Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from JONNY QUEST: THE REAL
ADVENTURES. This fanfic was written by a fan, for fans, and is loosely
based on an episode from the series. This fanfic was not written with the
intent of making money, okay?

Archivers: Shoot, *BANG!* go for it. It's not like I'll object if you ask
for permission via email.

Categories: JJHR ALT (E?)
 

THE ULTIMATE ALTERNATE GHOST QUEST
by The KodeMaster
 

"The wind's coming up," Jessie observed from the cabin of the Questor II.
She had a headset on was checking the weather ahead of them with the
electrical equipment.

At the wheel, Jonny had another headset on, and was steering the ship,
hopefully heading it the right direction. "I thought we'd have smooth
sailing all the way to Nova Scotia."

"Yeah, but it's nothing the ship can't handle." Jessie said, coming into
the room.

Jonny grinned to himself. "Yeah, she does steer like a dream."

Jessie crossed her arms. "Right, mister. While you can say that, I can't."
she frowned in disgust, and then went outside to the deck. "You've been
hogging that helm ever since we left the Compound!"

"Uh... Well..." Jonny stammered, then as an idea came to him, he perked
up,  and called over the headset, "Here, you can take..."

Suddenly, a wave of what seemed like the world's thickest fog rolled in.
"Uh, scratch that, Jess! I'll have to get through this, first."

And they sailed in silence, on until Jessie yelled out, "Jonny! Rocks! Dead
ahead!"

Jonny steered the ship to try and avoid the jaggy outcrops, but he wasn't
fast enough. The Questor II collided, and Jessie was thrown overboard.

When he heard a scream come through the fog Jonny realized that something
had gone terribly wrong.

* * *

"JONNY!!!" Jessie screamed as she was tipped from the ship, and fell
overboard into the churning waters.

Jonny's voice called out to her. "JESSIE! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"OVER HERE!" she called out. "Aaahh!!" she cried as the waves caught her,
and swept her away from the ship.

Then, Jessie heard a scream come from above, and so she looked up at the
manor sitting above the cliff. A woman dressed in frilly Victorian garb
stood on the edge, and suddenly pitched herself into sea. Her scream ripped
across the sea-scape as she fell into the icy waters.

Jessie dove for the lady, trying to reach her, but she vanished before she
could reach her. Puzzled, Jessie headed back to the surface.

* * *

Jonny raced to the back of the ship, and grabbing a rope, called out over
the sea, "JESSIE! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"OVER HERE!" came her reply, then was soon followed by a cry of, "Aaahh!!"

Trying to remain calm, Jonny tied the rope around himself, and attached the
other end to the railing. He dived in after her. Jonny swam in the
direction of the scream.

"Gotcha!" Jonny exclaimed as he pulled Jessie up out of the water by her
hand. "Jessie?" he enquired. They were facing each other.

"I'm alright, Jonny." she assured him, "But that scream--"

"I know," Jonny said, as they began to swim back to the boat, hauling
themselves in by the rope. "I heard it too."

"But I SAW her! A woman, who pitched into the sea!" Jessie insisted, now
standing on the deck. She shivered involuntarily from the cold. "She
disappeared, almost like she wasn't even real."

Jonny nodded. "Real or not, we'd best secure the Questor."

They went inside, Jessie looking at their course, and Jonny going to the
cabin. "All the equipment's down!" He called out when he saw the dead
instrumentation. He then came back with a towel, having noticed Jessie's
shiver beforehand.

"Thanks," she said as Jonny handed her towel. Jessie quickly dried herself
off and wrapped it around herself like a jacket. She pointed at the map.
"Look at this, we're not off-course. It's impossible to have run ourselves
aground."

Jonny peered over her shoulder. "Maybe it's uncharted." he suggested.

"Possible, yes," Jessie agreed, "but it's all we have to go on."

"C'mon, let's check out if we can move this thing and get back on our
merry little way."

Grabbing their jackets, they made it off the ship and inspected the damage,
Jonny using the light in his watch to shed some light on the subject.
"Looks like it's only minor." he observed.

Just as Jessie was about to say something more, a voice came from behind
them. "You are quite fortunate. The fog can be very treacherous at times."

The kneeling teens stood up and turned to look at the source of the voice.
It was a man who stood there, holding a latern. "I am Paul Mornay. Welcome
to my humble abode." he greeted the two companions.

"I'm Jonny Quest." Jonny said, and looking over to Jessie added, "And this
is... my friend, Jessie Bannon." For once, Jonny forgot to mention Bandit,
who was back at the ship.

The figure nodded. "Pleased to meet you." Then noticing their stricken
ship, "Was anyone hurt?"

"No, we're fine." Jessie answered. "But I saw a woman out there, and she
fell--"

"I am the only one on this island." came the quick response, "but the fog
is known to play tricks." and he paused for a moment. "Then, of course,
there are the ghosts."

The two teenagers looked at each other, paling slightly. "Ghosts?" they
voiced.

Jonny turned, and directed towards the man, "You're kidding, right?"

"This isle had an unsavory reputation with locals." Mr Mornay said, "Come,
you can rest inside by the warm fireplace until the fog passes."

* * *

A short time later, Jonny and Jessie were sitting by the fireplace inside
the manor. Jonny told Mornay about his father's work, when a vase seemed to
levitate itself into the air.

Mr Mornay considered Jonny's statement for a moment. "So your father
investigates unexplained phenomena. I wonder what he would make of this
place."

"Dr Quest always likes to keep an open mind," Jessie said, as both herself
and Jonny watched the vase closely.

Jonny rose and went over to vase, placing it back on its pedestal. "But
usually they're just parlor tricks." he said, now releasing the vase,
which promptly rose back in the air again.

"Indeed?" questioned Mr Mornay, "I too, at first, did not believe those who
met with a violent death could become ghosts."

A cat darted by, and vanished through a door. Jessie went over to it, and
inspected that spot. "Amazing! It's solid, Jonny. That cat must be--"

"...a ghost" Mornay finished for her. "That cat once belonged to the lady
of the house." He rose from his seat. "Come, her picture is upstairs in my
studio."

* * *

Mr Mornay led the two teens into the room. "Originally, the ghosts that
inhabit this place bothered ne." Then he swept a hand around, indicating
his equipment. "However, once I learned the history behind them, they
became somehow... inspirational to my work."

"You're a painter!" Jessie observed.

"When the spirit moves me." Mornay replied with the ghost of a smile, and
then removed a sheet that had been obscuring a picture.

"That's her!" Jessie exclaimed. "That woman that fell from the cliff!"

Mornay nodded solemnly. "The tragic lady Caroline. She jumped from the
widow's walk two hundred years ago, to the day."

"But, why?" she asked.

"For love, or so the story goes. Her fiancé drowned at sea, and she
couldn't bear to live without him."

"How tragic," came Jonny's response.

"How romantic," Jessie sighed.

"Yeah, whatever," Jonny said, then shuddered as the wind swept through the
place. "Hey! Who turned down the heat?"

"Temperature drops often precede an appearance," Mornay said. "Over the
years, I have learned to give such warnings respect."

A lighted seemed to ebb from the hallway. Curious, Jessie went out of the
room and followed it. What stood before her was glowing figure of Lady
Caroline. "She beautiful!" Jessie exclaimed.

"For a ghost," Jonny added, coming up next to her.

"And I think I know how this ends," she announced, following the ghost's
fleeing form. Jessie came to a balcony at the end of the widow's walk, and
she leaned over it to see Caroline crash against the rocks below. "She
seemed so frightened," she murmured to no-one in particular.

Jonny appeared behind her, Mornay arriving soon after. "And so she will
return again and again until the dawn puts an end to the haunting," sighed
Mornay.

"Impressive display of phenomena, Mr Mornay." Jessie said. "I only wish Dr
Quest was here to see it."

Jonny snapped his fingers. "Hey! Don't we have some digital video gear left
over in the Questor?"

Jessie nodded. "We do, Jonny. We could use it to get a picture of Lady
Caroline!" Both herself and Jonny turned around came face-to-face with Mr
Mornay. "That is, if it's okay with you." Jessie appended.

"O-Of course." Mornay replied hesitantly.

* * *

When Jonny and Jessie came back to the Questor, Jessie using a latern to
guide their path, Bandit dashed off the deck and greeted them, leaping into
Jonny's arms. "Down, boy!" Jonny admonished, laughing. He then placed
Bandit on the ground.

The black cat from the mansion appeared on the scene, and Bandit growled at
it. The cat ran off, Bandit quickly following it.

Jessie sighed. "Don't worry, I'll get him. Just get the equipment up to
the  manor, Jonny." And she took off at a run.

Shrugging to himself, Jonny followed her suggestion.

* * *

Bandit chased the cat through a forest, and both came out near a pond. The
cat gracefully leapt across it, but disappeared at the leap's peak. Right
behind the black cat, Bandit fell head-first into the pond.

Jessie appeared out of the woods, having followed the Bandit's barks when
he was chasing the cat, and saw him flailing in the water.

"Easy, boy," Jessie assured him, "I'll get you out; Just hang on." She
settled her latern down carefully on the ground, and climbed the tree
which  hanged over the water. Jessie edged across the overhanging branch,
and hanged upside down by her feet to grab hold of Bandit's collar, when
suddenly an image appeared out of the water.

The image had blond hair and blue eyes, and had features similar to Jonny,
except grown up. He reached towards her, but less than a moment later,
disappeared.

"What's that?" Jessie whispered to Bandit, holding him close to her. Bandit
could only whimper in response.

* * *

In the mansion, Mr Mornay watched Jonny set up the equipment. Finishing
this, Jonny flipped a switch, and told Mornay, "I'm using the night scope.
I don't trust the lights in here."

Mornay looked on in puzzlement. A light seemed to dawn above Jonny's head.
"Oh yeah, I forgot; You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?"

Sighing, Mornay nodded in the affirmative. "The level of your technology
surprises me, but I should be able to guess what you are talking about."

Just as Jonny was about to open his mouth in response, Jessie appeared the
door holding Bandit, who appeared to feigning an innocent look on his face.
"It's alright, Bandit," Jessie said, placing the dog on the floor, "you can
move around now."

Momentarily, Jonny wondered why Bandit was officially his dog, since Jessie
seems to understand him more than he can. Jonny shrugged it off. "Hey Jess,
can you hook up the digital feed from Caroline's bedroom?"

Jessie offered him a smile. "Sure thing, Jonny."

* * *

Jessie sat on bed's edge, having finished connecting up the last of the
equipment. "You were so beautiful," Jessie sighed, looking up at the
portrait in front of her, "Life would have gone on, even without the one
you love."

Jonny's voice over the headset that she had just put back on interrupted
her. "Jess?" he called out over it, "How's the digital link-up going?"

Jessie glanced at the computer. "Clear as a bell, Jonny." she replied, and
looked back to the portrait. Her attention soon wavered as she considered
what could have possessed Lady Caroline to jump to her certain death, and
came to rest on the cabinet in the room. The instant Jessie looked at it,
one of the drawers opened, and a scroll dropped out. Curious, Jessie picked
it up and read it. Jessie smiled formed on her face as she read it's
contents, a voice seemingly whispering it in her ear, a deep masculine
voice,

  "Dearest Caroline,

   The nights away from you on
     the mainland seem endless.
   I hope this kitten will ease
     your loneliness.

   All my love, Jean."

Still smiling, Jessie leant back to sit on the bed again. Suddenly, as if
sensing something in the air, she twirled around, only to come face-to-face
with the ghostly figure of Lady Caroline. She dropped the letter to the
floor in shock, and backed up away from her. Jessie's back eventually hit
the cabinet as the ghost slowly came closer.

In the instant Caroline launched herself at the red-headed teenager, Jessie
wondered how much she would believe in ghosts once this encounter was over.

* * *

"Hey Jess, I think Lady Caroline is about to make another appearance." he
said over the headset. "You ready?" No reply. "Jess?" he questioned again,
slightly worried this time. No reply. Jonny was about to ask her again,
when the sharp sound of static filled his ears.

That was when a scream penetrated Jonny's senses. Jessie's scream.
Resisting the urge to panic, Jonny threw off the headset, and went over to
the door. He saw Jessie running down the widow's walk, screaming, all the
way to the balcony. Jonny rushed after her, and saw her standing on the
railing, hands out to the side, as if ready to leap forwards over the side.

Jonny climbed up next to her on the ledge, and grabbed her the arm, making
her look at him. "Jessica, what are you doing?" he asked her, afraid for
her life.

Jessie looked at him, and her eyebrows furrowed. "Jean?" she gasped, in a
voice not hers. "No," she breathed out slowly, and pushed him away, running
back the way she came.

Jonny grabbed desperately at the railing, caught it, and after a few
moment's theatrics, and flung himself back up.

He met up with Mr Mornay again in the room Jessie had just come from. "What
was that all about?" Jonny asked, "And what's that stuff on the floor?"

Mornay picked one up, and looked at it. "Love letters." he said. "All
signed by Jean." He handed it to Jonny, who took the letter, studied it,
and put it in his pocket.

"Jean?" he then queried, puzzled, just before he made a connection. "That's
what Jessie called me back there!" he exclaimed.

"So it would seem." Mornay sighed.

Jonny asked the unanswered question. "But why would she react like that?"
Then his gaze came across the computer sitting in the room. "Oh no. Look at
this!" Jonny sat down, and stated typing into it for a moment.

When he finished, the screen held a frame of Jessie running along the
widow's walk, a shot frozen in time. Mornay looked at it when Jonny leant
back. They both saw what appeared to be an image of Lady Caroline
superimposed over Jessie. "There appears to be something reaching out
behind her." Mornay finally observed.

Jonny frowned, and looked at the image again. Sure enough, Mornay was
right. Why didn't he pick that up before? Jonny zoomed in, and the shape
resembled itself into a ghostly hand. It had a ring on it. Jonny zoomed in
further, and he spelt out an inscription on the ring. "L - E - G - E - R."

Jonny leant back in his chair. "Leger!" he said in triumph, connecting the
letters together. "But who, or what, is Leger?"

Mornay sighed again. "By now, I think you should know. Come, I have another
painting to show you."

* * *

Jonny gasped when Mornay revealed another portrait, and said, "May I
present, Jean Leger, Lady Caroline's lover."

Jonny exhaled slowly. "He looks just like me!"

Mornay nodded. "I will agree, the resemblance is striking."

"So *that's* why Jessie called me Jean out there." Jonny thought aloud. "No
wonder Jess-- Er-- Lady Caroline called me that."

"If that is true," Mornay observed, "Then I think you should find her now,
and soon. There is no telling what that ghost can make your friend do."

* * *

Jonny walked out of the mansion with a latern, Bandit in tow. The black cat
appeared again, and Bandit ran after it. Jonny rolled his eyes. "Not
again." he muttered, and gave chase.

The black cat ran through the forest again, cleared it and jumped over the
pond, in exactly the same manner as before. Bandit came running along,
except this time, he didn't jump try to jump over the pond. Jonny came
running into the scene a moment later, breathing heavily.

He saw Bandit sitting by the pond like a guard dog. "What is it boy?" Jonny
asked, puzzled as to why he would adopt such a posture. "Is there something
about with that pool of water?"

Bandit whined, and Jonny came over and knelt down beside him. Holding the
latern up, Jonny looked into the pool. It was strange... cold... *Just like
when a ghost is about to appear...* thought Jonny. He shivered at that
revelation. Placing the latern down beside him, Jonny was just about to
search through the water a hand when he heard a feminine voice say, "Jean!
I knew you would return."

Jonny stood up, and twirled around to face her. Jessie stood there, and her
eyes seemed to glow a venomous green. She continued, "It has been a long
time since you and I stood here."

"Jes-- uh, Lady Caroline, look, listen--"

"No! YOU listen, Jean." Caroline yelled. "For centuries my soul has been
tossed from the parapets because of YOU!"

"I'm not Jean!" Jonny protested, taking a step back from her. "This is a
mistake, you--" But he tripped back over a tree-root, cutting that sentence
short.

"The mistake was mine!" she screamed. "Falling in love with a man like
you!" she pointed at the letter protruding from his pocket. "Do you deny
you wrote that??"

Jonny took the letter from his pocket, and started reading. "'My
dearest...'" he paused for a moment, as the next word sunk in. "'Marie'?"
He looked back up the angry figure standing before him, worry beginning to
etch itself on his features.

"A little shop girl from the mainland." Caroline mocked. "But I suppose,
you already knew that."

Jonny slowly got his feet. "Look, she... that other girl... she meant
nothing to me!" he protested.

"You said it then." Caroline spat, her hands balling into fists. "And you
shall you shall say it for all eternity!" she shrieked, and launched
herself at him.

Jonny dodged, and grabbed hold of her wrists, pinning her down. "Look,
Jessie, I'm not going to hurt you." And he began lightening his grip.

Caroline forced Jonny off her, and held him in death-grip, forcing his head
beneath the water. "THIS IS WHERE YOU BELONG, JEAN!"

"I'm - not - Jean!" Jonny insisted, when his head reached the surface a few
times.

"Yeah, right." Caroline spat. "Deny it all you like. YOU WROTE IT, JEAN,
AND NOW YOU WILL DIE!" and she tightened her grip, keeping his head below
the water longer.

Jonny's lungs burned. Mustering up all his strength, he surged up out of
the water, and took a quick breath. When he did this, a figure came out of
the pond, and melded itself into Jonny. It was Lord Jean. Now having
possessed Jonny, he told her, in a voice unnaturally deep, "Lady Caroline,
that girl DID mean nothing to me. But you wouldn't believe me."

"Liar!" she yelled at him. "You betrayed me! You deserve to die in this
bog!"

"You left my soul in torment." Jean entreated. "My vengeful spirit returned
to push you to your death. I was doomed to--"

"Over and Over and OVER!" Caroline screamed.

His voiced dropped another pitch. "I always loved you, Lady Caroline. I
regretted killing you for centuries. Please believe me."

Caroline took a step towards at the sincerity of his words, and words
spilled out of her in response. "Oh, Jean, I was wrong to kill you, but my
jealousy drove me to the brink of insanity. I loved you. I still love you."

"Forgive me," pleaded Jean, and two century-old lovers met in a heated
embrace, ending all their hatred with it. With a flash, Lord Jean and Lady
Caroline left the bodies they had possessed, and drifted up into the sky,
still locked in their embrace.

* * *

Control over her body slowly returned to Jessie. Throughout the entire
experience she had been aware what was happening, but could not lift a
finger, for the hatred that burned with Lady Caroline was that strong. When
she had apologized to Lord Jean, ending the cycle of hatred, that grip had
weakened. Jessie actually found herself following Caroline's guide, not
protesting the slightest when her arms wrapped around Jonny's neck, and
when she leant towards him to kiss him deeply.

Now, in full control of her body, Jessie didn't want to let go. She was
also quite sure that Jonny could now act under his own willpower again.
'So, why weren't either of them drawing away?' was the question she kept
asking herself. A small voice inside her head said that maybe it was
because neither of them wanted to. Before her conscious and aware part of
her mind could catch with her body, however, she soon found herself
actually deepening the kiss.

Yet, unknown to the kissing duo, Mr Mornay had arrived on the scene, latern
in hand. Bandit barked at the newcomer. That sudden burst of sound was
finally enough to snap Jonny and Jessie of their own little dream-world,
and they opened their eyes, their lips still not parting. They then drew
away, almost hesitantly.

"Wow," Jonny voiced, slightly shocked by it all.

"Yeah," Jessie agreed, tilting her head to slightly her right. "Me too."
She began blushing at this revelation, and so began staring at the ground,
tension seeming to lace the air.

Mornay mercifully began, breaking the silence, "Now that I finally learned
the truth behind my ancestor's death, I, too, can finally rest." And he
drew away from them, as if melting in the air. "The fog is lifting. If you
want to leave, then leave now."

"Huh?" Jessie voiced, then ran after him. "Wait! Mr Mornay! Where are you
going?"

Jonny followed Jessie, and they both came to stand in front of a large
gravestone. Its name was: 'Paul Mornay'.

"So Mornay was a ghost too..." Jonny said in awe.

Jessie looked up, saw the manor in the background, and tapped Jonny on the
shoulder. "Uh, Jonny? I think he was right about leaving."

Jonny looked up at her, and followed her gaze. The landscape around the
manor was waving, and the large house itself was beginning to fade. Jonny
took of towards it at a run.

"JONNY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" Jessie yelled at his fleeing form.

"I'M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT OUR EVIDENCE!" Jonny shouted back over his
shoulder.

"Okay, HURRY, JONNY!" she called out to him.

* * *

Jonny ran through the manor like someone possessed. He ran up the stairs
like no tomorrow. Jonny grabbed the computer, and raced back downstairs and
out the front door. He did it so fast he almost gave Race a bad name.
Running at full-tilt towards the Questor, he yelled out, "Cast off, Jess!"

Jessie, at the wheel, put the ship into reverse, and throttled the auxiliary
engines. This ship groaned, but did not move. "We're stuck!" she called out
to Jonny, who had arrived at the bow. He pushed against it. "Harder, Jess!"
he shouted.

"It's no use!" Jessie yelled from the wheel.

The boat suddenly lurched, and came free, just as the entire vanished from
beneath Jonny. He fell feet-first into the water. Jessie stopped the
engines, and went out to deck, and leant over the side to offer Jonny a
hand. "Gotcha!" she said when their hands made contact. She pulled him up
onto the boat safely.

When they went inside, Jessie smiled. "Somehow, I think Dr Quest is gonna
find it hard to swallow this one."

Jonny, ecstatic, place the computer down on the table in the middle of the
room. "But we've got the proof!" he exclaimed. When he pulled up the file,
to his dismay, it only showed a picture of an empty hallway, without Lady
Caroline super-imposed over Jessie, which it should have.

"Why am I not surprised? Look at the time!" Jessie told him, pointing to
her watch.

Jonny looked at his. "Nine o'clock?!? Our watches must've stopped just as
that fog rolled in."

Jessie chuckled, almost laughing, earning herself a weird look from Jonny.
After she calmed down, she smiled at him, "Yeah, time stood still for me
too, JONN-NIE..."

"Very funny," Jonny said, in a voice of mock-severity, but his face was
grinning lop-sidedly, despite himself. "Maybe it was all dream..." he
commented.

Jessie pulled something out of her pocket, and in the same voice as before,
said, "MAYbe, except for this, the letter that started it all." And she
began reading it seriously, "'Dearest Marie...'"

But the letter was ripped from her hand by the wind, and it drifted away
from the boat until it was almost nothing. "Great, now we've got zip!" she
sighed.

Giving up, she joined Jonny at wheel. Jonny looked down at her as she
hugged his side, leaning her head on his shoulder. "You know, Jess, perhaps
we don't have nothing, after all."

Jessie looked up at him quizzically. "What'd you mean?"

"Well," Jonny began, taking his hands off the wheel, "We *do* have this."

Anticipating what would happen next, Jessie wrapped her arms around his
neck, and the two teens embraced, exploring each-other's mouths at a
leisurely pace.

Needless to say, they took their time with the rest of their trip, not
worrying about arriving at Nova Scotia on-schedule.
 

THE END
 

So, wotcha think?

Email: david_hugo@yahoo.com