Disclaimer: All hail Hanna Barbera and Ten Thirteen Productions for giving us such verdant literary fields in which to let our minds and spirits roam...

Heroes: check. Villains: check. Time codes: check. Okay, we're ready to go.
 

THE REAL ADVENTURES OF JONNY QUEST

Synopsis: Mulder. Scully. Bannon. Quest. What more do you want?

"QUARTET", chapter 4

by Eric R. Umali

Quest Compound Rockport, Maine 8:12 AM

Special Agent Dana Scully arrived at the Quest Compound's gate at precisely 8:00 AM. She was let in, drove up to the house, and was greeted by Dr. Quest, who was dressed and ready for business. They shared coffee and pleasantries for a few minutes, then headed out to the lighthouse labs.

Grabbing a pair of white lab coats from the rack, they entered the bio-tech lab. To their surprise, Jessie Bannon was already sitting at one of the equipment desks, staring intently into a high-powered microscope.

"Jessie? What are you doing here?"

She looked up, and readied her most innocent face. "Oh, hi, Dr. Quest. I'm just getting a head start on a biology project. How about you two?"

Dr. Quest, doting dad he was bought it completely. Scully, however knew that face.

"We're going to analyze a tissue sample from that unfortunate young classmate of yours, to determine if it really was something similar to your vampire."

"Oh."

A minute passed as Scully and Dr. Quest sat at the other station. Jessie bit her lip, pretending to be engrossed in the petri dish before her. She turned to them, about to speak.

Without looking, Scully raised her hand and motioned for Jessie to come over.

**********

At eight in the morning on a Saturday, Rockport wasn't exactly a bustling metropolis. Actually, Special Agent Mulder figured, it probably never was. But that was all right. It was a nice little town with nice people.

He walked through the ivy-covered trellis that led into the large park in the middle of town, carrying a steaming cup of coffee and the local paper. He sat down on a bench, took a sip of the coffee, and got comfortable.

A few minutes later, Mulder was nearly finished with the paper. After years of the Washington Post, the trials and tribulations of a small Maine city were pretty tame. He was then aware of someone sitting next to him. He lowered the paper cautiously.

Next to him, picking daintily from a fresh corn muffin sat an attractive blonde woman, about his age. She smiled at him. "Fancy meeting you here," she said. Mulder folded the paper and readied himself. Talks with this woman were usually rather disturbing.

**********

Dr. Quest, Agent Scully and Jessie sat facing the large wall monitor. On half the screen was a large ball-and-stick molecular diagram, on the other was a long list of elements and compounds. A transparent molecular diagram appeared to the side of the screen.

"Computer, superimpose the filed composition of the chemical residue in question onto the current display. The transparent diagram moved on top of the solid one. A perfect match.

The computer spoke. "Match confidence: 100%."

Dana Scully shook her head. "This is a very impressive setup you have, Dr. Quest. This has to be the most technologically advanced laboratory I've ever been in."

"Thank you, Agent Scully," said Dr. Quest shyly. He was a particularly modest man. "As far as I can determine, this murder was committed by the same person as those in New Orleans, or at least a creature of the same makeup. I'll get in touch with some people I know in New Orleans to verify."

Dr. Quest left the lab. The two red headed women sat next to each other, checking and doublechecking the analysis. Finally, Jessie broke the silence.

"So where's Agent Mulder this morning?"

"Probably following some outlandish story or working off some incredible hunch." She smiled, knowing that Mulder's instincts had led them to more discoveries than she would care to admit. Jessie smiled as well, hearing a description that could fit Jonny just as well. And Scully could tell that. "So, what's Jonny up to?"

"Same thing."

They looked at each other, and shared an eerily connected moment. They burst out laughing.

"Men," they said together, still snickering.

Jessie shook her head. She lowered her voice. "At least you don't have a crush on yours," she said, not really knowing why she'd tell this stranger. She just felt a kind of... understanding with her.

"Yeah..." said Scully. *Yeah...* she thought.

**********

"You know, Agent Mulder, we really must stop meeting like this."

"Hey, you called me."

"Hmm. I did, didn't I? Oh, well."

"What is it you wanted to tell me? This doesn't seem like your usual neck of the woods."

"I've spent some very lovely summers in Maine. Anyway, I'm here on official business."

"How so?"

"I'm checking up on a team that's been assigned to follow... something."

"The something that killed Mary Petrozzi?"

"Mary Petrozzi was killed by an unfortunate chemical reaction. Just ask the Rockport P.D."

Mulder sighed. Wonderful. Another cover-up.

"Why the secret? What does the government, let alone the U.N., care about a malevolent life-draining creature? Besides the IRS."

"Very droll, Agent Mulder. You're supposed to be good at this game."

He thought for a few seconds.

"They want control."

"Excellent."

"But if it continues killing in public, how can it be covered up?"

"It didn't kill, Agent Mulder, I told you. Besides, there's no longer any evidence that anyone died in the first place."

"That quickly, huh?"

Her only reply was to mime tossing a cigarette butt to the ground. Mulder nodded. "Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"The creature is intelligent, and it has a plan. It's path has been analyzed and a theory accepted. It's been moving slowly northeast for almost a year now."

"Why?"

"The Petrozzi girl was a warning." And with that, Marita Covarrubias rose and walked calmly off into the distance. Mulder stood there, rubbing his chin. Soon, he lifted his head and adressed the flora.

"Okay, Jonny, you can come out now."

Sheepishly, Jonny Quest emerged from a nearby crowd of bushes. "How'd you know? Never mind. I've never been able to put one over on Race, either." He walked up to the man. "You're just gonna let her walk away? She knows a lot more than she's telling."

"I know, Jonny, but I can't force her to tell me more than she wants. She gives us too much to jeapordize that. Now why would that creature be coming here?"

Jonny thought for a moment. His eyes widened suddenly. "Oh, no... Jessie. It wants Jessie." The two young men immediately launched into a run. That was when the world went white. Then black.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Yep, I'm an HR even when it comes to Mulder and Scully! You know, the more I write about those two, the more similarities that keep cropping up. For more adventures of the Quixotic Quartet (hey, YOU find a good "q" adjective!), tune in here, same Quest-time, same Quest-channel. Boy, am I dating myself with that one...