Warning! Contains spoilers for SCP – Containment Breach!
One Helluva Broken Day
is a crossover between the SCP Foundation and Hellaverse written by TheSilentAssassin.
Taking place in an alternate version of the When Day Breaks SCP-001 Proposal. The story follows Justin, an ordinary Foundation guard who had the unfortunate luck of being the only human survivor at the site he was stationed at when the sun "broke". Now he spends most of his days going through the complete declassified files on all the SCPs the Foundation had contained over the years in an effort to find out what exactly the "Spiral Gestalt" given to him by a random D-class named Ben was, with only a few SCPs to keep him company. His solitude is interrupted when one day the Immediate Murder Professionals are accidentally teleported into the facility by their malfunctioning Grimoire, dragging both the guardsman and the assassins into a conflict beyond anything they've seen before.
This fic provides the following tropes:
- Achievements in Ignorance: Justin at one point accidentally uses SCP-185 to breach into Hell's radio waves and contact Alastor, a feat the broadcaster remarks should only be possible using demonic magic of his calibre, leading him to mistake the Foundation guard for a powerful up-and-coming Sinner.
- Actor Allusion: A fairly broad one, but when he hears Moxxie speak for the first time, Justin can't help but notice that it's in "a voice sounding like one of the cartoons Rubynote used to watch after school sounded out."
- Adaptation Expansion: The behaviour and properties of several anomalies appear to have changed in some way with 001's manifestation.
- The only known property the Spiral Gestalt showed in Containment Breach was granting Mental Time Travel to it's host, but here it's implied to be a force of much greater power capable of bestowing other abilities like Thinking Up Portals and Instant Expert knowledge of demonic magic, Dr. Bright believes it might even hold the key to stopping SCP-001.
- 087 is heavily implied to now have some sort of Supernatural Fear Inducer effect, as Alastor states the dread he felt in it's presence felt like it was being forced into his mind.
- 1981 is usually confined to a single videotape of Ronald Reagan's "Evil Empire" speech. Chapter 10 reveals that it's not only transformed from a VHS Tape to a disc, It's somehow spread to Charlie's interview.
- Adaptational Heroism:
- Downplayed, but with their business ruined by humanity's transformation into 001-A and an ominous warning from 990 that all of Hell will suffer the same fate if they do nothing, I.M.P teams up with Justin in hopes of finding a way to stop SCP-001; pushing them up from Villain Protagonist to Nominal Hero.
- SCP-049 plays this (mostly) straight. In the "Daybreak" canon of SCP-Foundation, he is leading a team of SCP-049-2s in hunting down a foundation tech and is delighted in how the world is now. Here, he appoints himself as Justin's personal doctor and is just as devoted to helping stop SCP-001. However, when the remnants of the Chaos Insurgency attack the site, Octavia notes that SCP-049 seems excited at the chance to 'cure' more people.
- Adaptational Timespan Change: In the "Daybreak" canon of SCP-Foundation, When Day Breaks begins on May 1st, but here there are some mentions and clues that When Day Breaks started somewhere in November and most of the story takes place in December as a radio transmission from SCP-185 says that sinners are preparing for another Extermination Day, granted if Extermination Day does take place on December 31/January 1st.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the "Daybreak" canon of SCP-Foundation. SCP-106 was just about the closest thing to a saviour to humanity. Granted, he still killed anyone he caught, but it was a Mercy Kill to spare them from a Fate Worse than Death from SCP-001. Here, he is just as sadistic as the main canon and is trying to get Heaven's attention via torturing the members of C.H.E.R.U.B so that he can get sent to Hell and get a "new hunting ground".
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Averted: SCP-079 gaining control of the site's security systems is the only reason the facility wasn't overrun. Also, it gave its word to Justin that it would prevent any of the site's SCPs from harming him; which it has kept the entire time.
- Alien Geometry: SCP 3008 (A Perfectly Normal, Regular Old IKEA.) The front of the store is perfectly normal, but the inventory aisles extend for miles. Blitzø notes it has a horizon.
- Alternate Timeline: The fact that SCP-5000 is even here, as shown in Chapter 9, states that the events of the suit's original timeline have happened in the universe of this fic before reality was reset by Pietro Wilson. What this means for the afterlife of the 5000 timeline is currently unknown.
- Ambiguously Bi: Justin expresses clear attraction to women at several points, but he also gets flustered by I.M.P teasing him about being in the closet and at one point implies he finds Moxxie cute while under the influence of Succubus magic.
- The Apocalypse Brings Out the Best in People: Since the sun broke, a few SCPs have grown friendly to humans such as 049 becoming Justin's self appointed physician, 173 saving Justin's life from some 001-A instances (though it might be because if Justin dies, it will have no one to toy with), and 066 has reverted back to some of its old behavior. note This also applies to Loona. After a near death encounter with 012, 990's vision, and finding out the full scope of what happened on Earth, the Jerk in Jerk with a Heart of Gold has gotten a lot less present.
- The Atoner: If SCP-343 really is God, he's this in regards to Lucifer. He does not regret casting him out of heaven but he has realized that he punished Lucifer out of selfish pride rather than love or moral objections. He calls his son once every year in the hopes of reconciliation despite knowing the Devil will never answer.
- Atrocious Alias: While searching for Verosika in the Infinite IKEA, Justin and I.M.P fall afoul of the Pillow Tribe after unknowingly eating the tribe's food supplies. Blitzo tries and fails to hide his laughter as he is unable to take their name seriously.Blitzo: I'm sorry, did you say...Pillow Tribe?
Tribal woman: [dead serious] Yes.
[Beat]
Blitzo: [snorts, then breaks down laughing] I'm sorry, just-just a second.- Amusingly, Dr. Clef considers Blitzo's name this, and takes a moment to mock him for it during his standoff with 343.
- Bad Future: SCP-990 shows Loona what might happen if I.M.P ignores the problem with the sun. First she sees Vortex, Verosika and her crew get dragged out into the sunlight by 001-A instances, witnessing firsthand the Transformation Horror of 001, Millie becoming a malnourished Empty Shell Driven to Suicide when the 001-A instance that used to be Moxxie starts singing Oh Millie, and finally overlooking the ruins of Pentagram City filled with 001-A instances thanks to a portal in the sky exposing Hell to sunlight.
- He's also been flooding Husk's dreams with visions of attacking the hotel as a 001-A instance, and is extremely frustrated at the Sinner for dismissing them as nightmares.
- Barred from the Afterlife: As in the original article, the victims of the Broken Sun, which means there are no more sinners falling into Hell. This has been causing concern and a headache for Lucifer, as many Overlords like Valentino take advantage of newly-fallen sinners and are complaining about the lack of new blood.
- Berserk Button: Lying is one for Lilith. She knew exactly what she was getting into when she married Lucifer, and the only thing she asks from him (and he promised to her) is his honesty. So when he starts not telling her things, she becomes very annoyed. She nearly enters her Full Demon form when Luci tells her he doesn't know what's got him so scared and she thinks he's lying again.
- Black-and-Grey Morality: None of the main characters are exactly good, even Justin, note however all of them still have family and loved ones they care about and stand to loose everything to the Broken Sun. They're also much easier to sympathise for then than most hostile SCPs (which usually range from sanity-blastingly alien at best and monstrously violent at worst) or ruthless, corrupt GOI like the Chaos Insurgency.
- Break the Cutie: C.H.E.R.U.B getting kicked out of Heaven was the least of their troubles here. They then have the misfortune of being captured by the Foundation and, on the day the sun broke, being nabbed by none other than SCP-106 and taken to his pocket dimension. They suffer from starvation and dehydration, Collin goes mad and refuses to sleep or even close his eyes due to seeing 106 every time he does, Cletus gets his eyes jabbed out by 106, and Keenie seems to be transforming into a demon if her halo falling off and taking on a demonic black color is any indication.
- Brown Note: As is to be expected from any work involving the SCP Foundation. Loona and Octavia are barred from fully using the SCP files library app on their 914-enhanced phones with threats of this.
- Canon Welding: Combined with Adaptation Expansion. The Grimoire I.M.P uses to travel to Earth isn't given much backstory in the show itself, but here it's stated to be an artifact somehow connected to the Spiral Gestalt Lucifer stumbled onto during the war in Heaven, before eventually entrusting it to Stolas.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Justin assumes this is why SCP-173 never tries to hurt him (and even went so far as to save his life once): It needs someone to entertain itself with.
- Cassandra Truth: At first, I.M.P doesn't believe Justin when he tries to tell them about the end of the world, assuming that he's simply gone crazy from spending too much time alone in a lab full of monsters. This doesn't last for long as Loona mentioning her dream about SCP-990 is able to plant doubts in their heads. Any disbelief that remains vanishes once 079 plays recorded footage of the Broken Sun's effects.
- Chess Motifs: All of the Chaos Insurgency agents raiding the site in Chapter 12 are codenamed after chess pieces. The agent codenamed "Bishop" even lampshades this:Bishop: Hey, what's up with the chess callsigns anyway? There's only like what, 6 different pieces? If you ask me, someone forgot there was gonna be ten people on this mission so they just gave the last four of us Pawn 1-4.
- Closest Thing We Got: Justin has access to some of the most dangerous SCPs still in containment as a part of his entourage, as well as: full control of a Containment Site, a stocked arsenal of weapons, and access to high level Containment files. Before the Sun broke, he was just a guard.
- Combat Clairvoyance: Justin subconsciously uses the Spiral Gestalt to perform this during his hostile first encounter with I.M.P, fending them all off at once and taking Millie hostage.
- Cosmic Horror Story: It's a crossover with the SCP-Foundation, so this trope is pretty much a given. The sun is broken, transforming all life on the surface into horrid Blob Monster type zombies who want to drag whats left into the light. And Hell is next.
- Couldn't Find a Pen: Loona ends up falling under the effects of SCP-012 and nearly dies after cutting herself trying to write the song.
- Cuteness Proximity:
- SCP-999 certainly applies, and Lilith absolutely adores the slime, Lucifer, not so much.
- Millie almost immediately takes a shine to SCP-131 for the same reasons, helped by the fact they saved Moxxie from 173.
- Dark and Troubled Past: There are hints of the history of this universe.
- Darker and Edgier: Zig-zagged. The story has higher stakes then Helluva Boss, with I.M.P facing death or fates even worse far more regularly than their canon counterparts do. But it's overall a much more hopeful story then the SCP article it's based on, which was one of the most bleak Cosmic Horror Stories in the entire site.
- Declaration of Protection: Both SCP-049 and SCP-079 have declared Justin to be under their protection, and not to be harmed by any of the other SCPs within the facility. This threat is enough to make SCP-173 leave him alone, though it still scares him for fun every now and then.
- Destination Defenestration: After being annoyed by SCP-1879-2, Lucifer throws him out a window. Thanks to the SCP's teleportation powers, he just gets back up and annoys Lucifer again.
- Distracted by the Sexy:
- Justin (who's gone a month without seeing another normal human) is extremely flustered by Loona's human disguise.
- Later, when Justin and I.M.P find two of Verosika's succubi in the Infinite IKEA, Kiki senses he's a virgin and immediately tries to work her magic. While SCP-5000 mostly snaps him out of it and strongly discourages her from trying again, he's still left so out of it that he
checks out Blitzo for a moment.
- Did I Mention It's Christmas?: Justin's B-Day is literally during the Christmas season. Assuming exterminations are January 1st/December 31st, you'd think that there would at least be some reminder that the Christmas season is happening. Reasonable explanation is that everyone Justin knew is dead.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Justin mentions that he was once a member of a Mobile Task Force (albeit one that apparently only had one mission before moving to guard duty over a bad mistake in SCP-3008), and thanks to the Spiral Gestalt he now has Retroactive Precognition and some sort of mysterious capacity for the magic found in Stolas's Grimoire.
- Enemy Mine: Justin (as a member of the The Foundation) and I.M.P (as a group of demonic assassins who kill on behalf of Sinners) would very much be enemies under normal circumstances. But after they all learn that Loona received a vision from 990 (whose prophecies are always meant to aid the Foundation in some way) that 001 is going eventually manifest in Hell somehow, he decides to join them as a Guest-Star Party Member.
- He's also given SCP-049 (who he at one point scornfully notes has killed several of his friends among the Foundation's guard staff) permission to study captured 001-A instances, in the slim chance he figures out anything about what caused the sun to break.
- The elder of the Pillow Tribe, a Serpent's Hand member, suggests to Justin they could use this 001's threat as an opportunity to bury the hatchet between their respective groups, but they both solemnly acknowledge there's likely far too much animosity on both sides for it to last.
- Expy: SCP-1879-2's speech mannerisms and character tics seem to be heavily inspired by Stan the Salesman, all the way down to his arbitrarily flailing arms.
- Eye Scream:
- One of the methods that SCP-106 used to torture C.H.E.R.U.B involved jabbing out Cletus's eyes with his thumbs.
- Stolas gets his upper right eye torn out by SCP-1048 after lowering his guard due to the latter's cuddly appearance.
- Fan Disservice: Chapter 15 provides a double case. First giving a look into Valentino's extremely toxic "love" life thankfully interrupted by Loona accidentally shooting up his club after getting teleported there by SCP-1499, and then Justin and Blitzo having to fend off a Driven to Madness Verosika kidnapping Loona with disgusting plans in mind.
- Feral Vampires: (Sort of) This is what happens to Verosika and most of her crew sans Kiki and Milky due to them being in a community as Succubi/Incubi require "intercourse" on a regular basis to not only remain satisfied but to prevent an uncommonly seen side from taking over and, according to Blitzo; "basically go feral and fuck anything with a pulse." in chapter 15.
- Friend to Psychos: Justin is surprisingly apt at staying in the good graces of various typically hostile SCPs, implied to be because the Spiral Gestalt is subtly compelling him to act in ways they find endearing.
- From Bad to Worse: Things are already going south when the Chaos Insurgency launches a raid on the Foundation site with Stolas and Octavia still inside. It becomes much worse when, while the raid is underway, Stolas becomes infected with a sample of SCP-008 and slowly loses his mind. Then several dangerous SCPs breach containment including SCP-096, Octavia also becomes infected with 008, and it's revealed that this whole mess was orchestrated by SCP-035, who holds the only known cure for 008 (a pill of SCP-500) and intends to ransom it off for the Grimoire. And then, it turns out that there's only one SCP-500 pill and Octavia takes the cure for herself at her father's urging. Stolas subsequently gives in to his zombie transformation while Octavia is left alone in a site full of rampaging SCPs.
- Go Mad from the Isolation: He holds himself together fairly well, but it's clear spending several months alone and convinced the rest of humanity is dead has left some significant bruises on Justin's social skills and foresight.
- Grew Beyond Their Programming: Justin putting SCP-185 through SCP-914 on the "Fine" setting not only made it smaller and upgraded it to pick up Hell's radio stations (labeled "VM"), but it also gained sentience, responding to others via song segments.
- Heroic BSoD: Heroic is not a word used to describe Blitzo but, after violently denying that the world has ended, gets shown irrefutable proof of the effects of 001, to say that he didn't take it well would be an understatement.
- Hell Seeker: SCP-343 mentions that 106 likely kidnapped C.H.E.R.U.B because he plans to use their suffering to attract Heaven's attention and end up banished to Hell. The reason being with Earth gone, he wants a new "hunting ground". While everything 343 says has to be taken with a grain of salt, a latter scene shows 106 berating C.H.E.R.U.B for not screaming loud enough as "they" can't hear them.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Justin realizes this about Verosika's band after finding out they are mostly Succubi and Incubi in a Human Disguise that harvest the lust of humanity by doing concerts that are really just giant orgy parties, and he guesses the reason the Foundation never really caught on is because college kids having sex and doing drugs is not exactly anomalous on the surface.
- Another example of this is with Kiki and Milky, the 2 succubi that got separated from Verosika's band during the first night stuck in SCP-3008-1, they managed to find & get into the Pillow Tribe settlement after... uh... an incident that involves not having intercourse for a prolonged period time and leaving a few humans bedridden, none of the other tribe members know those 2 did it because the Pillow tribe elder covered for them and they have human disguises.
- Horrifying the Horror: As stated below, SCP-087-1 causes Alastor to feel fear for the first time in years, and Charlie screaming at 087-1 while transforming into a more demonic form may have scared 087 away from the hotel. For a more comedic example, the Plague Doctor was not pleased with coming across Stolas and Blitzo having sex.SCP-049: Now excuse me while I go disinfect...everything.
- I Choose to Stay: Once Justin and I.M.P track upon two members of Verosika's posse, Kiki and Milky, in the Infinite IKEA. The two reveal they're perfectly fine with staying with the human tribe that took them in instead going back to Hell and living under Verosika's shadow, primarily because the tribe's leader is a Serpent's Hand member who tolerates their lust Emotion Eater needs so long as they don't hurt people It proves to be a horrific mistake when a Portal Door to 001 latter manifests in the tribe's compound and bathes everyone in sunlight.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Every chapter has some variation of the word "broken" in the title.
- Interrupted Intimacy: The end of Chapter 15 has Vox and Valentino getting interrupted by a SCP-1499 wearing Loona accidentally shooting up the latter's club. The immature gangster is so enraged by the seeming attack on his reputation that he calls it off so he can start scheming to intrude on Lucifer's visit to the Hazbin Hotel to learn what's going on.
- I Gave My Word: SCP-049 And SCP-079 both take Justin's personal safety very seriously because of this.
- If I Had a Nickel...: Justin mentions this with quarters after the second time he had a demon woman's rear on his face. And according to
Word of God, this will be a Running Gag with other female demons Justin will get to know in person.- The first time was in chapter 3 when I.M.P arrived in Justin's room, a month after 001 activated, to which Justin opened his eyes to Loona's rear in close proximity to his face.
- The second time was in chapter 6 with Octavia after she and her father arrived at I.M.P's location and land on an unconscious Justin.
- Interspecies Friendship: In addition to his Odd Friendship with Loona, Justin develops a rapport with Moxxie somewhat more naturally than with the rest of I.M.P due to their shared dedication to professionalism and frustrations with Blitzo. Blitzo regards this connection with his usual disgust.
- Lotus-Eater Machine: Chapter 14 shows that Stolas's 008-borne Split Personality has trapped him in one. It at first takes the form of an idealized version of his normal life (i.e. Stella has forgiven and condones his relationship with Blitzo) but after he realises it's too good to be true and starts resisting, it sticks him in a vision of a day at Loo Loo Land with a toddler-aged Octavia.
- Major Injury Underreaction: SCP-1879-2 casually brushes off Lucifer throwing him out of a window with only the mildest of annoyance, claiming his "boss" warned him Lucifer would be a tough customer.
- Mood Whiplash: The story's tone frequently swing between Hazbin Hotel's Rapid-Fire Comedy World of Jerkass and the Foundation's Surreal Horror World of Weirdness with great frequency. One good example is a scene from 049's perspective as he calmly prepares to administer his "cure" to I.M.P ... only to be interrupted by Stolas (with Octavia in tow) falling out of the ceiling before asking the doctor if he's seen a "Devlishly handsome imp with a great ass" anywhere.
- Morton's Fork: SCP-682 is stuck in an Ironic Hell because of this. It won't eat or otherwise kill any Foundation personnel because doing so will spare them from becoming 001-A, but by sparing them, it's surrounded by people it homicidally despises. It can't even escape because it's not sure its Adaptive Ability will protect it from The Broken Sun.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The Hazbin Hotel crew's encounter with SCP-087 was full of this. Alastor drops his Affably Evil demeanor when he realizes that Angel Dust is screaming in a way that implies he's about to be murdered and, when looking at 087-1, feels fear for the first time in years (not that he shows it). Angel Dust at first tries to play it off with his usual sex jokes but later breaks down in tears and can't bring himself to sleep alone and in the dark. And, to everyone's shock, Charlie gets so furious, she truly shows that she is the daughter of Lucifer and might have scared off 087.
- Odd Friendship: Surprisingly, it's the usually Jerkass Loona who Justin gets along with the best out of I.M.P's members. Who acts nicer to him then she does most people out of gratitude.
- Original Generation: Justin has no counterpart in the source material. Though it's not as noticeable as most examples, as the site introduces new characters constantly.
- Papa Wolf: Four examples:
- Blitzo, he still dotes on Loona as in canon, but when she nearly bled to death because of SCP-012, he prayed to God out of desperation as he didn't want to lose her. Since then he has become even more protective as he only goes along with Loona to save Verosika and her crew to ensure Loona's safety, and more then a bit of his ire with Justin stems from his light attraction to her human form.
- Dr. Alto Clef, while he brushes off Dr. Bright's attempt to comfort him over the matter, it's clear he's deeply worried over the current whereabouts of SCP-166. When Clef realizes that SCP-343 chose to help Blitzo (a literal demon from Hell) over his daughter (a devout Christian) he attacks the so called Almighty in rage.
- Lucifer, he has trouble showing it because of his pride, but it's clear he cares deeply for Charlie. He often alternates back and forth between wanting to laugh in her face and telling her I Told You So in regards to her dream of redeeming Sinners to wanting to give her a hug, apologize for not being there for her, and throw those ungrateful Sinners across the pearly gates himself. When a video of Charlie's interview on Channel 666 News that's corrupted in a way VERY similar to SCP-1981 starts airing randomly, Lucifer pays a visit to Vox. While he is angry that Vox makes Lucifer look incompetent for not being able to stop the transmissions, his last words to the Overlord make it clear that if Charlie saw the video and was subsequently traumatized by it, Vox is going to suffer the consequences of his failure HARD.Lucifer: I AM HAVING DINNER WITH MY DAUGHTER TOMORROW. FOR YOUR SAKE, YOU BETTER HOPE SHE HAS NOT SEEN THAT VIDEO YET. I WANT EVERY COPY OF IT SCRUBBED COMPLETELY. I DON'T EVEN WANT A SCREENSHOT ON THE LAST PAGE OF SEARCH IMAGES TO REMAIN. IF I HAVE TO CONSOLE MY DAUGHTER BECAUSE SHE WATCHED HERSELF BE BUTCHERED ON LIVE TV, IT IS GOING TO BE YOUR HEAD VOX. BY THE NEXT DAY, YOU BETTER BE ABLE TO ANSWER MY FUCKING QUESTION, OR RIPPING OUT YOUR HEART WILL ONLY BE THE FIRST THING I DO TO YOU. AM I CLEAR?
- Stolas, during their stay at the Foundation site he offers many times to send Octavia home but each time she refuses, even after her father becomes infected with SCP-008 due to the fact that SCP-035 has the cure (SCP-500). When King violently grabs Octavia by the head and threatens her in an attempt to force Stolas to hand over his Grimoire, he breaks free of his restraints and nearly goes berserk then and there before Octavia calms him down.
- Pet the Dog: Many, owing to The Apocalypse Brings Out the Best in People.
- Most of I.M.P are sympathetic to Justin's horrific situation. Millie internally remarks it's something she wouldn't wish on her worst enemy, and she, Loona and Moxxie all take a moment to comfort him when he nearly suffers a breakdown over the family he lost when the Sun broke.
- After Justin violently threatens Blitzo for implying he'd be willing to kill any of the humans in SCP-3008 if they got in I.M.P's way, Millie's goodwill towards him almost vanishes...only for Moxxie (unable to believe he would act any different in the same situation) to try to convince her to tolerate the guard's occasional bursts of hostility.
- During the same 3008 trip, Blitzo ends up taking a shine to a kind young human girl and tries to tell her what a horse is. As she's been in the IKEA her entire life, the girl doesn't even know what a horse is.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Neither Octavia or Stolas understood the significance of what SCP-008 is, due to never watching any human zombie movies, which becomes a problem when SCP-1048 injects some of 008 into Stolas.
- Powered Armor: Justin gets SCP-5000, also known as the Anomalous Exclusion Harness, after it's functionality was restored by Dr. Bright. While its full functions have yet to be revealed, it can:
- Snap its user out of a cognitohazard via electric shock.
- Instantly fold and unfold itself with a mental command.
- Automatically compensate for heavy objects, allowing its user to carry bulky items unhindered.
- Discourage any observers from noticing it or its user, though unfortunately not nearly as effectively as it did for Pietro Wilson, Dr. Bright had to do something involving SCP-055 to get it working at all.
- Pragmatic Villainy: SCP-682 doesn't kill anyone in the site it's contained in for this reason, as killing them will spare them from 001 which considering its hatred of humans means it would be helping them.
- Real After All: Clef's version of SCP-001 (The Gate Guardian) was just a bunch of nonsense Clef pulled out of his ass as part of a program the Foundation was doing to hide the real version of 001. So imagine his surprise when the remains of the GOC send him a picture of an entity that looks and acts exactly like a story he made up.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Amongst the Chaos Insurgency agents raiding the Foundation site in Chapter 12 is Rook, an ex-Foundation guard who defected after stealing a sample of SCP-008. This would be the very same sample of the virus that somehow ended up in 035's possession and was used to infect Stolas. Rook pays for his treachery when his own squad leader betrays him and hands him over to 035 to become its newest host. This was done as part of the deal the Insurgency made with 035, who suspects that Rook was selected specifically because of the role he previously played in all this.
- Save Scumming: Justin is now the host of D-9341's Spiral Gestalt, allowing him to mark a moment in time that he can return either at will or upon death. He only becomes aware of this ability during the group's exploration the Infinite IKEA; when, after getting ambushed by a gang of 001-A instances, he resets time to right before the attack and kills them all. Before that, this is indicated by Justin knowing instinctively knowing how to avoid getting killed (such as ducking when Millie attacked him with a knife or knowing not to put SCP-185 through SCP-914 on the "Very Fine" setting), or the phrase redredred appearing in the text.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After SCP 087-1 terrorizes Angel Dust and chases him several dozen flights up to the top of its stairwell, Charlie confronts it and politely informs it that it is not welcome, and that she intends to teach it why accosting one of her guests is a bad idea. SCP-087 slams the door shut, and vanishes. Not just 087-1, the entire staircase, leaving behind just an ordinary broom closet.
- Seen It All: Befitting the organisation he worked for before the world ended, Justin takes I.M.P confirming that Hell is real in stride. The rest of the surviving Foundation staff have much the same reaction.Dr. Bright: it's likely these demons will take him back to Hell, whichever one that is.
- Succubi and Incubi: Succubi are stated to actually need to be lusted after the same way a human needs water, when Verosika and her entourage ended up trapped in the Infinite IKEA the day the sun broke. They went the next month without finding humans, and only managed to survive that long by... uh... feeding off Vortex (and even then, they're all nearly on death's door by now).
- Supernatural Phone: When Loona and Octavia run their hellphones through SCP-914, they both gain several anomalous features based on other SCPs. These include:
- A version of 896 that instead grants skills based around combating anomalies.
- An upgraded 1471 (called MalO Injector ver2.0.0) which now has 1471-A act as a fully corporeal and (somewhat) intelligent Guardian Entity to whoever it is assigned.
- 2305 as a mobile app.
- A version of 896
- Teleportation Misfire: After a day of being unable to portal to Earth because the Grimoire is instinctively trying to avoid SCP-001, Moxxie slams his fist on one of it's pages and creates a portal that drops I.M.P into Justin's bedroom. It does the same thing (if in a 'slightly gentler fashion) to Stolas and Octavia later, and it leads the Prince to suspect that someone wants them and Justin all in the same place.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Of I.M.P, Blitzo is the one Justin has the most trouble getting along with, blaming him for getting them involved with SCP-001 and at one point shooting in him in the head in a short-sighted attempt to destroy the Spiral Gestalt. Likewise, Justin is much more distrustful and aggressive with him then he is with Loona, Moxxie or Millie.
- There Is Another: Justin starts off believing himself to be the only Foundation operative to have survived the Sun breaking. But he learns from 662 in Chapter 9 Site-19 survived which house many personal, the O-5 council, and a few (in)famous names (Doctors Bright, Clef, and Gears). When he and I.M.P later run into one of the Infinite IKEA tribes Justin mentally slaps himself on the forehead as he never even considered that there would still be humans there.
- Third Line, Some Waiting: The main focus of the fic is on Justin, I.M.P, Stolas, and Octavia as they're caught up in one of 990's prophecies; then Lucifer and Charlie dealing with the fallout of the former unknowingly allowing various SCPs into Hell; then Dr. Bright and Dr. Clef trying to find answers to what's going on. There's also a few segments focusing on other characters, such as Vortex having to deal with being stuck with six sex-starved succubi in the Infinite IKEA and C.H.E.R.U.B being stuck in SCP-106's dimension.
- Took a Level in Badass: In lore, SCP 1471-1 (Mal0) is a Stalker without a Crush who, while disturbing to many of its users, never hurts anyone directly. But after Loona accidentally exposes it to 914, it gains a physical presence and violently butchers three men harassing a weakened Vortex after Loona unwittingly summons it to defend him in chapter 13. It slashes the first man's throat open; obliterates the arm and leg of the second man, leaving him to bleed out; and then drags the final man under a nearby bed, where it does something to him that leaves gore splattered everywhere
- Took a Level in Kindness: After a brush with death and learning from 990 that whatever caused the sun to break is planning to do the same thing to Hell. Loona becomes much less cold, apologizing to Blitzo for her constant rebuffing of his affection and trying her best to be friendly to Justin out of gratitude for saving her from 012, though she's still a dick to Moxxie.
- Too Dumb to Live: A combination of stubbornness and Arbitrary Skepticism causes Blitzo to make some very foolish decisions, such as putting on SCP-178 just to spite Justin for telling him not to.
- Token Good Teammate: Justin does work for the SCP Foundation, but he's a shown generally decent man outside of his job. So he counts this within in he, I.M.P and Stolas's alliance.
- Undead Abomination: Chapter 13 has Stolas fully succumb to the effects of SCP-008, producing a zombie with all the powers of a demon lord.
- Unknown Rival: Even though they have not yet met (and one isn't even aware of the others existence) Dr. Clef feels nothing but disdain towards Blitzo. Primarily stemming from scorn that 343 (who proclaims himself God) would dare to show more favour towards a literal demon from Hell then he would Clef's daughter SCP-166, a devout Christian.
- Villain Takes an Interest: The Ambiguously Evil SCP-343 states that I.M.P has caught his eye for supposedly being A Lighter Shade of Black among demonkind, considering he makes no mention of Charlie and his hostility when Dr. Clef calls him out on it, his intentions should definitely be taken with a grain of salt.
- Villain Team-Up: While Justin and I.M.P are gone, the Foundation site Stolas and Octavia are staying at comes under attack by the Chaos Insurgency as part of a deal they made with SCP-035. The Insurgency believes that Stolas's Grimoire is the "key" to saving the remaining humans and were convinced by 035 to help him escape containment and give him a fresh host in exchange for his help in acquiring the book.
- Villainous Breakdown: SCP-035 is depicted as being fairly composed with a Faux Affably Evil demeanor whenever he has the upper hand, which is throughout most of Chapters 12 and 13 as he holds the only cure for Stolas's condition after he's infected with SCP-008. However, near the end of Chapter 13, 035 loses control of the situation and it shows in his speech. When King triggers a zombified Stolas in an Unstoppable Rage after hurting Octavia, 035 expresses his fury with King since he ruined his attempt to bargain for Stolas's Grimoire. After SCP-5031 makes off with the Grimoire while everyone's distracted, 035 enters a blind rage and runs after 5031 while screaming impotent threats.SCP-035: WHAT? WHE–THAT FUCKING INBRED MONSTER! YOU FUCKING CHILD! I WILL FIND YOU! I WILL HAVE WHAT IS MINE! ALL I HAVE TO DO IS LOOK AT YOU AND YOU'RE POWERLESS TO STOP ME! I WILL RIP YOU APART AND YOU WILL BEG TO JOIN THE REST OF YOUR KIND IN HELL WHERE YOU BELONG!
- Villainous Rescue: About a week after the Sun broke, Justin tried to make a run for his car (Specifically, the records of his family stored on his phone), with some protective gear he ran through SCP-914. SCP-001-A ambushed him in the parking lot, making him to jump off a cliff and hurt his leg trying to escape. and then:Justin: That...that fucking statue followed me into the tunnels...All I remember is closing my eyes as I waited for the flesh to just take me into the light, and then I'm nearly throwing up inside my damn gas mask when it feels like I just rode the world's worst roller coaster in the span of a second. Right before passing out, I looked up and that fucking statue had carried me all the way back through the service tunnel and back into the facility.
- What Is This Feeling?: Most of Lucifer's dislike of 999 (other than the fact he was tricked into taking it) stems from its happiness-inducing touch reminding him of Charlie, and he's extremely confused and frustrated by the guilt it's causing him.
- Wrong Context Magic: The nature and abilities of anomalous beings exist completely beyond the magic used by the demon characters. SCP-1879 is not only capable of shrugging off a blow from Lucifer, he's able to swindle him in a deal. Stolas is baffled to learn the Spiral Gestalt somehow allowed D-9341 to successfully create a duplicate of his Grimoire, and all of his vast power as a Goetica prince can only barely slow down 008's infection speed.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!:
- Loona has this reaction when she hears Justin got punished because he couldn't recall the first seventy things Dr. Bright is not allowed to do off by heart.
- Justin himself experiences similar frustration after getting electrically shocked by SCP-5000 to break Kiki's lust spell and consequently realising that Blitzo didn't bother telling him Verosika's gang are comprised mostly of Succubi and Incubi so he'd have time to prepare.
