A near blinding flash stunned Emmett Brown when the Flux Capacitor activated, as brief as the flash of a camera only far more intense. Afterwards his vision was clouded by a green aura, and he saw the rolling, black thunder cloud had been replaced with a clear blue sky. His plane had weathered the lightning strike so well, the wings were singed and smoking, scattered with holes, the rudder fried to a crisp, flaps of hull barely clinging: to sum it up, he was going down. A horrible whine and whistle filled his ears caused by the near vertical descent of the plane. A deep, dark plume of smoke rolled out of the engine which sputtered and coughed. There were streaks of grime covering his goggle lenses, and he wiped them somewhat clean with his forearm, "Great Scott!"

With an iron grip on the stick, Emmett Brown pulled back with all of his might and leveled the plane out. It was a much better orientation, but the landing was still going to be very rough. The landing gear touched down on hot desert sand, bouncing, and breaking one off, to find the plane lying still much like a beached whale. The propeller cried like a diseased bird until it stopped. The Doctor's head popped out of the smoking heap, and he patted himself down, searching for pain or blood, and found surprisingly he was intact.

Doctor Brown rolled out of the wreckage head first and grabbed the Flux Capacitor as quickly as he stood upright. "See, Emmett. Look at what you have done. This contraption was a very bad idea." He tucked the Flux Capacitor under his arm and gazed off in the distance. "Now, I pretty much know where I am. The question is WHEN I am." He began his march across the hot Nevada sand.

"How could I be so stupid?" he said with exaggerated brow and free hand. "Time was meant to go forward, be unchanged. We need our fates to be unshakable, not erasable." He gave the Flux Capacitor a pat, "Well, at least I have this with me, safe from the hands of whoever might abuse this power."

The doctor stopped in his tracks with shock, "Egad. I forgot my plans and diagrams." He spun around twice, thumping his forehead with the butt of his palm, "Stupid, stupid, stupid. The plans, I left them on my work bench. I have to get back, and keep them from being seen. But first I need to get my time bearing. I may be back in the past, so I can go home and stop these events from ever happening."

"Of course, I did not finish writing it all down. So maybe who ever finds the plans will not be able to finish the Flux Capacitor in its entirety."

In the distance Emmett saw a grand home, a mansion almost. Far more luxurious than his cousin Elliot had ever owned. "Hm. I wonder if I have displaced location as well as time. Could I have jumped space as well as time?" He paused for a moment and said, "Well, there is only one way to find out."

Emmett knocked on the door of the luxurious home and called, "Hello. Hello." He rapped harder on the expensive hard wood, "Anyone home?"

After some more knocking, the door parted some and a grey, wildly haired man answered the door. He had many of the similar features of Emmett Brown. His eyes were wild with curiosity as he scanned them over the stranger knocking at his door, "Yes? Can I help you?"

"Hello to you, sir," said Emmett. "I am looking for Doctor Elliot Brown, scientist and inventor."

The older man furrowed and said, "Doctor Elliot Brown is not home. I don't know what you are selling, but I am very busy."

Emmett stopped the closing door with his hand, "Wait, do you know when he will be back. It's very important."

The grey haired man poked his head back out, "He is not here. Now, please, go away."

"But do you have any idea of when he will return?"

Angrily, the grey haired man said, "I do know when or if the good Doctor will return. Go away."

The door slammed. Emmett shouted, "Okay then. If you see him, please tell him his cousin Emmett Brown came by." Emmett shifted the weight of the Flux Capacitor in his arms and turned to leave, but the door sprang wide open. Emmett turned to see the grey haired man in white shorts and flowered leisure shirt. The two stood, gaping at one another.

The grey haired man said, "Impossible. You are far too young to be Emmett Brown."

Emmett said, "But I am Emmett Brown."

The grey haired man scoffed, "Emmett Brown has been missing for the past twenty seven years, shortly after he was reported to be a Russian spy and on the most wanted fugitive in America."

"Twenty seven years? Oh no, I have gone to the future."

"What are you talking about?" asked the grey haired man.

"I am Emmett Brown. I have been missing for twenty seven years because I traveled in time, accidently, to this year from 1955."

The grey haired man peered at Emmett, "What kind of charade are you trying to pull? I admit you favor the young Emmett Brown, but there is no such thing as time travel."

Emmett said, "I am afraid, unfortunately, travel is real. I invented it. And I know you are Elliot Brown. I have known it for some time. You have aged well."

Elliot Brown hushed through his index finger, grabbed Emmett by the arm, and pulled him aggressively into the house and slammed the door. He combed his fingers through his hair and said, "If you are Emmett Brown, tell me something only the two of us would know."

"Grandmother used to put lemon in her…"

"…in her coffee," finished Elliot. "It was disgusting." Elliot's face lit up, "Emmett, it is you." The two embraced and Elliot said, "I thought I would never see again. And I never dreamt it would be under such… strange… circumstances. You look good."

"You don't seem to have done so badly for yourself," Emmett referenced the expensive home.

"Yes, you could say being an inventor has paid off."

"Oh, so you invented something and made a bundle from the sells?" asked Emmett.

Elliot smiled and shrugged, "You could say something… like that."

"So what did you invent?"

Elliot suddenly behaved as though he had lost place in the conversation, "Huh, what's that?"

"I said, what did you invent? What's the invention which brought you all this moolah?"

Elliot said, "Why don't you come down to the garage and take a look at my car collection. I have quite a few super nice automobiles."

Emmett became cross, "Elliot Herman Brown, ever since we were kids you have never been able to keep a secret from me, and usually when try, it means you have done something very bad. You didn't rob a bank did you?"

Elliot was red and defensive, "Of course not, Emmett. Do you take me for a thief?"

"There was the one time in church when the offering plate came around…"

With a raised and indignant index finger Elliot said, "We were only ten, and I gave the money back."

Emmett growled, "After I threatened to tell grandmother."

"Did you come twenty seven years in the future just to point out my short comings?"

Emmett took a deep breath, "No," he said calmly. "I did not travel into the future on purpose at all. I had to execute plan Exodus."

Elliot startled, "Holy moly! Plan Exodus? That's a last ditch effort, Emmett. What did you do?"

Emmett held out the Flux Capacitor and frowned, "Time travel, Elliot. I've already told you. I have to keep it from the hands of those might misuse its power."

"Oh… yeah. How did that go?"

"Not too good, Elliot. I came back twenty seven years later as a fugitive." There was an awkward pause and then Emmett shook with frustration, "Now, stop changing the subject Elliot. How did you get all of this money?"

"I won it."

Emmett was becoming tired of the charades, "Elliot, enough lies. You have never had a lucky streak in your entire life."

"No, really." Elliot had an exciting grin on his face, "Oh, I have been waiting for the day I could tell this to someone who would appreciate it," he briskly walked over to a painting hanging above his massive fireplace, "someone with an intellectual curiosity which matches my own." Elliot slid the painting, (of himself, seated in a large leather chair with two Dalmatians seated at his feet), to reveal a safe embedded in the wall. "Someone who could understand the complexities of quantum probability and outcome sets," he punched in a combination on the key pad of the safe and opened it.

From where Emmett stood, the safe appeared empty, but he could plainly see Elliot reach in and carefully remove something, as though it were precious and fragile. Elliot turned to face Emmett with his hands cupped together, hiding whatever was between them; and there was no mistaking the child like glee on the older man's face.

"Hold out your hand," Elliot said as he offered the secret in his.

Emmett held out his hand and was gently given a ring. It was thick and flat grey, bulbous on the top side. Emmett asked, "Are you proposing to me or something?"

"No, no. This is how I won the money."

Emmett was confused, "I don't understand."

"This is no ordinary ring. You will not find one like it anywhere in the world. Fifteen years ago I took this ring to Vegas One,"

Emmett was again confused, "Vegas One?"

Elliot's voice rose in pitch, "Oh, that's right. You have been gone for the past twenty seven years. Approximately twenty years ago, Vegas Two, the second Las Vegas, was built in New York. Then eventually came the other two."

Emmett gasped, "The other two?"

"Yes, yes. There's four of them now. I only go to Vegas One, the original. Well, I used to go to Vegas One. I haven't been back since my big winning."

Like a parent chastising a child, Emmett asked, "Haven't been back or couldn't go back?"

"You don't understand, Emmett. This ring can force the outcome of slot machines to always cash out big."

Emmett gritted his teeth, "Oh, Elliot, it's worse than robbing a bank. You robbed Vegas. Do you know what will happen if they ever get their hands on you."

Staring blankly, Elliot said, "Nothing good."

"You always had an issue with gambling Elliot. This is wrong and dangerous," Emmett jammed the ring in his pocket, "I don't want this within your grasp until I have left, I had rather not known about it at all."

Elliot frowned, "You don't understand…"

"Oh, I am afraid I understand all too well."

Elliot snapped his fingers, "Well, come to the garage, you have to see my auto collection."

"Elliot, I do not have time to look at cars or go joy riding. I have to get back to the past, 1955, and make sure no one gets their hands on the plans for the Flux Capacitor and does irreparable damage to the stream of time."

Elliot asked, "How do you know time hasn't already been changed?"

Emmett placed a finger to his chin, "That's a good question, Elliot. Let me think." There was a few moments of pondering and then Emmett said, "Ah, I've got it. I recently had the dealings – long story – with a young man from the year 1985. He told me, in the year 1985, the President of the United States would be Ronald Regan."

Elliot laughed, "Ronald Regan? Mad Dog Regan?"

Emmett said, "I am afraid you lost me there. Is he or is he not President of the United States?"

Elliot said, "Emmett, there is no President of the United States. There is a World Prime Minister, however. His name is Robert Redford."

Emmett staggered, "No United States. No Regan as President. Oh no. Things are far worse than I thought."

Elliot said, "Mad Dog Regan lost his life during the Mech Campaign in World War Four."

Emmett staggered again, "World War Four, when did this happen?"

Elliot calmly replied, "Five years before World War Five. None of which, by the way, were fought on U.S. soil. We won each of them, and then unified the world."

Emmett slumped down on Elliot's couch, "This is bad, Elliot. So bad. Apparently the government gained control of the Flux Capacitor's plans and has drastically changed the time stream."

Elliot said, "Then it's no wonder that you were declared a fugitive. They must want to make sure you can never travel back and undo what they have done."

Emmett snapped his fingers, "Of course."

"The only question I have is why now?"

Emmett asked, "What?"

"Now, why now? Why did you come to 1983 to escape?"

Emmett explained, "It wasn't on purpose. I was simply going to travel to Nevada by plane. But the Flux Capacitor needs to be moving at least eighty eight miles per hour and supplied by one point one gigawatts of electricity…"

Elliot shouted, "One point one gigawatts? That's insane. How did you ever generate that much power?"

Emmett said, "The plane was hit by lightning."

Elliot nodded, "That would do it."

"I didn't have any destination software attached to the Flux Capacitor to open the correct frequencies in the temporal time stream. So it just came to 1983. But why? Why 1983, of all the time in the world?"

Elliot said, "Yeah, why 1983, of all the time in the world."

Emmett said, "I require an answer, not an echo…" then Emmett slapped his forehead with his palm. "An echo, that's it."

"What's it?"

Emmett was up and pacing, "Why didn't I think of it before. An echo; a temporal echo. Like ripples or a wake left in the time stream."

"I am still not following you."

"Oh, you always were bad with relativity Elliot. Marty, I sent Marty back to 1985. He opened a fracture in the time stream, and when it closed, it left behind an echo. My Flux Capacitor triggered with not guidance system, and simply slipped into the path left behind by Marty's time jump."

Elliot asked, "Then why didn't you go back to 1985?"

"Because, echoes and ripples lose energy with time. Eventually they disperse and become energy such as heat or whatever."

Elliot said, "So, you need eighty eight miles per hour and one point one gigawatts of power."

"Yes," said Emmett.

Elliot smiled, "I know I can help you with the eighty eight."

The florescent bulbs to Elliot's garage flickered on to reveal a fleet of exotic cars. There were custom and classic autos of all shapes and colors. Elliot said, "It has taken quite a while to accumulate such a diverse collection. Believe me there are cars here which will do much more than eighty eight. I personally prefer the seventy three Lamborghini, though you may have to twist my arm on that one."

Emmett moved Elliot aside and walked past him, entranced. "No, I don't care for the Lamb."

Elliot watched as Emmett walked by the sixty eight Camaro, "Yeah, the Camaro. Nothing like a muscle car to make a statement."

But Emmett walked by the Camaro and continued, past the Mustang and past the two formula racers, to the rear corner of the garage.

Elliot asked, "Really? That one? You like that one?"

Emmett was standing by an eighty two, stainless steel DeLorean, "Yeah. I have a feeling this is the one."

"Well," Elliot said apprehensively, "it is stylish."

Emmett agreed, "And I might as well do it in style."

Elliot said, "Now, that's one piece. But I have no idea how we are going to get the one point one gigawatts of electricity."

Emmett said, "Well, we will just have to think. There are several ways, and you obviously have funds. Let's see… eight million hamster wheels… no too much space. Hm. Oh, it's impossible to do without plutonium."

Elliot said, "Plutonium. You would never get your hands on that unless you promised to build a bomb for someone. But no one would want that. The world is unified. "

"Yeah. It's a stupid amount of electricity. Do you know how many homes you can light with that much power?"

Elliot brazed a broad smile and snapped his fingers, "I know a place where you can get enough power to light up that many lights."

Emmett looked at his cousin dumbfounded, but soon he understood. "You mean?"

"Vegas. The power coming in to Vegas would do it. Massive amounts of electricity goes into Vegas."

Emmett was skeptical, "Are you sure this is isn't so you can go back to Vegas and cheat and rob more casinos?"

"No. After all, you have the ring. I am only interested in getting you back home."

Emmett thought for a second, "Yeah. It could work. I could fashion another hook or something like I did with Marty, and snag the power line."

"You just better hope the car goes in to time, otherwise it is going to fry."

Emmett rolled a large toolbox to the DeLorean and sat the Flux Capacitor on top of it. He grabbed a power wrench and pulled the trigger, making a loud racket. Elliot asked with concern on his face, "What are you doing?"

Emmett said as pulled out a hack saw, "There will need to be some modifications."

The plane wreckage had stopped smoking and was baking in the heat. A tall dark man in a black suit was standing by it. He removed a phone from his coat pocket and dialed it, "This is Vector One. I need a verification crew. I believe the lost sheep has finally came home."