Retrograde Motion [SCP X Reader]

Chapter 22: Spilt Blood

TW Gun violence (I don't actually know how guns work)

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|| You try your best and hope to survive. ||

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It was probably the single most terrifying moment of your life.

Considering everything that had happened to you in the last while, that said a lot. Yes, you would admit it, the idea of facing off against 076 terrified you. There were no words you could say that could stop him, nothing he would possibly listen to, nothing that could help you here. Talking was the only advantage you had ever had in this universe, just good enough to help you get past others when they were so much more powerful than you were.

You didn't have the upper hand here. Not like with 035 where he was still trapped in the confines of his host's body, not like with 079 who needed you to achieve his goal, not like with all the doctors who needed you alive for information. There was no reason for 076 to converse with you in any language other than violence. How unfortunate.

Anyone would be able to tell you were no match for 076.

You did not have machine guns, you did not have a Thermate-TH3 grenade, you couldn't drown 076 in any feasible way unless some kind of miracle occurred. A miracle. Should you pray to the many many gods and deities of this world for one? Haha, if only these things could be solved so easily. Prayers, thoughts and wishes weren't going to help you here.

Back in time you went to before your death. It was 11 o'clock on the dot again. How will you live?

Without waiting for 079's warning this time, you immediately began sprinting. The previous time, 076 had emerged behind you. Judging by the door he went through it was likely that he didn't come directly down the same path you had gone, rather, more along an angle from the right. He had probably already caught onto your presence as a living person and had begun chasing you down before 079 even warned you. Too late for you to sneak past him undetected then.

It seemed misfortune was around every corner for you during this containment breach. You didn't have the time to come up with a plan to combat 076. Ideally, you wouldn't have been "fighting" (did it really count as fighting if you couldn't even fight back?), but you hadn't gone back in time far enough for that. Damn it, the only time that ability could make things convenient for you, it didn't.

You ran down the same corridor, eventually reaching one where 076 had caught up to you previously. Just as expected, he appeared, a dark blade in hand. You barely had the time to think as you forced yourself to dodge to the side, out of reach from his first swing. Never one to stop after the first try, 076 obviously swung again. You barely managed to stumble away but you were too slow for the third hit.

It was a clean slice from shoulder to torso.

It hurt. It burned. The blood that spilled out stained 076's blade and splattered to the ground. You fell and away you slipped, fell under the waves of time back to when you lived. Unevenly, you breathed as you opened your eyes again. Small steps, one at a time, figure out his attack pattern and try to survive.

You could do this. It was only a matter of how long it took you.

X.x.X

It took four more tries to get past the third strike but on that fourth attempt, the fourth always came too soon for you to dodge. You figured the issue was with your balance. You couldn't move freely when you kept stumbling to avoid 076. In order to move forward, you needed to be prepared with the direction you needed to go. Ideally, you'd even be able to get past the door and into the next hall.