Kingdom Hearts II begins nearly a year since Sora, Donald, and Goofy were put in stasis so Naminé could restore their memories. In the sleepy Twilight Town, the mysterious world Sora visited in Castle Oblivion through the memories from the "other side of his heart," lives a boy named Roxas, who has been having dreams of Sora's first adventure. After waking up, beginning "Day 1", Roxas makes his way to the "usual spot" where he hangs out with his friends: Hayner, Pence, and Olette. They explain that someone has been stealing lots of stuff all over the town, and Seifer Almasy, the leader of a local gang, is accusing Roxas and his friends of being the culprits. They suddenly discover that something else has been stolen, but somehow, the thief stole the very word of the object, so they can't even say the name of the object. As Roxas leaves with his friends, he suddenly gets dizzy and faints. A voice says that someone's heart is returning and will awaken soon. After Roxas regains consciousness, he follows his friends.
After poking around town for information, the group decides to confront Seifer and his gang: Fuu, Rai, and Vivi. Seifer demands that they bow to him, but Roxas tricks him and goes to pick up a toy weapon on the groundnote . After Roxas beats him, a strange white creature appears and steals Pence's camera. Roxas chases it into the forest until he reaches the gates of the mysterious mansion. The white creature speaks and says that it has come to retrieve him, calling him "my liege." Roxas tries to fight it to no avail, but then his toy weapon suddenly transforms into Sora's Keyblade, allowing him to destroy it. After defeating it, the Keyblade vanishes, and the creature drops the items it stole: photos, allowing everyone to say the word "photo" again. Back at the "usual spot," Roxas and his friends notice that all the stolen pictures have Roxas in them. They realize that Seifer didn't frame them at all; the townsfolk just assumed they had something to do with it because Roxas was in every picture.
As Roxas leaves to head home, he hears Sora's voice calling him. A screen flashes and says that "restoration" has reached 12%. In a computer room, two figures are observing Roxas. One of them is DiZ, the mysterious man who helped Riku and Mickey in Castle Oblivion; the other is wearing an Organization cloak, but he doesn't seem to be with them. It turns out that the white creature was a Nobody, a servant of the Organization. DiZ explains that Nobodies can't tell the difference between data and the real deal, so they confused the photos for Roxas himself. DiZ further says that time is running out and that Naminé needs to hurry and restore Sora's memories.
Roxas wakes up on Day 2 after having another dream about Sora. He plays with a stick and asks himself what the "Keyblade" he saw yesterday was. After getting bored, he throws the stick, but it hits a man behind him. Roxas turns and sees the man is wearing the black cloak of the Organization, but he remains silent and walks away. Back at the "usual spot," Hayner suggests that they go to the beach, which they haven't done. It turns out the friends are on their summer vacation. When Roxas reminds him that they don't have any money, he says that he has an idea. As they leave, they see a poster for the upcoming Struggle tournament. They plan to win so both Roxas and Hayner make the finals, so that no matter what, they and their friends can have the prize.
The friends decide to find some part-time jobs to earn enough money to go to the beach. After they all work, they pool their munny and have a pouch with 5000 in it. Olette hands it to Roxas and they head for the train station. On the way, though, Roxas suddenly falls down again. The black-robed man reappears and grabs him, whispering something before disappearing. In the train station, Roxas finds that the munny is gone. He realizes that the cloaked figure took the munny, but his friends say they didn't see the mysterious man. With no munny, they meet on top of the clock tower instead, but Roxas feels bad for letting the munny get stolen. Roxas recalls that the man asked him "Can you feel Sora?" before disappearing.
Back in the computer room, restoration of Sora's memories has reached 28%. It turns out that the robed figure who stole the munny was also the one with DiZ. It turns out that the "Twilight Town" Roxas is in is a simulation; DiZ had the robed figure steal the munny because he didn't want to create a beach in the digital world, as it would give the Organization another point to infiltrate. He tells the robed man to delete the digital munny pouch, saying that objects from the virtual world shouldn't be used in the real one.
As Roxas has another dream about Sora, Naminé is shown watching his pod. Roxas has a vision of her and asks her who she is, but she simply smiles at him. Naminé is seen watching Roxas in his room, but when he wakes up, she vanishes. Now the 3rd Day, Roxas heads for the "usual spot," but his friends aren't there. They left a note telling him that they found a way to go to the beach. He finds Pence and Olette in town, but they suddenly freeze in place. Naminé reappears and says "hello" to Roxas, saying that she wanted to meet him once. He tries to ask her who she is, but she vanishes, and the simulation resumes.
Roxas's friends try to talk to him, but he's too fixated on Naminé. He wonders if she went to the mansion, so he heads there. He reaches the forest but gets chased out by some Nobodies. He lures them to the sandlot, where Seifer and his gang are, and fight the Nobodies with them. His weapon is once again useless, and Roxas gets knocked down. The simulation freezes again, but the Nobodies keep moving. Naminé calls out to him, telling him to use the Keyblade. As a Nobody charges at him, there is a bright flash.
Roxas finds himself in the Station of Awakening, the same place Sora had his weird dream on Destiny Islands. He picks a weapon just like Soranote and fights some approaching Nobodies. A mysterious voice calls out to him, just like it did to Sora, and Roxas proceeds. At the end of the Station of Awakening, he encounters a gigantic Nobody called the Twilight Thorn. He manages to defeat it, but darkness starts to consume him. At the last moment, Naminé reaches her hand out to him and pulls him out of it. She finally introduces herself and asks Roxas if he remembers his "true name," but the cloaked figure reappears and stops her, saying that he shouldn't learn the truth. He creates a portal of darkness and shoves Roxas into it, sending him back to the virtual Twilight Town.
When he comes to, Roxas finds himself with Seifer and his gang. When his friends appear, they seem upset. He follows them back to the "usual spot," but they seems upset because they think he spent the day with Seifer and his gang. They tell him they didn't go to the beach because they didn't want Roxas to miss it. He briefly forgets that the Struggle tournament was supposed to be tomorrow, much to the chagrin of Hayner. Meanwhile, Sora's memories have been restored to 48%. When the cloaked figure asks DiZ if the Naminé he stopped was made of data, DiZ says that it was the real one, who entered the system just to meet Roxas. DiZ gets angry, but he regains his composure, saying that it doesn't matter what happens to Roxas as long as Naminé successfully restores Sora's memory.
Roxas wakes up on the 4th Day, remembering his promise to compete in the Struggle tournament. He heads to the sandlot, where the announcer says that the winner will have the honor of taking on the reigning champion Setzer. The four competitors are Seifer, Vivi, Hayner, and Roxas. Unfortunately, the first match is between Roxas and Hayner, so they can't assure that their group wins. Before the match, Roxas apologizes for the previous day, but Hayner has already stopped worrying about it.
Roxas wins the match. The next one is between Seifer and his own lackey Vivi, who gives Roxas a creepy laugh. When the match begins, Vivi turns out to be surprisingly strong, and he defeats Seifer with ease. After the match, Seifer says that the person he fought isn't really Vivi before telling Roxas to beat him. Seifer withdraws, giving Hayner the third-place position.
Roxas seemingly defeats Vivi, but then the simulation freezes again. Everyone except himself and Vivi has stopped moving. Vivi transforms, revealing that he was a Nobody the whole time. More of them show up, and Roxas gets the Keyblade again. He manages to defeat the Nobodies, but everyone is still frozen. Another black-robed figure appears. He lowers his hood, revealing himself to be Axel. He speaks like he knows Roxas and says that the slender Nobodies, called Dusks, that Roxas has been fighting won't work.
Axel prepares to fight Roxas, saying that he'll explain everything once he goes with him, but the simulation begins to distort. Roxas throws his Keyblade to the ground in frustration, but it automatically returns to his hand. Axel refers to Roxas as "Number 13," implying that he was once part of the Organization, and they fight for a bit until DiZ interrupts. Axel tries to attack him, but to no avail. Both men try to call out to Roxas, but he just wants his friends back. Suddenly, the simulation resumes, and Roxas finds himself standing over a defeated Vivi, who isn't sure what happened.
After beating Vivi, Roxas has earned the right to take on Setzer. The champion tries to bribe Roxas into losing the match on purpose, but he refuses and defeats Setzer, earning him adoration from the crowd. Roxas receives the trophy, which has four multicolored orbs on it. On top of the clock tower, he gives one to each of his friends and himself. They hold them up to the eternally-setting sun and watch the glow. Just as Olette prepares to give them ice cream, Roxas trips and falls off the tower.
Meanwhile, on Destiny Islands, Kairi is talking to her friend Selphie. They reminisce about their childhood at the beach and the boys they played with. Selphie remembers Riku, but she has forgotten about Sora. Kairi remembers there being a second boy, but she can't recall his name. Kairi says that she vowed not to go to the island they played on until she remembers him. Kairi suddenly hears Roxas's voice, calling her "Naminé," giving her a headache.
As he is falling off of the clock tower, Roxas calls out to "Naminé," but she tells him that her name is Kairi. Roxas identifies her as the girl that "he" likes. Roxas tells Kairi his name, but she asks who the boy's name is. Suddenly, Sora speaks and chastises Kairi for forgetting his name. He tells her that his name starts with an "S." Kairi comes to and heads for the beach. She puts a letter in a bottle, telling Selphie that she wrote it the previous day, and sends it out into the ocean. Kairi finally recalls Sora's name as his memories reach 79% restoration.
In the computer room, it turns out that the hooded figure took Roxas's blue orb from the trophy. He places it in the munny pouch from earlier as DiZ explains that meeting Naminé connected Roxas to Kairi. He further says that the strange circumstances surrounding Naminé's creation gives her special abilities to manipulate Sora's memories as well as those around him. When the hooded figure asks DiZ whose Nobody Naminé is, he asks the figure to tell him his name instead. The figure removes his hood, revealing his face, and he introduces himself as Ansem, the enemy Sora and friends defeated in their first adventure. DiZ laughs after hearing this name.
Meanwhile, the Organization is having a meeting, where Axel has just been ordered to eliminate Roxas. Axel tries to protest, but the Organization's Number III reminds him that he had no problem eliminating traitors in the past. It is confirmed that Roxas was part of the Organization, but Axel insists that he didn't betray them, since he is not in the simulation of his own free will. Number III throws a lance, which barely flies by Axel's head, and tells him that there will be consequences if he disobeys orders. The Organization's leader and Number I, the Superior, summons a ball of energy, which causes Axel to realize that the punishment for disobedience is being turned into a Dusk. He reluctantly decides to comply with the Superior's orders.
Roxas wakes up on Day 5. At the "usual spot," his friends resolve to finish a summer assignment they have since there are only three days left before summer vacation ends. For the assignment, they decide to investigate a series of strange occurrences called the "Seven Wonders of Twilight Town." The first of these mysteries involves a set of stairs that supposedly, if one counts going up and down, will be different. They take the train to another part of town. On the way, the three friends hold up their orbs, causing Roxas to realize that he lost his.
After reaching the other side of town, Pence tells Roxas that the first rumor was just because Rai counted the steps wrong. He then proceeds to investigate four other wonders. The second is a strange wall in an alley that shoots white balls out of it. After Roxas emerges from the alley, Pence assumes that the balls coming from the wall were just him playing around. The third wonder is a moaning sound from the sewer. When Roxas goes to investigate, he finds numerous Vivi clones. After eliminating them, the "real" Vivi appears once again, leading Pence to the conclusion that he was just practicing in the tunnel. As "Vivi" leaves, though, he turns out to be a Dusk. The fourth wonder is a strange shape in a waterfall. A shadowy clone of Roxas emerges and attacks him, but Pence assumes the rumor was just the sight of one's own reflection. As they leave, the Shadow Roxas flashes in the waterfall again. The fifth wonder is a strange moving bag on top of a hill. Roxas manages to open the bag, revealing a dog as the source of the rumor. As it leaves, though, the dog too is revealed to be a Dusk.
The sixth wonder is a mysterious ghost train with no one inside it. They wait on top of the hill for a while, and Seifer even shows up for a bit. After he leaves, a strange purple train is spotted on the rails. They go to the station, where Roxas tries to board the ghost train, but Hayner stops him. When Roxas turns around, the ghost train is already gone. The group returns to their side of town, where all Roxas's friends are tired of investigating. Pence tells Roxas that the seventh wonder is at the mansion, so he heads there alone. Pence follows him and says they were planning to investigate it the next day. He tells Roxas that the wonder involves the appearance of a girl on the second floor of the mansion, which is supposed to be abandoned. Roxas looks up and sees Naminé standing in the window.
Roxas gets a view of Naminé's room, which contains all her drawings. She tells Roxas that he and Axel were best friends. She then goes on to explain how she is putting Sora's memories back together. Naminé tells Roxas that he holds half of Sora's memories, so he can't awaken without Roxas. Roxas finds himself sitting in the room with Naminé, who tells him that he "wasn't supposed to exist." Roxas finds himself back in front of the mansion with Pence. He tries to point to the window, but Pence only sees a curtain flapping in the wind.
Back in the "usual spot," Olette tells them that the paper has already been written. They go up to the clock tower, and they begin to anticipate the fair that comes in two days. Back in the real world, Ansem, who put his hood back up, approaches DiZ. He asks why he showed Roxas the train, to which DiZ responds that he felt bad for Roxas missing out on the beach. Ansem tells DiZ that his memories of Sora are starting to come back. DiZ explains that the same thing is happening to everyone who is connected to Sora. When Ansem asks DiZ what his motivation is, he says that he's seeking revenge. DiZ goes on to say that Naminé should be eliminated since she has fulfilled her purpose, and he tells Ansem to dispose of her.
Sora's memory has been 97% restored. Roxas has another dream, this time about the end of Sora's adventures. He sees Sora reaching the End of the World, defeating Ansem, and closing the Door to Darkness. As Sora encounters Marluxia and begins to approach Castle Oblivion, the dream starts to glitch out. Once he reaches the castle, the dream suddenly stops. Afterwards, Roxas sees himself on a strange beach, wearing one of the Organization's black cloaks. He approaches another man in a cloak, who says that he went to meet someone who looks like Roxas. When Roxas asks the man who he is, the dream stops, and another one begins. Roxas sees himself, still wearing the cloak, in a rainy city, wielding two Keyblades: Oathkeeper and Oblivion, both of which originally belonged to Sora. Roxas fights a bunch of Neoshadow Heartless before looking up to see a blindfolded Riku on top of a skyscraper. The two of them fight, and Roxas seemingly defeats Riku, but the dream ends when Riku asks him why he has the Keyblades.
As Roxas wakes up on the 6th Day, he begins to switch back and forth between his own form and Sora's. He goes to the "usual spot," but his friends don't notice him. He finds that his hand goes right through them as they run away. He picks up a photo of them only to see that he isn't in it. He heads outside, where he is confronted by more Dusks and Axel. Roxas, who remembers that Naminé told him Axel was his best friend, pretends to remember the past. In order to make sure Roxas is telling the truth, Axel asks him what the Superior's name is. When he can't answer, Axel reluctantly sends the Dusks after him.
After defeating the Nobodies, Roxas prepares to fight Axel, but Axel gets frozen within the simulation by DiZ, who tells Roxas to go to the mansion. He tries to call out the names of his friends, but there is no response. As he makes his way to the mansion, Axel manages to break free of DiZ's restraints. He accepts the fact that Roxas isn't the same person he once knew, so he resolves to carry out his mission. In front of the mansion, Roxas is disappointed to see the gate is locked. As some more Dusks show up, Roxas recalls that Sora can use the Keyblade to unlock anything, so he takes it out and opens the gate. The Dusks try to pursue him, but Ansem fends them off while using Riku's weapon, the Soul Eater.
In the mansion, Roxas finds Naminé's room full of drawings. He has a headache after looking at them, and he begins to regain some of his memories. He sees himself in the same city that he saw in the last dream. Wearing the Organization cloak, he begins to leave the city, saying that he wants to know why the Keyblade chose him, but Axel begs him to stay. Back in Naminé's room, Roxas recalls the Organization's full name: Organization XIII. Naminé appears and tells him that Organization XIII is comprised of incomplete people who are trying to use the power of Kingdom Hearts to make themselves whole.
Before Naminé can tell Roxas anything else, she vanishes, and DiZ shows up. He reveals to Roxas that he himself is a Nobody. Ansem shows up and tells DiZ that they have no more time. Naminé reappears and tells him that Nobodies are only half of a person and that he'll be made whole. As DiZ takes her away, Roxas tries to stop him, but Ansem intervenes. As she gets dragged away, Naminé tells Roxas that they will meet again, even if they take on different forms when they do.
Roxas finds the secret passage to the basement, where he finds the digital copy of the computer room DiZ and Ansem were using. Seeing the computer causes more of his memories to come back. He remembers sitting at the meeting place of Organization XIII with all its members. This includes the following: Number IV, Vexen; Number V, Lexaeus; Number VI, Zexion; Number VIII, Axel; Number XI, Marluxia; Number XII, Larxene; and Number XIII, Roxas. The remaining six members have not yet been revealed. Roxas then recalls himself running away from the Organization, with Dusks in hot pursuit. He remembers more of his battle with Riku; as it turns out, Riku got back up after being knocked down, and Roxas was seemingly defeated. The last thing Roxas remembers is DiZ and Ansem putting him into the simulation of Twilight Town so that he can be contained long enough for Naminé to finish restoring Sora's memories. DiZ says that they have to give Roxas a fake personality to avoid drawing the Organization's attention. Ansem seems to feel bad for what happened to him, but DiZ acts indifferent, saying that it is merely the fate of a Nobody. Roxas smashes the computer in a rage, causing a door to open.
In the next room, Roxas is attacked by Dusks yet again. After fending them off, Axel reappears. Roxas reveals that he remembers his past for real, but Axel says it is too late. Roxas summons Oathkeeper and Oblivion, and the two of them fight. Roxas defeats his best friend, and he recalls more of his memories. The reason Axel told him not to leave Organization XIII was because he was fearful of what they would do to him if he did. Axel fades away into darkness, seemingly being destroyed.
In the next hall, Roxas sees pods containing Donald and Goofy. He steps into the next room, finding DiZ standing in front of a giant pod. DiZ tells Roxas that he needs to restore Sora's memories because he needs an inhabitant of the Realm of Light to destroy Organization XIII for him. When Roxas asks him who he is, he calls himself a "servant of the world." Roxas tries to attack DiZ, but it is only a digital projection. After Roxas expresses his hatred for DiZ, he tells him that he should share that hatred with Sora, who is too nice. Roxas says that his own heart belongs to him, but DiZ simply vanishes. The big pod opens up, and Roxas sees Sora inside of it. As he is reabsorbed into Sora's heart, Roxas accepts the fact that his summer vacation has come to an end...
Tropes:
- Prolonged Prologue: It takes between three to five hours to complete the prologue, to the point that it's the former Trope Namer. Even if you skip the optional stuff, you still can beat it within an hour.
- A Taste of Power: Roxas gains the ability to dual-wield, before Sora can with his Drive Forms.
- Tomato in the Mirror: Roxas doesn't take it well when he finds out his entire life is a sham.
- Weapon Jr.: Roxas starts off with a Struggle Bat before getting the Keyblade.
