Carnival - A LitRPG Apocalypse

As soon as Vic was clear of the vessel she’d been held in, a series of barriers smashed down around it. Steel crashed into the floor and clamps flipped up to catch on lips at the base of the barriers and pull them down into the concrete with a grinding noise.

“The rest of the room is clear,” Bob said. “I’ll get John to blip this whole chunk of the structure into the sun when he’s got a moment.”

“Mum!” Ryn yelled as she rushed back into the room and threw herself into a hug that almost knocked Vic off her feet. The glow dimmed as Vic deactivated her power and she reached up to rest a hand on Ryn’s head. Not having her left arm was strange. How the hell John got used to being down a limb for so long boggled her mind.

As the glow finally died she looked over at the giant spider who was clattering across the floor towards her.

“Shelly would be honoured to fix that for you?” the spider said softly.

“Where’s the wasp?” asked Vic as she held her stump out towards the oversized arachnid.

“I modified my thorax to allow human speech a few months ago. The Maker changed his throat to be able to speak. I took that as licence to adapt the design he used to create me,” the spider said as she reached out a spiky limb to rest on Vics left shoulder. Vic grimaced as the flesh at the end of her stump began to bubble and stretch. “Much has changed since he blessed me with an Essence.”

Vic flexed her limb as it grew. In less than a minute she was waving a pale new arm around and clenching her fist.

“You’ve lost the implants in the limb. I can get those fixed for you once you’re caught up. I’ll send you a data packet now,” said the B-1945. The other teens were peering around the drone cautiously. Once they realised the situation was safe they emerged from behind the machine.

Bad and Sally both came forward and greeted Vic. Kev hung back. In his vision Vic had been surrounded by a cloud of happy yellow and blue but her eyes flickered as she took in the information Bob had dumped to her. Her face dropped and the air around her turned purple and black.

“Excuse me Sunstrike. It’s a pleasure to meet you!” Jane pushed aside Bad and offered her hand to Vic who shook it distractedly. The temperature in the area jumped significantly before Jane was pushed away.

“You wanted to test me? Now? I’m not sure this one is a good pick Bob,” Vic said in a harsh voice. Jane blazed brightly but Vic just waved a hand and the flame bodied girl dimmed and shrank back. “With everything that’s going on at the moment I’d advise against anything that could be construed as an assassination attempt.” Vic began to shimmer as the temperature around her rose. Ryn stepped back not because the temperature affected her body, but because her clothes weren’t fire proof.

“Christ no! I just wanted to see if I could make Sunstrike feel the heat!” Jane said quickly, raising her hands in the air in surrender. Kev blanched as the air around Vic darkened even more.

“You can’t. Bob, the kids should stay in the bunker for now. What about the rest of the Academy and the leadership of Wayfaire? Shit! They’ve only just got themselves back in order after the attack on Anna!”

“Greg is at the Academy moving them through the emergency portal to the Bunker. Wayfaire is locked down. The Department heads are still on the surface.”

“The Accords are fucked aren’t they?” asked Bad.

“No way! The Sigs will sort it out! How bad can it be?” said Ryn.

“It’s bad, Ryn,” Kev muttered. He was only going on the aura of rage that was spreading out from Vic. He couldn’t get anything off the drone. In fact he hadn’t seen a Bio-Bob since he got his power. Surely they were immune to his ability? Why would they be kept away from him?

Vic looked over at the lanky kid and nodded. He watched as she visibly took control of her emotions and the cloud of menace surrounding her diminished somewhat.

“The Imperium and the Court are at war. We thought it would be the Reich but they’re not the target. The Imperium positioned people in advance by abusing the portals and they had airships and transports ready to charge forward to deploy troops. They’re- shit they’re killing their way across southern France at the moment. The sabotage teams have tied up most of the top level Nobles.”

“They would hardly work well together at the best of times,” muttered Armand. “What about the Loire? What about Cavaliere?”

“Your territory is outside the front lines but elements of the Court have switched sides and are working for the Imps. You’ll be a target unless you give up your title Cavaliere is occupied in the south.” Armand flinched at Vic’s words. His uncles turning against him was predictable.

“Are my people suffering?” he asked.

“No ones having a good time, son,” said Bob. “I’ll fill you in on the gory details later. Right now we need Vic up top to support the drones, Amit and the security teams. We aren’t under attack right now. John has sealed the Imperium’s portals but they might have troops stashed in other factions' territory.”

“We’ll need to deploy in support of the Court,” said Vic as her eyes continued to flicker as she read on her implants.

“The Carnival is stuck. So are half the other top Sigs. The Thing is awake now and if we don’t keep fighting it the bastard is going to take half of Africa. For now we’re short on real fighters.”

“So we deploy the security forces. They're in their twenties right?” Vic asked as she moved towards the door quickly. Not having John present to just blip her around in a moment of urgency felt wrong. “Kids, follow Bob. He’ll take you to a safe location while this blows over.” She stopped and spun to snatch Ryn into a fierce hug. Vic looked down into her daughter's eyes, eyes that looked so much like John’s. “Stay in the Bunker for now, love.” Her voice was loving but brooked no argument. Kev watched the warm pinks and oranges flow through the emotional cloud around the woman.

“Be careful mum!” said Ryn.

“I will.” Vic spun and threw herself horizontally along the corridor, bursting into flame as she accelerated away from the shocked kids.

“She’s so cool,” muttered Jane. Everyone turned to look at her and more than a few eyebrows rose towards their hairlines. The girl's cheeks glowed brightly. “Do you think she’s going to be mad that I tried to test her?” Jane’s usually blustery voice was quiet and withdrawn.

“I think she’s got bigger things to worry about. Bob, where are we hiding?” Ryn asked the drone, her voice thick with bitterness at being hidden away. Kev put a hand on her shoulder and the cloud of grey that surrounded his friend faded slightly.

“This way. If you three are joining the team you’ll need some implants. What was the verdict?” called the drone over its metallic shoulder as it moved quickly down identical and interminable corridors.

“I’m in!” said Simon. “If you’ll have me?”

“I’ll also join if you are happy for me to?” Andrea said as they jogged along behind the B-1945.

“Me too!” Jane almost shouted. “I mean, if you’ll have me.” her voice was more subdued at the end.

Kev assessed his team's reactions to being put on the spot. Ryn was happy with Simon and Andrea but her feelings were weirdly mixed when it came to Jane. The others were happy enough with all three of the candidates although he could sense a streak of anger in Bad at the thought of Jane joining. When Kev dipped into his friends' thoughts briefly he found Bad was still stung by Jane’s dismissal of his being a mere bruiser.

“I think we are happy enough for all three to join. Where’s the implant suite?” he said.

“Next right then fourth door on the left. It’s not as fancy as last time but we’re already bringing casualties back from the Court. Ascension has sent half the Medicus already and most of the rest will be coming soon.”

Kevin Sanderson has sent team invites to Jane Goody, Andrea Intxausti and Simon James.

Invites accepted. Full team buffs unlocked. Option to name the team is available.

There was a long pause as Kev looked back and forth between his old friends and new teammates.

Kevin Sanderson has named the team.

Team name changed to: Ignition

“I like it!” said Jane.

“I thought we were going to go with Immolation?” asked Ryn in confusion.

“Ignition feels better. Search your feelings, you know it to be true,” Kev replied in a mysterious voice.

“Hah, If you start dropping that kind of line I’ll hit you with some Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam!” Ryn laughed brightly.

“Jane, you’ll be the trickiest to fit with implants, if it’s even possible.” a door on the far wall swung open to reveal an implantation suite. “Let’s see what we can do with you first. Andrea and Simon should be fairly easy.”

“I don’t think I can get implants, Mr Gillybrook. I don’t really have a body!” Jane said as she moved through to the other room. Bob’s answer was lost as the door swung shut behind her.

“I need to go home,” said Armand, glumly. “I have to be there while my people are under attack.”

“You’re just a kid, mate!” said Bad. Armand glared at the older boy.

“They are my people. I should be there,” he snapped back.

“We’re way too low level to be going up against Imperium troopers who’ve spent time on the Lines or the Wall!” said Sally. “I understand, Armand. I’d want to go as well, but we aren’t strong enough! We’d be a liability.”

“I wouldn’t need to fight,” the boy growled. “I just need to be there. Be seen being there, not hiding underground!”

“Maybe we can get some drones to take us?” asked Ryn.

“Us? It is my problem,” said Armand.

“We’re mates now, lad. If you go, we go. Simples,” Kev interjected, ruffling the boy's hair and getting a slap on the wrist for his trouble. The colours around the French boy dimmed and switched from sickly green and yellow to lighter, healthier colours.

“So how do we get there?” asked Ryn. “We won’t be able to dodge the oldies at a time like this.”

“We might not have to. Are none of you scanning the Bobnet? It’s gone wild! The leadership of the Imperium has been proscribed. Collar or kill on sight. Thousands are dead across the Court’s lands and the Imp troopers are snowballing. They had some that started out way too strong. They must have hoarded Essence and dumped it on their soldiers to bump them past level twenty five.” Simon had a Bphone in his hand and was flicking the screen every few seconds to move on. “They have some in their mid thirties now! And almost all the major Sigs are stuck in the Congo! It’s a shitshow! We might even be needed to fight!”

“No way. Dad will just drop rocks on them if they don’t pull back,” Ryn was utterly confident in her mum and dads ability to deal with the situation.

“He’ll nuke half of southern France? And then maybe northern Italy? C’mon Ryn. I can see him taking out the champions but he hasn’t left the Congo for half a week!” Sally sounded worried. “I don’t think the Sigs are going to be able to deal with this and the Wall and the North American Lines. The Signatories are stretched too thin.”

The door to the implant suite swung open and Jane came out rubbing at the back of her neck.

“How’d it go?” asked Kev.

“I got a HUD implant but I don’t really have bones or nerves anymore so that was it. Simon, he wants you next.” Jane waved at the door behind her.

“Did it hurt?” asked Simon.

“Nah, it feels a bit weird though.” Simon hurried through into the other room and the door swung shut once again.

“It actually really hurt!” Jane chuckled. “So what’s the plan?” she asked.

“We don’t have one. Armand wants to go to his home but we’d probably end up fighting his uncles,” said Sally.

“Oh. Ok. Traitorous family members is it? Cliche but whatever. I can burn them!”

“You’re only level eight Jane. They’ve got a bunch of low thirties now,” snapped Kev.

“Easy big guy! How did they get so many levels without the Accords being triggered?” Jane replied.

“Must have hoarded Essence and poured into a handful of champions. Now they’re farming people so they’re jumping up the ranks,” said Ryn.

“Damn. Well let’s hang on while Andrea gets an upgrade and then we’ll get going!”

“Jane, they won’t let us go into a warzone!” said Bad with a scoff.

“Who’s going to stop us? We’ve got a teleporter and the portals are still up to the Loire, right?” Jane wondered.

“Anyone could stop us. We’re not all immune to physical damage!” Ryn said in an exasperated tone.

“I’m not immune, just resistant. If we, the cream of a generation, put our minds to something then nothing can stop us! Where’s your fire?” Jane challenged.

"Fire puns are going to get old really fast," muttered Bad.