"Emmett!" Clara Clayton was very frightened. She normally liked trains, but not when you were hanging upside down from one with only your dress caught on the engine preventing you from falling to your doom.

"Clara! Hold on!"

"I can't!" Clara's dress ripped even more. She was dangerously close to the ground. Doc could only look on in horror - there was nothing he could really do.

Inside the DeLorean, Marty looked at the speedometer. 82 miles per hour. The train pushing the time machine was certainly working well. Marty was too worried about Doc and Clara though to think about this. Suddenly, he noticed the hoverboard.

"Doc!" he called through the walkie-talkie, "I'm gonna slip you the hoverboard!"

"Marty!" Doc called back, "Watch out!"

Marty looked ahead and saw a sign saying that the end of the line was 1/4 mile ahead. He ducked and the car smashed through the sign, the bits of it however missed Marty's head as he ducked back into the DeLorean.

"Ahh! Ahh! Emmett, help!" Clara was in big trouble now.

"Hold on, Clara! Whoo!" Doc nearly slipped himself.

There wasn't much time. Marty got the hoverboard ready. "Doc! Catch it!" he yelled through the walkie-talkie. Marty let the hoverboard hover in the air. Seconds later, as the train rushed past it, Doc managed to catch it.

"Whoa!" Doc was not used to hoverboards.

"Yes! Yes!" Marty yelled excitedly. Doc grabbed onto bits of the train and pulled himself along towards Clara.

"Emmett!" she yelled again as the dress ripped again.

"Hold on!" called Doc. Clara's dress finally gave way and she fell towards the ground. Doc reacted just in time, catching her before she fell. In the DeLorean, Marty watched with a sigh of relieve.

"Yes!" he said to himself. Clara was safe! He watched Doc and Clara fly off on the hoverboard. As they flew past the mirrors Marty noticed that the DeLorean was doing 86mph! It was almost time!

Marty shut the car door and put his hat on. The DeLorean reached 88 and then headed back to the future. The train reached the end of the bridge, fell into the ravine and exploded. There was a great cloud of smoke.

From the edge of the ravine, Doc and Clara watched the DeLorean disappear.

"It worked!" Clara was amazed. As the train went over and exploded, Doc and Clara both covered their ears and turned away from the smoke. Once things were clearer, they turned to each other.

"You saved my life," Clara said to Doc, smiling at him.

"I'm sorry," Doc replied. "It was my fault you were on there in the first place. But how did you know where we were?"

"I went to your lab and saw your model," she grinned.

"I knew my habit of always labelling things would work wonders one day," Doc smiled as they stepped off the hoverboard. Clara took a look at it. She hadn't been able to have a good look yet.

"It flies!"

"It's called a hoverboard," Doc explained. "Marty and I picked it up when we went to the year 2015."

"Marty?"

"Clint Eastwood. His real name is Marty McFly, of course he couldn't use that name here."

"McFly? Then that means..."

"He is the great, great grandson of Seamus and Maggie," Doc grinned.

The two walked over to the edge of the ravine and looked at the remains of the train.

"There's not much left," said Clara. Doc looked across the ravine.

"I hope Marty made it back home OK," he said sadly.

"I suppose he's fixing the time machine now ready to come back for you," Clara suggested.

"No, no," Doc told her sadly. "He went forward to October 27th 1985, 11am. As he coasts across the tracks, he should have enough time to stop and get out of the way before the 11.02 freight train comes along and destroys the time vehicle. There's no way he can come back."

"Destroy it?" asked Clara. Doc was about to tell her the story when they heard the sound of horses approaching. Doc and Clara turned around. Marshall Strickland and his men were heading towards them.

"Great Scott, what shall we tell them?" Doc asked. "They're probably here about the train robbers."

"Leave it to me," Clara whispered as Strickland dismounted.

"Where's the stolen train?" he asked them. Doc pointed down into the ravine and the Marshall looked down.

"What happened to it?"

"Allow me to explain," said Clara. "Mr Brown, Mr Eastwood and I were all taking a stroll when we saw the train be stolen by two bandits. Suddenly, the bandits grabbed me and ran off. Mr Brown and Mr Eastwood set off to rescue me, and managed to save me. Mr Brown and I managed to get off the train in time, unfortunately Mr Eastwood and the robbers did not and fell to their deaths."

Doc nodded as if to confirm it.

"Mr Eastwood and Mr Brown saved me," Clara continued.

"And Clint paid the price," said Doc sadly, thinking of Marty.

"I see," Strickland told them. "Was Buford Tannen behind any of this?"

"Uh, no," one of his men told him. "Your deputy arrested him this morning for robbing the Pine City Stage."

"Right," said Strickland. "Mr Brown, Miss Clayton, you're going to have to come back with me for some questioning."

That night, Doc and Clara sat outside her cottage watching the stars together. They had answered Strickland's questions and had then been free to go.

"Where did you think of a story like that?" Doc asked her.

"Your tale of the train destroying the time machine made me think of it," she answered. "I hope Clint - Marty - got out in time."

"I'm sure he did," reasoned Doc.

"Anyway, Mr Brown, there's a story you can tell me," Clara teased. "Like why you're really here. Where you were born, where you've been in time! What your real name is..."

"My real name is Emmett Brown," Doc chuckled. "That bit is true. Unlike Marty, I had no need to use a fake name. Let's see, I'm 66 years old, but I won't be born for another 35 years."

"66? Really? You don't look it!"

Doc quickly explained about the rejuvenation clinic he'd been to in the future. "But as I was saying, I was born on February 8th 1920 in my parent's mansion..."

"Push, Mrs Brown, push!" Dr Morgan told the worried Elizabeth Brown. At age 35, she wasn't sure if having a child at that age was such a good idea. She had been in labour for over 4 hours now and the pain was terrible.

"You're nearly there! I think I can see a head," the doctor told her. Elizabeth gave one more push, harder than any other she'd done.

"You did it!" Dr Morgan told her. Elizabeth sobbed as the doctor cut the umbilical cord and wiped the new baby clean.

There was a knock at the door. "Can I come in?" Herschel Brown asked from outside the room.

"Certainly," Dr Morgan replied. Herschel came in and looked at his wife.

"Well?"

"Congratulations," Dr Morgan told them, "it's a boy."

Herschel and Elizabeth smiled at each other. "Our son." Elizabeth cuddled her new born son. The baby was crying. Elizabeth called for the nanny.

"Could you get our son a bottle please?"

"Yes, ma'am," the nanny replied and went to the kitchen.

"What shall we call him?" Elizabeth asked.

"I don't know," Herschel told her. He turned to Dr Morgan. "Thank you very much, Doctor. You've been a good help."

"Doctor, what is your first name?" Elizabeth asked him.

"Emmett," he replied.

"That sounds like a perfect name for our child," Elizabeth said to her husband. "Emmett Brown. Emmett Lathrop Brown," she added, thinking of her own maiden name as a middle name.

Herschel agreed.

-----

"You lived in a mansion?" Clara was amazed.

"Well, not really a mansion, just a big house, but compared to a lot of homes at the time it was very big," Doc admitted. "My mother had been quite well off, and when she and Father married, he moved in. My father and his family were - actually, still are until 1908 - living in Germany."

"Really?"

"My father was originally Herschel von Braun, but he changed his name during the First..." Doc stopped himself. "I'm sorry. I can't tell you too much about the future. I'll just say that something happened in 1914 which caused the name to change."

Clara understood. "So what was your childhood like?" she asked, changing the subject.

"I did a lot of things," Doc continued, "reading, horse riding, dancing, science... in fact I discovered my love of science when I was about 11 years old, in 1931..."

"This way, cowboy!" Herschel Brown called to his son. The Brown family were out riding near Clayton Ravine, on the horses they owned. Emmett followed his father excitedly.

"Yee-har!" he cried happily. "Giddy up, Newton!" he told his horse. Newton rode alongside the ravine next to Herschel and his horse.

"You're quite a good rider, Emmett," Herschel told his son. "Much better than I was when I was your age."

Emmett smiled, he was slightly embarrassed by this. He heard this comment about a lot of things he did. His schoolwork was so good he was now in the 9th grade instead of the 6th, and his mother thought he was quite the little dancer! And then there was his riding.

Emmett loved horses and riding with his father. Sometimes they would pretend to be cowboys from the Old West. It was one of the few times Herschel Brown ever laughed and had fun. He was too busy with his work most of the time.

"Come on Emmett," Herschel said after a while, "it's starting to get dark, we'd better get back before your mother starts worrying."

"Yes Father," Emmett said reluctantly. "Come on Newton." The two started off back towards home.

BANG!

There was the sound of a gunshot coming from a bush. A bullet hit Newton in the leg, causing the horse to panic. He tried to run off before standing up on 2 legs.

"Emmett!" Herschel cried. Newton fell to the floor, taking Emmett with him. Herschel quickly dismounted and ran to his son.

"Oh my God! Emmett, are you OK?"

Emmett was still conscious but could barely talk. "My leg hurts," he managed to say.

Herschel looked around to see a man running off. He guessed this was the man who shot Newton.

"Hey you, come back!" he yelled. The man stopped and walked towards him.

"What were you doing?" Herschel asked as he helped Emmett onto his horse.

"Shooting a deer," said a voice. Herschel recognised that voice. It belonged to Buck Tannen, the future father of Biff.

"That was no deer, that was my son's horse!" Herschel almost yelled at Buck. "You could have killed him!"

"I thought it was deer!" Buck Tannen yelled. "My family needs to eat, you know! This Depression's affecting us normal people and we need something to eat!"

"Well, how about all the money you're getting from your illegal alcohol trading?" Herschel asked. Buck had been dealing alcohol since the mid 1920s, and had only been caught once, in 1925.

"What about it?" Buck asked darkly. Emmett moaned again. Herschel decided to forget his argument and go home.

"I'll talk to you later, Tannen," he told Buck. "My son needs medical care." He made sure Emmett was OK before taking his son and the horses home.

"I'm sorry Emmett, but you've got a broken leg," Dr Morgan told the young boy. "You're going to have to stay inside for at least a month, other than to go to school."

"No riding?" Emmett moaned.

"Definitely not," Dr Morgan replied. "Sorry son, but you're going to have to stay indoors."

"It's getting cold out there anyway," Elizabeth tried to console her son, "so you wouldn't be able to do anything anyway."

"But what if it snows?" Emmett asked, not unreasonably. "Everyone else will be able to go outside and I won't."

"Sorry Emmett," Elizabeth Brown said. Herschel came back in with Officer Strickland. The policeman had been taking questions from Herschel.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure I get that son of a bitch," Strickland told Herschel. "Tannen's going to jail for this one."

"Thank you," Herschel said as he showed Strickland out.

"Mother, I'm bored," Emmett complained. It had been a week since the accident and Emmett was in bed. His mother had bought him some cookies made especially for him by the cook.

"How about doing some schoolwork?" Elizabeth suggested.

"I've already done it all," Emmett told her. "Pythagorean theories are so easy."

"Well, how about reading a book?"

"I've already read all my books."

"Well, I'll see what I can do." Elizabeth left her son and walked downstairs. Her husband came out of another room and the two literally bumped into each other.

"Herschel, do you have anything I can try to keep Emmett occupied? I've tried everything I can think of."

"Schoolwork?" Herschel asked. Elizabeth shook her head.

"Books?" Another shake. Herschel pondered. "Well, he may have read all of his books, but maybe he can read some of my books. I think he is more than ready."

Emmett looked out the window again. The weather was better today than it had been for ages - perfect horse riding weather. He wished he and Newton could be out there now - but both of them were "grounded", as his father had put it, until their legs got better. Newton, luckily, had only grazed his leg and the vet had said he would be fine in no time.

There was a knock at the door and his parents walked in.

"Emmett, how about you try some of your father's books?" his mother suggested. "I know you haven't read these."

Emmett's eyes gleamed. "I'm never allowed to touch these," he said. It was quite an honour for Herschel Brown to lend his prized collection to anyone, even his wife.

"I think you're ready, my boy," Herschel told him. "Just take good care of them."

"I will," smiled Emmett. He looked through the 3 books his father had bought. The first was War Of The Worlds by H G Wells. Emmett didn't really want to read that. The idea of aliens coming down to Earth from Mars was just silly. Everyone knew that Mars was more than likely lifeless.

He put the book down and read the second title. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne. This sounded interesting. Emmett put the third book down without reading the title and started reading the Jules Verne book.

Emmett was interested. What was this phenomenon? He kept on reading. Later on when they checked on him, Herschel and Elizabeth were pleased to discover Emmett reading happily, forgetting about his bad leg.

Over the next couple of days Emmett read the entire book. He was particularly fascinated by the technology in the book.

"Emmett!" his mother called. "I've bought you your supper."

"Do I have to eat it now, Mother?" Emmett wailed. "I'm reading!"

"Yes you do," his mother smiled. "Put the book away now, we don't want to damage it when you eat." Reluctantly, Emmett did so.

Emmett closed the book.

"Amazing, absolutely amazing," he said to himself, after finishing reading the last chapter. It was at that moment that he knew he wanted to devote his life to science.

-----

"What was the third book your father gave you?" Clara asked.

"The Time Machine by H G Wells," Doc chuckled. "How ironic. It was one of my dad's favourites. He liked clocks. He collected so many of them we had one in every room - a tradition I continued even here in 1885."

"Was Buck Tannen just like Buford?" Clara asked.

"Not quite as bad, but all Tannens seem to be bad," said Doc. "It's only Buford's great-great-grandson, Tom, who isn't bad in some way - although his sister is. I guess it is in the Tannen genes. You'll be glad to know though that Buck Tannen was caught and put into jail."

"I hope he didn't land in manure," giggled Clara, thinking back to Buford earlier that day. She wished she had been there to seen it.

"Anyway, when I was 12 I tried to dig to the centre of the earth." Doc chuckled at the memory. "Needless to say, things didn't quite go to plan. I managed to dig about 3 foot before there was a slight landslide. My mother wasn't too happy with that."

Clara chuckled.

"During my teenage years I studied more and more, and graduated from school 3 years before anyone else. However some people at school began to regard me as strange due to this, a reputation that would soon grow. After school I went to university and became a doctor of sciences."

"So that's why Marty called you 'Doc'," said Clara.

"During the 1940's we were at war, and I was involved with something called the Manhattan Project," Doc told her. "It was very top secret, and I don't think I can tell you what it was. Not even my parents knew."

"I understand," Clara told him.

"The war ended in 1945, and in 1950, at 30 years of age, I became a lecturer of psychics at the University. I was one of the youngest lecturers there. I liked my job, my students, and during my free time I would conduct wild and crazy experiments. Things were going quite well, until one horrible day in 1952..."

"All right, all right, I'm coming!" Emmett Brown muttered both to himself and who was at the front door. Since it was late, or early depending on how you looked at it, he had to answer the door himself.

"Yes?" he said as he opened the door. Two policemen stood outside in the rain.

"Emmett Brown?"

"That's me."

"Dr Brown, we need somewhere to sit down. We have some bad news for you." Emmett led them inside. They took off their wet raincoats and hung them on the coat hooks. Emmett's new pet dog, Copernicus, ran downstairs to see what was going on.

"What is it?"

The first officer, Officer Reese, took a deep breath. "It's about your parents, Dr Brown."

"What's wrong with them? They're in Elmdale now visiting my aunt..."

"I'm afraid they're dead."

Emmett stared at them, aghast. "Dead?"

"Herschel and Elizabeth Brown were involved in a car crash a few hours ago just outside Elmdale. Both were pronounced dead by the medics when they arrived on the scene. We tried to phone you, but..."

Emmett was lost in his own world. They'd been trying to phone him! But he'd spent the whole evening answering prank calls by the local idiots who thought doing such a thing was funny. Eventually he'd ignored the telephone, and possibly that important call...

"Oh my God..." Emmett trailed off. He turned to the officers. "How did it happen?"

The second officer, Officer Foley, stood up. "They were driving home when it started to rain, they swerved and..." Foley trailed off. Emmett knew what happened next.

"I'm so sorry," Foley continued.

"Where are they now?" Emmett asked. When he was told they were at Elmdale County Hospital, he said, "Take me there."

Elmdale was a small country town 20 miles away from Hill Valley, and the home of Elizabeth Brown's sister, Esther. Emmett arrived at the hospital to find Esther there waiting for him.

"I tried to stop them," she told him. "I tried to persuade them to stay the night, but they insisted..."

Emmett took his aunt into his arms and the two sobbed together.

Emmett stood at his parent's graves with Copernicus. He laid flowers at the grave and shed a tear for his loss. He felt empty without his parents. He was 32 years old, but for all his life he had lived with them, helping them out as they entered old age and making them proud with his work at the University. Now for the first time he was alone.

Emmett walked home in a daze. If only I'd gone with them. If only I'd insisted they stay an extra night. If only...

His mind was full of similar thoughts all the way home. As he entered the house, which now seemed a lot bigger and emptier, he noticed that one of Herschel's clocks had fallen off and broken.

Emmett ran over to it and inspected it. It was easy enough to repair. He took the clock to his garage, where he kept all his tools and equipment, and started to fix it.

Even though the clock belonged to his father, Emmett found that fixing things helped take his mind off his loss. It made him feel better. Once the clock was fixed, he looked around to see if anything else needed fixing.

Copernicus whined. Emmett looked at the clock. It was time to feed the dog.

"I'm busy, Copernicus," he told the dog. "Busy fixing things." The dog whined again.

"Maybe I should invent something to feed you," Emmett muttered out loud a completely random thought. Then he wondered if he could really do that.

"I could do it, I suppose," he said to himself as he (manually) fed Copernicus. "I think I could."

-----

"As the years went on, I started inventing things," Doc told Clara. "At first it was something I did to help me get over the loss of my parents, then eventually it turned into a hobby. Most of my inventions weren't very good though. My dog feeder was all right, but I didn't get the version I wanted, with no bugs or anything like that, until 1984." He chuckled. "It did the job though, it just needed fixing. A lot. But at least it worked, unlike my mind reader which was a complete flop." He mentioned a couple more "disasters" to Clara who tried very hard not to chuckle.

"And then, in 1955, I realised that one of my inventions would more than work, it would change history. I'd taken the semester off to concentrate on my inventions, for I believed that I actually had something good - my mind reader. Of course, it wasn't that good, but on November 5th, 1955, my life changed forever..."

Emmett sighed. Were Bud Tannen's words true? Did he waste his time making things that never worked? He looked at some of his failed inventions. All of them had not worked. Not a single success story.

He looked around the room. Aha! His clock. The one he had fixed this morning. At least that worked, even if he hadn't invented it himself. Deciding to put it back in the bathroom, he picked up the clock and walked upstairs.

Emmett stood on the toilet trying to find the nail that held the clock up on the wall. After said nail had been located, he got off the toilet to pick up the clock. As he did so, he accidentally knocked over the cup of water on top of the toilet. He kept it there to put his toothbrush in, as there was no room on the sink. Emmett didn't notice the water spreading itself around the porcelain toilet lid. He stood back on the lid with the clock on his hand, put the clock back on the wall, and then - he slipped.

"Great Scott!" he cried as he fell backwards. He banged his head against the sink and was knocked out by the impact.

The letter Y formed an image in Emmett's head. It stayed there as the word why swirled around in his thoughts. Then suddenly, all other thoughts disappeared. Only the letter Y was still in Emmett's head. It stayed there, and then suddenly started glowing. Two new words entered Emmett's head. Flux. Capacitor.

When he came to, Emmett rubbed his head. It was still bleeding slightly so he went to get a bandage. He thought about a vision he had had when he had when he'd been knocked out. A letter Y. Something called a "flux capacitor". Something about travelling through time.

Emmett suddenly punched the air.

"Eureka!" he yelled excitedly. "I've got it!" He quickly ran to get a piece of paper and sketched down his vision. He did a few calculations and stared at his results.

"Great Scott," he muttered. "This might just work!"

Emmett spent the rest of the day thinking about his flux capacitor and how it would travel through time. He had always wanted to do it, and his vision had removed all thoughts in his head that he should give up science. He knew he had something, something that could change the world as we knew it. This invention he would build could help gain a clear perception of humanity. Where we've been, where we're going. The pitfalls and the possibilities. The perils and the promise. Perhaps even an answer to that universal question, why?

You know, he thought to yourself. When you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.

His work was interrupted when there was a knock at the door.

"Another one of those damn kids," Emmett said to Copernicus. "I'll scare him off by testing my mind reader on him."

Emmett opened the door. Standing there was a young man who looked familiar. Of course. He was wearing a life preserver, like the sailor he'd seen that morning outside Lou's Cafe.

"Doc?" the young man, Marty McFly, asked.

(Note: The full version of this story is available here)

-----

"Marty convinced me he was from the future, and when he showed me the time machine I was amazed," Doc told Clara. "I'd finally invented something that worked. Unfortunately, I was not the only person Marty had visited that day." He told Clara the whole story of how Marty had accidentally interfered with his parents' first meeting, how they had got back together and about the lightning bolt at the clocktower. "At 10.04pm, lightning struck the clocktower, generating the 1.21 gigawatts of electricity needed to send the DeLorean 30 years into the future! I'll never forget that moment. And for the next 30 years, I knew that someday I would invent the time machine. It was quite a strain at times, I might add."

"I bet it must have caused a strain on your love life," Clara suggested. She was curious about the other women Emmett had loved before her.

"Not really," Doc replied. "I didn't have much of a love life. I was too shy around women, plus most of them didn't come near me since I was the 'town crackpot'. Although there was one woman in 1958..."

"You going out with her again tonight, Emmett?" Harvey Williams asked his colleague at the University. Emmett went red.

"Well...if by that you mean..."

"Jill Wooster," Harvey replied. "The Dean's daughter. The woman who for some reason is with you!"

"Well, we like each other," Emmett told him.

"So it's only coincidence that your popularity with the Dean has improved since you dated her then," said Harvey. Emmett sighed. Ever since everyone else had found out he was dating the Dean's daughter, there had been nothing but scorn. His colleagues at the University were probably jealous, but then again Jill was a very special woman. She preferred brains over brawn, plus her favourite author was Jules Verne. So what if she was the Dean's daughter? Dean Wooster had always liked him anyway. They were just jealous.

"Excuse me, Dr Williams," Emmett pushed past his colleague, "I have to get some things for tonight."

The meal was ready, the flowers were set, everything was perfect. As the doorbell rang, Emmett looked at the photo of him and Jill at the beach. It had an inscription, "Emmett, we'll always have Pismo. Love Jill." He smiled as he opened the door.

Jill looked beautiful when he saw her.

"Come in, my dear," he told her. "Dinner is served."

"Why Emmett, this is wonderful," she complimented him. Emmett didn't tell her that the food wasn't his - he was an awful cook! He had asked the cook who had worked in the house when he was a boy to help, and she had been more than happy to help "young Emmett" out. Emmett had to smile, he was after all 37!

"You look lovely," he smiled at her. They stared into each other's eyes and kissed.

Next day at work Emmett arrived late for the first time in his life, and he had a huge smile on his face all day. He wouldn't say why to anyone, but Harvey and the others guessed he'd just lost something that he would never get back.

A few weeks later, Emmett was at home working on his time machine theories. He was making good progress and was even thinking of letting Jill in on the secret when there was a knock on the garage door.

Quickly covering his research, Emmett went to open the door. Dean Wooster, Jill's father, was there with 2 other men.

"Emmett, we need to talk."

Great Scott, he's found out about what Jill and I got up to! Emmett thought. We're not married yet and...

His thoughts were interrupted.

"Emmett, you've been working at the University now for 7 years, and we have an offer to make you. As I'm sure you are aware, I'm moving to New York in a few weeks time to work on some exciting science projects, and I would like to invite you to join me. Allow me to introduce Mr Cooper and Mr Mintz. They're helping me with this."

"Good to meet you," Emmett held out his hand for the men. They just nodded their heads, immediately causing Emmett's alarm bells in his head to start ringing.

"You'd have a choice of 3 projects," Dean Wooster began. "You can either (a) work on the Edsel car, (b) work on chemical warfare..."

"They'll name the agent after you," Cooper interrupted. "Agent Brown."

"Definitely not," Emmett answered, thinking back to the time he had spent working on the Manhattan Project back in the 1940s. He had been sworn to secrecy about it though - not even his parents had known about it. His time there had convinced him that nuclear bombs and chemical warfare were a bad idea and he wanted nothing to do with it.

"...or (c), working on something called Xerox," the Dean continued.

"X-rox?" asked Emmett, pronouncing it with an X sound not a Z sound. "I'm sorry but none of them are to my liking. I've got more than enough on my plate right now, what with my own research and all that." Of course he meant the time machine he was developing, but of course he couldn't tell them that.

"What research?" the Dean asked. "You're still not going on about all that time travel stuff, are you?" When Emmett had returned to work in January 1956, he'd spoken to a few of his colleagues about the possibility of time travel, and how it could be done. His theories had been dismissed by them, who thought he was crazy, and Emmett hadn't mentioned them to anyone since.

"No," Emmett lied. "Just other stuff." He smiled sweetly at the Dean.

"Emmett, listen to me. You've got such a good mind, you could work on any of these projects..."

"Sir, I'm more than happy the way I am," Emmett told the Dean. Besides, I have something far greater than any of those things!

This was not the answer the Dean wanted to hear. "Listen, Brown, you like my daughter, right? How about this: if you do not co-operate, your relationship with her could be 'damaged'."

"Still no," was the reply. Copernicus started growling at the Dean. The Dean grew nervous - he didn't like dogs. Especially not growling ones.

"Come on, let's go," he told Cooper and Mintz. "And remember, Brown, you're turning down the golden opportunity!"

As the men walked out, Doc half smirked. "I already have the golden opportunity, although not for another 28 years," he said to himself.

That evening there was a knock on the front door. Emmett switched off the television and went to answer it.

"Jill! Come in!"

Jill Wooster came into the house and wiped her feet. She had an angry look on your face. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Er, showing you in," Emmett replied, confused.

"Very funny," muttered Jill. "You know what I mean. My father and his projects."

"I didn't want to do them," Emmett explained. "Personal reasons. Something happened many years ago which made me decide never to do anything involving chemical weapons."

"Yeah, what?"

"I can't talk about it." He wanted to tell her but knew he couldn't - unless he wanted to be arrested for betraying State Secrets!

"Emmett, listen. Those projects mean a lot for my father. They could revolutionise science as we know it. Please, Emmett, do it for him."

Emmett shook his head. "Jill, I'm sorry, but..."

"Do it for me." She looked at him just like Copernicus did when he wanted something.

Emmett sighed.

"I'm sorry, but no, I can't." He hung his head. "I can't tell you why, but I can't."

"Fine," she told him. "If that's how you're going to be, then we're through."

"Through? But what about us?"

"We're finished, Emmett. I can't believe you would betray my father like that!" Jill got into her car. "Don't contact me again, Emmett Brown." She started the engine. "Oh, and by the way, I think Jules Verne is overrated!"

She drove off, leaving a very upset Emmett staring after her.

-----

"Oh, look, it's 10.04pm," Doc said, looking at his watch. "The time of the lightning bolt in 1955."

"So what happened to Jill?" Clara asked.

"She went with her family to New York and I never heard from her again. I was upset for a while, but I eventually managed to get over her with help from my inventions. Plus my time travel theories were getting better all the time! I was getting closer to building one. Although August 1st 1962 nearly set me back a while!"

"Edison! Come on boy, time for dinner!" The big, bouncy German Shepherd bounced over to his master, tail wagging. It was suppertime.

"Here you go, boy," Emmett said as he went through the cupboard trying to find the dog food. There was just one tin left. The dog feeder he had invented had been out of action for a few days as Edison had knocked it over with his tail, so Emmett had been feeding the dog manually since then. The dog was a big softy, unfortunately his tail had a mind of its own!

"Damn," he muttered. He quickly put the food down for Edison, who wolfed it down. He picked up his keys and went to his car.

"I'm just going to get some groceries," he called to his pet. "I won't be long." Even though it was possible that Edison didn't understand what Emmett said, he still told the dog everything. It was just nice to have someone to talk to.

Edison paid not much attention as he finished eating his food.

Emmett picked up more cans of dog food and a few groceries for himself. He also picked up the Hill Valley Telegraph to read later. A quick glance at the headline told him that Mayor Francis Green was planning to cut taxes. Emmett wondered if this was because of the mayoral elections next year.

He turned the key to his house and walked in.

"Great Scott!"

Edison had obviously been bored and started to jump up on things, for there were pawprints on the furniture. A vase had fallen over and some papers were torn and all over the place. But worst of all, three of his portraits of famous scientists had been knocked to the floor by the excitable dog.

Edison had knocked over the portraits of his namesake, Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin. Each had fallen to the floor and the frames had smashed. Isaac Newton however was still hanging up, unharmed.

"Edison!" Emmett yelled at the dog. Edison knew he had done something bad and cowered behind a table. Emmett sighed. He'd deal with the dog later. Right now he had the pictures to deal with.

They had used to belong to Elizabeth Brown before she had died, and meant a lot to Emmett. They were some of the few valuable things left in the house. The Brown mansion had been the target of numerous burglaries in the past few months, which was partly why Emmett had bought Edison, and Emmett had moved a lot of his most valuable possessions into his garage.

The past year had been busy for Emmett. He did all his scientific experiments in his garage, which had become his lab, and he had converted it into a mini house, so to speak. There was a bedroom for when he just felt like crashing there and couldn't be bothered to go back to the house, a bathroom, a kitchen for when he wanted a snack and a storeroom.

Inside the storeroom were all the time travel equations and blueprints, safely locked away in a safe. The room itself was locked most of the time and had no windows, so not many people knew of its existence. Many of his father's clocks were in here too - some were being stored here, some were here waiting to be fixed, and some were just here for decoration.

Emmett carefully put the three portraits down on the counter and locked the garage again. He went back to the house and decided to watch some television before going to bed a few hours later.

Edison was woken by the cuckoo clock striking 11. Emmett slept through it, for he was used to it by now. Edison barked at the clock until it stopped, and then feeling pleased with himself for stopping it he went downstairs for a drink.

As he lapped the water from his bowl, Edison heard voices outside. He stopped drinking and listened to the people outside.

"Is that a light on there?" a man's voice asked.

"Don't look like one," a second man said. "That cigarette of yours must be playing tricks on your mind."

The two men walked towards a window and managed to it. Once in the house, they started walking towards the hallway.

Edison wasted no time. He ran towards them growling and braking. The men opened the door to find a rather large German Shepherd running towards them with his fangs on display.

"Shit, he's got a dog!" the first man yelled. "Let's get out of here!"

"I'm right behind you!" the second man yelled, running after him. A voice came from upstairs. "Who's there?"

"Nice one, Dr Brown's awake!" the first man hissed, even though he had yelled first. They heard footsteps.

"He's coming," the second man said.

"I know that, dummy!" the first man replied. Edison was almost right behind them by now, still growling, and the men had an idea.

"This will stop him getting us," the first man grinned evilly, throwing his lit cigarette to the floor. It landed right next to a wooden dining room table and instantly set the table alight. Edison saw the fire and froze, barking loudly.

"Alright, who's there?" Emmett asked as he peered into the room. He saw his dog frozen and barking at the fire. "Great Scott!"

Emmett pulled Edison out of the way and ran to get his fire extinguisher to put it out, but by the time he returned the fire had spread. There was not enough foam in the extinguisher to put out the fire. Emmett used it all up, but it made no difference.

Making sure Edison was by his side, Emmett ran to the telephone. "Fire department, please!" he yelled into the phone, opening the window next to the phone as he spoke to let air in. "Hello, this is Dr Emmett Brown, my house is on fire and..." The smoke caught up with him and he passed out.

At the fire station, 19 year old Milton Baines, younger brother to Lorraine, was ready to go home after an 8 hour shift. Tomorrow he was going to go to the hospital to see his new nephew, Dave, for the first time. He'd leave just as soon as he beat Pete Needles at a pool game.

Pete, the future father of Jez and Douglas Needles, was Milton's arch rival at almost everything they did. They had been rivals at school, where Pete had been kept back a year and had ended up in Milton's class.

The game was nearly over, both of them were now trying to pot the black. It was Milton's shot. Thanks to Pete's previous shot, the cue ball, black ball and pocket were almost in a straight line. This would be one easy shot.

Milton was about to take his shot when the fire bell went, causing him to miss completely. The cue ball bounced all over the table and ended up right next to the black ball. Pete would surely win now.

He quickly potted the ball. "I win again, Baines."

"Fluke, Needles," Milton said huffily as he and Pete ran to the engines. "Where are we off to?" he asked the fire chief.

"1640 Riverside Drive," the fire chief answered. "Dr Brown's house. It sounds bad. He got cut off whilst on the phone to us. Come on, let's roll!"

When the fire crews got to Riverside Drive, they were shocked as to how much of the house had burnt down. Edison had managed to jump out of the open window but there was no sign of Emmett anywhere.

The firefighters quickly got to work. They managed to control most of the fire but knew the mansion was lost. The rescue crew, including Milton Baines, went inside to see if Emmett was still alive.

"Here he is!" Milton called. The chief came over and checked "Quick, get him out of here."

"Dr Brown?" a woman's voice called.

"W-what? Who's there?" Emmett asked quietly. He slowly opened his eyes. The room was white and clean.

"Mother, Mother is that you?" he asked faintly.

"No," the woman told him. "My name is Nurse Kristen Holmes. You've been unconscious now for nearly 24 hours. Those fumes really got to you. I must say, you're lucky to be alive."

"Fumes?"

"Don't you remember? Your mansion, the fire?"

It all came back to him now. The last thing Emmett remembered was phoning the fire service. "Did they stop the fire?"

"They did, but I'm afraid the mansion has been completely destroyed. I'm sorry," Kristen told him.

"Gone? Destroyed?" Emmett felt sick. The last thing he had to remind him of his parents had gone.

"Dr Brown?" another nurse came in, with a 19 year old man behind him. "You have a visitor."

The man sat down next to him. "Hi Dr Brown, my name is Milton Baines. I saved your life in the fire." Milton told Emmett how he'd found him and dragged him to safety. "You know, it's just as well you opened that window, or else you would have been killed."

"Is my house gone, completely?"

"I'm afraid so, although a few things in your basement did survive - some old clocks and portraits. Your garage is also OK."

Emmett sighed with relief - the time machines parts and papers were safe, but he was still naturally upset.

Nurse Holmes came back in. "Milton?" she called to him. "Your sister's awake. Do you want to see her?"

"I'll be there in a minute, sweetheart," Milton grinned back at her. He turned to Emmett. "She's my girlfriend," he grinned. "My sister Lorraine is here, she gave birth to my nephew Dave a few days ago and I'm going to see them."

"Lorraine? Lorraine McFly?"

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

"Just a guess," Emmett smiled as he settled down in his bed.

-----

"When I came out of hospital, I collected Edison from the neighbours who had been looking after him and we moved into my garage full time," Doc told Clara. "I soon sold the land where the house had been to contractors and they started building warehouses and offices. Rumours started going around town that I'd caused the fire myself, since a lot of my most valuable things had survived. Not all of them though. My Isaac Newton portrait and lots of family photos were destroyed, much of my mother's family jewellery and my father's clock collection perished too, and a lot of his old book collection was lost forever."

"How sad," said Clara.

"Luckily all the important stuff on the time machine had survived due to being in the garage. I spent the next few years working on this. In 1966, George and Lorraine McFly had their second child, Linda, and then finally in 1968, on July 3rd, Marty was born..."

Emmett picked up today's copy of the Hill Valley Telegraph. He was sitting outside the garage watching the fireworks from the Independence Day celebrations in Courthouse Square. He could see them quite clearly from his house. Edison was inside listening to the radio. Ever since the fire almost 6 years ago, he had been petrified of fireworks.

Emmett turned to the Births, Marriages and Deaths section. Hopefully what he was looking for would be in there. When he found it, he smiled.

Emmett smiled. History was in the making!

-----

"During the 1970's I managed to teach classes at the University, build some of the time machine and manage to be Hill Valley's local crackpot all at the same time," Doc grinned. "I retired from the University in 1975 after 25 years of loyal service and concentrated purely on my inventions. I tried to market some of them in order to finance the time machine, but no-one was interested. In 1976 I started my 24 Hr Scientific Services business, where I would fix things for the people of Hill Valley or help them with other scientific services. It didn't earn me much money, but it did help towards the time machine and also gave me something else to do.

As the Seventies became the Eighties, I knew I was running out of time to build the time machine. I also had a bit of misfortune with some of the theories I came up with at that time. In 1980 I thought that all mammals had a common language, and a few years before that I published a paper saying that the sex of each baby could be predicted before they were conceived. Sadly that one made me a laughing stock.

I also knew I had to 'meet' Marty for the first time too. However it was not as I'd expected. In 1955, Marty had told me we'd met when I bumped into him outside Burger King."

"Burger what?"

"King. It's a restaurant in 1985, Doc explained and he told her the story of how he and Marty had met.

(Note: The full version of this story is available here)

"Marty and I became good friends after that mix-up," Doc told Clara. "He became my best friend, well, actually, my only real friend. He liked helping me with my inventions, and there were times when he was helping me build the time machine without realising it! He later met his girlfriend Jennifer and so didn't spend as much time with me as he had before, but he still came over a lot, sometimes with Jennifer who became a friend too."

"That sounds nice," Clara said.

"They get married in the future," Doc told her, "but I'll come to that later. By October 1985 I'd finished the time machine and was ready to test it out. I'd 'borrowed' the plutonium needed to power it from some Libyan terrorists..."

"Not much longer to go, Einstein," Doc told his dog, "before I make history!"

Einstein yawned. Doc grinned. Einie must be bored about listening to the time machine by now, how ironic that he would be its first user tomorrow morning.

The two were in a rented warehouse in Elmdale, the small town 20 miles outside of Hill Valley. Doc had gone there for a week to finish the time machine away from the prying eyes of Marty or anyone else who might see the time machine. Now the DeLorean had all the equipment on it, Doc had felt it was too dangerous for anyone in Hill Valley to see it. In Elmdale, the only way the people there knew him was due to the fact that 33 years ago his parents had died there.

Doc looked at the DeLorean. It looked beautiful. He admired the future self who had died in that video for choosing it. Doc, however, would not die. He'd been warned about it nearly 30 years ago.

When he'd returned to work at the University in January 1956, he'd thought long and hard about Marty's note. It had obviously meant a lot to Marty to tell him this news, and Marty had said his life depended on it. Doc had eventually taken all the pieces out of the pocket of his coat and fixed them all together. He was horrified at its contents, but also relieved that at last, he knew.

Doc looked at the note once again. He was prepared. His bullet proof vest sat there waiting to be worn. Doc shuddered at the thought of the deal he had made with the Libyans. What had his other self been thinking, the one who died in the video? Making deals with terrorists? This Doc, the one thinking these thoughts right now, had only done it because he had to, to preserve the space-time continuum.

"Oh well," he said to Einstein. "At least they can't use it to build a bomb or something." Einstein yawned again and Doc smiled. Now all he had to do was make a phone call.

Doc dialled his home phone number, knowing Marty would probably be at the garage like he was most mornings.

The phone rang and eventually Marty answered.

"Yo."

"Marty, is that you?" Doc asked.

"Hey, hey, Doc, where are you?"

"Thank God I found you. Listen, can you meet me at Lone Pine Mall tonight at 1.15?" Doc asked his friend. "I've made a major breakthrough, I'll need your assistance."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. 1.15 in the morning?"

Doc hid a smile. "Yeah..."

Once Marty had hung up (he was late for school, as usual!) Doc rehearsed in his mind how things would go tomorrow evening. He knew the exact time of the demonstration thanks to the video in 1955, and he knew he had to wear that vest. He also knew that he would have to pretend to die so that Marty would end up in 1955, or else a paradox would occur!

Doc relaxed for a while and thought about the last 30 years. He'd loved and hated knowing the future at the same time. He loved knowing that he would invent something that would change history, but also hated it because he had always wondered if he had been going too slowly, or too quickly, compared to the original timeline. Now, after tomorrow, he could relax, not knowing what the future would bring.

Ah, the future. Once Marty had gone back to 1955 (and re-entered 1985 at the exact same moment at the clocktower - Doc wished he could be there to greet him but knew this was impossible) Doc planned to go to the future. He wanted to see what the progress of mankind would be in the next 30 years (he'd chosen 30 because of the 30 year gap between 1955 and 1985). And see if the clock was still stuck at 10.04pm, of course.

"You're listening to KKHV, the voice of Hill County," the radio announced. "And here's Betsy with the weather."

"Thanks," Betsy said over the radio. "Tonight's weather will mostly be dry, with a few clouds. Temperatures will probably be about 35 degrees Fahrenheit..."

Doc decided he'd better wrap up warm at the Mall, where he would be in just a few hours time. He was driving back to Hill Valley in his work truck. The DeLorean was in the back, ready to be unveiled at the Mall.

Due to some traffic jams, Doc didn't get home until 9.30pm. He made himself a meal, fed Einstein, rehearsed the night's events once again and then sat down to watch some TV until 11.30pm.

Lone Pine Mall had had a Friday Night Discount Night, where everything was up to 25% off. It was also open late, until midnight, and when the doors were closing some people were still there.

Tiffany Tannen, Biff's daughter, was one of them. Along with her boyfriend Jez Needles, she had gone to the mall to do some shopping - by which she meant switching price labels and getting things for much less than she should have.

"Those dumb guards never suspected a thing," Tiff sniggered. "I can't believe those dumb buttfaces at the checkouts thought that this only cost 3 bucks, not 30."

"Talking of buttfaces, guess who just arrived," Jez said, pointing to the car park. A white van pulled up and parked in the middle of the car park.

"Looks like Dr Brown's van," Tiff said, before shouting, "Hey Doc, you missed the sales!" Then she and Jez ran off, laughing loudly.

Inside his van, Doc waited for the last few customers to leave. He saw Tiff Tannen and a young man with her pointing and laughing at the truck before running off.

Fools, he thought to himself, smiling. When I reveal my invention to the world, who'll be laughing then?

Einstein whined, so Doc let him out for a quick run around the car park. He looked at his watch. It was 12.27. Suddenly he remembered he'd left something very important at home. The video camera. How was he supposed to film it, and therefore see the tape in 1955, without the video camera?

Doc got his telephone out and dialled Marty's home number. He hoped his friend would answer it, and not George or Lorraine. He was in luck.

"Hello," Marty said.

"Marty, you didn't fall asleep, did you?" Doc asked, because it sounded like he had.

"Uh Doc, uh no. No, don't be silly."

"Listen, this is very important, I forgot my video camera, could you stop by my place and pick it up on your way to the mall?"

"Um, yeah, I'm on my way."

"All right, see you soon," Doc said and he hung up. He went back into his truck and smiled. After today, his life would never be the same again.

-----

Doc told Clara about Temporal Experiment Number 1, how it had gone right on schedule, and how the Libyans had turned up as they were "supposed" to. Once Marty had gone back to 1955, his future self had arrived at the Mall - "I guess he went back a few minutes earlier to warn me or something" - and found out about the bullet proof vest.

"I drove Marty home, and he kept pointing out little differences between that 1985 and the 1985 he'd left, such as the name of the Mall - apparently it used to be called Twin Pines Mall, but he ran over one of the pines in 1955."

After I dropped Marty off home, I reset the time circuits for the destination I'd planned all along - the future. 30 years into the future. And what I discovered caused a whole chain of events that made me end up here. Of course I didn't know that at the time..."

"The future! It's magnificent!" Doc told Einstein as they entered 2015. He was in Marty's street in Lyon Estates and as it was only 6am no-one was around to see the DeLorean, much to his relief.

Doc looked upwards. There were vehicles in the sky! They were flying around in a highway in the sky, with floating lane markers and signs and everything.

Doc drove towards Courthouse Square, seeing some of the other cars parked on driveways. Some of them were old cars from the 1980's and possibly the 1990's that had had futuristic gadgets built onto them, so hopefully the DeLorean would not look quite so strange.

Doc did not pass another vehicle on the road - the few vehicles out at this hour were in the sky. Doc decided that he had to get the DeLorean to fly, it would be much easier to transport it around. He drove along the road, and noticed there were a lot more commercials in the future.

Doc gasped with amazement when he entered Courthouse Square. It had changed a lot. The Courthouse looked brand new. Doc guessed a lot of work had been done to it since 1985. Doc took a look at the clock. It was still at 10.04, and the ledge he had broken in 1955 was still broken. The Hill Valley Preservation Society had obviously succeeded. The Courthouse was now a mall with underground shops, and the Square looked busy.

Great Scott, this really is the future! Doc thought to himself.

Doc noticed an alleyway between the Texaco station and an antique shop. He parked the DeLorean in the alleyway, taking care to avoid detection, and he and Einstein went for a walk around the Square.

As he walked around, he noticed a holo-billboard.

The billboard then gave a quick overview of the procedure, and how it could add "30-40 years to your life!". Doc thought about this. If he was going to be spending his time time-travelling, he could use this rejuvenation and it would like he'd never aged the extra years he would surely spend time travelling. Right now though, he was hungry.

As luck would have it, on the former site of the aerobics place in 1985 was the "Cafe 80's". It looked like one of those tacky nostalgia places, but it served food and that was all that mattered.

"Come on Einie," Doc called to his pet, and they went inside the cafe.

There were a few people inside the cafe, talking. Doc ignored them and went to the counter.

"Hello?" he called. But there was nobody there.

"Hello?" Doc called again. Suddenly a computer screen with an image of Margaret Thatcher appeared in front of his face. Doc looked up and saw that it was hanging from the ceiling, and could move around the Cafe.

"Welcome to the Cafe 80's," "Margaret Thatcher" said in a human voice that sounded a lot like the real Prime Minister of Britain. "How can I help you sir?"

"Um, what's on the menu?" Doc asked the screen.

The computer read out a few choices and Doc selected the one he wanted. He sat down at a table and waited for his meal to arrive. He looked around the Cafe. There was lots of 80's memorabilia, including some stuff he didn't recognise. Probably from after 1985, Doc guessed. Behind the counter were some TV screens, showing 80's shows. Doc started watching one, it was showing an episode of Cheers.

On the screen, Sam and Diane were dressed up smartly, as if they were at a wedding, and Diane was kissing Sam. She then left the bar.

"Have a nice life," Sam told her once she had gone, and then the credits came on.

"Good episode that," a voice said. "I must say though I preferred Kirstie Alley to Shelley Long though." Doc turned around to see a woman next to him.

"Shelley Long left Cheers?" Doc asked. He couldn't imagine the main female character leaving.

"Um, yeah," the woman said. "In 1987. Where have you been?"

"You'd never believe me," Doc muttered as the woman walked off. When his meal arrived, and he started eating, the woman sat down at the table behind him. This time, he was joined by her friend.

"Hi, nice to see you again!" the woman said to the other. "How's the baby?"

"Oh fine," the other woman replied and they continued talking for a few minutes.

"When the baby's gone to sleep, I've been reading that George McFly book, For All Time. It's quite good, even if it is 24 years old."

"Have you seen the paper?"

"No, why?"

"George McFly's granddaughter has gone down for 20 years for trying to break her brother out of jail."

"Really? Let's have a look?"

Doc gasped. This was terrible! He wondered whose children the prisoners were - Dave's, Linda's or Marty's. He listened further.

"Look, it's all here in the paper. Have a read."

Doc tried to see the paper for any pictures but he couldn't. He quickly finished his meal and went outside to find a newspaper shop. Eventually he found the Hill Valley Telegraph.

Doc read on, horrified. What an awful future this was for Marty and his family! There was a photo of him and Jennifer outside their house, both looking very old and stressed. There was a brief statement from them that they wished to make no comment on the situation.

"I must help Marty," Doc decided. "But first, I need some more information. Come on, Einie!" he called to the dog. After looking up Marty's future address in the phone book, they got into the DeLorean and drove to the McFly house.

Doc was surprised at the state of Hilldale in 2015. In 1985, the newly built estate had been the place to live. Now it was run down, with graffiti and litter everywhere.

Doc pulled up outside the McFly house and got out his phone, deciding to alert the McFlys of his presence before he saw them. He dialled the number he'd also found in the phone book, but his 1985 phone was not compatible with the phones of the future. Sighing to himself, he drove around until he found another phone box.

Inside was a video screen and a panel next to it. No slots for coins. Doc wondered how to use it. He muttered to himself as he looked around. Then he saw a notice under the little panel.

Of course! He'd been able to use his thumb to pay for his meal at the Cafe 80's, but he'd used cash just in case his thumbprint was not recognised. After all, Doc had "disappeared" in 1985, never to be seen again.

Hoping it would work, Doc pressed his thumb to the panel, and the screen lit up.

"Welcome to AT&T," it said. "Please read out the number you wish to dial."

Doc read out Marty's number and it began dialling. Suddenly Marty's face appeared on the screen.

"Hello, McF- argh!"

"Marty? It's me!"

"No, it can't be, you d-"

"Marty, it's me. From 1985. Remember, I went to the future? Well, here I am."

Marty regained control of himself. "Oh, yeah! Sorry Doc, it's just what with the past week and all..."

"Look, Marty, I need to speak to you. Is Jennifer there?"

"No, she's at work."

"Good, I don't want her to see me. Can I come to your house and talk? I'm at the phonebox on the corner near you."

"Yeah, sure, come on over."

"This has been one hell of a week, Doc," Marty told his friend as they sat down on the couch. "I got fired, both of my kids are now in jail, Jennifer and I have been arguing all the time, everyone is making fun of us - it's like I'm in hell or something."

"What happened to Marty Jr?" Doc asked.

"Last Wednesday, MJ - that's what we call him - went to the Cafe 80's - it's in the square."

"Yes, I know, I had breakfast there."

Marty told Doc the whole story about how MJ had gotten involved, and how he'd been caught. He then recalled how Marlene had tried to break her brother out, and had also been caught.

"MJ said Griff Tannen - Biff's grandson - had set him up, and I think that's true, although the police have found no evidence yet. Of course Tannen says he's innocent, but I think that's a load of nonsense." Marty sighed. "If only MJ had said no to Griff, my family wouldn't be going through this hell..."

Doc froze at that. He'd just had an idea!

"Maybe I can get him to say no. I do after all have a time machine."

"Nah, wouldn't work. MJ's a bit of a wimp. Just like my dad was in 1955."

"Oh." Doc looked around the room. There were a few photographs. There was one of Dave and a woman - probably his wife, one of Linda, one of George and Lorraine, one of Jennifer's parents and her sister Suzy, and lots of the kids at various ages.

"Is this one of you?" Doc asked, looking at one of 17 year old Marty.

"No, that's MJ," Marty replied. Doc gasped.

"He looks just like you - when you were 17 in 1985."

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

Doc thought about this. After a while he turned to Marty.

"Marty, when we spoke on the phone you said I had d-"

"Yeah, so?"

"This must mean that I am in a future based upon what would happen if I never left 1985!"

"You came back on October 26th and lived the rest of your life," Marty told him.

"Amazing," Doc muttered. "So that means I could bring the you from 1985 here, say to impersonate MJ, and the you from now wouldn't disappear. It must be possible to meet your future self...Great Scott! It just might work."

"What would?"

"I'm going to go back to 1985 and bring your past self to the future. He can impersonate MJ, say no to Griff, and save you and your family."

"That's pretty heavy Doc!" Marty didn't mention that Doc's future self was against the idea, in case it caused a paradox. Ever since that accident in 1985, Marty had begged Doc to let him go back and change things, but Doc had refused. This Doc however, knew nothing of the accident.

"It just might work. I just need to know a few details. Such as what time, what clothes Marty Junior was wearing..."

Lone Pine Mall was not that busy - "most people now use the mall in the Courthouse" - and Marty managed to find the clothes that MJ had been wearing that day. Marty paid for another set using his thumb for his past self to wear. Marty then had an idea.

"Doc, why not sell the plutonium?"

"Marty! That's a silly thing to do! How will I travel through time?"

"You add a Mr Fusion home energy converter to the car. It will give you the 1.21 gigawatts needed. It also runs on ordinary household garbage."

"This sounds interesting Marty, where do I get one?"

Marty quickly told him.

"Tell you what," said Doc. "You go visit your son and ask him what time everything happened - but don't tell him why!"

"He doesn't know about the time machines anyway," Marty admitted.

"Meanwhile I will get this 'Mr Fusion' added to the car, and maybe get it hover converted as well." The two agreed to meet at the Cafe 80's later on to discuss things, since Jennifer would be home by then and they didn't want her to see Doc.

"There you go, that'll be $39,999.95." Goldie Wilson III told Doc. Doc had sold the plutonium and gotten a lot of money for it. He'd then taken the DeLorean to get it hover converted, after taking the time travelling equipment out to avoid any questions about it.

Doc paid Goldie Wilson and was given a quick tutorial about how to fly the car. Doc then flew off to get Mr Fusion added to the car before flying to the Cafe 80's to meet Marty.

"Jeez Doc, where's all the equipment?"

"I had to take it off," Doc explained, "I'll put it back on later. Well, what did your on say?"

"He said it was after 4.30 but before 5," Marty said. "He couldn't remember the exact times."

"Right, I'll bring your past self here at 4.30 on Wednesday, that should give him time to change and impersonate your son."

"Thanks Doc, for everything."

"Well, you saved my life with that note, now I should repay the favour." Doc smiled. And for the first time in ages, Marty did too.

Doc stayed in a hotel for the next few days as he put the time machine back together, with some help from Marty. The man was getting back some of his old confidence. They didn't talk much about Marty's life since 1985, since Doc thought the less he knew, the better. Marty also didn't want to mention the accident, in case this turned Doc against the idea.

Eventually the time machine was working once again, although it looked a little bit different this time. Doc then put the alarm clock from 1955 back on the dashboard.

"Perfect," he smiled.

"I don't look any different!"

"Watch this." Roberto, of Roberto's Face Clinic, touched Doc's face and started peeling it off! Doc squirmed before he realised that a rubber mask was being pulled off him.

"Here you go," said Roberto as Doc looked at his new face. He looked a lot younger.

"This is amazing," Doc muttered. "But why the mask?"

"We do it this way to prepare you for your new look," Roberto explained. Doc admired his face once again before asking if he could keep the mask. "I want to surprise some friends of mine," he said, which was a half-truth. He didn't want to startle 1985 Marty with his new appearance.

"Yeah, sure," Roberto told him and handed the mask back to Doc.

Marty and Doc stood on the parking lot of Lone Pine Mall with the DeLorean, making final preparations for the mission.

"Are you all set?" Marty asked.

"Yep," Doc replied. "Don't worry Marty, everything should be fine."

"Great," Marty answered. Doc closed the DeLorean door.

"See you in the past!" he called to Marty as he took to the skies, hit 88 and disappeared.

-----

"My first stop was October 21st. I left Einstein in a suspended animation kennel and then went forward a day to pick up a copy of that day's newspaper. Then, I realised I had nothing to knock the real MJ out."

"What did you do?" Clara asked.

"I went to 2060 to get one of these." Doc produced the sleep inducing alpha rhythm generator from his coat pocket and quickly explained what it was. As an example, he used it on a mouse. The mouse fell asleep immediately.

"I then went back to 1985 to get Marty, unfortunately, Jennifer was there too. We had to take her along, which meant revealing the time machine to her - looking back on it, I guess bringing the time machine back to 1985 in full daylight on a busy Saturday morning wasn't such a good idea. It would have made a good movie ending though."

Doc told Clara about the adventures in 2015 second time around, and how they had successfully altered the future.

"When I went to pick up Einstein, I decided to buy some new clothes. It was in the shop that I first heard about Marty's accident. He'd never told me about it when I'd seen him earlier. On October 27th 1985, he'd entered a drag race with his classmate Needles and broken his hand, and this had changed his whole life - explained why his life was, to be honest, pretty lousy in 2015. I heard it from Needles himself, he was telling a friend about how it was almost 30 years since the accident."

"Poor Marty," said Clara.

"When I got back to the square, I discovered Marty had bought a sports almanac," Doc continued. "If only I'd made sure it really was in the trash....."

Marty opened the DeLorean door and got out.

"If you need me, I'll be in my lab, dismantling this thing," Doc called to him.

"Right," Marty answered, closing the door. Doc drove off towards his home. Einstein started whining. Doc guessed he was hungry after not eating anything for a while in the suspended animation kennel.

He stopped at the exit road of Lyon Estates to let a police car drive past, and he noticed for the first time the graffiti on the signs.

Kids must be at it again, he thought.

Doc pulled out and drove home. However things didn't look quite right. Houses were boarded up, there were "For Sale" signs everywhere, and for a Saturday night the town was almost empty. Doc was sure he could hear a gunshot and a scream in the background.

"It's all in your head," he told himself. "You've just come back from the future, the present will look dull compared to it."

Doc drove down John F Kennedy Drive, and noticed the street was once again called Riverside Drive.

"There's something not quite right here," he told Einstein. "Did we affect 1985 when we were in the future?"

Doc saw his garage and pulled up outside it. He noticed the Burger King next door had gone. There was just an abandoned warehouse there.

Doc felt a bit scared as he and Einstein walked to the front door. He put the key in the lock and opened the door.

"Great Scott!"

The garage was an awful mess. There were papers on the floor, litter everywhere, even a few specks of blood. It was if a hurricane had hit the lab and destroyed everything.

Doc saw a pile of newspapers in the corner. He flicked through them. The latest one was dated May 22nd 1983, and they went back for a few weeks before this.

"Something is very wrong here," he muttered to himself. There were signs of a violent break-in and it looked like someone had been forcefully dragged away. Doc wondered about those newspapers. Why had they stopped after May 22nd 1983? What had happened on that day? As he remembered it, he had won an award on that day. It had made the front page of the Hill Valley Telegraph next day, "Emmett Brown Commended".

"Come on Einstein, we're going exploring," he told his pet. He wanted to see if anything else was wrong. He and Einstein left the lab as a man walked past.

"Hey, Doc Brown, when did you get out?" he said.

Doc looked at the man. It couldn't be. It was Marty's brother, Dave McFly!

"Out? From where?"

"If you don't know, I don't know!" Dave laughed at his own joke. He took another swig from his bottle of drink.

"Dave, you're drunk," said Doc, concerned.

"No I'm not! I know, I'll go get drunk!" Dave laughed and he walked off. Now things were really confusing. Doc was convinced they had altered history somehow.

"To the library!" he told Einstein.

The library was boarded up and shut down. Doc saw a brick on the floor and threw it at the windows, smashing the glass. He managed to climb inside, leaving Einstein guarding the DeLorean.

"Newspapers, newspapers," he muttered to himself, looking through the dusty shelves to find them. "Eureka!" he called as he did so.

The newspapers were archived in books, of 2 months each. Doc first of all turned to the May-June 1983 book to see what had happened then. What he saw shocked him.

Doc read on in horror as he found out that the version of him from this reality had been sent to a mental asylum. That's what Dave must have been talking about. But George McFly hadn't been murdered in 1973, he was still alive in 2015! Doc took a copy of the newspaper and went to the 1973 archives.

Not knowing which month to look through, he started from the November-December book, intending to go back from then. He came across the issue dated Monday, November 12th 1973.

Doc read on as he found out how Biff had "taken care" of the "grieving widow" after her husband had been murdered in March 1973. He had proposed soon afterwards, offering a home to her and her three children, Dave, 11, Linda, 7, and Marty, 5. There was also a special edition magazine inside, dedicated to Biff Tannen and his life so far, to celebrate the wedding.

Doc went over to the March-April 1973 issue and opened it when he suddenly heard voices outside. He quickly grabbed the whole archive, plus a few other papers and the magazine, and ran back to the DeLorean before he was spotted.

"Great Scott," Doc muttered as he read about the murder of George. He'd been shot on his way to receive an award, the same award he'd won in the normal timeline. Doc read through and discovered that Mr Strickland, of all people, had been arrested for it, served a year in jail and then been released. Somehow Doc thought Strickland had been framed for it.

Doc read through the Biff magazine. It revealed Biff's life story. How in 1958 he'd won $1 million on his first ever gambling attempt, and how his luck continued. How he'd set up Biffco, and influenced the worlds of politics and showbiz (Doc had wondered about that "Nixon Seeks 5th Term" story on that newspaper with the "Committed" headline.).

And how in 1980 he had started work building a new casino-hotel in Hill Valley after lobbying the government to legalise gambling the previous year.

"What's that Einie?" he asked his pet. The dog had wondered over with a silver bag in his mouth. Doc took it from him.

He gasped. It was the bag the Sports Almanac had come in. He looked inside. Yep, there was the receipt!

Doc's brain set to work. Obviously Biff had stolen the time machine and gone back in time and given the almanac to himself sometime before 1958. But when? And how did he get the time machine? Or the almanac?

Doc decided to take a walk to think this through. He headed off to Courthouse Square, part of him wanting to see the Pleasure Paradise for some strange reason.

It was tacky! It was outrageous! It clashed horribly! It was definitely the work of Biff Tannen!

Doc pulled down the hat he was wearing to disguise himself. He didn't want to risk the cops mistaking him for his other self and arresting him. He spotted the Biff Tannen Museum to the right of the casino entrance.

"Come on Einie," he whispered, avoiding a biker driving past. The two walked to the museum entrance and Doc made sure no-one would recognise him.

A video was playing at the entrance. Doc watched it with interest.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Biff Tannen Museum, dedicated to Hill Valley's number one citizen, and America's greatest living folk hero, the one, the only, Biff Tannen. Of course, we've all heard the legend, but who is the man? Inside you will learn how Biff Tannen became one of the richest and most powerful men in America..."

As he watched the rest of the video, Doc became even more convinced he was right. He decided to return to the library for more newspapers and examine every bit of text and every photograph for clues.

"Eureka!" he told Einstein. He had the paper dated March 26th 1958. There was a photo of Biff - and in Biff's pocket, Doc could see the top of the Almanac.

"It is true, all of it," he whispered to himself.

The two were back in the library. Einstein was on the lookout should anyone come by, and suddenly he started barking.

"What is it, Einie?" Doc whispered. Einstein ran to the door and barked. Doc peered out.

A figure was running straight past them. Red T-shirt, blue jeans...

"Marty!" Doc called. "In here!"

But Marty didn't hear. He continued running down the road towards Oak Park Cemetery. Doc got into the DeLorean and followed him, not wanting to leave the car alone.

He found Marty by one of the gravestones. Doc didn't need to guess who ie belonged to.

"No, oh please God no," Marty was almost in tears, "No, please God, please God, no, this can't be happening! This can't be happening! This can't be....."

Doc stood on a twig and Marty turned around.

"I'm afraid it is happening Marty, all of it!"

"Doc!"

"When I learnt about your father, I figured you'd come here," said Doc, even though he'd just followed Marty.

"Then you know what happened to him?" Marty asked. "You know what happened, March 15th 1973?"

"Yes Marty, I know."

-----

"I sent Marty back to Biff's Pleasure Paradise to ask Biff how, where and when he got his hands on the almanac," Doc told Clara. "It turns out that Biff gave Biff the almanac on November 12th 1955!"

"The date of the storm," said Clara.

"That's right," Doc told her, and he told the story of what happened once they got back to 1955 again.

"Biff crashed into the manure truck and I flew off to safety. By now the storm was very heavy, lightning everywhere. I told Marty to burn the almanac, and he did. I watched as the newspapers changed back to normal. Our mission was a success!"

"So you went back to 1985," guessed Clara.

"Almost," confessed Doc. "I had to fly around before I could land the DeLorean, and I was just about to land, when all of a sudden a lightning bolt came from the sky and struck the DeLorean..."

"Great Scott!" Doc cried as he entered the new time period. The flying circuits were acting very funny after the strike.

Doc looked at the time display panel. The Last Time departed read NOV 12 1955 09 45 PM, and the other two readouts both said JAN 01 1885 12 00 AM.

"I'm in 1885!" he gasped. The emergency device that would allow the DeLorean to land safely kicked in and the car coasted to the ground.

Once it was safe to do so, Doc got out. In the distance, he could see fireworks above the town. Probably due to the New Year's celebrations, he thought to himself.

Doc got back into the car and entered the destination time NOV 12 1955 09 46 PM, one minute after he left. He tried to get the car into the air, but the flying circuits wouldn't work.

"Damn," he muttered. "The lightning must have fried them or something."

He started the engine up, luckily that was OK, and started driving towards 88. The time circuits were on, the flux capacitor was fluxing - but nothing happened when the car hit 88.

"What's going on?" Doc asked himself as he got out of the car. Because it was dark, he couldn't see anything. Doc pushed the DeLorean behind a bush to hide it and walked into town. He might as well have a rest and something to eat before he tried fixing the DeLorean.

At the Palace Saloon, Henry Chester looked at the clock. It was 1.28am. Time to shut up shop.

He was about to go to bed when a stranger walked in.

"Excuse me," the man said. "Do you have any spare rooms?"

"It's New Year's," Chester told him, "I've been fully booked for ages."

"I understand, but I'm stranded here and I need somewhere to stay," the stranger said. Chester thought for a minute.

"I suppose you could sleep in the hallway, that's the best I can offer you," he said apologetically.

"Thanks," the stranger smiled.

Chester showed him to the small corridor where he could sleep. "Name's Henry Chester, although everyone round here jes' calls me Chester. What name do you go by?"

"Brown. Emmett Brown."

Doc was woken up by the other guests fairly early, but he still felt refreshed. He got out the 1885 money he'd taken from the case of money in the DeLorean and paid Chester for the "room" and some food. Then he set off to the DeLorean.

Doc opened the bonnet and got out his tool kit. This was going to be a long job, but he knew he had to get back to 1955 and get Marty, or else his friend would be stranded and change history.

-----

"Unfortunately, the replacement parts will not be invented until 1947," Doc told Clara. "I set myself up as the blacksmith as a cover for the work, but eventually I had to give up. There was nothing I could do. So I buried the DeLorean in the Del Gato mine nearby and wrote a letter to Marty. Western Union will deliver it to him in 1955."

"70 years? Will it reach him?"

"He came back here, didn't he?" Doc reminded her.

"You're right," she said. "This is just a lot to take in."

"Sometimes I think, why did I even bother with this time machine stuff? Then September came along, I met you, and then I knew it was all worthwhile. So, that's the story of my life."

"You've had a very exciting life," Clara admitted. "Mine seems quite boring in comparison."

"Do tell," said Doc. They looked up to the stars as he said, "We have all the time in the world."

Last Revised: June 4th 2004

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