Quoted By:
<span class="mu-r">“Nico. See if you can’t go help her out.”</span> you said, drawing the Japanese girl’s attention back to you. When she saw that you were nodding in Pandora’s direction, she glanced at Gwen, then back at you, before nodding and running off to do exactly that.
Gwen stared as she ran past her, and then panned her gaze over the ESU campus to take in the carnage. The Spider Slayers had toppled statues, blasted holes in the ground, and smashed in windows and doors in an attempt to search for those spiders.
Apparently, Warren had been entirely correct to assume that he would be attacked within the very same day if the jammer had ever gone down. You just wished that he would’ve had the foresight to predict a betrayal on this scale from the Chameleon. You told him multiple times that he couldn’t be trusted, but no one ever wanted to listen!
<span class="mu-g">“Huntsman, what’s-”</span> Gwen began, but you cut her off before she could finish.
<span class="mu-r">“I’ll explain later! Just try to evacuate as many people as you can.”</span> you demanded. <span class="mu-r">“And…don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m gonna need you to get as far away as possible. Both of my guys are using magic, and your shield is throwing them off their game.”</span>
She frowned, and then her eyes widened in sudden realization. Gwen glanced down at the shield, running her fingers over the edge of the disk, creating a gentle humming noise as she did so.
<span class="mu-g">“Shit. I didn’t mean to-”</span>
<span class="mu-r">“It’s okay. You couldn’t have known.”</span> you said quickly, interrupting her again. <span class="mu-r">“But I still need your help. There are attacks happening in other parts of the city. Could you go check on one of them after you get some people to safety?”</span>
You shot her a quick text containing the locations of areas where you’d noticed increased police activity, making absolutely certain to place Rich’s last known location at the very top, in bold letters.
Hopefully, he was still there, and not in an entirely different country after tangling with the teleporter. You really could’ve used Vic’s help right about now, but she was too much of an unknown variable, as well as liability. What you needed more than anything was for her and Peter to get to safety, so you had too less people to worry about.
When reminded that there were lives on the line, her hesitation had been blown away as if it had never been there. She tucked her phone away, reaffirmed her grip on the shield and nodded.
<span class="mu-g">“I think I know where most of them are holed up. I’ll do a quick sweep of the school, make a few announcements, and bring along anyone that I can find away from here.”</span> she declared.
And while you sincerely doubted that the girl had the heart to leave anyone behind, you knew that she trusted you enough to get the job done, even without her around.
(Cont.)
