Shattered Memories
a Alternate timeline Jonny Quest: TRA fanfiction
by Time Guardian
Chapter 10 - A Past Revisited
Hadji knew he was running out of time. With his hands free, he had a few options, even though escape seemed to be near impossible. Both Melana and Anya flanked him, cutting off any potential escape routes.
Melana appeared to be running the show, and seemed just as dangerous. She was the one that held the sword and she was swinging it right at him.
"Heya crazy ninja ladies!"
The shout stopped Melana in her tracks. As she and Anya turned around, Hadji looked around them and saw a familiar figure standing a few yards away in the courtyard.
"Pasha!"
"It's good to see you, Hadji my boy," he shouted, "Jonny should be with you shortly."
Hadji wasn't sure what Pasha meant until he noticed a blur of movement from the balcony above him. Crouching quickly, he saw Jonny drop from above onto Melana. With the threat of a weapon out of the way, Hadji went after Anya.
--
Race had met Dr. Quest's plane at the small landing area they had used. Standing outside the steps, he waited while the plane doors opened and finally breathed a little easier when he saw his friend and employer step out with a small laptop computer.
He stepped forward quickly, directing Dr. Quest to a rental car he had parked nearby."Benton, we better get going. Things are going down hard and fast at the palace. I was able to reach Pasha and Jonny for a brief moment before you landed. The Zin sisters had Hadji tied up and were threatening him."
Dr. Quest looked grim. "Then we need to hurry."
--
After Jonny dropped on Melana, she quickly fought back, using her legs to push him away so she could get to a standing position. The blade that she had been wielding laid a few feet away.
Jonny got to his feet and noted her interest in the weapon. "I wouldn't recommend it, Melana," he taunted. "As I remember, I could easily beat you, sword or no."
She shot back with a sneer. "I doubt it. I have been training hard and didn't betray my father in his time of need like you did."
He realized what Melana was about to do and and made a low dive for sword just as she went for it.
Melana managed to grab onto it a split second before him and used it to quicklly swing at him. Jonny allowed himself to fall back, the blade just missing him by inches. He recovered long enough to go low with a leg sweep, which she anticipated by jumping back out of range.
He eyed her warily, trying to come up with some new strategy. -Come on, think! You have beaten her before.-
"Running out of ideas, Jonny?" she taunted. "That is so unlike you."
He looked around the grounds of the courtyard for anything he could use, and that is when he spotted an unused long wooden torch in a holder on the nearby wall. In a instant, he knew how to get her.
Smirking, Jonny crossed his arms and gave her a hard look. "You are just mad because I killed your father and helped to foil your plan to bring him back to life. Both are you are weak, just like your father was."
With a howl of rage, Melana charged headlong at him, sword out to her side. When she was within a few feet of him, he sidestepped her and went for the torch on the wall. Jonny managed to yank it free on the first try, and quickly swung around with his improvised weapon.
He connected, hitting her square in the back. Melana fell to the ground hard, and the sword she carried clanged to the ground. Jonny let out an uneasy breath as he threw the torch aside and grabbed the sword from where it had fallen from her hands.
--
Hadji tackled Anya easily, and managed to pin her shoulders to the ground. He tried to catch his breath, but he had to know one thing.
"So, all that we had together, that was all a lie?"
Anya laughed. "Of course there was something there, Hadji. However, my priorities and my allegiances are with my father above and beyond all else."
She made a kissing noise before using her body weight to roll backward and throw Hadji to the ground.
Recovering quickly, he scrambled to his feet and eyed her warily. "You were quite the convincing actress."
Hadji lunged at her again, but Anya sidestepped him neatly.
He looked around quickly. Anya's agility was making her a formidable opponent, but he knew there were other ways to trip up a ninja.
They were both near where they had tied him up intially, and Hadjii could still see the discarded rope on the ground near the pillar. It had been many months since he had praticed his magic, but he felt calm and confident as he focused his energy. "Sim sim sim sala bim!"
Focusing his efforts, the rope began to rise in the air. Anya tried running, but the rope easily caught up with her. It shot out quickly, snaking around her wrists and pulled her unceremoniously to the pillar.Hadji crossed his arms in grim stisfaction as Anya shrieked at him. "Let me go! Let me go, Hadji! I didn't mean it really! It was your cousin Vikram that wanted you dead. We were only going to use you for the falcon, believe me!"
He turned away from her. "As I said, you are quite the convincing actress. Now if you will excuse me, I need to get in touch with my past."Hadji walked away went to check out the doors available to him. One of them had to lead to his cousin Vikram, but judging by the amount of doors, he knew it would take a while to check each one.
"Hadji!"
He stopped long enough to let Jonny catch up to him. "Are you all right?"
"Nothing to it," he replied with a grin. "How about you 'Sultan', are you ready to find out about your past?"
Hadji winced at the use of the term. "If you haven't noticed, there are quite a few doors to try. Besides, I am not sure where to start."
--
Jonny looked around with some unease. Something didn't add up about all of this. He looked back at where they had left Anya and Melana and to his amazement found that they were upright and on the move. They seemed to be giving up awful easily.
He also saw that Pasha was heading towards them, so he made a quick decision - Jonny just hoped both Hadji and his father would understand. Melana's sword in hand, he turned to follow the twins when he heard Hadji call out. "Where are you going, Jonny?"
He turned back for a moment and smiled what he hoped was a believable smile.
"You have this situation in the bag, Hadj. Pasha can help you. Now go in there and claim what's yours. Dad is on his way here, and if he asks, tell him something important has come up." He held up his wrist and tapped the watch that he wore. "I am on the trail."
Before Hadji could ask anymore questions, Jonny took off across the courtyard with a burst of speed.
--
Pasha hurried to where Hadji was and gave him a big bear hug. "Man, is it ever good to see you again."
Hadji smiled for a moment, and then remembered what Jonny had told him. "Pasha, is my mother ok?"
He nodded. "She was overjoyed to find out that you were here. In fact-" He paused for a moment, and gave a sharp whistle. "she should be here any second now."
Hadji turned around eagerly, and a few moments later saw the figure of a woman walking towards him in the moonlight. In his dreams he had visualized his mother and when she came close enough he knew his dreams were realized. He was so awestruck, he could hardly say a word. "M-mother??"
Neela smiled broadly, the beginnings of tears in her eyes. "Hadji, my son."
He ran to her and embraced her tightly. She returned the gesture, then placed her hands on his shoulders.
"After so long - I knew you were alive. Pasha had visited many a time telling me all about you. It has given me the strength I needed to survive."
Pasha stepped forward. "Now all we need is to do is get Vikram out of the palace."
--
The moon was high in the sky by the time that Race and Dr. Quest arrived at the palace. There had been no guards to greet them, and when they parked the rental car in the courtyard, they saw why.
In the middle of the courtyard, they noticed that a contigent of guards surrounded two men. Dr. Quest was relieved to see Hadji standing near them along with Pasha and a woman he didn't recognize. Everything was coming back together again and settling down.
He quickly rushed to Hadji and embracede him warmly. "I am so glad to find you safe. I was going to ground you for running off with Melanie, but considering the circumstances, I think that can be forgiven."
Hadji smiled. "I am sorry that I worried you. Luckily Pasha and Jonny were here to help me out, and we have my cousin in custody." He glanced over at the two men the guards were surrounding. "Vikram had an iron hold over Bangalore along with his assistant Hakim. After we managed to convince the guards that I was the true sultan, they quickly took both of them into custody before they could flee."
Race noted the woman standing by Pasha and was curious. "Pasha, who is your lady friend?"
The old man laughed heartily. "This beautiful lady's name is Neela, and she is also Hadji's mother."
Dr. Quest bowed. "It is an honor to meet you, Neela."
She returned the gesture. "Pasha has told me about what you have done to keep my son safe," She replied. "It is good that he has had a loving family to grow up with all these years. Vikram had put out a bounty for his death, and he wasn't safe here."
Race looked around at the scene. "Speaking of family, where's Jonny?"
Hadji looked around in confusion, trying to remember. "The last time I saw him, I was going after Vikram. He had said something about 'I had everything else in hand and having something important come up, and that if you asked, he was on the trail.' He also tapped his watch."
Race thought fast. "I don't see the daughters of Zin around here either. Benton, you don't think-"
Dr. Quest laid a hand on his shoulder. "Race, if he's gone after them-"
He nodded, knowing what the doctor was thinking. "As good as Jonny has become, he will need help. He knows that his watch has a homing signal. Well, Hadji? Since you are the new Sultan in these parts, can you get us a quick ride?"
--
Through the moonlit darkness, Melana Zin guided the helicopter past the towns, through numerous canyons and followed a small river until she finally spotted the small temple that they were using as a base.
She guided the helicopter to a nearby clearing and landed. After shutting off the engine, the sisters disembarked, quickly hurrying to the small building.
In the darkness, the buidling looked more like a small residence than a temple. with stone walls covered in vegetation, it had looked like no one had been there in sometime. The sisters had remembered the temple from the time they came with their father to search for the ultimate way to eternal life, which made it the perfect staging place now. Various religious statues that denoted the buildings true purpose laid crumbing around the perimeter in various states of decay. Days ago, Anya had also secured two motorcycles for their use, and had stationed them just outside the building. Inside, there were no other rooms, but the space was divided by a small raised platform at one corner, along with a wooden podium. Tall bookshelves and cabinets lined the walls flanked by lit oil lamps giving off a low light.
Once inside, Anya took a seat at the small table near the door and slammed her gear on top of it. "This ended badly."
Melana chose to pace the length of the room. "Quit your whining, Anya. Father wouldn't stand to see such weakness from us. And what was all of that preventing Hadji's death? He defied us!"
Anya retorted. "We needed him to get the falcon! Well, at least there is always plan b. Besides, you grabbed the ruby, didn't you? That will fund our travels for the short term and-"
A rustling noise came from outside. Melana held up a hand, silencing her sister. "We are not alone."
--
Jonny had stowed aboard their helicopter when the sisters had made their escape, and now that they had landed, he had hoped to keep tabs on them.
When he saw the building in the moonlight, it sparked another memory in him. From what he already knew, Dr. Zin was researching methods for eternal life in various countries, which didn't make any sense to him. If he was after the realm of Shambala for the life giving water, there would be no reason for his daughters to setup here- unless they had another plan.
Jonny clutched the sword that he had had taken from Melana tightly in his hands and slowly walked towards the temple. He needed to find out why the sisters had given up so easily.
Steps away from the temple, he stepped on a branch. The sound seemed to echo through the night, and he froze. With the near silence around him, one of the sisters was sure to have heard the noise.
He quickly reached the building and crouching, flattened himself near one of crumbling statues and waited, all the while watching the door.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, he saw the door open and what looked like two shadows walked out into the night. Jonny saw the opportunity and took it.
Quickly while staying low, he snuck into the temple. Precious seconds ticked by as Jonny gauged his surroundings, trying to find a place to hide before the sisters came back inside.
"So the rat has come back to play."
Jonny cursed his lack of attention as he recognized Melana's voice from behind him. Turning around slowly he saw that both sisters were back in the room, and judging by their glances, both were ready to fight.
"You know, that was a dirty trick back at the castle, clocking me like that, but I am ready for you." Melana growled. At her side, Jonny noticed she had another sword, and she quickly drew it out on him.
"Save some for me, sister," Anya purred.
Melana charged at him full, but Jonny brought his weapon up and blocked her easily. Her anger seemed to give her an edge, and it was all Jonny could do to block each of her swings. What he needed was more room, and a plan. He decided to run to the far wall of the temple, deflecting her blows left and right as he went. In the low light of the oil lamps through the small space, Jonny eventually chose to turn around and face Melana. He wished that he had kept better tabs on Anya, but he had to keep them busy if his dad had any chance to catch up to them. Jonny kept his back against an old cabinet that was against the wall, all the while keeping her at bay with his blade.
"This has gone on long enough, Melana."
Her face did not change expression at all. "There is something we agree upon after all. Now Anya!"
He thought he had his back covered, but when he looked behind him, Jonny realized his error. In a blur, Anya came flying down towards him from her perch on top of one of the old bookcases that he had his back against.
There was no time to react, and she managed to land a solid kick to the side of his head. The shock of the attack made Jonny stumble and fall to the ground.
As Jonny laid on the ground, he struggled through the haze of pain shooting through his head.
Melana's face appeared in his field of vision. "So sorry to be leaving you like this, Jonny, but since you
ruined our one opportunity to reach the falcon, we are going to plan B. A certain snake cult has a
item that grants eternal life - but why am I telling you this? You were with us when father discovered
it's existance."
-The Snake Cult-
The name set off warning bells in his head, but he was not in a position to do much about it. The pain radiating through his head prevented much of anything, and darkness was his only relase.
--
After using precious time prepping the royal helicopter that Vikram tried to escape in, they were finally able to get underway. Dr. Quest adjusted the settings on the laptop, and tried his best to tune in to the tracking signal from Jonny's watch. For a few minutes, he heard the steady blip of the signal coming through loud and clear, but then without warning, the signal he had been tracking disappeared off of his scope. "I've lost the signal!"
Race held his course. They hadn't gone far, for they were still over the heart of Bangalore. "Do you have
his last position?"
Fingers flying, Dr. Quest nervously traingulated the last signal he received from his son's watch along the GPS system in the helicopter. Jonny's last signal had indicated that the helicopter that he had nearly traveled three hundred miles away. "I've got it. Let's get going."
He relayed the coordinates to Race, but couldn't get rid of the uneasy feeling he had.
--
Jonny woke up with a groan.
His head felt like it was splitting in two, and judging by the level of quiet around him, the sisters must have left him there. He pushed himself into a sitting position, and when he was satisfied that he would not fall over, He pushed himself up to his feet and walked outside.
The night air hummed with insect activity, but little else. He also noticed that the two motorcycles that had been outside the temple were now gone, which served to alarm him, especially since the helicopter that they arrived in was still sitting a few yards away from the temple, seemingly in perfect condition. The Zin sisters normally did not leave anything in their wake.
Looking down at his watch, he saw the smashed inner workings and swore. Jonny wasn't even sure if his
position got transmitted to his dad. He took the watch off of his wrist and flung it to the ground as he continued to the helicopter. If Melana and Anya didn't booby trap it, maybe he could follow them and-
A clicking noise made him stop. Looking down near the ground, he saw that his foot had snagged a tripwire.
Swearing, he gauged the distance to the nearby river and decided to take his chances.
Minutes later, the world around him exploded.
--
It seemed like an eternity, but when Race finally closed in on the source of the signal, Dr. Quest strained
to see the area in the darkness. The lights on the helicopter barely cut through the darkness as they pressed on.
Minutes later, Dr. Quest cross checked his findings with the GPS. "We are here Race. Better find a place to land and - oh no."
Race followed his gaze and saw the bright column of fire and smoke coming from below them. "Hold on."
He quickly picked a flat spot a couple hundred yards away from the fire, and with careful precision, he managed to land the craft safely in the surrounding darkness.
Once the helicopter was on the ground, Dr. Quest scrambled to release himself from his restraints. Stumbling out onto the ground, he ran towards what looked like a burning temple, but stopped short due to the heat of the fire. He could go no further.
Falling to his knees, coherent thought fled in a moment's glance.
"No. Not again."
--
nearly 48 hours later--
In the darkness, Race Bannon rode the motorcycle with lights on full down the dirt road towards the blackened remains of the temple. He had been up and down that same path at least twenty times checking the surroundings and the river since Hadji had the bike sent to their location from the Sultan's personal collection. The results were still the same, there was no sign of the sisters or Jonny for that matter. He dreaded reporting in to his friend, but he had little choice.
Once he got close to the temple, Race manuevered the bike around some blackened shrubs before finally coming to a stop near the blackened hull of the helicopter that Zin's daughters had used. He quickly shut off the bike, took off the black helmet that he had been wearing, and placed it carefully on one of the handles.Race heard the crunch of the dirt and burned vegetation under his feet, and it seemed to echo out into the coming dawn.
Spotting Dr. Quest at the far edge of temple's perimeter, Race walked over until he was mere steps behind his friend, but Dr. Quest never turned around. He cleared his throat. "Benton, I couldn't find anything."
Silence. Race wondered if Dr. Quest had even heard what he had just said, until he finally replied. "Then let's search again."
Race shook his head. They had been at for close to forty-eight hours all ready, and he all ready had a sinking feeling that they would not find anything more. A storm that had moved into the area a few hours ago obliterated any possible traces of vehicles, and the helicopter that the sisters had used was left in a smoking ruin nearby.
He didn't want to dash his friend's hopes, but they had to face facts.
"Benton, I refuse to believe that Jonny is dead, and I also doubt that he got captured again. The resourcefulness that he showed in Germany showed me that Jonny has a good head on his shoulders, and we still don't know what all he learned while he was in Zin's service. The main thing is: we did not find him here, and if he doesn't want to be found, he knows how to hide. Hadji has also promised to keep a contigent of guards searching around Bangalore for him. As much as I hate to say this, there's not much more we can do here."
He watched Dr. Quest silently stared at the horizon. Race frowned slightly and he kicked at a rock in the dirt. "I should have seen the signs. Jonny had been keeping a lot inside. He 'didn't want us involved' were his words back at the Castle Wolfsbrunnen."
Dr. Quest sighed as he watched the sun rise in the distance. "It's not your fault, Race. I saw the same thing too. It was as if he was trying to protect us from all of this in the first place. I could tell that he probably would have kept this all his secret if Hadji had not become involved with the daughters of Zin. The only reason I pushed him to face things was so he could put this behind him. I was just hoping Jonny would remember that he doesn't have to do this alone."
Race put a hand on his friend's shoulder. He hadn't seen Benton Quest this down since the one time years ago, when they all thought Jonny had died at Palm Key.
"Benton, we'll keep the net out for Jonny. He will turn up, you'll see."
--
Minutes later, Dr. Quest heard Race turn and walk away.
He looked back at the ruins of the temple with growing hope in his heart. They had not found a body, and he knew that his son was resourceful. Dr. Quest said a silent prayer as he rounded on the scene and followed Race back to the Dragonfly, which they had brought hours earlier to help with the search. He checked the scene as best he could for clues, now he would head home and wait, and would hang onto the belief that Jonny was alive.
There was nothing else he could do for now.