Shortly after winning his first race of the season, Lightning Mcqueen is carnapped, along with Strip "the King" Weathers. While the two try to figure out who captured them, Doc Hudson, Tex Dinoco, and the Radiator Springs team do everything they can to get the two race cars back.
A general Cars fic written by Adventurelife. Can be found right here
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Tropes found in this fic include:
- And Your Little Dog, Too!: The story's Big Bad is revealed to have abducted one of the racers just to get back at Tex Dinoco.
- Badass Normal: While she isn't a race car and doesn't have military or spy experience, Sally is an incredible lawyer and is able to put her skills to good use when she not only talks the racing committee into letting her see the employee records (which provides a vital clue in finding the abductor), but is able to Spot the Thread and figure out who got the racers' abductors onto the track in the first place.
- Beware the Nice Ones:
- The Radiator Springs cars are generally nice people who are friendly with practically everyone...unless someone attacks one of their friends. Then, they leap into action, and the results are never good for the villain.
- Tex Dinoco is a largely nice and generous individual who tries to be friends (or business partners) with most people he meets. But if you go after someone he cares about, watch out.
- Big Damn Heroes: When Lightning's friends, Dinoco's forces and the British spies storm the compound.
- Call-Back: The events of Cars 1 and 2 are mentioned a few times, although (because Doc is still alive) the events of Cars 3 haven't happened.
- Catch a Falling Star: Holley does this to Lightning near the end.
- Distressed Dude: Lightning and King, as they are hostages for most of the fic.
- Easily Forgiven: Zigzagged. The King is able to readily forgive Deborah when she helps them to try and escape, but Mcqueen is still a little hostile.
- Family of Choice: The Radiator Springs cars. They'll do anything to protect one of their own. Tex admits that he has something like this with Strip, Linda, and Cal.
- Generation Xerox: While the three are all different makes and models, Smokey points out how his relationship with Doc is almost a copy-paste version of Doc's relationship with Lightning.
- Heel Realization: Deborah only agreed to help the kidnappers due to her hatred of racing (which she views as some type of blood sport). However, once the true weight of her actions hits her, she turns around and tries to help them get away.
- Hope Spot: When Deborah learns that her employer has no intention of letting Lightning or the King go, she frees them. For a moment, it looks like the racers will escape...only to turn the corner and find several of their kidnappers armed to the teeth and waiting for them.
- The Kindnapper: Deborah believes that she's this, thinking that getting Lightning and the King away from the race track is in their best interest (as she believes that racing is a deadly sport that should be outlawed). To her credit, she treats the two with respect and is genuinely concerned for their safety, to the point that she helps them to try and escape.
- Lima Syndrome: Deborah
- Mood Whiplash: The start of the fic is light and happy, with the Radiator Springs crew celebrating Mcqueen's first win of the season and getting ready to enjoy a party...and then Mcqueen and the King are kidnapped.
- Parental Substitute: While canon never mentions what happened to Lightning's parents, in this fic he confirms that they're dead and that Doc is the closest thing he's had to a father in a long time. The fact that Doc tends to act a lot like a father when he's with Lightning only makes this more obvious.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Doc is still alive in this fic, and was also present for the events of Cars 2. As a result, he gets to reunite with Smokey and his old friends from Thunder Hollow.
- Taking the Bullet: What Doc tries to do for the King. Thankfully, he doesn't have to.
- The Unseen: While Cal Weathers is mentioned once or twice, he doesn't actually appear in the fic.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: One of the Big Bad's henchmen attempts this, only to be stopped by Louise, Guido, and Luigi.
