Invasion of the Remnants
By M&M's
Summary: Kingdom Hearts, AU. Ran Burrado and her friends make up a group called the Remnants, six Nobodies who have reclaimed their hearts from their Heartless, thus gaining control over their Nobody selves. Now they fight the Organization XIII with Sora, in hopes of disbanding it forever.
Characters (Main)
Ran Burrado- Dusk, age 15, the unofficial leader of the Remnants
Ichigo Fuhiko- Assassin, age 12, the only alleged survivor of the Remnants
Ikkaru Toh- Creeper, age unknown, appears mid-20's has the power over ice due to Vexen's experimentations.
Botan Dragomir-Dragoon, age 17, Xaldin's 'daughter'
Kensei Ichimaru-Samurai, age 18, Ran's boyfriend who dies fighting Xemnas
Akki Moribu-Berserker, age 19, the heaviest attacker in the group, can cause huge craters in a single hit, Botan's boyfriend
Introduction: It's a Rough Life
I could feel the instant I gained my heart back. My spirit soared; my emotions rose up in a happy shout that echoed off the walls of skyscrapers around us. But…I didn't feel whole still…
Something was wrong here…
Very wrong…
I doubled over, feeling the mask of my Nobody form, a Dusk, creeping over my face. I screamed, clawing at it, hearing the echoes of my screams coming from my friends as one by one they dropped to their knees, warring against the Nobodies still trapped inside.
I shot up in bed, smacking my head on the bottom of Botan's bunk, nearly letting myself slip into a long stream of obscenities before remembering what Botan did to the last unfortunate idiot who woke her up (Which would be Kensei. It's a good thing he donned his Nobody mask before she kicked him in the face, otherwise he would've had a lot worse than a broken nose.), so I just let myself fall back into bed, trying to remember the nightmare…
Oh yeah. That.
I sighed, getting up and nearly tripping over Toh, who was sleeping on the floor by my bed, which caught me by surprise. He usually slept over on Ichigo's side of the room. The moon's rays caught his silver-blonde hair, making it seem even more silvery and made his pale skin seem to glow.
I edged around him, stepping out into the hall of our warehouse we'd adopted as our own, having fled Xemnas's castle. Hardly anyone knew we were even here. I stepped into the kitchen, hoping to find some halfway edible food in the fridge, when the hairs on the back of my neck prickled. I turned around.
Kensei leaned over me. The bright moonlight caught his features, pale skin, brown hair, and annoyed-looking red eyes. "Will you quit that?" I griped, earning a feigned confused look.
"What? Breathing?"
"You know what. That loomin' thing ya like to do. Scaring the crap outta innocent girls."
He grinned and I scowled at him. The sound of shuffling feet caught my attention and I turned as Ichigo and Toh entered the room. Well Toh walked in, the twelve-year old riding on his back. He mumbled a sleepy, "Mornin'" and slumped into his seat.
Next Akki walked in, carrying a still asleep Botan, placing her in her seat at our tiny, beat-up breakfast table and volunteered to help me get breakfast going. I nodded as a knock from the front door of the warehouse resonated through the building.
"Whoever it is, tell 'em to go away," Botan snarled sleepily, her blue eyes open and giving the door a death glare. I sighed as the front door swung open, revealing Demyx, Axel, and Roxas, holding bags of groceries.
"Yo, Ran." Axel looked my way, placing a carton of eggs on the counter. "You've gotta get that lock fixed. It took, like, two-point-five seconds to bust in here. It's a good thing Vexen or Saix ain't got the address, y'know?" I pointed to Toh sending a glower in Axel's direction.
"Ya mind saying that a little louder? You know how Toh feels about that creepy-assed scientist guy with that bad-smelling hair and drinking problem." Axel peeked over my shoulder (an easy thing to do when you're only five feet tall) and saw Toh, fast asleep at the table, Ichigo poking the blonde's head with a stick, Demyx trying to get her away from him and ending up getting poked in the eye.
Toh woke up at Demyx's pained howls, face confused, "Demyx-san? What are you doing here?" Before Demyx could answer, Botan, being a Dragoon, hit Demyx in the stomach growling, "Be quiet, baka! Can't ya see I'm trying to sleep?" Akki just shook his head and Kensei grinned at me.
Roxas stood there scowling at Axel and I saw Botan's eye twitch. Uh-oh, I thought, before she screamed at the top of her lungs:
"SHUT UP BEFORE I KILL YOU ALL!"
Axel put his pinky finger in his ear, looking at Botan, muttering, "Well, someone obviously isn't a morning person," while I scowled and sighed. Welcome to the hell house.
Chapter 2: A Glimpse of the Past
"Toh-kun!" Toh spun as I jumped up, grabbed his shoulder and landed on his back. He smiled gently at me and rustled my black hair, knocking off the black hood that obscured my face. "Mornin', Ichigo-chan!"
I was about to ask him what we could do today, but a cold, downright mean voice sounded from further up the hall. "Toh! Get in here!" I looked up to see Vexen stalking towards us, a very pissed expression on his face. Toh backpedaled, protesting, "But it's my day off!"
Vexen lunged forward, smacking Toh hard enough to send me tumbling to the floor, stunned as Toh caught me in one arm, the sound of flesh cracking against flesh making me wince. I glared up at Vexen, "Hey! That wasn't very nice!"
Vexen glared at me, scowling, "Shut up, brat. Or do you me to tell your Superior that you've been mouthing off to me again?" I had to stifle a snort at this threat. Axel wouldn't do anything, just yawn and say 'Whatever, old man' like he usually did.
Vexen grabbed Toh by the scarf he typically wore (Even if it was out of uniform, much like my shorter cloak and shorts, the Superior (Axel told me his name was Mansex) didn't seem to have a problem) and dragged Toh down the corridor, leaving me standing there alone, as Toh yelled hurried apologies.
"Ichigo-chan? What's wrong?"
I blinked, confused, staring into Axel's worried face. "Huh? What? Oh, I'm fine! Jus' thinking is all!" I said as Axel's worried expression was replaced by one of relief. "That's good. I've been trying to snap you out of it for a while, too."
At this moment, Toh walked in, humming quietly to himself. I felt a pang of guilt at seeing him, just as I always did at seeing him. Even after we'd gotten him away from Vexen, it had already been too late. He had changed; a feeling of dread now hung over him, the madness trying to consume him. He noticed us.
"Ah, Ichigo! Axel! How'r you guy's doing?" Axel nodded as Toh extended a gentle hand towards me. I leaped over him, spinning my hand on Toh's shoulder, taking my usual position on his back.
"Let's go on a walk, shall we, Toh-kun?" I looked at Axel, "You're invited too, if ya want to come." I knew he wouldn't take the offer and he didn't, shaking his head, saying, "Nah, the Superior's probably wondering we're me, Rox, and Dem went. We better be getting back. We'll see y'all guys later."
A few minutes later, Toh and I were wandering the streets of The World that Never Was, looking for something to do. Heartless and lesser Nobodies slunk away from us. Once in a while, one would get cocky, attempting to attack but would get quickly sliced in half with Toh's Iron Feather, a bright red and silver Keyblade with a handle like an old European sword, the hand-guard forming an outstretched wing.
As the fifth Dusk faded into ash, I felt the earth beneath quake beneath us, heard a loud cracking sound, and saw a portal ripping open right in front of Toh's feet. He staggered backwards, slipping into a defensive stance. He looked into my face, reddish-violet eyes burning into mine, "Get out of here Ichigo!"
"Why?"
"Twilight Thorn!" The look he gave me, one part sheer terror, two parts worried about me, kept me rooted in place. "Shift!" I saw the teardrop-shaped mask appear over Toh's right eye, saw the huge white wing extend, and I went into my release form too.
"Tear Into!"
I felt the four bladed arms that were my defense shoot from my back, my mask framing my eyes, extending down so it could frame my cheekbones as well. I gripped my Keyblade, Lunar Thorn, in my right hand, leaping up and bashing the huge Nobody in the head as hard as I could. It shuddered, falling to its knees.
More portals opened, Twilight Thorns stepping out of them. I quivered, my back to Toh's and felt him shaking too. Was this it? Was this the end? There had to be at least twenty of them.
Boom.
Akki swung his hammer down hard on one of the Twilight Thorns, its head disappearing and its body dissolving into the wind from the blow. The next second, flaming chakrams spun into two other Twilight Thorns, slicing them in half. Axel and Akki slapped high fives.
"Blow them all away, Gusta!"
A tornado gust of wind slammed into several Twilight Thorns, knocking them backwards as Botan entered the scene. Wind Magic spiraled dangerously around her hand and her red hair blew around her like she was standing in the middle of a hurricane. The ones she knocked back slammed into a skyscraper, making the building crash down, a heap of rubble and shadows and dust
Kensei and Ran faced off against another pair of Twilight Thorns. Keisei moved, lightning fast, his body a whirling mass of swords as he sliced into the Twilight Thorn. Ran grimly watched as a Twilight Thorn struggle against its clone, created by her Keyblade Doppelganger. It lost, and soon they both faded into shadows.
The last Twilight Thorn fled through a portal, leaving us breathing hard. Ran rushed over to us, a worried expression on her face, "Are you too alright?" I nodded and Toh smiled as if nothing had even happened.
Axel ran over, picked me up, checking me and started checking me for injuries, all the while screaming, "Are you okay?" I had to assure him I was fine for at least ten times before he set me down. Demyx and Roxas appeared on scene then, running after Axel, collapsing at the pyro's feet in twin heaps of exhaustion and black.
Why they had ran instead of using their portals was beyond me. Probably forgetting them in their mad dash after the redheaded pyro. Roxas reached up, grabbing the front of Axel's cloak, pulling himself up, gasping, "You idiot! Huff…puff…do you know how long we've had to run after you?"
"We sensed you and Toh releasing, so we dropped in to see what was happening; apparently, Ran and Akki gathered the rest of the group and met us here. Apparently Vexen wants you guys back pretty badly." Axel looked at the moon, brow furrowing in deep contemplation.
Chapter 3: Reflections
Naturally, the first words out of my mouth were, "What did you just say?" Akki put a soothing, but still restraining hand on my shoulder as Axel turned towards me, looking confused. "I said Vexen wants you guys back pretty bad." I could feel myself getting more frustrated than I already was.
"I know that, dipshit! I meant, why the hell didn't you tell us this earlier?" I shrieked, as Akki whispered for me to calm down. Axel raised an eyebrow at me and I struggled hard no to punch something. "Uh…sorry? He really only brought it up in the ten minutes we were back, so I didn't really know." He shrugged.
Ah, crap. Now I felt all bad. "Oh, uh, sorry, Axel-kun." Axel smiled at me and I blushed, knowing all was forgiven. "Is okay, Botan-chan." The red-head rustled my already messy deep orange hair and I batted his hand away playfully. I could feel Akki let go of my shoulder.