Just as Marty was walking away, the scientist had a sudden realization. Something had been nagging at him all day and couldn't figure out what it was, until now. He remembered Marty did not have his skateboard with him, so he could likely still catch him before he disappeared. He needed his help now!
"Great Scott!" he yelled as he dashed for the front door and practically flying outside, crashing through the fence around the converted garage that once part of his mansion. He noticed Marty starting to head past the Future Glass shop (quite a name of irony, Doc thought) up the street.
Gasping a bit in awe and shock, he yelled, "Marty, hold it, kid, you have to come with me, I forgot something truly important in all the confusion here!"
Marty could tell from his voice that it was true. He turned around to face his friend. "Yeah, Doc, w-what's the matter?"
"Come back toward the house, I'll explain!"
As they walked (quickly) far enough away to prevent being heard by anyone on the street, or at the Burger King Drive-Thru window, he didn't lose a beat in his speech.
"I need you to come with me to the mall. Listen, I feel terrible, I can't assume how I would have forgotten this, but it appears we left my van there last night, along with Einstein. I pray the boy is okay," he uttered with voice lowered.
"Jesus Christ, that's right. Einy is a smart dog, Doc, I'm sure he'll be fine, but we better get going," Marty said. "We're taking the DeLorean, right?" he assumed, since that was the only other car Doc had.
"Yes, it's parked around the side," yelled Doc as they went back inside the fence and turned left toward the alley where the sports car was resting since about 11 hours ago. "Go ahead, quick, get in!"
Marty obeyed, lifting up the gull wing door without so much as saying a word. Emmett hopped in the driver's seat, visibly worried, which was understandable. Turning the key in the engine, he made sure the time circuits were turned off, and peeled out of the long 'driveway' to his makeshift backyard (near where a few small remains of his mansion stood on a teeny hill nearby), and made a sharp U-turn before making a left turn out of the parking lot.
As they started down JFK on the mile drive to the mall, Marty asked the question, "Do you think anybody, ya know, shoppers and all, will look in your van or at the plutonium box on the ground?"
Trying not to think about it, Doc only said, in a hurried voice, "We can only hope that's the case here. If something drastic has happened, I may have no choice but to travel back to this morning and take care of it myself (after my other self and the Libyans are gone). However, that will only be a last resort."
"Does Einstein have any food and water in the van at all?" asked Marty. Can he go half a day without? Luckily, for him, I noticed the place overflowing with his food yesterday morning."
"Yes, I haven't quite figured out a way to dispense the contents of the cans in his dish properly yet," he remembered, his mind temporarily drifting off the subject. "I don't know how I could possibly forget something like that. Not only leaving my property out for anybody to touch, but leaving my own dog trapped inside the vehicle."
Marty understood completely. "I'm sorry, Doc, I almost feel like this is my fault. He really is a great dog, " he reflected on how much he actually like the animal that wasn't even his own. Neither he nor his siblings had a pet in their lives, even as young kids. They did, however, have a tacky, life-size parakeet replica with a cage in the living room. Dave wanted to get a dog when he was about 10, but the parents didn't listen.
Lorraine didn't want to have to worry about cleaning up after a pet and didn't see the point in having one if it would just die in several years anyway. George thought they were kind of nice, but had the idea of What if somebody forgets to feed him, or take him for a walk? Why take a responsibility of that when something could go wrong?
Doc had trained Einstein to do so many tricks and listen to human commands, that it almost seemed he was human. The name was certainly fitting!
Soon after, they pulled up to Twin Pines Mall and gunned the car to the other side of the big sign with a digital clock and two pine trees. On this bright sunny day, which was unusually warm for late October, there were a few Saturday afternoon shoppers, many of which were getting Halloween related things, since that was next Thursday.
It was mainly empty, though, and luckily no one was parked in the area of Doc's work van, which read Emmett Brown. 24-Hour Scientific Services along the side.
Screeching to a halt a few feet away, the duo got out and rushed to the large vehicle, which remained undisturbed from how they had left it the night before.
"It's a relief there's hardly anyone here. I'll load the stuff inside while you check on Einy if you want," offered Marty.
That was just what Doc was already doing though, as he unlocked the passenger side door and nervously looked in the cab. Sure as ever, sleeping peacefully on the right front seat was the 3 year-old dog. His owner happily reached over to pet him. "Hey there, Einy, did you miss me?"
The dog soon woke right back up as if nothing had ever happened, barking once or twice and wagging his tail, obviously glad his master was okay, as well.
"Marty, now I'm feeling a bit easier knowing this was okay, but it could have turned out quite differently. Could you take the DeLorean back to the house while I take the van?"
"Yeah, no problem, Doc," he paused; looking up at the large silver vehicle, which has housed the car he was about to drive last night. He, too, reached out to pet the animal. "Hey, Einstein. Sorry we missed ya, boy!"
Shutting the door and going around the driver's side to get in, he turned back to Marty. "After you drop the DeLorean back off, I can give you a ride back home before tonight. Since that was where you were originally headed."
"Okay, but are ya sure about it? I can walk, no biggie at all. That's a lot of driving to do in one day."
"It's not too far to the lake in any event. Besides, I'm already going to be behind the wheel anyway, no further harm in going another mile to drop you at your residence."
"Hey, thanks," said Marty as he hopped in the driver's seat of the DMC for the very first time. As much as he had other things on his mind, right now, the teen had to admit he loved the idea of getting to drive a great sports car like this! In fact, he had never driven one before. He had a driver's license, but never in a million years would Lorraine allow him to have his own car! Jennifer still drive yet at all, her father was even more old-fashioned, and didn't allow her to borrow his car ever, even though she knew how to drive as well.
Other than the occasional spin in one of his older friend's cars, pretty much, the only one he had driven in his life was dad's dull, white '77 Chevy Reliant, which Biff wrecked yesterday!
His thoughts of taking the long way and testing out the car's speed were suddenly deadened by that thought. Better to be a careful old-fashioned driver than a madman like Biff Tannen.
So, he chose to simply fall in behind Doc as they made the uneventful mile long trip back to 1646 JFK Drive.
1:00 PM.
The two vehicles pulled up to the front of Doc's place, with Marty taking the DeLorean over to the side of the building where it was before, and shut the engine off, getting out and taking the keys with him.
The motor of the large van kept running as Doc got out and briefly waked Einstein into the house. "You can get in, I'll be right back," he said. Marty jogged over and got in the passenger side, handing the keys over to Doc.
Leaving the front door of the house open, Doc quickly got a bowl of cold water and fresh canned dog food. "There you go, boy. I won't be gone long this time, Emmett reassured as he left and quickly walked back outside.
"Man, this sure is an eventful weekend," said Marty as Doc began to back up and turn around. "Everything seems to be getting back on track now, though."
"We can only hope it stays that way. I do have to tell you one thing, though. Don't mention anything to Jennifer about time travel. I' would gladly tell her if she was there, but I'm afraid that sort of occurrence must be seen to be believed."
"Yeah, I can see that. I don't know what I would've thought if I hadn't seen it. H*ll, I had trouble for a second even after it disappeared. I thought the car just blew up or something. That was heavy."
Looking over, Doc hastily said, "Precisely! This is why you cannot let anything slip about it. It's our discovery. However, I must realize it would be strange to be the only one in your school to have knowledge of being able to bend the fabric of time."
"I tell you I'm gonna have to be walking on eggs with what I say, though. Everyone says stuff like, 'I wish I could go back and change this,' and I'll have to remember not to tell them they really could."
"Correct, it will be the same in my case. I learned that during my brief stay in the future. Trying to pose as my older self was not easy, and that was only for a few hours. We will have to go our lives not telling anyone, it won't quite be the same," thought Doc before something came to his mind. "Great Scott! Do you have the video footage from last night's experiment?"
"Yeah, no worries. After you and the Libyans drove off I went back home and kept the camera hidden in my room. I'll get it back to you when I came over this evening."
As they turned into Lyon Estates, Doc agreed. "That's good. Can you imagine what would happen if that tape fell into the wrong hands?"
"No, but I may as well not even think about it," Marty responded dryly as he prepared to get out of the van, as his house came into view on his side of the van.
"Oh, man! Son of a-," he said before continuing, "It's Biff here, again! I recognize that, it's his own ugly car he's getting out of. Dad just dropped off his reports this morning, what does he want now? We should ram his car in, let him know how it feels!" Marty ranted as he mildly punched the interior of the van door.
"Relax, Marty, I understand. Even without him crashing your father's car, he's still a bit of a nuisance. Just see if you can stay out of his way. I'll see you in a couple hours. Why don't you give Jennifer a call?"
"Sure will, Doc. See you soon," Marty said quietly as the scientist starting to make a slow U-turn (which required a lot of maneuvering) and he walked around to the side gate. He would cross through the backyard and into his window, hopefully able to avoid that jerk for once. All he wanted to do was return home in peace for once!
