Chapter 1

(On board the Shepunchedthebuzzer)

Willow blinked furiously in the bright light. "Owwie, what's with my eyes hurting."

Morpheus leaned in, inches from her pale face. "You've never used them before."

Willow's eyes shifted. "Uh, hello. Used them about two minutes ago when you drugged me up with your porno medication."

Morpheus frowned. "Sleep for now. Your muscles are atrophied and we are restoring their use."

Willow looked down at Trinity. She was holding a large phallic shaped object connected to a long black hose that let into the ceiling.

"What's that for?"

Trinity smiled wickedly. "I call it the juicer. Now lean back and enjoy."

(Two days later on the Shepunchedthebuzzer)

Willow moved slowly through the bowels of the high tech ship, ducking through hatch after hatch until she made it to the mess area.

A large metal rectangular table sat in the middle of the room with a number of crew members seated around.

Neo stood and offered the seat next to him and she sat.

"What's for breakfast, I'm starved," she said eagerly.

It was her first morning out of the infirmary and supposedly her first day of solid food. Yum!

Someone she didn't recognize slid a bowl in front of her. Willow looked up at the blonde haired girl and smiled. "Thanks." Then she looked down. "Oh joy, Cream of Wheat."

A couple of people laughed in the background. Willow was a little suspicious and eased her spoon into the white creamy substance and tasted a small portion. "Ohmygod."

She spit it back out on the table. The rest of the crew laughed and started throwing money back and forth.

"I told you she eat it! Pay up!" "The Other One, whatever" " Sucker!"

Willow squinted in steamed hatred at the people teasing her. "What is this nasty shi..."

Neo held his hand over hers softly. "Just a little initiation. It's a lard-oatmeal mix. Same thing happened to me the first day."

"Hands!" Trinity shouted out from the kitchen.

(Later in the briefing room of the Shepunchedthebuzzer)

"So why's everything in bright color now and not the tinted green?"

"Matrix smog," answered Morpheus.

"And the reason everyone is so much uglier and we have these nasty clothes?"

"Make up. In the real world there is no such thing as make up. And no malls either."

Willow placed her head in her hands. "Why, oh why didn't I take the red pill?"

Morpheus ignored her question. "We are going to be doing some training today."

"Training?"

He nodded. "Yes we have to get you ready for your premier."

Willow patted her bald head. "Uh, in case you didn't notice, I'm kinda baldy and I don't have any eyebrows. I'm not premiering in anything just yet."

Morpheus frowned. "Uh, sorry about that."

"Is my lack of hair due to the slime mix I was in when the Matrix had me? Did it include some sort of depilatory agent"

"Uh, no. That was Trinity and her straight razor. She thought Neo had the hots for you."

Willow grimaced.

"Come this way I'll show you the loading room."


(Later in the loading room of the Shepressedthebuzzer)

"So you stick that thing in my butt and I'm back in the Matrix? No way."

Trinity grinned innocently. "Uh huh."

"Trinity!" Morpheus yelled.

Neo gasped from the adjoining seat. "And she would not believe their attempts to sodomize her as they did Neo. She is The Other One."

(Later in the Matrix-Sunnydale)

"Cool I get a neat outfit like you guys!

Morpheus looked Willow up and down. "This is your residual self; the way you remember yourself being in the Matrix."

Willow took in her outfit. Everything was black like her companions, but hers was a little more revealing. She wore a peasant blouse and leather pants with a corset cinched very tight. Her patent leather boots were laced up the back and ran the length of her legs raising her up a good four inches on stiletto heels.

Neo was near salivating. "You wore outfits like this?"

Willow blushed mildly. "When Tara was misbehaving I did."

The green tint had returned, Matrix smog. She was indeed home.

"Can we go show Buffy my new outfit?"

Morpheus shook his head. "We have more important duties to attend."

"Tightass." Willow muttered.

"We must see the Oracle."

The crew went downstairs to the bottom floor of the abandoned apartment building and across the street into the graveyard adjacent.

"What's an Oracle?"

Neo sidled up closer. "He is the one who gives us our marching orders and nifty prophecies that have a strange habit of being misunderstood until a very inconvenient time."

Willow was confused. "But Giles' apartment is back the other way."

"We are here." Morpheus announced.

They stood in front of a old crypt that looked vaguely familiar to Willow. "No way."

"You must go down by yourself and speak with the Oracle."