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Flaky flexed the prosthetic a couple times before huffing, relaxing into the makeshift bed Sniffles had made, "I didn't know you were this good at bod-modding..." They pondered, not even directing their attention towards the anteater.
Sniffles just sighed, indignant, "Well you'd better be happy I am, especially after that stunt you pulled back there; what the hell were you thinking getting Cuddles to help with that weird dissection thing?! You know the boy would lose his nerve, I don't understand why you're so obsessed with him."
The porcupine shrugged, "He's a gullible guy, cute, funny, suprisingly good on guitar..." They leaned forward again, "Seriously, he and Toothy make a pretty good music duo."
The anteater's eye twitched as Flaky diverged from the intended point, "Right, I'm sure they are..."
They both fell into silence for a moment before Flaky spoke up again, "Okay but being honest, I had a feeling something would go wrong, that's why I have you on speed-dial."
"That doesn't mean it's fine to just hack your darn limbs off!" Sniffles burst out, "For the love of- What happened to the meek porcupine that would probably crap themselves if they ever went through something like that?"
Flaky looked up into the ceiling, seemingly pondering for a moment before taking a breath, "Well, after the Cycles stopped I thought I'd be happy, y'know, not worrying about death constantly... But then I sorta got curious. I've seen just about every way to die or be killed and its only really made me curious about my body... Obviously that wasn't helped by the gender discrepancy."
Sniffles perked up, "Actually, I was gonna ask if that had a part in your fascination. Did you ever actually figure that out?"
"Nope. I mean, as it stands I'm sorta just both right now," They gestured to their chest and their crotch at the same time, "Never been intersex during the Cycles so, 'nno, maybe the universe just got confused?"
The anteater shrugged, "Maybe? I doubt that there isn't a scientific explanation for-"
"Sniffles, dude, c'mon, since when have we been able to explain anything about the Cycles?" Flaky scoffed, "Use your head man, it's what you're good at."
Sniffles huffed, "Okay, that's besides the point; so you were inspired by the... God knows how long we spent in the death loop, and eventually you started maiming yourself out of curiosity?"
Flaky remained silent for a moment before, sheepishly, they chuckled, "Not just uh... Not just myself."
The Anteater went quiet. The Porcupine went quiet. This was deafening.
"... Who. Who or what did you desecrate?" Sniffles' tone was dangerous, rocky ground that Flaky had to skirt around carefully.
The Porcupine sat up and looked Sniffles dead in the eyes, "So, remember the first death after the Cycle stopped and we were all thrown off?"
"... The... Wait, the Mole? You experimented on the-" Sniffles' eyes went impossibly wide, "You were responsible for that?! Everyone was shaken by his body being dug up, everyone was super- What the hell Flaky?!" The young scientist couldn't stress his disbelief - among other emotions in his tone - any more than he was currently.
Flaky just continued, "Yeah, I dug up and... Sorta, y'know... Dissected his body?"
...
Sniffles stood from his workbench, walked towards the Porcupine, and slammed both hands onto their shoulders and gave them about as deadpan a look as possible, "Flaky. You... I cannot stress this enough, you might actually be insane."
Flaky blinked, "But-"
"YOU COMMITTED A FELONY OF BOTH THE MORAL AND LAWFUL KIND, YOU BUTCHERED AN INNOCENT MAN'S BODY FOR SICK CURIOSITY AND YOU DONT EVEN FEEL SHAME!" Sniffles yelled, failing to repress his anger any longer, "I genuinely cannot describe how anguish-inducing it is to be standing here, genuinely stressing about how screwed up your life has become, BY CHOICE mind you, and you sit here like it's Tuesday. You are abominable."
"... But without me, your research into the Cycles is probably going to dry up or result in you being killed, isn't it." Flaky spoke more as if it were a statement than a question, continuing to ignore the Anteater's rightful anger.
Sniffles visibly grit his teeth as his grip loosened, "You- I- What is your damage?!"
"I already went over my damage," Flaky shrugged, "You have your answers, now can y'get off me? You can't get rid of me because I'm the only lead you have so far so yelling at me for being 'screwed up' is sort of a waste."
For a moment, Sniffles considered just saying to hell with it and chucking the spiked psycho out, however...
He didn't want a year of his life wasted.
He backed off, visibly struggling himself, "You... Fine, I guess you're right, but if you even come near me with anything as sharp as a kitchen knife without my express permission, I will not hesitate to have you taken out of the picture."
"... You mean like you're gonna kill me or-"
"Gah!" Sniffles threw his head back and covered his eyes with his hands, exasperated beyond belief, "Forget it! Just- Go outside and do whatever or something, I'm- I can't stand being in the same room as you right now!"
As the scientist stomped out of the room, Flaky sighed and leaned back into the makeshift bed, once again flexing their prosthetic hand.
They were fucked up, but it's not like most of the other town inhabitants weren't practically chewing themselves inside out over the whole ordeal they'd been stuck with for god-knows how long.
Oh well, Flaky supposed, it's not like they were gonna stop, nobody could stop them anyway since the superheroes vanished without a trace not long after the Mole's death.
For a moment they pondered actually taking Sniffles' advice, but as soon as they tried to stand up they found their body struggling with fatigue. With a huff, they rummaged around in their pockets, luckily finding that their phone hadn't been confiscated.
After a moment, they unlocked it, entered contacts and rung the number of a certain yellow rabbit.