Dr. Xavier Dusk inhaled deeply to calm himself before he walked into the room. Although his steel blue eyes did a poor job at concealing his anger, he tried to keep his composure. Unfortunately, that would prove impossible.

Moving a lock of platinum blonde hair away from his eyes, he sighed and began the interview. "I'm sure you've both been filled in on why this is happening. Am I correct?"

"Where is Ashley?! What did you do to her?!" Mr. Veers snarled.

At the sound of SCP-5239's deadname, Dr. Dusk's hands balled up into fists. "First of all, Blaine goes by they/them. Second of all, if you cannot maintain a bare minimum of respect for your child's identity, I can guarantee you will never see them again."

He then muttered under his breath, "Not that you deserve to see them in the first place. Especially after you treated them like shit for being themselves." Lamentably, Mrs. Veers heard him.

"Being 'themselves'?! She's a fucking girl! Not 'non-binary' or whatever other nonsense she was spewing on her 16th birthday!" Mrs. Veers shouted.

"Is that why you tried to send them to a conversion therapy camp?" Xavier growled. His voice was quiet, but just barely concealed the cold fury he was feeling. And though it wasn't noticed by any of them, his fingernails had formed into claws and the amulet around his neck was glowing a bit.

"The staff there were going to hammer that 'non-binary' horsecrap out of her. Gender politics are a goddamn plague on our youth, one that deserves to be stamped out by any means necessary!" Mr. Veers snapped.

Just as their interviewer was about to respond, Mrs. Veers added, "But of course she had to go crying to you! You've taken her from us without our consent and we want her back or else!"

Now the researcher was losing his patience at the speed of light. "Seeing as you do not deserve children to begin with, I can say with confidence that any possibility of you reuniting with Blaine is firmly out of your reach. We have saved them from your influence, and they are free now. Free to be themselves, free to explore the world, and most importantly, free of you!"

By this point, the changes in his appearance were more noticeable. His normally blonde hair was turning a shade of rose gold, and his amulet emitted a blinding flash. Soon enough, he would be unable to control his rage.

"You and your ilk had no right to decide the fate of our daughter! That should have been our responsibility and ours alone!" Mr. Veers shouted, now standing up from his seat.

"You lost that chance the moment you rejected their identity. You and your bitch of a wife are the most disgusting excuses for parents I have ever had the misfortune of meeting! If there truly is a God up in Heaven, you will burn in Hell!"

And with that, the full force of Xavier Dusk's wrath was unleashed. Wings made of tanzanite, blue topaz and rose gold sprouted from his back and unfurled themselves. With a single roar of fury, he pounced upon the couple and began clawing at their faces.

Blood stained the Foundation doctor's pristine white lab coat crimson and screams of pain reverberated through the room. He clawed at Mrs. Veers' stomach, revealing her intestines. With a tug, he pulled them from her body and snapped them apart. Then he tore out Mr. Veers' spine and threw it across the room.

"Surrender at once with your hands above your head!"

When the doctor in question turned around, the guards were in for a terrifying sight. Instead of their usual steel blue color, his left eye was electric indigo and his right a light blue. His hair shone rose gold instead of platinum blonde.

But his hair and eyes were not the only thing that had changed. The claws on his left hand were made of tanzanite and his right hand had talons of blue topaz. Most horrifying of all by far, however, were the wings that were now on his back.

His wings resembled that of a phoenix. The crystalline feathers were contrasted with the metallic, bladed edges dripping with blood.

At first, the guards did not dare approach the monster that once was Xavier Dusk. "Holy fucking shit...he's gone feral!" The guard then moved his hands, shielding his eyes from the amulet's light.

"Pull yourself together, Jones! He's dangerous and has to be stopped!"

But just then, the transformed doctor ambushed Jones and tore him to shreds, just as he had done to the parents of Blaine Veers. It was only after he was done with the team and their innards were scattered across the room that he finally came to his senses.

And even then, his hair and eyes hadn't gone back to normal. Thankfully, his claws and wings were gone and his necklace wasn't glowing anymore.

"What...happened?"

The disoriented scientist looked around before averting his eyes. How did I get covered in blood?! And what's with the guts everywhere? It's so gross and the smell is revolting! I'll be lucky if I can even keep my lunch down after seeing that...

Wait a minute. I think I attacked...no, no, no. I'll try not to remember those scumbags. Just thinking about them...makes me see red...

Shit. What about those other corpses? I didn't kill them, did I?

After some time passed, Thomas Graham and his entourage showed up. As the guards handcuffed him, the Director pulled out a decree.

"As of today, you are no longer a member of Foundation staff. You are now an anomaly, one that has proven itself too hazardous to walk free. Moving forward, you will be addressed exclusively as SCP-8166," Director Graham read aloud.

"Is this about me killing 5239's egg and sperm donors? If you want me to apologize for that, you've wasted your time! They had it coming for being bigoted shitstains!"

"The deaths of George and Chloe Veers are not the only reason for this. You also killed several security guards during your rampage. Whether or not this was intentional on your part does not matter. We have decided you are too much of a risk to personnel to continue with your duties. Take the entity to its cell."

"You're kidding me. I'd never just attack random people for no reason! Who d'you think I am? 682?" Xavier snapped.

"As I stated earlier, whether or not you intended to kill them doesn't matter. Their blood is on your hands, and letting you keep your job would pose a significant danger to the other personnel," Director Graham responded.

If Dr. Dusk wasn't panicking before, he certainly was now. "Wait! Graham, we're colleagues! Friends, even! Aren't I still good ol' Firecracker? Y'know, life of the party and all that jazz?" A pathetic attempt at pleading for freedom, I know. But maybe he'll be a bit more sympathetic. He considers me a friend, after all.

Right?

"It pains me greatly to say this, but our friendship ends here," Director Graham replied coldly.

"I don't know what came over me back there! I'm sorry about the guards! You have to believe me, Tom! I'm sorry! I'M SORRY!"

Sadly, his pleas fell on death ears as he was taken to his cell, and his new home. Once the cell door was bolted shut, he immediately started pounding it, switching to clawing at the metal door once his talons came back from the stress.

"I'M SORRY FOR KILLING THE GUARDS! JUST LET ME EXPLAIN MYSELF! IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN! I CAN'T BE STUCK HERE FOREVER! PLEASE, ANYTHING'S BETTER THAN THIS!"

As Xavier continued to sob and claw frantically at his cell door, he heard a voice say, "Requesting immediate sedation of SCP-8166. Subject is experiencing emotional turmoil that could bring about a panic attack."

He felt a sharp prick in his neck. And then, nothing.

"SCP-8166-"

"That's not my name! It's Xavier Dusk and you damn well know that!"

As much as he hated being rude to such a kind woman, he was terrified and desperate to escape his predicament.

"For all intents and purposes, you are now SCP-8166. Please, try to stay calm. It will help you greatly in the future," Jules Yesenia replied.

He gripped his head tightly with both hands. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes, but he fought them back with all his strength.

"Now, may I begin with questioning?" Yesenia asked. No response.

"Whatever. Anyway, down to brass tacks. What provoked you into attacking George and Chloe Veers?"

"They kept misgendering and deadnaming their child, even when I made it clear I wouldn't tolerate that. Eventually, I just couldn't control my anger anymore and snapped. I don't know how I got claws or bladed wings. I guess I like the new hair and eyes, though," Xavier sighed.

"We believe your necklace may be the cause of this. Could you remove it so we can see if this happens to any other wearers? If this is found to occur with all wearers and your powers vanish, you will be released," Yesenia said.

"You...You mean that?" I could actually be released if the testing goes well?

"Yes. Now please try to remove your necklace, 8166."

The disgraced researcher began taking off his amulet. Once he did, he handed it over to Yesenia. "Let's just hope this works."

"If it does, we can guarantee your release," Yesenia said with a smile.

"Wait. What about the guards I killed?"

"The Foundation will not hold you liable for their deaths if it's found that you took those actions under the necklace's influence."

"Thanks, Jules."

"Glad I could help, Firecracker."

"D-10639, please place the amulet around your neck," Dr. Edwards instructed over the loudspeaker.

D-10639 groaned, but followed the doctor's instructions nonetheless.

"Tell us, what would provoke you into a homicidal rage?"

"If they were insufferable fuckwads, I'd be glad to slit their throats. Kinda like what I hope to do with you for wastin' my time."

"So, we just keep annoying him?" Dr. Edwards whispered away from the microphone.

"I suppose that's a good way to test the effects of the amulet and see if only Firecracker-I mean, 8166 can transform because of it," Dr. Vanderbilt replied, correcting himself when he addressed his colleague by his nickname rather than his designation.

But no matter how enraged D-10639 became, he didn't even sprout claws. The same would happen with all the other test subjects, even the most violent D-Classes.

"So, it appears that the former Dr. Dusk is a special case after all," Dr. Edwards noted.

"And he'll be stuck here forever, it seems," Dr. Vanderbilt added with a sigh.

The next day, Jules Yesenia was sent to her patient's cell to break the unfortunate news to him. When she walked in, she returned the necklace.

His heart stood still upon seeing it. This can only mean one thing...

"Bad news, buddy. We have tested your necklace on multiple D-Class subjects. And no matter how quick to violence, not a single one showed signs of the change you underwent. They didn't even grow claws."

"No...this can't be happening...I'm really stuck here?! Forever?!"

"Unless your anomalous traits are somehow neutralized, I'm afraid you'll be spending the rest of your days in Foundation captivity. I'm truly sorry about this, SCP-8166," Jules sighed.

"It's not your fault, Jules. No hard feelings," Xavier said, trying to hide his trembling voice and the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes.

"If you need someone to talk to, I'll always be here," Yesenia reminded her friend, who simply nodded with a sad smile.

Once Dr. Yesenia was out of the room, he broke down completely, tears streaming freely down his face. Crawling over to the bed, he hugged a pillow and sobbed into it, not caring who would hear him or what they'd say.