Back to the Future: Get Back in Time!

Chapter Sixteen: Follow the Leader

They now have a lead. Biff's back to his old ways. He watched Jim and his gang that chased his son around the courthouse square wallow in fresh, steamy manure that fell from the truck. It was a nostalgic sight, it felt like it was just yesterday he did that to a Tannen.

   "Sweet memories." Senior chuckled. He then took out his walkie talkie, "Doc, we have a lead," he said, "I'm gonna stick around here for a while and tail him right after he settles some problems with the Jones Manure Company."

   "What is it with the Tannens and manure?" Doc replied, "It's like whenever he's near, a manure truck's waiting for him."

   "Well, they belong together." Marty laughed, seeing Jim arguing with the truck driver.

   "Alright, better do it quickly before Biff gets smart enough to know what it is. Time is gold." He warned.

   "You don't have to tell me twice, Doc."

   Marty Sr. sat on the bench and watched the argument unfold, enjoying it like it was a show as Jim defended his stance against the owner of the manure company.

It was a long argument, the sun had disappeared from the sky, replaced by the moon. The lamp posts were on as with the town's lights. Senior had dozed off, given that he's in his late forties and a little bit older.

"Screw this!" Jim angrily sighed as he took out five hundred dollars from his wallet. "There you go, you oaf." He said to the driver before going back to his car.

Marty jumped and fumbled for his radio, "Doc, Doc! Come in!" He said, "Jim's about to leave, I'm gonna follow him." He said, hiding in a small alleyway that had a good vantage point of the car.

"Alright, now, you have to remember, you must be careful to avoid contact with other people or risk altering history even more." Doc replied, "You sure you can still use it?"

Marty scoffed, patting the bag on his back, "Of course, Doc. I might be old but I'm still the best in Hill Valley, it's child's play." He laughed, reaching for the zipper on the bag and taking a peek inside. It was pink and made of plastic and had a familiar logo on it:

MATTEL

He smiled, pulling out the hoverboard from his bag and observing every detail of it. As he was doing so, memories of his adventures with that board came back, like it was just yesterday, "Here we go again, baby." He smirked, feeling for the switch under the board, once he had flipped it, a soft humming sound came from the bottom.

He then heard the engines from Jim's car rev.

He placed it on the ground and it began levitating. He nervously slipped his left foot through the strap on the board and took a deep breath. "It's child's play."

The second whenJim began speeding off, he put his entire weight on the board, nearly falling forwards with the sudden shift in weight, "Whoa! Whoa!" He mouthed, laughing nervously, "Easy as - whoa!" He kept countering his weight, "There- whoa! Alright, like child's play." He kicked on the ground gaining speed to catch up with the slow driving car.

He looked around, making sure that no one saw him as the distance between him and the car grew smaller. He ducked, making sure he was not within the view of Jim's rear view mirror while he kept kicking on the ground.

"Just like old times." He scoffed, reaching for the bumper and holding on tight. Loud music blared from the speakers of the car, ringing through his ears. Also, the foul smell of manure that were still left in the nooks and crannies of the car stung his nose, "I bet that smell's gonna stay for a while." Senior smirked.

As Jim's car picked up speed, the air began to blow against Marty's face, blowing back his hair and making his cheek flail in the wind. He narrowed his eyes to keep track of where they were going and prevent dust from getting into his eyes.

Then Jim made a sharp left turn, Marty Senior's heart leapt as he slid from the right side of the car to the left, his fingers grazing against the metal. He opened his mouth but held back his scream of pain as he held on for dear life or risk losing grip of the car and whiplashing to the other lane.

Marty shook his head when he spotted an oncoming car. The headlights blinked and the car honked. He gasped and pulled himself back to the center. To his relief, none of what had happened alerted the teen.

"Yeah, Marty, just like old times." He exhaled, maintaining his squatting position that made his feet feel numb.

The teen once again made a sharp turn, this time to the right. Senior prepared for the worst and buried his fingers even though it hurt.

"That's gonna leave a mark." He sighed.

"Marty?" There was a buzz from his pocket. Doc was trying to radio him. "Marty, are you there?"

"Yeah, Doc." He whispered.

"How's the progress?"

"In the same situation as always: tailing a Tannen's car. I radio in once we've stopped."

"Keep me posted. I'll get to where you are as soon as possible." Doc Brown said, "You must prevent Biff from tampering with the time machine, he could alter the timeline once again."

   "Assuming that he already had done that, " He replied nervously, keeping one hand holding onto the bumper while the other held the walkie talkie, "Assuming I don't succeed in stopping him?"

   "We must succeed." Doc replied flatly.

   "This is getting heavier by the second." Marty Sr. sighed.

__________

   After a few minutes of driving, the car finally stopped. Marty realized that they were in the outskirts of Hill Valley where there were only a few cars passing by. It was now dark with only a few lights illuminating the road. Jim had parked the car on the sidewalk and turned off the engine before going outside.

Marty stepped down from his hoverboard, unable to feel his legs after squatting for a long period of time. He switched it off then strapped it to his arm before crouching down behind the car, keeping an eye on the teen who was walking towards a man waiting for him on the sidewalk.

It was Biff.

   The two began conversing, with Jim looking less enthusiastic about his uncle's plan. Marty, from afar, watched the two walk a few steps away from the sidewalk and behind the bushes. Marty moved closer, using the darkness and the bushes as his cover.

Biff removed some bushes to the side and revealed a car that had gull wing doors and silver-painted body.

The DeLorean Time Machine Duplicate.

Marty's heart leapt with excitement, he frantically looked around, searching for a landmark to pinpoint his location. He noticed a very familiar billboard opposite where they were. "Doc, we're out here near the same billboard you parked the DeLorean back in 1955!" He radioed in.

"I'm on my way with an ETA of fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen minutes? I don't think we have that much time!" He whispered.

"Marty, what would you expect from a scientist who's almost a hundred years old riding a bike?"

   A sudden clarity dashed on Marty's face, "Sorry, I forgot about that."

   "For the meantime, keep them distracted."

   "How am I supposed to do that?" Marty shook his head, thinking of a way to stall them.

   "They're Tannens, they always get distracted with the simplest of things."