Back to the Waves:
Funtimes at Chlorine.com
The concert had rocked. Marty was thrilled with the outcome of that big night. It had been a few years since he had played with the PinHeads, so there was some uncertainty in the air. But after their opening number, the crowd went wild, and all of Marty's fears about being too old to rock were blown away with the amplifier breeze.
Marty patted Aaron, the drummer, on the back as he said goodnight to him, and stepped out the back stage door. It was an unusually cold Californian late afternoon, but the exhilaration of performing was keeping Marty warm. It also distracted him from a voice calling out to him. The greeting went unheard the first time, but not the second, due to the fact that the speaker raised his voice and hurried towards the famous guitarist.
"Marty!" shouted the eye widening familiar voice, "I caught the end of your show, It was. wonderful!" Marty took a step back after realizing who was standing in front of him, "Doc!"
Marty's old mentor simply smiled, as he knew any words to attempt to calm his young friend down would be useless.
"Doc, I can't believe this. It's been so long."
"I know Marty, I know. To you, it has been a long, long time," Doc told him, happy that Marty had at least a tiny grasp on the situation.
"What brings you here, I mean, what brings you now?"
"I missed you Marty, and I knew your concert here was going to be a success, and I wanted to tell you how proud I am of you."
Marty couldn't contain himself a moment longer. He gave Doc a quick hug and a pat on the back.
"So how have you been? Is Clara here?" Marty looked around, wondering not where Clara was, but where that big, hovering train was hidden.
"No, Clara and the boys are back in the 1890s. This is just a short trip I made to catch up with you." Doc paused, trying to find the right words. "And to tell you, I'm going to dismantle the Time Train."
"Oh." Marty understood straight away.
"The family and I are happy where we are in history, and it's been awhile since we've used the old train, and well."
"Nah, that's fine Doc. I understand. I'm glad you came. How long can you stay? You wanna go eat somewhere?"
"Sure. You choose where. Rome, Australia, Babylon?"
Marty chuckled. "How about Hill valley?"
The Doc shook his head, realizing he had overlooked the most logical place. He smiled and snapped his fingers. "Of course. For old time's sake." He lowered his voice to a whisper: "No pun intended."
They both laughed as they walked off together.
***
The Time Train was parked on a lonely beach. Marty always wondered if that strange locomotive would one day appear out of the giant blue again; if Doc would emerge, ready to take him on another adventure.
"Sorry we had to walk so far, but I couldn't risk landing the Train any closer to the concert," Doc told Marty.
"That's alright Doc. She looks good. Have you time traveled to many times?"
"Great Scott!" Doc left Marty's walking pace and raced down to the sandy beach.
"What? What's the matter?" Marty caught up to his exaggerated friend.
"The matter? The matter is the tide has come in."
Marty looked to where Doc was pointing; the waves were rolling in, splashing on the back of the train's carriage.
"No big deal, it's only a little water right?" Marty asked, trying to settle Doc down.
"Look what is leaking out the back of the engine."
Marty saw a green liquid flooding out of the train's exhaust and out into the ocean.
"What's that green stuff?" he asked.
Doc starts pacing, "That's liquid fluxazani. It helps power the time circuits."
"Hang on, Doc. I thought the train ran on steam."
"I lied."
Doc looked out to the ocean's horizon. He suddenly breathed in deeply with shock, pulling a remote control panel out of his pocket. He pushed a switch on it and the side door on the train opened. He hopped up into the train, disappearing from Marty's sight for a moment. He then emerged with a long, golden telescope. Marty recognized it straight away: it was Clara's telescope. He stepped back down onto the beach and lifted the old fashioned magnifier up, pointing it out to sea. "Good heavens!" he cried.
"What? What is it? What do you see?" Marty squinted, trying to look for anything out of the ordinary.
Doc handed him the telescope, and Marty raised the heavy antique while Doc started to pace up and down the beach.
Marty looked through the eyepiece, focusing the images from blurry to crystal clear. He could not believe his eyes; he quickly checked to see if the lens was clean, and then he took another look at the shocking imagery.
He could see many ships and boats out at sea, many different, unusual designs. There was one made from bamboo sticks, and another made of metal. Marty wanted to ask Doc what in the world was going on, but he couldn't take his eyes away from the amazing sea view. He began to get a grasp on the situation when he spotted a huge wooden vessel. Marty almost dropped the telescope when he made out a huge black flag with skull and cross bones at the top of the ship. He had seen enough. He turned around to see Doc still pacing up and down the shoreline.
"Doc, there's a pirate ship!"
"Yes, yes. I saw that, too, and a Roman frigate, a Viking vessel, and several other past and future ships."
"But why? What happened?"
"The leaking fluxazani mixed with the salt in the water, creating a temporal magnetic effect and pulling all of these vessels here from all over the world. There must be at least 20 vessels out there."
"Ok, so what do we do?"
"Hmmm. I think the only thing I can do is to travel back 30 minutes, and wait for my younger self to walk away from the train, and then I'll get in, and move it away from the water. Then none of this will ever happen."
"Alright, do you need my help?" Marty wasn't exactly excited, but he felt young again that he was going on another adventure, and that youthful feeling made him happy. Doc smiled, despite the lurking peril, knowing he and his young friend would be working together again.
Unfortunately, while they were smiling at each other, a huge dinosaur-like fish smashed out of the rolling tide, and grabbed the train with its enormous mouth. Marty and Doc fell back on the sand with the exploding wave. They watched in horror as the purple, prehistoric sea beast tugged at half of the train. Then took a huge, ear-covering bite, and the train was suddenly spilt in two. The monster then swallowed the back carriage as he/she plummeted back into the ocean from where it so violently came.
Marty and Doc turned to look at each other, both wide-eyed. "Holy sh*t!" Marty was at a loss for words, but he was glad he found those two. Marty stood and pulled Doc onto his feet as well. While Marty dusted the sand off his jeans and shirt, Doc just looked blankly out at the sea, unblinking.
"What the hell was that thing?" Marty stammered.
"Well, I'm not sure, but it looked like a leedsichthys problematicus."
"What?"
"A fish that swam the seas during the Jurassic period, 155 million years ago."
"Perfect. All right Doc, what are we going to do now? I don't know a thing about paradoxes, but it can't be a good thing having all these boats and fish out of their own times."
"Hmmmm . . . The only thing keeping them here is the leaked, green Fluxazani. If we can clean up that, then the vessels and creatures should vanish back to their point of origin."
"Ok, so how do we clean the ocean? Chlorine?"
"Exactly!"
***
The 24-hour Internet cafe was barren of people. The 20 or so computers sat with black screens. Only three were being used. Two tourists battled against each other in a computer game, and the third user sat engaged in a message board.
Doc and Marty entered the establishment and sat down at one of the many spare computers.
"Why are we here, Doc?" Marty asked, puzzled.
"We need to find a chlorine shop, and we can't walk around this unfamiliar town all night, hoping to bump into a pool shop."
"I guess not."
The third computer guy wheeled his chair over to the two ex-time travelers. "Did I hear you guys talking about chlorine?" Marty and Doc looked at each other, both wondering if this strange, young 22 year old, was not a nutcase. They looked back at him and nodded.
"Far out! I'm a member of the Chlorine.com message board. I'm on right now. Come and have a gander."
The 3 wheeled over to the strange young man's computer. "There's a Chlorine.com?" Marty asked, completely shocked.
"I find it more surprising that there's a message board on Chlorine.com," Doc added, almost smiling.
"My user name is Pool Scoop, but a guy named Scotchy gave me the nickname of Scoopy. Which is okay with me. Scotchy is actually dating a girl he met on the board. PurpleBathers is her name. She lives in a completely different country than him and she's very pretty. There are a lot of people from other countries on the board, like LonePoolKath for example. She's really nice and-"
"Could we just find out where the closest chlorine shop is please?" Marty interrupted. He turned to see Doc's disapproving face, but Marty only shrugged his shoulders.
"Oh look, Alternate PoolPump just logged on. That guy's a bit crazy too, he used to be called PoolPump Brittle for awhile. Hehe, Lil' Water Dive is posting about adding chlorine into the Sims computer game."
Doc and Marty looked at each other with boredom.
"Oh no! PoolLover just posted the most asked question on the board, 'How much chlorine should I put in the ocean?'" Scoopy giggled. "Now Alternate PoolPump is posting links to the answer."
Marty and Doc spoke at the same time: "What is the answer?" They look at each other briefly, knowing that they were wondering the same thing.
"The answer is that you don't put chlorine into the ocean, unless you are a nut."
Marty and Doc were slightly offended. "Could we just have the nearest pool shop location please?" Doc insisted.
"Ok, that would be." Pool Scoop scrolled down the location index, "42 Cronulla Avenue. That's just 3 blocks from here."
"Ok, thanks." Doc and Marty could not get away quick enough. They were aware of the amount of insane people on the Internet, but did not think it was this far-gone. They paid their minimum hour fee and left the cafe.
Scoopy continued reading his beloved message board, laughing. "That silly guy, RYS37, is talking about time travel again. lol."
***
It was fully dark when Marty and Doc arrived at BroomBrooke Swimming Accessories and Pool tables Store.
"Looks like this is the place, but Doc, it's closed."
"Not for long," Doc lead Marty towards the building.
A few minutes and alot of broken glass later, an alarm sounded and the two time criminals ran away from the "closed" store with a big bottle of chlorine. They hurried all the way back to the beach to a startling discovery.
The sound of canon fire, bright lights and explosions caused the pair's eyes to widen.
"Great Scott, the vessels are attacking one another!"
"Doc, look down there, a boat has landed on the shore!"
They hurried down to the ancient, wooden, small craft. Lying inside were the bodies of two men in ragged clothes. Doc examined them. "They're dead. Caught in the battle, no doubt. By the looks of them and the craft, they seem to be from 2000 years ago-biblical men."
"Doc, we can't send these guys back now."
"That was never my intention, Marty. We only have enough Chlorine for one vessel." Doc jogged over to the remaining front half of the train, grabbed the telescope, and rushed back. Marty waited in suspense. Doc raised it and glanced out to sea, where the attacks on the century-impaired vessels were in full swing.
"Excellent, it's still there," Doc muttered.
"What? What's still there?"
"The Brigantine Nightingale. A cargo ship that set sail from Europe and arrived in California on August the 23rd, 1894."
"Wait. How do you know all that, Doc?"
"Before I left 1894, I spoke to a man in town that had arrived on that ship a few days before. A tall, long haired fellow."
"Ok, so we board that ship, pour the chlorine around it, and we'll be sent back to the Old west?"
"Precisely. Once there, we will travel to Hill Valley and stowaway the Time Locomotive. And when my younger self goes to your concert, we'll move the time train away from the incoming tide."
"You make it sound so easy, Doc."
The scientist smiled. "Ready for one more adventure?"
"With you?" Marty paused, smiling back at his friend. "Anytime."
Doc and Marty pulled the bodies of the biblical men out of the ancient log craft, pushed it back onto the chilly sea, and jumped aboard.
They paddled along the choppy night sea for awhile before they could clearly see the numbers of strange and wonderfully different makes of boats, all co-existing not only in the same time, but the same place as well.
"Damn, look at that huge silver, square ship, Doc. What the hell is that thing?"
"Looks like some future military craft. I'd say it's from the late 21st century. Keep paddling. We're in luck; The Brigantine Nightingale is the closest vessel to us."
The Brigantine Nightingale was a small 19th century cargo ship. Not unlike the common sailing ships that come to mind when thinking of such old vessels.
The hijacked biblical fishing boat floated against the side of the centuries' younger vessel. Luckily, there was a rope ladder hanging over the side, and Doc and Marty climbed up onto the bigger vessel. Pulling themselves onto the deck, the two looked around.
People were running around panic stricken. Nobody noticed Doc or Marty. The crew seemed to be terrified.
"What the hell is going on here, Doc?"
"Jumpin' jigowatts!! Look!" The Doc pointed out over the other side of the ship.
Marty looked up in shock. Cruising right along side them was the pirate ship. The dirty, tall pirates, reminiscent of old Hollywood films, were pulling a round device over to the side of their ship. Suddenly it came into view; it was a cannon. "Duck, Marty!!!" The two dove to the ground. A huge explosion rocketed through the ship, shaking it fearfully. Fire swept across the deck. Many of the crewmembers jumped overboard to escape the heat.
"Doc, what are we going to do?"
"Abandon the plan and abandon the ship!"
They stood and rushed to the railing where they had just boarded moments earlier. Doc snatched the chlorine bottle and opened the lid, pouring it overboard into the green water below.
"Now Jump into the clear water Marty, That water is from another time. It's our only chance."
"What about you?" Marty asked worried.
"I'll be right behind you. Jump!"
Marty took a deep breath, as well as one last look around at the strongly burning wood around him. He then reached his arms above him and dove off the ship and into the one path of clear water that the chlorine had paved for him. The water was icy cold, but then it turned sharply warm. Marty feared that another explosion had caused the under water heat wave, but has he peaked up out of the water; he saw the wooden ship he just jumped off. It was now in one piece. More than that, it was no longer burning. Also, the tall ship was now docked at an old fashioned bay. Staying a float by paddling, he looked around for the Doc. But Marty was in the ocean by himself. There were no other ships anymore. And bright daylight filled the air. Marty realized he had been sent back into the past, alone.
Marty was now in ankle deep water, and there didn't seem to be a need to board the ship again because his surroundings looked like California. His task now was to travel to Hill Valley and to warn Doc.
Marty climbed up the rocky wall onto the wharf. He looked back down at the sea one last time, hoping Doc would surface, but there was nothing in the water that hadn't been there before. The Doc didn't make it.
A passenger, walking off the ship, stopped and looked at Marty. The man was short with short orange hair, and a short round hat on his orange locks. He stood in old-fashioned clothes. He was also remarkably familiar to Marty. "I say, I didn't know there was a bathing pool on board. Would you like me to get you a towel?" The man said in a strong Irish accent.
Marty then realized who the man standing in front of him was. He was younger than Marty remembered, but it was definitely him.
"Seamus?" Marty asked, already knowing the answer.
"Aye," Seamus smiled, hoping it was someone he at least knew.
"Seamus McFly?"
"Aye, that I am. It's good to see you again Martin,"
"Yeah, you remember me? How long has it been?"
"Too long, about 15 years I think."
"It can't be, you look younger then I remember."
Seamus chuckled.
"Have you been taking care of your baby, like I said?" Marty asked.
"My baby? What do you mean?" Seamus was taken aback by the odd question.
"Uh, you know, William."
"Oh, you mean father. He's fine. I tell you what Martin, it's hard to understand you in your adopted American accent."
"Wait a minute, you're calling me Martin. Shouldn't you be calling me Mr. Eastwood?"
Seamus didn't hear Marty's question. He was distracted by the arrival of a young, beautiful Irish lady, carrying luggage from the boat.
"There you are Maggie, I'd like you to meet Martin McFly. My brother." Seamus gestured to Marty.
Marty was in shock, but he quickly recovered, "Uh, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Maggie."
"It feels strange to finally meet someone you've been writing to all these months," Maggie shook his hand, "but I feel I already know you."
"Tell me about it." Marty's mind was going twice its normal speed, trying to calculate what should he do.
As it turned out, he helped the McFlys with their luggage and before he knew it, they were sitting in a saloon in Virginia City, CA, which was a neighboring city to Hill Valley, even though the more well-known Virginia City was in northern Nevada.
Marty had been wondering for ages how to ask a question, but then he realized he wouldn't have to when Seamus took a newspaper out of his suit pocket.
"Seamus, may I have a look at that paper?"
"Sure brother," he hands it to Marty. Marty looked on the front page. It was November 8, 1879. Marty felt his skin turn pale. He had come back to the wrong year. And worse then that, he had assumed the identity of a dead man: Martin McFly. A man he knew would die some time before 1885. He wondered if there really was a Martin McFly, or if it was Marty that Seamus was talking about all that time ago. He also struggled to remember the circumstances of his death. For all Marty knew, Martin could have been killed in this Virginia City saloon today.
Seamus unpacked a music-box-like box from his luggage, "Brother, you wait here with Maggie, I'm going to duck across and open up an account with the bank."
"What's in the box?" Marty asked. Seamus opened the lid, revealing diamond necklaces and gold nuggets, among other shiny items of great wealth.
Marty whistles. "You're exchanging all of that for money?"
"Aye, once mother passed away, God rest her soul, it gave us the chance to get married and move here."
Maggie smiled. "And now we have just enough left to buy a nice farm somewhere and start planting roots in this wonderful new country."
Seamus and Maggie shared a quick kiss, and Seamus closed the box and headed for the door.
Suddenly a man wearing a black hat blocked the exit to the saloon. He looked down at Seamus with big, none blinking eyes.
"Ah, could I please get past, mister?" Seamus was frightened to death.
"Sure you can, just give me that nice little box there, and I'll let you pass."
Marty felt Maggie clutch his hand firmly in fear. Marty was also full of fear. He couldn't let Seamus loose that box, otherwise the future would be altered. Seamus and Maggie would not have the money to buy a farm. Marty knew he had to act and act quickly.
He stood up, walked away from Maggie and towards the big man in the black hat.
"Hey, black hat, let him pass." Marty almost yelled the words. He was fighting his fear with over-confidence.
The man only laughed. "Whose gonna make me, dude? You?" "Let him pass, or I will be making you." Marty felt intimidated as the big, evil-looking man paced towards him. At least now the exit was free. Maggie got up from the table and hurried to the door and held Seamus. They both watched Marty in terror.
A man sitting at the bar spoke up, "Hey, Louie, you kill this man in an unprovoked attack, you'll go to prison. There's a new sheriff in Virginia you know."
"Yeah I know." The tall, dark man stared at Marty with hatred. "Well little man, it seems you are free to go."
Marty stepped past the towering figure, not making eye contact. But as Marty was halfway to the door, Louie added, "Of course, everyone in town will know you are a gutless little boy."
Marty chuckled, finding it humorous that this old trick was being tested on him now.
Marty glanced around to laugh at this idiot, but Marty's smile turned to amazement.
Louie the Black Hat was now holding a bowie knife. The blade of the knife was tinted with a strange, familiar greenish colour.
Seamus and Maggie were terrified at Marty's hesitation.
"Martin, come on, forget about him."
"How did your knife get that colour?" Marty asked, starting to think of a plan.
"I was out fishing this morning, and all of a sudden, a part of the water turned green. I stuck my knife into it, and then the green vanished. But it remained on my blade."
Marty realized that it was indeed the green fluxazani from the train.
"Why do you ask? Are you afraid your yellow belly will be cut by a green blade?"
"Hey, I'm not afraid of nothing!" Marty said, realizing that if he could liquefy the stain on the knife, and touch it, then he would be transported back into the future. Marty quickly grabbed a jug of water that was on a nearby table, and poured it over himself. The water ran over his head, down the back of his neck, and all over his shirt and jeans. The customers in the saloon laughed, but not Seamus or Maggie, "C'mon Maggie, let's get the sheriff." The two then exited the bar.
"I'm no coward, you jerk." Marty says as he walks towards Louie. Louie just chuckled.
"Then die like a hero!" He plummeted the knife towards Marty, but Marty stepped back and the knife only ripped through the front of his shirt. Marty fell to the ground and rolled under a table.
"Roll away like a coward then, you will die as what you are," Louie said as he grabbed and threw the table out of the way. To his, and to everyone else's, astonishment, Marty was gone. Vanished. There was no sign of him.
***
Marty was terrified. He couldn't tell which way was up as he swam in the sea. He was holding his breath for ages, and he could only hope that he was swimming up and not down to a watery grave.
Finally, he popped his head out of the ocean. He took a deep, life saving breath. He couldn't remember air tasting so good. A further boost of happiness came when he saw that he was close to land. The beach was not far away at all; it was just past the breaking waves.
Marty started paddling to the land. When he stopped, he saw a tremendous sight.
After three huge sonic booms, the Time Train appeared in the sky. Marty couldn't help but smile. He had come back. Back to before any of this happened. He waited, treading water, as the train landed on the shore, and his old friend climbed out and walked away.
Once out of sight, Marty continued swimming to shore. He reached the sand in no time and walked up to the time machine.
The water hadn't even reached it yet; he had plenty of time. Marty climbed up the side of the door of the ELB, broke the side window, and climbed in.
He studied the controls, and was thankful there was a diagram explaining how to take off and land.
Marty did just that, and by pushing a lever forward, he was able to thrust the train up into the air, steer it forward and around, and set it down by pulling the same lever back into its original position. He landed well clear of where the rolling high tide could reach.
It wasn't long before Marty had stepped outside that he spotted a man running towards him. Marty could soon make out the posture and features of the Doc.
"Hey you, get away from that time mach- .uh, Train machine." Doc reached Marty, puffing a little.
"Doc, it's me, it's Marty."
"But I thought you had a concert this afternoon."
"Uh, no, I already performed,"
"Oh, I'm sorry I missed it, but it's great to see you again."
Doc walked over to the train, noticing the smashed window.
"It's great to see you too Doc."
"What in the name of Sir Isaac H. Newton happened to my window?"
"Oh, some kids were throwing rocks at it. I scared them away by flying the train around," Marty lied.
"Damn kids." Doc stared at his friend for a moment, "Marty, I've come back to tell you how happy I am living with Clara and the boys. And a time machine can only take me away from that happy life, so I have no use for it any longer."
"Doc, I understand completely, I'm happy you came back to say goodbye."
"Who knows, I may change my mind and not dismantle it, and this might not be the last time you see me."
"I hope not Doc." Marty smiled.
"I'd better get going. This beach isn't exactly isolated, and who knows how many boats are out in the ocean, looking back."
"Hopefully none now, Doc," Marty chuckled.
Doc started to head for the train.
With every step the Doc took away from Marty, Marty felt sadder and older. "Wait Doc, you don't have to go now. You've only just got here," Marty almost begged.
Doc looked around, "You're right Marty. It'll be dark soon, anyway. Let's go grab something to eat."
"Great Doc, there's a cool rave club just down the road that I noticed," Marty smiled, leading his friend up the beach.
"A rave? Sounds interesting. Marty, what happened to your clothes? You're dripping wet."
"Oh, I just felt like having a quick swim," Marty admitted.
"How was the water? Nice?"
"Nah, it was too green."
The two friends disappeared into the light of the setting sun.
The concert had rocked. Marty was thrilled with the outcome of that big night. It had been a few years since he had played with the PinHeads, so there was some uncertainty in the air. But after their opening number, the crowd went wild, and all of Marty's fears about being too old to rock were blown away with the amplifier breeze.
Marty patted Aaron, the drummer, on the back as he said goodnight to him, and stepped out the back stage door. It was an unusually cold Californian late afternoon, but the exhilaration of performing was keeping Marty warm. It also distracted him from a voice calling out to him. The greeting went unheard the first time, but not the second, due to the fact that the speaker raised his voice and hurried towards the famous guitarist.
"Marty!" shouted the eye widening familiar voice, "I caught the end of your show, It was. wonderful!" Marty took a step back after realizing who was standing in front of him, "Doc!"
Marty's old mentor simply smiled, as he knew any words to attempt to calm his young friend down would be useless.
"Doc, I can't believe this. It's been so long."
"I know Marty, I know. To you, it has been a long, long time," Doc told him, happy that Marty had at least a tiny grasp on the situation.
"What brings you here, I mean, what brings you now?"
"I missed you Marty, and I knew your concert here was going to be a success, and I wanted to tell you how proud I am of you."
Marty couldn't contain himself a moment longer. He gave Doc a quick hug and a pat on the back.
"So how have you been? Is Clara here?" Marty looked around, wondering not where Clara was, but where that big, hovering train was hidden.
"No, Clara and the boys are back in the 1890s. This is just a short trip I made to catch up with you." Doc paused, trying to find the right words. "And to tell you, I'm going to dismantle the Time Train."
"Oh." Marty understood straight away.
"The family and I are happy where we are in history, and it's been awhile since we've used the old train, and well."
"Nah, that's fine Doc. I understand. I'm glad you came. How long can you stay? You wanna go eat somewhere?"
"Sure. You choose where. Rome, Australia, Babylon?"
Marty chuckled. "How about Hill valley?"
The Doc shook his head, realizing he had overlooked the most logical place. He smiled and snapped his fingers. "Of course. For old time's sake." He lowered his voice to a whisper: "No pun intended."
They both laughed as they walked off together.
***
The Time Train was parked on a lonely beach. Marty always wondered if that strange locomotive would one day appear out of the giant blue again; if Doc would emerge, ready to take him on another adventure.
"Sorry we had to walk so far, but I couldn't risk landing the Train any closer to the concert," Doc told Marty.
"That's alright Doc. She looks good. Have you time traveled to many times?"
"Great Scott!" Doc left Marty's walking pace and raced down to the sandy beach.
"What? What's the matter?" Marty caught up to his exaggerated friend.
"The matter? The matter is the tide has come in."
Marty looked to where Doc was pointing; the waves were rolling in, splashing on the back of the train's carriage.
"No big deal, it's only a little water right?" Marty asked, trying to settle Doc down.
"Look what is leaking out the back of the engine."
Marty saw a green liquid flooding out of the train's exhaust and out into the ocean.
"What's that green stuff?" he asked.
Doc starts pacing, "That's liquid fluxazani. It helps power the time circuits."
"Hang on, Doc. I thought the train ran on steam."
"I lied."
Doc looked out to the ocean's horizon. He suddenly breathed in deeply with shock, pulling a remote control panel out of his pocket. He pushed a switch on it and the side door on the train opened. He hopped up into the train, disappearing from Marty's sight for a moment. He then emerged with a long, golden telescope. Marty recognized it straight away: it was Clara's telescope. He stepped back down onto the beach and lifted the old fashioned magnifier up, pointing it out to sea. "Good heavens!" he cried.
"What? What is it? What do you see?" Marty squinted, trying to look for anything out of the ordinary.
Doc handed him the telescope, and Marty raised the heavy antique while Doc started to pace up and down the beach.
Marty looked through the eyepiece, focusing the images from blurry to crystal clear. He could not believe his eyes; he quickly checked to see if the lens was clean, and then he took another look at the shocking imagery.
He could see many ships and boats out at sea, many different, unusual designs. There was one made from bamboo sticks, and another made of metal. Marty wanted to ask Doc what in the world was going on, but he couldn't take his eyes away from the amazing sea view. He began to get a grasp on the situation when he spotted a huge wooden vessel. Marty almost dropped the telescope when he made out a huge black flag with skull and cross bones at the top of the ship. He had seen enough. He turned around to see Doc still pacing up and down the shoreline.
"Doc, there's a pirate ship!"
"Yes, yes. I saw that, too, and a Roman frigate, a Viking vessel, and several other past and future ships."
"But why? What happened?"
"The leaking fluxazani mixed with the salt in the water, creating a temporal magnetic effect and pulling all of these vessels here from all over the world. There must be at least 20 vessels out there."
"Ok, so what do we do?"
"Hmmm. I think the only thing I can do is to travel back 30 minutes, and wait for my younger self to walk away from the train, and then I'll get in, and move it away from the water. Then none of this will ever happen."
"Alright, do you need my help?" Marty wasn't exactly excited, but he felt young again that he was going on another adventure, and that youthful feeling made him happy. Doc smiled, despite the lurking peril, knowing he and his young friend would be working together again.
Unfortunately, while they were smiling at each other, a huge dinosaur-like fish smashed out of the rolling tide, and grabbed the train with its enormous mouth. Marty and Doc fell back on the sand with the exploding wave. They watched in horror as the purple, prehistoric sea beast tugged at half of the train. Then took a huge, ear-covering bite, and the train was suddenly spilt in two. The monster then swallowed the back carriage as he/she plummeted back into the ocean from where it so violently came.
Marty and Doc turned to look at each other, both wide-eyed. "Holy sh*t!" Marty was at a loss for words, but he was glad he found those two. Marty stood and pulled Doc onto his feet as well. While Marty dusted the sand off his jeans and shirt, Doc just looked blankly out at the sea, unblinking.
"What the hell was that thing?" Marty stammered.
"Well, I'm not sure, but it looked like a leedsichthys problematicus."
"What?"
"A fish that swam the seas during the Jurassic period, 155 million years ago."
"Perfect. All right Doc, what are we going to do now? I don't know a thing about paradoxes, but it can't be a good thing having all these boats and fish out of their own times."
"Hmmmm . . . The only thing keeping them here is the leaked, green Fluxazani. If we can clean up that, then the vessels and creatures should vanish back to their point of origin."
"Ok, so how do we clean the ocean? Chlorine?"
"Exactly!"
***
The 24-hour Internet cafe was barren of people. The 20 or so computers sat with black screens. Only three were being used. Two tourists battled against each other in a computer game, and the third user sat engaged in a message board.
Doc and Marty entered the establishment and sat down at one of the many spare computers.
"Why are we here, Doc?" Marty asked, puzzled.
"We need to find a chlorine shop, and we can't walk around this unfamiliar town all night, hoping to bump into a pool shop."
"I guess not."
The third computer guy wheeled his chair over to the two ex-time travelers. "Did I hear you guys talking about chlorine?" Marty and Doc looked at each other, both wondering if this strange, young 22 year old, was not a nutcase. They looked back at him and nodded.
"Far out! I'm a member of the Chlorine.com message board. I'm on right now. Come and have a gander."
The 3 wheeled over to the strange young man's computer. "There's a Chlorine.com?" Marty asked, completely shocked.
"I find it more surprising that there's a message board on Chlorine.com," Doc added, almost smiling.
"My user name is Pool Scoop, but a guy named Scotchy gave me the nickname of Scoopy. Which is okay with me. Scotchy is actually dating a girl he met on the board. PurpleBathers is her name. She lives in a completely different country than him and she's very pretty. There are a lot of people from other countries on the board, like LonePoolKath for example. She's really nice and-"
"Could we just find out where the closest chlorine shop is please?" Marty interrupted. He turned to see Doc's disapproving face, but Marty only shrugged his shoulders.
"Oh look, Alternate PoolPump just logged on. That guy's a bit crazy too, he used to be called PoolPump Brittle for awhile. Hehe, Lil' Water Dive is posting about adding chlorine into the Sims computer game."
Doc and Marty looked at each other with boredom.
"Oh no! PoolLover just posted the most asked question on the board, 'How much chlorine should I put in the ocean?'" Scoopy giggled. "Now Alternate PoolPump is posting links to the answer."
Marty and Doc spoke at the same time: "What is the answer?" They look at each other briefly, knowing that they were wondering the same thing.
"The answer is that you don't put chlorine into the ocean, unless you are a nut."
Marty and Doc were slightly offended. "Could we just have the nearest pool shop location please?" Doc insisted.
"Ok, that would be." Pool Scoop scrolled down the location index, "42 Cronulla Avenue. That's just 3 blocks from here."
"Ok, thanks." Doc and Marty could not get away quick enough. They were aware of the amount of insane people on the Internet, but did not think it was this far-gone. They paid their minimum hour fee and left the cafe.
Scoopy continued reading his beloved message board, laughing. "That silly guy, RYS37, is talking about time travel again. lol."
***
It was fully dark when Marty and Doc arrived at BroomBrooke Swimming Accessories and Pool tables Store.
"Looks like this is the place, but Doc, it's closed."
"Not for long," Doc lead Marty towards the building.
A few minutes and alot of broken glass later, an alarm sounded and the two time criminals ran away from the "closed" store with a big bottle of chlorine. They hurried all the way back to the beach to a startling discovery.
The sound of canon fire, bright lights and explosions caused the pair's eyes to widen.
"Great Scott, the vessels are attacking one another!"
"Doc, look down there, a boat has landed on the shore!"
They hurried down to the ancient, wooden, small craft. Lying inside were the bodies of two men in ragged clothes. Doc examined them. "They're dead. Caught in the battle, no doubt. By the looks of them and the craft, they seem to be from 2000 years ago-biblical men."
"Doc, we can't send these guys back now."
"That was never my intention, Marty. We only have enough Chlorine for one vessel." Doc jogged over to the remaining front half of the train, grabbed the telescope, and rushed back. Marty waited in suspense. Doc raised it and glanced out to sea, where the attacks on the century-impaired vessels were in full swing.
"Excellent, it's still there," Doc muttered.
"What? What's still there?"
"The Brigantine Nightingale. A cargo ship that set sail from Europe and arrived in California on August the 23rd, 1894."
"Wait. How do you know all that, Doc?"
"Before I left 1894, I spoke to a man in town that had arrived on that ship a few days before. A tall, long haired fellow."
"Ok, so we board that ship, pour the chlorine around it, and we'll be sent back to the Old west?"
"Precisely. Once there, we will travel to Hill Valley and stowaway the Time Locomotive. And when my younger self goes to your concert, we'll move the time train away from the incoming tide."
"You make it sound so easy, Doc."
The scientist smiled. "Ready for one more adventure?"
"With you?" Marty paused, smiling back at his friend. "Anytime."
Doc and Marty pulled the bodies of the biblical men out of the ancient log craft, pushed it back onto the chilly sea, and jumped aboard.
They paddled along the choppy night sea for awhile before they could clearly see the numbers of strange and wonderfully different makes of boats, all co-existing not only in the same time, but the same place as well.
"Damn, look at that huge silver, square ship, Doc. What the hell is that thing?"
"Looks like some future military craft. I'd say it's from the late 21st century. Keep paddling. We're in luck; The Brigantine Nightingale is the closest vessel to us."
The Brigantine Nightingale was a small 19th century cargo ship. Not unlike the common sailing ships that come to mind when thinking of such old vessels.
The hijacked biblical fishing boat floated against the side of the centuries' younger vessel. Luckily, there was a rope ladder hanging over the side, and Doc and Marty climbed up onto the bigger vessel. Pulling themselves onto the deck, the two looked around.
People were running around panic stricken. Nobody noticed Doc or Marty. The crew seemed to be terrified.
"What the hell is going on here, Doc?"
"Jumpin' jigowatts!! Look!" The Doc pointed out over the other side of the ship.
Marty looked up in shock. Cruising right along side them was the pirate ship. The dirty, tall pirates, reminiscent of old Hollywood films, were pulling a round device over to the side of their ship. Suddenly it came into view; it was a cannon. "Duck, Marty!!!" The two dove to the ground. A huge explosion rocketed through the ship, shaking it fearfully. Fire swept across the deck. Many of the crewmembers jumped overboard to escape the heat.
"Doc, what are we going to do?"
"Abandon the plan and abandon the ship!"
They stood and rushed to the railing where they had just boarded moments earlier. Doc snatched the chlorine bottle and opened the lid, pouring it overboard into the green water below.
"Now Jump into the clear water Marty, That water is from another time. It's our only chance."
"What about you?" Marty asked worried.
"I'll be right behind you. Jump!"
Marty took a deep breath, as well as one last look around at the strongly burning wood around him. He then reached his arms above him and dove off the ship and into the one path of clear water that the chlorine had paved for him. The water was icy cold, but then it turned sharply warm. Marty feared that another explosion had caused the under water heat wave, but has he peaked up out of the water; he saw the wooden ship he just jumped off. It was now in one piece. More than that, it was no longer burning. Also, the tall ship was now docked at an old fashioned bay. Staying a float by paddling, he looked around for the Doc. But Marty was in the ocean by himself. There were no other ships anymore. And bright daylight filled the air. Marty realized he had been sent back into the past, alone.
Marty was now in ankle deep water, and there didn't seem to be a need to board the ship again because his surroundings looked like California. His task now was to travel to Hill Valley and to warn Doc.
Marty climbed up the rocky wall onto the wharf. He looked back down at the sea one last time, hoping Doc would surface, but there was nothing in the water that hadn't been there before. The Doc didn't make it.
A passenger, walking off the ship, stopped and looked at Marty. The man was short with short orange hair, and a short round hat on his orange locks. He stood in old-fashioned clothes. He was also remarkably familiar to Marty. "I say, I didn't know there was a bathing pool on board. Would you like me to get you a towel?" The man said in a strong Irish accent.
Marty then realized who the man standing in front of him was. He was younger than Marty remembered, but it was definitely him.
"Seamus?" Marty asked, already knowing the answer.
"Aye," Seamus smiled, hoping it was someone he at least knew.
"Seamus McFly?"
"Aye, that I am. It's good to see you again Martin,"
"Yeah, you remember me? How long has it been?"
"Too long, about 15 years I think."
"It can't be, you look younger then I remember."
Seamus chuckled.
"Have you been taking care of your baby, like I said?" Marty asked.
"My baby? What do you mean?" Seamus was taken aback by the odd question.
"Uh, you know, William."
"Oh, you mean father. He's fine. I tell you what Martin, it's hard to understand you in your adopted American accent."
"Wait a minute, you're calling me Martin. Shouldn't you be calling me Mr. Eastwood?"
Seamus didn't hear Marty's question. He was distracted by the arrival of a young, beautiful Irish lady, carrying luggage from the boat.
"There you are Maggie, I'd like you to meet Martin McFly. My brother." Seamus gestured to Marty.
Marty was in shock, but he quickly recovered, "Uh, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Maggie."
"It feels strange to finally meet someone you've been writing to all these months," Maggie shook his hand, "but I feel I already know you."
"Tell me about it." Marty's mind was going twice its normal speed, trying to calculate what should he do.
As it turned out, he helped the McFlys with their luggage and before he knew it, they were sitting in a saloon in Virginia City, CA, which was a neighboring city to Hill Valley, even though the more well-known Virginia City was in northern Nevada.
Marty had been wondering for ages how to ask a question, but then he realized he wouldn't have to when Seamus took a newspaper out of his suit pocket.
"Seamus, may I have a look at that paper?"
"Sure brother," he hands it to Marty. Marty looked on the front page. It was November 8, 1879. Marty felt his skin turn pale. He had come back to the wrong year. And worse then that, he had assumed the identity of a dead man: Martin McFly. A man he knew would die some time before 1885. He wondered if there really was a Martin McFly, or if it was Marty that Seamus was talking about all that time ago. He also struggled to remember the circumstances of his death. For all Marty knew, Martin could have been killed in this Virginia City saloon today.
Seamus unpacked a music-box-like box from his luggage, "Brother, you wait here with Maggie, I'm going to duck across and open up an account with the bank."
"What's in the box?" Marty asked. Seamus opened the lid, revealing diamond necklaces and gold nuggets, among other shiny items of great wealth.
Marty whistles. "You're exchanging all of that for money?"
"Aye, once mother passed away, God rest her soul, it gave us the chance to get married and move here."
Maggie smiled. "And now we have just enough left to buy a nice farm somewhere and start planting roots in this wonderful new country."
Seamus and Maggie shared a quick kiss, and Seamus closed the box and headed for the door.
Suddenly a man wearing a black hat blocked the exit to the saloon. He looked down at Seamus with big, none blinking eyes.
"Ah, could I please get past, mister?" Seamus was frightened to death.
"Sure you can, just give me that nice little box there, and I'll let you pass."
Marty felt Maggie clutch his hand firmly in fear. Marty was also full of fear. He couldn't let Seamus loose that box, otherwise the future would be altered. Seamus and Maggie would not have the money to buy a farm. Marty knew he had to act and act quickly.
He stood up, walked away from Maggie and towards the big man in the black hat.
"Hey, black hat, let him pass." Marty almost yelled the words. He was fighting his fear with over-confidence.
The man only laughed. "Whose gonna make me, dude? You?" "Let him pass, or I will be making you." Marty felt intimidated as the big, evil-looking man paced towards him. At least now the exit was free. Maggie got up from the table and hurried to the door and held Seamus. They both watched Marty in terror.
A man sitting at the bar spoke up, "Hey, Louie, you kill this man in an unprovoked attack, you'll go to prison. There's a new sheriff in Virginia you know."
"Yeah I know." The tall, dark man stared at Marty with hatred. "Well little man, it seems you are free to go."
Marty stepped past the towering figure, not making eye contact. But as Marty was halfway to the door, Louie added, "Of course, everyone in town will know you are a gutless little boy."
Marty chuckled, finding it humorous that this old trick was being tested on him now.
Marty glanced around to laugh at this idiot, but Marty's smile turned to amazement.
Louie the Black Hat was now holding a bowie knife. The blade of the knife was tinted with a strange, familiar greenish colour.
Seamus and Maggie were terrified at Marty's hesitation.
"Martin, come on, forget about him."
"How did your knife get that colour?" Marty asked, starting to think of a plan.
"I was out fishing this morning, and all of a sudden, a part of the water turned green. I stuck my knife into it, and then the green vanished. But it remained on my blade."
Marty realized that it was indeed the green fluxazani from the train.
"Why do you ask? Are you afraid your yellow belly will be cut by a green blade?"
"Hey, I'm not afraid of nothing!" Marty said, realizing that if he could liquefy the stain on the knife, and touch it, then he would be transported back into the future. Marty quickly grabbed a jug of water that was on a nearby table, and poured it over himself. The water ran over his head, down the back of his neck, and all over his shirt and jeans. The customers in the saloon laughed, but not Seamus or Maggie, "C'mon Maggie, let's get the sheriff." The two then exited the bar.
"I'm no coward, you jerk." Marty says as he walks towards Louie. Louie just chuckled.
"Then die like a hero!" He plummeted the knife towards Marty, but Marty stepped back and the knife only ripped through the front of his shirt. Marty fell to the ground and rolled under a table.
"Roll away like a coward then, you will die as what you are," Louie said as he grabbed and threw the table out of the way. To his, and to everyone else's, astonishment, Marty was gone. Vanished. There was no sign of him.
***
Marty was terrified. He couldn't tell which way was up as he swam in the sea. He was holding his breath for ages, and he could only hope that he was swimming up and not down to a watery grave.
Finally, he popped his head out of the ocean. He took a deep, life saving breath. He couldn't remember air tasting so good. A further boost of happiness came when he saw that he was close to land. The beach was not far away at all; it was just past the breaking waves.
Marty started paddling to the land. When he stopped, he saw a tremendous sight.
After three huge sonic booms, the Time Train appeared in the sky. Marty couldn't help but smile. He had come back. Back to before any of this happened. He waited, treading water, as the train landed on the shore, and his old friend climbed out and walked away.
Once out of sight, Marty continued swimming to shore. He reached the sand in no time and walked up to the time machine.
The water hadn't even reached it yet; he had plenty of time. Marty climbed up the side of the door of the ELB, broke the side window, and climbed in.
He studied the controls, and was thankful there was a diagram explaining how to take off and land.
Marty did just that, and by pushing a lever forward, he was able to thrust the train up into the air, steer it forward and around, and set it down by pulling the same lever back into its original position. He landed well clear of where the rolling high tide could reach.
It wasn't long before Marty had stepped outside that he spotted a man running towards him. Marty could soon make out the posture and features of the Doc.
"Hey you, get away from that time mach- .uh, Train machine." Doc reached Marty, puffing a little.
"Doc, it's me, it's Marty."
"But I thought you had a concert this afternoon."
"Uh, no, I already performed,"
"Oh, I'm sorry I missed it, but it's great to see you again."
Doc walked over to the train, noticing the smashed window.
"It's great to see you too Doc."
"What in the name of Sir Isaac H. Newton happened to my window?"
"Oh, some kids were throwing rocks at it. I scared them away by flying the train around," Marty lied.
"Damn kids." Doc stared at his friend for a moment, "Marty, I've come back to tell you how happy I am living with Clara and the boys. And a time machine can only take me away from that happy life, so I have no use for it any longer."
"Doc, I understand completely, I'm happy you came back to say goodbye."
"Who knows, I may change my mind and not dismantle it, and this might not be the last time you see me."
"I hope not Doc." Marty smiled.
"I'd better get going. This beach isn't exactly isolated, and who knows how many boats are out in the ocean, looking back."
"Hopefully none now, Doc," Marty chuckled.
Doc started to head for the train.
With every step the Doc took away from Marty, Marty felt sadder and older. "Wait Doc, you don't have to go now. You've only just got here," Marty almost begged.
Doc looked around, "You're right Marty. It'll be dark soon, anyway. Let's go grab something to eat."
"Great Doc, there's a cool rave club just down the road that I noticed," Marty smiled, leading his friend up the beach.
"A rave? Sounds interesting. Marty, what happened to your clothes? You're dripping wet."
"Oh, I just felt like having a quick swim," Marty admitted.
"How was the water? Nice?"
"Nah, it was too green."
The two friends disappeared into the light of the setting sun.