Victim 4: Taffy of Doom
My next subject for…stalking, I guess is the proper term, was Swizzle "The Swizz" Malarkey. Mr. Pretty Boy with the crush on one of Minty's recolor racers, Sticky. Why he went for a recolor instead of Minty herself, I doubt we'll ever know.
Not that relationships mattered much here. The chances of Swizzle coming across Sticky in here were pretty slim.
The chances of coming across Turbo, though…
.o.o.o.o.
Swizzle had taken off at a dead run after Vanellope was eaten. The thought of Turbo being back scared the tootsie rolls out of him. If he had been thinking straight, he might've sought out Sticky and tried to protect her.
But he didn't. Now he was somewhere in the candy cane forest…all alone.
"Hello?" Swizzle dared to call. "Sticky? Anyone?"
There was no reply.
Please be okay, Sticky. Please… Swizzle prayed.
A loud crunch of candy cane behind him sent the green-haired boy into a panic. He bolted, running as fast as his legs could carry him. Branches of candy cane, bushes of candy floss, and rock candy stones brought various scratches, scrapes, and bruises to his person. Swizzle couldn't bring himself to care.
He wanted to live!
Jumping through another candy floss bush, Swizzle nearly face-planted when his feet got stuck in something. Picking himself up, he struggled to move. If anything, his feet sunk deeper into the ground. He kept up his struggling until he was up to his knees in the stuff.
Then he looked down and cried out in terror.
He was stuck in a pool of Nesquik-Sand. And he was sinking deeper into it with every passing second.
"Help! Someone help me! Please!" Swizzle shouted, clawing at the powdery brown surface in the hopes of digging himself out.
No such luck.
A round of giggles sounded from above him. Swizzle twisted around, looking up. Surrounding the Nesquik-Sand pit were a trio of Laffy Taffy trees. The long bodies of the laughing purple taffy were wound around the branches, looking down at him.
"Laffy Taffy! Perfect!" Swizzle cried, raising his arms up. "Come here, Laffy Taffy! Be good taffy and get me out, okay?"
Some of the taffy slid down from their perches, giggling. Swizzle reached up to grab one, only for it to suddenly pull back. This happened multiple times before Swizzle realized what was wrong.
The taffy wasn't trying to help him. They were playing with him because it was funny. They liked seeing him fight and squirm and call for help. It was funny to them. It made them laugh.
By the time that realization had come, Swizzle was up to his armpits in Nesquik-Sand. It was quickly dragging him down, flowing over his shoulders. His arms were getting tired from being held up.
I'm never getting out of here, he realized. I'm never seeing Sticky again. I'm never racing again. I'm going to die here, drowning in Nesquik-Sand. At least Turbo hasn't found me…
That's when Swizzle realized something.
The Laffy Taffy were no longer laughing.
Swizzle looked forward and found a lone length of pink taffy dangling in front of him. Amazed by his luck but doubtful that he was this lucky, he hesitantly reached out to grab it. He expected it to pull away and laugh at him, like all the rest did.
He grabbed it. It didn't flee. It just dangled there, waiting for him to get a good grip on it.
"Oh, thank mod," he whispered, hugging the length of taffy.
With a swift yank, the green-haired racer was pulled free of the Nesquik-Sand's grip. He laughed giddily, happily kissing the taffy that had saved his life…and pulled away, gagging in disgust.
The taffy was coated in slime!
"Ugh! Gross!" he whined. "Put me down! I'm out, so you don't need to hold me up anymore!"
"All right then. Going down, it is!"
Swizzle froze upon hearing that voice. It was Turbo. And it sounded so very close. As if he was right beside Swizzle.
…Or below him…
Swizzle looked down and screamed. Turbo's face was right there, mouth wide open. Worst of all, it wasn't taffy he was holding onto. It was the cybrid's serpentine tongue!
"Ugh! I kissed your slimy tongue!" Swizzle cried.
"Well, good thing you'll be getting well acquainted with my tongue in a moment," Turbo said, grinning. "I think some lollipops sound like a good snack right about now."
"No! Wait, please don't!" Swizzle wailed.
Turbo tossed his head back. Swizzle was thrown off his tongue, flung up into the air. Then the cybrid lunged forward, teeth snapping shut around the racer. He was trapped in Turbo's mouth!
He banged briefly on the inside of those razor-sharp yellow teeth before finding himself pulled away from them. Turbo's tongue merrily flipped Swizzle around, shoving him down the monster's throat. Swizzle clawed at the slimy organ desperately, sliding deeper into the dark gullet. The same appendage that had rescued him from the Nesquik-Sand was now sending him to his death via digestion.
"NOOOOOOOO!" Swizzle screamed, losing his grip and falling down the cybrid's throat.
Turbo licked his lips, obviously pleased. "I knew lollipops were a good choice. They go perfectly with taffy!"
.o.o.o.o.
I felt pretty bad for Swizzle. He escaped death once, only to be sent to death again within seconds of his first escape. Laffy Taffy is already untrustworthy as is. No need for Turbo to make that reputation worse by having his tongue pose as taffy!
Rules of Survival #3: Never trust suspicious or slimy-looking pink taffy, Laffy Taffy or otherwise, especially if you're trapped in Nesquik-Sand.
Four racers down. A dozen or so more to go before Turbo unveils this mystery prize of his. I seriously hope it's nothing deadly…
This is Pepper Swirlminta, signing off!