Me: Hey guys. Here's the 3rd Chapter. It's a little short, because it was originally only going to be half a chapter. But, that's because when I was writing the second part of the chapter, it got way too long.
Shi: Hey, it's like the Merovingian says: "cause and effect". Consequence. Hey, it is the nature of the universe and all. We can't escape it.
Me: Oh, in case I never mentioned this during the first two Chapters, BeyTrix takes place after The Matrix but before The Matrix: Reloaded.
Bob: These freaks do not own Beyblade or the Matrix.

Chapter Three

The Rabbit Hole

The eight teenagers walked at a fairly fast pace towards the limo. The door to the back opened on cue, and Kenny and Emily, followed by their friends, stepped in. Since there were only two people in the back of the vehicle, there was still a plethora of space to sit down. The Blade Breakers gasped as they saw that the two already there were Nikki and Raven of the Punishers. As well, in the front were Dominique and the boy. None of them were wearing their 'team uniforms' – rather, they were all cloaked like Kenny and Emily'd been.
"Hey, we know you people!" Hilary burst suddenly.
Nikki glared at her. "Whadda you mean, 'you people'?"
"Be quiet, both of you," ordered Emily. She then turned to Kai, an expression of seriousness upon her face, and said, "Take off your shirt."
The bladers looked taken aback, whereas Kenny, Nikki, and Raven, like Emily, looked extremely momentous. Dominique took out a pistol, and pointed it at Kai, who inquired, "What are you doing? Why do you want me to undress?"
"It is necessary, Kai! It's for our protection," Kenny explained.
"Protection... from what?" inquired Daichi.
Tapping a revolver against her thigh, Nikki replied, "Against you people. We think you might be bugged."
"Bugged?" asked Kai.
"Take it off," Emily said. Kai obeyed.
"I still don't see what this has – WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!"
This was the basic reaction from the beybladers (though some weren't as vulgar) when Raven was handed something that, to them, looked like a really warped machine with a tube thing on it from Dominique. Raven inclined her head to Kenny, Emily, and Nikki, who proceeded to hold Kai down.
"Don't worry," Emily soothed Kai, "she's not going to shoot you."
Angrily, he replied, "Then what the hell is she going to do?!"
Raven turned to Kai's friends. "I must ask you not to interfere."
Scared, they nodded. Hilary latched on to Tyson's arm.
Raven sighed, and put the tube part over Kai's bellybutton. She must have pressed something then, because four things popped out of the sides of it, placing them in his abdominal, so it looked kind of like a stand. Time seemed to freeze for most of the occupants of the car, until electric shocks went into his belly and he let out a cry like a wounded dog as he struggled against his restraints. A moment later, into the tube from Kai's bellybutton came a weird insect-like thing and some blood.
"I thought that was a dream!" he said, as Raven threw it out the window.
"Figures," Nikki said. "Did all of you have this dream? Did you all get bugged?"
Each of the Blade Breakers nodded solemnly.
"Well, who wants to go next?" asked Emily. Hilary hid behind Tyson, Daichi hid behind her, and Tyson pushed Ray in front of himself.
Kai shook his head. "What a bunch of wusses," he thought aloud. "Look, guys, it doesn't really hurt... until you get shocked and it gets hauled out of you – but that's only for a second," he added reassuringly.
Ray came forward, removed his shirt, and sat where Kai'd been a moment earlier. Dominique and Nikki whistled at him, but Raven said, "Don't worry about them. They'll whistle, but they won't do anything else." The procedure was the same as when it had been done to Kai, and Ray also let out a small scream and struggled before the bug was removed and thrown out the window. Max went next, followed by Tyson, and then young Daichi.
Finally, only Hilary was left. She sat in the spot they'd all sat in for debugging, but refused to take off her shirt. "Not with them looking," she replied, pointing to her teammates.
"All right," Nikki said, and turned to the Blade Breakers. "Boys, avert your eyes. Kenny, don't worry, me and Em can hold her down."
Chief nodded, and all the boys in the back put their backs in Hilary's direction. She smiled, and was about to take off her shirt when she glared at someone.
Dominique elbowed the boy next to her in the stomach, saying, "You can't look either, idiot."
Hilary removed her shirt, revealing a pink lace bra, and braced herself for the pain that was sure to come. When it did, she let out a high-pitched scream that nearly broke their eardrums.
Suddenly, they heard something pull up beside them. Dominique, who was on the passenger side, opened her window, and nodded a couple of times before closing it back up. They group heard the person start up the vehicle again, about the same time as the boy, who was in the driver's seat, started up the car.
Raven motioned for everyone to sit back, and they all obeyed, making sure to buckle up. A couple of seconds later, they were zooming down the road, and Hilary was sure they were going over the speed limit. "Kenny," she said quietly, "you didn't join a criminal gang, did you? Do you smoke and steal stuff? Have you ever... used a gun?"
"We're not criminals!" replied Chief, outraged.
"Where are we going?" asked Ray.
"Hideout," replied Nikki simply.
Hilary looked at Kenny again, and was about to say something, but he said, "We're not crooks!"
"So, what's the deal with your name, anyway?" Daichi asked Raven.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I didn't think Raven was a very common name. But maybe where you're from –"
She interrupted. "You guys think my name's Raven?" They all nodded. "Oh, right, the spin top thing... Well, that's only a nickname. Dominique and Nikki aren't their names either. Well... they used to be our names. Honest, I never knew my birth name. I was taken from my home at a very young age, you see."
"Don't explain anything to them here," 'Nikki' said suddenly.
'Raven' nodded, and everyone went quiet. About two minutes later, the limousine halted, and everybody got out. They were in a very dark building. Next to their vehicle was a motorcycle, with a man in his mid-thirties standing by it. He came over to them, and shook each of the Blade Breakers' hands.
"So, who are these kids?" asked the man.
Pointing to each one individually, Kenny introduced them. "Guys," he said to the bladers, "I'm sorry to involve you in this, but after what I've done to you... I have to give you an explanation."
"You cannot be told everything, though," said 'Raven'. "Not at first."
"True," Kenny said. "How much can they know?"
The man touched his hand on Kenny's shoulder, as if to relieve him of something. He seemed to be in his thirties, and was about 5'11" in height. His hair was shaved, and was very muscular. "Come on everyone. Let's go."
He began to walk towards a door at the other end of the room. The Punishers followed, and then Kenny, Emily, and their friends. He opened it, and everybody stepped into the room. It was very homey – beanbag chairs, couches, recliners. Several glasses of water rested on a coffee table in front of where the man sat.
"I'm guessing you are very confused now. A little like Alice, tumbling down the rabbit hole," he said to the Blade Breakers, and all the people sat down. "And who's to blame you. You know very little – slaves never know much."
"Slaves?" Hilary interrupted. "We're not slaves. What are you talking about?"
He smiled. "Knew you'd say that. Lots of people do. Let me explain something to you. Have you ever been blindfolded?" They nodded. "Ever worn a noseplug?" They repeated their previous action. "Earplugs?" Again, they nodded. "Not been able to taste food?" They continued nodding. "Not been able to feel anything?" They nodded, beginning to get impatient. "Now, what if all of these things happened at the same time, and you lost all your senses?"
"You'd be dead," replied Tyson.
Kai added, "Or you'd want to."
'Raven' smiled. "Exactly. But you see, there is a veil over you, shielding you from the real world. So really, you are a slave, and an unknowing one at that, and your prison is the very world you call Home."
Hilary shook her head in disbelief. "No – that's impossible." She looked over at Kenny, as if hoping he would tell her that she was right, and this man was wrong.
"It's true. I've been to the real world, guys – I've seen it," Ken informed them.
The man indicated a blue and a red pill, resting by each glass of water. Behind them, they heard footsteps, and then a door closing. "If you take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed, and believe what you want to believe." The group glanced up at Kenny and Emily, who were on either side of them. Kenny looked over at them for a moment, and then returned his gaze to the fellow. They did the same. "But take the red pill... the story continues, and we show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."
They whispered amongst themselves for a minute, and all seemed unsure.
"Know this," Emily said, "all we're offering you is the truth."
Ray and Kai looked at each other, nodded, and each took the red pill. Max did the same, as did Tyson.
"I'll do it," said Hilary, picking up a red pill, "but only because of you guys." She put the red pill in her mouth and swallowed it with some water. "Come on Daichi."
"No," he replied. "I don't believe any of this." He retrieved the blue pill. "But if it is real, come and get me in a week's time, okay? If you guys say it's okay, I'll come."
Hil looked shocked. "B-b-b-but Daichi!" yelled she, as the child swallowed a blue pill.
"G'bye."
The man sighed. "You five, come with me. Emily, Kenny... take care of the little one."
They nodded, and walked out by way of the door they'd entered through. "See you in a bit!" Emily called.
Max, Tyson, Kai, Ray, and Emily followed the old man through a door opposite the one Emily, Daichi, and Kenny'd gone through. They ascended up a flight of stairs, and came to the room the Punishers had gone off to.
"Can you take it from here, Pops?" asked 'Dominique'.
"Well, two of you can go now. The hard-line's in the parking lot."
"Right-o. See you, kids," 'Dominique' said, as she and 'Nikki' left to answer a ringing telephone that they could faintly hear.
'Raven' grinned. She was sitting in front of several computer monitors. "That pill you took, it's a tracker. It messes up some of your signals, so we can find your location."
"What do you mean?" inquired Max. "We're right here!"
"Sure," the boy replied sarcastically. "So, who wants to be born first?"
The group seemed very confused. "Born?"
"Someone sit in the chair," the man said, pointing to a chair that was next to a mirror. Kai did so, and the man took out a cell phone. Nobody knew what the person on the other end was saying. "You're going to get a signal soon."
The male friend of 'Raven' said, "Have you found him yet?"
"Almost," 'Raven' told him, biting her lip in deep concentration.
Kai looked over into the mirror. It looked cracked or something, so he poked it. Quickly, he pulled his hand back, but the mirror was like... attached to his fingers or something. Kai managed to pulled his hand away, but silvery stuff was still all over his fingers, and spreading. "What the hell is happening?!"
"Have you got it yet?" the man asked 'Raven'.
"Not quite," she said, getting frustrated.
The man put the cell back to his ear. "Any minute now..."
The silver dye reached to Kai's neck, and was going towards his mouth.
"Kai!" screamed Hilary, and tried to go forward, but was held back by the boy of the Punishers.
"Found him!" exclaimed 'Raven'.

Me: Hey guys! Hope you liked it! You all know what to do. Ja ne!