Guardian's Inferno

“Alright, let’s do it,” Abigail said, shaking the man’s hand. With that, he got into his vehicle, and the rumble of an engine was heard.

“You’ll need to stay on one of our three cars or be able to keep up. If you fall out of sight of the last car in the convoy, you automatically fail this checkpoint of the escort,” the man explained, waiting for them to get into position.

“Prodigy, get on top of the first car. You have the best eyesight here, so call out threats as you see them, and call them out fast. Focus your attention on anything that gets too close to the cars,” John ordered, taking initiative. Nodding, the elf formed a sniper rifle in her hands and leapt on top of the hover-vehicle, laying down on it and digging her feet into the metal.

“Cherufe, you and I are going to be outside. You’ll be in front, and I’ll be in the back. Listen to whatever Lucille calls out. Anything gets within five meters of the cars, you punch it away, or turn it to ash. The work in the back will probably be light, so if anything comes up, let me know,” John relayed, causing Abigail to smile and crack her knuckles, fiery fissures running through her body and small streams of smoke rising from it.

David, stay in the sky, keep up with the cars, and let me know if anything’s going on. Stay out of sight, John ordered, his hawk flying out of him into the air, looping around, and soaring higher and higher. “My hawk is going to scope things out for us too. I can see through him,” John explained, taking out Attunement and using it.

New Skill: Attunement, Active Skill, Lvl 1, 10 MP/sec
When activated, you may see through the eyes of a target you are attuned to. Currently, this can only be done with your pet(s), as they are bonded to your soul. The mana cost may be split between the two targets in any way, as long as they are willing.

Well, that would’ve been really useful to have before. Why have I even been putting off using it? John wondered, though he was quickly put back on-task by Grace’s questioning look.

“Joker, get inside the first car and take these,” John explained, taking half a dozen of his health and mana potions each out of his inventory. He wrapped them in a Magic Rope before handing them to her. “If any of you get hurt, or low on mana, ask her for the potions. Otherwise, Grace, I want you to give constant support to everyone, whatever you can think of.”

Taking the bundle of potions from him, Grace reached into her pocket and came up with two stickers, both cartoony shoes with wings on them. “These’ll help you both run faster. Keep up with the cars easier?”

“That’s great. Alright, let’s do this,” John said, taking his position a few feet behind the last car. John gave Abigail a thumbs up, who returned the gesture to the man in the first car. With that, the cars took off.

John had no idea how fast the vehicles could travel, and was taking a risk in guessing that he and Abigail could keep up with them. With his normal Agility he wouldn’t be able to, but luckily Grace’s sticker upped his speed to the point where he was just slightly faster than the vehicles he was supposed to protect were going.

For the first few minutes, all was quiet, the occasional gunshot ringing out as Lucille sniped a hostile bird out of the air. The wildlife in this Kingdom was much larger and generally more hostile than that of Earth. Any creature that wasn’t herbivorous would attack other things for food or game, even if their prey was larger than them.

Not far in, John’s focus was interrupted by waves of alarm sent by David’s thoughts. He leapt onto the last car, getting an iron grip on the back of it before activating Attunement.

The difference was jarring. John could feel the cold metal under him, and hear the sounds of the forest as the wind rushed by them, but his view was shifted to an aerial one, and a blockade ahead of them. The road was blocked by boulders, and giant, blue-skinned cyclopes blocked the path. Other than a crude line of boulders barricading the road and their enemies, the street was normal. The giants stood in a circle, awaiting them.

We’ve got a problem coming up. Prodigy, open fire the second they come into view. When you can, I want a hailstorm of missiles on them. Cherufe, you can run further ahead and start to dismantle their defenses. Joker, take the speed sticker from Abigail and use it to distract the cyclops bandits. We want their attention off the merchants and on you. Let’s clear this first hurdle! John said, sprinting up to full speed to catch up to the front of the cars. Meanwhile, Abigail hung back, peeled the winged-shoe sticker off her shoulder and handed it to Grace before fire engulfed her hands and she propelled herself forward, toward the enemies.

John watched through David as the first cyclops recoiled when its eye burst, pierced by Lucille’s sniper rifle. It stumbled onto the concrete below them, hurt. John’s vision returned to him, and he climbed onto the roof of the car. He Jumped to the leading car, landing next to Lucille. He slid to the ground on the side of the car, and began running toward the plumes of fire in the distance that he could tell were the work of Abigail.

What am I looking at here, Abigail? John asked, using Advanced Spy on the beasts, hoping whatever information it didn’t provide, she would fill in.

They’re really dumb and really strong. It’s almost like they’re afraid to hit me because I’m on fire, Abigail said as she ran circles around the foes, keeping them grouped together. Satisfied with her work, she rocketed into the air before dropping on the blinded cyclops, forcing it to the ground. The fact that their targets were so small and the giants were so close together didn’t help their aim.

Alright, make a circle of fire around them and tighten it up. Grace, help her round them up. When they’re all packed together, we’ll light them up, John explained, reaching the block in the road. With a Fist, he destroyed a large amount of rubble, clearing a path for the cars to eventually go through.

Dodging a fist which carried through and broke the concrete beneath them, John channeled a Mana Bolt through his guns and swept them over the eyes of each of his enemies. They stumbled back, blinded, and Abigail took the chance to raise the embers she had been leaving all around them. Grace and her had worked together to uproot some of the foliage around them, fueling the fire on the concrete.

A loud thud made John look up from the fire, and he saw Abigail carrying half of one of the trees in her hands, one of the ends on fire and pointed toward the group of one-eyed monstrosities. Her muscles bulged as she slammed it on the ground, sending splinters into the circle of flaming foliage that surrounded the primitive humanoids. The cars pulled up to the scene of the battle, stopped a dozen meters away.

Everybody, now! John ordered, channeling three hundred mana into each gun for a Mana Bolt. The arcane beams released, and John had to widen his stance as they threatened to overwhelm and push him back. Abigail gathered flames across her body into her hands, and released them in a brilliant, continuous burst of flame. Lucille, a grenade launcher in each hand, caused a flurry of arcane explosions. Grace, having no attacks to contribute, stood as far back as possible.

When the smoke cleared, all the cyclopes were ash, and most of the loot along with them. All that was left were dozens of gold coins in eight distinct piles, one per dead cyclops. John suggested they each take two of the piles, but Abigail had no pockets to speak of and didn’t really want the coins anyway. Lucille had similar apathy. That left four piles each of assorted gold coins for him and Grace, who dove into the first one as though she could swim in it.

“Let me know when you kids are ready to continue on,” Nathaniel called, hanging out of the open window. Potions were divvied up and consumed, with Abigail consuming one of each of health and mana, and Grace, John, and Lucille each consuming a mana potion.

“Back in formation, everyone!” John called, walking toward the back of the line of cars again. Grace gave Abigail back her speedy sticker, and Lucille, who had never left her position, exchanged her grenade launchers for a sniper rifle.

Once everybody was settled back in, a brief rest was in order. John leaned against the back of the last car as he drank the water from his inventory.

“Hey!” Abigail called, walking back toward him. “Can I have some of that?” Nodding, John held out a hand, and Abigail cupped hers under it, water falling into the impromptu cup.

“Anybody want some snacks?” Grace asked, halfway out of the window of the first car.

She waved around a pack of fruit snacks, prompting John to ask, “Where do you keep getting those from?”

Leaning over the roof, Lucille quietly whispered, “I’ll take those.” The Prodigy snatched the snacks out of the Joker’s hand, causing the Brit to raise her fist in mock anger.

“You didn’t say please!” Grace called, reaching her other hand into her coat pocket and producing a chocolate bar. “I’ve still got chocolate if anybody wants some!” She waved around the food in question, and Abigail approached her.

Apparently the snacky girl’s movements were too vigorous, and she toppled out of the car, landing on the pavement with her arms outstretched. “Here you go!” she happily exclaimed, giving Abigail the chocolate and rearranging her jacket to rest on her shoulders correctly.

“John? Anything?” Grace asked. Though he wasn’t really hungry, he didn’t want to reject her offer, not knowing if she would be so giving later. Based on how quickly she finished her chocolate earlier when they noticed she had it, her generosity in giving snacks away varied greatly.

“Do you have any fruit?” John questioned, not really in the mood for candy. Though he had junk food frequently before getting his powers, he hadn’t really indulged in it much since. Funny, since that habit would affect him much less negatively now, with him frequently exercising and all.

“Oh, somebody’s trying to watch their figure, are we?” Grace joked, handing him a ziploc baggie filled with blueberries.

“Really though, where do you get this stuff?” John asked, as there was no way she could fit this many snacks and her spare stickers in inside coat pockets.

“Well… I’ve got a pocket space like you for stuff. It’s small though! Not much fits in it other than my stickers and a few snacks,” Grace conceded, though John didn’t exactly buy that it was as small as she made it out to be. If that were the case, she wouldn’t be able to fit as many snacks as she already had in it. He didn’t doubt she had more either.

“It’s not like yours though, where you can just use it. Mine’s sewed on the inside of my jacket,” Grace explained, showing him the pocket (dimension) in question. It was a zipped-up pocket, which looked empty from the outside. With that settled, he decided to trust the blueberries she had given him.

After a few minutes spent snacking, they were all ready to go. Grace got back in the car while John and Abigail parted ways, going to the front and the back. A thumbs-up from the cheery girl set them off again.