Ron ½
By Parareru

Disclaimer: Kim Possible and crew are owned by Disney. Still gotta get the new DVD
Ranma 1/2 and crew are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.

:denotes: Chinese speech
denotes Japanese speech
denotes thought
"denotes" singing

Chapter 15: The End of the Beginning

A bell was tinkling in the darkness, disturbing his rest. Ron twitched in annoyance as the bell continued its random song. It sounded familiar to him somehow and nagged at his consciousness. Ron found himself wondering just why the hell it was so dark anyways. Oh yeah. His eyes were closed. That was the problem. Should he bother opening them?

Somewhere in the distance the damned bell began tinkling again. Wind chime. That was it. A wind chime. There must be a breeze. Ron grimaced and began to twitch even more as he realized that the breeze was a little too cool for comfort. Slowly, Ron's eyelids began to flutter open as if it were some Herculean effort.

A vague sense of déjà vu filled him as he stared up at the ceiling and the white ceiling tiles came back into focus. It wasn't his ceiling, but he knew that he'd seen it somewhere before. Wait. Now he remembered. It was the guest room in the Tendo home, where he had first woken up in Japan after the incident with Akane's cookies.

So had it all been nothing more than a dream? Yori, the Lotus Blade, the Mystical Monkey Talisman, Yamanochi and... Kim? Cautiously he reached his hand up to his neck and felt the two amulets lying there warm against his flesh. Ron sighed. So not a dream then. Should he even bother getting up? With Kim gone what did any of it matter?

Ron sighed again and rolled onto his side only to come face to face with a wrinkled visage staring at him expectantly.

"GYAGH!" Ron yelled as he recoiled back in horror, clutching his chest as if he was having a heart attack.

"Well it's about time you've decided to wake up," Cologne rasped with a dry chuckle. "You had us worried there for a little while there."

"How long was I..." Ron began to ask as the sound of stampeding feet drowned him out.

"Ron!" A sweet, familiar voice yelled, drawing his attention to the hastily flung open door. Kim, fully human, wearing a borrowed blouse and jeans, stood like an angel in the doorway. She looked at him with wild hope surging in her eyes, her lips parted as if searching for words that would not come.

"Kim?" Ron said in stunned amazement. "Kim!"

The next thing he knew he was holding Kim in a tight embrace babbling away in euphoric wonder, a strange wetness on his cheeks. "What? But how... I thought... I saw... Oh, thank God... I'm so sorry... Can you... When did... I don't... But..."

For her part Kim found it impossible to answer Ron's string of half formed questions as her best friend's arms around her made the act of breathing, much less speaking, an extremely difficult matter. As Ron continue babbling she began to blush as she came to realize that Ron had his head pressed up against her breasts, but she made nothing more than a token gesture at withdrawing from his embrace.

"Ahem," Cologne cleared her throat loudly in an attempt to get the boy's attention. Ron however gave no indication that he heard the matriarch at all as babbled on, clinging tightly to Kim much as a drowning man clung to a raft. Finally irritated beyond human endurance Cologne lashed out with her staff, rapping Ron sharply on the top of his head. Ron yelped and grabbed at his head, finally releasing Kim. "Now then, if you're done groping the poor girl, we do have another matter to attend to."

Surprised, Ron looked to Kim and it slowly began to dawn on him just where his head had been resting. Kim merely remained silent, still blushing furiously and much too stunned to form any words of protest.

"The boy's awake! You can go ahead and bring them in now Kasumi," Cologne said as she leaned out into the hallway.

A couple of minutes later Kasumi Tendo walked into the room holding the hands of the two small monkeys dressed in some cast off children's clothing. Yori and Lo Shin looked at Ron expectantly, hope shining in their eyes. Nabiki trailed after her elder sister, her lips pursed in thought as she looked at the two monkeys.

Ron swallowed heavily and firmly reminded himself that they weren't really monkey, that they were really two attractive women determined to make him their husband. All in all, he decided he was less scared of the monkeys.

"Hey, wait a minute," Ron suddenly blurted out. "How come they're still monkeys and Kim's not? I thought I told the Talisman to change everyone back."

"You told the Talisman to change everyone back?" Cologne asked with an eyebrow raised in surprise. "That explains much then."

Ron merely stared dumbly at the Amazon matriarch. "Well, to you maybe," he finally blurted out.

"Magic always has a price," Cologne said slowly and firmly to drive the point home. "After expending the energy for your final ki blast, you had very little vital energy left within you. The Talisman obeyed your command to restore everyone's humanity and it did so in the area immediately surrounding the monastery at immense physical cost to you. You nearly killed yourself, boy."

"Oh wow," Ron said as the Matriarch's words sank in. "So I didn't have the power to for the Talisman's magic to reach Tokyo then."

Cologne nodded. "As it was, you've been asleep for nearly a week."

Ron let out a surprised grunt.

"The teachers at Yamanochi did everything they could for you, Ron," Kim explained as she reached over and briefly squeezed Ron's hand. "But reviving you was beyond their abilities. After you were stable we managed to get you back to Nerima where Cologne and Dr. Tofu were able to do more for you."

"So, uh, how's this thing supposed to work?" Ron asked hesitantly. "I'm don't really remember what I did before."

"Just concentrate and will the girls to return to their original form," Cologne prompted.

"Why do I have a feeling we're forgetting something?" Nabiki mused absently as she watched Ron try to make the Talisman work.

"Nothing's happening," Ron groaned in frustration.

"Close your eyes and concentrate!" Cologne snapped. "You're the only one who can possibly make it work."

Ron dutifully closed his eyes and his brow furrowed from his effort.

"Is this safe?" Kim asked quietly to Cologne. "I mean Ron's barely recovered."

"Hush, child," Cologne responded as she tipped her staff in Ron's direction. "It's working."

Reddish mystical power sparked around the Talisman and then expanded to engulf Ron until it appeared as if he was on fire. Sweat beaded upon his brow as the glow leapt from Ron to surround the two transformed girls and ever so slowly the glowing red energy seeped into the bodies of the two girls. Ron growled with effort as he forced to magic to respond to his will. Like water bursting through a weakened dam he felt the magic flow out of him and he gasped at the sudden return of his weakness.

With a sudden sound of rending cloth, Yori and Lo Shin returned to human form, much too large for the borrowed clothing they had been wearing. Ron released a pent up breath and opened his eyes with a triumphant, if weary, grin plastered on his face. His grin quickly turned into a wide-eyed look of panicked and dumbfounded shock as the ecstatic, and completely naked, girls flung themselves into his arms.

"Oh yeah, that's what we forgot," Nabiki said dryly as a trickle of blood leaked from Ron's nose and his head lolled back with a strangled gasp.

"And he's unconscious again," Cologne muttered with a roll of her eyes. "Honestly, how much sleep does this boy need?"

---

Night had fallen in Nerima and sounds of joyful celebration drifted from the Tendo home. Ron sat by the koi pond, absently running his hand through the water. Minor contact with water wouldn't have been enough to trigger his change even without the Talisman around his neck, but still he relished the fact that he was now immune to his curse's trigger. Ron sighed pensively as he pondered the decision he had made once he'd waken up for the second time this day.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Kim offered as she came up behind him. "And if you dare say Yori or Lo Shin, I'm going to flatten you with a giant penny like the one Batman had in those cartoons we used to watch."

"Just thinking," Ron replied as his lip twitched in a brief smile, he'd only just been able to remove the wads of tissue paper that had been stopping his nose.

"About what?" Kim asked curiously. In answer Ron pulled the Mystical Monkey Talisman over his head and held it up.

"I'm glad you got your cure, Ron," Kim said warmly. "You can live a normal life again."

"Is it? Is it really a cure or just another curse?" Ron asked. "I think it may be a little too dangerous for anyone to have." Slowly he laid the Talisman on one of the broad flat rock that ringed the koi pond.

"Ron? What are you doing?" Kim asked slowly.

"Making sure that this Talisman doesn't hurt anyone else again," Ron said firmly as his hand closed around the Lotus Blade's pendant form. "Mallet!"

"Ron! Don't!" Kim cried a moment too late as Ron brought the large mallet down on top of the Mystical Monkey Talisman in a flash of silver and crimson light.

---

In the Village of Chinese Amazons, Perfume suddenly went pale and snapped her head up in shock at the flare of magical energy. :No. That idiot boy. He couldn't have. Americans. Why do they always think the solution to something is to break it?:

Perfume continued to grumble in Chinese as she stomped back into her house and prepared for a long trip.

---

"I can't believe you just did that Ron," Kim said in shocked disbelief staring at the broken halves of the Mystical Monkey Talisman. The blow had split the Talisman exactly in half, even going so far as to follow the contours of the yin yang that the image of the Monkey held in its paws.

"It had to be done, Kim," Ron responded numbly as he once again took his seat by the koi pond, the Lotus Blade once again hidden in its Talisman form.

"There's something else bothering you isn't there," Kim said.

"You should be inside at the party," Ron chided without turning around.

"Ron? What's wrong?" Kim asked as she laid a consoling hand on Ron's shoulder.

"I tossed you off the cliff," Ron said miserably. For him nothing more need be said.

"Ron, it was an accident," Kim said gently, but Ron shook his head in denial.

"It shouldn't have happened," Ron insisted stubbornly.

"I was fine," Kim reassured him.

---Flashback---

The wall crumbled under Kim's weight as Ron reached for her hand, but both of them were just an instant too slow. She saw her fingers slip through Ron's as she fell into the mists. Feverishly, she tore the doubled over belt of the ninja gi that Monkey Fist had made her dress in.

Desperately she yanked the loosened belt off and whipped it out to snag a branch growing from the cliff face. With a jolt Kim's fall was cut short and she slammed into the cliff wall with a cry of pain. She hung there limp and dazed, not quite sure how she'd managed to retain her grip on her makeshift whip. Every part of her hurt, but at least she had control of her own body. Monkey Fist must have thought her dead in the fall.

She gathered herself for the climb back up the cliff when a phantom pain stabbed into her skull nearly causing her to lose her grip.

"No. Ron," she gasped as she redoubled her efforts to climb the cliff.

I'm so sorry, Kim. She heard Ron's voice as clearly as if he were standing right next to her.

"Don't you dare give up, Ron!" she growled as she pulled herself up the cliff. One hand over the next, over and over and over again.

Kim? How? She heard the hopeful wonder in his voice, but a feeling of dread washed over her.

"Never mind that! Get up!" she ordered vehemently as she redoubled efforts to tackle the cliff face.

Kim felt Ron's presence fade away and she had moment of near panic before she came to conclusion that Ron wasn't dead and he was fighting back.

"Hold on, Ron. I'm coming. I'm on my way," Kim whispered as the forces of the battle above her shook the very roots of the mountain. "Don't give up. I'm with you. I believe in you"

She had nearly reached the monastery when a massive tornado erupted and it took nearly everything Kim had in her to keep from being scraped off the mountainside by the whipping winds. A sudden flash of light forced her to duck her head protectively before vaulting the demolished wall.

Kim saw Ron sink to his knees and a wave of red energy burst forth from his body. She felt a stinging pressure wash over her and looked down in amazement at her newly restored human form. Her joy was short-lived as she witnessed Ron crumple lifelessly to the ground.

"Ron!" she cried in horror as she ran for the fallen blond.

---End Flashback---

"That was the scariest thing I ever had to see, you collapsing like that," Kim said softly.

"I-I still can't... I mean I still tossed you off the cliff, Kim," Ron insisted with a stubborn shake of his head.

Kim sighed. "You're not going to let this go are you?" Ron shook his head and Kim sighed again. "Okay, stand up and close your eyes."

"Huh?" Ron said curiously.

"Stand up and close your eyes," Kim repeated, her expression mysterious.

Bewildered, Ron slowly stood up, turned to face Kim and closed his eyes. His world suddenly canted at an awkward angle as a stinging pain blossomed on his jaw.

"There, now we're even," Kim said as she shook out her hand and Ron righted himself.

"You hit me," Ron said in amazement.

"And you tossed me off a cliff. Like I said, now we're even," Kim said matter-of-factly.

"HEY, YOU TWO! THIS PARTY'S FOR YOU, YOU KNOW!" Akane shouted from the porch. "AND KIM, IT'S YOUR TURN TO SING!"

"Okay! We'll be just a minute!" Kim called back

"I can't believe you hit me," Ron said in amazement, his hand on his cheek.

Kim frowned suddenly. "By the way, I happened to have a long talk with the Master Sensei of the Yamanochi School. The secret ninja school."

Ron went pale and flinched visibly. "Heh heh. Well, you see... about that..."

"No excuses," Kim said curtly.

"Yes, ma'am," Ron said meekly.

"Close your eyes," Kim said.

"I don't think I want to," Ron said leaning slightly away from Kim.

"Close your eyes," Kim repeated intently, stepping closer to Ron.

Cringing slightly, Ron closed his eyes. 'I'm really going to get it now,' he thought to himself as he felt Kim's hands on his face. His eyes suddenly snapped open as he felt a soft pressure on his lips. Before he had a chance to react, Kim pulled back and graced him with a small smile.

"Way to gohero," Kim said before she turned enter the house.

Ron watched her go in stunned disbelief, feelings of elation slowing building up within him. There was only one thing that could possibly be said at a moment like this.

"Boo-YEAGH!" Ron's cry ofjoyous celebrationsuddenly turned into a feminine shriek of outrage as a bucketful of cold water drenched him from behind.

"Hey cutie, how about a kiss for me?" Happosai leered as he fondled Ron-chan's rear.

"Do you ever quit?!" Ron-chan screeched in outrage as she took off after the perverted martial arts master.

---

"...leaving on a jet plane..."

"Yeah, right," Ron heard Ranma-chan snort under her breath as they listened to the song Ryoga was singing. "As if Ryoga could ever get to an airport on time," she whispered in an aside to Akane.

"Ranma. Stop picking on Ryoga," Akane chided the red-head. "At least he's singing as a boy. Unlike someone else I can mention."

"I told ya before, Akane. Guys singing karaoke look stupid," Ranma-chan said leveling a steady look at the other girl.

"Come on, our fathers sang, even Grandfather Happosai did until you kicked him into orbit again," Akane argued her point.

"As if that wasn't proof enough," Ranma-chan replied dryly. "And the old lech had it coming, singing that big butt song and then having the nerve to try and grab mine..." Ron nodded and had to agree that Mr. Tendo and Saotome did look somewhat ridiculous bouncing around the stage with the traditional peeping disguise draped over their heads and tied under their noses. Of course, the two responsible adults had also been tanked on sake at the time.

Ryoga finished his song and the crowd began clapping, his girlfriend most enthusiastically of all. Hearing the story of how Ryoga and Akari had met had been a shock. In a way, it was almost as if Ryoga had his own Amazon fiancée. Akari's giant sumo pig, Katsunishiki chatted with Rufus about who knew what really. Whatever it was it had the champion pig nodding its head and grunting happily.

Akari Unryu had come to the Tendo Dojo searching for her beloved Ryoga just as the group was returning from Yamanochi. There was something about the energetic young pig trainer that seemed somehow familiar to Ron though he couldn't put a finger on it. Frustrated with trying to puzzle out why the girl struck such a chord in him Ron idly flipped through the karaoke song lists to find a song that he wouldn't mind singing.

Just about everyone Ron had met during their adventure in Japan had arrived for the party, milling around and mostly trying to avoid Dr. Tofu whose glasses had instantly fogged up upon laying eyes on Kasumi. Anyone within arms reach of the doctor risked life and limb while he was in his weird funks. Only Kasumi was immune, smiling serenely from her seat next to the good doctor which, oddly enough simultaneously served as a calming and electrifying effect on him.

"Ooooh, Kim! You have to sing this one!" Ron said suddenly as his eyes fell upon the perfect song for her.

Kim glanced over and recoiled as if presented with a bug. "Uh uh, no way," she said adamantly, her hands held up as if to ward off Ron's train of thought.

"Oh, come on," he pleaded as he tried flashing his most winsome smile at her. "It's perfect for you after all, you're a cheerleader."

"What song?" Nabiki asked as she leaned over Ron's shoulder, her curiosity piqued.

Ron pointed to the song he wanted Kim to sing with a broad Cheshire cat grin.

Nabiki merely raised her eyebrows and nodded in approval. Seeing Kim's reluctance Nabiki decided to take matters into her own hands. Smoothly she snagged the microphone from Shampoo as soon as the Amazon finished her song.

"Is everyone having a good time?" she asked, expertly working the crowd of friends and family and smiling at the positive response. "So how would you like to hear another song from one of our guests of honor, the one, the only Kim Possible!" She beckoned to Kim who was busy glaring daggers at Ron applauding loudly with the rest of the crowd.

Kim reluctantly stood up amidst cheers and whistles and took the mike from a gloating Nabiki. "Remember to toss in the motions now," Nabiki told her with a wicked grin.

Ronald Stoppable, you are SO going to pay for this, Kim promised to herself as the song started and the words to her song began to scroll across the screen.

"Oh Mickey you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, hey Mickey! Hey Mickey!..."

Ron grinned even broader as he listened to Kim sing the old song. He'd first seen the old music video years ago on a vh1 special while channel surfing sometime after Kim had made the cheerleading squad and he'd always wondered what it'd be like to have Kim sing it. Sure there'd be hell to pay later, but he figured that it was worth it. After all you only lived once. He did make sure to clap very loudly once Kim was finished and flashed a grin in an attempt to defuse her indignation.

"You are going to pay for that Ron, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and when you least expect it," Kim quietly promised in a deceptively even tone of voice as she passed the microphone on to Lo Shin.

"Aw, come on KP, you have to admit that it was fun," Ron cajoled.

"Not in a million years," Kim vowed.

"Well, how about you pick a song for me then," Ron offered.

"I don't think there's a song for you that can match what you made me sing," Kim said crossly.

"...He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast and he's gotta be fresh from the fight..."

"Oops, we're being rude," Ron said sheepishly pointing to Lo Shin singing. The song sounded familiar for some reason. Didn't it have something to do with a frog or a donkey or a tractor? Ron shook his head; he just couldn't put a finger on where he'd heard the song before.

"Come on, Ron. Your turn to sing," Nabiki prompted once Lo Shin had finished her song.

"See. Even Ron's singing as a boy," Akane was heard telling Ranma-chan.

Ron closed his eyes and took a deep breath as the strains of his song began to filter through the speakers. He was a little miffed that Kim had firmly told him at the beginning of the party no rap songs and so that left him picking from songs out of old movies.

"Look into my eyes – you will see
"What you mean to me
"Search your heart – search your soul
"and when you find me there you'll search no more"

Ron didn't really know why he picked this song, just that it felt right. He shifted his stance and poured more of himself into the song...

"Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
"You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for
"You know it's true
"Everything I do – I do it for you"

Kim swallowed and moistened lips that had suddenly gone dry, her earlier feelings of exasperation all but evaporated. She'd no idea that Ron could sing like that at all. Sure he'd hum the jingle from the Bueno Nacho commercials every now and again, but this...

"Look into your heart – you will find
"There's nothin' there to hide
"Take me as I am – take my life
"I would give it all I would sacrifice"

Kim nodded along with the music. Ron simply was and made no apologies. He shopped at SmartyMart, not caring about the current fashions or trends. He simply put himself out there for people to accept or not...

"Don't tell me it's not worth fightin' for
"I can't help it there's nothin' I want more
"Ya know it's true
"Everything I do – I do it for you"

Kim looked beside her and could see that Ron's song was having the same effect on Yori and Lo Shin. Surprisingly, Kim also noticed Ranma giving Akane a meaningful look that the short-haired girl didn't notice. Kim found herself smiling at the couple, they might deny it, but there was definitely something there...

"There's no love – like your love
"And no other – could give more love
"There's nowhere – unless you're there
"All the time – all the way"

Kim found herself blushing as she continued listening to the words Ron was singing. Did he realize at all what he was saying? Who was he singing to? Could it be...

"Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
"I can't help it there's nothin' I want more
"I would fight for you – I'd lie for you
"Walk the wire for you – Ya I'd die for you"

Ron collected his breath as the song drew to a close.

"Ya know it's true
"Everything I do – I do it for you"

The room erupted in applause and Ron bowed grandly in acknowledgement before surrendering the microphone to Ranma-chan.

"That was amazing Ron," Kim said once Ron had returned to his seat.

"Thanks, Kim," Ron replied with an easy smile. It looked like he was going to say something more except he was interrupted by Yori and Lo Shin vying for position on Ron's other side. He refocused his attention to the front of the dojo as Ranma-chan tentatively tapped her microphone before beginning her song.

Unexpectedly, a large red mailbox came crashing through the roof of the dojo, surprising everyone in the room, though Kasumi merely said "Oh my," at the sudden interruption.

Ranma-chan tentatively walked around the mailbox now planted in the dojo floor while Soun wailed about the repair cost. "Tsubasa? Sasuke?" she said curiously as she rapped the side with her knuckles.

"Nope, that's not me," a potted plant said from the corner of the dojo.

"Not me either," a voice called down from the ceiling.

Sounds of wanton destruction seemed to drift closer to the dojo, causing everyone to file out into the yard in curiosity. A series of explosions suddenly ripped through the silence of the Nerima night as a number of cars, mailboxes and telephone poles were tossed almost effortlessly into the air. Kim, Ron, Lo Shin and Yori stared in silent accusation at Ranma-chan.

"What?" she said defensively. "Everyone we know is here at the party except for like Herb, Pantyhose Taro or Saffron."

As if to bolster her defense sound of a Japanese female's loud angry voice could be heard carrying over the sounds of wanton destruction. The Japanese speakers dutifully translated for Kim and Ron.

I'm gonna destroy you this time for sure, you outdated model android!

In response there was a light sounding giggle, like that of a young girl truly enjoying herself at play. It's so fun to play with you, Eimi-chan.

Stop enjoying yourself! the first voice yelled in anger as a new series of violent explosions erupted.

The Nerima natives merely shrugged and went back inside their homes, well used to this type of disturbance. The older ones could be heard muttering something about their insurance rates in a tone of near despair.

"Let's just go home where it's normal," Kim finally deadpanned.

---

Unnoticed in all the commotion, the broken halves of the Mystical Monkey Talisman began to pulse and bathed the area by the koi pond with an eerie crimson light. The pieces of the Talisman twitched as the diffuse crimson energy coalesced into the shape of a mischievously grinning monkey. The ghostly monkey image regarded the broken Talisman with a silent laugh before shooting up into the night sky.

End Book 1

Next: Book 2: Middleton Mayhem; Tadaima means I'm home

A/N: Thanks for Reading and Reviewing!

Akari Unryu comes from a family of champioship sumo pig trainers. Her grandfather's dying words (though he was still around to say them) were that Akari find a man strong enough to defeat Katsunishiki. She loves pigs and when she found out about Ryoga's curse she knew that he was the perfect man for her since he was half pig. Akari's intorduction is fully detailed in Volume 28 of the Ranma 1/2 manga

About the nosebleed thing. Well, Japanese culture has that when a virgin male becomes well... overexcited, they have a nosebleed. Fairly common in Anime and Manga.

Why did Perfume sense the destruction of the Mystical Monkey Talisman and Cologne didn't, you ask? Well, Cologne was present in the room when Ron used it to restore Yori and Lo Shin, so her magical senses were slightly numbed.

Ryoga sang "Leavin' on a Jet Plane" there are a few renditions of this so pick whichever one was your favorite

Kim sang "Mickey" by Lolly, I believe it was the 1st music video to play on MTV.

Lo Shin was singing Bonnie Tyler's "Holding out for a Hero" used in movies such as Shrek 2, Footloose and Short Circuit 2.

Ron of course sang Bryan Adams' "(Everything I do) I do it for You" used in the movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Tsubasa and Sasuke are 2 Ranma characters that routinely disguise themselves as common place objects. The reasons for which are a little too complicated to go into at the moment.

And that final cameo (well, can't really call it an appearance) hints at some of the storyline for the next arc involving elements of All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku.

Phew, glad that's done. I didn't really need to have a Karaoke party, but I wanted it. So there. Yori didn't really get much screen time so far, but I'll make it up to her in the next couple of story arcs. Believe me. Really.

The entire Ron ½ storyline will encompass another three-ish story arcs. But now that Book 1 is complete, perhaps I'll get back in the saddle with some of my other works. Maybe...