I decided to write this fic after watching episode 48 of Kamen Rider Kabuto and after finding the English translation of the lyrics of Climax Jump. You can say that this is an alternate ending of the "Rise of Darkrai" movie. This one's a PalkiaxDialga oneshot. Even after all these days, I still can't believe PunchHopper died… Anyway, enough of that. My mourning can wait.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or "Climax Jump" by AAA Den-O Form, nor the song "Life Goes On" by Mika Arisaka.
Within the Spear Pillar in the Sinnoh region, a dragon-like figure sat crouched in the shadows. Faintly visible pink lines criss-crossed his legs, neck, tail, arms and shoulders and small cracks could be seen in the slightly-glowing pearls embedded in his shoulders. The figure's red eyes were darker than usual and stared unblinkingly his hands. Those hands that had the ability to distort space and create rifts to other dimensions. The very same hands that he had used to take the life of his best friend and the Legendary he had loved.
Dialga.
The mere memory of her name brought waves of memories crashing down upon Palkia. Truth was, he didn't want to hurt, let alone kill, the said Legendary of time. The darkness that taken over her and corrupted her had forced his hand. He had hoped that there was a way to turn her back to normal. Sadly, there wasn't.
In everyone's heart, there's a memory that we want to redo.
Dialga's old saying couldn't be more true in this case. Given a chance, Palkia would have willingly tried to save Dialga from the darkness, no matter the cost. Hell, he would have broken all the rules in the Legendary Guidebook if it would bring her back to life. Sadly, he was the Legendary of space, not time. The memories of his battle with Dialga replayed over and over in his mind as tears trickled down Palkia's already tear-streaked face.
"DAMM IT! FIGHT ME, PALKIA!"
In the alternate dimension that held Alamos Town, the Legendary of Space dodged Hyper Beams fired at him by the now-corrupted Legendary of Time. Risking a glance back, Palkia noticed that Darkrai had vanished and he was on his own. Palkia swore under his breath. Without the phantom Legendary, his chances of defeating Dialga greatly decreased.
"HOLD STILL, YOU COWARDLY EXCUSE OF A LEGENDARY!"
Another Hyper Beam fired, shattering a nearby building and sending debris flying at Palkia, who used Dragon Claw to hurl it at Dialga. However, it only served to make her madder.
"Damm it," Palkia thought to himself, "I can't use my Spatial Rend as she'll counter it with her Roar of Time and that'll cause this whole dimension to collapse. She may be willing to kill herself to kill me, but I can't let all the people her die like that!"
Before Palkia could think further, a shadow descended upon him and an Iron Tail hit the spot where he had stood a moment ago as he leapt back. Dialga grinned menacingly, before speaking. "The first rule of war is never to be distracted-"
She was literally cut off as Palkia Slashed the spot where she was standing. Dialga backed away, looking more serious than before.
"Second rule," Palkia muttered. "Only idiots talk so much in a war."
With a roar of frustration, Dialga fired another Hyper Beam. Palkia was about to dodge when he noticed that if he did, the shot would hit the Space-Time tower where the humans were. Reacting instinctively, he used Barrier to deflect the shot, only to realize that it was only a move to weaken him for Dialga to deal the final blow in the form of a Roar of Time that ripped through his Barrier and slammed into his chest, sending him flying into three buildings before he slid to a halt in front of the Tower. Every muscle hurt, and it pained Palkia to even breathe.
"Pathetic. You're supposed to be on equal strength with me, Palkia. I expected more from my counterpart."
With tremendous effort, Palkia was able to stand, but barely. As he glanced at the corrupted form of Diagla, memories of her former self surfaced in his mind. The side of her that was opportunistic and always looking out for chances to blackmail the other Legendaries. The side of her that was always watching out for the other Legendaries.
The side of her that he loved.
Yet, the darkness had not only corrupted her personality, but also her appearance. Her once deep blue skin had become midnight black, the sky blue lines streaking her head, neck, torso and legs becoming crimson red. The silver armor encasing her legs, tail, sides of her head and chest was also affected, turning from their normally shiny silver color to a dull grey. The only thing left unaffected was the diamond embedded in her chest, which still glowed, although not as brightly as before. Her ruby-red eyes, the same color as his, glared at him with hatred.
"Any last words?" She asked as she advanced toward him. Some instinct in Palkia compelled him to try one last attempt at getting through to the real Dialga within her.
"Dialga, I know you're in there. You wouldn't do this. Please come back, Dialga!"
She kept advancing toward him without breaking stride.
"Please wake up! Don't you remember? The times when we had fun together with the others? Don't you remember anything at all? Don't you remember me?"
The only effect it had on Dialga was to stop her for a second, before she continued advancing.
"Stop it, Dialga! I won't fight you anymore. I don't want to hurt you! I love you, Dialga! Please come back to all of us! Please come back to me!"
To Palkia's surprise, Dialga stopped. The diamond on her chest glowed a cool blue, the glow rapidly intensifying until it consumed her. It became so glaring that Palkia had to shield his eyes. Eventually, the glow subsided and Palkia could make out a figure resembling Dialga standing in the glow. It eventually died down and, to Palkia's joy, he saw that Dialga's appearance was back to normal.
"Palkia? I'm glad you're safe. Listen, you have to kill me now, while I'm in control of my body! Even if you can get it out of my body, it'll simply find a new host and you might be it! I can't let that happen to you!"
The joy Palkia felt instantly evaporated. "But-"
"No buts, Palkia! Hurry, you don't have much time left!" Palkia could see that her skin was slowly changing back to black and the lines were becoming red again. He pulled his right hand back, charging up a Spatial Rend.
"Don't hesistate, Palkia! Do this for me!"
Knowing that it was his duty to protect the world, no matter the cost, Palkia slashed his right hand forward, sending the cresent of pink energy hurling towards Dialga. Even through the hum caused by the Rend, he heard Dialga say "Thank you."
The Spatial Rend struck its target.
Palkia punched the nearby wall with his fist, leaving a crater in it.
"Why, Dialga? Why did you have to make me kill you like that?" Fresh tears flowed down his face as another memory, the aftermath of the battle, came back to him.
"Dialga, I'm so sorry! Please, wake up!"
Palkia, despite his wounds, had limped over to Dialga's body. He now sat beside her and was holding her head in his hands. As he contemplated on what to do next, a groan startled him.
"Dialga?"
She opened her eyes slightly.
"Palkia?"
"Yes, Dialga, it's me!"
She noticed the many injuries covering his body. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to inflict all those on you-"
Palkia could feel her leaving him."Save your strength, Dialga!"
"Palkia… you said you'd protect me no matter what…" She groaned, before saying something that he'd never expected her to say. "I love… you."
Before he could say anything, Dialga's eyes closed for the last time. His own eyes widened as the truth slowly sank in. Tears flowed freely down Palkia's face as he let out a great cry of anguish that resonated throughout the wrecked Alamos Town and possibly through the whole Sinnoh region.
Palkia slowly pulled his hand out of the wall. He opened his clenched fist and stared at what was within it: an armband with a blue diamond set in it. Dialga had given it to him many years ago. The diamond was actually a small piece from the one from her chest. Palkia had given her a similar armband, except that it had a pearl from the ones on his shoulders. "This way, we'll always have a bit of each other with us." Dialga had said to him when they had given each other their respective armbands. His mind went back to thoughts of Dialga and his reaction when he realized that she was dead.
"Palkia? What the hell are you doing here?"
Mesprit stood with her mouth agape as Palkia, carrying Dialga's body, emerged through a rift in space that had appeared a few meters away from the shore of Lake Verity. The Emotion Legendary had sensed the death of Dialga through Palkia's grieving emotions and thus was not really surprised to see Dialga's body, although the loss of one of her best friends had left her deeply saddened. Palkia's body was covered with wounds and it amazed Mesprit that he was still alive, let alone standing in front of her holding the body of one of the heaviest Legendaries. His red eyes focused on Dialga, he muttered something that Mesprit barely heard.
"WHAT? You want to put her in MY lake?!"
"Please, Mesprit! I can't bear to bury her! You're one of her best friends, so please understand!"
Mesprit's golden eyes narrowed. She knew that once Palkia had set his mind on something, he would ensure that it was done no matter what happened. With a sigh, she nodded her head and stepped aside, allowing Palkia to walk into the river. She grimanced at the thought of how much dirt she would have to extract from her precious river as Palkia walked deeper into the lake. He halted when he had almost reached the middle of the river. Mesprit knew that the lake was extremely deep in the middle as a protective measure from outsiders trying to find her lair. She watched as Palkia placed an armband with a pearl on Dialga's front right leg and recognized it as the one that the pink dragon had given his counterpart. He then placed Dialga's body in the middle of the lake, looked at her once last time before letting go. Mesprit began to walk towards Palkia, but thought the better of it as he watched the Legendary of Time's body sink slowly to the depths of Lake Verity.
Palkia's red eyes were locked onto that armband, his only reminder of the Legendary of Time. With great effort, he tore his gaze away from it, not wanting to bring back more painful memories. His gaze swept over the Spear Pillar's interior. Once, it had been home to him and Dialga. Now, it was nothing more than a building in which he lived in. His eyes slowly drooped down until they closed and the Legendary of Space drifted off to sleep.
"Palkia."
The pink dragon groaned and opened his eyes. In the darkness of the Spear Pillar, a glowing four-legged figure caught his attention. Squinting, he was able to make out the details of the faintly visible figure. Blue skin with sky-blue lines, silver armor…
"Dialga? But how can it be?"
The figure smiled slightly. "Giratina granted me some time to be with you. It's ironic, isn't it? The Legendary of Time needing more time?"
Palkia smiled for the first time in many days. "Yeah, it sure is. I missed you, Dialga. And I'll miss you again after you leave."
"Same here. Honestly, I didn't expect Giratina to give me some time at all. Perhaps a bit of Arceus' holiness has rubbed off on him."
"Well, Giratina's been opening up to us ever since he started spending weekly "counseling" sessions with her."
"Yeah." Dialga replied. "Anyway, I'd best make use of the time I've got. I want to apologise for everything bad I did to you in my life. For calling you an idiot, a jerk, a moron among other things, for playing countless pranks on you and for so many things that are too numerous to write down."
"I should probably be doing the same thing, Dialga."
"Let's not waste any more time, Palkia. I love you."
"I know, Dialga. I love you too. I'll always love you, no matter what happens."
Dialga smiled, before speaking again. "Feeling's mutual. I'm nearly out of time, so let me give you once last piece of advice. No matter what happens, life has to go on. Remember that, Palkia. I'll always watch over you, and I'll always be with you, just like you'll always be with me." She raised her right front leg slightly, revealing the armband he had placed on her. She then gave Palkia a quick kiss on the lips before saying, "Goodbye, Palkia. I love you."
"Goodbye, Dialga. Say hi to Latios for me and I love you too."
"No problem." Dialga smiled as her spirit faded away.
Alone once again in the Spear Pillar, Dialga's words rang in Palkia's mind. "Dialga," he thought, "I understand. I'll keep on living for your sake." Palkia smiled as he slipped the armband onto his left hand. "And we'll always be together. Forever."
Finished. This one's my longest fic to date. Anyway, please review.