12:00 PM PDT
Family Ties Universe
Marty and Alex were both relaxing outside, in lounge chairs, when Marty saw a familiar young boy walked over. That must be Skippy Handelman, Marty thought, to himself. From watching the sitcom, Marty knew that Skippy was a geeky sort of boy in a loveable kind of way.
Mallory had always been Marty's least favourite member of the Keaton family, and it always made him feel so angry that Mallory would coldly reject Skippy's affection. So he supposed he mustn't have been too surprised that he didn't get along very well with Mallory in the flesh. He was amazed by the irony of how he had always adored Jennifer Keaton - while Jennifer, in return, had adored him. Of course, it was pretty inevitable that he and Alex would become good friends, in spite of their few differences.
"Well, well, well, Alex," Skippy said, smirking. "You never told me you had a twin. Where did this fellow come from?"
"To make a long story short," said Marty, "let's just say that I'm visiting from California. My name is Marty, uh, McCoy. I'm Marty McCoy."
"He's a distant relative of ours," added Alex. "That's why he looks just like me."
"Pleased to meet you, Marty," said Skippy, as he stuck out his hand.
"I'm happy to meet you, too," Marty said, warmly, as he shook Skippy's hand. "I must say, Skippy is a pretty nice name."
"Well, it's not my real name," Skippy said, smiling. "My real name is Erwin, which I hate with a passion. My parents have called me Skippy since I was a baby, because of their love for peanut butter."
"Yeah, I'm quite fond of peanut butter, myself," Marty said, smiling.
"You know," explained Skippy, "I have a pen pal that I write to named Jiff. He and I write to each other at least once a week, we like to call ourselves the Peanut Butter Boys. I hope to, one day, get to meet Jiff in person. We have a lot in common."
"I don't really care for the name Jiff that much," Marty admitted. "I like Skippy better. I have too many bad associations with the name Jiff."
"Why?" Skippy asked, concerned. "You met a Jiff that you didn't really get along with?"
"Right, that's exactly why," Marty said, shuddering.
Marty remembered how, when he travelled back in time to 1925, Jiff Tannen was the high school bully of that era. Jiff Tannen was someone who would always bully Arthur McFly into doing Jiff's homework for him - not unlike what Biff Tannen did with George McFly in the following generation. He sorely wished that he could have helped Arthur gain courage to stand up for himself, as he had with George. He didn't dare, however, as he figured that doing so could have resulted in a time paradox that could have drastically altered his family, possibly for the worse.
"So, Marty, what are some of your interests?" asked Skippy. "What kind of music do you listen to?"
"I like rock and roll," replied Marty. "That's probably the one major area where Alex and I differ. I play the guitar, too. I'm in a rock band called The Pinheads. I hope our band gets discovered someday."
"The Pinheads?" Skippy asked, amazed. "Hey, that's just like the band Marty McFly from Back to the Future was in."
Oops! Marty thought, worriedly. He still couldn't get used to the fact that, in this world, his first time travel adventure was the subject of a movie called Back to the Future. The movie had ended with Doc pulling up to Marty's garage, insisting the Marty had to go "back to the future" with him - and to bring Jennifer along, as "this concerns her too". Then Marty had protested to Doc that they didn't "have enough roads to get up to 88" - to which Doc had responded by stating that "where we're going, we don't need roads" and he pulled down his futuristic glasses.
Back in Time by Huey Lewis and The News then started to play, as the phrase "To Be Continued..." had shown up on screen. He guessed that there was a sequel of some sort in the making, and that the sequel would somehow revolve around his trip to 2015, then 1985-A, then back to 1955. He wondered when the sequel would be released.
Another interesting fact he had noticed was that Huey Lewis's song Back In Time had slightly different lyrics in this world. Some of the lines in this world's version of the song included "is this the fifties", "please don't drive eighty-eight", "lighting never strikes twice", and even the blatantly obvious "get back, Marty" - all of which were absent in the version of the song he knew better. He had to get a copy of that version to bring back to his own world.
"Are you okay, Marty?" Skippy asked concerned. "Are you hungry? Do you like peanut butter and banana sandwiches?"
"Oh, I love peanut better and banana sandwiches!" gushed Marty. "My brother and sister, however, find them to be gross."
"Mallory finds them to be gross, too," Alex said, nodding. "Jennifer loves them, though, just like I do. Say, Marty, how well do you get along with your brother and sister?"
"Well, I'd say we get along most of the time," replied Marty, "and I do love them - and I know they love me, and each other. We do occasionally fight, though. It's hardly ever that bad, though. We'd all come through for each other, when the chips are down."
"I'd say it's much of the same in my family," replied Alex. "Unfortunately, Mallory and I have fought quite a bit lately. I will always love Mallory, but I sometimes think she doesn't like me very much. Maybe she does, deep down inside, though. She's not a bad person or anything. I think she's just deeply troubled."
"I wish Mallory loved me back in return," Skippy said, sighing. "I think that, underneath her tough exterior, is a sensitive girl who could stand to be cuddled."
"I would love to give her a big hug," Alex said, tearing up a bit. "Unfortunately, though, she tends to shy back from affection these days. I think it's sad. Some people call me a 'sissy', because I like hugs. I think they're the ones missing out, though."
"I totally concur," Marty agreed, nodding. "I do believe that a man should be strong - so he can stand up for himself, and protect the woman he loves. It doesn't mean he should act macho, though - or repress all tender emotions."
"Right, I agree," said Alex. "If anyone in our family acts macho, I would have to say it's Mallory. She tends to act like she's emotionally tough. Ironically enough, I'm the one that's always telling her that it's okay to cry - and that she shouldn't be afraid to express her emotions."
"It's the same way with Linda, incidentally enough," replied Marty.
"Linda? Your sister?" Skippy asked, amazed. "You sure seem to have a lot in common with Marty McFly from Back to the Future. Next, I guess you're going to tell me that your brother's name is Dave."
"Actually, no, Linda is my cousin," Marty said, covering. "My sister's name is Nancy, and she's five years old. Linda lives close enough, though, she almost is like my sister. My brother's name is Todd, and he's twelve."
"Oh, okay, I see," Skippy said, smiling. "Well, let's go make lunch, now. I'm hungry."