A/N: Here it is the battle at Castle Dedede! I wonder if Meta-Knight and his companions will reach the castle in time to save the survivors. Just read on to find out for yourselves.

Also, swears are introduced in this chapter, uncensored for more of a professional look, so for those of you kiddies reading this, I highly suggest you stop reading this. This chapter also mentions violence

But anyway, onto chapter 1 of Rise of Dark Matter!

Oh, and if any of you are confused about Chris and Crystallis, they are both the same person. Chris is just Crystallis's nickname.

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Rise of Dark Matter

Chapter 1

As Meta Knight's small group dashed toward Castle Dedede, they heard the sounds of steel clashing, the screams of soldiers dying, the sounds of battle! They had to hurry; otherwise, there'd be no one to help from the battle.

"What's goin' on 'round here!" yelled King Dedede who walked towards the battle at the entrance of the castle. The captain of the Royal Guard, a Waddle Doo named Eric, accompanied him.

"It's dangerous out here, milord! Let the Castle Guard handle it!" Eric pleaded.

"Are ya keddin'? I want to know just what the hell is goin' on in my castle! If there's a fight goin' on, I'm gonna join in!" King Dedede replied.

The young Waddle Doo knew just how stubborn his king is, and insisted that he'd at least accompany him. Eric was just a pretty generic Waddle Doo, except he fancied a musketeer hat on his head and had a rapier, although he rarely used it. The two walked towards the battlegrounds and saw the leader of the Castle Guard, Sir Charles, along with some of his most loyal soldiers, fighting off several strange demonic foes. They had a pure black armor-like hide and had glowing white eyes, they were almost like phantoms. Sir Charles, a Sword Knight in white armor who fancied a battle axe, charged at the group of demons with the ferocity of an angered bull. The Castle Guard also charged at the enemies, among them a newly recruited Waddle Dee wearing a cap, wielding a glaive named Will. This was the first time Will ever fought and he was naturally scared. He didn't know what to do! He was about to be attacked by a nearby demon right when Sir Charles pushed the young boy out of the way and swung his axe deep into the demon's chest. Charles looked at Will and gave him the "thumbs up" sign. Will highly respected Charles and wanted to be just like him. All of a sudden, a demonic wolf like beast ran at Charles! Charles struggled getting his heavy axe out of the demon carcass as the beast ran closer towards him. Will then ran in front of Charles and stabbed the beast in the chest just as the wolf lunged at Charles. Will pulled the glaive out of the dead wolf and looked at Charles, giving him the thumbs up sign. Charles smiled underneath his helmet. Shortly after this scene, King Dedede showed up, along with Eric.

"Just what the hell is goin' on here!" King Dedede yelled at Charles.

"You majesty, these demons appeared out of nowhere shortly after that big explosion and started to slaughter the Castle Guard! There's only a few of us left and we're fighting valiantly, but we're far outnumbered! I fear this may be the end for us, sir!" Charles explained to Dedede.

"Bah! It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings, Charles! Let's give those demon beasts something to think about!"

"Have you lost your mind, sir!" Eric pleaded. "This is too dangerous for you! We must get you to safety!"

"Tell me, Eric, do ya see any safe places 'round hea! Cuz I certainly don't! We can't avoid this fight, Eric!"

Eric knew it was pointless to argue with Dedede any further, for he did have a point. Eric drew out the thin rapier and stood by Dedede's side. "I'm going to make sure you stay safe, sir!"

"Do as ya please, I'm gonna face those creeps head on!" Dedede concluded as he dashed at the demons with mallet in hand. Eric quickly followed him, thrusting his blade at any demon nearby.

"Lord Meta-Knight! Take a look at this, sir!" yelled Blade towards Meta-Knight. Meta-Knight walked over to his subordinate and watched as the battle perused.

"We have to help them before it too late! All forces, on the double! We must reinforce the Castle Guard!" Meta-Knight ordered. All of his soldiers saluted and quickly dashed towards the battlefield. Only then did Meta-Knight notice Crystallis was among his warriors.

"Chris, what are you doing here? I thought you were sleeping at the fortress!" Meta-Knight asked.

"Sir, after that explosion went off, everything in a 10 mile radius must have awakened!" Chris replied.

"…I see your point. Anyway, you don't have to fight with us. You're a guest, guests aren't supposed to fight alongside their host." Meta-Knight insisted.

"I'm fighting with you, no matter what, sir!" Meta-Knight was moved by Chris's loyalty and he allowed him to accompany his troop as the two charged towards the castle!

Sir Charles breathed heavily as he watched the demons coming back once more.

"No, not now! We still haven't recovered from their last assault!"

Will looked at the incoming forces. He couldn't do anything but watch in horror at just how many of them were coming. "There's far too many of them! We can't do this!" Will cried.

"Get a hold of yourself, Will! We're going to survive this!" Charles insisted.

The only ones of the Castle Guard that remained were Charles, Will, and four others. Plus they had the Royal Guard with them, but that only made fifteen more men, which really didn't matter. There must've been a least thirty demon beasts still alive. Charles feared that this may just be the end.

"Charlie boy, don't start acting like all hope is lost now!" yelled a large bugzzy named Cid. He had green skin, wore worn cloth gloves and shoes, and was one of the remaining Castle Guard still around. Charles looked at the big bugzzy. "We can give them one more good fight before the end!"

Charles nodded. "Friends, let's get ready to give those demons all hell! Let's stand our ground!" All of the remaining Castle Guard cheered and were ready to fight once more! Dedede was near Charles and got into a battle position.

"Castle Guard! Royal Guard! We attack NOW!" Dedede ordered and then the two groups of fighters charged at the enemy! However, the warriors soon stopped to see another group of warriors charge at the demons!

"Reinforcements! They must be Meta-Knight's men! We're saved!" exclaimed Charles. The soldiers cheered loudly as they once again continued their charge, now filled with hope! No one noticed that a shooting star was falling towards the battlegrounds….

"Comrades, CHARGE!" Meta-Knight yelled as his legion of Axe Knights, Javelin Knights, and Mace Knights charged towards the enemies! Meta-Knight ran alongside them, as was Chris, Blade, Simirror, and Bio Spark, into the middle of the fray. Chris unsheathed Frostbite as they got into the heat of battle! Chris stabbed a demon and flung him towards another, knocking one down with ease. Bio Spark jumped at a nearby demon and then kicked it in the face three times before performing a roundhouse kick at the demon's face and then he heard the snap of its neck as it fell toward the ground. A Mace Knight swung his large spiked mace around and threw it at demon's chest, instantly killing him. Meta-Knight slashed at a demon heading towards the Mace Knight and defeated him within a matter of seconds. Blade drew out his sword and a dagger and quickly killed a demon with a fury of slashes. Simirror unleashed a fire spell at the nearby demon and burnt him severally. In the middle of the fray, however, a shooting star crashed right into the middle of a demon horde and a pink sphere was seen jump away from it. It was Kirby, the famous Star Warrior! Kirby sucked in a surviving demon, and gained the Dark ability. Kirby now had claws, along with horns, bat-like wings, and a long tail. The battle then continued for a matter of minutes until the last few demons retreated from the battle. After the long battle ended, the remaining soldiers of King Dedede went over to them and Kirby dropped the copy ability.

"Meta-Knight, thanks for saving us from certain doom. How can the Castle Guard of Dedede ever repay you for your services?" Charles stated as he gave a courteous bow to the veteran swordsman.

"No thanks are necessary. We just wanted to do the right thing. That is all." Meta-Knight replied.

Will looked at Meta-Knight with shiny eyes. "Meta-Knight! And Kirby too! The living legends themselves! I never thought I'd live to see this day!" Will exclaimed.

Meta-Knight chuckled at the words. "Living legend now, is it?"

King Dedede then marched towards Meta-Knight's legion. Meta-Knight looked at the man who he once swore loyalty to. King Dedede didn't look too amused, but even he offered his hand.

"Thanks fer reinforcing us, Meta-Knight. I hate ta say it, but if it weren't fer ya, we probably would've been done for." King Dedede thanked. Meta-Knight nodded and shook his hand. Meta-Knight turned and was about to head back when he heard Dedede once more.

"Wait a sec, Meta-Knight. What should we do if those fiends come back again?"

Meta-Knight pondered on the thought. "I'm not sure what to say, your highness. The ones that retreated are probably long gone by now."

Dedede frowned. "Then what should we do?"

"Sorry, your majesty, but I really don't know. I'm going back to my fortress. Come, comrades." Meta-Knight concluded as he started walking back to his castle, until Kirby went over to him and tugged on his cloak.

"Do you want to come too, Kirby?" Meta-Knight asked. Kirby nodded.

"Then go get on your Warpstar and head towards my castle. We'll be there shortly." Kirby nodded and ran towards his vehicle and flew it towards Meta-Knight's castle.

King Dedede and the remaining warriors of his castle walked back towards the castle. As Dedede sat in his throne, he pondered. What were those things? Why did they attack his castle? How was he going to prepare himself for the next attack? However, the answers to these questions never came around as he slowly drifted himself to sleep…

"So, how did the attack go? It was successful, yes?" A mysterious figure asked another figure. They were inside a very dark room with very little light from torches, inside a palace or some place like this, one could not tell from the inside.

"The attack on Dedede's castle was unsuccessful, thanks to Meta-Knight's interference." replied the other figure.

"I see… In other words, you didn't retrieve the artifact either."

"That's right."

The first figure shook his fist in anger, and glared at the other with crimson red eyes. "How many times must I tell you that I don't want to see failure! I want ONLY success! Do you understand!"

"Yes, sir… However, we do have good news. We now know that the successor of Dark Matter is with Meta-Knight…"

"You mean Crystallis?"

"None other."

"That's good news, indeed. I'd like you to plan an attack that'll lure Meta-Knight and his companions towards us, so we can take back what rightfully belongs to us."

"Yes, of course." The other figure turned around and walked off. The mysterious figure the remained that remained threw back his cloak to reveal himself as Darksol, the black armored Sword Knight who originally served under Rash, a cold-hearted Waddle Dee who originally served Dark Matter, now dead due to the events of a few years back, when they were searching for the legendary Star Stones in hopes of being able to strengthen Dark Matter's powers, which failed miserably, as he remembered.

Darksol softly laughed to himself as he remembered that time when he first confronted the pair. How he lost to those fools. How his past leader gone insane because of them. "Meta-Knight, Crystallis… I'll finally get my revenge on you two for humiliating me in the past… It's about time I've paid you back… What would you sacrifice to save your precious student from the inevitable, eh Meta-Knight? I'll be sure to make your death as slow and painful as possible." Darksol then laughed evilly as he then walked towards his quarters to think of a clever scheme to capture Crystallis.

A/N: So, Darksol from Meta-Knight's Apprentice makes a return! What will happen next in this little story of mine? You'll just have to wait until later! Expect chapter 2 soon as well. I'm off to do other things. (disappears)