Here’s Hopping – Alternate
Notes: Just a look at another universe Lisa, Doc, and Marty could have ended up in. The story starts in the middle of the chapter “Next Being…”, meaning that this reality comes between OckDoc’s and VampDoc2’s. Happy birthday Gigs!
Monday, August 23rd, 1993
5:42 P.M.
Hill Valley, California
“Here we go,” Doc said, flying the DeLorean through it…
…and right into a thunderstorm. “Great Scott!” he shouted, trying to pilot the car against the buffeting winds.
“Get us on the ground!” Lisa yelled, clinging tightly to Marty. “We can’t get struck by – ”
Before she could finish, a bolt of lightning hit the DeLorean’s hood. The three time travelers screamed as the world went briefly white, the time circuits cycling madly through a series of dates. The Temporal Displacement Locator went nuts as well, flashing random places on the planet. Through it all, no one noticed the familiar ripple go through their bodies.
And then – it was over. The world outside was suddenly sunny again. The time travelers relaxed, catching their breaths. “Lightning,” Lisa moaned. “Oh, this is not good…”
“How are the time circuits, Doc?” Marty asked worriedly.
“They seem functional,” Doc said, frowning at the readouts on the display panel. “At the very least, the display still works. I’ll have to land and give them a thorough examination, though. I might have made this DeLorean more resistant to lightning, but it’s still not immune.”
“Where – when – are we?” Lisa asked.
“Wednesday, July 7th, 1886, 10:41 A.M.,” Doc reported. “As for where – ” He looked up at the Temporal Displacement Locator. “It says we’re still over Hill Valley.”
Marty peeked out the window. Below them was a rather simple town, with cobbled streets and lots of small buildings. With a jolt of relief, Marty recognized the clock tower. “Yeah, we’re still in Hill Valley.”
“But I doubt we’re home,” Lisa said. “Bring her down, Doc, and let’s see what the damage is.”
Doc chose a place near the outskirts of town to bring down the DeLorean. Marty and Lisa stood guard as he examined both the time circuits and the flying circuits. He sighed. “Well, the good news is that the flying circuits are undamaged this time. The bad news is that, while the display and the flux capacitor works, we’ve lost the connection to Mr. Fusion. And we need that to power the time circuits so we can travel back to the future and get back to our temporal distortion.”
Marty smacked a hand on the hood. “Perfect, just perfect. Do you think you can fix it?”
“I’m not sure. However, we do have an ace in the hole.”
“Your other self,” Lisa nodded, starting to smile.
“Bingo. With the help of my other self, I might be able to get this problem fixed.” Doc turned to Lisa. “Would you mind getting him? I can’t go out for obvious reasons, and Marty’s supposed to be dead according to the townsfolk.”
“Not a problem. I should be back shortly.” Lisa made herself invisible and headed into town.
11:06 A.M.
This is Hill Valley?
Lisa looked around, feeling utterly confused. This place bore some resemblance to the town she knew and loved in California – the clock tower and town square were there, along with a few other landmarks – but there were so many places that were unfamiliar to her. It also seemed somehow more advanced than their Hill Valley. The streets were paved, the buildings sturdier, and the clothes – well, they seemed far more Victorian. Certainly not the little frontier town that it was in 1885. Are you sure we’re in the right place? Lisa asked her friend.
That’s what the TDL says. Why, is something wrong?
This doesn’t look like home. This looks like some place out of a--
THOMP! THOMP! THOMP!
Lisa spun around, startled. Charging down the street was – was – she didn’t know what it was. All she knew was that it was big, it was covered in deadly-looking spikes, it was spurting steam and smoke – and it was coming straight at her!
“Blick heraus!” something yelled. Moments later, Lisa felt a long rope wrap around her waist and yank her out of danger. She made a noise of protest at being manhandled, but shut up as three figures raced past her. One, a young man in an off-white shirt, green vest, and brown pants, had shockingly familiar blond hair…
The green-vested man shook his head. “Ein anderes des Doktor Blishman. Dieser Mann weiß nicht, wann man aufhört.” He pulled a small but extremely-complicated gun out from under his vest. “Marty, haben Sie den Schlagkonverter?”
The man next to him, with shorter brown hair and a red vest, nodded. “Recht hier in meiner Tasche,” he replied, patting his pants pocket. “Dieses sollte einfach sein.”
“Ja,” the other figure, a girl with long black hair and wearing a black dress, agreed. “Emmett, wenn Sie die Ehren tun würden?”
The green-vested man fired the gun. A long arc of electricity shot out, hitting the underbelly of the creature. At the same time, the other man – Marty – yanked a sort of button out of his pocket, ran up to the temporarily-paralyzed machine, slammed it against one of the legs, and depressed it. The machine shook violently, coming apart at the seams. Another blast from the electricity gun brought it crashing to the ground. Marty leapt out of the way as Emmett looked at the girl. “Das war einfach. Doktor Blishman erlernt nie.”
Lisa gaped at the scene before her. What was going on? The girl she didn’t know, but the two men – they looked like Marty and Doc! And what had been that thing they had just destroyed? Or the device Marty had used to shake it part, or the gun Emmett had used to electrify it? And why were they speaking some sort of foreign language?! “Excuse me,” she began, trying not to sound too shocked.
Emmett and the girl turned toward her as Marty approached them. “Ja, was ist es?”
Lisa forgot what she was saying. He might be younger, but there was no way she could mistake those liquid chocolate brown eyes.
The boy in front of her was definitely Doc Brown.
Emmett frowned at her. “Hallo?”
“D-Doc?”
The trio shared a look. “Doc Brown?” Lisa continued, completely stunned. “And Marty? What – how are you two the same age? What is Marty doing here anyway?! And who’s this girl?!”
Marty blinked at her. “Traurig, wir verstehen Sie nicht,” he said, shaking his head.
“Sind Sie aus einem anderen Land?” the girl added, looking curious.
Lisa sighed in frustration. She wasn’t going to get anywhere like this – she didn’t understand a word that was coming out of their mouths. Although she hated to do it without permission, she probed into their thoughts. I’ve got to figure out what the hell’s going on…
She’s looking at us pretty funny. Does she know Emmett’s a Heterodyne heir? came from Marty.
Something’s odd about this girl, Emmett thought. I wonder if she’s a construct, like Clara and Maxim.
Yeah, this girl definitely isn’t from around here, the girl thought. Perhaps she’s from a quieter town and just can’t make sense of all the madness around here.
Yeah, you’ve almost got it right, Lisa thought, starting to get a headache. Heterodyne heirs? Constructs? Doc, we are definitely not in Hill Valley!
What? How do you know?
Lisa sent him a mental picture of the scene before her. Oh. Great – Great Scott. The lighting bolt must have sent us back through the distortion as it scrambled the time circuits.
Obviously. Doc, what does it say on the TDL? Does it really say Hill Valley?
Doc checked. Yes, Hill Valley. Let me zoom out… Hill Valley – Germany?!
Germany? How can Hill Valley be in Germany?!
I don’t know. I can only go by what the TDL tells me. I suppose it’s not outside the bounds of imagination to think that perhaps there’s a Hill Valley in Germany… But what is my younger self doing there? With Marty, no less?
I haven’t a clue. And I can’t exactly ask them because I don’t understand--
Something clicked in Lisa’s mind. Wait a minute. You speak German, Doc. How good are you?
Practically fluent, though I’m a little rusty with the grammar rules and such.
That’ll do. Mind if I use your brain to translate?
Not at all. Lisa felt Doc open his mind to her. She quickly found his knowledge on German. “Hello,” she finally said to the group, speaking a bit haltingly. “My name is Lisa.”
Emmett frowned. “Er – hello, Lisa. Is there some sort of problem?”
“You could say that… Who are you?”
“My name’s Emmett Brown. My friends are Marty McFly and Holly Handlen.”
Lisa looked at Holly, sending a mental picture to Doc. Anyone you recognize?
Nope.
“Are you from around here, Lisa?” Holly asked. “You seemed rather shocked by the clank.”
“The what?”
“The clank. That thing.” Holly pointed at the downed machine.
“You mean the robot?”
The trio looked at each other. “Ro-bot?” Emmett sounded out, puzzled.
“I guess that answers our question,” Marty said. “What seems to be the problem?”
“It’s really complicated. I’m – I’m from – ” She stopped and sighed, wondering how to put it. “Do you believe in other dimensions?”
Another shared look. “Well, I certainly wouldn’t deny the possibility of their existence,” Emmett finally said. “But we’ve never contacted any to find out if they do exist.”
“Well, you just did. I’m from another dimension. A dimension in which you are a lot older.”
Emmett lifted an eyebrow. “Really.”
“Really. And we need someone else’s help to get back home.”
“We?” Holly repeated.
“The other Emmett – I call him Doc – and another version of Marty are here with me. They’re waiting with our De.”
“Your what?”
“DeLorean. It’s a car – uh, a machine you use to travel. Wagon without horses. Big shiny silver thing.”
Emmett looked interested. “Really? I’m working on a horseless wagon myself back at our camp. Is your friend a Spark as well?”
“Uh – he might be, I’ve never heard that term before.”
Marty stared. “You never heard the term Spark? I’m starting to believe you’re from another dimension.”
Holly looked suspicious. “How do we know you’re not some other Spark’s evil lackey, sent to lure us into a trap?”
“I assure you, I’m not. And with that little performance with the – clank – I think you could take me on if I was.”
The group consulted for a moment. Then Emmett smiled at her. “We’ll humor you. Let us just pick up the others in our group and we’ll follow you to this ‘DeLorean.’”
“Others?”
“There’s six of us,” Marty explained. “I guess we should warn you straight out, two of the others look rather – weird.”
“Weird?”
“Heya, sveethot!”
Lisa yelped and spun around. Standing behind her was – a purple, fanged someone. It grinned widely at her. “Hyu’s a pretty gorl. Too bad hy’ve already gots a gorlfriend.”
“Maxim, leave her alone,” Holly scolded. “She’s new here.”
“Very new, if you believe her story,” added Emmett. “Did you get the groceries all right?”
“Yeah, dey vas just trowing dem at us.”
“Don’t worry, Emmett, we paid,” another familiar voice said. Lisa stared as what looked like a younger version of Clara Clayton came up behind Maxim, trailing Jennifer Parker.
“I know you would,” Emmett said, smiling at her. “Hopefully Maxim didn’t cause you too much trouble.”
“He was better behaved than usual.” Clara noticed Lisa staring. “Hello…”
“Clara?” Lisa gasped. “Clara, what on earth happened to you?”
Clara blinked a few times. “Do I know you?”
“She claims to be a traveler from another dimension,” Emmett explained, frowning at Lisa. “You know Clara as well?”
“She’s your wife! At least, she is where I come from!”
Emmett turned slightly pink. “Wife?” he repeated, sounding rather pleased.
“What’s going on?” Jennifer asked, nervously cracking her knuckles
“Just the usual insanity that happens around us,” Marty told her. “How about Jennifer, do you recognize her too?”
“Actually, yes. She’s your girlfriend.” Lisa considered that for a moment. “She’s probably your wife now, though, the last time I saw you was in 1985…”
Six pairs of eyes widened. “1985?” Holly repeated incredulously.
“It’s a long, long story,” Lisa admitted. “Please, just come with me?”
The friends looked at each other. “All right – I can’t deny that I’m interested,” Emmett admitted. “But if this is some sort of joke…”
“Oh, please, don’t worry about that.” With one last nervous look at the still-grinning Maxim, she lead the way back to the DeLorean.
11:20 A.M.
Lisa stopped the group right before they reached Doc and Marty. “Okay, you’re probably about to get a major shock. I – ”
She blinked as she noticed Maxim sniffing the air. “Someting’s up,” he remarked, frowning.
“What?” Emmett said, his hand darting under his vest. Lisa quickly sent a warning to Doc that there might be trouble.
“Hy’m schmelling – two ov hyu,” Maxim said, pointing at Emmett and Local Marty.
“What?” Local Marty said, looking confused.
“Hey, Lisa? Are you over there?”
Lisa had never thought Marty’s eyes could bug out like Doc’s did, but apparently they could. Local Marty seemed frozen with shock. “Great Scott!” Emmett gasped, stunned. “What – what did he say?”
“He was asking if I was over here. Yeah, Marty,” she called back. “And I’ve got some interesting visitors.”
“Doc told me. Are we really the same age here?”
“Take a look.” Lisa walked up to the car. After a moment’s hesitation, the group followed her.
Doc and Marty were waiting for them, obviously eager to see their counterparts in this dimension. Emmett’s jaw fell open as he saw Doc. “I – what – who – wow.”
“Uh – at least it looks like you age well,” Holly commented, eyes as wide as dinner plates. Beside her, Maxim kept sniffing first the air and then Emmett and Local Marty, looking utterly baffled.
“Guten tag,” Doc said, trying to smile. “I trust Lisa’s explained things a bit?”
“Holy shit,” Marty mumbled, looking at Local Marty. “I – I – I don’t look half bad in those clothes.”
“She – mentioned – alternate dimensions?” Emmett said, gaping.
“Yes. We’re from an alternate dimension – one where my birth date rather differs from yours.” He proceeded to try and explain everything to the group, culminating in the problem with their DeLorean. Lisa somewhat clumsily translated for Marty’s sake. “I don’t know if you’ll be able to help though. Our technology seems to be very different from yours.”
Jennifer put her head in her hands. “This is absolutely insane…”
“Like the rest of our lives aren’t,” Holly said. “But this is more insane that usual, yeah.”
Emmett, however, was starting to grin rather insanely. “Amazing,” he breathed. “Can I look inside? I’ll try not to touch anything. I just have to see this for myself.”
“Vant me to hold him for hyu, chust in case?” Maxim asked, smirking.
Doc chuckled as Emmett gave Maxim a look. “I doubt that’ll be necessary,” he said, opening up the DeLorean. “And there’s really nothing you could damage just by touching. Just be careful, all right?”
“Careful. Right,” Emmett repeated, looking as if being careful was the furthest thing from his mind. Lisa peeked into his mind a bit as he stuck his head inside the car. Amazing, absolutely amazing. And so much like my own designs! I know the flux capacitor, and the readouts – how do they stay lit like that? I’m going to have to use old typewriters, I’m jealous…I should call the carriage I’m building a DeLorean, I’ve got a similar design…Great Scott, I can’t believe all the technology here, I’ve got to figure out some way to adapt it for my own purposes! What did he call that object that fuels the car? Mr. Fusion? Well, I’ve got my lightning generator for my own DeLorean, but I suppose the next step could be to recreate – whatever it is that it does. Lisa snorted at that. Maybe the readouts instead – glow in the dark? Yes, that could work. No, better yet, figure out how this one uses the current to stay lit I’m sure I could duplicate it with my work into electrical lighting have to make some size adjustments of course but--
Lisa let out a loud yelp, slapping a hand to her head. Doc turned to her, concerned. “Lisa?”
“You all right?” Marty asked, helping steady her.
“Yeah, fine,” Lisa assured them. “I was listening to the thoughts he was projecting, and suddenly – well, it felt a bit like I was on an out of control merry-go-round.”
Marty looked over at Emmett, frowning. “His voice went kind of funky about a minute ago,” he admitted. “Do you think something might be wrong with him?”
“I hope not – primitive technology or no, he’s our best chance to getting back to the future – and hopefully back to our own dimension.” He turned towards Emmett’s friends, who were watching them curiously. “Lisa just had a headache. What’s wrong with Emmett’s voice?”
Clara lifted an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you know? You are the same person – mostly.”
“I’m afraid I haven’t a clue.”
The group exchanged a puzzled look. “Hyu’ve gots to be a schmot guy. Hyu built dat ting,” Maxim said slowly.
“Hang on a second – Lisa didn’t know what a Spark was,” Marty said suddenly. “Maybe they don’t use that word in their world?”
“Or maybe Sparks just plain don’t exist,” Holly said. To Doc, she said, “Emmett’s something called a Spark. He’s an absolutely brilliant scientist, but – well, he’s a little on the nutty side.”
“You should talk,” Jennifer countered. “You’re a Spark too. And you’re nuttier than he is.”
“Not by much.”
“You’re dating a Jaeger.”
“A what?” Marty asked, confused.
Maxim beamed. “Dat’s me.”
The threesome stared. “I’d agree that’s pretty crazy,” Lisa said.
“Aw, Maxim’s just a big softy,” Holly said, hugging the Jaeger.
“Hy am not a softy! Hy am Jaegerkin! Hy am dangerous killink machine!” Maxim protested, somehow blushing despite his purple skin.
“Of course you are, sweetie. But around us, you’re a softy.” Maxim scowled and muttered unkind things under his breath.
“So, you use the term Spark for any sort of scientist?” Doc said, trying to steer the conversation back on-topic.
“No, not every sort. Just the ones who have a – certain touch. You’ve got to be able to go above and beyond.” Holly looked at her friend. “Emmett does that in spades. He’s touching things.”
“It’s fine, I’m sure he won’t – ”
An extremely loud burst of static interrupted their conversation. Emmett jumped back, startled. “What’s that?”
“It’s called a radio,” Lisa explained. “It transmits music and sound. Don’t have them here?”
“No, never seen one before.” Emmett looked at it. “Interesting.” He grinned over at Doc. “There’s a lot of stuff I’d like to try and adapt for my own use. Can you give me any notes at all?”
“There’s that voice thing again,” Marty said. “Do all – Sparks – do that?”
“Mostly,” Holly grinned. “Though non-Sparks can pull it off too.”
“I really don’t have any notes on me,” Doc admitted. Emmett’s smile faded. “I can try to explain how some of it works.”
“We’ll trade you,” Lisa added. “We’re all insanely curious about this dimension – you tell us what life is like here, and we all try to explain the De. Maybe you can help us get out of here.”
“I’ll help!” Emmett said, almost too eagerly.
Both Martys laughed. “Does yours get all excited about mechanical stuff as well?” Local Marty asked as Lisa translated.
“Yeah – you should see some of the stuff he’s built,” Marty replied. “I don’t think they’re really that different.”
“We’ll see. Our story begins roughly a year ago, in this very town…”
12:52 P.M.
“A what?”
“A construct,” Clara repeated, looking a bit embarrassed. “I was created from a pair of girls who died of diptheria.”
“You were – ” Doc slapped a hand to his head. “Do not tell me I built myself a girlfriend…”
“No! Why does everyone assume that?” Emmett snapped, annoyed.
“I was created by a Dr. Richard Clayton,” Clara added, scowling. “Emmett’s not even interested in biological matters.”
“I’m a bit squeamish,” Emmett admitted.
Lisa shook her head slowly. “This is one heck of a world you guys live in. Clockwork robots more advanced than anything we can make, people being resurrected from the dead, people being built – Living here must be exciting.”
“That’s the understatement of the year,” Local Marty said with a grin.
“But life vould be zo borink othervise,” Maxim said, also grinning. “Ve needs excitement!”
“Yeah, but this much?”
Marty looked very impressed. “He’s made almost as much cool stuff as you, Doc,” he said, pointing at Emmett. “That firesword, Spinbot, Fetch, his own version of the DeLorean – can’t say I liked that grabber thing to wake me up…”
“You’re not the only one,” Local Marty agreed, giving Emmett a look.
“You do seem to share my love and talent for invention,” Doc agreed. “I can only imagine what you’d get up to with 1985 technology.”
Emmett beamed. “I’d love to find out. Hopefully my try at the time machine will be as successful as yours.” He looked over at the DeLorean, frowning. “What exactly is wrong with your time machine?”
“We’ve lost the connection with the power source – Mr. Fusion,” Doc explained. “I’m not sure if we can repair it with current technology.”
“Want me to take a look at it?” Emmett asked, looking eager to get inside the DeLorean again. “I know our technology is much different than yours, but maybe we could do something.”
“If anyone could fix it, it’s him,” Marty agreed.
“Well – it’s worth a shot,” Doc said, opening up the car again. He and Emmett climbed in and began examining the connections.
Marty looked over at Local Marty. “So – you were resurrected?”
“Yeah,” Local Marty nodded. “Emmett’s uncle Klaus Wulfenbach had to replace my entire heart. Not exactly my best moment.”
Marty smiled slightly. “Hey, you did it for Doc. I’d have done the same thing. Hell, I sorta did, with that asshole Buford Tannen.”
Jennifer hugged Local Marty. “He’s such a brave man. He and Emmett have taken down more rogue clanks and constructs than I can count. They even managed to save my and Clara’s lives when my father tried to kill us.”
“He trapped us on a runaway train headed for a ravine,” Clara elaborated.
“That sort of happened in our world too! Jennifer wasn’t there, and we were the reason for the runaway train – we were trying to get back to the future – but yeah, I helped Doc save Clara when she got stuck on there.”
“I see.” Clara suddenly turned pink. “Lisa, you said before that this Emmett and I were married?”
“With two kids,” Lisa confirmed.
Clara’s eyes widened. “Children? Really?”
“Jules and Verne,” Marty said, smirking.
Clara looked both thrilled and crestfallen. “Kids…oh, I’m sure Emmett would be a wonderful father…”
“Are you planning on having kids later?” Lisa asked curiously.
Clara lowered her eyes. “I don’t know if I can,” she admitted. “Few people think of – that – when making a construct. Plus there’s the fact I don’t even know if Emmett and I can marry. I’m not actually seen as a person most places we go.”
“That’s not right,” Lisa said, turning red from anger. “You are a person. You should be treated like one.”
“We’re trying to work to change things – along with Agatha and Gilgamesh,” Holly assured Lisa. “Agatha was raised by construct parents after all.”
Marty shook his head. “That’s another weird thing. Doc’s never mentioned cousins named Agatha and – ” he couldn’t stop the slight chuckle “-- Gilgamesh.”
“Most everyone calls him Gil,” Local Marty admitted.
“Well, your universe seems a lot different from ours,” Holly said. “Maybe he isn’t related to your version of Agatha and Gil. He seemed rather shocked when we told him about Sarah and Barry.”
“I think that was partly because his father isn’t as insane as Emmett’s,” Lisa said, feeling her temper rise again. “I can’t believe he’d try to kill his own son!”
“You never met Elias,” Local Marty scowled. “I’m not surprised he’s a vet – only animals would be able to stand him. He was suspicious of everybody. Meeting Othar just made him worse.”
“Those two were quite the frightening team,” Clara agreed with a shudder. “I’m glad I only saw them together once.”
“Got it!”
The others turned to look at a grinning Doc and Emmett. “I can’t believe you figured that out so quickly!” Doc said to his younger counterpart, looking very impressed. “Thank you!”
“The pleasure was all mine,” Emmett said, grinning like a madman. “Your technology is absolutely amazing.”
“He fixed it?” Marty said, scrambling to his feet.
“He fixed it,” Doc confirmed. “I just tested it, and it works fine.” He gathered up some leaves and threw them into Mr. Fusion. Emmett watched, interested. “All we need to do now is head back to our current time and our previous location, and hope the temporal distortion is still there.”
Lisa snapped her fingers. “Actually, I know of a way to make sure it’s there.” She turned to Local Marty. “Is it okay if we use that shockwave device you have?”
“Sure,” Local Marty said, taking it out and tossing it to her. “We have a whole bunch. Emmett built about a dozen of them in his sleep a few weeks ago.”
“You build things in your sleep?” Doc asked, startled.
“Generally in his underwear,” Holly grinned. “Gave Jennifer quite a start the first time she caught him.”
Both Jennifer and Emmett blushed. “One of the more embarrassing experiences in my life,” Jennifer admitted.
“I’ve really got to start wearing pajamas,” Emmett nodded.
“Thanks for the device,” Lisa cut in, trying not to think of her friend in his underwear. “We’d better get going – it’s probably not a good idea for us to linger in other dimensions.”
“Yes, and we ought to get back to our camp,” Emmett agreed. “I’ve gotten a lot of great ideas from your DeLorean that I want to get written down.” He shook hands with the trio. “It was very nice meeting you all.”
“Yeah, you guyz are lots of fon,” Maxim said.
“Uh, thanks, I think.”
“Thank you for helping us and telling us so much about your world,” Doc replied. He smiled. “A universe where mad science rules all. It’s what I’ve always imagined Heaven looking like.”
Lisa and Marty both laughed. “Yeah, thanks for the help,” Marty said. “I hope you guys have a good life together.”
“And that you and Clara will eventually be able to have your own Jules and Verne,” Lisa added, making both Madboy and construct blush.
“Thank you,” Clara said. “Safe trip.”
“We hope so.” After saying a final goodbye, the trio piled into the car and set their destination time and location. The local group watched them as they flew into the sky. “I’m gonna kind of miss them,” Lisa admitted as they prepared to travel. “They were interesting.”
“I know,” Marty said. “I thought our adventures were weird. I mean, they haven’t traveled through time, but battling robots and mad scientists on a regular basis is pretty well up there. Thanks for doing all that translation for me by the way.”
“Not a problem,” Lisa said. “Thank Doc, though, he’s the reason I was able to understand them.”
“I was happy to help.” Doc looked back at the fixed connection. “But yes, I’ll miss this reality too. I imagine that, no matter what else has happened, my other self is very happy living here.”
“No doubt,” Marty grinned. “We ready to roll, Doc.”
“We’re ready. Prepare yourself for both temporal and spatial displacement.” Doc hit the gas. Within minutes, they had hit 88.
They arrived over where Hill Valley was supposed to be without a hitch. As they had heard from their other selves that the Americas were inaccessible, they couldn’t resist a look out the window. “Well, there’s people there,” Lisa said, seeing a small town below them. “I guess that’s good.”
“Let’s hope they just don’t have a death ray,” Marty said, shivering a little as he recalled Local Marty’s explanation. “We can’t revive me from the dead.”
“If they do have a death ray, I don’t plan on giving them a chance to use it,” Doc said, circling the town. “Lisa, did the local Marty and Emmett show you how to use that?”
Lisa nodded. “I explained how the dimensional travel worked to them, and Emmett said that if I dropped the device out of the car while depressing the button, it should cause a mini-earthquake for a minute or two.” She examined the device. “Too bad just shaking the car probably won’t work. I’d like to take this back with me.”
“So would I, but we need to get home more,” Doc said, a bit regretfully. “Do it.”
Lisa activated the device and quickly tossed it out the window. They followed it down as the air around them shook. Sure enough, the distortion was there in the forest. Doc waited a moment as the device hit, then went through.
They reentered the new dimension to find a rather familiar thunderstorm waiting for them. “Shit,” Marty mumbled. “So we just went back here?!”
“Hopefully this one is closer to home than Emmett’s world,” Doc said, looking around.
“Quick, Doc, get us on the ground!” Lisa asked, looking at the lightning nervously. “And away from the temporal distortion too!”
“On it!” Gritting his teeth, Doc maneuvered the DeLorean to the forest floor. There was a sharp jerk of the car as something hit, then they finally landed.
“We hit something,” said Marty.
“Yes, however, this storm is too strong to go out and assess the damage. We’ll have to wait for it to pass. At least we’ll remain in this reality while it does.”
The End