Author's Note: And here we go; lots of Big Things going on in this chapter. Fight scenes are always challenging for me to write, but I'm pretty satisfied with how this one turned out. Good old Palkia charging into things was also great fun to write, as was trying to really nail down Giratina. Anyway, enough rambling; here's the chapter.

Chapter Fifteen: The Solution

"Darkrai, what are you doing here?"

Everyone was silent for a few seconds. At first, they'd just kind of…stared awkwardly at each other. Finally, Claire popped the question, and Giratina was the one to answer it.

"Oh, he's been helping me!" he replied cheerfully. "We've just been doing a few experiments, that's all. I think we're done, though, so he can go home if you'd like him to."

"Ah, yes, 'just an experiment'," Darkrai sneered. "For you, maybe. But I'm not leaving—not until I get this perfect."

Giratina blinked. "…What do you mean?"

Well, this was pretty telling, Claire thought. Giratina apparently had no idea that Darkrai was—or at least could be—malicious. The Dark-Type was just using him, which made a good deal of sense.

"What it sounds like," Darkrai replied, waving dismissively. "I want to use these altered Dimensional Holes for myself. I have…ideas. Things I'd like to do. So I'm going to—"

He was cut off by a sudden Pin Missile to the face, and Darkrai grunted in pain. To no one's surprise, Iris had just stepped forward and launched the attack at him. (Well, Giratina looked surprised; he was currently staring at Iris with wide eyes.) Still, the rest of Team Shadow expected that. Meanwhile, Claire reached for the flap of her bag, just in case she needed to grab any items.

"We knew you were going to be trouble!" Iris shouted. "We should've done this a long time ago. We're gonna take you home if we have to drag you back!"

Darkrai hissed at her before replying, "You can't stop me now! I'm too close to give up!"

With that, he closed his eyes and spread out his arms, launching an Ominous Wind at Team Shadow. Iris, Bruce, and Claire—oddly enough, she thought—weren't too effected by it. The move barely felt any different from the extremely minimal amounts of damage she'd taken as a Meowth from Ghost moves.

Still, it served its likely-intended purpose of catching them all off balance. Rin and Felix had tumbled over, and they hastily scrambled to their feet. Claire even staggered before straightening up, and she fumbled through her bag. Iris leapt at Darkrai, beating him over the head with multiple Needle Arms. He retaliated with an Ice Beam, and Rin stepped in to distract him with a Bonemerang as Iris shrieked in pain.

Giratina looked around in confusion. He seemed hurt that Darkrai had been using him, but he probably wasn't sure which side to take, either. Darkrai had technically helped him, after all, and the suddenness of the fight had to be putting some pressure on him… Finally, he lashed out at Rin with a Dragon Claw, and she was flung aside before she had a chance to retaliate.

Felix promptly distracted him with a Flamethrower. This gave Bruce the opportunity to dart around Giratina's legs, delivering Shadow Claws as necessary. With the two of them attacking Giratina, it gave Rin and Iris enough time to recover and focus on Darkrai. Iris took her usual overly-enthusiastic, close-range physical approach, while Rin launched another Bonemerang at him.

Claire chipped in where she could, tossing an Iron Thorn at Darkrai (and narrowly missing Iris in all the chaos). Then, she whipped around and threw a Stick at Giratina. It was honestly hard to keep up—pandemonium had broken loose. Giratina's sheer size allowed him to deliver sweeping moves that hit both Bruce and Felix, while Darkrai's ability to hide in the shadows often let him dodge Rin and Iris.

Still, they couldn't stop now… Claire knew she had to focus. Maybe Giratina would be willing to listen after they knocked some sense into him (literally), while Darkrai obviously wasn't coming home of his own accord. Claire really had been hoping they could solve this peacefully, despite everything, but it didn't look like they had a choice.

The fight was turning into more and more of a blur. Everyone's attacks were getting increasingly desperate—and increasingly erratic. Rin turned to help Bruce and Felix at one point by shooting an Ice Beam at Giratina, prompting him to launch a room-wide Ominous Wind. Felix blasted a Flamethrower at Darkrai before striking Giratina with a Thunder Punch. Claire had run out of items, and she was considering resorting to her fists—but Darkrai realized her disadvantage, and he crashed into her with a Faint Attack.

While Claire staggered around, she heard a voice suddenly say, "That's quite enough!"

She rested a hand on the side of her head, blinking and trying to focus. The scene was admittedly ridiculous; Bruce was hanging off one of Giratina's wings by his mouth, apparently mid-Bite. Felix's hand was crackling mid-Thunder Punch, and the sparks fizzled out as he looked around in confusion. Rin also had her bone raised halfway, while Iris was hanging onto Darkrai from behind and pulling on the white plume on his head.

Finally, the source of the voice was clear. Dialga had just materialized in the chamber, and he could barely fit in the room. He was soon followed by Palkia, and the two dragons looked around at everyone. Iris finally realized what was going on, and she jumped off Darkrai's back—her attempt at 'casually' walking over to Claire was a bit forced. Meanwhile, Bruce dropped off Giratina's wing (yelping as he hit the ground) and scrambled towards the rest of the team. Giratina himself tried to straighten up, coughing awkwardly as he looked at the new arrivals.

"May I ask what brought you two here?" he asked meekly.

Palkia stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "Well, I sensed some spatial distortions in this area, so I came to investigate. I don't know which one of you did it, but—"

"Hold, Palkia." Dialga frowned. "I believe we should ask questions before we start threatening anyone. Though I too sensed some distortions and thought it wise to see what was going on."

"Oh, maybe that's what you felt when I came to see you?" Claire offered, realization dawning on her. "The timing would line up… It was right after I left that I found out Darkrai was missing."

"Oh, right, wasn't that…" Felix frowned, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "You said you went to visit Dialga the first time Darkrai left, I think?"

Dialga paused, considering this information. Of course Claire couldn't have mentioned it to him then—even if she somehow felt guilty for not doing it—as she hadn't known Darkrai was gone until after leaving. Still, he apparently decided this made sense, too, as he proceeded to turn towards Darkrai. The Dark-Type in question merely folded his arms and looked away.

"And if I had been up to something, what exactly would you all do about it?" he replied coolly. "I've caused trouble before, yet here I am, still in one piece. It clearly means you didn't stop me as well as you think you did!"

"And I say we fix that now!" Palkia growled. "Come, Dialga! Why haven't we—"

"Um, for what it's worth," Giratina said sheepishly, "it is partly my fault. I wanted to do some experiments, and Darkrai only got involved because I asked him for help."

"Yeah, but it's at least partly his fault, too!" Iris pointed at Darkrai accusingly. "If it was 'just an experiment,' why didn't he come home when you were done? Right? Doesn't anyone else think that's weird?"

"It's very strange," Palkia agreed. "So you need to start talking, Darkrai!"

"Fine," he snapped. "I don't expect any of you to understand this, but what's the point of knowing something if you don't get to use it? Giratina was the only one who wasn't upset that I could open Dimensional Holes—the only one! And he provided me with everything I needed to learn more about them and improve them!

"We created our own spatial pockets of sorts. Imagine what can be done with those! I could use my powers to my heart's content there, with no one realizing it! I could experiment and control and cause all the nightmares I like—and no one would have to know!"

"That's…that's it?" Claire was surprised her voice was so even, all things considered. "Okay, maybe we should've explained things sooner, but you went straight to that? Without even talking to us first? Who knows how much trouble that could've caused!"

Okay, that was the point, but still… If Palkia and Dialga had both shown up, and they'd both sensed the 'appropriate' distortions, then space and time were both being threatened. That could've been even worse than anything Darkrai had done before. Fortunately, the spatial issues had been stopped before they'd gotten too bad, but she knew what the future had been like… Combining that with spatial problems would be even more of a disaster.

Of course, these little pocket spaces weren't quite the same thing, or at least they didn't sound like it… Even so, getting trapped in a place like that would be awful. And if they could grow and expand, they might be able to spread and 'take over' areas, so to speak. Of course, this was partly guesswork, but from all the clues she had available, it made a disturbing amount of sense. And, either way, even small ones would be terrible prisons.

"Exactly! It would have caused plenty of issues, and you helped, Giratina!" Palkia stepped forward threateningly. "I say we take care of both of you right now!"

"Palkia," Dialga said warningly. "I think we should leave him, if only so we can get the proper information out of him. We still do not know all the details… But you, on the other hand…"

He turned to Darkrai. Not even Dialga seemed patient enough to deal with him… Claire remembered he said he regretted not dealing with him sooner. What did he want to do now?

Darkrai glanced around; he must've realized he was outnumbered. All of Team Shadow, along with Palkia, Dialga, and a now-ashamed Giratina, would be too much for him to handle. He clenched his fists, and then he whipped around and opened a Dimensional Hole.

It was slightly larger than the last one, and Claire could see a very odd-looking chamber behind it. She had a better look at this one; floating islands and sideways trees and swirling purple clouds were all visible inside. Darkrai started to enter it, and he paused halfway with a dangerous glint in his eye.

"If you want to catch me, you better hurry!" he taunted. "Come and follow me, if you dare!"

Then, he started disappearing into the portal. Claire stood there in surprise for a few seconds, only thinking to step forward once he was all the way through. She paused, hand outstretched awkwardly. As she looked around at everyone, she slowly lowered her arm.

No one was doing anything at the moment. Her teammates and Giratina were looking at each other uncertainly. To be fair, Claire wasn't sure what to do, either. Should they follow him? Would Darkrai pull something on them once they were there? If he did, it would be a while before anyone found them…

But they couldn't leave him there, could they? If they did, then Darkrai would have plenty of time to think of something more concrete. He'd get out and start things when he was well and ready for it, and then he'd be harder to stop.

Claire couldn't be sure what everyone else was thinking, but she thought the risks were too big to ignore. She bit her lip and took another step forward. Before she could get much further, she was interrupted by Dialga's voice.

"You know," he said to Palkia, "if that was created using a mix of our powers…then we should be able to stop it together."

Palkia nodded. "If both of us sensed a problem here, that would make sense, yes. One of us alone may not be able to do anything, but…"

"What are you thinking?" Giratina asked cautiously.

"I, for one, think we may be able to trap him in there," Dialga replied. "Depending on how much he knows, it may be possible for Darkrai to reverse our efforts, but if Palkia and I combine our strengths, we should be able to seal it enough for that to be extremely difficult."

"An excellent idea," Palkia agreed. "I only wonder why we weren't throwing him in there right away! Then we could've done this sooner."

Dialga nodded. "For once, I agree with your tendency of rushing into things… All right, then; step back, everyone."

Giratina and Team Shadow did as told. Claire held her breath as she watched the other two dragons step forward. Their idea was logical, but who knew if it would work? No, she couldn't doubt them; this was the best chance they had.

Their eyes began to glow, and swirling blue and pink lights streamed from the Dimensional Hole. There was an unearthly high-pitched shrieking noise as the portal rapidly switched between expanding and shrinking. Claire wasn't sure if part of the noise came from Darkrai, or if it was entirely the Dimensional Hole itself. Regardless, it was almost unbearable to listen to—and then the lights flickered and weakened.

Finally, the portal shrank to a tiny pinprick of light that Claire wouldn't have noticed if she wasn't already looking at it. The noise quieted before stopping completely after an abrupt popping sound. Palkia and Dialga nodded at each other before stepping back and looking at Giratina.

"I think that should do it," Dialga commented. "Now, then, as for you… I think we can avoid telling Arceus about this if you promise to stay here and watch over things, yes? Like I said, I doubt there will be a problem, but just in case…"

"Now, hold on," Palkia cut in, eyes narrowed. "I think that's a little too merciful!"

Giratina sighed and hung his head in embarrassment. "I…admit I should've been more careful… I was being honest when I said I planned on stopping, though. That doesn't erase the fact that Darkrai was going to do worse with it, but… Well, if Dialga thinks the portal—or what's left of it—needs guarding, it's only fitting that I should be the one to stay here."

"For what it's worth," Claire added meekly, hoping the dragons weren't upset with her cutting in, "I think that's a good idea, too. It's not like Darkrai can do anything if he's really stuck in there, and if Giratina really feels bad, then it's not like he's going to let Darkrai out, right?"

"Not that he probably could, anyway," Dialga mused. "It took Palkia and me together to close the Dimensional Hole, so he would need at least one of us here to help him."

"I still don't like this, but I suppose you have a point," Palkia grumbled. "…Fine. I'm heading back to Spacial Rift. But rest assured that the moment I sense anything wrong here, I will come back and deal with it."

With that, he disappeared in a bright flash of light. Claire had to spend a few seconds blinking the spots out of her vision. When she could see clearly again, Claire sighed and shook her head.

"I feel like this is our fault, too… If we had just kept a better eye on him, this might not have happened."

"I know I told you to do something before he became a problem, though I'm not sure what else could be done in this situation." Dialga frowned. "Unless he'd opened a Dimensional Hole elsewhere, and you could have trapped him then… But even so, you may not have been able to do that on your own."

Iris sighed. "Of course, all this really happened because he freaked out during our fight with Giratina in the first place. We could've just, like…knocked him over the head before he could do anything, you know? Then he wouldn't have been awake to get the idea in the first place."

"Iris, that's terrible," Rin groaned. "But…I guess you have a point…"

Bruce grinned. "Rin agreeing with Iris? Now there's something I never thought would happen."

Rin looked aside huffily. "I've agreed with her before. Just…not very often…"

Everyone laughed—even Dialga and Giratina—and Claire felt slightly better. At least everyone's moods were higher now, for what that was worth. She was still uncertain on what would happen next, but she could worry about that if it did happen.

"Well, um, I guess you'll know if anything happens, right?" she said to Giratina. "And you'll let us know if it does?"

Giratina nodded. "If nothing else, it shouldn't be hard for me to contact Dialga or Palkia. From there, they can let you know if we need anything."

Claire nodded, too. "That makes sense… I guess it's okay for us to go home now, then?"

"Yes, that will be fine for now," Dialga replied.

With that, he disappeared as well, and Team Shadow headed towards the chamber's exit. Claire glanced at Giratina one last time, and he nodded again. He would be fine, Claire was sure—and she and her team could discuss things once they got home.

It was starting to set in how exhausted she was, and Claire needed some rest. She figured the rest of her friends did, too, and for now they should focus on that. Worrying could come later.