Greetings, prospective readers, and welcome back to Enter the Darkness! Last chapter got us off to a pretty satisfactory start, all things considered. Now then, before we get started, I wanted to give a very special shout-out to Monkey D. Conan and lyokoMARVELanime of fanfiction for their invaluable help fine-tuning this chapter and generally being my sounding boards and receptacles for idea bouncing.

Oh, yeah! I don't know if I mentioned this already or not, but the version of Vanitas in this series has all of his powers that DO NOT directly involve the X-Blade, and all of the abilities of the Vanitas Remnant, which Vanitas can actually summon to act as a decoy. Think Phantom Ganondorf from Ocarina of Time for a comparison.

Well, seeing as I've kept you guys waiting long enough for this chapter, let us start the game!

Chapter Two

Beauty, The Beast, And A Bad Luck Charm

A few days had passed since Vanitas had his skirmish with the guy with the bull horns and the girl with the black bow on that cargo train, during which time Vanitas had been traveling without any sort of goal or direction other than finding some form of town or city that had a public library so that he could learn everything he could about this strange and decidedly wonderful world that he had found himself marooned on.

You know, thought Vanitas, giving a bored yawn as he lethargically stretched, flicking a small leaf off the shoulder of his civilian attire before crossing his arms behind his head in a fashion similar to his spikey-haired look-alike. These past few days of hiking through the woods have been relaxing and all, but I'm kinda wishing something interesting would happen already.

Almost as if it was responding to Vanitas' wish, a snarling, demonic bipedal wolf-like creature charged in from the nearby tree line and dove at the dark Keyblade Wielder, only for several Unversed to materialize and immediately intercept it, cutting it down in an instant, before seeking out and destroying the rest of the pack. Vanitas had been attacked by a variety of these monsters over the course of the last few days, ranging from bears to twin-headed snakes. In all honesty, these creatures were very disappointing in terms of a real challenge.

Vanitas never so much as casted a glance in the direction where his Unversed and those creatures were tearing themselves apart as he continued to muse about his boredom.

The whole camping thing's kind of fun I guess, thought Vanitas as he waved his Keyblade over the dying flames of his campfire, instantly extinguishing them before dismissing it and making his way back towards the nearby country road he had discovered the previous night.

With Void Gear, making camp's a cinch and food's no problem since I can just summon up a couple of Prize pods whenever I feel like a bite. The cakes and sweets I've gotten from them are actually pretty good. And for the record, I blame my goody two shoes brother Ventus for giving me this bizarre craving to try them in ice cream form… though it might still be nice to try it one day, thought Vanitas before something tickled the edge of his senses… two somethings in fact.

Interesting… well then, let's have a look, thought Vanitas as he donned his bodysuit and helmet before he turned himself invisible and moved in for a closer look at what his senses picked up, only to find himself mildly disappointed when one of the presences he'd sensed turned out to be some hooded girl riding horseback, most likely a local farmer not worth his time.

Seriously? They still run on horsepower here? thought Vanitas, his helmet concealing his deadpan expression as he turned his attention to the second presence that had caught his attention, which turned out to be a group of people, discussing some sort of plan, quite possibly to attack the approaching farmer.

One of the group was a girl who seemed to be younger than Vanitas and had medium-brown skin, dark-red eyes, mint-green hair tied into a ponytail and wore a short olive-colored crop top, worn and torn chaps with a belt, dark green pants and, dark brown flat shoes, and white half-gloves.

Hmph. That chick has street rat and thief written all over her… well, I can certainly understand doing whatever it takes to survive... thought Vanitas, recalling the absolute hell he had been forced to endure under Xehanort's tutelage. If it hadn't been for his Prize Pods, he'd probably have starved to death or died of dehydration in that cave in the Badlands... assuming the geezer's punishments didn't outright kill him first.

The second member of the trio was a boy around Vanitas' age with short, steel gray hair wearing a slate gray and black two-tone partial-zip jacket, dark orange pants, and black boots. Vanitas couldn't help but sneer at the boy.

That guy is practically radiating confidence...or perhaps arrogance… wonder how long it'd take for my pets to make him cry for his mommy? mused Vanitas with a dark chuckle.

But, it was the third member of the group that really caught Vanitas' attention.

Well, hello, beautiful, thought Vanitas, dispelling his helmet's visor in order to fix his hair as best he could. The third member of the group was a woman around Vanitas' physical age and had black hair, a very curvaceous body, and wore violet eyeshadow, lipstick, a crimson and yellow off-the-shoulder mini-dress, and a pair of black high heels that seemed as though they were made of glass.

Now, then… time for a little experiment, thought Vanitas as shadowy portals appeared around him and several Bruisers, Scrappers, Floods, and even a Trinity Armor emerged from them, awaiting their master's command.

Let's see how well you four can handle my Unversed, thought Vanitas before he gave the command to attack.

Meanwhile…

"All right, you two know the plan, now get-" Cinder Fall said as she found herself surrounded by strange creatures that all bore the same insignia, led by what seemed to be a large white and red one. Instinctively, Cinder summoned forth her weapon, Midnight, and entered a combat stance.

"What are these things?" asked Emerald Sustrai as she pulled out her weapons, revolver-sickle hybrids known as Thief's Respite, and got ready to stand her ground against these creatures. "They don't look like any Grimm I've ever seen."

"Don't think that matters right now," said Mercury Black as he fired a blast from his shotgun boots at the creatures. "What's important is that they're not here to make friends, and even more importantly, they're going after the Maiden too."

"Huh?" said Cinder as she looked in the direction where she'd seen the approaching Fall Maiden. Sure enough, these strange creatures were attacking the Fall Maiden, whose horse had run off to who-knows-where after tossing her off.

Dammit! thought Cinder in a huff. If these things kill the Maiden, it'll set Mistress Salem back months, if not years! And if that happens… I'll never get the power I was promised!

"Guess there's only one thing to do in this situation.." Cinder muttered to herself before turning to her companions. "Emerald? Mercury? Do me a favor. If the Maiden asks, tell her we're travellers who saw her in trouble and came to help." And on that note, Cinder led the charge to the Fall Maiden's side.

Once the group reached the Maiden, Emerald was quick to ask, "Are you okay, ma'am? We saw you get attacked by these creatures and came to help!"

"Thank you... I've never seen creatures like these before," Amber Autumns, the Fall Maiden, sighed with mild relief as the four of them grouped up to stand against the strange creatures before them.

"Neither have we, ma'am," Mercury replied with a certain gentlemanly professionalism. "But our best bet is to fight them together."

Back With Vanitas…

Hmph, not bad… it seems the thief and the arrogant punk do have some skill, thought Vanitas as he observed the battle going on before him with a thoughtful expression concealed by his helmet before a devious smirk crossed his face right as the farmer's energy field shattered like glass thanks to an attack from the Trinity Armor. With the snap of his fingers, Vanitas brought three more Bruisers into the world, directly inside the thief, the arrogant punk, and the farmer's blind spots, and letting out a hearty chuckle as he watched the three of them get knocked around by the Bruisers. And yet, even as all this happened, Vanitas couldn't keep his eyes off the dark-haired woman with the sword that seemed to shift between a sword and a bow and arrow.

As Vanitas watched the dark-haired woman, he felt the return of an unidentified feeling that he had felt only one other time, in the presence of newly-minted, at the time anyway, Keyblade Master Aqua, one that compelled him to devour whatever light she had in her heart and replace it with his darkness...

The next moment however, Vanitas was in for quite the surprise.

"Back off, you freaks!" the black-haired woman snarled as she fired a couple of arrows that had seemingly materialized from nowhere. And, much to Vanitas and the woman's surprise, the Unversed actually listened to her, and began focusing their attacks on the thief, the punk, and the farmer, leaving her completely alone.

What?! My Unversed… actually listened to that woman?! The last time something like that happened, that old lady and her daughters from the Castle of Dreams turned one of my Unversed into that Cursed Carriage thing, and got themselves blown up for their trouble! thought Vanitas in shocked surprise. With a snap of his fingers, Vanitas dispersed all the Unversed he had summoned, and, still cloaked, began to stalk towards the group of four.

Back With Cinder And Company…

"What the Hell was that about? First those things just attack us out of nowhere, then they just up and vanish?" said Mercury.

"I don't know what that was about, Mercury… but, I do know one thing," Cinder started to say before summoning her bow and arrow faster than blinking and shooting the unwitting Amber Autumns directly in the back, bringing the Fall Maiden crumpling to the ground.

"...they did a wonderful job wearing down the Fall Maiden for us," finished Cinder as Mercury and Emerald forced Amber up onto her knees and forced her to look directly at Cinder while she pulled out what seemed to be a white glove with red markings on it.

Cinder, meanwhile, couldn't help but feel a rush of exhilaration as she held out her hand in front of Amber's face. At long last, the power she had sought, the power she so desperately needed to become strong, would be hers at last…

A small black portal appeared on the palm of the glove on Cinder's hand, and from it emerged a small, insect-like Grimm, causing Amber's face to bleach and her eyes to widen with horror.

"P-please don't-" the Fall Maiden begged her attackers, only to get a response from the insect-like Grimm as it launched what appeared to be some kind of webbing from its mouth onto Amber's face, causing her to scream out in pain as her right eye flared up with what looked like bright yellow flames for a brief moment before the Grimm parasite that had latched itself onto her face began siphoning the Maiden powers from her and placing them into Cinder's body.

Yes! Yes! thought Cinder as a wicked smile crossed her face and her right eye became enshrouded with the same yellow flames that Amber's eye had been a moment before. I can feel it working!

However, before Cinder could relish in the wonderful feeling she was experiencing any further, an unseen voice, male, young, raspy, and sinister, began whispering in her ear.

"So… what makes you so special, so unique, that my pets will obey your commands?" the mysterious voice whispered, causing Cinder's blood to run cold. "You seek power, correct? No need to tell me, I can see it in your eyes… and you are so desperate to claim it, that you're willing to leech it off of others like a filthy parasite?" the mysterious voice chuckled.

"You know, you and your possé might just be special enough…" the voice said thoughtfully. "What if I told you that you could claim a power far stronger than anything you could ever possibly leech off of anyone? A power that will truly grant you the strength you so desperately long for, and so very much more. A power that will allow you to go toe-to-toe with gods... all you need to do is- hold that thought for a moment."

The very next second, there was a tremendous clang of clashing blades as a sword wielded by an older man with black hair who reeked of alcohol and wore a red tattered cloak, a gray dress shirt with a long tail, black dress pants and black dress shoes, clashed against a sword that kinda looked like a key wielded an unknown entity whose face was concealed by a black and silver helmet and was clad in an organic black and red bodysuit of some kind. The sudden appearance of this strange, masked figure left one question on everyone's mind: where the Hell did he come from?

(Kingdom Hearts III OST: Enter the Darkness)

With a grunt, Vanitas kicked the older man in the chest, knocking him away from Cinder and her team and sending him tumbling away in the dirt. Looking over his shoulder, Vanitas spoke to Cinder and her team.

"You guys keep doing what you're doing. I'll keep him busy in the meantime, then we'll talk," the masked figure instructed the trio in a tone of voice that indicated that there was no room for arguing before he started to approach the man before him.

"So… you can cloak…" the old man, Qrow Branwen, said as he pulled himself to his feet. "Guess I can see how having someone like you around would be useful for the witch…"

"Witch?" Vanitas said, his expression hidden by his mask. "Afraid I don't know who you're talking about, old man… but I do know one thing. I can't let you interrupt whatever it is those three are doing."

"Oh yeah?" Qrow said as he and Vanitas started circling each other. "If you're not workin' for the witch, then what's your angle?"

"Let's just say they're people of interest to me," said Vanitas as he entered his starting stance for combat while Qrow did the same.

A few tense moments passed by between the two warriors. Then as if someone had given an unspoken signal, Qrow and Vanitas charged at each other, their blades locking, clashing, striking. As the two of them fought, Vanitas was quick to notice that his opponent had the same energy field as those who were currently behind him and the two he had fought onboard the train.

This is going to be a recurring thing, isn't it? thought Vanitas as he teleported out of the way of Qrow's attack.

"You wish, old man!" spat Vanitas as he swung Void Gear down behind Qrow and letting off a quick blast of Dark Firaga, knocking the old man onto his face, and taking everyone present by surprise.

What was that? thought Qrow as he pulled himself up to re-engage Vanitas, only to quickly find himself losing the fight as Vanitas, with all of his strange and impossible abilities, combined with his underhanded usage of them, tipped the odds in Qrow's opponent's favor.

Meanwhile, Emerald, Mercury, and Cinder were watching the spectacle with wide eyes and slacked jaws.

"Did… did that guy just use magic?!" Emerald stammered in surprise as Vanitas unleashed a torrent of purplish black lightning onto Qrow, dropping the veteran Huntsman to one knee.

"Cinder, I thought you said only the Maidens and your boss could use magic, and I'm pretty sure that guy in the black mask is a dude. And those fire and lightning attacks… something doesn't seem right about it…" said Mercury.

Cinder said nothing, but simply watched as the black masked figure continued to do combat with Branwen, the gears in her head going at about a thousand miles an hour. If that black masked person could be recruited to her Mistress' side then…

Vanitas, for his part, paid no mind to what was going on behind him, but instead, focused his attention on his opponent, and got ready to do his teleportation sneak attack again.

Except, for some strange reason, his usual teleportation trick didn't work, and he instead found him on the business end of a series of strikes courtesy of Qrow, who immediately broke from the conflict and made a beeline toward Cinder and her group before severing the Grimm's connection to Amber, quickly picking the injured and drained woman in his arms before dashing off as fast as he could.

What the Hell was that all about?! That should have been an easy sneak attack! thought Vanitas in anger and frustration. "Old man got lucky, all there is to it," snarled Vanitas to no one in particular as Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury approached him.

"That was amazing!" said Emerald.

"I'm with you, Em, those were some pretty slick moves. You actually had Qrow Branwen of all people on the ropes," said Mercury with a broad grin.

Cinder, meanwhile, cleared her throat, drawing everyone's attention to her. "Who are you, and where did you learn how to use magic? And what were those creatures you sent after us?" she demanded.

"I am Vanitas," Vanitas said with a smirk concealed by his mask. "As for your other questions… well, I could tell you, but in exchange, you'll have to provide me with some information."

Cinder's gaze turned ice cold. "I don't negotiate with creatures in masks," she said.

The next moment, Vanitas' mask and bodysuit vanished in a puff of purplish black fire, leaving him in his civilian attire, and taking everyone present by surprise. Cinder, for her part, hadn't expected someone so young or so handsome to be lurking behind that mask, welding those dark and mysterious powers.

"And… if I were to provide you with information, what type of information are you looking for, exactly?" asked Cinder.

"Nothing much, beautiful," Vanitas said with a shrug. "Just everything you can tell me about this world, because, in case it wasn't obvious, I'm from out of town. So, do you have some place we can chat?"

Cinder smirked. "As a matter of fact, I know just the place. Plus, I have some associates who I'm more than certain would love to meet you."

Vanitas smirked. "Then by all means, lead the way."

And thus concludes Chapter Two! If you guys liked what you saw here then be sure to fave, follow, and review, and I'll see you guys next time as Vanitas comes face-to-face with Roman Torchwick, Neopolitan, Tyrrian Callows, Doctor Arthur Watts, Hazel Rainart, and the Mother of All Grimm, Salem!