Demons in the Ninja Factory
Goetia moved fast once a decision was made. Amon's expedition stormed straight into Nevil Pharmaceuticals' headquarters.
"Don't worry about the legal stuff! I'll handle that—just take out those demon bastards!"
With the rock-solid backing of Kashi, they didn't hesitate a second before blasting the megacorp's front gate to hell. Boom!
"These bombs are a far cry from the old ones, huh?" Amon marveled, and the ogre demolition expert proudly flashed a thumbs-up.
Upgraded with Kashi's capital, their comrades' combat prowess was on another level now. Each one wasn't quite security chief material, but damn close.
As Amon admired their growth, a familiar voice echoed in his mind for the first time in ages—the mute sniper's.
With that signature cynical line, she pulled the trigger. Whirr—bang! Her railgun, wired straight into her spine, accelerated a tungsten round. It punched clean through the pilot in his tactical exosuit, no resistance.
The mute sniper wasn't the only one pulling her weight—everyone executed their roles to perfection. It had been a year since they'd fought together, but muscle memory synced them up flawlessly.
'Not bad at all.' Amon had doubted Kashi's call at first, but seeing his team's state now? He was convinced. With a lineup this stacked—each member security-chief caliber—it was no wonder she was so confident.
Riding their momentum, the expedition pushed smoothly into the company building. Inside, familiar ninjas greeted Amon and Sonia. They'd tangled with these guys plenty over the past few months, so they weren't much trouble. But the endless waves already had fatigue creeping in.
That's when the androgynous mage made a request of Amon. "Could you try to subdue as many as possible without killing them? Bring 'em here alive?"
Easy enough. Hell, he'd dismembered worse demons and roasted them in a furnace. Ninjas? He could stack 'em like a mountain. Soon enough, ninjas who couldn't even kill themselves piled up before the mage.
"Keep an eye on me, would you?" With that, the androgynous mage began inspecting them—cells, augmentations, miscellaneous implants. It didn't take long.
"They're all clones."
"Figures."
That matched what everyone, Amon included, had expected. But her next words flipped the script.
"Wait, don't get the wrong idea—their cells are all different. Totally unique bodies, but the personalities have been copied over."
"For real?" Kashi paused mid-air spear twirl to confirm.
The mage nodded. "Yeah. Not sure if 'clone' is even the right term. They're kidnapping suitable bodies, beefing them up with procedures, then overwriting them with company-loyal personalities copied from templates."
"Smart. No evidence trail that way."
Personalities don't leave fingerprints. Whatever crimes they committed in stolen bodies, the scene would just scream random murder or revenge killing. For ninjas built on stealth, it was perfect.
"And this." The mage jammed a scalpel into a ninja's nape. The blade sliced through skin and skull like butter. She fished around inside with gloved fingers and pulled out a metal chip from the brain.
"This chip in their heads? That's the core tech behind their fearless, endless ninja horde."
Copy a personality, overwrite—no evidence. But it had a fatal flaw: no feedback loop. If one ninja botched a mission, others with unique experiences would adapt. Clones? They'd repeat the same screw-ups, since failures don't talk, and successors copy the exact persona.
This chip fixed that.
"It backs up the failed ninja's personality."
If a ninja flubs the job, they suicide with poison. Body dies, but memories record to the chip. Recovery teams extract it, tweak the next clone to avoid repeats, boosting success rates.
Amon nodded at the explanation. "Explains why they feared electrocution so much."
Poison suicide backed up the chip—technically not death. But Plan B electro-roasting fried the chip too. True oblivion.
Did ninjas even fear death? Well...
"Makes sense. In an org where you can cheat death, expecting fearlessness is a tall order."
Thanks to the androgynous mage's work, Amon's team cracked the ninja squad's secret. Now there was only one play.
"Tracked the backup signal. Underground lab. That's where they're cranking out more ninjas."
"Then let's go."
At the mage's report, the team prepped to move.
"Set 'em up! Cover me!"
No need for chatter—Vox knew the drill, hauling bombs from his pack. While comrades back-to-back held off ninjas, he planted charges everywhere. Concentric circles formed; the party clustered at the center.
"Blow it!"
Whoosh! Outer ring detonated. Floor sank in a perfect circle, per Vox's design. Amon's crew dropped to sublevel 1.
Landing, Vox bellowed again. "Blow it!" Thud! Smaller circle, sublevel 2.
"Blow it!" Sublevel 3.
"Blow it!!!" Sublevel 4.
Each blast shrank the platform. After the tenth—
"We're here!"
Sublevel 10: the ninja birthing ground.
"Good work, Vox." His androgynous lover brushed dust from his clothes.
The party shrugged off the insane drop like pros, scouting the floor. They quickly found the personality copying and backup gear.
"No more ninjas."
Amon headed for the power source. But someone blocked his path.
Kashi recognized the suited man. "What's the vice chairman doing down here?"
He twirled his bouncy mustache. "Guarding the company's crown jewel, obviously?"
"So this is Nevil Pharma's core tech."
"You bet, Kashi. This cloning rivals your family's precog."
Amon and the team froze at his words. What the hell did that mustached prick just say?
Kashi stayed cool, pressing on. "Surprising. I figured precog was your edge."
"Haha! Precog? Please!"
The vice chairman roared with laughter, pulling a monocle from his pocket. He fitted it over his right eye, sneering. "Precog? That's basic for us."
His tone shifted—and his body warped. Crunch! Skeleton twisted; philtrum stretched, traps bulked. When it ended, his lower half and head were pure horse.
"Greetings, Amon. I'm the 55th of Goetia, Hell's Noble Duke—Orobas. Pleased to meet you."
Ignoring Kashi entirely, Orobas bowed elegantly to Amon—who flipped him off.
Orobas just chuckled. "Oh dear. Lucky for you, I'm the patron of dignity and grace. Need lessons?"
"Why not foresee my next line instead?"
"Sorry, that trick won't fly. I already glimpsed your ancestor's future—hence the horse form."
"Tch."
No freebie there. Orobas neighed like a cartoon horse, adjusting his monocle. "Whinny. Just checking—care to join Goetia?"
Twang! Twang! Amon's crossbow answered silently.
Orobas dodged with goofy flair. "Aw, pity! You'd fit right in—your name even..."
"Shut it. Mine means 'love' and 'trustworthy.' Don't lump me with filthy demons."
"Seat 7's open, y'know..."
"Pass."
Even mid-bantering, Amon's Divine Eyes scanned for weak points. 'Thyroid cartilage and right eye...' Orobas played coy, hiding gaps expertly.
Kashi cut in. "Just as I figured. You're ditching Nevil Pharma now, right?"
"You think I'd confirm that?"
"That dodge is confirmation enough."
She nodded casually. No point asking takeover timeline—futile, and he wouldn't spill. Instead, she'd inferred from their moves.
"Weird, though. You sparked a cold war over fat regulators, then bail the second you lose. Not about money or power... Were you spiking the regulators themselves?"
Silence. Kashi took it as yes.
"Nailed it. Drugs? Poison? Or personalities, ninja-style?"
"Think I'd answer?"
"Nah. But I got your attention."
"!?"
Torso's shield flipped open. Behind it, Bens' railgun—fully charged—fired. Boom!
Orobas, fixated on Kashi, couldn't react. Tungsten slug through the forehead.
But he rippled like a mirage and vanished.
"Tch."
"Teaching humans deceit was yesterday's news, but this evolution..." Orobas reappeared elsewhere, genuinely impressed.
Bens targeted his new spot's brow. Orobas snapped his fingers.
"Conversation over. First meetings call for courtesy, but this feels one-sided."
At his cue, a new figure entered: a hulking brute with a "Security Chief" badge.
No one expected him to be human. Right on cue, he shredded his clothes, transforming.
Three-headed dog: side heads spewing mist and fire, central one bloody-mouthed.
Amon glanced up. "Cerberus?"
The heads snarled in unison. "You dare compare this body to some mutt? I am Naberius!"
With a thunderous roar, Naberius charged the group.