We're not going to talk about how long it's taken Midnite to upload again, k XD

Well dang, Happy New Year everybody! I can't believe it's already 2019; it certainly doesn't feel like it D: It's weird to think I finished this chapter at 2 in the morning last year, which was yesterday as of posting this XD

Anyway, I'm glad to be back posting a new chapter again! :D And I'm also happy to announce that I went through this whole story and somewhat revamped parts of it, added lots more detail to areas that were needing it, fixed translations (though I think one part I missed), and used better wording describing how characters speak! So now, The Way They Seem is exactly how I want it and a little better than before ^^ I didn't add any plot-changing details or do major changes, I just better described some parts and fixed what was needing it. However, I must say one sentence I added a single word to and changed the punctuation might have an impact on the whole story, now that I think of it... (The sentence is in chapter nine, in case anyone wants to try and guess what it is)

Before you start reading, I'll throw this out here in case anyone would like to know: The reason it's taken me until now to post is because last year was...I don't know. It was busy those last few months of school because I was in 12th grade and graduated, and everything was going well until July... Just as I lost Vani, I lost the next most special vehicle in my life, Tauren, or as his name was, Chev. (I changed it because 'Chev' was too expected to name a 'Chevrolet' Tahoe XD) He's not 'gone gone', just belongs to new owners now and when that happened, it tore me to pieces to the point I lost all motivation to write stories and do art. Yes, this was how much Tauren meant to me. On my DeviantArt I have a journal telling all about it, titled "I'm Back! Sad+Strange News and Exciting News" for those who want to know everything. (The strange news is very weird, and still to this day I can't believe it myself...) Anyway, the exciting news was that I went to Disney World and stayed in the Art of Animation Resort in the Cars Suite, which was the biggest fangasm I've ever had! XD So that's that and I'll stop rambling on about it XD

Response time:

Kitty, and here's another chapter ^^

Fudge, I've been wanting to tell you I haven't been having a lot of time to read fanfiction, but I will come back and read everything from you that I've missed! (Though I did finish your Cars 2 story and it was AWESOME) And as far as how everyone is in RS, it's rather quiet...

one speedy boi, You are right, police don't stand a chance against Mystery. Sarge could call the American military, but for now he hasn't, though it's definitely something he's been considering. And the shootout that happens in this chapter is a bit different, though.

Bitty, DON'T WORRY, I BRING YOU MOREEEEE!

Michigan, It's going to take a long time to finish this story XD But here's another update ^^

Fourteen

For a moment, nobody said anything. Nobody COULD say anything. The only thing that anyone could do in both jets was stare at each other, all oil run cold. Siddeley was just as stunned as the vehicles inside him, as was the other jet, but it only took him a second to gather his senses and use his afterburners. The other jet followed suit, all passengers inside both getting thrown back a little in their seats.

"What, on Earth…" Todd was the first to utter any words. "I think I'm gonna be sick…"

"No getting sick now, soldier." Sarge stamped his tire. "We have a town that was hit and hit hard."

"Y-yeah, exactly why I think I'm gonna be sick…"

In Siddeley, the same reaction and sick feeling ran through everyone there. Lightning and Mater could only just stare at each other, not even knowing how to feel. Being the only two in Sidd that called Radiator Springs their home made them feel the worst about it. Holley and Raoul were the next two to feel the most worried and dreaded, having spent enough time in the town to have some attachment to it. Silver and Duchess only kept quiet and hoped not for the worst to be expected. Nobody dare spoke in either jet for the longest time, Todd and Sarge being the only ones who did. Everyone was silent because what happened was exactly what they didn't want to happen: The enemy beat them there. The Radiator residents in the second jet shared the same faces of worry, as did Nigel and Todd, and it was Sarge out of them all who started talking again.

"Ahem, well, uh, I suppose we know what to do now." the Jeep quietly broke the silence after nobody spoke for what seemed like forever. The five looked at him with silent nods of agreement, then turned their seats forward for the rest of the flight. A few seconds later, the communicator above came on and Holley's soft voice spoke.

"When we get there, stay invisible and…look for survivors if necessary. Assess damages done, and we'll…decide what's best to do." Her voice was a little shaky, but nobody blamed the spy. Radiator Springs, a tiny little quaint town, attacked by Hell. It was all anybody could do to not worry about the old Model T, gentle-natured fire truck, and two little Miatas that could not defend against anyone. Especially Mystery.

The rest of the way there, not much talk happened except for deciding where they land and where everybody would go to sneak in. Luckily, the jets were equipped with radar camouflaging capabilities, a technology that would mask their presence and hinder anyone's satellite from detecting them. That meant they could land in Carburetor County just outside of Radiator Springs, undetected at the Ornament Valley Airport. Unfortunately, the Springs was out in the open, completely exposed. That made it harder to sneak in like the secret agents they are. It didn't help when half of them were from the town and it was obvious, and four were well-known racers. At least the other three blended in fairly well. So, they all decided to just go in from all angles and close in on the town when they got close enough. It was also decided that everybody needed disguise paint jobs for future missions, since one little bump on a voice-activated sensor and it will malfunction, as proven by Mater at the Lemon meeting. But there was no time for paint jobs now. They were almost there, just having passed into America.

Not too long later, they flew into Arizona and over Carburetor County where they caught a tiny glimpse of the town. Ramone was the first to see it.

"There's the town!" the Impala gasped as soon as it came into view. "Sarge, tell Holley the town is in our sights now!" As Sarge went to hit the communicator button, the other four crowded to the windows to look at Radiator Springs. For the most part, it looked rather…untouched.

"It…actually does-a not look that bad…" Luigi commented slowly, keeping his voice light as though merely talking would make the town fall.

"Surprisingly." Todd eyed a couple of buildings. "I mean, I wasn't expecting them to burn the place to the ground, but I expected something worse than this."

"Just be glad this is as bad as it is, son." Sheriff said, also eying buildings. Just in front of him, Sarge had hit the communicator button.

"Radiator Springs is in our sights." he informed. "It doesn't look as bad as we may have expected, though."

Lightning and Mater were the first to look out the windows.

"Dadgum! Thar it is!" Mater exclaimed, pointing. Lightning didn't say anything, instead just choosing to try and see anything amiss down there. Holley peered out a window and gazed at it.

"We see it too. And indeed, it doesn't look terrible…" she said. But what did Finn always used to tell her when he was training her? Your teammates may stab you in the back, you might discover you were believing a lie your whole life when you hear the truth, but nothing will deceive you more than looks. His words echoed in her mind, and Holley sighed. If it wasn't such an unfortunate happening to have Finn stab everyone he cared about in the back, that part might have been funny. But for the moment it was time to keep that quote in mind and brace for whatever was waiting for them below.

"That's what we came shooting out of London for? That tiny little town?" Silver asked incredulously. "It's so insignificant."

"Hey." Raoul scolded, giving Silver a hard nudge for her tone. "I love zat place, as does everyone else. Clearly you have never been to Radiator Springs before." he commented.

"He's right. I used to be like Francesco, maybe even worse. Only took me a week spent there to straighten me out." Lightning added, giving the Malibu a sideways glance.

"Alright alright, I get it." Silver said in a small voice. "This place better be worth it for getting scolded by a French hatchback and a car who used to act worse than Francesco."

"Was zat supposed to be an insult?"

"And are you comparing me now to that Formula Racer?"

"You're just earning yourself a seat between those two on the way back." Duchess warned Silver, who moved her seat to the furthest window away from the two racers.

"Well, I don't think the town will be much ta look at now." Mater reminded as they began to near the airport. "But we'll see when we get thar." Silence ensued again as Siddeley and the other jet both turned sharply to head for the airport, obscuring the town behind clouds. Ornament Valley Airport came into view and they started their descent, both rather anxious about the outcome of the town. As normal as it looked, who knew what or who was hiding down there.

Aside from some mild turbulence, they made a smooth landing without trouble. Since Siddeley had been there once before, the airplanes and employees were already familiar with him and respected the spy being there with the other jet. The twelve passengers they carried unloaded and tried to blend with traffic that was going towards the town. Problem with that was…

"OMG is that Lightning McQueen?!"

"Hey look! It's Todd 'The Shockster' Marcus!"

And then…

"Oh my Dodge, oh my DODGE that's Sir Nigel Gearsley! What the heck?! HE'S HERE!?"

"And why is Raoul ÇaRoule here? Ah, who cares? THE CHAMPION OF FRANCE IS HERE TOO!"

They decided it probably wasn't a good idea to go with traffic.

Using Sheriff to keep civilians away from them all, the other eleven retreated away, sneaking around the side of the airport. Luckily, the airport was a fairly small one so it was easy to quickly get away from the main exit and entrance. While they slipped away, Sheriff dealt with the curious small crowd, telling them the racers were here for a private visit with Lightning McQueen and couldn't stay long for any fans. Understanding but disappointed, the small group dispersed without lots of questions. The only thing asked was how long would the racers be there and what was the visit for, to which Sheriff said a day and it was nobody's business. He joined the other eleven when he was sure no one was going to follow.

"Don't be surprised if rumors start circulating that Nigel, Raoul, and Todd have shady business with Lightning." Sheriff announced when he found where the spies went.

"Huh?" Todd asked.

"Shady business?" Nigel repeated. "What did you tell them?"

"Nothing important. Now, we need to think of the best way to get to the town, sneaking in."

"But there's really no way to sneak in." Sarge brought up. "It's a tiny town that's completely exposed in the middle of the open Arizona desert. There's no way to be stealthy, unless we were all invisible."

"And I dun suppose those voice-activated doodads have the ability to make us disappear, do they Holley?" Mater asked.

Holley cast her eyes downwards and sighed. "Unfortunately, C.H.R.O.M.E.'s technology hasn't gotten that far yet, but they are working on something like it. But as for us getting there stealthily, well, it would help a lot if it were dark out." She looked up to the bright blue sky, hardly a cloud in sight. Why did the attack happen so that it would be daylight when they rushed to Carburetor County?

"Well we definitely aren't helping anything just standing around here. Can't we just go there with our weapons out and prepared for something to attack?" Ramone suggested. "We're kinda wasting time, amiga, and by the sound of that call we don't have time to waste."

As much as she didn't want to rush out there and get them all possibly killed, Holley had to agree with the Impala. "You're right, we don't have time to waste." As she said it, her gun clicked out of her rim. "Time to go. Everybody, kick it to highest gear and let's go. Stay close until the town is in our sights. Weapons out and come on!" Her voice came out sounding confident and like that of a leader, for a second reminding her of Finn. Holley didn't even feel half the amount of readiness her voice carried, but decided to get used to it. Her partner wasn't here anymore to guide her through the leadership role, so it was time to do this on her own the best she knew how.

The group of twelve sped off far away from route 66, carefully going across the off-road bumpy desert. Duchess and Silver were far ahead of everyone else, wearing tires meant for every terrain plus having hardcore training for high-speed, bad road situations. Raoul was behind them and ahead of the others, the rally car only being used to off-road racing, not hardcore training like the Elantra and Malibu. (Plus he wasn't wearing the same tires as them.) Closer and closer they got in record time, even getting jostled and slowed down trying to carefully maintain top speeds. From behind, the brake lights of Duchess and Silver came on. Once the others caught up, they were much closer to the town than they wanted to be.

"Why did you two stop at Willy's Butte? Isn't this a little close?" Luigi questioned.

"A little, but unless you wanna take a slow, leisurely drive in there, this is where we stop." Silver stated firmly. "We don't know what's waiting for us in that town, if there's anything there at all. Being a spy means you gotta know when to take chances, and when you do, be on highest alert." Her violet eyes were no longer that of a silly, quirky Malibu. Instead they showed a hard, authoritative young spy with lots of experience despite her age. For a moment, Holley felt Silver should be the one leading instead. Luigi said nothing, instead just giving a nod of trust in Silver's words.

"Don't forget I've been here before." Duchess added. "I know the ends and outs here as well."

"I thought you only came once?" Lightning reminded.

"Once is enough for any field agent. You learn very quickly how to retain tremendous amounts of information that civilians normally wouldn't be able to remember. Y'all will soon exercise your memories enough to have this ability too." This got everyone's attention and all eyes turned to Holley.

"Being a spy surely is becoming worth it now." Sheriff remarked. "Now how do you suppose the best way we get over there, Shiftwell?"

For a moment, Holley wanted to ask Silver and Duchess the same question, as they've had more field experience than she had. "I suggest we fan out and come in at all angles. Check the town for anything and anyone. Then once it's clear, we go up and check the Wheel Well. Alright, move out." she instructed. Half of them went on the side of the town they were already on and spread out on there, while the other half crossed the road and went to the other side. Slowly, they made their way in, keeping an eye on all the places someone could be waiting with a sniper. Luckily there were no surprises like that. But they were surprised by the lack of destruction in Radiator Springs, though.

"In a situation like this I would ask what happened here, but I think it makes more sense to ask what didn't happen here." Sarge was the first to say something.

"They didn't do a whole lot of damage, and I wonder why." Holley was looking down at a perfectly intact can of some brand of oil. The buildings were all still standing, and aside from broken windows and bullet holes sprayed all over the area, nothing was extremely out of place. "If anything, it appears as though they came here just to ransack it a bit and chase everyone away."

"Yeah…" Sarge turned around and glanced towards Tailfin Pass. "Shiftwell, I am going up to Tailfin Pass to check it out. Six can stay down here, and five can come up with me."

"I will send five to go with you." Holley nodded Sarge to go along, to which he did. The ones that went with the Jeep were Raoul, Lightning, Duchess, Ramone, and Todd. Holley stayed with Silver, Nigel, Luigi, Sheriff, and Mater in the town. Both parties went to work nosing around to find civilians or Lemons, dead or alive.

All the stores in the town were empty of life and ransacked, though nothing was completely destroyed. Bullet casings littered the ground and there were burns here and there, along with a few tiny dying fires weakly licking at the space around them. Skid marks were all over the place, some revealing those Lemons (and non-Lemons) enjoyed doing doughnuts apparently. A few of the signs that marked the shops were knocked down, such as Wimpy's Wipers and the curb feeler sign. The sign for Mrs. Muffler appeared to have been used as target practice, like someone got bored and wanted to see how many shots it took to take down the sign. Another decided to try writing something vulgar with bullets on the muffler store, as the brick now had a very lovely 'F YOU' attempted in it. That message didn't seem too far off, as to those who lived there the whole town looked like one big…well, that message.

After going through the Courthouse and all the stores on that end, it was time to move to the other end. Luigi immediately drove to the Casa Della, feeling like he wanted to die at the sight of his beautiful tires and the whitewalls - oh the whitewalls! It was almost too much for the Fiat to see his tires all thrown about inside and some outside, oh the disrespect! Unfortunately, the windows were all broken, creating a game of broken glass roulette in front of the store. The light concrete made many of the shards hard to see, making it impossible for someone to drive across without puncturing a tire.

Across from him, Sheriff was peering into Ramone's House of Body Art, which was now just a House of Art with the paint mess inside. Nobody was hiding in there and Sheriff was glad he could see the entirety without going inside. Getting rainbows on his wheels was a look he could have invented, but all the reasons not to outweighed the ones saying 'do it'.

Next to Sheriff, Silver was inspecting the V8. Flo's café was a mess of oil and gas puddles everywhere. The inside looked just as bad, with all the specialty oil dispensers broken, gone, or damaged and a mess of the flavored oils swamping the floor. No sign of anyone in there. Silver turned around and saw Lizzie's Curios Shop, the place looking the most untouched compared to the others. Though that may have been because it was already a bit of a mess to begin with, or at least that's what Silver had been told. She wasted no time going inside and inspecting it. A crazy old lady Ford ran the place, and with all the curiosities inside, the Malibu could tell. As interesting as the place was, there was no time for browsing. Some things of little importance, such as bumper stickers, might have been stolen, but other than that, nothing looked particularly messed with. Silver hoped that if those Lemons came in and got Lizzie, they took her without struggle and only carnapped her.

Beside the Curios, Mater was poking around the Cozy Cone, careful to avoid the glass from the broken lobby windows. He found all the garage doors of the Cones unlocked, but nobody inside any of them. The plants and decor in front of each Cone were either missing completely or destroyed, and many - if not all - the Cones had burn marks on them. As soon as it was clear, the tow truck immediately went to his Salvage Yard. Mater found it a mess, but it's always been a mess. It looked the same, save for his shed which had collapsed from whatever happened here. The rest of the buildings were no different, being just as out of order as the others. Once the town was declared clear, the six went checking the area around it.

The other six had a much quicker job of scouting out the area of Tailfin Pass. They were very quick at getting up there, and going through the woods didn't take long at all. The Wheel Well wasn't even touched, much to their surprise, but that didn't mean the Lemons didn't go up there and do something. Searching the woods and finding nothing and no one, some of the group came back down, while the others stayed just in case.

Eventually, it became a back-and-forth deal where some would go up to Tailfin while others stayed down low, and then some would stay up there while others would go back down. This happened all day, thoroughly checking that side of Carburetor County pretty much down to the tiniest pebble. At one point, everyone but four went back up to Tailfin one last time before they left. Luigi and Sheriff were going through the Courthouse, making sure they didn't miss anything, while Nigel and Silver were going around the backside of buildings.

Silver was in the area behind Luigi's Casa Della Tires inspecting bullets and a small blood splatter. It wasn't a big splat, so that gave a bit of hope that maybe the victim survived. Or maybe got away, at least, judging by the small trail of red oil leading away from the splat. The Malibu was following the drops with her eyes until a racing green Aston Martin silently rolled into view until his brakes squealed.

"You may wanna get those checked, "sneaky" spy." Silver chuckled.

"As if you don't have the occasional brake squeal, poppet." Nigel joked back. "All that training wore out my brakes faster than I race. Had to get them replaced when we were recovering from the attack."

"Sounds like you rely too much on your brakes when you're training or out on the field." Silver noted. "As a secret agent, you can't do that."

"I know, I know. But you can put that blame on me being a racer. I uh, tend to be a little fast." admitted Nigel.

"Haha, is that right?" Silver nosed around some crates and boxes, trying to detect for any bombs or explosives. So far, there were none, as there had been none all day. "Eventually, you'll learn not to overuse your brakes so much. Lots of new agents have that problem."

"Why, of course. This certainly isn't an everyday kind of activity that everyone does."

"And obviously not what you do, seeing as how you were the only one who got your brakes replaced."

Nigel snorted a little. "My career has been anything but an uphill challenge, if one could place the blame on that for my tendency to exert more power."

Silver just laughed softly. "Oh really? Well just remember one thing, Agent Gearsley…" She pulled up to Nigel and tapped her front right fender to his right one. "This isn't an uphill race; it's spy missions you're dealing with now."

"Oh, I know." Nigel felt his hood heat up a little at Silver's touch. He hoped his green paint was dark enough not to show hints of red. "I can keep, ahem, keep my speed…in…check…" Suddenly, the DBR9 was lost in violet.

Likewise, the Malibu was suddenly drowning in rich brown. "Uh, wow. Now that I'm this close, your eyes are very, shiny. A-and…in a masculine way, um, pretty…"

Nigel's (manly) pretty eyes sparkled. "Oh my, why, thank you. And might I say you h-have very, very, lovely eyes…"

For a moment, the two said nothing, just admiring each other much closer than they've ever been before. Silver's eyes ran along Nigel's side, following his rather voluptuous body to his spoiler. He was certainly curvier than her, but that was absolutely nothing to complain about. Nigel was eyeing Silver up and down, taking in her sleek silvery paint and overall build. She was the prettiest sedan he'd ever seen. Neither one knew it, but they'd both had eyes for each other since they met. One could say, it was now very evident. They were only like that for a few moments before something started banging around inside the Casa Della.

"What was that?" Nigel snapped to attention, whipping his front to the back of the building.

"It came from in there." Silver pointed to Luigi's, standing tall and ready for whatever could be hiding in there. Or whoever. "Come on." She swiped Nigel's right tire to urge him along. Both spies cocked their guns in their rims and snuck towards the front of the tire store, keeping beside it. The Leaning Tower of Tires was still standing, though the strands of lights attached to it were swaying lazily in the slight breeze. Glass from the broken windows was still scattered about in front, as nobody had tried clearing it away yet. It was also the reason no one had gone into the Casa Della, as popping a tire now would be very inconvenient. "Go find a broom, quickly!" Silver hastily ordered in a whisper.

Nigel nodded and reversed, scanning the area behind the buildings, finding nothing. Turning towards the Curios shop, he spotted the handle of a broom sticking up over the wooden fence. Problem was, it was behind the fence and the only way to the tiny enclosed area was through the Curios. If it didn't put him in front of the Casa Della, Nigel would have zipped around to the front and gotten it. Instead, he tried not to be noisy as he pried a crooked board off. He ended up ramming into the fence twice to get it open enough, and grabbed the broom with his teeth. It was the kind really meant for forklifts to use, most likely used by Guido, but it did have the end attachment for a tire to hold it. Nigel pulled up to Silver and dropped the broom, snapping it to his tire.

Silver wasn't sure what exactly the Brit was doing behind her, but as soon as he started making noise, the crashing sound happened again. The Malibu caught sight of some movement in the dark tire store, however there wasn't enough light to see what it was. A quick glance in her mirror and Silver saw Nigel with a broom in his mouth. Two seconds later and he was dropping it next to her, fitting it to his tire. "I saw movement in there, so there's definitely someone inside." Silver whispered.

"I would not doubt that." Nigel began to sweep away glass, and as soon as the remnants of the windows started clinking against the concrete, there was a shuffling sound in the store. "Perhaps they think we can't hear them every time we make noise…" suggested Nigel, as every single time they made noise, whoever was inside did as well.

"Maybe. But keep sweeping anyway." Silver was anxious to know who was in there, not knowing if it would be better to find an enemy or an ally. An enemy could be tortured for valuable information, while someone on their side could tell them what happened here and help.

As soon as all the glass was swept aside to make a trail, Nigel began having trouble getting the broom off. "Oh, bloody-! Rrrgh, get this off me." He thrust his tire at Silver, who pushed against the head of the broom. For a horrifying moment, Nigel thought the broom was forever clamped to his tire. But finally it popped off with a fairly soundless dink noise, until it went sailing into the Casa Della and made a slightly bigger dink noise. And by 'slightly', it flew into a shelf display of tires and knocked them down. Nigel glared at Silver.

"How was I supposed to know it was gonna do that?!" she spat in a whisper.

"Could have held onto it better, "sneaky" spy." he growled a little, albeit neither were truly cross with each other. Just annoyed at how loud that was, and that it had to happen. "But never mind that," Nigel clicked on his headlights. "who is in there?" The darkness became bathed in a bright, slightly yellowish light, but there was no sign of anyone.

"They've gone quiet." Silver pulled her front into the store, her headlights coming on as well. "They're not over here." she said, talking about the area where vehicles get new tires put on.

"They must be on the other side of this wall." Nigel didn't bother keeping his voice a whisper; whoever was here already knew of their presence. And they were barely a few yards away.

"Be careful…" Silver said in a barely audible whisper, to which Nigel nodded that he would. She kept watch all around them as the DBR9 ever so slowly pulled towards the corner of the display, to where the mirrors were.

All three of them were broken, and that was the first thing Nigel saw. The second thing he noticed was a small car with their front end stuck in a box. A large tire was shoved around the opening of the box that contained the front half of the car, presumably to keep it on. Another large tire was wedged tightly against the back end of the car and around their tires, to keep them from moving. This car was definitely no bad-guy Lemon, or a lemon in general, that Nigel could tell just by looking. Though he couldn't tell the gender because of how covered they were by the tires and box. But still, who was it? The spy motioned Silver to stay where she was, and at the same time the captive car began struggling again, making quite a racket.

"Alright, who are you?" Nigel questioned. "And stop struggling, too."

Everything went silent. "…N-Nigel…Gears-sley…?" It was the tiniest voice full of fear that eventually broke the silence.

Said racer dropped himself closer to the ground out of shock. "Mia?! Is that you?!" Quick as a flash, Nigel put away his weapon and grabbed the tire around the Miata's back end.

"Yes! It's me! Oh, help me please!" the petrified red car begged tearfully from inside the box. Mia had been crying before, but now her tears were that of absolute joy.

"Don't worry, Mia, you're safe now." Nigel assured. "Silver, grab the box and try to pull it off."

"Who else is here?" Mia's voice asked from the box, though she was grateful Nigel wasn't alone.

"About ten others. There are twelve of us total." Silver answered, knowing the question was meant to learn her identity. Formalities can wait, as all spies are taught. She grabbed the box with her tires and pulled hard, Nigel pulling Mia in the opposite direction. It didn't take a lot of pulling for Mia to be popped free of the box, and when she was free she sucked in a huge breath.

"It was getting hard to breathe in there, I was worried my air intake was going to forever be stuffy!" was the first thing she exclaimed. Mia was slightly giddy with excitement from being freed; she didn't know what else to say.

"And now to get those two tires off of you." Silver looked at them with a discouraging glance, not sure how to get the one that was touching the box off the Miata. "But how?"

"Well, let's start with the back one, it's easier." Nigel was glad Mia was so much smaller than him, as it was easier to grip the tire with both of his own. "Silver, hold Mia in place and I'll reverse back to pull the tire off."

"Are you pulling because you have a more powerful engine than mine?" Silver asked with a smirk.

"Oh, just an excuse to exert more power than usual." Nigel snickered and gave a wink, then began pulling slightly to let Silver know to hang on. It took more effort as expected, but the tire did come off.

"Oh, ow, oh, that hurts…" Mia groaned as her cramped rear axle was suddenly free and mobile. In the haste of the tire getting forced around her, her back right tire was punctured to make it easier getting it on. Not so much for taking it off, though.

"This one could probably be cut off." noted Silver, pushing at the tire around Mia's cab. "Unfortunately, I don't have a big enough knife for that."

"And I don't either." Nigel sighed. "Looks like you'll have to deal with this tire until we get back to C.H.R.O.M.E."

"I think I can…" Mia rolled forward a bit, testing her new "accessory" and flat tire, amid aching axles. Luckily enough, it wasn't impossible to do since the tire didn't touch the ground. "At least I can drive still." She looked at the two spies and all her adrenaline excitement drained instantly as she remembered everything. "Where is everybody else?! Did you find the others?! Oh no… My sister! Did they get my sister?!" Mia suddenly became frantic once again, but the agents understood why.

"Hush, and try to keep yourself together, Mia." Nigel tried his best to calm the scared car, gently placing his tire on her left fender.

"I will, once you find Tia and the others!" she sobbed, leaning into his touch.

"Well, maybe you can help us with that." Silver suggested, tapping Mia's tire. "You might not know why those Lemons came here, but maybe if you tell us what you saw, we can have a guess and know where to find them next."

"I'm almost certain you won't find Mystery…" Mia breathed, trying to stop her tears. "And I don't know if what I have to say can be of any help…"

"It may help some." Nigel turned to lead them all out. "We must tell the others we found Mia, they would be glad to hear that."

"But they won't be glad to know Tia, Lizzie, and Red aren't here…" Mia had stopped her tears, but was now very shaky. "But I'm sure you guys can find them, right?"

"We don't know for sure, but it's okay to be hopeful." Silver glanced down as she followed Mia and Nigel out. "Though it's never good to be too hopeful. The letdown can make you…want to die…" Her voice had dropped and was extremely shaky, though Nigel and Mia heard it.

"What do you mean?" Mia asked, a bit worried at the agent's sudden change of demeanor.

"Silver?" Now Nigel was concerned too.

The Malibu brushed them off. "Nothing." She blinked hard, a glint of something shiny siding down her left fender. "Just…nothing." Silver opened her eyes and instantly her authoritative demeanor came back. "I'm Agent Blaze. Silver Blaze from America, though for the while I'm with C.H.R.O.M.E. for this crazy mess." she introduced herself.

Mia smiled a little. "It's the best thing in the world to meet you, thank you so much for saving me, Silver, and thank you too, Nigel." Both spies smiled at her.

"Just doing our job." Nigel said.

Just then, a red racecar came driving up to them.

"Hey, you two found Mia!" Lightning exclaimed, very happy to see at least one resident. "Still no sign of the others?"

"Not at all." Silver's voice had a worried edge to it. "Y'all couldn't find them either?"

"No, there was nobody up at the Wheel Well and all these stores are abandoned." Lightning reported. Far behind him where the Courthouse was, a caravan of vehicles were coming down the road and making their way to the four.

"Well, at least we know one is safe." Sheriff said when he saw Mia. "What's with the tire?"

"The Lemons put it on me and it needs to be cut off." Mia looked at everyone who was there. "Is now a good time to tell about what happened?"

"Now would be an excellent time to learn." Holley pulled forward, all ears, as did the other ten.

And so they learned. Apparently, it had been a very slow day yesterday in Radiator Springs. There were a few customers who popped in, but overall it was a very, very boring day. According to what she's heard from the townsfolk, Mia said the town was almost as dead as it was before Lightning came, which everyone found odd. Why would a world-dominating bad guy want to attack a tiny, seemingly worthless town in the middle of almost nowhere? The answer must have been buried deep since even by the end of the explanation, it still didn't make sense. Mia went on to tell them that the Weathers had arrived for an extended visit, as they rented a room in the Wheel Well. The whereabouts of Strip and Lynda were not known, but more than likely they were safe somewhere since they left the town before the attack. Possibly went for another leisurely drive, but Mia wasn't sure. When the Lemons first arrived, Tia had been the first to see them. It was a Gremlin and a Pacer, Grem and Acer as she's heard of them once before. Tia was a little scared to see them because she remembered hearing all about the Allinol scam, and she didn't fancy serving them oil. However, oil to be consumed was not the oil Grem and Acer were looking for. When Tia alerted Mia of the two Lemons, it was too late. They were already at the café entrance, guns drawn and threatening looks adorned. Neither of them shot the sisters, and they both even said they wouldn't, but that didn't stop a whole fleet of Lemons coming in and going wild. Lizzie's store was targeted and Mia was absolutely fearful for the old Model T. Though the only time she remembered seeing her was when Lizzie was being escorted out with a group of Gremlins. As dead as the town had been, there were still a few customers just loitering about and Mia remembered seeing them all terrified for their lives as gunshots rang out everywhere and vehicles were carnapped. Chaos was nothing but a blur as so much unfolded so incredibly fast, that Mia was afraid her memory was making up things or forgetting. At one point, she remembered seeing Red barreling into the café and picking up the phone, but there was no way to know who he was calling. But she did see him get shot, and that angered Mia so much to see somebody do that to someone like Red, that she lost all sense in getting away, just to find whoever shot him. In her angry search, she ended up getting hit by a large SUV who, to her shock, was part of the Lemons. Being a small Miata, Mia was easily overtaken and beat, forced to watch the Lemons and their non-lemon friends ruin the peaceful little town. As far as she was concerned, nobody was killed, but vehicles could have been carnapped. After the torment of being forced to watch her friends, her sister, and the customers get hurt, Mia was finally thrown into a box where a large tire was forced over her to keep it on. A second large tire was forced on her back end, where she felt her right tire pop and both tires pushed up into their wheel wells. Mia was then shoved around before being shoved into a dark corner, where she couldn't move because her front tires were trapped in the box and her rear ones were bound. After many fruitless attempts to be free, Mia finally gave up and just listened to the rest of the chaos, wondering how long it would last. It wasn't too much longer before all the enemies left and silence blanketed the area in an eerie calm. A few more tries at freedom and finally Mia cried herself to sleep, which is why she didn't hear the twelve spies arrive in the town.

"And that is what happened here?" Ramone asked, shocked out of his mind. Mia only nodded.

"Please tell me you guys are leaving soon, because I don't want to be here right now…" she said barely above a whisper. Her eyes glanced over to the V8, where the first thing she noticed was the embarrassing mountain was missing. "At least they took that away." Mia uttered with a tired, half-attempted pained smile.

"Took what away?" Raoul wondered.

"Don't. Ask."

"Rien ne sera demandé."

Curiosity was now sparked about the seemingly comical thing Mia didn't want to explain, but as Raoul said, nothing was asked. "Well, ever'thing up in Tailfin Pass is still clear an' mostly untouched." Mater announced, glancing around the town a little. "Was down here still all clear?"

"For the most part, yes." answered Luigi. He had been checking out the Courthouse with Sheriff and found it clear by the time the others were arriving back to the town from Tailfin. "All the buildings down here still had-a nothing to hide, except my store." he added, gesturing to Mia.

"Aside from the obvious mess and slight destruction, they didn't seem to take anything, either." Todd observed, then corrected himself. "I-I mean that as in, they didn't take any objects. But they might have carnapped whoever was still here."

Mia made a small 'ha' noise. "Well actually, I can tell you they stole about five-thousand things - which shall not be discussed." she was quick to add the last part. "And they…probably did carnap everybody." The Miata went quiet as she said it.

"Well, if that's what happened, there's not much we can do right now." Ramone turned around and shined his headlights through a broken window into his House of Body Art. Inside was a disaster, and it pained the Impala to see all his cans of stylish paint giving the floor and walls a new look. But what pained him even more was three of his friends were missing, along with innocent vehicles as well. "Are we, uh, done here?" Ramone asked quietly. The thought of leaving was the last thing he and the other townsfolk wanted to do. Not only was Radiator Springs their home, but leaving made them feel like they would miss something, specifically the small gleam of hope their friends would pop up unharmed.

"I'm sure that might be the only thing we can do now." Holley affirmed their leaving. "We've got one survivor, injured but alive, and the rest hopefully carnapped." It felt odd to wish someone to be stolen, but in comparison, a carnapping was certainly better than believing the victims dead.

"We've searched this place about three times now, both the town and all throughout this side of Carburetor County. Nothing and not another soul to be found." said Duchess.

"Alright," sighed Holley. "let's go." The group of twelve turned to go, but something was wrong… Wait, twelve?

"Hang on a minute, didn't we arrive and there were twelve of us?" Nigel pointed out, alarmed. All eyes widened and looked at each other, realizing there stood only twelve vehicles. That number would have been okay, except they had just gained another so their group should have gotten one car bigger.

"Dodge Almighty, where is Sarge?!" Lightning exclaimed, throwing everyone into a hyper-concerned worry.

"I thought he went up with you all to scout out Tailfin one last time?" Sheriff kept his voice down, but the edge of worry in it was adamant about being heard.

"He did! I was with him the whole time, but we wandered off into the woods deeper than anyone else, and I lost sight of him." Lightning paused to breathe, and the others looked like they were going to start yelling at him. "But I came back out into a clearing and he pulled out on the other side!" the racer quickly finished before getting anyone's wrath. Everyone looked confused.

"So where is he, then? Didn't you come back down with Sarge after you both came into the clearing?" Silver asked, feeling like she knew what happened to the Jeep.

"I was going to, but he told me to go back down ahead." Lightning paused to remember. "Sarge said he was going to do a last quick scan of the area we were at, and said it was alright for me to head on down and join you guys. And that's the last I saw him."

"Does that mean he's still up there?" Luigi asked to no one in particular, looking to where everyone else's gaze was going: Tailfin Pass.

"He might be." Raoul pulled forward as if he wanted to trail up there and see. The others did as well, all but one.

"I wouldn't bank on it." Holley's voice stopped them.

"Why not?" asked Todd, surprised Holley didn't want to search.

"I think I may know. Lightning, what did Sarge look like when he told you to go back down?" The question seemed out of nowhere at first.

"Uh, like he always does?"

"I think I know what happened to him too." Silver put in, Holley nodding. "Light, specifically what did Sarge's eyes look like?"

Lightning looked up to the sky, which was still bright but now beginning to turn orange as the sun started its descent. "Well, he looked at me like he always does, not stern or mad or happy, just neutral. His facial expression wasn't any different. But his eyes?" He wasn't very close to Sarge, but he could still see the veteran's eyes clearly at the distance they were. While Sarge's face held no expression different from any that he's ever done, there was something off about his eyes, and only now Lightning was realizing it. Those brown eyes of his…they almost looked red, or at least had red in them. "You know what? I thought it might have been the shadows from the trees, but Sarge's eyes looked kinda…red." Lightning finally said. "I will say it uh, reminded me of Finn's eyes after he, left us."

The speculations of Holley and Silver were true. Now everyone was more afraid now than when they had arrived.

"Okay, let's get out of here. Now!" Holley urged everyone to get moving, in which they did. "We CANNOT lose anyone else to him!"

Taking no time, the group found a small trailer in which they put Mia on, fastening her to it. There was no way she could keep up with the others on her own, and the trailer was attached to Lightning as he could pull it the fastest. Nobody bothered to be sneaky and stay out of sight; they all barreled down Route 66 and did not stop until they reached the airport. Neither Siddeley or the other jet bothered asking when the slightly frenzied, definitely worried spies came zooming up with a Miata on a trailer. Yet when they noticed Sarge was missing, their silent questions were answered. They wasted no time loading up and taking off, remembering to drop Todd Marcus off at his home. He promised to remember his training and everything, keeping in touch in case he was needed again. Everyone wished him luck in protecting his family and keeping his secret safe from them, and the jets were off again. While the others talked and chatted up a storm about what just happened and what might happen next, only one remained quiet. Even though this was only one spy they lost and it was still early in the mission, Holley couldn't shake a very persistent sinking feeling…

Sarge now belonged to Mystery. And he certainly would not be the last.

...

They watched the group zoom out of town from far above, way out of sight.

"Look at them run just because I took another one of theirs. Just as the like ends of magnets, they are repelled." Mystery scoffed. "Pathétique."

"I don't think I could agree more, sir." the Willy's Jeep next to him nodded. Mystery chuckled darkly, glancing at the book Control.

"Indeed, though they certainly will be in my way. Too bad for them, I'll need more.~" he taunted, looking back at the runaway spies. The unseen vehicle's voice was incredibly smooth, a weapon by itself it certainly was. He turned and looked at his new addition. "Tell me, Sarge. Who shall be next? You obviously know them better than I."

Sarge looked at Mystery, his now red and brown eyes gleaming with new a sinister life. "Oh, it doesn't matter to me who is next. After training, they became worthy secret agents. Heh, we all did actually, and I was very impressed by their progress. They are all perfect for taking." he assured.

"Really? Well, this will be even more fun than I thought!" Mystery laughed with a dark glee. "But now, we must go. Come, Sarge. I must be getting back to my followers before Finn kills them all. I left him in charge and he's a very dangerous vehicle now, one that is easily pissed off. Tyler Gremlin can tell you all about that." he laughed. "Though I'm certain Finn won't harm you. He will treat you with respect, since I know you two knew each other before this."

"Good." Sarge's voice suddenly sounded much more sinister than it had moments ago, and he wasn't even trying. "I only take respect, and…my voice…what happened to it?"

"That tends to happen when you become one of us. Your voice can gain a dark undertone that still sounds like you, but more…minacious." Mystery explained, grinning. "Do you like it?"

Sarge returned the grin. "I'm eager to see what else will change about me."

"That's what I want to hear." Mystery led Sarge into his small private jet. Everybody else was ordered to leave after unleashing havoc and carnapping civilians, leaving only those two behind. Just before they boarded, Mystery still had one more question he was curious to know. "Now before we take off, how do you feel about your new purpose? Being one of us now, I mean."

It didn't take more than a second for Sarge to answer. "Something I haven't felt in a long time, Mystery."

"And what is that?"

Sarge turned his body towards the setting sun, closed his eyes, and breathed out a single word.

"Free."

I'm going to be honest when I say the ending of this chapter bothers me a little, just because Sarge is a WW2 veteran and he gave himself up to the enemy and now he feels free, but this is a dark story and that part had to happen. Oh well, it's just a fanfiction XD

Looks like Sarge won't be contacting any military anytime soon...

And where to go with this next I have no idea. But I am having ideas XD

And yes I ship Nigel and Silver. fite me.

And once again, this story has come to a halt until next time. *in Francesco's voice* Goodbyyyyyye!