Chapter 4

Thursday, February 19th, 1987

Hill Valley Trilogy

6:23 P.M.

Doc looked all around as Marty drove him to "his" house in his DeLorean. He felt extremely on-edge. After all he had gone through with Biff and the soulless vampires, the last thing he had wanted was another adventure. Why didn't I listen to Mysteria? he thought angrily. I could have been safe and sound on my honeymoon by now. Damn my scientific curiosity. Damn it!

Marty noticed his unease. "Still don't remember anything?" he asked, concerned.

Doc shook his head. "I don't even know where we're going. I'm used to traveling to my garage."

Marty reached out and patted his arm. "Well, we'll see if Clara can help fix this weird amnesia." He stopped at an intersection, then turned left.

Doc frowned, suddenly realizing where they were. "Wasn't this area abandoned when the farms shut down?" he asked.

"Yeah, mostly. That's why you thought it was the perfect place to live. No nosey neighbors." He pulled up in front of a brown farmhouse. "Welcome home, Doc."

Doc stared. Although the place physically resembled the houses on either side, it had been fixed up extensively. It was two stories with a large room and probably a corresponding large attic. Nearby was a large garage. In the front yard, a pair of boys were rough-housing, yelling playful insults at each other. Sitting on the steps was a woman, watching them with a exasperated expression.

Marty got out of the car, smiling. "Hey, Jules, Verne!"

The boys broke apart as Doc got out. Doc studied them carefully. One was slightly taller, with dark brown hair and brown eyes that resembled his own. His smell reminded Doc of a stable. The other was blond and blue-eyed, and smelt like pine trees. They grinned at him and Marty, obviously quite happy to see them. "Hi Marty, hi Papa," the taller one called.

Marty turned to Doc, now frowning with concern. "You remember anything? Which one is which, at least?"

How can I remember someone I've never seen before? He shook his head. "No, although I conjecture the taller one is Jules." The boy nodded, looking puzzled. "You kids were wrestling a little, huh?" he said, trying to sound friendly. He had nothing to lose by being nice, after all.

"Jules got me from behind," blond Verne complained.

"Not like you haven't done the same to me before," Jules retorted.

"Now boys, no fighting," the woman said, getting up off the steps. Doc turned to give her a closer look. She appeared to be roughly middle age, with long, curly brown hair and deep blue eyes. She smelled of fresh daises. Seeing her brought on a fresh burst of worry about Mystie. What happened to her? Is she safe?

The woman she had to be the "Clara" Marty had mentioned earlier gave him a loving glance. "Emmett, honey, how are you feeling?" she asked gently, putting a hand on his arm.

"Confused," Doc admitted. "I I'm sorry, but I don't remember any of this. As far as I know, this house was abandoned."

Clara looked upset. "You don't remember me or the boys at all?" Doc shook his head. "But you remember Marty. . . ."

Doc's head was starting to ache. "I don't know what the he" he noticed the boys still looking at him "ck's going on anymore," he said, collapsing onto the steps. "I feel like I've entered another dimension here!"

As soon as he said the words, it occurred to Doc that it might just be the truth. Maybe he had somehow ended up in another dimension, where things had worked out differently, both with the time machine and his choice of wife. He had no idea how it could have happened, but it would certainly explain a lot. But then where is the Dr. Emmett Brown of this dimension? Shouldn't he have come home by now? Or did something similar happen to him? Great Scott, he might even be in MY dimension. . . .

"Papa, are you all right? You look pale," Verne commented.

"I just need to sit down and figure out what's going on," Doc said, more to Clara and Marty than the boys. "Get my thoughts straight, as it were."

"Yes, that's probably a good idea," Clara nodded. Doc could sense that she was feeling afraid. I wish I could calm her, but I'm not in the best state of mind for that. "Your study's on the second floor, the third room."

"Thanks. I'll try my best to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it." He quickly walked inside, leaving Marty and Clara to whisper behind him.

Thursday, February 19th

6:29 P.M.

"Are you sure about this, Jiff?"

Jiff Tannen looked up at his twin brother Bill. "Positive. The old coot has to be loaded. We've seen some of the stuff he has around. You'd have to be damn rich to buy it or invent it."

Bill shuffled nervously. "They say he's crazy, Jiff. That he's dangerous."

"I'm not denying that," Jiff said, holding up his hands. "I"m saying he's got cash. Lots of it, too. And if we get it, we'll never have to worry about money again."

"What will Dad say, though?"

Jiff had to laugh. "If anything, he'll be proud of us! Dad was a real badass back in his day, even if he is a sniveling wimp now. We might as well live up to our Tannen name."

Bill still seemed rather hesitant. "Jiff, if we get caught, we're going to be in a shitload of trouble."

Jiff glared at him. "What kind of wuss are you? Don't you want to be rich? Don't you want to be a true Tannen!"

"Well yeah," Bill conceded. "You're right. When do we do it?"

Jiff grinned. "Tonight. Around 8:30. They'll never suspect a thing."

Thursday, February 19th

6:31 P.M.

Doc had little trouble finding the study. All he hadto do was follow the ticking. The study looked like a miniature version of his lab at home. Clocks were crammed onto the walls and tables, all in perfect sync. A desk with an odd-looking computer was set up in one corner. Across from it was a table with various mechanical parts and a few flasks strewn over it. Over the table hung a blackboard with various drawings and equations on it. Doc recognized with a start some of his own plans for the TDL.

He sat down at the desk, already feeling a bit more at ease. Being in somewhat more familiar surroundings definitely helped. His head already felt a little clearer. All right, let's get the facts straight. While testing my Temporal Displacement Locator, I managed to not only transverse time and space, but dimensions as well. This accounts for my new family and my link to Marty being severed. He reached up and clutched at the flesh over his heart. It almost hurts, not being connected to him. I've only had it for about a year, you think I wouldn't regret its loss so much. But damn, I miss it. He felt his eyes start to water. No, I can't cry. I have to figure out what exactly happened to this Dr. Brown. Maybe it'll give me a clue on how to get home. I know he has a time machine much like mine, otherwise they'd know I wasn't the right one either. And that he married earlier than I did, had a family, and bought a proper house. But how did all this come about?

Doc realized he was hyperventilating. He closed his eyes and forced himself to take deep, even breaths. I can't panic here. I have to figure out what happened so I can figure out how to fix it. Maybe my other self has some notes. . . . Struck by this hopeful thought, Doc began searching the desk. Within minutes, he was rewarded. In the middle left-hand drawer was a stack of journals, with the title "My Memoirs." Doc lifted out the stack and slipped the first one out from the bottom of the pile. "November 6th, 1955 Too much happened to me to properly update, so I'll take care of both today and tomorrow right now. The most incredible thing has happened. A boy from the future. . . ."

Doc closed it with a slight smile. "Too early," he said, going on to one a few journals above.

He sped through the majority of the journals, as they merely detailed life from 1955 onward. So far, everything between his life and his "twin's" looked the same. They'd both taught at the local university from 1956 to 1966, both had a terrible love affair with Jill Wooster, and both burned down their mansion in 1962. Then Doc stumbled upon a strange entry with two dates:

"October 26th, 1985/October 27th, 2015

Marty's safe and sound back in 1985. We made it back to his home with no complications. I'll remember the look on his face when he saw me sit up forever. I feel so guilty now for making him believe I was dead. I know it was for the sake of the space-time continuum, but I've never seen Marty cry like that. At least the whole nasty experience is over with.

I've spent the past two days here in the future. I'm devastated to report that Marty does not have a happy life here. The day after I go into the future, he manages to break his hand in an automobile accident of some sort. He didn't give me the details said it brought back too many bad memories. He's now living in a not-so-good section of town, and recently lost his job at Cusco Industries. Great Scott. . .when I met him yesterday, he didn't seem like the same guy. He looked soold. Balding, paunchy, age lines everywhere. . . . Jennifer looked even worse. She didn't even seem to recognize me.

They have two kids, twins Marty Junior and Marlene. Marty Junior looks almost exactly like Marty, but has inherited the personality of George McFly of 1955. Which is unfortunate, as this means Marty Junior is a complete wimp and has done something

very

Check that. Both Marty Junior AND Marlene have done something very stupid, it appears, according to this latest news report. Now both of the McFly children are in jail."

Doc nearly dropped the book in shock. In JAIL! What had they done? Why didn't I hear about this when I went to the future? Then again, it is a week later than I went. . . .

"Marty Junior was convicted of armed robbery in the early hours of the 22nd. He told me, as he earlier told the press, that Griff Tannen had bullied him into it. I have Hill Valley Edition of USA Today next to me to confirm that. Marlene, it appears, was just convicted of trying to break him out of prison. I can't believe all this is happening. Marty's a good kid. He doesn't deserve this kind of future.

So, my path is clear. I must prevent this future from happening. Marty's my best friend he saved my life, for Newton's sake. I know exactly what to do. I'll go back to 1985, pick Marty up, and take him October 21st, 2015, to stop his kids from getting into this mess. Hopefully seeing his kids in such a bad spot will shock him into wanting to help them. Then I'll explain about the car accident and let things go from there."

There it was. The fundamental difference between his world and the world he currently occupied. Doc closed the journal for a moment, marking his current page with his thumb. "I took Marty to the future," he said aloud. "Instead of simply warning him about the dangers of his chicken complex, I rushed him to the future. What the hell was I thinking? I of all people should know that to change the future, you should focus on changing the past!"

He read the entry again. Well, it does appear I didn't know the sort of accident Marty was in, he thought, his opinion of his other self softening. And I do have to consider the circumstances surrounding my decision. I'd just learned my best friend's life had gone into the toilet, and that both his kids were in jail. I suppose that lends itself to hasty decision making. His curiosity was sparked. What other adventures has my other self had? No, I shouldn't waste time reading all of his entries. I have to figure out how to get back to my home dimension. But reading these other entries might help me with that. Maybe my other self has experience with different dimensions. Besides, I'm still not sure how to approach Clara and the other Marty. They seemed so nervous around me. Best to give them a bit to settle. He flipped to the next entry and settled in for a long read.