Of all the stupid, idiotic, Ventus-like situations that Vanitas could get himself into, this had to be the worst by far.

He muttered obscenities to himself while tugging and pulling at the fabric fringe that hung from his belt. The material refused to budge from the yellow gear it was caught in. The cheery music playing through the underground's speakers only made him want to stab something. Unfortunately, his keyblade was busy locking up the grinding gears, buying him time to attempt an escape. The sound of metal on metal was only slightly less painful than the ambient Mickey Mouse Club March.

Great. Just great. The only saving grace was that no one could hear him down here. Who else would be stupid enough to wander through the bowels of Disney Town?

"Hello?" a girl's voice called out. "Is someone there?"

…Okay, apparently there was one person stupid enough.

Beneath his mask, his face burned. He could not let Aqua see him like this. He shut his mouth and yanked on the fabric at his waist. Why did the stuff have to be as indestructible as the rest of his suit?

"The generator's running…" Aqua muttered. He only heard her because he was directly above where she stood staring at the control panel.

Please don't look up. Please don't look up.

She didn't. But she did make her way to the first gear-lift. With her skill and agility, she'd reach him in no time.

Come on come on come on—

A Yellow Mustard popped out of him in his panic. Fantastic. But if he couldn't hide, maybe he could—

"You!" Aqua shouted, landing on the gear across from him.

His eyes widened, and he stiffened. At least she could only see one of those two reactions.

"Miss me?" he asked with a forced chuckle.

The Yellow Mustard hovered between them, throwing up sparks. He wouldn't command it to attack yet. The feeling of it being destroyed so close to him… well, any reaction he gave would be more telling than just stiffening up.

"You're working with those monsters?" Aqua's voice was full of disgust. Not surprising, but annoying nonetheless. He had more important things to deal with at the moment than trading barbs.

"Tch. That's a nice understatement," he muttered. How discreetly could he wiggle his waist-cape free…?

Her brows furrowed. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

He shrugged, waving the Yellow Mustard away. It unhelpfully tried to tug at the fabric with its miniscule wings.

"Spreading monsters. Stealing ice cream. You know. Just evil things."

He was absolutely not going to tell her the real reason that he was in Disney Town's underground. He did wish he'd had more time to come up with an alibi, though. Master Xehanort would kill him for revealing the source of the Unversed so soon.

If Aqua didn't kill him while he was trapped here first.

She took notice of the Yellow Mustard, her eyes widening.

"You're stuck," she said, like it wasn't obvious.

"No, I just thought I'd hang out in Void-forsaken Disney Town for fun," he spat.

The Yellow Mustard tried to zap him free. All it did was sting his butt and make him jump.

Not a powerful enough jump to pull free. The fabric tugged tight, pulling him back to land on his butt.

Okay, maybe he did want Aqua to kill him. At least that would be less embarrassing.

She broke out in a snorting laugh. He snatched up the Yellow Mustard and chunked it towards her, but she dodged easily and speared it out of the air. A stronger jolt of pain shuddered through him, but it seemed like she was too busy laughing to notice.

"I can't believe Terra and Ven were so afraid of you." She hopped across the gap, landing lightly on the shuddering gear.

She had fabric dangling from around her waist, too. She could just as easily have ended up like him—but no, she was too freaking perfect to make such a stupid mistake. He contemplated shoving her waist-wrap into the gear himself, but it wouldn't really work while his keyblade was keeping it jammed.

In desperation, he summoned more Unversed. Bruisers. Those could pack a bigger punch than the Yellow Mustards—

If they didn't trip and fall to the ground below. Which they did. The fall didn't destroy them, but they couldn't help him from down there, either.

"So they come from you," Aqua realized, her voice hushed, as if the cursed power would transfer to her if she spoke too loudly. "That's… unbelievable…"

"Then don't believe it," he snarled.

"Fledgeling emotions that feed on negativity…" Aqua stared down at the Bruisers far below. "How could so many come from one person? Someone like that would have to be…"

"I'm right here, you know." He crossed his arms. "I'd have to be what? Evil? Made of darkness? I am. So let's—let's just get this over with."

He swallowed. Maybe if he baited her closer, he could take her by surprise. Use a less stupid Unversed, or—or something.

More likely, she would just kill him. He tried not to think about that.

"Get… what over with?" Her head tilted.

"Don't play dumb," he said. "You're going to kill me."

"I'm pretty sure it was you who threatened to kill me, last time."

"So?" He gaped up at her. "You kill monsters. It's what you do. You and all your stupid friends."

"They're not stupid." She crouched down. "And I'm not going to kill another keyblade wielder without even knowing who they are."

Her left hand reached up to touch the edge of his mask, but he gripped her wrist like a vice.

"No way," he growled. "You can see my face when I'm dead."

She gave him a disbelieving look. "Do you want to die?"

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Of course he didn't want to die. He wasn't stupid. He wanted to forge the X-Blade, and be whole, and maybe take a nap in someplace more comfortable than the rocky Keyblade Graveyard. He couldn't do any of those things if he was dead.

Aqua sighed and shook her head. Her grip tightened on her keyblade. Vanitas tensed, bracing himself for the worst.

Then, with one clean slice… she cut the fringe from his waist.

"Don't make me regret this," she said in a low voice that implied she already did.

Vanitas stared. At the fabric, limp between the crushing gears. At Aqua, watching him with a guarded expression.

His fingers brushed the edge of his trimmed cape. It felt too short, too light.

"Huh." He couldn't think of a single other thing to say. Aqua still stood between him and his keyblade. Maybe she just wanted him to die standing up.

Well, he wasn't going to stand around and let that happen.

With a flick of his wrist, a dark corridor swirled to life behind him.

"Wait!" Aqua called out, reaching towards him. "How did you summon those monsters? Why are you upsetting the World's balance?"

"Seriously?" He raised an eyebrow. "You should've asked that before you cut me free."

"You can't just—what do you want?" she shouted in desperation. "You have to have a reason!"

The question took him by surprise. Of course he had a reason for spreading the Unversed, but he'd expected her to jump to her own conclusions.

"I'm darkness. Didn't you ever listen to your Master? This is what darkness does."

He released his keyblade, setting the gears back in motion. Aqua stumbled as they jolted to life. She still didn't get her own skirt-wrap caught, though. Pity.

"Darkness doesn't just decide to play in Disney Town," she countered once she got her footing. She had to keep walking to avoid being dumped to the ground, where his Bruisers were still ambling about.

Of course, he had to keep walking too. It was hard to have a serious conversation when they were essentially walking on a mouse-themed treadmill.

"I wasn't playing. I was… training," he lied.

"Sure you were." She smirked. "I bet the human pinball machine up ahead is great for 'training'."

His face heated. It was great for training! It helped him practice his reflexes, and… and it was. Fun. To flip through the air, to surround himself in blinking lights…

He'd rather die than admit it, though.

"Then you'd better go use it now," he said coldly. "Because the next time we meet, I won't hold back."

Aqua snorted, a grin still tugging at her lips.

"Maybe next time we meet, you should lose the butt-cape."