SCP Ragnarok Runners

The day my life changed

Alto Clef. That was the name of the man who sat in front of a desk looking down at case files scattered among his desk like the ashes that fell from his lit cigar. Seemingly every day there seemed to be a new man-made horror that threatened humanity. Sighing as he took his cigar out, he put the lit cigar out on a case file involving a slaughtered family. Desk duty was a waste of his talents. He was better known back in his day as an accomplished anomaly killer. His three eyes softened as he thought about what his life could have been. A family. The thought made him chuckle slightly. He was never going to be a family man, he already gave up one kid and his genes were probably further destroying the gene pool somewhere in Mexico. A knock at his door came as Clef answered.
  "Ya don't have to knock you know, I'm new here after all and your all still watching me." Clef said in a bored, monotone voice as the door opened.
  "Alto Clef, their putting you on a field mission." It was one of the foundations MTF soldiers dressed in light black body armor with a helmet and visor covering his face. Clef didn't know why, but he felt uneasy. It was instinct he had developed over the years of dealing with anomalies. The same feeling, he got the day he discovered he had a daughter right before he left on the mission and so many times before.
  "What's the special occasion? Last time I checked I wasn't allowed to go out in the field yet." Clef asked suspiciously.
  "I just relay the message, not paid enough to ask questions." The MTF soldier replied as he reached behind him, taking a file out of a bag tossing it to the doctor. Clef caught the file as he opened it his eyes glancing over it as he stood up.
  "Fair enough, I'll be at the hanger in ten." Clef said as the soldier left the room. Clef tucked the file under his left armpit as he reached under his desk, grabbing his ukulele slinging it over his shoulder. As much as he wanted to bring more cigars with him Clef left them behind, last thing he wanted to do was contaminate the area when he got there. Clef took the file as he opened it, reading as he walked avoiding everyone in the hall as his boots stomped idly along the ground. A twinge of annoyance could be seen on his face as he read over the file. "The bare minimum. Well, I've had less to work with." The file mentioned that an officer responded to a call about strange lights in a building. Supposedly when he went to evict the trespassers, they open fired on him. Long story short, a shootout happened between them and the police. Now Clef knew that wasn't a reason for the foundation to be involved, but apparently the memetic writing on the inside walls of the building were.
  "Alto Clef." Clef looked up to see a female agent this time, she pointed to a black bird helicopter.
  "All fueled and ready to go?" Clef asked as he tossed the file in a nearby trash can.
"Waiting on you." She confirmed as Clef boarded the chopper. The flight was long and mostly annoying for Clef. Mostly because as they always do, someone asked questions.
  "So, I heard your former G.O.C?" One of the male soldiers asked. Clef spoke through his headset.
  "I'd plead the fifth, but the foundation doesn't abide by the amendments. How about you ask me a question that doesn't make me want to throw you out of this helicopter?" Clef asked as the soldier began to open his mouth, stop, and close it before thinking. "That's a smart man. You don't have a parachute." Clef chuckled darkly to himself as the rest of the ride was spent silently. As the helicopter landed Clef along with three other MTF soldiers hopped out. As he learned, their call signs were Bourbon, Taffy and Dice the one who asked him a question. Clef personally didn't see anything special about the building. A few of the foundation agents were already talking to the local police. Clef didn't feel safe here. He was smart enough to know if it was safe there wouldn't be three MTF behind him. As Clef approached the building one of the men talking to the cops raced over.
  "Are you guys from the site? Look, this is a whole clusterfuck. Dead cops, dead cultists." The man began.
  "And alive cops who aren't being hit with your MIB magic, now get em out of here agent... what's your name?" Clef asked not really interested.
  "That's classified due to the undercover-"
  "Agent Classy, nice meeting you and all that. What am I supposed to be looking for here besides the writing on the walls?"
  "If you'd have let me finish, you'd know to call me Phillip." Phillip said dejected that Clef didn't even seem the least bit interested in cooperating.
  "You want to have your new name be agent toothless?" Clef smiled as that shut Phillip up. Clef turned to the three MTF Agents.
  "Ok kids, daddies making a house call. Dice, go around back. Bourbon guard the front door. Taffy, with me." Without a word all three went to their positions as Clef made his way inside. He looked back to Taffy, while he knew dice was a male that was only because it was mentioned in conversation. Most MTF field soldiers have a body type that's easy to hide under all that heavy armor, and with a voice changer its hard to tell. Inside there were around several bodies in various positions in a large empty warehouse with light pouring in from the glass ceiling. Each cultist seemed to have a weapon, some guns, some knives. Every one of them seemed to be wearing normal clothing. Nothing screamed cult. Clef figured the bodies of the cops must have been moved already. "Help me check these bodies." Clef ordered as agent Taffy went over to a male corpse, sifting through their pockets.
  "What am I looking for?" Taffy asked as Clef shrugged, bending over as he reached under the shirt of a woman lifting it up slightly before searching her pockets.
  "Matching items, tattoos. A book or paper they all carry. Most cults you see on tv aren't all black robes and such their mostly led by sociopaths who want your money and loyalty, or body, or life. Depends. Now anomalous cultists have a theme usually."
  "Like a tattoo?" Taffy asked hesitantly. Clef came over to examine the dead body Taffy was investigating. On the left thigh of the body was what looked like skull and crossbones. Except in the place of a human skull there was a tree with nine branches.
  "Yea, this may do. Let me just..." Clef went back over to his body. Lo and behold as he removed their right shoe the same tattoo was on the bottom of her foot. "Some kinda, pirate tree death cult?" Clef mumbled to himself as he got up, walking to some of the anomalous writing on the wall. The anomalous letters shifted around, projecting themselves into the air in a 3D image in English. His eyes went over each word that just continued to repeat.
  "The Mad One?" Taffy read out loud as Clef smacked them upside the helmet.
  "Rule number one, never read magic letters out loud. Also yea, I think I get what this cult was all about. The Mad One, Odin. From the Norse Pantheon. Explains the tree. None of these bodies really strike me as Viking like though." Clef narrowed his eyes as he heard something creak. Slowly, he took his ukulele out. He began to strum on it for a moment as Taffy seemed to stare at Clef.
  "What are you doing?" Taffy asked confused.
  "Do you know the one thing people forget to do, Taffy?" Clef asked with a wicked smile. "They always, always. Forget to look up." Clef ran his fingers along the ukulele as the headstock opened, revealing a barrel! Clef fired from his ukulele into the roof as a female voice screamed out! There was a loud crash as something hit the floor. The scenery around them changed slowly as the dull warehouse looked more like a new building. Hallways appeared through the building with green walls. The bodies were surrounded by strange new symbols that Clef couldn't identify, but it looked like they were arranged for some sort of ritual. There were crates of supplies everywhere, food, water, ammo. Clef was more surprised he didn't see money since they seemed to have everything else. There was a dragging sound as Clef glanced over to see what he had shot.
  "Contact!" Taffy said as she raised her sidearm. It seemed to be a woman. Clef had shot her in the right leg from an invisible catwalk above. The sound of a child crying rang out as clef looked to the girl's arms. She was swaddling something. Only time would tell if it was human or not. The woman began to run, even with a hole in her leg. "Dice, rabbit coming your way carrying a baby!" Taffy said urgently over her radio. Clef rushed forward after the women with Taffy as they pursued her through the building. The walls began to shift as the path in front of them changed one of the changing paths separating Taffy from Clef! Clef recognized this, there was a reality bender nearby. If it was the woman he would have to kill her before she escaped or they would never see her again. Clef rushed through the halls his ukulele raised poised to shoot! As he rounded a corner though, he stopped. There she was, on the ground with a pool of blood forming near her leg. Her arms were outstretched, the baby crying loudly as Clef raised his gun. Shooting the woman twice. Once in the head, and once in the back. The child only cried louder. The halls didn't seem to return to normal, which usually happened after a reality bender died. At least with forty percent of cases.
  "Well, guess its just you and me kid." Clef walked over as he slung the ukulele over his shoulder, picking up the swaddle. It was a little girl. Clef peeled her eyelids open checking for any abnormalities. He sighed. "Well, I guess I should just deal with this." Clef pulled back his right arm, preparing to spike the baby like a football. "Time to save myself some paperwork and ammo!" The click of a gun's safety going off sounded behind Clef as he froze.
  "That is far enough! Put the child down gently." Taffy ordered. She had holstered her sidearm, switching things up with her rifle. Clef turned his head around slightly. A wall had vanished, allowing Taffy to see Clef.
  "So, the woman wasn't the reality bender. Is it the kid?" Clef asked himself.
  "I will not ask again!" Taffy said in a more demanding, angry tone. Clef realized he had his hands tied in a metaphorical sense.
  "Alright, fair enough." Clef slowly set the child down as he backed away.
  "On the ground, cuff yourself." Taffy demanded. Clef slowly laid on the ground as Taffy tossed him a pair of handcuffs.
  "Aren't the cuffs supposed to come out on the third date? We did just meet after all." Clef joked as he put the cuffs on. Clef watched as Taffy picked up the child, wondering when the reality bender was going to make its move. Normally they were impatient, they either did it in roundabout way for fun or went straight to the point.... What was taking them so long? It couldn't have been the child. Clef was hoisted onto his feet by Taffy with one hand as she cradled the baby girl in her other arm. She leaned into her walkie and began to speak.
  "Dice, the rabbit is down. Repeat, rabbit is down. Taking Alto Clef into custody. Someone get me site command, rabbit had a kit."
  "Copy that." Bourbon's voice came over the radio. "I'll get site command on the line."
  "This is Dice, on the way inside to assist." Clef smiled as he was held there, looking to the small child who slowly stopped screaming.
  "I guess the foundation don't look kindly to killing possible anomalies." He joked to himself as Dice arrived not long after to help escort him away.
  Many years later an alarm began to blare loudly from a phone. A girl around 18 years old slowly got up with a groan. She reached onto her small nightstand, grabbing her phone as she silenced it. She took a deep breath as she slowly got up pulling the covers off her. A quick glance around her room would tell anyone that she didn't have much, but she wasn't poor. She had a few posters from a few popular anime, a cheap laptop for school related activities.
  "Y/N YOU BETTER NOT HAVE TURNED YOUR ALARM OFF AND WENT BACK TO SLEEP!" Her adoptive mother shouted from downstairs. Y/n took a deep breath as she dragged herself out of bed.
  "NOOOO!" Y/n shouted back groggily her voice almost cracking. She forced herself up as she went through her morning routine, showering, brushing her teeth, and heading downstairs after getting dressed in a black t shirt and grey sweatpants. Her adoptive brother and sister were already downstairs. David was younger than Y/n at around fifteen. He had short brown hair and blue eyes. He always wore a pair of blue shorts, even in the winter along with a shirt involving whatever fandom he was into at the time. Today he had a picture of Steven from Steven universe on a black shirt. The show had ended a while ago, but her brother was getting into it recently. Y/n's sister who was around the same age was helping their adoptive mother set the table. Her name was Jessica and she had long shoulder length red hair with green eyes that reminded Y/n of moss. She wore a pair of blue jeans and a white shirt.
  "Ah the sleeping princess is awake!" David teased. "Come to grace us with your presence?"
  "Bold of you to assume I would grace you with anything but a headlock!" Y/n teased as David laughed.
  "Young lady, that is no way to talk to your brother!" Y/n's adoptive mother scolded. She was a big boned woman, her red hair tied back into a ponytail her hazel eyes looking down to Y/n. She was a stay-at-home mother, a trophy wife for her cop husband. They were a slightly dysfunctional family, and their parents could be a little strict, but Y/n loved them all the same. Jessica signed to Y/n, asking if she wanted eggs or bacon this morning. Jessica wasn't mute, but she was planning to get into working with disabled children when she was older, so she was practicing ASL. Right now she had only gotten a few words down, but had mastered the alphabet.
  "Forgive me mother, I didn't realize I had to be nice to David any day beside his birthday." Y/n joked. Y/n pointed to the eggs as Jessica dished her sister a plate setting it on the table.
  "You can be nice?" David asked doubtful.
  "David!" Their mother scolded as everyone sat down to eat. Like most times they had breakfast it was silent with a brief exchange of how everyone was doing. As Y/n finished she excused herself from the table.
  "Come on David last one to the bus is a rotten egg!" Y/n said mischievously. David grabbed his backpack, intending not to lose this time.
  "Excuse me gotta go!" David said not even pushing his chair in as he ran out the door. Y/n knew he was a slow eater, so she always had the head start advantage.
  "YOUNG MAN COME BACK HERE!" Their mother shouted as David only ran faster. The two raced to the bus stop as both panted heavily.
  "Phew, mom is going to tell dad." David said between breaths.
  "The worst thing dad is going to do is arrest us or ground us." Y/n promised as they waited for the bus, and waited, and waited.
  "The bus is like, twenty minutes late. Victor can't have gotten this lost." David said impatiently.   "How about we go back to the house if he's a no show in ten?" David suggested as the school bus finally rounded the corner.
 "David, we had a conversation about your ability to jinx things." Y/n playfully scolded making him laugh.
 "Alright mom." David said as the bus pulled up. The doors slowly opened revealing that it wasn't Victor, but instead some woman with brown skin. "Ah man, A sub?" David complained as he stepped onto the bus. Children shouted and laughed at one another as Y/n passed the driver, stopping for a moment as the door to the bus closed behind her. The driver didn't even wait for her to sit before the bus began to go!
  "Hey! Child safety lady." Y/n complained as she made her way to the back of the bus with her brother. The two sat next to each other as Y/n took the window seat.
  "So, what are your plans when you graduate?" David asked suddenly. Y/n was caught slightly off guard as she turned to him.
  "Me? Bold of you to assume I have plans. I don't have money for college but I should probably go to one. I'll probably get a job at some small store and hope to get some experience and not strangle customers." David tried not to laugh at her response.
  "I uh.... I think I want to be a cop like dad." David said slightly nervous. In all the years Y/n had known her brother he rarely opened up about what he wanted without beating around the bush, so doing so now meant something big.
  "A cop? I don't want to doubt you, you have a great sense of justice! Though, we both know it's a rather... thankless job." David smiled as he spoke quieter, but the noise of the bus drowned out his voice this time. Y/n put her ear closer to her brother as he spoke again.
  "He... after he saved me from... my biological parents...." David began again as Y/n hugged him tightly.
  "Hey, hey! They don't need to be called parents. Sperm and egg donor, remember David?" David nodded as he sighed, putting his head on Y/n's shoulder. The bus suddenly lurched as Y/n braced her legs against the seat in front of them, trying to prevent either of them from slamming face first into the seat!
  "HEY! WATCH IT!" One of the kids shouted up front as a car honked at the bus. That's when Y/n realized they weren't on their normal route.
  "Where the hell are we going?" Y/n asked as more students started to notice that they had missed their usual turn. The bus became quiet for a second before more kids started to shout.
  "Hey, stop! HEY!" A girl near the front shouted at the driver. The girl got up, trying to shake the driver before she screamed loudly! The sound silencing the bus once more as the girl fell over unconscious! Panic began to spread through the bus as Y/n nudged her brother.
  "Scooch!" She said as David tucked in his legs. Y/n moved around him as she had to grab onto one of the seats to prevent herself from falling over! Students began to bounce and tumble in their seats as the bus sped up! Seemingly faster than it should have been able to go! She dodged flying backpacks, bookbags, even other people! Until finally Y/n was near the front.
  "Listen here you nut case I am not going to wind up on the five o'clock news!" As she reached for the driver stepping over the girl who fainted the bus was suddenly struck! Y/n nearly hit her head as she fell over, sliding through the isles smacking her head on any and everything on the floor! As she got herself up, someone shouted.
  "IT'S THE COPS!" Y/n peered out the right windows to see a squadron of heavily armored vehicles trying to flank the bus, doing pit maneuvers! She tried to scan them for any visible markings but couldn't find a single one.
  "Those are no cops." Y/n realized as she began to make her way back to the front, grabbing a bookbag to strike the driver with. As she got closer, the sound of gunshots echoed outside. Y/n ducked her head, only to notice no bullets were coming through the glass. They were getting stuck in the glass! "I want off this fucking bus." Y/n said determined as she stomped toward the driver, raised the binder over her head and brought it down on the driver, only to be met with a hollow crunch. She froze, grabbing onto the bus seat as she dropped the bookbag. There was no blood, and no skull should have made a sound like that from being hit by a two-pound bookbag. She looked closer to the driver, only realizing too late that what she had struck wasn't a person, but a hollow corpse. A green mist began to flood out from the busses vent as terror crossed Y/n's face. It was too late for her to realize that this wasn't her school bus.