Chapter 57

"So which monster do you think we should kill first?"

Keith hummed in thought, "Why not visit the three sisters?"

Michael groaned, "Them? They sound like such a pain in the ass to deal with."

Keith chuckled, "Oh, they will be."

Calder interjected, "Who are these sisters?"

Michael waved his hand dismissively, "Assholes with far too much power."

"They're strange beings with reality warping powers. They took control of an SCP facility about two years back and have been doing experiments on the staff there ever since", explained Keith.

Calder's head tilted slightly to the side, "What kind of experiments?"

A sly grin appeared on the mask's face, "The kind that people need to be revived from afterwards."

Michael idly tapped his fingers along the bar as he spoke, "They're monsters in human skin who have a perverse fascination with torture. The foundation would've already dealt with them if they could, but the sisters are simply beyond their capabilities."

Michael grinned, "Killing them would be the perfect way of showing the foundation the merit of what we're doing. That my way of doing things is correct."

Calder leaned back in his stool, "You've planned all this?"

Keith laughed at Michael's side, "This one? No, he's only good at hitting things. I planned all this, although that speech was his idea."

Michael lightly flicked the mask, "Way to steal my thunder, Keith."

He stood, "Now, wanna get out of here?"

Calder looked down at his empty drink, "Aye, might as well."

Michael raised his hand and the bartender walked over.

After a moment of thought Michael handed the credit card to the bartender, "Here give yourself a nice tip. Five hundred dollars or so should be good."

"Y-you serious?"

Michael nodded.

"Thank you sir!"

The bartender speed walked over to the register, leaving Michael with a shit eating grin on his face.

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Michael borrowed the bartender's phone and typed in the address of the facility. Keith knew it by heart, which wasn't all that surprising considering that any one of the three sisters could probably wear him with little to no side effects.

A few seconds later Michael had a fully detailed picture of the building pulled up, and he and his group disappeared with a flash of light.

They appeared in the parking lot of an old foundation facility that seemed to have been split into four separate buildings. It was eerily silent, and the buildings themselves seemed to be strangely warped in certain areas. Although, considering the only people doing any actual upkeep on the building were three witches it wasn't all that surprising. Any changes were probably a result of their ability to manipulate reality.

Michael took a moment to scan his surroundings before leading the group onwards, "Do you think any foundation staff will see us going in?"

Keith scoffed, "They have much bigger problems at the moment, but I guarantee they have eyes on this place."

Calder brandished his bone sword and looked around, "This place is unnatural. It reeks of monsters."

A moment later the space in front of the group warped as a tall ginger woman wearing a business suit appeared.

She smiled, "Can I ask what you gentlemen are doing here? This is private property and your intrusion here could affect some of our ongoing experiments."

Michael approached the woman confidently, "Well I've heard a rumor that you and your sisters have been torturing foundation staff for what, like two years?"

"That sounds about right", commented Keith.

The girl took a step back with a look of shock on her face, "No, no, that is simply untrue. This is for a bigger purpose! The data we're collecting from our experiments is of the utmost importance! The scientists understand why we're doing it. I'm sure the majority even agree with it."

Keith scoffed, "Didn't you people test how effective their toros were at stopping shrapnel a couple months ago?"

She waved her hand dismissively, "A necessary test to show the perseverance of individuals against overwhelming odds. It shows their dedication, their int–"

Michael's eyes narrowed as she continued talking and he decided to cut off her monologue, "What a load of horse shit."

She paused, "Excuse me?"

"You think you can torture people for years on end simply because their group is filled with a bunch of traitorous cunts? I've seen your type. You're just playing with them. It's fun for you, isn't it?"

"W-What do you mean?"

"Just that you're all the same. Does power corrupt you people this easily? It's disgusting." Calder placed his hand on Michael's shoulder and walked past him. He stared towards the girl, and despite his blinded eyes and his expression slowly formed into a scowl.

"I can see you. Your true form I mean, not whatever this is."

He gestured to her body, "It's poorly done, and you hide your mannerisms crudely. Why even wear the skin of that girl if you weren't ready to put in the effort to hide what you are?"

She stared towards Calder for a moment and her smile slowly turned into a frown.

"I don't like you."

She waved her hand and a wave of energy washed over Michael and Calder. Immediately Michael's neck twisted around with a sickening crack.

Calder however stood there unharmed, though a grin spread across his face.

"There it is. Just under the surface, broiling and hiding."

He lifted his sword over his shoulder, "You filthy monster."

The girl's eyes widened as she spread out her arms. Immediately the world seemed to warp, and runic antlers rapidly spread out from Michael's head as his neck reset itself.

The ground moved and twisted beneath their feet, and the buildings surrounding them folded like paper as they rearranged themselves. Walls quickly sprung up and separated Michael and Calder as the world around them changed.

Everything relocated around Michael like a torrent, yet it refused to encroach within a ten meter radius of him. It was the effect of the runic antlers. They were undoubtedly stronger when the god had used them, but they existed to consume the arcane. Even if they were weaker than the deer god's this was nothing to them.

Michael grinned and took a step forward. The walls surrounding him moved like bullet trains, but crumbled upon his approach.

So with a shrug he simply walked in a straight line through the ever-shifting world. None of it so much as touching him.

He unsheathed his weapons, "Keith, remind me of all the things these sisters have done."

"That's a long list, but some highlights include murder, disintegration, decapitation, forced starvation and skinning."

Michael scowled, "Thanks buddy. You've just got me motivated. No, let's go kill a real monster."

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"SCP-9376, the Living Crown. Object class keter, and arguably one of the biggest problems the SCP foundation has ever faced. SCP-9376 is currently controlling the body of SCP-507, codenamed the reluctant dimension hopper, and has taken over another world's flesh that hates virus."

The scientist paused to clear his throat as a table of shadowy onlookers continued to watch the presentation.

"Whenever something near him dies their soul is sucked into SCP-9376 and used to strengthen his body. He's currently equipped with a long list of anomalous items, each one handpicked by SCP-9376 throughout his dimension traveling exploits. They range from being somewhat useful to incredible threats. They're geared for battle, and we're honestly unsure how many anomalous items he actually has on his person at this point."

One of the table members lifted his eyes from a document pertaining to the presentation.

"Is that all we should be concerned with?"

The speaker paused, "No, that's not all. There was apparently a termination attempt made against SCP-9376 roughly three weeks ago, and it didn't exactly go as planned."

Another figure spoke up, "Why was the attempt made?"

"That would be because of a prophecy the foundation discovered pertaining to SCP-9376. He's destined to wear the smiling mask. No force on this earth can change that outcome."

A low chuckle echoed outward from the group, "And yet those fools decided to try to kill him? How laughable."

Another spoke up, "What became of the attempt?"

"They tried to dispose of him into SCP-017, the Shadow Child. We've recently received news that several hours before the Living Crown's speech the Shadow Child disappeared from its containment cell. Nobody knows what's become of it."

Nobody commented and the speaker moved onwards, "Despite his rather… crude methods, the living crown does seem to have a somewhat similar goal to us. I suggest reaching out to him. Perhaps he'd make a decent ally?"

One scoffed, "He's far too dangerous."

Another countered, "Perhaps he is, but can we honestly kill him? The foundation couldn't manage it, and admittedly their plan wasn't the worst."

A tall man sitting towards the end of the table sighed, "Send an envoy to the Living Crown and express our desire to work together. Make sure his little outburst today is covered up well. I don't care if you need to do. Just make sure this is forgotten. This meeting of the Global Occult Coalition is over. Now go get to work."