Disclaimer: I do not own Jonny Quest or Resident Evil.
A New Nightmare
Chapter 12
By: Sigokat
Umbrella Headquarters
"Any progress reports from Spain?"
"Nothing significant at this time, Sir. Our man that is there has stopped transmitting his location to us; whether he is alive or dead is questionable."
Mr. Baker stood behind the clerk, watching the man bring up maps on his computer screen. "Whether he's alive or dead is no longer of any importance to me. The Quests are there and will retrieve the data we need, whether they want to or not."
"The last signal we received was over four hours ago. At that time it appeared the group was moving north to Saddler's stronghold."
"They should be there at any time if not already."
The clerk hesitated, but finally spoke. "Sir, with all due respect, how do we even know that the Quests are still alive?"
"They are a resilient bunch and if their actions in Washington are any indication their real opposition will be Saddler himself, not the pitiful creatures they have fought against so far." Mr. Baker stroked his chin for a moment as if considering his next course of action. "However, it would be beneficial to have eyes on the objective; not only to ensure the Quests get what we want, but to see the Las Plagas in action. Perhaps a trip to Spain is advisable."
The clerk continued to stare at his boss, awaiting instructions.
Baker looked down at the man and continued, "Have Operations begin a deployment plan. I want to be on ground to witness this."
"Yes, Sir."
"Oh, and what about the woman?"
The clerk gulped back a lump in his throat, "Somehow it seems that she vanished as soon as we discovered her identity. We cannot find her anywhere. Maybe she got wise and went into hiding."
"Doubtful. She wants to see the results of her handiwork as much as we do, even if it is for different reasons. Keep trying to track her and when she is found my orders still stand."
"Yes, Sir."
Mr. Baker turned to leave, but stopped. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a piece of paper, which he handed to the clerk. "Find this person and when you do inform me immediately. We will need to make a stop to collect this ally of ours before we head to Spain."
The clerk glanced at the paper and then back up at his boss, confusion etched into his face. "Sir? Is this correct?"
Mr. Baker, not liking his orders questioned, stared down at the man, "Is there a problem?"
"No, Sir. I just thought…"
"Thought what?"
"I thought this person was one of our adversaries, Sir."
A small, evil smiled crossed Mr. Baker's lips and he patted his young clerk on the shoulder, "Not anymore, son, not anymore."
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Saddler sat in his throne room, eyes closed as if asleep. Flanking the throne; standing as if they were stone statues, were two of his most powerful and deadly creations. He had assigned them to be his personal bodyguards. Each wore a dark red robe that reached to the floor, hoods concealed their faces; the only visible signs of life were the two blood red orbs that peered out from the blackness beneath each of the hoods. Protruding from the arms of the robes were not hands, but razor sharp, insect like pincers. The guards stood in silence, unmoving, awaiting their master's orders.
Slowly, Saddler sat up straighter and opened his eyes. "Come. They are here." He said as he rose from the throne and headed for the doors. The two assassins quietly fell in step behind their Lord.
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The sounds of the invisible villagers began to dissipate as the Quests moved closer to the castle and when they reached another smaller wall, the surrounding forest was once again silent. Inset into the wall was another set of doors; however there was no secret code to open it. Race simply pushed on the doors which creaked against the pressure but opened nonetheless.
Jonny grimaced and grabbed his stomach. The pain was unbearable and as he gripped his stomach, perhaps hoping to rip the Las Plagas out of his body, a terrible pain shot up through his spine. He cried out and fell to his knees, but through sheer will he did not pass out. Benton knelt down next to his son.
"Jonny?"
Jonny squeezed his eyes shut as the pain surged through his body. He secretly wished the thing inside him would just kill him now, anything to relieve the pain. He did not answer his father; then suddenly as if someone had turned off a switch the pain was gone. He opened his eyes and looked at his hands. Small pools of blood had formed on his palms form where he had dug his nails into them.
"I'm…I'm fine, dad." Jonny said as he stood back up. He actually stretched his arms above his head, flexing his muscles.
"Are you sure?" Benton asked, not fully convinced that his son was ok.
Jonny actually smiled at his father. "Yeah, dad. I actually feel great."
Benton peered at his son and then turned his attention to their captive. "What does this mean?"
David smiled, but he did not answer, he simply shrugged his shoulders.
Corbin walked up behind the prisoner and smacked the young man across the back of the head, causing the other man to flinch. "The doctor asked you a question. Answer him."
David cringed away from the agent and then shot him a defiant glare. It was the first sign of the man standing up against their captives. "I'd appreciate it if you did not touch me again; it's for your own good."
Corbin glowered at the man as Race came up on the other side of him. "Answer the doctor or else we leave you here for dead."
"Or I'll just kill you." Corbin injected, pulling his pistol out of his leg holster.
David, seeing his options were limited, and knowing that the threats were true, sighed. He rolled his eyes and said, "More then likely it is done."
"What's done?" Benton asked.
"The egg has hatched. Now the Las Plagas will grow."
"Now what will it do?" Jonny asked. Benton was somewhat concerned that there was no fear in the boy's voice when he asked the question; in fact Jonny had sounded almost excited.
"The Las Plagas seems to affect different people in different ways. One way or another it will make its way to some vital area of your body where it can attach itself and feed; your spinal cord, your brain, your heart. I don't really know for sure. Either way, you will become more powerful then anyone else standing here, except me of course."
"What about all those villagers?" Jessie asked. "They were nothing more then animated corpses."
David rolled his eyes, "The Las Plagas that lives inside me and now Jonny is different then the ones the villagers have been infected with."
"Different?" Benton asked.
David, suddenly realizing he was saying more then he should, shut his mouth and did not speak again.
Race grabbed the man by the shirt, "I suggest you keep talking."
Jonny reached up and gripped Race's arm causing him to visibly flinch at the strength of the boy's grasp. "It's ok, Race. I think he's told us enough for now."
Race stared at Jonny until the boy let go of him. Race pushed David away, glancing at Dr. Quest, who also noticed the strange transformation of his son. Corbin stood back and said nothing. Even Jessie and Estella were silent. David glanced down at the boy and smiled.
"I told you that you would be thanking me."
"Shut up." Jonny hissed at the man.
Race, still in shock from Jonny's reaction, composed himself and said. "Let's get out of here. The castle is just up ahead."
"Yeah, let's go." Jonny said as he strode through the doors.
Immediately on the other site of the wall the path turned to cobblestone and the castle loomed only a few hundred meters off. The structure was massive; glowing fires could be seen atop the outer walls.
The group moved cautiously up the cobblestone walkway, which gradually rose in elevation with each step. When they reached the first part of the castle, the cobblestone pathway continued up and to the right leading up to the main entrance. The design also effectively cut off the group's view of what lay beyond the turn of the wall. If they strode out into the open, they could easily be ambushed. Race and Phil crouched with their backs against the wall and indicted for the others to do the same.
"I'll sneak a peak." Corbin whispered as he pulled out his binoculars and edged over to the corner, keeping his back firmly against the wall.
Race glared at David and growled, "Keep your mouth shut or else your dead."
David did and said nothing. He wanted to deliver the group to Saddler himself. If Saddler's minions killed them then he was as good as dead as well. He would keep his mouth shut until the time was right.
Race watched as Corbin planted himself against the ground, barely peaking around the corner with the binoculars. If he was spotted he wanted to be as small a target as possible.
Through the binoculars Phil could make out approximately three darkly clad figures pacing atop the outer wall; all three wore similar black robes; their heads were shaven and their skin a sickly grayish-blue tone. The fires were produced by numerous torches that lined the wall. Two large wooden catapults sat atop the wall as well. The right corner of the wall was occupied by a tall spire, however Corbin could not tell if there were any people at the top or not. Also, closer to their position, off to the right was another spire that stood alone. Another cobblestone path connected their current path with the solidarity structure. Corbin was about to move back when he glimpsed more movement atop the wall. Focusing the binoculars, he saw another man approach the other three. This figure was dressed in a blood red robe with gold lacing around the arms and collar. Corbin could not make out any facial features due to the fact that the new arrival wore a horned goat's head; typical, if not somewhat stereotypical, of occults. Due to the distance, he could not make out what the goats head man was saying, but he watched as he pointed at the other men and then at the catapults. The three men quickly scurried off and Corbin watched as the loaded the catapults with large, oil soaked boulders and then proceeded to set the boulders afire with the torches. Corbin gulped as he tore his gaze away from what was happening and moved back to report to the others.
"Four men that I can see. Two catapults with flaming projectiles. We need to take those guys out in order to get past their defenses. It's a good possibility that there are more of those goons up there, but we can't be certain."
"Can you take them out from here?" Race asked. He may have been the better of the two at disarming bombs, but Phil was by far the more accurate sniper.
"If I had a scope it wouldn't be a problem, but obviously I don't; so I'll just have to do my best with the sights." Corbin said as he patted his M4. "I just wish there was some better cover and concealment; a shot around that corner is going to be tough and then trying to get off another shot right afterwards even harder still."
"I'm sure you can do it." Jessie said. More times then she had liked she had witnessed the man's deadly accuracy. Jessie just assumed it was part of the job.
"Thanks, I hope that's true." Corbin said. "I'll try and take out the leader first. The weirdo is wearing some sort of ceremonial goat's head, but a chest shot should do the trick."
Race nodded. "We'll be right behind you, so as soon as it's clear to move we'll move forward." He glanced back at the others to make sure they understood the plan. They all nodded in agreement and Phil, after changing out his magazine for a fresh one, moved back to the edge of the wall.
The others watched as Corbin positioned himself on the ground and took aim at the targets atop the wall. None of them could actually see what he was shooting at since in order to do so they would be forced to reveal themselves. Race moved as close to Corbin's prone body as he could and careening his neck he was just barely able to make out the figures atop the wall. As soon as Phil took out the first one, Race would move the others forward, attempting to gain some ground before the other men were able to fire the catapults.
Corbin steadied his breathing and took aim at the red robed leader. He was lucky that the man simply stood in place, glancing back and forth at the three underlings as they went about their tasks. Corbin, wishing he at least had a silencer, aimed center mass on the man's chest. He steadied his breathing and at the right moment, squeezed the trigger.
The bullet slammed into the leader's chest, blood spurting from the entry wound as it fell. The other men, upon seeing their leader's death quickly took up positions behind the loaded catapults and fired.
Race was on his feet before the leader's body would have hit the ground. "Follow me." He said to the others and they moved forward, only Phil remained in position, taking aim on the next available target. Race heard the twinge of the catapults as they released their flaming projectiles and he realized they may have moved too soon.
"Take cover." Race yelled as he pulled Benton and Estella down behind a set of crates that were stacked to the left of the path.
Jonny and Jessie, a few paces behind the others, dove off to the right. One of the boulders crashed into the path behind them, showering rocks and flaming debris across the path. The other boulder sailed past their position and exploded harmlessly behind them.
"This way." Jonny said as he pulled Jessie to the right; down the path that led to the isolated spire.
"Phil, can you take out the others?" Race asked into the headset.
Instead of answering, Phil fired off another round that took out one of the catapult firers. Race watched as the man fell and then he heard another shot ring out, but Phil's target leapt out of the bullet's path.
Jonny and Jessie ran to the spire and found a small wooden door set in the side. "Let's go." Jonny said as he kicked the door in, wood splintering and flying in every direction.
"What about the others?" Jessie asked as she stole a glance back across the path they had just come. She saw her mother, father, and Doctor Quest hunkered down behind some boxes.
Jonny did not answer, instead grabbing Jessie by the wrist and pulling her in. Inside the spire sat a large cannon. Jonny took a step towards it, but was suddenly snatched by the arm. He heard Jessie scream behind him as well.
Jonny's attacker, another black robed figured, spun the boy around to face him. The infected cultist lifted its other arm over its head, a large mace in its hand. Jonny kicked his attacker in the legs and the man howled and released Jonny from his grasp. Seeing his opportunity, Jonny rushed the man and planted his fist deep into the man's face; the sound of bones crunching echoed through the spire; Jonny grabbed the man's head and tightening his grip, twisted the man's head as hard as he could. The cultist's neck snapped and his body sagged to the floor. He picked up the dead cultist's mace.
Jessie attempted to fend off her attacker, but the man's grip was too strong. Jessie kicked and punched at the man but the blows did little to hurt him. Just as he raised his mace to strike, Jonny snuck up behind the man and swung the mace into the man's back, breaking his spinal cord. The man screamed in pain and released Jessie as he fell to the floor. Jonny raised the mace and in one swift motion brought it down on the cultist skull. Jessie winced and turned away as she heard the wet, sickening thud the mace produced when it impact the man's head.
Jessie, still looking away, felt a soft touch on her arm. She flinched and pushed the hand away.
"Jessie, it's alright. It's me, Jonny."
"Jonny?" Jessie said as she turned to meet his eyes. She was repulsed by what she saw. Jonny was smiling and his eyes seemed to glow with excitement. "Jonny, are you alright?"
"Never been better."
Jessie noticed that he was still holding the bloody mace in his hand.
"Jessie, come on. We need to see if we can get this cannon working. It appears to be on a platform and there's a crank on the other side over there. Perhaps if we can raise it we can use it to take out the catapults."
Jessie nodded and moved over her dead attacker. "Alright, let's do this and then get back to the others." Suddenly Jessie did not like the idea of being alone with Jonny.
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Race raised his rifle and took aim at one of the last two remaining minions. He fired and hit one in the shoulder, the man reeled away, which gave Race just enough time to take aim again. He hit the man in the chest and watched as his body flew backwards and did not seem to get up again.
The last cultist managed to fire another catapult round which landed closer to Phil's position. Race looked back to see if his friend was hit, but he could not see the other man at all.
"Phil, are you hit?" Race said into the headset.
After a few moments, Phil responded. "I'm alright, but I can't see the last guy. Can you get him?"
"I'll try."
Race took aim at the catapult that has just fired and could only make out part of the man's body. He fired at the man, but it did not appear to hit and he ran off from the catapult.
"I'm moving up with the captive." Phil said into the headset.
"Roger." Race replied.
Phil stood and grabbed David by the shoulder, "Come on." He pushed the man out in front of him as they rounded the corner.
Suddenly, a loud mechanical noise emanated from the spire along the castle wall. Phil stopped in his tracks and listened, then suddenly realized he was out in the open.
Atop the spire, raised from somewhere below a 20mm chain gun appeared.
"Oh shit." Corbin mumbled as he watched the gun swivel in their direction. He dove to the ground as the machine gun opened fire. Bullets flew at the group in rapid succession.
Phil slid and came to a stop against the wall, hard. He did not know where David was and at the moment he did not care. All that matter was getting out of the line of fire.
Race, Benton, and Estella huddled down together as the bullets flew over their heads, pelting the wall and taking out large chunks of brick and gravel. Phil saw them and crawled over to them as fast as he could.
"Where's Jonny and Jessie?" He asked as he kept his head down.
"They got cut off from us. They're in that spire." Race said as he pointed to the single spire.
"Shit."
"We have to go get them." Estella said.
"If we move now that gun will tear us to pieces." Phil said.
As if to reiterate his statement, the machine gun fired another burst of rounds in their direction.
"What do we do?" Benton asked.
Race and Phil glanced and each other, neither one having the answer for their predicament.
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"Here start turning this crank." Jonny instructed Jessie as he moved over to the other crank. They had both heard the blasts of automatic gunfire and could only hope that the others were still alive.
"We need to do this quickly." Jonny said as he began turning the crank.
Jessie did the same and soon the platform that held the cannon began to move upwards. "We don't even know if this thing is loaded or that it will work at all. The thing looks ancient."
"We have to try, Jess, unless you have some better ideas."
Jessie made an audible huffing noise and continued to turn the crank. "So how does it fire?"
"There appears to be some sort of release cord or something on it; should just have to yank on that and it should fire."
"Well, you better hope its loaded, hotshot." Jessie said.
The two teens continue to turn their respective cranks as the platform rose higher and higher. After a few minutes the platform reached the opening in the ceiling and with a loud bang set itself into place.
"Come on." Jonny said as he ran over to the cannon. Another crank on the cannon itself allowed them to aim it. Jonny began moving the cranks, aiming the cannon at the spire across the way from them. Another burst of automatic gunfire caught them off guard, but the rounds were still being aimed at the pathway, not at them. Jessie tried to steal a quick glance over her the edge, but there was just too much smoke and haze for her to see anything.
"Get behind me." Jonny said. Jessie moved behind Jonny, who was perched at the side of the cannon. "Let's hope this works. Cover your ears."
Jonny yanked on the cord and the cannon responded with a resounding boom. The two teens watched as the projectile impacted the other spire and exploded in a heap of dust, fire, and debris. The closest catapult was completely destroyed in the explosion and the other was damaged by flying debris. After the smoke began to settle the top of the spire and half of the wall were completely destroyed. Crumbling rocks and bricks clattered down on to the walkway below.
"That was awesome." Jonny said as he jumped up to examine the destruction. The 20mm chain gun sat in a heap of twisted metal on the floor below, blown completely apart from its perch by the explosion. He could just make out what appeared to be the twisted and lifeless form of the cultist who had been firing the weapon. Jonny smiled at the thought that he had killed him.
"Let's get to the others." Jessie said as she looked for a way down. After some examination she found a ladder attached to the back side of the spire. It led down to the walkway that circled the spire and led back to the path.
Jonny, still excited from the action, rolled his eyes. "Alright, let's go."
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After climbing down the ladder, Jessie and Jonny hurried back across the pathway to find the adults slowly getting up and dusting the dirt and debris off of their bodies.
"Whatever you guys did in there…good work." Race said as he saw the two teens run up to them.
"Thank heavens you're both alright." Estella said as she hugged Jessie. Jessie shuddered beneath her mother's grasp and Estella pulled away and examined her daughter at arm's length. "You alright, honey?"
Jessie didn't want to say anything about how Jonny had appeared to enjoy killing the cultists so she just shrugged and put on her best smile. "I'm fine, mom, just the adrenaline I guess. I'm just relieved to see you all are ok."
At that time, David reappeared, unharmed. "I wish you would take these ropes off of me. It's a real pain in the ass trying to dodge bullets."
"Too bad." Corbin snorted in response.
Race looked at the wall and rolled his eyes. "Gees, how many doors are there in this place?" He exclaimed as he glanced the still intact doors that were set into the castle's wall.
Race strode up to the doors and the others followed in tow. He pushed on the doors and they did not budge. "This is ridiculous."
"I have an idea." Corbin said. "Jessie, give me that tape in your backpack."
Jessie stripped off her backpack and dug through it, producing a large roll of green tape. She handed the roll to Phil.
"We're running out of time." Corbin said as he walked up to the door next to Race.
"What are you going to do?"
"Well, seeing as how I left my C4 back in the truck I'm going to improvise. Give me two of your frag grenades."
Race did as he was told and Phil removed one of his grenades as well. He handed the tape to Race and placed two of the grenades against the door. Race, catching on to what his boss was doing quickly secured the grenades to the door. Phil placed the third grenade next to the other two and Race taped that one up as well.
"Get behind some cover." Phil said to the others.
"You better be quick." Race said.
"You're telling me."
Race grinned and moved behind some of the rubble with the others. They all peered over the edge and watched as Phil looped his fingers through the pins on the grenades and then all at once pulled them loose. As soon as he pulled the pins the spoons, no longer protected, popped off. Phil sprinted to the rubble; jumped over and crouched down. The grenades exploded all at once. After the wood stopped raining down on the group they stood up and looked at the door, a large hole, big enough for them to pass through, was blown apart in the center.
"Good thinking." Dr. Quest admired.
"Comes with the job." Corbin said as he walked over and passed through the hole.
Once the whole group had made it through they found themselves in a small courtyard; directly in front of them stood the entrance way into the castle itself.
"Well, no sense in hanging around." Jonny said as he strode over to the doors, pulling the large handle and opening the door.
"Dad," Jessie whispered as she tugged on Race's arm. Race and Corbin both stopped to look at the girl.
"What is it, Jessie?"
Jessie, nervousness running through her body, looked down at the ground, then after a few moments, back up at her father. "Back in the spire, before we fired the cannon, two cultists attacked us."
"Are you alright?" Phil asked, concerned.
"Yeah, thanks to Jonny. He killed them both, but it was scary."
"What was, honey?" Race asked.
"Jonny…he seemed to enjoy killing those men and he did it so brutally." Jessie voice was barely louder then a whisper. "He's getting worse."
Before Race could answer they heard Jonny say, "Come on; let's get inside."
Race nodded at Phil who understood the silent message; time to watch out for Jonny as well.
"Don't worry, Jess." Race said as they moved towards the doors. "Everything will be alright."
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Upon entering the castle, the Quest team members found themselves in a large open room. The floors were polished marble and the ceiling was raised high above their heads, held in place by fancily designed pillars. Large tapestries, bearing the same insect like symbol as the one in the church, hung from the walls. Directly ahead was a balcony with a staircase leading up the left hand side. Beneath the balcony were two doors, one on the left and one on the right. Even though the castle was ancient, it appeared that Saddler still enjoyed the perks of modern technology since the room was lit by modern day lamps.
"Keep your eyes and your ears open." Race said as they moved deeper into the room.
Suddenly the doors they had just passed through slammed shut, a resounding boom echoing throughout the hall, followed by a low evil laughter.
"Welcome to my home. I'm so glad to see you all here." The voice said with an air of elegance and grace, but still had a touch of underlying evil.
"Saddler." Corbin growled.
Saddler appeared at the edge of the balcony, flanked by his two mysterious bodyguards. "I have been anticipating this meeting for some time and am so glad you all could make it…if only so I can witness your horrific and painful deaths."
Saddler let out a loud and evil laugh which caused the Quest team to tense up with fear and apprehension.
Saddler grinned down at the group, "Deaths that begin…now."
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To be continued…
A/N: I'm glad I was able to finish this chapter as quickly as I did because I am going to be extremely busy for the next week. I hope to find a little time to write the next chapter, but I cannot promise it will be out before the end of next week.
Thank you to all those that are reading and I hope enjoying my story, and thank you for the reviews I have received so far. I'm glad you all are enjoying my story.