Lightning sighed. He knew it was good advice.
Mamma Topolino returned with a huge platter and scolded, “Now eat!”
Lightning didn’t know that at that moment Mater was traveling in a supersleek spy train on his way to Porto Corsa. Along with Finn and Holley, Mater was looking at surveillance photos of traffic in the little Italian town.
Finn was very impressed with Mater’s knowledge of car makes and models.
“That one’s a Gremlin. There’s another Lemon right there,” Mater was saying as he scanned the photos of Porto Corsa. “That three-wheeled feller had to be right about a big meeting. You never see this many Lemons in one town.”
They took a look at a perfectly maintained Hugo being towed by an Eastern European tow truck.
“Must be one of the heads of the Lemon families,” Finn said. “That’s why he’s in such pristine condition. We’ve got to find a way to infiltrate that meeting and find out who’s behind all this.”
“Hold on,” Holley said as she snapped a photo of Mater. She turned back to her computer and superimposed an image of the European tow truck over Mater. It would be the perfect disguise. Mater could be the one to infiltrate the meeting!
“Good job, Miss Shiftwell!” Finn said, liking the idea.
Mater had no idea what was going on. He was still blinking from the camera flash.
“Wait, what’s the plan?” he asked.
But Finn and Holley did not reply. They simply stared at Mater, looking for flaws in the disguise. As the spy train screamed through the darkness, Holley worked on outfitting Mater for his mission. After adding the finishing touches, she fastened a tiny device behind the emergency light on his roof.
“That should just about do it,” she said.
“Perfect,” Finn said to Holley.
Mater looked in his side mirrors. He didn’t notice anything different. He was still the same old dented red tow truck he’d always been.
“So, Mater,” Holley said, “it’s voice-activated. But, you know, everything’s voice-activated these days.”
“What?” Mater asked. “I thought you were supposed to be making me a disguise.”
Instantly, a computerized voice responded: “Voice recognized. Disguise program initiated.”
At the sound of Mater’s voice, a holographic image suddenly spiraled out from the device on his roof. The device dropped the cloaking image of the sleek European tow truck right over Mater’s body.
“Cool!” Mater exclaimed when he looked into his side mirrors again. “Hey, computer!” he called out. “Make me a German truck!”
Mater was delighted to suddenly see himself transformed into a German model.
“Make me a monster truck!” Mater said, loving this new gadget. “A funny car!” he said next, laughing.
The computer easily rotated through Mater’s commands. Holley rolled her eyes and switched it back to the European tow truck. Mater frowned. He was having fun and didn’t want to stop!
“The idea is to keep a low profile,” Finn reminded him politely but firmly.
“So I just go in and pretend to be this tow truck?” Mater asked anxiously.
“And leave the rest to us,” Holley answered as she deployed a bond sprayer to fill Mater’s dents.
Mater suddenly pulled away. “Hey, what are you doing?” Then he took a breath. “For a second I thought you were trying to fix my dents.”
“I was,” Holley replied.
Mater straightened up. “Well then, no thank you. I don’t get those dents buffed, pulled, filled, or painted by nobody. They’re way too valuable.”
Holley seemed surprised. “Your dents are valuable? Really?” she asked.
“I came by each one of them with my best friend, Lightning McQueen. I don’t fix these. I want to remember these dents forever.”
“Friendships can be dangerous in our line of work,” Finn said to him.
“But my line of work is towing and salvage,” Mater answered. He was supposed to be friendly!
Finn laughed, admiring Mater’s brilliant cover. “Right!” Finn said, chuckling.
Mater frowned. “No, I meant that for real. I—”
“No, no. It’s okay.” Holley stopped Mater. “Say no more. I’ll work around the dent.”
“In the meantime, you look a little light on weapons,” Finn said as the spy train began its descent into Italy. Mater brightened right up when Finn hit a button and an entire wall of the train transformed into a huge store of gleaming high-tech weaponry.
In the sunny town of Porto Corsa, fans from all over the world gathered to watch the second race of the WGP. Luxurious yachts dotted the sparkling harbor, and expensive shops had their doors open ready to greet them.