Wednesday, May 7, 1597
London, England
3:08 p.m.
THE next thing they knew, they found themselves over 1597 London. The streets were muddy-looking and most of the roofs were thatched. Then, there they were, Jules and Verne dragging Shakespeare out of a tavern. Doc recognized the place. "It's the Boar's-Head Tavern." he said, "It was referenced in both plays of King Henry the Fourth and the play King Henry the Fifth." He set the DeLorean down in an alleyway not far from the tavern. The "Present Time" indicator read 3:10 p.m. meaning that Jules and Verne had now gone back to the future with William Shakespeare. "Okay Marty." said Doc, "Let's drag Mr. Shakespeare back to the bar." "Right with you, Doc." said Marty as he and the Doc got the man out of the car and carried him back to the tavern. On their way, Marty asked "Hey Doc. Who is this young Tannen?" "He's the son of Sir Tannen." said Doc, "Sir Tannen is known as the 'Holy Terror of London'." "And I gather he's one of Biff's ancestors." said Marty. "That's correct." said Doc, "Here's the entrance. Now Marty, all we have to do is to sit him down at a barstool and leave. When he wakes up, he'll realize that his trip to the future was nothing but a dream." "Right, Doc." said Marty. Entering the tavern, the two took Shakespeare to the bar and sat him down. Turning to the bartender, Doc said "I assumed you know this man." "Of course." said the tavern owner, "What hath happened to the two lads who were here with him?" "We sent them off after we overheard their plans for him." said Doc, "They won't be any problems now." After sitting the unconscience man on a stool, Doc turned to Marty and said "Let's get back to the future." "Right, Doc." said Marty. As they were getting ready to leave, when they encountered a bearded man looking a lot like Biff. He had three men with him. "Hey McFly." he said "I toldeth thee to never darken this tavern again." "Biff?" asked Marty. "That's not Biff." whispered Doc. "Hey." said the Biff look-alike, "You're not Sir McFly, but thou doth bear a resemblance of him." "That's Sir Tannen." whispered Doc. Marty turned to Sir Tannen saying "You're Sir Tannen." "That's right, knave." said Tannen, "And your name?" "You're the 'Holy Terror of London'." The customers in the bar retreated back. There was anger in Sir Tannen's face. "Marty." whispered Doc, "You don't call him that to his face." "Now you tell me." said Marty as Sir Tannen said "Nobody calls me that. Nobody. Especially some McFly look-a-like." He reached for his fencing foil and said "If thou hath a rapier, draw it." "I'm not armed." said Marty. "Well then, that's too bad." said Sir Tannen, "Dance!" He swung his sword at Marty who started jumping. "Dance!" repeated Sir Tannen swinging his sword again making Marty jump higher. Then, Marty started dancing and dancing with every swing. Then, it was the Michael Jackson moonwalk in which Marty started muttering "Billy-Jean. In my love. Billy-Jean. In my love..." Then, he made a spin and stomped his foot on the floor causing a plank to go up flipping an urn that was sitting there. The urn landed on Sir Tannen splattering wine all over him. Sir Tannen was enraged at this. He swung his foil furiously at Marty who fell down. His assailant was ready to make the fine thrust when Doc came from behind and hit him over the head by a bottle. Sir Tannen turned to him when Marty got up, picked up a chair and hit him over the head with it. The next thing that happened was that the whole ordeal had turned into a bar room brawl with it being Doc and Marty versus Sir Tannen and his gang of three. The two time travelers were outnumbered however, causing Marty to be knocked out. "And now, knave," said Tannen turning to Doc, "It's us against thee." "Stand thy ground, Sir Tannen." said a voice. It was Shakespeare's. He had come too, and had a foil in his hand pointing it at the aggressor. He's awake said Doc to himself, This terrible. "Stay out of this, Mr. Will." said Sir Tannen, "This between us and this old man and his young friend." Shakespeare looked at Doc asking "Doth I knowest thee?" "Not really." said Doc. Shakespeare noticed Marty on the floor and said "This gentleman seems familiar to me too." Turning to Sir Tannen, he asked "What cause hath they brought anger to thee?" Sir Tannen pointed to the unconscience Marty saying "This young knave hath insult me by calling me the 'Holy Terror of London'. A word that I don't like." "Thou deserveth it." said Shakespeare, "In fact, that youth that you knocked out is now the new Romeo. I woke up from a dream just now. In it, I saw my play perform'd by someone resembling this youth. And he played Romeo and didst not pause." Oh no! said Doc to himself, this is not what I had in mind for Marty! "What about my son?" asked Sir Tannen. "He sacked." said Shakespeare, "I will not allow players who pause too much to be on my stage." "My son pauses?" exclamed Sir Tannen. "Yes he does." said Shakespeare, "Take your men, go back to your home and inform your son of his termination." "We're not through yet, Mr. Will." said Sir Tannen, "You'll be sorry." After that, Sir Tannen and his men left the tavern. Shakespeare turned to Doc who was kneeling over Marty. "He's out cold." said Doc. Shakespeare turned to the tavern owner saying "Go fetch someone." "I'll fetch Sir Baines." said the tavern owner, "He owes me some favors." He went out. Minutes later he came back with some men saying "Sir Baines has agree to let the youth lodge at his place until he comes about." "Very good." said Shakespeare. Turning to Doc, he said "You may accompany the youth." "Good." said Doc. After that, Doc followed the men carrying Marty to Sir Baines' house.
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When Marty woke up, he noticed a familiar looking female nearby. "Mom?" he asked, "Mom? Is that you?" The woman approached him. Putting a compressor on his forehead, she said "There, there. Now relax. You've been asleep for three hours now." "I just had the worst nightmare, mom." said Marty, "I dreamt that I was in a barroom brawl with Biff. And there was this guy looking like William Shakespeare sleeping through the whole damn thing. It was terrible." "Well thou art safe and sound now." said the woman, "And back in Sir Baines' house." "Sir Baines' house?" exclaimed Marty as his eyes bulged wide open. He sat up. The oil light went up revealing the woman that Marty was speaking too. She did look a lot like his mother. But the clothing she wore was of the Elizabethan era. "Why, you're my...my..." said Marty trailing off, "Who are you?" "My name is Mistress Baines." said the woman, "Sir Baines' wife." "Sir Baines?" asked Marty. Then, a knock was heard. "My wife." asked a voice, "It sounds like our guest is awake." Mistress Baines got up to open the door. A young man, came in. He was wearing the men's version of the Elizabethan era. He looked at Marty saying "Very good. Thou art awake." Then, a familiar voice was heard. "Marty." it said. It was the Doc's. Seeing him come in, Marty said "Doc." Doc turned to the attending couple asking them "Can you leave us for a minute?" The couple agreed. After they were gone, Marty said "That's great, Doc. You look alright for a man who participated in a barroom brawl." "Why thank you, Marty." said Doc. "You're welcome, Doc." said Marty, "Now we can go back to the future." "Not so fast, Marty." said Doc, "We've got a problem." "What kind of a problem, Doc?" asked Marty. "Mr. Shakespeare wants you to perform Romeo here in London." "What?" exclaimed Marty. "That's right Marty." said Doc, "After you were knocked out, he came too and realized that his trip to the future was a dream, especially your performance. However, the 'dream' inspired him to pick you as the new Romeo." "Well, at least he's convinced that what happened to him was a dream." said Marty, "Who was supposed to play Romeo the first time?" "Sir Tannen's son." said Doc. "Sir Tannen's son?" repeated Marty, "No shit." "And I'm playing a Montague again." said Doc, "I've replaced Sir Tannen in that role as well." "But, there's no Clara to play your wife in this era." said Marty. "I know, Marty." said Doc, "And even if she was here, any chance of her playing Lady Montague in this point in time would be academic. Remember our discussion when you brought up the subject on why William Shakespeare was upset at Jennifer playing Juliet?" "Yes I do, Doc." said Marty. Then, he askeid "Doc are you saying that Juliet's role gonna be played by a guy?" "Precisely, Marty." said Doc, "That's how the plays were done in Shakespeare's day." Marty looked up at the roof saying "Jesus Christ. Doc, what do we do? I'm not comfortable playing a major role in which my 'leading lady' is a guy." "There's always a first time, Marty." said Doc. Marty lay there for a minute. Then he said "This whole thing's my fault. If I hadn't called Sir Tannen the 'Holy Terror of London' none of this wouldn't of happened and Shakespeare would've been convinced that his trip into our time would've been a dream." "It's my fault too, Marty." said Doc, "I should've warned you about him before you said that." Then, a knock was heard. The door opened and there was Shakespeare. "So, thou art awake." he said seeing Marty, "Rest up, young man. Thou needest thy sleep. In the morning, thou two shall have a light rehearsal and in the morning. Thou shalt be in mine play." "Your play?" asked Marty. "Of course." said Shakespeare, "And now, I must take my leave of you both. Till the sun rises and radiates it's light upon this globe, I bid thee both good night and good repose." After that, Shakespeare left. Marty turned to Doc saying "Doc. We're not going to be in that play tomorrow. We've gotta get the hell back to the future. By rights, we should be back now." "Marty." said Doc, "You're forgetting. We came here in a time machine. We could go back to that precise moment we left whenever we please." "And how about our being in the play tomorrow?" asked Marty. "I doubt that our appearance onstage would effect future events. I've given them assumed identities." "Like whom?" asked Marty. "I told Shakespeare that you're Lawrence Olivier and I'm Richard Burton." "That'll help." said Marty. "Now Marty," said Doc, "Get some rest." "Okay Doc." said Marty. After that, Doc left dimming the lights. In the dark, Marty said "This is heavy. 'O, that this too too solid flesh would melt'..." He closed his eyes and went to sleep.
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Sir Tannen was not finished with the sudden injustice done to him and his son. His men came back with a jar. Sir Tannen examined it. "So this is rat poison." he said, "Very good. Tomorrow before the final scene, I want the water that Olivier is supposed to drink be replaced by the real poison." After that, his henchmen left. Sir Tannen looked out the window saying "Olivier, when thou dost sayest 'Here's to my love!', the drugs shall be quick. Thus with a kiss, thou shalt die." He started to laugh. Sir Tannen was the most vengful Tannen of them all.