(I must apologies for the long delay for this chapter, I uploaded it on the 4th of April on AO3, but I forgot to upload it here. So I can only apologies. With that being said, hope you enjoy.)

"Ouch! Talk about a crash! Makes me miss my racing days." Chick winked at the camera. "Any other bit of news you got for us, Miss Certain?"

"Well, onto Piston Cup news. Everyone knows that after last week's race, Tank Coat's racer Reb Meeker was replaced with the new driver, Rich Nixon, and Dinoco's racer Cal Weathers retired, but sadly just this morning Rev-N-Go let their racer go and replaced him with a Next Gen driver, who has been revealed to be called Michael Rotor. He'll be starting dead last in this race on row 22." Her face turned serious. "That means only two of the Stock Car Gen remain and if I'm going to be honest with you Mister Hicks...if they don't get their act together, their racing days will probably end this race-"

The TV turned off and McQueen let out a sigh. Both Bobby and McQueen were still distraught about Cal's retirement last race.

"Hey uh...boss? The race is about to begin."

McQueen took a deep breath and got up from the couch, and walked over to the control panel on the wall beside the door. He turned off the lights and opened the trailer door. He smiled when he saw his girlfriend's face.

"How are you feeling?" Sally asked.

"I've been better." He shrugged.

"Listen," She wrapped her wrists around his neck. "you'll do great out there and whatever happens, there's always next year." McQueen chuckled as she lowered her voice, pretending to be McQueen. "Beside, even if you don't win, you're a winner to me." She then kissed his cheek. He huffed a laugh as she brought her head back.

"I don't deserve you."

"I know."

"Kid, let's go!" Sterling shouted.

"Meet you at victory lane?"

"Always."

McQueen exhaled loudly as he and Sterling walked past the pit garages. Everywhere he looked, from the toolboxes, to the trailers, to the racecars, to the drivers, it all seemed the way of the future was here and ever since his early rookie days, he couldn't help but feel out of place.

"Like I said, no one can beat me. I'm unstoppable," Storm laughed as he addressed the camera with Chase alongside him. "Sup?" He smirked as he watched McQueen walked away.

As they walked in front of a row of garages, McQueen blinked in confusion. In this row, was only him and Bobby. The other garages were closed.

"Quite a lot of those Next Gen drivers don't want to share a row with us, it's just the two of us…as usual..."

"What are you talking about?"

"It seems they all have an ego like Storm. None of them think we're capable enough." Bobby sighed loudly and let his shoulders fall. McQueen clenched his fists tightly, making them turn white.

"No, I'm not taking a back seat to those racers again."

"Was that a-"

"Ever since they arrived, they've brought bad luck to those who already drove on these circuits, replacing them, casting them aside...making fun of them...I've had it, if those Next Gens think we can't make it into the top three, guess we'll have to prove them."

Bobby raised an eyebrow and cocked his head. "Do you have a plan of attack or something?"

"We only need one plan." McQueen replied confidently. "Show them that we're not going to give up our positions without a fight. We need to work together on this, Bobby."

"What's the plan?"

McQueen smirked. "We'll meet up at lap twenty one. Stay beside each other, don't get too far ahead and wait up if we get separated."

Bobby nodded and the two went to their pits and came back out with his helmet on. Bobby placed a hand on McQueen's shoulder. "I'm here for you, bud."

McQueen smiled. "Good man."

The national anthem was finished, the pit crew had completed their checks and the pace car took the racers around the track, the crowd watching in anticipation for the green flag. Lightning glanced around the pack, eyeing all the replacements unhappily before looking back to the end. Bobby was on the row behind him but he wasn't looking at Bobby, he was actually looking at the last row. Michael Rotor was alongside the Next Gen Carbon Cyber racer, Jim Revelic, behind SynerG Next Gen driver, Spikey Fillups and Lil' Torquey Pistons Next Gen driver, Eric Braker.

"Hey champ." McQueen zoned back in and looked at Storm. "Where'd all your friends go?"

Daniel chuckled with Storm as Lightning watched Storm driving up to the front of the pack, ahead of Ryan Laney and Tim Threadless. The green flag waved and McQueen reacted quickly as he rolled over the line. They raced towards the first corner and Daniel moved to the inside. He and McQueen squared up to each other, before McQueen darted through the gap between Chase and Chris.

The laps went by as the sun started to set. Bobby and McQueen met up on lap six but after a few pit-stops, they found it hard to keep up with each other, especially Bobby who was down thirteen places after lap one hundred and twenty five. Despite this, they made their way through the pack in the fading sun, together. Then lap four hundred and sixty one came around…

"Thirty-nine left to go and race leader Jackson Storm is pulling into the pits with Lightning McQueen right on his bumper. It's up to the pit crews to determine who comes first and who comes last."

Jackson's team waited until he came to a complete stop but Guido began the spilt-second McQueen stopped. That was exactly what gave McQueen the edge but Jackson had six, meaning his edge might be taken off him.

"Come on Guido, faster. He could be done any second now." Storm's car dropped and was about to be raised up on the left. "Guido, hurry up!"

"Andiamo!" And with that, McQueen spun his wheels and drove out of his box and onto pit row.

"That might be the fastest I've ever seen him change all four." Darrell muttered in amazement. As soon as McQueen's rear tires were on the line, he put his foot hard down and shot onto the track. "And he's got the lead. Things might be looking up for number ninety-five."

"That's if he can hold it." Natalie replied cautiously. "Those Next Gens are catching up fast."

His car drove into turn one with the others. Lightning and Storm overtook Danny, heading through turn two. The wheels spun faster and faster, the exhaust shaking violently and the engine roaring like thunder. He was determined to win this time, no next-gen racer was going to stop him...but it wasn't the next-gens he should have been looking out for.

It was lucky for him that there were seven cars out on the track. As Lightning hit the halfway mark of turn two, his rear tires were soon fighting for traction as the rear end spun out all over the place. His eyes widened as he soon found himself having to turn left to stop himself going right for a few feet before skidding out of control towards the wall.

He slammed into the wall hard; the noise was deafening and echoing everywhere. His car went airborne and everything became silent. His car began twisting in the air, before the silence was broken as his car slammed into the ground. Sparks flew everywhere as it hit the ground three more times and slid along the ground, over the finish line. It gained momentum once more as it tumbled along the ground, gain height and speed through each tumble. Eventually, it slowed down and landed on all four wheels. The body work was completely smashed in, paint scratched and gas puddles along the track where the car had hit the ground.

The Emergency Services rushed to the scene, and quickly got to work freeing McQueen, who had one of his hands sticking out of his car through the open window. The crowds nearby walked down the steps and stood by the chain-link fence.

"Tried to tell him." Storm glanced at Ray. Ray just nodded in agreement. Bobby, who was still in the pits, was breathing hard and shaky as he watched the emergency team freeing his friend from the car. He looked at McQueen's pit and saw Flo and Ramone hugging Sally, whispering reassuring words in her ears. Guido and Mater were hugging each other, crying together.

"We have a heartbeat," one of the paramedics shouted. "We need to get him to the nearest hospital!"

They carefully loaded him into the ambulance and closed the doors. With a wail of sirens, it took off to the hospital.

The race continued and Bobby tried hard to carry on racing but without McQueen, it was hard. Eventually, Jackson Storm won the Piston Cup by the skin of his teeth. Danny took second overall, with McQueen taking third, and Bobby took fourth. Chase Racelott took fifth.

Bobby and Sterling were walking past some garages. "He got to the hospital safely, and the doctors told me he's in stable condition." Sterling then looked more seriously at Bobby. "Why is always the good ones suffer the most?"

"I guess that's just life," Bobby replied. Then he cursed under his breath. "I have to get going, the press wants to know if McQueen's alright…"

"Already? It's too early to know."

"After that crash, everyone wants some reassurance. The least I can do is give it to them. Take care of yourself, Bobby."

Bobby nodded at Sterling and he disappeared between two garages.

"Such a shame..." said a voice. Bobby turned and saw Jackson Storm leaning against a wall, smirking triumphantly. "He had so much promise, so much hope and it was crushed into the ground, like his career."

Bobby soon found himself surrounded. Chase walked up the alley he had just come down, stopping behind him. Daniel and Ryan walked up the sides, stopping on either side. Bubba then walked up the alley he had been going to head down and stopped in front of him. Storm smirked, walking out of the darkness and into the light. Bobby's eyes widened. "Hold on, that's the type of blue you would see on racing suit that Dinoco drivers would wear..." Bobby felt his heart skip a beat when Storm turned around and showed off the big "Dinoco 2.0" on his back.

"Tex Dinoco was kind enough to offer me the racing opportunity. I, not being a fool, accepted. Unlike that fool who gave it up...what was his name again?"

"Enjoy it while you can," Bobby snarled.

"Oh, and is anyone going to stop me? You can't catch me, even if I was on a treadmill, that Dinoco boy is long gone and McQueen...well, he just watched his career flash before his eyes, like it got buried." Bobby growled as Storm chuckled, with the other four following behind him. Bobby exhaled loudly before kicking a barrel beside him.

"Watched his career flash before his eyes…" Storm chuckled to himself as he arrived at his trailer. "Sometimes I even amaze myself."

"Yes," Bubba added flatly. "Very witty."

"Yes...I really am amazing, aren't I?" Storm opened the back door and walked in.

"We'll see you in Florida next year," Danny smiled.

"And I'll see you in Victory Lane." The door closed and the music blared over the engine of the truck as they headed for the exit. They watched the trailer disappear out of sight.

"Well, it was nice knowing you guys," Ryan suddenly said, sounding sad. "We'll see you around."

"Wait, what?"

"The two of us…" Bubba began, "have agreed that we don't want to be around Storm anymore. We just find him a...um…"

"A complete and utter jerk who we wish didn't exist," Danny snorted.

Bubba and Ryan looked closely at Danny. "That actually sounded like it came from the heart."

"That's because it did, we both hate him too."

The four friends just stared at each other. "If I'm completely honest, I never liked him. He could never beat ME, he could never catch ME! We're supposed to be his friends, he could at least include us in his insults."

"To be honest, I feel bad for McQueen. The guy just crashed, at least wait a while before you insult him."

"Can't imagine what his girlfriend is going through right now."

"Yeah...you know…" Bubba began, "...we're not exactly angels ourselves. I mean, we didn't stop Storm from insulting him as well as insulting Bobby too."

"And Cal," Ryan added. "Poor kid...but you know, there is one good thing about Storm. He did bring us together, I mean, we don't need him, we're great friends as it is." Bubba and Chase looked at each other with Ryan and Danny doing the same.

"So next season, what do you say we stay away from Storm and just hang out with each other. All in favour, say aye."

"Aye." Ryan and Danny agreed at the same time. Chase, on the other hand, had a different matter on his mind. Before the others could continue, Chase walked away.

"Chase?"

Bobby waved goodbye to Mack as he drove away, with McQueen's smashed up car in the back. Bobby sighed before turning away.

"Chin up pal." Bobby's truck driver smiled. "He'll get better."

"I really hope so." He replied as he walked up the ramp. The truck driver walked towards his truck, but as Bobby was about to lift up the trailer door...

"Yo, Swift!" He turned his head to see Chase walking briskly towards him.

"What do you want?" Bobby snarled, never taking his eyes off his switch. Chase swallowed hard as the door raised up.

"I'm sorry…" Bobby's glare was soon replaced with confusion. The door stopped and began to go back down. Bobby walked down the ramp and was face-to-face with Chase.

"You're what?"

He bit his tongue for a second. "I'm sorry for insulting you three. I know I can't take back what I said...and I feel a little guilty for McQueen's crash, but I was a big...big…"

"Jerk?"

"Worse," he muttered. "Look, my point is, I shouldn't have judged you two just because Storm did. To be honest, I was actually impressed."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you have twice the determination of any of us."

"Oh, thank you." Bobby gave him a smile. Chase tried to give him a small smile but to Bobby, it looked like he had never smiled before. "Well, thank you, Chase." He walked up the door and pressed the button to make it rise up. Bobby disappeared behind the trailer door and it drove off.

Chase turned around and was face to face with the other racers.

"Aye." He finally spoke, with a quick little nod. The other three racers smiled.