As soon as Terra left the world X let out a breath of relief. That had been a problem he couldn't wait to get rid of. Now X could freely hand out knowledge of Vanitas as he saw fit. That could keep Terra's trust. And he wouldn't have to worry about Terra distrusting Master Xehanort.

"How is he progressing?" Xehanort asked, watching X with a glare. X glanced at him calmly, meeting the harsh gaze.

"Well, he trusts me. Still not too sure of the darkness, but I think he'll come around." X answered. X looked around the area, approaching the edge of the rock spire. He looked around, searching the horizon. He couldn't see the beginning of the keyblades stabbed into the ground. Which he supposed was why Xehanort had chosen here to meet Terra.

"How much longer?" Xehanort asked. His voice filled with impatience as he watched X walk around casually.

"Granted nothing goes wrong, not much." X decided. He stopped pacing around and looked straight towards Xehanort. He held back a smirk at the look of impatience that was on Xehanort's face. "I'll show him a few useful tricks, keep pretending to protect the light." X continued with a smirk.

"Vanitas will be here soon. Stay out of his way." Xehanort said, turning away from X. X frowned and put a hand on his hip.

"I can't help him out?" He asked motioning his other hand. Xehanort glanced over his shoulder at X. His yellow eyes narrowed at the Heartless, who didn't show any sign of caring. X continued to look at Xehanort with his hand out to the side.

"You must avoid suspicion if Terra's friends were to suspect you it could ruin everything," Xehanort said firmly. X rolled his eyes.

"Fine, I'll stay out of sight. But I need to figure out where Vanitas is going next. I think Terra should at least catch a glimpse of him, keep him motivated." X said. Xehanort seemed to consider this, looking over X suspiciously. He eventually looked away and nodded.

"Very well. Avoid detection." Xehanort said. X smirked and waved his hand.

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you." X said. Xehanort glared at X before opening a dark corridor and leaving the world. X sighed and walked off to the edge of the spire, finding a boulder to lean against.

He didn't know why Vanitas was coming to this world. Or who would be following him. If X had to place a bet it was probably Ventus. But that hardly mattered. If Vanitas was taking on Ventus it wouldn't be pretty. Ventus was the one thing in all the worlds Vanitas hated more than anything else. He wouldn't survive too many encounters with his dark counterpart.

X wasn't waiting very long for Vanitas to show. He landed in the center of the rock spire smoothly, turning to face X calmly. His mask was still on, which was unusual when he was talking to X.

"Don't tell me Terra's here," Vanitas said annoyed. X looked at him with disbelief. How stupid did he take X for? He would never meet Vanitas with Terra anywhere remotely close by.

"Just me wanted to see how your end is going," X answered calmly. Vanitas gave a short laugh and looked off to the side. He put a hand on his hip and shook his head. X wasn't surprised by that reaction.

"That loser isn't going to do anything," Vanitas said. That was no wonder. Ventus was too naive. His firm belief in good and evil made him weak. He hadn't seen anything that could shake his faith. He could stand to learn a thing or two about how the world really works.

"Guess you'll have to break him in then," X said with a mischievous grin. Vanitas looked towards him. He was silent for a minute, thinking.

"He's coming this way right now. You want to help out?" Vanitas asked. X's grin grew.

"Sounds like fun." He said. Vanitas snickered and turned away. X watched him calmly. If Ventus showed it would be more fun to play around with his head then to just beat him to a pulp. X dropped to the ground, giving himself the appearance he had just gone around with Vanitas and lost. Vanitas shot him a look but didn't speak. He probably caught on to what the Heartless was doing.

Shortly afterward Ventus arrived and dispelled his armor. His back was turned to where X and Vanitas were.

"Where's he hiding?" Ventus asked. He turned seeing Vanitas. He noticed X off to the side and a look of worry crossed his face. He looked back to Vanitas with a glare. "All right! What did you mean about Terra being a different person?" Ventus asked. He kept glancing at X every few seconds, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Exactly what I said, idiot. The Terra you know will be gone forever." Vanitas said arrogantly. Ventus clenched his fist in rage.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Ventus snapped.

"Stupid, or true?" Vanitas asked. Before Ventus was given a chance to respond Vanitas summoned his key and held it up. Ventus gasped in shock.

"A keyblade?" He asked. Vanitas ignored his question, waiting for Ventus to make his move. Ventus glared at Vanitas before summoning his own keyblade.

"Good. Let's see what you're made of." Vanitas said. X stood, doing his best to look as if he were in pain.

"Ventus, get out of here, he's too strong." X demanded. He summoned his daggers, turning to face Vanitas. Ventus looked at X surprised. He hadn't expected X to try to help him. Ventus looked back to Vanitas and glared.

"No, I have to find out what he means." Ventus insisted. X smirked at his stubbornness.

"You're not doing it alone then," X stated, pointing a dagger at Vanitas.

Without another word, Ven shot forward swinging his keyblade. Vanitas sidestepped him effortlessly. X moved to Vanitas' other side and slashed towards him with his daggers. It was a move Vanitas was all too familiar with and dodged. Vanitas struck X with the hilt of his keyblade then turned and swung at Ventus. Ventus brought up his keyblade to block Vanitas' blow.

Ventus skidded back from the sheer force of Vanitas' hit. X dashed at Vanitas again but was easily thrown back by Vanitas turning and hitting him with his key. Ventus took that opportunity to attack Vanitas. He managed several hits before Vanitas turned the tables on him. Vanitas began striking Ventus with a quick flurry of movement that once again knocked Ventus back. X threw one of his daggers at Vanitas, just scratching his arm. Vanitas ignored X, shaking off the blow and advancing on Ventus. Before he could hit Ventus, Ventus pushed himself quickly getting behind Vanitas. X took the opportunity to quickly relocate his dagger.

As Ventus began a sling of attacks on Vanitas' back X jumped in front and slashed at Vanitas a few times. Vanitas flipped away from the two, quickly regaining his footing. Vanitas renewed his attacks on Ventus, throwing him around the area easily.

Ventus staggered back from the attacks, panting heavily. X rolled his eyes. How was Ventus losing? Admittedly X wasn't being much help, but seriously. It was two to one, Ventus should be doing better than the few hits he was landing. Maybe Ventus really wouldn't be strong enough.

Ventus once again charged at Vanitas. Vanitas easily blocked his blow, pushing Ventus back. X stepped to the side and slashed at Ventus with his daggers, leaving shallow cuts across his arms. Ventus jumped back in surprise.

"What are you doing?" Ventus asked looking at X. X rolled his eyes standing calmly.

"Man, what a loser. Two to one and he's still kicking your ass." X said, clearly annoyed. He narrowed his eyes at Ventus who could only look at him in shock.

"But, why are you on his side?" Ventus demanded. Vanitas laughed harshly. X glanced at Vanitas lazily before looking back to Ventus.

"Darkness calls to darkness. You all just can't see that." X said simply. Before Ventus could speak again X shot towards him. He brought up one dagger, forcing Ventus to block him. While Ventus was too occupied with X Vanitas attacked him from the side sending him skidding across the ground into a boulder. Ventus groaned in pain as he pushed himself up.

X walked over to Ventus slowly, almost leisurely. Ventus glared up at him as he drew closer. Vanitas approached with X, clearly amused by the turn of events.

"What about your sister, don't you care about her?" Ventus asked. X thought about this for a moment, looking up to the sky as he spun his dagger in his hand.

"No, not really," X admitted after a moment. He looked back to Ventus with a cruel smile slowly spreading across his face. "Why should I? She left me after all."

"She's your sister!" Ventus objected. X rolled his eyes.

"You say that like it has some meaning." He said calmly. "I'd need a heart to care. But lucky for me, I don't have one of those to weigh me down." X didn't allow Ventus a chance to speak. He kicked at the blonde who had foolishly stayed on the ground. Ventus groaned out in pain, dropping his keyblade to clutch his stomach. X rolled his eyes yet again and tsked as he turned away from Ventus.

Vanitas shook his head stepping forward to look down at Ventus. He was surprisingly beaten up from such a short fight. Vanitas had managed to give him several large bruises and cuts. He was clearly out of breath and worn out.

"That really all you got? Man, you are worthless. I'd be going against the Master's orders, but so what? As far as I'm concerned, your job here is done." Vanitas said. He began charging for an attack, raising his keyblade above his head as dark energy gathered. He shot the dark energy at Ventus, creating a cloud of smoke and dust where Ventus had been.

As the smoke cleared both X and Vanitas were surprised to see Ventus was gone. The attack might have been strong, but X doubted its ability to completely disintegrate a body.

"Don't worry! You're safe." A high pitched almost squeaky voice said gaining Vanitas and X's attention. They turned to see the mouse from Yen Sid's world. Ventus was laying on the ground in front of the mouse. The mouse called forth his keyblade. "Heal!" The mouse called before turning to face Vanitas. Ventus stood behind him. "Tell me where you got that! Keyblades are not something you use just to bully somebody around! Here, I'll show ya!" X held back a snicker.

"We both will!" Ventus said stepping forward. X looked at Vanitas in disbelief. Vanitas shrugged and raised his keyblade. X sighed bringing up his daggers.

Vanitas quickly attacked Ventus leaving X to deal with the mouse. The biggest problem X assumed he was going to have was the height. The mouse, who X remembered Yen Sid had identified as Mickey, was the size of a small Unversed. X looked at Mickey unamused, waiting for him to make his move.

"Fighting with the darkness never pays off you know." Mickey said. X rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, save your lecture for someone who cares," X said simply. He rushed at Mickey quickly, bringing up his dagger across Mickey's front. Mickey jumped back bringing his keyblade up to block the blow. X moved his other dagger around the key easily, cutting Mickey shallowly. Mickey landed a few feet back from X. He jumped up again taking the offensive against the Heartless.

X brought his daggers up to block the hits. Mickey kept them coming forcing X to remain on the defensive. Mickey moved faster than any other keyblade wielder X had ever fought. He felt the keyblade hit long before he saw it coming.

Mickey jumped back once again giving X the opportunity to pause. He risked a glance over to Vanitas. Much to his surprise, Vanitas was clearly struggling against Ventus now. It was as if just by having an ally he had doubled in strength.

"You're friend won't be able to go much longer." Mickey said. X looked at him calmly. The mouse looked too cocky for X's liking.

"You're probably right. The loser seems to be getting better." X admitted. "But that's what we want after all."

"Who is we?" Mickey demanded. X looked at him and snickered. He banished his daggers away and stared down Mickey with a smirk.

"Wouldn't you like to know." X said. Mickey glared before jumping at X again. X stepped to the side and let the mouse fly past him.

"Well, I feel like this time has been well spent. Good luck protecting your light." X said, summoning a dark corridor. Mickey looked at him in shock. "You're going to need it," X said before stepping into the corridor. He thought he might have heard Mickey yell for him to stop but he ignored it. He hoped Vanitas killed Ventus. If not, he was going to have a lot of explaining to do.