Destiny Tower

[Negrek]

Destiny Tower wasn't exactly easy to ignore--you could see it no matter where you went, out there being all tall and glowy and shit. Kinda put thoughts of divine intervention in your head, whether that was usually the kind of thing you went in for or not.

It was fucking stupid, of course. The Arceus cult didn't have the greatest reputation in Kanto, and hell, nobody even knew that an arceus existed in Nate's world. Plus the guy seemed like kind of a prick and not even all that powerful, if he couldn't just scour whatever was causing bullshit around here off the face of the planet himself. On the other hand, wasn't every day you got the chance to hang with a fucking maybe-god, and if you had a problem... why the fuck wouldn't you at least see if he could solve it?

Climbing the hill outside of town was a rough enough process by itself. The incline wasn't as bad when you had four feet, but it took a fucking age when those feet were only a few inches apart. By the time Nate had dragged himself under the fucking massive entry arch, he was panting and snarling curses under his breath, not to mention plenty ready for a fucking nap. Which was when he saw the motherfucking stairs. "Oh, fuck me," Nate said, staring at the staircase that spiraled up and up out of sight. Forget that shit. He made instead for the pool of light nearby. Maybe it was a teleporter or something. Standing in the middle of it, squinting up into the glare, he yelled, "Hey! Anybody home?"

 

[Namohysip]

By some miracle, they had escaped. Maple had conjured some energy into Bahamut to flee the Reverse World, and despite the resistance and the chaos, they had done it. The team fell out of the portal and into wherever Maple had directed them to flee with her power--and it turned out to be the base of Destiny Tower.

Beaten, battered, burned, Shadowed, Radiated, the team all had done injury or two to their name. The Blacklight Dragon lay unconscious and perhaps the most injured of them all, still unmoving, but its aura was calmer than before.

Arceus wasted no time appearing in the pillar of light at the center of the tower's ground floor. "Yo," he said in a halfhearted routine as he drifted to the group. His eyes darted about, every single one, and then he nodded. "Nice. You've got everyone with you. Ten outta ten."

 

[Ambyssin]

There was some sort of party going on, but Bahamut wasn't showing up. What point was there? It wasn't like his teammates liked him and it wasn't like the environment would help change that. Certainly not with the stone having become an enchanted spirit. So, he padded his way toward the big tower instead. While the team goofed off, he'd just busy himself was something that could be compared to work.

"I'm checking on Maple's condition," Bahamut announced to the front door. It wasn't polite to could barge into Fence-God's house without permission.

 

[Namohysip]

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Maple still didn't appreciate being in Destiny Tower after all the time she'd spent there recovering from her encounter with Joule. The pristine, white walls of the tower only reminded her of her weakness. Still, she shoved those feelings aside and nodded toward the team.

"Thank you all for coming," she said. "At least, to those who remained. As I said, there is little for us that is essential to discuss with the whole group, but we are going to be releasing Rayquaza, Groudon, and Kyogre from their capture spheres, now."

Shield stood nearby, holding the bag that contained them. Apparently, Arceus trusted Shield enough to do so, deeming him rational when he knew he was trapped. Karat, too, had been released, though there was a psychic aura around him that seemed to be suppressing any attempts at Teleport.

"They can come out on their own," Shield said. "I'm not sure why they aren't..."

"I can think of a few reasons," Pop said with the smallest hint of venom.

 

[Ambyssin]

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Bahamut knocked on the front door. "I can sense you in there. And I'm sure you know why I'm here."

 

[Fusion]

After the attack on Destiny Tower, Vix spent some time cooling off before flying right on back to the crime scene. She'd have to do this investigation proper, with like... a pencil and notepad. She would've brought a monocle and a pipe, but didn't really have the features for either. She did find a fancy double-billed hat, though.

"So we're looking around here first? Why?" Puddle blooped curiously.

Vix floated amongst the rubble of Destiny Tower, amazed at the destruction, but peeved at how much rubble there was. It's like something didn't want her to get to the bottom of this! "I'm pretty sure the guild suspects that someone tampered with the security footage, so I'd imagine they'd have people on it already. At least I hope so. Plus, with this assault dealing with Blacklight, who better to investigate it than someone from Team Spectrum?"

"Yeah I guess, then why go alone?"

"I have you."

"I don't count."

Vix sighed, lowering close to some rubble to push it aside. Unsurprisingly, it was difficult to shove a chunk of stone your size without proper arms. Or legs. There wasn't even anything under it. "Everyone else is probably tired, and we don't have anything going on, so why not?" she shrugged. Admittedly, she just didn't know who to ask.

Knowing better, Puddle fuddled with their badge, sending a quick message to the others. It pinged silently as the message sent. Now all it had to do was wait.

 

[Cresselia92]

A head tilt. A flick of his nine tails. A sigh.

Icetales stood there, in front of the door that led to Arceus. Many thoughts were flooding his mind as he pondered about what he planned to do there.

"Hrm... Perhaps it was not a clever idea to reach the top of Destiny Tower. What if he is appalled by my persona?" He shook his head. "All those tales about the Alpha Deity vanquishing vile daemons... I wonder what is this world' Alpha's opinions of folks like me. But once again... he did not seem to mind Sir Diyem, so..."

Icetales sat on his haunches and scratched a hitch in his ear, trying to take those few extra seconds to think. Then, he produced his bottle of mint tea and sipped a bit of it. Yes, so fresh. His mind and breath were fresher, too.

"...Oh, my soul be darned! I shall do it. It would not be worse than what my father would have done, at least."

As such, he steeled himself and went through the door, keeping a dignified and composed stride. He could already feel the mystical power radiating from that room, and immediately understood how it felt like to stand in front of a deity. Well, at least he could try to leave a good first impression, no?

Icetales stood still, before bowing with respect. "Greetings, Sir Arceus. I... sure hope to not be of any disturbance. I would desire to confer with thee, if thou dost not mind."

 

[Namohysip]

A day had passed in the timeless bubble that surrounded Destiny Village, only kept track thanks to the way the clocks moved. Maple called for those who wished to go through strategizing to show up at Destiny Tower, and soon, the team trickled in for those who were ready to discuss the ball of death in the sky.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming," Maple said, nodding. Behind her was the God Squad, and along with them, Arceus and S'more.

"Where is Owen?" Arceus asked.

"He's taking care of something else, but he left me all of his notes," Maple added. "He should make it later. I had some notes from a few others as well, mm... But regardless, I think it's time that we discussed... the matter of Joule." She still was tense, but she kept a firm tone. No matter who it was, it was a threat, and it had to be taken care of. "Before we begin, I think I would like to outline a few things that Owen was able to analyze after taking a flight to the edge of the time bubble to look at Joule directly. Specifically... some metrics."

Maple then went on to describe what Owen was able to analyze of the enemy, more thoroughly than usual thanks to how much time he had to look him over in action. She used comparisons to other enemies they'd fought before, powers and auras that had permeated the air, and as she spoke, a horrible wave of dread washed over the team...

Joule:
HP: 99,999

Attack: 9,999
Magic: 9,999
Defense: 99
Resistance: 99

Stagger: 10
Status: 300

 

[Negrek]

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Storming out of someplace wasn't very satisfying when your maximum speed was something like half a mile an hour. Rocky didn't even have to speed up to keep up with Nate, just take slightly longer strides. There was nothing for turning your fucking righteous fury to embarrassment like somebody strolling along beside while you were trying to go top speed. At least the tower was just up the hill.

And by the time they'd reached the doors, Rocky'd already forgotten that he was mad at Nate for being rude. "I can't believe we haven't been here since before I hatched!" he said. "It's so weird. It's like I remember being here before, except not really because I wasn't actually here!"

Nate wanted to say something sarcastic, but didn't have the breath. Fucking hill. Fortunately Rocky pushed the doors open without even thinking about it, and then they were both inside the big old white and gold room. Nate didn't even have to drag himself over to the glowy teleporter thing the way he had the last time. Rocky sauntered over while Nate was still getting his wind back and peered into the light. "Hello? Mr. Arceus? Are you home?"

 

[Dragonfree]

By the time Dave woke up, Shadow was gone, at least for now. Mia was gone too, which wasn't great for his heart, but at least she'd only wandered as far as the guild library.

He hadn't spent a lot of time thinking about Arceus since they'd finally confirmed the guy even existed. His texting'd been insufferable enough, and really not giving the supposed god of the universe any time out of his day gave Dave plenty of satisfaction. But now, finally, Arceus was supposedly going to make himself useful for once. To absorb the attack somehow. And that...

Letting a major part of the plan hinge on Arceus being a noble benevolent self-sacrificial ruler might have been something the others were willing to just accept, but he was a lot less so. Especially after listening to Soda explain how his world's Arceus had made a malicious deal with him after his power'd been threatened, and made his partner try to murder him, and exiled him from the universe. What, other Arceus could be dicks but their Arceus just so happened to be pure and perfect? Yeah, right.

It wasn't like they were likely to be able to do much about it if fucking God wasn't on the level with them. But Dave was not going out there taking it on faith. He was going to get a read on him, and press for some answers, and try to go into this fight with some idea who this god even was, and if Arceus didn't like to be questioned, well, let him fucking smite him.

He approached Destiny Tower alongside Mia, who seemed to care a lot less about this than he did but accompanied him anyway. He looked around critically as they entered the tower, the ostentatious room somehow exactly what a god would do. A golden light shone onto a platform in the middle of the room, something teleporter-like.

He squinted at the light. "Is this it, or do we have to take the stairs?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Stars above, Luz. I don't care which of us goes first, I just don't get why you're so keen that it be me."

Brisa and her familiar walked into Destiny Tower, the luxio's shoulders hunched in discomfort and the zeraora-shade's paws confidently astride her hips. They walked as if Luz was somehow physically pushing Brisa with her mere presence.

"Alright..." muttered Brisa, before approaching the platform of light and calling out: "I am Luxio Brisa Escarpa; I seek an audience with Arceus."

"So formal," chided Luz. "This is the fella who uses those funny faces in his text messages."

Brisa rolled her eyes as Luz flashed her badge's message history.

[Zest > Pop]: yo big guy

[Zest > Pop]: gonna swing by ur place 2 chat in a sec

[Zest > Pop]: bringin brisket

[Zest > Pop]: that cool w u?

[Pop > Zest]: ＼ (｀0´) ／

[Zest > Pop]: 😻 😼 😽 💙 🖤

"What does that mean. It's jus' symbols."

"It's a cute lil' face! He's excited t'see us!"

"Luz. I'm beggin' ya t'be normal."

"I am!"

 

[Namohysip]

"Is this everyone?" Dialga asked, looking behind him. "Well... I guess we can leave the gateway open if others want to come along later. You guys like to wander." He shrugged and then gestured for Palkia and Giratina to help him with the golden platform in the middle of Destiny Tower's base.

"What's this supposed to be?" Cal asked. She was putting up a strong face, but her small, trembling embers gave her mental state away. "What did... Pop have planned?"

"Sorry, I can't say it here. This is only for Team Spectrum to see, and nobody else. Only Maple and a few Legends know, so don't talk about this too openly, okay?" The trio gestured to the golden platform, then stepped inside, disappearing.

 

[Namohysip]

Cola's red circles for eyes were shaped into a furrowed brow, irritably looking through a book. "This is boring," he said. "Why do I have to keep reading if Pop isn't even dead?"

"Well, he's still incapacitated, and we aren't really sure if it's safe to do anything yet, you see..." Giratina tried to calm Cola, who was becoming more and more restless after being exposed to the outside world.

Cal appeared through the teleporter and Cola glanced ahead. Owen was right behind her, surprised that the teleportation worked on his strange form, though he looked very faded, like he could blow away any second.

"Finally! Some company!" Cola said.

"What are we?" Palkia complained. "We've been here the whole time!"

"I don't know!" Cola replied. "But you're always here. I want friends!"

"Just don't forget to read, okay?" Giratina urged.

"I will. I'm just happy that someone new is here. Hiya!" Cola's manner of speech changed the moment he addressed Cal, who waved with equal cheer.

"I think a few others are on their way," Cal said.

 

[Ambyssin]

And, of course, Maple's portal took them to the guild. Bahamut grumbled obscenities under his breath and floated out, heading in the direction of Destiny Tower.

... oh, right. With all the excitement buzzing around the human-turned-Owen-impersonator, there hadn't been any attempts to follow-up on the events at the Tree of Life. Bahamut heard rumblings that Chibi Pop tried to stage a one-man rebellion by using that dumb scraggy shade and it went about as well as one could expect.

Bahamut knocked with a crystalline leg, but then opened the door anyway. As a cat, he was about half a meter taller than Arceus. Now, he was more than twice the guy's size. Of course the fence might've contributed to that in some way.

"The one responsible for the disturbance was a mute human impersonating Owen," Bahamut announced. "I think, like Giovanni, there are multiple variations of him. Pretty sure I found one on the same Earth as Giovanni before Eternatus destroyed it."

 

[Adamhuarts]

Ever since they got back from the worldcore, Cynthian had been meaning to see how Buffet was. Someone had tipped her off about a thing he might be able to help her with, but whether he actually will be able to in his current condition was... She just needed to see.

So, Cynthian made her way up Destiny Tower where he presumably was and after getting in, she approached him.

"Hello Buffet. How have you been?" Cynthian asked politely.

 

[Negrek]

Rocky didn't start to feel apprehensive until he was actually climbing the hill towards Destiny Tower. After only a quick stop at the shed to discuss things with Mudkip, he'd set off towards the tower, determined to finally talk to Pop and fix everything. Whatever Soda and Mudkip said, Pop was a good pokémon! Rocky was sure of it. And when he heard some of Rocky's great ideas, he'd be able to patch things up with Cola, no problem. Everybody would end up happy in the end.

Staring up at the tower, though, he was beginning to have doubts. What if Soda's veil made Pop suspicious? Or what if it did something else sneaky? Now that Soda was out of sight, Rocky wasn't feeling so good about him again. What if Pop really didn't care what Cola wanted to do?

No, that was dumb. Pop was nice, and he didn't want Cola to be unhappy. And Rocky would give him some ideas to fix things if he didn't know how already. This would go great! Rocky drew himself up tall, flames flaring and streaming brilliantly out behind him, then shoved open the big doors and slipped inside.

Standing in the funny gold light that Pop liked to appear from always made him feel a little silly, though. And everything inside here was so big. Rocky squinted up into the glare, suddenly hesitant. "Ummm, Pop? Are you home?"

 

[Namohysip]

Destiny Tower seemed so much taller and imposing now that Cola was walking right up to it.

He stood next to Puddle and Rocky. Behind him was Owen and the others. "Where's Soda...?" Cola mumbled.

"I texted him," Owen said. "He'll be on his way soon. He's just in the middle of something at the park right now."

"Mmg... I don't want to wait anymore," Cola said. "He'll show up later, right? I... I just want to talk to Pop. And... see how he really feels. And then you'll see if he's lying, right?"

 

[Fusion]

Feeling more or less exhausted from... pretty much everything recently, Vix honestly didn't care to float all the way back home, or having Scrafty carry her. Instead, she dragged herself over to Destiny Tower to just sit... and think. Preferably alone.

Her Shadow and Familiar would've joined her, but had a feeling she might've needed her space.

 

[Ambyssin]

At least this time Bahamut was upright when he got yoinked across the world. So, there was no faceplanting to be had when he showed up in Destiny Tower's hall. Though the colors still oscillated in his eyes like static waves on an electronic screen. Maybe Maple had hit him harder than he thought. Could necrozma even have concussions?

... no, his prism didn't feel cracked. Whatever. It would have to wait.

"Thank you for the prompt response." Bahamut nodded. At the same time, though, he was using some of that energy to scan the room for any signs of any interlopers, be they Cola or one of Soda's blasted substitutes or something else entirely. This needed to be a private conversation, after all.

 

[Ambyssin]

Given how the last visit went, Bahamut didn't knock this time. He nudged the door open with his tail and went in, again trying to scan the area for any dubious signs.

"It's me, Arceus."