Chapter 2
Sunday, January 5th, 1986
Hill Valley, California
8: 22 P. M.
Marty and Jennifer pulled up to Doc's house via the next-door Burger King. They were there to go on a double date with Doc and Mysteria to the movies. "Boy, I can tell you, I need a break," Jennifer commented, hopping out of the 4x4.
"Yeah, me too," agreed Marty, looking worn out. For the past 3 days he and Jennifer had been studying the disappearances in Hill Valley and Grass Valley, diligently reporting their findings by telepathy. The results were very disturbing. All of the people kidnaped had vanished without a trace. All of them had no family around to miss them. And all had been gone the necessary 3 days to make a new vampire. "I'm starting to wonder if I should start sleeping with a stake under my pillow."
"I'm wondering whether I should sleep at all," Jennifer confessed. "Mystie told me that she's seen 5 new vampires in town, all soulless. She said that's a lot of new vampires for a small town like Hill Valley."
"Doc told me Biff's acting kinda cocky these nights. So's his gang." He shivered. "I hope we get out of this one safe. The last thing I need is another late-night visit from Biff's friends."
Jennifer kissed him. "Doc and Mystie won't let anything happen to us. But I really don't want to talk about this sort of stuff on a date," she added with a slight chuckle.
Marty smiled. "Me neither. C'mon, let's see if Doc and Mystie are ready to go."
The teens found their vampire friends in the garage, wrapping small bottles of blood in heating pads. "Hey, Doc. Hey Mysteria," Marty greeted them. "Smuggling in a snack?"
"It's not like we can buy what they're serving," Mystie grinned. "All ready to take a break from this gloom?"
"Definitely. What movie are we going to, anyway? A vampire movie?" asked Jennifer. "They're showing Bloodquest at the Essex."
"Nope, although we do plan to see Bloodquest later, at the annual film festival," Doc said, slipping his bottle of blood into a secret pocket on the inside of his coat. "We're seeing Terminator 2: Judgment Day."
"Terminator 2?" Marty repeated incredulously. "Doc, if The Terminator got a sequel, I think we'd hear something about it."
"Not if the sequel opened in 1991."
Jennifer let out an excited squeal. "We're going on a time-travel date? Oh, cool!"
"Way heavy, Doc," Marty said, impressed. "But how will we all fit in the DeLorean? I know for a fact it only seats 2. Are we going in shifts?"
"No, because now the time machine seats 4," Doc told him with a grin. "I went to 2015 again 2 days ago and got the rear end lengthened enough to fit 2 small seats in. I'm capable of sitting back there if I pull my legs into my body, so you two, being of smaller height and mass, should be comfortable for a time trip."
"Damn. I was hoping Jennifer would have to sit on my lap again," Marty joked.
"I still can, if you want," Jennifer giggled, lightly squeezing his hand. Marty grinned broadly.
"I'd make the same offer if you didn't have to drive," Mysteria assured Doc, causing him to grin a lot like Marty. "You're sure we're going to a night show?"
"Yes, I've checked it 3 times," Doc nodded with a sigh. "And I've got the tickets in my wallet, so we won't have to stand in line for hours. I haven't forgotten anything, Mystie."
"I know, but it's my first time trip with all my friends, and I don't want anything to ruin it," Mysteria said, fussing over her favorite dress.
"If that's the case, she'll be a demon at our wedding," Doc told Marty secretly.
"Oh, I'm so excited," Mysteria added as she hid her bottle of blood. "A time trip to see the sequel of one of my favorite movies. Around the time of its national opening too, right Emmett?"
"Only the best for my girlfriend," Doc said sweetly. "The film opens on July 4th, and we're going to see it on July 7th." He patted Einstein. "Your supper should be arriving within the hour, and I've left the back door open so you can play and go to the bathroom. We should be back in an hour, present time. Be a good dog."
"I will Doc. Have fun with your human friends." Einstein trotted into the backyard to play.
Doc smiled briefly after his dog, then retrieved some soda cans from the trash can. He led the way past his van to the DeLorean. Sure enough, it was a few inches longer. Doc opened up Mr. Fusion and dumped in the soda cans as everyone climbed in.
"I certainly hope it's good," Mysteria said, letting Jennifer climb in before her. "Practically every movie sequel I've seen is worthless."
"I'm fairly sure it's good. I bought a 2015 paper to read while in that year, and it advertised all 3 Terminators back to back to back at the Holomax. If it springs its own sequel, the film must have it's merits."
Marty climbed into the brand-new backseat. It was slightly cramped, but the teen thought he'd live. It was only for a few seconds. He looked over at the flux capacitor, fluxing away steadily between his and Jennifer's seat. "Hey, Doc," he asked as his best friend climbed in the front, "how does this thing work, anyway?"
"I don't know if you'd be able to understand it," Doc confessed, typing in the time coordinates. "I'll do my best, based on my initial designs and knowledge of physics. You've learned about Einstein's Theory of Relativity, right?"
"Sure. The faster you go, the slower time goes."
"That's a very basic definition, but it captures the spirit of the idea. Taken to its logical extreme, if you could go the speed of light, time would completely stop for you. If you go even faster, you could conceivably travel within time itself. That's what I based my idea for the flux capacitor on. A capacitor, assuming you don't know, is a device used to temporarily store charge, then release it in a burst. It is usually made of two metal plates, with a conductor of some sort between. Flux is the flow of energy as a liquid, or at least liquid-like. In our case, the energy is time energy. The flux capacitor stores the time energy, then, with fuel provided by Mr. Fusion, releases it in a burst when we hit 88 miles per hour. This burst of flux pushes us just past the speed of light, allowing us to circumnavigate many years in an instant."
Doc turned around, expecting to see that familiar lost look on Marty's face. But as he turned to apologize for getting so technical, Marty inadvertently transmitted to him a very strange thought. "Holy shit, I sorta understood that!"
"You're kidding me," Doc said aloud, staring at his friend's astonished expression. "How much of it did you understand?"
"The stuff where you were talking about relativity. You lost me when you started on the flux capacitor."
"Whew," Jennifer mock-sighed. "For a moment, I thought the end of the world was coming." Marty gave her a playful slap on the shoulder.
"Is everyone settled?" Doc asked, trying to distract himself from the fact Marty was starting to understand him. "Then seatbelts on- there should be a lap belt back there, kids- and prepare yourselves for temporal displacement." He pulled out into the parking lot of Burger King. The sky was cloudy, and the road clear, perfect take-off conditions. Doc flipped the hover conversion switch and gunned the car into the sky.
July 7th, 1991
Hill Valley, California
7: 35 P. M.
With a triple sonic boom, the DeLorean reappeared in the future. Marty, Jennifer, and Mysteria looked around excitedly as Doc cautiously landed the car in an alley near the courthouse. "Boy, the future," Marty whispered. "What's it like in the 90's, Doc?"
"I don't really know. I skipped this whole decade when I went to the future. I do know there are a lot more computers, all much more powerful than our current 80's models. And they're all connected to create the World Wide Web, also known as the Internet, which contains every bit of information you could ever need, and more." He looked at his young charges severely. "But that's all I'm going to tell you, before you start pestering me for information about your future selves."
"Why must you know us so well?" Marty complained with a smile. "I just hope I'm rich. Marty McFly, world-famous rock star," he mumbled dreamily, gazing off into space.
"Money can't buy happiness, Marty," Doc counseled.
"Yeah, but it makes it a whole lot easier to live." Doc shook his head hopelessly. "I heard that. Sometimes you act like you were never a teenager yourself."
"I wasn't one like you. You have to remember, I grew up completely differently from you. But I will admit wanting to stay rich," he added with a grin, slipping his arm around Marty's shoulders. Marty smiled back and leaned against him a little.
They were proceeding to the movie theater when Mysteria stopped suddenly. "Mystie? What is it, honey?" Doc asked, concerned.
"I just had a nasty thought. What if our older selves decided to come to the movies tonight too?"
"Don't worry, Mysteria. Our older selves are still us. They'll remember this trip and avoid the theater tonight." He walked up to the ticket booth and handed their prepaid tickets over. "Relax. Enjoy the movie. Nothing is going to happen to us."
July 7th
9: 57 P. M.
The Time Trippers exited the theater, talking excitedly about the movie. "That was the coolest," Jennifer said. "That new terminator gave me the creeps. Terrific."
"Sarah Conner was even better than she was in the original Terminator," Mystie babbled. "She's a lot tougher now. And her dedication to her goal, after all she went through...."
"What I liked best was that they made Arnie the good guy," Marty grinned. "It was weird, seeing a terminator work for the Human Resistance, instead of against it. And seeing him all smashed up was really heavy. I couldn't tell that stuff was makeup."
"What was your favorite part, honey?" Mysteria asked, her arm around his waist as they headed back to the car.
"Seeing our old friend the paradox time-line," Doc chuckled. "I know that time travel isn't the focus of the movie, but I find it hilarious how film makers completely overlook the fact that their timelines can't-"
Suddenly, Doc froze, his eyes locked onto the sky. For a moment, his heart stopped beating. Puzzled, everyone looked where he was staring. In the distance, they could see a faint shimmering, like a ripple on water, coming closer and closer. "What the hell is that?" Marty wondered.
Doc knew exactly what that ripple was. A cold fear seized him. "Get in the car. NOW."
Doc's tone of voice sent chills up everyone's spines. They all got in the car as quickly as possible. Doc jumped in, immediately hit the hover conversion, and flew away as fast as he could from the gaining ripple. With one hand, he quickly punched in-
JAN 05 1986 9: 24 P. M.
Marty looked back at the ripple. To his shock, behind it everything looked changed. The buildings suddenly became worn and wrecked as the ripple passed over them. "Jesus Christ, Doc, what is this thing?!" he cried, terrified.
"It's a time ripple. I'll explain further once we're safely back in our own time. Buckle up and hang on!" Doc hit the gas, accelerating to 88 mph in 3 seconds. The DeLorean vanished back to its own time before the ripple could catch it.