answered.
Mater was shocked to see guns roll out of both of his side doors.
“Shoot. I didn’t mean—” Mater tried to say as he suddenly sprayed the ceiling with bullets.
Mater was thrown back by the force of one of his guns. “Whoa! Wait!” he hollered. “I didn’t mean that kind of shoot!”
“Correction acknowledged,” the computer replied. “Deploying parachute.”
With a whoosh, a large parachute shot out from Mater’s undercarriage. In seconds, he was dragged out onto the casino’s balcony.
“Whoa!” Mater cried as the chute filled with air and hoisted him into the sky.
Mater drifted over the town of Porto Corsa until he spotted a motorboat speeding through the water below. He dropped his tow hook and hitched a ride toward the race site. There was no time to lose. He had to get to Lightning and warn him.
Mater could see Lightning onstage, talking to the reporters, as he dropped into the crowd.
“Lemme through!” Mater shouted as he tried to make his way to the stage.
“Back up, sir,” a security guard told Mater, who was frantic with worry.
Mater kept pushing through the crowd.
“We have a lunatic at gate nine,” the guard said into his walkie-talkie.
“No, listen!” Mater sputtered. “I—I was disguised as a tow truck with some Lemons, and they got this ray-gun plot!”
“Repeat. Lunatic at gate nine,” the guard said.
Mater could still see Lightning onstage. He used all his tow truck weight to keep pushing through the throngs of cars. “Comin’ through. Life-or-death situation here,” he said as he tried to move forward. But no one seemed to believe him.
As additional security closed in on Mater, he yelled, “Lightning McQueen, if you’re out there, they’re gonna kill you! ”
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