Running Out Of Time
Chapter 21
Needed Info: Step One

9:22 PM

An hour passed, as Dan and Doc finished up the job putting the screws back into the dashboard of the DeLorean. The tire that been blown out has also been repaired. Dan kept rubbing the side of his head where he was hit. Doc had noticed this, and was somewhat concerned...

Doc: Daniel, are you sure nothing happened when you went to get the chip?

Dan: Well, now that you mention it, when I went into the store I got the chip, this old dude with a gray and red winter cap whacked me in the head with a microphone stand.

Doc: He wasn't a drunk, was he?

Dan: He smelled and looked drunk when I retaliated.

Doc: It must have been Red Thomas.

Dan: Who would that be?

Doc: He was the former Mayor of Hill Valley. He was caught embezzling funds for his drinking habit. Ever since he resigned, he's been the local town drunk.

Dan: Sorta like Barney Gumble on the Simpsons.

Doc: This wouldn't happen to be another reference to something that hasn't happened yet, is it?

Dan: Yep. Hey, I'm sorry, it's just when you're use to saying such things...

Doc: ::cutting in:: Say no more. Marty had the same problem when he went to 1955, and saw me. I completely understand.

Dan: Anyway, I'm gonna need some aspirin, or something soon, because the pain is killing me.

Doc: All in good time, Dan. ::puts in last screw:: There, that just about does it. Now, lets see if it'll work. What time did you come in from?

Dan: ::checks watch:: Uh... September 14, 2000, 3:13 AM.

Doc punched in the date, and with a single, short beep, the display came up, "SEP 14 2000 3:13 AM." Dan threw his fist in the air in triumph...

Dan: YEAH! Alright!

Doc stuck his hand out for a low five. Dan sent it, and Doc sent one back. The happiness soon faded, as they realized they were still in serious trouble...

Dan: What are we going to do about this little scenario we're so deeply involved in?

Doc: The one thing we need to do, is to find out how Biff became wealthy, and started this reality once again. Obviously, the Biff from our timeline gave himself some kind of information that could have changed the repercussions of time, and changing the sequence into this alternate reality.

For a moment, Doc looked over to Dan. Dan looked behind him, then forward again with a confused look on his face...

Dan: What? Why are you looking at me like that?

Doc: You understood what I said? I'm surprised. At this point, Marty would tell me to, "Say it in English."

Dan: Well, first off, I understand time travel. I've watched Star Trek enough times to get me interested in it. Second, I live with a scientist, so I've learned how to translate between science, and layman's. So basically, what I'm saying is, yes, I understood what you said.

Doc: Good. Getting back to the point, we need to find out how Biff created his fortune by figuring out where and when 85' Biff gave himself any kind of information.

Dan: Dude, don't you understand that the smallest thing could do that? He could of went back 5 minuets at a race track, and give himself the results.

Doc: No. Some of the things in this reality needed time to prosper, such as the town becoming a... Uh... ::pause::

Dan: Ghetto?

Doc: Precisely! This particular timeline is similar to the one where Biff had the almanac, so my belief is this had to have happened some time around 1958, which was when Biff took that book to the horse races, and won that first million.

Dan: So what the hell are we gonna do? Hop around the rainbow until we hit a pot of gold?

Doc: Rainbows have nothing to do with!

Dan: Sorry, sometimes I come up with these on-the-fly expressions. What I meant was, do we have to hop time to time, and just hope we run into this prick?

Doc: No. What we need to do is find out what the catalyst was that sparked his wealth. It might be the key in unlocking where the possible time and location was 85' Biff talked to one of his younger selves.

Dan: Hey, whatever. You're the scientist. I just work for one.

Doc: There is only one way we're going to get that information, though.

Dan: How?

Doc: First, we need information on where he got the fortune, and I know just the place.

Dan: Where's that?

***

A bright yellow beam of energy hit the doors of the closed up Hill Valley public library, and blew the wood over the doors off. Dan shut off the beam, and walked to the doors. He couldn't see through the smoke, but tried to wave it away. As he walked through the smoke, he slammed his face into something hard, and painful. He rubbed his nose and turned on the pack light, so show that not only the door was boarded up, but bricked off.

Dan: Son of a...

Doc: They must of blocked it off.

Dan: Gee, what makes you think that?

Doc: We need to get in there. Can your acceleration device blast through brick?

Dan: Yeah, but it'll take a long time. Wait, I've got an idea.

Dan reached into his cargo pocket, and pulled out another Proton Charger. He took a canister off his pack, attached the disc to it, and stuck the charger between the boards and the brick wall.

Dan: Doc, I would get behind something if I were you.

Doc ran down the stairs of the library, and got on the one side of the DeLorean, which was in front. Dan flipped the switch on the canister, ran down the stairs, and dove across the hood of the time machine as the charger blew up. Debris flew all around, as both men stuck their heads up from the side of the car. Not only the brick wall and the doors blew up, but some of the outside structure.

***

A book of old newspapers slammed on Doc's work counter as Doc opened the book. He opened it to a paper that was dated around mid-to-late 1958, with the headline reading, "Hill Valley Man Wins Big At Races." There was a picture of a much younger Biff Tannen holding an oversized publicity check over his head. It all looked too familiar to Doc, as he stood in shock looking at the yellowed, aged news article.

Doc: It's happening all over again. It's the same circumstances that arose when Biff had that book!

Dan: Is it possible Biff stopped Marty from destroying it?

Doc: I wouldn't think so, because if that book became out of our hands again, we would of went after it, and everything that's happening right now wouldn't even exist!

Dan: I think I know what you mean. If you had to go after Biff to get the book back, you wouldn't have been struck by lightning in the DeLorean while flying over Marty's future home site.

Doc: Which would of also resulted in Marty not getting stranded in 1955, me in 1885, Marty going back to get me, and using the train to get the speed needed for the DeLorean to get back to 1985, with the end result in the DeLorean getting hit by the train.

Dan: Well, you also can't forget not having the DeLorean getting rebuilt, sent to me and Eduardo, going back, and somehow having Biff take your other time machine, and damn, am I getting a headache!

Doc: Well, I thought everything was back to normal when Marty burned that almanac! I saw that newspaper chan...

Dan: ::cutting in:: Did you say burn?

Doc: Yes, it was the only way to make sure that the book was completely destroyed.

Dan: What were the conditions outside when Marty burned the book?

Doc: It was windy, and if I remember correctly, it started to rain.

Dan: Doc, what if that book wasn't completely destroyed?

Doc: What are you implying?

Dan: What if the fire was put out before it completely burned the book? Biff would only need one statistic from that book to get rich, right?

Doc's eyes grew extremely wide...

Doc: GREAT SCOTT! Maybe he got Marty to tell him where he put the book, then gave what was left of the book to himself! There's one way to find out!

Doc shuffled objects around on the counter, then picked up a piece of glass. He held it over the picture in the paper, right over Biff's coat pocket. His mouth dropped, and he let go of the glass. He looked as if he was going to pass out. He sat down on an empty milk crate, as Dan looked over the picture with the glass. He saw a book in his pocket, but was burned at the edges.

Dan: Damnit, I hate it when I'm right sometimes.

Doc: Well, knowing Biff, it might be possible that he arrived on November 12 or 13 1955. I'm not sure though. There's only one way we'll be able to completely figure out when he gave himself that book again. We'll need to ask him.

Dan: Ok, where do I go, and what do I do?