10 YEARS LATER...
It was now 1995 and a lot had changed. Every once in a while, the group still met up together and Cherry had an annual Halloween-themed birthday party with her friends coming by with plenty of cake and pizza to go around for her and her friends after Lionel's suggestion for such 10 years ago and there were plenty of adventures in between. Cherry and Lionel were now living together and Atticus had proposed to Mo after high school graduation and they were currently discussing their own plans for the future. Marty became the rockstar he had always wanted to be and had his own life with Jennifer. Occasionally, Thor and Sabrina came over to say that Drell and Hilda had missions for them, but those would be discussed at another time. Darla was able to find a new life for herself by working behind the scenes of movies as opposed to working in front of the camera like she used to before being adopted by the Fudo family. Salem was still a cat, but he showed signs of improvement and acted like a father figure to Sabrina and even helped her with witch studies, doing a bit of a role reverse of the old term "Teacher's Pet". She still missed her parents and especially Aunt Zelda, but she was happy as long as she still had people like Harvey, Chloe, Salem, Drell, Hilda, Cherry, and the others in her life over the years.
Right now, Cherry was sitting on the couch with Lionel as they watched cartoons together even though they were adults now, but had no problem in doing so. However, today was going to be a day that would change everything.
"Beavis and Butt-Head, huh?" Cherry muttered and rolled her eyes. "Cartoons aren't as good as they were in the 80s sometimes. I don't think this show's gonna last forever."
"It's been on for three years now." Lionel reminded her.
"I still don't get it," Cherry shrugged. "I guess I'm too old to understand this one."
"Maybe," shrugged Lionel. "Granted, TMNT is on its 9th season, and Turtlemania is on its way out."
"That's a good point," Cherry admitted. "A lot has changed in 10 years... we graduated and survived high school, Atticus and Mo are about to start a family, Sabrina's become a journalist, I hear Drell might retire from Head of the Witch's Council to spend more time with Hilda."
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
"Did you order pizza?" Cherry asked him.
"Not that I remember." Lionel admitted.
Cherry shrugged and soon went to get the door, looking confused as she saw a blonde teen at the door. "Sorry, we don't want any." she then said, about to shut the door in her face.
"Cherry, it's me! Darla!" The blonde girl said before the door could close all the way.
"Darla!" Lionel beamed as he poked his head over. "C'mon in, make yourself comfy!"
"I can't stay too long, but thanks." Darla smiled as she came inside.
"Sorry about that, Dimples," Cherry said to her. "I didn't recognize you without your cute little pigtails."
"Those are so 10 years ago," Darla smirked as she sat on the couch between Cherry and Lionel to talk to them. "Anyway, I thought I'd come say hello and see how you guys were doing."
"It's good to see you," Cherry said with a small smile. "You're really shaping up to be a nice and intelligent young woman outside of Hollywood."
"Thanks." Darla responded happily.
"How's your internship going in Hollywood by the way?" Lionel asked. "Anything interesting going on?"
"That's mostly why I came here," Darla explained. "Cherry, do you remember that story you wrote for your Creative Writing class in school?" she then prompted.
"You mean the one where Principal Kraft said it had no future?" Cherry rolled her eyes. "How could I forget?"
"Well, I actually submitted it to one of the directors I work under, but don't worry, I used your name," Darla began to explain what she meant. "The other directors took a look at it and they all thought it sounded interesting and had a lot of potential as a new hit movie trilogy."
"Whoa..." blinked Lionel. "That's actually pretty cool!"
"I gave them your phone number too," Darla said. "You just have to let them call you and let them know if you want your story to become a movie series or not and who knows what might come after?" she then added.
"Looks like I have a purpose in life after all than just watching and commentating on cartoons with you." Cherry said to Lionel, sounding hopeful for once.
"Hey, yeah!" Lionel responded. "Plus, we could be creative consultants too! After all, we gotta make sure these Hollywood guys get the story right!"
"Well, okay!" Cherry nodded. "If you think you're up for it."
"Of course!" Lionel replied before smirking. "After all, you're stuck with me."
"I was back in the 70s and here I am in the 90s," Cherry smirked back. "Let's make that movie deal."
"Oh, yay!" Darla cheered. "I was hoping you guys would accept the offer!"
"Well, you hoped correctly!" Lionel responded.
"Thanks, kiddo," Cherry added. "I think this could be the spark I need."
"I thought so too," Darla nodded. "Just wait for the call and I'll have my people send us a ride over to Hollywood and you can work on your movie that'll probably top Jaws or maybe even the movies I was in like when I was Gertie's twin on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial or one of the Goonies' gal pals."
"I really like this side of you, Dimples," Cherry approved. "Very mature."
"What can I say? Being raised by Atticus's family really made me into a better person," Darla admitted. "I never really had much of a family before I became a big movie star despite my young age."
"Well... you have one now." smiled Lionel warmly.
"Yes, indeed," Darla blushed and nodded. "Especially you two with the adventures and years we all shared together."
"And who knows? Maybe sometime I can make you a decent Transformers or Ninja Turtles movie." Cherry smirked at Lionel.
"Hey, we'll do it together!" Lionel responded with a wink.
Cherry smirked a bit at that.
A little while later, Darla had gone back home to see the family who raised her after adopting her from Hollywood and reminded Lionel and Cherry to keep her in touch about the phone call. Soon, Cherry and Lionel were sitting on the couch together with some pizza as they were watching a movie together with a fat, dumb guy and a skinny, snarky guy running around and away from their car on screen, both yelling and complaining to each other.
"Oh, Spade... why did you ever put Farley in charge of the bees?" Cherry chuckled and smirked.
"It's like he was asking for this!" Lionel snickered.
Cherry laughed along with him until the telephone suddenly rang. "This is Bart Simpson, who the hell are you?" she then answered with a smirk with a poor imitation.
"Very funny, ma'am," The person on the other line answered. "Is this Cherry Butler?"
"Speaking." Cherry nodded as she took this seriously now.
"I have something to discuss with you..." The person soon said before giving her some details.
Cherry nodded as she listened to that before she took out a notepad next to her and Lionel's answering machine as this sounded very important while Lionel kept watching the movie as the actors known as David Spade and Chris Farley kept running around like they were chickens with their heads chopped off.
"Haw!" Lionel guffawed as he tried to keep his volume low so as not to interrupt Cherry's phone call.
Cherry continued to listen to the call for a while longer before Chris Farley and David Spade jumped into the water to avoid the bees. "Thank you for calling." she then said before hanging up and came back over with her notepad, having a bit of a smile on her face.
"Last time I saw you smile that big, you saw your Halloween birthday party I pitched back in the 80s." Lionel pointed out.
"I got the movie deal, Lionel, and they let us have creative control," Cherry said to him. "I think if we work really hard the next time we visit Hollywood, we'll have a cult phenomenon on our hands about teenagers being sent to time travel as a movie trilogy."
"Aw, YEAH!" Lionel exclaimed. "This is gonna be so cool!"
"I look forward to it," Cherry said. "Let's bring Atticus, Mo, Thor, and Sabrina."
"Marty and Jennifer too since they helped make these adventures possible?" Lionel asked.
"If we can get a hold of them," Cherry replied. "I hear they're very busy these days with Marty's career. Thank goodness we prevented that incident with the Rolls Royce that Jennifer was talking about when we left 1885."
"Indeed." Lionel agreed.
"Our futures look bright, Lionel," Cherry said to him. "Not just the adventures with Marty and Jennifer, but our many adventures in the awesome decade that was the 80s. I want to share them with the world and not just these time-traveling adventures." she then added, sounding hopeful.
"So bright, in fact..." Lionel added as he put on some sunglasses. "...we gotta wear shades."
Cherry rolled her eyes, but smirked a little at that.
More time had passed as the movie deal was being put together with Cherry and Lionel supervising and making sure that the people working on the movie knew what to do and what they were doing while Darla helped out as well with a director by the name of Flannigan who was a bit pretentious and over the top, but he still did a pretty good job when he needed to.
"And maybe put an RK Maroon cartoon before the movie starts." Cherry suggested.
"You mean those Roger Rabbit cartoons?" Flannigan asked out of confusion. "Those have nothing to do with time travel."
"I just thought it'd be a nice tribute to RK Maroon and Marvin Acme after their passing during the 40s." Cherry shrugged in defense.
"Yeah! It would be cool!" Lionel chimed in.
"Um, well, I suppose so..." Flannigan replied. "But I was thinking maybe the movie could have-"
"Flannigan?~" Darla called sternly before she narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips.
"Erm... Yes, Miss Fudo?" Flannigan answered her warily.
"The production of this movie is Lionel Schwartz and Cherry Butler presents Back to the Future..." Darla began to say with a grin until she glared dangerously. "ISN'T IT?!"
"Uh! Yes, yes, yes!" Flannigan nodded nervously.
"And who here is Lionel Schwartz and Cherry Butler?" Darla prompted him.
Flannigan hesitated, still looking very nervous.
"CAN YOU TELL ME WHO HERE IS LIONEL SCHWARTZ AND CHERRY BUTLER?!" Darla repeated rather aggressively.
"Erm... they are?" Flannigan pointed out to Lionel and Cherry.
"That's right! It's their movie!" Darla reminded him firmly. "I promised my family that they would get the movie that they desire and deserve and you're not taking away any of their creative control whether what goes before or after or even during the movie, GOT IT?!"
"Yes, right, of course!" Flannigan replied before running off suddenly.
Darla nodded firmly. "Sorry I had to get ugly there for a second, guys," she then said to Lionel and Cherry as calmly as possible. "Sometimes you just have to show people who's boss when you want your movie to go your way no matter what a pretentious director would want or say, especially since that guy worked for that fat jerk LB Mammoth."
"It's alright," Cherry responded. "Sometimes you have to put your foot down to get through to these people!"
"Tell me about it," Darla nodded before she looked around. "Someone needs to clean up this set."
"I agree, Miss Fudo," Flannigan grinned before he called out on his megaphone. "MR. MONTANA! YOU'RE WANTED ON SET TO CLEAN UP! AGAIN!"
Montana Max grumbled as he soon walked by and began to clean up the mess, showing that he was now an intern janitor and not the spoiled rich boy he once was.
"Make sure you don't bother Cherry and Lionel too or try to weasel your way into this movie somehow," Darla told Montana Max firmly. "Maybe if you do it without the sass, I'll consider giving you an allowance since I have power over you now."
"Yes, Miss Fudo." Monty grumbled as he continued to clean up against his will.
Lionel took a glance over and chuckled at that. "How the tables, they do turn." he remarked smugly.
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Cherry smirked in agreement. "I guess we're good to go until we gather everyone around for the big premiere."
"Sounds like it!" Lionel responded. "And I can't wait until then!"
"I can't wait either, especially with you and the others there by my side," Cherry agreed before she closed her eyes and bowed her head. "I might need a moment though."
"For Doc and Zelda?" Lionel guessed.
"Yes, I think we should all have a moment of silence together when we see the movie before we get started," Cherry said to him softly. "I know Drell and Hilda are okay now and even starting their own family while also helping out Sabrina with being a teenage witch and Marty has his life with Jennifer now, but Doc and Zelda were just as important to them as they were to us."
"No worries, they always come to visit," responded Lionel. "But... I do understand your point."
"Yeah, I know we can't see them all the time these days, I should at least enjoy what I can get," Cherry nodded. "Quality over quantity."
"That's the spirit." nodded Lionel.
"I think I'll be okay as long as you're by my side." Cherry then told him sincerely.
"And I'll be okay as long as you're by my side, too." Lionel agreed as he gave her a kiss.
Cherry glanced away and turned pink from the kiss. "Yeah, sure," she then said with a nod. "I think we're about done and ready to go, of course, once we earn the rights to air the Roger Rabbit short before the first movie. I was thinking we start off with 'Somethin's Cookin' since that's a classic Roger Rabbit and Baby Herman short." she then added, trying to distract herself from her own affections for now since there was still work to be done.
"Awesome!" gushed Lionel. "That'd be great!"
"Somehow, I knew you'd approve of that." Cherry smirked a little, knowing how much he liked the old-school Roger Rabbit cartoons.
Many more years had passed and "Back to the Future" became a big hit to audiences everywhere. There was even an attempt for a Saturday Morning Cartoon series that was average at best and mediocre at worst, though the actor for Doc was able to reprise his role for live-action segments to give the kids at home science experiments to do of their own with a helper by the name of Bill Nye. Cherry and Lionel became very successful in the future themselves with their magnum opus which was a movie trilogy about time traveling with comedic aspects here and there after an actor by the name of Eric Stoltz just wasn't working out, but Darla had recommended someone else and they never looked back from then on.
It was now the actual 2015 as lives were changing for everyone as well as promises to meet up with their old friend group every so often and catch up with each other and it was a lot easier after technology introduced laptops, cell phones, and video calls. The future was what they made it, so they made it a good one after Doc and Zelda had given them that advice 30 years ago and Cherry and Lionel made sure to pass on the lessons to their own young ones. Even if history managed to repeat itself sometimes.
"Did we ever tell you kids how we met?" Cherry asked Felicity, LJ, Zofia, and David as the family came to have a special dinner together.
"Not really," replied LJ. "I mean, as far as I can remember."
"You're really gonna talk about the story about how you first met?" Felicity asked. "Isn't that a cliche family thing to do at the dinner table?"
"I don't know why you're complaining," Cherry smirked. "If it hadn't happened, none of you would be here right now."
"She does make a point." admitted Zofia.
"Besides, it'll help you appreciate what young Marty McFly went through when he was young," Cherry advised them. "I still remember those time travel adventures we had with him very fondly."
"Did you ever see him and Jennifer again after those adventures you had together?" LJ asked curiously.
"Oh, sure, but those are other stories for another time," Cherry nodded. "I mean, don't get me started on that time we had to help bust some ghosts."
"What, as in, with the Ghostbusters?" asked LJ. "Coo-oo-ell!"
"Oh, yeah," Cherry smirked. "That's a pretty good story."
"We'll tell you sometime," Lionel added. "But for now, let's dig in."
Soon, the family had pizza boxes spread around together to eat for their Thanksgiving dinner.
"I gotta say, Lionel, we really made the most of our own future like how Doc and Zelda wanted." Cherry soon said.
"I'd certainly say so!" Lionel agreed.
"Here's to the future and many other timelines to come." Cherry said before lifting her glass of Sprite to make a toast.
"To the future, and many other timelines!" Lionel chimed in as he raised his glass, and the kids did as well (well, David raised his sippy cup, but it still counts).
"To the future!" The kids announced together as they clinked their glasses with their parents.
"And I wouldn't have it any other way." Cherry then said as she sounded happy for once.
"You and me both." agreed Lionel.
It was going to be a bright future for Cherry and her friends for many years to come and many more adventures to be had, but those stories would be told when they were going to be told until next time.
The End