Author's Note: This is, as you figured, the next chapter, and it's long. You might fall asleep on your chair by reading this. Well, there's also the possibility that you like it. Please review, so I haven't written all this for nothing.
Disclaimer: I don't own long chapters. Either Kristen Sheley, Mary Jean Holmes or Flaming Trails does. Not me. Oh, and I also don't own BTTF. What gave it away?
Chapter Two
Saturday, April 2, 1988
12:15 P.M.
Hill Valley, California
Marty McFly clung himself onto his seatbelt sharp, as the white lights in front of the time machine vanished. He started feeling he was breathing again, and as the speed of the bus dropped to sixty, he realized that the world hadn't ended yet. He was safe and sound, and however they apparently were in another world, the paradoxes hadn't collapsed onto him, yet. On first sight, he appeared to be safe.
The teenager then looked out of the window, half-expecting to see something supernatural or anything nuclear. But everything seemed to be the same. Birds were flying through the sky, the trees down below were there, in the same ravine. The weather even was the same – it was bright and sunny, and it seemed to be like a relatively warm April day – exactly like it had been in their dimension.
"Doc?" Marty then asked the inventor sitting next to him, as a thought occurred to him. "Doc, what if we didn't make the transit? What if we're still in our world, because you did something wrong? It certainly seems to be too familiar to be another universe."
"Perhaps it's just very familiar to ours" Doc said, thoughtfully. "After all, the dimensional code is pretty much the same." He stared at the time circuits, which now had all squares filled with information. "Then again, it is possible. The Last Time Departed is 12:14 PM… means there shouldn't be any younger selves, even if we are still in our home world."
"Right, right" the musician muttered. He stared up to the world outside, which still looked as familiar as ever. It didn't look like they were in another world not their own, but for all they knew, things here were really familiar. He turned back to Doc. "So, are we going to check things out down there?"
"Um, yeah, I suppose so" the inventor nodded. "No use in hanging around here when there's a world to explore." He smiled, and started to move the time machine downwards to the level the bridge was at. Marty sat back, relaxed, as Doc flew the bus about a few hundred feet above the bridge, and onto the land. He was just feeling calm, when it happened.
Suddenly, Doc let out a scream of terror. Within a second, he slammed on the brakes. Marty felt himself pushed forwards and hit the window with his head, hard – the teen figured that, if he'd hit the glass just a touch harder, he would've broken it. Rubbing his head, the shocked musician looked at his friend, who'd gone dead pale. "Holy shit Doc!" he exclaimed. "What were you trying to do, get me killed?"
"I am already killed" the seventy-seven… or eight… year-old whispered, pointing down. "Marty, look at that." As the musician frowned, the inventor clarified: "That sign down below. Tell me what it says."
Marty looked, and, after a few moments of looking over the tracks and trees, he found what Doc was talking about. The sign of the ravine's name. Once Clayton and Shonash, and in their home reality currently in the position of the name Eastwood, after Marty himself who had supposedly died there in a train wreckage in 1885, it now read, in almost-identical letters to how it had been in their world, a simple and short 'Brown Ravine'.
"Brown Ravine" he muttered. "Brown Ravine!" He turned to Doc. "This doesn't make any sense, Doc. Does it mean… does it mean that the local you got actually killed here? Did he live a hundred years earlier and fall into the ravine instead of Clara? What happened, Doc?"
"How am I supposed to know?" the inventor asked, in self-defence. "Am I native to this reality? Have I been here before? No – at least, not as far as I'm concerned. But I do have a few possibilities on what might have happened," he added at Marty's sad look in his face. "There are three possible solutions. One, I did indeed fall into the ravine. Two, instead of me, you were the one to stay behind, with or without Clara, and the ravine was named after me. Three, an entirely different possibility, that I haven't named yet."
"Great original possibility, the last one" Marty said, sarcastically. "And the second solution sounded awesome as well."
"Marty, you need to cheer up a bit" Doc said. "It's not all that bad."
"Oh, sure it isn't!" the musician called out. "It's not bad if my counterpart ended up being trapped in the Wild West! I didn't belong there, Doc! It's a hundred years away from home! Away from familiarity, away from my family, away from music, heck, away from Jennifer…" He sighed. "I just wouldn't have wanted something like that to happen. It'd screw up my life."
"Who knows, maybe did the local you actually enjoy the Old West" Doc said, his solution getting a clearly disbelieving glance from his friend. "Really, I'm serious. This is another world. The other you isn't you, it's what you could've been if you had grown up in this version of reality… that's close. It can also be the farthest solution, just someone who shares your name and is your other self in someway, but in the other parts is completely different – not you, at least."
"Yeah, right" Marty said, feeling a bit pessimistic. "What are we going to do, now? Check things out, see if you and I are all right, maybe even say hi to them, and then just leave?"
"That sort of was my plan" Doc admitted. "I don't think we really should hang out here for too long. Even if this isn't our world, it can possibly make things look suspicious for the other you and me. We'll have to be careful – we wouldn't want 'us' to get in trouble."
"Right" Marty said. "So, how are we going to look up the place you live in?"
"I'd try my home, first" Doc said. "If I'm not there, I can try the garage. If I'm not at that place either, we'll check the telephone book for information – but maybe we should go to your house, first. Then again, maybe like you, your local self still lives at home, and it's not really wise to go there. We don't want the local George, Lorraine, Dave or Linda to discover something they didn't know before – and we don't want to have the risk that Biff is visiting to wax your father's car and finds out, either."
"So, what are we going to do?" Marty asked.
"We'll head over to my home" Doc said. "We'll check up on my other self, if he lives there, and if he does, we'll ask him to invite his Marty over, and we'll compare histories. If the house is empty, we'll go to the garage and do the same. From then on it's your house, the phonebook, and, if neither of us are in there, the library."
"What if we're not in the library either?" Marty asked.
"We'll leave" Doc said, firmly.
"Okay" Marty said. "I guess I can live with that." He smiled, feeling already a bit excited at finding out more about his local counterpart. "Let's go, then!"
Doc smiled at him. "Let's go indeed" he muttered, as he moved the train forwards through the sky. Marty sat back, and waited for the bus to move over to the Brown house.
It wasn't that far to the mansion, and Marty felt the trip honestly went quicker than expected. Within just a few minutes flying, the time bus arrived above the house, which was, in this reality, still being lived in. Lights were everywhere, and Marty could even see his own Toyota truck in the driveway. A sign this is not home, the teenager thought, realizing that he had come on skateboard.
"Our trip went as good as could be expected" Doc said, happily. "I'll try to touch down now." He then looked at the building with an unsure glance in his eyes. "Funny – somehow, this house looks like it's more recently inhabited. Like it's only been lived in for the past year or so – as opposed to almost two."
"How do you see that?" the teen asked.
"Instincts because of this being my home, mostly" Doc admitted. "However, there's also no sign of the small check of everything that had to happen to this house every twenty months – just the major rebuilt in the start. A few of the things that were altered then, are still in the same shape now."
"So it means you're not living here for as long?" Marty said. "Like, the local you somehow moved in later – for whatever reason?"
"Yes, I suppose" Doc nodded. "I don't understand he could actually keep Jules and Verne, along with Clara, with me in the garage for some time… but maybe he just got back to the future later. Well, I suppose we'll find out." He flew the time machine down the street.
"Doc?" Marty said. "Aren't you going to visit the other you?" Doc nodded. "Then why are we flying past their house? Shouldn't we just park the bus in front of it?"
"I don't want to scare other-me off" Doc said. "I suppose that if he lives here, Clara is here, and if Clara's here, he knows about time travel – but he might've found the love of his life in the present, and I don't want to risk it. If he doesn't know about time travel, we can leave, and I'd prefer to find that fact out right away and not after a few hours, when local me wakes up from his fainting spell because of seeing the bus." He stared at the bus. "Granted, it's not that futuristic, but it's not quite like an every-day-bus."
"Right" Marty nodded. "But then again, Doc – seeing you will give him quite a surprise, too."
"How about I just hide, then," Doc suggested, "while you knock? You can sort of explain things at the door, tell him not to be shocked – go stand behind him to be secure that he doesn't faint – and then call out to me. I can wait for a few minutes. It doesn't have to take all that long to explain the basic parts of the situation to the local version of myself, and I'm really interested in seeing him – seeing him awake, I mean, not out-cold. So, it's in our favour if you go first."
Marty nodded, and in the meantime, the bus landed on the street. Doc got out first, being at the control, shortly afterwards followed by Marty. "Remember, try to introduce him to the situation as good as you can" Doc said, as they walked back to the house. I'll be with you in thoughts." He patted the musician on the back, smiled reassuringly, then ran off to the left side of the house, from where he remained watching what was going on.
The teenager winced nervously, as he walked up the driveway of the local version of Doctor Emmett Lathrop 'Doc' Brown. A few times, he actually refused to go further, and an annoyed yell from Doc was needed in order to get him moving again. Finally, he reached the door, and, figuring that any more hesitation would be bad for their sake – as well as Doc's temper – and he knocked, a few times, before stepping backwards to wait for what was going to happen. He just hoped that Local Doc would be a friendly guy…
After a few moments, the other Doc – Emmett – came out, and promptly frowned. "Marty?" he asked, sort of suspicious. "I thought you were just in the back. Weren't you helping me at the lab, today? I just saw you a few minutes ago!" He frowned. "What's wrong? Don't you want to help? You know how much is at stake here…"
No, I don't, Marty thought. "Um, Doc?" he asked, happy the inventor and he at least seemed to be friends in here. "I think you're thinking I am someone who you think I'm not."
"You're not Marty McFly?" Emmett said, obviously a bit confused about all that. "Well, if that's the case, then you must be Calvin."
"Calvin?" Marty repeated, frowning. "As in Calvin Klein?"
Now it was Emmett's turn to frown. "Yeah, as in Calvin Klein" he said, in a tone that indicated that he felt like Marty wasn't feeling quite all right now. "And as in Calvin McFly – your very own twin! What's the matter, Marty – or was it Calvin, now? Lost your memory or something?" He turned around. "I can give you some aspirin, if you're not quite feeling all right…I should have some somewhere around here…"
This was as good as a time of any, Marty figured, as somehow, he figured that Local Doc wasn't going to believe his story any time soon, as he couldn't use the 'two Marty's' argument – there was obviously already a 'Calvin' who looked like him. As Emmett turned around, Marty turned to the other side. "Doc!" he called out. "You can come!"
Emmett turned back, and frowned. "I'm already here" he said, puzzled. "Don't you want aspirin?"
Marty shook his head. "No, I don't – but I wasn't talking to you." He pointed at the visiting inventor, who was just running towards the porch. "I was talking to him over there."
The face Emmett made could've belonged in a comedy television show. "Great Scott!" he called out, perplexed. "You can't be here! The time machine isn't even finished yet, and I sure would remember any visits from the past, with the first DeLorean!" He frowned. "Unless you're from the future, of course – you do look a little older. Which year are you from?"
"1988" Doc said, thoughtfully. Emmett frowned, which caused Doc to frown as well. "Does that surprise you so much?"
"Yes" Emmett said. "First of all, that's this year. Second of all, you look like you're in your late seventies. I would've expected you to be from the mid-nineties to late nineties." He turned to Marty. "Is this my Marty, or yours? He does look like mine, as he's just nineteen, instead of being in his late twenties, as your Marty McFly should be now."
"It's mine" Doc said. "That's what he meant by saying 'I'm not somebody you think I am'. I am not, either, by the way." He stared at Emmett. "We're from 1988 – April second, even. But we're from an alternate reality." He paused to look at his counterpart's face, which turned to one of surprise. "Do you recognize the term?"
"Yeah, I suppose I do" Emmett said. "Are you from Hell Valley, then? That's the only alternate world I've seen before, after all… did you somehow come from there, change history back to the one as I remember it, and then travel here?"
"No" Doc said. "You're still wrong at your guesses – we're not from that world." He smiled. "You do seem to take the whole we're-from-another-reality thing rather easily."
"I did build a time machine" Emmett pointed out. "I'm used to a little strangeness. However, this seems stranger than anything I've ever heard of. How can you be from an alternate reality, and not Biff's? That's the only one we've ever caused!"
"That's because I'm not from a world you caused, neither is Marty" Doc said. "We are from another dimension. A whole other space-time continuum with our own future and past. We came here with the help of a dimensional displacement device, in our time machine."
"Wait a second" Emmett said. "Do you expect me to believe that you're really from 1988? From today? That you're not from the future?" Doc and Marty nodded. "But how did you get a time machine? Mine was destroyed in a train wreckage on October twenty-seventh, 1985! The whole town had gossips about it for a long time. How can this possibly be, that it hasn't happened to you?"
"I told you, we're not from this world" Doc said. "We're from a completely different reality, in which I still have a time machine – three of them, actually." Emmett's mouth fell open. "Yeah, three. But, anyway, in our dimension, things happened differently than in yours. You've heard the story, right? About how one decision to go forwards can lead to one universe, a decision to go to the left can cause another, and…"
"…how the decisions of going to the right and going back home all together can cause two more" Emmett finished. "Yeah, I've heard that story. So, your reality is completely unconnected to ours, in any way? Then how did you get here, if you couldn't just travel to the past and alter things to make our home?"
"I built my own dimensional hopping device" Doc said. "I even built a new time machine for it – a bus, to be exact. The machine took me months to build, but I just finished it yesterday. This is the test run – in fact, yours is the very first dimension we visit."
"Amazing" Emmett said, sighing. "I wish I had the abilities to do something like this, but I'm busy building the new DeLorean. Anyway, can I invite you two to come in? I'm sure that Marty would be kind of curious to hear more about you, and Calvin will probably be as interested, even though our present time machine is in the final stages of getting ready."
"Who's Calvin?" Doc asked.
Emmett frowned, then smiled mysteriously. "If you don't know him, well, then I'll let you find out for yourself. I'll call him over here, and he can tell you personally who he is, and then you can learn his amazing identity."
Doc snorted a bit at the mention of this Calvin having an 'amazing identity', as he didn't figure that it would be that surprising. Still, he kept quiet, and followed Emmett into the living room.
Marty, in the meantime, just looked around and gasped at his surroundings. The Brown family living room looked pretty identical to how he knew it, and it made him feel at home. Yet, within seconds in there, he saw the first thing he didn't recognize. In fact, it did look familiar, and when it turned out not to be, that was when it hit home hard – they were in another world.
Doc was the one that discovered the mysterious thing first – it was a box, with inside a toddler who seemed to be just a year and a half old. "Martin?" he asked, short and sharp, simply presuming that the young boy in the box was his (and his counterpart's) son.
Emmett frowned. "No…" he said, frowning. "That's Jules."
Doc gasped. Marty frowned. "Jules?" the inventor said, amazed. "That's almost impossible!"
"Jules Martin Brown, if you meant that by naming my son by his middle name" Emmett said. "The son of Clara and I. Born September twenty-fifth, 1986." He frowned at Emmett's reaction. "What was his birthday in your world?"
"September twenty-fifth, 1977" Doc said, fascinated. "How come he's so young here?"
"I could ask the opposite thing to you" Emmett said, seriously amazed. "Why is your Jules so old? I didn't meet Clara until 1985, when I took the time machine back to the Old West. In 1977, I was just working on the time machine. Why did things go different in your reality? Did you first test your time machine on October twenty-sixth, 1976? Did you conceive the flux capacitor on November fifth, 1946?" He then frowned. "Now, wait, that's a Tuesday. Saturday, November second, then? Saturday, November ninth?"
"Nope to all of your possibilities" Doc said. "I did finish the time machine in 1985, and tested it on the date you mentioned. However, the 1977 date was just a cover date. It was just a date to cover the fact that, in 1985, Jules was already eight – as the first eight years of his life he'd spent living in the Old West."
"You lived in the Old West for years?" Emmett said, apparently seriously considering to faint after all.
Doc nodded. "I got stranded there on January first, 1885, and didn't leave it for good until January twenty-eighth, 1895. That was when I moved to 1986, on the same date. I met Clara during that time, fell in love, and I had two sons with her, Jules and Verne." He then realized something, and sighed. "If your Jules was born in 1986 instead of 1886/1977, then Verne has yet to be born. Now I already spoilt his name…"
"If it makes you feel better, I do in fact already have a son named Verne" Emmett said. "He was born on October 29th of last year: 1987. Is that different from what you expected?"
"Yes" Doc said. "Our Verne got born on October 29th as well, but in 1888, which was two years after Jules. I suppose that, being in the Twentieth Century without fears to alter history, Verne was born sooner in your world? A year sooner than if the natural pattern of getting children, or at least natural to our perspective, had continued to run it's course?" He smiled a bit, chuckling faintly. "Amazing. I wonder what exactly caused that particular change between our dimensions to occur."
"I wonder about that, too" Emmett said. "We'll compare stories of our lives, but first, I'll get Marty and Calvin over here. They'll be furious on me if it turns out they missed out all the fun." He smiled, and walked away through the door.
Marty – visiting Marty – immediately turned to his friend. "All right Doc, what's going on here?" he asked. "How can this you have kids born in this century, while you got them in the Nineteenth Century? Or is he just making things up?"
"I highly doubt that possibility" Doc said. "Not only is he, well, me, and I wouldn't lie to a version of myself, also, I can now clearly see that this is a version of Jules and not of Martin. Look at his eyes: they're obviously blue, not brown like Jules'." He looked around the room, then spotted something that didn't match with his memories as well. "And if you need any more proof, look at that."
Marty followed the direction Doc was pointing at, and gasped. Above a cabinet that didn't look out of the ordinary, was a wedding picture. As the teenager walked over to it, he could clearly see Doc and Clara standing in it, smiling happily. Everything matched with what he remembered from the wedding picture Doc had shown him many times back home, only there was the fact that the photograph was in colour, not in black and white, the writing underneath said 'November 12th, 1985' instead of 'November 12th, 1885' and, last but certainly not least, there were two Marty's and one Jennifer there, standing also in the picture where in the pic he remembered, there had just been Doc, Clara, and their witnesses – Seamus and Maggie McFly, who in this picture were nowhere to be seen.
"Amazing" he whispered, unaware of himself semi-copying Doc's reaction. He started to wonder how this could be. How could it be that Clara went along with Doc to the future? Or did they just wait with having children until the time train was finished? No, that wasn't really likely. It was more a possibility that Clara had indeed somehow come along. But how? And how was that supposed to explain the second Marty McFly in the photograph? Had Seamus come along as well, and somehow removed any details that made him not look like Marty? But if the accident had happened after all, had Seamus never gotten back home? And was he the mysterious Calvin, perhaps?
Questions, questions…
"Hey Doc, I don't see any versions of my-holy shit!"
Marty abruptly turned around, to face, well, himself standing there, eyes almost bugging out of his head, mouth wide open. "Holy shit" the native Marty repeated, staring at visiting Marty. "You're me! Not my twin, but really me!"
"Twin?" visiting Marty asked, frowning. "What are you talking about? I don't have a twin… do you?"
Local Marty nodded. "Yeah, I do." He then snickered a bit. "However, the stories around how he came to be are a little, well, how do I say it… complicated…"
"What's not with them?" visiting Marty joked, pointing at the two Doc's, as Emmett had just re-entered the room as well. Both inventors shot visiting Marty a look. "But," the visitor continued, "anyway, maybe we should talk about that for a while. It seems like your history was different from ours." He pointed at the photograph. "For example, I don't ever remember being at Doc's wedding with Clara. That happened in 1885 in our world, not in 1985." He then realized something. "You do know where we're from, don't you?" he asked, concerned he'd made his counterpart be even more confused at the mention of 'our world'.
Local Marty nodded again, this time a bit hesitating. "Yeah" he said. "Doc said that you're from another world, in which things didn't go like they went in our world. I guess Doc staying in 1885 instead of 1985 would be one of the differences, huh?" He grinned. "Boy, I wonder what Cal would say about this… he's once written about something like this, but never about us actually travelling through dimensions like that."
"One of the big differences at least, yeah" Visiting Marty said, turning the subject back to what his counterpart originally said, and then he frowned. "Now, I'd like to meet this 'Calvin' person you and Doc – other Doc – keep talking about. He doesn't exist in our world." He then laughed. "Doc, got any suggestions on keeping you two – and us two, for that matter – out of each other while speaking? This is getting confusing!"
"I can assume that" Emmett said, looking amused. "How about I'll be Emmett, and my counterpart Doc? Marty's, you can be Visiting Marty and Local Marty, respectively." He turned to the phone. "Anyway, I'll contact Calvin right now. He'll be certainly interested in seeing you. After all, he's been wanting for me to complete the new time machine for the past two-and-a-half years. I'm almost glad that I'm nearly finished because I won't have to hear Calvin complain anymore." He chuckled. "If you've got a time machine that travels through dimensions only, I don't suppose you could take him to his home time, could you?"
"Well, it does have the ability of travelling through time, as well" Doc said. "But first of all, we don't really know Calvin's home time. As far as we are concerned, it could've been 1988." He looked up to Emmett. "So, I'm pretty interested in meeting this Calvin person, as well. He does seem to be one of the bigger differences between our world and yours – maybe even the biggest."
"If you really don't know him, you'll be surprised" Emmett said, dialling a number. After a few mind-wracking seconds, the person on the other side of the line answered. "Hello Mr. McFly" Emmett said. "Yeah, congratulations on your fiftieth birthday. You're going on that special day, on Saturday the sixteenth, with your family?" There was a pause. "Yeah, Marty told me. Have fun, then." He paused, as George apparently said something. "Anyway, can you tell Calvin that something has come up over here?" Emmett then nodded. "Okay. Will do. See you later!" He hung up. "George is off to tell Calvin about it. He'll be here within fifteen minutes, knowing Calvin."
"Okay" Visiting Marty said. "Um, Emmett… boy, that feels weird… not to be impolite, but do you have any food? We're at the same time as you are, and it is lunchtime, after all…"
"Great Scott, that's right" Emmett said, gasping. "It's 12:40 PM. Come on – I've got something here. I can make you two some bread, in just a few minutes – Marty can make his own lunch, if he wants. Local Marty, I mean."
"You don't have to go through all that trouble for us" Doc protested, shooting Visiting Marty a look. "We already have some food, in the time train. You don't need to prepare some more for us."
"No trouble, no trouble at all" Emmett insisted. "I just want to make sure you're fed well before you leave again." He smiled, obviously a bit envying the inventor. "I can't believe it. Actually travelling through dimensions. I would want to do something like that as well – I'd love to do something like that. Seeing other me's that are not just future or past versions… actually interacting with a present self." He frowned. "Although, if I understand correctly, my 'present self' from your world is actually from April 2, 1888?"
"That's correct" Doc said. "Actually, more likely it's February 12th, 1888, seeing that you moved ahead another fifty days, when going back to the future – while I never skipped those fifty days between September seventh and October twenty-seventh, 1885."
"You're the me, me" Emmett said, smiling. He then headed off to the kitchen, and went to prepare some food. Marty looked after him, as he started wondering what exactly the other Doc's – Emmett's – kind of food would be like.
As the bread was finished, it turned out to be not that bad. Emmett had not put the butter on the bottom of the slice, nor had he put the cheese on the other side. They were all cheese and ham slices, for the simple reason that Emmett currently had no other things at home. Marty happily ate it, and as the meal was finished, it was 12:57 – and the familiar sound of a skate/hoverboard could just be heard, rolling up the driveway.
"Ah, there's Calvin" Emmett said, smiling. "Two minutes late – probably had to grab a snack himself. I'm sure you two will be interested in seeing him."
"I don't know about Marty, but I sure am" Doc said. He stepped up, and walked up to the door. Visiting Marty just sat there, nervous. There were a few introductions in the hallway, and a few short explanations, and as the clock hit one P.M., Calvin McFly entered the living room.
Visiting Marty gasped. This was him! Well, it certainly did look a lot like him. Calvin McFly was Marty's twin from up to down, except for his obviously brown eyes. "Hi" he managed. "You're… Calvin?" There was something strange about his counterpart's twin, but he couldn't place it…
"Yep, I'm Calvin!" the teen called out, cheerfully. "Calvin Arthur McFly, identical twin brother to Martin Seamus McFly." He looked at Local Marty. "Well, actually I'm not his twin – I'm an adopted twin. George and Lorraine took me into the home the day we returned from 1885, with the DeLorean. Had to explain them the whole story in order for them to believe my so-called appearance from out of nowhere. Dave and Linda don't know, though. They believe what the rest of the world believes: that I was adopted on June eleventh 1968, and that my adoptive parents died in September 1985. That was when I started looking for my real parents." He grinned. "Of course, that's just a cover story – the truth is really different."
"What is the truth?" Visiting Marty asked, anxiously.
Calvin sighed deeply, and turned to Doc and Local Marty, who both nodded. "I'm from the future" he started. "I came here in a time machine that Doctor Emmett Brown invented and I'm your future son, Marty McFly Junior."
Visiting Marty's eyes widened. "Marty Junior?" he repeated. "Boy, so that's why you looked familiar…" He sat there, feeling unable to do anything. "How did you get here?"
"Let's start from the beginning" Emmett said, interrupting. "We'll come to Marty Junior's issue later on." He turned to his counterpart. "Were you born on March twenty-third, 1920? Son of Friedrich Von Braun and Sarah Anna Lathrop?" Two nods. "Read Jules Verne for the very first time on June seventh, 1931, which caused you to devote your life to science?"
"Exactly" Doc confirmed. "Did you reach your doctorate on October twenty-eighth, 1944, after long delays?" A nod. "University professor from January twenty-sixth, 1946 on?" Another enthusiastic nod from Emmett. "Father died in a crash March eleventh, 1954? Mother survived but died on December twenty-seventh of that year?"
"Precisely" Emmett said. "Now, Marty, I suppose it's your turn."
"Born on June ninth, 1968?" Visiting Marty started. "Son of George Douglas McFly and Lorraine Sylvia Baines, who were originally unconfident and alcoholic – Mom at least – but are now a science-fiction author and a local tennis player?" Two nods. "Met Doc Brown October 26th of 1975?"
"Yeah" Local Marty said, amused. "Did you get to travel back in time on October 26th, 1985?" A nod from visiting Marty. "To November 5th, 1955?"
"Yeah" Visiting Marty said. "Let me guess this right. You found out you had no plutonium, and headed uptown where you met Dad and ended up shoving him out of Grandpa Sam's way, who was about to hit him. You then woke up in your mother's bedroom. She tried to get closer to you, but you managed to get away before she did anything weird, and fled to Doc's house after a short meatloaf dinner that was cut off by your Mom squeezing your leg. You did not realize that she had a crush on you because the mere thought was just too terrifying, so you couldn't bring yourself to imagine that?"
"Precisely!" Local Marty exclaimed. "Then, you went to Doc's house, who had just come up with the flux capacitor. After telling Doc about his invention he believed. At home you discovered the lightning plan, and the erasure of existence of Dave. The next day you spent at home, and Monday you tried to approach Dad but he didn't want to take Mom out. That night, you dress up as Darth Vadar from planet Vulcan and threaten him. That afternoon, Tuesday, George is this close of asking out Lorraine when Biff comes in and you skateboard away from him, crashing him into manure. That afternoon, Lorraine asks you to ask her to the dance – and you volunteer to ask her out?"
Visiting Marty nodded. "Then, we get to come up with a plan that involves us hitting on Mom and Dad rescuing her. We tell George, but he doesn't understand and we spend Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning to convince him. Saturday evening we go to the dance only to find that Lorraine makes moves on us instead, as she kisses us. Then Biff comes and locks us up. When we return we find that Dad has punched out Biff, but the photograph isn't restored because when we got saved, the guitar player sliced his hand causing the kiss' inability to happen. We play the guitar, almost fade but get rescued just in time, and then play Johnny B. Goode which is not exactly appreciated. We then go to change clothes and try to convince Doc once more to read the letter. Then we head back to the future by the lightning bolt."
"Fascinating" Local Marty whispered. "We make it back to the future only to realize the Libyans have already shot Doc as the engine of the time machine stalls. Doc is alive as he's read the letter after all, and he heads to the future. Next morning we wake up to see Dad's an author and played tennis with a thin Mom. Dave works at an office and Linda has boyfriends. Then we meet Jennifer and Doc almost knocks us over as he returns from the future and asks us to 'come back with him'!"
"I wouldn't call that asking" Visiting Marty said, sarcastically.
"Marty…" Doc said, giving his friend an amused, yet somewhat insulted glare.
"Hey, it's true!" Visiting Marty laughed. "Anyway, we then go to 2015, Jennifer is knocked out, and we go save Marty Junior from Griff." He stared at the other boy in the room, still unable to believe it was really his son. "I then buy an almanac, but Doc throws it in the trash. Then we head to Hilldale as Jennifer is taken by the cops to her home. I… get distracted, and Biff flies off with the time machine up to 88. In the meantime, Jennifer is at her home, and finally is about to get rescued when she faints seeing herself. Biff then returns, and we arrive just in time, apparently, to place Jennifer in the DeLorean and head back to 1985!"
"And here's where I come in" Calvin said, quietly. "In this world, I saw the time machine, and decided just out of curiosity to climb inside the back. I did feel a slight weird feeling as the timeline changed into 2015-A, but I left just in time, apparently. We arrived in 1985, and while Dad went to see his house in that world, meet alternate Strickland, and faint at the Pleasure Paradise, I just walked around town, horrified, met Dave, and ended up getting knocked out as well. Woke up about three quarter after Dad did, and I ran into Doc – Emmett – on the way back from the Paradise. I revealed who I was, and Doc volunteered to take me back home first, before the time machine was destroyed – but after we fixed this mess."
"There's where the difference comes in" Doc said. "I never noticed Marty Junior. In fact, I never saw him again until I moved out of the Old West. In our universe, I headed to the cemetery, met up with Marty, and took him to the lab. I told him what I'd discovered, and he went to ask Biff about the almanac. After getting the info, Biff chased after him with a gun and I knocked Biff out. We then travelled back to November twelfth, 1955, appearing at Lyon Estates at 6AM sharp."
"There's where things went different in our world" Emmett said. "Up until the almanac part it's the same, except for the fact that MJ was along, and that he was the one to get the almanac. However, Junior managed to convince me to take Jennifer and Einstein along – I can see Local Marty not having been that convincing and eventually giving up on that matter, had his son not encouraged him in that. Einie was easily picked up, but Jennifer had vanished. We flew through the entire town, and finally found her back at my lab, where she'd gone – and Biff and gang had followed. We managed to overpower them for a few seconds, enough to escape. We rapidly accelerated the DeLorean to 88 in the sky and vanished, appearing on November twelfth, 1955 above my mansion. Also at 6AM sharp, though – that's something that seems to be rather consistent between our worlds."
"Apparently" Doc said. "So, anyway, I went to fix the time circuits in my world, while Marty headed uptown. He ended up following the Biff's, but was trapped in Biff's garage. He called for me to pick him up, and that was where I did something wrong. Instead of picking him up right away, I explored the town, fascinated by visiting it again, and didn't arrive at the garage until 8:30 – nine hours after Marty had called me, about ten seconds after Marty had left the garage in the back of Biff's car, who was on his way to the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance." He turned to Emmett. "Did that go any different with you?"
"It did indeed" Emmett nodded. "Marty Junior, Senior and Jennifer headed uptown, while Einstein and I stayed behind to guard the DeLorean and, like you, repair the time circuits from their error they'd gone through moment before. Marty Senior and Jennifer followed the Biff's and, like your Marty, got stuck. It was MJ's task to rescue them, but he got distracted." He looked at Calvin, a bit accusingly.
"Hey, I didn't do that on purpose" the teen said. "First, I was walking through the park up to the garage when I had to hide as Doc – Emmett '55 was walking my way. When I hid, I almost instantly fell asleep, as Emmett '55 was sitting there and I couldn't get away. When I woke up, it was 6 PM. Emmett was the one to wake me, having fallen asleep and woken up astonished at the time himself." He smirked at the inventor, who just frowned. "Anyway, then I almost collided with Dad '55, who was on his way to the mansion. I followed him for a while, fascinated, and then realized I lost the address. Not wanting to make my folks or Emmett mad, I went searching for it, but when I couldn't find it I was suddenly grabbed for an intense amount of hunger, and I ate just a short dinner which, again, took much longer than expected 'cause Grandma Lorraine – my adoptive Mom, now – and her friends showed up. Had to wait 'till 8 when they finally got out of there." He smiled. "The positive thing was, I had got the address by that time, and I made my way over to 1609 Mason Street – only to find Biff just leaving with his car, to the dance. Then Emmett came up, and we both headed to the Square to contact Dad '85, since Emmett had left his walkie-talkie there. As Emmett just was warning Dad for his other self, Emmett '55 came up to ask me why I hadn't left yet, presuming I was my Dad. I told him I was going right away and then ran to the Dance."
"I actually put my ¾ wrench in open sight, while my younger self and Calvin were having a conversation" Emmett admitted, blushing. "It might've been selfish, but I felt bad for myself actually having to correct that mistake so rushing at nineteen minutes before the lightning hit." He blushed again. "I guess that event still happened, in your world, as Calvin was not there?"
"Actually, yes" Doc said. "It did happen. I still left my walkie-talkie in the Square, and when I went over to contact Visiting Marty and warn him, my younger self talked to me – I guess that the fact that Calvin was there overshadowed the fact that you were also there to, well, me. I don't remember clearly if I just looked for the nearest person or someone specifically… it has been over forty-two years for me, after all. So, anyway, I talked to my younger self, and I actually handed him that wrench, as he asked for me to give it to him – of course, he asked for the wrong one, and I gave, well, me, the right one. I even left on my bike, as younger me told me that we might bump into each other again sometime in the future, and I corrected him, quietly, saying 'or in the past'. Then, I also rang the bell a few times in my usual way, which, naturally, made myself feel very confused – but I didn't turn around to look."
"We then headed to the dance" Emmett added. "Well, the Marty's and Jennifer did. Marty tried to grab the almanac from first Biff and then Strickland. He then caught up with Marty Junior and Jennifer. They managed to knock out first Biff, and then his gang, and take the almanac. They then watched Marty '55 play, and then confronted Biff again, knocking him out. Afterwards, they went into the car, and we flew away to Lyon Estates to burn the almanac there. Unfortunately, when Marty Senior was burning the almanac, Biff took the book again. Marty and Jennifer chased after him, but Biff tried to overpower them, and Marty managed to escape with the hoverboard, but left Jennifer and the almanac behind. I realized what happened, and as Biff drove away, I sent Marty Junior tied onto the flag pennant to get the almanac first and then pull up Jennifer. After a little protest from Biff, we flew away, as Biff crashed into a manure truck. We then flew over to the Lyon Estates billboard, where Marty Senior already had headed to."
"That went different with us" Doc said, smiling. "Marty got through that Strickland adventure, but managed to knock out Biff only. He got chased by his gang into the dance, as they were going to jump Marty '55. Marty saved his younger self by dropping some sandbags on the gang. He then headed out to be confronted by Biff. Biff called him chicken, and Marty had just turned around when Marty '55 came out and slammed the door into Marty '85's face. Luckily Biff didn't notice there were two of them, but he did notice the almanac, kicked Marty twice, and then left the kid. Marty then went up to the roof, and we started following Biff. Marty Senior had then the whole tunnel adventure, but Biff was chasing him on the hoverboard, and I was the one to drop the rope for Marty to grab, and yeah, Biff crashed into manure, and we headed over to the billboard." He looked at Emmett, who sat there, looking pretty fascinated. "Anyway, Marty burned the book, and just as we were displaying our joy over the changed newspapers, lightning hit next to me. Marty yelled at me to be careful not to be struck, but that just happened – and I vanished into the past, to 1885. I was stranded there for a few months, as the time circuits microchip was broken, and when I realized I loved 1885, I left the DeLorean in the Delgado Mine. Luckily I'd thought to leave Western Union a letter for Marty. Marty read it, and headed over to confront me '55. I immediately fainted at the sight of him."
"Sounds familiar" Local Marty said. "Emmett, too, got struck by lightning under similar circumstances. Emmett '55 also fainted, and MJ, Jennifer and I brought Emmett home. Next morning he woke up to find me there, along with my future son and girlfriend!" He chuckled. "Took him a while to get used to it, but it was okay. Also, we read the letter, and the next day, we headed out to the Mine. Blew up the entrance to get in. We got out the DeLorean and discovered Emmett's tombstone, saying September seventh, 1885."
"This sounds familiar as well" Visiting Marty smirked. "Let me guess how the tale continues. You headed to the party at the Square where Emmett discovered the letter. He wanted you to keep it, but you told him it'd cause a paradox. He gave in and was surprised at what it meant. You then headed to the library and found out about the picture of Emmett/Doc standing in front of the clock, and we decided to go back in time to get them home. We fixed up the DeLorean the next day, and we departed on the sixteenth?"
"Not quite" Local Marty said. "Everything matches up, except for the fact that, while the DeLorean was ninety percent finished on Tuesday night at 10 PM, when we turned in (I know, early, but Emmett didn't want to do too much of a rush job), we had to go clothes shopping on Wednesday, to find appropriate clothes for MJ. Home, we checked over the DeLorean, and finished it. At that time it was 7PM so we ate a quickly cooked dinner and had a happy last night in 1955. Thursday morning at 11, we then finally headed back to 1885!"
"Unfamiliar" Visiting Marty said. "Well, except for the last part of course."
"Well, for us, the whole story is unfamiliar" Doc defended. "After all, I never remember discovering my tombstone. I only remember two realities: one, the reality in which I never got visited by you in 1955 and the ravine was Clayton, and two, the reality in which we never saw the tombstone, but realized from the pictures in the library about you as 'Clint Eastwood' that you had to preserve the timeline and go back to 1885." He sighed. "Therefore, you were a lot more hesitant to leave than in the tale you're telling, but we both realized that it would be better that way."
"Yeah, I now remember that, too" Local Marty said. His counterpart nodded. "Anyway," the local continued, "afterwards, we had to deal with some Indians shooting the fuel line – and a bear. As we were running away from it, I fell down to the McFly farm and got knocked out. As Jennifer tended to me, Marty Junior went uptown, and that evening, he found Doc. The next morning, they went to pick us up at the farm."
"In our version of history, I did crash to the fence, but there was no one to get Doc" Marty said. "Therefore, I went to town on my own the next day – with a little help from Seamus' carriage – and found Doc there. Buford Tannen was just hanging me when Doc showed up." He smiled at his friend. "If not for Doc, I might've been killed."
Doc blushed. "Anyway," he said, "we headed up to the shop, and Marty told me the DeLorean was out of gas. We had also discovered the matter of Clara Clayton, and then went to go pick up the time machine with a drawn plan, and tried to pull it by horses and tried alternative fuel. Then, we discovered the steam train idea. As we were looking at the ravine, Clara showed up on her carriage, and the two of us went after her and rescued her from falling into Clayton Ravine." He smiled nostalgically. "Anyway, we then headed back home and we thought about what had apparently happened – a big change in history."
"Now all that sounds familiar" Calvin said. "Let me guess. The next day, Clara brought her telescope? That evening, you went to the party in the Square, and Buford threatened to shoot you? Marty then interfered by throwing a Frisbee pie plate, and Buford called him a yellow?"
"That's, unfortunately, right" Visiting Marty said, blushing. "I still can't believe that I was stupid enough to actually volunteer. I should've known that shoot-out couldn't be fair. I might be skilled at Wild Gunman, but this is real."
"Don't be sad" Local Marty said. "I was acting right as silly. And that's in the past now, by two-and-a-half years. We should focus on the present and the future."
"Right, Marty" Emmett said, happily. "That's true."
"So, anyway," Doc said, "After Marty was challenged, Seamus and Maggie showed up, telling him not to do it. Marty then first heard the tale of his indirect ancestor, Martin McFly." He looked at his counterpart. "You then headed over to Clara's house and spent the night there… moon watching?"
Emmett blushed. I-I suppose so" he muttered. "Did you go for a walk the following morning and met…"… ON only Marty, I assume. You then gently try to drop hints about dealing with his 'chicken' problem… and Buford Tannen?"
"Precisely" Doc said, intrigued. He stared at Calvin. "I suppose Marty Jun-Calvin tried to tell Marty, and you stopped him?"
"Yes – and I suppose from there, or more accurately from then on, that's where things changed over here" Emmett muttered, thoughtfully. "After all, the events of that evening would have been a lot different, perhaps even in non-existence, had Cal not been around."
"What happened?" visiting Marty asked, curiously.
Emmett smiled, apparently going off in nostalgia. "That evening, I approached the campfire and told the others that I was going to stay in 1885, as I had fallen in love with Clara… love at first sight." He smirked. "Anyway, Marty – Senior – was obviously shocked, and tried to convince me to be scientific about this. I agreed with him and volunteered to come along, but my heart wasn't happy, and MJ noticed that. He then told me we should maybe take Clara with us to 1985. I told him off, as I didn't let his Dad have the sports almanac either."
"That sounds familiar" Doc said, sighing at the memory of that night, now eleven, almost twelve years ago. "Only, in our case, it was Marty Senior who tried to convince me."
"I figured as much" Emmett said, nodding. "So, anyway, Marty Junior obviously got annoyed. He reminded me that Clara was, in fact, one of us now – she shouldn't have survived. He told me that if I wanted to be a responsible scientist, I'd have to do one of two things – push Clara back into Shonash Ravine, or take her with us, to the future." He smiled at his counterpart. "I suppose you can understand why I chose the second option."
"Yeah, I most certainly can" Doc said, baffled. He turned back to Calvin. "Throw her back into the ravine?"
"It was the only way to convince other-you!" the teen protested. "But you're right, maybe I should've been a bit more tactful…"
"You can drop the 'maybe'" Visiting Marty muttered, clearly shaken. "Holy shit… I don't think that even I would've ever done… I mean said… something like that."
"I wasn't serious!"
"You guys are indeed being overly shocked at Calvin's words" Emmett said, defending his friend just like he would've done with the kid's Dad, had Marty Senior been in a similar position. "Too shocked, to my opinion. After all, he wasn't saying I should throw Clara off – he was saying that was just one of the things a responsible scientist, which I was trying to be, could do." He glanced over to Calvin, and gave the future teen a reassuring smile. "If anything, Clara and I owe this happy future to him. And I keep to that, even after seeing you two show up today." As he noticed Doc's confused looks, he asked: "During the long time you've additionally lived in the past with your Clara, over nine years if I remember correctly, haven't you ever worried about the changes you were potentially causing to the space-time continuum and the natural flow of the course of the time stream?"
"Of course I have" Doc said, in self-defence. "Some days, when I was getting in a paranoid mood, I even felt insecure about shopping." He looked at Emmett, clearly envying him. "I suppose that, other than those eight months, six days, eight hours and twenty-something minutes, you didn't have that?"
"That is correct" the local inventor nodded. He stared at Doc, curiously. "I take it that is the reason you moved back to the 1980s, while you were settled and had grown accustomed in and to the world of the late Nineteenth Century?"
"That, and the fact that I missed my best friend." He smiled at Visiting Marty. "The day I last saw the real 1985, not Biff's world, before going to 1955 was the tenth anniversary of our first meeting, after all – the day I truly got a friend, even though I'd known of him for twenty years before that. I couldn't just abandon Marty after all those years and after he'd risked his future, heck, his life to save me… twice… and even if he hadn't been there the kids would grow up in a safer environment in the 1980s and 1990s."
"Thanks for the praise, Doc" visiting Marty said. "Now, let's go back to our subject, shall we?" It wasn't complaining: it was honest interest.
"Ah, yes, I suppose you're right" Doc said. "We are getting off the main subject. Anyway, in our universe, I finally decided to say Clara goodbye. Not able to resist Clara's pleas to tell me where I was going, I told her the truth. She didn't believe me, and slapped me." He sighed bitterly, as the locals gulped. "After about an hour of riding around wondering if I should throw myself into Shonash Ravine or not, I finally headed over to the saloon, leaving Marty behind at the campfire. Pretty foolish and irresponsible, I admit, but I had just had my heart broken."
"I would've done the same" Emmett said, trying to comfort his grief-stricken counterpart a bit. "After all, I am you. But still… I'm glad I didn't have to go through that." He looked at Doc, obviously interested. "Go on."
"I will" Doc said. "As I said, I went to the saloon. I ordered a whiskey, fully intending to drink it. But before I got one sip, someone next to me got me into a conversation, and before I knew it, I was telling stories about the future no one in there ever should've heard – but I was too heart-broken to even care one bit about the universe, anymore. At that moment, I was actually half-hoping it would collapse around me, so at least the pain would come to an end." He sighed, thinking back to that terrible night.
"I repeat, I'm glad I never went through that" Emmett said. "But go on. Seeing how you turned out, I'm sure that not all of your story is negative."
"That is, lucky enough, right" Doc confirmed. At around 7:45 AM, Marty raced into the saloon, telling me to go back with him. I agreed, and toasted on the future with the others. Less than three seconds later, I fell onto a table, out-cold."
"Why do I have the expression this is getting to be just like something out of a movie?" Local Marty said, chuckling.
"You wouldn't think that if you were the one going through the whole mess" Visiting Marty said, grumpily. "But anyway, I was immediately shocked, and tried to revive Doc. Chester, the bartender, had some stuff called wake-up juice available, and I kind of figured that'd be the best we could get." He grinned. "We poured it in, and seconds later, Doc was running out of the saloon, and dropped his head in the horse trawl. It was no help though – he was still out. While I was waiting for the stuff to really catch up to him, Buford Tannen arrived."
"Heavy" Calvin groaned.
"You bet" his identical twin/father nodded. "In our world, Junior just told me the truth about Needles, and about my problem – and Do… Emmett successfully told Clara the truth. Around the time 8am Monday arrived, Doc, Cal and I were on the outskirts of town." He smiled. "We had to make a different approach which caused us to just miss the train. We went aboard, MJ the last, and we successfully managed to, um, borrow it." He smirked. "Doc pulled the track of the switch, and the train then moved to the DeLorean, leaving behind the wagons." He looked at Visiting Marty, curiously. "So, how did your fight go?"
"Well, I didn't feel like going out there to face Tannen," Marty admitted, "especially since the tombstone had already started to read 'Clint Eastwood'." The locals gasped. "Everyone said that I'd be a yellow if I didn't go out there and I thought of Seamus' brother Martin and I…" He shrugged. "Something clicked inside me at that moment. I just didn't care anymore. Not what Tannen said, not what anybody said. I just was through with it." He smirked. "Funny enough, I'd just spoken up my thought, and Doc raises up behind me, having finally returned to consciousness." He chuckled. "I have to say destiny has a strange sense of humour."
"It was no destiny" Doc corrected. "It was just a case of coincidental timing that I woke up the nanosecond I did."
"Whatever" Marty muttered. "Anyway, Doc and I tried to escape through the back door. Would've worked if one of the gang members hadn't seen us and decided to try out his gun. I dived into the closest shop, but Doc was taken hostage and led to the Main Street. Buford told me that I had one minute to decide before he'd shoot Doc."
"Perfect" Local Marty whispered, horrified. Immediately, he grabbed Emmett's arm and clung to it as if his mentor was in as much danger as his counterpart's had been, hundred-and-two years and one dimension ago.
"As I then looked around, I saw a stove door and decided to use it as a vest to protect me" Visiting Marty continued. "I attached it to myself, then came out, just in time. I got shot at before I could make one protection move, and Buford approached me. I then stood up, revealed my vest and punched him with it. Then I switched to my fists, and managed to have him first break the tombstone and then fall into a manure wagon." He smiled. "Everyone cheered. The deputy arrived to get Buford, who told him that he hated manure, out of the cart and let his men chase the gang. Doc caught up to me and we watched the tombstone on the picture fade, leaving behind nothing but an empty grass field."
"Now that sounds great!" the local musician commented, enthusiastically.
"Exactly" the visitor said. "Anyway, we then heard the train whistle. I gave the gun I had to Seamus and we chased after the train. After a few minutes, we were at Coyote Pass. Doc got aboard, I followed and we borrowed the locomotive. I turned the switch, and we rode the train over the side spur, Doc happily pulling the whistle, and finally stopped at the time machine."
"Sounds familiar" Local Marty said. "In our world, we then caught up to Clara and Jenny. MJ got in the DeLorean, and we started the train. That was pretty cool, riding in an actual steam train. After a few moments, about half a minute, Doc asked Calvin the speed. He said twenty-five. We both thought that was too slow but Emmett didn't, so we let that matter slide. Emmett then threw in the Presto Logs, and at thirty-five, we went out of the cab. I breathed hard and my Doc calmed me down. We then were about to start heading to the DeLorean as, at forty miles per hour, Buford Tannen showed up, with a gun."
"That sounds mostly similar" Doc said, trying to ignore the feelings of terror he got, thinking back to all that happened in his version of 1885. It's all in the past, it can't harm you, Buford's been dead for decades… "In our world, I went into the train and Marty in the DeLorean. I, too, went back at thirty-five, but I continued my way and at forty-five finally arrived at the front of the train. Like your Marty I was afraid and had too much fear to jump on the DeLorean. Marty, coming out to yell fifty, noticed that and he encouraged me to go for it. I would've done just that if the train whistle hadn't sounded. As none of us were in the cab, I felt confused and looked who it was. And guess who I saw, head sticking out of the cab and waving enthusiastically."
"Clara?" Emmett suggested, smiling broadly.
"Exactly" Doc said, nodding and blushing. "I yelled for her to climb out to me, as we'd passed the windmill. She came, and I moved back. We went through the fifties and sixties like that, just climbing along while Marty kept his door open."
"That sounds exciting" Calvin said. "Then again, we had to deal with Buford trying to shoot Doc and Dad. That's why I flew at fifty towards him. I rescued them by throwing a walkie-talkie to Buford's hand, causing him to drop the gun. Dad then kicked him into a bush, and together, we headed back to the time machine. We arrived at 72, and then…" He paused dramatically. "The red log hit."
"Sounds familiar" Doc said. Clara and I were about to grab each other's hand when that happened. The boiler exploded, my feet slipped off so I only held on with my arms, and Clara was hanging off the train on her ripping dress which caused her to get closer to death each second."
"Holy shit" Calvin exclaimed. "Well, in our world, things weren't fun either. When the DeLorean lifted off the tracks, we all fell inside one way or another, Einstein in the middle of it all. Dad's foot hit the time circuits and they reset to January first 1885. At that point, we were going at eighty-five."
"How on earth did you survive?" Visiting Marty said, gasping. "I would've been killed for sure."
Calvin blushed. "I simply hit the dashboard, causing the displays to flash again up. At the instant before the car hit 88, it changed to October 27th, 1985, at 11:00 AM. Then, we vanished into the future."
"Quite the climax" Doc commented. "I suppose a train then came along, and destroyed the DeLorean, while you were all just barely able to escape?" Calvin nodded. "I see. That happened in our universe to Marty, too."
Calvin caught what he didn't say. "Only to Marty? What happened to you, then? And Clara? You obviously didn't die, as you're here right now…"
"I was getting to that" Doc said. "Marty, in the DeLorean, lifted off the tracks, falling backwards in the car, and forwards again as the DeLorean fell back down. The speedometer raced past seventy-five and Marty then noticed the hoverboard. He wanted to slip it to me, but thanks to my warning narrowly avoided a smash into a board standing there. We then hit eighty, eighty-two if I'm correct, and Marty slipped the board. I caught it and moved to Clara, who just fell down. I caught her on the last minute and we flew away from the train. In the meanwhile, the DeLorean hit 84. Marty shut the door, and after a few seconds he vanished into the future. The train smashed through the 'End of Track' sign, and Clara and I watched it go down into the ravine, where it exploded."
"That's pretty much of a climax indeed" Local Marty said. "So, other-me, what happened to you, after the train raced through the time machine?"
"I walked around the wreck a bit, feeling sad that Doc was gone forever" Visiting Marty said. "Finally, I headed back home, where I met up with Biff waxing my truck – back to normal. After seeing my family head out to brunch, I drove the truck over to Jennifer's house, where I woke her with a kiss. We then drove off to Hilldale, where we, unfortunately, met up with Needles and his gang of three."
"That happened to me as well" Local Marty said. "Did he ask you to race him, and called you a chicken? Did you pretend to accept the challenge, but drove backwards instead of forwards?"
"That's right" Visiting Marty said, happily. "We saw that Rolls Royce, and apparently that brought back memories of Jen's trip to the future. She pulled out a fax saying 'YOU'RE FIRED' and when I looked at it, it shimmered and faded. Jen and I then headed out to the train tracks to show her the wreck. So we walked around, when we heard bells ringing – and there weren't any trains. I just had time to say 'what the hell' when, with three sonic booms, Doc's train appeared on the tracks, out of nowhere – and we got knocked backwards into the grass!"
"Pretty impressive" Local Marty said, smirking.
Emmett, however, widened his eyes. "A train?" He looked at his other self with awe. "You've got to tell me what all happened in the Nineteenth Century."
"Let's first finish the story, okay?" Doc chuckled. "We'll get to that, eventually. So, as I was there, I showed Marty the flux capacitor, which was outside on the train, and gave him a parcel with the framed photograph of us at the festival, which I had picked up a few weeks after that fateful September week – Saturday, October second, if I remember correctly. Jennifer showed me the fax, and I told her the future was whatever they made of it, so they should make it a good one. I then lifted up the train and flew away, rapidly accelerating up to 88, and travelling to 1894."
"The End?" Calvin asked.
Doc grinned. "No, thankfully not. After a few months, I started to miss home seriously, and on December twenty-fifth, we went to visit the McFly's on the same date in 1994. Older Marty told me he'd become a… let's just say he had a happy career and was married to Jennifer, and not at the Chapel O' Love, but he didn't really look that happy about the past years. Suddenly, I felt sorry I missed all that. I considered moving to 1994 for a few weeks, but on January thirty-first 1895, the tenth year of my stay, I decided to make it 1985, after all." He smiled. "It took me two weeks to come up with a good plan, and on February seventeenth, we went to visit Marty on November 12th, 1985 and told him the news. We then invested some things for later, and at home, I started planning."
"It took me a few weeks in my home time, but on March second, I went to visit Marty on Christmas 1985, and I took him back to 1976, where Clara and I married on November twelfth, he being the son of 'Calvin Klein' to cover up the fact he was nine years older than eight-year-old local Marty. After the ceremony, I brought him back home."
"Clara and I then started looking for a new house, which we found on the outskirts of town. I contacted Marty on April third in both '95 and '86, and together, we renovated the house. Finally, on May first, we left 1895 and settled in 1986, more than five weeks before my deadline: Marty's eighteenth birthday."
"Quite the happy birthday" Calvin smirked. "Having your best friend back after six months…"
"Hey, I'm just glad it wasn't nine years" Visiting Marty said. "By the way, what happened to you after that accident with the DeLorean in '85? You're still here."
"Well, Doc first married to Clara, right on November 12th" Calvin said. "Then, he managed to find some tools – and he started working on the time machine in December. He worked hard on it, until Clara announced her pregnancy in early February. He then continued, however a bit slower. As he was working hard on the time machine, he hadn't got too much money – so, by June, he restarted working on his business, leaving just the weekends free for working. In September, Jules was born – and almost three months later, Doc moved into this house. We then arrived in 1987. On April ninth, my birthday, Doc showed me a DeLorean, in which he went to install a plutonium chamber. In June, he then worked more on the time circuits – which were finished in September. Doc then only worked on his job, 'till mid-October, when he quit work for a month to be with Clara, who gave birth to Verne, who gave birth to Verne on the twenty-ninth. Doc then resumed working on the flux capacitor. He told me it'll probably be done by May first." He grinned broadly, clearly looking forward to that particular event. "And then, I can finally go home again, after two-and-a-half years."
"I can't believe you managed that long" Visiting Marty said. "I mean, you grew up with hoverboards and all…"
"It isn't what it was cracked up to be" Calvin said, shrugging. "Also, I had company. But I do really want to get home, now. It's been so long since I saw Marly, and my folks at the age they're supposed to be… His eyes suddenly glowed up with hope. Hey… you've got a time machine, right? You can bring me to 2015?"
"I can, but I'm not sure if that would be that intelligent" Doc said. "After all, I'm not sure if the time machine could handle an interdimensional visitor not native to it. It should, there's no apparent reason for it not to do so, but I don't want to take any chances. Second, I'm not sure if you can just return right away – you'll need to explain why you look a little older, even though your age is not very apparent. That is a task we don't have the time for. Third, your Doc spent almost two-and-a-half years on his time machine… you don't want to go back to another one at the last moment, do you?"
"I suppose" Calvin said, sighing. "I just was getting excited at the idea, though. But you're probably right that I shouldn't just let Emmett down like that." He smiled politely at the local inventor. "I'm sorry about what happened, Emmett. If I offended you…"
"No, no, it's fine" Emmett said. He looked at Doc, anxiously. "So, now you're going to tell about your Old West adventures, right?" He looked as anxious as a young puppy hoping to get some food, obviously over-excited.
Doc chuckled at his counterpart. "Yes, I am" he said. "If you really want to. But I must warn you – it's a long story…"
"I don't care" Emmett said. "Tell me, please."
"All right, alright" Doc said, smiling. "It all started really when, after almost four weeks, I decided to propose to the woman of my dreams, Clara Clayton…"
* * * *
Doc's story was, as he had previously announced, long. Visiting Marty listened for a while, but finally headed off around two. At about three-fifty P.M., Doc finally finished the long tale, causing Calvin to tell, on his turn, the adventures that had happened in the past years. Finally, it took another hour before the visitors finally decided to go. Doc collected Marty, who'd gone to help Clara watch little Verne before deciding this idea was not as intelligent to do after all – it made him feel more bored – so he went to read the local inventor's copy of 'Twenty Thousand Miles Under The Sea'. He'd just started to get interested when Doc told him they had to go, and he went out annoyed. Before they could leave, though, Emmett asked them to come to the garage for a moment. There was a large… something, with some kind of blanket on it, and after a few seconds carefully inspecting it, Doc knew what it was, although the link wasn't made with Marty until Emmett proudly pulled off the blanket and revealed the vehicle underneath it in all it's glory.
"The DeLorean!" Marty exclaimed, astonished. "The original one – from before that trip to twenty-fifteen!"
"Not exactly" Emmett corrected. "This is a different DeLorean. There are still parts from the former machine in it, but it's a different car. Yet, it looks similar, with the plutonium chamber and no hover-conversion." He sighed. "Once I get to go to the future next week, I'll get that corrected right away."
"Next week?" Doc asked, frowning. "Didn't I hear May first as the scheduled completion date earlier on? Or is my memory wrong?"
"You're absolutely right" Emmett said, blushing. "Actually, I just lied to Calvin about that. In fact, the DeLorean is less than a week away from being finished – so, if I work on, I should be able to finish it on time for it to be a birthday present, as Calvin will be twenty on April 9th, although even substracting those six days between October 21 and October 27, his time trips have probably made him a few days older, than he really is supposed to be, if he aged naturally."
"I suppose so" Emmett said, nodding. "May I see the inside of the machine?"
"Certainly." The gull-wing door opened, and Doc looked at everything. Except for a lot of wires around that had to be connected and/or hidden, everything looked similar to his original machine. "Amazing" he whispered, fascinated.
Emmett proudly smiled. "Thanks" he said. "It was a long way to get there, but I'm definitely proud of the result."
Doc silently agreed with that, as he and Marty headed back to the bus. The inventor waited for the 'crowd' to have gathered, before lifting the new time machine off the street. He noticed the locals gasp, especially Clara, as she was the only one who had never seen a flying car before – except for little Jules and Verne, of course. Doc smiled proudly as he took the bus up high before setting off for the ravine.
"Here we are again, Brown Ravine" he muttered, as he slowed down the machine in order for the Destination Time to be set. "Only now we know where the name came from. I suppose that, after my counterpart, along with the others, vanished, the locals named the ravine after him, as he'd been there for the longest time." He stared in front of himself, thinking. "I wonder how my folks reacted to this when they arrived in this world's version of the year 1908…"
"They must've thought it was cool" Marty said, obviously not interested that much. "Hey Doc, when are we going now? What time of day, I mean?"
"I suppose we can just keep it to the current time" Doc said. "No need to change something that fits. Let's see… according to my watch it's now 5:20, so that's where we're going, however it's just 5:18 here." He turned to the time circuits. "Insert Destination Time" he ordered. "April 2, 1988, 5:20 PM, Hill Valley, California, USA, PF 49."
"We're going one back this time?" Marty asked. "I wonder what that'll be like… this world was definitely interesting. You know, I wouldn't mind having MJ as a twin, as well. It'd be nice to have a brother to really be friends with. Honestly, I kind of envy the me from here."
"I can understand that" Doc said, nodding. "Having something to share things you like with can be very pleasant. I never had something like that in my youth, so I can certainly understand that longing."
"Right" Marty said. "So, are we leaving now?"
"I suppose we should" Doc said. "There is nothing leaving us here." He started to fly the train over to the Eastwood… Brown, Marty corrected, Ravine Bridge. "This way, we'll see the bridge and ravine name immediately after arrival, and we can make sure that we skipped dimensions" the inventor explained.
"You're the Doc, Doc" Marty said.
"That's right" Doc said. "Ready, Marty?"
"Ready" the teen called out, somewhat weakly.
"Set!" the inventor cheerfully exclaimed, accelerating the bus over the bridge and then the tracks after it. At sixty, Marty checked his buckle. At seventy-five, the teenager grabbed the sides of the chair tight, watching the speedometer as it rose quickly. And at eighty-eight, the DFSCUPCIF – the Dimensional Flux something, as Doc had called it – fluxed once more and the time bus left the reality of the Future Son Universe.