Cars 2 by Irene Trimble Page A

the international racer.
    â€œIt’s okay!” Lightning tried to tell the crowd. “Mater has something to say. Go, Mater!”
    Mater felt everyone’s gaze turn to him. “Okay!” he said, trying to gather his thoughts. “Someone’s been sabotaging the racers and hurting the cars, and I know who! Oh, wait! Your Majesty!”
    Mater realized he had forgotten to bow. As he leaned over, everyone saw the ticking time bomb!
    â€œHe’s got a bomb!” the guards yelled, jumping into action. “Get down now!”
    â€œHold your fire!” It was Finn McMissile. The agent had tracked Mater to the palace, along with Agent Shiftwell. “You could hit the bomb!”
    Finn and Holley raced toward Mater. Finn dove and rolled quickly to place himself between Mater and the Queen. He trusted Mater, but he had to protect the Queen!
    â€œMater,” Finn said calmly, “I don’t know what you’re doing, but stand down now!”
    Lightning nudged his friend. “Mater, just cut to the chase!”
    â€œOkay!” Mater cried. Then he turned toward Sir Miles Axlerod. “It’s him.”
    â€œWhat?” Axlerod exclaimed. “Me? You’ve got to be crazy!”
    Mater continued: “I figured it out when I realized y’all attached this ticking time bomb with Whitworth bolts—the same bolts that hold together this crummy old engine from the photograph. And then I remembered what they say about old British engines: If there ain’t no oil under them, there ain’t no oil in them.”
    Axlerod was beside himself. The bomb was ticking. “What is he talking about?” he exclaimed.
    Mater looked Sir Miles Axlerod straight in the eyes. “It was you leaking oil at the party in Japan. You just blamed it on me.”
    â€œElectric cars don’t use oil, you—you twit!” Axlerod stammered.
    â€œThen you’re faking it!” Mater shouted, filled with confidence. “You didn’t convert to no electric. We pop that hood, and we’re gonna see that Lemon engine from that picture right there.”
    But as Mater moved toward Axlerod to pop his hood, Holley spoke up. “Axlerod created the race, Mater. Why would he want to hurt anyone?”
    â€œTo make Allinol look bad, so everyone would go back to oil,” Mater replied firmly. “He said it himself with his disguised voice in that casino.”
    â€œMater,” Finn said. “He created Allinol.”
    â€œYeah,” Mater said, “but what if he found that huge oil field just as the world was trying to find something else? What if he came up with Allinol just to make alternative fuel look bad?”
    Now Mater had the attention of Holley and Finn. They all moved in toward Axlerod.
    â€œKeep away, you idiot!” Axlerod screamed at Mater. There were exactly eight seconds left before the bomb would explode! “You’re insane! You are!”
    And then Axlerod said it: “Deactivate!”
    The bomb stopped ticking.
    â€œBomb deactivated,” a computer voice announced. “Have a nice day, Sir Miles.” That proved it. Axlerod was the only voice that could deactivate the bomb. He was the Lemon behind the plot.

    The following day at Buckingham Palace, Mater was knighted by the Queen. The rusty tow truck bowed deeply as the Queen said, “I dub thee Sir Mater.”
    Mater looked up. “Sir?” he asked the Queen. “Why, you can call me Mater, Your Majesty. I don’t want to hear none of this ‘Sir’ business. By the way, have y’all met each other? Queen? Lightning McQueen. Lightning McQueen, Queen. Queen? McMissile. McMissile, Queen.” Mater went on with his introductions as the crowds cheered their new hero—the hero who had shown the courage and intelligence needed to save them and the rest of the world, too.

B ack in Radiator Springs, the town put up a new sign. It read: WELCOME TO