Disclaimer: I don't own Back to the Future.

Author's Note: And the second update, leaving the story at a suspenseful note yet again. Also, apparently weapon control and such are big issues in the United States, so I assure you that I honestly didn't intend any political message with any of this chapter, or even with this story (well, except that generally, dictatorships are really bad, but you should know that already). So, basically, please read and review. Constructive criticism is always welcome!

Chapter Twelve

Wednesday, June 8, 2016
10:00 AM PDT
Tannen Valley, California

Cliff Tannen grimaced, as he thought of what all had happened this morning. He usually didn't wake up until nine, but now, things were different. He had wanted to watch the execution of Emmett Brown, troublemaker number one and the main threat to Tannen Valley. Instead, he had been forced to sit for ten minutes seeing nothing, and after extensive research, it had turned out that Emmett had escaped, along with that lousy brother of his.

Cliff slammed his fist on the desk, frustrated. His father's alternate self had planned everything out so well, and the generations of Tannens that preceded him had helped as well. And really, how hard could it be to get rid of one miscreant? Apparently harder than it sounded.

The thought that his brother, Marty, was in cahoots with Emmett – or at least, he had disappeared at the same time Emmett had, and there were reports from the guards that he had been the last to see the alternate reality inventor – made Cliff feel even worse. Getting Marty into the Tannen family was one of the most brilliant deeds his Dad had done – of course, the main reason he had taken George's place was to get Lorraine, but getting rid of Marty McFly was also a significant part of it. But despite everything their family had done in hundred years, their carefully prepared plan was falling apart in three mere days.

As he was musing about that, his secretary, a young, timid woman, approached him in her usual revealing dress – these days, he didn't even allow girls who didn't look good in them to ascend to any kind of position in his office anymore. "Sir?" she asked. "We have received a message from the anti-Tannen resistance group. They say they have kidnapped your brother and prisoner Brown and are holding them for ransom."

Cliff's face brightened instantly. The anti-Tannen group was holding Marty and Brown for ransom! That had to be the best news he had ever heard! If he managed to catch up to them, he could not only get rid of them, but also of Brown. That left one problem, though – what to do with his no-good brother, Martin David Tannen?

The Great Leader pondered that thought for a couple of seconds. Marty was, in all honesty, a nuisance. That had been the case ever since his ascension to power in the Tannen ranks. Marty had never been willing to go ahead with what they had planned, always seeking other ways. His advocacy of leniency and laid-back rule sometimes made Cliff disgusted. Yet, he had always adjusted to his brother's strange ideas, because he knew that in the end, Marty would come around. And he was still a Tannen, after all.

This time, however, Marty had crossed the line. He had given direct aid to a prisoner, Emmett Brown, the man who presented an even greater threat to his family than the Parker group did simply because he had the ability to construct a time machine which he could take back in time to erase what his alternate father had wrought. In essence, Cliff pondered, their incorporation of Marty into the family had been their own undoing already. The new Marty was a Tannen, but also had clear Baines genes, and he showed it. No matter how they altered history, they couldn't get rid of the bad traits in his brother's character. And in a way, this had made the situation worse. Because though Marty had done no good, he was Cliff's brother, meaning that he could not treat him badly. He'd have to use leniency.

Cliff made a face at that thought and shuddered. No. He could not show compassion to Marty, even if he wanted to. It would become the downfall of the regime, since if Marty had tried once, he could try again. He would have to get rid of Marty Tannen – permanently.

He looked up at his secretary. "What kind of ransom do they want?"

"According to the message I read, the anti-Tannen group wants the release of all political prisoners and the handover of one million dollars in cash, sir" the young woman said. "In exchange, they are offering your brother and prisoner Brown. They have also agreed on a location for the prison exchange – the bridge over Eastwood Ravine."

Cliff smirked. "Ah, a good old bridge exchange. Very well, then. Make sure a message is sent that I agree with their wishes. The exchange will occur at three P.M. this afternoon."

The woman complied. "Very well, sir" she said, walking out of Cliff's office. This left the fifty-one-year-old with some time to think. Now that he had concluded that he didn't care whether any of the participants in the exchange survived, he knew that he didn't have to play fair anymore. If he planned this well, he could get rid of his brother, a stupid time traveler, and an annoying protest group in one big blow. It made him grin when he thought of it.

oooooooo

"Well, that ended well."

Marty stared at Emmett, as he was pacing around the small room they had been locked up in. "Don't smile" he said. "You're just as caught up in this as I am."

"That's right, but at least I'm used to it" Emmett said. "Your idea was, if I recall correctly, that everything would be solved and all would turn out fine. Or at least, that was the impression I got when you explained to me how you would help me finance the creation of a time machine. It's obvious that you were a little too optimistic."

Marty opened his mouth to comment, then closed it again. "Okay, you're right" he said. "Got any ideas on what we do now?"

"Wait" Emmett said. "There's nothing else we can do. Except for making a break for it after escaping from this room, but that ignores two little problems – one, we can't escape from this room, two, even if we get out of the room, we're liable to be stopped by whatever guards Jennifer has put out there."

"'Jennifer'?" Marty said. "You're on a first-name basis with that woman now?"

"Not really, but I know her from my reality" Emmett said. "She's your girlfriend. Wife in 2016, but since that's not my home time, 'girlfriend' is more familiar to me."

Marty looked at him and frowned. "How on earth did that happen?"

"You met, you fell in love… and by this time, you got married" Emmett ticked off. "It's a different world, Marty."

Marty shrugged. "Whatever."

The door was opened just then and two guards came in. "Mrs. Parker has agreed to a bridge exchange with your brother, Tannen" the first guard informed them. "You are to be exchanged at Eastwood Ravine Bridge for all political prisoners Cliff has captured."

Marty began to smile faintly. "That's good news!" he exclaimed. "I knew Cliff wouldn't let us down! Not over such a minor matter, anyway…"

Emmett frowned. "Marty, I hope you're not extremely insulted if I say that I don't have much faith in your brother's honesty."

"Not extremely" Marty said. "But to some extent, yeah. Shouldn't you be grateful Cliff is helping us?"

"If he was helping us, yes" Emmett replied. "But somehow, I doubt that. I know your family, Marty – I've known them for a long time, and ever since you found those files, you know them too. They cannot be relied upon to keep their word."

Marty stared at him. "Perhaps you're right" he admitted. "But Cliff's still my brother, and I'd like to believe he would keep his word in a case like this, since this is our lives we are talking about. Even if he doesn't care about you, which I would expect, he might still care enough about me to rescue me."

Emmett looked at him. "If that's what you believe, go ahead and believe it" he muttered. "I won't stop you from hoping it, but I'm just afraid it will backfire drastically." He shook his head. "Never mind that right now."

"Indeed" the guard said. "Come on, you two. To the bridge."

Emmett and Marty were roughly pushed out of the shack they were held in, and were transported towards the bridge. The next half hour passed like a blur. Marty was excited about possible release, but he had to admit that he couldn't shake off the uncomfortable feelings Emmett's talk about his brother had given him. As for the inventor himself, he appeared to be highly uncomfortable as well, saying little to nothing on the ride there.

They were pushed out the moment the car came to a halt, which barely gave them time to come to their senses. Marty and Emmett obediently walked up to the bridge, where Jennifer and her guards were waiting. On the other side, Marty could faintly make out the contours of the Tannen family limousine.

He then looked at the bridge the exchange was supposed to take place. Eastwood Ravine Bridge had been named after a man (his other self, or so Emmett said) who fell into it in 1885 after a confusing incident with some train robbers. Since he was a local hero, the ravine had been named after him. Right now, the ravine was very different from how it had been in 1885. Ever since his father had started using it to dump nuclear waste, the entire surroundings had gone to ruin. The skies were dark, the trees dying and the grass already dead. Marty normally hadn't paid attention to such issues all that much, but right now, his perspective on things was changing. If there was anything his conversations with Emmett had taught him, it was that the current Tannen administration was not the way to go for Tannen Valley. For Hill Valley.

"Look" Emmett whispered. Marty looked up to see his brother approaching on the other side of the bridge, accompanied by a group of twenty prisoners. Jennifer walked onto the bridge as well, accompanied by two guards who pushed Emmett and Marty along, respectively. They each stopped at about one third of the way from their side of the bridge.

"Where are the other prisoners, Cliff?" Jennifer called out. "There have to be more. Our sources indicate that at least seventy people are being held in the cells of Tannen Industries."

"Then your sources are wrong" Cliff said. "These are all I got." He looked at her. "Now, why don't you release your captives first?"

"I'm not sure whether I should" Jennifer said. "You don't have any guards with you… it's kind of conspicuous. What are you up to, Tannen?"

Cliff smirked. "I guess I couldn't have expected to fool you" he said. "Oh, well then." He gestured towards his prisoners, who all pulled out guns. "You didn't think I was going to make a real prisoner swap, were you?"

"Hey!" Marty called out. "I know that you're trying to rescue us, but that's not fair!" He started walking over to Cliff. "You know you can't just shoot –"

His sentence was cut off when Cliff pointed his own gun at him and growled. "You no-good, ignorant wuss" he hissed. "I should've gotten rid of you a long time ago. I suppose today is better than never."

Marty gawked. "W-what are you talking about?" he asked, stunned.

"You still haven't figured it out, have you?" Cliff said, smirking. "Oh boy, you're such a silly guy. I can't believe you're an actual Tannen."

"I am, but I'm not planning to stay it" Marty said, angrily. "You're not going to get away with this, Cliff!"

"Really?" Cliff said, smiling broadly. "I think I am. These people are all loyal to me, and they're armed. They outnumber you and those silly rebels easily. But don't worry, I'll get you a wonderful funeral. The official story will be that you were fighting on our side, of course – can't relay to the press just how I really feel about you."

Marty scowled at his brother, who simply ignored him and turned to Jennifer. "As for you, Parker, you're doomed as well" he informed her. "We've finally got you where we want you and I should really order you to be tortured to death. But I'll make a deal with you. If you give me information about the rest of your organization, you'll get a painless shot to the head immediately after. What do you say?"

Jennifer smiled – an odd look on her considering the situation. "I could have figured you would break our agreement, Tannen. Your family isn't one for keeping deals, after all."

"That's correct" Cliff smugly confirmed. "I especially like how easy you fell for it, hook, line and sinker. If I had known it was this simple, I would have pulled this stunt years ago."

Jennifer looked at him. "Oh, I believe not" she said. "Boys… I think it's time to ATTACK!"

Silence reigned after she had yelled that last word. Cliff's goons, at first nervous, slowly started to relax again. Cliff laughed and shook his head. "Seems like your boys are all too afraid to do anything" he said. "Serves them right – we've got agents all over the place. One move towards weapon boxes and they get a shot through the head."

"All over the place, you say?" Jennifer replied.

"That's right" Cliff confirmed. "Why, I wouldn't – "

He didn't get time to finish his sentence because at that particular moment, ten choppers flew over the bridge. They reminded Marty of the ones his family employed, but they didn't have the Tannen logo on them. Before they knew it, the choppers opened fire on the Cliff-crowd. Some of them even dropped bombs on the bridge, damaging it and drowning a couple of Cliff's allies. As if that wasn't enough commotion, Jennifer took advantage of the mess and ordered her lackeys to grab their own weapons.

As the Parker group started firing their guns as well, Marty looked over at Emmett, who had jumped down. "You know, I suppose you're right" he said. "My world is a mess."