Chapter 5: Time to pay the Piper

Morning came too soon for Ron, as the first intangible rays of the Colorado sun filtered into his room. Not having a good rest, Ron had resorted to meditation to calm his mind, order his thoughts, and figure out what the heck was going on with what happened yesterday. Focusing inward, his thoughts became form, which was standing in a space between consciousness and subconciousness. In front of him was the Sensei of Yamanuchi, floating with an incandescent globe around his body.

'Good morning Stoppable-san. I trust you have a reason for this meeting? The teacher asked good naturedly.

'Sumimasen, Sensei,' Ron's form bowed, as was custom for a student to be addressing a teacher, 'I have a dilemma. At my school, I had prevented two thugs to hurt an innocent. Because of this, there began a set of consequences that when allowed, I chose to use the teachings you have bestowed upon me. I am sorry that I have dishonored you and myself from the promise you held me to by revealing my skills.' Ron lowered his head, ready to accept whatever judgment that he was given.

Laughing softly, sensei shook his head. 'Ron-kun,' he said, using the familiar usage of Japanese, 'you acted in the right way at the right time. You helped an innocent in a dangerous situation; there is nothing more I can say.'

Ron was still concerned that he had betrayed his promise. Ron's thoughts were on his face, to which sensei wanted to relieve. 'Stoppable-san,' sensei said, reverting back to formal Japanese, 'Even ninja need to stop hiding sometime. You have not broken your promise, for you have proven yourself worthy. I release you from the promise you gave me.'

Ron looked up in surprise, nodding slightly in understanding. Sensei motioned Ron to get up, and both started to walk an unending path that was inside Ron's head.

'Stoppable-san, when you first came to us, you were untested. Yet you were willing, albeit reluctantly, to train so that you could fulfill a destiny that you had never known. You started down a path that you had no idea what laid at the journey's end, yet you still went. Why?'

Ron shrugged. 'Because it was the right thing to do.'

Sensei chuckled to himself. 'Yes, it was the right thing to do, not the easy thing to do. It would be easy to let Possible-san go on her missions alone. It would be easy to just let the various police agencies do their part. But you chose to help Possible-san, even facing the fears that have plagued you in your relative youth. You decided on the course of action that was right, and that has made all the difference.'

'But what about the fight with Barkin? Didn't I break a rule or something? I mean, I kinda broke out some moves that should better been left not done.' Ron asked, rubbing the back of his head in a nervous tick.

'He was testing you. As a warrior, he noticed the change in you and wanted to see if it was a benefit. Though you coming in late and saying whatever you said to him also may have set him off.' Sensei smirked.

Ron's face went red with embarrassment.

'Stoppable-san, go throughout the day as you would normally. Soon someone will ask what you did while you were here. Tell them. Shed light on who you are now. Not who they wish to see.'

Ron nodded, just letting the cryptic answer flow over him. Within a split second, Ron's eyes snapped open to view the sun slowly creep over his body. Looking at the clock, Ron saw that he had about a half hour till school, and he didn't want to be late again. Staggering to his computer, Ron checked his email. Felix had emailed him from MIT, stating that his year studying cybernetics at the prestigious school was cool, but that he missed Ron and the Zombie Mayhem marathons they shared. Not having time to both write Felix and get ready for school, he left the email for a later time.

Friday's are always the busiest days in the world. People rush to their appointments, classes, and meetings just so that the weekend arrives and parties could begin. Coming into the school, Ron was unnoticed throughout the throngs of teenagers scrambling to get to class, meandering with friends, or just existing against the pressures of high school.

Ron was walking his usual route to his locker, when he noticed Kim was waiting there, a pensive look on her face.

"Hey, KP." Ron said softly, walking up to her. Kim turned to look at Ron and gave him a heartfelt smile.

"Hey Ron. Sorry about harshing on you about last night. You got to admit, it's a pretty weird sight to see someone that you have known most of your life suddenly change appearance… that didn't come out right." Kim started to blush, but Ron waved it away.

"It happens. You don't look so bad either. That cheer camp really worked you didn't they?"

"Yeah, which reminds me, you owe me an explanation on what happened to the Ron I knew, and the Ron I know now. It's twilight zone weird, but in a good way." Kim shrugged.

"Thanks, I guess." Ron answered back. They both collected their needed books and went off to the first class of the day.

"I can't believe you did this without authorization!" Principal Lasseter yelled, her shrill voice carrying out past her door from her office, the people waiting outside looking on with curiosity. Standing in front and center at her desk was Mr. Barkin, having flashbacks of being chewed out by his sergeant. Eyes staring against a speck on the opposite wall and standing ramrod straight, he let the tirade of his boss continue. Of course, sporting a black eye; a welt on his head; and various other bruises that were covered up by his clothing did nothing for his case.

"Engaging a student in a full contact sparring match in which the school could have been sued! Having said student run that 'death course' of yours in body armor! This school-borne vendetta between you and Mr. Stoppable must stop! If it wasn't for your judicious teaching and substituting for all the teachers, you would be out of the school system!"

Principal Lasseter yelled, face turning red from the yelling. Forcing herself to calm down, she turned from Mr. Barkin to the TV that was currently playing a security tape. It showed one boy saving a younger child from two bullies, then mopping the floor with them. The screen blacked out and was replaced with another scene of the same boy accompanied by the man that was standing before her.

Seeing the images out of the corner of his eye, Barkin winced every time his body was hit, remembering every punch. His respect for Stoppable grew that day. He realized that Ron could have handed him his butt on a silver platter anytime he wanted, and he would have been in the right to do so, but Ron was restrained. The only time it seemed that his control slipped was when he mentioned Possible. Everybody knew that it was a matter of time before they finally got together, except for them. Hell, even Bonnie Rockweiller knew and taunted them for it. 'Well, love is blind, and all that junk' he thought.

As Principal Lasseter watched on, an idea popped into Barkin's head. An idea that was so outlandish that it bordered on insane. But what is the line between insanity and genius anyway?

"Excuse me, Ma'am?" Mr. Barkin asked, getting attention from her.

She grunted in acknowledgment.

"If I may, Mr. Stoppable has shown, in exacting detail, how proficient he is in martial arts. In lieu of putting this on each of our respective records, why doesn't Stoppable teach the younger students and whomever wants to learn martial arts, and I become facilitator of this Martial Arts club?" 'Plus it allows me to study what has changed in him'

The principal mulled the idea around in her head, seeing the action on the screen. On one hand Stoppable was handing out what seemed to be indiscriminate justice to his perceived wrongdoers. If the medical reports were anything to go by, Mr. Thompson and Mr. Nelson won't be holding anything heavier than a pencil for a while, and the disciplinary meeting that was investigating how they brought weapons into the school made their lives bleak for the near future. On the other hand Mr. Stoppable was an untapped resource, able to wake up the young freshman to the reality of crime fighting. It's not glitz and kung-fu, but hurting and seeing the dredges of society.

"Okay, In lieu of Mr. Stoppable fighting, He will teach. You however are still under the axe. Any more outbursts from you and I dismiss you from this school. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" Barkin said. Still looking at the same speck of dust on the wall.

"I gotta do what?!" Ron exclaimed. He wasn't even to his first class when Mr. Barkin intercepted him in the halls of Middleton High.

"I know, imagine my chagrin when it was given to me as a choice." Mr. Barkin said. Ron didn't need to know that it was him who suggested it. "You will report to the PE field after school to give your first lesson."

'Man, first I get ambushed before English, now I can't go to the Tri-City Cheer Competition. This tanks…' Ron thought as he was walking to his locker. After getting his books for English, Ron got to his class and slumped into his seat. Kim, who had come into the classroom a few minutes before, saw her friend dejected and went to sit next to him.

"What's up?" Kim asked, worried that something had just happened to Ron.

"I can't go to the cheer competition. Barkin has me teaching a class on martial arts today." Ron said, morosely. Kim was dumbfounded, not having the words to verbalize her astonishment. Seeing the look on her friends face, Ron continued to comment on his future fate. "yeah, I know. Me, teaching? I guess the fight with Barkin really threw his mind for a loop, but in order to get out of being in trouble, I gotta do this." Ron lamented trying to focus on the lesson at hand.

Getting out of English, Ron and Kim went their separate ways; Ron to figure out what to teach, and Kim to figure out what was going on. Not paying attention to where he was, Ron bumped into the bulletin board, where right at his eyesight was a flyer stating that there was free martial arts classes today, taught by him. Shaking his head, Ron continued to walk on; having his worries compounded now that the whole school knows that he was gonna teach the class.

Walking to her next class, she walked by a throng of freshmen and sophomores engrossed in a tale one of their own was telling.

"… then they grabbed him! What happened next was out of this world! He jumped up and kicked them both in the face. Then he whipped out this weird Kung-Fu style and beat them up!" Around the boy, whisperings and mutterings of approval filtered into Kim's ears. Hearing this, she walked up to the boy.

"Excuse me, but who are you talking about?" Kim asked. The boy whipped around and his eyes grew wide.

"Uh…Ron Stoppable." The boy said meekly. He started to turn away from Kim when she caught and spun him around to face her.

"Tell me everything that happened." She ordered, the look in her eyes not allowing for excuses.

The school day came and went, as all days are apt to do. Ron found himself wondering what he did in past lives to deserve this punishment. Dressed in a light shirt and sweats and carrying a couple of watermelons from the cafeteria, Ron waited for his first class. Part of him was dreading what may happen, the other part was excited because it meant that he didn't need to hide some of his ability. Looking at the clock on the scoreboard, the time just turned 3:00. Ron looked around, saw nobody coming and started to gather his school gear, when he heard giggling and raucous noises coming his way. Curious, Ron waited, to see a group of about 30 people coming his way. Within the group, Ron saw the boy that he helped save. He also saw a good chunk of freshmen, Monique, and to his surprise, Kim! 'Oh boy, I'm in for it now…'

When the last of the kids arrived and sat down around Ron, he put the watermelons down, stood up, and looked at the small congregation around him.

"Hello all. If you don't know who I am, I'm Ron Stoppable. I am here today to teach you some martial arts." Ron said, staring ahead into nothing, like he was giving a lecture in class. One of the girls stood up, looking at him.

"Can you teach us how to beat people up?" the girl asked eagerly. Most of the other kids nodded eagerly, wanting to learn how to kick butt. This shook Ron out of his stupor as he looked askance at the girl.

"Beat people up?" Ron asked, somewhat surprised that the question was asked. "Well, I think a shortened explanation is required. See, the martial arts were founded to protect the people who couldn't protect themselves, or who were not allowed to have weapons."

"Kinda like you and Kim Possible!" one of the freshmen piped up. Ron nodded at the answer. At the same time, at the back of the group, Kim and Monique smiled. 'At least someone has the right idea about this' Kim thought.

"Exactly! But first you have to work on control and form before adding power. To demonstrate this concept, we'll be studying Tai Chi. This form allows a person to focus and bring themselves into balance, while strengthening their body at the same time." Ron said, indicating every should get up. Kim, along with most of the group looked quizzically to Ron.

"Not to be rude," another boy said, getting Ron's attention, "but when are we gonna learn to do all the cool things you did when you fought Mike and Eddie?" Monique and Kim fixed their eyes on Ron, making him sweat a little.

"Not until you learn control." Ron said but the freshman boy just prattled on. "My mom does Tai Chi in the park with her friends and I have never seen her kick butt like Kim Possible. How is this going to help us?"

"Well, to illustrate my point, Kim would you like to come up here?" Everybody turned to where Ron was looking to see Kim Possible, looking a little like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights. Shaking the feeling off, she walked up confidently next to her friend and stood in front of the class. Ron then got a small pedestal from the field shed and ran back to the group, set the watermelon up on the pedestal, and walked up to Kim.

"Okay Kim. I want you to use your strongest martial arts form to punch through the watermelon, that's all. Understand?"

"Hey, no big." Kim walked up to the watermelon and got into a strong stance. She focused and gave the watermelon a strong punch, but what happened was that the watermelon was pushed off the pedestal and sent back about four feet. Many of the freshmen clapped, but Kim was wondering what had happened.

"That was one of the forms that you will eventually learn. Its name is Hung Gar. It focuses mainly on overcoming your adversary by force, with brute strength. Though if your opponent knows enough fighting styles, they could just roll with the punch and only have minor damage done to them. Hence you saw what happened with the watermelon." Ron set up the next watermelon and walked back to the group. "As what was said before, Tai Chi is a peaceful discipline, but there are times that it has been used for protection. The basic principle of Tai Chi is to use the pivoting motion in the balls of your feet, hips, and shoulders to transfer the power starting at the base of your stance through your entire body and ending at the knuckle of your fist. Now none of you will learn how to use this form until you are able to control your movements and discipline yourself not to use what you see lightly.

Turning around to face the fruit sitting ahead of him, Ron keenly felt the stares of 30 pairs of eyes on him. Focusing his Ki to drown out the distractions, Ron stood in a relaxed pose, focusing in on his breathing. Once he was satisfied with centering himself, Ron switched stances into a modified horse stance, getting situated to land his punch. All of a sudden, Ron pivoted his body launching his fist into the soft center of the watermelon through its hard carapace. Instead of punching through it like he intended, Ron felt the pieces of watermelon splash all over his body, seeing as how the watermelon had exploded when he was following through, as opposed to just creating a hole in it, like he did when he was training at Yamanuchi. Wiping the excess pulp off his face, Ron turned around to see the surprised faces of the class.

"Heh, that wasn't supposed to happen." Ron said rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well now that I've ruined our treat for this afternoon by some how blowing it up, you are all excused." The class started to walk away muttering excitedly about what they saw.

"Read up about Tai Chi for next week's class!" Ron yelled, hoping that some body heard him. Grabbing the pedestal, Ron started walking away when…

"Heh hum." It was Kim clearing her throat. She and Monique stayed behind, Kim tapping her left foot impatiently.

"Ron, what was that just now?" Kim said irritably. Monique just slowly started to slide away from the apparent fight that was about to erupt. She could see it in Kim's eyes. "I asked what happened over the summer and I got to see you beating up bullies, standing up and beating down Barkin, and now somehow exploding large fruit! I think I'm entitled to an explanation as your partner and friend." She huffed, exasperated from her mini-rant.

Ron looked at both Kim and Monique, seeing expectant glares from both girls. He sighed and started walking toward them.

"Fine, but before I tell you, may I ask a favor of you?" Ron said, looking into Kim's eyes. She nodded.

"Fight me." Her eyes widened at that. 'Ron is wanting to fight me?! I think he took one too many hits in the head'

"Are you serious? Is this some macho thing that you need to do so that you can prove that you are better than me? C'mon Ron! I know 16 styles of martial arts and…"

"… you are too proud to admit that I may have some skill, is that it? Kim all I'm asking is a sparring match. Every time I went up against Monkey fist or his ninjas, it was just me reacting. I want to be able to say that I have some skill and that its not some fluke. You are the only person I trust that has the skill to allow me to do that."

Ron was looking down at his shoes. It was then that Kim realized that Ron was self-conscious of his new found skill and that it wasn't a fluke that seems to plague his life. From the 'dumb skill' to 'the Ron Factor'; not to mention the Naco money he got, then lost. It was always a fluke with Ron. Now that he had earned a skill he was proud of, he needed reassurance that it was him and not favorable circumstance.

Feeling sheepish, Kim got into the fighting stance that she was accustomed to using when she was about to fight Shego. Smiling, Ron walked a few steps away from her and got into a stance that Kim was unfamiliar with. Ron stood in a wide, low stance bent away from Kim and cracked his knuckles.

"Let's go."

A/N: sorry that it has taken so long. Being in a staff NCO position really takes its toll. Especially when I'm a corporal. Hopefully I'll be able to crank out more on ship. A special heartfelt thanks to those that have reviewed already.