The boy in the mask, Vanitas. He'd unleashed his hordes of Unversed upon the worlds, taunted Ventus, attacked his friends, and was literally made of darkness and negativity.
They stood off, the calm before the storm.
Vanitas struck first, and Ventus held his own blade in defense. With a precise flick of his wrist, Vanitas had effectively disarmed Ventus by hooking one of Void Gear's many teeth into the heart of his Lost Memory and yanking it out his hand.
Ventus watched as the blade clanked on the ground several feet away.
His opponent sneered and used his bare hand to grab Ventus by the collar. Their faces were close, and he struggled to jump back. Vanitas' grip was unrelenting as he dismissed his own Keyblade to grab onto his arm. The blonde struggled but Vanitas managed to hold him in place by pinning his arms to his sides in a constricting bear hug.
"You will join with me." He said quietly into Ventus' ear.
A sharp pain caused the other to jolt and squirm harder.
"Ow! What are you- doing?!"
"I'm going to make you join with me!"
Ventus thrashed his head as best as he could to avoid the painful chomps at his skin. At some point, Vanitas decided eating him was the better way to become one.
"Stop that! Ow! I said stop!" Ventus shouted. He tried to head-butt the other and got a bite on his cheek instead.
A big bite on his nose caused him to kick as hard as he could. He effectively hit Vanitas' shins and was let go.
Blue eyes watering, Ventus held onto his nose and cringed. Those bites really hurt. He didn't want to fight Vanitas or forge some ancient blade, but it was a better alternative than suffering being chomped on to death.
Darkness rushed towards him and Ventus summoned his Keyblade back to his hand.
"What's yours is mine!" Vanitas yelled, Void Gear back in his hand.
Ventus shook his head and wiped away the tears pricking at his eyes. He was not going to give up; he had to win, lest he suffer another round of bites.