Disclaimer! I don't own any of the characters in this fanfiction. All rights belong to Dreamworks

Midday Nightmares

Characters: Turbo and Chet

Contains: A midday nap, a nightmare, a beloved one dying, and brotherly comfort (because there isn't enough of it in this world)

It was a normal day in Starlight City. The sun was high in the sky, while a cool breeze swirled around. Snail citizens were out and about, mingling with each other. Laughing, smiling, totally oblivious of a small snail withering on a patch of grass at the side of the track in the shade, fast asleep. The gleaming shell with the number five branded onto it shifted as the light orange snail curled himself further inside. If anyone cared to stop long enough to notice the snail hidden in the shade, they would've heard small crying echoing from inside the little shell. Alas, no one noticed. The snail remained on the patch of grass, at the side of the track, hidden in the shade of the bleachers, hidden from prying eyes, hidden from the comfort he desperately needed.

*Inside's Turbo's dream*

A race around the track was how it started.

Turbo was in the lead. His signature blue streaks were flying behind him as he kicked his speed up a notch. The other snails were close behind him as he made his way across the finish line.

"Yes!" Turbo yelled in triumph. The FAST crew slowed down beside him and congratulated him.

"Not bad out there, garden snail." Whiplash said to the small snail. "But you still got some work to do."

Turbo sighed and nodded. Suddenly his stomach growled. He blushed at the sound of it and looked sheepishly at his fellow snails.

Smoove Move slid his way next to Turbo and looked down, "You know what that means?"

Turbo perked up at this. "Tomacos?" asked Turbo hopefully.

"TOMACOS!" White Shadow yelled. Everyone cheered and revved up their engines. They made their way to the taco stand when everything went sour.

"So Chet, are you going to get any toppings on your tomaco?" Turbo teased playfully at his old brother flying in the sky. "Like bananas?"

Chet huffed and smirked down at him. "As a matter of fact, I wa-!" He's answer was cut short as a dark shadow descended upon him.

Black feathers swirled around the racers as they stared up in horror. A large crow held Chet in its talons and began its flight back to its nest.

Turbo was speeding after him before he even realized it.

"Chet! CHET!" Screamed Turbo. A swirl of images flashed through Turbo's mind.

The plant. Fighting. Crows. Racing through the streets. His brother almost eaten. His brother almost dying.

"No, NO! I've saved you once, I will do it again!" the super charged snail screamed to himself as he cleared his mind of those horrific thoughts.

When the crow landed to enjoy its meal, Turbo saw his opportunity.

A clear shot to the beak. That's all it needed. One easy shot and the crow would drop his brother. Turbo was positive he could make it. The crow was just standing on a table, making itself a perfect target. But fate has a strange way of screwing with what people want. Even with the amount of luck Turbo has, eventually, that luck will run dry. Today just happened to be that day.

'Just rev up, fly through the air, and smack that bird in the beak. Not that hard,' thought the young snail. He eyed the beak and jumped.

He missed.

He missed by an inch. The whole world went in slow-mow as Turbo watched himself pass the crow with his brother dangling in its mouth and land on the opposite side of the table. He turned around in just enough time to see the crow swallow his beloved older brother whole.

The next few minutes were a blur. A blur of terrified screams, rage filled yells and black feathers being pounded into the table. Everything disappeared. All that mattered was making sure that crow never ate another snail ever again.

Turbo barely felt it when the crew pulled him away from the beaten crow. Nor did he hear their words of comfort and condolence. His mind was a complete blank. Tears started to fall. The reality of the situation finally sank in.

'My brother's dead.'

That thought echoed through Turbo's blank mind. No more older brother. No more Chet. No more comfort. No more love. No more family.

A mournful scream ripped through the orange snail's throat.

"CHET! CHET!" Turbo tried to break through the grip of the others, but their hold was too strong.

Despite the comforting words given, Turbo still continued to scream for his brother.

"Chet please! Chet, you can't be dead. I'm sorry! Chet! Chet! Chet!"

"THEO!"

"Chet?! Chet where are you!?" Turbo screamed. Chet's voice rang through his head like a blade.

"Calm down garden snail!" "Hey Boo, is he gonna be okay?" "Maybe so soothing music would help?" "It's the aliens! They did this! I knew it!" "Why is he crying like that?"

All the new voices were like spears in his head. Turbo clenched his eyes shut, wishing the pain would go away. The world around him disintegrated away, replacing itself with solid black. Turbo cautiously opened his eyes. As he did, a white light appeared.

"Theo you have to wake up! It's just a nightmare! Wake up bro!"

The white light was pulling Turbo into it now. Turbo gave one finally yelp before disappearing into the light.

*Out on the race track*

Turbo's eye snapped open. He uncurled himself from his shell and was greeted with the sight of the FAST crew; and more importantly, his brother.

"CHET!" The young speedster screamed and launched himself at his older brother.

Chet yelped, "Whoa, whoa! Theo! What in the wor-" Chet stopped mid-sentence when he noticed his young brother had started to cry into his chest.

"Theo, are you okay? Come on, what's wrong buddy?" Chet asked worriedly. It wasn't natural for his younger brother to be crying like this. Turbo was always so positive, so optimistic.

Turbo frantically shook his head and started to cry even harder. Words started to spill from his mouth.

"Not dead! You're not dead! Brother. Dead. No! Not dead! My fault! My fault! My fault..."

As Turbo's crying grew, Chet looked over at the shocked expressions of the crew. He could tell they were thinking the same thing he was, 'What in the world happened in that dream?!'

Chet gave a desperate glance at Whiplash. Whiplash nodded and turned to Burn, Smoove, Skidmark, and White Shadow.

"Okay, nothing to see here," He said and turned back to Chet. "We'll give you guys some space."

After they left, Chet was finally able to calm Turbo down.

"Okay, now that you're calm, could you please explain to me what happened?" Chet asked in a comforting voice. Turbo nodded.

With little hiccups in between breaths, Turbo began his story.

Chet smiled at the beginning part.

'Of course he would be dreaming about racing.' he thought. He even chuckled a bit when Turbo teased him about his banana obsession.

But as the story progressed, his smile soon turned into a concerned frown.

"An...and then I turned around...*hiccup*... and saw you get eaten." Turbo was near crying again. Chet pulled him closer to his side.

"Shh… It's okay little brother. It's okay. I'm fine, I'm alive and well. I certainly didn't get eaten." Chet comforted.

"I failed you! I failed you Chet!" Chet's younger brother hiccupped. Turbo hung his head down in shame. He let his only brother get eaten alive by a crow. The guilt was heavy in Turbo's heart.

"Theo, look at me."

Turbo lifted up his gaze to match his brother's. A kind, knowing smile was on Chet's face.

"You didn't fail me. Theo, if it wasn't for you, I'd probably wouldn't be here right now. Brother, you did save me! Remember when I was actually taken by that crow? Wasn't it you who pushed me out of the way and save me from being eaten."

"But… but I-"

"I don't want to hear it," Chet stopped him in mid-sentence. "Theo, Turbo, it was just a dream. I'm okay. I promise you. You didn't fail me. Nor did you just let me be eaten. From the story you told me, it seems like you tried your hardest to save me. And I'm glad you did. As long as you did your best then you could never disappoint me."

"Re...really?" Turbo asked in a quiet voice.

"Positive," Chet replied.

The biggest smile appeared on Turbo's face.

"Slug hug!" he cried as he and his brother hugged.

Then a loud rumbling came from Turbo's stomach.

"Ahhh..."

Chet smirked and nudged his little brother. "Wanna get something to eat?"

Turbo nodded. "Sure, but how bout we get tomatoes. Just plain tomatoes. No tomacos today."

"That seems like a great idea. Should we go get the others?"

Nodding his head, Turbo replied, "Totally. And Chet?"

Chet looked at his brother. "What is it?"

"Thanks. Thanks for all the support."

Chet could feel a smile appear on his face. "Anytime, Theo. Anytime."

With both brothers smiling, they made their way to get the other crew members.

So what do you think? Yay? Nay? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! There should be more one-shots coming soon!

*EDIT: As stated in the description, I've decide to just make this story a one-shot, rather than multiple stories. I haven't been in the Turbo fandom in a while and I'd feel bad if I deleted this. So this seems like the best options. And who knows? I might come back to this fandom in the future.*