NOTE: This is a loose sequel to my first fanfic, When Nightmares Walk Amongst Us. You really don't have to read the first one to follow this one, just a few references throughout the beginning of the story.
Author's notes: This is my second Resident Evil/Jonny Quest crossover fanfic. I do not own either Resident Evil or Jonny Quest and am making no money off of this whatsoever.
I hope you enjoy and please read and review for me. I appreciate it.
A New Nightmare
By: Sigokat
Chapter 1
Umbrella Headquarters
Four men sat in the conference room in one of the many featureless skyscrapers that adorned the Chicago skyline. The multi-million dollar pharmaceutical corporation had numerous facilities throughout the world, however Chicago was where they had relocated the bio and viral weaponry division, known as White Umbrella, to after the incident at Raccoon City. It was by no means as remote as Raccoon City, but it served its purpose for planning and research development and from there the plans were sent out to the labs all over the world. They had learned that the farther away they were from the actual production the safer they were, both from physical harm and prosecution. Plausible deniability was a key phrase with the executives of White Umbrella.
"The loss of Doctor Krumlanski could have serious impacts on continued weapons development." The first man stated.
"I don't see how." The second man replied. "Krumlanski was reckless and his actions against the Quest team and the Intelligence One agent did nothing more then bring our work to the attention of some very powerful and therefore dangerous individuals."
"Doctor Quest is nothing. We can dispose of him at any time." The third man interjected. "No one will believe him or the government agent, Philip Corbin."
"Agent Corbin has some powerful allies in D.C. We should not dismiss his abilities so quickly." The second man countered.
"No one will believe him and he knows that. Why do you think it's been this long and we have not seen any repercussions from that incident? He's scared. He doesn't know who to trust and that has kept us safe." The third man said. "If anything the Quests and Corbin did us a favor by disposing of Krumlanski. He was getting out of control…and so were his experiments."
"Perhaps, however with Krumlanski gone and the loss of the Raccoon City facility we are slowly running out of researchers and that's saying nothing for the experiments we have lost as well." The first man stated.
The third man adjusted his chair and leaned forward. "That may be so, however at this time we are coming along ahead of schedule on a number of projects. And I have just received some new information in regards to some curious happenings in Spain's lonely and poor countryside."
"Well, fill us in, Mr. Baker." The second man coached.
Baker leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers under his chin. "A man named Saddler has discovered an interesting parasite in one of the lakes in the region. Saddler began harvesting the parasites, which he has termed Las Plagas, and he injects the eggs into human hosts. Once the eggs hatch the parasite takes control of the body causing severe physical ailments almost identical to the effects of the T-virus, including the thirst for fresh blood. Supposedly he can even control the minds of those that are infected as well. He has created a small army of these people and has formed his own small occult; these people are puppets to Saddler. He's a university educated man, with a degree in physics, however he has gone somewhat mad with power due to his discovery. He's even infected his own body in order to reap the benefits of the power that he receives from the parasite."
"Interesting. Very interesting." The first man whispered. "Anything else?"
"I have not received confirmation yet, but we also believe that he has created some sort of creature that he can control with psionic powers and that the creature can control others using that same power."
"A Psion. Amazing. How did he accomplish this?"
"We aren't entirely certain." Baker replied. "The discovery of Las Plagas was purely accidentally on Saddler's part. Historical records show that an asteroid impacted in that area a few hundred years ago. The lake that the parasites were discovered in was formed from the asteroid crater over time. The nearest village was wiped out completely. I received word that an archeological team placed a bid for funding to excavate that site. I interjected and proposed to the team's lead researcher that Umbrella would fully fund their dig."
"Why? Do they know about the Las Plagas or Saddler and his doings?" the first man asked.
"Not at all and they don't need to. We can use them to uncover more information and any historical documents or artifacts that may be useful to us in obtaining Las Plagas for ourselves. Then we can dispose of them at any time."
"Who is this lead researcher?" The question came from the fourth man, who had remained stoically silent until then.
"Doctor Estella Velasquez." Baker replied. "She is the ex-wife of Roger Bannon, the Quests' bodyguard."
The fourth man shook his head, "Why her?"
"We are certain that she will invite the Quests to join her on the dig, she usually does, and if not she will be informed that Umbrella will not fund the dig. We want Quest there. The higher ups still want to try and recruit Doctor Quest into Umbrella. If he refuses again he and everyone with him will be disposed of and we don't even have to be involved. Saddler's army will do that for us."
"This is dangerous." The second man said shaking his head, "I agree with Mr. Leland on this one."
"Well, lucky for me this is not a democracy." Mr. Baker said as he rose from the table. "It has already been approved. The higher ups want Las Plagas and the Psion for Umbrella and so do I. If the Quests get out of hand, then they will be killed." With that Mr. Baker turned and left the room.
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Quest Compound, Maine
It was a hot and humid afternoon in August when Dr. Quest received a telephone call from his associate, Dr. Estella Velasquez, who also happened to be Race's ex-wife and Jessie's mother. Estella did not know of the incident at the warehouse in Washington and Race had decided it best to keep it that way. He did not want his ex-wife knowing how close she had come to losing her only child and her ex-husband, if for no other reason then he knew that she would fight to rescind the joint custody agreement and he would never see Jessie again after that.
"Benton, its Estella."
"Estella," Dr. Quest started, "It is good to hear from you. The reception is pretty weak on my end; you must be calling from one of your sites."
"Yes, I am." Estella confirmed. "I've been working on this dig for about two weeks and I thought that you, if you are not otherwise engaged, would like to come join me. This dig is very exciting and I'm sure that your expertise would be of tremendous value. Also, it has been some time since I have seen Jessie and Jonny and would love to have them come out and spent some time. I know Jonny has always enjoyed getting his hands dirty and finding new artifacts."
Dr. Quest, having needed a break for some time, marveled at the idea, "I think that would be great. I'm sure the kids would love to take a break and come see you and your team. Hadji is back in Bangalore so he won't be able to join us." Dr. Quest had specifically left Race out of the conversation since he noticed that Estella had not mentioned his name either. Estella knew that Race would be there, so there was no need to state the obvious. From what Dr. Quest could deduce, Race's and Estella's relationship took many twists and turns. Sometimes they were civil with each other and other times tempers flared so high that Dr. Quest had feared that it could come to blows at any moment. However, they always attempted to be cordial with each other in the presence of their daughter.
"Where is your site?" He asked.
"Spain. I can send the coordinates to you over your secure network. When do you think you could arrive?"
"Once we make the arrangements, I'm sure we can be there is a few days. Not much is happening now; nothing pressing that could cause a delay. I'm sure we could be there by the end of the week or weekend."
"Great. I'll look forward to seeing you all then. I'm sure we will have some interesting artifacts for you to examine once you arrive. I'd like to talk to Jessie, but I am very busy, so please, give her and Jonny my love and let me know when you are ready to leave. I will send the coordinates to you now."
"I will, Estella. I'm already looking forward to this adventure."
Dr. Quest hung up the phone and openly let out a sigh of relief. What he had said was true; he was looking forward to this. It was the perfect excuse to get away for some time, see other people, and try and forget that terrible day in Washington that still infested his dreams.
Little did he know the incident in the Washington warehouse would pale in comparison to what would transpire in the near future.
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Intelligence One Headquarters, Washington D.C.
Intelligence One Special Agent Philip Corbin was still haunted by the events in Washington. He hadn't had a decent nights sleep since he had returned to his home in Washington D.C. Even resorting to sleeping pills, prescribed by a physician, had done nothing to wash the nightmares away. He hated himself for getting the Quests involved in his revenge scheme; even the fact that they had all made it out alive did nothing to ease the guilt that consumed him. He wanted to make things right, however he did not know if there was anything within his power that could do that. He had begun drinking heavily after his return as a way to escape the monsters that followed him, however that had not helped. Two weeks ago he had stopped drinking, determined that if he did not stop then it would show that the demons had actually won.
He returned to work as normal; however he was constantly looking over his shoulder for the hidden threat known as White Umbrella. He was convinced, through the few documents that Jessie had smuggled out with her, that White Umbrella was very much embedded within the federal government; their money and power having tremendous influence over politicians and high ranking military officials. He knew that he was utterly alone in his predicament; at least that is what he had thought until he had received a call on his personal cell phone that morning.
"Corbin." He said as he opened the phone, seeing the number was blocked as private.
"The Quests are in danger." The voice on the other end said, it sounded female.
"Who is this?" Corbin asked.
"I have information that they are walking into a trap."
"Who is this?" He asked again.
"A mutual friend."
"What do you want?"
"The same thing that you want." The female voice replied.
"Which is?"
"To bring down Umbrella."
Corbin sat straight up, "How do you know anything about that?"
"I know what happened to you and the Quests in Washington and I know that the Quests are currently in danger, even if they don't know it yet. If you want to help them then you will listen to me."
Corbin was silent for a moment; then said, "Ok, I'm listening."
"There is an archeological excavation in progress in Spain. Doctor Estella Velasquez is the lead archeologist there. I assume you know her, yes?"
"Yes. So what does this have to do with Umbrella?"
"Umbrella is funding her dig. They are looking for something in a nearby pond. Something dangerous and deadly and far worse then what you encountered in that warehouse."
"What is it?"
"That is what you will have to find out."
"Why me?" Corbin asked. "I don't know who you are…"
The mysterious called cut him off in mid-sentence. "Mr. Corbin, time is of the essence in this matter. The sooner you can get there, the sooner this can be put to rest. You know how Umbrella operates; you know what to expect and how to fight the…'things' that could be out there."
"Why should I trust you? You could be from Umbrella and this could all be an elaborate setup."
"If you want to help the Quests then you will have to trust me."
Corbin sighed; he knew that the caller was right. "Fine. But, I need more information."
"You will receive what we have momentarily in your e-mail."
"What if I need more?"
"This is all we have for now. You'll just have to improvise. Stop Umbrella. That is all I ask." With that the caller hung up.
Corbin hung up his phone and leaned back in his chair, interlacing his fingers behind his head. He had absolutely no reason to trust this person; however his gut was telling him that it was legit. He didn't know what the Quests had been planning on doing since he had not spoken to Race in almost two months. He picked up his cell phone and began to dial Race's number but then he stopped. No reason to alarm them if this turned out to be nothing more then a hoax. Leaning forward he typed in his username and password to open up his personal e-mail and found a message, with attachments, in his inbox. The sender's address appeared to be a generic account; easily activated from a public library or school computer lab. He doubted that it would be worth the time to setup a trace. Opening the e-mail Corbin found a few maps attached to the e-mail; several key areas of emphasis were marked on the maps. Also, he found grid coordinates corresponding with the marked areas. After saving the e-mail and the maps to an external drive, he printed out hardcopies as well. After he was done, he placed a call and was able to secure a flight for himself on a military aircraft. By doing this, he would be able to transport any weapons and supplies he would need in Spain without having to go through all the red tape if he went through official channels. Like the informant said, time was of the essence, and his flight was scheduled to leave from Andrews Air Force Base later in the night.
Corbin walked out of his office and locked the door. He turned to his secretary, a young 20-something girl with long brown hair and glasses, Ms. Deckard. She had only been working for him for about a month and a half now. "Ms. Deckard, I'm afraid something important has come up and I will be gone for a number of days."
"Yes, sir." She replied. She was perky, however he attributed that to her desire to impress him and hopefully advance to a more fulfilling position within Intelligence One. "Where will you be going?" She asked innocently.
"Spain. I don't know how long I will be gone." He replied.
"I'll have your calls forwarded to your cell while you are gone." She responded, already reaching for the phone.
"No, Ms. Deckard." He said suddenly.
She paused with the phone in her hand half way to her ear already. "Sir?"
"No. Just hold my calls. If any emergencies arise, contact Agent Stephens; he can handle it. I'm not planning on being gone more then a week anyways." That's if I don't get myself killed while there, he thought to himself.
Ms. Deckard hung up the phone, "Yes, Sir. I will do that. Have a good trip, Sir."
"Thanks." Corbin turned and walked down the hallway to the elevators. He had a few arrangements to make before he left for Spain.
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Quest Compound, Maine
Jonny and Jessie were silently eating breakfast before having to head out to school. Neither of them spoke about what had happened in Washington. They had experienced many strange things in their travels throughout the years; however something about Washington truly scared them both. Flesh eating zombies and mutant creatures were things out of movies and comic books, not meant to exist in the real world. Jonny still had nightmares and sometimes woke up screaming and in a cold sweat, swearing he was able to feel the spider-like creature still crawling on him, trying to bite his skin.
A few minutes later Race walked through the door. "You kids up for a little vacation?"
"Where to?" Jessie asked, looking up from her cereal. Not that the location really mattered, but any place was better then here and school.
"Spain. Your mother is doing a dig there and has asked that we join her." Race responded. Jessie could tell that her father was still affected by that day as well; he rarely spoke with such enthusiasm about seeing Estella.
"Yeah." Jonny shouted, a little louder then he had expected. "Anything to get out of school and this upcoming math test."
"Well, you guys better go get packed then. We are leaving tomorrow. Your dad has already contacted the principal and got an excusal for you both, but you still have assignments you'll have to work on while we are in Spain."
"Man that sucks." Jonny frowned.
"Go get packed. We are taking the Dragonfly so we need to start moving some stuff to the hanger."
Jonny and Jessie both jumped out of their seats and headed for the door. Jessie was excited to see her mother. She hadn't seen her since that day in Washington and she knew that just being with her mother would relieve some of the anxiety she had been feeling.
"This should be fun." Jonny said and he and Jessie climbed the stairs to their rooms.
"Yeah, seeing mom again will be great."
Jonny stopped and stared at Jessie for a moment. He didn't have to say any words because he could see in her face that she felt the same way he did…still scared. "Yeah, it will be, Jess."
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To be continued:
Hope you all enjoy it so far, the action should pick up in the next chapter which I hope to have out in the next few days, however it is difficult with being deployed and doing my job and also trying to work on my Masters Degree as well.
Any reviews, comments, criticism is welcome! Thanks.