The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
Back from the Dead
By: Sapphire
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Chapter Five: Enemy's Return
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The next morning dawned crisp and cold. There was a thin layer of clouds in the sky, so thin the sun appeared as a hazy, glowing orb. There wasn't much of a chance of snow on such a day, but the temperatures promised to remain low.
Race, Price, and Jessie went out that morning to find the cause of the previous night's power failure. Driving down the driveway, they discovered a downed line just outside the compound. It appeared to be the result of a fallen tree, but the tree had been deliberately cut. Back at the house, Race called the power company via a cellular phone. They assured Race they would be out right away, and the workers arrived late that morning to repair the wire.
Jonny completely surprised everyone by volunteering to clean up the glass shards from the broken window in Maggie's room. Maggie had been banished to the living room, where she was to remain on the couch in her comfy, stretchy track suit until further notice. She'd disobeyed doctor's orders by walking on her knee, with good reason to be sure, and now she was in quite a bit of pain because of it.
Once the power line crews were gone, Jessie sat in the living room with Maggie, a laptop in front of her, going through the Questworld systems and making sure nothing was damaged in the power failure. Race resumed his pacing, also in the living room, still unable to contact Dr. Quest. Neither provided good company, so, Price rescued her, assisting her upstairs to his own room where they sat on the end of the bed, a Chinese Checkers board between them. The game wasn't terribly exciting, though, with the previous night's events heavy on their minds.
"Benton Quest and Hadji Singh entering security controlled area," Iris' voice interrupted the quiet of the house. In accordance with the level four security, the announcement could be heard in every part of the house.
"What on earth?" Maggie said, looking up at Price. "I thought they were still in Nigeria. Race couldn't reach them. Why are they home?"
"Want to go downstairs and find out?" Price asked. Maggie nodded and Price, somewhat stiffly, stood to help Maggie stand. She held onto him, and he winced when she pressed against a bruise. Arms around each other's waists, Price half carried Maggie as she hobbled to the top of the stairs. Bandit, who seemed to always be near the young woman lately, followed close behind.
Just as they started down the steps, Hadji and Benton burst in through the front door. Strangely, Bandit wasn't barking happily in greeting. Instead, he was growling menacingly, his hackles raised. Maggie and Price paused on the steps, confused by the dog's unusual behavior. It was that moment when the answer stepped through the door behind Dr. Quest and Hadji: it was Connor Hovand III.
"Father!" Price exclaimed. In his surprise, he drew back, upsetting Maggie's precarious balance, nearly sending her down the stairs. He barely managed to keep his hold around her waist. Maggie, stunned to see Connor Hovand boldly looking up at them, hardly noticed the near miss.
"I knew he wasn't dead," Jonny said from the living room where he, Jessie, and Race were being held at gunpoint by the train station gunman, his black clothes from the night before visible under the open trench coat. Connor Hovand looked around the room, his eyes meeting every gaze, then settling on Price.
"I'm surprised to see you here," Connor said. He eyed Maggie, who was standing close to his son. "I must say, I'm disappointed in the company you've chosen to keep. I thought you'd have realized how poor a choice it was after last night." Connor's words may have been spoken with calm quiet, but they had an underlying sharp bite to them that angered Price more than the words themselves. Maggie knew he was angry, without taking her eyes off Connor, because his hold on her tightened rigidly until it actually hurt. It spoke volumes.
"Perhaps," Price replied, his voice equally quiet and even, "you should turn around and leave, and take your friend with you."
"I can't do that," Connor returned.
"Why not?" Price questioned. "You had no problem having me beaten. Walking away is trivial compared to that." Connor was apparently not accustomed to being questioned by his son. His eyes narrowed, his glare cold.
"This is no trivial matter. That girl ruined me," Connor said icily. His glare transferred quickly to Maggie. She flinched. "Because of her, I've lost everything. I'm forced to live under an assumed name, in hiding. She destroyed the company that took me decades to build. And now it seems she's stolen my son-"
"She didn't," Price denied evenly. But Maggie's outburst drown him out.
"I stole your son?" Maggie was furious. "You kept my father and brother from me for twenty years and killed both my parents and you're mad because you think I stole your life? What about my life, the life I should have been sharing with my whole family, the life you robbed from me?"
"That's irrelevant," Connor said coldly, his eyes boring into hers. "You were supposed to have died years ago, when you were a baby, and it wasn't your life to begin with." Maggie stared at him blankly, in shock.
"You are a liar and a murderer," Price said quietly. "That's the only relevant truth." Connor's gaze transferred from Maggie, back to his son. "It was better when I thought you were dead. I can reconcile myself to a dead father. I can't do that with what you've become."
"Shut-up," Connor said sharply. "I am no different than I was before. It's you who had a skewed view of the world." It was clear he was quickly tiring of the conversation. Jonny darted a glance at Hadji and Jessie. Jessie inclined her head in agreement, Hadji gave a nearly imperceptible nod. They moved, the three of them from different directions, and tackled the man in black, who had become distracted by the drama unfolding between Connor, Price, and Maggie. But Connor was not so inattentive. He moved to put an end to it, raised his gun, and fired a shot into the floor to get their attention before holding his gun to Dr. Quest's head. "Get back, now," Connor ordered.
"Do what he says, kids," Race warned, watching Connor carefully. He didn't trust the man. Grudgingly, the three of them complied, and backed away from the man in black, who quickly retrieved his own gun.
"If any of you try a stunt like that again, Dr. Quest dies right here, right now." He made sure no one was getting ideas, then, "Bring him in, now," he called out. Two more men entered the house through the front door. One was holding a gun to the other. "Our little get-together just wouldn't be complete without Devin."
"Maggie! You're all right. I heard a gunshot…." Matthew Hardy had never been happier to see anyone in his life. She smiled at him reassuringly. "And my name is not Devin," he shot at Connor Hovand. "Not anymore. It's Matthew Hardy." Connor glared furiously at Matthew.
"Shut up!" he snapped. "Ungrateful whelp. I'm going to get rid of all of you."
"Mass murder is a nasty crime to be charged with," Race shot at Hovand, not liking the way the man was fixating on Maggie and Matthew. It did the trick, drawing the man's attention away from them for a moment.
"Yes, it is," Hovand agreed evenly. "Luckily, I won't be charged. Authorities think I'm dead. And with all the enemies you and Dr. Quest have accumulated, the authorities won't know who to pin it on."
"You slime," Jessie said, temper flaring. Hovand laughed. Jonny tensed, ready to strike out at Hovand if the chance presented itself.
"Jonny!" Dr. Quest's voice caught the attention of his son. "No heroics." Hovand laughed again as Jonny backed down.
"Tie them all up," Connor said to a white clad gunman, the one who had brought Matthew in. He set to work, grabbing Bandit first, shoving him in the closet. Maggie recognized him as the man who had followed her to her dorm three nights before. And dressed in a white snowmobile suit, he was also the man who had tried to kill her the day of the snowmobile accident. He worked efficiently, and soon everyone was securely tied to heavy furniture except Matthew, Maggie, and Price.
"Now, Son," Connor said evenly, "I'm going to give you one chance to redeem yourself. Come down here with that girl. Bring her to me." Maggie felt Price's grip on her tighten even more. She winced. Connor saw, and by his expression he thought it meant his son was about to comply. He smirked, a triumphant smirk.
"No," Price said firmly. "I'm not going to let you hurt her." Connor's smirk went away. Maggie knew she would have bruises, Price was holding even tighter.
"I said bring her down here," Connor demanded. Price firmly shook his head. "Then you leave me little choice." Connor mounted the stairs and approached the two that stood midway up. He held the gun level with Maggie's chest. She let out an involuntary gasp. Price's reaction was to shove Maggie behind him, shielding her with his own body. He hoped his father wouldn't shoot his only son.
"Maggie, look out!" Jonny shouted a warning. She turned to see another, unknown man running down the few steps behind her. He had snuck around to the back stairs and came up behind them. He grabbed Price by the neck while Connor grabbed for Maggie and yanked hard on her arm until she came flying down the steps at him. He sidestepped her, narrowly avoiding a collision, and Maggie fell to the hardwood floor at the bottom of the steps.
"Maggie!" Matthew shouted as his twin sister landed in a heap. He started toward her, aware she was already injured, and could now be hurt worse.
"Stop!" shouted the man in black. Matthew froze as a shot rang out. The gun had been fired into the ceiling, and plaster came raining down on him. Maggie, now aching everywhere, propped herself up on an elbow, and looked up at her brother.
"I'm all right," she said shakily. Connor came down the steps. The unknown gunman tied Price to the staircase railing. Then he descended the stairs and hauled Maggie to her feet, holding a gun to her head.
"You and Devin are going with us for a little walk," Connor said. He prodded Matthew out the door. "The rest of you can burn in Hell- Price included." Connor looked right at Price. "You are not my son anymore." Then he exited the house. Maggie, Matthew, and their keepers followed him.
The man in white remained behind and started to pour gasoline around the room. He was watched silently while he finished his awful job, and headed for the door. With a glare and a triumphant smile, he lit a match and set it to the gasoline.
"I always did like bonfires," the man in white laughed at his own snide remark as the flames flared up. He left the house as the fire spread rapidly along the gasoline soaked furniture and floor.
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Maggie was half carried and half pushed along the stone walkway when she couldn't keep up with the pace. She looked back at her brother, the black clad gunman from the train station directing him with his gun. The man in white had just left the house. She wondered what he had been up to as he caught up to them.
Matthew barely noticed his sister. He was trying to figure out where Connor was taking them. He'd thought they'd return to the cars when they left the house, but they were heading the wrong way. Suddenly he understood. They were going to the big garage where his uncle housed a plethora of various vehicles, everything from a bicycle to a helicopter.
"What are you going to do to us?" Maggie asked, her eyes on the garage, too.
"You'll find out soon enough," Hovand told her briskly. When they reached the garage, Maggie was dropped on the ground against the wall, and Matthew was forced to sit beside her. Connor Hovand stood over them with his gun pointed at them while his three henchmen got to work.
The man in white opened up the large doors, and the other two slipped inside. Maggie and Matthew heard an engine start. Moments later, the Quest Copter was wheeling out the doors on it's motorized trolley. The black clad man from the train station was driving the trolley, and he set the chopper on the clear landing pad. The third man, the one they'd not seen before, was inside the helicopter's cockpit. They realized the reason for his presence. He was the pilot.
Connor Hovand and the man in white urged Maggie and Matthew to their feet with their guns. Connor climbed in first, then watched while the children of his greatest enemy were loaded in for a one-way flight to their deaths. His remaining cohorts climbed in, too, as the pilot began preparations for take off.
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"Okay, Jonny, now would be a great time for one of your plans," Jessie said as the flames licked at the bookcase right beside her. She was tied tightly to a heavy chair and couldn't move. The gasoline fumes and smoke were near overpowering.
"I'm working on it," Jonny replied, thinking hard. He was bound to another chair, the one that matched Jessie's.
"Hurry it up," Race said, looking through the haze at Hadji. "Hadji might beat you to it." Hadji was concentrating hard, attempting to escape his bindings.
"I have an idea!" Jonny announced over the roar of the fire as something popped into his head. "Price, can you break the spindle of the banister? If you could, you'd be able to come untie us."
"It seems pretty solid," Price said pulling on the spindle. "Maybe if I kicked it out?" He maneuvered his aching body around on the stairs and put his foot up to the spindle's base. Leaning back against the other railing, he gave it a good, hard kick. The hard piece of oak squeaked as it came loose of the nails holding it in place. He kicked again, and it splintered, separating completely from the base. He was free.
"Slammin'!" said Jonny. Price ran to the bottom of the stairs, and began to work on the knots holding Benton Quest in the chair Jonny was stuck to. Once they were free, it was a matter of seconds before the rest were free. Jessie let Bandit out of the closet, and headed out the door being held open by her father. Benton ran in the other direction, to the computer console behind the panel in the wall.
"Iris, cancel all security and contact the Rockport Fire Department. Authorization Benton Quest."
"All security levels, canceled. Fire Department, on it's way," Iris stated.
"Show last known location of Maggie and Matthew Hardy," Dr. Quest commanded next. Iris played back the security footage of Maggie and Matthew being dragged to the garage. "Hurry!" Dr. Quest shouted. "Hovand is stealing the Quest Chopper!" He ran from the house following the others.
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The rotor blades began to whirr as the pilot finished his flight prep. Maggie felt her stomach turn. If they took off, she knew she and her brother were as good as dead. She looked toward the house, praying someone would come to rescue them. Instead, she saw smoke curling into the air.
"What did you do?!" she shouted. "What did you do to them?" Matthew looked out the window toward the house and gasped.
"I assure you, my dear," Connor stated coolly, "they won't suffer long. They will die of smoke inhalation before a single flame touches them." Just then, both Matthew and Maggie saw Jonny and Race running toward them. They were closely followed by Jessie, Price, Hadji, and Benton. They could even see Bandit running along with them. Both let out a breath of relief. "Take off!" Connor ordered the pilot urgently. "Take off now!" The man in the pilot seat did as he was told, and the helicopter began to slowly lift off the ground.
Connor Hovand gave a laugh of victory as they rose into the air, and those on the ground disappeared from view. He had won, and soon all of the Hardy's would be dead. Then he would come back and get rid of the Quests for good.
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Jonny ran as fast as he possibly could, trying to catch the helicopter before it lifted out of reach. At the last minute, he caught hold of the skid and he held on for dear life as he was snatched from the ground.
"Jonny!" Dr. Quest shouted as his son rose into the air.
"Dad!" Jessie shouted at the same time because Race managed to catch the chopper a nanosecond after Jonny. Price made a jump for it, and barely caught the skid, but his grasp slipped, and he fell several feet back to the ground.
"No!" he shouted from the ground. He, and the rest of the Quest family turned their faces to the sky, watching the helicopter move out over the Atlantic, then circle back over land.
"You tried," Jessie said consoling the disappointed Price. "If anyone can save them, it's Jonny and my Dad." As she finished her sentence, they could hear the faint sirens of the fire engines coming toward the compound from town.
"Looks like all we can do now is meet the authorities, and hope for the best," Benton Quest said with a worried sigh.
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Jonny looked down. His feet were hanging there, high up above the treetops. If he let go now, he would fall to his death. He shuddered. Looking across to the other skid, he saw Race Bannon trying to hook his feet around the skid so he could climb up onto it. Ignoring the freezing air cutting through his thin shirt, Jonny did the same.
When they had both managed to get up and were seated on the skids, they glanced at one another again. Race gave him the "hold up" gesture, meaning for him to follow his lead. Race slid to the back of the skid and slowly stood up along the body of the helicopter. Jonny did the same, knowing they would have to get inside if they were going to be of any help. Jonny reached up for the door handle, and waited for Race's signal.
Race held onto the handle of the door while he crouched on the thin skid. He raised his head ever so slowly and peered into the helicopter window at an angle, so as not to be noticed by the passengers inside the cabin. He could see Hovand and the man in black across from him. He figured Maggie and Matthew must be right next to him and Jonny, sitting on the bench that stretched across the back of the cabin. The third gunman, the one dressed in white, was not up front, so he was likely sharing the bench. None of the passengers had any idea he and Jonny were out there. He and Jonny definitely had the element of surprise on their side. Race counted to three, then flung the door open.
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Maggie sat in her seat, staring across the cabin at Connor Hovand. She really hated that man. His cold gaze proved the feeling was mutual.
"So, you thought me dead, did you?" Mr. Hovand asked with a smirk on his face. "I had you all fooled: you two, that dense Dr. Quest and his muscle man Bannon, and those rotten kids besides."
"You didn't have Jonny fooled," Maggie couldn't help but squelch his attitude. "He knew all along that you were alive." She had succeeded. Connor Hovand gave her a menacing look.
"How exactly did you get out?" Matthew asked. He figured if they were going to die, they might as well die knowing the truth.
"Easy," Hovand told them. "I was outside before emergency crews arrived. All I had to do was blend in with the gathering crowd of onlookers."
"There was a body," Maggie said slowly. "If it wasn't yours, whose was it?" Connor smiled very slowly, the expression chilling.
"I imagine what they found was what remained of your mother's body," Hovand said. Maggie let out a cry of dismay, and Matthew swallowed a lump in his throat. Connor laughed. Suddenly the door flew open, and the passengers were hit with an icy blast of air.
Now it was Connor's turn to be shocked. His stunned reaction was exactly what Race Bannon had been hoping for. He held onto the door and swung himself into the helicopter's cabin, sending a foot flying into Hovand's jaw. The force of the impact sent Race swinging back out of the cabin, clinging to the door. Connor's gun went off, and the bullet went through the window on Jonny's side.
Jonny saw the window glass crack, fracturing in a spider web pattern outward from a bullet hole, even though he couldn't hear over the roar of the rotor blades. He took it as his cue. Flinging the door open, he climbed inside, grabbing around the side for purchase. As he did, he saw Matthew throw his fist into the face of the black clad gunman. The gunman in white, in turn, went for Matthew. Jonny gained a good hold and was inside. With a kick, he upset the balance of the man in white. The man in white stumbled sideways, and tipped out the open door. He was gone.
Maggie was still in her seat, but she had grabbed for Connor's hand when Hovand moved to dislodge Race. She was trying to wrench his gun from his hand while Race climbed back inside the cabin.
"Jonny! Help me get the gun!" Matthew shouted when he saw his younger cousin. Jonny reached and grabbed the wrist of the man in black, trying not to let the gun point anywhere but up. A shot rang out and hit the wall behind Maggie.
Maggie looked up. The pilot had a gun in his hand. He had just shot at her. And then Matthew lunged at him, furious. Maggie forced herself to ignore them. Race was still swinging on the door, and she was still fighting to keep hold on Hovand. Abruptly, she brought her hard cast down on Hovand's wrist. His grip loosened automatically at the blow, and Maggie pulled the gun from his hand and flung it out the open door.
"Maggie!" Jonny shouted desperately. He was wrestling with the gunman in black, and losing. "Hit him!" Maggie didn't think. She just acted. She threw herself at the black clad gunman and hit him across the bridge of his nose with her cast. Jonny freed himself from the man's pinning weight, and Maggie threw herself across the man, holding him down, while Jonny went for his gun. But the man in black held fast to the weapon.
Matthew kicked the pilot's hand, and the gun dropped to the floor. Matthew picked it up to throw it out the door, but the pilot grabbed Matthew's wrist, turning him, and twisting his arm up behind his back. The helicopter lurched to the side, the pilot's attention fixed on Matthew. Matt fumbled the gun and dropped it.
Race felt the lurch, and was afraid he would fall, but it turned out to be a godsend. The door swung inward, and Race used the momentum to launch himself into the cabin, landing awkwardly on the floor at Hovand's feet. Not the most desirable place to be, he learned, when Hovand's foot pressed down on his back, holding him to the floor.
"Let 'im go!" the pilot screamed at Maggie and Jonny. Connor reached down and retrieved the gun Matt had dropped. He pointed it at Matthew's temple.
"Everyone sit," Connor ordered, pointing to the seat across the back of the cabin. Jonny and Maggie had no real choice, so they sat. Connor let Race up, and directed him to sit, too. "Now," Hovand said, "Let's end this, shall we?" Connor grabbed Matthew and made him kneel on the floor before him. The pilot occupied himself with flying once again, and the chopper's flight path leveled off. Connor's gaze found Maggie. "You, my dear," he said, "will watch as everyone is executed before you." Maggie was too horrified to speak. "It's the least you deserve for everything you've done." She fixed her gaze on the gun pointed at her brother's head. Connor's finger began to tighten around the trigger.
"No!" Maggie screamed, lunging for the gun. She caught Hovand's wrist, turning the gun away from her brother, but her effort didn't stop the gun from going off. Everyone looked around with bated breath, trying to find where the bullet had gone. The pilot slumped in his seat, his head turning to reveal the mess the bullet left behind.
"You killed my brother!" the man in black shouted, jumping up from his seat in a rage, turning his gun on Maggie. Jonny wasn't about to let his cousin get shot. He planted a solid kick to the gunman's knee, and the man in black crumpled back into his seat. Jonny went for the gun. Matthew, as if waking from a daze, leapt up to help Jonny. Race used the distraction to make a run for the cockpit. There was no one flying the chopper.
While Matthew pried one of the gunman's hands off the gun, Jonny managed to pry his other hand off his throat where he'd managed to latch on. Gasping for breath, he kept the black clad man's hand from reattaching itself to his throat until Matt brought the handle of the gun down on the back of the man's skull, sending him into a black oblivion of unconsciousness.
Race couldn't get at the controls with the body of the dead pilot in the way. He reached across the corpse and opened the pilot's door. He unbuckled the pilot, then pushed the body toward the door. As he slipped out the open doorway, the pilot's foot hit the controls, and the helicopter tilted sharply downward. Race caught the pilot's seat, and climbed into it as the helicopter dove for the ground. He grabbed the controls and righted the chopper on a steady course.
The sharp dip of the chopper took it's other passengers by surprise. Jonny and Matt caught hold of the seats, but Maggie was still struggling with Connor Hovand over the last remaining gun. Connor, tired of her persistence, chose that moment to lunge forward to knock her away. The force of his momentum, and the concurrent dip of the chopper pitched both of them out the open door.
"Jonny!" Maggie screamed as she was thrown into empty air.
"Maggie!" both Jonny and Matthew yelled as the young woman disappeared from sight. Maggie reached out desperate to catch onto something. She managed to grab the skid with her good hand. Connor, too, tried to grab hold of something and managed to get a hold of Maggie's ankle. Jonny and Matthew dropped to the floor and crawled to the open doorway, looking over the edge of the floor. Maggie was clinging precariously by one hand, and her grip was slipping.
"Jonny! Matthew!" she called out tersely when she saw them. "Help me!"
"Hold on!" Matthew yelled over the roar of the rotor blades.
"Hurry!" Jonny shouted to Matthew, wasting no time. "Lower me down to her. I'll grab hold of her, and you can haul us up!"
"What about Hovand?" Matthew asked. "I can't hold all three of you."
"Leave that to me," Jonny answered. Matthew anchored himself to the passenger seat, then grabbed hold of Jonny's legs and lowered him over the side. Jonny was hanging from the waist down when his hands reached Maggie's hand.
"Jonny!" Maggie called as he grabbed hold of her wrist. "I can't hang on anymore. He's too heavy." Jonny looked into her pleading eyes.
"Kick him," Jonny called to her. "Kick his hands as hard as you can! Make him let go!" She did as she was told, taking her free foot and kicking at Connor's bare hands. She hit him square on the knuckles several times, then suddenly his weight was gone.
"You did it!" Jonny exclaimed. "Pull us up!" he shouted to Matthew. Matthew pulled with all his strength and managed to get Jonny back into the chopper. Once he was in, Matthew crawled over to the door and leaned out, reaching down to grab hold of his sister's other arm. Together, Jonny and Matthew hauled Maggie inside.
"Close the doors," Race called back to them. "It's freezing in here." Jonny and Matthew left Maggie lying on the floor to catch her breath while they carefully reached out and closed the doors to the cabin. All four breathed a sigh of relief.
Jonny tied the man in black to his seat with Matthew's sweatshirt. Matthew helped Maggie up off the floor. She threw her arms around him and hugged him as tight as she could. They both sat down on the seat along the back and relaxed. Jonny sat across from Maggie, next to the man in black.
"Well, kids, what do you say we go home?" Race said turning the helicopter back the way they had come.
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To be continued…
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