SCP-682 - Ways SCP Foundation Tried to Kill Hard To Destroy Reptile

"SCP-682 must be destroyed as soon as possible." So begins the SCP Foundation file on the dreaded SCP - 682, a highly-intelligent reptilian monster that has - despite the Foundation's best efforts - proved impossible to kill.

It may not be the most dangerous SCP out there, considering that some are capable of eliminating entire realities, but it's one of the most iconic, and you've probably heard tales of the monster that death forgot, and you know exactly why everyone is so afraid of the so-called "Hard to Kill Reptile". It's been subjected to some of the most deadly weapons and traps the Foundation could devise, and survived attacks from some of its deadliest fellow SCPs.

But before we tell you about the Foundation's many failed assassination attempts against the so-called "Hard to Kill Reptile", we need a little more groundwork on what this creature even is. The first thing to know about SCP - 682, is that this thing wants you and everyone you know dead.

Unlike some other creatures like SCP - 096 and SCP - 173, which are murderous but exhibit no real higher processing skills, SCP - 682 possesses cunning, advanced reasoning, and even human-level logical intelligence. SCP - 682 can engage you in conversation, but just talking to the creature calmly and cordially will sometimes cause it to enter its "rage state" where it becomes even more dangerous and volatile.

The beast is perpetually kept in a huge tank of powerful hydrochloric acid, melting its tissue to prevent it from reaching its full potential and going on a rampage. The creature's most terrifying asset, and the reason it's proven impossible to terminate thus far, is its incredible adaptability to any and all external stimuli.

682 is a reactive being, capable of not only surviving and regenerating from all attacks, but often incorporating those attacks into its own wide arsenal. In other words, if you're hoping to kill this thing, you better kill it on the first hit - cause if you don't, you better believe it's gonna hit you back a hundred times harder.

This brings us to the main event: Some of the SCP Foundation's most ambitious and frightening attempts to terminate SCP - 682, or even understand how it could theoretically be terminated.

There are quite literally too many unsuccessful attempts for us to list them all here, so think of this as a highlight reel of the Foundation's most prominent failures. 682 was first cross-tested with SCP - 017, a humanoid shadow-entity shown to be able to consume matter with its shadows and leave no traces behind.

Tests on tissue samples from 682 showed that SCP - 017 was able to consume said tissues with no adverse effects. However, when SCP - 017 was placed into the containment chamber with the actual creature, 682 let out a horrific roar that was so loud it damaged nearby audio equipment.

SCP - 017 fled to the corner of the room, and 682, in its rage state, attempted to breach containment. Agents managed to suppress and remove the creature, but no meaningful damage was logged. Attempt failed.

SCP - 173 - the Killer statue - was later brought in, hoping that its thus-far impeccable track recording for killing would hold strong. The second that 173 was introduced into the testing area, 682 retreated to the far wall and began screeching intensely. It was intelligent enough to know what it was dealing with here.

While the researchers and guards expected an instantaneous reaction, there was actually a stalemate for over six hours as 682 stared at 173 continuously. Eventually, the tie was broken when Agents shot out 682's eyes with high-caliber sniper rifles, breaking the line of sight and causing 173 to attack.

Though 682 sustained damage to several parts of its body while its eyes regenerated, the creature was not killed. It then regenerated a number of eyes all over its body, covered in a clear, armoured carapace that made them resistant to bullets. The stalemate continued for an additional twelve hours, as 682 maintained perpetual eye contact. 173 was eventually removed from the containment unit, and the mission was aborted.

Attempt failed. In their desperation, the SCP Foundation resorted to bringing in another dangerous and seemingly unkillable monster to take on 682: SCP - 096, also known as The Shy Guy. As astute SCP fans will already know, this being kills anything that sees its face, with no known exceptions - and when it enters its attack mode, it's thought to be quite literally unstoppable.

Or, at least, it was. While SCP - 096 was able to destroy 85% of 682's original body mass during their 27 hour battle, it was left mentally broken - wounded, and huddled in the corner. To this day, if ever confronted with SCP 682, the Shy Guy reacts in pure terror, turning away and clawing at his own face.

Attempt failed. During a deadly containment breach, SCP - 682 also went head to head organically with another iconic SCP hall-of-famer: SCP - 106, also known as The Old Man.

The Old Man and a shapeshifting, psionic anomaly known as SCP - 953 broke into 682's containment cell. The Old Man pulled both of his fellow anomalous combatants into his pocket dimension to continue the battle on his terms.

However, despite losing 67% of his body mass during the ensuing pocket dimension showdown, 682 still prevailed - with the Old Man eventually fleeing back to his cell, and 953 being collected and taken away by agents. Once again, SCP - 682 continued to hold the title. But it wasn't just cross-testing experiments, intentional or otherwise.

The SCP Foundation's quest to kill 682 lead them to a number of more conventional murder methods, all with varying degrees of success. Due to SCP - 682's highly adaptive abilities, some methods were discounted from the outset.

For example, launching a powerful thermonuclear missile at the creature was soundly rejected by O5 Command - on the premise that, if the creature wasn't destroyed and evolved to the point where it could shrug off nukes, humanity would be pretty much done for.

Other ideas were abandoned just for being too ridiculous - such as one researcher's suggestion to fly the creature through the air and drop it from a considerable height, hoping to kill it with the high-altitude impact. I'm not sure we even need to tell you why that's a terrible idea. But, during the experiments on SCP - 682, the studies ranged from honest to incompetent to straight-up evil.

One guest researcher fed two small, innocent children to the creature, just to see what would happen. He was then himself fed to the creature for his sadistic behaviour, which was viewed as getting in the way of his professional conduct.

After all, the Foundation is meant to be cold, not cruel. It was SCP - 682 that had the monopoly on cruelty. Memetic Kill agents were a resounding failure.

They attempted to dismember 682 with a powerful laser, only to have the creature develop reflective surfaces that displaced the beam and caused catastrophic damage to the area around it.

They attempted to kill the creature by sucking all the air out of its containment facility and creating a vacuum, but it expelled a dangerous gaseous compound that reacted violently and exploded when air was once again introduced into the room. The Foundation used high-precision blades to slice SCP - 682 into approximately 12,000 pieces then separated these pieces. Unsurprisingly by this point, this attempt also failed.

The 12,000 pieces reformed a short while later into the fully operational killing machine we all know and fear. In one particularly frightening display of intelligence and adaptability, the Foundation attempted to kill 682 with extreme heat, but it shielded itself by developing a secondary carapace composed of solid helium.

When personnel entered the room following the failed attempt on the creature's life, it shattered its helium carapace into deadly shards that fired around the room and shredded all Foundation personnel in attendance. It'd set a trap, and that trap had been wildly successful.

The creature's ability to adapt to seemingly any offensive is unparalleled, to the point where Foundation staff have no idea how to classify this creature - whether it's organic, inorganic, or even alive at all based on any definitions we could understand. At every turn, the creature just raised more questions. What is it? Is it possible to destroy it at all by any means? Who was even trying to kill who here? Because it certainly seemed like SCP - 682 had a masterful K/D ratio by now.

More extreme feats of cross-testing continued in the Foundation's growing desperation to eliminate this monster. SCP - 162, which is a hypnotic ball of sharp objects, hooks, and high-tension fishing line, was introduced to 682's containment cell. The hooks latched onto the creature and tore huge portions off, including its entire lower jaw and one of its limbs.

However, 682 was still able to breach containment, kill eleven people, and badly wound 86 others. It regenerated its severe injuries in no time. The beast was even taken to the domain of The Gate Guardian, one of the proposals for SCP - 001. The Guardian has a flaming sword hotter than the sun, capable of destroying its targets on an atomic level.

Naturally, SCP - 682 survived and regenerated. Perhaps the most fascinating cross-test of all was between 682 and SCP - 053, who manifests as a kind, innocent little girl with the unfortunate condition of causing homicidal tendencies in all who come into contact with her for more than ten minutes.

The people with these tendencies would then attempt to harm the girl, but would immediately drop dead shortly after, leaving the girl intact. The researchers present anticipated two possible outcomes here: The optimistic outcome, in which 682 entered a rage state, attacked 053, and died for good.

And the realistic outcome, in which 682 attacked 053, possibly experienced some minor injury or nothing at all, and 053 had to be removed from the containment cell. But that didn't happen. What did occur was considerably more shocking than any kind of violence.

When 053 entered 682's containment chamber, the monster became uncharacteristically docile.

Researchers and staff were baffled, and watched with amazement as 053 approached the terrifying, immortal, mass-murdering monster...and began to play with it. 682 even allowed 053 to draw on its face with crayons.

Researchers thought they must've been dreaming, seeing this surreal display play out. 053 even appeared to have affection for this unkillable misanthrope. It was a single act in defiance of everything they thought they knew.

When Foundation personnel entered the containment cell to separate the two, 682 went ballistic and killed multiple guards. 053 also wept, sad at being separated from her new friend.

To this day, despite further testing, the Foundation has no idea how or why this happened. Like many details surrounding SCP - 682, it's shrouded in deeply frustrating mystery. And so the tale of SCP - 682 continues, in spite of the Foundation's best efforts.

The monster continues to breach containment and slaughter with some regularity, taking out its seemingly limitless hatred for not only human beings, but anything that dares draw breath.

Nobody knows where exactly the creature is from, what its true nature is, or why its ability to adapt and regenerate far exceeds any known organism on this planet. Perhaps one day, through enough research and cross testing, we can someday answer these questions with scientific precision, but until then, we only have one answer: Hatred never dies.