There was silence form the spider. Amber glanced from her to Scott, not sure what was going on. The uylata spider had grown very, very still.

‘That-that cannot be true.’

“It is, unfortunately.” Scott said, nodding slowly. “Straight from Yog-Sothoth himself.”

‘You lie! You lie! You-’ the spider cried desperately, fear emanating from every ounce of her being. Cross suppressed a shudder. If a being this big, ancient and powerful was terrified, what did that mean they were in for?

‘If I discover any word you have uttered about this is untrue, your suffering will be legendary!’

“No. You know there can be no falsehood about this subject. No one wants that to happen, no one would ever go so far, in any circumstance.” Scott said grimly.

“But apparently this guy does.” Cross said, speaking up. Something was different, both Scott and the spider were too solemn and on-edge. “So explain to the rest of the class. What’s an Azathoth?”

“Azathoth is-hmm, he’s…um, kinda like…” Scott started and stopped, wracking his brain to find the words. “Aza-no. I’d better start with this. I want you to imagine something for this. There is a being. An omnipotent god. Sees all, knows all, freaking is all. An unknowable, incandescent being composing the universe, all of it, in every possible time and dimension. That is Yog-Sothoth. He knows everything, because he is everything. You are Yog-Sothoth, I am Yog-Sothoth, all is Yog-Sothoth. But somehow, he’s locked out of time and space, only able to interact with anything through the proper ritual. Now, there are Elder Gods, beings of unknowable power, like the spider here. Above her are the Great Old Ones, impossibly ancient and deceased beings, who shall remake the universe…when it is time. But beyond the circle of understanding are the Outer Gods. They are immeasurable, unknowable, and completely terrifying. Yog-Sothoth is the greatest of these, with what is said to be infinite knowledge and power.

“And Azathoth is far beyond even that.”

There was a pregnant, worried pause before Scott continued.

“Azathoth is at the complete center of the universe, attended by dancing gods to the beating of vile drums and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes. He is shapeless, mindless, sleeping. His court call him the ‘Blind Idiot God’, due to his mindlessness. Of course, alien scholars debate the fine details, but what is known is Azathoth could eliminate or remake the universe with a thought, and we are powerless to do anything about it. Azathoth dreams existence, and so waking him up is bad. Literally no Great Old One or Outer God wants that to happen, let alone mortals such as us. I have no idea why the Calamitous Ruination wants to do it, but that’s his goal. And we have to stop him, no matter what. Or else the entirety of everything will be erased.”

There was silence for a long while.

“Holy crap.” Nightfang said, echoing the group’s thoughts.

‘Indeed. In light of this…situation, I fear I have little choice but to cooperate. Amber?’ the sider asked, turning her attention to her. She stood up straight. ‘This is what you wish?’

“It is, Mother Spider. But, I will never forget you, or Xx’lpng, or the rest of the uylata. If you want, after we get through this, I can help you with the…recruitment drive, here on Earth.” She had a vision of a spider in a suit at a cheap plastic desk, a banner behind it interviewing people.

‘If only we all shared that confidence. Very well. Amber Catherine Harris, I release you from your service to the uylata. Go, my child.’

Amber felt a funny buzzing, a vibration through her body down underneath her bones. Suddenly, she felt lighter, like taking off a coat. She blinked, her body briefly glowing and the light dissolving into sparks.

“Thank you, mother spider.” she said, bowing.

‘You’re welcome. Don’t forget, you can call or visit anytime you wish. My door is always open.’ the spider projected, then turned her attention to Scott. ‘We have an accord. We shall ally, temporarily. I shall spread news of this to all that I am able, though if he escapes to the center of the universe there is little that I can do. That is a space allowed to only the highest ones.’

“Yeah, figured. Delacroix and company spent a lotta time and energy making sure you guys couldn’t interfere, even if someone could destroy Earth they wouldn’t make it in time. And I guess they think no mortal power can touch ‘em.” Scott sighed.

“Maybe, but all we have to do is prove them wrong, my friend!” Leo said confidently, giving everyone a winning smile.

‘This one speaks truth.’ the spider thought, a hint of a smile in her towards Leo. ‘I will do what I can do. When you have need of my services, ask Amber. She is no longer in servitude, but she remains an uylata. We will always be there for you, my child.’

With that last telepathic message, the projection of the uylata spider ended, and the arachnid scurried off.

“Well. That was a thing.” Will said.

“I’m afraid I’m still a little confused. Yog-Sothoth is everything? And infinite? And Azathoth can break the universe when he wakes up?” Genevieve asked Scott.

“Ah, it’s…hmm.” Scott considered the question. “Err, think of it like this: Yog-Sothoth is the software the universe runs on, while Azathoth is the hardware, the physical computer itself. One wrong command, one thing goes wrong with the system, boom. The entirety of everything, gone.” he explained.

“That’s real bad. Why hasn’t anyone done anything about this?” she said, looking alarmed. He shrugged.

“The Outer Gods do what they can to keep him placated and dumb. There’s not a whole lot anyone can do, except ride the tiger and pray he stays asleep.”

“Huh.” Genevieve said, the haunted look of one who had just discovered the hidden chaotic and fragile nature of the universe on her face.

“Yeah, it’s kinda a bummer. Don’t worry ‘bout it too much though, if you do you’ll go nuts.” Scott said cheerfully. He looked over the vampires. “It occurs to me, why are you here? I don’t think I ever got in touch.”

“Oh, Leo called us to help. We are here representing Lord Harvaste, as we are his best and brightest, the finest of the clan.”

“Well, I guess that’s one way to get the fang gang here.” Scott said, and Genevieve’s eyes went wide.

“Oh, please don’t let him hear you say that-”

“Come on Fang Gang, we know what we gotta do, there’s nothing to it but to do it! Who’s with me!” Nightfang cheered, holding out his hand to rally his troops. Genevieve, Gregor, and Will all stared flatly at Scott.

“I blame you for this.” Genevieve said, sighing. There was a knock on the door, and a skeleton popped his head in.

“Boss, the head’s attached to the winch, we’re ready to go when you are.” he said.

“Perfect. Start bringing him up, we’ll be there in a sec.” Scott said, then turned back to the group. “So we got a lot to do in not a lot of time. We’ll head out tomorrow, they shouldn’t have completed the ritual by then. Hopefully.”

“Look, if this’s really as dire as you say it is, shouldn’t we leave right away? As in, now?” Bess said, frowning.

“Because they’ve been preparing for this for a long time, and we don’t know what defenses they have. WE should hit ‘em full force with everything we’ve got, and that requires prep of our own. If we get there and can’t actually do anything, that’ll be the worst case scenario.” Cross spoke up.

“I don’t know how much military support we can count on. Australia’s a long way off, and every branch has its’ hands full trying to keep everything together here.” Crenshaw said, watching the Air Force choppers patrol the city, gunning down all the monsters they could. Cross frowned.

“Mobilizing a military unit would take too much time, and I’m not sure if it would matter anyway. All we might be doing is presenting a target. Looks like the best chance is up to us.”

“W-Well, we can do it, right? Right? You guys did before, you can do it again, right?” Vanessa asked, feeling very scared. The end of everything. She wrapped her arms around herself, shaking.

“We have no choice, therefore we will.” Leo said, thumbing his sword bracelet.

“What he said. Now c’mon, we got a lead to investigate.” Scott strode out onto the deck, where the zombies were lowering the centipede’s severed head to the boards.

“Ew. Why is this here?” Bess said, making a face.

“Because Amber did a bang-up job, and he’s not dead yet. Good work by the way Amber, very fierce.” Scott said.

“Thank you?” she said, raising an eyebrow. Scott went over and smacked the head between the eyes.

“C’mon out, you’re not fooling anyone!” he shouted.

“Uh, Scott, what are you-” Amber started, but a crease appeared in the forehead, splitting open and out slid a slime-covered Yun, coughing and blinking in the light.

“Hey there, friend.” Scott said. Yun wiped his eyes and saw that he was surrounded by the group, Cross and Crenshaw pointing guns at his head.

“Uh. Surrender?” he said, putting up his hands.

“You goddamn bet you do.” Cross growled, hauling him up and pulling out a pair of cuffs.

“How is he still alive?” Bess asked, examining the corpse.

“Oh, that’s easy. It’s similar to the Zombie Titan, he just merges with the creature. It’s easier because it was alive. I don’t know-huh?” Yun had shoved Cross off-balance onto Crenshaw, and suddenly started crawling around like a bug.

“You won’t catch me!” he snarled, zipping past the surprised group’s feet.

“Everybody, get him!” Scott pointed, but that just turned Yun’s eye to him. The sorcerer considered his resources, but this was an emergency. He ripped his wrist open with his teeth, and out shot another centipede, snapping its jaws. This was merely an offspring of his servant, not nearly grown or hard enough to cause city-wide destruction, but more than enough to crush Scott.

Amber watched in horror as she saw the centipede expand, falling on Scott’s bones and smashing them to pieces, the world going quiet as she stared at the broken body, the hollow skulls’ eyelights fading to black. No. No. NO. Not again. She turned to Yun, fighting the undead crew, smashing and breaking them as they tried to apprehend him.

“Dude! Just give up! It’s over already!” Nightfang cried, holding back tears as he tried to corner the teen, fighting his stiff back and leg muscles. It had been far too long since any of the fang gang had a drink, and they’d been going full blast all night. Yun was looking tired as well, but was significantly more refreshed than everyone else, since it wasn’t his body he was using to attack. He mounted his centipede and it reared up like a horse, hissing.

“Ah ha ha! Delacroix will be pleased! I’ll break you all!” he declared.

“Damn it all.” Cross muttered, lining up a shot. Of course the minute the kid came back he’d die again; there was no time to mourn right now. Crenshaw put his rocket launcher down and pulled out his pistol, but like Cross couldn’t get a clear break with the chaos. Leo sighed and activated his sword, but he didn’t know how much he could-

“…eeeeeaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUHHHHHHH!”

“Uh-oh.” Cross muttered. Everyone’d seen what just happened, and now they saw Amber glowing like a lightbulb, every muscle and vein bulging out in her body, seething with pure rage. The entire ship shuddered, the sheer emotion Amber was going through palpable.

“You!” she said, mouth full of fangs. She leapt over the dead crewmen and tried to bite Yun’s head off.

“Whoa!” He slid to the side, the insect monster sweeping its tail into Amber. “You’ll see him again soon!” he taunted. Amber got up, not even feeling the pain, but the centipede caught her again with the tail, knocking her into the captain’s door and keeping her there. She snarled and thrashed like an animal, the only thing on her mind making him pay. Unfortunately, her fury was so great she couldn’t focus and slip out.

“Everyone stay or I crush her!” Yun bellowed, ignoring Amber’s curses and yowls. “My servant can crush steel! She will die like the bone-man!”

“N-No…we, we just got him back…and now Amber…” Riley sniffed, being led to the back by Connor, trying very hard not to cry.

“What do you want?” Cross said, not lowering her gun but not advancing any further. Damnit, now it was a hostage situation! Amber quieted down, still gnashing her teeth. She tried to push the bug away, but Yun was telling the truth, and she was still tired from earlier. She tried to slip away, but her wriggling earned her a kick from one of its’ legs. Without the other uylata, she didn’t know if she could survive if it pressed the attack. Yun glanced between them all, searching for a way out.

“Drop your weapons!” he demanded, and everyone placed their implements on the deck. “Now, here’s what I need. I need-”

“-three pizzas no pepperoni, a million dollars in a briefcase, and a gassed-up chopper to Mexico. Right?” Scott asked, thunking his boney behind on the centipede right next to Yun, eyelights shining. He laughed as Yun let out an indignant squawk, everyone staring at him wide-eyed. The centipede chomped down on his shoulder quick as lightning, and flung him as hard as it could to the deck, shattering his bones on the prow.

“Aw, c’mon man.” To the Chinese teen’s horror and the wonder of everyone else, the pieces of bone began to shake and reassemble themselves, the undead crew he’d smushed earlier regenerating as well. “I just reformed.”

“Yahh! Kill it!” The centipede spat acid at the reforming skeleton, and the bones melted…before flowing out of the acid like putty, coalescing onto the calcium frame.

“See, the thing is, I’m dead. And once you’re dead, there’s not a whole lot that can kill you if you’re already-”

SMASH!

The tail lifted from Amber and drove into Scott, but the skeleton merely began to reform again.

“Yeah, not gonna work. I’m undead, dude! You can’t kill what’s already dead!” SMASH!

“I’ll try!” Yun said, backing up his centipede away from the swirling bone shards. “Jump!”

“Grab him!” Scott commanded, and zombies, skeletons, and ghosts rushed to the centipede, holding it down as it screeched and flailed. But its tail was still free!

“As I was saying-” CRASH! “I’m dead. But not just-” SMASH! “An ordinary zombie. See-” WHAM! “I can rise up-” POW! “Over-” THWOCK! “And over-” SLAM! “And over-” Whud! “Again.-” Smack! “You keep trying, but-” Wham. “You’re just not in my league.” Thwack. “Y’see, you should’ve thought twice when you tried to challenge-” Smack.

The tired centipede could hardly lift its’ tail anymore. Yun shook as the skeleton kept walking forward, over and over, no matter if he was broken.

“Do it now!” Yun screamed, and the centipede tried to lash out and bite him. Scott caught the monster’s tongue, and with a whispered flurry of bizarre, eldritch words, the insect shuddered and died. He loomed over Yun.

“-a necromancer!”

Chanting, Scott raised his hand and thrust into Yun. His eyes went wide as the boney arm yanked back, pulling him with it. Yun collapsed to the deck, Yun staring in horror.

“What-What is…” He gulped at seeing his body, his entire spectral form emanating a pus-yellow light.

“Did you-did you kill him?” Cross said, holstering her gun and walking over. It was against her first instincts, but she wouldn’t blame the kid. Hell, she’d do the same thing.

“What? No! I don’t wanna share the same metaphysical space as this wannabe. I just yanked his soul out for safekeeping, he’ll be easier to handle this way. His body’s just sleeping, like how we got around those vampires last year. He’s alive-kinda.” Scott rounded on the blank Yun. “Now, you’ve been a huge pain. Y’see this…” He looked around, and grabbed an old watch off the wrist of a recently deceased zombie, scribbling sigils on it with a marker.

“Hey!”

“You don’t need it anymore. You see this watch?” Yun nodded dumbly, still in shock. “Good. It’s your new home. Kz’smkgreeve!” He slammed the soul into the watch, and Yun screamed as his ghost spiraled down into the tarnished timepiece. “There, instant prison. Don’t break it ‘til you’re ready, you’ll let his spirit out. I figured he needed a time-out.” he said, tossing it to Cross. “Get it? Time-”

“Finish that sentence and I will blow your skull apart.” she growled, pocketing it.

“Gee, I-urk!” His bones were suddenly squashed together. Amber was hugging him close, his apprentices attached to his legs.

“You-you bastard! Don’t you-don’t you ever scare me like that again!” Amber sobbed into his ribs.

“Okay! Okay! I’ll be good! Just don’t die again!” Riley wailed.

“Please please please tell us before anything like that happens again! We need you, boss!” Connor said, fighting back tears of his own.

“Huh? Err…what?” Scott said, bewildered, trying to keep his balance form the bodies hanging onto him. “What? What’s the matter?”

“I thought you died again, you dork!” Amber sniffed, starting to calm down.

“Yeah, you were in pieces! We just gotcha back, we don’t want you to go away again.” Riley said, clinging fiercely to his jeans.

“Wah-? G-Guys, I’m fine. Really. I’m dead, it doesn’t matter, I can’t die again-”

“Don’t you say that! Of course it matters!” Amber snapped, grabbing his jacket. “It was horrible, watching you die over and over again! I did not come back to Earth just to let you get offed!”

“Didn’t that hurt?” Connor wondered.

“Nah, don’t have nerves anymore.” Scott said absently, completely off-guard. He…he was dead, a walking corpse, dried-up old bones. Sure, he expected Amber to be weirded out, but it wasn’t like there was any need for them to worry about him, he’d already proven he couldn’t get more dead. “Jeez guys, you’re overreacting a little, don’t you think?” he asked cluelessly.

“Shut up.” Amber said, pulling closer to him. “Just…shut up and never do that again, okay? I’ll let you off the hook if you do that.”

“Oh my, such a ‘big, bad necromancer.’ Truly terrifying.” Cross smirked. If skeletons could blush he’d be beet red by now.

“I, but-I’m fine, why-?” he said.

“Ha ha!” Leo clapped him around the shoulders. “Just think a sec: what would you have done if Amber kept dying over and over, then just said she was fine?” Scott’s skull tilted.

“Uh, well…now that you put it like that, um, yeah. Okay. Th-Thanks, guys.” He looked at them, awkward, lost for words, and more than a little touched. “You can let go now.”

“Only if you never die again, okay?” Riley asked.

“That’s-”

“Okay!?” She turned on the full force of her fiercest glare, and he had to fight a laugh down.

“Okay. I won’t die anymore. I promise.” He said gently, and she nodded and let go. Connor released his leg too, but still stood close, along with Riley. “Um, I get it. Really. I do need my hands though.” he told Amber, and she reluctantly slackened her grip.

“Now then.” Cross clapped her hands, drawing everyone’s attention. “We’ll move out in twelve hours. Go prepare. Rest, relax, talk to your families, do whatever needs doing. We’ve got some time to make things square. And that’s more than enough time to get you two home.” She turned a stern eye to the children, who shrunk back. Scott sighed and stepped in front of them.

“Actually, no. They’ll be coming with.” he said, and the stares he got would have melted a lesser man. Even the zombified crew was completely silent.

“Why.” Cross said, not willing to get worked up over this. Yet. The volcano could build up.

“I know they’re young, but they’re in this too. Riley and Connor both helped revive me. They may both still be learning, and not able to contribute much, but even a little is better than nothing, and as far as I’m concerned they’ve earned their place. Ordinarily, I would agree with you. But when the complete annihilation of the universe is on the line, it’s all hands on deck. It’s not much, but they’ve proven they know necromancy. If they offer even a small chance to help we have to take it. As it stands, they’ll be of more use than nearly the entire U.S. army. Assuming you guys want to, right?” he said turning to them. Connor and Riley both stared at his nonjudgmental eyelights, then shared a look. This was real.

“If you need my help, I’ll do whatever I can.” Riley said, her tone calm and determined, more serious than she had ever been.

“I-I don’t know how much I can actually contribute, b-but there’s no real choice. We h-have to fight to survive. I’m in.” Connor said nervously, trying to steel himself for what lie ahead. Scott nodded.

“There you have it, detective. They’re coming with.” Both he and Cross stared each other down, toxic emerald eyelights clashing against hard, stormy blue.

“No they’re not. I have to put my foot down. You and the girl were bad enough, I cannot authorize literal children in this operation.” Crenshaw tried to interject.

“And in case you didn’t realize agent, it’s my ship, with my undead army, my plans to counter this, and they’re my responsibility. You’re more than welcome to do your own thing, but if you wanna hitch your cart to this pony you’ll understand that I’m taking suggestions, not orders right now.” Scott said, turning his green glare on Crenshaw. The agent shivered and backed down. Looking into those lights…he had seen more than one vision of Hell as part of the Agency. Those eyelights reminded him too much of what they fought against. He sighed; unfortunately, he was still the best ticket to stop this madness.

“Very well. We are allied, but this ship and its’ crew fall under your jurisdiction.” he said, adding a mental note to have a gunship tail the galleon. Scott locked eyes with Cross again, neither backing down.

“This’s insane, you know that.” she said.

“The worse that happens is they get erased, along with everything else. The next worse thing is death, which is no problem to cure.” he countered.

“And the mental trauma?” she inquired, eyebrow raised. Scott shrugged.

“Something we’ll deal with, if it happens, if it even affects them. It might be too late for normal therapy anyway; they could already read the Necronomicon before I taught them anything. They’re already messed up, just a bit. Apparently Riley, and I guess Connor, were supposed to have been a few years earlier and have received the Necronomicon by now. But destiny’s gone screwy, so I got it instead. We gotta wing it.” There was a tug on his coat. He looked down to see Riley, eyes sparkling.

“Does that mean I’m the Chosen One?” she asked in wonder.

“No.” was the answer form every single person on the ship, including crew.

“You were supposed to be in an alternate timeline, it has little bearing on this one.” Scott said, and she pouted. “But yeah. If they can help, they should. This wasn’t a decision I made lightly, but as their instructor I believe they should be with us.” He grinned down at them, and they smiled back. Cross pondered. She knew him well enough to know that if she pressed, really pressed, he would acquiesce. But. He did have a point. They were too young. But in the face of complete annihilation, she supposed that didn’t matter. She looked as the little kids-no. The little necromancers.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this. Alright, they can stay. But!” Cross cut off their cheers. “They will not engage with anyone. They will stick to support only, and follow my instructions to the letter. Understood?” They both saluted, nodding. Scott grinned.

“Alright guys. Why don’t you go to your room and get ready? I’ll give you your assignments later.” Scott said.

“Sir yes sir!” Riley barked, saluting again sharply. She grabbed Connor’s arm and dragged him off.

“And that should go double for everyone. We move out in twelve hours. Get some rest, you’ll need it.” Cross commanded. Everyone nodded and shuffled off to rest, prepare, or just pray. She went up to Scott. She knew, but she still had to ask.

“I know you’ve been busy, but do their parents know about any of this?”

“Oh hell no.” Scott said brightly. Cross sighed and put her hand on her head.

“Wonderful.”