NEXUS: Catching Up To Do (playercest)

[museicalmarty]

(Follows from here: Frostbite Reunites Doc and MartyThe little diner Frostbite took Doc to during her brief human LOL isn't too far from the sign. Marty looks around as he enters the place. "Looks cool -- kind of old-fashioned, though," he says, smiling a little. "Kind of like those pictures of Lou's Cafe Mom and Dad showed me once

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[clockwork_doc]

Doc grins back at Marty as he scans the diner for a place to sit. "That's near exactly what I thought when Frostbite brought me here. It really is nice, though. And it has great pie. Though I'm sure there's more substantial food if you want it."

He locates a nice-looking booth and steers Marty over. "I don't think you actually answered my first question -- how'd you get here?" he adds as they sit down.

[museicalmarty]

"I'll have to see the menu," Marty says as he slides into the booth. "Though yeah, I am pretty hungry. Haven't gotten much of a chance to eat."

"Stumbled out of the Hedge," he explains as they get settled. "Apparently part of it opens up into this Nexus place instead of Arcadia. Only arrived about ten, twenty minutes ago?" He shrugs. "When did you first get here?"

[clockwork_doc]

Concerned Doc is concerned. "When is the last time you ate?" he asks, frowning. "I understand the last time I saw you, we were both running for our lives, but. . . ." He pauses, picking up a menu. "Marty, how much time has passed for you since I -- disappeared?" He wonders how much Frostbite explained to the kid. Talking to him about the Rift isn't going to be easy. "Because -- it's been almost a year for me. Not just in the Nexus, either."

[museicalmarty]

The question about food gets lost in Marty staring at his friend in shock. "Almost a year?" he repeats, disbelieving. "Doc, it's -- it's been like two, three days for me! What the hell?"

He shakes his head. "Okay, okay, why don't we both start from the beginning, all right? Frostbite and this other guy I ran into before she showed up said you got sucked into this other dimension's Chicago. What happened there? They said you got -- weather control?"

[clockwork_doc]

"I take it has something to do with the Nexus," Doc says. "It's apparently a meeting place of all times as well as all universes -- it's not inconceivable we ended up there at different points in our histories

[museicalmarty]

"That's just freaking weird," Marty says with a frown.

He listens to Doc's story intently, looking quite amazed. "Holy shit," he says as Doc wraps it up. "That's -- that's heavy, Doc. Here I was thinking Arcadia was the weirdest shit somebody could go through. . . ." He grins. "But you can remember your past now? That's awesome! Less awesome that you had to fall into another reality to get it all back, but still. . . ."

Then he frowns. "Hey, wait -- that other guy said he'd come through the Rift too, and you guys had already gone home. That more of this Nexus time-travel bullshit? Or am I gonna find another Doc waiting for me back in Hill Valley?"

[clockwork_doc]

"So did I," Doc agrees, smirking. "But Chicago. . . Well, it doesn't have Fae, but it does have it's own unique native subspecies of humans. People who can do magic, people who can shapeshift into animals, people who inspire others. . . . Most prominent, though, are the angels and demons. Apparently they're not the biblical sort, just two groups with wings driven to do good and evil respectively." He frowns. "Though, really, from what I've seen, they're not all that different. Especially when they're fighting. I managed to come in right at the beginning of a major war, and -- it wasn't pretty." He shakes his head. "Thankfully that's calmed down, though now we've got other issues to deal with

[museicalmarty]

"Angels and demons?" Marty repeats, stunned. "Holy shit. And -- a war? Doc, why don't you just get out of there? I mean -- what's stopping you from -- coming back home?" There's a slightly desperate note to his voice. He can't help it -- he misses his best friend. Especially under the current circumstances.

Oh, yeah, they were going to eat at some point, weren't they? Marty looks at his own menu. "The chicken pot pie sounds good," he says. "And I'll take Pepsi if you've got it, Coke if you don't."

The waitress nods, scribbles it all down, then takes their menus and heads for the back.

[clockwork_doc]

"It's complicated," Doc says, leaning forward on the table. "The war's over now, thankfully. The angel leading it against the demons was killed in action after killing a civilian. She'd gone more than a little nuts in her insistence that a demon who was trying to rise above his calling and actually help some people was still deserving of death. She was one of the big ones, a First who'd been around ages, so her death had a big impact on everyone. After that, they decided all the death wasn't worth it and worked out a peace treaty. Incidents still happen, of course, but it's not the 'one side versus the other' mentality of before." He shakes his head. "A lot of Wanderers got pulled into that battle unnecessarily. I'm glad it's over." Of course, now there's a CLF running around targeting EVERYBODY, but we'll save that for later

[museicalmarty]

"Everything about that world sounds complicated," Marty says, rolling his eyes a little. "That sounds like it sucked, Doc. I'm glad you got out of it okay."

"I know you didn't," Marty replies, voice soft. "Can't blame you for being sucked through some mysterious Rift. Not like you actually wanted to go to Chicago." He sighs. "You can't get back at all? I mean, I could bring you to where I came out, see if you can get back through there. . .though if you don't want to go through the Hedge again, I won't blame you." Marty knows all about Doc's problems with that particular part of Arcadia.

[clockwork_doc]

"It is," Doc nods. "I believe the best way of summing it all up is to note that there's this one coffee shop that has blown up or burned down four times so far. And yet, they keep rebuilding it. It's amazing."

"I've tried pretty much everything," Doc nods. "Nothing's worked so far. Though after we're done here, maybe we can try the Hedge." He grimaces a little. "I don't particularly like going back in there, granted, but it might be worth the effort."

He leans forward a little. "Now, what happened to you? You implied earlier you made it back home! What were you doing back in the Hedge?"

[museicalmarty]

"Seriously? That's just nuts."

Marty takes a deep breath. Time to drop the bombshell. "Well, after you disappeared, I managed to get the briar wolves chasing me stuck in a swamp. Then I just kept on running for my life until, out of nowhere, I fell out a closet in the basement of the clock tower." He can't help but smirk a little as he remembers finding himself fighting a mop. "I was all happy at first, waiting for you, but. . .well, now I know why you didn't show up, at least. After a while, the entrance to the Hedge disappeared and I decided I might as well go home. You know, see the folks again, maybe get some help on finding you. . . ."

He stops for a few minutes, looking at the table. This is harder than he thought. When he looks back up, his eyes are a little watery. "When I got there -- I saw myself skateboarding up to the house. And none of my family realized it wasn't actually me. I -- I dunno what they did, Doc, but -- according to everybody else, we never went missing at all."

[clockwork_doc]

See Doc. See Doc stare. See Doc's staring get interrupted by the waitress bringing the food out. "Is everything okay?" she asks, looking between them.

Doc swallows. "Fine," he rasps out. "Really, we're -- good." The waitress looks dubious, but nods and goes about her business. Doc continues staring at Marty. "They -- you saw yourself? Are you sure you didn't somehow come back before you left or something like that?"

[museicalmarty]

Marty grimaces. This is not fun. At least they have food now. "Yeah, I saw me," he confirms. "At least, it looked like me. Before Carlos got to me, anyway. You too -- I swung by your garage to see, and there you were, playing with a dog. Don't think he noticed me." He shakes his head. "I checked the date on the newspapers first thing, Doc. It was October 30th, 1985. Or, at least, that's what the paper I found in the garbage said. Could have been later. But definitely 1985." He looks down at his chicken pot pie. "I was talking to some people about it when I got there -- I mean, it was on my mind, the sign said 'ask a question. . .' I'm guessing Andrew and Carlos made copies of us out of -- something -- and made them think they were the real deal." He sniffles a little, trying not to cry again. "So -- yeah. That big reunion I was expecting? Not gonna happen, I don't think."

[clockwork_doc]

Doc slumps back in his chair, eating temporarily forgotten. His world is shattering around him. He'd gotten used to Chicago -- he'd even started calling it "home." But at the back of his mind, there was always the hope they'd reverse the Rift, and he'd go back and reclaim the life the Fae had stolen from him. Now. . . "I don't have anything to go back for," he whispers. "My entire life's -- gone."

He hears Marty sniffling and goes over to comfort him, steam hissing out his back as he does. "Damn it, kid, I'm so sorry," he murmurs, wrapping Marty in a hug. "I know this has got to be tougher on you than me." At least he has a chance at a new life in Chicago. What the hell is his friend supposed to do?

[museicalmarty]

Marty hugs back, squeezing his eyes shut until he's sure he's gotten the tears under control. "I just wanted to see them again, Doc," he says, voice cracking a little. "I wanted my family back. And they never even knew I wasn't there anymore." He sighs deeply. "This really goddamn sucks."

He finally gets himself under control and looks up, eyes still a little watery. "Doc -- do you think I could come live with you? In that Chicago? I mean -- if my family's got that other me, and you've got that other you. . . ."