Chapter 12

Saturday, November 12th

7: 49 P. M.

Doc and Marty followed Doc 2 as he pedaled into the Town Square. So far he had been oblivious to their presence, concentrating more on his destination. But as he pulled into the square, a walkie-talkie in his pocket sprang to life. "Doc! Doc!" Marty 2's voice said urgently.

Doc 2 stopped his bike abruptly and pulled it out. "Marty?" he asked urgently. Marty and Doc landed on top of some nearby shops and hid in the shadows. "Marty?"

There was no reply, just static. Doc 2 was about to say something else but suddenly noticed his surroundings. He looked around in amazement. "Oh. . . . Great Scott," he breathed. He slowly walked his bike toward the curb, observing everything. Seeing the covered DeLorean, he ducked, then peeked under the tarp at it. He straightened up and murmured something, obviously affected by what he had seen. "Jesus, this is weird," Marty mumbled. "Why do you think he acted like that?"

"This is my past," Doc said, his eyes wide. "If I was in his place, it would be like going home again. It's simply shocking, to see all this."

As Doc 2 walked past the DeLorean, his walkie-talkie came back to life. "Doc! Come in Doc!"

Doc 2 pulled it back out of his pocket and struggled to get the bike back on the curb. "Marty, what happened to you?!" he demanded. "I went to Biff's house and you weren't there!"

Faint music spilled out of the device as Marty 2 replied. "You must have just missed me, I'm in the back of Biff's car. He's on his way to the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance."

Doc 2 shoved the bike aside in frustration and concentrated on his conversation. "Marty, we may have to abort this entire mission, it's getting much too dangerous!"

"At least that sounds familiar," Marty grinned, causing Doc to cuff him lightly.

"Don't worry, the book is on Biff's dashboard," Marty 2 replied, causing the vampires to look at each other in confusion. "I'll grab it as soon as we get to the dance."

The realization hit them like a bolt of lightning. They're here to retrieve the Almanac! "This is heavy," Marty murmured, shocked.

Doc 2 seemed similarly worried. "Marty, you must be extremely careful not to run into your other self!"

"My other self?"

"Yes! Your mother is going to that exact same dance with you! Yeah!"

"Right! This could get heavy, Doc."

Doc 2 briefly pushed down his antenna. "Heavy, heavy," he muttered before returning his attention to Marty 2. Behind him, Doc and Marty could see Doc'55 working on setting up the wires to conduct the lightning energy. Look, a pair o'Docs, Marty grinned, making Doc groan.

Doc 2 resumed his conversation. "Marty, you must not let your other self see you. The consequences could be disastrous!"

Suddenly, Doc'55 turned to Doc 2. "Excuse me sir!" he called. Doc 2 turned, then whipped back around and cut contact with Marty 2. "Yes, you with the hat."

"And the hypocrite of the year award goes to," Marty gently ribbed. Doc was too stunned by the scene to reply.

"Who, me?" Doc 2 said a bit gruffly, pulling his hat down a bit.

"Yes. Be a pal and hand me a 5/8 inch wrench out of that toolbox there."

"5/8?" Doc 2 repeated, sounding puzzled as he backed up to Doc'55. "Don't you mean 3/4?"

"Fascinating," Doc managed to say. "Two mes, separated by 30 years of age, interacting."

Doc'55 examined the bolt he wished to tighten. "Why, you're right," he said in surprise, stretching out the "why".

Doc 2 backed up to the opposite side of the pole as he retrieved the correct wrench. Doc and Marty watched closely. "I assume you're conducting some sort of weather experiment," Doc 2 said, handing over the wrench.

Doc'55 took the wrench with a puzzled look. "Yes. How did you know that?" he asked suspiciously.

Doc 2 stretched his hands along the line up to the clock tower, keeping his face away from Doc'55. "Oh, I happen to have had a little experience in this area."

Doc'55 looked up at the clear sky. "Yes, well I'm hoping for some lightning tonight, but the weatherman says there's not going to be any rain."

Doc 2 also looked up. "Oh, there's going to be plenty of rain tonight, wind, thunder, lightning. . . ." He allowed himself a brief glance at his younger counterpart. "It's going to be one hell of a storm."

Doc'55 innocently went back to his tightening. "Well, it was nice talking to you. Maybe we'll bump into each other some time again in the future."

Visibly shaken by his experience, Doc 2 walked back to his bicycle. "Or in the past," he added quietly, getting on and riding away. Doc'55 went back to the toolbox to get something else, took one last look at his departing counterpart, paused, then looked again. Then he just shrugged and set up his ladder.

Marty shook his head. "So all this time, you handed you the right wrench."

"No."

"Huh?"

Doc looked at Marty with frightened eyes. "I remember getting the wrong wrench. I never had that conversation. Trust me, Marty. My memories may have been affected by my years in Southdale, but I know I remember correctly now."

"But then -- how could -- It happened right before our eyes, Doc!"

"I know. But it didn't happen the first time." He frowned thoughtfully. "You know, Marty, I'm starting to form a new theory. Let's head to the roof of the gym."

Saturday, November 12th

8: 10 P. M.

Jennifer and Josephine arrived at the school, having found and followed Biff for the past 20 minutes. Jennifer stared at the very white building. "Wow. So kids actually got to go here before they fire-bombed in 1979."

"It certainly seems that way," Josephine said. "I wonder what Marty 2 was talking about with Doc 2 on the walkie-talkie. They seem to be on a mission of some sort. Come on, he's parking over there." They tailed Biff as he parked his car near the entrance to the dance. He started to walk in, leaving the Sports Almanac on the dashboard. Marty 2 popped up and made a grab for it, but had to duck back down as the bully returned for it. The girls blinked, then realized something.

Marty 2 was trying to get the Almanac back.

"This is too weird," Jennifer muttered as Marty 2 followed Biff inside. "He's doing exactly what we wanted to do. It doesn't make sense."

"I know, but I think we should call the boys and see what they make of it. Then, maybe, we should check out what's happening inside." She activated her end of the link. "Emmett?"

What's the report, Josie? Doc thought back. Both girls thought he sounded a little shaken.

Doc, are you okay? Jennifer asked through Josie.

Well, we just saw a very strange scene. My younger self and my other self just interacted.

After Doc 2 told me 2 not to, Marty's "voice" cut in, a faint smile in it.

Nice bit of rhyme scheme. It was extremely mind-bending, to see me hand myself a wrench while I watched the whole thing.

Wonderfully confusing, dear. That's certainly a shocker, but we've got a worse one. We think Doc 2 and Marty 2 are trying to--

Get the almanac away from Biff, we know. It hit us too. The conversation between my 2 selves inspired me with a new theory. We're heading your way now, so get to the roof of the gym and I'll explain.

Got it. See you in a bit, Emmett. The girls flew up to the top. A minute later, the boys arrived, chatting about the clock tower. Josie welcomed Doc with open arms. "What are you two discussing?"

"Going back to see the clock tower struck by lightning. Marty really wants to see it. Would you?"

"Sure, sounds cool," Jennifer nodded.

"All right then. I think we can find a secluded spot to watch. I missed it myself the first time around."

Josie sat down. "This is all so confusing. I'm finding it hard to understand anything anymore."

"I know, but I have a new theory. It's a crazy idea, but it might explain things for us."

"So share," Jennifer said as they all sat.

"All right. You all remember my paradox theory, right? That in 2015, the whole universe goes kaput?" Everyone nodded. "Well, I had an idea while we were tracking Doc 2. What if the space-time continuum has some sort of self-preservation 'instinct'?"

"Huh?"

"What if it always tries to keep things the same as the former time-line, or close enough to? For example, Marty55 drastically changed George's personality and his father's relationship to his mother. What was the chances of them having the exact same kids at the exact same times?"

"One in a billion, I suspect," Josie said.

"Exactly. Yet, it happened. Dave, Linda, and Marty were all born right on schedule. No, wait, that's an over-generalization. I don't know if Dave and Linda were born the same, but Marty was, and that's still beating the odds in a big way. Something about how the space-time continuum works ensured that their biological aspects were kept intact. I imagine that, in how things were supposed to go, more things may have stayed the same according to the unaltered time-line."

"But what the hell does this have to do with us?" Marty wondered.

"This is where the crazy part comes in. What if, to preserve itself, the space-time continuum ditched us?" Everyone looked at him, bewildered. "I mean -- damn, where's my blackboard when I need it? Hopefully this will do." He picked up a rock and scratched 2 lines into the cement. "In order to prevent a truly catastrophic paradox, it split in two. We became a whole separate reality, with a similar past, but an entirely different present and future. That way, when our time-line has collapsed on itself, the other time-line wouldn't be affected. And somehow, when we time traveled, we managed to skip from our reality to a different one."

"I sorta get it," Josephine said. "But there's just one problem. How could we skip realities?"

"That's my only glitch. I don't know. I don't even know if there are separate realities from our own, or if that is how they form." He sighed, frustrated. "I wish I could discuss this with someone who was more knowledgeable about these subjects than I am."

"Any other ideas, Doc?" Marty asked, completely lost.

"One, although it doesn't make much sense either. This all happened as we see now, but the other you and me didn't succeed. And my younger self never figured out it was his older self who handed him the right wrench."

"That one's depressing," Jennifer said.

"I know. And what makes it worse is that we would have to let it happen to exist!" Doc put his chin in his hands. "It doesn't concur with my memories of this time, though, which is odd."

"Are you sure?" Marty asked. "Positive?"

"Yes, positive. This did not happen in my memories." He sighed loudly. "It's a mystery."

Jennifer noticed a cream-colored car pulling up to the school. It looked somewhat familiar. "Hey, isn't that your Packard, Doc?"

Doc looked. "Great Scott, it is. That must be Marty'55 and Lorraine." He squinted. "Poor kid, he looks terrified."

Marty leaned over the edge to get a closer look - then noticed directly below them Biff Tannen, with a girly magazine in his hand. He was standing on the steps, obviously enjoying himself. Right underneath him was Marty 2, slowly inching up to him. Hey, guys, look at this! Marty 2 is right under us!

Everyone peered over just in time to see Marty's 2 hand brush Biff's pocket. He seemed on the verge of grabbing the Almanac. Then, suddenly, a new voice behind Biff said, "Well well well, Mr. Tannen." The vampires looked to see a severe-looking, balding man in a bow tie standing there, frowning. "How nice to see you."

"Why, Mr. Strickland," Biff replied, turning to face the man, keeping his girlie magazine behind his back. "It's nice to see you too, sir."

Mr. Strickland regarded his prey. "Is that liquor I smell, Tannen?"

Biff tried to look innocent. "I wouldn't know, sir. I don't know what liquor smells like 'cause I'm too young to drink it."

Liar, Doc thought, sniffing out his booze breath.

"I see," Mr. Strickland said. "And what have we--" his hand darted behind Tannen and snatched away his girlie magazine. "-- here?" He flipped through it idly. "Sports statistics, very interesting subject. Homework, Tannen?"

"No, it ain't homework, 'cause I ain't at home," Biff sassed, chuckling a little at his lame joke.

Strickland gave him a shove and started wagging the Almanac in his face. "You'd just better watch it Tannen, because one day I'll have you right where I want you -- in detention! Slacker!" With a final wag, he turned and walked off. Biff glared at his departing back, then straightened his jacket and stalked off, presumably to find his gang. To Marty's surprise, Marty 2 followed Strickland. What the hell is my other self doing?!

Remember Strickland's comment about sports statistics? I think Biff slipped the Almanac cover over the girlie magazine, Doc thought back. It seems you -- Great Scott! Marty 2 is going to have to walk right by Marty'55's car!

What?! Oh, this is heavy.

Fortunately, as he neared the car, Marty 2 had enough sense to duck down below window level. Thanks to vampire senses, the group could hear exactly what transpired. "Jesus, you smoke too?" Marty'55 said, sounding completely shocked.

There was a sight. "Marty, you're beginning to sound just like my mother," a girl's voice said. Marty blinked in astonishment. That didn't sound anything like the Lorraine he knew!

"Yeah right," Marty'55 replied.

"When I have kids, I'm going to let them do anything they want. Anything at all," Lorraine continued, oblivious to Marty'55's discomfort.

"I'd like to have that in writing," Marty'55 muttered.

"Yeah, me too," agreed Marty 2, slipping away.

"Trust me, guys, it's not worth it," Marty answered both of them.

Jennifer sighed as she spotted the bullies telling Biff where Marty was. "Well, he knows where he's going. Where the hell are we going?"

"I see no harm in staying up here for a little while. We'll get to witness George's greatest triumph. And if we're lucky, we'll catch a few songs before the dance ends. Nothing says we can't have a little fun. After that -- I suppose leave Hill Valley and start somewhere fresh."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Josie agreed, watching the action with interest. "Imagine, being able to see history in the making."

"Fascinating, isn't it?" Doc leaned closer as the people in the Packard became more animated. Just for fun, he switched on his mind-reading ability and started reading Marty'55's thoughts. Keep it cool, McFly. She's only -- oh, shit, sleeveless. Okay, don't panic. It's only your mom. Only my mom. . . . Stop looking at me so eagerly. I -- HOLY SHIT! OFF, OFF! Holy shit, she just kissed me! That has to qualify as one of the worst experiences of my life. . . . What? Really?? Hallelujah! Damn embarrassing, but who cares! She didn't like kissing me, thank you God. And here's Dad. Jesus, George, where were -- you're not George.

Jennifer shut her eyes as Biff let himself into the car. "Damn, that's all too familiar," she whispered painfully. Josie put a comforting arm around her shoulders. After a moment, Marty did too, hoping her man-hating instincts wouldn't cause her to deck him. Happily, she didn't.

Doc suddenly heard George yelling rather hysterically, "Somebody get me out of here!", accompanied by some loud banging noises. His eyes grew wild with panic -- had George gotten trapped somewhere? If so, would he not come to deliver the knockout punch Marty had mentioned? Or was it not at the car that George had hit Biff? He had just naturally assumed it was there, due to Marty's former plan. He slumped against the concrete, with a very bad headache. It was times like these he wished he had been at the scene and not simply a earpiece for Marty's retellings.

Someone seemed to take pity on George. "Hang on a sec, McFly, I'll get you out," a nerdy kid's voice said.

"Oh, thanks a lot, Lester!" A door was opened, and George took off.

"Hey, George, what's the rush? Somebody take your wallet?"

"It's important, Lester! I'll tell you later!" About a minute later, the teen appeared on the scene, skidding to a stop on the pavement. Biff and Lorraine were struggling violently in the car by this point. Taking a deep breath, George walked up and threw open the door. "Hey you, get your damn hands off--"

His voice died as he saw it was Biff in the car, not Marty. The bully glowered at him from the folds of Lorraine's dress. "I think you got the wrong car, McFly."

Lorraine's head popped up, fearful and afraid. "George -- help me -- please," she begged before being shoved back down by Biff.

"Just turn around and walk away," Biff instructed George. But the teen didn't budge. "Are you deaf, McFly? I said close the door and beat it!"

"Please George," Lorraine whimpered in fear.

George still didn't budge. "No, Biff," he said, quietly but firmly. "You leave her alone."

Biff's eyes narrowed. "All right, McFly," he snarled, pushing Lorraine back and getting you. "You're asking for it. And now you're gonna get it."

George took a swing at Biff's head with his right. The larger teen simply caught the punch and started twisting George's arm behind his back. George gasped in pain, his entire body tense. Lorraine, watching in shock, protested, "Biff, stop it! Biff, you'll break his arm!"

"I think that's the point, Lorraine," Josie muttered, watching the scene in disgust. "That poor kid."

"Damn brave, though," Marty replied, his memories of his father vindicated. "Come on, George, slam one right into his jaw!"

Lorraine couldn't sit by anymore. "Biff!" she snapped, getting on him and trying to beat on him. "Leave him alone! Let him go! Let him go!"

Biff just shoved her to the ground as she protested. She and George shared a brief look, then George's gaze turned to Biff. The bully was laughing at Lorraine. He was enjoying this fully. Even though his face wasn't visible to the vampires, they could tell exactly what was going on in George's mind. He was getting seriously pissed. Slowly his left hand formed a fist and pulled back.

Biff got the feeling something was wrong right before George twisted out of his grip and punched him solidly in the jaw. Biff spun around from the force, hit the car, then crumpled to the ground.

"Yes!" Marty yelled, only to hear it echoed. He looked down to see Marty 2 behind a car, smiling at the scene. A few moments later, Marty'55 appeared, looking stunned but impressed. Marty 2 stepped out a bit, looking at his double. "Talk about deja-vu."

You don't know the half of it, Marty thought in agreement.

Jennifer was giggling happily as George and Lorraine walked off arm in arm. "Did you hear his thoughts? All I did it I did it I did it did you see me do it? It was really cute."

"Way to go, Dad," Marty smiled.

A crowd had gathered around the fallen Biff by this point. Marty 2 pushed his way through it. "Okay, everybody let's back up, let's back up, let's everybody just back up. Give him a little bit of room, a little bit of air," he told everyone. "It's okay, I know CPR." He knelt down next to Biff and a nerdy-looking kid. "I know CPR," he repeated to the kid.

"What's CPR?" the kid asked. Doc recognized the voice as that of George's friend Lester.

At the same time, Biff slowly came to. His eyes focused on Marty 2. "You!" he yelled. Then there was the sound of flesh hitting flesh, and Biff was presumably out cold again. Marty grinned widely, knowing what sort of "CPR" his other self must have administered.

Marty 2 pulled something out of Biff's waistband and got up. "It's fine," he said, standing up and jogging off. Lester stood up too, watching him go with a suspicious look. "Hey, did you just take his wallet? He just took that guy's wallet!" he yelled. Nobody paid any attention to him, too busy staring at the vanquished Biff.

"Took his wallet?" Josie repeated in confusion. "Why would any version of Marty take someone's wallet?"

"Unless it wasn't Biff's wallet," Doc said knowingly. "I believe Marty 2 has gotten his hands on the Sports Almanac."

Jennifer looked a little worried. "Uh, Doc, what happens if Biff doesn't get it back?"

Doc stared at her. "Is this still Jennifer? The girl that detests all men, above all Biff?"

"Yeah, but I don't give a shit what happens to him. He can crash into a manure truck for all I care. I was wondering what would happen to us? Cause if it's all the same, we're history, but if it's different, we're okay, right?"

Doc knew he had to swallow his pride. It would mean weeks of teasing, but it had to be said. "What?" he asked.

The others had the decency to hold in their laughter until Jennifer clarified his question. "Do you think we're going to fade out or not? Cause you seem a little -- he he -- confused--" she started laughing hysterically, the others following suit.

Doc gave them all his "killer death ray" glare before replying. "I don't know. And frankly, I don't care. We're out of that world, and I don't want to hear a single word more about that F***ING ALMANAC!"

There was dead silence following that outburst. Doc rarely ever swore like that, so when he did, you knew he was seriously pissed. The other vampires moved away, a little nervous. They knew Doc's temper, after all. The scientist noticed this and tried to cool down. "I'm sorry. But it's true. I'm sick of harping on and on about the point. We're free, and we shouldn't be concentrating on this any more." He heard noises come from the gym. "Well, it sounds like they're setting up for another song." He smiled at Josie as the first notes were played. "May I have this dance?"

Josephine smiled, holding out her hand. "But of course." Doc pulled her into his arms, and they began to slow dance.

Marty looked at Jennifer and shrugged. For some reason, he felt shy. "Do you want to dance, Jen?"

"Why not?" They awkwardly began copying the moves of Doc and Josie.

They were only able to enjoy the song and their dance for a few minutes. Right in the middle of one of the choruses, the guitar player seemed to completely lose his talent. Doc frowned, irritated. "What in the name of Sir Issac H. Newton is going on down there?" he grumbled, climbing down the wall and peeking through one of the thin windows near the door. To his surprise, the guitar player was Marty'55! He was slumped against the piano, his fingers useless. He certainly didn't look good. "I can't play!" he gasped at the piano player.

"Who is it, Doc?" Marty asked, joining him. Doc simply pointed. "Holy shit! What's wrong with him?"

"My hypothesis would be him," Doc whispered back, spotting Lorraine dancing with a red-haired boy. 'Dancing' was a term to be used loosely; Lorraine was struggling against him with all her might, obviously trying to get back to George. "George!" she yelled. A few feet away, George was acting very helpless, simply turning his back on her.

"Doc!" Marty nearly yelled suddenly. Doc turned to scold him, but then caught sight of what his 'son' had seen. It was enough to make his blood run cold.

Marty55 was looking through his own hand.

"He's being erased from existence," Doc gasped as Marty'55's body gave a small spasm of pain.

"Doesn't look like fun," Marty whispered back, shuddering.

"George!" Lorraine yelled again as the red-haired kid laughed. George kept his back turned.

"George," Marty55 croaked, his body slowly beginning to fade out.

Get your ass over there, George! both Doc and Marty thought, glaring at the teen.

Whether it was Lorraine, Marty'55, or even them urging him on, George got his nerve back. He walked up to the couple with a determined look on his face. "Excuse me," he snapped, roughly shoving the red-head to the floor. Then he took Lorraine's face in his hands, gazed into her eyes, then leaned down and kissed her.

Marty'55 popped up, apparently completely cured. They weren't allowed to see if all was well, though, because Marty 2 chose just that moment to appear, on the run from Biff's gang. The vampires darted back up onto the roof as the alternate teen ran into the dance. Josie snorted, looking even more annoyed now. "Ok, what's the deal? He sounds fine now."

"It's Marty'55 playing," Doc said, relieved. "He was being erased from existence, but George finally got the nerve to kiss Lorraine." He paused. "Those may not be the right words for the situation, but the important thing is that Marty'55 is all right." Doc shook his head. "He never told me he played at the dance. It would explain why he was late to the tower."

"Excuse me for saying this, Doc, but we really have to leave the Almanac alone if we're gonna be erased from existence," Marty said. "It looks really painful." He looked down at the concrete roof. "What do you think Marty 2's gonna do?"

"I think he'll have the sense to stay out of sight. He's been through this all one before. He'll be fine, I know it."

Below them, Marty'55 started playing guitar again, this time some rock and roll. "Hey, this is Johnny B. Goode!" Marty exclaimed. "One of my favorites!" He happily began swinging Jennifer around.

Doc tried to do the same with Josie, but she wouldn't let him. "Emmett, I see a potential problem here -- oh, geez, you're starting to rub off on me!" she laughed. She quickly turned serious again. "I remember that Chuck Berry wrote Johnny B. Goode in 1959."

"Yes, but that's not really our problem. Besides, it's only a school dance, who's going to remember?" Doc began dancing with his girlfriend, getting in some very swinging moves. Josie decided he had a point and began enjoying herself as well.

Marty laughed as Doc spun Josie around. "I didn't know you could dance, Doc!"

"I grew up in a rich family in the 30s! Learning how to dance was a given!" Doc said, lifting Josie off her feet.

"Yeah, but swing?"

Doc smiled. "What can I say, I pick up things fast."

They kept dancing until Marty55 began to degenerate into clearly 80s styles like Jimmy Hendrix. As they caught their breath, Doc heard a new noise, a soft whining. He looked up at the sky and gasped loudly. Puzzled, everyone looked at him. "Doc? What's the problem?" Jennifer asked, panting, as they all looked up. A moment later she didn't need to ask.

There was a DeLorean heading toward the roof. A flying DeLorean.