This one is a Halloween-ish type thing. It's two days late, I know, but... here you go! xD
(It's an idea I've had in mind for a while, but it was originally supposed to be a full-length story.)
Oh, and keep in mind that in the Turbo FAST universe, worms are the snail equivalent of dogs.
Kinda weird, but... enjoy!
"Vampire Worm"
"There we go." Turbo set down his carving tool and smiled; he looked proudly at the ripe cherry tomato he had just carved into a jack-o-lantern.
Chet glanced across the table, smirking. "Very artistic," he said sarcastically, glancing at the tomato's jagged teeth and lopsided eyes.
"Hey!" Turbo retorted. "Could you do better?"
Chet's expression suddenly turned grave.
"It's a highly unsafe tradition, anyway. I'll never understand why anyone would risk chopping their eyestalks off with a knife just to give a piece of fruit a pretty face."
Turbo rolled his eyes. Leave it to his safety-obsessed brother to find the depressingly dangerous side of everything.
It was Halloween night, and the FAST crew was in the clubhouse, gathered around a table made out of a matchbox, carving tomatoes and drinking apple cider (with a drop of ketchup stirred in, of course.)
Suddenly, the doorbell rang, cutting into everyone's thoughts.
Whiplash hopped out of his chair. "More trick-or-treaters, I bet." the purple snail muttered, reaching reluctantly for the candy bucket. The crew's leader didn't quite see the point in handing out perfectly good candy to random kids dressed in weird costumes.
Turbo slid over to the door and opened it, expecting to see a herd of excited young snails holding up their bags. But all he could see was the dark night sky, glittering with stars; tree branches clawed at the full moon, and the calm, misty night air fluttered into the clubhouse.
Turbo felt goosebumps prick his skin.
"Who's there?" he called out warily.
Suddenly, something emerged from the mist; it was a small green worm, wagging its tail and panting. It let out a happy bark, its brown eyes shining.
"Well, hello there!" Turbo exclaimed, reaching over to give the worm a pat on the head. "Where did you come from?"
At that point, Chet, Skidmark, Smoove Move, White Shadow, and Burn had all dropped what they were doing and gathered by the door.
"It's a puppy!" White Shadow said excitedly.
"Aww!" cooed Burn.
The worm leaped up, balancing on its hind legs, to give Turbo a lick on the face. Turbo chuckled, petting it.
"Yo, who do you think he belongs to?" Smoove asked in his usual smooth tone.
Turbo glanced at the worm. "No collar," he reported.
For a moment everyone was silent, glancing at one another; no one said a word, but a million unspoken thoughts seemed to flash between the snails.
Suddenly, Whiplash slammed down the candy bowl, his eyes dark with irritation. "Uh-uh, no way." the crew's leader grumbled. "We are not keeping him."
Turbo hugged the worm close, looking offended. "B- but it's cold and dark out there!" he blurted. "Whip, are you really gonna be heartless enough to send him away, on Halloween, when anything can happen?"
Chet's eyes widened. "Yeah... anything," he repeated with a shudder.
Whiplash stood his ground. "I meant what I said," he declared. "I put my tail down, and it's gonna stay that way."
Turbo hugged the worm closer. "I'd be responsible!" he pleaded. "I'd take him for walks and clean up after him and feed him, and..."
Whiplash hesitated, then shook his head; he was trying to look decisive, but Turbo could tell he was weakening.
The FAST crew huddled around Turbo and the worm, their eyes growing huge; fake tears pricked the corners of everyone's eyes. Finally, Whiplash groaned and looked away.
"Fine! We'll keep him - but only for a little while. Would you just stop with those eyes?!"
Everyone cheered triumphantly. Even the worm hopped from snail to snail, its tail wagging in a green blur.
The worm bounded over to Skidmark, giving the blue snail a lick on the face. Skid chuckled, but when the creature backed up, his expression suddenly grew serious.
"Guys... something's not right about this worm." Skidmark said, frowning.
Burn glanced over at him, looking irritated. "Let me guess - you're getting 'a bad feeling' about it. Sorta like the almond milk incident."
"Hey, how was I supposed to know the milk came from cows and not almonds?" Skid flashed back. Then he glanced at the worm. "...But yeah, kinda."
Smoove rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Skid. It's just your average, everyday worm."
"It has fangs!" Skid cried.
Turbo peered closer; sure enough, sharp teeth curled from the worm's top lip.
"Pretty sure those are just teeth." Smoove muttered.
"Hey - that gave me a great idea!" Burn called out. "We should name him Fang!"
The FAST crew all started chattering excitedly.
"No!" Skidmark cried out. "You guys are missing the point! This isn't just a normal worm! It's a vampire worm - and it's going to turn us all into its bloodsucking minions!"
Skid turned his panicked gaze on Turbo. "You believe me... don't you?!"
Turbo shook his head sadly. "Sorry, Skidmark, but Smoove's right. Fang's just a regular worm."
The orange snail turned his attention back to the worm; the rest of the crew were still fawning over him.
Fang rolled onto his back, exposing his stomach; Turbo scratched it, unaware that Skidmark was creeping out of the room, his eyes darting back and forth suspiciously.
The next morning, Turbo poured a bag of worm kibble into Fang's bowl; the worm was wagging his tail excitedly, and dove straight for the food once Turbo set the bag down.
Chuckling, Turbo turned to leave the room; then he jumped back with a startled cry. He hadn't known that Skidmark had been standing right behind him, eyeing the hungry worm and his breakfast.
"You might as well save your worm chow," Skid commented darkly. "He doesn't want that. Why don't you pour some fresh blood into his water dish? He'll take it straight from the source anyway, whether you like it or not."
Turbo sighed. "Skid, can we drop that already? He's clearly not a vampire."
"That's what you think," Skidmark whispered, then turned and slid out of the room.
Later that day, Turbo was sitting in the main part of the clubhouse, chatting with the other crew members.
Everything seemed peaceful and quiet, until Skidmark slid into the room.
"Oh, hey Skid," Turbo called to his friend; but something seemed unusual about the blue snail. His eyes were dull and glassy, and as soon as he entered the room, he fell onto the floor.
"Skidmark!" Turbo yelped, hurrying over to his side. The rest of the crew followed; when they reached him, Skid began to writhe and flail around on the floor like a fish out of water.
"It was the worm!" Skid hissed, his eyes growing wild.
"Blood loss! Blood loss!"
For the first time, Turbo noticed two identical red spots on Skidmark's neck: bite marks.
Horror struck deep into his heart.
"We were wrong!" Burn gasped, tears forming in her eyes. "Fang really is a vampire!"
"He did this!" Smoove's eyes were wide with shock and dismay.
"I knew I never should have let that beast stay here!" Whiplash cried out.
The horror-stricken murmuring of the FAST crew was suddenly broken by the sound of Skidmark's laughter.
He leaped up off the floor, snickering.
"I got you guys good!" he jeered, pulling a red marker out of his shell.
"Skid - what?!" Turbo gaped, confusion making him speechless.
"You mean you never believed that worm was a vampire?" Whiplash glared at the blue snail, anger sparking in his gaze.
"Wha-? No way!" Skidmark laughed. "That's crazy talk! Who'd ever believe a thing like that?"
The FAST crew exchanged glances.
"You." White Shadow pointed out.
"Pfft," Skidmark scoffed. "Worms as vampires? You'd have to be some kind of paranoid spaz to ever - "
Skid trailed off, his eyes growing round; Turbo followed his gaze and noticed White Shadow munching on a bag of bacon-flavored popcorn.
"THE APOCALYPSE HAS BEGUN!" Skidmark yelled; he began speeding around the clubhouse, knocking chairs and trophies over in his alarm.
"QUICK - EVERYBODY, GET UNDER A DESK!"
Turbo watched Skid for a few moments before rolling his eyes. "Yup. You'd have to be a paranoid spaz, all right."