I don't own Jonny Quest or any of its affiliates and I am not making any money off of this. Also, I don't own Resident Evil or any or its affiliates. I am not making any money off of this in ANY conceivable way.
When Nightmares Walk Amongst Us By: Sigokat
Race leaned over, squinting at the clock on his nightstand. '03:34! Now what the hell has happened?' He muttered to himself and he retrieved the ringing, vibrating cell phone off the stand.
"Bannon." He mumbled.
"It's Phil." Replied the voice on the other end. "I just got some news that I've been waiting on for a long time now."
Race rubbed his eyes as he listened to Phil's agitated voice. "What is it? What's going on?"
"The one that got away from me. He's finally resurfaced; I knew it was just a matter of time."
"You mean…Krumlanski? Where? When?"
"I just received word that he's going to be attending some sort of big wig biochemistry convention in Chicago in two weeks. The Umbrella Corporation is hosting it."
"Any idea where he's been for, what is it now, 5 years?" Race asked, suddenly interested.
"Actually it's been 6 years and 3 months now." Phil corrected with a somewhat sarcastic tone. Race couldn't tell for sure if Phil was really pissed or not.
"So where has he been?" Race asked again.
"I'll let you know when I see you next week once I get more information. If Dr. Quest has not yet received a formal invite to this convention, I'll make sure he does. I need you there with me. I know Krumlanski is up to something and I'm willing to bet that it's not legal. However, for all intensive purposes it is safe to say that he has definitely moved up from lackey to definite scum."
Race was careful in phrasing his next question, "Phil, what do you intend to do about him?"
"I think you already know that answer to that. I'll let you know when arrangements have been made for Quest and I'll see you in a few days." Phil responded and hung up before Race could reply.
Race lay back in his bed, staring at the ceiling. Phil was right, Race did know the answer to the question, he knew that this Krumlanski scum was the last one left, the one that they never got. He knew what Krumlanski did to Phil and he also knew with all his heart what Phil Corbin intended to do to Krumlanski when he found him.
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Race sat at the kitchen table staring out the window as Jonny and Jessie argued about some inane video game feud from Questworld. Dr. Quest sat reading the morning newspaper and Hadji had already gone off to startup Questworld to settle the ongoing dispute amongst the other two teens.
All of this happened around Race without him even noticing.
"Dad?" Jessie asked, finally noticing her father was acting quite strange. "Dad, are you ok?" She tapped him on the shoulder.
"Huh?" He responded.
"You ok, dad?"
"Yeah, Race, what's up? You look kind of out of it." Jonny chimed in.
"I didn't sleep too well last night." He answered vaguely.
"Race," Dr. Quest stated, "The major pharmaceutical company, Umbrella Corporation is hosting a convention in Chicago in two weeks. I received an invitation to attend. I've always been interested in their biomedical research and developments."
"Oh you already know about it then?" Race said before thinking.
"What?" Dr. Quest inquired, "How did you know about it?"
Race glanced down at his plate of food, finally seeing for the first time that he had hardly touched any of it. "Oh, I have a friend in Chicago who mentioned it a few weeks ago. He works at the hotel that is hosting it; an old high school buddy." Race managed to stammer out the words in quite a convincing tone, "He knew I knew you and figured you would be there. Wanted to try and see each other, you know, talk about old times, stuff like that. I meant to mention it to you, Dr. Quest, but I guess it slipped my mind. Sorry."
Dr. Quest eyed Race for what felt like an eternity. "Oh ok, well we should be leaving some time at the end of next week. So just make sure everything is ready."
"Yes, Dr. Quest." Race replied as he stood up from the table. Since Phil's call earlier in the morning he couldn't get the situation out of his head. He knew what was going to happen and he would be there to see it through. 'It's my fault that this wasn't resolved six years ago.' He thought to himself. 'I'll make sure that he doesn't get away this time.'
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Phil Corbin hadn't felt as nervous as he did right now in a long time. Ever since one of his informants mentioned Krumlanski he began to feel things that he hadn't felt in six long years. He wanted to be cautious; he didn't want him to get away again. Last time it wasn't his fault, being laid up in a hospital bed for over a month can do that to a man. Some of his fellow agents had done a 'favor' for him and taken out the people involved. However, Krumlanski, the ring leader, escaped. Corbin had always known that Krumlanski was nothing more then a puppet for Dr. Zin, however now that Zin was dead, the other one could cut the strings, so to speak.
Corbin had left Washington D.C. early in the morning, heading to Maine. He could have flown, however he needed the time to think so he had opted to drive himself. He needed to formulate his plans. Krumlanski was a criminal and although he couldn't prove anything the little information he was able to obtain before he left had suggested that Krumlanski had started working for the Soviet Union before its ultimate fall in the beginning of the 1990s. After that was when he was picked up by Zin. Krumlanski was only a small time scientist then, still working to perfect the germ and biowarfare devices he had begun to create for the Soviets.
Dr. Zin had Krumlanski working on perfecting those schemes as well as perform certain "tasks" for him. There was only one of those "tasks" that concerned Phil. He hadn't been director of I-1 at the time and he had been working late at home on a particularly intriguing case. That was when he heard the noise, a window breaking to be exact. He grabbed his pistol and cautiously moved up the stairs. His wife, Sarah, had gone to bed some time before. As he reached the top of the stairs, he reached for the door knob and was shocked when the door flew open in front of him. Before he could react he was hit in the face with something hard, more then likely the butt of a rifle. He dropped the pistol as he fell back down the stairs; a man with a M4 was on top of him before he could sit up, the muzzle only inches from his face. Without a word the man grabbed him and hauled him up the stairs and into his living room. Corbin was thrown to the floor, hitting his knee on the coffee table as he fell. He pushed himself up and was forced to his knees from behind. He knew that he had to do something, but he was surrounded. That was when he heard his wife's voice, filled with fear, screaming incoherently as two men dragged her from the bedroom. Phil tried to stand, but was met with another rifle butt to the middle of his back. His wife was thrown to the floor and she tried to move towards Phil, but was stopped by the two men.
"Don't hurt her, you bastards." Phil growled through gritted teeth. His mouth was bloody from the first hit and he ended up spitting blood and spittle on the floor in front of him. The man behind him grabbed his wrists and, using zip-ties, bound his hands behind him. The bounds were too tight, intentionally, causing the ties to cut his skin whenever he struggled. The other men did the same to Sarah. Once they were bound, Corbin saw another man, obviously their leader, standing in front of him.
"What do you want?" Corbin asked.
"My name is Krumlanski." The man replied. He was a weasel of a man, sneering at Corbin from behind his goons.
"I don't give a shit who you are," Corbin said, "What do you want?"
"You know what I want, Mr. Corbin." Krumlanski replied, smiling his shimmering white teeth at him. "The access codes for the weapons project you're working on."
Corbin glared at the man. His silence must have been too long, because Krumlanski nodded to two of the men, and they proceeded to beat Phil. They punched him repeatedly in the face and head, his nose was broken after only a few hits. They kicked him in the stomach, and continued to kick him while he was on the floor. He had no way to shield himself from the blows, as his hands were still tied behind him. He could hear his wife crying, screaming for the men to stop. One of the men lifted Corbin to his feet, his face bloodied, he stared at the man in front of him.
"Kill me and you will never get the codes." Corbin muttered between gasps for air.
Krumlanski smiled back at Corbin, "In due time." He then leaned forward and drove his knee into Corbin's groin, the pain was intolerable and he fell to the ground, grimacing and coughing up blood at the same time.
"Stop it." Sarah pleaded, "You'll kill him."
"Your turn." He said to her.
"No…" was all Corbin could say, before one of the men hit his wife in the face. He struck her again. "Stop!" Corbin cried. The man stopped and looked at him, his face void of emotion. "Stop, don't hurt her, I'll…I'll tell you."
"Phil, don't." Sarah pleaded.
One of the men stepped forward and hit Corbin again. "Just so you remember the right ones." The man said.
Between breaths he gave Krumlanski the access codes, however they were last months codes and would be changed within a few days; he'd never be able to use them.
Krumlanski smiled, "You've done yourself a great service." Then the smile was gone, "However, I still have MY orders to carry out."
"What?" Corbin said, "I gave you what you wanted."
"Just remember my name, the name of the man who killed your wife."
"No, don't…take me…" Corbin tried to fight, but was grabbed by two of the men. They turned him towards his wife, who was in tears. "I'm sorry…" he said to her.
"I love you…" was all she could say before Krumlanski pulled a revolver and took her life from her.
Corbin burst into sobs, they had made him watch, and the men laughed as Krumlanski pulled the trigger. He looked at Krumlanski as he turned the gun on him. Corbin growled at him, "Just kill me now…"
"No, that was your punishment." Krumlanski said. Then the men began to beat him again, the last thing he saw was his wife's body in front of him before he lost consciousness.
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Corbin rubbed his wrists as he drove, remembering that night as if it had happened yesterday. He still had faint scars on his wrists from the ties; they had cut deep into his skin. He had almost died from all the blood loss he had sustained during the beatings. Now, Krumlanski was back, and he wasn't about to let him get away this time.
He pulled into a hotel in a town outside of Rockport, Maine. He had told Race he was on his way, however he needed his rest tonight, and he was in no state to talk to anyone. He couldn't get the memories out of his head; as much as he tried they would not go away. He kept seeing it all happen again, in front of his eyes, over and over again.
Phil checked into a room that was less then spectacular. He was trying to be discreet. He had been waiting all these years for Krumlanski; however he didn't know if Krumlanski had been waiting for him as well. It was doubtful, but he had to be cautious.
Across the parking lot from the hotel was a convenient store, Phil wandered around the store, caught up in not only the past, but also the future, what he would do within the next few weeks. He was so caught up in is thoughts that he did not notice a small Honda pull into the hotel parking lot across the way. The lights went out, but whoever was driving stayed in the vehicle, watching the convenient store. Phil took his things to the counter, a small sandwich, a bag of chips, and a bottle of Jack Daniels.
"Give me 2 packs of cigarettes," Phil mumbled to the kid behind the counter, "and a lighter."
"What kind?" The kid replied.
"I don't know, I don't smoke." Phil replied. "Just give me something non-menthol."
"Yeah, ok." The kid said.
Once he got all his things he walked back to his hotel room, glancing at the Honda. He got inside his room, pulled out the bottle of whiskey, opened it, and took a long drink straight from the bottle. He lit up a cigarette and looked out his window, glancing back at the Honda that was still parked out front.
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Race continued to prepare the Dragonfly for the Quest team's trip to Chicago in the next two days. Dr. Quest had a few acquaintances at the University of Chicago that he wanted to visit before the day of the actual conference. Race had not yet informed Dr. Quest that Phil Corbin would be accompanying them to Chicago; however he didn't think it would raise any alarms in the doctor if he did. Dr. Quest would know soon enough once Phil arrived in Maine. As far as Race knew, Benton was unaware of what had happened to Phil's wife and even if he did know something he couldn't know that Krumlanski was involved. Race was positive that Dr. Quest was ignorant of Race's involvement in the situation as well, not that Race was overly concerned with that fact either.
Phil had told Race that he would be here today, however it was getting late and Race assumed he had probably stopped for the night. In Race's opinion, Phil was being overly paranoid about the whole matter; however there was nothing that he could say that would change in friend's behavior. Phil was determined to make Krumlanski pay for the pain he had caused so many years before.
Race was so involved in his thoughts that he did not hear the kids walk into the bay behind him.
"Hey, Race." Jonny said, "How are things coming?"
"Just fine, Jonny. She'll be ready to go on schedule." He replied lightly patting the hull of the plane.
"Cool." Jessie replied, "I can't wait to get out of here for awhile, whooping Jonny in Questworld all the time has become a bit tiring."
"Hey! You don't always win, and besides when you do, it is because I let you."
"Oh really! Let's just see about that!" Jessie said as she ran off towards the lighthouse.
"Alright! See you later, Race." Jonny hollered on his way out to catch Jessie.
"I hope this is all over quickly and smoothly." Race spoke out loud to himself. He couldn't tell, but he thought perhaps this might turn out to be a bad idea.
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Phil Corbin climbed out of the shower, but left the water running. He had thought he heard the door to his room open and close, however he wasn't positive. He had kept an eye on the Honda in the parking lot, but couldn't tell if it was occupied or not. 'Maybe I am being paranoid like Race said.' He thought to himself. He listened at the bathroom door and he could hear someone or something moving around inside his room, shuffling through his suitcase, as if looking for something. Phil pulled on his pants and grabbed his pistol from the sink. He slowly opened the bathroom door and stepped around the edge, not wanting to expose himself unnecessarily. The person in the room was not facing him, but currently bent over his suitcase and digging through his belongings.
Phil raised his pistol at the intruder, "I don't know what you're looking for," he said, "Just don't take the liquor, I might get angry."
The intruder slowly turned around to face him. "I didn't think you were the type to shoot someone in the back, Phil."
He kept his pistol raised, "No, but I know you are good at stabbing people there. What are you doing here, Jade?"
"Good to see you too, Phil. You look terrible." She glanced at the bottle of whiskey; it was almost completely gone. "I didn't take you for the type of person who drinks alone."
"What are you doing here?" He asked again.
"I came here to help, Phil. Are you going to keep that pistol pointed at me while we talk."
"I can't trust anybody right now. How did you know where I was? I didn't see anyone following me."
"I didn't follow you." Jade said, lighting a cigarette. "I know where you're headed and why. I figured you would be on your way to get your lapdog, Race Bannon, to help you out with a certain someone who will be in Chicago soon. Besides, I saw your car out front."
Phil's eyes narrowed as he watched her. She was good, never betraying anything more then she intended too. He lowered the pistol slightly. "You said you were here to help, I don't need your help, Jade. You are too much of a liability and besides I don't believe you."
Jade looked almost hurt, "You don't believe me? I know what you intend to do, Phil and you're crazy if you think you'll get away with it."
"Jade, there is nothing that you do that does not benefit you in one way or another. So, what is it? What do you want?"
"Phil, you'll never get away with killing him and all you are doing in setting up the Quests for a downfall as well. What was your plan, to walk into the hotel in Chicago and shoot him right there, in front of everyone! I know you have power and even more powerful friends, but you can't get away with it."
"I'm not even going to bother to ask how you know all this. I'm not concerned on my making it out, just as long as he's dead."
"Phil, don't you see? You're being set up. Krumlanski knows you'll come for him in Chicago. He'll kill you first."
"So what do you propose I do? I'm not letting him get away again."
Jade took a long drag from her cigarette then spoke. "You know about Krumlanski's past, so I'm not going to go into that anymore, except to say that for the past six years he has been perfecting his original works. You know of Umbrella, right? That is who he is working for now."
"I know all this already, Jade."
"What do you know about White Umbrella?" Jade asked with a playful sneer.
Phil's brow furrowed as he tried to respond. "White Umbrella, huh? I've heard the rumors; secret laboratories, viral weaponry experiments, scientists performing horrific tests on living people. I also know there isn't one shred of evidence to support any of this as well. No one can prove that White Umbrella actually exists." Phil walked over to the table and poured two glasses of whiskey, handing one to Jade.
Jade took a sip and continued. "What if I told you I could prove it? I can get you the evidence you need. You can take down the Umbrella Corporation."
Phil laughed as he sat down on the edge of his bed. "And just how do you propose to do that? What you are saying, essentially, is that you have some sort of proof about the existence of White Umbrella? Proof that the government has been working years trying to obtain? Please, share with me this information. Better yet, if you have any physical evidence that would be great. How about one of those 'zombies' they are supposedly creating."
"I'm serious, Phil." Jade spat, folding her arms across her chest. "Krumlanski is working for White Umbrella. I know the location of the laboratory where he has been working for almost two years now. If you try and take Krumlanski out in Chicago, you will only get the man. Wait till he returns to his lab, and take out his whole operation and get the evidence you need to take out Umbrella."
"How do you know your sources are legitimate?"
Jade lowered her head and mumbled, "I've seen the lab myself."
"What?" Phil croaked as he jumped to his feet, tossing his empty glass to the ground. "You've known where he's been for almost two years and you didn't tell me? What were you thinking?"
"I wanted to make sure. You think it was easy for me to keep this information from you for so long?"
"Well, it seems it wasn't that hard." Phil sneered. He grabbed a cigarette and lit one, trying to calm his nerves.
"Phil, White Umbrella is bigger then Krumlanski. Taking them down is more important then your quest for revenge!"
"More important for who? You? I could give a damn about Umbrella or White Umbrella." Phil stopped and turned to face Jade, staring into her eyes. "So, like I said earlier, what is in this for you? Since when have you cared about the welfare of others?"
Jade stepped closer to him, "I don't want to see you get killed because you let your rage take over your reason. And something this big is everyone's problem and I know that you believe that as well. You may be more concerned with your own agenda, but once you see what they are doing, your attitude will change. Like I said I don't want to see you killed."
Phil snorted, "I'm not going to die, believe me."
"That's what they all say…" Jade leaned into him and kissed his lips; her demeanor changing within a matter of seconds.
Phil pulled away, "Don't do this, Jade. It's not right."
Jade held his hand as she ran the other one over his chest, "Your loyalty to Race is admirable, Phil, however he and I have not been together for a long time."
"Still…"
"Still, what?" Jade asked as she kissed him again.
"Let me do this for you." She whispered into his ear.
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To be continued…
Please review for me; all comments are welcome.
Sigokat
