HILL VALLEY ¹, back to the future

xxiii. save the clock tower

➩ 𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟: 𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕔𝕙𝕦𝕔𝕜 𝕓𝕖𝕣𝕣𝕪

PULLING THE CAR car up to the center of courthouse square, Doc was now rushing himself upon their arrival. "You're late! Do you have no concept of time?"

"Do I really need to answer that for you? It's Marty, we're talking about here," Amanda teased for her friend to shove her playfully as a response.

The three of them began pulling away the blanket covering the Delorean as Marty explained himself. "Hey, come on! We had to change! I couldn't go back in that-that zoot suit." Amanda laughed over the comment as he hurriedly explained to Doc success of the first part of the night. "The old man really came through, it worked. He laid out Biff in one punch, I didn't know he had it in him. He's never stood up to Biff in his life."

Doc. continued to look to him confused explaining this, examining the photograph to see no changes and everything back to how it originally was. "Never?"

The look of concern and focus their friend had on hearing this caused for the young girl to wonder if there was something else they needed to take into account. "No. Why? What's the matter?" She asked him as Doc continued to seem to think about the subject.

Instead of trying to reason it out any longer, he waved a hand and put the photo back into Marty's jacket pocket. "Let's set your destination time. This is the exact time you left." Doc then changed the time using the keypad on the dash. "Let's send you back at exactly the same time. It'll be like you never left."

He stepped out of the car once again to motion to them up the street far ahead. "Now, I painted a white line on the street way over there. That's where you'll start from. I've calculated the precise distance, taking into account the acceleration speed and wind resistance retroactive from the moment the lightning strikes-" The three of them looked to the intricately detailed alarm clock he was going to place into the Delorean that was meant to be synchronized to the watch on his wrist. "Which will be in exactly 7 minutes and 22 seconds. When this alarm goes off, you hit the gas."

Marty and Amanda nodded understandingly. "Right."

He placed the clock onto the front of the Delorean before turning to them, seemingly satisfied with the set up of everything hoping it would work out smoothly. "Well, I guess that's everything."

"Thanks," Marty told him and Amanda looked over to see him still wondering about what was going to happen when they went back.

She smiled up to Doc as well. "For everything."

He beamed at the two of them unaware. "Thank you." Instead of speaking much of anything else, the teenagers both hugged him tightly one last time as a goodbye to which he reacted rather surprised as a result. "See you both in about thirty years."

Marty looked to her briefly with their knowledge on the future hoping to reach him in time to make the idea come to fruition. "I hope so."

Not really understanding what was meant by this, Doc continued to speak loudly to the pair over the wind that was beginning to grow worse as they stood in the streets in front of the clock tower. "Don't worry!" He rushed over to gesture to the wire hanging by the street poles high ahead. "As long as you hit that wire with the connecting hook at precisely 88 miles per hour, the instant the lighting strikes the tower- everything will be fine."

Pulling open the door as Marty went around to the passenger side, Amanda stepped up to the driver's seat. "All right." Marty felt for her hand to have her look over to him confused. Seeing instead Doc now pulling open the letter written back at Lou's café, he waved it before them concerned to have both wish he'd seen it at least after they'd gone.