Digital Doublecross

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
"Digital Doublecross"
Episode no.	H00616-94035
Airdate	February 12, 1997
Chief locations	Quest Compound, Maine 70.11W, 44.03N (0 miles)
Vehicle(s)	Quest Chinook Hoverboard
Writer(s)	Glenn Leopold
Guest roles	John de Lancie (Guard #1) Rob Paulsen (Warden) Frank Welker (Jeremiah Surd) Ahmet Zappa (Policeman / Guard #2) B.J. Ward (Iris the Computer)
Episode sequence	Other Space <--> Thoughtscape
Other episodes

Hot off the heels of a Hoverboard race, Jonny and Jessie load up the Questworld game Mega Quest to settle the score. But when a sleeper virus implanted by Surd warps the game, more than bragging rights is put on the line.

Plot Summary

Teaser

Jonny and Jessie are puzzled

Jonny Quest and Jessie Bannon race to the lighthouse, and Jonny emerges as the victor. He challenges Jessie to a game of Mega Quest, which she last defeated him at; Hadji Singh gets them online in Questworld. They are placed on a huge desert landscape with ancient, ruined columns and a golden chalice as the prize. The game equips them with hover chariots, shields, laser spears, and grappling hooks. They set out across the Roman ruins as the columns and flying blocks impede their paths. After passing the Coliseum, they narrowly enter a strange wall to find a nightmarish world of scraggly trees and desert. Iris notes that the computer systems have been compromised as a Jonny and Jessie are spawned in front of the genuine articles. Surd announces that they are playing his version of Mega Quest, and the two nemesis characters charge Jonny and Jessie with hover chariots outfitted by green blades.

Act One

A tree branch grabs Jessie; just as the clones are about to slice her, Jonny picks her up and speeds away. Hadji's monitor goes to static in the lighthouse, and he surmises that the malady must be a sleeper planted by Surd months ago before he went to prison. Hadji tries to pull them out but is knocked back with an electric shock. Surd's voice explains that they will both die if removed from Questworld, and will also perish if they lose in the game unless they can defeat the enemies. Trees begin shooting thorns at Jonny and Jessie; they flee to a stone bridge network constructed over clouds. Hadji warns that the enemy clones will think like them, and Jonny narrowly evades being cut off. The clones then spawn powerful weapons, which Jonny and Jessie reflect with their shields. Hadji promises to start hacking powerful weapons as the team enter a purple hive full of cyber bees. While escaping their twins, they spar with several of the insects, using some of their equipment in the process. Jonny gives Jessie their last shield and makes her bail down a separate tunnel before allowing his chariot and a pursuing bee to crash into a wall.

Jessie appears with her shield, noting that she couldn't leave him behind; they continue running while the evil Jonny watches down the hall. Benton is flabbergasted, as Surd seems to have thought of everything; even if Hadji provides Jonny and Jessie weapons, the clones get them as well. Race Bannon departs for Brattleford Prison to see Surd while Jonny and Jessie pause near a well at the beginning of level two. Jessie betrays him and throws him in; he attempts to recover with a grappling hook, but she blasts it away. As he hangs on for dear life with a javelin, Jessie prepares to send him to his doom, but is knocked away by the real Jessie's shield. The evil Jessie easily overpowers her assailant, sending her over the edge where she barely hangs on to Jonny's grip far below.

Act Two

Race and Surd escaping the authorities

The javelin breaks, but Hadji is able to spawn two Hoverboards and shields beneath Jonny and Jessie before they are burned alive in the fire pit. He opens a gateway to the Desert of Fire, where evil Jonny appears with a Hoverboard towing harpoon. He reels Jonny in and takes them to a subterranean complex while the evil Jessie fires a Hoverboard laser at her counterpart. At Brattleford Prison, Surd refuses to help Race unless he breaks him out of that "stone mausoleum". Race breaks a container of knockout gas to immobilize the guards and warden, and uses the guard's key to free the diabolical nemesis. An alarm sounds as they prepare to leave, and Race uses a remote to deploy more gas from compartments in the Quest Chinook. He makes a quick escape, but is followed by the prison's helicopters, who deploy machine guns and riddle the Chinook with bullets. Back in Questworld, Jessie struggles to stay alive in a mansion equipped with spinning blades. Race throws the choppers off by flying under a covered bridge asks for the abort code, and Surd denies; Benton soon radios in to tell Race that Jessie has passed away. Enraged, Race turns the helicopter around; Surd fearfully gives him the abort code—DXT43. The police helicopters then find him in a canyon.

Surd's final countdown

In Mega Quest, Jessie finds the Golden Chalice, but is knocked away by her evil clone. She sees Hadji spawn a powerful laser gun, and pretends to allow the clone to kill her. She rolls out of the way of the clone's projectile at the last second, grabs the gun, and kills her attacker. Seconds later, Jonny and his counterpart ride in, but each claims to be the real Quest. A second gun is spawned and the two Quests fight for it; the real Jonny recovers it, and the two continuing pleading to Jessie. Finally, the real Jonny notes that he beat her to the lighthouse today, something that the fake Jonny would not know since it happened in the real world. Jessie quickly neutralizes the evil twin, but Surd's visage appears in place of the Golden Chalice and begins counting down from ten to an explosion. Shortly before zero hour, Jonny and Jessie are pulled from Questworld. They walk outside to find the Chinook and police helicopters landing. Surd is surprised to see Jessie alive, and expects Bannon to be arrested; rather, the Warden takes Surd into custody. Apparently, Race had phoned ahead of time and set up the theatrics to fool Surd. The helicopters fly away with their detainee as the team reunite. Jonny and Jessie take off on the Hoverboards to race while Race, Benton, and Hadji all supervise the erasure of the Mega Quest game.

Notes

Quotes

• Surd - "Welcome to Mega Quest, Surd version 6.0...or should I say six feet under?"

~

• Surd - "Aw, but you can't quit now! You are bound by my neurocybernet! Try to shut off the game and you perish! Perish in the game and you lose for real! It's what we call a lose-lose situation!"

~

• Surd - "Oh, your son will be well taken care of, Dr. Quest."
• Evil Jonny - "Here's Jonny!"

~

• Race - "Yeah, well, I'm not a twisted genius, Surd, but I do my very best."

~

• Hadji - "While they race, I think I will erase that Mega Quest game from Questworld."
• Dr. Quest - "Let me give you a hand."
• Race - "Yeah; I'd like to pull the plug personally."

Goofs

• The Quest Chinook was previously blown to pieces in Dark Sentinel, yet Race uses it to travel to Brattleford prison. This presumingly took place before that other episode.

Trivia

• This episode does not feature a Quest Byte.

From: Episodes