A Boundless Fist
A Kim Possible fic
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Episodes elapsed: Tick, Tick, Tick; Bueno Nacho; Crush; Attack of the Killer Bebes. The fic starts during Monkey Fist Strikes.
It should also be noted that Ron never went to Wannaweep in this fic. This fact, as well as the reason that this came to be, has resulted in a rather different Ron.
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She's a natural.
That was the thought that flashed through Ronald Dean Stoppable's mind pretty much every single time he saw Kim Possible attempt something new. KP, the girl who could do anything. Back when he first met her, she fought off the bullies easily. When she tried out for cheerleading, she pulled off a routine she had never seen before, one designed to make her fail, flawlessly. When presented with a deadly laser grid, she flipped, slid, and tumbled through it without a singe. In fact, the only thing Ron had ever seen her have trouble with was dealing with normal people, particularly boys and Bonnie. Anything physical though, anything at all…she could do it, and amazingly well.
Ron? Not so much. He wasn't a natural at practically anything. In fact, he had extraordinarily bad luck. Case in point, when he had tried to learn some 'ancient Chinese secrets' off the net on a lark, he had found out that chi was, surprisingly enough, real (and that still had the Dr.'s P a little professionally tweaked), and when incorrectly worked, could give you something called chi gung psychosis.
The entry in the DSM-IV didn't quite match up with Ron's symptoms, though, throwing the 'subconscious peripheral motion' explanation that the psychologists were so proud of out of the window. It wasn't psychosis so much as it was general systemic chaos. Left unchecked, it would kill him. Instead of going off to camp, something that he had been looking forward to, though it meant not seeing KP, he had been put into intensive training in chi gung, and given a pendant that, while he really liked, he had been instructed to never, ever take off until his sifu said that it was kosher.
It wasn't all bad, though, Ron had to admit. His sifu, a man who seemed rather young to have the title, was a good guy, Ron knew the training was doing his body good, and knowing the three Chinese internal martial arts was going to be cool…once he got there.
"There are no shortcut in the Chinese martial arts," Zach Valentine had informed Ron when he had offered to expand the curriculum from breathing and energy flow exercises to the martial arts as well. Zach hadn't been lying, and the achievements that Ron had made so far were had been useful on Team Possible's missions, meager though they were. Still, with the increasing tendency to dealing with mad scientists rather than 'fetch or repair' jobs, Ron was grateful he had taken Zach up on the offer.
Right now, though, he was wondering if perhaps Zach hadn't caught a bit of a problem in his form last practice, and if he had screwed with his chi flow…again. He was feeling off, and it wasn't just the jungle.
Not that the jungle was all that pleasant. "Nice place, KP. Come for the humidity, stay for the leeches."
Kim gasped. "A monkey temple."
Ron rolled his eyes. "I do not get why anyone would worship monkeys. I mean, come on! Worshipping something with a habit of flinging its own poo?"
"Hnk, yeah!" put in Rufus.
"Ahem," came a cultured voice from the thicket. "Kim Possible, I presume?" Two men stepped out of the brush, one tall and dark-haired, one short and sporting an across-the-face moustache. "I'm Lord Monty Fiske, and this is my valet, Bates."
"This is my friend Ron," said Kim as the blonde shook his head at the temple while a number of small muscle twitches traveled his body. Combined with an overall aura of weakness, Ron looked…well, like crap.
"Your friend seems unappreciative of the temple's grandeur…and tad bit under the weather," observed Bates.
"Quite," drawled Fiske.
Kim looked over at Ron, mouth slightly open in concern. "CGP?" she whispered.
Ron nodded. "Yeah. I'm sorry, I have a bit of a health condition that I think being here is aggravating. No big, though. As for the temple…eh, it's monkeys. Just not that impressive to me. Sun worship, that I get. Monkeys…not so much."
Fiske gave him a glare, but then turned. "Follow me. I shall show you to the entrance."
"Why do I get the feeling that you'd rather somewhere else right now?" asked Kim as they fell into step a ways beyond Fiske and Bates.
"Well, there's the CGP, which feels like it's getting worse, my not caring about whatever this thing is that we're supposed to get, and a sneaking suspicion that this whole sitch is five hundred miles of bad road."
Kim sighed. "Ron, Lord Fiske is a respected archeologist and scholar. He has a noble's title!"
"I'm telling you Kim," said Ron over his shoulder as he increased his pace. "Bad road. Ooof!" He turned to see Fiske brushing himself off. "Ah, Monty old chap. Terribly sorry about that." He tugged at his collar.
"I believe that I will direct all further communication to Miss Possible directly." Kim couldn't resist tossing a little smirk at Ron as she walked after the archeologist. Ron rolled his eyes, and followed. "According to this map, the jade statue lies here, in the center of this temple."
"What's the statue of?" asked Ron.
"A monkey." That earned an eye roll.
"What's this diagram on the map?" asked Kim as she spotted an arrangement of four jade statues with beams of light connecting them.
"Oh, the legends say that if the statue is placed in precise alignment with the other three, a Mystical Monkey Power is created…utter nonsense, of course." He laughed, but Ron couldn't help but finger the pendant around his neck.
Kim looked over at Ron, who did seem to be worse. "Ron, I think I'll take this one alone. She stepped into the temple as the blonde grimaced. His face twisted further as he heard the shouts and sounds of ancient traps, but within only a few minutes Kim had returned with the statue.
"KP!" exclaimed Ron in delight. He was even starting to feel a little better, though still not 100 percent.
"Oh, good show, Miss Possible!" congratulated Bates.
"I shall make sure the National Museum knows of your bravery," said Fiske as he took the idol. "Now, I have arranged for transport back to Middleton for the two of you. It will be here on the morrow. If you would accompany me back to our camp, I can offer you hospitality for the night."
Ron and Kim smiled, following, though Ron's gloved hand once again gravitated to the pendant about his neck.
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Author's Note: Welcome to my first Kim Possible fic. Please do tell me what you think of it through your wonderful, wonderful reviews. I realize that this first chapter is a bit slow, but things should pick up rather quickly in the next. After all, this story is very much steeped in the martial arts, both in the fighting, and in the philosophy. I hope that you enjoy it.