Carnival - A LitRPG Apocalypse

“This is a bad idea Bob,” said Vic as she and Starfall hovered over Blue Street with a drone floating next to them.

“We can’t stay on the defensive. My drones are getting chopped up by the pricks the Imps have power levelled. We need actual human fighters in place to provide cover,” the drone buzzed back.

“I’m sorry but I’m with Bob. Vic, we need to be seen to be putting this down otherwise things will kick off across the world. Now the ants have been dealt with, South America is stable but they’re all eyeing each other like dogs in a cage. In the east the wasp threat is keeping those factions in line but that won’t last long unless we deal with the Imperium breaking the Accords. We need to slap them down hard,” said Starfall.

“They’re kids!” hissed Vic as the column of fire holding her up grew brighter.

“Armand is the leader of a powerful element of the Court. Holding him back… From a parents perspective people will understand but we can get him on site and safe. Then the local forces have something to rally around. Half of them don’t trust each other, not really, which is why his uncles have had so much success. They cling to what they know and the Comte De Loire is their leader. Him not being there is what’s fucking up the northern front! God’s Holy Trousers! The kid should have been sent home before so there wasn’t a power vacuum!”

“He’s twelve, Phil and he’s low level. Would you send a kid into that situation?” Vic said angrily.

“Not unless it was the only option. The little buggers want to go, though. If we give them a proper escort there’s no real danger. The uncles are only in the early twenties, in terms of levels. They’ll shit the bed and run as soon as they see us,” Starfall replied. “We need to find a way to handle this situation despite all our best people being stuck in the Congo!”

Vic took a breath and her flames dimmed slightly. Starfall wasn’t wrong. The issue was that where Armand went his team would insist on following. That meant Ryn would be going as well and Vic wasn’t happy about her daughter going anywhere near the shit storm that was currently western Europe.

“He’s not wrong Vic. I can bring the kids up if you’re happy to? I’d suggest you and Starfall go through first, clear out the folks harassing the portal guardians and then we bring the kids through with some bots as escorts. Let Armand make himself known to his people and the pretenders will surrender,” Bob suggested.

“I’ll be watching. Bring the kids up. The portals are all locked down with BD-209s so they’re safe enough until we go through,” Vic ground out. John being tied up was bad enough. She knew he hadn’t slept for three and half days at this point. His cybernetics were all that was keeping him going at the moment and unless something drastic changed soon, they’d have to abandon sub-Saharan Africa.

A few minutes later Ryn’s team spilled out of a portal and looked around. Their expressions were all hidden by their armour’s masks barring Bolf who looked around, briefly wagging his tail once before he shrunk into himself and hunched down behind Bad.

Vic flew lower and dropped the last ten feet or so to avoid melting the road. She walked forward confidently, her new armour shining silver and retracted her mask as she approached the teenagers. Starfall flew slowly over and landed next to her as she stopped and glared at the younglings.

“No pissing about. We go through first with an army of drones and clear the area. Then once we’ve got control you can come through and Armand can speak with his people. This is not negotiable. You will do as I say or-”

“Or what Mum?” Ryn’s voice was quiet but firm. “We’re going to help Armand’s people. Dad isn’t here to teleport us away if you don’t like something!” Vic suppressed a sigh. Of all the times for teenage rebelliousness to rear its ugly head… of course it would have to be now.

“I know that Ryn. We’ll have two Sigs and- Bob, how many drones?” Vic asked.

“A thousand will come with you. I’m having to direct a lot of forces to the south where the main Imperium thrust is. We can’t lose the choke point in the Pyrenees. That’s most of my reserves now,” the hovering drone replied.

“That sounds like a lot but they’re not much use against casters. Especially flyers. So you will do as you’re told, ok?” Vic’s voice had become iron. A round of nods, some of which were verging on defiant, was all the response she got. With a sigh she stepped back and flew up into the air, leaving molten stone behind her that the kids shied away from.

“After you, Bob,” she called down as she moved to hover above the portal to Armand’s lands.

“This’ll be fun!” called Starfall as he floated over to join her, carefully maintaining his distance from Vic. He’s not bloody helping, she grumbled to herself.

A stream of drones emerged from a portal down the street, marching three abreast down the empty roads before filing neatly into the portal to the Loire valley. These were the shiny flowing silver of the latest B-1945s and they all had plasma weapons held across their chests.

Ryn and her team moved closer to the portal and watched as enough military force to topple one of the old first world countries flowed into the blue glow. They stopped and waited for the modest army of robot soldiers to pass across to northern France before glancing up. Starfall descended gracefully and gave them a jaunty wave before passing through.

“Wait for our signal before coming through,” Vic ordered as she flew down and shot through the break in space-time.

The kids glanced at each other and waited patiently for a couple of minutes. Then they became restive, pacing back and forth and bickering.

“They’re just going to leave me here!” snarled Armand. “That is my land! My people! I should be there! Nothing my uncles have could stand against two top Sigs and an army of B-1945s!”

“Let’s go! C’mon guys! They’re just going to leave us on the bloody side-lines!” said Jane as she glowed brighter.

“We should hold on. If they haven’t signalled us it can’t be safe!” Kev jumped in. He was watching the auras of his friends and the eager anticipation he was seeing didn’t reassure him they’d be sensible in a combat situation. Being the team leader kind of sucked sometimes.

“For such a tall bloke you’re kind of a pussy!” laughed Jane. Inside his helmet Kev’s cheeks darkened.

“I’m being cautious. It’s kind of my job!” he snapped back. “Jane, this isn’t a fucking game. If we stumble on a Signatory level opponent we’re dead!”

“Pah! We could take them! We’ve got some Ess-”

“Shut up Jane!” hissed Claire as she smacked the girl on the arm. “Ixnay on you-know-what-ay!”

“Ah, bon.” The unknown voice drew all their eyes back to the portal. A man had emerged, clad in some kind of armour. It looked clunky compared to BME gear but it clearly had hydraulics for boosting his strength and speed. The coils filled with a thick liquid wound around his upper arms and legs before connecting to the cuirass somewhere on the man's back. He raised a frog mouthed visor and beamed at them. His wide set eyes, pale skin and broad mouth made him look almost as frog-like as his odd helmet.

“Enfant. This doesn’t have to escalate. While we no longer wish to follow the Accords we are not so foolish as to harm Traveller’s daughter or her friends. This will be handled in a civil fashion, you have my word. We only want you to come with us and renounce your claim, Armand. You will not be harmed and will be returned here as soon as possible.”

Teamchat:

Ryn: Where are the drones? Where’s mum?

Ember: C’mon Ryn, if we level up we can take this guy no worries!

Teamleader: I think we should stall. He’s a level twenty four bruiser! Drones and Sunstrike or Starfall will be back as soon as they realise he’s snuck past them.

The Big Bad: I’m with Ember. Time to boost those levels and kick some ass!”

Ryn: Bad! This is a bad idea. We’ll only get one chance to surprise the enemy by jumping levels.

Loire: I am going to do it. Sorry Ryn. Unless you have a viable alternative?

Ryn used Identify on the threat as she sighed to herself.

Name: Ouragan Vent

Level: 24

Ability: Whirlwind

Probably a bruiser, maybe a hybrid? How could he slip past the drones and her mum without some kind of stealth power? Those weren’t traditional bruiser abilities… maybe a speedster of some kind? That would be a pain to deal with. Even with their new implants they couldn’t hope to match a dedicated speedster.

She thought fast. Desperately looking for a solution that wasn’t to be found. With an internal grumble she thought “level up” quickly followed by “yes”.

New Status:

Name: Kathryn Borrows

Level: 24

Ability: Suntouched Teleporter

Constitution: 100%

Reserves: 72000

Suntouched Teleporter: You were destined to inherit your mothers powers but due to feeling the power of the sun while in the womb your body has been changed, incorporating some of your fathers power. You can both teleport yourself and summon jets of solar fire. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled.

Guidelines:

Teleportation distance: 3240 km

Maximum Temperature: 30000 degrees

Line of sight required.

Modifications:

Level 2: Wreathed in Flame. Whenever you are covered in flames your reserves costs are halved.

Level 3: Increase Reserves x5

Level 4: Maximum Teleportation Distance x3

Level 5: Increase Reserves x3

Level 6: Melee Adept. Despite your physical frailty you are more competent and do more damage with close combat weapons than ought to be possible.

Level 7: Maximum Teleportation Distance x5

Level 8: Increase Reserves x2

Level 9: Maximum Teleportation Distance x3

Level 10: Increase Reserves x3

Level 11: Syncopated movement: your power and physical body flow seamlessly from one move to the next. You can dance with fire and teleport in rapid succession effortlessly

Level 12: Maximum Teleportation Distance x3

Level 13: Reserve Regeneration rate x3 (base rate now 15%)

Level 14: Maximum Teleportation Distance x2

Level 15: Maximum temperature x3

Level 16: Increase Reserves x2

Level 17: Bright knight: when defending innocents or friends you are considerably faster and stronger.

Level 18: Armour of the Phoenix: conjure flaming armour to protect yourself. Reduces physical damage considerably but takes increased damage from ice attacks.

Level 19: Maximum Teleportation Distance x3

Level 20: Class One Enhancement: True flame. Your Elemental body is unlocked and is immune to physical damage. You take enhanced damage from ice attacks. Have you ever seen fire in zero gravity? You can move like that now.

Level 21: Maximum Teleportation Distance x4

Level 22: Increase Reserves x4

Level 23: Hide in the fire: you can conceal yourself in any source of fire.

Level 24: Maximum temperature x2

Ryn shuddered as her body adapted to the changes. Her reserves had skyrocketed. She felt as though she could do anything. There weren’t any wracking pains like when her Dad had gone through his Class One Enhancement, for which she was grateful. Being knocked out for a couple of minutes right now was something she should have factored in before accepting the levels.

She was strong, fast and completely synchronised with her skin and muscles. She flexed an arm, bringing a fist up to her face that she rotated as she examined it. This feeling… No wonder so many of the kids who got power levelled went crazy.

“Children, I am running out of patience. If you don’t surrender the Aubert boy I will have to show why the highest levelled people are our rulers,” Ouragon said sharply. He flexed in his armour and rolled his shoulders.

Ryn flashed into fire. Not by creating it around herself but by becoming it for the first time in her life. The world took on a different colour palette, everything that wasn’t burning seemed somehow drab and grey compared to before. As she glanced quickly around Jane glowed like a light bulb compared to the rest of her friends but her own body shone far brighter. With a mental flick she was behind Ouragon but even as she reached out he had reacted. He leapt away and spun to face her, glowing blue blades extending from his fists.

“Merde, I do not-” he began before he screamed. White hot fire had appeared around him and he vanished into the sky. Her dad had always told her gravity was his best friend and now she began to understand what he meant. She ignored the startled exclamations of her friends as she blipped herself up after her enemy.

She appeared in a freezing cold that sucked the warmth from her body. Her flame body faded away and she reverted to being merely human, protected from the battering winds and temperature by her armour. She blipped herself closer to Ouragon and lashed out with a wrist blade, slashing through where his body should have been.

With a blast of air he twisted away before stabilising himself and slapping his visor shut. He immediately dived back towards the earth, desperate to get to breathable air. Ryn pivoted and pointed her feet into the darkened skies above. She was so high that the light wasn’t being refracted to blue by the thin atmosphere. Twin tails of fire burst out behind her as she followed Ouragon into a headlong dive.

As they fell she blipped in close, trying to land a blow with her blades but he always dodged and his speed meant she always had to blip away or take a serious injury. He was too fast for her to approach in hand to hand combat, she was simply outclassed.

She chased after him as they fell from the sky and began launching blasts of fire that could melt steel at him from her hands. He either dodged or launched a blast of air to disrupt her attacks. In the thin atmosphere it was hard for her flames to catch. Even while duelling in a headlong skydive she realised she would never walk the void between planets like her dad could and felt a little sad at losing that dream.

As the air thickened, his already formidable defences increased. The distant ground had gone from a blurry orb far below them to something that threatened a very terminal end to their descent. .Both of them were lashing out with their powers now, in between trying to break their fall with bursts of air or flame.

Ryn had never felt so alive. Falling back to earth, locked in a duel to the death was the most exhilarating experience she had ever had. Despite flights with Evie and other Sigs when she was growing up this felt real and visceral in a way that was completely new to her. She began to laugh, quietly at first, then loud guffaws came out that she let pass through her helmet's speakers with a silent command.

“Fille, you are crazier than your fucking parents! Just let us take the boy! We won’t harm him!” gasped Ouragon. The air still wasn’t thick enough to talk normally unless you had a BME pressure suit on.

“I don’t believe you!” Ryn burst back into flame as she resumed her elemental form and reached out with her power. She wrapped the man in fire that he desperately tried to disrupt with blasts of air. As the fire fought through his defences he snarled and launched a razor sharp blast that caught Ryn just above her knee, slicing through the armour and dealing painful damage, despite her being transformed.

With a yelp she blipped the man as far up as she could. She felt her flames move with him before vanishing as the vacuum of space consumed them. She was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to get back to earth and he would last however long it took to die from vacuum exposure.

“No air up there to play with, fuck nugget,” she chuckled. The shock of her wound must be affecting her. Fuck nugget was one of Evie’s favourite insults. Ryn was a good girl and didn’t swear at all. She even had a jar… She was sure she’d been forgetting about that recently. Perhaps it was best to just let that childish affectation pass? She was almost a Sig now after all.

Her confused and rambling thoughts suddenly focussed sharply as she tumbled and saw the ground closing in on her. It might have been the other way around but the outcome was going to be the same no matter who was approaching whom. She released a blast of fire to right herself and for the first time in a while paid attention to her HUD. She was only five kilometres up now. She needed to slow down, and very quickly.

Lances of white hot fire scorched the world below her, not coming anywhere near the ground of course, but it felt to Ryn like she was burning the world as it disappeared behind her flames. All she could see was brightness below that obscured the terrible solidity that was rushing at her.

She shook her head and regained some sense of control. She blipped and suddenly she was rising away from the pure white flames behind her. A rapid series of blips brought her momentum under control over a series of thirty seconds or so.

She looked down and realised she had no idea where the hell she was now. She hung three kilometres up over an unfamiliar landmass. She couldn’t have gone too far, no way was that the US.

Use your bloody HUD girl. You’re over Calais. I’ll put a marker on your map to get you home, Bob said via her implant.

So this is what Dad was complaining about! Having you in my head feels like a violation of my privacy! Ryn sent back.

Privacy is worth less than trust, girl. Your mum is pissed.