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…I’ve really gotta learn not to play around temporal hot zones without safety precautions, Doc sighed to himself.
He wasn’t sure where or when he had ended up after a power surge had ended up activating the updated upgrades to the Time Train that he had been working on—all that he knew was that the Time Train’s power surge had ejected him from the engine controls, sending him across time and space. He had ended up somewhere inhabited—whether it was on Earth or a human space colony was anyone’s guess.
Trying to get his bearings had led to a number of concerned local residents assuming him to be out of his mind; before he’d even had a chance to explain himself, he had been whisked away to a facility, restrained in a straightjacket, and thrown into a padded cell. Through bits and pieces he had heard from the two guards outside his cell, he had ended up somewhere ironically named Neo Serenity, led by someone who, upon receiving word of Doc’s arrival, had insisted he remain locked up until the foreseeable future, until he had a chance to personally interrogate him.
Well… that’s not good, he noted.
He was no escape artist; he wasn’t going to be able to extricate himself from this straightjacket, let alone the locked cell. His only chance would be pleading his case—if only someone would be willing to hear him out, even that ill-tempered leader …!
Well, no. There was one other chance—one that had incredibly low odds, and yet seemed more probable than whatever Doc could hope for with his captors.
Once again, he struggled in vain against the straightjacket.
“Neo… Serenity…” he quietly scoffed, as he tried to wriggle himself even the slightest bit loose. “That’s… a laugh…”
He trailed off, freezing as the viewing door to his cell opened; he had no idea who was looking in on him, but he knew all too well that the cold, hate-filled eyes couldn’t possibly be Marty’s.
It was a stranger’s gaze upon him—he could tell as the cold expression now took on perplexion, as well. But the stranger’s gaze still sent a cold chill down Doc’s spine.
“He is not the one,” the stranger said, losing interest almost immediately. “His insistence at ending up here by accident is clearly true—the Time Vortex is of that nature. I know. And if he has no idea how he arrived here, he will have no idea how to leave—he is of no use to me. Do with him what you will—just make sure it is not too messy or expensive, huh?”
…That didn’t sound good either. Even as the stranger stormed off, the two lackeys were left behind discussing just what to do—and Doc despaired as he realized that just being let out was nowhere among their suggestions.
And then, through the tiny viewing window, Doc gave a start as he saw the first guard suddenly get punched in the face and fall over, knocked out; the sound of a second punch and a second person hitting the floor followed, and then a keycard activated the lock.
“Doc…!”
And Doc just sighed and shut his eyes in relief, now calm and no longer worried, even though Marty was, understandably, very distressed upon seeing him writhing on the floor in a straightjacket.
Doc was soon freed, and even as he got to his feet, Marty hugged him tightly—an ironic move considering Doc had just been restrained, but Doc didn’t mind now. He merely returned the gesture.
“I knew you’d get here eventually—although I’m certainly glad it was sooner rather than later,” he mused.
“Are you okay, Doc…!?” Marty asked. “What happened!?”
“Temporal power surge,” Doc sighed. “You’d think I’d have taken some sort of precautions against it by now… Well, that’ll be the next thing I do as soon as we get back home.” He paused. “How did you find me? It was almost as though you knew exactly where the power surge had sent me.”
“I did…” Marty said. “I hooked up the DeLorean’s Flux Capacitor to the Time Train’s, and I was able to get the reading of where you ended up. This place is apparently called Neo Serenity, but there’s nothing really serene about it.”
“You noticed that, too?” Doc asked, dryly. “I, for one, am ready to take my leave of it right here and now.”
“Well, uh, about that,” Marty sighed, as they headed out of the cell and down the corridor. “You’re going to have to wait a bit—and trek a bit. …I had to leave the DeLorean in the desert outside of the town; I didn’t want to risk someone getting their hands on it.”
“I’ll settle for getting out of this facility, then,” Doc countered. “How did you get past the guards to get in? We can take that way out.”
“I, uh… I kinda caused a diversion outside to draw their attention.”
Doc arched an eyebrow as he noted the sheepish tone growing in Marty’s voice.
“Marty…” he said, in a very familiar, paternal tone. “What did you do…?”
“Doc, I didn’t have much to work with, and I had to get in to get you out…”
“Marty…?”
“…I might have set a hovercraft on fire.”
Doc sighed.
“I’ll postpone the ‘Arson Is Not a Catch-All Answer’ lecture for later since I am grateful for the rescue—”
“I picked one close to a fire hydrant!”
“…Where did you learn this from—? …Don’t answer that,” Doc interrupted himself, as Marty gave him an accusatory look. “Let’s just focus on getting out of here for now.”
He led the way out, if only to try to hide the mixed look of pride and amusement from Marty—who wasn’t fooled for a minute, but was too grateful to have Doc back to point it out.