Part 38: Day 151: Distress

Again, no pre-preparation scene. Seems to be a trend lately.

Music: Sacred Moon


Just want to point out that when I mentioned about how we're low on Bronze 2 updates ago? Well, turns out you can just buy them. Not that I need to.



I added Duel Gear back and removed Aerial Recovery. On hindsight, I probably should've replaced the Aeros with Fires for reasons which will be seen later.



If you're keeping pace with me, you'd have, say... 130 open with all the missions you've done. Let me know when you hit that mark.

I'm pretty sure we've hit that mark, since we opened all the chests we can and I'm sure not going back to count them.

Looks like you're keeping up just fine. Very nice, man. Somebody deserves a prize! (Obtained: Shield Tech)
I just saw Xion a little while ago. She was heading out, though.

At least the reward isn't another mission, so at least you're learning.



I agree. This game has been mostly peaceful so far.





Did you figure out that with a name like "Avalanche" the Heartless would be weak to Fire? Well, I didn't. Or at least I'm already halfway through the mission when I realized it. Yes, there's more to this mission than just the miniboss.

Music: Lazy Afternoons




New Music: Missing You





Twilight Station Tower: 30
Sea-Salt Ice Cream: 59

I added a banner. I probably should've added the coat to the stick figure, but

Roxas?



Yeah. They sent me here today.
Really? Me too...
Roxas, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have run off like that yesterday.
Whatever, it didn't bother me.
I was upset. I messed up a mission really bad. I don't suppose you heard about the guy pretending to be one of us? The Organization impostor? I was ordered to take him out...but I couldn't beat him. Saix was so mad, he called me a "mistake."

It's to be expected. Riku has an endgame level from CoM while you just has a midgame level. And also Saix being an asshole.

Oh... Gosh, I'm sorry...
Don't be. That jerk can say whatever he wants. I can take it.
Hey, Xion... Why don't we work together today?
Huh? How?



And this is what I mean by "more." Try to guess what Xion's mission is.

Well...okay. Maybe we'll finish early and have more time for ice cream.

Music: Sinister Sundown


See the green ring on the right? Or the emblem on the bottom screen? In addition to defeating the miniboss, we're also collecting emblems today!



This can really catch you off guard. That said, this is still a nice surprise. Good thing I got Haste.



It can be hard to differentiate between badges and emblems. Just remember that badges have a red color for Unity Badge and blue for Ordeal Badge and Ordeal Blazon. Or that emblems should have a green ring around it.



There's this thing, too. I'm pretty sure that Bulky Vendor teleporting away actually restores the green rings.



There's also these things. Hello, Neoshadow. Seems that you weren't invited to the Pureblood party yesterday.



In the next area, we see the previous miniboss that has been turned into a normal enemy without a mention in the briefing. This is why I brought Aero. I don't know if I said this before, but defeating Pureblood Heartless also restores the rings.



Anyway, here's the map, with the purple lines being permanently closed gates and the other colored lines being unlockable gates. We start at the top, with the right exit (to Tram Commons) blocked.



Remember: You can't open the gate if there's enemies nearby. Which you ideally want to save for later to restore the rings. Great.



It's a Poison Plant. You can't target it while its doing this attack, which is annoying.



There's a badge inside the room with the yellow and cyan gate. You can reach it by air sliding from the ledge, but I missed it and can't try another time because of a bullshit move by the game.



It's actually very nerve-wracking fighting this Heartless since if I accidentally grab the emblem I have to start over again. So I used up Fire and limit. At least we get this shot of both Roxas and Xion using their limits.



Anyway, the bullshit move is that THE RINGS DOESN'T PAUSE DURING THIS MESSAGE. So if you're not mashing the A button to quickly get rid of this text, the ring will be gone before you can even reach it. It's not THAT big of a deal since the game put at least 1 Heartless near every emblem, but it's bullshit nonetheless.



The Tunnel has the last 3 emblems. There's a Gigas Shadow in the big square area to restore the ring for the two nearby emblem.



For the last one way in the back, there's a Cymbal Monkey in the left chest. The right one just has a Thunder Recipe. And with that we're halfway done with the mission! And this is when I realize that maybe I shouldn't use all that Fire on the Poison Plants because of course a Heartless called Avalanche would be weak to it. Oops



Too late to do anything about that, though. We collect the Unity Badge from Under the Tracks and a Hi-Potion from the Side Street.

Music: Tension Rising


Our target can be found in the Sandlot.



It can shoot ice...



...charge at Roxas...



...and do a backflip. It's very similar to the Tailbunker a long time ago.



Hitting it enough (or maybe just using Fire since Xion is actually useful this time) will force it to land. It's just for like 2 seconds, though, so barely enough time to hit it. You can hit its tail in the air, but it's harder to hit while it's moving. Also, if you're wondering, this keyblade's air combo is just 2 hits, kind of like Chrono Gear's.



It can also make a shockwave if it lands on its own. For this one it only lands for about 1 second before taking off again.



And finally, it can put its feet up to hit whoever dares to attack it from the front. It's basically just on Avalanche's part.



That's both mission done. I'm not sure if Duel Gear's Chain Time ability also extends the green ring's duration, but it can't hurt to use it on this one.

Music: Lazy Afternoons


You actually have to go back manually, which is nice if you for some reason didn't pick up the emblems on your way to Avalanche.

Okay... Yeah, sure.

Music: At Dusk, I Will Think of You...



Twilight Station Tower: 31
Sea-Salt Ice Cream: 61

What, you thought you weren't going to see the tower twice in one day?

Guess we got the work done a little TOO fast, huh?

It would be more noticeable if we actually get to see a time other than twilight.

......

Music stops
Video: Xion's Defeat


Flashback to that scene for the third time. This time it's finally the full version.



Riku takes a look at Xion beneath her hood and is surprised by it.

New Music: Riku
Your face... Who are you really? And why do you have a Keyblade?

Because they're giving it to everyone now, apparently.

Tell me first why you are dressed as one of us.
To make sure my best friend sleeps in peace.

That can be taken the wrong way. I could make the joke but I won't.



But you can't fight fire with sparks. This Keyblade, it's a sham- *toss the Keyblade aside*



My Keyblade is not a sham! What gives you the right to say that?



Xion charges at Riku...



...and gets defeated again.

Find a new crowd. Trust me. Those guys are bad news. *starts to leave*



This is Xion speaking, by the way.

Fair enough. You could say I am the biggest nobody of them all.





*screams*

Music stops
Video stops here


Music: At Dusk, I Will Think of You...


Sorry. My mind's on other things. Roxas, why are we doing all this? Working for the Organization?
What do you mean, why? So we can get hearts of our own, right?
Why? What do we need hearts for?
I don't know. But i figure once we have them, we'll be in a better position to judge.
Right?
Maybe. I just wish I knew what I was doing here. How I got here...
I started having the strangest dreams.
Really?
I can never remember what they're about. I just wake up feeling like...like something is really wrong.
Well, if it makes you feel any better, Xigbar said you and me were pretty special. "Exceptional," he said.
...Special just means different.
Because I'm a mistake.
You're not a mistake.
......

Roxas did not know the concept of euphemism.



But I don't think we're the same. *leaves*
Xion, wait-

A short while later...



Axel actually won't eat ice cream again today. He's showing a LOT of restraint.

Hey, Axel.
Xion couldn't make it again today?
You just missed her.

Music stops


It's just a shot of Sora on the field from CoM.

Music: Crossing the Finish Line


Sight unit increases Critical % and Critical Bonus and can be linked to a weapon. More importantly, we finally get High Jump!

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