"It was SALLY CARRERA!" Ripslinger shouted as he circled like a vulture three hundred feet above the ground. "She's the true thief!"

The sea of vehicles gathered in the town square of Radiator Springs gazed up at him. Many were shocked by the revelation, while others—notably the other citizens of the cutest little town in Carburetor County—were confused. Their Sally had done this? The Sally that they had come to know and love over the years? The Sally that gave them hope that their town would be revitalized during its dismal days? How could that be?

"Oh, my stars!" exclaimed Tex Dinoco.

"How did that even happen?" Natalie Certain demanded.

"She had motive!" Ripslinger continued. "She had the opportunity! She had—"

"Get down from there, Ripstinker," Dusty Crophopper yelled, "before I come up there myself!" Before Ripslinger could fire a retort at his racing rival, Li'l Dipper exclaimed, "My love, he speaks!"

Not really knowing or caring what she meant, the Prince of Propellers maneuvered himself to land just in front of the Radiator Springs Courthouse. "Here is your proof, Radiator Springs," he declared, shifting a photograph to the edge of his wing. He gave it to the nearest car, who studied it for a moment before passing it on to the next vehicle. Over a matter of minutes, everyone present got to see the image: security footage of Sally Carrera stealing all the memorabilia from the Hudson Hornet Racing Museum. Ripslinger smiled grimly as he heard voices, clamoring over the picture and the revelation that had been born from it. If Finn McMissile never obtained the footage where the picture had come from, things would not have ended well.

The Green Tornado even got to see the reactions of the Radiator Springs townsfolk as each of them studied the picture before passing it on hastily, horror, confusion, and betrayal in their eyes. For them, it meant that the one that they viewed as their shining beacon, their voice of reason, a surrogate family member, had been nothing more than a manipulative criminal hell-bent on sending an innocent car to prison. Even if that car had acted like a jerk beforehand.

For Lightning McQueen, it meant that the love of his life had duped him into thinking that that jerk of a car had been romancing him for his own selfish purposes. That she had acted out of jealousy towards their developing relationship rather than out of concern for his safety.

Speaking of which, Sally was still there, looking terrified that the truth had been discovered. Determined to keep things the way they were, the attorney-turned-felon had lost her sense of morality and compassion for others and had crossed a line with her reprehensible actions. Any chance of redeeming herself was nigh impossible. When her eyes met the anguished gaze of her Stickers, she wanted to make one last-ditch effort to put herself back in his good graces.

"You're still my hero, Stickers," she said. "I still love you!"

"You betrayed me!" Lightning shouted at her. "How could you have sunk so low?" He could feel his love for her slowly dying.

"But I did it for you!" she pleaded. "Please, Stickers! I'm so sorry." As she spoke, she could hear cries of "Traitor!" and "Monster!" rise up from the crowd. Many of the shouts were coming from her dear Radiator Springs family. Flo, Ramone, and Sheriff glared daggers at her. Guido and Luigi both cursed her in their native tongue. Even Mater was furious, and he was never the type that got angry so easily.

As for the plane that had just destroyed Sally's reputation, he took back to the skies, flying high above the chaotic scene. Though he was thrilled with everything he'd managed to accomplish, he knew he had to keep a level head. Solving this mystery was one thing, but there was still more than needed to be done.

"We'll finish this in Florida, won't we, boss?" Ned asked as he came alongside him.

"Yeah, at the Florida 500?" added Zed, coming up on the other side of him.

"You bet," Ripslinger replied, "for I am still the greatest air racer in the world, and nothing can stop me!"

As for everyone else who had been summoned to this small town, they knew that this meant one thing: the disgraced WATG racer had solved one of the greatest mysteries of all time. The picture had now become a symbol of how everything wasn't always black and white. That even the kindest people held secret sinister motives. And that sometimes, your worst enemy could one day come out a hero.

With the mystery solved, only one thing became clear: nothing would ever be the same again.

There are so many questions that can be asked here, but the most important one would be "How the H-E-double L did this happen?" Of course there's an answer to that question, but in order to find it, everyone will have to go back many months ago, when a certain P-51 Mustang crash-landed into the small town of Radiator Springs. That's where it all began...

So, I'm sure some of you thought this looked familiar. This was the "Leyenar Oh's Cars N' Planes" story written by The Other Jet Engine. She deleted it days ago, but after chatting via PM, she gave me permission to take it under my wing and give it new life. I am hoping to try and follow the original plot line of the fic, but I will add in more depth and detail to it. I will also change up a few things to make it a little more realistic. For example, in the original fic, only one picture got stolen from the Hudson Hornet Racing Museum. Here, the ENTIRE MUSEUM got robbed.

She also gave me permission to use some of her OCs, but I hope to throw in a couple of OCs of my own.

The prologue is based on the preview that was on her profile page; I fleshed it out more since I felt that was where the story was heading.