The Renegades
is a 104-chapter Kingdom Hearts fanfic written by the users abby_sarajane, chigrima and silvestris, under the alias 'The Plot Bunny of Doom'.
The story begins shortly after the events of Chain of Memories. Vexen, brought back from the dead by his enemy card, revives the other Organization members in an attempt to have them punished by Xemnas for their failure. This plan is quickly derailed when the other Nobodies point out how he is just as guilty as they are.
Realizing that they have utterly screwed up, they run. Vexen, Marluxia, Axel, Larxene, Lexaeus and Zexion band together in a mad rush from world to world, trying to survive while hoping that their former comrades don't catch them. What they face includes swamps, deserts, malaria, snakes, the Big Apple, laudanum-induced hallucinations and sinking ships. Every time they think they're getting comfortable, they're forced to jump to another world. Making things worse is that the Organization eventually notices their presence and tries to hunt them down.
While the fic contains comedy, drama, horror and (in optional chapters) yaoi, it is mostly a character study on characters who got little development within the main games. Alliances are made, relationships form and dissolve, and there's the bickering you'd expect from a group of bad guys who hate each other's guts. The two pairings featured are Vexen/Marluxia and Zexion/Lexaeus, but the authors occasionally Ship Tease with Larxene/Lexaeus, Xaldin/Xigbar and others. All of these combine to form a potent mixture of
In total, the runaways have traveled through the Dark Forest (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), London, Agrabah (Aladdin), The Mountain where the Lights touch the Earth (Brother Bear), Twilight Town, New York City, the ruins from The Jungle Book, Havfruehavn (The Little Mermaid), Riverbend (Pocahontas), Reunion Inn (The Sword in the Stone), Land of Dragons (Mulan), Tremaine Mansion (Cinderella), The Wild West (Home on the Range and the non-Disney Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron), Wonderland (Alice in Wonderland), Tortuga (Pirates of the Caribbean), Saber Manor (G-Force), Kingdom of Kuzco (The Emperor's New Groove), Suburbia (Bolt, Pixar movies), Hinterlands (The Nightmare Before Christmas), the circus from Dumbo, Sherwood Forest (Robin Hood (1973)), Beast's Castle (Beauty and the Beast), Foxes' Forest (The Fox and the Hound), Isle of Idra (Hercules), Pride Land (The Lion King), Mesozoica (Dinosaur), and Notre Dame (The Hunchback of Notre Dame).
This fic contains examples of:
- Aborted Arc: "The Renagades" is only one of several arcs in the fanfic's canon; it's just the only one written down.
- Animal Motifs: The Nobodies are given animal-shaped rocks representing each of them by a woman in the Brother Bear world.
- Bed Trick: Larxene does this to a drunk Lexaeus by claiming to be a disguised Zexion.
- Berserk Button:
- Zexion's is tea, of all things.
- And Lexaeus's is losing Zexion.
- Bitter Almonds: Zexion convinced the druggist to sell Larxene almond oil and assure her that it's cyanide. The morning after the group is kicked out of the hotel, the other hotel guests enjoy porridge with a pleasant almond aftertaste.
- Bolivian Army Ending: They're found, they're captured, and all we see afterward is an image of their Absent Silhouettes.
silvestris gave this explanation: "They were all dragged back for some serious questioning and a period of... gentle re-education, each assigned their own keeper to make sure they readjusted in a proper manner...In time for KHII they were 'reinstated into the Organization' on probation and sent into a bunch of worlds with the important mission of 'delaying the Keybearer while we strive to complete Kingdom Hearts' - aka made canon-fodder. If you've played Final Mix, you are familiar with the Absent Silhouettes - this is our interpretation of how they came to be. Not spirits, just semi-imprisoned dishonored Nobodies on a kamikaze mission...As for what happened next of course depends on if you think Sora just killed them all of, or whether they somehow managed to wriggle their way out of dying - again.:) ...Axel got of easier due to that half-hearted trail of clues he left behind, and also because they need him to keep Roxas in line." - Butt-Monkey: Marluxia, early on, but that changes throughout the fic.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Vexen and Marluxia have this kind of relationship.
- Can't Stand Them, Can't Live Without Them: Vexen's behavior toward Marluxia.
- Character Development: Marluxia, in particular, has grown to be much, much less of a Jerkass than how he was in the beginning.
- Code Name: In London, the Nobodies use the names Mr. Read, Mr. Stone, Mr. Frost, Mr. Bracken, Mr. Fox and Miss Kink.
- Disguised in Drag: Vexen, oh, Vexen...
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Several of the Nobodies spend a chapter using tea sets as a metaphor for sex.
- Which Lexaeus completely misreads.
- Double Agent: Axel, half-heartedly
- Drowning My Sorrows: Multiple times by Marluxia, Vexen, and in the later chapters, everyone.
- External Retcon: Or at least it is by the end, when Axel rejoins the Organization (on probation).
- Faux Affably Evil: Done in a very creepy way with Xemnas.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Axel is VERY aware he's this in the group. Justified considering what he pulled at Castle Oblivion.
- Historical In-Joke - Jack the Ripper didn't stop killing prostitutes, he was offed by Larxene.
- And Vexen caused the Titanic disaster.
- Also some to the Disney canon. For example, Larxene killed Bambi's mom and Vexen inspired Mulan to crossdress.
- I Can Explain: During the London arc, Lexaeus and Zexion try this with the cleaning lady who catches them having sex.
- Intoxication Ensues: Implied with Xigbar. "I just ate this rad mushroom and now I'm having all these brilliant ideas!"
- Later, Zexion achieves one of these with a dose of laudanum:
- The laudanum? But that's no good, it's hallucinogenic. Then how would I know which are the real [talking] mice?
- Later, Zexion achieves one of these with a dose of laudanum:
- Manipulative Bastard: Marluxia tries this early in the fic, but Lexaeus swiftly puts a stop to that.
- Mistaken Identity: The renegades leave New York because of mistaking the similar sounding names of Mr. Sykes for Saïx.
- Mood Whiplash: Drastic example of drama to humor and back: Xaldin's attack on the Nobodies leads to their drunken recovery, right before they meet up with Saïx in the darkness.
- Mugging the Monster: As shout outs to "Crocodile" Dundee, Vexen ends up in Dundee's role in New York while earlier Larxene was in a similar in London complete with her comparing her knives to Jack the Ripper's scalpel right before killing him.
- Ominous Latin Chanting: Somehow done in written form.
- Playing Both Sides: Deconstructed as Axel comes to the realization that while it seems like a great idea doing this, no matter who comes out on top, you're technically also part of the losing side.
- Round Robin: The writing style of the Fan Fic.
- Seeking Sanctuary: The last chapter takes place in The Hunchback of Notre Dame's cathedral... where the remaining members of the Organization capture the Nobodies.
- Shout-Out: To many members of the Disney Animated Canon.
- In New York, other media are referenced as well, to stuff like Oliver & Company, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jem and the Holograms, and Ghostbusters.
- Chapter 30 has a shout-out to Jingo when Beti amuses the local women with stories.
- Shown Their Work: All of the worlds travelled to match directly with the Disney film it originated from.
- Stern Chase: The main plot.
- Suburbia: Chapter 84, which takes place in the Toy Story universe.
- Survival Mantra: Saïx has "I have work to do".
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork
- Three Lines No Waiting: Following a three-way split dividing the six between Vexen and Larxene, Lexaeus and Axel, and Zexion and Marluxia, each of the duos gets their own plotline which converge when they meet up again.
- Villains Out Shopping: Quite literally at times.
- What Happened to the Mouse?:
- The camera in the London arc, resolved by the FAQ:
When we first let them get their hands on that camera, we had planned on posting some chapters that were to be mostly image-based; 'photo-logs' if you will. Then things happened and the resident artist (i.e [Silvestris]) lost all drive to draw KH-related things, and that whole idea was put on infinite hold. Whether the camera will show up again or not, time will tell.- The photos make a last-minute appearance in Director's Cut 14.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Zexion's phobia of anthropomorphic mice.
- Won't Take "Yes" for an Answer: Larxene in Chapter 17.Larxene: "Yeah? Don't think you can call all the shots just because you're bigger and badder than everyone else! You keep saying how we're supposed to be a team now, and-... wait, what?"
