[h2]Hi-Hat[/h2] Hi-Hat warmly wished Sindibad good luck in contacting the rest of the men on his list, and headed deeper into the pizzeria. Along the way, Hi-Hat tapped the shoulders of two men: one dressed in the dark green and black of a little-known drug cartel from Stilwater, the other bedecked in a business suit and domino mask. The two had been good friends of Hi-Hat's ever since they joined Shadow Eternity, and had even gone on several missions together. Those who ever met the group would quickly come to fear Hi-Hat the decker, Shazay the son of Samedi, and Xiang the Swordsman of the Crazy 88. And they were right on their way to the teleporter room. Soon enough, they would be in New Orleans, aiming to meet the enigmatic voodoo practitioner that could give them the success they deserved. [h2]Sindibad Darude[/h2] Sindibad carefully scanned through the list of names, making sure to circle and underline Doctor Facilier's entry. The next person on the list was... the Necbromancer. The Lord of all undead frat boys and sorority girls, the man who pierced the veil of darkness and learned that the true paddle is swung from within, the Beast With a Thousand Popped Collars: Chad Worthington-Gardner III. His usefulness was [i]potentially[/i] worth the hassle of talking to him, but just as likely to be an active hindrance. The only way to find out was to tune in to his frequency... The Necbromancer laid dormant in his realm, sinisterly awaiting the time The Creators would have need of him again. He felt he'd done something [i]totes awesome[/i] with that "Haunted Sorority House" idea-- those adventurers wasted [i]so much Meat[/i] just for the chance to get busted down by those undead bimboes of his! That was more than four years ago, and the Necbromancer hadn't had a single second of work ever since... Suddenly, the skull-shaped-bong-shaped scrying orb in the corner began belting out a transmission! [b]"Testing, testing! This is Sindibad Darude, looking for [i]The Necbromancer[/i]! We would like to talk!"[/b] The Necbromancer, giddy from both panic and [i]finally being noticed[/i], scrambled over to the crystal skull-bong and breathlessly spoke into it. "You-[sub]huff! huff![/sub]-- I am He. Who is it that seeks an audience with the almighty [b]Necbromancer[/b]?" [b]"I am no one but a man seeking power. There is a powerful artifact I seek, but it is locked behind a mighty castle garrison. Will you lend me a force, so that I may take what is rightfully mine?"[/b] The Necbromancer was flabbergasted. NOBODY ever asked for his support! "Yeah, sorry, brah. I don't have anything I can give away. All my combat minions're off on other projects. Realtalk: I'm the least-stocked necromancer in the whole of Loathing. Like, I don't have a single combat-ready minion!" In fact, he didn't have [i]any[/i] minions left! All the sorority zombies and werewolves and vampires and skeletons and ghosts were donated to the Dreadsylvanian Anti-Adventurer Restocking Effort, and not a single one was left for [i]him[/i]! However, Chad [i]did[/i] know one person who had donated generously to Dreadsylvania and still had forces left over... "You know what, brah? I can help you out, 'cuz you're the first caller here in two years. I know a guy-- Rene C. Corman-- he's got skeletons. Loads of 'em. Yo, I'll talk to him, and I'll have him give you, like, 5% of his army for a shitload of Meat. Oh, and you gotta invite me to your next party. Best I can do for you, brah. Take it or make like a tree." [b]"I can accept that. Call Rene, and we'll talk later."[/b] "Aight, lemme get on that. I'mma put you on hold for a second, brah." ... "Aight, I talked to C-dawg, and he'll help you out. Just send me two million Meat, and I'll send most of it to the dude, and he'll send you some of his bonedawgs. Pleasure doing business with you brah. DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT OUR PROMISE!" [b]"You're a real pal, Chad. We'll have a pizza party as soon as we're done with your friend's skeletons."[/b] Sindibad closed the transmission, and gave Jack Morgan a brisk thumbs-up. "We've got skeletons! All we have to do is give this Necbromancer guy two million Meat and he'll teleport them where we want!" Jack Morgan stared at Sindibad incredulously. "Uh, did he name a unit? Two million [i]whats[/i] of Meat?" "Grams or ounces, probably." Sindibad scratched the back of his head sheepishly.! "I hope it's grams, anyway..." "Whatever. I'll call Takahara and tell him we need 2,000,000 grams of raw meat. I'm sure [i]that[/i] will go over well." Jack Morgan casually pulled out his wristpad, and typed in Takahara's number. Across the multiverse, in the Space Bar, Takahara's communicator started ringing.