SCP-5043

Training

It was the day.

The day Tom was not looking forward to.

When the light above the door flashed and the alarm sound blared, he knew what he needed to do.

Not resist at all.

It may seem like he had given up, his flame of rebellion had been diminished.

Almost.

This time, instead of two burly men with chains, Dr.L showed up in his white lab coat.

"Come, Thomas." Dr.L said with a tone of impatience.

Tom huffed angrily and complied. What took him by surprise was when Dr.L grabbed him firmly by the upper part of his arm, like a misbehaving child. Tom didn't quite like this, but he didn't complain. He deserved any pain that came to him.

The pair walked for a few minutes before arriving to their destination. A gym.

Dr.L pulled a keycard up from his pocket and brought it up to a scanner, allowing them inside. Only when the pair entered the gym did Dr.L let go of Tom.

"Do five laps." Dr.L ordered, producing a clipboard and pen from his coat.

Tom glared at Dr.L, but he didn't notice. Or he didn't care. Either way, once again Tom complied and did as he was told.

By the time he was finished, Tom was hunched over on his knees, huffing and puffing.

"You think I can get some... I don't know, exercise clothes? Maybe some water?" Tom asked.

"All humanoid SCPs must remain within jumpers unless told otherwise." Dr.L replied, scribbling something down on the clipboard.

Great. He's like that, Tom thought with a frown.

"Alright. Now drop and do 20 pushups."

Tom rolled his non-existent eyes and dropped. By the time he finished those he felt like he was gonna die.

This is what happens when I sit around for a month, Tom thought.

Once he regained his breath, there was an awkward silence between them while Dr.L wrote down more notes.

"What do you even do with those notes anyway?" Tom asked, pointing to Dr.L's clipboard.

"I need them to file a report."

"I'm guessing you don't like giving straight answers?" Tom said with a small smirk.

Dr.L was silent for a few seconds before replying with, "Site staff are not allowed to converse with SCPs."

"You are so lying! You talk to me all the time!" Tom replied.

"Yes, and when I do so, I break protocol. It doesn't happen as often, but nobody really cares about that rule unless the SCP can-" suddenly, Dr.L stopped talking.

"What?" Tom asked, quite confused.

"Breaking protocol." Dr.L answered simply.

Tom sighed heavily. "Why can't you just tell me something? No one's here you know."

Dr.L leaned in towards Tom, a little too close for Tom's comfort.

"What are you doing?" Tom asked, backing up slightly.

"The walls have ears." Dr.L hissed in Tom's ear.

Dr.L started scribbling more down onto his clipboard upon seeing Tom's eyes turning white in concern and fear.

"Time to start the thing we're here for." Dr.L said, as if nothing happened.

"And how do you expect me to do it? I've told you before and I'll tell you again. I can't control that monster." Tom replied, stuffing down a growl that threatened to escape his throat.

"You did it in my office, with uh.. what's his name? Oh right, Edd." Dr.L said, lifting his head and looking at Tom.

Tom said nothing.

"How do you know that I did that and the monster was deciding to not eat him?" Tom replied, crossing his arms.

"Edd described what happened in great detail. He said it looked like an internal battle, whatever that's supposed to mean." Dr.L said, looking back down at his notes.

"I don't know why you think you can help me." Tom complained.

"Shut up and try." Dr.L said sternly.

He sighed.

"Fine."

He let the dam go, allowing the black thoughts to crash into his head, splitting him open.

He felt the familiar transformation sweeping his body, turning him into it.

He had to control it.

He needed to control it.

The beast's gaze spun until it landed on Dr.L.

Dr.L

Instinctively, the large black claws reached forward and came down across the man in white's face.

NO! Tom thought.

He tensed just as the monster was about to lunge for Dr.L's throat.

The monster's view stayed still.

Then, a sharp pain rocketed through Tom's back. He whipped around to see what caused the pain.

A small woman, shaking, holding a tranquilizer gun.

The beast instantly collapsed, unable to move.

"TORD!" the woman cried, rushing forward towards the Dr.L.

Tord? Tom thought while his mind spun.

His vision was fading.

Fading.

Fading.

Fading.

Empty.