(Lightning's POV)

7:00 rolled around quickly, and I started making my drive back to the Cozy Cone office. The night was perfect. The sun was beginning to set and casted many colors of orange, red, yellow, and purples across the sky. The town was coming alive with customers going to the shops and making the journey up to Wheel Well in celebration of my victorious win.

I pulled into Sally's office to find her putting papers into a filing cabinet and switching off the motel sign. I waited patiently for her to close up shop, and, when she finally did, we drove to Wheel Well. We talked as we drove, mostly about what we've been doing over the past few weeks. When we finally arrived at Wheel Well and got a table, we stared, breathlessly, at the gorgeous scene across the horizon.

The desert sand and monuments stood proudly and the small town below left a soft glow. The sight of the Interstate, that bypassed Radiator Springs, stood in the distance and the sun was almost completely set. This made the night perfect.

I looked away from the beautiful scene and laid my eyes upon Sally. She looked over at me too and smiled. I returned the smile, but the moment was soon interrupted by our waitress.

"Hello! I'm Carstina and I'll be your waitress tonight. Can I start you two off with a couple drinks?" she asked politely, staring only at me and seeming to ignore Sally.

I've received this kind of reaction before. Girls would only pay attention to me and totally ignore the person I would be with, trying to get my number or whatever they desired. Before I came to Radiator Springs, I would have eaten this up, but I knew better now.

"Sure, I'll have my usual." I simply stated.

"I'll have that too." Sally said.

Carstina smiled and wrote our order on her notepad and drove away. I had to bite my tongue when I saw her jealous and disappointed expression when she failed to even get my autograph.

After we received our drinks and I paid for our dinner we decided to join in on the party taking place. Sally and I squeezed through many drunk cars and cars dancing and made our way to the bar. We ordered our drinks and casually leaned against the bar. We talked and laughed for what seemed forever. I was having the greatest night of my life until I saw a very familiar green stock car drive by.

Chick Hicks.

What was he doing here? I tried to push the thought out of my mind, but I found that entirely impossible. I needed to know why he was here, and, more importantly, what he wanted.

After a few more hours, Sally excused herself and left the party. I was upset she left so early, but I was all the more glad. I could finally go find Chick. I drove around the party for quite some time, before I spotted him exiting the men's room. I continued following him around the party until I finally found a chance to stop him.

"What are you doing here Thunder?" I asked, knowing he hated when I called him that.

He grumbled and turned to face me. "Nothing that concerns you McQueen!" he spat back.

I barely flinched. "Really? I think anytime you show your face in Radiator Springs concerns me, so why don't you go ahead and explain yourself." I said.

He finally sighed in defeat. "I came to have a little fun. Can't a competitor of the Piston Cup just come and have a little fun?"

I knew he was lying the moment he spoke. Whenever Chick came to town it was always for a "little fun". By "little fun", I meant trouble. I shook off the thought and smiled. "Nah Chick. Anyone can come and have some fun. I wouldn't stop anyone from doing that." I replied and turned away before he could say anything else.

I hated talking to him. Even when he was actually giving a reasonable reply, I couldn't help but cringe in disgust. I continued driving while thinking about our short conversation when i accidentally bumped into someone. I instantly reversed and started apologizing. Then I realized, I had run into Mater.

"Oh...hey Mater. Sorry about that buddy, I guess I wasn't paying attention."

Mater only smiled, "That's alright bud, don't think nothin' of it. Hey, what was you doin' talkin' to Chick over der?"

"Oh, nothing of any importance. Just wondering why he's here. I have a feeling he's up to no good, though." I replied.

Mater nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean. I've been wonderin' the same thang."

We stood there for a long time, lost in thought, when suddenly a loud bang sounded from behind us. We turned around to see many cars driving around and screaming. Everybody was exiting Wheel Well from something, we didn't know what. I drove towards the commotion and stopped the first car I saw.

He was maybe a teenager, a blue Corvette with white and black flame pin striping on his doors. He was terrified and was trying to escape before I stopped him and drove him over to the side.

"Hey, what going on?" I asked him, trying to sound as calm as possible, as to not freak him out even more.

He gasped for air, and once he settled down he spoke. "They found us! They're going to kill us all!"

I was confused. "Who?" I asked.

"The....the..." he started, trailing off as if even saying the name of them would send him into a complete panic.

"WHO?" I shouted.

"..........humans......"