The operation was already over by the time most governments would have realized anything had happened.
Darius stood beside the open helicopter as the wind whipped against his coat, calmly watching the ruined farmhouse through narrowed eyes. SCP-682 had slaughtered the family living there before Foundation forces arrived, then continued feeding on both the civilians and the personnel it had killed during its escape from Site-19.
He had no intention of fighting it directly.
That would only waste lives.
Instead, several D-Class personnel were ordered forward.
None of them protested.
They ran exactly as instructed, drawing the immortal reptile's attention away from the collapsed farmhouse. As expected, SCP-682 immediately charged after the easier prey, tearing through them within seconds before beginning to consume the bodies.
That was the opening Darius wanted.
"Fire."
His Red Right Hand immediately opened fire.
Unlike ordinary Foundation security, Darius' personal legion was modeled after an elite clone unit, enhanced through Foundation biotechnology, anomalous augmentation, and decades of specialized training. Their disguised conventional rifles concealed highly advanced laser weaponry beneath interchangeable ballistic systems, allowing them to fight publicly without exposing Foundation technology.
Hundreds of rounds struck SCP-682.
The creature barely cared.
It lunged.
Darius calmly flicked his wrist.
A single iron nail shot forward with impossible precision.
SCP-272.
The nail pierced directly into the creature's shadow.
Instantly, SCP-682 froze.
Its muscles strained.
Its claws dug trenches through the earth.
But it could not move.
The anomalous nail pinned not its body—
—but its shadow.
Even the immortal lizard could do nothing except roar in fury.
"Now."
The containment crew moved immediately.
A specially prepared reinforced containment capsule was lowered directly over the restrained anomaly before thousands of liters of concentrated acid flooded the chamber. The restraints locked shut as automated seals engaged.
Only then did Darius raise another hand.
The nail slowly pulled itself free before flying neatly back into his palm through telekinesis.
The instant SCP-272 left the shadow, SCP-682 exploded into motion—
Only to slam directly into the reinforced acid containment chamber already surrounding it.
The transport helicopter lifted the entire containment unit into the air seconds later.
Containment restored.
Darius didn't even watch it leave.
He turned toward another squad already arriving.
"Alpha-45."
The commander saluted.
Mobile Task Force Alpha-45—"Janitors"—was responsible for exactly this kind of work. While combat task forces eliminated threats, Alpha-45 erased every trace they had ever existed.
"Clean everything."
"Recover every casing."
"Repair structural damage."
"Create a believable cause of death for the residents."
"Administer amnestics to anyone who witnessed Foundation activity."
"No evidence remains."
"Understood."
Within seconds the cleanup teams spread across the property with practiced efficiency.
Bodies disappeared.
Blood vanished.
Destroyed fencing was replaced.
Vehicles were repositioned.
Evidence bags filled rapidly.
Medical teams prepared cover identities.
Local police reports were already being rewritten before the first ambulance officially existed.
Darius finally climbed aboard his helicopter.
Only then did he activate the holographic display projecting from the device around his wrist.
A tactical map appeared.
One blinking icon caught his attention.
SHIELD Response ETA: 5 Minutes.
He sighed.
"I knew they'd notice."
Fortunately, Foundation cyberwarfare specialists had already infiltrated SHIELD's satellite network. Every recording of the battle had been replaced with corrupted telemetry and atmospheric interference. Nothing showed SCP-682.
Nothing showed Foundation personnel.
Nothing showed laser fire.
Officially...
Nothing had happened.
Even so, Darius remained unconvinced.
Nick Fury was many things.
An idiot was not one of them.
If enough impossible incidents kept occurring...
Eventually he'd realize someone was erasing evidence before SHIELD could arrive.
That thought bothered Darius far more than SCP-682 ever had.
By the time SHIELD vehicles finally reached the farmhouse, the Foundation was gone.
The helicopter carrying SCP-682 had already disappeared beyond radar range.
Alpha-45 had vanished.
The false evidence had been planted.
Witnesses no longer remembered what they had seen.
To SHIELD, it looked like an isolated rural massacre with strangely inconsistent forensic evidence.
To the Foundation...
It was another successful containment.
Darius leaned back in his seat as the helicopter lifted into the clouds.
"For now," he quietly muttered, "we're still invisible."
But he had the uncomfortable feeling that Nick Fury had just begun asking the right questions.
And that made him wonder which would happen first.
Would the Foundation successfully recruit SHIELD...
Or would SHIELD discover the existence of the Foundation on its own?