I'm so glad I've finished with part four. I didn't particularly enjoy it. I mean, I guess it was all right. It was just that I've written this all before and I didn't really have any ideas on how to make this different from When Life Gives You Lemons. At least part five, well, I wouldn't exactly call it original, but at least it was something I hadn't written before.

Chapter 9- Sir Mater and Lady Fudge

I had a broken leg. Plus, I had to have stitches where the bullet had grazed my face. Luckily, that was it. I knew after all we'd been through that day, things could've been a lot worse.

Still, that didn't mean I was happy about being stuck in hospital for a couple of days (at least I got a plaster cast, which I thought was pretty cool; I'd always wanted to wear one!). My family all came by to see me. So did Finn, Holley and Sammy. The three of them seemed just as concerned about me as everyone else. And just as proud.

"It took a lot of courage to expose Axlerod like that", Finn told me at one point. "You are by far the most courageous eleven-year-old I've ever met."

"Well, I... I don't feel very courageous", I muttered.

Finn scrunched up his face in confusion. "Why not?"

"I'd never been more scared in my entire life!" I explained.

There was a moment of silence.

"Fudge", Finn began finally. "You're confusing being brave and being fearless. They're very different things. You were scared and you still did the right thing. That's what bravery is."

I couldn't help smiling. "Really?"

Finn nodded seriously. "Absolutely."

When the others left my hospital room for the night, Sammy stayed for a few extra minutes to tell me the same thing.

"What you and Mater did today... That was... That was really brave. The two of you really impressed me. And I'm sorry I doubted you. I could see it in your eyes. I hurt your feelings when I called you a dumb kid." She sighed. "I was just trying to protect you. I couldn't be responsible for another death."

"Oh, yeah", I recalled. "Rod."

"Not just Rod!" she informed me. "I... I killed my babies!"

I wasn't expecting her to say that. "What?"

"Two boys. Jamie was three and Cody was eight months. One night, I put them in the bath and I heard the phone ring. I left to answer it, but when I got back..."

I didn't know what to say. I felt so sorry for Sammy and couldn't believe that happened to her. It was also the first time I'd seen her appear vulnerable.

"When I became a spy, I was determined to get everything right!" Sammy went on. "I just couldn't lead another person to their death. There was nothing I could do to save Rod. So, when you and Mater got caught up in this whole thing, I knew, I knew, I absolutely had to protect you both at all costs. Which meant I said some things I didn't mean. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm okay. Really", I insisted.

Sammy smiled. "You're okay, Fudgsicle."

"What did you call me?"

"Fudgsicle", she repeated.

"Nobody ever calls me Fudgsicle", I commented.

"Are you serious?" Sammy asked me in surprise. "I figured with your name being Fudge..." She trailed off.

I shook my head. "Normally, it's Fudge, Fudgie or Fudge-O. Fudgsicle", I repeated to myself softly. "I like that."

Sammy laughed. I giggled. From when she'd saved me in that warehouse, I knew I could trust her. However, that was when I first thought of her as a friend.

"And you're okay too..." I trailed off, trying to come up with a funny name to call her. Finally, when I couldn't think of anything, I groaned in frustration. "Your name's not funny!"

Sammy burst out laughing again. So did I.

It appeared that my family and the spies weren't the only ones who were impressed with what Mater and I had done. For one thing, we were all over the news. That was very exciting, but it got even better! A few days later, when I was out of hospital, we were invited to the Buckingham Palace to be knighted by the Queen of England herself.

"You should be very proud of yourselves", Finn insisted that morning.

"Are you excited?" Sammy quizzed me as Luigi was getting me up and was about to lead me into the bathroom to wash my hair.

"Yeah, but mostly nervous", I admitted.

"Fudge, we've been over this", Finn reminded me gently. "You just do what we tell you and you'll be fine." Finn, who had been knighted himself and had witnessed many other knighting ceremonies, had explained the process to me.

I nodded. "I know."

That didn't stop me from being even more nervous when we arrived at Buckingham Palace. I wished my heart could just stay at a normal rate. It hadn't for this entire trip. Still, I couldn't help but smile when I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflection. Even I had to admit, I looked pretty good. I was wearing a silk dress, the most beautiful shade of bright blue, one white lace sock and shiny party shoe and I had a white rose pinned to one side of my head. The only thing that ruined it was the cast covered in drawings and the signatures of my friends and family. When Mater and Lightning saw me (everyone else had already gone inside), they looked like they couldn't believe their eyes.

"Fudge! Ya look like a princess!" Mater exclaimed.

"Wow! You look beautiful!" Lightning declared.

"Thanks!"

We had to wait a little while before entering the room where the ceremony would be taking place. I don't know why, but we did. At least Mater knew how to keep me entertained. He was trying so hard to make the guards laugh with the most ridiculous faces he could make. I laughed, but the guard didn't. It was quite impressive, how they were able to ignore something like that.

"Mater, let's go!" Lightning instructed with a laugh after a while. "You're on!"

This was it. I rose to my feet- well, my foot- and got ready to follow Mater, Lightning, Luigi and Guido.

"Let's do this!" I announced, filled with nerves and excitement.

My eyes widened at the size and the elegance of the room. I'd never seen anything like it in my life. I hobbled on my crutches behind Lightning and Mater and beside my fathers. I felt comforted knowing they were there. I felt even more comforted when I saw my family all at the front of hundreds of cars and humans, who had come to see Mater and me be knighted. There were my family from Radiator Springs, Finn, Holley and Sammy. (Sammy was wearing a red dress; it was weird to see her not wearing black.)

"Your Majesty!" the car at the front of the room began extremely formally. "May I present to you for the investiture of the honourary knighthood of the British Realm, Tow Mater and Brittney Rossi-Topolino of Radiator Springs!"

I remember thinking that this guy made our names and Radiator Springs sound fancy!

Lightning started to join the others. "Go get 'em, guys!"

Luigi and Guido had to go too, but they kissed me and told me they loved me in both English and Italian. I didn't want them to leave me, but when I saw Mater on my other side, I knew I was gonna be okay. I wasn't alone. Remembering what Finn told me, I bowed respectfully to the British monarch.

I lifted my head up curiously to see what the Queen was doing. She raised her antenna to tap it on each of Mater's fenders and each of my shoulders in turn.

"I hereby dub thee Sir Tow Mater and Lady Brittney Rossi-Topolino!" she declared, sending the entire room into cheers while the humans clapped.

I broke out into a huge smile, so excited that I struggled to form words. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Sir?" Mater repeated in surprise. "Shoot! You can just call me Mater, Your Majesty. I don't wanna hear none of this sir business!"

"And I'm just Fudge!" I insisted. I'll admit, being knighted and given the honour of being called Lady Fudge was awesome! No doubt about it! It just didn't seem to fit me.

"Not anymore, you're not", Finn spoke up from behind me as he and Lightning joined us. "I don't think you'll ever be 'Just Fudge' ever again."

"He's right", Sammy agreed as she, too, came over. "You two are Sir Mater and Lady Fudge from now until the end of time!"

I laughed. That was probably what Miles Axlerod had thought. Unfortunately for him, he'd been stripped of his honourary knighthood after this incident. Kind of funny, how he lost it and Mater and I gained it.

The rest of the trip was quite enjoyable. After having tea at Buckingham Palace, Finn took us all out for dinner at his favourite restaurant in London and the rest of our time in British capital was spent sightseeing. It was while we were sightseeing that I realised London was a fantastic place when you weren't being chased by Lemons.

"Big Bentley's pretty cool when you're not trapped inside!" Sammy commented with a laugh as if she could read my mind.

"Trapped inside Big Bentley?" Sarge repeated, puzzled.

"Yeah, we got trapped inside Big Bentley", I muttered.

Sheriff shook his hood in disbelief. "What did those Lemons do to you?"

"You really wanna know?" I asked.

"Not really."

After a couple of days, it was time to head home. I couldn't wait to get home, but it was hard to say goodbye to Finn, Holley and Sammy. They were going to stay in London and were to become a permanent team of agents since each of them had found themselves without a partner. Plus, they seemed to work well together.

"Fudge, we may not have gotten off on the right foot, but even so, I am glad to have met you", were Sammy's parting words for me.

"Thanks... I'm glad to have met you too."

"Now, you take care of yourself, all right?" Finn told me. "We wish you all the very best of luck."

As we headed off to board the plane, I thought about a lot of things. First Of all, everything that had happened on that trip. Despite everything, it had been fun. Plus, I had a bit more confidence (like Finn said, I wasn't fearless, but I was brave).

Looking back at the three spies, I was quite convinced that I was never going to see them again.

Thankfully, I was wrong.

For the most part, life went back to normal after that. There were some minor changes like how I had nightmares about the whole ordeal, how I was still on crutches and the fact that my family had created a new sign to the entrance of Radiator Springs. This sign read, WELCOME TO RADIATOR SPRINGS HOME OF LIGHTNING MCQUEEN, SIR TOW MATER AND LADY FUDGE ROSSI-TOPOLINO. Ramone had even painted pictures of Mater and me to accompany Lightning's on there.

The other change was Mater. He was going around telling anybody and everybody the whole story. I highly doubted that anybody believed the story. I mean, the original story was unbelievable enough, but Mater has a habit of exaggerating. (I've tried to write this as accurately as I can remember; Mater's version would probably have UFOs in it!)

We made some great friends during the World Grand Prix; Lightning was no exception. He invited his fellow racers to Radiator Springs for an unofficial race since the race in London was never finished. On the day they were due to arrive, there were many tourists in town, which gave Mater a big audience for his latest retelling of our spy adventure.

"So, there we was!" Mater had all the makings of a great storyteller; he had so many people intrigued. "My rocket jets goin' full blast! McQueen, hangin' on for dear life when suddenly, them two nasty Lemons come out of nowhere, guns drawed! We was goners! But then! Out of nowhere, Fudge here on her hover board-"

"Hi." I raised my hand.

"-and this beautiful spy car swoop in from the sky to save us!" Mater concluded.

"That's a very entertaining story, young man!" a lavender minivan in the crowd commented.

"Oh, Minny, please!" her husband- a dark green minivan scoffed. "Come on! None of this happened! Rocket jets, hover boards, flying spy cars-"

"No, you're quite right!" a familiar voice called and I was amazed to see Holley land in the middle of Main Street. "It does sound a bit far-fetched!"

"Mater, are you telling crazy stories again?!" Sammy laughed, landing her hover board. "I've heard you have quite the habit of doing that!"

Aside from the hover board, you wouldn't have been able to tell Agent Sammy from any of the other tourists. She wore sunglasses, a white tank top, denim shorts and flip-flops. I noticed that she had several tattoos across her arms that I'd never seen before.

"Yeah, well, I tend to cover them with makeup during missions", she'd explained to me.

One of her tattoos was her kids' names: Jamie and Cody.

"Holley!" Mater exclaimed. "What are you doin' here?!"

"Hello, Mater!" she greeted him. "It's so good to see you again!"

"Hi, Holley! Hi, Sammy!" I was grinning from ear to ear. I never thought I'd see them again, but here they were in Radiator Springs!

"Fudge! How are you?!" Holley wanted to know.

"A lot better!" I answered, trying to stand up and grab my crutches.

"Hey, Fudge! Why don't I come to you?" Sammy suggested with a laugh. She approached me and gave me a hug. "Wow! I really missed you! You doing okay?!"

"I'm fine!" I assured her.

"What?" a new voice piped up, pretending to sound hurt. "No hello for me?"

"Finn!" Mater and I cried in unison.

"Hi, Finn!" I hobbled over to him and we hugged.

"What are you guys doing here?!" I wondered.

"Well, we heard about the Radiator Springs Grand Prix, of course!" Sammy replied.

"Our satellites picked up an urgent communique", Finn added.

"Ah! So, you got my email!" Luigi realised.

"So, this is Radiator Springs", Sammy commented, looking around. "It's nice."

"Oh, man!" Mater exclaimed. "Y'all is gonna have a great time!" He addressed the crowd. "Everybody! This here is Finn McMissile and Sammy Rose! They is secret agents! Don't tell nobody!"

"I think, I think, our cover's just been blown!" I heard Sammy whisper to Finn. Both of them were laughing.

"This is Holley Shiftwell!" Mater went on. "She's-"

"I'm Mater's girlfriend!" she interjected. "It's so nice to meet you all!"

I think everyone's eyes widened and jaws dropped, mine included. However, it didn't long for my dropped jaw to transform into a smile. We were all astonished, but nobody had a harder time hiding it than Guido.

"Guido believe you now!" Luigi announced.

"Whoa! Honey! You got a nasty dent there!" Flo noticed.

"Was that from when you swooped in and saved them in London?" Van questioned.

"Van!" Minny admonished him.

"What?!" he protested. "I'm just asking!"

"Don't you worry, sweet pea! My baby, Ramone, can get that fixed up for you in no time!"

"No, no, no!" Holley declined. "I'm keeping that dent. It's way too valuable."

She and Mater smiled at each other.

"You know, there's one thing I still don't get", Lightning spoke up. "The bad guys hit me with the beam from the camera, right? So, why didn't I... You know?"

"Explode in a fiery inferno", Mater finished the sentence.

"Yeah."

"I'm just glad you didn't!" I declared, hugging him.

"Me too, but I still wanna know why it didn't happen."

"We couldn't figure that one out either", Finn informed him.

"Our investigation proved that Allinol was actually gasoline", Holley explained. "And Axlerod engineered it, so that when it got hit by the beam, it would explode."

Lightning thought of something else. "Wait a second, Fillmore. You said my fuel was safe."

We all stared at Fillmore, demanding an explanation.

"If you're implying that I switched out that rot-gut excuse for alternative fuel with my all-natural, sustainable organic biofuel just because I never trusted Axlerod, you're dead wrong, man", Fillmore explained. "It was him." He pointed to Sarge.

"Once big oil, always big oil..." Sarge looked around uneasily. "...man."

"Tree hugger", Fillmore teased him.

"Wished we'd known that", Sammy muttered. "Would've saved us a lot of worry."

"You know what I don't get?" I quizzed the others.

"What?" Luigi wanted to know.

"How did Axlerod turn that tracking device off?"

There was a moment of silence. Nobody knew the answer to that one.

"Well, we got the b***ard, thanks to Fudge and Mater, of course, and that's what counts", Sammy commented.

Mater and I beamed with pride.

It wasn't long before the Radiator Springs Grand Prix commenced.

"I would've taken you with me for this race, but I didn't think that would be the best idea", Lightning informed me ruefully, eyeing my cast. "Maybe when you're better. I just hope you're not gonna be bored."

I smiled. "I never get bored watching you race!" I assured him.

He returned the smile.

I certainly wasn't bored. I was in awe of the racers zipping around the track by Willy's Butte, sending dust fly. The only disappointment came when Siddeley showed up halfway through the race.

"Finn, Sammy, time to go!" Holley announced. "Siddeley's gassed, geared and ready to fly!"

"You're leavin' already?" Mater asked, disappointed.

"We've got another mission, Mater", Finn explained. "Just stopped by here to... pick something up."

Mater grinned. "Somethin' tells me you're not talkin' about souvenir bumper stickers!"

"Why, yes, Mater! How did you know?" Sammy joked.

"Her Majesty asked for you personally, Mater", Finn clarified. "We would've asked for you too, Fudge, but you're too young at the moment."

"But hey!" Sammy wrapped her arm around me. "Something to think about when you're older. CHROME could really use someone like you."

"Yeah, I'll think about that", I muttered, but my eyes were glued to the racers down on the track and I realised where I wanted to be. I just hoped my leg recovered soon. "I've never thought about being a spy", I commented honestly.

"Neither had I till I started", Sammy admitted. "There was this really complicated illegal activity going on at my college, which I won't bore you with the details of now, and I started investigating. And that's how I met Rod. Bad news was my investigating got me kicked out of college, good news was Rod was impressed with my skills and asked me if I was interested in becoming his partner. Of course, I accepted and I haven't looked back. That was three years ago." She looked to Mater. "There's no reason why that can't be you, Mater."

"But I told y'all before, I'm not a spy", Mater protested.

"We know." That was Holley.

"Spy or not, you're still the smartest, most honest chap we've ever met", Finn insisted.

"Don't forget massively charming", Holley added.

"And insanely brave and heroic", Sammy put in, slipping her arm around me.

"Well, thanks." Mater looked at me. "Whaddaya think, Fudge?"

I thought about that. "Well, I'd miss you if you did, but it is your decision." I did and didn't want him to go; I wanted him to be happy, but if leaving Radiator Springs would make him happy, then like I said, I'd miss him.

"I'd miss ya too." My brother smiled at me and I returned the gesture. He looked back at the trio of spies. "As much fun as it was hangin' with y'all, this..." He glanced at the other cars beside us, cheering like crazy for Lightning. "This is home."

"That's all right. We understand. But I'll be back", Holley promised. "You still owe me that first date."

"And if you ever change your mind, our offer still stands", Sammy added. She grinned. "It's been an honour working alongside you both."

Finn nodded. "That's right. And if there's ever anything I can do for you, either of you, just let me know.

"Thanks." I smiled. "I'll keep that in mind."

"I sure appreciate that, thank you", Mater echoed my gratitude. Then he broke out into a huge grin. "Actually, there is one thing..."

I knew that look. "Uh-oh!"

"D'ya think I could keep the rockets ya gave me?" Mater requested. "Those were so dad-gum awesome!"

Finn was taken aback, but he glanced at Holley.

"Well... I suppose..." she answered.

"Whee-hoo!" Mater cheered.

"But you gotta give 'em back if you crash into a wall!" Sammy informed him, cracking a smile.

"I won't crash into a wall!" Mater assured her.

(I'd wanted to keep the hover board and I requested it via radio after they left, but Sammy refused to hand it over until I was off my crutches. Oh, well. At least I had it to look forward to.)

"Well!" Sammy announced. "Now that's all taken care of, I guess we better get goin'!" She jerked her thumb towards Siddeley. "The world needs us again!"

Finn nodded. "Right."

"Good luck!" I told them. "Stay out of trouble!"

"You too!" Sammy came forward and gave me a hug.

Pretty soon, all five of us were enveloped in a group hug. After about a minute, we broke apart reluctantly.

"Bye!" we shouted back and forth, waving madly as the spies made their way over to the spy jet. "Goodbye!"

Mater and I watched as Siddeley took to the skies with our spy friends inside. I felt a pang of sadness, realising that I was really going to miss them, but I tried to ignore it.

"Well." I turned to Mater. "What are we gonna do now?"

The tow truck was quiet for a moment. "I don't know 'bout you", he answered finally, "but I got a race to join." He glanced back at the racers, who were blazing past Willy's Butte once again.

I giggled. "Sounds fun!"

I think Mater knew how jealous I was. "Hey! Once you is off yer crutches, we can have a race! Me with my rockets, you on yer hover board and Lightnin'!"

I grinned. "Yeah. I'd like that."

"Mater!" Sheriff shouted. "Just got a call on the radio! Otis needs a tow again!"

"I'm on it, Sheriff!" Mater assured him. "The fastest tow truck in Carburetor County is on his way!"

"You're not-"

Before Sheriff could finish his sentence, Mater activated his rockets and flew down the road, leaving the police car staring after him, flabbergasted.

The next time I saw Mater was under a minute later. He rocketed (pun definitely intended) past the entire pack of racers to catch up with Lightning. Side by side, the two of them raced towards the finish line. I laughed, watching them go.

Then I looked up. I'm not a hundred per cent sure, but I think I could still see Siddeley on the horizon. I smiled softly. I'd been through a lot the past couple of weeks. I'd had the biggest, craziest adventure of my life; made some incredible, albeit unusual new friends and realised that I was a hell of a lot braver and stronger than I thought I was. Despite everything, it had been an amazing trip and an amazing experience, which I had loved. I was going to miss my spy friends too, but right now, there was only one place I wanted to be: home.

The End...

Of part four! Still plenty more on the way! Thanks for bearing with me through this highly unoriginal part of the story.

I kind of like the idea that Finn has been knighted. I mean, it makes sense. Now, I just hope Holley and Sammy can get knighted too!

Please review.