Okay, quick note. Everyone in the story is humanized and slightly younger than they are in the movie. Lightning is about 16, while Sally and Mater are about 17. Luigi, Guido, and Red are in their mid-twenties while Flo and Ramone are in their late twenties. Sheriff is in his late thirties, and Doc is about 40.

By this point, Lightning knew that people expected a lot from him because of the outcome from his last race.

He knew that many of his fans expected him to win the most, if not all, races next season. Other racers knew he was a threat. Other companies wanted him to race for them.

In the past two weeks, Radiator Springs had been swarmed with several tourists, fans, and paparazzi wanting to meet Lightning McQueen and his crew chief, the Fabulous Hudson Hornet. The town was growing and coming back to life.

The day was surprisingly calm. Visitors had slowed down to a smooth lull, allowing the town's residents to catch a quick break. Since it was a slow day, a majority of the townsfolk decided to take a break at Flo's, catching up with one another.

Lightning, Mater, and Sally had taken a spot in front of Flo's cafe. There was a small pile of letters and envelopes on their table. All of them were for Lightning. They were from his fans, praising him for having such good sportsmanship or thanking him for being so inspirational and being a good role model.

"Wow, guys, look at this drawing this person sent." Lightning passed the drawing around.

"They've got your smile down pretty good Stickers." Sally commented.

"They've even added your catch phrase too!" Mater excitedly added, "Ka-chow!"

Lightning joined in, flashing his signature smile, "Ka-chow!"

Sally let out a short laugh and asked, "How did you even come up with that Stickers?"

Lightning thought for a minute, "Um, well, when I was younger, I sneezed and banged my toe against a table at the same time and went 'kahhch-ow!'. I thought it sounded really cool so it kinda stuck."

The other two teens starting laughing.

"Hey!" Lightning said, quickly trying to defend himself, "I was 12! You can't really blame me for that!"

""Yeah, but you're 16 and you're still saying it so…!" Sally stated through her laughter.

Lightning bit his lip, and turned his now red face to the side, looking off into the distance. He tried to ignore the other two laughing at him by focusing on his surroundings. There wasn't much going on, but something that caught his eyes was a car rolling in the town.

The car was a shiny, black Ford Mustang. It was obviously a new model, which in itself, was pretty intriguing. All the new fancy cars had appeared in the town the week after Lightning's race, but eventually stopped coming. Seeing this kind of car now caught a lot of the town's residents attention.

The car parked in front of Flo's, and when the door opened, a big, strong, man stepped out of the car. And whatever feeling Lightning had been feeling earlier, happiness or embarrassment, had been replaced with an emptiness; a numbness which he hate, hate, hated feeling. He swiftly turned his head back towards his friends, and hoped that the man that had stepped out of that black car was not who he thought he was or would get back into his car and leave.

Instead, the man walked towards one of the free tables, one far away from where Lightning sitting thankfully, and sat down. Flo, who was serving other customers, peeked over at the guy. At first glance, the man seemed to be giving off an powerful, imitating, confident aura. He wore a brown leather jacket with ripped jeans, and had his long hair tied back in a low ponytail. But, as she made her way towards him, she noticed that he also seemed kind of nervous. And yet, there was something off about that too.

"Hello, welcome to Flo's V8 cafe! What can I get you?" She gave him her waitress smile while trying to figure out who this guy was.

"A black coffee with two shots of espresso." He shot her with a lopsided grin.

"Would that be all?"

The man let loose a somewhat nervous-sounding chuckle, "Actually, would you happen to where Lightning McQueen is? I'd like to say hello to him, Haven't seen the kid in a while."

One of Flo's eyebrows raised. "You know him?"

"I'm his dad."

"O-oh!" Flo took a step back in shock, "You're his dad? Well, it's a pleasure meeting you then."

"Mmm, thanks," the man replied, "it's a pleasure to meet you too miss…?"

"Ah, Flo. Your son's actually just over there." Flo gestured over to the table where Lightning sat, back facing them.

The man nodded and slowly got up.

"Wait, before you go, mind if I ask you for your name?"

"Oh! Sorry, how rude of me! I'm Axton. Axton McQueen." Axton gave her a small smile. "Thanks for your help."

"No problem." Flo returned his smile before walking back towards the cafe, keeping an eye on the McQueen duo.