"George, it's perfect!" Lorraine McFly told her husband excitedly. "Just what we need for the kitchen."

"That's nothing," George grinned. "Wait until you see something more perfect. Ta-da!" He showed Lorraine a big sign saying "20% off everything." The two burst out laughing.

The McFly family were at Lone Pine Mall, shopping for a new microwave. The old one was a few years old and needed replacing. Whilst his parents laughed over microwaves, Marty was in the bookstore next door. Today was Dr Ritchie Chase's 27th birthday, and Marty had forgotten to buy him a present. He had accompanied his parents to the Mall to get something, even though he should be studying for his maths test tomorrow.

Never mind, he thought. I can study when I'm babysitting Jules and Verne tonight. Doc and Clara were taking Ritchie out to dinner for his birthday, and Marty was looking after the boys.

"Aha!" Marty said as he spied the perfect book. Ritchie was an avid fan of the comic strip Garfield, and recently the latest book in the series, Garfield Out To Lunch, had been published.

Marty paid for the book and walked back to his parents, who were paying for the microwave. However something caught his eye.

"That must be new," he thought. Next to a clothes shop was a new music store, "Musicana".

Marty forgot about his parents and walked inside. There were records, CDs, cassettes and even a few musical instruments. Marty looked at the guitars. There was something familiar about one of them. It looked like the one he had played in 1955.

"You like that one, huh?"

Marty turned around to see a familiar black man behind the counter. He looked closer. Could it be.....?

"Marvin Berry?"

"That's right. You like that guitar, huh?"

"Uh, yeah, it looks familiar though," Marty told him.

"That one's from the 1950's," Marvin told him. "Used to belong to my old band..."

"The Starlighters?"

"That's right. How did you know?"

"Oh, um, my parents told me about you guys. You played at the Enchantment Under The Sea dance in 1955 where they fell in love."

"Yeah, I remember that one," Marvin smiled. "There was this weird kid called Calvin Klein there. Nothing to do with underwear, you know, but he was one hell of a good guitarist. In fact, he helped my cousin compose Johnny B Goode."

"Really?" Marty asked, trying to hide a smile.

"Yep," Marvin said, looking at the guitar. "I always wondered what happened to him. For all I know, he could be in this shop right now."

"Indeed," Marty grinned. "So how did this place come around?"

"Well, my old band played a few gigs around Hill County, that got us a bit of cash. I also helped Chuck write a few of his songs, got myself some royalties, and I also wrote a few songs for other groups. When I retired last year at 52, I decided to open this place up. Thought Hill Valley could use a decent music shop."

"Same here," agreed Marty. "So what happened to your group?"

"Well, we split up in 1957 after Bob Jordan, our drummer, was killed in a car crash. It didn't seem right to carry on without him, seeing as he was the one who helped get the group together."

"Really?" Marty asked. "I'd have thought it was you who got them together, seeing as the group was called Marvin Berry and the Starlighters."

"It was a group thing, really," Marvin said. "You know what was typical, though? The night Bob was killed, a record scout was in town. We reckon it could have been our big break." He sighed. "I guess we'll never know though."

Marvin tidied up a few records. "I'm not complaining though, I mean my life has been great, but you can't help but wondering - what if?"

"Emmett? Are you ready to go?"

"Not yet," Doc called down the stairs. "I can't find my tie!"

"Try your sock drawer!" Clara called back up the stairs. She looked at the clock. 6.53pm.

"The reservations are at 7.30!" Clara called to her husband. There was a knock at the door.

"Jules, answer that please," Clara asked. Jules opened the door.

"Mom, he's here."

"Ritchie, hi, take a seat. Your father will be down in a moment."

"I trust it that Emmett is his usual, organised self?" Ritchie grinned at his stepmother. Clara sighed.

"Considering the man invented a time machine, you'd think he would be able to get ready for dinner on time," she said. Doc came down the stairs.

"Happy birthday," he said with a smile. "How does it feel to be 27?"

"Not much different from when I was 26," said Ritchie. There was another knock at the door.

"I'll get it," said Jules before his mother could say anything. Marty stood on the doorstep.

"Is he here yet?" Marty asked.

"He's just arrived," Jules told him, shutting the door. "Did you enjoy your last minute shopping?"

"Last minute? Me? Never!" said Marty as he and a smirking Jules entered the living room.

"Happy birthday," he said to Ritchie. Clara came out of the kitchen with a birthday cake.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Ritchie, happy birthday to you!" Ritchie's family and Marty sang to him. Ritchie was overwhelmed.

"Thanks everyone," he said. "Wow, my first birthday with my family. If I'd been told last year I'd find my father and discover a whole new family before I turned 27, I'd never have believed it."

Ritchie opened a few of his presents - as well as Marty's book, he got a new briefcase from his half-brothers, a new sports coat from Clara, and a promise of a time trip to anywhen he wanted from Doc.

Doc, Clara and Ritchie left soon afterwards, the birthday boy wearing his new sports coat, in order to get to the restaurant by 7.30. Marty spoke to Jules and Verne.

"Look guys, I've got a big maths test tomorrow, so I could do with some quiet. You boys go watch TV and I'll stay in the study, but if you need me, come get me, OK?"

The boys agreed and after going via the kitchen to get some cans of Pepsi, they went into the living room. Verne picked up the remote and started flicking through the channels.

"I hate it when you do that," sighed Jules.

"I want to see what's on," said Verne as the flicking continued. Suddenly Jules saw a program he wanted to watch.

"Stop here," he said. But Verne continued flicking.

"Go back onto KELB," Jules told his brother. Verne ignored him.

"I said, go back to KELB," Jules said, raising his voice slightly. Again, Verne failed to do so.

"That looked boring," he said. "I want to see what's on..."

"Back! Now!" Jules ordered his brother.

"Jules, Jules, Jules," Verne said. "I would love to do what you say, but unfortunately for you, I have the remote. Which makes me the master of it. And that means we watch what I want. If you want to watch KELB, you have to have the remote."

"Very well," said Jules, a little bit too calmly. He put his half-drunk Pepsi on one of the shelves of the bookcase. All of a sudden, he lunged forward at his brother and grabbed the remote.

"Give it here, Verne!" he snapped. The two brothers each held half of the remote, in a tug-o-war to see who would claim the TV.

"Never! I had it first!" Verne answered. The two continued pulling. Suddenly Jules tripped over the coat hanger Ritchie's sports coat had come on, and fell backwards, pulling the remote and Verne with him.

CRASH! The boys fell into the bookcase. The bookcase started to fall down.

"Argh!" Jules and Verne shouted, only just managing to get away in time. From the study, Marty heard the crash and the shouts.

"Nice one Verne!" he heard Jules say. "Look what you've done!"

"It was your fault!" Verne told Jules. Marty sighed. Pushing the maths book to one side, he walked into the front room. He instantly worked out what had happened.

"Are you OK?" he asked the boys. He quickly checked them and when he felt they were OK, he asked them what had happened. Jules and Verne's story confirmed what Marty had thought.

"Help me lift the bookcase back into place," he told the boys. The three of them lifted it up and soon it was back where it should have been.

"OK boys, put back the books," Marty ordered. Jules and Verne started doing so, until Jules noticed his Pepsi can.

Right next to it was a book called The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings, by Marcus J Winchester. It was a hardback book from the late 1950s, and was one of Doc's favourite non-Jules Verne stories.

And the Pepsi had spilt all over it.

"This is bad," Jules muttered. "We are going to be in so much trouble. And it's all Verne's fault!"

"It was yours as well!" Verne retorted. Marty opened the door and came back inside.

"The book's almost ruined," he sighed. "All the pages are stuck together, and if you try opening them they tear in half." He put the book down. "You boys will have a lot of explaining to do to your father."

"We'll have to get another copy," suggested Verne. Marty shook his head.

"It'll be a bit harder than that," he said. He managed to open the book to one of the few pages not stuck to another.

On the page was some handwriting.

"It was a signed copy!" Verne almost whispered. "Are we going to get into trouble!"

"Maybe we could go back and get another signed copy," Jules suggested. "Get the author to sign it, then bring the new copy back and Dad will never know."

"Yes, let's do that!" Verne agreed.

"I don't know," said Marty. "I think you should stay and face the music."

"But we don't want to get into trouble on Ritchie's birthday," said Jules, grinning slightly at Verne. "Dad has been looking forward to this day for weeks, and he won't want to come home to Ritchie's party to find his book in ruins."

"Besides," said Verne, "you were supposed to be supervising us. If Dad knew we could have hurt ourselves under your care..."

"I suppose we could go back," Marty said thoughtfully," but on one condition. You guys have got to be good. No more disturbances. Because I really have to study for this test."

"Deal," Jules and Verne agreed.

After going to the library to find the Hill Valley Telegraph of August 2nd 1957, in order to find out where and when Marcus Winchester was doing his book signing, the time travellers arrived into 1957. Marty hid the DeLorean inside the grounds of Hill Valley High School - since today was Saturday, there would be no-one around.

"Right," he said. "We need to find a bookshop."

Fortunately there was one nearby, and Marty bought - with proper 1957 money - a copy of the book identical to Doc's copy.

"Step one, check," Marty ticked this off on his mental checklist. "Now we need to find Forest Road." The Hill Valley Community Center, where the book signing was being held, was on this road, and the trio were soon outside the Center.

The book signing had already began. Marty and the boys kept well back and out of sight - after all, the 1957 Doc would arrive soon to get his book signed, and might recognise Marty. The trio looked around. A banner said that Marvin Berry and the Starlighters would be performing that night in the Center.

"Wow, talk about coincidence," Marty muttered, remembering his converstaion with Marvin in 1986.

After half an hour, Verne whispered, "Here he comes!" The time travellers peered round and saw Doc join the queue with his book. There were 4 people in front of him.

"I hope they don't take long," whispered Verne. Eventually his father got to the front of the queue.

"Mr Winchester," they heard him say to the author, "what an honour."

Marcus Winchester smiled. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Emmett Brown," Doc replied. "I've got all of your books. I particularly liked It Just Ain't Anybody. That scene where Frank told Margaret he was leaving her, I really felt for them. Plus I liked the gadgets you had Professor Rodgers invent. I'm a bit of an inventor myself, you know."

"Really?" Marcus was very interested. The two talked inventions for a few minutes until the queues started building up again. Marcus signed Doc's book and the inventor walked off happily.

Once the coast was clear, Marty and the boys joined the queue. In front of them were a few people Marty recognised, such as Lou Carruthers from Lou's Cafe, and one of the teachers from the school in 1955.

When they got to the front of the queue, Marcus Winchester looked at them.

"Hi," Verne smiled sweetly.

"What's your name?" Marcus asked.

"Ma-Emmett," Marty corrected himself. "Emmett."

"You're the second Emmett I've met today," said Marcus as he took the book and signed it. Marty checked the writing.

It looked almost identical to the original. Marty smiled. Mission accomplished. He thanked the author and the time travellers started walking back to the DeLorean.

"Right, that's sorted," Marty told the boys. "But no more mishaps! We're not going time travelling again!"

A car pulled up alongside them. "Excuse me," the driver asked them. "Do you know where 162 Heron Drive is?"

"No, sorry," said Marty. It must be an old street name, like Riverside Drive, because Marty had never heard of it.

"OK, thanks anyway," said the driver and he pulled away. Marty, Jules and Verne walked back to the DeLorean and they headed home.

"I got a C+," Marty told Jennifer as they walked out of the high school. "Quite good, but if Jules and Verne hadn't 'disturbed' me, I probably would have gotten higher."

"Never mind," grinned Jennifer. "I only got a B."

"Oh, only," Marty teased. "So what are you up to tonight?"

"My grandma's coming over later on," Jennifer told him. "You?"

"I'm going back to that new music shop in the mall," said Marty. "It's great! They have everything I'd ever....."

"What music shop?"

Jennifer's question surprised Marty. "That new one in the mall? Musicana? Marvin Berry? Remember?"

Jennifer chuckled. "Don't be so silly Marty. Marvin Berry would never open a music shop in a mall. Not in the state he's in right now, anyway."

State he's in right now? Marty thought to himself. But he was fine and in good health when I saw him on Monday! 2 days ago!

Before Marty could say anything though, one of Jennifer's friends came running up to her.

"Hey Jen! Your sister's in the newspaper!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, she's in the background in one of the photos. You can clearly see her."

"Suzy's claim to fame," Jennifer chuckled. "Thanks, Louise." She and Marty went into a nearby newspaper kiosk and bought the Hill Valley Telegraph.

"Now where is my sister?" Jennifer wondered aloud as she flipped through the paper. Marty glanced at the front page.

Marty almost screamed. He snatched the paper off Jennifer and stared at that headline.

"Hey!" Jennifer said angrily. "What are you doing, Marty?"

"Look at this," Marty almost whispered, showing her the headline. She read the first bit of the story. "So what? That's hardly news. Poor guy's spent more time in rehab than out of it."

"So that's what you meant by 'state he's in right now'," Marty's face had gotten paler. "Jen, something is very wrong here."

"What do you mean?"

"Marvin Berry isn't in rehab! He never has been! He's retired now and running a music shop in the mall! At least he was - until things changed."

"English, Marty!"

"I'm not the Marty you've always known," Marty told her. "I'm from a different reality. From one where Marvin isn't in rehab!" He paused. "Good God, we must have changed history!"

"How? From when you went to 1957?"

"We must have - everything was fine before we left! 1957...that was the year the Starlighters split up!"

Jennifer looked confused. "No," she said, "that was the year they became big and famous."

"I must have changed history so that they never split up, and became famous instead. Now poor Marvin's in rehab!" Something occurred to him. "Why?"

"I think we'd better find Doc," said Jennifer. "He may be able to work out what happened."

The two teenagers arrived at the Brown house not long afterwards and Marty knocked on the door. Clara opened it.

"Hello you two," she smiled. "Marty, are you OK? You look pale."

"Is the Doc in?" Marty asked. Clara nodded.

"He's down in the lab," she told him.

"And the boys?"

"Yes, they're here." Clara looked confused. "Why, what's up?"

"I think I may have changed history," said Marty gravely. Clara invited them in and called Jules and Verne down.

"I'll go get Emmett," she said and headed off to the lab. Marty looked at Jules and Verne.

"Boys," he said, "following our little trip to 1957, have you noticed anything strange recently?"

Jules and Verne looked confused. "Not much," Jules spoke up. "Most things seem to be the same way we left them. Why?"

"Something's wrong," Marty told him as Doc and Clara entered the room.

"Marty, what's up?" Doc asked. Marty almost threw the newspaper into Doc's face. "Take a look!"

Doc read the story. "Yes, that was on the news this morning. Very sad. He's done some good stuff."

"Doc, it's not supposed to be that way! We - by which I mean Jules, Verne and me - have somehow changed history."

Doc took a seat. "Is this something to do with my signed copy of The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings?" he asked.

Marty was surprised. "How did you know?"

"All the folds in the corners of the pages, where I'd marked my page, have disappeared," said Doc. "Plus, it just looks newer. It hasn't had 29 years of ageing. I think you'd better fill me in on the whole story."

Marty, Jules and Verne told the whole story of what had happened Monday night, and their trip back to 1957. Doc listened carefully.

"Did you interact with anyone other than Marcus Winchester?"

"Just a car driver who asked us for directions," Marty told him. "No-one else." Doc thought about the story, and then had an idea.

"Right," he said to them. "We're off to the library. We'll find out how different our history is to yours, and see what went wrong."

"'Marvin Berry and the Starlighters were one of the most famous and influential bands of the 1950s and 60s," Marty read from a music magazine. "The group formed in 1954 in Hill Valley, California, and for the first three years of their existence played at local gigs in the Hill County area. In 1957 they were discovered by a record scout for MCA Records...'"

"1957!" Verne interrupted. "That's where we went!"

"'...and released their first single, Love and Rockin', in 1958'," Marty continued. "'The song hit number 1 and was a smash hit, propelling the fivesome to chart success....' fivesome? That's not right."

"There were five of them in 1955," said Doc. "You saw them - twice."

"Yeah, that's true, but Marvin said that one of their group died in a car crash in 1957, and they split up not long afterwards."

"1957! There's that year again!" said Verne. Marty continued reading.

"'More singles and an album, Marvin Berry and the Starlighters, all hit number 1. During the 1960's, the group were America's answer to the Beatles.' That's pretty heavy." Marty scanned through the rest of the article.

"Ah, here we go. 'The Curse Of The Starlighters. However the group found it hard coping with their fame, and during the 1960s their drug addiction grew stronger. Lead singer Berry in particular grew dependent on cannabis and eventually turned to heroin. As the group's fame dwindled, Berry's addiction grew. Scandal hit the group when in 1970 Berry and saxophonist Reginald Stott were arrested after being caught with a prostitute under the influence of heroin. Berry's marriage - his 3rd - crumbled as a result and in 1972 the group officially disbanded, each blaming the others. Drugs, alcohol and floozies have taken their toll on the group, leading to the death of Stott in 1975 due to an overdose and Berry spending most of his time in rehab. Only Bob Jordan has been unaffected by the curse. Jordan managed to kick his drug habit in 1965 and has been clean since, and since the group broke up has had success with his new group, Bob Jordan and the Commanders, with guitarist CJ Canton and bass player Pete Betts.'"

He looked at the others. "So the others are all junkies?"

"Yep," said Doc gravely. "They've all been in rehab numerous times, but they're too hooked on the drugs. The price of fame. They just couldn't cope."

"This is heavy!" Marty exclaimed, sitting down. "This is all our fault, boys!" he told them. "Somehow, we caused them to get discovered and they became famous, and their lives have gone completely downhill." He sighed. "Marvin did say he'd wondered 'what if'. If only he could know.....good God!"

"What?" Doc asked.

"Marvin. In our reality, I spoke with him Monday night, before I came over to your place. He said one of the group had been killed in 1957, and that's why the group split up. That member was - Bob Jordan."

"Of The Commanders?" Doc asked.

"That's right!"

"Great Scott!" Doc almost whispered. "Somehow, you must have caused Bob Jordan not to be killed, and therefore he and his band were discovered by the record scout."

"Marvin said that the day Bob was killed, the record scout was in town."

"Right!" Doc took charge. "We have to find out the date when Bob Jordan should have been killed. To the newspaper archive!"

"Dad! I found it!" Jules called. "Take a look at this." He passed his father a newspaper. It was dated June 10th 1965. Inside was an interview with Bob Jordan.

"Here," Jules pointed out the relevant paragraph. The interviewer had asked Bob Jordan about his recent giving up of drugs.

"August 1957," Doc quoted. "August 2nd, 1957. I bet that was the date!"

"The date we went back to," Marty whispered.

"You said something about a car asking you for directions," Doc said to the group. "If my calculations are correct, that car was the one that was supposed to kill Bob Jordan." He started pacing around. "Yes, that must be it. In the original timeline, you weren't there, so the car never stopped for directions and therefore killed Bob Jordan. But because you were there, you unintentionally delayed the car for a few seconds, meaning it was slightly later meeting Bob Jordan and therefore it didn't knock him down and kill him. Those few seconds meant he was spared. He says so himself - 'If he'd been a couple of seconds earlier, he could have killed me.'"

Marty, Jules and Verne realised that Doc was right. "So because of those few seconds, the lives of the group went downhill," said Marty sadly. Doc started looking through some newspapers. He pulled out the one dated August 3rd 1957 and started flipping through it.

"Here we are," he said, showing them an article.

"My theory is correct," said Doc.

"What do we do now, Dad?" asked Verne.

"Marty, you say that their lives were much better in your 1986, right?" Doc asked.

"Much better," said Marty, "except for poor Bob Jordan of course. This is all our fault, Doc. We owe it to them to stop this and get their lives back on track."

"Indeed," Doc agreed. "Plus who knows the effect this will have on history. What we need to do is somehow stop your past selves from being stopped by that car..."

"No, Doc, no!" Marty almost shouted. "Are you saying we have to let that car kill Bob Jordan? We can't, Doc! Look how successful he is here! We can't take that away from him just to stop the others from being junkies! There has to be another way!"

"Marty, there is no other way," said Doc sadly. "If he doesn't die, the group will not split up and will still become famous. I'm sorry, Marty."

Marty knew Doc was right.

"Right, Doc, what's your plan?"

"You'll have to use the sleep inducing alpha rhythm generator on your past selves just before they meet up with the driver. Set it to 3 minutes, so they'll wake up just after the accident and come back to 1986. They probably won't suspect anything has happened at all, and will return to your reality - as will you."

"Right..." said Marty uncertainly.

Doc sighed. "I'm sorry Marty, but it is the only way. It is he happiness of one man or the happiness of 4 men."

"I know, Doc, I know," sighed Marty. "I just wish it could be the happiness of 5."

The time travellers took a look at the time circuits. The Last Time Departed read 08 02 1957 13 08, and as they had been stopped literally minutes before they'd left 1957, Doc decided they should go back to 1pm. That would give them a few minutes to stop their past selves.

Jules and Verne were eager to travel through time again.

"When we get home, we'll have to fold the corners of those pages so the real Dad won't discover what's been happening," Jules told Verne.

"Just one problem," his brother replied. "We don't know what pages were folded."

Jules realised his brother was right - for once, he thought. Verne smirked at him.

Marty was still unsure about the whole thing. He knew that the Starlighters' lives going downhill was partly his fault, and that they should get their real, better lives back again. After all, he knew he wouldn't like it if he woke up and found George was back to being Biff's slave again. The only thing bugging him was that Bob Jordan would have to die, and this he couldn't bring himself to do.

"Say, Doc," he said to his friend, "I'm still having doubts over this. I can't do it."

"You have to, Marty."

"Can't you come back and do it?"

"I can't," Doc said gently. "Here's why. You and the boys still remember the old reality. That's because you were still in 1957 when the ripple effect changed your 1986 to this 1986. You were outside of your own time. I was in 1986, my own time, that's why my memories have changed. If I go back to 1957, the ripple effect will restore the correct timeline - but because I won't be in my correct time, my memories will still be of this reality."

Marty sighed. "I guess it's up to us, then." He gestured to Jules and Verne. "We'd best be going."

The DeLorean re-entered 1957.

"Do you want us to use the sleep inducers, Marty?" asked Verne. "I know you don't want to use them....."

"I don't know," muttered Marty as he landed the DeLorean behind some bushes. "I still don't want to do it."

"You have to, Marty," Jules told him. Marty sighed.

"I just wish.....hey! Maybe I can just knock out Bob Jordan! Say, for the evening, that way they still don't get discovered since he won't be there....."

"But the band won't split up," reminded Jules, "and they might get discovered at a later date."

Marty wasn't listening. "No, maybe I can go find the Starlighters and warn them! 'Don't take drugs,' I can tell them."

"Like on TV," Verne added. "Just Say No!"

Marty sounded much happier. "Right, lets go tell them! We'll start with Bob Jordan. He'll be near here."

The time travellers hid in the bushes whilst their past selves walked past. They watched as the driver slowed and asked where Heron Drive was, and then drive off. The past selves then headed back to their DeLorean.

Once the coast was clear, Marty, Jules and Verne left their hiding place and walked down the road to find Bob Jordan.

"Is that him?" Jules asked, spotting a black man by the side of the road. The car which should have run Bob over had pulled up alongside.

"That's him," said Marty, and the three walked over. The driver was speaking to Bob.

"I'm really sorry," he was saying.

"No, it was my fault," Bob told him. "I should have been looking where I was going." He looked around and spotted a familiar figure. "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?"

Marty realised he was being spoken to. "Oh, yeah, Bob! Remember me? Calvin Klein!"

"That's right, from that dance," Bob acknowledged. He turned to the driver. "Look man, I'm fine. You have nothing to worry about."

"Oh, thank God," the driver said. "Listen, I have to go, but do you know where Heron Drive is?"

"Yeah, it's right near where Marvin lives," Bob told him.

"Marvin?"

"Lead singer in my band. We've got a gig tonight," Bob explained. "If you take me there, I'll give you directions."

"Right," the driver said. "Charles Canton, by the way."

Canton? Marty thought. That name sounds familiar.....

"Bob Jordan." Bob introduced himself, and the two men got back into Charles' car and drove off.

"Well, that went well," muttered Jules.

"No, no, don't worry," said Marty. "We'll just go their gig tonight and warn them then. Besides, I have an idea. We could just stop the record scout from going there."

"Just one problem," said Jules. "We don't know what he looks like."

"Maybe we don't," said Marty, "but that magazine from 1986 might!"

"So what shall we do now?"

"Let's go forward a few hours and straight to the gig."

The three walked back to the DeLorean, and Marty got out the Marvin Berry magazine interview he'd bought back from 1986. Jules took it.

"I'm a very quick reader," he said. He scanned through the whole article - all 8 pages of it.

"Here we go," he said. "The record scout is called Mark Simmonds. In the article, he remembers discovering the Starlighters, and comments on their downfall. Here's what he looked like in 1976, when the article was published."

Marty took the article. "Then we should be able to recognise him now, in 1957."

They got into the DeLorean and went forward a few hours to 7pm, half an hour before the Starlighters were due to play at the Community Center. Marty landed the DeLorean in an alleyway nearby and hid it behind a rubbish skip.

"Right," he said to Jules and Verne. "You two stay here and guard the DeLorean. I'll go in and distract Mark Simmonds. I'll use the sleep inducting alpha rythmn generator on him."

"OK," Jules and Verne agreed, and Marty stepped inside.

"Do you have a ticket?" the man at the entrance asked.

"Oh, no, how much?"

"$2."

Marty gave the man some loose change. Luckily he didn't notice the money came from 1984! Marty walked towards the backstage area where the Starlighters would be preparing for tonight's show, keeping his head low to avoid detection.

Unfortunately the head was a bit too low, and Marty bumped into someone.

"Sorry," he said, looking up. He'd bumped into a woman, aged about 20, and caused her to spill some drink over herself.

"Watch where you're going!" she snapped at him and walked off. Marty continued with his trek to the Starlighters. Eventually he found the door leading to the backstage area and tried opening it.

It was locked.

"Damn it," he muttered to himself. Now what could he do?

"Is it.....lamppost?"

"No, guess again."

"Is it.....lawn?"

"Still no, Verne."

The Brown brothers were playing "I-Spy" whilst staying with the DeLorean. It was Verne's turn to guess and he had gone through just about everything he could see beginning with "L".

"I give up." Verne admitted defeat. Playing with Jules could be hard work!

"LED," Jules answered, pointing to the Time Display Panel.

"That's not fair!" Verne protested. "LED isn't a word. It stands for 3 words."

Bored of listening to his brother, Jules looked out of the window. "Hey, look Verne, is that.....?"

"Don't try changing the subject, Mr Cheater," Verne told him.

"No, look you dopedidus maximus, I think that's Biff Tannen! And he's coming this way!"

Verne looked out of the window. Biff and another guy around the same age were walking down the street. Both looked as if they were drunk and wanted to cause trouble. "You're right!" he whispered. "But who's that other guy with him?"

"I don't know," Jules said.

"That's something I never thought you'd say," grinned Verne. "But what about the DeLorean? What if Biff sees it?"

"We'd better distract him!" Jules decided. He looked around for either the sleep inducing alpha rythmn generator or the memory eraser, but Marty had the former with him and the latter was back in 1986. "Damn," he muttered.

"You swore!" Verne almost shouted excitedly. "When we get back I'm telling Mom!"

"And I'll tell her about that incident with you, Neil, that snake and Lynn Matthews' lunchbox in school."

"You wouldn't? I was only joking!"

"Hey Biff, come look at this!"

Jules and Verne stopped their argument instantly and looked outside. Biff's friend 3-D was standing outside the DeLorean peering in. The boys had been so busy arguing that they'd forgotten to distract Biff.

Biff himself staggered over. He's drunk all right, Jules thought.

"What the hell?" he wondered aloud. "Looks like some type of car - with weird stuff in it!"

Jules and Verne looked nervously at each other, then at Biff and 3-D. Jules was about to lock the car when 3-D opened the door.

"Whoa!" he said, impressed at the gullwing doors.

"You know, this looks kinda familiar," snarled Biff. "Remember the night of that dance 2 years ago or so?"

"Yeah, and that whole crazy dream about seeing some flying machine," said 3-D. He didn't know if of course, but Doc had used the memory eraser on 1955 Biff so the teenager would think he'd been dreaming when he'd seen the flying DeLorean lift Marty to safety outside the tunnel. Seeing the DeLorean again however had bought back some of the memories for Biff.

"Where did you boys get this?" Biff asked them.

"Ah..."

"Um...our father is an inventor," Jules said. Well, it was the truth! "He invented this device."

"What does it do?" asked Biff.

"Ah..."

"We don't know," Jules lied. "We're just little kids. He asked us to stay here whilst he went to get something."

"...choo!" Verne suddenly sneezed right over Biff and 3-D. He wiped his nose afterwards. "Sorry," he said to them.

Biff's face went bright red. "Be careful, you little runt!" he snapped at Verne.

"Hey, take it easy," said Jules. "He only sneezed, and he did apologise."

"Butt out!" snapped Biff to Jules. To Verne, he said, "Look at my shirt!" He reached in to grab Verne, but the boy quickly pulled the car door shut, causing Biff to hurt his hand.

"Argh!" Biff yelled in pain. Jules locked the doors.

"Hopefully he should go away," he said to Verne. "You OK?"

"I'm fine," Verne grinned. "I sneezed on Biff Tannen! And boy is he mad!"

"Indeed," said Jules worriedly, for outside Biff had grabbed a piece of lead piping. "I think he's going to smash the windows!"

"What do we do?"

"If he does, the time machine is useless. We'd better get out of here and make sure they follow us!"

Jules and Verne quickly exited the DeLorean and ran off in the opposite direction.

"Hey, over here!" Verne called. Biff and 3-D turned and saw them running off. The drunken teenagers immediately forgot about the DeLorean and focused on Jules and Verne.

"Get 'em," Biff snarled at his accomplice.

"Where to?" Verne asked Jules as they ran.

"Marty, he'll help us," said Jules. "To the Community Center!"

Marty had waited for a few moments in case the Starlighters arrived, and was just about to leave when they arrived.

".....I'm telling you, Reginald, that Canton guy sure can play the guitar!" Bob Jordan was saying.

"As well as Marvin?"

"Probably better than me," Marvin admitted. "He's been playing for a year longer than me."

"Hey look, it's Calvin Klein again," Bob suddenly noticed Marty. "Hey Calvin, what you doing here?"

"Oh, I came to see your gig tonight," Marty said. "I heard all about it, and I was in town, so I thought I'd drop by."

The Starlighters seemed to accept this. "Great, we're on in about 10 minutes," Reginald said. "Hey, fancy a quick joint before go on?"

The other 4 agreed. Marty looked horrified. Were they this dependent already?

"I don't think that's such a good idea," he told them. "That stuff is bad news!"

The Starlighters ignored him, put down their instruments and picked up their joints. They exited the room, Marty following them as they headed outside.

"Why are you following us?" Reginald asked. "You should be with the rest of the audience."

"Because I don't want you to make the biggest mistakes of your lives!" Marty almost snapped at them. "Believe me, you carry on with that stuff and you could spend your life in rehab!"

The Starlighters didn't hear him as Marvin opened the door.

"Come on guys, don't do this! You'll regret it for the rest of your life!"

"Cut it out Klein, you're beginning to sound like my old man," said Bob. The Starlighters entered a small storage shed near the Community Center where they had previously smoked without being disturbed. Marty again followed them in.

"Want some?" Reginald asked.

"No thanks!" Marty was beginning to lose his patience. "Believe me, your lives depend on you not smoking this stuff in future."

"What do you know about the future?"

"I know enough to say that in 30 years time, you'll be poor has-beens with only your drugs for company." Marty sighed. "Look, I'm sorry for going on like this, but I had some friends in a band who started smoking joints. They went from great friends with great futures ahead of them to losers whose life depended on their next hit. I don't want the same to happen to you guys."

"You really feel passionate about this, don't you Calvin?" Bob Jordan said to him.

"Yes, I do," said Marty.

"Maybe he's right," Bob told the others. "I mean, we do have talent. It would be shame to throw it away if what happened to his friends happened to us."

Before the others, or Marty, could say anything, they heard a cry outside. "Marty!"

"That sounds like Verne!" Marty gasped. He ran to the door and looked out to see Jules and Verne being chased by Biff and 3-D. Normally the teenagers would have outrun Jules and Verne, but the drink had caused them to run slower.

"Over here!" Marty called. Jules and Verne ran over to the shed and Marty shut the door behind them.

"What's going on?" Marvin asked.

"Biff's chasing us because Verne sneezed over him," said Jules. He told everyone what had happened, leaving out the part about the DeLorean - he said they'd just met Biff and 3-D in the alleyway as they were walking through.

"What about the DeLorean?" Marty whispered so the Starlighters wouldn't hear. "Is it OK?"

Jules nodded. "It's fine," he whispered back. Suddenly there was a bang on the door.

"Hey, runts, open the damn door!" Biff yelled. 3-D looked through the windows. "Hey Biff, look! It's HIM!"

Biff looked through and smirked. "Well, if it isn't our old friend Calvin Klein. Good. I can get the son of a bitch as well as those runts."

"We're trapped," muttered Jules. "There's no way he'll let us out. He hates us and he wants to beat up Mar - I mean, Calvin."

"Great," said Marvin. "We're supposed to be on in 5 minutes!"

"Mr Simmonds, glad you could make it."

Mark Simmonds, record scout for MCA Records, walked towards the compere. "These guys had better be good. I'm in a hurry and I'd like to hear these guys as quickly as possible. Where are they?"

"They're in their dressing room," the compere said. "I'll go get them." He walked over to the room and knocked on the door. "Hey guys, guess who is here?"

There was no answer.

"Mark Simmonds! He's a record scout for MCA Records! He found out about you and wants to hear you play."

Again there was no answer. The compere knocked on the door again.

"Marvin? Bob? Reginald? Anyone?"

Still no answer. The compere turned to Mark Simmonds who had walked over.

"Well?"

"I don't think they're in there," the compere told him. "I don't know where they could be."

"You coming out, Klein?" Biff yelled at Marty from outside. "Or are you too yellow?"

Inside, the Starlighters were getting angry. "We're missing the show! We're supposed to be playing right now!" Marvin told Marty.

"He's drunk," Marty told him. "If we leave, he will beat up each and every one of us. Believe me, I know he will."

"How do you know that?" Reginald asked.

"I'm gonna beat up each and every one of you!" Biff called from outside.

"That's how I know," said Marty. "See that? Biff is a prime example of how abusing a substance can lead to your downfall. Biff wouldn't be as bad if he were sober."

"What we need is a way of distracting him so we can get out," said Reginald. Marty decided to distract Biff so the others could get out.

"I've beaten him before, I can do it again," he said as he tried opening the door. But it wouldn't open.

"You want to stay in there, Klein?" Biff sneered from outside. "Fine. We've just locked you in! You can stay there for all time!" The two laughed at the trapped Starlighters and time travellers.

"And don't try nothing stupid because we is watching you!" 3-D chuckled.

Marvin sighed. The show should have began 10 minutes ago.

"Right, I've had enough," Mark Simmonds told the compere. "I've waited 20 minutes and still no show. I have an appointment in half an hour in Haysville and I can't be late." He picked up his briefcase and walked off, leaving the compere sighing. Marvin and the guys had just blown it. Where could they have been?

Simmonds left the Center and walked over to his car.

"Mr Sandman, give me a treat," he sang to himself. "Something, something, something, peaches and cream." He stopped as he saw two youths by the storage shed, next to which was his car.

"Hey! Get away from my car!" he yelled, running towards them. "I'll call the police!" He chased them off to the end of the car park, and then came back to his car to find 5 black men, a teenager and 2 small boys coming out of the shed.

"What the hell?" he muttered. "The Starlighters? What were you doing in there?"

"Uh, just having a joint," Marvin told him. "Then we got trapped in there."

"You were smoking a joint in front of children?" Simmonds asked them, referring to Jules and Verne. "Good God, man! Do you know who I am?"

"No."

"I am Mark Simmonds, and I was here tonight to offer you guys a record deal. But first you were late, and then you smoke with children! Good God! I wouldn't give you guys a record deal if my life depended on it!"

"But you haven't heard our music!" Marvin protested.

"I haven't got time," Simmonds said. "I'm due in Haysville in half an hour. But based on what I have just seen, I'm not impressed." He got into his car and drove off. The Starlighters stood there, staring at where his car had been.

"We just lost a deal," Marvin muttered. "Because we were smoking."

"If we hadn't been smoking in that shed, we wouldn't have gotten trapped and lost that deal," Bob said sadly.

Marty quickly looked at the magazine from the future. It was changing! The feature was now about Bob Jordan and the Commanders.

"The group formed in 1965," the interview read, "in Hill Valley, California, after Jordan and his old group, The Starlighters, parted ways. Jordan blamed a lack of a record deal for the split, but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise for him as he met up with CJ Canton and Pete Bess and formed the Commanders. Jordan's old bandmate, Marvin Berry and Reginald Stott, have written a few songs for the Commanders, including their smash hit Love and Rockin'."

The Starlighters were not mentioned again in the rest of the magazine, but Marty felt sure the future had changed for the better. Of course, they still had to go back to 1986 to make sure.....

"Hey Calvin, wanna come hear the show?"

"You bet," Marty smiled, hiding the magazine and he and the boys followed them inside.

After the show, the Starlighters came over to see Marty.

"Thanks man," Marvin said. "You taught us a valuable lesson."

"We lost that deal due to our smoking," added Bob. "What else could we lose? So we've decided to quit smoking and see how it goes."

"Great!" said Marty happily. "That's great! Anyway, we have to get going."

"Can't you just stay and play some mean guitar like you did at that dance?" Marvin asked.

"I'm sure I could," Marty smiled, and picked up the guitar. He started playing I Want A New Drug by Huey Lewis and the News. The Starlighters seemed impressed.

"Nice one," Bob said as Marty finished the song.

"Thanks," said Marty. "Anyway, we're off. See you in the future."

Marty landed the DeLorean near Lone Pine Mall, and after leaving Jules and Verne bickering about which radio station to listen to and which pages in Doc's copy of The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings needed to be folded, he walked in the direction of Musicana.

To his relief, it was still there. Marty ran inside. Marvin Berry was behind the counter tidying up some papers.

"Oh, hi Marty," he said.

"Thank God you're back to normal!" Marty told him. Marvin looked at him strangely. "You OK?" he asked. "You not on some drug or something?"

"No."

"Thank goodness. You know what drugs can do to you? They could destroy your life. Back in the Fifties, they cost us a record deal." He adjusted a photo. "So we gave them up, worked hard and finally got a record deal. Had a few hits, then we moved into the songwriting and producing business, apart from Bob and his new group." He chuckled. "New. They've been around 21 years. Bob met Charlie Canton - now known as CJ - on the same day we lost that deal. Best thing ever happened to all of us, not getting that first deal. We'd probably be old has-beens by now without that incentive to work harder."

Marty sighed with relief. Things had turned out OK for all of them, just as he'd wanted. Marvin looked at the guitar from the dance in 1955 that he and "Calvin" had played.

"Of course, we can't forget Calvin Klein and his role in this," Marvin added. "We never saw him again afterwards. I wonder what he thinks about our successes."

"You know," Marty smiled, "I'd say he'd be thrilled with the way things turned out."

Last Revised: June 4th 2004

BACK TO THE HILL VALLEY TELEGRAPH FAN FICTION ARCHIVE

Visit the Hill Valley Telegraph Script Archive