Self

Marty had but one question to ask. "Hey Doc, what would happen… if I met myself?

The scientist looked over, wide-eyed. "What?"

Marty, who had been staring at the pavement, looked over to Doc. "What if I met myself? What would happen?"

Doc shook his head. "I already told you that, remember? There are two possibilities. One; you would simply pass out from shock. Two; the encounter could create a time paradox, and unravel the fabric of the entire Universe! Of course, I also said that's a worse-case scenario, the destruction could be limited to our galaxy."

Marty nodded, though he wasn't surprised. After all, he heard it before (though after would be more precise, that event was almost thirty years into the future). "Yeah… but what if I planned to meet myself?"

Doc looked into the distance. Then, he slowly turned his head. "If you planned it?"

"Yeah."

Doc made a face; a thinking face. "Well… that's completely different. If you planned it to happen, it might not necessarily rip up the universe."

Marty looked around at the Lone Pine Mall parking lot. "I think I want to give it a try."

Doc thought it over for a moment, and then smiled. "Now, you're thinking fourth-dimensionally."

Marty went over to the newly reconstructed DeLorean. "So, say five minutes from now, I'll travel back to this moment?"

Doc suddenly became flustered. "No no no, that won't work at all. If you come back now, you'll distract yourself from the idea. Come back later, say… two minutes from now."

"Okay." Marty said. He leaned inside the DeLorean and flipped a switch. A moment later, the lights on the time circuit display lit, showing various times. Marty looked at the display, showing the current time. 10:28 he thought.

Marty looked down at the keypad, and started to input numbers onto the key pad. A moment later the displays changed, showing a destination time of 10:30.

"That oughta do it." Marty muttered to himself. Exiting the DeLorean he looked back over at Doc. "So how are we going to do this?"

"Well Marty, we'll have to take extra care not to notice yourself arriving back at the point in time. We won't have to worry about right now, as it hasn't happened in the original timeline. But the other you will." Doc nodded. "So, this is more so for the other you than it is for… you."

"Got it."

"And don't worry, as soon as you travel into the past, the world will change around me. That means that I will remember what happened." Doc wagged a finger, "I'll know if you did anything wrong."

Marty nodded again. "Sure, sure."

Doc looked into the DeLorean. "The time is 10:28, destination time is 10:30… it probably won't matter what time you depart. But just to be safe, I'll let you know when it's 10:33."

"Okay. So now what?"

"Let's start going through the motions. Mind you once the clock strikes 10:30, we won't speak. Save the conversation for future you." He motioned behind him. "We'll face that direction when the future you arrives, that way we can't see the exact point you arrive at; it will be easier that way. We'll turn around, and we'll see you. We'll go over there and talk for a bit. Then, you'll get in the DeLorean and leave."

"Wait… won't there be two DeLoreans?" Marty asked. "Which one should I get in?"

Doc nodded, "Yes, if you get into the one that you came in, that would be a time paradox. You'll have to enter through this one here." he pointed to the one at their side. "To be safe, when you come back, hide the future DeLorean behind the bus." he pointed to the large white bus nearby.

Marty nodded. "Okay, and what else should I do when I get back?"

Doc mauled it over for a moment. "When you park the DeLorean, come around the front side of the bus. Once you get there, holler. Out past selves – right now that's us – will turn around and come to future you. We'll… talk for a bit. And then, you will get in this DeLorean and go back in time."

"All right, I think I got it."

Doc looked at his watch. "It's 10:29… and forty-five seconds. Let's turn around now."

They did so, facing away from the mall. The DeLorean was at their backs, and to the right was the bus.

"One more thing, when the Delorean comes through, don't look in its direction."

"Got it."

"In five seconds…" Doc counted off, "four… three… two… one… mark."

The clock struck 10:30, and nothing happened. However, for half a minute they did nothing. Then they turned, and went toward the front corner of the bus.

For about three minutes they stood. It was hard to do so, but it was for the sake of the experiment. And for the survival of the space-time continuum.

Doc gave Marty a nudge, signalling it was 10:33. Marty turned around and headed for the DeLorean.

Stepping inside, he started up the engine. Pulling back, he started to drive down toward the end of the parking lot.

Turning the car around, he focused on his destination, around the white bus. Hitting the gas, the car screamed down the parking lot. As soon as the DeLorean hit 88 miles per hour, it disappeared, leaving a pair of fire trails in it's wake.

Marty didn't notice this however, as the trip was instantaneous. He slowed down the Delorean, glancing over to see Marty-P and Doc standing facing away from him.

Pulling the car behind the bus, Marty hopped out of the car. Turning everything off, he shut the door.

He walked around the front side of the bus, and as instructed, he hollered.

Immediately, Doc and Marty-P turned around. Slowly, they walked over toward Marty-F.

It wasn't until they came close that actual words were exchanged. "Greetings," Marty-F began, "I am from the future."

"I'm from the past. It's ahhhh… a pleasure to meet you." Marty-P said, nonchalantly.

Marty-F nodded, extending his hand. "We have a lot to talk about."

Marty-P returned the handshake, "And so little time to do it in."

Doc was smiling stupidly, something he normally didn't do. I've heard of talking to yourself, but this is just ridiculous.

It was then Marty-P turned toward the man. "Hey Doc, have you met Marty yet?"

Doc shook his head, a little apprehensive. "No I have not, I'm afraid I haven't caught up with his time." Doc smiled, "But I bet I will meet him soon." he winked.

Marty-F turned to Marty-P, "So… how's it feel to be the first man to meet himself?"

Marty-P thought about it for a moment, "It feels great."

"As great as when we invented rock and roll?"

"Nope."

"As great as making it back to 1985. You know… that first time?"

"I still can't believe it worked!"

"Yeah. You remember when the DeLorean stopped working. And I... we... were like, 'Oh no!'"

"You have no idea what I had to do at the clocktower." the scientist put in.

Both Martys turned around. "What happened?" they said in unison.

"The cord unplugged at the pole. I had to zipline down to fix it. And not a moment too late, at that precise moment, lightning struck the clocktower."

Marty-P then said, "And then I came running around the corner, saying I came back from the future."

Marty-F followed it up, "And then sometime later, we wen't back to 1885."

Marty-F felt at his neck, "And we got hanged..."

Marty-P also grabbed at his neck, "Almost..."

"The future was nice though."

Marty-P shook his head, "That Cafe 80's was kinda... messed up."

"Yeah, and that fact that Biff stole the almanac."

"Oh, don't remind me man." Marty-P shook his head.

"Oh, but Doc knocked him a good one with the door." Marty-F laughed.

"That was great." the other Marty nodded.

"Ahem." Doc finally said, pointing to his watch.

Marty-P turned around to look at the man. "Oh, right." He turned back to Marty-F, "Sorry, I gotta go."

Marty-F nodded. "Yep. See you… later." He laughed.

Marty-P turned, and went over to the DeLorean. Climbing in, he started the engine. Driving down toward the end of the parking lot, he whirled the car around. He then accelerated the car to 88 miles per hour. In a flash, Marty-P was gone, leaving Marty with Doc.

They were silent for a moment, before Doc blinked. "That went well." he nodded.

Marty grinned, "That was really fun."

Doc nodded, looking back at the fire trails. "So it seems, if you did plan to meet yourself, doing so would not result in a universe destroying paradox…" He ran a finger under his chin in thought, "Interesting…"

Marty looked over toward Doc, noting a certain look in the man's eyes. "Doc? What are you thinking?"

Doc started moving. He went past Marty, around the front of the bus, and to the other side. He looked at the DeLorean for a moment, before looked at Marty. He raised an eyebrow and grinned, "Now I want to try."