August 10, 2017
5:15 PM PDT
Trilogy Universe (Bttf 4444)
Jennifer Parker gasped, as the DeLorean broke the time barrier. The surroundings looked just so familiar, as cars were flying around everywhere - and they appeared to be near the local skyway. A smile appeared on her face, faintly, as she looked at Cliff, who seemed quite shocked. She actually had an advantage, she realized, in being more familiar with this era than her kidnapper. Now, if only her 2017 family would come to help her...
Cliff whistled, softly, at seeing the futuristic-looking inventions all around him. "Amazing" he whispered, carrying a bright grin. "It's unbelievable. So, this is the year twenty-seventeen?"
"August tenth, 2017" Jennifer muttered, remembering Doc saying something similar on their very first time trip to this year.
Cliff simply ignored her. "Let's see" he muttered. "So, let's fly over to the Square, and see if we can find anything there. It'd be cool to see Hill Valley in the future. Maybe I can even find some nice girls to join you in here. Of course, that would mean I'd need more rope. I should've brought something along from 1987. Aww, well, it's too late to worry about that right now."
Jennifer then looked out of the window, as the DeLorean flew over to Courthouse Square. She started to wonder if she'd ever come out of this incident alive. She had to - Marty Junior and Harmony had visited in '86, and MJ couldn't exist without her. But Doc had said the future was still changing, and if this event was going to end her life... in 1987, anyway... She shuddered, wondering what would come and what Cliff was going to do to abuse her. She'd fight back, though. She wouldn't just let him get to her.
Jennifer then leaned back, as the DeLorean landed rather uneasy on the street, and just missed crashing into a tree. Cliff sure was a reckless driver, and especially a reckless person to fly a car. The bully seemed to be pretty shaken up by the landing himself, something that amused Jennifer. He did deserve to crash, after all. Jennifer didn't hate many people, but right now, her hatred against Cliff was growing with the second.
"All right, sweetie," Cliff said, chuckling, as he slowed down the DeLorean, parked it in front of a tree and, once making sure that it was safe to step out, he opened the gullwing door. "I'm going to have a look around in the Square, which is just a few hundred yards away from here. You stay here and do nothing." He laughed. "Oh, just wait a second."
Jennifer sighed, as Cliff reached out to get some of the rope, and pulled it up to her mouth. He then smiled again. "Wouldn't want your screams to attract any unexpected visitors" he said. "See you later, sweetie." He kissed her on the cheek, laughed, got out, and closed the gullwing door.
Jennifer then watched on, as Cliff put branches onto the sides of the car. After about a minute, he was finished, as it had become completely dark inside. Jennifer then sighed again, as Cliff's footsteps became more distant.
She was alone, now, but what could she do? Cliff had tied her up against her seat - she couldn't even tell the time circuit panel what to do with punching the numbers in by using her nose, as she was tied up so much. She couldn't even reach out for the gas pedal. Jennifer leaned back, half in tears, as she realized that Cliff really had her trapped here now. She'd sure underestimated his ability to keep a captive where it was. Jennifer just looked at the roof, and hoped that soon, her friends would come to rescue her. After all, she was not ready to believe that Doc and Marty would ever consider to leave her behind in the future, once discovering the DeLorean was stolen. She just leaned backwards, tried to sleep a bit, and hoped for the best.
oooooooo
Cliff Tannen looked around, as he walked through the Square. It certainly looked very different now, than how it did in 1987. He wondered if he was still alive now. He should be, as he was only 54 years old.
Suddenly, he felt a bump in the back. He turned around, angry. "Hey watch it, butt-"
He stopped short as he realized that the person bumping up to him looked just like him. The person, who was dressed in grey clothes and wearing a grey cap, also looked surprised. "All right" he said. "Bill, why are you wearing 1980s clothes?"
"Bill?" Cliff asked, surprised. "Who's Bill, butthead?"
The man looked surprised. "You talk back to me?" he asked. "You are calling me a butthead?"
"That's right, idiot!" Cliff exclaimed. "Who are you, anyway?"
"Griff Tannen" the man said. "You know that, Bill."
Cliff decided to be blunt. "I'm not Bill" he said. "I'm Cliff Tannen."
Griff burst out laughing. "Yeah right! Cliff Tannen's my dad, ziphead, and your uncle! You're a teenager!"
"I'm 24," Cliff snapped, wondering what exactly a ziphead was. "And you're right, I'm not old enough to be your old man, but I will be, one day. And now why don't you make like a tree, and come along with me. I got some evidence that I would like to show you."
Griff shrugged, and walked after Cliff. He was obviously wondering what Cliff was talking about, and the '80s bully couldn't blame him, but he didn't want to lose Griff either. It was his son, after all, and it could be a helpful aide in getting revenge on the McFly's of 2017, and maybe even rape some of those 2010s ladies. He wondered if McFly had any kids, and if there were any females with them. Well, Griff most likely would be able to tell... once Cliff had convinced him who he was.
After a few minutes, Griff arrived with Cliff at the station wagon. As Cliff pushed away the branches and opened the door, Jennifer gasped, and once Cliff had removed her rope, she spoke up, horrified. "Griff!"
"You know him?" Cliff asked, surprised.
Jennifer gave a faint nod. "I've been to the future before."
Cliff frowned, then shrugged it off and turned to Griff, who looked at the DeLorean fascinated. "This is a time machine" he explained to his dumb-founded son. "Crazy Old Brown invented it in the '80s. I took it from 1987 to here, once finding out what it was. I know this is weird, but look at the panels. Why would I make something like this up just for this event?"
Griff shrugged, fascinated. "I dunno" he finally said. "If I believe you, you're my old man. That's a bit of a weirded out thing, even though this thing looks completely abnormal and Bill never acts like this. But time travel..."
Cliff nodded, understanding. "I know what you mean" he said. "But look at it this way. If this is true, you will have access to every and any time you want to go to. Any time you could want is at our hands." He smirked, his grin growing wide. "Every girl that you want is at our hands. I already kidnapped Jennifer Parker from '87. If you know some, we can kidnap some hot girls here. We'll take them all back to a time where the Browns and McFly's will never find us and we'll go over all of them nice and easy." He smirked again. "Know what I mean?"
Griff smiled, too, still a bit weirded out. "Yeah, I think I do" he said. "This is so awesome. Time travel... I never figured it would be true. But now it is..." He smiled. "Well, I'm actually wanting to pick up some new girls now. How does Marlene McFly sound to you? Harmony Brown is hot, too."
"Who are they?" Cliff asked. "You have to keep in mind, I'm from 1987. I suppose Marlene might be the daughter of McFly and Jennifer here, but as for this Harmony, I wouldn't know."
"She's Jules Brown's daughter" Griff said, as Cliff put the rope back in place again, exited, closed the gullwing door, and put the branches back on it. "Her father should be nine where you're from. Where in '87 are you from, anyway?"
"Today" Cliff said. "Right on August tenth. But, anyway, I suppose we can go pick them up if we like, but there's one problem - how can we fit all of us in this stupid small car! Why was Brown so stupid to chose such a small car anyway?"
"Beats me" Griff said, shrugging. "But, you know what I think? At the Brown house, they've got some kind of station wagon - I saw them taking it out someday. But they're really tight with security around it, much more than with a normal car, even though Brown is pretty rich for inventing most of today's inventions. So, anyway, I think that station wagon..."
"...might be a time machine?" Cliff finished, with a smirk. "Yeah, that could be true! I suppose we could head over there, right away, and grab that car, and then go look for those ladies. With any luck, they'll be there. I'd like to catch them by surprise, though. Well, we can't have everything." He smirked. "The most important thing is that we get them, after all."
Griff nodded, completely adapting to the plan. "Right" he said. "Right... Dad. Boy, this sounds weird." He smiled. "Let's go." They both then started heading off towards the Brown house to start Phase Two of their plan.
oooooooo
Harmony Brown was feeling really excited, as she looked around in the house. In just two days, her father, Jules Clint Brown, would actually turn to the respectable age of 39. It was surreal how time had passed, ever since she was born, and that in just a year, Harmony would be the age her father was, when she was born.
While Harmony had a boyfriend, Marty McFly Junior, and was sure she'd marry him one day, she wasn't really wanting to immediately marry yet. Just nine months ago, though, they had agreed on naming a future boy Marty McFly III. She loved her boyfriend's name, and would love to have her son carry that name. But, anyway, while she loved Marty, she wasn't just ready yet to be Harmony McFly. She was thinking of at least waiting to marry Marty until the end of the decade. By then, they would be ready. As for having kids, well, maybe that could wait even longer. Marty's parents, Marty Senior and Jennifer, had married in 1990, but their first child hadn't arrived until 1997.
Harmony smiled, as she realized that she was just looking at said first child. It was her friend, Marlene Stella McFly, who had agreed to help her with preparing the house for Jules' birthday party. She was looking forward to the party already, and wished that it was the twelfth, and not the tenth. But first, they'd have to make some preparations, and make sure their Dad wouldn't see them, once coming home. That was going to be hard. Maybe they could somehow convince him to stay the night at the Brown family house, with his parents, Emmett and Clara Brown, Harmony's grandparents.
"How are you feeling about this, Harmony?" Marlene asked, smiling. "I'm just feeling excited. I can't believe that in just a few days, your father will really be 39. After all, he looks pretty young. Your Grandpa, Doctor Emmett Brown, looks younger than he is as well. It's hard to believe that he's really ninety-seven... well, actually hundred and six, due living in the Old West, and with all his time travels, maybe he's already pushing a hundred and ten. He really looks a lot younger, as does my Dad, who, although the calender denies it, might be really fifty already!"
"Yeah, your Dad went on a lot of time trips in the '80s" Harmony said, as she started to look around in the home. "He was always together with my grandpa. It's too bad, that he really stopped doing that, once he got married and, eventually, got famous. But prior to that, he went out a lot. He must've really liked time travel. I would, if I was in his situation."
"Yeah, I definitely would, as well" Marlene agreed. "So, what shall we start with?"
"Well, maybe..." Harmony started to suggest, when she suddenly heard some noises at the back, and it sounded like a door was being broken open. She suddenly felt very frightened, as she realized that it might be some robbers breaking into the house. After all, even if her Dad or Mom was locked out, they could always reach her on her cell phone. She looked at Marlene, who appeared frightened as well.
"Try not to panic" Harmony suggested, quietly, as she herself was doing just that. "Let's try to hide in the attic somewhere. Maybe I can get my cell phone from the living room, and then we can hide there while waiting for the..."
Then, she suddenly heard the lock giving away, as the door was pushed open. She then heard a rather familiar voice. There wasn't any doubt this was Griff Tannen.
"So, where do you think the station wagon is hidden?" Griff asked somebody. Harmony wondered how he got to know about the station wagon in the first place, and felt scared. If Griff was going to steal the time machine, they should try to stop them. After all, once Griff was out of 2017, they couldn't trace him so easy anymore.
There was a frown, and then an identical voice to Griff's answered. "It must be in the garage somewhere. Crazy Old Brown parked it there, last time I saw it." Harmony felt shocked. How could there be two of Griff?
Harmony then felt herself getting out of shock, and then realized that the Griffs were really close now. Realizing there was no time to get up anymore without having the Griffs hear it, she pulled Marlene behind a couple of boxes, just a few yards away from the telephone set. Just as she thought of grabbing it, the Griffs appeared, and Marlene and she ducked behind the boxes. Harmony peaked over the box, curious to have a look at both of them.
The Griff's looked pretty identical, she soon concluded, but there was one major difference. While one of them wore a cap and made weird noises as he walked, having bionic implants, the other one didn't do that and was wearing obviously 1980s clothes. Why would a Griff care for 1980s clothing?
"It certainly looks like a time machine from the outside" one of the Griff's said. "Even that Fusion thing is on top of it, like on the DeLorean I stole."
Harmony just had time to grasp that information as the other Griff opened the door. "Yeah, it definitely is a time machine" he said. "All those circuits are there. Look at it. There's much more place for everything. I guess we'll just have to fly this thing over to the place where you had the other machine, and get that Parker girl to go inside - and then, we'll see if we can get one of the Brown or McFly girls."
"I still can't believe that Brown actually could be the grandpa of any good-looking girl" the first Griff said, chuckling. "He's a complete nutcase. And to imagine that girl could be the daughter of that butthead Jules, well, that beats me. Well, it's not about the how, it's about the fact that the girl is there, and maybe we'll go deliver Brown a few great-grandkids with her!" They both laughed, smiling with evil pleasure.
Harmony felt she had enough of this. "Marlene" she whispered. "Why don't you go get to the phone? Maybe I can somehow distract them for you to get to the phone, and keep them here long enough before the cops get here."
Marlene nodded, however hesitant, and started to head off. Harmony smiled at her and was about to head off herself when Marlene stumbled over some boxes and fell to the ground, immediately getting the Griff's' attention. Cover blown, Harmony thought, and she tried to get up and made a run for it.
Unfortunately, first Griff saw her, and he decided that he would not wait for them to be in serious trouble. He ran up to her and grabbed her, just before she could be heading outside. Second Griff then did the same with Marlene. First Griff then looked at her, and smiled.
"I guess you must be Harmony, huh?" he said, grinning. "It's pretty obvious, as the other girl looks just like her old man. It's pretty scary to think how she can look so much like a guy, and still be pretty! Well, it's even more weird to see how cute you are, while you're the granddaughter of that Crackpot Brown! Even in 1987, he's a complete nut!"
"My Grandpa isn't nuts!" Harmony protested. "He's a good man, and... wait, did you say 1987?"
"Aww, so you ain't deaf either" First Griff said, grinning evilly. "Yeah, I'm from '87. I'm Cliff Tannen. And now, we're going to take a ride through times in our car, and we're going to take you, Marlene and Jennifer with us."
"You kidnapped Jennifer too?" Harmony said, shocked. "But she's almost fifty, I mean... wait, of course, you got her from 1987! Do you know that could endanger time, and, and..."
"She's talking a little too much, isn't she Dad?" Second Griff, the actual Griff, said.
Cliff smirked, getting the hint. "Yeah" he said, grabbing a plank while keeping his grip on Harmony. "A little too much." Then, before Harmony could do a thing, he swung the plank at her, and hit her on the head. The girl felt a lot of pain for just a few seconds, and then, she passed out.
oooooooo
Marty McFly '87 took a deep breath, as Doc and he had entered the year 2017. He sighed, and wondered where exactly they would be going to go first. After all, it had been some time since he'd last really been in the future.
Doc, however, did not seem to have those adaption problems, and instead just followed the road like they weren't in the future but still at home. After a few minutes of flying, the inventor finally turned to Marty, and tried to smile faintly.
"How are you doing?" he asked. "I suppose you must feel horrible, with your girlfriend kidnapped and all, but I was wondering. We are in the future, after all. You are normally more one to talk when entering a future time."
"I know, Doc" Marty muttered, sighing. "I just wish we were home, and that Jennifer was with me. I still can't believe Cliff actually had the brains to figure out how to fly the machine, let alone time travel with it. What the heck was he doing at your house, anyway? He doesn't even like you!"
"I suppose that has something to do with his father, Biff, leaving his matchbooks behind when I hired him to do a wax job in late July" Doc said, sighing. "I had intended to bring it back right after I found it, but some things came up - I'd told myself I'd go to bring it tonight, but that was apparently too late already as Biff had figured out the matchbooks were missing himself, had sent Cliff out to fetch them, and Cliff discovered the machine... looks like the whole thing is my fault, and nothing but my fault."
"That's not true" Marty said, supportive. "I'm sure Jennifer doesn't blame you for the whole situation. If there's one person we should be angry on, it's Cliff Tannen. Come to think of it, where is that jerk anyway?"
"Probably sight-seeing" Doc said, growling. "Which, fortunately, gives us the time to do something else and track down the other version of you and the other version of me, to make sure Cliff doesn't steal one of their time machines, and perhaps get them to help us." He looked out of the window. "And it appears to be that we're closer to my future house than to yours. Brace yourself - I'm going to take the next exit on the left. And, Marty, I know that you've seen your future self before, but be sure you're prepared. We don't need another fainting accident like on that first trip to 2015, when that happened with Jennifer."
"You're the Doc, Doc" Marty said, the mention of Jennifer making him feel a little sad. "I will be careful, I promise. I know as well as you do the neccesity of this situation." He then hung on, tight, as the station wagon flew down the exit to Marty's home. He wondered how his other self would feel when his younger version from 1987 suddenly flew into the street. He'd probably be quite surprised, but maybe he'd remember the incident. Then again, that Marty from one week into the future, back in that crazy trip in January of '86, hadn't remembered being his counterpart either. That was really weird. Well, maybe this would be different. He still had some hope for this situation to be finished quick.
As he then looked down, he noticed what appeared to be the older version of Doc and Clara, as well as himself and Jennifer from the future, and Marty Junior. Marlene seemed to be missing for some reason. As Future Doc then looked up, he gasped at the station wagon. Marty gulped, as his Doc then flew down to land on the street. This certainly was going to be a weird situation. He wondered how it would end. Hopefully, the results would be good. Right now, though, he didn't have too much hope.
oooooooo
Marty McFly Junior gasped, as he saw the station wagon landing. As he looked inside, he could see another version of Doc, and someone who looked a lot like himself. Could this possibly be his father, from 1987? He couldn't really notice it on Doc. The scientist still looked quite fresh and healthy, by 2017.
He looked around, and he saw the others looked just as stunned. Marty Junior wondered if this really was Doc. He realized they hadn't ever time travelled today, so why would the other Doc and his father come here, now?
Other Doc then opened the door, and looked at his counterpart. "Good afternoon" he said. "I suppose you are wondering why we're here?"
"That did occur to us" Clara said, with a bit sarcasm. "Why are you here, Other Emmett? Everything is fine, here." She frowned. "Where are you from, anyway?"
"1987" Other Doc - Emmett, Marty Junior figured - said. "August tenth, 1987. Does that time ring a bell with you?"
Clara frowned, then shook her head. "No, it does not - oh Great Scott!"
Doc looked at Clara, both amused at his call being uttered by his wife, and surprised. "What's the matter, Clara?" he asked. "I don't remember anything special happening on that day." He frowned, and looked at Emmett. "Should I?"
"I do think so, yes" Clara said. "Don't you remember Cliff stealing the time machine and heading to the future? You couldn't remember clearly what happened when telling me afterwards, but it sure did happen."
"I really don't remember" Doc said. "Interesting. Must be a case of temporal amnesia." He looked at Emmett, and then he realized what exactly Clara said. "Great Scott! Cliff really did steal your time machine?"
"Unfortunately, yes" Emmett said. "He kidnapped Jennifer. I figured out that maybe he'd come to you, too, and that even if he didn't, maybe you could help us, so I came here. So, you haven't seen Cliff today and everything is fine, here?" He looked around. "Marlene and Harmony do appear to be missing. Where are they?"
Clara and Doc exchanged glances at each other and at Jules standing close, then sighed. "I guess that we can tell for something this important" Doc said. "They went to Jules' house to get some preparations for Jules' thirty-ninth birthday party ready. Come to think of it, they should have been back by now."
"I have the strange feeling that they will not be there anymore" Emmett said, sighing. "Call it instinct, or telephatic feelings, but somehow I know they aren't there. We can check it out to be sure, but I do think that Cliff has taken them with him. If they are running late, and Cliff is here, and he's kidnapped Jennifer already..."
"Let's check it out, first" Marty Junior said, speaking up, and trying not to panic too much. "We shouldn't jump into conclusions, right away - although you are right, Doc, uh, Doc '87. I, too, have the feeling they won't be there anymore."
"All right" Doc nodded. "Let's go." He motioned for all of them to get in, and within a minute, everyone was seated in either the station wagon or Doc '17's car. Marty Junior and Marty '87 were together in the station wagon, though, and Marty Jr looked at his Dad. "This is cool" he said, managing a smile. "Seeing you again. However, the circumstances could've been a bit different."
"Tell me about it" Marty '87 groaned. "Especially with Cliff going to 2017. With Jennifer kidnapped, your life's endangered, since if she's killed, your existence is no longer there and you'll fade. And trust me, I know what that feels like."
"I know" Marty Junior said, softly. "You told me."
"I did?" The future teen nodded. "Well, I kind of figured I would, someday. To make sure that you would not try to go back and see our meeting or something like that, back in '82, since if Jennifer fell so easily for me, and you look almost exactly like me... well, we might have trouble, then."
"Yeah" Marty Junior said, looking out of the window, as the car landed on the porch of the Brown's house. Marty Senior then turned to him, surprised. "Are we there, already?" he asked. "That went fast."
Marty Junior nodded, as they both stepped out. "Yeah, it certainly did" he said. "Ever since those Fusion reactors came onto the market, cars got to be a lot faster."
"Weird" Marty Senior concluded. "Well, I guess that I'll see that happening, through the natural course of time. You're right - the cars on the skyway did go rather fast, back when Doc and I first entered 2015."
Doc '17 practically raced up to the door, and entered, looking around curiously. He came outside just about a few moments later, his face looking much wilder. "They're gone" he said, pausing before adding: "And the station wagon is, too."
"Great Scott!" Doc '87 exclaimed, stunned. "You don't think they..."
"Yeah, I do" Doc '17 muttered. "No matter how disgusted I am at the mere thought, this is a very good possibility. If Cliff has gone off to kidnap Harmony and Marlene as well, then there's four of them. They wouldn't all fit in the DeLorean. No, the station wagon would be a logical choice."
Doc '87 growled. "This is horrible. We can't follow them, since we don't know where they are, until they time travel!"
Doc '17 smiled, slightly. "Oh, you don't need to worry about that" he assured his counterpart. "I have something that should fit for that purpose nice and neat. Let me get inside to get it."
"Are you sure I should see it?" Doc '87 said, frowning. "You know what I... we think about risking to disrupt the timeline. If I accidentally don't invent this device, we could have a time paradox."
"It's no invention" Doc '17 assured him. "Not a new one, anyway. It's already around in '87, but this is an improvement on it. Let me get it for you. You're right, I don't like showing you this either, but we can't just wait for Cliff to time travel. Who knows what he might be doing to his captives in the main time."
"You're the me, me" Doc '87 sighed, as he watched his older counterpart go inside. A few moments later, Doc '17 came out again, and he was carrying a weird looking device. As Doc '87 got a closer look at it, though, he realized it was his time machine tracker, only modified. He could see a display on it, and Future Hill Valley was showing there. Also, it gave off a blue spot, which Doc identified as where they were standing, and a green one. The latter, however, was moving in the direction of Courthouse Square. There was also a distance meter, which was currently at '1 mile, 700 yards', and was increasing rapidly.
Doc '87 looked at it with fascination. "Is that device going to help us catch Cliff?" he asked. "Let me guess... that green spot is the station wagon, right?"
Doc '17 nodded, with a smile. "That's right" he said. "This way, we can track him down. Let's go now, then - we don't have any time to lose."
"Wait" Doc '87 urged. "There's no way we can fit all of us in the DeLorean or station wagon. We might fit now, but we do want to take the possibility into account that we might end up gaining more, uh, unexpected visitors."
Doc '17 got what he meant immediately. "Yeah, it's unfortunately possible that we'll end up having to hop through more time periods" he admitted. Well, in that case, I suppose we'll have to use the bus."
Doc '87's mouth fell open. "The what?"
Doc '17 grinned at him. "The bus. You're not working on it... yet... but I am. Lucky enough, the terrorists didn't see it... it's stored at Jules' house, too. I've just converted a bus into a working time machine earlier this year. I had to, as I've spotted it in my previous visits to the future... the farther future."
Doc '87 looked intruiged, as he followed his older self into the basement, then gasped. "Great Scott!" he exclaimed. "That's one heck of a big bus! This really is a time machine?"
Doc '17 nodded, proudly. "Yeah" he said. "I haven't taken it out much yet, besides some minor tests, but I think this would qualify as a good reason to indeed take it out." His counterpart nodded, and all of the time travellers got inside the bus. Doc '17 made the roof open up, and lifted up out of the house. He flew over, and then noticed something down below.
"It's Mike" Marty Junior noticed. "Mike Hartford, and Bill Tannen... and Melody Brown is there, too. They're waving at us to get down."
Doc '17 nodded. "I suppose I'll do that, then" he said. "I don't want them to be left without a word on Marlene and Harmony's situation."
The three down below just watched, as Doc's bus hit the ground a few moments later. Doc '17 opened the doors, and a confused Mike appeared in front of them.
"What's wrong, Doctor Brown?" he asked. "Where are you going? We were just coming to visit Marlene and maybe get her to go to a double-date with us. Bill and I just came up with that idea, as I ran across Bill and Melody on my way to Marly, and I figured we could go together." He looked down the bus, and gasped, as he saw another Doc Brown, and what seemed to be two Marty Junior's. "But I see that probably, this date is not going to happen! What's going on?"
"Um, Mike" Doc '17 said. "I don't know how to tell you this, but in 1987, Cliff Tannen has stolen the time machine and Jennifer Parker. He travelled to the present, and has apparently kidnapped Harmony and Marlene, taking the station wagon along with him."
Mike gasped. "Cliff Tannen kidnapped my girlfriend?" he said, stunned. "I can't believe it! That jerk!" He ran up the steps into the bus, and Bill and Melody followed him. "I'm coming with you! I can't believe this has actually happened, but if it has, I'll be all for getting Cliff!"
Doc '17 smiled, realizing that an advantage of numbers might work out. He then took the time machine into the sky, accelerating quickly towards Cliff Tannen's position.
It took them about ten minutes to catch up with Cliff. When they were there, the station wagon from 2017 could be easily spotted. As the captors realized they were being followed, and the right door opened, showing not only Cliff, but also Griff!
"Great Scott!" Doc '87 exclaimed. This was going to get harder than he initially thought.
Cliff grinned at his pursuers. "Hi crackpot" he said, smiling. "You found out I took your machine?"
"That was kind of obvious" Doc '87 growled. "Really smart of you, leaving behind a note that you didn't do it. If you hadn't left anything behind, it would've been harder to find out. Not that it would've never happened, but it would've happened later."
Cliff frowned for a moment, then his smile returned. "Who cares" he said, evilly. "I've got three nice girls now, and once I'm sure that there are no more around here, I'll settle down nice and easy and get to work. Perhaps in 1957... from the pictures Dad showed me, McFly's Mom was pretty hot, too. Maybe I could even get Dad to help us... anyway, as soon as we're done with them, they won't be virgins anymore.
Everyone inside got angry, but Marty Senior the most. He stormed into the doorway, almost falling out. "If you lie one finger on any place on the bodies of my wife, daughter, future daughter-in-law or mother, I'm going to keep chasing you 'till I'll get you, even if it takes me the rest of my days!"
Cliff blinked, as he looked at this unexpected semi-attack. "McFly?" he asked. "You're old!"
"What did ya expect, bojo, it's twenty-seventeen now!" Marty Junior shouted. "Are you really that low-rez that you think he's still nineteen?"
"Nah" Cliff said, keeping his smile and not caring about the future insults that he couldn't understand anyway. "I know he's forty-nine... he has to be, if he has teen kids already. I was just a little surprised." He looked at Marty Junior. "Judging from your style of clothing and eye colour, you must be that butthead's son. You look to be every bit as stupid as he is."
"My Dad's not stupid!" Marty Junior yelled.
"Calm down, MJ, it's not worth it" Mike said. "Arguing isn't gonna make it." He stepped forwards. "Listen, Cliff and Griff Tannen! Let my girlfriend, Jennifer, and Harmony go! We'll fight you if we have to!"
"What if we drop your girl out of the car, huh?" Cliff asked, evilly. "We can always go back and get a younger version of her... but you'll have lost her."
Mike went white and stepped back, as did Marty Senior. MJ seemed to go furious again, only Doc '17 holding him back. He stepped towards the front. "We have a time machine too, Cliff!" he called out. "And more than one! You don't understand the danger to the space-time continuum that you're posing with this!"
"No, I don't" Cliff said. "I don't even know what you're meaning. But I don't care. I like these girls, and that's all what matters." He pulled up an unconscious Harmony, and dragged her to the front. "So, you don't want me dating her? Well, in that case, I might as well throw her out." He held Harmony up above the ravine.
Marty Junior gasped - Doc '17 went furious this time around. "You selfish, annoying, deadly, lower than any life on earth, villanious space-time bastard!" He grabbed the controls, turned the bus to the station wagon, and hit the gas, racing towards the time machine in a dead-on collision.
Cliff went pale, dropped Harmony - luckily into the car - then pushed her aside as he hit the gas, too, and raced away from the scene. The bus, however, followed him, accelerating rapidly.
"Um, me?" Doc '87 started. "I'm getting some kind of weird reactions from the station wagon. It seems like Griff hit something in his panic - there are some parts of the control display acting up..."
The glare his older self shot towards him was enough to make him take a step back. The bus raced up to the station wagon, coming closer. 50 yards...40, 30, 20, 10...
Suddenly, the station wagon exploded in a bright flash of light, leaving behind fire trails. Doc '17, coming to his senses, hit the brakes, but not on time for the DeLorean to go right through the trails. At that moment, Doc '87 looked down at the tracker, which started shivering somehow. As he pulled a lever, however, it turned silent.
The whole bus was silent a few moments. Then, Marty Junior spoke up. "Where did they go?" he asked.
Doc '87 looked at the tracker, then up again. "August 10th, 2017, at 6:25 P.M."
"But that's two minutes from now?" Marty Junior said, looking at his watch, which said it was 6:23. "Do we just have to wait 'till they reappear?"
Doc '87 shook his head. "No. They headed to August 10th, 2017, 6:25 P.M., in Hill Valley, California... in the dimension of EJ 58."
Doc '17 immediately realized the consequences. "They dimension-travelled" he whispered, pale. "To the universe in which Marty had a twin... and I married Jessica Hoffman."
"Now that's weird" Marty Senior commented, realizing that his future daughter-in-law herself had been the granddaughter of Doc '17 and Clara Clayton, which meant that this dimension would offer home to an entirely different person.
Marty Junior, however, frowned. "Different dimensions?" he asked. "Is there something we didn't know about before?"
Doc '17 sighed. "Yeah, I never told you. I'd better explain it to you now." He looked at Marty Junior, at Melody, at Mike and Bill, and then at the destination display. "If only I hadn't been so stupid..."
"You weren't stupid, Doc" Marty Junior said. "You just over-reacted a little. I would've done the same thing in your situation. It's okay." He paused. "Now, what did you want to tell me about the dimension thing?"
"Not just you - Melody, too, as well as the others" Doc '17 said. "I suppose you've all heard the story about when you go right on a cross-way, you also could've gone left, and right through, and that there are different worlds for all of this. What Marty and I experienced in 1986 was something different, though - we intentionally dimension-hopped, after discovering a machine for that in 2030. We ended up intending to hop through just two dimensions, but after the machine failed, we saw a lot more in the long run before finally returning home. Right, counterpart?"
"That's right" Doc '87 said, nodding. "That event was just nine months ago for me. I suppose you could ask your father, MJ, if you want to know more about it - either version. For now, we'd better get going."
"Where?" Bill asked, stepping forwards. "We can't just follow my uncle and cousin into the other dimension, can we? For all we know, it's really dangerous there... or we might not even exist. It would also bring our other selves in danger."
"We could go back, maybe, and stop Cliff from kidnapping Jennifer," Mike suggested. "If that event doesn't happen, maybe this will all be cancelled."
"Possibly causing a huge paradox?" Doc '17 smirked. "We were lucky to escape that when the events leading up to October twenty-first, 2015 didn't happen. Apparently, my counterpart from 1990 had seen ourselves show up on that date. I'm not wanting to cause any panic, but if we're going to catch Cliff, it's better to do that in the here and now."
"Which counterpart are you talking about?" Doc '87 asked, confused.
"Let's just say you'll find out" Doc '17 said. "For now, we have to get after Cliff. We're losing valuable time here, and I want our biological clocks to stay in synch with the real time as much as possible, while still having enough light to figure out where to go."
"You mean, to the house of our counterpart" Doc '87 said, understanding. "Yeah, that's a good point. We're wasting time here." He walked over to the controls, and took the bus up in the sky, trying not to get information that would make the time machine different later on. "But, before we go... we should use some system to keep us apart."
"You're Emmett, and I'm Doc?" Doc '17 suggested.
Doc '87 sighed. "If we're going to get to another dimension, we might enconter another of us... and possibly many more us-es, if Cliff keeps at this form of hopping. No, I suppose the best way to go at this is give ourselves names that can really keep us seperate."
"Young Doc, Old Doc and New Doc?" Marty '87 suggested.
"Won't work either, for the same reasons" his Doc told him. "No, I was thinking more of Doc One and Doc Two, or First Doc and Second Doc... you mind if I'm first, future self?"
"Fine with that" Doc '17 who now had become Doc Two said, nodding. "Let's just get going."
"What about the Marty's?" Doc One asked. "They do have a difference in age, so it would be weird to call Marty from my time 'Marty Senior One' while he's the same age as the Junior's we might possibly encounter."
"I don't wanna think about it" Marty Junior said, unsure about meeting another him, and not just his teenage look-alike Dad.
"What about TeenMarty?" Melody said. "It would keep him seperate from both Senior and Junior, and it's not too much of a mouthful as 'Marty McFly Senior from 1987' is."
"Right" Doc '17 said, laughing. "You're all right with that, I assume?"
"Why not?" Marty '87 - TeenMarty - said, looking out of the window. "I just wish that Jennifer was safe and sound again."
"You do have a point" Doc '87 said, sighing. "We should get going now. Doc Two?"
"Time circuits on and functioning" his older self informed him. "Destination Time: let's go for six-fifty, okay? It's now a few minutes earlier than that, but it would keep us in synch as much as possible, and it's a nice round number."
"Six-fifty it is" Doc '87 said, smiling just a little. He tapped in the destination as of August 10, 2017, 06:50 PM, Hill Valley, California, EJ #58. "Well, I wonder what we'll see."
"Let's hope that the other versions of us have some kind of powers that will be able to help us out" Marty Junior muttered, darkly.
"We can hope" Doc '17 said. He turned to his counterpart, who gave a confirming nod, then to the crowd. "Ready?"
"I could never be more ready" Marty Senior said. "Like my younger self, I just wish that Jennifer, Harmony and Marlene were safe again."
"Right" Doc '87 muttered. He turned the train slightly towards the direction of the ravine's bottom, then hit the gas. The bus soon accelerated.
"Hang on!" the inventor called out, as the speed reached eighty-seven.
And moments later, the time bus hit eighty-eight, and had departed one version of the Trilogy Universe, leaving behind nothing but fire trails, which soon faded, and marked the spot where the bus had gone.