IN THE SHADOW OF TIME

Written by A.J.W.

17-year-old Marty McFly loitered around the deserted train track. He glanced up at his watch before returning his gaze to the track before him, his eyes slowly travelling up to the clear blue sky above.

"Any second now," he muttered to himself, when all of a sudden the monotonous silence was broken by a series of loud sonic booms. A huge, old-fashioned locomotive appeared in the sky from out of nowhere, the initials 'ELB' emblazoned on its side. Compressed steam escaped from the train's wheels as it landed.

Marty approached the train, expecting to see Doc, Clara and their two sons step out to greet him warmly. What he did not expect was to see the four of them rush out, heading for possible hiding places in the area. Doc grabbed Marty, pulling him along as he ducked behind a large rosebush. Raising a finger to his lips, he motioned the teen to remain silent.

The sound of mechanical gears in motion reached their ears and they saw two immensely large cyborgs march out. The sunlight glinted on their metallic arms, for instead of normal elbows and hands, each arm was replaced by a rather large, imposing cannon.

"Scanning. Area. Destroy. Brown. Family. Destroy. Brown. Family."

Four similar cyborgs stepped out and began exploring the area. After an unsuccessful sweep of the railroad track, the lead cyborg, tallest of the lot, marched back into the train.

"Commander. Sweep. Unsuccessful. Brown. Family. Eluded. Capture," it said from inside the train.

Another voice spoke up. "Fool! Find them! They have to be here somewhere! They can't just disappear into thin air!"

There was something familiar about the voice, Marty thought, and his suspicions were confirmed when out of the shadows stepped a man clothed in a striped business suit, his sleek blond hair plastered against his thick head (a/n: I always knew he was a fathead) and with a smoking cigar in his right hand.

Marty's mouth fell open as he whispered to Doc. "Biff? Wha..."

Doc nodded. "Yes. It's him. He somehow got his hands on the locomotive, went into the future, got hold of those mechanical beasts from an Iraqi arms dealer and now he's trying to eliminate us!"

"WHAT?"

"Shhhhh!" Doc clamped a hand over Marty's mouth until he calmed down.

"What are they doing on the Time Train?" Marty asked in a considerably lower volume, watching the cyborgs flatenning the grass while Biff smoked and looked evil. Doc grabbed another cold towel from his jacket.

"We were on a trip to 2016 to get another hover conversion for the train when the cyborgs hid in it. When we came back, we didn't discover them until we started the time circuits! In the chaos, Jules hit the accelerator so we ended up here."

"You mean now!" Marty said.

"I mean what I mean!" Doc yelled.

"Shhhhh!" Marty clamped a hand over Doc's mouth. The latter stared back indignantly. The cyborgs were coming closer, tracking them. Biff had heard Doc and was now next to the lead cyborg smoking and looking evil. Either the cyborgs couldn't find them or Biff ran out of cigars because he moved away towards the road. The cyborgs followed him. Marty glanced at the road and saw a red sports car, speeding along the deserted freeway.

"Stop!" Biff yelled at it.

The car screeched to a halt and a man stuck his head out, sunglasses on his forehead.

"What? Do you need a lift?"

The cyborgs appeared and the man's eyes widened. "What the..." His wife was then heard in the car.

"What is it, Mike?"

"Quiet, Tracy." The man turned to Biff. "Is this some kind of gag? Do you need a lift?"

Biff chuckled. "No. We need you to get out."

The man turned to his wife. "Step on it, Tracy. Esme, Schuyler, Aquinnah, Sam, fasten your seatbelts!" He pulled his sunglasses down over his eyes. The engine revved up and the car started to move off.

"You shall not pass!" Biff yelled. The cyborgs raised their cannon arm. A small beam of light lanced out from the cannon and engufed the car which ground to a halt. Biff chuckled. "EMP cannon standard issue 2035 model."

The man jumped out of the car with his family and ran. Biff raised his hand and the rippling blue shield disappeared. Biff jumped into the vehicle. "Meet me at Koolen's Clock Factory."

The sports car drove off and the cyborgs gathered in formation. Jets from their feet blasted the cyborgs into the air. Marty and Doc emerged and started at the columns of smoke from the jets. Marty shook his head. "Who was that? Anyway, whoever it was, that sure was one cool car."

"Great Scott!"

Marty ran over to the time train and stared at it as Doc went in.

"Why didn't they destroy it?" Marty asked, looking at the initials E.L.B.

"They've done just as bad," Doc said, emerging from the train holding a jumble of wires and what looked like...

"The time circuits?" Marty asked, as he stared at the familar box. Doc sighed.

"NO! The coffee maker!" Doc turned to the time circuits. "And, yes, the time circuits." He paused. "NO! NOT THE COFFEE MAKER! It was the best ever... 2019 model... never tasted any coffee as good as that coffee maker made..."

Marty blinked and decided not to say anything.

"Anyway," Doc continued, when he was done mourning over his coffee maker, "let's try to find the kids first. And don't forget to bring your towel. You might need it." The two of them went walking through the grass calling for Jules, Verne and Clara. Suddenly, when they reached another gorse bush, Clara jumped out towards Doc. Marty watched as the two hugged, when he realised there were rather weird clouds in the sky. Upon looking more carefully, he discovered they weren't clouds, but thick smoke. He glanced at the gorse bush where Clara had been hiding and his suspicions were confirmed. Marty and Doc still had their cold towels with them, but Clara's was still at the bush.

Marty glanced back at the smoke and saw humanoid shapes with a robotic look appear...

"Cyborgs!" Marty yelled. Doc and him grabbed their towels and dived into the bush. Clara, however, wasn't so lucky. A rain of bullets cut her down and missiles streaked from the sky. A huge bomb dropped down, creating a crater in the ground.

Marty pulled his jacket over him as the aftereffects of the bomb sent a rippling wave of heat towards them. Doc stared at the crater, and slowly a smile crept across his face.

"Yippee! I'm free!" he shouted in joy. "No more dishes! No more cleaning! No more obnoxious wife!" He saluted the disappearing cyborgs. "Good work!"

* * *

"Are you sure Dad's here?" Verne questioned. His older brother, Jules, was walking in front of him.

"Of course! I'm positive. And when I'm positive, I'm positive."

Verne cocked an eyebrow. They were in a dark building where sunlight filtered through rusty windows laid with spider webs. "Uh, Jules... I doubt Dad's here."

Jules wheeled around. "Verne, use your underused brain. Our scientist father, an expert in the field of chronology, would obviously transport himself to a timepiece creating structure."

Verne stared blankly. "Have that in English."

His brother shrugged. "In other words, or 'English' as you so amicably call it, our father's gone to a clock factory," Jules said as he moved off.

"A clock factory?" Verne repeated in disbelief. He shrugged and followed Jules deeper into Koolen's Clock Factory.

* * *

(a/n): Do you think the man in the sports car was Michael J. Fox? That's for me to know, and you to find out. Okay, assuming he is MJF, here's a short chapter.

Mike strode to the building. He was very, very angry. He pushed the doors open, then ran to a certain someone's room. Finding the door, he smirked. He knew he was here, to talk to a director. Flinging the door open, he yelled. "Thomas F. Wilson, how dare you steal my Ferrari?!"

A side note to MJF and TFW, if you're reading this, please don't sue us. Thank you.

Marty and Doc were tired.

"Where do you think Jules and Verne went, Doc?"

The older man panted as they walked along the deserted train track. "I don�t know, Marty. What I do know is that I�m really thirsty. (A/N: So am I and I�ve got a fever too. I think I�ll stop typing a minute and drink some water. I�m done.) Doc panted again.

* * *

Jules trudged ahead while Verne stayed near the rear. "Uh, Jules?"

The older boy replied without turning. "What?"

Verne looked round. "I don�t think Dad�s here."

The boys walked past rows of dusty old grandfather clocks.

"Why not?" Jules asked.

"I can�t smell Dad�s cotton underwear."

Jules stopped and whirled round. "What? What cotton underwear? I never knew Dad wore cotton underwear!"

Verne rolled his eyes. "You�d know if you had to take down the laundry."

Jules smirked. "I knew Dad wore cotton underwear. I was just testing you. I know you never knew Dad wore cotton underwear."

Verne went red. "Why, you..." The two siblings flung themselves at each other and fell onto a grandfather clock. There was a creaking and the boys stopped.

"Oh oh," the two said in unison. The grandfather clock rocked back and forth on its stand then gracefully fell onto the other grandfather clock behind it. Like a pack of Dominos, the grandfather clocks fell and made a crashing sound. When the dust settled, silence reigned.

Verne looked at his brother. "I don�t think Dad�s here. You know the fuss he made the time you threw my Gameboy down the stairs and it knocked over the alarm clock in the hall? I think this is much worse."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Copyright 2004 A.J.W.