Part 15: Day 26: Terminated

Music: Sacred Moon


I hope it's with Xion.

You just had 3 missions in a row with Xion!







Okay? As if. Word has it at least one of the folks we sent to Castle Oblivion has been terminated.
Terminated? But that means...



Forget Castle Oblivion, we're going to Agrabah! We're finally getting out of Twilight Town!

Is it true about Castle Oblivion?
That's no concern of yours.
But what about Axel?
Who knows. Perhaps he is among the lost.
But...
No buts. There's work to be done. Get yourself ready.







Equip a weapon panel and show me. I'll tell you if you've done it properly.

We already equipped it for a while now, Xaldin. Let's talk to him again.

Good. It seems you have at least a rudimentary grasp of panels. You may as well have this. (Obtained: Hi-Potion)
I've nothing else for you. Move along.





Huh. This is new.



Have I neglected to mention the new shop? Conduct your business there before missions.



Some missions have a minimal rank, requiring every player to fulfill that rank. Ranks also affect what the Heartless might drop. Better items are droppable as your rank increases.





How cute! The Moogle have their own cloak! It's the ONLY Final Fantasy character in this game.

Roxas. What's yours?
...... My name is of no importance, kupo.

I'm sad that the pom-pom is too big to fit in the portrait.

But... Hrm.
Are you here to shop, kupo? Have a look, kupo, at my wondrous wares.
Okay, let's see what you've got.



FINALLY we get to use the Hearts and Munny that we have collected. About time!



Most of these are pretty self explanatory.



The items needed to synthesize are displayed on the top screen. Hi-Potion restores 50% HP, Mega-Potion restores 40% HP to everyone, Hi-Ether restores 2 casts of each Magic you have, and Limit Recharge restores the Yellow HP area. We don't have the materials for the rings yet, so they don't matter. We can make Hi-Potions now, but it's not necessary yet. We're going to get more this mission anyway. We won't synthesize anything right now.



The shop, meanwhile, sells more useful things. I bought the Slot Releaser, Level Up, Triplecast (all linked magic have 3 casts), Power Unit and everything in the next picture.



Obviously you can only buy one of each (except items and magics). The Chrono Gear gives the best stat boosts out of them all. The Soldier Ring gives better stats and ability than the Brawl Ring.



Even with the expansion, we're still kinda limited on slots. Combo boosts will increase your power as the combo goes on.



I'm not going to mention the stat boosts from the Keyblade since there's too many of them. I'll just show the stats for those of you who cares. The Keyblade itself has the same color palette as before and its combo is exactly the same.



Really, game? You're going to hide the world even though we can see it on the top screen and Saix just mentioned its name? Alright then.

New Music: A Day in Agrabah
New Music: Arabian Dream


And we can see the world's name within seconds after entering. Kinda useless covering it up.





......
What's wrong? Dazzled by the new scenery?
Do you think it's true-about the members stationed at Castle Oblivion?
Ha ha, is that seriously what's eating you?
We might have lost a comrade. Maybe multiple comrades. That doesn't bother you at all?
As if.
......
Look, the faster we get this mission done, the sooner you can RTC and get your answers.
Fine.
Let's go, kiddo.



This is a recon mission, so this is going to be a long one. At least we're examining the abridged verion of the KH1 Agrabah.



This chest contains a Panacea.



With the new levels and weapon, the Scarlet Tango dies in 1 combo so it's not a threat anymore. Loudmouth dies in 1.5 combo. All it did is heal itself and all other Heartless around. It can also do a wind attack, but it normally dies before it has the chance to do so.



What's all this lumber lying around for?



This gate is blocking the way.
And what a gate. This city must be big on security.
Well, we have to do something about it if we want to get past.



Is this a shop? It's deserted...
Yeah, as in "full of desert."



A sand dune, here? That's kind of odd.
Different strokes, I guess. Maybe they like beach volleyball.
You really think that's it?
H ha ha, no. No, I don't.



Big door...
Probably leads to the royal palace.
Probably? Are you just guessing?
As if. Take a good look, High walls, ornamental carvings... The construction's different than the rest of the city.



These dishes are covered in sand.



These levers work similarly to the gate and switch in Twilight Town. Just smack it and...



...the gate will be opened.[/i]



The Dire Plants mentioned in the briefing shows up here. They die in 1 combo. Combo Boost is amazing.



This stall is half-buried in sand.
Remind me to build MY city someplace less dusty.



No sand piles up here.
Which means they must've just built this scaffold.



Potion. Meh.



Are they selling pottery...or sand?



There are signs here of somebody trying to clear the sand.



Again, the gate to the next area is barred. We can't go through the upper door.



What we have to do is hit this structure to drop the box.



Then hit the box toward the taller boxes. Then we can jump to the area with the lever and more things to examine.



A pile of rope? Hunh.



The wall here is falling apart... I guess it's an old city?
As if. Look closer. The bricks aren't eroded. This damage was all done recently.
By what?



Lumber, rope... What's all this for?

You can tell I did this on a different take. You don't need to examine everything I show. All of the ones where it just has one Roxas line is optional.



This lever opens the gate so we can proceed. You can see the treasure chest that we can't reach in the distance. As we proceed...



......
I guess them's the breaks when you build your city in the middle of the desert.
......
Past that, not much to mention, though. Seems like a pretty normal town, yeah?
Huh?
Still with me there? I've seen you spaced out before, but this is ridiculous.
What? I'm fine. I'm fine...
Let me guess. Castle Oblivion?
......
Like I said: the longer we take here, the longer you're gonna have to stay in the dark.
I know.

I told you this is going to be a long mission.



This door is boarded shut...



We have 20 of them already!



Look at the size of this dune.
It's cause we're next to the city gate.



Me?
Yes, you. How do you think it ended up like this?



of the city's location?

I mean, we are in the middle of the desert. Maybe this is normal.
Heh heh, normal? As if. Look at the city walls. They built them high to prevent exactly this from happening.

they need the sand for something?

Sand comes in handy... doesn't it?
Ha ha, right, if you're trying to build the world's biggest hourglass... Think. The sand's placement is too random to have been gathered on purpose.

Both choices converge here.



this was all some kind of prank?

You know, somebody's idea of a joke?
Some sense of humor you've got! Remind me never to make you mad.
Why?
...... Roxas... This is the work of a sandstorm. Multiple sandstorms, from the look of it.

the city was hit with a sandstorm?

That would explain the damage to the walls.
Attaboy, Roxas. You're right on the nose. This place got hit by a sandstorm. And not just once or twice, from the look of it.

Both choices converge here.

I guess the high walls around the city weren't high enough. Now, how 'bout the lumber and rope? Roxas, give me a damage assessment for the city.



things could've been worse.

It's just a little wind and sand, right?
As if! Get your checked, Roxas.

the city was devastated.

This whole place is a wreck.
Yup, and that's not all.

Both choices converge here.

All the building supplies lying around, and that scaffolding? That means they're repairing the city, which means it's serious.
"They," who? The citizens?
Who else? And it looks like a major effort. There may be somebody leading the operation.
You think so?
All right, Roxas. We've got what we came for. Let's RTC outta here.
Okay.



You're saying that we should RTC when the mission still isn't complete? Okay then. Let's go back.



What now?



Disney Characters^TM!!!

These must be the locals. Normally, I'd be able to just slip on by, but the way you stick out? Well.
(Thanks.)
We'd better take the long way around.

If we keep trying to go through the main door...



We have to use the upper entrance. After we do, the camera zooms in on the Disney Characters^TM



I'll be okay. Besides, the sandstorm's finally let up-now's our chance to patch up the city.
That's true, but still...
You'll run yourself ragged at this rate.
Jasmine, you don't need to worry-I'm fine. And since we don't know when the next storm will hit...
...we need to get everything running again before it does.
If only Genie were around...
I miss him, too, but this isn't a job for magic.
Agrabah's our city. We need to be the ones to fix it up.
Of course, you're right...
Now, I should get back to work.
Wait. I'll help, too.

They both leave. I'm not sure what Xigbar's planning to do if they didn't.



The question is, why him? He doesn't look like royalty.
Does he have to be?
It's not easy getting people to follow you, especially if it involves work.
It's the kind of thing you'd expect somebody in the palace to be doing. They already call the shots, right?
True.
But he definitely wasn't royalty... The girl next to him-now SHE was royalty.
...... So what now? Do we look around the palace?
No need. We have our answers, and we even got a peek at their leaders.

Looks like SE doesn't want to make explorable areas in the palace.

Good, then we can go home?
Why, Roxas? Did you leave the toaster plugged in?
You know why.
Heh heh. C'mon, let's RTC.



The mission might be complete, but we're not done yet! There's still more to explore.



Is this wood for scaffolding?



Did those two come through here?
This door's pretty solid, and the wall's high. The locals might be using the palace as a storm shelter.



Check out all this sand... I don't think we're going outside.
Another storm is brewing.

And that's the reason why we can't go outside.



Heh heh, glad I don't live here.
Plus they have to deal with all the Heartless.
Aha! You picked up on a juicy bit there, Roxas.
Why?
The storm and the Heartless... It's possible they're not completely unrelated.
You think there's a connection?
All right, I think that's all we're getting for one day. Let's RTC.



Yeah. Let's.







Xigbar kills it in one hit. We don't get the Hearts for killing this one.



They don't go anywhere. They're gone. Only the hearts they held remain.
But the hearts go somewhere: Kingdom Hearts.
So what if a person without a heart is destroyed-a Nobody like you or me? Does some part of us remain?
As if. We're not even supposed to "be" in the first place. What's there to leave behind?
Then whoever it was at Castle Oblivion-
Gone.
And I'll never see them again?
Nope.

This is a bald-faced lie, as DDD revealed. At least the part that Roxas will never see them again is true (for now).

Oh...
You coming?
Huh? Oh...yeah.

Xigbar enters the portal. Roxas starts walking, but...





Music stops










Okay then. That happened.

Music: Crossing the Finish Line


Starting from last mission, we'll get a Slot Releaser for every mission we complete. So our panel woes are not going to be as big of a problem. Ability Unit can be linked to gears to unlock an ability. The ability unlocked depends on the weapon.

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