The Distant Sound of Waves

Synopsis
Roxas follows the girl's instructions, heading towards the Old Mansion. As he heads there, a group of white creatures try to capture him again. While escaping them, he encounters Seifer and his gang. Seifer mocks Roxas, telling him not to "chicken out." The creatures catch up, proceeding to attack Seifer, which Rai fails to fend off. Roxas tries to warn them that normal attacks won't work, only to find time frozen again. Suddenly, Roxas hears a voice; it's the girl from earlier. As Roxas defends himself from the creatures, the Keyblade reappears.

The next thing Roxas knows, he's at an unknown location, standing on a platform that shows an image of Sora. A mysterious beast then appears and states he will tell Roxas what he wants to know. The creature consumes the platform, causing darkness to nearly consume Roxas. Roxas is saved by the girl from before, who introduces herself as Naminé. She asks Roxas if he knows his true name. Suddenly, a man appears to prevent Naminé from revealing the truth. Roxas recognizes him as the thief from earlier. The man opens a portal, tossing Roxas in it, and telling Naminé that it is better Roxas does not know the truth.

Roxas wakes up back in Twilight Town, where it's revealed that Seifer took a picture of him while knocked out. Seifer mentions that the creatures are now gone. Suddenly, Hayner, Pence and Olette appear. Hayner gets mad and storms off. Roxas pursues them, explaining how he accidentally ran into Seifer's gang. Changing the subject, Roxas asks how the beach was, learning that they didn't want to go without him. Roxas asks if they can go tomorrow, but Hayner says "I'd promise I'd be somewhere". Roxas soon gains a headache from what he's gone through, and tells his friends that he's going home. He encounters a Struggle poster, and recalls his promise to Hayner.

Meanwhile, DiZ is furious with Naminé for contacting Roxas, and almost revealing something to him. DiZ comments that regardless of the knowledge Roxas might gain, nothing will change his upcoming fate.

The next day marks the beginning of the Struggle tournament. The referee, Biggs, announces that the finalists are Seifer, Vivi, Hayner and Roxas, explaining that the winner gets a Struggle Trophy, plus a chance to take on the defending champion, Setzer. The first round in the tournament is between Roxas and Hayner. The match between the two boys also doubles as an argument for what happened the previous day. Of course, the two settle this, though the match wins in Roxas's favor. Biggs then announces the next round: Seifer vs. Vivi.

Meanwhile, the man in black visits Naminé and the pod she is guarding. The man tells her that more and more Nobodies are getting in, though she tells him that "it won't be much longer now." DiZ takes a look at the computer, and claims he isn't fooled by the several Nobodies that have blended in with the computer world.

Back at the tournament, Seifer loses his battle with Vivi, to the shock of everyone in town. Seifer withdraws from the Struggle for third place, and tells Roxas "That's not Vivi."

Continuity errors

 * None yet identified.

Artistic errors

 * None yet identified.

Kingdom Hearts references

 * Hayner's ice cream stick says "Winner" on it when he tells Roxas that "he promised he'd be somewhere".

Collections

 * 2007 - Kingdom Hearts II Volume 1
 * 2013 - Kingdom Hearts II Volume 1