On this spooky Floofty Friday the thirteenth of @flooftober... Wait, Friday the 13th was almost two weeks ago. I remember. I had to buy a new router because the old one got struck by lightning.
Well, it's the thirteenth story, anyway. Day 26, the prompts are "siren" and "lava" and I got Floofty as the random character for Floofty to interact with. Floofty + Floofty + siren was such an interesting combination that I made the story double length, and edited it more heavily to make it come across how I wanted. Also used the lava prompt because I'll take any excuse to put lava in something.
Title: Environmental conditions or by exertion
Summary: Floofty encounters a strange temptation inside the volcano.
(Also on AO3)
Floofty was starting to consider using one of the Bugsnax to scoop samples from the lava, and they knew the heat was getting to them. The Snax were fluttering above them, saying "Cheepoof" over and over. That was what they were called. Yes. They didn't seem bothered by the heat, and they were already on fire, so they might hold up better than the equipment they'd brought with them.
Actually, maybe they should be keeping away from the lava and the spicy Snax right now. Grumpuses had developed a fascinating adaptation against serious burns, which was absent even in their closest extant relatives, but they felt it might work against them at the moment. Even if it was the flammable oils on their skin burning and not their skin or fur, being on fire would still heat them up, and if they got much hotter, they were in danger of passing out before they could extinguish themself. And that would be such a pointless way to die.
Wouldn't it? It probably would be.
"Blast this heat," they muttered, trying to squeeze some of the sweat out of their fur. Their long fur was an excellent protection from the sun, but in this stifling cave, it was more of a liability.
"Yes, it can be quite vexing," said Floofty, next to them.
Floofty jumped back, nearly slipped, and pointed at their doppelganger. "Where in the name of science did you come from?" They reached out to touch them, but the other them stepped back.
Floofty's vision swam, and they saw that this version of them had undergone complete Snakification. Their shape and voice were still recognisably Floofty, and they seemed to be wearing Floofty's bow tie and goggles, but otherwise, they were a mishmash of Noodler, Cheepoof, Paletoss, and maybe some Cocomite.
The other Floofty adopted a thoughtful posture that Floofty knew well. "Do you recall when you cut off your leg? You wondered where the Snakmatter went. Now, you have your answer." They indicated themself.
Floofty looked down at their peg leg, then at their doppelganger. "Ah. Clearly the heat has made me delirious. Farewell, imaginary duplicate." They turned to leave the cave and get back to the cooler night air.
"Choosing the path of cowardice?" said the Snakified Floofty.
"You encounter a completely unknown phenomenon, with great implications for your work, and yet you choose to walk away," continued the other Floofty. They started pacing, back and forth over the rock and into the lava. "I have discovered the extent of the Bugsnax's regenerative capacities, the exact mechanism by which these capacities function, the source of their alluring taste, and countless other revelations. Does that not pique your interest?"
Floofty paused. It really was too hot to think straight. But if this was real, could they really afford to lose this opportunity? They'd learned a lot so far, but it was only a tiny fraction of what there was to understand about Bugsnax.
The Snakified Floofty backed away, further into the lava. "Once you've learned all I have, nobody will call you dangerous or unstable again. When you speak, others will listen."
As they spoke, Floofty began slowly to step forward.
"You will usher in the technology to reverses or prevent innumerable tragedies," continued the other Floofty. "Scientific journals will fight for the chance to publish what you know, and Snorpington will believe in your work again."
There was a hissing and crackling, and the smell of burning wood. Floofty flinched, and looked down to see that they'd stepped into the lava with their peg leg. Not with their right leg, which would have spread the fire to the rest of their body in an instant, but their left, which was currently made of somewhat less flammable wood. They stamped the remaining fire out, before stumbling out of the cave at an awkward run.
They made it to the water's edge and sat down hard on the sugary sands, letting the waves cool them down.
They absolutely could not go back in there to check if what they'd seen was real. Not until they'd got some sleep, and checked the damages on their peg leg, and collated the latest telemetry from the Snaktivator, and gathered enough sauce to last them through the rest of their Bugsnax fast, and… There was so much to do, and they couldn't let themself get distracted. They would have all the things they'd been promised by their hallucination, or the unrecorded Snakmatter phenomenon, or whatever it was, and if they had to, they'd achieve it all on their own. They couldn't wait around for anybody else to give it to them. Not even themself.
