Alexander Hugo stared at Mater. “You’re acting strange today, Ivan.”
Holley had also equipped Mater with a digital device to identify the cars he met. It quickly produced a readout that only Mater could see.
“Alexander Hugo, aka Chop Shop.” Mater began reading out loud. “Hey, you got a lot of aka’s, Alex. But I guess that tracks, seeing as how you’re wanted in France, Germany, and the Czech Republic.”
“Mater!” Holley screamed as her face appeared on Mater’s monitor. “Stop it!” She knew Mater was about to blow his cover. She simply could not figure out why the American agent behaved so outrageously sometimes.
Alexander looked over at Mater.
“Keep your voice down. You’re gonna get me arrested,” he whispered. Then Alexander said to the other Hugos, “Don’t mess with Ivan today. He’s testy.”
Finn and Holley stared at each other in disbelief.
“Ohhh, that was a close one,” Finn commented.
Mater towed Victor into a private room. The Lemons were already seated around a large table. Holley’s monitor scanned the room. Immediately, her computer began scrolling information on the Lemons.
“Maybe now we can find out who’s behind all this,” she said, then settled in to listen as the Lemons began a heated discussion. They seemed to be waiting to meet their mysterious leader.
Inside, Mater continued to observe.
“Is the Big Boss here yet?” Victor asked.
“No, not yet,” a Trunkov replied impatiently.
WHAM! A door swung open. The room went silent as the Lemons stared at the door and waited.
And suddenly…Professor Z appeared!
Everyone looked disappointed. All the Lemons knew Professor Z. They wanted to meet his boss, the Big Boss, who was their true leader.
“When is he coming?” Victor, the Hugo Lemonhead, demanded.
Professor Z smiled slyly.
“He’s already here,” he announced.
A bank of monitors that lined the back wall suddenly crackled to life. An image appeared. It was an image of an engine.
Mater stifled a gasp. He recognized it as the engine that belonged to the car that was leading the whole operation. It was that Lemon engine with the Whitworth bolts!
It was a live feed. The voice of the Big Boss was electronically distorted so that he couldn’t be identified. Everyone in the room stared at his engine—a bad Lemon engine that was being repaired—as its owner spoke to the Lemons.
“Welcome, everyone,” the voice announced over the video feed. “I wish I could be with you on this very special day. But with my clutch assembly broken, you know how it is.”
The Lemons all nodded. Every single Lemon knew what it was like to live a life disrupted by constant repairs. They had wanted to see the Big Boss, but they understood his situation.
Outside, Finn desperately asked Holley to unscramble the voice of this mysterious leader. They had to find out his identity!
“Trying,” Holley muttered as she worked. “I can’t. It’s too sophisticated.”
Inside the casino, the disguised voice of the mysterious, evil leader continued: “We’re here to celebrate. Today, all of your hard work pays off. The world turned their backs on cars like us. They stopped manufacturing us, stopped making our parts. The only thing they haven’t stopped doing is laughing at us!”
The mastermind behind this terrible plot continued to rally his fellow Lemons: “They’ve called us terrible names: jalopy, rust bucket, heap, clunker, junker…Lemon!”
The cars grumbled in agreement.
The voice continued, “But what they consider taunts just give us strength, because today, my friends, that all ends.”
BOOM! Mater jumped as the video monitors showed the racer Carla Velosa on the course with smoke pouring from her engine.
“They laughed at us!” the distorted voice continued. “Now it’s our turn to laugh back! They called us Lemon! Embrace it!”
BOOM! Another racer’s engine blew up.
Outside, Finn and Holley were desperately trying to figure out what was going on.
“I’m detecting high levels of electromagnetic radiation!” Holley reported. Working swiftly, she traced it until she zeroed in on the point of origin. Focusing with her binoculars, she saw Grem and Acer with the fake WGP camera aimed at the racecourse.
“Finn! It’s the camera!” she cried.
“Where?” Finn shouted.
“On the tower!”
Finn took off at top speed, racing along the winding cliff roads toward the WGP camera. He needed to stop Grem and Acer fast, before more racers were injured.
Mater continued to listen to the mysterious car who was the mastermind behind this explosive operation.