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The world of professional pageanteering is not for the faint-hearted, where fierce competition for a coveted crown has led many an unsuspecting beauty queen to fall victim to cyanide-laced Vaseline poisonings and slipped-mickey stupid pills that cause them to blabber incoherently about the sorry state of U.S. American education. Thankfully, Ingrid Marie Rivera managed to survive her sabotage attempts and go on to take the Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2008 title, but not before succumbing to a severe allergic reaction after her gowns were doused backstage in pepper spray:

Rivera was composed while appearing before cameras and judges throughout the competition. But once backstage, she had to strip off her clothes and apply ice bags to her face and body, which swelled and broke out in hives twice.

Rivera's clothing and makeup later tested positive for pepper spray.

Someone also stole Rivera's bag containing her gowns, makeup and credit cards. And a bomb threat forced pageant officials to postpone the last day of competition on Thursday, said Magali Febles, director of the Miss Puerto Rico Universe pageant.

Clearly, Rivera has enemies—ones who would stop short of nothing to ensure the Latina beauty would not represent the U.S. Caribbean territory at Donald Trump's intergalactic genetic-lottery olympics next May in Nha Tran, Vietnam. Should she go on to flout her rivals and take the Miss Universe title, however, the incident will only serve to her benefit, conditioning her for even more corrosive substances to come at the hands of her conniving Pageant Place co-stars after she takes up her year-long residence at Trump Tower.