Hideous, evil, straight-up maniacal laughter rung in the chambers. It was of such quality, that if one were forced to write it using onomatopoeia, it could only me rendered as "MWHAHAHAHAhahahahahahahahahaha!" with extra emphasis added on the first two syllables. Clearly, whoever had performed it, they put in a great deal of practice into the Art of Evil Laughter and most Demon Lords would no doubt weep with joy if they heard it. Then again, they would probably be much less joyful if they learned that a human was the one who produced such a hideously evil laughter. And as if to add insult to injury, a former hero, to boot! Seriously, why did those pricks always have to overshadow perfectly responsible and hard-working overlords?!

Regardless of their concerns, the voice continued.

[color=0072bc]"IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIIIIIIIIIVE!" [/color]These words were accompanied by dramatic thunder and wind, as demanded by the rules of villainy. Or perhaps because there were massive, metal boxes set up in the room, from which the sound of heavy rain and thunder came forth in an unusually life-like and loud fashion. Not that many would see them, because they were shrouded in almost total darkness, with only a few strategically placed lights so that the venue's contents would be cast in an sinister light, calculated to such precision, efficiency and Absolute Evilness (trademarked and copyrighted!) that the aforementioned Demon Lords would be forced to weep at seeing how much a former hero had outdone them in their area of expertise.

Then the lights came back on and the sounds stopped with an abrupt record needle scratch.

"No reaction in the subject," Ithel Jernigan summarised as he looked down at the - predictably - still dead mouse in front of him. Continuing from the perspective of our beloved - behated? - Demon Lords, they would have surely been confused and perhaps even enraged at the man's appearance, for he dared to defy the stereotypes of both heroes and villains. In fact, most inhabitants of this world would be hard-pressed to recognise his mode of dress, as they never heard of such things as white suits and blue ties. At least not [b]yet[/b] if this blue-haired, turquise-eyed, sharp-faced, glasses-wearing man had anything to say about it.
 
And he did. Several of those words included phrases that only existed in his language and conveyed supreme dissatisfaction with the state of affairs, but he did have lots of things to say. Most of which would be probably not well received by anyone who was born in this world, which is why he chose not to share them with many others. By the way, this tangent is only here because the author felt like it and it may or may not have relevance in the future. The author has not decided yet, because there is no way they can foretell the future and they are unwilling to revise or read their writing again.

Moving on ever so swiftly, Ithel took out a thick notepad with more pages than it should have been possible for a notepad to have.

[color=0072bc]"Situation #13 is also ineffective, which suggests that the hypothesis is baseless. Therefore, the 'Investigation of Possibilities Regarding Villainous and Heroic Speeches' project is temporarily suspended. The project will only be resumed in circumstances that replicate the required variables perfectly,"[/color] he spoke out loud, which, while unnecessary, [s]made him look cool[/s] let his assistant know what he wrote down, as she watched his every step.

[img]https://safebooru.org//images/3567/b74f5f429f54ecbe5680d96133e56330746e23de.png?3711246[/img]

[color=ed1c24]"I attempt to express my regret at the failure of your experiment and the fact that I suggested it,"[/color] she spoke, her voice coming across as... not quite human. Not quite demonic either, nor evil minion, which surely went against the rules of evil. But at least they went against the rules of good taste as defined by the rules of evil. Hierarchy was complicated like that.

[color=0072bc]"You do not have to worry about it, Fourzero,"[/color] he responded to her with a slight smile. [color=0072bc]"It was worth a try. Given the rules of this world, I would not have been surprised if it did end up working."[/color] Ithel spoke to her in a calm, reasonable manner; quite an unusual thing for a force of evil to do and lead to a perfectly reasonable question: was he truly evil? Incidentally, this question did have an answer in the form of a quite thick document written by the Church of Clionism.

[color=0072bc]"Now then, we really should get going. Let us not leave lord Ahriman waiting for us."[/color]

[color=ed1c24]"In the case we evacuate our laboratory in the present, our arrival will be scheduled two mi... a little eary,"[/color] Fourzero spoke as she followed Ithel to the reception room.

[color=0072bc]"That is most acceptable."[/color]

[hr]

Not long afterwards, the doors to Lord Ahriman's [s]definitely most evil, sinful and unforgivable[/s] chambers opened and in stepped the aforementioned two individuals: Ithel Jernigan and Fourzero. While they lacked in presence compared to some of the individuals within the room, the way they held themselves held some gravitas. Not gravity. That is a different thing. Gravitas is an air of importance, not a force of attraction, though if one stretched the definition far enough, they would no doubt find some sort of irrelevant similarity between the two words, which would inevitably force an investigation from the department of science or the department of literature, if such things existed.

There were no announcements of their presence, nor did they introduce themselves in a grandiose manner, for such things were deemed unnecessary. Rather, they made their way casually towards one of the many banquet tables, deliberately selecting one that was A.) Empty, B.) Suited for only two people, C.) Had a white tablecloth and most importantly, D.), had been specifically requested by Ithel to accommodate them. For this first foray into this world of [s]villainy[/s] service to Lord Ahriman, he wished to put a little bit of distance between him and his fellow Heartbreakers, just in case.