Disclaimer/Author's Note: After fifty stories, I still don't own the copyrights to the TV series Kim Possible and receive no compensation for writing my stuff.

Xxxxxx

Goth II

Chapter 4

Vanishing Act

Xxxxxx

After talking for a few minutes more, Yori and Kim continued their sparring for a half hour before the oriental girl held up her hands to stop the match. "I believe I can say without any doubt that your martial skills are at, or surpass, the standards which graduate students are held to here at Yamanouchi, Kim-san."

"It's no big," Kim nonchalantly waved off the praise as she stepped forward to talk with her Yamanouchi friend. The two girls seemed to be evenly matched if it wasn't for the occasional cheerleading move thrown in by the redhead. That gave her a bit of an edge. As the match progressed, though, Yori was beginning to pick up some of the cheer-centric moves too so the match had ended in a draw.

A sly smile graced Kim's face as she asked, "Does that mean I could be considered a ninja, like you?"

"I am afraid not," Yori flatly answered.

"But why?" Kim questioned out of curiosity. "We're about evenly matched in the martial arts."

"There is more to being a Kunoichi, or female ninja, than mere fighting ability," Yori said as she took a strange, to Kim at least, stance. Her right arm was straight out to the side from her shoulder with her fingers extended and thumb tucked in to the palm, while her left arm was bent, the hand in the same straight finger point, arched over her head as she stretched out to her right. Yori smiled, winked at Kim and then seemed to shimmer and vanish into thin air. (And yes, the air is fairly thin at that altitude in the mountains.)

"What?" Kim yelped and quickly glanced around, searching for the now invisible girl. "Where'd you go?"

"I am right here."

The giggling, feminine voice came from behind the redhead who swiftly spun in place only to find Yori visibly standing serenely behind where Kim had been looking, arms smugly crossed over her chest.

"That's a neat trick, Yori," Kim giggled in amazement. "Can you teach me how to do it?"

"I do believe you are capable of learning that ninjitsu maneuver and a few more," Yori said as she led Kim out of the training area, through a gated wall and over to a bench surrounded by beautiful trees and flowers. Her hand swept around the small arboretum and said, "This is the Serenity Garden. It is used for contemplation and also to get one's mind in the proper frame to accomplish some of the special techniques I will show you."

"The garden is beautiful, Yori."

"Yes it is, and it is in bloom all year-round because of the many hot springs in the area," Yori mentioned as she pointed over to one of the small bubbling pools of water dotting the enclosed garden. "Because Mount Yamanouchi is a dormant volcano with lava just beneath the surface, we are kept warm in the winter and snow rarely accumulates. Thus, the garden can bloom and we can train outside year round."

"That's handy," Kim chuckled. "Just as long as the mountain doesn't become active and blow it's top."

"There are ancient ways to prevent that which the world's best Vulcanologists have yet to discover for themselves," Yori said with a sly smile as she and Kim sat down on one of the stone benches in the garden. "Mount Yamanouchi should have erupted centuries ago, but we have prevented it from happening for over nine hundred years." The Japanese teen could see the questions forming in Kim's mind and held a hand up to stop the redhead's queries. "It is a secret we do not wish to divulge because we do not wish to upset the natural progression of other volcanoes; even to the point of possibly preventing the loss of life."

"I suppose," Kim said in deep thought. "I mean volcanoes are a geological function of the Earth and should be taken in stride just like any other form of natural phenomena, like hurricanes and blizzards."

"Yes, you do understand," Yori nodded with satisfaction that the teen hero could see the situation clearly. "We still feel the occasional tremor of an earthquake due to Japan being located near major fault lines, but we are far enough away from them to not worry about the quakes initiating an eruption. Now as to the vanishing technique. Have you ever witnessed the strobe light experiment with a dripping stream of water?"

"Do you mean the one where the water droplets looks like they're falling faster or slower, or even stopping or moving backward?" Kim let out a light laugh. "Yeah, I think every boy and girl in fourth grade has seen that little trick of the light."

"Well, the vanishing technique uses that principle to a certain extent," Yori said as she stood up and faced Kim. "When the water droplet appears to be frozen in mid space, the strobe is pulsing at approximately one sixtieth of a second. You must picture yourself living in the other fifty-nine sixtieth of a second so you appear invisible."

"But light, sunlight I mean, isn't a strobe light," Kim postulated as she remembered long ago science lessons in school. "So there aren't any pulses of light to avoid."

"That is true," Yori nodded. as she moved her flat hand up and down in front of her body like it was riding a constant, osculating wave in the ocean. "Regular light oscillates in a wave. If you adjust yourself to the exact center of the wave, at its neutral point when it is neither at its zenith or nadir, you will appear to the untrained eye to have vanished. Artificial lighting is much easier to accomplish the technique in because A/C current is involved and it oscillates."

"That's an interesting theory," Kim nodded as she thought about the scientific concepts involved.

"It is not a theory, Kim-san. You have just witnessed me putting the technique into practice." Yori again stood and took the odd stance. She suddenly faded from Kim's view in less than two seconds.

"Okay," Kim slyly said as she jumped forward off the bench, took a swipe at where Yori had been standing and hit... nothing. Kim swiftly turned around while reaching out and grabbed something solid. Yori faded back into the visible spectrum, clasped in Kim's strong grip.

"Very good, Kim-san," Yori giggled as the redhead let her go and she stepped back a bit. "Now you try. Picture the sunlight coming at you in the form of a wave and attempt to adjust your own body to fit in the neutral portion of it."

"Right," Kim nodded before she took the stance Yori had been using and shut her eyes. Her body seemed to shimmer a bit but she didn't vanish.

"Very good, Kim-san," the brunette enthusiastically acknowledged. "You have almost got it, but you must not concentrate so hard."

"This is tough to do," Kim sighed as she shook out her shoulders and arms, trying to relax a bit. "I don't see how you can continue your concentrate while trying to move."

"It seems you are a quick learner," Yori giggled. "Most students take a week to gain full control and you are almost there. After you have mastered the technique, it will become much easier to concentrate while doing it. Only then will you be able to move while invisible."

"Oh, okay," Kim nodded at the information as a sly smile arose. "And as for learning things quickly, it's no big. After all, I learned sixteen styles of Kung Fu in about eight years. I guess I just pick up stuff quicker than most folks."

"That is excellent, Kim-san. If that is the case, then after you have mastered the vanishing technique, I will teach you how to levitate."

"Do you mean like Sensei did when we went over the waterfall after getting away from DNAmy and her amped up gorillas?" Kim enthusiastically begged. "If you know how to do it, then why didn't you use the technique at the time?"

"While I know the technique, I much prefer to use the other tools I have during a tense situation. Now, please try again."

Xxxxxx

"I found it!" Ron yelled in pure joy as his eyes snapped open, a broad smile on his face.

"What did you find, Ron-san?" Sensei serenely begged, unphased by the jubilant youth sitting in front of him.

"I found my MMP," Ron perked before his countenance soured a bit in thought. "Or maybe it's a case of indigestion. It's like a small glowy-sparky kinda feeling in the pit of my stomach, and since I haven't had anything that'd make me crummy-in-the-tummy it must be my MMP."

"Very good, Ron-san," Sensei said as he rose from the floor and slowly moved toward the door, making sure the blond boy followed him. "That does sound like the source of your Mystic Power. We will explore that further at a later time but I think we should work on your dexterity and speed now."

Ron noticed that they were walking across the yard toward the mess hall where the meals were usually served, and perked up even more. "Okay. I could use a little break and recharge with some snackage... Although I'm not sure what food has to do with speed and dexterity."

As they enter the empty hall, Sensei walked over to a table with ten large plastic cups on it. He gathered the cups into two stacks of five each and said, "I did not bring you here for something to eat, Ron-san."

In less than a second the wise old man had rearranged the ten cups into a single-sided pyramid, then collapsed the pyramid back into two stacks. "We are here to work on other things. If you would please do as I have just done."

"Ah, okay." Ron sat down at the table, took the two stacks of cups in hand and carefully arranged them in the pyramid shape, taking all of eight and a half seconds to do it. But as he collected the cups into two stacks again he inadvertently knocked the second layer over and a few of the cups skittered off the table and onto the floor.

"Sorry Master Sensei, I got it," Ron yelped as he quickly ran around to the other side of the long table and picked up the errant cups. "This is harder than it looks." He went back to the other side of the table and sat down to start again.

"I did not say it would be easy," Sensei wryly chuckled at Ron's antics. "This is a test of your dexterity... your hand/eye coordination. Speed will come with experience."

The head of Yamanouchi watched as Ron laid out the cups in pyramid form and then collected them taking ten seconds to complete the entire task. "Very good, Ron-san. Please continue with the exercise until I tell you to stop."

"Oh, okay," Ron chirped, not looking up as he concentrated on stacking and unstacking the cups on the table. He didn't notice when Sensei, after watching him for a minute, silently but purposefully left the room.