The Ronless Factor
by Zaratan is a Kim Possible fanfic set after the third season (but before the fourth was announced). Starting a few weeks after So the Drama, Kim and Ron's latest date undergoes a serious shift when Ron is killed in a car accident, only for his ghost to stay behind to try and be with Kim. The situation escalates further when Ron witnesses evidence that his death was actually a deliberate attempt to kill Kim, only for Ron to gain an unexpected opportunity when he realizes that Bonnie Rockwaller can hear ghosts.
This fic was originally started by a different author, Scoutcraft Piratess, but Zaratan received permission to complete it.
The Ronless Factor contains examples of:
- Accidental Pervert: At one point Ron walks into a room to talk to Bonnie without realising it's the women's changing room, although he swiftly turns around and desperately assures Bonnie that he didn't see anything. Despite the potential for Ron to do more on purpose, Kim and Bonnie in particular ultimately trust Ron enough that he won't abuse his powers as a ghost in that regard, although Kim does occasionally explicitly ask him to leave the room if she's going to change or shower.
- Afraid of Their Own Strength: The best term for Kim's attitude early on; after she kicked Shego into the control tower in their last fight, she expresses concern that she could actually kill Drakken and Shego in revenge for Ron's death in their next meeting.
- And This Is for...: Bonnie quotes this when beating up the synthodrone Ron, explicitly stating that she's using the synthodrone as a means of venting her frustration with Ron's recent activities, over everything from him whistling at two in the morning to beating her in the talent show.
- Applied Phlebotinum:
- At the story's conclusion, the best explanation Wade can come up with for Ron's resurrection is…
Wade: It had to be a combination of Ron's mystical monkey powers, combined with a temporary reactive effect from contact with Drakken's spectral shielding, mixed with the energy of the modified death ray that Rufus toyed with […] and a random convergence of sunspot activity.- Even Wade concedes that this is a weak explanation, but it's the best he can come up with to account for what happened. Only the reader is aware that Ron's resurrection was actually facilitated by a literal Deus ex Machina using these events as a 'cover'…
- Arbitrary Skepticism: When Drakken and Shego learn that Kim and Bonnie are talking with Ron's ghost, Drakken's immediate reaction is to mockingly declare that Kim's snapped, whereas Shego is willing to consider the idea even before she witnesses proof that Ron's still around.
- Artistic License – Biology:
- Based on Wade's scans, when Bonnie hears a ghost her aldosterone levels 'go through the roof', but he never elaborates on any other details about how her ability actually works.
- At the end of the fic, Ron is brought back to life, but as he has acquired a completely new body, he needs to get his old shots all over again.
- Ascended Extra: Essentially applies to Bonnie, as she becomes Kim's new partner after Ron's death (albeit due to her ability to talk to Ron rather than just her own skills, even if the events of "Bonding" are referenced as evidence that she can handle herself).
- Back from the Dead: Ron soon returns to Kim's life as a ghost, and is brought back to life at the conclusion of the fic.
- Barred from the Afterlife: Only in the sense that Ron turns down the chance to move on immediately to make sure Kim and Rufus are safe.
- Berserk Button: Any topic relating to Ron becomes this for Kim after his death, inspiring extreme emotions ranging from anger to grief, and even after she learns that she's still around as a ghost, that only adjusts her trigger to anyone talking negatively about him or anyone involved in his death, ranging from slapping Shego for calling Ron 'the buffoon' to beating up Drakken to such an extent that she broke his jaw.
- Big Eater: With the crisis concluded, Tara blows a month's shopping budget to give Ron a big enough meal to celebrate his resurrection.
- Body Surf: It's never revealed if Ron could actually do this, but Bonnie makes it clear that there is no circumstance under which she would let Ron "hijack" her body to kiss Kim.
- Chekhov's Skill: Not exactly a 'skill', but Ron convinces Kim that he's really a ghost by using Pandaroo to perform 'the Cuddle Dance', a small dance routine he developed using the toy when Kim was sick years ago.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment:
- Ron threatens to keep singing annoying songs and generally bothering Bonnie unless she talks to Kim on his behalf.
- After Kim accepts Bonnie's tale of communicating with Ron's ghost, the two use him as a threat to get the hired killer to confess who paid him to target Kim, Bonnie observing that Ron is capable of doing a great deal to the guy unless he tells the truth.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Drakken comes this close to genuinely taking over the world, and all he needed was a brain tumour to drive him crazy enough to go beyond everyone's expectations of his abilities.
- Darker and Edgier: Ron dies, Drakken uses a standard gun, and the villain comes up with a plan that could legitimately succeed; the existence of ghosts might stop it being completely realistic, but the storyline is definitely darker than the original series.
- Dead Person Conversation: Naturally comes up for Bonnie several times, but eventually expands after Wade is able to create a computer program that essentially duplicates Bonnie's ability to talk to the dead.
- Department of Redundancy Department: When Kim informs Ron, Bonnie, Rufus and Wade that Shego told her Drakken's gone insane, Wade assumes that she's invoking this, but Kim clarifies that she's talking about Drakken having gone so crazy that Shego wants to help them stop him.
- Despair Event Horizon: Ron's death is this for Kim, as she goes through a range of emotional extremes, such as wishing that she could find the driver of the car that caused the crash and tear him apart until he feels as incomplete as she does (even before learning that the driver was a hired killer rather than the crash being a terrible accident), or actually contemplating suicide so that she can be with Ron.
- Deus ex Machina: It is all but explicitly stated that the ghosts known as Rita and Michaela are actually disguises assumed by God and the archangel Michael to ensure that Ron and Bonnie are in a position to allow Ron to be brought back to life, albeit 'disguising' it as a side-effect of Drakken's reprogrammed death ray.
- Driven to Suicide: It never goes as far as her making an actual attempt, but Kim privately admits to Bonnie that after she first heard that Ron was dead, she briefly considered joining him.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Ron is particularly frustrated that Drakken only bothers to remember his name after he's dead.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: The fact that Drakken has turned his mother into another brainwashed Synthodrone is a further sign that he's ignoring his old lines.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Shego explicitly states that Drakken's latest plan is too deranged for even her to go along with, and adds that she would never have agreed to his plan to kill Kim in a car accident.
- Everyone Has Standards: As much as Bonnie teased Ron, she still attended his funeral and genuinely grieved his death, and awkwardly but swiftly adjusts to the need for her to become Kim’s partner given Ron's 'condition'.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: Rufus is shown to be able to see Ron when looking directly at him, but evidence suggests that he still can't hear Ron even if he can see him, and it's never established if the rat could see other ghosts.
- Freudian Excuse: Explicitly stated that Bonnie's issues stem from her sisters treating her harshly and her parents not taking her seriously; she even reflects at one point that her father wanted her to be a boy before she was born.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Wade, as always, to the point that he's able to develop a device that will block Anne Possible's synthodrone-self from receiving any signals sent by Drakken just a few minutes after learning what happened to her while still talking to her, Kim and Bonnie. Wade also uses his analysis of Bonnie to develop a program that will allow other people to hear Ron so long as he's within range of the equipment, although he admits that he had to bring in other sources to get all the equipment together.
- Gambit Roulette: Unlike in the original series, here Drakken's complex plan actually has a good chance of success.
- Ghostly Goals: Ron speculates that he's only 'allowed' to stay on Earth to help Kim stop the latest threat and will likely have to move on afterwards, but Kim assures him they'll work out what to do about that when the time comes.
- He's Dead, Jim: In an interesting nod to this trope, Doctor James Possible is the one who actually tells Kim that Ron is dead when she wakes up after the accident.
- Hidden Depths: Bonnie demonstrates this over the course of the storyline, to the point that she's actually subtly afraid of the idea that Kim and Ron won't need her anymore once Wade manages to find a way to duplicate Bonnie's ability to hear ghosts.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: Bonnie is completely bemused to realise that Kim genuinely trusts Rufus of all people to disable high-tech equipment.
- I Love the Dead: Bonnie and Monique in particular occasionally jokingly wonder if Kim and Ron spending time together counts as this, considering that Ron can touch Kim if he puts sufficient effort into it, but there is nothing to suggest they attempted anything particularly detailed.
- I See Dead People: Bonnie only hears ghosts rather than seeing them, although Rufus is able to see Ron if he's looking right at his location.
- Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance: Basically applies to the world at the end, as Global Justice present the cover story that Ron's death was faked as part of Drakken's scheme to account for his resurrection.
- Jacob Marley Apparel: Ron's ghostly appearance is not explicitly described, but he is clearly wearing the clothes he was in when he died; one sign of what happened is that Rufus is not in his pocket as usual, which he realises means that Rufus survived. When Ron is brought back to life, his clothes are restored as well.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Bonnie's attitude in this fic to a T, as she admits to regretting Ron's death even before he 'returns' as a ghost, and accepts Kim's request to act as her partner in Ron's absence as she acknowledges that she's never actually wanted Kim dead.
- Living Emotional Crutch: After Ron's death, Kim is completely depressed until the funeral, when she manages to feel slightly less sad after his father gives her Rufus as another connection to Ron. Even with Rufus making her slightly less sad, she has trouble with a simple guard job as her first post-Ron mission, and it takes learning that Ron's still around as a ghost for her to get back to her usual standards.
- Loophole Abuse: The penultimate chapter basically reveals that God bent the usual rules of free will to prompt Rufus to tamper with the death ray in a manner that would help bring Ron back to life. The basic argument is that while Rufus was "encouraged" to modify the ray in a certain way, he was always free to stop if he chose not to follow God's "hints".
- Mad Scientist: Drakken not only devises a means of creating remote-controlled synthodrone copies of various people linked to the minds of their templates in his custody, but even manages to create a forcefield that can stop Ron getting to Drakken despite Ron being a ghost and even Wade being unable to detect any sign of Ron's presence.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: The original attempt to kill Kim that led to Ron's death was intended to look like a simple driving accident.
- Mood Whiplash: This is a Kim Possible fanfic that starts with Ron's death and includes Bonnie as a psychic able to hear the dead; naturally the characters experience a range of emotional extremes.
- Morality Chain: While nobody else considers Kim evil, she expresses concern that she could actually be capable of killing Drakken and Shego in their next encounter after she almost killed Shego by kicking her into the Diablo control tower in their last confrontation. This is the main reason she asks Bonnie (and, by extension, Ron) to join her on her next mission, as she wants someone there in case she goes "crazy" and does too much damage.
- Murder by Mistake: The 'accident' that claimed Ron's life was actually intended for Kim, but she managed to survive.
- Noodle Incident:
- As always, Kim gets to bypass conventional rules- in this case, talking to a suspected killer in prison- by using a past mission to call in a favour, but slightly subverted in this case as she explicitly states that Ron did most of the work rather than just acting like what she did was no big deal.
- While Kim was at a cheerleading camp in their early teens, Ron accidentally found a box of sex toys used by James and Anne when he was helping Kim's father clear out the garage.
- Official Couple: Kim and Ron, to such an extent that it appears even God wanted to make sure they could stay together.
- Out-of-Character Alert: After Kim and Monique initially assume that Bonnie was making up being able to hear Ron's ghost, Monique is struck by this when she sees Kim and Bonnie eating and talking together at Bueno Nacho after Bonnie and Ron convince Kim of the truth.
- Posthumous Character: Ron might be an obvious example, considering that he's literally dead for most of the story, but Bonnie also discusses her grandmother, who also had the ability to talk with the dead; she died when Bonnie was a kid, but ensured that other ghosts left Bonnie alone when she began to hear them when she was only six, and was the last ghost to visit Bonnie before she hears Ron after his funeral.
- The Power of Love: Kim loves Ron so much that she doesn't care that he's a ghost so long as she can be with him again in some form.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Doctor Director is presented as this, to the extent that Shego agrees to a deal with Global Justice as she knows that "Betty" will be fair and stick to the terms of their arrangement.
- Remote Body: Drakken's new plan involves synthodrone copies of key people he has captured and replaced. The synthodrones can be controlled by the mind of the original via an elaborate transmission network, but Drakken can program the synthodrones to obey his commands, ranging from trying to use Anne Possible to kill Kim and Shego and commanding Will Du's body to attack his team even while Will's mind remains active and allows him to talk while he's fighting.
- Sanity Slippage: Drakken was never exactly sane in canon, but here he goes through several extremes, such as trying to kill Shego and basically brainwashing his own mother, until he's talking to himself about how he'll kill Ron's ghost. This particular sanity slip is justified at the end as the result of a recent tumour on his brain further compromising Drakken's self-control.
- Sensor Character: Ron is somehow able to sense when people are synthodrones in his ghostly state, but Kim claims to Global Justice that Bonnie is the one with this 'ability' to justify keeping Bonnie around without revealing Ron's ghostly status.
- Shipper on Deck:
- Witnessing them interact while he's a ghost, Ron comes to support the idea of Monique and Felix getting together.
- Based on the aforementioned Deus ex Machina, even God wants Kim and Ron to be together.
- Shout-Out: On top of various indirect references to Ghost (1990), such as Ron's trip to the hospital or Bonnie's house being surrounded by ghosts seeking her help, Bonnie explicitly references the movie when she makes it clear that she'll never allow Ron to "hijack" her body so that he and Kim can kiss.
- Spanner in the Works: Obviously the villains weren't expecting Kim to have aid from Ron's ghost.
- Speech-Impaired Animal: While Rufus can see Ron, the rat's limited vocabulary prevents Kim and Monique from realising that he's trying to alert them to the presence of Ron's ghost, assuming that he just misses his master.
- Spirit Advisor: Rita offers some points about his existence as a ghost to Ron, and Ron in turn provides vital assistance to Kim and Bonnie in dealing with Drakken's latest plot.
- The Tape Knew You Would Say That: A written example of this; Ron spends all night writing a few key documents with messages for Kim on her laptop, and is able to bring up a couple with immediate responses to her own comments because he knows her so well he can predict how she’ll respond to his words.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Actually downplayed; while Bonnie is still reluctant to get involved in Kim's world-saving activities, with her past encounter with Dementor to give her some experience she copes fairly well this time around.
- Thematic Rogues Gallery: When Ron initially learns that someone hired the driver to cause the car crash that killed him, he has trouble determining who among Kim's villains might have done it as such an M.O. doesn't fit most of them; Monkeyfist obviously isn't a car person, Ron swiftly dismisses Duff Killigan as a candidate, the Seniors could afford to do that but wouldn't due to their rules, and a Chevy seems too low-key for Dementor. The culprits are revealed to be Shego and Drakken.
- This Is My Human: Scenes from Rufus's POV show him thinking of Ron as his "best human" and Kim as his "female human", although he just thinks of Kim as "his human" in a later chapter.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Drakken of all people, as he causes Ron's death after hiring a hitman to kill Kim, uses a conventional gun to try and shoot Kim and Shego, and conceives of a potentially plausible plan to take over the world.
- Took the Wife's Name: In the final chapter, Kim basically proclaims that Ron is an honorary Possible "at least for now", defending her declaration as her thinking of the future. Ron affirms that he has no problem with the idea of taking Kim's name rather than the other way around, even speculating that if he takes her name people might start getting his own name right in the press for a change.
- Tragic Keepsake: After Ron's death, his parents decide to give Rufus to Kim, Ron's father observing that Rufus would get bored staying with them. Even when Rufus is depressed and silent compared to his usual attitude, Kim explicitly reflects that she feels less sad having a tangible reminder of Ron in her life.
- Trust Password: Ron has to give Bonnie a few of these so that she can convince people he's real and she's not just playing a sick joke, ranging from mentioning the time he and Kim switched bodies to an incident where he discovered a certain box in the Possibles' garage.
- Whodunnit to Me?: Ron's goal for the first half of the story is to catch his killer and find out who contracted the man to kill Kim.
- Working Out Their Emotions: After Bonnie has endured some of Ron's more frustrating personal quirks and his "threats" to make her talk to Kim, when faced with Drakken's synthodrone copy of Ron, she explicitly states that she'll use it to vent her frustration with Ron's recent antics.
