Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, written by a fan, for the purpose of self-entertainment and the entertainment of other fans. All entities included in this work which are affiliated with Jonny Quest and The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest have been used without permission and belong to WarnerMedia (Hanna-Barbera). This author makes no claims otherwise. No monetary compensation has been requested by or received by the author of this fan work.
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Warnings: Overall Series Rating of Fiction T (movie rating equivalent of PG-13). Contains mild language, some mature themes, and some violence.
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A Note From the Author: (Note Updated November 2021) Third in a series, this story follows Back from the Dead. The Author's Note in Industry of Intrigue applies to the entire series, but there are a few things to note specific to this story.
Wells Fargo and the James Younger Gang exist in reality. This story uses them fictitiously, both as historic icons and modern entities. Their use is in no way meant to infringe or offend. Rather, it is simply a way of expressing and exploring my fascination with the American Wild West. ~Sapphire
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The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
Outlaws
By: Sapphire
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Chapter One: Dr. Malloy's Project
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June 2000
Location: Quest Compound, Maine
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Dr. Quest waved Jonny into his study with a hurried gesture as he listened to the voice of an old friend over the telephone. Jonny stepped into the room and shut the door silently behind him. He approached the desk and stood patiently for his father to finish up with his phone call.
"Yes, yes, Rueben. That is quite some project," Dr. Quest said into the phone. He waited while the voice on the other end said something. "Indeed, I find it quite interesting myself," Dr. Quest said. Again, he listened to the voice on the other end. "I don't really know if I can be of any assistance."
Jonny had only come to ask if he could use one of the cars to meet some friends in Rockport, but now he was completely interested in whatever it was his father was discussing over the phone. He watched his father carefully as the older man's facial expressions changed according to what he was hearing from the person on the other end of the line.
"Well, I'd love to, but-" Dr. Quest said. He stopped as the voice on the other end began to talk again. "When you put it that way, Rueben, I don't see how I can refuse the invitation." Jonny watched his father closely for signs of annoyance. There were none. "All right. I'll see you on Thursday when we get to Kansas. Good-bye." Dr. Quest hung up the phone.
"What was that all about?" Jonny asked. His father looked up at him from his desk chair.
"My old friend from college, Dr. Reuben Malloy, has an ambitious new project underway. He called to consult me on a few things and ended up inviting me out to help him in his endeavor. I haven't seen Rueben in years, and this project of his has me intrigued. I've decided to go out and see what I can do, and I think you, Hadji, Maggie, and Jessie might want to tag along," Dr. Quest said.
"Well, what is it?" Jonny asked curiously.
"Rueben is an historian and a particular subject of interest to him is the famous outlaw Jesse James and the exploits of the James Younger Gang. The town he grew up in was the setting for one of their unknown train robberies. The James Younger Gang was officially unsuccessful in the robbery, however, local lore says they made off with quite a haul and hid the loot in some well known caves outside town, intending to go back for it. They never did. I thought we could go on a treasure hunt and see if we can't help Rueben prove those stories," Dr. Quest said. "Even if nothing comes of it, the town is having it's annual Jesse James festival, complete with a reenacted train robbery. Apparently the whole town turns out for the event, and Rueben says it's a sight to see."
"Slammin'!" Jonny exclaimed. "Wild West, here we come."
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Location: Malloy Farm, Holder Spring, Kansas
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"Welcome to the Malloy farm!" Rueben Malloy greeted cheerfully as Dr. Quest, Race, and the kids all climbed out of the van. Bandit jumped down out of the vehicle and stretched his legs before taking his place next to Jonny.
"Rueben! How good to see you," Dr. Quest replied, shaking the man's hand vigorously. "The kids are looking forward to the festival as much as the treasure hunting." Dr. Quest looked his old friend over. He had salt and pepper hair and steel gray eyes. He was of medium height and he had obviously gained weight since his youth, but his friendly smile and warm greeting were still the same.
"Oh, they'll have plenty to do around here. My sister, Mary Wallace, runs this place. She and my niece, Anne, will make all of you feel right at home, and they'll probably put you to work if they think you're idle." He chuckled to himself, obviously amused by his relations. "Why don't you come in, bring your things, and you can meet them. They'll get you settled in your rooms, and then lunch will be on the table. I thought you'd want to get right to the caves."
"Slammin'!" Jonny exclaimed. "Hidden treasure, here we come."
"I thought so," Dr. Malloy laughed heartily at Jonny's enthusiasm. "Mary will be pleased to see this house full again. She and I have ten other siblings, you know, and without the twelve of us crowding in, the house seems empty." Rueben Malloy led the way up onto the veranda to the house. The farmhouse was huge, but it hadn't always been so. The original house could be easily seen, flanked by at least three separate additions made over the years.
"Rueben," a short, matronly woman with sandy hair and brown eyes said as she came out of the house through a screened door. "You should have told me your guests were here!"
"I'm sorry, Mary. I thought you would have heard their car in the drive," Rueben replied.
"Howard was talking my head off as usual. Can't hear a thing when he's jawin' at you," Mary said. She turned to the guests. "Now, come on in. You can all call me Mary. Dr. Quest, Mr. Bannon, your rooms are at the back of the house. The girls are upstairs, and the boys are in the attic room. Anne's upstairs right now, so if you bring your things up, she can show you exactly where to go. We'll have lunch in fifteen minutes. Don't be late. Dr. Quest, Mr. Bannon, follow me, please." Race and Dr. Quest followed Mary while Jonny headed up the stairs followed by Jessie, Hadji, and Maggie. Bandit made it a point to get under foot as they hauled their gear upward.
"Hello!" Jonny called out when he reached the top of the stairs. "Anne, are you up here?" There was no answer for a moment, then a door opened and a teenaged girl with short, curly, strawberry blond hair and gray eyes emerged. Jessie was the shortest of the group, but this girl was even shorter than her by more than an inch.
"Hi, I'm Anne," she said. Her voice was pleasant, and more than welcoming to the newcomers. "You all must be my uncle's guests."
"Yes, indeed," Hadji said with a bright smile. "I am Hadji Singh. This is my brother, Jonny Quest. Our cousin, Maggie Hardy, and our best friend, Jessie Bannon. I am pleased to meet you, Miss Wallace." Anne smiled back.
"Nice to meet you. I'm sure all of you want to get settled before lunch. Hadji, you and Jonny will share the room at the top of those stairs." She pointed to a narrow staircase to the left of the main stairs. "I opened all the windows, and there's a nice breeze blowing through. Jessie and Maggie will share a room at the end of the hall." Jonny and Hadji began lugging their stuff up another flight of stairs. Maggie and Jessie followed Anne.
"Here it is," Anne said as she held the door open for the girls. "I hope you like it." Inside were two twin beds, each against opposite walls. There was a desk between them under the window, and there was a dresser on the wall adjacent to the door. A gilt framed mirror hung above it. The walls were painted in green, and there were white lace curtains over the window. Old hook rugs covered the hard wood floors. Both girls thought it was rather homey.
"This is great," Maggie said. "I love it."
"It beats a hotel," Jessie had to agree.
"I'm glad," Anne said sitting down on one of the beds while the girls went about unpacking.
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"Here are the caverns that have previously been explored," Dr. Malloy told the Quest Team as he pointed to a map. Lunch had been a quick affair, and the caves weren't far from the farmhouse. Equipment had been a breeze to set up, everything was ready to go in the van, a sort of portable base of operations. Everyone was gathered around a folding table spread with various maps of the cave system as Dr. Malloy familiarized them with the lay of the underground system. "No previous team has found anything in them, and they've been picked over plenty of times. If the money was there, it would have been found by now. My guess is, the money is in one of the side chambers, possibly one that is still unknown."
"This will be cake," Jonny commented.
"We'll see," Dr. Malloy said knowingly. "Many have gone looking, none have been successful. The Jameses and Youngers knew what they were about."
"Here's what we'll do today," Dr. Quest said, taking over. "Two teams of two will go down into the cave. The objective is to become familiar with the main lay of the cavern system. We won't go looking for the loot in earnest until tomorrow morning."
"Hadji, you and Jessie are one team, and Jonny, you and I are the other," Race instructed.
"Right," the three of them said in unison.
"Maggie, you head up communications. Dr. Malloy will track both teams as they move underground. Dr. Quest will be monitoring conditions both above and under ground," Race finished.
"Got it," Maggie said as she stepped over to the van to get the communications headsets.
"Make sure Race gets his headset first," Dr. Quest called to her. "He has to go down and set up the sensor equipment."
"Right," Maggie said, handing Race a headset. They tested it to make sure it was working, then Race got ready to descend into the hole that was the mouth of the cave. Hooked into a harness, ropes were clipped to him, and he dangled over the hole, suspended by a pulley system rigged over the cave opening. Hadji and Jonny slowly let him down into the dark cave below. Once Race reached the bottom thirty feet down, Jessie and Maggie lowered the sensory equipment Dr. Quest needed installed below.
"We'll get you into the cave tomorrow," Jonny told Maggie when he saw her take a longing glance at the cave's entrance.
"You know my dad," Jessie added. "He doesn't want a beginner down there until he knows what we're in for."
"A necessary precaution," Hadji said. "One that I happen to agree with."
"I'm not complaining," Maggie said with a wave of her hand. "I'm content just being your communications lifeline. Believe me, I don't take this job lightly."
"No, you do not," Hadji agreed.
"I can be patient until my turn to go down," Maggie said. "I won't be content being the lifeline forever, though." Hadji, Jessie, and Jonny all laughed.
"Are you kids ready?" Dr. Quest called over.
"Are we?!" Jonny exclaimed, bounding over to the cave entrance. "How's it looking, Race?" he asked into the comm device.
"It's about a thirty foot decent to the floor of the main chamber," Race's voice said over the communications headset. "All the monitoring equipment is up and going, Doc."
"Temperature is 57 degrees Fahrenheit down there," Dr. Quest said. "There is a .03 mile an hour air current, and no detectable amounts of harmful gasses to be wary of." Maggie watched him take readings from an array of instruments. "Seismic activity is normal. Iris has a monitor on your communications headsets for backup if something goes out." Dr. Quest turned to Dr. Malloy. "Is the grid functioning properly?" Maggie looked at the grid screen in the back of the Quest van. Several dots of different colors were hovering in a cluster.
"The homing devices are working properly with the 3D grid," Dr. Malloy said. "This equipment is fantastic. I've never had such a hi-tech expedition."
"We're ready to send everyone down," Dr. Quest told Maggie.
"Race," Maggie said into her comm set. "We're ready for go up here." There was a bit of static before Race replied.
"Send 'em down," Race said. "I want Hadji first. Jonny second and Jessie last."
"Copy," Maggie sent back before going to help harness Hadji to the pulley system.
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From the main cavern, the cave system of Buffalo Caves branched out in two directions. One branch went to the north, and the other branch ran to the west. Race and Jonny took the north branch, and Hadji and Jessie took the west. Both teams kept up a steady report to Maggie as they went.
"Dr. Malloy says there is a series of three big caverns more or less directly north of your position," Maggie relayed to Race and Jonny. "By big he means the size of the kitchen back at the farm." They acknowledged. "He says to go through all three. Stop in the third cavern." Maggie switched the comm link to Hadji and Jessie's frequency the moment she got their copy.
"Maggie, we have come upon a very narrow tunnel," Hadji said.
"Dr. Malloy says you'll have to crawl through. It gets tight, so you'll have to get onto your stomachs." Maggie heard their groans of protest as she switched the comm frequency back to Jonny and Race.
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"Great," Jessie said as she pulled herself along flat on her stomach.
"I know what you mean," Hadji sympathized, inching his way behind her. "Is Dr. Malloy sure that this tunnel is passable?"
"I don't know," Jessie replied. She pressed the button on her head set to signal Maggie.
"I heard," Maggie's voice came over the headsets. "Dr. Malloy says he's sure. He's done it himself."
"Recently?" Hadji asked, thinking of the bulky historian.
"About ten years ago," Maggie replied.
"Was he a lot thinner then?" Jessie demanded. "I can see the tight spot now. I don't think he'd be able to squeeze through anymore." Laughter came over the headset.
"Will we be able to pass by, Jessie?" Hadji asked, trying to see beyond her. She pulled herself forward a few inches before answering.
"I know I can," Jessie answered. "I think if you squeeze, you'll make it."
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"We're in the third room," Race checked in with Maggie.
"Dr. Malloy says there is a small opening in the northeast corner of the third room," Maggie told him. "The hole is about three feet in diameter. That's where you need to go."
"Looks like fun," Jonny said. "We're looking through the opening right now." He took his head lamp and played it over the stone surfaces of the space beyond the opening. "There are three other passages leading from it."
"Confirmed," Maggie said. "That's the one. You'll have to explore all three. Dr. Malloy isn't sure which two dead end and which keeps going."
"We'll use the reflectors to mark where we've been," Race said to Jonny.
"So the fun begins," Jonny said with a glint in his eye.
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"We're through the tunnel," Jessie reported.
"You two had me worried for a minute there," Maggie replied.
"If Jonny attempted to navigate this tunnel, he would only accomplish getting himself lodged between the ceiling and the floor," Hadji said. "I am surprised I was able to squeeze through."
"Good to know," Maggie said. "We won't be sending Jonny or Race down that way, then." There was a pause before she resumed speaking. "Off the next room there is one passage and one room. They each wind through a series of rooms and tunnels before they meet up again."
"Which path are we to take?" asked Hadji.
"Take the tunnel," Maggie said. "There is less crawling if you go that route than if you go the other way, according to Dr. Malloy and his maps. He also says these areas have been mapped, but no one has searched them for the loot."
"Right," Jessie and Hadji replied in unison.
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"Jonny, Race, how are you doing?" Maggie's voice came over the headsets as Race was staring at a missing section of the cave floor.
"Not good," he replied into the headset. "Is there a gaping hole marked anywhere on that map?"
"Not that I know of..." she trailed off.
"Will you warn Jess and Hadji about bottomless pits for me, then?"
"Bottomless pits?" Maggie sounded incredulous. There was a pause. "Dr. Malloy says there isn't anything like that shown on the map. He thinks you must be in an unmapped room."
"Great," Race said. "Should we try and cross it? There's another cavern opening on the other side."
"Race?" Dr. Quest's voice cut in on the comm system. "It's getting late. Why don't you stop there and head back. We can decide what to do about that pit topside."
"Copy," Race replied.
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To be continued…
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