"1,089!"
"1,090!"
"1,091!"

David let out a heavy exhausted breath as he continued doing push-ups. He knew that Able would be joining their team, but he didn't think it meant that Able would now be taking charge of the team like he did with his division of Omega 7. Then again, with Able's aggressive and dominant nature, he probably would've quickly asserted himself anyways. Either way, that didn't change the fact that Able was working everyone to the bone. These training exercises seemed more akin to punishments the Devil himself created as a drunken dare that was now being used onto them in the form of an intense workout.

It also didn't help that Able is out for his blood. David was observant of this from the start.

When they first began, Able had stated he was doing this to "Carve away the weak from the strong." As he put it. He wanted to make sure the team was at their strongest, to make sure everyone was worthy of being here. He wouldn't be stuck with a field mission with a meek little coward who managed to weasel their way into an a task force meant for the strongest. That was understandable, at least in the context of Able's way of thinking.

The only problem with that was that he had been staring at David when he mentioned the "weak". At first he just thought that he was just staring in his direction or general area, but his eyes never left him the entire time. When they had been running laps Able had been jogging behind them with a stick and basically beating the holy hell of whoever was the slowest runner. Sure, David had read about it in that personal diary of that agent A'A, so it didn't surprise him. What did surprise him is how many times he was on the receiving end of Able's "encouragement to the slowest to run faster."

He knew for a fact he wasn't the slowest person there, he never allowed himself to get far behind the rest no matter if his legs wanted to shut down on him, but if he dare even slightly slow down, he got the stick. Yes, it could be passed off as him just being hard on him, seeing how merciless Able was to everyone else. Especially to his partner, Amber. But that was different. Knowing Amber, she probably had challenged him in some way and this was just Able pushing her, making sure she didn't back down. It was clear that Able had some malice specially targeted towards him. He didn't know exactly why, but if he had to guess, he must have come across as a person Able might consider weaker than others in the team. This whole thing must be his way of pushing David, to see wether or not his suspicions were true or not.

But David wouldn't say anything about it. He wasn't the type to let a bad temper and frustration get the better of him. He'd wouldn't crack under the pressure. He'd rather allow his skills to show his competence. Just as he finished that thought, a grunt left his lips as he felt Able's foot slam into his back. It only made the stinging from his earlier wounds on his back from Able worse. Not to mention what this was doing to his back. He grit his teeth, not wanting to let out any more noises that could come off as weakness. He kept an neutral look on his face as he lifted his head to look at Able.

"One arm." Was Able's only command.

David complied without a word, beginning to do his push with only one arm. It was hard enough, the sun was merciless, burning into him. His already sore body began to threaten to fail him from the exhaustion, to wobble or the ground in a tired mess. But he wouldn't allow it. He continued doing this pushups with the rest of his squad. Eventually, Able moved on to someone else to ruthlessly inspect. David let out a breath of relief from the burden being lifted from him, quite literally. He continued to do his hardship, however, it was made slightly more bearable when he saw Amber also doing a one handed push up. When they made eye contact, Amber's lips slowly lined with a grin.

"What's wrong, pretty boy? Is the big bad Able tearing your a$$ down?" Amber teased. David let out a small chuckle, shaking his head.

"I suggest you focus more on yourself instead of what I'm doing. I'm sure you've made some ridiculous challenge with Able, so unless you want him hovering over your a$$ as well, you should probably mind your own business" David remarked.

Amber shrugged "Touché"

Finally, the end of their training came, and everybody were permitted to go home or do whatever else they needed to have done. David was wiping the sweat from his face and neck with his towel while walking towards the exit.

"Tired already?" Amber's voice quipped from behind him as she jogged up to him, walking besides him. David just raised an eyebrow

"I should ask you the same. You look like hell." David pointed out.

Amber ran a hand through her fizzled hair, which was slightly wet due to the sweat.

"Need a ride home? Don't worry, I'm sure Able doesn't bite.. At least I hope he doesn't." She playfully taunted.

"No, I prefer to walk. It's a beautiful day out. Besides, I've got paperwork to finish up."

"Suit yourself, after I take a shower, I'm going to join Megina in her daily yoga lessons. Heard they're rather relaxing."

"Doesn't she let baby goats and lambs or whatever animal she can convince to come over climb over you and whatnot during the entirety of the time you're there? That, and I'm sure Able wouldn't exactly be enthusiastic about it." David asked

"I've heard. People around town say it helps so why not try it? Besides, Able likes livestock does he not? I'm sure he'll love it." Amber dismissed. "Speaking of Able, where is he?"

"Last time I saw him he was torturing some unsuspecting soul with extensive training. You should probably get him before he causes someone to die of exhaustion."

"I suppose I should, the last thing I need is some poor sap's death be on my hands because I couldn't keep an eye on the dude." Amber said before hurrying off to find him.
~~~~~

Dr. Richards looked at Cain with an slight look of satisfaction on his face.

"Detective Lorenzo has informed me that the agent told you about his organization, could you care to enlighten me with this information, Cain?" He asked

Cain nodded cooperatively "He told me about this organization that called themselves The Black Petunias that specializes in tracking down anomalies before any one of the other groups of interest, or us, for that matter can track them down. They believe that the anomalous should be protected from humanity completely. It's even been implied by the agent that they believe that anomalies should replace the non anomalous when 'humanity caves in on itself'. It seems that they may have distaste for the outside world in general, opting to stay hidden and form their own society. They believe that containment or termination should only be used if absolutely necessary. They are not unlike the Serpent's Hand in that regard. They've been doing it for many many years, though have only really began to form any real structure in the more recent years. They supposedly have eyes and ears in every other organizations that works with anomalies to ensure their goals are being met. He didn't give out any names, however."

Director Richards nodded, his fingers intertwining as he rested his elbows on his desk. At first he had thought they were dealing with some spin off Serpents Hand group gone a bit rogue, but upon hearing this, he's began to grow concerned.

"What exactly do they do with these anomalies?" He asked curiously, surely if they had been using them as weapons or for personal gain of some sort, they would've been aware of them long ago.

"They hid them away from the world in these small towns scattered across the globe. The Agent said that it acts as a sort of safe haven from us. He estimated about 65-70℅ of the entire group is made up of anomalies. Some just live there as civilians, others work directly with the Black Petunias as scientists, task force agents, guards, I believe you get the picture."

"Have we ever encountered them before, not realizing that they were a whole other organization all together under the guise of them being other Groups of Interest?" Dr Richards questioned.

"Yes. Several times. I've read multiple reports about task force agents being sent after trucks or cars that have been carrying anomalies. Some are successful in capturing said vehicles, others aren't. And seeing how they've gotten hold to groups like the GOC, Chaos Insurgency, even the Serpents Hand just to name a few, I'd take a guess and say we aren't the only ones who's been experiencing such things among other things these people have pulled."

Director stayed silent for a moment. His slight concern turned to worry. This was no longer some small pest that they could kick to the side easily, this was now a very active threat towards the foundation. It's one thing for them to intercept on anomalies being tracked by them or taking low level anomalies outright. But with the recent stunt of them taking SCP 076-1 and 076-2.. They've got something planned. The thought sent chills throughout Director Richard's entire body. Unlike the foundation back, they probably know how to control him more effectively than they did with Omega 7 so they can't solely rely on The Black Petunias blowing themselves up like the foundation had to resort to.

This only added more reassurance to him that this organization had to be dismantled. No, destroyed. They cannot be ignored. Besides, the information about the anomalous would be very valuable to take possession of. This was a matter that had to be dealt with by 05 command.

"Did the agent tell you any locations?" Director Richards asked.

"Yes, many locations, actually. He told me that if we can get a hold of a few, we should be able to get a bigger picture of their other hide outs." Cain confirmed

"Good. It looks like Alpha 9's first mission will come sooner than expected." Richards said

Cain nodded, he turned to leave but was stopped

"Cain, wait. I know your indirect involvement in Alpha 9, and while it is appreciated, it's come to my attention that we will need our mobile task force teams at their best for this threat. So I ask you to consider being more.. Direct with field missions. Iris may be very good to the team but someone with your properties would make the team more complete."

Cain stayed silent for a moment in thought, before nodding

"If that is what would benefit the foundation the most, then I will participate in field missions along side the rest of the team."

"Thank you, Cain." Director Richards said, relief in his voice..

Meanwhile, a foundation scientist overhearing the conversation walked out into the hallways and into their own office where he pulled out a walkie talkie

"Did you get all of that, commander?" He asked

A voice responded

"Yes. Good work, agent. I've always suspected that the small town filled to the brim with anomalies we attacked years ago wasn't the only one."

The scientist looked around to make sure nobody was listening in "Shall we terminate them all now, Commander?"

"No. Let them and the foundation fight for a little while so we can better examine the situation. However, let it be known that when it's over, all those monstrosities and their sympathizers will all be put down. Permanently."

The scientist spoke "Yes commander." Before quickly putting the walkie talkie back up. Looks like the GOC would finish what they had started long ago..