"Back to the Ides of March"

SYNOPSIS: The soothsayer told Julius Caesar to beware the Ides of March, his wife Calpurnia told him to stay home, and a teen-aged time traveler from the future tried to warn him about Brutus. But Caesar wouldn't listen to any of them. Wait a minute! you say. Teen-aged time traveler? That's right my friend. This latest story takes Doc and Marty back in time to the Ides of March. March 15, 44 BC to be exact. The story starts with Marty receiving a visit from Doc. The Doc Brown from the year 1956. He tells Marty how he discovered the DeLorean in an archeological digging in Italy in 1956. After hearing the story about how the time machine was refurbished and his arrival in 1986, he shows Marty the letter that the 1986 Doc wrote in the past. It read that Doc was testing the new "AD - BC" indicator on the time circuits and forgot to bring extra manure with him. Stranded in 44 BC, Doc wins the appeal of Caesar and helps as an assistant on improving the public works of Rome as a front while he gathered enough money to buy some new manure. Unfortunatley, he discovers that Mr. Fusion was configured for a certain kind of manure. The horses have to graze in America which wasn't to be discovered for the next 1536 years, 4 months and 27 days. But he has become adept in using his own genius in improving the outhouses and draining sewers without disrupting future events. But then, he was coerced by Brutus, Cassius and the other conspirators againts Caesar to join the conspiracy to kill him. Doc hid the DeLorean in an abandoned catacomb along with the two notes, (one for the Doc Brown of 1956, and the other for Marty) a map of Rome, information of what time period the 1956 Doc should go to to restore the DeLorean to mint condition, schematics to replace any circuits that needed replacing and some valuables which would be worth millions in the future for his 1956 self to discover and restore knowing that not even the Christians would be using that cavern. After hearing 1956 Doc's story and reading his letters, Marty gets ready to go back in time to rescue the present-day Doc. With Mr. Fusion loaded and with extra manure brought along, the time circuits are set for the day before the Ides of March and Marty gets in. Clara agrees to take the 1956 Doc back to his own time while Marty goes back to pick up her husband. Once there, Marty sends the time machine over one day into the future and goes into Rome. In the city, Marty goes into a tavern and meets Brutus and the conspirators. Marty notices that Brutus looks like Biff. But then, he tells Brutus that he knows he's going to kill Caesar and is chased out of the tavern. After wild chariot race through town, Marty hits a bump in the road and is flung into a swimming pool. There he discovers that he has interrupted a woman's bath and gets out only to slip on the pavement and bump his head on a tree knocking himself out. He's out all day and all night and when he wakes up the next day, he discovers that he's in the house of Julius Caesar and the woman whose bath he interrupted was his wife, Calpurnia. He also discovers that it was now the Ides of March and that he didn't have much time to find Doc and take him back to the future. Just then, the conspirators arrive and Doc's with them. Overjoyed in seeing Marty in Caesar's house and alright, Doc tells him that he's going to make an excuse to Brutus not to go with them when Marty tells him to take his time because the time machine won't arrive until 10:04 a.m. Shocked, Doc tells Marty that Caesar's murder takes place between 9 and 9:30 a.m. and that he's now stuck with accompanying the conspirators to the Senate where they will murder Caesar. Marty tries to stop his friend when he gets sleep-induced. When he awakes, he goes out to the Senate to stop Doc only to realize that it was too late. Caesar was being stabbed and Doc is ready for his turn when Brutus steps in and stabs the victim. Caesar dies and Doc never gets the chance to stab him. After the assasination, Doc and Marty flee the Senate and head back to Caesar's house where the DeLorean was to make it's reappearance. Meanwhile, a distraught Calpurnia goes to Caesar's bedroom to pick up the will to give to Mark Antony and hears a strange noise outside. It's the DeLorean making it's reappearance. Then, she hears footsteps. It's Doc and Marty heading her way. Hearing that Doc was one of the conspirators, she hides in the time machine only to have the two get in as well. Setting the time circuits for 1986 and for Hill Valley, Doc flys the DeLorean away from the house only to have the car hit by one of the spears from the Praetorium Guard. The impact jars the circuits reseting it for October 21, 2015-the day Doc took Marty and Jennifer too when Doc learned that Marty jr. was to get into trouble with the law. Doc makes an obscene gesture at the guards ("I always wanted to do that." he says.)and drives it out of 44 BC. Believing that they were in 1986, Doc flies the DeLorean home. Once there, he and Marty discovers that Calpurnia has come along for the ride. What was more, she had the will of Julius Caesar. Realizing that she and the will can't stay in their time, Doc decides to take her back to 44 BC. But there's another problem: The fuel line was ripped and was leaking gasoline. Take her back now and they'll be out of gas trapping them there permanentally. Then, another discovery: A look at the time circuits told them that they had overshot 1986 and traveled into the year 2015. Not only were they in her future but theirs as well. At that moment, an aged Clara comes into the lab followed by an aged Doc putting the 1986 Doc into shock and causing both Docs to pass out. When the two Docs recover they and Marty discover that Calpurnia has taken the will and left the house. Doc sends Marty out to look for her knowing that this is not only a strange town to her but the fact that she doesn't realize that she has traveled through time. Marty finds her at the Cafe 80's. He also finds his previous self there too-being bopped on the head with a cane by Old Biff. Then, he see's Griff and his gang show up and drag Old Biff out to wax his car. Then his son, Marty Jr., shows up and the Marty in the Cafe ducks behind the counter. Griff and his gang re-enter the Cafe and confront Marty Jr., throwing him behind the counter. After seeing the other Marty emerge from the counter, the ensuing scuffle and the escape from the Cafe followed by Griff's gang, Marty burst in and gets Calpurnia out of the place. He explains to her that she's in the future and the Rome she knew no longer existed. Doc returns with the DeLorean. Apparently, the 1956 Doc forgot to request that the fuel line be refurbished as it was corroded by time and new fuel. While Doc was explaining to Marty what happened, Calpurnia puts the will into a plastic bag. The plastic bag turns out the "Blast to the Past" one that had the Sports Almanac in it. When Doc and Marty realized what she did, they get her to go back to get it out of there. However, she had to wait until the other Doc and Marty leave so she could pick it out of the garbage. But Old Biff beats her to it and follows the other Doc and Marty in a cab. The Doc and Marty that came from 44 BC take Calpurnia and follow the cab in the DeLorean to Hilldale. They're too late, however. Old Biff gets into the other DeLorean and drives back to 1955 to give the book to his younger self. There, they must go there to the most famous date in the BTTF trilogy: November 12, 1955.

Background:Gaius Julius Caesar(100-44 BC) was the most famous Roman general and statesman, conqueror of Gaul (58 - 50 BC) who brought about the effective end of the Republic. As dictator of Rome, he launched a series of political and social reforms before he was assasinated by a group of nobles in the Senate House on the Ides of March. His life was recorded in Plutach's Lives from which William Shakespeare had wrote his play Julius Caesar. However, one always wonder whatever happened to his wife Calpurnia? Hence this latest story. Roman history always fascinated me ever since reading William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. As the Old West was one of Doc Brown's favorite time periods, Ancient Rome is one of mine. And it's great to write a BTTF story for that period. And telling by the synopsis of the story, this is probably going to be one of the longer BTTF stories that I've wrote if not the longest. So far, the longest BTTF story was "Joyride to the Past" that had eight chapters-including a long Chapter 5. Originally, this story was written as a prequel to Kristen Sheley's "The Pair 'O Docs" until Kristen decided to crack down on people using her story ideas or making references to them. But it does relive "Back to the Future pt II" in which we see Calpurnia listening to the "Michael Jackson" video explaining the Chicken Fajita Pita to name a few. (Remember when Marty enters the Cafe 80's and sees a lady sitting on the counter listening to that video waiter? It's possible that it could be her.) It's also the last time that Jennifer's mother's "mod outfit" is used. Only this time it's Marty that wears it. And it causes Marty to say that Charlton Heston never wore something like that when he played Mark Antony in the 1970 movie version of Julius Caesar hence bringing a few Charlon Heston jokes like Marty escaping the conspirators by using a chariot and making it look like a chariot race from another Heston movie Ben-Hur. As for Marty being in the tavern. He orders a Tab and gets wine instead without being carded. That idea was from Bill and Ted's Excellant Adventure! when Bill and Ted got wiskey without being carded. Except Marty was non-chalant about it. Final note. This story also introduces for the first time the translator. If you read Kristen Sheley's "The Curse of the Great One", that's where it was read for the first time. The only question was when it was invented.

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