1991 – San Dimas Civic Auditorium
"Dude, we still don't know how to play!"
"Maybe we oughtta get good, Ted…"
"How?"
In a bizarre turn of events, Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted "Theodore" Logan found themselves in a position no one could have anticipated. Their fledgling band, Wyld Stallyns, had been placed in the headlining time slot of the San Dimas Battle of the Bands, thanks to the intervention of their friend and mentor from the 27th century, Rufus. In the past 48 hours, the two aspiring musicians had been murdered by a pair of evil cyborg doppelgangers from the year 2691. Despite being unwittingly sent to Hell for attempting to contact the living via a séance, Bill and Ted managed to win the right to return to life after challenging the Grim Reaper, the Angel of Death, to a series of board games and challenges. To honor his agreement, Death led Bill and Ted to Heaven. After explaining their situation to God, Bill and Ted had been advised to seek the aid of Station, an extraterrestrial scientist with the ability to split into identical twins. Regarded as being the most brilliant scientist to have ever lived in the universe, the Stations agreed to help Bill and Ted in their quest to return to life, defeat the evil cyborgs, and protect their fiancées and bandmates, Joanna and Elizabeth Lancaster.
After returning to the realm of the living, Bill, Ted, and Death managed to assist the Stations in the construction of robots in Bill & Ted's likeness using various electronics, tools, and technology they had available in 1991. Arriving at the San Dimas Civic Auditorium in the nick of time, Bill and Ted were able to use their new robots to destroy their evil counterparts before they could enact their master plan to ruin the Wyld Stallyns' legacy and murder Joanna and Elizabeth in front of a live crowd. However, Chuck DeNomolos, the cyborgs' creator and mastermind appeared from the future. Using 27th century technology, DeNomolos broadcast the Battle of the Bands to a global audience and attempted to murder the band himself, but was arrested by Ted's father, San Dimas police Captain Jonathan Logan.
Following the apprehension of DeNomolos, Rufus he saw an opportunity for the band to undo the damage done to the time stream by performing to a global audience. Rufus had originally understood the 1991 Battle of the Bands to be Wyld Stallyns' breakout performance of their early career, but knew that Bill and Ted had not yet progressed to the level of experience and musicianship they would eventually be known for. While attempting to stop the Bill & Ted cyborgs in 2691, Rufus had accidentally been pulled into the Circuits of Time, and arrived in San Dimas in 1991, several days before the evil robots. Although he couldn't accurately predict the potential changes to the timeline DeNomolos's assassins could cause, Rufus knew that the Battle of the Bands was a pivotal point in Wyld Stallyns history; precautions needed to be taken.
Suddenly finding themselves broadcast on television and radio feeds across the world, Bill and Ted felt wildly unprepared to perform in front of an unprecedented global audience. Their journey through the afterlife and returning to the land of the living had put a serious damper on their rehearsal schedule.
"Dude, we still don't know how to play," Ted exclaimed.
"Maybe we oughtta get good, Ted," Bill suggested
"How?" Ted inquired, before he and Bill looked toward the time-traveling phone booth.
Three years earlier, the boys embarked on a most excellent adventure through time in order to pass their history class and graduate high school. Bill and Ted recognized how useful of a tool time travel could be, but with the eyes of the world on them and no time to plan, the two were frozen in fear. Similarly, Joanna and Elizabeth were still shaken up from being kidnapped and nearly killed by the cyborg doubles of their beaus. Rufus, sensing that the two couples needed help, quickly intervened.
"Guys, it's going to be alright," Rufus explained, handing the four young musicians a series of written instructions, "I know it might not feel that way right now, but time is on your side. You have all the tools and the talent inside, you just need some more training and guidance. If you take the booth and find the people on this list, they'll be able to help you. Let's meet back up at your apartment tomorrow afternoon once you've finished. Don't worry about playing right now, you'll get your chance!"
"I don't get it, Rufus," Bill asked, "We wanted to win the Battle of the Bands, but we totally didn't think this was going to be on every TV in the world! Everyone is going see us if we take the booth now."
"Follow these instructions, William," Rufus implored him, "The four of you have time-traveled before. DeNomolos and those evil robots have already altered history with their actions, but I believe this is the way to set things right." Suddenly, the five friends were approached by the Grim Reaper. Rufus was aware that Death would eventually be a part of the band, but historical records were inconsistent regarding the Reaper's true identity and the point in time which he had joined the band.
"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Death, sir," Rufus said, surprised to see the Reaper at this particular point in the band's history, "Honestly, I wasn't expecting to see you here this soon."
"I could say the same for you, bucko," Death retorted, "You're not supposed to be born for another 646 years! I knew you humans learning how to time travel would be a bad idea!" The five of them looked at the Reaper in absolute shock.
"Look, it's a long story, but time works a little differently where I'm from," Death explained, "You'd better do whatever you're going to do soon though, or else this crowd is going to turn ugly, and I'm going to have my hands full! And I'm already in enough trouble as it is for bringing you two back!" The crowd was confused at what they were seeing, and more police had begun to arrive. Suddenly, Captain Logan took the stage, flanked by several officers, confronting his son and his unusual friends.
"Ted, what the hell is going on here?! Who are these people? I just saw a man pull a gun on you in a crowd of hundreds of people," Logan furiously interrogated, "Someone better start talking or this show's over and we're all going downtown right now!"
"It's alright, Captain Logan, this is all part of a few new production techniques the promoters have been trying out," Rufus intervened, creating a distracting alibi, while motioning Bill, Ted, Joanna, and Elizabeth to take the phone booth. Captain Logan wasn't having any of it though.
"You really expect me to believe this garbage?! That man pulled a gun on my son and that idiot friend of his," Logan retorted, "Are you in charge here?" During his rant, Bill, Ted, Jo, and Liz snuck away toward the booth.
"I assure you, Mr. DeNomolos was not part of the show," Rufus explained, "I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have and press charges, Captain, but if we stop the show now, you're going to have a full-scale riot on your hands. Trust me, it is very important that your son's band play as soon as possible. In fact, this could be a matter of global security."
"You can't be serious," Logan replied, flabbergasted, "Have you heard their band play before?!"
As Rufus provided a distraction from Captain Logan and the cops, the four founding members of Wyld Stallyns approached the phone booth. Opening the first page of instructions, Bill was fascinated as Ted dialed the number written on the page.
"This is most ambitious," Bill observed, looking at the list of names, dates, and places in front them, "I believe that this might be our most outstanding expedition to date, dudes!"
"Rufus has never let us down before," Joanna observed, remaining calm in the face of uncertainty.
"Indeed, he hasn't," Elizabeth concurred, "But if what he said about the timeline being threatened is true, then the future is up to us. We must try!"
"Hang on, babes," Ted interjected as he dialed the number and hung up the phone, causing the booth to surge with electricity generated by the time circuits, "If we gotta save the future, then we'd better get back to the past!"
As the audience watched in shock, the booth glowed with energy before vanishing, whisking the two young couples off to their first destination.