I do NOT own Kim Possible

The Secret of Tai Shing Pek Kwar, the Secret of the Matchbox

Ron walked through the space center with Mr. Dr. P. It was a Saturday and he would normally have been working out at this moment but Mr and Mrs Possible had decided that he was spending too much time alone. It wasn't as if he could tell them about Shego's visits so here he was taking a tour of the huge building that was Middleton's space center. A world renown center for just about anything associated with spaceflight, including robotics and cybertronic technology.

"That Ronald, is the wave of the future." Mr Dr. P was pointing at a small device surrounded by several sensors and protected by two small lasers. When not being worked on this is where Mr. Dr. P keep his latest research project.

Ron looked at the device. Small. Shiny. It's didn't look like much but he knew with electronics a lot of power could be packed in a small package. He listened to Mr. Dr. P's rant about the astonishing leaps that had been made in cybertronic technology at this very lab. How the technology with sufficient energy could even absorb elements from the atmosphere and use it to enhance itself, or even replicate and grow. It was interesting, he had to admit. Just the sort of thing a villain woul... He didn't have time to finish the thought. The wall of the room exploded inward, sending everyone running for cover. A green garbed form walked in through the hole.

Two well placed blasts took care of the lasers and a third took care of the container around the gizmo that Dr. D had told her to retrieve. This, Shego thought, is like taking candy from a baby. She reached for the now defenseless object. I'll be back to Dr. D in no time and then I'll check and see if the Buffoon is at home. She blinked as the just thought of Buffoon appeared and snatched the gizmo from its shattered safety box. Her fingers had grazed the object, she'd been so close.

Ron snatched the object and jumped back. He and Shego stared at each other, each surprised to see the other here.

"Hand it over, Buffoon." Her command demanded obedience.

Ron gulped. He and Shego had sparred quite a bit lately. He was no match for her even if he was now a competent fighter. For one thing she had a superhuman body to match her martial arts skills. He also knew this was no sparring match. Shego had a job to do. She would use plasma to stop him, not as a slap on the wrist.

Shego was glad the Buffoon realized the situation. She could see it from the look on his face. Not that he's just going to hand it over, she remarked to herself. He's way too stubborn to be that sensible. She lit her hands, using a lot more plasma than she did during their sparring.

"PIRBO." Ron said.

"Huh?" Shego wondered what he meant.

"PIRBO." Ron spoke again, this time he was looking at Mr. Dr. P who was hiding under a table. Then he turned to face Shego. He kept his face expressionless but let his eyes look over her shoulder. He tried to make those eyes seem relieved, as if help had arrived. He curled his tongue and projected, "Behind you Kermit." It sounded exactly like Kim's voice.

Shego whirled around. Princess was here. She could feel her as well as hear her. She ducked as she tried to predict how the annoying teen would attack. At the same time she tried to keep the Buffoon in sight. He would let Princess do the fighting but who knew what he would be up to. At least there's no self-destruct button, she thought as she crouched down, looking. She couldn't see Princess but she just knew she was here.

Ron watched as Shego whirled around. He drew in a deep breath and curled his tongue again. "Behind you Kermit." He project his voice behind the confused supervillainess again.

Shego whirled again. Had that nerd who made her gadgets made her suit invisible? Something was off here.

Ron curled his tongue again. "Behind you Kermit." He projected for a third time.

Shego whirled around, confused. She knew Kim wasn't normal. No one with her strength and agility was. But how the heck was she jumping around so fast she couldn't see her. And she was here, she could feel it, not just hear it.

Ron sent a chair into the path of the whirling Shego. She tripped but flipped back on her feet, the chair was demolished in the process. It was during that flip that he acted. He curled his tongue and projected his voice one last time, "Behind you Kermit." She was off balance. Trying to locate Kim, keep him in sight, and land at the same time. He stepped forward and rammed his foot into the back of her knee.

Shego went down as pained spiked in her knee. She turned it into a roll and was back on her feet instantly, just in time to see the Buffoon rush out the door, the gizmo in his hand. She gave chase, ignoring the pain. If there was one thing Shego knew how to handle it was pain. There was no Kim she knew. If there had been the Buffoon wouldn't be running and Kim would be tossing kicks of her own. She wondered how the Buffoon had managed the trick. She would find out.

Ron ran. Where he would run too he had no clue. He didn't even know the space center well enough to know what there was to run to. Shego would be behind him and she was fast. But that was what he wanted, for her to follow him. He wondered if Mr. Dr. P would understand his message. He hoped so. He turned a corner and kept running. He could hear Shego behind him. Instinctively he dodged the plasma that struck the walls around him.

Shego wondered if she'd been using plasma to correct her pupil a bit too much. He had gotten annoyingly good at evading it. She sent a few more balls of the green plasma his way and gave up. Taking time to throw plasma was just slowing her down. She focused her energy on speed. She ignored the pain in her knee. Running on it like this was just doing more damage but it didn't matter. By tomorrow it would be better. She ran. She closed the distance.

Ron knew it would soon be over. He passed an open window and threw the device he had in his hand out the window.

Shego saw the gizmo she'd been sent to retrieve go out the window and screamed in fury. This was the fifth floor, if the fall hurt it she would never hear the last of it from Dr. D. And it had taken her by surprise, that the Buffoon would risk damaging the device like that. But then, she mused to herself, he know's the sort of things we villains would try to use it for. She called the hovercraft to her location and stepped into it, out through the window. In seconds she was on the ground.

She began her search. The Buffoon hadn't just tossed it. He'd thrown it. There was no guessing how far it might have gone. She looked up, the Buffoon had joined her. He seemed to be searching too. She wondered why, if he found it first, she would just take it from him. She let him continue his search. She wondered how long before Princess really did get here.

"How you do it?" She asked.

"Do what?" He pretended innocence.

"Make it seem like Princess was behind me."

"Oh that." Ron wondered if he should tell her. He decided on half the tale so she wouldn't get suspicious. "Behind you, Kermit." He project the voice behind her again.

Shego jumped and looked around. She turned and looked at him.

Ron shrugged. "Voice throwing. Something I learned in camp when I was ten."

Shego fumed. "I was fooled by a child's trick?"

"Nay. Stage magician's trick. I'm pretty good at it."

Shego thought for a second as she continued her search. It was the first time she'd heard the Buffoon claim to be good at anything other than cooking. She wondered if his self-confidence was maybe just a bit better than it had been. "How did you do in that last competition?" She asked, still searching.

"Second place. Five grand."

"Pretty good." She admitted. And it was, there had been over three hundred aspiring chefs there. Something inside her wished she'd been there to watch him.

"Thanks." He replied. They both kept searching.

A small rocket took off from the building they'd just left. The Buffoon turned and looked at it.

"Well, guess I'm off Shego. See ya later." He started to leave.

She looked up in surprise. "What about the cybertronic technology? Are you just going to let me grab it." She knew he wasn't.

"Oh that." He turned back towards her.

Mr. Dr. P watched Ronald flee the lab with the villain Shego right behind him. He hoped Ronald would be okay. She looked dangerous. He looked down. In his hands was the cybertronic technology. Ronald had tossed it to him behind his back when he had charged Shego, kicking her. He didn't know what the boy had had in his hands when he fled the room, but it hadn't been the technology. And just what did 'PIRBO' mean. It was obviously important.

He picked up the phone and phoned his daughter. If anyone knew it would be her. She didn't. He tried the twins. They came up with all sort of possibilities but didn't know for sure. Then Kim hooked him into Monique. She had, when told the situation, simply replied. "Put in rocket. Blast off." It had been so simple. The green woman would be back for it. What better way to keep it out of her reach than to put it into orbit. So that's what he did. When it was safe it could be retrieved. Meanwhile he would just have to settle with developing the theories behind the technology. He hoped Ronald was safe.

Shego fumed as she took off in the hovercraft. He'd tricked her again. First with that crystal he'd taken from one of Dr. D's contraptions a few months back and now again. Thought this time, she told herself, I did check to see if he was carrying it. And he did have something. It just turned out to be an empty flash drive that resembled the gizmo. She sighed. Dr. D wasn't going to be happy. He'd put a lot of effort into this and the cybertronic technology he needed was several hundred kilometers above them. Way out of their reach until Dr. Possible decided to retrieve it. When he did the security would be way higher. It was frustrating to be outwitted by someone she could easily beat in a fight. But then that was the way he fought. It was effective. She had to admire that.

She recalled his progress over the last month. It had been as she'd expected. He'd stopped needing to write the recipe down. And then he'd stopped needing to reread the instructions. In fact he now just read the books and went through the routines. It was no long a page by page thing. He'd reach a level in karate that she thought was on par with her own. He'd learned several styles of kung fu. Not as many as Princess yet but enough to make him a formidable fighter. He was strong and agile. However he was still just a normal human, not enhanced like her and Kimmie. Kimmie she knew was enhanced somehow. Her speed and agility wasn't human. It was something she'd thought about for quite a bit but just how Kimmie had been enhanced stumped her. It seemed even the girl herself didn't realize it.

She sighed and set the hovercraft on autopilot. Her knee needed attending too.

Ron walked through the school. Even on a Saturday he knew Felix would be here. He and Justin would be working on something or other and he thought he might drop by just to chat a bit. Justin was the reason he and Felix now rarely spent time together. The two had become a couple. He still chatted with Felix at school and even a few times outside of school. However the two were usually engrossed in some project or other. They worked well together.

The plan changed when he saw Mark come flying through a door, leaving the door in two pieces. A new student, Eric, stepped out through. He was rubbing his fist. The smile on his face indicated he was having fun in a sick sort of way.

Eric, Ron recalled, had shown an interest in Kim ever since he'd arrived at Middleton High. He'd tried to gain her favor in every manner from chocolates to serenading. Ron had to give Kim credit. She might have looked at Eric a few time with a dreamy look on her face, but she had never given him the slightest indication that she was interested. At least not that he knew of. It seemed Eric had tired of the subtle approach and decided to get rid of his competition the easy way - with his fists. Eric, Ron thought, was going to be in for one big surprise if he thought Mark would go down that easy.

Actually it was Ron who got the surprise. He watched as the two circled each other and threw a few punches. Mark was getting beat! He wondered if he should get a teacher but on a Saturday they would be few and far between. Besides he doubted they would be capable of breaking up the two teens.

He decided to try himself. "Hey, no fighting on school grounds." For his trouble he nearly got hit by Eric. Only months of tutelage by Shego let him avoid the punch. It left a hole in the wall. From the way the two were going at each other he'd known from the start that reason was out of the question. And there was something strange about that punch. he stood back to watch for a few second. His mind analyzed the fight, taking in every detail.

Mark was being pushed to his limit. Eric had landed a few grazing blows and they hurt. What would happen it a blow hit him directly he didn't care to think about. This guy was fast. And strong. He'd been glad when Ron showed up. He'd hoped that Eric would then back off with the attention being drawn to the fight. He didn't. And when Ron stepped in between them he'd taken a swing at him. A swing which he'd avoided with amazing dexterity. He was surprised when Ron just stepped away and started to watch the fight. But then where could he run. No teachers and anyone else would be too far away.

"Synthodrone." Ron said.

Eric froze. He looked at Ron, surprise on his face. The loser had discovered the secret which no one should have been able too.

'Enhanced reflexes and strength, along with extra armor. The same trick Dementor used. Though Dementor's synthodrones were way better." He continued, staring at Eric. "Must be a wireless connection beaming the power somehow." He added.

"Synthodrone." Mark wheezed.

"His movements are too smooth. Too precise. Nothing alive moves like that. Should have seen it earlier. He's too perfect."

"That helps me how?" Mark asked. Kim was the one he needed but she'd just rushed over the space center after hearing about Shego's attempted raid. Mark himself had been planning to go there but Eric had intercepted him in the halls and asked for a bit of his time with a project.

Ron shrugged. "It doesn't really. No way to know where the wireless connection is. But it does mean you can fight without worrying about hurting someone."

Eric smirked. "Only ones getting hurt are you two." He turned and kicked a surprise kick at Ron, hoping to take him out of action. From the database he had access to he knew the loser wasn't much of a fighter and not worth the effort but it would keep him from spreading word about the fight. That was important. Mark was supposed to just disappear so Eric could gain the interest of Kim Possible. Two disappearing would be as easy as one. And he, Eric, would be there to comfort Kim Possible.

Ron dodge the attack. That, he saw, startled the synthodrone. The machine might have no capacity for emotion but this one simulated them well. Extremely well. It was, he thought, some of Drakken's best work. He crouched down in a fighting stance. He saw no choice.

Mark stared. The stance Ron had taken startled him. He had never seen the guy really fight before yet the stance he'd taken was perfect.

"Eyes on him." Ron stated.

Mark turned back to the synthodrone, realizing loss of focus here could be deadly.

Eric charged Ron, launching a series of attacks that should have, according to his database, taken him out action. The database was wrong. The loser, dodged nearly everything, parrying the one attack he didn't.

Ron was hard pressed. It had taken everything he had to dodge those attacks. The one he parried left his arm numb. He ignored it and counter attacked. He drove his fingers into the solar plexus of the machine and twisting around, put all his momentum into a kick. Neither of them had an affect. He hadn't expected them too. He was then kept busy backtracking, dodging attack after attack. This can't last too long, he thought. Even if one of those blows lands a direct hit I'm history.

Mark meanwhile had followed and now launched a series of attacks from behind. Everything bounced off. He prepared another series of attacks.

"Mark. Find something sharp." Ron ordered.

"I can't leave you." Kim would kill him Mark knew if anything happened to Ron.

"Fists aren't cutting it Mark. We need something sharp. Now find it. Home Ec. room, knives." Ron was backing away, dodging attack after attack. A few he parried. Those hurt. But he was used to charging ten or more henchmen at a time. He knew how to take a hit.

Marked stared. The guy who never raised his fists on a mission, he realized, was handling himself here as well as Mark himself could. Perhaps better. He turned and ran.

A fist came towards his head and Ron ducked, twisting away as the followup attack came. He didn't waste effort on trying to attack. The synthodrone would have no need to dodge or parry. It wouldn't slow his attack at all. He just wished he hadn't left that device at home, it would have slowed the synthodrone down a bit.

The halls between the rooms of Middleton High didn't always offer a short route. Ron figured it would take Mark two minutes to get to the Home Ec. room and back. Two minutes during which he would have to dodge the quick, efficient, blows of a machine designed to fight. He wondered how many attacks that would be and pushed the thought out of his mind. Focus or you get hurt he commanded himself.

Ninety seconds later he knew he was near his limit. It was a short time but the attacks wouldn't stop coming. It was dodge and parry endlessly. And he had just felt his back hit a wall.

Eric saw the loser was near the end and smiled. He launched a punch towards the loser's solar plexus with his left hand while his right thrust towards his head, immediately followed by a kick towards the groin. It left him open but in this fight that didn't matter. The loser had nothing that could hurt him.

Ron saw the attacks. Knew he was about to be taken down in a very painful manner. He felt something surge inside of himself. Something that hadn't been there in any of his other fights. He twisted, avoiding the blow at his head, moving just a bare inch away from the attack on his solar plexus. His left hand came down and blocked the leg aimed at his groin. Then that feeling surged up his arm and into his right hand that drove upward into the throat of his attacker. Green goo splattered over him.

Eric backed back, taken by surprise. His systems read the damage as minimal, ninety-eight percent operational. But the loser was capable of damaging him. This was not according to the database. He improvised. He would now have to allow for defense. He moved in and resumed his attack.

Ron had twisted away from the wall and around Eric. He was now backing back the way he had come. Means I'm moving closer to Mark, not further away. That was a relief. And the synthodrone was now attacking less often. Damage, he wondered. No, he immediately deduced. He's allowiing for the possibility of needing defense now. That's as good as damage. It's slowing down his attacks. Ron dodged and parried, backing away.

Mark, Eric knew, would soon be back. He would then have two opponents, both trained fighters. The database was wrong on the loser. They would have knives. Something his skin was not very tolerant off. Fleeing would have been the proper course of action but that was not an option. There were now two people who knew he was a synthodrone, who could ruin the plan. Both had to be taken care off. He could not retreat. He resumed full-out attack.

Ron saw the change, that split second when his opponent was changing stances. Something surged inside him again. His right arm jabbed forward reflexively as he twisted, avoiding the blow aimed at his ribs, and stuck the same place as before. More green goo splattered over him. He twisted and flip the synthodrone using the arm that had been meant to shatter his ribs. The synthodrone fell to the floor and Ron kicked, aiming at the same point again in the throat of his attacker. More green goo splattered. A leg lashed out and Ron jumped back. It grazed him and his own leg went numb. He ignored it.

Eric stood. Damage read as eighty-six percent operational. It meant nothing. One or two more attacks in the same place and his skin would rupture. Regardless of what other systems were functional he would not be. He calculated the odds of defeating both the loser and Mark. It came to fourteen percent. The knives made a big difference in the calculation. He attacked. There was nothing else he could too. The plan demanded their removal.

Ron backed away again. The synthodrone was going all out again. Attack after attack. He backed away quicker than usual, using that to avoid more of the attacks. He was bruised and battered on nearly every inch of his body. He was tired. Mark would soon be here, he hoped. Still, he had a plan. The goo was slick and slimy. He was splattered in it. He used his left hand to wipe it away. He backed backwards, using just his ability to dodge and his right hand to protect himself from attacks. It meant taking some grazing blows. Eric was a machine. A synthodrone. His steps where precise. It was that unnatural movement that had given him away in the first place. It was that precise movement that told Ron where Eric would place each step. He let his left hand drop behind him for a second and let the goo he'd gathered drop. He stepped over it.

He waited and took another step back. The synthodrone's right foot came down on the goo. Ron charged, barely avoiding a blow to his own throat, blocked the synthodrone's left leg which was rising in a kick, and struck at the synthodrone's right leg. The synthodrone tried to twist to avoid the attack, twisting its right foot on the goo. It was just unbalanced enough to be sent to the ground. Ron kicked at its throat. More green goo splattered as the kick landed.

The synthodrone went to stand up but Ron pressed the attack and luck was with him. The synthodrone slipped on the goo it had spilled and fell back. Ron took another kick, taking a gazing blow to the leg he used as he did so. The kick landed and goo spilled from the synthodrone. It began to deflate as a tiny river of goo formed at its mouth and ran downward. Still it stood back up.

Ron retreat. The synthodrone followed. Ron felt the aches of his battered body. His left leg was numb while his right was a throbbing mass of pain. His chest and arms were a mass of bruises. The side of his head where a gazing blow had struck was bleeding. Thankfully the blood wasn't running into his eyes. It didn't matter. So long as he could keep backing away he had won. The synthodrone called Eric that followed him was slowly losing form as goo leaked from its mouth.

Mark came running, two very long, very sharp knives in his hands. He came to a halt as he saw the scene before him. Ron was backing away from a slowly deflating Eric who was leaving a trail of goo on the floor. Ron he saw was barely able to stand. Still the fight was over. "Sorry so late." He said.

"No matter." Ron answered. There was a long pause. Then he added. "Hope all of Drakken's synthodrones aren't like that one now."

They watched as Eric fell face first on the floor. Ron watched as Mark made sure the synthodrone would never get up again.

A hundred meters away a cloaked hovercraft took off. Inside Shego had watched the whole fight. He's better than I thought, she commented to herself. Hope Drakken doesn't realize my part in his plans going awry. She frowned, recalling the fear she'd felt as she'd watched the fight. The fear that the Buffoon would be seriously hurt. She was starting to become weak again. And the weak can be hurt. She swallowed and pushed the thought away.

Ron led back on the grass, It was getting late and he doubted Shego would show up. He wondered if she was angry about losing the cybertronic technology and about Eric. He had known they would eventually have to fight again. That Drakken would try something. He sighed. It hurt. There were no broken bones but he'd still taken a pretty bad beatring. There would be no practice tonight. He had only just got home from the hospital. Kim had made a huge fuss over him and Mark. It wasn't as though Mark had gotten away without a few bruises of his own.

He was surprised when the hovercraft door opened just a few feet away and Shego stepped out. She limped a little. She stretched out on the grass beside him.

"So, Buffoon, seems like you put up a pretty good fight against that synthodrone Dr. D whipped up." She looked over at him. "How bad?"

"Nothing that won't heal. No practice for a while though. Guess I will stick with reading for a bit. How's the leg?"

"It'll be fine by tomorrow morning. It's nothing."

He was relieved she didn't sound angry. "Must be nice to heal so fast." He commented.

"It is." She admitted. "Came in useful when Hego helped me learn how to control my plasma powers.?" She couldn't help adding. "Bastard."

Ron looked over. He wondered if he should inquire further. Shego lit a fist and he flinched away.

"Look." She ordered.

Ron studied the plasma wondering what she wanted him to look for.

Shego let the plasma fade. "The plasma is generated around my body, not inside it. If it touches me it burns. It took me some time to control it."

"What did Hego do?" Ron asked. He thought the question was safe, after all she'd brought the subject up.

"He stuck me naked in a room and made me use them time and time again until I was practically half burned to death. When I healed, which I did pretty quick, he made me do it again."

"Na.." Ron was surprised that the Hego he knew would do that. Not that he'd met the guy much.

"Clothes cost money." Shego shrugged. "Besides pulling burnt clothes out of burns pains like hell."

Ron gulped.

"On the bright side I did get pretty good at using them." Shego lit one finger and tossed a small ball of plasma into the air where it faded. She stood up. "Anyway Buffoon, I think we're both ready to call it a night. Later." She disappeared into the hovercraft.

Ron stood and slowly walked into the house. He passed the fridge, in too much pain to cook anything. He headed to his room. Rufus was there in a cage. The game console was nowhere in sight. Ron had taken it over to Felix for safe keeping until Rufus kicked his addiction. The naked mole rat looked at him solemnly.

"For your own good buddy." Ron told him. He sat down on his bed.

Ron sat on his bed for a bit considering Shego. That had been a brutal way to learn to control her plasma powers. He shuddered. He wondered if that was why she'd left Team Go.

He closed his eyes and began his meditations. Shego had laughed at him when he said he was going to try meditating. Mark had said he did it from time to time. Ron had decided to give it a try. He tried to listened to his breathing and focus on it. He pushed the pain away. He didn't move for a half hour. Then he began to focus on nothing at all. It was then that things got weird. The inside of his mind turned blue and he was sitting across from an old man who he vaguely recalled as Sensei.

The old man spoke. "So, Ronald, the time has come for you to learn Tai Shing Pek Kwar."

"Who?" Ron started to ask.

"You remember me." The old man studied him.

"I do now. But why ..." Ron was confused.

"Why did you forget? How could the school remain a secret if everyone who saw it remembered? You forgot it, but now the time has come to remember once more. It is time for you to learn Tai Shing Pek Kwar."

"How long?" Ron asked. He recalled how easily he had learned other martial arts.

"Years." Came the reply. "Tai Shing Pek Kwar is not one of the lesser arts, Ronald. It is the only art. You will not learn it as easily as you did those others. First you shall learn of this place. This is the focus of your being. If you will it an hour here is a second in the outside world, or a second can be an hour. From this place you will learn to access the powers hidden within your body and become a master of them. When you have masted the physical, the mental, and the spiritual, then you will have begun to master Tai Shing Pek Kwar. Now we shall begin ..."

Shego dropped to her bed. She was tired, but tonight was nightmare number eight. She sighed. She had tried to skip sleep the night of that nightmare but it didn't help. The nightmare was right there waiting for her the next night. She took out the matchbox she now carried with her sometimes. She wasn't sure why she did that. It was after all just a little momento that once someone did remember. It meant nothing. She recalled the wish she'd made that night. It had been silly, but things had seemed so surreal that she had went along with it. 'An end to the nightmares.' That is what she'd wished for. Of course it hadn't worked.

She yawned. Her body demanded sleep. The nightmare began. It unfolded before her as it always did. She had always been smart, skipping grades. Her comet powers made her strong. So strong she'd never believed anything could defeat her. She'd been wrong in that. She'd been so arrogant. Because she loved people she was weak. Because she loved people she could be defeated. She fell into the nightmare... But this time something was different. This time she wasn't reliving the experience. She was at a distance watching it from afar. She felt someone holding her hand but when she looked no one was there. She looked up and she was no longer in the nightmare. For the first time in six years Shego fell into a deep sleep void of the nightmares

She awoke twelve hours later. She looked down at the matchbox she held. She recalled the hand that had held hers.

End of Chapter.