AN: For Aizy-boy I wrote a parody of Mindful Education set in their KHxSUverse. Any excuse to write Vanven and fusions is one I'll jump to! One thing I loved was combining in game things into the steven uni-verse. Idk how I'm going to turn Garnet into Sora but #yolo. (Zack is Bismuth btw)
Ventus was excited to try out his new joke with Vanitas. Sora had seen it coming with his future vision (and was already done laughing by the time Ventus had entered the room), Riku had not gotten it and he currently had no clue where Axel was.
A soft knock at the door spurred him into excitement.
"Why hello, Vanitas." Ventus said, opening the door and stifling a laugh.
"Hi Ventus." Vanitas said, not looking up from the floor as he walked in. He was hunched over, equipment bag on his back.
"Huh? Oh well um nice weather right? I can really feel the cold air." Ventus said, slightly put off, but still going strong.
"Uh-huh." Vanitas placed the bag down, still in a daze.
"I saw Xehanort Diamond on the transmission, but I never thought it'd happen to me." Ventus said, winking.
"That's greeeaaatt." Vanitas said, somehow more disinterested than usual if possible.
"I AM BALD, VANITAS." Ventus exclaimed. He gestured to his head, once filled with blonde hair, but now as shiny as a baby's head.
Vanitas looked up lazily at him, barely moving.
"Wow, I thought you were looking more idiotic than last time, but then again I think that every day. What happened?" He asked.
"Hey! Nothing happened, I'm not really bald! It's just a joke." Ventus said, taking the bald cap off.
"Whatever." Vanitas looked back down at the bag, trying to find his training clothes.
Ventus blinked and looked closer at the ravenet's face, blue eyes peering into every detail. According to Vanitas, he had been Vanitas' very first friend. It was one of the main reasons he stuck with Vanitas, setting aside the fact he always had one of the worst attitudes Ventus had ever bared witness to. But under that shell, Vanitas actually cared and that care was something Ventus would always see.
"Vanitas… are you okay?" Ventus asked slowly. Vanitas eyes widened, the reaction cut short by the sound of the warp pad.
"Ventus! Vanitas! I hope you're ready for today's special practice!" Riku said, appearing with Sora at his side.
"Dangit special practice? What the heck does that mean? I like to be prepared." Vanitas asked, looking annoyed.
"No, you didn't need to bring anything, except yourselves." Sora said, positively beaming. Vanitas leaned into Ventus, and talked in a low whisper.
"Is it just me, or does he look even more weirder than normal? He didn't get into the Fundip again, right?" Vanitas said. Ventus shrugged. It was possible, last time Sora found out about Axel's Fundip stash, he was in a sugar high for two days.
"Can I tell 'em, can I tell 'em, can I tell 'em?" Sora begged Riku, a starry look in the brunet's eyes. Riku sighed, smiling and nodding.
"YOU'RE GONNA DO FUSION TRAINING FOR VENITAS AND I MADE A SPECIAL SIGN AND EVERYTHING!" Sora cheered, pulling out the sign. "One side is for Ven and Vanitas, and the other is for Venitas. Now that I'm thinking about it, your two names sound weirdly similar... But anyways, it's two signs in one! A fusion sign!"
"Haha fusion jokes! Gotta love 'em." Ventus said, laughing a bit.
"Whatever." Vanitas said, face not nudging in the slightest.
Ventus and Vanitas stood on the old training ground, Vanitas having changed into his training clothes. His clothes consisted of a t-shirt with a weird muscle-like pattern, red veins shooting out over his chest area. Slung across his shirt was the usual thin red sash and regular wristband on his arm. He was wearing black boots and had a red belt across his waist, supporting his training shorts. On his head, he wore a helmet, one Ventus helped him choose. Of course, Ventus didn't even change, wearing his usual arrangement of clothing.
"Ready to begin?" Riku called over to them, having summoned his Riku Replicas.
"Yes sir!" Ventus cheered, giving a tiny salute. He looked over at Vanitas; his golden eyes were concentrated on the ground, holding his Kingdom Key with a tight grip. Ventus nudged his friend softly, bringing the black haired boy back to reality.
"Yes Master!" Vanitas said, suddenly standing at attention.
"WOOHOO GO VEN AND VANITAS!" Sora cheered from the bleachers, holding his sign proudly.
Vanitas and Ventus watched as the Riku Replicas started fusing, Vanitas pondering something he always thought when he saw them.
Why do they always wear those weird skirts? It's nothing like the real Riku.
He bounced back out his inner wanderings when he heard the Replicas challenge the two of them. Vanitas and Ventus nodded.
Vanitas twirled as Ventus furiously did the disco, Vanitas ending in a pirouette and clamping up beside the blonde, the two fusing. They melded into a tall pillar of light, forming Venitas. The fusion in appearance, looked a lot like an older version of Ventus on first glance; hair disheveled and more wild than his usual style. His eyes were a piercing golden, and had two sashes crossing over his chest diagonally, held together with Ventus' star pin. The right half of his shirt was white and his left, black, the collar of his shirt remaining red.
Venitas took Aqua's Kingdom Key in his left hand and summoned another Kingdom Key in his right. He crossed the two blades together and they turned into his real weapon: the x-blade.
"Let's do this." Venitas said with a serious glare, swinging the x-blade in his hand to transition into his battle stance.
"WOOO!" Sora exclaimed, switching his sign.
"Okay! Now… Begin!" Riku said, commencing the match.
Venitas immediately rushed in with his incredible speed, sending green waves of energy at his opponent. In return, the Riku Replica attacked with two keyblades, dual wielding and trying to strike at the blonde fusion, to no avail. Venitas managed to dodge all of them, smirking.
The Riku Replica thrust down and swung for their legs, Venitas jumping up. He flinched, swinging his legs around when his feet didn't make contact with the ground.
Opening one of his eyes, he saw he had 6 white keyblades on his back, acting as wings to keep him in the air. He laughed, feeling silly for not remembering about them.
The blonde then landed on a column, smiling.
"Alright! Venitas has Wingblade!" He said, admiring the white wings on his back. Feeling pretty cocky, he looked down on the Riku Replica. "It's time to end this!"
Venitas pushed off the column, aiming the x-blade to pierce the Riku Replica. Suddenly, the scene changed around him, the Replica turning into a blonde girl in a white dress, drawing pad clutched to their chest as they looked up in fear at Venitas. He flinched, overtaken with a sudden grief.
"I'm sorry!" He exclaimed, ducking down and going past the replica. His wings of light shattered and Ventus and Vanitas rolled out of their fusion.
Immediately, Riku and Sora rushed over, worried.
"Ven! Vanitas!" They gasped.
Ventus sat up, rubbing his head which was still throbbing from the impact.
"What happened?" He asked, taking a moment to look over at Vanitas. He was on all fours, ripping his helmet off his head and holding it in his hands, shaking. The black haired teen was breathing heavily, slightly angered at not being able to keep hold of his emotions. Vanitas suddenly dashed off, running up the steps of the bleachers.
"Vanitas! Wait up!" Ventus called out, speeding after him.
When Ventus caught up, Vanitas was sitting on the lower steps, body crouched over the helmet on his lap. His black hair moved gracefully in the small wind, covering his face. Ventus quickly walked over, coming down the steps to sit beside him.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Ventus asked, face full of concern.
Vanitas looked up, avoiding making contact with Ventus' worried glare.
"I… I did something terrible… and I've just never been in a situation like this before. I've never felt this type of regret. Or any regret, for that matter - and it's horrible." Vanitas said, putting a palm to his face.
"Regret? Wow, that's nothing like you." Ventus said, a bit shocked at this display of emotion.
"I know!" Vanitas exclaimed, miserable. He put his head in his hands, ashamed.
"What happened?" Ventus asked. He put a hand on Vanitas' shoulder, Vanitas looking at the blonde and softly rejecting the show of affection with a light pat.
"I beat someone up." Vanitas said. "And y'know, it felt great - but after that initial adrenaline, I felt really bad. I… I want to be in control of my actions, and in a situation like that, I'm just a slave to power. I don't want to get picked on, but I don't want to cause that sort of hurt to someone else. That's why I love training here. I can beat up Replicas all day and feel great, without having to be a bully. I bumped into someone at school and I was so startled my training instincts just kicked in and I... I didn't even know this girl, and yet I hurt her. I panicked and ran away. I'm already a pathetic loser, now she must hate me." Vanitas explained.
Ventus gave him a meaningful glare.
"But you didn't mean to... I know what it's like. I've accidentally hurt someone. You just can't think about it, no matter how much it hurts." Ventus said.
"Wait, what? Is that what you really think?" Sora said, entering the area.
The sound of waves put Ventus at ease. All his life he'd grown up on this beach and the sand beneath his feet were his home.
"Now for a fusion you need balance. An unbalance can cause you to get out of touch with reality, hallucinations and for you guys to eventually fall apart. If one of you is unbalanced both of you will be unbalanced, right? Like that time we tried to make a castle and-" Sora explained.
"Please try to stay on topic." Vanitas said, crossing his arms.
"Anyways, to keep yourself balanced, you need to understand your feelings. You can't run from your feelings or your friends. That's why communication is important. You need to be able to see your feelings clearly." Sora elaborated.
"I hate feelings to begin with, how are we supposed to see them?" Vanitas asked, exchanging glances with Ventus. "You could say I'm slightly unversed with the whole 'emotion' thing."
"For that we'll need to have Venitas. How about it?" Sora said with a small smile, clapping his hands together softly, being sure not to hurt his two gems.
Vanitas rolled his eyes and took Ventus' hand, fusing to become Venitas. He sat crisscrossed, putting his palms together to try and mirror the hand sign Sora was using.
"Now, close your eyes." Sora said, closing all three of his own.
"Okay." Venitas answered. Venitas closed his two golden eyes, becoming surrounded in darkness, nothing but Sora's voice and the waves to ground him to reality.
"Breathe. Here in the darkness, everything is okay. Feel the light inside your heart guide you. Listen to the waves and let them fade away."
When Venitas opened his eyes, he let out a small gasp of surprise. The scenery had changed and he could see they were sitting on a stained glass pillar which was emitting a soft glow. Venitas recognized the two faces on the glass as Roxas and Xion, the two gems who made Sora.
"Here comes a thought."
"So how'd everything work out?" Ventus asked, swinging his legs. It was the next day, and Vanitas had come over again for another practice. Ventus had seen in their mindspace what had happened and was hoping that the talk with Sora had helped.
"Pretty great actually. After thinking it over, I talked to Naminé - that's her name - and she was pretty soft about it." Vanitas said, blushing a tiny bit. He proudly pulled up a picture of Naminé and him on his phone, smiling together.
Ventus couldn't help but smile looking at it. It was rare to see Vanitas in such a good mood. The black haired friend thought that emotions - especially positive ones - distracted you from seeing the picture, from having control over yourself. Ventus really wanted to teach him one day that you can have control and still be happy at the same time.
"Wow, you actually did it. I'm impressed." Ventus said.
"Of course I did it! And she totally understood. She even asked if she could sketch me fighting sometime." Vanitas beamed, walking to the table to set down his equipment.
"That's great!" Ventus pointed out.
"It's weird, I sat around feeling bad, but when I actually did something about it, it was nice. And it didn't involve punches! Most of the time, I just try to hide everything, channel it into something I can throw my fist at, instead of just confronting my feelings head on." Vanitas swung fake fists in the air to emphasize his point. "It feels so much better now, having a greater understanding in place of putting the thoughts aside. I bet Venitas will do 10x as better now that I have a clear head. Because honestly, if it weren't for me, Venitas wouldn't even have a chance in a fight with the pathetic excuse you call your 'training'."
Ventus got up off the chair and walked over, standing beside Vanitas.
"Anyway, I'm going to go change." Vanitas said, picking up his t-shirt and holding his helmet under his arm. He ran over to the washroom, Ventus giving him a small wave.
Here comes a thought.
Venitas stood in the Arena, facing a small group of Riku Replicas, each wielding different weapons. He swung his x-blade across one, cutting the hologram in half. Twirling, he kicked a wave of green and black energy through the air, sending a few back and destroying some.
"Great job, Venitas! Keep it up!" Riku cheered to him, Sora waving in the background.
"Like I wasn't going to!" Venitas called back with an arrogant smile. He turned back to look at a Riku Replica standing right in the open, an easy kill for sure. The blonde dashed forward, hoping to pierce the Replica with the x-blade. Suddenly, the scene changed around him, Riku Replica turning into a black haired boy, body hunched over in shock at the fusion.
"Huh? Wha uh…?" Venitas stuttered, shocked and confused.
The boy bursted into a bunch of butterflies, leaving Venitas alone in his own illusion.
"Oh no! It's happening again!" Ventus said through Venitas, drawing back the x-blade to stand up right. He started walking backward, fear crawling up on him.
"Who was that? Zack. Ventus! Oh no, it's coming from me now…" Venitas said, voicing Ventus' and Vanitas' inner thoughts.
"Venitas! Just breathe!" Sora called. At the sound of his voice, the blonde was cut out of their weird state, back upright. He'd managed to lose control again, hadn't he?
"What's going on? Sora? Are they okay?" Riku asked, out of the know. Sora held onto Riku's arm, trying to calm both himself and his silver haired friend down.
"He's got this. Just believe in him." Sora said.
Venitas shakily smiled, sweating.
"Yeah, I'm- I'm-" He stuttered, the world changing around him again. Before him, was the huge orange gem, arm corrupted.
"Xemnas." Venitas gulped.
Xemnas walked towards him, getting bigger and bigger as the fusion backed away.
"I tried to help you! You wouldn't listen! I'm just too pathetic, I had no other choice!" Venitas said, hands trembling around the x-blade he was pathetically using to defend himself from his emotions. Tears were peaking out of his eyes, threatening to spill onto his face. The image had turned from Xemnas to RoxEye, the big gem raising their fist in the air.
"I'm sorry I'm just not good enough- No, it's okay, you're not powerless, the fact you're thinking about it means you've got bravery to begin with. You need to think about it. I know, but it's just too much, I can't handle it!" Venitas cried, bending over. A swarm of white butterflies flew into the air above, moving and melding together to form a shape Ventus was too familiar with:
Aqua.
Venitas dropped the x-blade, the form shattering back into two keyblades. Seeing her disapproving glare, the tears spilled down his cheeks.
"No… no… no…" He muttered, moving backwards while looking up at her. His eyes widened when he realized there was no ground under his back foot and he fell off the arena.
"Venitas!" Sora and Riku called out in alarm, running over to the ledge.
Falling through the air, Venitas unfused, splitting into Ventus and Vanitas.
"We're falling! Join with me, Ventus, so we can use Wingblade and be okay!" Vanitas called, reaching his hand out and trying not to panic. He looked over at Ventus, who was crying, head in his hands.
"Ventus!" Vanitas exclaimed.
"I didn't want to hurt anyone." Ventus cried. Vanitas swam in the air over to Ventus, holding the blonde's shoulders.
"They didn't let me help them, so I couldn't do anything! I'm weak, pathetic, an idiot! I had no choice, I'm so worthless!" Ventus exclaimed. Vanitas hugged onto Ventus' chest, worried about his friend's feelings and their imminent death.
"It's okay! I don't really mean it when I call you an idiot!" Vanitas said.
"No it's not okay! If I was stronger, maybe like Aqua, I could've helped them." Ventus argued, cheeks turning red from the tears.
"You're not Aqua! You're you, and it's okay to think about it! It's okay to think about your feelings!" Vanitas explained desperately.
"But it feels so bad! I don't want to feel this way." Ventus said, uncovering his own blue eyes to look at Vanitas' golden eyes staring back at him in concern. They moved in the air so they were laid out across from each other, holding both hands and looking face to face.
"That's okay too! You're half human, Ventus! All humans have feelings! It's what makes being a human suck, but it'll just get worse if you don't think about them! Look at me, I'm fully human, and I still have trouble with my feelings! You need to be honest with how bad it feels so you can move on! That's how it was for me." Vanitas said. Ventus was better than him in ways he couldn't comprehend or know how to explain. He was caring and showed a love and enjoyment for everything. Vanitas would forever be a jerk, but with Ventus, it felt like he could change and be something better. Someone people liked and loved. Someone he could actually be proud of and not pretend to.
Ventus sniffed, blinking away the flow of tears and nodding.
At that, Vanitas smiled; glad to see his friend was better and nodding back.
The two pressed their heads together and turned into a ball of light. Venitas flipped in the air, laying out flat and falling into a mess of white butterflies swirling together.
"Just breathe." He whispered, closing his eyes. He braced the swarm of butterflies, falling through with ease. Everything was hectic as he tried to remain calm, breath weaving in and out of his mouth softly. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see everything had turned back to normal.
Light burst out of the gem in his stomach, coming around behind him to form six keyblade wings. Gently he fluttered down to the earth, bare feet making contact with the green grass.
"Yes! I'm not dead!" He cheered, laughing and falling down to the ground. Opening his golden eyes to look at the clouds passing in the sky, he sighed, relaxing for what felt like the first time since this whole mess had started.
"I'm here."