Author's Note: This is the last episode of season four and probably the last one I will write. I'm going to miss this. Let me warn you before you start the story that it is more series than the official Animated Series episodes. I'm not kidding. Reviews would be appreciated as I will like to know what you think of the last episode story.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Back to the Future Animated Series. If I did my two seasons would be on TV and not located on .
Hill Valley, California
November 14, 1992
1:47 PM
In the front yard of the Brown family farm, Doc and Jules were conducting an experiment. Marty was standing behind Verne with umpire gear on his face and body. Verne was standing in front of him wearing a helmet and was holding a baseball bat steady in his hands.
Doc and Jules were a couple yards away from them, standing next to the JEB Pitch-O-Matic. Doc was talking to his oldest son, now in the middle of explaining Isaac Newton's Laws of Motion.
"Now Jules motion can be transferred from a moving object to a resting object," Doc explained as he loaded a baseball into the Pitch-O-Matic. "Ready Verny!"
"Ready and waiting pop!" Verne shouted back.
Jules pulled the cord of his machine and the baseball shot out. It was going so fast that it looked like a white blur. Verne was ready though and hit the ball at exactly the right time. The baseball flew into the air with Verne looking after it proudly.
"The first law is an object at rest will remain at rest," Doc started as the ball flew toward the house. "And an object in motion will remain in motion until another object of equal force acts upon it."
The baseball hit the middle of the kitchen window with a bang! Thankfully, though it did not break it and the baseball just dropped to the ground and sat there.
"Cool example," Marty said, removing his umpire mask.
Just then the kitchen window opened and Clara's head appeared. She looked at them with a slightly annoyed look on her face.
"Emmett be more careful with your experiments!" Clara shouted out the window. "You almost broke the window… again!"
Doc shrugged and turned to Jules.
"Also make sure you don't forget that a every action has an equal, or angry, reaction," Doc said and turned toward his wife. "Sorry dear!"
After Clara shut the window, Verne ran up to his father. He was hopping up and down, completely excited and hyper.
"We're going to the ice age now, right?" Verne asked. "You said we'd go after you taught Jules about the Newton guy's laws."
"Yes I did and I didn't forget, Verny." Doc said smiling and ruffled his youngest son's hair. He started toward the lab with the boys right behind him. Marty jogged up to Doc, taking off the umpire uniform as he walked.
"Why are we going to the ice age Doc?" Marty asked, nearly tripping over himself as he got out of his knee pads.
"Because I wanted to to test a new invention in a frigid environment," Doc explained. "Plus Verne wanted to see a woolly mammoth up close."
Doc had everything they needed waiting for their time trip in the lab. One of his tables had four warm parka coats on it along with some gloves and boots. Next to the clothes, was a cooler that looked like it was slightly modified. There was the scientist's new invention on the table, ready to be tested in the cold climate of the Ice Age. Doc and Marty started lifting the new invention off the table and moving it towards the time train.
"Did you have to make it so bulky Doc?" Marty asked, straining under the weight of the invention.
"Well it is the prototype and all prototypes are bulky," Doc said as they walked up the steps of the time train. "You should know that technology gets smaller and more compact as it undergoes several updates and advances."
They dropped the thing as lightly as they could on the floor of the train. Doc tied it down so it would not slide when they blasted off into the sky. He hopped off the train and started helping the boys into their gear.
"Obviously it is going to be quite cold boys," Doc said as he zipped up Verne's parka. "Make sure you keep your coats zipped up at all times."
"Roger father," Jules said as he tugged on his boots.
After they were prepared for the climate, the time travelers boarded the time train. Doc and Jules went up to the controls and started up the locomotive. Marty and Verne hung on as the train sped out of the lab, up off the tracks, and into the sky.
Hill Valley, California
Ice Age
8:00 AM
Glaciers of ice covered the once familiar land of Hill Valley. The ground was covered with snow with some ice patches here and there. A large pond was there but not completely frozen because only large blocks of ice bobbed on its surface. The whole world seemed the color white including the sky where the time train appeared. Verne and Jules looked out the window of the locomotive and saw the icy world.
"Wow look at all the snow!" Verne said. "I should have brought my sled!"
They landed on the snow-covered ground and the boys got out. The cold air nipped their faces and they pulled their hoods up. Jules knelt down and picked up some snow with his gloved hand.
"Very fresh," Jules said as he examined the snow. He turned around when he heard grunting behind him. Doc and Marty were unloading the heavy invention from the train.
The two best friends set the invention down on the ground. Marty stepped back as Doc began fiddling with the thing and activating the controls on it. The invention started making this humming sound as it was activated. Doc opened the modified cooler and took out a small Ziploc bag of snow. It was a sample from the freak snowstorm of '91 that Doc had saved. He then picked up some snow from the ground and rolled it into a snowball.
Doc put the Ice Age snow into the funnel at the top of the invention. It hummed even louder and rattled. Then the invention showed a green light on its small video screen. The snow, now melted, poured out of the bottom of the machine.
"What did that thing do?" Marty asked.
"It tested the snow for any pollutants or viral substances," Doc answered, trying to open the Ziploc bag with the Hill Valley snow in it. "The green light means that the snow was clean."
Doc loaded the Hill Valley snow into the funnel. The invention hummed again and a bright red light appeared on the video screen. This time, however, the snow did not pour out of the machine.
"I know a fellow scientist down in Alaska that lives off of snow," Doc said as he wiped the water off the machine so it wouldn't freeze. "It's his birthday and I thought I would make him a pollutant tester so he would know which snow was safe to ingest."
"Dad look a mammoth!" Verne suddenly yelled. Doc and Marty turned around and Jules looked up from his examining.
Indeed a pack of brown woolly mammoths were moving towards a glacier. There must have been at least half a dozen of them. They were all moving steadily against the chilling wind even though their fur had some frost on it and their tusks had tiny shards of ice. They just looked so strong moving through the harsh environment. It was quite a sight.
"They're bigger than the elephants at the zoo," Verne commented as the woolly mammoths disappeared behind the glacier. Verne waved. "Bye guys!"
"Yes that was a magnicifant animal," Doc said and put his hands on Jules and Verne's shoulders. "I'm glad you too got the chance to see them."
Marty helped Doc load the invention back into the time train. This time Jules and Verne helped them and they got the heavy thing into the back faster. The boys and Marty climbed in, shivering slightly from the cold air. The wind was really picking up.
The time train rose into the air with some difficulty. Doc tried to move them forward but the controls were just not responding. The time train started swaying in the wind and made the time travelers lose their balance.
"Doc's what's going on?" Marty asked. He slipped as the train swayed to the right and smashed his shoulder against the wall. He bit his lip in pain.
"I don't know," Doc said, panic rising in his voice. "I can't control the train!"
Suddenly the train lurched quite violently to the left and Verne completely lost his balance. He fell to the ground and slide to the OPEN entrance of the locomotive. The boy managed to grab onto something but that something was covered with ice.
Before the time travelers could do anything, Verne fell out of the time train. The ten-year-old screamed and made a splash when he hit the icy waters of the pond.
"VERNE!" Doc yelled and abandoned the controls of the time train. Marty watched his best friend jump out of the locomotive and down into the pond after his son. There was a second splash.
"Jules land us they need help!" Marty said to the twelve-year-old. Jules hurriedly landed the time train on the ground and Marty jumped out to help Doc and Verne.
By the waters of the pond, Marty could only see Verne sitting there shivering.
Doc was nowhere in sight.
"Doc!" Marty yelled as he thrust his arms into the water. His arms began to go numb but the musician continued searching for his best friend. He grabbed something that felt like a coat and pulled with all his might. His friend's body came above the surface of the water, completely soaked and shaking. Jules came over and helped Marty pull the scientist out of the frigid water.
They dropped Doc on the ground and turned him over. Doc's face was as white as the snow he laid on and his eyes were closed. The hair on the scientist's head was matted down and plastered on his face. Doc's arm was bent at an odd angle and his mouth was open in a frown. Marty could not tell if he was breathing.
"What happened?" Verne's asked as he moved over to them. He was wet too but was fully conscious and had his color. Jules removed his own jacket and put it around his shivering brother.
"We need to get home," Marty said to the boys. "I can't wake him up."
Hill Valley, California
November 14, 1992
1:51 PM
Clara had this deep feeling that something was terribly wrong. It was a prickly feeling in her mind that she could not shake. She tried to distract herself by preparing the turkey they were going to have for dinner. She still thought about it though.
Something was wrong and she just knew it.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Clara looked out the kitchen window and saw the time train fly down to its tracks. She saw the small figure of Jules run out of the train and toward the house. He burst through the door seconds later.
"Jules dinner is almost ready," Clara said but then got a look at her son. Jules was pale and his eyes were wide. He was breathing heavy from running so fast and had tear stains down his cheeks.
He looked scared.
"Jules, honey, what's wrong?" Clara asked as she knelt down to her son's level. She was very concerned about him, he had always been the calm one.
"Father fell through the ice," Jules managed to say with new tears dripping down his face. "He had jumped in after Verne in the water. Verne's okay but father won't wake up."
Clara's breath caught in her throat and she felt like her heart skipped a beat. Jules took her hand and started leading her out of the kitchen and outside to the time train. Marty and Verne were trying to carry Doc out of the locomotive. Clara ran over to them and helped bring her husband back into the farmhouse.
They put Doc down carefully on the couch. Even though this was the scientist's third time being moved, he did not make a single response. Clara turned to her youngest son and examined him. Verne was still shaking and she told Jules to go up and start a warm bath for Verne. When the two boys were upstairs, Clara switched her attention to her husband.
"Emmett," Clara said as she touched his cheek. He felt so cold and she didn't like it. Clara stroked his cheek a little, hoping that the familiar gesture would awaken him.
Doc didn't move and that scared her.
"Emmett!" Clara said louder and shook his shoulder. She noticed his left arm and saw that it might be fractured.
"I already tried shaking him," Marty said.
Clara said nothing and picked up one of Doc's wrists and checked his pulse. Her face seemed to go a little pale and she turned to Marty quickly.
"We need to call an ambulance," Clara said, trying desperately to keep her voice steady. "I can barely feel a pulse, hurry Marty!"
0 0 0
It had been difficult to come up with a story for Doc's accident. Luckily, the hospital had bought it and had sent an ambulance. Two men came into the farmhouse and moved Doc's body onto a stretcher.
When they were putting the stretcher in the ambulance, Marty stepped up and hopped on the ambulance.
"I'm going with him," Marty said. "I'm not leaving him alone."
The attendants just nodded and closed the back of the ambulance. Clara and the boys watched them go before heading to the van to follow them.
Meanwhile, Marty was in the ambulance standing next to his best friend. The attendants had connected Doc to an IV tube and a heart rate monitor. Marty looked at it and saw the device beeping every now and then.
"Come on Doc wake up," Marty muttered to the scientist. He sat down on one of the coolers and took Doc's hand. It felt different, all cold and clammy. Marty tried not to notice the difference and just squeezed the familiar hand.
"Wake up," Marty said again. The next sentence took more out of Marty. "You can't die now Doc. I didn't write that letter in '55 or go back to the west just so you could die from hypothermia. You're stronger than that. A good scientist never stays down, you said that. Don't give up like this."
Marty looked at Doc again for any response. The scientist was still limp but his eyes twitched slightly with movement.
The ambulance made it to the hospital and Doc was put on a gurney. Marty helped push the thing into the hospital. When they got in the lobby, a doctor and two nurses came up to them.
"Elderly male, 70s, hypothermia," one of the ambulance attendants informed the doctor. They were wheeling Doc really fast now and Marty was shoved out of the way. The musician wanted to go with his friend but the doctors probably thought he'd get in the way.
In the lobby, Marty spotted Clara and the boys. They were standing at the reception's office with Clara talking to the woman there. She seemed to be arguing with her about insurance or something. Jules and Verne were standing by their mother, looking worried about their father. Einstein the dog was there to with his leash being held by Verne.
"Marty how was Emmett?" Clara asked when Marty came up to them.
"He was still under and the doctor wheeled him away," Marty answered. "Do you know what room he's going to?"
"Room 120," Clara said. "But I think the doctor is going to to medicate him and fix his arm first."
0 0 0
They had sat in the waiting room for about two hours. No one really talked at all because everyone was worried. The boys just sat there absently petting Einstein and Clara kept looking at her wedding ring and rubbing it with her finger. Marty had tried to distract himself by drinking two whole cans of Diet Pepsi but it didn't really help. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to them, the doctor came out.
"Mrs. Brown?" the doctor asked as he came into the waiting room.
"Yes," Clara said. She stood up fast along with the others.
"We hooked up your husband to a heart rate monitor and we're watching his progress," the doctor said. "I'm afraid he hasn't come out of his unconsciousness yet. That's not normal."
"Well Doc's never been normal," Marty said. The doctor looked at him weird before leaving.
They took an elevator and entered Doc's room. The scientist was on a hospital bed and had been changed into one of those patient gowns. One of arms was in a light cast and the other was lying flat on the bed with and IV tube attached to it. Some of his color had returned but other than that Doc looked the same.
"I'll be right back," Marty said and headed for the door. "Those Pepsi's went through me."
"Jules, Verne, stay here," Clara said. "I want to get more information from that doctor."
The boys nodded not taking their eyes off of their father. It was just so strange to see him just lying there. He had always been so full of energy all the time and seeing him lying motionless in a hospital was weird and scary.
"I remember falling off the time train," Verne began, his eyes still on his father. Jules looked at his brother. "I fell through a thin layer of ice before hitting the water. It was freezing. I heard a splash next to me and it was dad. I was under water and he went under me and held me up out of the water. I could only see his arms and he tossed me on the ground. He stayed under the brain-numbing water to save me."
Jules just nodded.
"Do you think dad can hear us?" Verne asked.
"I'm not sure," Jules said. "I've never studied the unconscious human brain."
Verne moved toward his father's hospital bed with Einstein. Jules watched him and quietly walked over to the bed too.
"Dad if you can hear me pay attention," Verne began softly. "Jules and I need you, okay. I need you to help with my math homework and stuff and Jules needs you for science and as a lab partner. I love you and so does Jules so we need you to wake up. We don't want to grow up without a dad like everybody else."
Einstein whimpered while Verne was talking and put his front paws on the bed. He nuzzled Doc's head with his nose and started licking the scientist's face.
"See Einstein loves you too," Verne said.
"Verne get Einstein off your father," Clara said as she came into the room. She didn't say it sternly but rather softly. Einstein hopped back down on the ground and stood next to Verne like a good dog.
"Why don't you two go get something from the vending machine," Clara said and handed them each a dollar. The boys left the room with Einstein.
Clara stood there alone with her husband. She walked up to him and sat down carefully on the bed. The heart monitor was right next to her and going at a slow pace of boop boop boop. Clara sighed and ran a hand through Doc's mangy hair.
"I love you Emmett Lathrop Brown," Clara said, new tears forming in her eyes. "I really don't like seeing you like this. I wouldn't think… wouldn't think you would get hurt on a time-"
Clara kept choking up and couldn't finish. She allowed herself to release some of her tears for a moment before continuing.
"Please don't leave me," she whispered. She couldn't say anymore without seriously sobbing her heart out. Clara had always been an emotional woman.
She got up and washed her face at the sink. She splashed some water on her face and dried it with a paper towel. The whole time she could hear the boop boop boop of the heart monitor. Then suddenly it made a different noise.
Clara turned around and saw that the line on the monitor had gone completely flat. There were no little waves in the line to signify a heart beat and she heard was a long beeeeeeeeeeep.
Before Clara could do anything, the doctor and a couple nuses and assitants rushed in. They started crowding around Doc to help revive him. Clara watched it all with tears running down her cheeks. The doctor was ordering his helpers around in a quick voice.
Marty and the boys came in and saw the chaos. Jules and Verne saw the people and figured it out. They rushed to their mother and she put an arm on each of them.
"No," was all Marty could say. He had an absolutely devastated look on his face that no one had ever seen before.
An assistant brought forward a electro shock device. He rubbed the two things together and shouted "clear!" as he slammed them on Doc's chest. Doc body shook slightly from the shock. Jules and Verne couldn't take that and hid their faces in their mother's skirt. The doctor pushed three times on Doc's chest and the attendant shocked the scientist again. Then, like a miracle:
Boop boop boop.
Doc eyes flickered open and he looked around wildly. Clara and Marty stared at him and Jules and Verne let go of their mother.
"Great Scott," Doc said in a hoarse voice. "What happened?"
Hill Valley, California
November 14, 1992
6:34 PM
"Well I'm glad everything's all right now," Jules said. They were all still in the hospital room. The doctor wanted to keep Doc overnight just in case. They were eating a dinner of hospital food and all felt greatly relieved that Doc was okay.
"You are all right dad, aren't you?" Verne asked nervously. Doc patted his son on the head with his free arm.
"Yes I am," Doc said happily. "You can't keep a good scientist down."
"Well you certainly gave us a scare," Clara said. Doc put down his spork and gently took his wife's hand. She squeezed it with love.
"I'm sorry for that," Doc said to them all. "I hope you all know that I would never travel into the Great Unknown when you still needed me. We're a family and will stay together through good times and bad times and every time."
Doc looked at his family (including his best friend) and smiled. Indeed, their family would be as strong and close knit as the tightest strand in the space-time continuum.
END
Second Author's Note To those who have read from the very beginning: Thanks for reading my two seasons of the Back to the Future Animated Series. I enjoyed writing them and I hoped you enjoyed reading them.