Categories > Movies > Back to the Future > Back to the Clue
Chapter Four: Murphy's Law attacks!
0 reviewsIn which Marty and James meet for the first time, the almanac is retrieved, and minor (well, MAJOR) complications surface.
0Unrated
"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair." - Douglas Adams
-----------------
Back at the DeLorean, Marty contacted the pair once again. "Doc, Doc! Doc, dammit, come in!"
"Marty, what's up?" Emmett spoke into the walky-talky.
"Doc, Doc, I'm in trouble! I blew it!"
"Where's the book?" Emmett asked, worried by Marty's tone of voice.
"I dunno. Biff must still have it with him. All I have is the cover."
"But where's Biff?"
"I dunno!"
"Well, do you have any idea where he is?"
"No, he could be anywhere by now!"
"Marty" Emmett barked, "The entire future depends on you finding Biff and getting that book back."
"I know!" Marty snapped, "I just don't know where-"
The boy paused. Something was happening on his end.
Then - "I gotta go! I got one chance; my old man's about to deck Biff!"
As the teen switched off, James sighed in relief. Things were going according to plan now, and this would be over with soon. There was one thing that nagged at the back of his mind, however-
"Emmett?"
"Hm?"
"This is just a theory, but..." He paused. "Considering that you've been sixty years into the future, you'd think that somebody would have invented a more effective method of security than just simple locks by then..."
"Actually they have. They use thumbprints as a method of identification, since they don't change with time. It-" He stopped, realizing what James was about to say. "Of course! If I could somehow... modify the system they use, or at least manage to purchase one adapted for cars-"
"You could install it in the DeLorean", the other doctor finished.
"Brilliant! That way, once this is all over, it won't have to be destroyed!"
"Destroyed?" James repeated, confused. He shook his head. "Never mind. Given what happened when that Biff character used it, I wouldn't blame you."
"Doc, success! I got it!" Marty's voice suddenly barked through the walky-talky.
"Thank goodness", Emmett sighed in relief. "Great, Marty, as soon as I finish reloading the fusion generator, I'll meet you on the roof at the high school gym."
"On the roof, 10-4", Marty replied.
Stuffing one last thing in the generator, he turned to face his fellow doctor. "Ready?"
"I've been ready ever since I started running from the law", James replied grimly as he shut the door.
-----------------
Finally, they were off, though not without another minor snag.
As the DeLorean jerked, both men simultaneously yelped.
"Damn!" Emmett spat.
"What the hell was that?!"
"I think we accidentally hit the sign."
Neither noticed that he accidentally activated the time circuits, nor that the bump caused the destination date to change to /JAN 01, 1885//; //12:00/. Both had other things on their minds.
Once we get the guide and destroy it, we can get around to planning how save to my hide back in 1954 without causing a paradox. One thing's for certain, this won't be easy...
There was a moment of awkward silence...
"So... I take it there is an origin story behind the DeLorean?"
"The car brand in general or this particular DeLorean?"
"The latter."
"Ah. It all started 30 years ago, on November fifth, 1955. I still remember it vividly. I was standing on the edge of my toilet hanging a clock, the porcelain was wet, I slipped, hit my head on the edge of the sink. And when I came to, I had a revelation, a picture, a picture in my head. A picture of this!" he finished triumphantly, gesturing briefly back at a Y-shaped piece of wiring set in a case between the two seats. "The flux capacitor."
"The /flux capacitor/?", James asked, amused. "Why a name like that?"
Emmett blushed slightly. "Actually, that had a bit to do with the accident too - the first thing I saw when I was thinking up a name were the words "flush capacity" on my toilet."
"Right."
"Doc!" Marty's voice barked. "Doc, come in!"
Emmett picked up the walky-talky. "Marty, come in!"
"Listen, Doc, Biff's guys chased me into the gym and they're gonna jump... me!"
"Then get out of there!" Emmett replied, exasperated.
"No, Doc, not me/, the /other me! The one that's up on stage playing Johnny B. Goode!"
"'Johnny B. Goode'?" James repeated, incredulously, half to himself and half to Emmett.
"Great Scott! Your other self will miss the lightning bolt at the clock tower, you won't get back to the future and we'll have a major paradox!"
"Wait, wait, a paradox? You mean one of those things that could destroy the universe?"
"Precisely! Marty, you have to stop those guys at all costs but without being seen by your other self - or your parents!"
"10-4!"
James sighed. Thank you, Murphy's Law...
The next minute or so seemed to pass as slowly as an hour. Finally-
"Hey, Doc, success, everything's cool."
Emmett grinned. "Great. I'll be landing on the school roof in about one minute."
"I'll be there."
Sighing in relief, Emmett switched off the walky-talky. "That was a close one."
James nodded, but he couldn't help but mentally compare this to when they locked Col. Mustard's former chauffeur up, assuming no one would get him, only to discover later that he'd been murdered...
-----------------
"Oh, wonderful" Emmett sighed sarcastically when he saw the pennant snared on the rear wheel.
"I suppose we might as well take it with us. It'd be easier than leaving it behind for someone to explain how it just happened to get there."
"All right", Emmett relented, beginning to undo the snare over the wheel.
The sound of sudden footsteps caused him to look up. It was Marty, and from the look on his face, his apprehension wasn't entirely unfounded.
"Doc?" Marty called. "Doc, I blew it. Biff nailed me. He took the book and-" He stopped, noticing James for the first time. "Um, Doc?"
"Hold on." Emmett moved so he was standing between the two, something James was thankful for. Somehow, he had the feeling that the future teenager wasn't someone he wanted to be mistrustful of him.
"Marty, this is James. James, this is Marty." The quick introduction over with, he got down to business. "Which way did he go?"
"East, towards the River Road Tunnel!" Marty replied, pointing.
"Get in!" Doc barked.
Minutes later they were in the air over Biff's car, a black '46 Ford.
"That's Biff?"
Emmett nodded.
"Thought so. Any ideas?"
"Let's land on him and cripple his car", Marty suggested.
"Marty, he's in a '46 Ford, we're in a DeLorean", Emmett commented. "He'd rip through us like we were tin foil."
"So what do we do?"
"I have a plan..."
-----------------
A minute later, Marty was clinging to the back of Biff's car. Turning, he gave Emmett a thumbs-up, and the DeLorean silently pulled away.
"Is it too late to make another suggestion?" James nervously quipped.
"Don't worry", Emmett admonished him. "Marty knows what he's doing."
"I hope so."
"As soon as this is over, we'll head to 1985 and begin planning immediately."
"You mean I'm actually going to see 1985?!"
"Well, within reason" Emmett added, shrugging.
"Right, the whole 'information about the future' problem."
"Exactly. Now tie that pennant off to something secure", he instructed. "I have a feeling we're going to need to get Marty out of here in a hurry."
"Speaking of which", James added as he finished, "how are you going to explain my plan to Marty?"
"I'll think of something. In the meantime, we'll wait."
And wait they /did/, as much as they both hated it. As they watched, Marty slowly crept along the side of the car. Biff Tannen was busy reading the guide, obviously listening to the sports results and comparing them to the one in the guide. Finally, he set the book down on the seat next to him, apparently not noticing Marty as he quietly opened the door.
Suddenly, Biff glanced over at the teen, though it seemed he didn't recognize him. He returned to face the front before finally realizing who he was, and grabbed the book as Marty did. After a brief tug-of-war, Biff kicked Marty, the guide flying onto the windshield. After a couple attempts to shake him off, he attempted to knock him off by driving up against the wall of a tunnel. However, Marty had let go and was now hiding behind the car again.
"Now what?" James asked.
"Be ready to lower the pennant."
After a minute, Marty had managed to retrieve the guide and was now speeding down the tunnel. However, the escape was not lost on Biff, who gunned the engine and was quickly catching up with the teenager. Immediately they moved to hover over the end, James throwing down the pennant in time.
To make a long story short (Too late), Marty was lifted to safety, and Biff crashed (once again, James learned later) into a manure truck.
Mission complete. Or so they thought.
-----------------
As the DeLorean drove up to where it was originally parked, Marty let go of the pennant, dropping to the ground. After letting James off via the pennant ("Heights", he muttered, "why did it have to be /heights/?"), it hovered near the sign a good many feet over their heads.
"Doc, is everything all right, over?"
"10-4 Marty, but it's very miserable flying weather."
A storm was already brewing, and, from the looks of things, it was going to be a bad one.
"I'm going to have to turn and make a landing from this direction", Emmett continued. "I'll have to circle round and make a long approach from the south. Have you got the book?"
"In my hands, Doc, I got it in my hands!" Marty replied, kicking up the hoverboard.
"Burn it!"
"Here!" James passed Marty the bucket Emmett had used earlier. Placing the almanac into the bucket, Marty reached into one of his pockets, pulling out a folded-up page torn from a newspaper with the headline "George McFly Murdered".
"Let me know if this changes" Marty instructed, lighting a match and slowly lowering it to the book.
"Amazing how this little thing could cause such a world of trouble..." James mused.
"You don't know the half of- Ah!" As the almanac caught fire, he turned over the matchbook, where James saw the words "Biff's Pleasure Palace". To his amazement, the words blurred, as if they were fading out and being replaced with new ones, and "Biff's Pleasure Palace" changed to "Biff's Auto Detailing".
Quickly remembering the newspaper, he returned his attention to the headline, which was already swiftly changing from "George McFly Murdered" to "George McFly Honored".
"Marty!" he shouted.
The expression on the teenager's face was that of utter relief.
"Doc! Doc, the newspaper's changed!" he shouted into the walky-talky. "Now my father's alive! That means everything's back to normal, right? That means Jennifer's OK and Einie's OK, right?"
Mission/ accomplished.../
"That's right, Marty! It's the ripple effect, the future is back. Now let's go home!"
"Right, Doc!" Marty grinned. "Let's get our asses back to the fut-!"
/KRACK!/ Lightning suddenly struck a nearby tree, bringing it crashing to the ground and sending the two on the ground running for cover.
James snatched the walky-talky from Marty's hand. "Are you all right, Emmett?!"
"That was a close one, James!" was the report. "I almost bought the farm with that one!"
"Well, be careful! In a storm like this, you don't want to get struck by light-!"
/KRACK!/ Before their terrified eyes the DeLorean, its complex machinery obviously overloaded by the lightning bolt, spun and jerked, accelerating until-
/BOOM!/ In a brilliant flash of light, it vanished, leaving only two sideways six-shaped trails of fire as evidence that it had been there.
"Doc? Doc?" Marty repeated.
"Emmett..." James whispered helplessly.
"Doc. Come in, Doc." Marty was now fruitlessly trying the walky-talky. "Doc, do you read me?"
No...
"Do you read me, Doc?"
I'm sorry, Marty...
"Come in Doc!"
"He's gone" he said sadly.
The flag pennant floated to the ground. Slowly James strode over to it, gingerly picking up the end that had been tied to the DeLorean, which was smoking slightly.
There was nothing he could say, really. Emmett Lathrop Brown was gone. Just that morning, he'd been /there/, overjoyed at the first sight of him in over thirty years when he'd expected some form of shock and suspicion.
He'd sworn to help him. He'd been willing to dare the risks of altering the time-space continuum, not to mention the threat posed by Mr. Boddy and the other guests...
And now-
"I guess it makes sense" Marty said sadly.
"What does?" James asked, confused.
"Eighty-eight miles per hour. 1.21 gigawatts. That's what the DeLorean needs to travel through time."
"So, you're saying he's somewhere in time?! But where-?!" He was cut off by the sound of a car's motor somewhere behind them.
"Someone's coming", he hissed, instinctively adjusting his collar as the car rolled to a halt. A shadowy man in a long trench coat and hat straight out of a Raymond Chandler novel stepped out of the car.
"Marty McFly? James Brown?"
"Yeah?" Marty asked defensively.
"Who wants to know?" James asked.
"I've got something for you", the mystery man said, reaching deep into his coat.
James placed a hand on Marty's shoulder, making sure the teenager was ready to run if the man turned dangerous.
"A letter", the man continued, pulling the big envelope out.
"A letter?" Marty repeated incredulously. "That's impossible!"
"Who are you?" James asked, seriously glad the man apparently hadn't recognized his face.
"Western Union", the man replied, handing him the letter. "Actually a bunch of us guys at the office were kinda hoping maybe the pair of you could shed some light on the subject. You see, we've had that envelope in our possession for the past seventy years."
James handed the letter to Marty, who began to open it feverishly.
"It was given to us with the explicit instructions that it be delivered to a pair matching your descriptions" he continued, opening an umbrella, "answering to the names of Marty and James respectively, at this exact location, at this exact minute, November twelfth, 1955. We had a little bet as to whether you would actually be here." He laughed. "Looks like I lost!"
"Hold on", Marty interrupted. "Did you say /seventy years/?"
Seventy years?! No, it couldn't be...
"Yeah! Seventy years, two months, and twelve days to be exact", he continued, pulling out a clipboard. Marty handed the actual letter over to James as he took the clipboard. Quickly skimming through the letter, he reached the part he needed to see, the signature:
"Doc" Emmett L. Brown, //September 1st, 1885
"/IT'S FROM EMMETT/!!!" he shouted happily. Marty following him, he moved over to the car's headlights, the man briskly bringing up the rear with the umbrella.
"To Marty and James; If my calculations are correct", Marty read, "you will receive this letter immediately after you saw the DeLorean struck by lightning. First let me assure you that I am alive and well. I've been living happily these past eight months in the year 1885. The lightning bolt-" He stopped when he realized what he'd just read.
"/1885?!/"
"Come on!" James called, stuffing the letter back into the larger holder.
"Wait, what's going on? What's this all about?" the Western Union man shouted after them.
"The Doc's alive!" Marty shouted back. "He's in the Old West, but he's alive!"
"Are you all right? Do you need any help?"
"There's only one man who can help us", Marty said grimly.
-----------------
"Absolutely amazing..." James breathed as the two watched Marty's past self travel instantly back to 1985, leaving fire trails behind in its wake as it apparently disappeared into thin air.
'55 Emmett was overjoyed with the results, dancing with delight at the success. After a moment, he glanced up at the now-stopped clock overlooking the streets from its perch in the courthouse, and then turned to go to his car.
"Come on!" Marty called back as he ran towards the past version of his friend.
Oh, boy... Emmett and James reunion, take 2...
"Doc!" Marty shouted as he reached Emmett.
"What?" Emmett asked as Marty spun him around to face him.
"Doc-"
Emmett screamed in terror as he recognized the boy he'd just sent through time barely seconds before.
"Okay, relax Doc! It's me, Marty!" Marty shouted in an attempt to calm him.
"No, it can't be you!" the blonde-haired man gasped in shock. "I just sent you back to the future!"
"I know. For all I know you did send me back to the future, but I'm back. I'm back from the future!"
Emmett stood up, body stiffening and eyes wide in shock as the implications of what Marty said set in.
"Great Scott", he gasped, voice almost a whisper, and promptly keeled over in a dead faint.
Marty bent down to tend to him, but it was no use - he was out like a light.
James sighed, moving over to the unconscious man's right side. "Shall we?"
Marty nodded. "But when we get home, we need to talk."
James nodded reluctantly. This was going to be a long night...
To Be Continued...
-----------------
Back at the DeLorean, Marty contacted the pair once again. "Doc, Doc! Doc, dammit, come in!"
"Marty, what's up?" Emmett spoke into the walky-talky.
"Doc, Doc, I'm in trouble! I blew it!"
"Where's the book?" Emmett asked, worried by Marty's tone of voice.
"I dunno. Biff must still have it with him. All I have is the cover."
"But where's Biff?"
"I dunno!"
"Well, do you have any idea where he is?"
"No, he could be anywhere by now!"
"Marty" Emmett barked, "The entire future depends on you finding Biff and getting that book back."
"I know!" Marty snapped, "I just don't know where-"
The boy paused. Something was happening on his end.
Then - "I gotta go! I got one chance; my old man's about to deck Biff!"
As the teen switched off, James sighed in relief. Things were going according to plan now, and this would be over with soon. There was one thing that nagged at the back of his mind, however-
"Emmett?"
"Hm?"
"This is just a theory, but..." He paused. "Considering that you've been sixty years into the future, you'd think that somebody would have invented a more effective method of security than just simple locks by then..."
"Actually they have. They use thumbprints as a method of identification, since they don't change with time. It-" He stopped, realizing what James was about to say. "Of course! If I could somehow... modify the system they use, or at least manage to purchase one adapted for cars-"
"You could install it in the DeLorean", the other doctor finished.
"Brilliant! That way, once this is all over, it won't have to be destroyed!"
"Destroyed?" James repeated, confused. He shook his head. "Never mind. Given what happened when that Biff character used it, I wouldn't blame you."
"Doc, success! I got it!" Marty's voice suddenly barked through the walky-talky.
"Thank goodness", Emmett sighed in relief. "Great, Marty, as soon as I finish reloading the fusion generator, I'll meet you on the roof at the high school gym."
"On the roof, 10-4", Marty replied.
Stuffing one last thing in the generator, he turned to face his fellow doctor. "Ready?"
"I've been ready ever since I started running from the law", James replied grimly as he shut the door.
-----------------
Finally, they were off, though not without another minor snag.
As the DeLorean jerked, both men simultaneously yelped.
"Damn!" Emmett spat.
"What the hell was that?!"
"I think we accidentally hit the sign."
Neither noticed that he accidentally activated the time circuits, nor that the bump caused the destination date to change to /JAN 01, 1885//; //12:00/. Both had other things on their minds.
Once we get the guide and destroy it, we can get around to planning how save to my hide back in 1954 without causing a paradox. One thing's for certain, this won't be easy...
There was a moment of awkward silence...
"So... I take it there is an origin story behind the DeLorean?"
"The car brand in general or this particular DeLorean?"
"The latter."
"Ah. It all started 30 years ago, on November fifth, 1955. I still remember it vividly. I was standing on the edge of my toilet hanging a clock, the porcelain was wet, I slipped, hit my head on the edge of the sink. And when I came to, I had a revelation, a picture, a picture in my head. A picture of this!" he finished triumphantly, gesturing briefly back at a Y-shaped piece of wiring set in a case between the two seats. "The flux capacitor."
"The /flux capacitor/?", James asked, amused. "Why a name like that?"
Emmett blushed slightly. "Actually, that had a bit to do with the accident too - the first thing I saw when I was thinking up a name were the words "flush capacity" on my toilet."
"Right."
"Doc!" Marty's voice barked. "Doc, come in!"
Emmett picked up the walky-talky. "Marty, come in!"
"Listen, Doc, Biff's guys chased me into the gym and they're gonna jump... me!"
"Then get out of there!" Emmett replied, exasperated.
"No, Doc, not me/, the /other me! The one that's up on stage playing Johnny B. Goode!"
"'Johnny B. Goode'?" James repeated, incredulously, half to himself and half to Emmett.
"Great Scott! Your other self will miss the lightning bolt at the clock tower, you won't get back to the future and we'll have a major paradox!"
"Wait, wait, a paradox? You mean one of those things that could destroy the universe?"
"Precisely! Marty, you have to stop those guys at all costs but without being seen by your other self - or your parents!"
"10-4!"
James sighed. Thank you, Murphy's Law...
The next minute or so seemed to pass as slowly as an hour. Finally-
"Hey, Doc, success, everything's cool."
Emmett grinned. "Great. I'll be landing on the school roof in about one minute."
"I'll be there."
Sighing in relief, Emmett switched off the walky-talky. "That was a close one."
James nodded, but he couldn't help but mentally compare this to when they locked Col. Mustard's former chauffeur up, assuming no one would get him, only to discover later that he'd been murdered...
-----------------
"Oh, wonderful" Emmett sighed sarcastically when he saw the pennant snared on the rear wheel.
"I suppose we might as well take it with us. It'd be easier than leaving it behind for someone to explain how it just happened to get there."
"All right", Emmett relented, beginning to undo the snare over the wheel.
The sound of sudden footsteps caused him to look up. It was Marty, and from the look on his face, his apprehension wasn't entirely unfounded.
"Doc?" Marty called. "Doc, I blew it. Biff nailed me. He took the book and-" He stopped, noticing James for the first time. "Um, Doc?"
"Hold on." Emmett moved so he was standing between the two, something James was thankful for. Somehow, he had the feeling that the future teenager wasn't someone he wanted to be mistrustful of him.
"Marty, this is James. James, this is Marty." The quick introduction over with, he got down to business. "Which way did he go?"
"East, towards the River Road Tunnel!" Marty replied, pointing.
"Get in!" Doc barked.
Minutes later they were in the air over Biff's car, a black '46 Ford.
"That's Biff?"
Emmett nodded.
"Thought so. Any ideas?"
"Let's land on him and cripple his car", Marty suggested.
"Marty, he's in a '46 Ford, we're in a DeLorean", Emmett commented. "He'd rip through us like we were tin foil."
"So what do we do?"
"I have a plan..."
-----------------
A minute later, Marty was clinging to the back of Biff's car. Turning, he gave Emmett a thumbs-up, and the DeLorean silently pulled away.
"Is it too late to make another suggestion?" James nervously quipped.
"Don't worry", Emmett admonished him. "Marty knows what he's doing."
"I hope so."
"As soon as this is over, we'll head to 1985 and begin planning immediately."
"You mean I'm actually going to see 1985?!"
"Well, within reason" Emmett added, shrugging.
"Right, the whole 'information about the future' problem."
"Exactly. Now tie that pennant off to something secure", he instructed. "I have a feeling we're going to need to get Marty out of here in a hurry."
"Speaking of which", James added as he finished, "how are you going to explain my plan to Marty?"
"I'll think of something. In the meantime, we'll wait."
And wait they /did/, as much as they both hated it. As they watched, Marty slowly crept along the side of the car. Biff Tannen was busy reading the guide, obviously listening to the sports results and comparing them to the one in the guide. Finally, he set the book down on the seat next to him, apparently not noticing Marty as he quietly opened the door.
Suddenly, Biff glanced over at the teen, though it seemed he didn't recognize him. He returned to face the front before finally realizing who he was, and grabbed the book as Marty did. After a brief tug-of-war, Biff kicked Marty, the guide flying onto the windshield. After a couple attempts to shake him off, he attempted to knock him off by driving up against the wall of a tunnel. However, Marty had let go and was now hiding behind the car again.
"Now what?" James asked.
"Be ready to lower the pennant."
After a minute, Marty had managed to retrieve the guide and was now speeding down the tunnel. However, the escape was not lost on Biff, who gunned the engine and was quickly catching up with the teenager. Immediately they moved to hover over the end, James throwing down the pennant in time.
To make a long story short (Too late), Marty was lifted to safety, and Biff crashed (once again, James learned later) into a manure truck.
Mission complete. Or so they thought.
-----------------
As the DeLorean drove up to where it was originally parked, Marty let go of the pennant, dropping to the ground. After letting James off via the pennant ("Heights", he muttered, "why did it have to be /heights/?"), it hovered near the sign a good many feet over their heads.
"Doc, is everything all right, over?"
"10-4 Marty, but it's very miserable flying weather."
A storm was already brewing, and, from the looks of things, it was going to be a bad one.
"I'm going to have to turn and make a landing from this direction", Emmett continued. "I'll have to circle round and make a long approach from the south. Have you got the book?"
"In my hands, Doc, I got it in my hands!" Marty replied, kicking up the hoverboard.
"Burn it!"
"Here!" James passed Marty the bucket Emmett had used earlier. Placing the almanac into the bucket, Marty reached into one of his pockets, pulling out a folded-up page torn from a newspaper with the headline "George McFly Murdered".
"Let me know if this changes" Marty instructed, lighting a match and slowly lowering it to the book.
"Amazing how this little thing could cause such a world of trouble..." James mused.
"You don't know the half of- Ah!" As the almanac caught fire, he turned over the matchbook, where James saw the words "Biff's Pleasure Palace". To his amazement, the words blurred, as if they were fading out and being replaced with new ones, and "Biff's Pleasure Palace" changed to "Biff's Auto Detailing".
Quickly remembering the newspaper, he returned his attention to the headline, which was already swiftly changing from "George McFly Murdered" to "George McFly Honored".
"Marty!" he shouted.
The expression on the teenager's face was that of utter relief.
"Doc! Doc, the newspaper's changed!" he shouted into the walky-talky. "Now my father's alive! That means everything's back to normal, right? That means Jennifer's OK and Einie's OK, right?"
Mission/ accomplished.../
"That's right, Marty! It's the ripple effect, the future is back. Now let's go home!"
"Right, Doc!" Marty grinned. "Let's get our asses back to the fut-!"
/KRACK!/ Lightning suddenly struck a nearby tree, bringing it crashing to the ground and sending the two on the ground running for cover.
James snatched the walky-talky from Marty's hand. "Are you all right, Emmett?!"
"That was a close one, James!" was the report. "I almost bought the farm with that one!"
"Well, be careful! In a storm like this, you don't want to get struck by light-!"
/KRACK!/ Before their terrified eyes the DeLorean, its complex machinery obviously overloaded by the lightning bolt, spun and jerked, accelerating until-
/BOOM!/ In a brilliant flash of light, it vanished, leaving only two sideways six-shaped trails of fire as evidence that it had been there.
"Doc? Doc?" Marty repeated.
"Emmett..." James whispered helplessly.
"Doc. Come in, Doc." Marty was now fruitlessly trying the walky-talky. "Doc, do you read me?"
No...
"Do you read me, Doc?"
I'm sorry, Marty...
"Come in Doc!"
"He's gone" he said sadly.
The flag pennant floated to the ground. Slowly James strode over to it, gingerly picking up the end that had been tied to the DeLorean, which was smoking slightly.
There was nothing he could say, really. Emmett Lathrop Brown was gone. Just that morning, he'd been /there/, overjoyed at the first sight of him in over thirty years when he'd expected some form of shock and suspicion.
He'd sworn to help him. He'd been willing to dare the risks of altering the time-space continuum, not to mention the threat posed by Mr. Boddy and the other guests...
And now-
"I guess it makes sense" Marty said sadly.
"What does?" James asked, confused.
"Eighty-eight miles per hour. 1.21 gigawatts. That's what the DeLorean needs to travel through time."
"So, you're saying he's somewhere in time?! But where-?!" He was cut off by the sound of a car's motor somewhere behind them.
"Someone's coming", he hissed, instinctively adjusting his collar as the car rolled to a halt. A shadowy man in a long trench coat and hat straight out of a Raymond Chandler novel stepped out of the car.
"Marty McFly? James Brown?"
"Yeah?" Marty asked defensively.
"Who wants to know?" James asked.
"I've got something for you", the mystery man said, reaching deep into his coat.
James placed a hand on Marty's shoulder, making sure the teenager was ready to run if the man turned dangerous.
"A letter", the man continued, pulling the big envelope out.
"A letter?" Marty repeated incredulously. "That's impossible!"
"Who are you?" James asked, seriously glad the man apparently hadn't recognized his face.
"Western Union", the man replied, handing him the letter. "Actually a bunch of us guys at the office were kinda hoping maybe the pair of you could shed some light on the subject. You see, we've had that envelope in our possession for the past seventy years."
James handed the letter to Marty, who began to open it feverishly.
"It was given to us with the explicit instructions that it be delivered to a pair matching your descriptions" he continued, opening an umbrella, "answering to the names of Marty and James respectively, at this exact location, at this exact minute, November twelfth, 1955. We had a little bet as to whether you would actually be here." He laughed. "Looks like I lost!"
"Hold on", Marty interrupted. "Did you say /seventy years/?"
Seventy years?! No, it couldn't be...
"Yeah! Seventy years, two months, and twelve days to be exact", he continued, pulling out a clipboard. Marty handed the actual letter over to James as he took the clipboard. Quickly skimming through the letter, he reached the part he needed to see, the signature:
"Doc" Emmett L. Brown, //September 1st, 1885
"/IT'S FROM EMMETT/!!!" he shouted happily. Marty following him, he moved over to the car's headlights, the man briskly bringing up the rear with the umbrella.
"To Marty and James; If my calculations are correct", Marty read, "you will receive this letter immediately after you saw the DeLorean struck by lightning. First let me assure you that I am alive and well. I've been living happily these past eight months in the year 1885. The lightning bolt-" He stopped when he realized what he'd just read.
"/1885?!/"
"Come on!" James called, stuffing the letter back into the larger holder.
"Wait, what's going on? What's this all about?" the Western Union man shouted after them.
"The Doc's alive!" Marty shouted back. "He's in the Old West, but he's alive!"
"Are you all right? Do you need any help?"
"There's only one man who can help us", Marty said grimly.
-----------------
"Absolutely amazing..." James breathed as the two watched Marty's past self travel instantly back to 1985, leaving fire trails behind in its wake as it apparently disappeared into thin air.
'55 Emmett was overjoyed with the results, dancing with delight at the success. After a moment, he glanced up at the now-stopped clock overlooking the streets from its perch in the courthouse, and then turned to go to his car.
"Come on!" Marty called back as he ran towards the past version of his friend.
Oh, boy... Emmett and James reunion, take 2...
"Doc!" Marty shouted as he reached Emmett.
"What?" Emmett asked as Marty spun him around to face him.
"Doc-"
Emmett screamed in terror as he recognized the boy he'd just sent through time barely seconds before.
"Okay, relax Doc! It's me, Marty!" Marty shouted in an attempt to calm him.
"No, it can't be you!" the blonde-haired man gasped in shock. "I just sent you back to the future!"
"I know. For all I know you did send me back to the future, but I'm back. I'm back from the future!"
Emmett stood up, body stiffening and eyes wide in shock as the implications of what Marty said set in.
"Great Scott", he gasped, voice almost a whisper, and promptly keeled over in a dead faint.
Marty bent down to tend to him, but it was no use - he was out like a light.
James sighed, moving over to the unconscious man's right side. "Shall we?"
Marty nodded. "But when we get home, we need to talk."
James nodded reluctantly. This was going to be a long night...
To Be Continued...
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