Quoted By:
<span class="mu-r">“Would it be possible for you to reabsorb the Pixel Punks? Even the ones that Arcade’s creating?”</span>
Ember nodded, her jaw tensing slightly as she grew increasingly uncomfortable with her current inverted position.
<span class="mu-r">“The pixels are created by converting electrical energy into hard-light constructs. I can either reconvert them and make new pixels, or I can just disperse them. I’m not sure how long it’d take for me to convert Arcade’s avatars, but I’ll definitely be able to pull it off.”</span>
By now, she’d lost her glare, and was now looking at the three of you hopefully. You walked over and knelt down in front of her.
<span class="mu-r">“If you want my protection, I’m gonna need you to stick with me until we’ve managed to put a stop to all this. And depending on how hard you work, I might throw you a bone.”</span>
Ember swallowed hard and gave a barely perceptible nod. In response, you pulled out your knife and started cutting her free. After a minute, you were helping her up off the ground, steadying her so that she didn’t fall over.
<span class="mu-r">“Thanks. Sorry about, uh…trying to kill you and stuff.”</span>
You gave her a hard pat on the back, and Squirrel Girl gave her an encouraging smile.
<span class="mu-r">“Don’t thank me yet. We’ve still got work to do tonight.”</span>
Ember opened her mouth to reply, but she got distracted by Squirrel Girl pointing and shouting excitedly at a shifting brown mass in the distance. You almost reached for your knives again, but your spider-sense wasn’t giving you any warning signals.
<span class="mu-g">“Finally! The cavalry’s here!”</span>
And before your brain could process what was going on, a tidal wave of squirrels was scurrying around and between your feet, swarming the college and flooding the buildings.
Ember was cursing and prancing in place in order to avoid them, but it was practically impossible at this point.
One of the squirrels climbed up SG’s legs and up to her other shoulder. It leaned in to whisper in her ear, and she nodded attentively.
<span class="mu-g">“Uh-huh, uh-huh. Yeah, I’ll tell them.”</span>
She and her squirrels turned to face you with troubled expressions.
<span class="mu-g">“According to my scouts, that dragon that you guys were talking about is fighting with a flying shark lady! And there’s an even littler dragon fighting the Pixel Punks downtown!”</span>
Giant shark lady? Was Iara out there fighting on her own?
<span class="mu-r">“Great so we’ve got rogue avatars, digital dragons and insanely rich supervillains to fight before we can reach Arcade. What should we do first?”</span>
You were about to answer, but a quick notification in the corner of your vision drew your attention away from the conversation.
(Cont.)
