Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

- 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕿𝖔𝖔𝖓 -

My tail swayed behind me as I scowled at the door. How dare they lock me back in here? Ugh. They better not try to withhold meals as some sort of additional punishment. Weakened as I was, I could still bring the place down around their ears. 

Food would only make me stronger now. I wasn't going to tell them this though. No, I'd let them find it out for themselves. I whirled in place, marching away from the entrance to my prison to examine what other changes they might've made. Of course, what little bits of entertainment I had managed to sneak in had been taken. All my books, coloring implements, even the ink I'd collected under the bed was gone.

They even took my blanket. With an irritated huff, I summoned a new one. Its cartoonish texture stood out oddly from the more realistic bed. I sat down on the plush fabric to sort through the effects of my new form. The Awareness. 

Something was watching me. Somethings were watching me. Somewhere even I couldn't reach. But I could listen. These... readers... had questions. Was my life a story to them? Oh, how curious. 

The implications could drive a normal human crazy. 

Too bad I already was.

_____

"𝔗𝔥𝔞𝔱𝔰 𝔢𝔫𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥. 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔫𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔩𝔶 𝔞𝔰 𝔟𝔞𝔡 𝔞𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔠𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔰." I scoffed, hopping off the bed to stare down the open doorway, daring anyone to come inside. The chorus of voices quieted as I tuned them out with practiced ease. Smiles and Shortstack peered at me from the entrance. My tail twitched in slow irritated movements. Why couldn't they leave me alone? If they didn't have food, I wasn't interested. "𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔡𝔬 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱?" I drawled. 

"Seems harmless." Shortstack muttered, before intruding upon my domain. I bristled. Harmless?! Their basic assumption I posed no threat because of my appearance irked me. Didn't these people deal with monsters hiding under innocent facades all the time? Why was I suddenly different?

More aggravated now, I stalked forwards, intent on throwing the man out myself. They come in here, after imprisoning me once again, to insult me? Nope, not happening. "𝔒𝔲𝔱." I spat. For their own sake, they had better comply.

Almost casually, Smiles reached over to pluck me off the floor, holding me by the collar of my shirt. I flipped. In an instant, the man was slammed to the floor, a glimmering switchblade being pressed against his throat. I knew stealing this from Shortstack during our first brawl would come in handy.

"𝔇𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔞𝔤𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔰𝔢𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔭𝔢𝔫𝔰." I threatened. Only to get picked up again, a hand closing around my wrist when I went to swipe at the offender. "Hey, that's my knife!" Shortstack exclaimed, trying to pry it from my grip as I squirmed wildly. A mental command had it vanishing completely, much to the human's obvious surprise.

"Shit, Saltzer was right. Definitely some sort of storage ability. Give that back." The man had the audacity to shake me like a naughty child as I growled and hissed. My dull fingers offered no form of purchase against his arms, leaving me to scrabble helplessly for a grip. I wanted to smack him. If I had claws, his face would be sporting new, likely permanent, features.

I was held at a distance as the men exited my room. They were treating me like a feral cat, hissing and spitting and scratching in an attempt to get away. I hated it.

...maybe it wasn't the least accurate comparison. 

A short walk revealed our destination: a testing chamber. My noises quieted as I was deposited on the floor, the door closing behind me and locking me inside. The space was empty, with a darkened glass wall being the most interesting aspect of the room. 

The intercom hidden somewhere out of view cracked, "SCP-8354, describe your storage anomaly." HA. Thats funny. "𝔉𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔪𝔢 𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔰𝔱." I hummed, rocking back and forth on my heels in amusement. They couldn't make me if I didn't want to.

"Demonstrate your storage anomaly, and then you will receive food." It droned on. What a classic. The ol' bait and switch. I had a strong feeling they'd just take the results and shove me back to my cell instead of feeding me. A push at the Awareness was all that I needed to confirm my suspicions. 

I flicked my hand like I was doing a magic trick. Their interview notes appeared in my hand. "𝔏𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰?" A cheeky grin spread across my face. Let them have a little hint of what they were dealing with. With another casual flick of the wrist, I smugly sat on the cartoonish chair that was summoned below me. I crossed my legs and tutted at them.

"𝔏𝔢𝔱'𝔰 𝔰𝔢𝔢 𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢..." I hummed, riffling through their surprisingly put together notes. For being in this state for such a short period of time, they sure had done quite the amount of research. I skimmed over the more menial parts and got to their main goal. "ℑ𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔯𝔬𝔤𝔞𝔱𝔢 𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔞𝔫𝔬𝔪𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔲𝔰 𝔞𝔟𝔦𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔢𝔰... 𝔐𝔶, 𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔫'𝔱 𝔴𝔢 𝔞𝔪𝔟𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔲𝔰?"

"SCP-8354, give that back. You will not be receiving any food. Explain how you did that. You haven't shown any sort of ability like this before-" I snorted. "𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔫'𝔱 𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔬𝔫 𝔤𝔦𝔳𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔪𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔶𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔢𝔞𝔱 𝔞𝔫𝔶𝔴𝔞𝔶𝔰" The papers flew from my hands as I threw my arms up dramatically. "ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔱𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔨 𝔦𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔶𝔬𝔲, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔦𝔫 𝔞𝔫 𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔯𝔢𝔩𝔶 𝔡𝔦𝔣𝔣𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔟𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔨 𝔫𝔬𝔴." With an errant thought, the papers exploded into vibrant sparks, popping and hissing in shades of gold.

"ℑ 𝔥𝔬𝔭𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔶."

A grin stretched cheerily on my face, before I bounced off my chair and gave the Awareness a nice shove. My vision tunneled as I warped myself to a more appealing destination. I popped out at the cafeteria with a beaming grin. If they wouldn't feed me, I'd do it myself.

The humans around me didn't seem to know how to react to a toon just casually appearing out of thin air. I skipped up to the buffet, pressing up against the glass with child-like enthusiasm. It wasn't entirely an act. I was always more lackadaisical in this form. Life just felt so much more whimsical. Nothing mattered, in the end. Why not enjoy myself?

Waving excitedly to the human behind the counter, I pointed at my selection. Thankfully, the exhausted service worker didn't care that I wasn't supposed to be there. She didn't have enough clearance to know anyways, and she had always hated her lackluster position, so why should she-

I grabbed my sandwich and scampered away, ignoring the human's internal monologue. Such was the danger of using the Awareness. It threatened to drag me down if I even stopped to think about something for too long, or worse, too hard. 

It made me erratic. Unpredictable.

The price of power was a steep one. Linger too long, push too far, and I could lose myself. 

Life was meant to be lived on the edge, anyways.

The nutrient-packed slab, a mix of processed and natural ingredients, was gone in moments. I hummed, watching as two familiar guards tried to wade through the masses to get to me. A gave them a cheery wave, leaving my seat to effortlessly delve deeper into the crowded cafeteria. At least my smaller size had some perks. The hardest part was not getting stepped on by unobservant humans.

I felt much better after eating. Content in the knowledge the Foundation didn't have any way to stop me as of yet, I continued my shenanigans. What would be the best way to get under their skin? 

Make it so that every time you walk through a door, there's a 10% chance to explode- no no, too extreme. Annoyance is the goal. What do a bunch of humans who I'm pretty sure don't sleep hate the most? I could make it so that they all are forced- no, boring. Oh, I could...

Perfect.

I tugged on the Awareness. It responded eagerly to my call, ready to bring any concept to life. With a grin twisting into something more malicious, I enforced my will on the world. The change was imperceptible. The humans wouldn't know what hit them.

I made my way to a new table, content to watch the madness unfold from the sidelines this time. It didn't take long. Already, scientists were frowning at their cups, faces contorting in disgust and confusion. Guards were starting to peer suspiciously around them, unsure of what could have caused the sudden change in their drinks.

What better way to mentally fuck with humans addicted to coffee then to make it all decaf?

A bag of popcorn appeared in my hands, which I happily munched on as the humans scrounged around for the source. It wouldn't give me energy, seeing as I had used that same energy to create it in the first place. It was, however, tasty, and was a comedic way to watch the chaos starting to hit the ranks of humans around me. 

Upon finding that every single drink had been affected, they went to make more. Only to find that the effect was the same on any freshly brewed cups. I giggled. It would be even more entertaining when the caffeine deprivation hit. A bunch of high-strung, irritated humans in the same vicinity sounded like a great show.

I pushed the effect to the whole Site after the cafeteria trial run. Any coffee coming in would automatically be swapped to its decaffeinated version. Amusing. I turned my head to watch Smiles approach me. He wasn't grinning, which I quietly tsked at. Shortstack was close behind, a scowl decorating his features.

Prepare for trouble,

And make it double~

Shaking off the reference to an anime -what even was an 'anamae' anyways, - show, I looked at my two disheveled guards. "What did you do?" Smiles accused. I swiftly shoved my popcorn behind my back, into my pocket, in order to save it for later. "𝔅𝔬𝔩𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔬 𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔲𝔪𝔢 ℑ 𝔡𝔦𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔶𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔱 𝔞𝔩𝔩." I scoffed, crossing my arms. It was a lie, of course. I had many more shenanigans planned for occupants of the Foundation, and something extra special for Saltzer.

The man shook his head, before grabbing for me. I grinned from my perch on his shoulder. Smiles flinched, shouting out a curse as he panicked at my spontaneous appearance at his side. "𝔏𝔢𝔱𝔰 𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔶 𝔞 𝔤𝔞𝔪𝔢!" I cheered, escaping his swinging shock-box to sit on top of the table. 

"𝔜𝔬𝔲'𝔳𝔢 𝔤𝔬𝔱 𝔱𝔴𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔶-𝔣𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔠𝔞𝔱𝔠𝔥 𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔢𝔢 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔰! 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔦𝔫, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 ℑ 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔶. 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔩𝔬𝔰𝔢..." A bit of theatrics had the area around us growing dark and cold. "...𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔢 𝔤𝔢𝔱𝔰 𝔴𝔦𝔭𝔢𝔡 𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔢𝔵𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢. 𝔊𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔩𝔲𝔠𝔨!" I gave a beaming smile, before vanishing in front of their noses. 

_

Of course, I wasn't going to be completely unfair. I jumped up and down on a breakroom couch, simply having fun. I had a few minutes before the games begun. Smiles and Shortstack had already notified the rest of the Site about my terms. The information buzzed at the back of my mind, courtesy of my silent request to stay updated on what was going on in the Foundation.

I was aware of how they had locked the doors and vents in a futile attempt to prevent me from warping away. The doors opened while I was mid-way through a jump. The net that was shot at me vanished in a puff of smoke as I hopped down. "𝔒𝔥, 𝔴𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔫'𝔱 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱. ℑ𝔱'𝔡 𝔟𝔢 𝔱𝔬𝔬 𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔶!"

I was confident in my ability to evade them even without the use of any tricks. Even as guards slowly pooled in, I remained relaxed, a lazy grin spread wide across my face. "Stop playing games, 8354. Come here. You can have a treat if you do." One attempted to coax me closer. 

"𝔇𝔬 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔨 ℑ'𝔡 𝔣𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱?" I started backing up, pressing my heels to the wall. The Foundation closed in. "𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔭𝔢𝔬𝔭𝔩𝔢 𝔫𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔞 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔦𝔳𝔢." And with that, the gravity of the room shifted. Furniture collided with the wall-turned-floor with shocking force, catching the majority of the humans off guard as they were pinned beneath. I cackled, uncaring of their cries of surprise and pain.

"ℑ 𝔡𝔦𝔡 𝔰𝔞𝔶 𝔦𝔱'𝔡 𝔟𝔢 𝔱𝔬𝔬 𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔶! 𝔜𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔰𝔲𝔭𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔢 𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔣𝔢𝔰𝔰𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔞𝔩𝔰! 𝔈𝔵𝔭𝔢𝔠𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔲𝔫𝔢𝔵𝔭𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔢𝔡!" I whooped, jumping and flipping the gravity so that I was standing on the ceiling. The lights may be fixed in place, but they easily shattered when one of the couches slammed into them. The glittering, glowing shards radiated brightness from where they free-floated, uninhibited by the changing gravity. I wasn't that cruel to completely deprive the humans of light, even though it came at a sharp cost if they were unluckily enough to travel through the minefield of glass.

Disoriented, the Foundation guards struggled to conform to the changing laws of nature. Scientists hovered in the doorway once they figured out the effect only extended to this room. Ever curious, weren't they? Meanwhile, I treated the room like a washing machine, spinning and tossing humans and inanimate objects alike as I kept tauntingly out of reach.

I was more focused on the people inside them the ones outside, and it cost me. A hand wrapped around my tail as I flipped past the doorway. Instantly, everything froze. I slowly turned to look at the person who dared interrupt my game. A lingering guard had reached into the room, clinging to the door frame for dear life, and snatched me. 

"𝔖𝔫𝔢𝔞𝔨𝔶..." I hissed, the gravity returning to normal. My attitude snapped back to vivid excitement so fast it seemed to give the humans whiplash as I slipped from the guard's hold to cartwheel through a wall. "𝔗𝔴𝔬 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡𝔰!"My voice echoed through the thoroughly trashed room as I warped myself to a new location.

_

Chuckling, I sat on a desk and kicked my feet was I waited for the Foundation to find me. It was strange to find a schoolroom-esq part of the building, but the seminar hall was a great place for the upcoming antics I was about to unleash. The doors opened, a gunshot piercing through the relative quiet as I froze. I blinked slowly at the horrified human in the doorway, sniper rifle in hand. The confetti his weapon had expelled slowly fluttered to the ground.

"𝔗𝔥𝔞𝔱𝔰 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶 𝔫𝔦𝔠𝔢." I frowned, sliding off the desk to stand and stare at the man in silence. Did they really try to kill me so soon? It hadn't even been a full day! Oh, this deserved retribution.

"SCP-8354, exit the auditorium. Do not use any anomalous abilities. Consequences can be lessened if you comply." The Foundation's intercom buzzed to life. I was making them speedrun the stages of grief. It was impressive, even for me. Denial, anger, and now, bargaining had been crossed off. I wondered if I could hit the last stages during my final act. 

The message repeated, which I changed to classical music after the second time. It was much more pleasant to listen to as I watched the Foundation continue to plead with me. It was almost funny as I patiently waited for them to enter and start the games again.

I gave a cheery grin and wave to the D-class as he was shuffled inside. Poor fellow, he didn't even know what the Foundation was making him sign up for. All because of a petty crime too? Seriously, how did they even justify using their own kind as fodder? He wasn't my target demographic though, so I simply watched him approach me.

"𝔗𝔦𝔠𝔨, 𝔱𝔬𝔠𝔨. 𝔇-𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔰𝔰 𝔡𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱. ℭ𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔦𝔫 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔶." I crooned, ignoring the man tentatively edging closer and closer to me. He didn't belong here. A quick tug on the Awareness sent the man to a nice farm in Oklahoma. I could be nice, sometimes. 

I only had to wait a few more minutes before guards, more heavily armored this time, entered. I gave a low whistle. Level IV body armor? They weren't playing around this time. Unfortunately for them, I was.

"𝔚𝔢𝔩𝔩. ℑ 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔯 𝔦𝔰 𝔩𝔞𝔳𝔞, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 ℑ'𝔪 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔣𝔢𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔬 𝔫𝔦𝔠𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔶𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢, 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔞𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔡𝔬." The humans slowly approached the stage I was on, tense. All eyes were on me as I pointed to the rows upon rows of chairs. "ℌ𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔭𝔥𝔯𝔞𝔰𝔢, '𝔥𝔲𝔫𝔤𝔯𝔶 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴𝔩𝔢𝔡𝔤𝔢'?"

The seats around them burst to life, bending and squirming as they snapped their metal feet off the floor and charged the humans. Seams and stitches ripped open, revealing cottony maws that snapped and spat fuzz at struggling flesh. The ragged edges sharpened into something more dangerous. Rabid and feral, all under my control.

I sat on the desk and watched, head tilting as I observed the bizarre scene. Imagination was a powerful tool when used correctly. I happened to be very good at it. I wouldn't move this time; it was up to the men fighting for their lives against chairs to reach me alive. 

And boy, were they struggling. The seats had the numbers advantage, and any guns that had been brought along only spewed out confetti. The humans were forced to rely on their own strength and tactics to make it through. Some had fallen, succumbed to the crushing weight of dozens of chairs. Some of the living furniture had bloodstains on their mouths, and I knew their armor wasn't protecting them completely from the onslaught.

One of the closer humans finally managed to break free after a heavy struggle. He charged me without a second thought, vaulting onto the stage to tackle me. I phased through him, floating like a ghost for a moment, before breaking out into applause. Despite the odds, one had made it. The chairs stiffened, falling into an inanimate slumber. Nearly all of them were soaked in blood. Bodies laid torn and desecrated all over the auditorium.

"𝔚𝔢𝔩𝔩 𝔡𝔬𝔫𝔢! 𝔄 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔱𝔥𝔶 𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢! 𝔒𝔫𝔢 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡!" I cheered them on like I hadn't just been responsible for the deaths of at least forty people. I let myself fall backwards through the floor, excited for the last and final game.

_

I leaned against an oversized mallet as I waited for the Foundation to regroup. Already, over half their time was up. I whistled a tune as I waited, the music echoing in the large gymnasium. Sammy was such a talented musician. Even now, decades later, his songs were still so catchy. 

"ℌ𝔞𝔳𝔢 ℑ 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔡 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔪𝔶 𝔣𝔞𝔳𝔬𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢 𝔤𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔰?" I spoke aloud to the empty room. One was never truly alone when the walls had ears. "...what is your favorite game, Bendy." The name usage surprised me, as I perked up. "𝔗𝔞𝔤."

A handful of people entered the room, cautious and flighty. They didn't seem to trust their surroundings. None had even bothered with ranged weapons. I wonder why...

"ℑ'𝔩𝔩 𝔢𝔵𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔯𝔲𝔩𝔢𝔰. 𝔚𝔥𝔬𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔦𝔰 '𝔦𝔱' 𝔤𝔢𝔱𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔱. ℌ𝔦𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔭𝔞𝔰𝔰 𝔦𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪." I grinned, picking it up with ease, despite the weapon being twice my size. "ℑ'𝔪 𝔦𝔱. 𝔖𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔯𝔲𝔫𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤." They made good on my advice and scattered. I whooped and charged after them.

I could just appear behind someone and whack them, but that would take the fun out of it. The joy lied in the chase. I slowly caught up to a panicking human, her frantic energy increasing as I approached. She tried to dart past me, and I struck. 

The woman screamed, shrill and high, as she slammed into a wall. I didn't see why. She just rubber-balled right off, the mallet appearing in her hands. She sat frozen in shock, despite being uninjured. Toon physics for the win! "𝔚𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔰𝔠𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔡? 𝔇𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔯𝔶, 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔩𝔩 𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝔟𝔞𝔠𝔨 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔢." I gave finger guns to the shaking woman, before running off. Despite being the final round, the stakes were much lower. I was in it to have fun.

Once they figured that out, they were much less hesitant to pass the mallet off onto someone else. They were still trying to group up and gang on me, but my smaller size allowed me more maneuverability, and I remained un-bashed. It was rather comical seeing someone shriek as they were sent flying from a gentle tap of the mallet.

Someone snuck up behind me and hoisted me off the ground. I squalled, already starting to squirm. I could escape, if I really wanted to. The man with the mallet was already charging though, and this game had gone on long enough. I let myself be smacked, squealing as I went skidding across the room. The mallet disappeared with an exaggerated poof, and I flopped defeated to the floor. 

Hurried footsteps approached me, and I was scooped up. Fingers frantically poked at me, and I stuck my tongue out and proclaimed "ℑ'𝔪 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔡.", before promptly bursting into hysterical giggles. It was silly. I let myself be carried out of the gym as I played dead. I even shifted my eyes to be X'd out.

This was the easiest way to see if the Foundation would try to bargain with me. They knew what I was capable of now. They had something I wanted. They took it from me. Stole it from me. To have them give it back would be handing the power back over to me. The sense of control was alluring. Addictive. 

They needed to give me my ink back. My ink, not whatever cheap copy that came from their printers. I'd be able to tell. Mine was of a different quality, thick and easily molded. Their ink was weak and runny. It wouldn't hold my shape without significant modifications.

I was brought back to the testing chamber, a lazy grin plastered across my face. It was clear I was willingly being brought back, even as I was unceremoniously placed on the foundation issued chair that had replaced what I had summoned earlier in the day. They tried to chain me to the table, but an errant impulse had the cuffs pooling at the floor, shifted into an unidentified wiggling puddle. Oh well. I wasn't going to touch that.

With heavy caution, my escort edged out of the room. He never took his eyes off me, and I returned the staring contest with glee, at least until the doors closed behind him. I loved games; tag was my favorite.

A machine was hastily wheeled inside as I doodled on the metal table in front of me. The markers that had appeared when I first considered drawing to wait out the Foundation were dropped as I inspected the contraption with interest. There was pressure at the back of my skull, and with silent permission, knowledge flowed in. Interesting. The Scranton Reality Anchor wouldn't affect me, so it was strange to see the Foundation attempting to use it.

An older man entered my room, staring dully at me, hands full of papers. He sighed, before sitting down across from me. "SCP-8354. I will now ask a series of questions to confirm that you are a reality bender. Please explain how you view using your anomalous capabilities." So, they did understand. It was strange, however, that they wanted to know how I felt about my abilities. My earlier demonstrations must have been enough.

"𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔩𝔴𝔞𝔶𝔰 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔬𝔰𝔱 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔮𝔲𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰. ℑ𝔱'𝔰 𝔯𝔢𝔣𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤." I hummed, leaning back in my chair. How could I word it without sounding absolutely crazy and unhinged? My thoughts spiraled. I absentmindedly grabbed at the markers, flipping one around to wipe at the marks on the table like how you would erase lines with a pencil. It worked because I wanted it to. 

"Answer the question, Bendy." The use of my name had my head snapping up. I thought about it, before finally replying. "ℑ𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔞 𝔟𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔰𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞 𝔠𝔲𝔯𝔰𝔢." I waved the marker at him. A doodled-on mustache appeared on his face. He reached for it and pulled it off without fanfare. I bolted upright. He understood!

"𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔤𝔢𝔱 𝔦𝔱. 𝔓𝔬𝔴𝔢𝔯 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔰 𝔞𝔱 𝔞 𝔠𝔬𝔰𝔱. 𝔎𝔫𝔬𝔴𝔩𝔢𝔡𝔤𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔡𝔯𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔦𝔫𝔰𝔞𝔫𝔢." I gestured to myself. "ℑ 𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔞𝔤𝔢, 𝔪𝔬𝔰𝔱𝔩𝔶." I tsked at him. "𝔑𝔬𝔯𝔪𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔶, ℑ 𝔠𝔞𝔫'𝔱 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔡𝔬 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰. 𝔅𝔲𝔱 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔯𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔦𝔡𝔢𝔞 𝔬𝔣 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔠𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔪𝔢 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔪, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔴𝔢 𝔞𝔯𝔢."

"So, you can't reality bend under normal circumstances?" He flipped through his notes as I nodded. "Ah, you had some mass taken away as punishment." I didn't think he'd had the time to read up on everything about me before Saltzer was begging for his help. Dr. Weathers was well known for his experience with reality benders. 

"You're surprisingly open about this." He muttered, looking back at me. "When the Foundation contains reality benders, they're often in the midst of a power trip and think themselves untouchable. You seem to know what your capabilities are. Have you gone off the deep end before?" 

"𝔒𝔣 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔰𝔢 ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢. ℜ𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔦𝔷𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔶 𝔞𝔰 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔰𝔢𝔢 𝔣𝔦𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔞 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔩𝔡-𝔞𝔩𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔢𝔵𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢. ℑ 𝔴𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔪𝔞𝔡 𝔞𝔤𝔢𝔰 𝔞𝔤𝔬. ℑ𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔬𝔫𝔩𝔶 𝔞𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔯 ℑ 𝔣𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡 𝔦𝔱 𝔡𝔦𝔡𝔫'𝔱 𝔪𝔞𝔨𝔢 𝔪𝔢 𝔣𝔢𝔢𝔩 𝔞𝔫𝔶 𝔟𝔢𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 ℑ 𝔰𝔫𝔞𝔭𝔭𝔢𝔡 𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔦𝔱." I was referring to my first and only power trip. It had happened in the studio, away from prying eyes. I had practically gone on a rampage. 

That was neither here nor there though. Some stories could wait. Dr. Weathers was much more relaxed. Seems he'd decided I wasn't an active threat. "How does the form you take change your ability to bend reality?"

"𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔞𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔢 ℑ 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔠𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔡, 𝔶𝔢𝔰? 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔩𝔬𝔰𝔢𝔯 ℑ 𝔞𝔪 𝔱𝔬 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 ℑ 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔢, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔯𝔤𝔶 ℑ 𝔢𝔵𝔭𝔢𝔫𝔡, 𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔳𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔪𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔵𝔠𝔢𝔰𝔰." I didn't mind explaining. I had taken the Foundation through a proverbial meat grinder earlier. They could enjoy some luxuries in the form of me answering some basic questions. My responses would likely have my ink returned to me faster. 

"Were you really going to wipe this Site out of existence if we had lost." The question killed the relaxed mood of the room. I had said that, hadn't I? "... ℑ 𝔨𝔢𝔢𝔭 𝔪𝔶𝔰𝔢𝔩𝔣 𝔪𝔬𝔰𝔱𝔩𝔶 𝔦𝔫 𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔠𝔨. ℑ 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡'𝔳𝔢 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔭𝔭𝔢𝔡 𝔟𝔢𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔦𝔱 𝔤𝔬𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔭𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔱."

The Site director sighed. "Please don't do that. I rather like existing. If you can keep the reality bending down, and stay in containment at least for a little while, I'll see if I can get your ink back to you." I beamed. I did not like this form, despite the power. "ℑ 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔰𝔫𝔞𝔠𝔨𝔰!" My arms waved excitedly from where I was leaning over the table. 

"...You can have snacks, yes." The man gave me a strange look, before standing up to exit the room. "Do try to behave. We've had to terminate far too many reality benders, and I've grown old and weary." And with that, Dr. Weathers was gone. 

_____

Incident Log 8354.1: "The Games", dated 2/25/2025

Subject manifested ontokinetic abilities after having its mass reduced by 62%. 

Note: Object claims its development was a direct response to its punishment. Retrieval of taken material underway.  Designated Type Green, level 3. 

Interviewers attempted to interrogate the subject over the creation of a throw blanket. Anomaly escapes, reappears in the cafeteria and changes all caffeinated beverages to decaf. This effect has since been extended to the entirety of the Site. It is recommended personnel drink all beverages before entering the building.

Upon being confronted, anomaly initiates "The Games". These games consisted of:

First round: 'Catch me if you can'. Subject alters the gravity of the room depending on where it stands. Personnel are tasked with 'catching' it. Game ended when Lieutenant ------ reached into the room and grabbed SCP-8354. Anomaly teleports away.

Second round: 'T̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶l̶o̶o̶r̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶l̶a̶v̶a̶', 'Hungry for knowledge'. Auditorium chairs became animated, attacking security officers. Personnel are tasked with touching the anomaly. Forty-six officers were terminated during this event. Game ended when officer ----- made it onto the stage with the object. Anomaly teleports away.

Third round: 'Tag'. Took place in the gymnasium. Subject manifested a cartoon- styled mallet approximately 1.7 meters in length and instructed personnel to attack each other with it. Upon contact, the individual would be launched, sustaining no damage and having the mallet appear in their hands. The weapon is unable to be dropped. The force of the swing has no effect on distance launched. With group effort, the anomaly was 'tagged', which ended the game. Subject played dead until it was returned to the testing chambers.

[Addendum 8354.2]