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“Bumper to bumper as they approach the finish line!”
Lightning speeds up more and more. He was the first to cross the finish line, Francesco crossing it seconds later. He came in second place.
Lightning and Francesco skid to a full stop, with the cherry red Corvette sticking his tongue out proudly as he basked in the glory of his victory.
“McQueen’s the winner! Francesco’s second! And they have no idea what happened behind them!”
“YEAH!” Lightning cheers loudly, smirking at Francesco, who brings a tire down on the track angrily. He was clearly more than unhappy that he lost a race, especially on his home track.
“Ugh! This is impossible!”
“That’s what I’m talking about!” Lightning shines his left headlight at Francesco. “Ka-chow!” The Formula 1 race car winces at the bright light, and glares at his friend in slight annoyance.
Suddenly, five ambulances zoom past them, blaring their sirens loudly. They were going in the opposite direction the race cars went. They were confused. Why were there ambulances?
“Wh-What happened?" Lightning manages to stutter out. He looks around for their fellow competitors. Where were they? "Where are all the other cars?”
“What is going on?” Francesco asks himself, clearly wondering the same thing. The others were behind them, right? What's taking them so long?
The cars on the bleachers were looking at the big, fat screen that had been livestreaming the entire race. They look mortified. That raised both of their confusion, so they decided to take a look for themselves.
That was when they saw it. It made them both freeze in their spots.
There was smoke billowing out of Shu Todoroki's engine, creating a black cloud of smoke. The other racers - Miguel Camino, Max Schnell, Rip Cluthgoneski, and Raoul Caroule - looked like they were all crammed together on the narrow track like sardines in a can.
They had crashed, and it was clear it was due to Shu's engine having been blown from the Allinol. He must have not been able to stop in time, because the four other racers were hurt. Behind them were Lewis Hamilton and Jeff Gorvette, who were both thankfully unharmed. The ambulances were quick to rush onto the scene, with tow trucks carefully loading them into the ambulances to be escorted and treated at the nearest hospital.
Lightning couldn't tear his eyes from the screen, as the pileup continued to be reported on live footage for RSN. Something like that shouldn't have happened. First Tokyo, now here. This was too big of a coincidence now.
"McQueen!" Francesco's voice shouts at him loudly. The race car had been trying to get his attention multiple times, and it seemed that last call of his name seemed to make Lightning snap out of it. He turns his attention to Francesco, whose eyes were welling up with tears.
"I'm scared. What are we going to do?"
Before he could answer that question for himself, the Italian just kept on going. Fear was evident on his hood and in his eyes. His chassis was trembling violently. "Dio mio...are we going to die?! We have Allinol in our tanks right now! Are our engines going to explode?! Or is something worse going to happen?!"
"Francesco, please. Calm down." Lightning tells him.
"Calm down?! How can I calm down when something like this happened?! We were so busy competing against each other that we were too blind to notice what happened behind us!" Francesco chokes out a sob. "We shouldn't have participated in this! Now our friends are paying the price of Axelrod's actions and his stupid economically - friendly fuel!"
It sounded like he was angry now. Upset, even. It was natural for him to feel like this, considering what just happened to their friends. Now Francesco was regretting entering the World Grand Prix, because he was afraid the same thing might happen to him or Lightning.
"I thought by doing this, I'd be helping the world through encouraging them to use alternative fuel in this competition. It's friendly for the environment, anyway. And I love racing, who doesn't? But my stupid pride got in the way when you entered the competition, and look where it got me. I'm caught up in a scandal, and I'm scared of what's going to happen to me now if I continue using Allinol. Fanculo, I don't know why this was such a good idea. I'm such an idiot."
Lightning was taken aback by the self - deprecation in Francesco's words.
Francesco wasn't an idiot, he was one of the most charming and most kindest guys when he put his ego aside. He knew this, because he saw the Italian take the time out of his night to stay with Rip in the hospital, so the New Rearendian wouldn't be alone. He comforted Shu when he was discouraged after getting fourth place in Tokyo. And judging from the words of his crew chief Giuseppe Motorosi, Francesco was a fast learner during training sessions.
He was far from an idiot. He was just doing what he thought was right, and he just wanted a little competition. He couldn't blame him. It wasn't his fault this happened.
Before Francesco could say anything more, he felt the presence of someone nuzzling against his right side, and it was more than enough to snap him out of his spiral. He didn't hesitate to lean into the touch, and he closes his eyes. He takes a few deep breathes, in and out, until they were both calm.
"Everything is going to be okay, Francesco." Lightning reassures him.
"Mi dispiace, McQueen. I'm just worried about the fuel and our friends." Francesco apologizes.
"It's okay. So am I. But, we'll figure this out together, yeah?"
He gives a nod of his hood. "Okay, yeah. We'll figure this out. Together." The Italian smiles and nuzzles against Lightning again. His engine purrs. "Grazie, McQueen. I needed that."
Lightning didn't hesitate to return the nuzzling. His engine gives a soft purr of its own. "You're welcome, Francesco. Whatever you need, I'll be there. Always."