The Matrix: Revisited

by Classic Cowboy

Rewrite of The Kimmatrix Trilogy with Turles. Everything that has a beginning has an end. I see the end coming, I see the darkness spreading. I see death... and you are all that stands in his way. But for every end ... there is a beginning. The Oracle

2. Resurrections Chapter 2

The Kimmatrix: Matrix Resurrections

A Fan Fiction Fusion By

Classic Cowboy and Turles

Chapter 02: Land of the Awake

"I keep having these weird thoughts lately…like…is any of this for real…or not?"

- Sora (Kingdom Hearts)

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A black Sedan roared through the streets of Middleton Colorado. It kept its speed to within the minimal of the posted speed limit signs. It came into the residential areas and slowed down as it pulled into the driveway of a small two-story home. Both the driver and passenger side doors swung open at the exact same time as if they were synchronized and out stepped three men. All three of these men had the same hairstyle parted on their right and clothing: black suit and tie, dark, square rimless sunglasses, and ear pieces in their right ears. The three of them looked at each other as if they were communicating silently amongst each other saying that it was definitely the right house. With that, the three of them walked up the concrete steps to the house with their dress shoes clicking against the hard surface of the driveway. The leader of this trio came up to the door and knocked.

The door was opened by a tall, skinny woman roughly in her thirties or forties with thin, red rimmed glasses, short, blonde hair and a set of light brown eyes that looked at the three men like a puppy glancing at people walking by from inside a pet shop.

"Hello?" She asked, "Can I help you gentlemen?"

"Mrs. Stoppable?" The leading man asked with an emotionless automatic quality like a machine, "I am Agent Thompson, and these are my associates, Agent Wilson and Agent Jackson. Is this the residence of Ronald Stoppable?"

"Yes," Mrs. Stoppable answered very nervous about what the prospects of this situation would bring about, "but he's gone to a friend's house right now. Is something the matter?"

"No." The Agent answered coldly, "We just have a few questions for him. We will return on a later date. Thank you very much for your cooperation Mrs. Stoppable and Happy Hanukkah."

The agents turned away from the door and headed back to the sedan talking amongst their selves.

"Confirmed." Agent Jackson stated

"Target moving south, bound for residence of the Possible Family." Agent Wilson spoke emotionlessly.

"Proceed with caution," Agent Thompson warned, "Target should be considered highly dangerous."

The three agents returned to their black sedan and all got back inside with the precision of synchronized swimmers, the doors closing at the same time, the engine starting up, and the sedan backing out and driving away, leaving behind an air of uncertainty as to what was going to be done.

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Meanwhile, across town at the home of the Possible family, Kim Possible threw herself back on her big comfortable bed. She was dressed in her purple tank top with the green heart in the middle and baggy, flannel pants that were loose, but not so much that they fell off her hips. She thought about the coming events; it was a week before Christmas and Ron's birthday, and Kim had yet to even start her own Christmas shopping or Hanukkah shopping for Ron.

"Too bad that Ron's parents don't believe in Christmas." Kim smiled, "He'd rack up on gifts with his birthday being on the same day."

With Ron on her mind, Kim couldn't help thinking back to the events the last mission and Ron's seemingly reality-bending abilities, how Ron was able to freeze Shego in mid-air like that with his hand; it was as if he was a magician in disguise of a goof. Kim was still having trouble believing it and often tried to rationalize the events that played back in her mind.

"I had to be hallucinating." She shook her head and sat up, "How could Ron do something like that? How could ANYONE do something like that? It just doesn't make sense! It was probably just some trick of Drakken's…"

"Hey, KP!" Ron's voice called from the other side of her door, "Are you decent?"

"Yes, come on in, Ron." Kim called out to her friend.

Kim turned to find her best friend had a small, oblong package under his arm. He smiled at Kim as he said, "I know it's early, but I thought I'd go ahead and give you your Christmas present."

"Christmas present?" Kim asked as Ron handed her the package confused about his reasoning, "But you're Jewish, Ron. I thought you didn't believe in Christmas."

"I don't." Ron shrugged with a shy smile, "But you do, and that's good enough for me."

Kim smiled as she stood up and gave her best friend a hug, "That's so sweet, Ron! Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, KP." Ron said, still smiling away, "Open it first. I thought you might need it since it's starting to get cold around here."

Kim nodded before gathering her gift. She held it in her lap, looking at the red and green printed paper that hugged the box containing her present. She started to pull at the ends, hoping to savor the experience of anticipation, but then lost all patience and simply tore at the wrapping like a cat scratching its claws on a post. She set the paper aside to reveal a white, oblong box, the kind that department stores use when people buy clothes, yet there was no label on it of who the store was. It wasn't JC Penny's, Dillard's, Old Navy, or even Club Banana. Kim lifted the top end of the box and opened the flaps of the tissue paper to find her present inside.

"Oh Ron!" Kim exclaimed, "I love it! Thank you!" She pulled a leather trench coat from the box; it was a deep red color with a very smooth, yet leathery texture. As she held it in her hands, she felt its heaviness, knowing that the coat would keep her warm on cold nights in Middleton. She set the coat back into the box, set the box on her bed, and reached up to hug Ron. As she did, she wished that she would have gotten him a good Hanukkah present. In her mind, she thought back to when she got a job at Bueno Nacho with Ron because she wanted to buy this popular green leather jacket from Club Banana, yet she couldn't quite cut the mustard, so Ron bought the jacket for her. It occurred to Kim that Ron had done so much for her. She would have continued on this train of thought but the Kimmunicator beeped.

Kim reached for the device and pressed the on button, "What's the sitch, Wade?" She asked of her information gatherer.

"Got a lead on Drakken" Wade responded, "He's set up in Upperton. I'll send you directions."

"Spankin'." Kim smiled, "We're on top of it, Wade." She switched off her Kimmunicator, and then pulled her new trench coat out of the box as she went behind her changing wall to get into her mission clothes. She slipped into that black top, khaki cargos, black gloves and her new, crimson-red, leather trench coat and came out from behind her changing wall to approach Ron.

"Ready to go, Ron?" She asked.

"Ready, willing and able." Ron winked with a 'thumbs up'.

Rufus popped up from Ron's pocket, mimicking his master's actions and squeaked,

"Ready, willing, able!"

The two ran down the stairs, and through the living room where they passed by the kitchen occupied by Mrs. Dr. Possible. Kim dashed by her mom, yelling out one word, something that her mother would understand immediately:

"Mission." She said as the two of them were already out of the door.

"Good luck and be careful!" Mrs. Possible yelled behind them as the door clicked shut and she went back to washing her dishes. The time that went by as she cleaned seemed to fly by so fast that it seemed only an instant later that there was a knock at the door. She washed off her hands, dried them, and went to the front door.

She opened the door, thinking that it must have been her daughter, "Did you for get something or…oh my…" The person standing at the door wasn't Kim at all. Mrs. Possible was met with the stern, neutral, and emotionless face of an Agent who looked down at her from behind his square rimless sunglasses.

"Greetings, Representative Possible." Agent Thompson said flatly, "Is your daughter, Kimberly, or her friend, Ronald, present?"

"W…what do you want with them?" Mrs. Possible asked; the fear evident on her face with her wide eyes and shaking voice as she stared at the towering agent.

"Your daughter?" The agent asked, "Nothing at all, only information on the whereabouts of Mister Stoppable. We require Mister Stoppable for questioning. Any information on his location would be greatly appreciated."

Mrs. Possible started to regain her courage in the idea that her child could be harmed by these men, "I don't know why you're back, and I really don't care." She snarled at the agent, "If you want to get either of those kids, then you won't get any help from me! Ron's going to be freed in a week and Kim will follow in three months. What threat could they be to you?"

"Being a citizen of Zion, we have no real authority over you, Mrs. Possible." The agent stated still as emotionless as ever, "Other than your access to the Matrix, but your help is not mandatory. Your resistance only postpones the inevitable; we will find Mister Stoppable in a matter of time, with or without your help." The Agent turned and left Mrs. Possible without giving a second look at her.

"Why do you want him?" Mrs. Possible questioned with great worry for both her daughter's and Ron's safety, "He's just a boy."

"That…" The Agent said without even turning his back to face her, "…is none of your concern, but your daughter will remain unharmed, the truce will be kept." With that, the Agent rejoined the others in the black sedan that was parked in their driveway. As soon as he got in, the car drove away and, much it did at like the Stoppable home, left behind an air of confusion about what was going on. Though Mrs. Possible was not a woman to be underestimated, she knew she would need help as she watched the car drive away. She reached into her lab coat pocket and pulled out a cell phone and quickly punched in a few numbers.

"Sparks." She spoke into the phone, "This is Kazaa. I need to get a message to Morpheus on the Neb II, A.S.A.P."

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On the outskirts of Upperton was Drakken's new lair. Even though they had gotten away with the Merovingian's machine and set up a new location, one event still bothered them. Drakken paced back and forth around his new lair, his mind wracked with all kinds of questions on top of questions on top of still more questions like some inquirous house of cards.

"It's too soon!" Drakken shouted, his voice echoing through the lair as he paced back and forth, running his black gloved fingers over his widowed peaked hair. "The sixth One came sixteen years ago! There is only one every hundred years! The buffoon, Shawn, cannot be the One; it just doesn't make any sense!"

"Um…" Shego interrupted her moron of a boss, "Doc, his name is Ron." She said as she continued to study the hardware of their newly acquired piece of machinery.

"Ron…Shawn, what does it matter!" Drakken bellowed, "He shouldn't be able to do that!"

"Doctor D." Shego said, not looking up from the manual that she was reading, "You've gotta get a grip. Breathe, ok? It's probably just a glitch or something. That does happen sometimes. Like that runner during the Olympics a few Reloads ago? I think it was the third one where he touched the source by mistake and blew out the muscles in his legs. Trust me; I saw the whole thing from a front row seat. It happens, so don't worry about it."

"Even if this kid is the next One," Drakken postulated, feeling a little better about the situation, "He's still a simpleton. He can't possibly be as much trouble as that Neon."

"Neo, Doctor D." Shego corrected.

"Whatever." Drakken snarled, "How's the study on our new toy coming, Shego?"

"The study has just concluded." A voice called out from above. As the voice came through, two figures broke through the glass, sending its shards down to the floor like a small hailstorm. Kim landed on her feet and so did Ron, even though he slipped two seconds later and fell face first. He quickly got back to his feet, ready to fight.

"Well, Kim Possible. Nice to see you again so soon!" Drakken laughed and then turned to her partner, "Been seeing any green lately, buffoon sidekick?" He asked of Ron.

"I…don't know what you're talking about." Ron said quickly, though he knew exactly what Drakken was talking about because he still saw 'it': the green code that flowed over everything in sight. Ron's vision of the "coded world" had been going in and out since the day that Shego killed him. In every moment of danger, it came back; the sight of that green code flowing all over every surface, texture, and face. It became brighter on the surface highlights and darker in the shadows. He tried to set these things aside and concentrate on Drakken, just a mixture of code himself. "But I know that I'll be seeing you behind bars soon!"

"You'll be seeing me behind bars soon?" Drakken asked, mocking Ron's voice, "You've been hanging around your little girlfriend too long, Tom, sounding all superhero dramatic, well you think you're all that, but you're not!"

"That's Ron, Doctor D." Shego corrected as she stepped up to his side with her hands glowing in their green flames.

"Whatever, Shego. Just kill them both!" Drakken ordered while he went back to work with the Merovingian's machine. This time, he wasn't working on it to start it up like all the other times when Kim had attacked him, instead he was standing by, watching as his henchmen loaded the machine into a loading truck to be taken to a new lair of his choosing.

While Drakken did that, Shego jumped at Kim, ready to slice and dice the teen hero. Shego had to admit to herself that, even though she had worked so hard to make this stupid scheme of her moronic boss's work, the perk of the occupation was beating up Kim. Though this time when she was facing Kim, she kept one eye on Ron. She was going to make sure that he didn't use those same tricks that he did last time. After a few punches and kicks, Ron hadn't done anything, so Shego felt that her suspicion was right. Maybe it was just a glitch that Ron took advantage of, nothing more, and she continued to fight Kim.

Ron, on the other hand, was more concerned about something else. As the fight between Kim and Shego wore on, he felt something. It was like a tickle at the base of his skull, kind of like that feeling where the hairs on the back of your neck stand up on end. He looked around through all the green code, the machine, the computers, the walls, even Drakken, Shego, and Kim. The tickle grew stronger and stronger as he looked towards the doors and felt the tingle grow and keep growing until it was downright painful. It seemed to tell him that something wasn't right; that something was coming.

"Watch it, KP!" Ron called out to his partner, hoping that his warning would be heeded. Yet, it seemed like he was too late as the front doors of the lair were kicked open, but not by a mere human foot. The way the doors flew off their hinges, it seemed as if someone was there with an old fashioned battering ram and opened the doors indefinitely.

Ron looked and there he saw three Agents walking in, but even they didn't seem quite right. He looked at them and his eyes widened at what he saw. There, amongst the flow of the code where the Agents stood, Ron only saw a green outline where the code flowed all around them like rain dripping off a slick surface. Within the Agents' code outline, Ron saw three very different people; there was a chubby man in a tee shirt and boxers, a little girl in a jogging suit, and a woman in a business suit. All three of them seemed to be trapped inside those green outlines that made up the agents. As Ron studied them, the three Agents drew their guns and began to fire at Drakken, Shego, and himself, yet not one was targeting Kim.

As the bullets flew, Ron felt himself move, or at least that's what it seemed like. The bullets that flew out of the gun seemed to slow down, as if the natural flow of time in the world was being slowed down all around Ron Stoppable. With that, Ron stepped to one side and the bullets flew past him and embedded itself in the far wall of Drakken's lair. Once the bullets were out of his way, time began to speed back up to normal and Ron heard Kim calling out to him.

"Ron, we've gotta get out of here!" She cried, grabbing his wrist and not noticing his lack of attention, then again, Ron didn't feel as though he was in any real danger from Drakken, Shego, or these Agents.

As Ron and Kim escaped the scene, the Agents spoke amongst themselves.

"Delete the two Exiles and the anomaly." Agent Thompson stated coldly, "The girl is not to be harmed in any way."

"The Anomaly is priority one." Agent Wilson restated Thompson's orders, "The Exile Programs are the secondary objective."

"Moving in." Agent Jackson said as the three of them began to chase after Kim and Ron.

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Kim and Ron dashed out of Drakken's new lair and into the streets of Upperton. The city was huge compared to Middleton, enormous buildings used for business along with different, big property houses filled the city. The lair that Drakken had used was a warehouse somewhere in the downtown area of Upperton, the place for the more industrial of activities. It was through the alleyways of the different warehouses that Kim and Ron were running, trying to desperately put distance between themselves and the Agents.

"Ok, those guys are new." Kim commented as she and Ron ran with the trio of Agents on their tails.

"I've seen them before, KP." Ron said, almost out of breath as he glanced back at the three men with their shadows projecting against the wall, telling the duo that they were gaining on them. "I know I have…"

"Think later, run now." Kim spoke quickly as the two of them came to a fork in the alleyways between the warehouses. The two of them looked back seeing the Agents' shadows growing smaller, "You go one way, and I'll go the other." Kim said to Ron, "Maybe we can split them up."

"Right, Kim." Ron nodded.

"Be careful." The two of them said together.

"Jinx." Kim smiled, "You owe me a soda."

"Doh!" Ron grunted as the two of them split paths. Ron ran away as far and as fast as he could with Kim doing the same thing, the idea of getting as far apart as possible lodged in both of their heads. To Ron, it didn't quite feel as natural as it had been in the old days, but he remembered that things had changed in the past few days. He certainly knew that the day he "died" at the hands of Shego.

Back at that T-shaped fork, Kim had only run a few yards before getting into her Kung-Fu stance, ready and waiting for the Agents to show up. She watched their shadows on the wall grow smaller until they were at the fork, and, to her surprise, the Agents looked at her and then looked in the direction that Ron had taken.

"Subject is moving north by northwest." One of the Agents said to the others, "We are to proceed with great caution."

"Confirmed." Another Agent said, "Moving in."

With that, the Agents were on the move down the path that Ron had taken, leaving Kim behind in her Kung Fu stance and wondering what was going through their minds. She knew that she posed a greater threat to them than Ron.

"Why are they after Ron?" Kim asked as she sprinted through the alleyway and down the path that Ron and the Agents had taken.

Meanwhile, a few dozen or so yards away, Ron hit a dead end. In his paranoia of seeing if those Agents were still on his trail, he didn't see where he was going and ended up sitting at the dead end covered in garbage with a small cardboard box on his head. He lifted the edge of it to see three pairs of legs standing in front of him. Just like a child hiding from monsters in the closet or under the bed, Ron dropped the box back over his head.

"It is him." Ron had heard one of the Agents say.

"The Anomaly." another Agent said, "Do we proceed?"

"Yes."

"He is still…"

"Only human." A third Agent had finished the sentence.

Ron cowered underneath that cardboard box on his head, hoping and praying to God that some kind of miracle would happen to save him from this. He thought about the fact that he would die again and that was when he thought about the things that he'd leave behind in the mortal world. There was his family, the cheer squad, how would they get along without him as the Middleton Mad Dog? There was Bueno Nacho; the place would feel empty without him there eating some of their best stuff. He thought about the most important thing: Kim. How would she get along in the world without him?

As the questions and thoughts of a world without Ron Stoppable ran though his head, he heard the clicking of their guns; they had cocked them and were ready to send the young man to the next life. He then heard the emotionless voice of the Agent.

"You are not meant to exist, Mister Stoppable."

Yet, Ron didn't want to die. He wanted to live; if only for Bueno Nacho, he wanted to live. The fear of dying gripped him like the hand of some great monster and all he could hear under that cardboard box was the beating of his heart roaring into his ears, blocking out all other sounds and every inch of his skin felt so sticky and sweaty from all the running and the incredible fear of what was going to happen next. He closed his eyes and wished for something to happen…anything.

His wish was granted. There was a blinding flash in Ron's vision like that of a camera. He opened his eyes and rubbed them, hoping to take out the after images of what had transpired. All around him, he saw the code again, that green code that flowed across every surface around him, down his shirt, around his wrists, and all over the inside of the box. The highlights were when the letters and numbers of the code were the brightest and the darkest when they had gone into the shadows. Beyond the walls of the box, Ron saw the outlines of the Agents again and the people that were trapped inside them. He got to his feet, took the box off of his head, and looked at the Agents who were standing only a few feet away from him with their weapons leveled point blank at him. As he looked at the world in the green code, his understanding of the world around him became even clearer. He heard the guns fire and raised his hand against the oncoming bullets, watching the code shift as the bullets began to slow down in mid air, coming to a full stop just a few inches shy of hitting their target. With the bullets just floating there, Ron reached out and picked up one of the bullets as if it were some kind of trinket off of a gift shop shelf. He looked at it and then dropped it. The other bullets followed like marbles out of a kid's hand. Then Ron looked to the Agents, who allowed their outstretched arms to come down to their sides. Needless to say, the three of them were quite surprised, but not as much as what happened next.

Ron stretched out his hand, much like in that movie he saw…The Empire Strikes Back, where Luke Skywalker was hanging from the ceiling with his feet encased in the ice. He was reaching out for his Lightsaber and commanding the Force to bring his weapon back to him to free him from his predicament. Ron did the same thing: he commanded in his mind that the guns come to him and they did; the guns flew out of the Agents hands and floated for a few seconds in front of Ron's face before disassembling themselves, their parts coming undone faster than anyone had seen before, until there was nothing left of the guns except pieces and parts on the dirty, trash-strewn ground.

"His powers have awakened." Agent Thompson said flatly as if he wasn't at all surprised by what had just happened in the last minute or so.

"This is not good." Agent Wilson added, sounding as flat as Thompson.

"We should fall back." Agent Jackson advised, "We can not risk or allow another Smith Syndrome."

Before any of the Agents made their escape, two shots were fired and two of the Agents went down. Yet as they fell, they began to change and Ron saw the code around the trapped people vanish as they hit the floor. The first Agent had changed into that woman in a business suit and the second changed into that man in his underclothes. The only one left was the Agent Thompson who turned around to see where the shots came from.

The Agent then hissed in recognition at the man behind him, "Morpheus!"

"I've gotten better over the years, Agent." Morpheus stated, "I can take on one of you now."

"One maybe." Thompson said, still sounding flat even when he knew that there was an upper hand to be gained in the fight, "But two?"

As the threats were exchanged between Morpheus and Agent Thompson, Kim Possible had reunited with Ron and observed the situation. She had been there ever since the first two Agents had gone down at the hands of Morpheus and his team. Yet, something began to change about the situation the moment that the agent had asked the very ominous question of, 'But two?'

Kim gasped as she jerked away from Ron.

"KP?" Ron asked as he cradled his friend in his arms, "What's wrong?"

Ron watched in shocked horror as Kim began to transform. Her once beautiful, gem-like, green eyes widened and began to darken. Not just one part of her eye but all of it, the pupil, iris, and cornea all began to turn black and develop sheen to it like the surface of glass.

To Ron's eyes, he saw the horror of what was going on in its green, coded form. He saw Kim's body being invaded by an alien code that began to overtake her like a great infection. With each passing second, he watched the code come over Kim's body and begin to make that shell just like the other Agents had.

"Kim!" He cried, "No!" As he cradled his friend in his arms, something overtook him. Just like that invading code, he felt himself reach out and press his hand upon Kim's chest. His eyes watched as a new code came down through his arm, into his hand, and into Kim's body. The code coming from Ron seemed to counteract the invading code. It was like a digital version of venom vs. anti-venom. Until the virus code was completely gone and all that was left was Kim.

Thompson looked over toward Ron and Kim, "It appears we have missed our window of opportunity. We will meet again, Mister Stoppable."

The Agent turned and backed away from the duo. With cautious optimism replacing the terror that had been only seconds ago, Morpheus decided to check on the ones that the Agent was after in the first place. It still confused him that the Agents would be after kids. At least he thought that until he approached Ron and Kim.

Morpheus approached the two of them, "Are you two all…" He was going to ask about their condition when Ron looked up at him, giving the man a good look at his face. Morpheus froze. Never in a hundred years would he have suspected that something like what he was seeing would happen. He jerked off his armless sunglasses to make sure that he wasn't seeing things or that it wasn't just another visual glitch in the Matrix itself. Even then, he blinked twice at the young boy, who was more concerned about the girl in his arms at that moment. Yet, Morpheus had thousands of questions to ask but only one word escaped his open lips:

"Neo?" He asked like a child recognizing a dead relative in the face of another person.

Ron looked back up at Morpheus, "What's a Neo?" He asked, "It does sound familiar though…Do I know you? You look familiar too." Ron said, all that feeling, all the confliction inside him that at first he didn't even know this man dressed in that alligator skin coat, but at the same time, for some unknown and mysterious reason, he felt a sense of safety around him. The same kind that a person has when they're at home after being away for so very, very long.

"My name is Morpheus." Morpheus introduced himself to Ron, "Perhaps we should go somewhere so we can talk. I think I understand now why those men were after you."

"They weren't men." Ron shook his head, "They were…different. I can't really explain how I know that, but I just do…by the way, my name's Ron and this is Kim."

"Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable?" Morpheus asked, "I've heard of you both. Please, come along before they return. We can talk shortly."

Ron looked up at Morpheus and then back down at Kim, who had fallen soundly asleep in his arms. The vision of the code was lost again, all he could see was the world as it always had been: colorful, detailed, the sun shining, clouds passing overhead, but he knew all too well that nothing was what it seemed to be anymore. Looking back at Morpheus, Ron knew that things were going to change even more, but he had to know more about this truth that had been plaguing him like an itch that refused to go away.

He picked Kim up in his arms and followed behind Morpheus. As he did he whispered to Kim:

"Don't worry, KP." He whispered, "I know that things will be alright even though it may not seem like it."

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Ron followed Morpheus through the alleyways and between the warehouses to the street where there sat a jet black Dodge Charger with its doors open as if they were waiting for them. Morpheus climbed into the driver's side while Ron climbed into the back seat with Kim in his arms. He was careful not to hit Kim's head on anything as the two of them slid into the back seat. Ron sat on the far side of the back seat, allowing Kim's body to spread out on the seat with her head in his lap. The Charger began to move down the street, and, for some reason, Ron felt tired as well, he couldn't explain it but he fell asleep with his head against the window of the SUV while Morpheus made a phone call.

"I see what they're afraid of." Morpheus said as he took a look at the two teens sleeping soundly in the back seat.

"Well, out with it Morpheus." Niobe said on the other end of the line, "Why are they so shaken up?"

"I found him, Niobe." Morpheus stated proudly, like an archeologist finding that proverbial missing link in the sands of his dig site.

"Found who?" Niobe asked, very annoyed with Morpheus' cryptic messages.

"You would never believe me if I told you over the phone." Morpheus smiled to himself like a kid trying to hide a really good secret from his parents, "You will see when I arrive at the post. By the way, you and Ghost stand by with a set up ready for two removals. Both are around sixteen so we shouldn't run into any sort of problems in getting them out. Neither appears to be safe inside the Matrix any longer."

The drive that Morpheus took must have been at least an hour, but then again Morpheus was more concerned with being hunted by the Agents than with what time he was making. As for the sleeping teens in the back seat, he couldn't help smiling just like a kid on Christmas waiting to see what surprises were downstairs under the tree. He continued to drive until he came to the town of Lowerton. There was a lot of cheap housing in Lowerton as compared to Middleton and Upperton. He stopped at a very old apartment building that appeared to have been left vacant for some time. He parked the black Charger as the skies began to darken and pour down rain, came around to the passenger side door where Ron was sleeping and opened the door.

"Wake up, you two." He said softly to Ron and Kim, "We're here."

"What…happened?" Kim asked as she began to come back to full consciousness, "What happened to those men?" She sat back up as Ron got out of the car.

"It's hard to explain right now, Miss Possible." Morpheus said, leaning into the doorway of the car, "But if you come with me, I'll attempt to explain things more clearly." He said as he held his hand out to the young woman.

Kim felt disoriented and confused by what was happening all around her. It just seemed like any normal mission at the start of it: retrieve a machine for that wealthy Frenchman called the Merovingian. Then all the strangeness started to happen, she felt more freaked out than on that accidental trip to Camp Wannaweep with that revenge crazy, childhood friend of Ron's/mutant named Gill. Yet, all that happened to her that day paled in comparison to her encounter with those Agents. Against the man who held his hand out to her, the suspicion grew until she decided to go with her instincts and not trust him.

"I don't even know who you are." She said, protesting the entire situation at hand, "And you expect me to come with you? Get real!"

Ron butted in, "His name is Morpheus." He said seriously, "You can trust him, KP…believe me."

Kim looked at Ron and saw a whole new level of seriousness in him that she had been seeing a lot of ever since this mission to retrieve the Merovingian's machine began. Then the question came up in her mind of what was going on in the world that all this should be happening to her and Ron. Looking at Ron and then at Morpheus, Kim knew that she had to know the answers. It was just like in that Animalogy Personality Test she had taken a while back. After all the questions were answered, the test would equate a person's personality to an archetype of an animal and a color. Ron was the Pink Sloth and Kim was the Blue Fox. It was the trait of the Blue Fox to find out the answers no matter what kind of price it may have; it was the question that drove her. She got out of the car and followed Ron and Morpheus into the old apartment building.

The place felt like it needed to be torn down as old and used up as it was. The air of the building reeked of old carpet and the smell of mildew was everywhere; everything sounded stagnant and the floorboards squeaked with every step that they took. The paint on the walls and doors was starting to chip away to its old warped self underneath the veneer. Through the old dusty windows, Kim and Ron could see the lightning beginning to flash outside as if the lightning was signaling a new omen to come over the horizon.

At last, the three of them came to a small room on the fourth floor, the room seemed as large as a classroom, with a large red leather chair, a red leather love seat near the fire place, and a small wooden table holding two glasses of water.

Morpheus turned to look at Ron, "I have found you at last" Morpheus said as he extended his hand out to Ron, asking for a friendly handshake from him, "I am pleased to meet you once again, Neo."

"Um…" Ron uttered, still feeling confused by the situation, "My name is Ron, Morpheus, but I'm honored to meet you anyway."

"Once again, my friend, the honor is mine." Morpheus replied "Please have a seat." He requested as he sat down in the large red leather chair.

Seeing as how one chair was taken, Kim and Ron sat down in the love seat, feeling comfortable and yet uncomfortable at the same time since the curves and shape of the seat seemed to make them want to hug each other in order to gain more comfort. But the two of them simply sat up, waiting for the explanation promised by Morpheus.

"I know that I've heard all of this before…" Ron said in that same strange, serious tone, "I don't know how but I know that I've done all this before."

"Ok, Ron." Kim said, trying to gain a grasp on what was going on, "You're freaking me out here."

"The answers will come shortly." Morpheus explained, "I do not fully understand why you are here, Ronald, but I do recognize that both you and Miss Possible are in danger, and I would like to help you both if you'll let me."

"How can you help us?" Kim asked intently as she leaned forward with her elbows on her knees, waiting for the answer impatiently.

"Have you ever had a dream, Kim, that you were so sure was real?" Morpheus asked in a very philosophical voice, "What if you were unable to wake from that dream?"

"How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?" Ron finished Morpheus' sentence, his eyes narrowed in that same seriousness that seemed so… so… not Ron. "Man, what déjà vu…" Ron said, sounding like his usual, sidekick self, but the seriousness came back over him like a second personality taking over, "Now you're going to make an allusion to Alice in Wonderland, aren't you?" He asked Morpheus.

Kim stared at Ron, "How did you know that?" She asked, her green eyes blinking rapidly, "And how did you do all the stuff you've been doing ever since the Merovingian gave us this mission?"

Ron shook his head, his face filled with confusion, "I don't know, KP. I don't know." He seemed as scared and frightened as a little child, but the seriousness again took over and he looked back up at Morpheus, "So, Alice in Wonderland?"

"Yes." Morpheus nodded, "I was about to say that I would assume that you're both feeling…a little like Alice…tumbling down the rabbit hole?" He smiled at Ron and Kim, "Some more than others. Let me ask you two something, do you believe in fate?"

"No." Kim answered immediately.

"I sort of do and sort of don't." Ron answered.

"Why?" Morpheus asked of them both.

Ron answered back in that same voice that just came out of nowhere, "I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life."

"What he said." Kim agreed with Ron.

"I know exactly what you two mean because this isn't the first time you've given me that answer." Morpheus responded to their answers, "You're both here not only because of the events that have led to this point, but also because you two know something. You have known it your entire life, Ronald. Kimberly has just recently begun to suspect it. What you both know you can't explain, but you know that there's something wrong with the world. You can't explain it, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind driving you mad. It is this feeling that brought you two here."

"The Matrix" Ron uttered; he couldn't explain why that word came out of his mouth but there it was.

"The Matrix?" Kim asked, "That's just an urban legend; only crazy, paranoid people believe in that." Kim was referring to the many people who call any strange happening going on around them the Matrix. No one knew exactly what it was; they just knew that something was definitely wrong.

"Wrong, Miss Possible." Morpheus objected, "The Matrix is very much real and unreal."

Kim and Ron listened to what Morpheus said because there was a great authority and gentleness in his voice. The kind of voice that the two of them knew was trustworthy.

"The Matrix is everywhere." Morpheus spoke; the more that Kim listened, the more it sounded like crazy talk. Just like being around her cousin Larry, the kind of person she never wanted to be around very much. Except for that one time when a certain archeologist, Lord Monty Fisk, became the villain known as Monkey Fist, then Cousin Larry became indispensable. Morpheus continued on his vague explanation of the Matrix, "You can see it when you look out the window or when you turn on your TV. You can feel it when you go to school, when you go to church or synagogue or to Bueno Nacho. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth."

"What truth?" Kim asked, her impatience slowly coming to the surface.

"There is no spoon." Ron uttered once again.

Morpheus smiled, "That is only half the story, Ronald. The truth that you two are slaves. Like so many others, you both were born into bondage, born into a prison that you cannot see, taste, or touch…a prison for your mind."

"Alright, the déjà vu is going full force over here." Ron said, his voice filled with fear.

"Yeah, this really ranks about a nine on my weird-dar." Kim commented.

"I know that's how it seems." Morpheus said as he reached into his coat and pulled out a small, reflective box, "Unfortunately, no one can really be told what the Matrix is…"

"You have to see it for yourself." Ron uttered once again, "Will the weirdness never stop?"

"You'll understand soon." Morpheus said as he opened up the small box and allowed the contents to drop into his hand. He leaned forward with his fists clenched near his face, "This is your last chance. After this, there is no going back…" He said as his left hand opened, revealing two blue pills there that looked like those NyQuil gel-caps, "You take the blue pills, you will wake up in your respective beds and believe whatever you want to believe, though I feel you have not seen the last of the Agents." He then opened his right hand and there were two red pills identical in every way except color those in his left hand, "You take the red pills and…"

"We stay in wonderland," Ron uttered, "And you show us just how deep the rabbit hole goes. Uh…you know this is really getting annoying. And I feel a real migraine coming on. Well, what do you think, KP?"

"You said we can trust him, Ron." Kim said softly, looking towards the hand that held the red pills. "That's good enough for me."

Before she reached out, she heard Morpheus say, "Remember, all I'm offering is the truth, nothing more."

She took a red pill and placed it in her mouth.

"Always the daredevil, KP." Ron said as he took the other red pill and then at the same time the two of them took the glasses of water by their sides and drank.

Morpheus smiled once again.

"Excellent. Now, come with me."

With that, Morpheus led the two teens to a room adjacent to the one where they held their council about the Matrix and the world around them. Inside that adjoining room, they saw dozens of computers and monitors that were jerry-rigged to each other in the messiest of ways. Not since the small glimpses inside Wade's room had Kim or Ron seen anything quite as technologically messy. Yet, amongst the junk of monitors, keyboards, and miscellaneous equipment, there were two chairs that sat on either side of a full length mirror as if the mirror were a doorway and the chairs were the guards or perhaps the vehicles. Coming into the room, Morpheus made quick introductions.

"This is Niobe. The young man is Ghost." Morpheus introduced two new individuals, who seemed rather shocked at new arrivals, more towards Ron than to Kim. "Please have a seat over there by the mirror and relax." Morpheus instructed.

"Morpheus, are you sure about this?" Niobe whispered as he walked toward her, "I mean…if the machines want him dead that badly and they find out we're helping him. This could jeopardize the truce."

"Is that truce really worth sacrificing his life for a second time?" Morpheus asked as he went from one piece of equipment to another.

"How are you so certain that it's him?" Niobe questioned Morpheus' judgment.

"Look at him, Niobe." Morpheus said with great earnest in his whispering voice, and nodded toward the boy, who was looking nervously at Kim, "Look at how he is looking at her. That alone is evidence. He looks at her the same way Neo looked at Trinity."

"There is a resemblance." Niobe admitted and then sighed out of her frustration and confusion, "I just don't know, but if you ever turned down a crazy stunt, I would think there was something was wrong with you."

While Morpheus conversed with Niobe, Ghost came over to Kim and Ron and placed two nodes on each of them, one for the neck and the other for the arm. To Kim and Ron, it felt almost like a trip to the doctor with all the medical kind of stuff that they'd had done to them. Taking a red pill, coming into a room filled with electronic equipment, and having those nodes placed on them.

Morpheus pulled out a cell phone, "Link, do you have their location yet?"

"Searching now, Sir." Link responded from the other end.

Morpheus then looked to the two frightened teenagers sitting by the broken mirror. At least Kim looked frightened; Ron, on the other hand, didn't seem to be that scared at all. He seemed to retain a kind of dignity that a man would have if he were going to the barber to get a haircut. It seemed odd to Morpheus that this boy seemed so much like Neo in his eyes and at the same time there was something so different about him. Thinking about the past again, he decided to give an explanation.

"The pill you two took is part of our trace program." He explained, "It disrupts your input/output carrier signal so we can pinpoint your location."

"Pinpoint our location?" Kim asked, even more confused than before, "What're you talking about? We're sitting right here."

"You'll see soon enough." Morpheus said.

As the two of them waited for something to happen, they felt as if something in the room was starting to change, like a door being opened very quietly. The two of them looked to the broken mirror that they were sitting in front of, seeing their reflection several times in the broken pieces. As they stared at the shattered reflection, they saw something that was impossible: the mirror started to melt back into one piece. All the broken pieces that were once smashed came back together again like ice cubes becoming uniform water again.

"How did that happen?" Kim asked.

Yet no one answered, then purely out of instinct, both Ron and Kim reached out to touch the surface of the mirror. Their fingers sunk into it like water, but, as they began to pull back, the consistency changed from water to that of taffy. The metallic surface beginning to stick to their fingers like maple syrup at breakfast as they pulled back from the mirror, and sat there in those chairs, gazing at the reflective liquid that began to consume their fingers.

"This can't be…" Kim uttered.

"Be what? Be real?" Ron asked.

As Ron finished Kim's thought, the reflective liquid had already consumed their hands and was moving up their arms. Kim already began to feel the panic in her, while Ron looked calm during the whole thing, and the reflective liquid moved up from their arms to their chests. It was then that a new sensation began to take over. The reflective liquid felt cold, cold as ice water to both of them.

"It's so cold, Ronnie." Kim whispered, her voice almost on the verge of tears.

"I know, Kim." Ron said, reaching out his untouched hand to Kim, "I'm here."

As the drama between Kim and Ron unfolded with the reflective liquid overtaking them, Morpheus answered the ringing cell phone. Before he even picked it up, he knew that it had to be Link with the news that he had found Kim and Ron's location.

"Found them, sir." Link confirmed Morpheus' suspicion, but he would have never guessed the next part, "And you're not going to believe this. They're at the Release Center we're docked at. One's scheduled for release next week and the other in three months."

"I knew it." Morpheus stated with a smile, "This was fate." He then turned to Kim and Ron and saw that the reflective liquid from the mirror had taken over their bodies like a massive infection and was slowly going up their necks. Yet while all this was happening they refused to let go of each other's hands, "Now relax both of you. You're going to feel a moment of discomfort, but we will be waiting for you on the other side."

The reflective liquid had already reached the tops of their necks and was going for their mouths; the two of them couldn't stand the sensation of that stuff on them. At that moment, the two of them let out screams as the reflective liquid traveled down their throats. The last thing they heard before blacking out was that their screams sounded real for a moment, and then unreal. As if the voice was going down from its regular pitch to something that sounded like an old fashioned dial-up modem. Once that was over, they were in total darkness.

110101100110100111001011011100101010110101

Ron only experienced that moment of darkness when the reflective liquid from that mirror overtook him. He couldn't even begin to describe the sensations that he began to feel next because he was just too scared to even think. That's how it always is in extremely tense situations; life doesn't flash before your eyes. You simply pull a stupid face before the proverbial shit hits the fan. For Ron, the next thing that his senses told him was that there was something in his skin, in different areas of his skin. He opened his eyes to see that he was surrounded by some kind of pink fluid while all over his body was a spaghetti-like mesh of wires, and he even felt something in his throat, mouth, and nose. Every instinct told him to get out, but before he could even act upon it, the pink liquid began to drain like sitting in a bathtub with the drain open. He looked up and saw something above him being peeled back like a sunroof retracting on a car. With whatever was above him opening, he felt a series of hands reach down and grab him by his arms, his sides, and his legs and pull him out from wherever he was. At the same time he felt all of the things that were in his skin being removed like a band-aid being taken off, but seeming to be much deeper like needles all over him, even at the back of his head.

After all that, he was wrapped in towels and blankets that he couldn't see very much of. All of it was so blurry and his eyes hurt as if they were blackened and had swollen to the size of baseballs. It even hurt to close them or shut them real tight as he was trying to grasp what was going on around him he heard voices.

"Man, he really does look like him." One man said over Ron.

Everything to Ron felt like one of those out-of-body experiences that he heard about on the Learning Channel, the kind where people seem to leave the normal world and come to a place that they can't describe.

"I know, Link. Did I not tell you?" Morpheus said. Ron felt a hand go over his scalp, which felt as smooth and bald as the day he was born. Ironic in a way that the whole situation was almost like being born, it must be a traumatic event for an infant to go from such a safe haven into a confusing and chaotic world.

Ron looked up and saw Morpheus' face amongst the blurriness.

"How do you feel, Ronald?"

Admitting all the confusion Ron experienced in only a few minutes, he asked one thing: "Kim…" he asked, his voice sounding wheezy like an old smoker's voice and feeling difficult to speak, "Where's…KP?"

"Kimberly is fine, Ronald." Morpheus reassured the boy, "Niobe is with her now."

"Where are we?"

"Welcome to the Real World….the Land of the Awake." Morpheus said before watching him pass out into blissful blackness.

To be continued…