Tuesday, June 2, 1987
4:15PM
Hill Valley, California
The hot sun penetrated the windows of Doc Brown's lab. For Marty McFly, it was another day of assisting Doc with another invention, one that would revolutionize the world's technology for who-knows-what reason. Marty followed Doc's instructions as he belted them out, but Marty had other things on his mind.
"And why did Jennifer have to cancel the date?" Doc asked from the spot on the table where he was tinkering with a screwdriver and a few metal plates.
Marty sighed. "Her aunt made her baby-sit for her little cousins again. You'd think that her aunt would warn her in advance instead of waiting until the last damn minute."
Doc chuckled. "She sounds like someone I know."
"Who?" Marty asked.
"You," Doc said with a shake of his head. "Holding assignments off. Being late to school."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," said Marty. "I get the picture. It's just that I can't imagine her enjoying babysitting those two little monsters. I've met them. They can be such a pain in the ass."
Doc looked up from where he was working. "You were probably a pain in the ass, too, when you were a little kid."
"What is it with you today, Doc?" Marty asked. "Are you out to brand me as a hypocrite?"
"No, Marty," assured Doc. "But Jennifer has to baby-sit, so that's what she's doing. Besides, she's probably making lots of good money off of it."
Suddenly, a question popped into Marty's head that, for some reason, had not occurred to him before, but should have. "Doc, what were you like when you were a little kid?"
Doc shook his head, getting back to his work. "I don't remember. It was a long time ago. But I've already told you that reading Jules Verne--"
Marty cut him short. "I know, I know, Doc. Reading him made you devote the rest of your life to science. Right. I know."
Doc suddenly chuckled to himself.
"What?" Marty asked.
"I do remember one other thing," said Doc. "When I was"--he stopped to think for a moment--"seven years old, I think. Yes, that's precisely how old I was! How could I forget? It was my birthday!"
"What happened?" Marty asked.
"I was supposed to have a party. I invited all of the neighbors from down the street." Doc sighed and tapped his fingers on the table. "But none of them came."
"Why?" Marty wanted to know.
"I think their mothers told them to stay away from me," muttered Doc.
"Oh, jeez, Doc," said Marty softly. "I'm sorry."
"Ah, well that's all in the past," said Doc. "Don't worry about it." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, none of them came. Then, an emergency came up. My younger brother was suddenly stricken with the mumps and we had to get him to the hospital. My parents wouldn't allow me to go with them. No, for fear that I would contract it. But they couldn't leave me isolated in the house."
"So what did they do?" Marty asked.
"Well, something unusual happened. A youth showed up at my door and requested my presence. My parents let him in, and--"
"Wait, they just let a stranger in the door?" Marty asked.
"They were naive folks. Besides, times were different back then," Doc explained. "They needed someone to keep an eye on me for a few minutes. So they let the boy in."
"What happened? He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"Not at all," Doc explained. "In fact, he helped me with a project that I was working on at the time." Doc paused. "But, alas, Marty, I was a young boy. What I do remember is giving this fellow a hard time. I was trying to teach myself to fly. That was my project."
Now, this I've got to see! thought Marty, trying not to laugh at the thought of Doc Brown as a child.
Doc finished tightening the last screw. "Well, Marty," said Doc. "That's all the help I need from you today."
It was then that the phone rang.
"Just a second, Marty," said Doc, leaving the room to answer the phone. Marty could hear Doc arguing with someone on the other line.
Just enough time to go back and see for myself. As quickly as he could, Marty rushed to the DeLorean, opened the garage door, and set the time circuits.
"Jeez, when was Doc's birthday?" Marty wondered aloud. "Oh, yeah!" he said quickly, suddenly remembering. He set the time circuits for January 12, 1927. 12:00 PM. And then he sped the DeLorean up to 88 miles per hour and was gone.
The best place to hide the DeLorean was in the abandoned shack, Marty concluded as he walked up to Riverside Drive through the snow that covered the ground towards Doc's childhood house. He noticed a significant difference in all the houses, except the Brown Mansion, which was not very different from its 1955 counterpart. The other houses were smaller and fancier. Children who walked about outside were dressed in overalls and dresses, mothers were wearing long skirts, and fathers wore conservative looking business suits. Fortunately, he too, remembered to change into some old clothes stashed under the seats in the DeLorean.
As Marty approached the house, he hoped that whoever would be keeping an eye on Doc would let Marty stay as well. But then again, he doubted it. Nevertheless, he knocked on the door.
A frantic, middle aged woman in a blue dress answered the door.
"Hi," said Marty. "I would like to meet your son, Emmett Brown."
The woman looked at Marty in astonishment. "Sir, how do you know him?"
"I--"
"Never mind. Can you just watch him for a couple hours? Something came up, and I need to take my other son to the hospital."
And then it occurred to Marty: I was the person who showed up at Doc's door!
"Sure," said Marty.
"Good," said the woman. "What's your name, young man?"
"Gilbert Godfrey!" was the first thing that popped out of Marty's mouth.
"Okay, Mr. Godfrey," the woman said, ushering Marty in. "Emmett is in his room, building something."
"Okay," said Marty.
Then, Doc's father appeared at the bottom of the nearby stairs. The woman explained to him what was going on, and with that they left.
"Oh, Emmett can be quite a handful," warned the woman. "So be patient with him."
"Don't worry," Marty grinned. "He's in good hands."
And then Doc's parents were gone.
"What a stupid move to make," Marty mumbled under his breath. With that, he climbed the oak wood stairs. At the top were three doors. "Emmett?" Marty called.
Suddenly, the door closest to the stairs burst open. A young boy, with frizzy brown hair, opened the door. "Who are you?" he demanded.
"My name is Gilbert," said Marty. "Your parents told me to watch you while your brother goes to the hospital."
"Come in," said the young Doc. "Come see what I'm working on."
Marty followed the boy into the room.
Doc picked up one from an array of wooden planks that rested on his oak floor. "I'm going to build a huge ramp with these pieces of wood!" Doc declared. "And I am going to put on roller skates, descend the ramp, and attempt to fly."
"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Marty asked.
"In theory, Gilbert. But if you apply the correct calculations, it can be done safely. Besides, the snow outside should greatly cushion my fall. Now come, help me build it."
Marty shrugged. "You're the doc, Doc."
"What?" Doc asked.
"Never mind," said Marty.
Marty and Doc brought the planks downstairs and out the door. Outside, Doc reached into his overalls pocket and pulled out a few tools. He handed some of them to Marty. "Let's build this."
And the two spent the whole afternoon building the ramp. When it was done, Doc raced inside and got his roller skates. "This is it!" he said, climbing to the top of the ramp. There, he put his skates on.
"Wait, Emmett. Let me stand in front of the ramp so I can catch you if you fall."
Doc shrugged and waited for Marty to stand in front of the ramp. Then, Doc skated down the ramp. The increase in acceleration sent him flying through the air and into the snow--feet first!
"Wow! You did it!" said Marty when Doc landed.
"Now I'm going to do it again!" said Doc. And he climbed to the top of the ramp once again. Then, he skated down, accelerating as he went, and soared through the air once again. He put out his feet to break his fall. But instead, his legs slipped out from under him, and sent him face first into a pile of snow.
"Emmett!" Marty shouted, approaching the boy. "Are you all right?"
Doc looked up from where he fell and laughed. "I'm okay," he said.
But Marty looked at Doc. His right leg looked swollen and irregular. "You're okay?" Marty was shocked.
"Yeah," said Doc, trying to stand up. But then he fell in the snow once again, wincing at the pain. "Ow! I fear I may be suffering a fracture of a skeletal structure!"
"What?" Marty didn't understand. But then it was all too clear. "Oh, no! You broke something?"
Marty could picture the lecture he would get from Doc after arriving back in 1987. Marty, you've really done it this time... But then again, this was supposed to happen, according to Doc, wasn't it?
"Come, on Emmett," said Marty, scooping up the Doc up in his arms. "We're going to sit on the couch and listen to the radio until your parents get home."
Inside, as the two sat on the couch, listening to the monotonous droning of a radio announcer's voice, Doc grew restless. "I've been teaching myself differential calculus," said Doc. "It's extraordinarily fascinating."
I am almost nineteen years old and I am clueless on this stuff, Marty thought.
"I want to work on some math problems until my parents get home." With that, Doc forgot about his injured leg and attempted to get off the couch. With that, he fell down face first on the hard oak wood floor.
"Oww!" Doc cried. "Gilbert! I can't get up."
Marty picked Doc up and put in back on the couch. "Now, stay here, Emmett!" Marty ordered. "Stay here until we can get help."
"Fine," Doc said with a sigh. "But could you please get me my differential calculus book so I can have something to do?"
It's going to be a long afternoon, Marty thought.
Wednesday, January 12, 1927
3:58PM
Marty sighed. A quick look at his watch revealed that he had been sitting here watching his friend for nearly two hours. He glanced over to the other end of the couch and saw the young Doc Brown asleep with his small head lying asleep on his math book.
Boy! That Doc sure was a strange kid. It's hard to believe that good old, levelheaded Doc Brown who's always complaining about precautions and paradoxes is the same kid who leaped headfirst across the street. But then again, he never set fire to his parent's living room rug. Marty grinned at the thought and glanced over at Doc. Then he noticed a loose piece of paper sticking out from his textbook. "What's this?" he wondered.
Slowly it away from Doc's reach, he found it titled: What I Want to Be When I Grow Up' By Emmett Lathrop Brown.
"Oh, this should be good." Marty looked down and began reading the sloppy writing.
"When I grow up, I want to be an inventor, just like Copernicus. I want to invent things to make the world a better place. To be perfectly honest, I wish I could see into the future so I could find out what exactly lies ahead for me."
Marty smiled. "Well, isn't that cute?" He continued to read.
"Of course, I wouldn't want to upset the cosmic balance by doing so. Such a trip through time would risk a great threat towards the destruction of the space-time continuum. The following mathematic equation explains the above theory."
"Okay," Marty said, putting down the paper, "That's enough of that." Marty's thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a loud knock on the front door.
"Huh? What?" mumbled young Doc as he awoke from his slumber.
"It's okay," Marty said, "I'll get."
Marty answered the door to find an angry looking man standing on the other side. The man had a roughly cut mustache and beard as long as a short army crew cut. And although the person was a complete stranger, there was still something about his face that seemed...familiar. Marty's eyes widened. He knew that man! "Mr. Strickland?" he said with disbelief.
"That's right," the stern-looking man standing in front of him replied, "I'm the acting principal of Hill Valley Elementary School. I'm here to discuss young Emmett's...behavior...in school. Are you his brother?"
"Well, I..."
"Yes," came a young, yet mature voice from behind, "Mr. Strickland, this is my older brother, Gilbert."
"Oh," Strickland said blandly, "Well, Mr. Brown, I'm afraid your brother has been having some issues in class."
"Issues?" Marty said curiously.
"Yes, I was hoping to discuss it with your parents. Are they in?"
"Uh...no," Marty said. "They had to run out. Is there anything I need to know about?"
"Well, I suppose since you're his brother, you have a right to know."
"Right. So what's up with Doc...er...Emmett?"
"Doc?" the young boy whispered in a puzzled tone.
"Never mind," Marty retorted. "So, what's the problem?"
"Well," Strickland said without interest, "Emmett here seems to be displaying some behavior problems that need to be discussed. "Behavior problems?!?
"I'm afraid so. You see, Dilbert..."
"Gilbert."
"Right. Well, Emmett is a bright, young boy and I believe he has great potential. But, he's just too darn ambiguous. He seems to always shooting for irrational dreams that frankly I don't believe he can achieve."
Marty was stunned. Was he really hearing this? "Look, Mr. Strickland," Marty said sternly, "My brother can do anything he wants in life! Just because his visions seem a little extreme, doesn't give you the right to jump all over them."
"But I..."
"Goodbye, Mr. Strickland!" Marty slammed the door shut and the stern disciplinarian was left standing in the cold. "Hmmph!" he muttered, "Slacker."
The young Emmett Brown stared in awe up at the teenager standing in front of him. "What?" Marty asked.
Emmett began to become pale. "Who are you?" he said in a weak tone.
"I already told you. My name is Gil..."
"I don't think so." Emmett held up a photo in his hands. "I met a man today who handed me this photo. He told me you would understand."
Marty took the color photo from the young boy. A color photo? In the 1920's? Marty looked at the picture, and his jaw dropped. "I don't believe this..."
There in his hands, was a photo that he had taken about a month after the original DeLorean got destroyed. It was a photo of him and Doc...in 80's attire. "Who..." Marty said, choking the words out, "Who gave you this, Emmett?"
The boy frowned. "Don't you mean Doc, Marty?"
Wednesday, January 12, 1927
4:21PM
"Wait a minute, Doc. Ah... Are you telling me you built a time machine... out of a DeLorean?"
"The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?"
"Roads? Where we're going, we don't need... roads." "The time-traveling is just too dangerous. Better that I devote myself to study the other great mystery of the universe: women!" "No! It can't be! I just sent you back to the future!" "You did, oh, I know, you did send me back to the future, but I'm back--I'm back FROM the future." "Great Scott!" "You're not thinking fourth dimensionally, Marty!" "Right, I've had a real problem with that lately."
The memories kept coming and coming. The adventures they had shared, the distress and distraught they were faced with as Biff meddled in time. The misadventures caused by somewhat insignificant actions. And now, another action had occurred--Marty may have just jeopardized time again. And the memories he held...so vivid. Ones of growing up in a time very different than the present, ones of he and Doc and the Delorean.... Ones of Jennifer.... All returning to him as if they were dreams.... "Gilbert? Gilbert." "Huh...?" Marty slowly opened his eyes. Strange, he thought to himself. I wasn't even aware that I had closed them....
"Gilbert? Oh, forget that, he already knows I know.... Marty! Wake up! Wake up!" "Yahh!!" Marty's eyes shot open. He was laying on the floor, still in Doc's former living room. The young Emmett was looking down at him from the couch. "Wha--What happened?" "Huh? Oh. You fainted. Now, please tell me why you called me Doc." "What..." The kid got the picture out again and handed it to Marty. Marty looked at it once more, looked back at Emmett, and then back at the picture. "See?" Young Emmett asked. "That's you, that's some old man who, I was told, is going to be me, and that's some kind of workshop, and..." "I get the picture," Marty interrupted. "How... How do you have such an item?" "I told you," Young Doc said with an exasperated look on his face. It reminded Marty of a face Verne would make when trying unsuccessfully to explain something about dinosaurs or the like. "A man gave this to me." "Uh, okay. What say you tell me about this man." "What say you explain who you are." "Do-- I mean, Emmett. Look. Just tell me who this man is, an--" "Is it true that you have a time machine?" the kid asked, cutting Marty off in mid-sentance. "'Cause if you do, I would like to see it. Can I, can I, can I?" "Huh? Ye--I mean no, I mean...you will someday...hopefully." Jeez, he got the picture from some man, yet he won't say who. Whoever the guy is, he knew I'd travel back here... But how? "Can I, can I, can I....Marty! Are you listening to me?" "Do--I mean, Emme--I mean, kid...whatever! Look, I'll show you the time machine if you tell me who gave you that picture!" "Deal!" Young Doc cried happily. "You show me the time machine first." "What? No! Look, you tell me about this mystery man first." "Nope. You show me the time machine first. Then I'll tell you all that you want to know about the man!" Marty sighed. The sooner he got this over with, the better. "Okay, kid, come with me."
Marty carried Emmett out to the shack and set him down on the ground. He then opened the shack door. "There it is kid. The time machine."
"WOW!"
Marty looked down at the kid. The way young Emmett's eyes lit up almost brought a smile to his face. Almost.
"An automobile for a time machine! I hope that when I get older, I think of something useful to build one out of!"
"Huh? Wait a minute... You are going to build one?"
"Yeah. But probably not out of an automobile. Hey! You must know the guy who built it! Do you think he could teach me how to build one?"
"Uh, sure kid. But don't you know who built it?"
"No, the man didn't say. How does this work?"
Marty scratched his head. He opened the car door, picked young Emmett up again, and set him down at the driver's seat. "Uh, you enter the date you want to travel to on that keypad in there. What do you mean the man didn't say? What did the man tell you?"
"Can we go for a ride in it? Can we? Please?"
"What? NO! Jeez, I showed you the car, now tell me about the man!"
Emmett looked up at his babysitter. "What is it with you and that man? And why can't we go someplace? Like the west! I've always wanted to see Hill Valley in it's formative years!"
"DOC! EMMETT! WHOEVER!" Marty grabbed the kid by his shoulders. "You are forgetting that I'm the babysitter and I am responsible for you, so you do what I say. Do we understand each other?"
"Ye--yes." The kid had become panic-stricken. Marty felt a twinge of guilt in himself.... He hadn't exactly meant to scream at the Doc like that.
"Uh, can I look around? Then I'll tell you about the man."
Marty sighed again. He didn't feel like picking Doc up any more than he had to, the kid was becoming VERY annoying, and what was worse, he had to go to the bathroom. He looked down at Emmett.
"Sure, Emmett, whatever. Just, uh, sit here and don't touch anything, okay? Look, can I use your bathroom?"
"Yes, Marty."
Marty then took off toward the mansion. Emmett slowly shook his head. "I wonder why he didn't ask me where it was...?"
Marty returned to the shed a few minutes later. "Okay, now, no more stalling. I need to know about that man."
No answer.
"Emmett? Come on, answer me!"
Again, no reply.
Marty stepped in to the shed. "Okay, Emmett, one la--- Holy--! Where the hell is the DeLorean?!!"
Now calm yourself Marty, he began thinking. That kid couldn't have gotten far with it. He had to be pushing it, which is impossible, because of the broken leg. And even if he could reach down and drive it while injured, he still wouldn't be able to start the car unless.... Marty began to finger through his pockets. I left the keys in the car....
"Okay, McFly, let's weigh your options. Provided you get through this mess, Doc is going to kill you. Provided you do nothing before his parents get home, his parents will kill you."
Marty began to pace. And pace. And pace some more.
Jennifer, he thought to himself. I would rather be helping you babysit your cousins...
Marty looked up and added something to that thought.
I'd rather help you babysit those cousins of yours than baby sit Doc anyday!
Wednesday, January 12, 1927
4:44PM
Marty stood with his face to the sky, wondering why he couldn't have been baby sitting with Jennifer rather than been back here in 1927 baby-sitting a hell-raising seven-year-old under the name of Emmett Brown.
Marty then figured that while he was looking up he might as well search for the DeLorean in the unlikely event Doc had managed to get the hover circuits to work. Just about the only good luck he had so far on this snowy afternoon was the fact that the DeLoren was not set-up for the return trip, that Mr. Fusion still required garbage before it could go anywhere past or present. So, while Doc may know how to set the time circuits, he was going to be pleasantly surprised when he found the time machine wouldn't go through time. As well as that, thankfully the seven-year-old didn't know that he had to get the DeLorean up to 88 mph either.
With that in mind, Marty was a little bit more relieved, except for the one question that was nagging him constantly now. The identity of the "man" who had revealed to Doc who he actually was.
Who was this guy and was he a threat or not, was it possible that this guy was the sort of character who wanted to blow the space-time continuum to pieces? And how the hell had this man gotten a colored photo of he and Doc? Had someone taken the time machine before he did and taken the photo to Doc? Such a thing seemed impossible, the machine was under lock and key--under more than that actually. Only Doc could get to it if it was locked up, which it had been before he came over that evening.
It was then Marty realized the down side of time travel. It was all together possible that this man had not come to 1927 before Marty, but rather after him--or more pointedly the man may not have come to 1927 in 1986, but after then. It occurred to him that perhaps the "man" could even be himself years from now. But why on earth would he have gone back in time years later to get himself in a jam? Then again he didn't even have the slightest idea about what this "man" looks like, maybe it was Doc himself. Marty frowned. No, that couldn't be right, surely Doc would have said something when he saw the photo.
Marty gave up on the sky and concentrated on the ground. When it came to him that the place was covered with snow, he looked where the DeLorean had been and saw that indeed tracks led down towards the road. With renewed hope, Marty followed the tracks, and saw that the lead to the road then disappeared.
" Surely he couldn't have gotten on the road--this is seven-year-old we're talking about, he couldn't drive a car that well," Marty muttered to himself. But headed down Riverside Drive hoping he was going the right way. Suddenly, another thought occurred to him and he didn't like it. Marty didn't know if the man Doc had seen had even left. It was possible that he had been hiding in the shadows and when Marty went to the bathroom, he hopped into the car and abducted Doc.
The more he thought about it the more likely it became and the more worried Marty became. What if it was some guy from the future, who was trapped here for some reason, heard of the trip he made and had arranged it so he could be led to the DeLorean so he could get back to the future?
Can that happen? Marty wondered. It was such a confusing explanation, but it occurred to him that the same thing had happened to get him here. Doc had told him what had happened and he had gone back to see it, having no idea until the moment Doc's mother pulled him into the house that he was the stranger. Perhaps this man was a friend, who came back to prevent the trouble, got stuck here and got Marty in trouble to begin with. Then wouldn't that mean there was another time machine here, and even if it was broken Marty wanted to find it, but he had no idea whom this man was. So, how could he even make a guess at where the guy had stuck the time machine if there was even one here?
Another more confusing explanation was that the man was someone Marty encountered on a later trip to 1927, except he arrived before he gotten here originally. Perhaps he'd been with Doc and they were forced to explain themselves and then Marty had dropped the photo. Marty remember quite suddenly that the photo was at home on his desk, but he was actually planning to have it shrunk to wallet size, the same size as the one Doc showed him, to put it in his wallet.
That suggested that he and Doc had been here before, but 1986-wise it was actually later.
Then the car was there, and Marty could barely believe it. After all those confusing thoughts, he figured he never find the DeLorean, but there it was, right in front of him. He raced over to it, and prepared to pull open the gull wing door and had second thoughts. What if this was the wrong DeLorean, and when he opened the door he saw himself? He didn't particular want to do that. He could never handle seeing himself, no matter how hard he tried. Finally he decided to knock on the door and call to whoever was inside.
"Emmett, are you in there? Open this door right now!" he demanded, as he tapped sharply on the DeLorean's fogged-up driver's window that prevented him from seeing inside.
The door opened, revealing to Marty's relief the seven-year-old Doc, who looked very guilty.
"Ok, Emmett what's the big idea? You promised you wouldn't go anywhere when I went to the bathroom and now I find you half a mile down the street!" He scolded the young boy.
"Sorry, I must have hit the hand break, the slight downward slant of the snow sent the car down onto the road, and the road's iciness lessened the friction it would normally have. The car wouldn't stop rolling, and my leg was too numb for me to move," Emmett said defensively.
Marty remembered Doc's leg--it was either fractured or jarred--and the news that it had gone numb was bad. Doc obviously needed medically attention, and from the looks of things Marty was the one who had to get it.
" OK, we've got hide this car then find some way to get you too the hospital or doctor or something. If your leg's numb, it probably needs looking at," he told Doc and with great care moved the boy, so he could sit down in the driver's seat.
"Right now, hand over the keys," he told Doc.
"Keys?" Doc asked, confused.
"Yeah, the keys to the DeLorean. They were in the car, I left them here," Marty said, a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Are you sure? I didn't see them," Doc replied, and from the look in his eyes Marty knew he wasn't lying.
"Oh no, you mean you don't have the keys?" Marty asked again, to be sure.
"Nope, sorry, do you a spare set?" Doc asked, and reaching out he opened the glove compartment in front of him. Tapes and a guide book, fell out of the overfull compartment.
"I sure hope so," Marty muttered, and leant over to help Doc in the search.
Nothing turned up, Marty then went for the floor mats knowing Doc's preference for putting keys there, and finally a set turned up.
"Great!" Doc exclaimed at their finding. " No need to worry now, and I'm not in trouble, right?"
"I don't know about that Emmett. The DeLorean can be a very dangerous object if someone gets bad ideas in their heads. And unless I can find those keys, someone could use the DeLorean should they find it, years from now," Marty warned, but didn't elaborate on the fact that in almost thirty-three years that occasion could arise. Marty shuddered to think of the horrible consequences if someone was to find the time machine before he could show it to Doc. Then again, that time machine didn't have a Mr. Fusion, but the other one that would land behind the Lyons Estates sign presented itself on Nov. 12th, but Doc had added something to it to prevent it from been stolen.
Still the time machine could still be stolen and just the fact that some keys were lying around was trouble enough.
"Wait a second, tell me about that man, the one who gave you the photo. What did he look like?" Marty asked Doc suddenly. Maybe whoever the man was had nicked off with the keys.
"The man, well, as far as I could judge, he was pretty old--" Doc began, screwing up his face in thought.
"Older then you in the picture?" Marty demanded, breaking in.
"Yeah, this guy was really old about eighty or whereabouts, and he had hunched back and a pretty surly demeanor--" Doc continued his description.
Marty was beginning to have an awful suspicion in his gut about the identity of the man, but surely it couldn't be.
"Did he have a cane?" Marty asked, sickly.
"Hmm, maybe, I can't actually remember now. Why, do you know him?" Doc said, after a moment of really hard thought.
"No, I don't think so--if he didn't have a cane that is," Marty said, with a feeling of relief. If the man had had a cane that would have been the worse news he'd heard in a long time.
"I'm surprised in myself, I usually remember every detail, but I can't seem to focus," Doc muttered, his voice even sounding a little unfocused.
"Uh oh, I think you may have fractured your leg after all. You maybe going into shock. We better get the DeLorean to a hiding place and get you to hospital in case it gets worse," Marty said. He quickly closed the DeLorean's door and started the car, turning it around so he could drive back to the mansion.
"Ah, yes, shock, I'd forgotten about that unfortunate thing. I hope you realize that because of it I may not ever be able to remember exactly what this man looked like," Doc told Marty, suddenly sounding rather sleepy.
"I really needed to hear that, Emmett, and keep awake. I don't think you should fall asleep if you're in shock," Marty warned the boy.
" Huh?" Doc started, and shook his head. "Sorry, it's a little difficult, keep talking."
"One thing's just occurred to me, Emmett. You told me you meet this man in the morning before I came, why did you wait so long before revealing you knew who I was?" Marty asked the question on purpose, to get Doc to think.
"Oh, simple explanation, I had forgotten what the photo looked like, in fact I really didn't get that much of a good look at it. When you were talking to Strickland, I took a closer look and saw it was you. I already knew the old man was me," Doc replied, still not very awake.
"Why'd you believe the old man?" Marty asked as he pulled the DeLorean back to the hiding place it been before.
"I can't remember that either. I think he showed me something else, too, but he kept that and just gave me the picture, and said Marty would explain what it means," Doc recalled, slowly.
"So, I was supposed to be able to explain 'it', but you don't remember what 'it' is?" Marty asked, that sinking feeling in his stomach, again. "Or is it just the photo?"
"Umm, maybe. Where's the photo, maybe there's something in it that we missed," Doc suggested as Marty stopped the car.
"In the house, I think. We can take a look at it when I go inside to call a doctor over here. I don't think I'll get anywhere here without a proper car for the period." Marty opened the car door and came over to the passenger side. He opened its door and picked Doc up, and closed the offending door, and make sure this time he had the spare keys returned to the mansion.
With Doc back on the couch, Marty called the doctor Emmett said was the only one in a close proximity to them. With the doctor promising to come within the hour, Marty went searching for the photo. He was pretty sure it had been on the night of his graduation, but he couldn't remember the exact setting. Was there something significant in the photo? Perhaps it was the time machine, which Marty had already explained, but he had a feeling that it wasn't.
He searched high and low for the offending photograph, sure it couldn't have gotten far. But apparently it had. He was in the process of searching upstairs when he heard what sounded like the DeLorean starting.
"NO!" Marty cried, leaping forward to a window just in time to see the DeLorean raise into the air and fly off--but thankfully not disappear into another time. He raced downstairs however shouting.
"Doc! We gotta do something some son of a bitch has stolen the time machine!"
But Marty found no sign of Doc when he reached the living room. The boy was not on the couch and he wasn't in the surrounding rooms, either. It was then Marty noticed the cold, and the back door wide open. He ran to it, searching for a sign of Doc. There was none, and there was nothing else to think.
" Great Scott, some asshole's got Doc and the time machine!"
Chapter Five
Marty was on the verge of panicking. Things were definitely getting out of hand. Actually that was an understatement; things were potentially paradoxical! Who knew where the jerk that’d stolen the time machine was going? If they knew about the eighty-eight miles and hour thing and the Mr. Fusion then Marty was in some really deep crap.
Why do these things ALWAYS seem to happen to me? I try my hardest, I didn’t go here trying to disrupt time on purpose, but somehow, once again, I’ve managed it, Marty thought to himself in exasperation.
He turned and returned to inside, looking around the now-empty house. He didn’t have a clue of what he was going to do now, he had noone to turn to and no way to communicate with Doc. What we could REALLY use about now is a walkie talkie that will operate ACROSS time; perhaps Doc should look into that for his latest invention. I might mention it to him when I get back, IF I do, Marty resolved as he walked across the kitchen. He suddenly noticed that he had stepped on something. He looked down he saw a white square of paper, not ordinary paper. It was the photograph; Marty bent down and eagerly grabbed it up, turning it over.
It wasn’t his graduation photo as he once thought; it was a picture of him and Doc outside his house. Marty frowned, shaking his head. Nothing in that photo was particularly earth shattering, certainly nothing relating to the DeLorean. In fact this looks a lot like the photo I have in my wallet, he realised, and suddenly felt a sinking suspicion in his gut. He was pretty sure….
I left my wallet in the DeLorean, DAMN! That guy could have taken the original photo and replaced it with this one, just so I’d wonder about how Emmett got info about the DeLorean from this and spend a whole lot of time racking my brains. Marty thought with a sinking heart, as he stuffed the photo into his pocket.
He immediately starting pondering on what in the Hell he was going to do about this, how was he going to find Doc and his captor? He didn’t have any flying car at hand, nor did he have any idea of what possible direction they could have been heading in, north, south, east, or west.
Marty made his way back to the couch were Emmett had been resting before the kidnapper had gotten him, the book he’d been working from was still on the floor, and the couch cushions were displaced. Doc had probably struggled when he was taken. Not very well, though. He DID have a fractured leg.
Marty decided to follow the advice given by any detective book he had read in his years and search for anything the kidnapper could have left behind.
Might as well work from the kitchen in Marty decided and returned to the kitchen had searched the whole room for any clues to the kidnapper’s identity or perhaps a clue to where they could possibly go in time.
Marty turned up no clues in the kitchen and turned his efforts onto the lounge room, and finally after turning over the cushions of the couch and looking underneath it, he found some salvation.
It was the photo. The kidnapper hadn’t taken it after all, but simply hidden it, figuring Marty would be so frazzled he wouldn’t try looking for it. It was, as Marty suspected it, a picture of him and Doc by the newly reconstructed DeLorean, and most of all on the back were the words. " Marty, Doc and the DeLorean Dec. 1985".
Marty squinted at the handwriting for a couple of minutes and his suddenly widened in utter confusion. " CLARA?" he demanded of it, incredulously.
Impossible! Whoever got that photo must have stolen it, there was no way in the world, at least Marty was sure, that Clara would chance kidnapping her own husband at a younger age. She knew as well as Marty did about the dangers of time trouble, somebody MUST have stolen the photo.
But WHO? Marty demanded feeling more and more irritated at the puzzle that refused to come together. Then he remembered something: whoever got that photo got it in the future and therefore come here in a time machine. And whether it worked or not, Marty was going to have to find it.
With that decision firmly in his mind, he headed out the kitchen door, locked it and prayed that 1927 would be true to him and no one would think of robbing the place.
Hurrying down the drive he confronted his first decision right away -- should he go left or right? Marty decided after some quick thinking to go right, which was the way out of town. Surely the kidnapper wou ldn’t leave a broken time machine lying around in pure daylight for any old person to take a spin in.
It was quite a while until Marty hit farmland, isolation and possible sites to hide the DeLorean, all of which he checked and double-checked. An hour of searching unfortunately turned up nothing for the teen and the sun was getting low in the horizon, Marty had no flashlight so he probably should just abandon the search. He had a bad feeling though that wasting any time, even if he couldn’t see very well, would be fatal to the space-time continuum. After all, Doc sure hadn’t mentioned that, on his birthday, he’d been taken captive in his own invention and gone to so-and-so time. Then again, as Doc said himself, he was going into shock and shock usually made memories fuzzy or even disappear which may have happened in Doc’s case, as well as the age factor. Doc had his body overhauled, but Marty didn’t think there had been anything done with his mind in regards to memories.
Marty checked his watch in the fading light. It probably wasn’t accurate in time, but he had set it roughly to 1927 time, so it was about six or so now, he judged. Of course it been winter so the sun was about to dip below the horizon any second now, and he’d be left in near total darkness, not street lights out here.
It was in the dark, as the sun dipped below the clouds, that Marty discovered the time machine and could scarcely believe his eyes.
It was a DeLorean all right, but a RED one and it had a few differences in it to, for one thing no Mr. Fusion, and Marty was pretty sure there was no hover-conversion either. In fact it was probably just like Doc's original DeLorean from October 26th, except for the different color and the obvious fact it had been made by someone else. Marty was absolutely fascinated by this latest discovery. Who had built this DeLorean? How? How had this person gotten a hold of Doc’s plans and diagrams?
And how did they get the plutonium? Marty wondered, frowning. If there was no Mr. Fusion, that meant this car ran on plutonium, as the original had. Where had this plutonium come from and how had this person obtained it?
Well, at least things are finally getting interesting, Marty thought, dryly.
* * *
Marty had had to return back to Doc’s place to retrieve a flashlight, he also rang up the hospital to find that Doc’s brother’s condition had become more complicated and would he be so kind as to stay the night? Marty agreed immediately, and hoped that Mrs. Brown would not ask to speak to her son, otherwise he’d have to do some fancy talk to get himself out of the potential mess.
Marty got everything together and hurried back to where the red DeLorean was hidden, and opened the gull wing door and turned on the flashlight, which revealed the car’s interior. Marty raised his eyebrows in surprise -- it was unbelievable! The car was exactly the same! Why, even the labels that read Past Destination, Present Destination and Future Destination were the same colour. The big problem was that the keys were still in the ignition, the reason this was bad was that this obviously meant the car either wouldn’t start, was out of fuel or plutonium. Marty decided he might as well try and start it, seating himself in the driver’s seat he reached out and turned the key slowly, and surprisingly the engine actually started.
Marty frowned. What was the problem with this car, then? Must be the plutonium Marty told himself, and cursed. DAMN! Fixing an engine would have been so much easier then trying to get 1.21 jigiwatts, at least it was possible. With a sigh Marty pulled the car out into the street and contemplated what to do for a few moments, and checked his watch. Seven-twenty, this shouldn’t really be a problem; it’s the 1920’s. The chances anyone’s going to be out in the street in this weather is to small to even worry about.
With that in mind Marty headed back toward the house, through the gently falling snow. His prediction was correct; no one was in the street as he drove up Doc’s drive and pulled into the garage.
Marty then decided to check the plutonium chamber reader, and once again something didn’t fit, according to this the car had plutonium all ready! That was impossible! Well, it wasn’t actually, but if the car was all fueled up why did the kidnapper steal the other DeLorean, sure it could fly and had the Mr. Fusion, but well the kidnapper could’ve gotten all that by just going into the future as Doc had. And what did the kidnapper what with young Doc, didn’t they know the risk to time they were running?
Marty didn’t know, but after some thought decided to try his luck, reaching over he typed his destination into the keypad.
Marty drove back down the drive and headed to the very outskirts of the future. He revved the DeLorean’s engine. There was enough road, but the weather wasn’t the best to attempt such high speeds, but what on earth could Marty do? There was no time to lose, so throwing the car into gear he pressed his foot on the accelerator pedal and through the car into the highest gear and went for it.
The car slipped and slid as Marty approached 88 miles an hour, nevertheless and there was the three sonic booms and suddenly his scenery changed. He was back home, in daylight and it was warm June weather, and luckily his calculations were right he wasn’t anywhere near a densely populated area.
Fortunately, Marty immediately found a place to hide the DeLorean, and doing that he made a break for town and Doc’s new place, thankfully not too far away.
When he got there he found to his immense relief that the house looked as it always did, meaning Doc was still there and no paradoxical damage had been caused yet. Racing straight to the garage Marty pounded on the door. Nobody answered, Marty knocked again, almost breaking the door down, but still Doc, if he was in there, didn’t come to the door. Marty tried to open it but found it locked, the security settings in full mode. Damn it! He needed to get in there. He had just had a real inspiration; Doc had installed a device into the train that alerted the destination place and time of the other time machine in it. If Marty could just see it, and he was pretty sure there was another Mr. Fusion in there too, but he couldn’t get in without Doc or Clara.
" DOC!" Marty yelled, " It’s me Marty, I suppose you’re a little peeved at me, sorry about running off like that, but it happened anyway, you told me about yourself!"
Doc didn’t open the door, so in desperation he did an about face and dashed to the house, pounding on that door instead, and to his relief Clara answered.
Clara looked very surprised to see Marty there.
" Marty! What are you doing here? Emmett’s gone looking for you," she told him.
" Not in the train?" Marty nearly moaned in near defeat.
" No-"
" Great, I’ve gotta see the train, someone’s stolen the time machine, back in 1927, they had one of there own. In prefect working condition, too, that’s how I got back, but anyway I GOTTA see the train." Marty begged her.
Clara, wide eyed, nodded. " All right, let’s go."
The two hurried across the yard and Clara turned off all the security systems and entered the lab and the two entered. Clara then proceeded to turn of all the security systems that lead to where the train was kept. When Marty was finally able to get to the train he almost jumped for joy, but ran to it instead. Clara that tapped in the combination to open the door and Marty finally got inside and immediately went to the device, which would reveal the location of the DeLorean.
" SHIT!" Marty yelled, as he turned on the device to discover that it hadn’t recorded anything, this had all been for nothing. He didn’t notice Clara’s shocked expression as he continued yelling. " What a huge waste of time! I don’t believe it! This-"
Suddenly the device beep and a sound like a siren sounded for a moment, and even as Marty looked a destination popped up on the machine’s screen.
Marty stared at the date in horror and let a moan escape him. " Oh no, if this idiot’s planning to interfere with the original DeLorean’s first trip through time, I’m gonna kill someone, I really am."
Without bothering to say anything to Clara he turned and ran, back to Doc’s lab where he found as he hoped a Mr. Fusion, which he immediately grabbed up as he continued his way out of the lab. He could hear Clara coming after him, but he had no time to explain, he had to act immediately, if something happened that shouldn’t on that fateful night then they were bother dead.
Come on Doc, work your seven-year-old brattyness and brilliance on that guy, I could really use a hand right now. Marty said the telepathic message to his friend, and could only hope that Doc would get it.
Friday, October 25, 1985
5:30 AM
Marty had now arrived back to the morning when the first time travel with the DeLorean occurred. He stepped out of the red DeLorean. The door was covered with patches of ice from the time travel. Marty was still amazed at how much this time machine was like the one Doc had built. Marty drove the red DeLorean to the Lone Pine mall where he knew that Doc was revealing his new invention to Marty. Marty watched the events from a distance as not to be noticed by his other two selves. One that was there originally and the other Marty there from 1955 who had come back early to stop the Doc from getting shot. And then Marty noticed the Hover-converted DeLorean appear in the sky above him. He knew that young Emmett was in there along with the mysterious man. Marty had to think fast. He quickly ran over to the spot where the DeLorean landed. It was behind the JC Penny Department store. Marty saw the door to the familiar DeLorean lift open. And out came the disheveled old man as Emmett had described. Marty knew the face was familiar but he couldn't quite place it. Then the old man spoke. He said, "Well it's you again. I thought I'd see you here ya mutating son of a bitch." "Old man Peabody?!" Marty said in disbelief. "That's right. I've been on to you and your Doc friend for about thirty years now. Every chance I got I would sneak a peak at Doc Brown's blue prints for the DeLorean time machine. Then I finally completed mine in 1987." "But how did you… I mean why did you… I mean… oh this is heavy." "If I must explain -- you see, after you crashed into my barn, my business was pretty much ruined. You destroyed my pine and left my family traumatized. I tried to tell the authorities about the 'alien' that landed on my pine farm but they all thought I was crazy. I had to spend some time in an asylum for a couple of years as a result of my ranting about the 'alien.' Therefore, my family was left to support themselves with little money. When I got out I found out about a guy named Calvin Klein who matched your description. Then I found out that 'Calvin' had spent a lot of time with Emmett L. Brown while he was in Hill Valley. So I started finding out things about Dr. Brown. Then I found out about his time machine and built my own following his design. Then when I saw you travel back in time to 1927 I followed you, kidnapped the young Emmett and came here to prevent the original time travel." "Well you can forget it. Since I've managed to stall you here the DeLorean will be gone soon." "Well if I miss the window I could always go back again and prevent it." "Not if I stop you for good." "What are you planning to do, boy? I can tell you're the type of guy that wouldn't harm a fly." "I'm not Norma Bates." "Huh?" "You know at the end of Psycho when Norman as Norma says, 'They're probably looking at me and saying why she wouldn't harm a fly.' Never mind. Anyway I'm here to stop you. Give me Emmett." "Here. You could have him. As soon as I destroy the time machine here I won't need him any more." Peabody pushed young Emmett over to Marty. Marty caught the boy. Then Peabody went to go stop Marty from traveling back in time to 1955 when Marty would show up at his farm. Peabody observed what had been going on while he was talking to Marty. In the empty parking lot in front of him he saw Marty and Doc from 1985. Marty was holding a video camera on the Doc while Doc was talking. Then all of a sudden Doc noticed a van approaching after Einstein barked and warned him. Doc said, "Oh, my God they found me. I don't know how but they found me. Run for it Marty!" Marty asked, "Who, who?" "Who do you think? The Libyans." "Holy shit!" The Libyans shot at Doc and Marty from their blue VW minivan. "I'll hold their fire," the doc screamed to Marty. Peabody thought to himself, This is great. I don't even have to do anything about the Doc. The Libyans will take care of that. Now I just have to stop Marty from taking the DeLorean. Only Peabody didn't know that Doc was actually wearing a bulletproof vest at this point. Doc was shot and fell to the ground. Meanwhile, Peabody made his way over to the DeLorean of 1985. Marty from 1987 followed quickly behind him. He grabbed hold of the old man. But Peabody was so filled with anger he was able to break free. He knocked out Marty with his cane. Marty fell to the cement floor. Peabody continued for the DeLorean. Then a limping Emmett hobbled over to Peabody. This was unexpected of the seven-year old boy. Peabody was not afraid of the small child. But what he didn't know was that Emmett knew how to stop him. Emmett with knowledge way ahead of his time used a theory that would one day be used by Bill and Ted of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Emmett said, "As soon as all this is over I'm going to take the time machine to 1927 before Peabody can steal it." Just then Peabody began to fade. "What's happening," he cried. "You're being erased. You'll return to your normal time so don't worry. Although you won't remember a thing about this whole incident. I think." Peabody completely vanished. Therefore he was unable to prevent Marty from traveling through time. Seventeen-year-old Marty, after fleeing the Libyans assault, got into the DeLorean and began to speed up to 90 mph as Doc lay on the floor, presumed dead. Emmett went over to Marty, his baby sitter. The 19-year old was barely becoming conscious. Emmett helped him up and the two went back to the hovering and the red DeLoreans. Meanwhile, 17-year old Marty traveled back in time to 1955. And the Marty returning from 1955 went over to find that Doc was wearing a bulletproof vest and was not dead after all. So young Emmett and Marty were safe at last. There was still one final issue though; the red DeLorean. Marty took the red DeLorean to the train track at Eastwood Ravine. He drove the red DeLorean onto the tracks. When the train came speeding by the car was totaled. Just like the first DeLorean had been. Marty and Emmett then went back to 1927 in the hover DeLorean. When they arrived it was already late in the evening. Marty took Emmett back into the mansion. "Wow, that was fun Marty! You've got to sit for me again!" "Fun? You thought that was fun? I'll sit for you again the day I become Deputy mayor of New York and I get to meet Heather Locklear." "What? Who's Heather Locklear?" "Never mind. Well it's getting late. You had better get to bed." "But Marty I want to travel through time again. I want to visit the Old West." "No. You've caused enough trouble already. Hey Emmett, one more thing." "Yeah?" "Happy Birthday." "Thanks, Marty. Or should I say Gilbert?" Emmett's parent's came home late that night. They thanked "Gilbert" for watching Emmett for them. Marty then went back to 1987 in the DeLorean. Tuesday June 2nd, 1987 The time machine made three sonic boom blasts and Marty was now back in his own time. Marty landed in front of Doc's lab. Marty hopped out of the DeLorean and saw the Doc standing in front of him. "Great Scott, Marty what were you thinking?" "I'm sorry Doc. I just thought that it would be interesting to see you as a child after you told me the story. I had no idea the trouble that could be caused." "Well I'm just glad you didn't cause any lasting paradoxes. So what did happen, anyway?" "Well it turns out that Old Man Peabody has been spying on you over the years. He created his own time machine out of a DeLorean like you did. But I had hid DeLorean destroyed so he can't travel through time anymore." "All right. Just be more careful next time. Do not ever time travel without telling me where you are going again." "No problem, Doc." Marty then left Doc's lab. He went over to Jennifer's house. Jennifer let him inside. "Marty what's wrong? You look terrible." "I've just got back from an adventure with Emmett." "You mean Doc?" "Not exactly. You see, I was with Doc when he was seven." "Oh. I get it. I think." "Well look, the whole time I was there I kept wishing I were here with you." "Oh Marty, that's so sweet. Well, then, I'm glad you're here. I need to go pick up some more cereal from the store. Do you think you could watch my cousin's?" "Well… actually… I really… ." "Oh, thanks, Marty. You're so nice." So Jennifer left Marty alone with the two young children. "But I--" Marty tried to protest but Jennifer didn't hear him. The two boys came up to Marty and said in unison, "Hi. Can you take us on an adventure, too?" Marty looked at them in horror and thought, Perfect!
4:40 P.M.