Author's Note: Congratulations! You have found the third edition to my Origin of the Dark Knight series. If you haven't read the first two stories, I suggest you do or else things could get confusing. The first one is Origin of the Dark Knight and the second is The Darkness Has Come. Anyway, I have been working on this story for a few years now, so my writing style might seem different later on. I hope you enjoy it none the less. Now, I give you Rising Darkness!

Rising Darkness

By: JadeDragonKnight

Chapter 1: The Beginning

It was dark. A cool breeze glided over the ground, creating a soft moan. The moon shone high in the night sky. Specks of light dotted the blackness where the invisible clouds split apart. The sound of breathing melded with the wind. A pair of red eyes appeared, searching the space bathed in the blue light of the moon. A figure stood across from the eyes fifteen yards away. Little detail could be seen in the dim glow. It didn't move. Hands cracked and the red eyes narrowed on the figure. Seconds went by in silence. A black cloud slowly drifted over the moon. The light began to fade away, but the eyes stayed focused on the figure. Then, it was jet black. The wind ceased to moan.

Just then, purple electricity flashed around the red eyes. The streaks danced as they flew toward the figure. The ground jolted as the bolt struck the target. The figure flashed with the purple light, but stood tall. Countless lightning streaks zoomed toward it, making thunderous booms when they made contact. The clouds overhead broke and uncovered the moon. Its light once again washed over the land below. The electric stopped flowing. The red eyes scanned the ground for the target. The metal poles glowed hot red from the lightning strikes. The man grinned underneath his mask.

Suddenly, something struck him in the head. He cried out in pain and held his skull where it throbbed. He looked down at the ground to see a wooden ball, most likely from a bed post.

"How many freakin' times do I have to tell you to keep it down?!" a voice shouted from above.

The man looked up at a lit window in the castle, still rubbing his head.

"I can't help the fact that lightning is loud!" the man yelled back.

"Don't get smart with me, Meta Knight!" the fat penguin angrily replied. "Do your stupid training later!"

"Dedede, you know I can only do this at night," Meta Knight argued. The pain in his head subsided.

"You've been doing this for two weeks. TWO WEEKS!"

"I-"

"That means I haven't gotten any decent sleep for two weeks!"

"I didn't-"

"Look at these bags under my eyes!" King Dedede yelled as he poked at the dark rings on his face.

"I didn't do this every night for two weeks."

"I don't care! If you have to train, go do it somewhere else!"

Meta Knight growled under his breath. He clenched and unclenched his fists.

"Yes your majesty," the knight said reluctantly.

He turned to leave. Suddenly, another wooden ball whizzed through the air and hit him in the back of the head. He groaned loudly and hunched over with his hands on the point of impact.

"One more thing," King Dedede called, "bring those ball things in when you come back."

The king shut the balcony doors and the lights went out. Meta Knight shook the pain away. He looked back up at the place the king stood, judging how far away it was.

"For a lazy guy, he's got good aim," the knight muttered.

He looked up at the dark sky. His cape morphed into wings. They caught the gentle wind. He jumped into the air and the wings flapped hard. He soon flew over the castle wall. He hovered in the crisp air and scanned the horizon. The moonlight cast his shadow on the wall. Even with his ability to see in the dark, he couldn't tell where to go. He reached behind and took out his communicator. The light from it made him squint. He opened up a map on the screen. He found an island not too far away from the mainland. Meta Knight put the device away and flew in the direction of the island.

The world was calm and peaceful. The usual roar of the wind was reduced to a breeze. The ocean waves below barely made a sound as they lapped the air. The only source of light was the cool glow of the moon that dotted the stretch of water. If it wasn't for the chilling breeze Meta Knight would have fallen asleep mid-flight.

He continued to glide straight. He couldn't see the island in detail, but it made a black silhouette against the dark blue water. The sound of waves crashing gradually became louder. Meta Knight dipped low and flew just above the waves. He threw his weight back and began to slow down. He landed softly on the sand, just out of reach of the rolling tide. His wings folded back and formed into his cape. He looked out to the ocean the way he came. He could see the rocky cliffs of the distant land. The castle rested on the highest peak, but was dwarfed by the land around it. A breeze blew from behind him, making his cape wrap around his arms. Countless leaves rustled, making a soft hiss. He turned toward the forest. No animal made a sound. With the glow of his eyes lighting the path, he ventured into the dense growth.

It didn't take long for him to reach a small clearing. He stopped and looked up through the opening in the trees. The sky was still black in places where the clouds covered the stars. He looked around the clearing. It was too small to practice aiming at long distances like he did in the castle courtyard. He looked at his hands for a moment.

'I wonder how powerful I can make my bolts…'

Meta Knight looked through the opening again. He nodded to himself. Then he closed his eyes and clenched his fists. Something began to pulsate inside him. A tingle went through him as purple sparks began to appear on his fists. The energy flowed continuously and wanted out in one burst. He fought the burst back and tried to control it. Sparks danced all over his body as wind kicked up around him. His muscles tensed as more energy built up inside of him. It was becoming too hard to control. He lifted his arm up to the opening. He forced the energy to flow up his arm. He opened his hand. Suddenly, a giant bolt of purple electricity surged out into the night sky. Deafening booms were created in its wake. The clouds parted as the lightening passed through. Meta Knight kept his eyes closed tight from the blinding light. The energy began to slow down. The bolt lessened in size until it was no more than a thin streak of static. Meta Knight lowered his arm and breathed heavily. The sparks fizzed out and everything was still once more. He felt weak and almost stumbled. He felt proud of this achievement, but at the same time was worried at having that much power.

Something snapped behind him. He whirled around to face it. His red eyes scanned the darkness as he listened for the slightest sound. Only the tree leaves rustled. After a few seconds passed, Meta Knight concluded that it was nothing important. He faced forward again and drew his sword. For a moment it was only a hilt, but then golden electricity sprung forth and solidified into the five pronged sword Galaxia. When most of his strength returned, he began to practice his sword techniques. Suddenly, something hit him on the side of his head and threw him off his feet. His first reaction was to spring up and face the attacker, but the dazed knight could only lay there and watch the world spin. Then, someone gasped.

"Oh my gosh! Are you ok?"

A hand scooped his head up. Meta Knight focused on the face of a girl with a worry and guilty struck expression.

"Jade?" he slurred. "You really pack a punch."

"I'm so sorry. I couldn't see you, I just-"

"It's alright," he assured as he sat upright and rubbed the spot of impact.

Jade rolled back on her feet in silence. Then, both of them got a quizzical face.

"What are you doing here?" they asked in unison.

Jade paused a moment then said, "You first."

"Ok. Dedede kicked me out."

"Aw, why?" she asked sympathetically as she sat properly.

"Apparently he hasn't slept in two weeks due to my 'stupid' training. So, I came here to train."

"What are you training for?"

"I want to learn how to control my powers," he added, looking at his hands. "They won't seem to go away so I have to learn to live with them." He looked at her and asked, "Why'd you hit me again?"

"That huge lightning bolt scared the crap out of me! I was having a nice dream too. Anyway, I came to check it out and saw this black glob thing with red eyes staring at me."

The knight chuckled and repeated, "'Black glob thing'?"

"It's dark out here ok! Look, I'm really sorry I whacked you. I thought you were one of those dark creatures."

"Hmm, that's understandable…" he muttered.

"Hey, are you ok?" Jade asked softly, seeing the change of emotion in his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm alright," he said quickly. "So, you're camping out here?"

"Kinda."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, I live here. Although, it's not like I'm staying at a five star hotel or anything. I'm kinda roughing it."

"You live here?"

"Yup."

"On a deserted island?"

"Uh huh," Jade replied as if asking where he was going with this.

"…By yourself?"

"Ugh, here we go," she sighed.

"What?"

"Now you're going to tell me how I'm just a girl and can't take care of myself."

"No, it's not that at all," the knight assured, "it's just, you seem a bit young to be out here by yourself."

"Hmm, maybe," Jade replied, looking at the ground in thought.

"I mean you are 14, right?"

"I think so."

"You don't know how old you are?"

"Well, I came here four years ago, that's for sure. But, I don't know where I came from or who I was. I just woke up one day and there I was, alone."

Meta Knight gazed at her in quiet sympathy.

"So, maybe I'm 14, maybe I'm not," Jade continued more heartily. She stood up, brushed herself off and said, "Well, I'm going back to bed. Promise not to make any more thunderbolts?"

"Y-yeah."

"Alright, goodnight," she added before she walked into the forest and disappeared.

The sound of footsteps gradually faded until silence reigned again. Meta Knight looked at the ground, absorbing their conversation. It seems as though he and Jade have something in common... After a moment, he reached into his left glove and pulled out a little metal ball. He rolled it between his fingers, studying the imperfections on the surface, but he knew all of them by heart now. Then a strange urge compelled him to metal bend it. He never thought of doing that before, but it seemed as though it was something he was supposed to do. He let it roll into the palm of his hand. With a little concentration on the orb, it began to levitate. It wasn't hard to control at all because of its size. After a while, Meta Knight took his hand away and watched it float in mid-air. That day, that little ball raised more questions than answers, but that was so long ago. He sighed and let the orb drop into his hand. He tucked it away in his glove and looked up at the sky. It was still clear from the lightning blast. The moon was full and bright. He absently yawned, making him realize how tired he really was. He thought about returning to the castle, but he didn't want to risk getting a lecture from the grouchy king. He looked around the clearing. He saw a tree with a sizable trunk. He stood up and went to it. After studying the base and the canopy for critters, he sat down and laid his back against the trunk. He shifted a bit to get comfortable and wrapped himself in his cape. He yawned one more time and closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to take hold.

It was dark, but a calming dark. The sound of the breeze was like a distant memory. His body was completely relaxed and felt somewhat numb. His breathe and heartbeat was steady. Random thoughts and mental images of the day appeared in his mind, but they were vague and fleeting. Then, his arm tingled a bit then went numb again. This didn't arouse him, but it made his hand twitch, causing his arm to wake up. With this came the strange sensation again, but this time it registered as something rubbing against him. Still in an unconscious state, he turned a bit to release his arm from this annoying object. However, this forced the rest of his body out of sleep. Now he could feel something moving all around his lower body. The sounds of the forest rushed in on him and pushed his short dreams out of his head. He moaned and went to rub his face, but his arm was held back. Now his heartbeat quickened. His eyes fluttered open. Still somewhat asleep, he couldn't see that he was in the clearing he fell asleep in just yet. He tried to move again, but something was holding on to him tightly. He looked down and his half-closed eyes illuminated the source of his discomfort. He gasped and his eyes widened at the sight of black, shadowy vines wrapping around him from a pit underneath him. He fought against their hold as they began to drag him down into the pit. He put all his strength in his arm and pulled it free. He tried to pull the vines off of his other arm, but they began to climb up his freed arm. He pulled away again and grabbed hold of the ground in front of him. At this point, his feet have already disappeared inside the hole and the pulling was getting stronger. The vines began creeping around his face. He squirmed around to keep them from taking hold, but the action made him slip farther into the hole. He clung to that piece of dirt for dear life, but it was no use. With one final tug, he lost his grip and was swallowed up by the darkness.

Oh no! What will happen next? Well, you won't know for a while. This story is still incomplete. I usually don't start posting chapters until the story is done, but this is an exception. Instead of you guys waiting months for a new chapter, I'm going to give myself time to write by posting one chapter a week. Expect the next chapter next Saturday. Something to look forward to.

Review, please.