Victim 6: Drowning in Jell-O

The next subject in my hunt for survival rules is Minty Zaki, the racer with the most recolor racers. She's also quite infamous for doing a long-lasting jump while screaming if you scare her. It's quite the funny sight to see.

Sticky and Torvald only hold small fragments of Minty's personality. Beyond that, they're their own individual racers. Minty doesn't treat them special or anything. Sometimes, I really wonder if Minty even acknowledges her two recolors. I know Jubileena does for hers. And Adorabeezle…

Unfortunately, Minty seems to have the same amount of bad luck as her two recolors…

…and then some, I think.

.o.o.o.o.

Why, oh why, did I end up in this place? Of all the places to end up in the candy cane forest and I wind up here! How? Minty thought.

Minty had ended up running smack-dab into the center of some of the worst terrain in all of Sugar Rush.

The Jell-O Swamp…

A huge area of squishy cake ground, massive pools of green jell-o, and treacherous patches of melted sugar that could leave you stranded in it for days. It was generally advised that one avoid the Jell-O Swamp unless one was either an experienced candy cane tree climber or was in a large group. Whole karts could be found of the sweet-smelling swamp, victims of unfortunate crashes that forced unlucky racers to quickly bail or get caught in the melted sugar patches…or drown in deep pools of jell-o.

Yes, you heard that right.

Racers could accidentally drown in the jell-o.

No joke. Honest truth here.

And Minty had run right into the swamp in her blind panic and desperation to get away from Turbo…

"Oh mod, please don't let me drown!" Minty whimpered.

Going back could be a death sentence. Going forward could be a death sentence. Turbo could be anywhere, waiting to snatch her up for dinner. So many ways to die…

Minty never got to decide where she was going to go next. The heavy crunch of candy cane branches snapping overhead made the green-haired girl bolt. She kicked up jell-o and chunks of soggy cake as she ran. She jumped over melted sugar patches, praying she didn't get stuck in them.

Then her world suddenly turned green…

She'd jumped into a pool of jell-o, believing it to be shallow. She thought she could run across, like she had the rest. But she was in the heart of the swamp now.

She sank in the pool, the heavy gel-like sweet slowing her movements and weighing her down. Little by little, she sank deeper. Her lungs were beginning to scream. She hunched over, trying to curl into a ball.

Oh mod, I don't want to drown! Minty thought, terrified.

Something big and long suddenly slipped beneath her tiny frame, pulling her up through the jell-o pool. When she broke the surface, she coughed and gasped and wheezed and choked like no tomorrow. Jell-o fell from her hair and clothes, leaving her coated in green slime. Minty was in no condition to be concerned about her looks, though.

There was a long, low whistle. "That could've ended badly. You eat jell-o, not drown in it! Stupid brat…"

Minty barely heard the voice amidst her coughing and gasping. She was too focused on getting air into her starved lungs.

"Ugh… You're not going to puke on me or anything else sick like that, are you? That's one way to kill my appetite."

Minty's breathing became less labored and she was beginning to become aware of her surroundings. She appeared to be doubled over something that dangled her in the air, curled beneath her waist. As her vision and hearing cleared, she became frighteningly aware of who her savior was.

The very monster that planned to eat them…

Turbo…

"Seriously, you aren't sick now, right? I'm not interested in eating sick prey if I'll get sick, too! Can jell-o even make you sick?"

Minty coughed, expelling the last of the accursed jell-o from her lungs. Her breathing smoothed out at last, the green-haired girl shifted enough to figure out her position. Turbo was up in a sturdy candy cane tree above the Jell-O Swamp, one tail curled around Minty. He'd probably used the appendage to pull her from the jell-o pool a few minutes ago.

"…Okay, at least you don't sound sick anymore. I shouldn't have to worry now."

Minty yelped when clawed fingers snagged her by the collar of her jacket, lifting her up to dangle in front of the cybrid's face. Turbo smirked, displaying razor-sharp yellow teeth. The racer kicked out with her legs weakly, struggling to breathe properly. Her nose was stuffed up!

"I think I'm up for some candied apples right about now," Turbo commented, tongue sticking out tauntingly.

ACHOO!

Turbo pulled back, gagging. "Augh! You sneezed on my tongue! You disgusting brat! Ew!"

Too focused on scrubbing his tongue of the booger-infested jell-o that Minty had sneezed on him, Turbo wound up lowering the arm holding her briefly. Seeing her chance at freedom, Minty slipped her arms free of her jacket and made a mad dash across the Jell-O Swamp. The cybrid never saw her bolt for it, gagging in disgust as he clawed at his tongue.

"You sugar-sweet imp! I'm definitely in need of a mint right…now…?"

Turbo lifted his arm, only to see a green jacket caught between his claws instead of a half-drowned racer. Lifting his head, he stretched his neck out to its full length before finally spotting her. Letting loose a roar of anger, he tore across the trees toward the cowardly brat.

Looking back, Minty jumped and screamed in fright. "No! Help! Someone, help!"

Turbo pounced, insect legs driving deep into the squishy cake ground as his clawed hands snatched her up. Minty screamed, caged between razor-sharp claws. Pulling himself upright again, he glared at Minty and bared his teeth.

"I don't appreciate snot-nosed brats, especially ones that thinking sneezing on someone's tongue during a meal is a good idea!" he snarled.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't eat me! Please!" Minty begged, tears running down her cheeks.

"A little too late for that. I'll be taking advantage of your minty flavor," Turbo said, dangling her over his jaws. "Sayonara, brat face!"

Turbo simply dropped her in his mouth without remorse. True to his word, he swished her tiny frame around briefly before swallowing her down. At least his mouth didn't taste disgusting anymore.

Now it was minty fresh!

…Pun completely intended…

"How about I find a less disgusting food item now?" Turbo grumbled, still in a bad mood from getting sneezed on.

Then he paused. Lifting his arm, he looked at the green jacket still caught between two clawed fingers. After a moment, he sighed.

"Eh… Why not? It would be such a waste not to," he admitted, popping the jacket into his mouth too. "…Mmmm! Green apple!"

He stalked away, using his wings to pull himself free of the Jell-O Swamp's grip. Using the branches of the candy cane trees to navigate the swamp, he headed elsewhere into the forest after more prey. He had quite the menu to chow down on, after all.

And he didn't want to waste a single bite…

.o.o.o.o.

…That was pretty disgusting. I actually kind of feel bad for Turbo. Bet that's never happened to him before.

Not that I approve of him eating sugary kids like us to start with!

I think the rule this time around is simple. Hopefully, you're not dumb enough to break it. That's just plain sick if you do.

Rules of Survival #5: Displaying signs of sickness (coughing, sneezing, etc.) will not exempt you from the menu. Using any such sickness for defense will result in immediate devouring.

Seriously, sneezing on someone's tongue? Ew! I feel sick just writing about it…

This is Pepper Swirlminta, signing off!