[center][h1]The Brilliant Director Hojo[/h1][/center]

[b]"WHAAAAAAAT?!![/b] An unearthly bellow violently reverberated through the laboratory, courtesy of one Director Hojo, the Brilliant, the Genius, and last but not least, also the Furious. However, to be fair to the Sollan scientist, how could he not be? Especially as he watched the footage of the fight between the Undead Samurai against the Lord of Hellfire himself, recorded by the airship after the two breached onto the surface sometime during their duel. Thing was, even he wasn't delusional enough to not see that the former was dominating the latter.

The walking corpse of a swordsman almost slaying Grayscale was expected, she was a nascent Eidolon, still a whelp compared to the Dragon King, she had yet to fully blossom, far from it, but this... this was [i]the[/i] Ifrit, the Primal whose essence was used to create Project Hellfire. For the Flamelord himself to struggle against a mere undead...

[b]"No, this must be an anomaly, yes, an exception that proves the rule, extraneous and unidentified circumstances affecting Ifrit's strength..."[/b] Hojo began to ramble as he paced around the room, one hand clasping and unclasping behind his back while the other held his chin, [b]"Perhaps meddling with the crystals affected the Primals in one way or another, after all, they're connected to the planet itself, that must be it, indeed, this is the reason why I authored this megaproject, to create Eidolons unshackled by the whims of Etro..."[/b]

[b]"Or perhaps these Eidolons aren't as mighty as you assumed them to be."[/b] His assistant suddenly quipped, cutting off the senior scientist's ramblings.

[b]"..."[/b] Earning him a veritable death glare from Hojo, [b]"What did you just say, ...[i]boy[/i]?!"[/b]

[b]"I said..."[/b] The glare seemed to accomplish nothing but encouraging him further, [b]"Perhaps you're overestimating the might of these so-called Primals, perhaps you are..."[/b] He paused, just long enough to build up the anticipation, [b]"Wrong~"[/b]

[b]"Why you little-...?!!"[/b] With a snarl, Hojo charged with all the fury his untrained middle-aged body muster, only to find the pretentious assistant easily dodging to the side, then suddenly held a stiletto to his neck, [b]"...-?!"[/b]

[b]"Careful, Director, you aren't quite cut out for this kind of thing,"[/b] The assistant's face abruptly morphed, turning feminine as his dark hair shifted hues to blonde and brown irises to maroon red, [b]"Leave it to us, the professionals~"[/b] She chuckled, amusement palpable in her visage before releasing the scientist and stowing away the knife in her - stolen - white coat.

[b]"Loki..."[/b]" Hojo spat, [b]"Don't you weasels have anything better to do? And who are you to accuse me of failure, you couldn't even properly handle a mere retired general, your ilk slaughtered everyone in that shithole of a village, [i]except[/i] for the one cat you're supposed to murder."[/b]

[b]"Oh, that? I've done my part and provided the information, and as much as you refuse to believe it, it took no small effort to track the Limbtaker down, it's not my fault that she just so happened to be away the exact moment our forces arrived."[/b] Loki shrugged, nonchalantly taking the failure in stride, [b]"I can only do so much, but what I [i]can[/i] do, I do it well, unlike..."[/b] Instead of continuing, she simply let her gaze finish her words.

[b]"After all, Director, as you said,"[/b] Loki curled a smirk of undiluted smug, [b]"Extraneous circumstances do exist. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to return these clothes~"[/b] Then promptly left the laboratory.

Left by himself with a bruised pride, Hojo's fingers curled into tight fists, his throat growling.

[b]"CURSE YOU, ARCADIUUUUUUUUUSSS!!"[/b]