How is Fudge going to fare in the Florida 500? Read on and find out...

(By the way, I borrowed a motivational speech from- surprise, surprise- The Internship. I changed the dialogue a little bit to fit the scene better, but the basic point is the same.)

Chapter 33- Through the Pack

"Lightning McQueen's team has entered a different car and a human sporting the 95!" Bob Cutlass announced in confusion.

"I don't believe what I'm seeing!" Darrell Cartrip exclaimed.

"And it appears that the human crew chief is none other than Lightning McQueen's former crew chief, Fudge Rossi-Topolino!" Bob observed.

"I have never seen this before!" Darrell went on. "Is this move even legal?"

Both he and Bob looked to the producers as if to ask what they should do. The producers just signalled for them to continue as usual.

"Well, there's no doubt this is a Piston Cup first", Bob obliged. "And a risky move on McQueen's part. Let's hope it's a risk that pays off."

"You know, at sixteen years of age, I think Fudge Rossi-Topolino is the youngest person to make it into the Piston Cup series!" Darrell Cartrip commented admiringly.

"You're watching this, right?" Ray Reverham radioed to Jackson Storm.

"What? The girls in the costumes?!" he asked incredulously. "You're kidding me! He put them in the race?!"

Then Storm shrugged with a cocky smirk. It doesn't matter to me if it's the old-timer or the wannabe race car and four-eyed baby, who thinks she's so cool, he thought to himself. I don't care which of them I beat.

In the stands, the Legends were surprised by what was happening. Happy, but surprised. They smiled, remembering Fudge and Cruz telling them about their doubts as racers. Now, they hoped that the two of them would get the chance to prove to themselves that they could be racers.

"Come on, Cruz! Come on, Fudge!" Louise cheered for her fellow women as they approached the track.

Back in Radiator Springs, Sheriff and Red's eyes widened at the sight of an unfamiliar yellow car and human girl taking Lightning's place in the race.

"What's he doin'?" Sheriff wondered. "Why's he givin' up his last chance?!"

Red shrugged. Sheriff's guess was as good as his.

All of a sudden, Sheriff realised that the human wasn't so unfamiliar after all.

"Is that Fudge?!" he exclaimed in disbelief.

Red did a double take, staring at the TV in astonishment. Sheriff was right; it was Fudge.

Sure enough, Bob Cutlass confirmed it just then. "And it appears that the human crew chief is none other than Lightning McQueen's former crew chief, Fudge Rossi-Topolino!"

"Hey, Fudge!" Lizzie hollered abruptly. "Come look at this girl on the radio! She looks just like you!"

Red and Sheriff just chuckled.

Meanwhile, Cruz and Fudge were at the back of the line of racers. It was all so overwhelming, what with the tall grandstands, the cheering crowd, the long line of racers in front of them, their fears and doubts. All of it made both of them feel so small.

"This is real!" Fudge repeated, trying to slow her breathing down. "This is happening!"

"We got this!" Cruz tried to sound strong, but she was just as nervous as her friend. "You and me. We got this."

Before they knew it, the green flag was being waved.

"The green flag is out and we're back to racing!" Bob Cutlass announced.

However, not exactly all of the racers were off and running. The sudden revving of everyone's engines made Fudge and Cruz yelp in surprise and jump.

"Holy crap!" Fudge exclaimed.

Fudge was only used to being that close to one or two fast, loud engines. The two were kind of in shock, so Cruz was driving at snail's pace and Fudge was just flopped on Cruz's roof silently, head down, unsure of what to do.

"Cruz, what are you doin'?" Smokey radioed. "Come on! Pick it up! Gotta go faster! And Fudge, what are you doin'?! What kind of position is that?! Lift your head up! You ain't gonna see anything with your head down like that!"

"Oh, yeah!" Fudge recalled, correcting her position. She was a little shaken up by Smokey's tone; she wasn't used to being critiqued that harshly and all it did was make her beat herself up. "Just bear with me. I haven't done this for a few years, so I'm a little rusty!"

"That's better! Now, Cruz! Pick it up!"

Lightning had an idea. "Okay. C- Call her Frances Beltline and tell her the... the School Bus of Death is after her!"

Smokey had no idea what that meant. "What? No!"

"Trust me!" Lightning insisted.

Fudge and Cruz heard Smokey's voice come through the radio, sounding more like a question than advice. "Uh? Frances Beltline? The School Bus of Death is after you."

"What?" Cruz asked, confused. Then it clicked. "Oh. Uh- Uh-huh. Right." She picked up her speed.

"Okay. That was different", Smokey proclaimed. Then he added, "Fudge, I haven't heard you say anything yet. Come on. You gotta talk to Cruz! Help her!"

"I know!" Fudge responded. "I'm just nervous!" On top of that, Smokey's critical tone certainly wasn't helping matters. She knew it was his job, but it did nothing to calm her nerves.

"Yeah, well, don't be!"

"Yeah, that helps!" Fudge mumbled sarcastically. What was Smokey thinking would happen if he said that? She'd be like, Doy! I'm not nervous at all anymore! Thanks for telling me not to be, Smokey!

"Don't be so harsh on Fudge", Lightning cautioned.

"I gotta be!" Smokey grumbled. "She ain't gonna learn if I'm too gentle on her."

"Well, just watch the tone. She can get a little sensitive. She's just gonna beat herself up if you're too tough on her."

Before Smokey could answer, he noticed something else. "Cruz, you're looking too tight now!" The yellow car was super tense and it was affecting her speed. "Come on! Loosen up!"

"Tell her she's a fluffy cloud!" Lightning instructed.

"What? No!" Smokey repeated.

"Smokey, tell her!" Lightning urged.

"Uh, Cruz?" Smokey radioed. "You are a... fluffy cloud?"

"Oh! Right! Too tight!" Cruz realised. "I am a fluffy cloud, I am a fluffy cloud..."

Amazingly (to Smokey, anyway), it worked! Cruz loosened up and managed to pick up her speed even more.

"Okay, Cruz", Fudge began nervously. "What I need you to do is-"

"Oh, my gosh! Look how far ahead those racers are!" Cruz exclaimed abruptly. "We'll never catch them! Look at Storm! We're never going to beat him!"

"That's what I'm trying to talk to you about!" Fudge explained. "You should-"

"I can't do this!" Cruz cried. "I can't do this!"

"Cruz, listen to me!" Fudge tried again.

"What was I thinking?! I can't do this! I just can't!"

"Fudge, Cruz, you're not listening to each other", Smokey critiqued. This was something he'd been concerned about with putting Fudge and Cruz in the race together. He knew Cruz had potential and he knew Fudge had potential, but this was the first time they'd ever worked together and he wasn't sure of what the result would be, despite the fact that they were best friends. "Come on now. This job is all about communication."

"Tell them Fudge has the Voice Trophy!" Lightning suggested.

Smokey was puzzled yet again. "The what?"

"The Voice Trophy", Lightning repeated as if it made sense to everyone.

"Uh... Fudge? You have the Voice Trophy?" Smokey obliged.

"Right!" Fudge got into action; although, her voice was kind of shaky out of nerves. "Cruz, I need you to listen to me. We'll worry about Storm later in the race. Let's just try and overtake everyone else right now. We shouldn't overexert ourselves chasing down Storm so early into the race."

Cruz nodded. "Got it!"

"But right now", Fudge went on as they came out of a turn, "aren't you getting a little bit too close to the-"

"Whoa!" Cruz exclaimed, narrowly avoiding the wall and losing control. She skidded across the track, unable to drive in a straight line.

Luigi and Guido's eyes widened in horror, already fearing that something would happen to their precious baby girl.

"Anticipate your turns!" Smokey instructed. "Cruz, Fudge, get your heads in the race!"

"No, no, wait, wait!" Lightning jumped in and Smokey, who had learned to expect this by now, looked to him, thinking, What's he gonna say this time? "Tell Cruz she's on a beach and... all the little crabbies have gone night-night!"

Smokey gave Lightning a WTF look and decided that that was the final straw. He backed up off the crew chief stand. "No! I ain't sayin' that! You tell her!"

"I did say he was senile!" London reminded the pickup truck jokingly.

"All right, Cruz, Fudge", a familiar voice greeted the racers over their radios, "the beach. I need you to think of the beach!"

"Mr. McQueen?!"

"Lightning?!"

Both Fudge and Cruz looked over at their pits, very happy to see Lightning climbing up onto the crew chief platform, wearing the headset. Not only was it comforting to see him up there and hear his voice, but it was comforting to receive some advice that didn't end in a question mark. They had heard Smokey say he refused to say something and they couldn't help but wonder what it was that made him throw in the towel.

"Yeah, yeah, it's me", he confirmed. "Remember the beach."

"Oh! Uh... Pick a line!" Cruz understood. "Stick to it! Got it!"

So, she picked a line on the track and stuck to it. That was when they started making progress. They started climbing up out of last place.

"All right, Fudge", Lightning shifted his attention to the human girl, "I haven't heard you say a word either. Smokey's right. Your job is all about communication. You gotta talk to Cruz in order to help her. Come on. You're so good when you do it for me."

"I know! I'm just nervous!" Fudge repeated. She felt a little more at ease now. She felt like Lightning was on her side, instead of yelling like she felt Smokey was. "If I'd have known I was gonna be doing this, I would've listened to the Get Psyched Mix on the way here." After a pause she added, "And I wouldn't have eaten that second hot dog at lunchtime."

"First of all, good. Being nervous means you care."

Fudge considered. "Huh! Guess I've never though of it like that before."

"Second of all, what are you nervous about, exactly?" Lightning quizzed her.

"Lots of things", she replied. "I'm scared of screwing this up and getting hurt again! If I get this wrong, I'll be letting Cruz down and if I get hurt, I'll have to go through all the pain and surgeries again and I-"

"Okay, okay! Listen to me, Fudge-O!" Lightning stopped her. "It's okay. I probably understand better than anyone what you've been through. I'm not surprised that you're afraid, but you know, life is like racing on the track. Sometimes, it's gonna throw you off the car's roof- break both your legs, smash your pelvis, maybe even break your heart."

"I hope you're going somewhere with this", Fudge deadpanned.

"But sometimes", Lightning went on, "it's gonna give you a Piston Cup. Come on! You're from Radiator Springs! Born and raised! You can be tough! You exposed Miles Axlerod and his Allinol scandal! You walked again when the doctors said you wouldn't!"

Fudge couldn't help smiling just a little. "I did do that, didn't I." It was a statement, not a question.

"Damn right you did!" Lightning confirmed. "So, you get your ass back on that car and you ride. You hear me, Brittney Angel Rossi-Topolino? Ride! Ride! Cruz is gonna look after you and so am I. You'll be fine." Then remembering Doc, he added, "Float like a Cadillac..."

Fudge grinned. "Sting like a Beemer!" Everything will be fine. I just gotta trust Cruz, Fudge told herself. Like how I trusted Junior on the midnight run.

Just like that, Fudge got back into crew chief mode with a little bit more confidence. "Okay. I don't think there's really anything we need to watch out for. I mean, there's the obvious tyre marbles and the other cars... I'll be sure to let you know if that changes at all."

Lightning laughed. "Thanks, Fudge-O! All right! Not too bad!" he praised both of them as they continued to make their way through the pack.

"This is nothing like the simulator!" Cruz declared.

"You're right", Fudge agreed. "This is real racing!"

"Got every tool you need!" Lightning assured Cruz. "Now, remember Thomasville!"

"Thomasville?" Cruz echoed.

"Yeah, sneak through the window!" Fudge and Lightning recited in unison.

"Now, that, I understand!" Smokey proclaimed from his spot next to the crew chief platform.

"Sneak through the window?" Cruz repeated.

She looked to the racer beside her and she visualised him as a tractor. All of a sudden, Cruz found herself and Fudge surrounded by tractors in racing paint jobs.

"You know what to do, don't you?" Fudge quizzed the racer.

"I sure do!" With a grin, she gunned it and weaved through the gaps between the racers.

"Okay!" Fudge called out. "There's a gap between those two ra- Yep. You got it!"

"We're just learning that the racer replacing McQueen with Rossi is Cruz Ramirez!" Bob Cutlass reported.

"This is her very first race!" Darrell Cartrip added with the same admiration he'd used to inform viewers that Fudge was the youngest racer.

"Actually, Darrell, it says here that she does have one win under her belt", Natalie Certain corrected him. "At a place called, uh... Thunder Hollow."

"THUNDER HOLLOW!" Miss Fritter hollered back in the bar of said town. She and the others were thrilled to see their Frances Beltline and Joy "Rider" Sweet in the race. She tried to nudge the small car beside her, only for it to be a hard ram. "SHE SAID THUNDER HOLLOW!"

"Try moving half a lane", Lightning suggested. "Half a lane!"

"Got it!" Cruz confirmed, following his advice.

"All right. Watch that lap car. He's gonna go high. Go low, go low!"

"Yeah, there's an opening right in front of us!" Fudge added.

Cruz weaved around the racer in front of her and overtook another one.

"Nice job! You are smoking these guys!" Lightning exclaimed. "Now, watch the tyre marbles along turn three! Keep your tyres clean!"

"Okay!" Cruz comprehended.

"Bump coming up on the inside!" Lightning cautioned. "Careful you don't go airborne."

"Now?" Cruz wanted to confirm.

"Yes, now!"

Cruz and Fudge adjusted themselves, so the pair rode over the bump with no trouble at all. The racer behind them wasn't so lucky, though, jumping a little when they went over the bump.

"Watch out by the wall; it's a little slick there!" Lightning warned as Cruz got dangerously close to the wall. "Watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it!"

As they neared the wall, skidding out of control a little, Fudge lifted her right leg up to prevent it from being crushed, should Cruz crash into the wall. Sure enough, Cruz's back end hit the wall with a yelp from the yellow car.

"You have hit a wall!" Lightning teased, imitating the simulator as Cruz straightened herself out. "You have hit a wall!"

"Ha-ha!" Cruz shot back sarcastically. "Just being aggressive!"

"Yeah, you're a frickin' comedian, aren't you, Lightning?!" Fudge chimed in.

"I'd say I'm pretty funny, yes!" he chuckled.

"Well, at least we're not on fire yet!" Fudge retorted.

Lightning laughed. "Seriously, though, you didn't get your leg trapped, did you, Fudge?"

"Nope!" she assured him. "I managed to move out of the way in time! Guess you're not the only one who's improved on their reflexes!"

Lightning laughed again. "Guess being chased by the Evil Goose of Thomasville taught you a thing or two, huh?!"

"Uh, I'm not okay!" Cruz piped up. "My spoiler! It got detached when I hit the wall!"

Everyone looked to see one side of Cruz's spoiler had been freed from the screws.

"All right", Lightning radioed. "I hate to have to do this now, but if you come into the pits, then we can-"

"No need!" Fudge interrupted, reaching into her pocket. "I got it!" She was going to think on her feet and adapt to unusual situations just like Smokey had taught her.

Slowly and cautiously, she turned around on all fours, still on Cruz's roof and careful to keep her magnets attached (learning from a previous mistake, just like Smokey had taught her!). In her pocket, she still had a wrench (Violet, her special wrench, which she got for her eighth birthday) and some screws. She guessed she hadn't taken them out of her pocket when she entered the race.

"Be careful, Fudge!" Lightning and Cruz gasped in unison as the latter slowed down a little.

The sixteen-year-old grabbed hold of the side of Cruz's spoiler that had gotten detached and slid the screws into place. They nearly slid out and onto the track right away.

"Dammit!" Fudge groaned and, luckily, she was quick to catch them.

"Fudge?" Lightning radioed again. "What's going on?"

"Just give me a sec!" Fudge was pressing the palm of her hand into the holes to keep the screws there as well as the spoiler. Doing that, she managed to use her wrench to tighten the screws.

"Done!" Fudge cried triumphantly, turning around again, just as cautiously as the first time. "That feel okay, Cruz?"

"Hey!" Cruz exclaimed, impressed. "That feels good!"

The crowd went wild for that stunt.

"I have never seen that before!" Bob Cutlass declared, amazed. "Fudge Rossi-Topolino has got to be one of the most talented riders in the history of racing!"

"When you got a rider crew chief, it's always comfortin' to know they've got good mechanical knowledge", Darrell Cartrip chimed in. "And Fudge Rossi-Topolino has absolutely delivered in that department. Cruz Ramirez sure can rest easy!"

"Fudge, that was unbelievable!" Lightning exclaimed.

"Way to go, Fudge!" Smokey hollered.

"Well done, my baby!" Luigi shouted.

"That was awesome!" London declared. "Unorthodox, but impressive!"

Fudge blushed and grinned at their words and the crowd cheering for her. "Thanks!"

The race went on. It was beginning