Epilogue

Tuesday, March 25th, 1986

Hill Valley

2:38 P.M.

"Hey, Doc?"

Jules answered the door for the scientist. Marty and Jennifer both greeted the tentacle with an affectionate pat. "Hey Jules. Doc busy with an experiment?"

"Late lunch, actually," Doc called from his small kitchen area as they stepped inside. "Either of you care for a hot dog?"

"Yeah, I could go for one. Ketchup and relish on it."

"Me too, just mustard," Jennifer nodded. Jules went to fetch the necessary ingredients. The teens made themselves comfortable at Doc's table. "Did you see the morning paper? Stanley Carlyle's been barred from practicing medicine. Turns out he's messed up a couple of surgeries trying to play the big man. He might get charged with attempted manslaughter."

"We've heard," Doc nodded. "We're glad he'll never practice medicine again. The man was a menace." The tentacles hissed angrily in agreement.

"We won't argue with you there, Doc." Marty opened his backpack. "Are the tentacles doing all right?"

"They are, for the most part. They understand that Carlyle was only one bad apple in the bunch. They're still a little reluctant to enter standby mode, but that's only to be expected."

"I guess so. How about you?"

"I'm all right. What about you? Did you get that CAT scan done?"

"Yeah, we did. Jules didn't do anything bad to my brain when he linked up with me. And you can barely see the scar he left. I'm fine." Jules chittered, relieved. More seriously, Marty added, "I overheard some doctors saying it might be dangerous for you to keep wearing the arms -- like they would pull your spine out of alignment eventually. They said they'd kind of like to take them off too."

"Did they now? Well -- I'd like to see them try." The tentacles snapped their pincers and hissed again. "Because any doctor who tries to come between me and the kids again is going to get a nasty surprise."

Marty smirked. "I figured that. I don't think anybody would actually do it -- not after what happened to Carlyle."

"Smart." Doc came over, carrying the hot dogs and a plate of french fries. "So, how was school today?"

"Pretty good -- some kids were tailing me again because of the news on Carlyle, but I'm used to that by this point." Marty scowled as he got out his homework. "Strickland was an asshole, though. He was on my ass all day." He took a bite out of his hot dog and chewed thoughtfully. "Would you mind coming to school one day and dangling him off the top of the building?"

Doc, Jennifer, and the tentacles all laughed. "I think there are slightly more subtle and better ways of getting revenge, Marty."

"Ah, come on, Doc! Who needs subtle when you've got four metal tentacles welded to you?" The tentacles chittered. "You don't actually have to drop him, just give him a scare."

"Well. . . . No, dangling him off the building is out of the question. But perhaps I could make an appearance at the school. Set the record straight about us and all that."

"Now we're talking." Marty swallowed more of his hotdog. "We've also got some killer chemistry homework. I swear, the teacher had it in for us today."

"Let's finish our snack, and then I'll take a look," Doc nodded. "And then afterwards you can help me with some plans to expand the DeLorean. I certainly don't want to give up time traveling just because of the kids."

"No problem, Doc. We'd be happy to help." Jennifer nodded, still chewing.

"Thanks, Marty. We really appreciate it, you know." Doc and the tentacles patted him on the shoulder. "We appreciate all you've done for us. Thank you."

Marty smiled. "You're welcome Doc. That's what friends are for. Speaking of which, mind getting me a soda?"

The End