You're the Hero Of Light, Charlie Brown

by Tiger lover 16

When the evil denisen of Darkness, the dreaded Dark Witch, escapes from her prison she sets about to build an army of villains to conquer the realm of light, and shroud all worlds in eternal darkness! Charlie Brown is made the new guardian of the light, and tasked with uniting fictions greatest heroes in an epic war to defend their worlds. Can you say "Good grief"? CBxPP and more.

5. Your Training Begins, Charlie Brown

Tiger Lover 16: Hello again folks. Been a while hasn't it. Sorry I haven't updated anything in so long, a lot has happened. My mum was in hospital a few weeks after Christmas, college has been a nightmare, I've had writers block, and I've actually got most of the finale to this arc written. Along those lines I've decided to split the big battle next chapter into two separate chapters, since it would be over 45000 words overwise, and this chapter's already long enough. I'll release the first of these two chapters tomorrow probably, but don't hold your breaths for the next one after that. This chapters mostly just set up and Charlie Brown training to use his powers, I admit I made most of this up as I went along and it went on waaaaay longer than I thought it would, so forgive me if it seems dragged out in parts. Well, I have more to say, but I'll leave that for the end. Just enjoy the chapter.

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Chapter 4: Your training begins, Charlie Brown

Back in Charlie Brown's house, the Peanuts gang were in a panic. The news that an Evil Witch had sent what could possibly be a whole army of dark creatures into their town was enough to scare anyone out of their wits. But considering they all knew it was their friend/brother/owner they were undoubtedly after, the kids couldn't help but explode with worry.

"We're doomed!" Pigpen yelled, jumping under the coffee table as Violet and Patty ran around it.

"Call the army! Call the Marines! Call James Bond!" Shrieked Lucy, running around frantically.

Sparky and Charlie Brown were trying to calm the terrified teens and pre teens. The former was having little luck because people just ran through him, and the latter was himself too shocked and afraid to say anything truly calming.

On the sidelines stood Woodstock, the only one in the room either not running around screaming or trying desparately to find a hiding place. The tiny bird was a bit frightened by the screams of panic the kids were all making, so he decided to put an end to it by pulling out a megaphone from the compartment underneath the Brown family's television. He flipped the switch, breathed deeply and then tweeted as loud as he could into the devise.

The nearly supersonic screech quickly shut everyone up, while also causing everyone in the room to fall on their knees clutching their heads, their eardrums all thumping like mad.

"What's that crazy bird trying to do, blow our heads off!?" Peppermint Patty complained. Grinning with satisfaction despite her fury, Woodstock made to put the megaphone away while Sparky took advantage of the momentary cease-panic to address the group.

"Listen, I know you are all frightened by the prospect of my sister's minions, but stressing out isn't going to get us anywhere" Sparky began plainly. The kids nodded, taking a moment to calm down further.

"But what are we supposed to do if she did send someone here to kill us? It's not like Charlie Brown can defend us, he doesn't even know how to use his stupid powers" Violet retorted, momentarily resumig her critical stance.

"I agree" Sparky nodded. Charlie Brown stared incredulously at him "No offence to you Charlie, but having all my powers does you no good if you haven't yet been taught how to use them"

Charlie Brown nodded, agreeing that what Sparky said was actually a fair judgement and not lack of faith. Sparky turned back to the other children.

"Now, as I previously stated I had intended to wait before taking Charlie away to be trained, but under these circumstances I'm afraid we must make haste. If my sister has sent Doctor Eggman or a squad of her heartless then she is likely to succeed in capturing Charlie. But there is another matter of equal concern: the safety of the rest of you. If my sister's forces catch you here, or discover that you are of importance to Charlie then she will have you all imprisoned... and she will most definitely turn you all into heartless at some point" Sparky explained gravely. The gang all gulped, clutching the point of their chests where their hearts would be.

"So, what are we supposed to do to defend ourselves?" Schroeder asked. Sparky sighed, taking a short moment to contemplate his options. He didn't have much time though, so there was only one course of action that seemed reasonable at the moment.

"For the time being you shall all have to accompany Charlie Brown and myself to the Light Palace, my home in the White Space. It is the safest place to be at the moment" Sparky answered. Despite the fear and uncertainty that still plagued the Peanuts, this news actually cheered them up slightly. It meant they would have a little more time with Charlie Brown, some time to help set things right with him. Plus, they all really wanted to see a world besides their own.

"Will there be snacks?" Snoopy asked the dog spirit.

"Yes, plenty of snacks Snoopy" Sparky said. Being a dog himself he completely understood Snoopy's thoughts. The beagle hopped around excitedly at this confirmation.

"So, what do we do when we're in this White paste?" Asked Sally, earning a groan from her friends.

"It's White Space, Sally" Marcie patiently corrected.

"I knew that" Sally added quickly, to eye rolls from the gang.

"She does strike up a good point though" Charlie Brown began, trying to sound fair "What do we all do when we're there?"

"We can discuss that in a moment, we don't know what my sister might be up to so we can't afford to waste any more time waiting here. Although I will ask, where are your parents?" Sparky asked.

"They're out of town. They went on a week long fishing trip with all the other parents and left my brother in charge of the house" Sally replied...

...

Sparky stared blankly at Sally, seemingly dumbfounded by her response.

"Seriously?" Sparky asked, his eyebrows sky high and his voice so full of surprise it had turned squeeky. Sally nodded. Sparky's eyes drifted momentarily between the other Peanuts, and they all gave their own nods of confirmation.

"Your parents actually left you, kids that haven't even properly reached puberty, all by yourselves for a week. And did they arrange any adult supervision for you?" Sparky asked incredulously, only to receive a snort from Patty.

"Our parents are almost never around, you hardly even notice that they exist" The girl in the orange dress explained. Sparky's bewilderment manifested into a really funny look on his face, with his jaw fallen and his eyes squinted.

"No offense, but your parents are all very irresponsible" Sparky said plainly. No one was offended really.

As Sparky regained his composure Charlie Brown cautiously asked "How do we get to the Light Palace"

"Simple. As the Guardian of Light you are the only one besides the Ancients who can access the Light Palace. To allow us entrance you must summon a portal" Sparky explained. Charlie Brown hesitated, grinning nervously in an attempt to look capable but a bit uncertain of his ability to do what was being asked.

"Well go on then, the bad guys could be here any second!" Lucy yelled, and Charlie Brown realised he must have been staring blankly into space for a minute.

"Erm, ok... how do I do that?" Charlie Brown asked. Sparky's immediate response was to lower himself down on top of Charlie, seemingly being absorbed into his head. The Peanuts stepped back and gasped over this occurance. Charlie Brown himself was shocked, he patted his head cautiously while looking upwards for any sign of the Guardian spirit.

"Since this is your first time using your powers I shall guide you" Sparky's voice rang in Charlie Brown's ear. The bald looking boy jumped in fright and looked around. After asking his friends it became apparent that only he had heard Sparky.

'Um, ok' Charlie Brown thought, not wanting to speak incase he made himself look crazy.

"Now, accessing your power is actually quite simple. First, focus on the happiest thoughts or memories you can. Then you should feel a sudden rush of energy. To summon a portal, command that energy into your hands, hold them out directly in front of you and, with your thoughts, command a portal of light to appear. As the portal springs up you must focus completely on where you want it to lead. Since you have never been to the light palace my thoughts shall guide you in locating it. Do you understand?" Sparky asked.

'Um... I think' Charlie Brown replied half-heartedly.

"Good enough. Now, take your time, don't worry. Just be sure to concentrate" Sparky said seriously.

Charlie Brown gulped, unconfidence building up inside him, and the confused stares of his friends making him even more uncomfortable. Charlie Brown tried to clear his thoughts of all but the happiest he had.

"Now... what thought would be happy enough?" Charlie Brown asked himself. He thought hard for a good happy memory, but bad thoughts and unfortunate outcomes kept popping up the harder he thought. With an annoyed sigh he tried to make up a happy thought. He imagined himself pitching a no hitter at baseball and his team lifting him up, chanting his name. He didn't feel any rush of power, probably because he then had a sour feeling of "Why can't that be true?"

He tried to imagine himself flying a kite successfully while the Kite Eating Tree looked on in envy... but then sprang forth the mental image of the tree leaned forward and snatching the kite out of the air, gobbling it up. Charlie Brown groaned, thinking harder for good thoughts.

'Come on, I must have had some good fortune' Charlie Brown thought irritably. Then several ideas suddenly popped up in his head.

The Motocross race where he had beaten both Peppermint Patty and Snoopy to first place, the marbles game with Joe Agate and Rerun's subsequent thanks and admiration, his brief stay with the Goose Eggs, who respected him as a wise elder and wished to grow up like him, the time he won the school spelling bee and his friends sung "Champion Charlie Brown" (He also tried very hard not to think about the following botched attempt at the National Spelling bee) and the joy he felt when Snoopy came back after briefly leaving to live with Lila (Again, he tried to ignore what came straight after). These were all happy memories for him, any of them would probably do!

Charlie Brown focused intently on these happy memories, pushing out all negative thoughts and allowing the happy moments to take over. The good feelings flowed through Charlie Brown's mindscape, granting him, for the first time in ages, a feeling of complete warmth and cheerfulness.

And then it happened. As soon as Charlie Brown's happy thoughts took over, a strange sensation occured all throughout his body. Suddenly he felt powerful, more powerful than he could ever have imagined. He felt like he could lift a building, run a hundred miles without getting tired. A foreign sense of confidence sprung up in Charlie Brown's mind, and suddenly he felt, with this new power he would be able to accomplish anything.

"I see you have summoned forth your inner light" Sparky's voice said approvingly. Charlie Brown smiled and nodded, which worried some of his friends "Don't get too excited. The feeling when first accessing your powers is most uplifting, but you can't allow yourself to be consumed by happiness. Remember, you will be expected to use these powers to fight dangerous foes, you cannot do so standing still with a big wide grin on your face"

Again Charlie Brown nodded, even though he knew Sparky was inside his mind and couldn't actually see him nod. Though feeling a little disappointed by the command to not feel too happy, since this so called inner light was really perking him up, he held his hands up in front of him and followed Sparky's previous instructions.

The Peanuts watched anxiously as Charlie Brown mentally commanded this new power into his hands. To everyones shock, not least his own, Charlie Brown's hands began to glow with a mystical light.

"Don't be too surpised though, you need to keep your thoughts as pleasant as possible to keep control of your powers" Sparky instructed, and Charlie Brown went back to thinking of how Milo and the Goose Eggs practically idolised him "Not easy, I know, but in time it'll become easier. Now, while your hands are still glowing I want you to hold them out and command a portal of light to appear, I will make sure it leads to the Light Palace. Just concentrate"

Charlie Brown nodded one last time and held his glowing hands in front of him. He forced as much of this new power into his hands as possible and commanded a portal to the Light Palace to appear. An image of a marvelous, white and gold room briefly flashed in his mind, and the next second a vortex suddenly sprung up in the room. The Peanuts all gasped and sprang back in shock, Snoopy spat out the tea he had just been drinking while waiting for something to happen, and Charlie Brown fell on his back, taken by surprise despite already being informed of this outcome.

"Ok... I'll admit, that is pretty cool" Lucy said, staring wide eyed at the portal along with everyone else.

Charlie Brown sat up and marveled at the swirling vortex of light he had created. He really didn't think he would get that right the first time, he was sure for a second that he would be standing around here for hours trying to get it right. But here it was, an actual interdimentional portal, leading presumably to the Light Palace Sparky spoke of.

'Wow... gee, maybe I'm not such a bad candidate for this after all' Charlie Brown thought hopefully 'Of course... maybe it's just beginners luck...'

Sparky exited out of Charlie Brown's head and hovered in front of the portal, looking like a doorman waiting to welcome people in.

"Well, there you have it. Now I must again stress that we have no clue how much time we have left to get to safety, so everyone hurry into the light palace" Sparky instructed. The Peanuts all nodded and stepped forward cautiously to enter the portal. But Shermy stopped and complained.

"Wait, why are we just walking aimlessly into a portal? We don't even know if this leads to where it's supposed to" Shermy pointed out, which sparked some worry among the rest of the gang.

"He's right, what if Charlie Brown got the coordinates wrong, or however that works with portals. What if we end up walking into an active volcano or something?" Freida fretted. There was a lot of frightened wispering among the Peanuts, almost all of whom were certain this portal would lead them to their deaths rather than their salvation.

"I assure you this portal leads to the Light Palace, I made sure to choose the location in Charlie Brown's mind" Sparky said clearly. The youngsters all looked to the portal, still pretty nervous.

"I think someone should test it, just to be safe" Violet said.

"Who would be crazy enough to test a portal that might lead to impending doom?" Schroeder asked. Lucy hummed thoughtfully, her eyes focusing on Snoopy for a brief moment.

"I have a volunteer" Lucy piped up, picking up Snoopy and preparing to throw him into the vortex.

"Wait-WAIT" The beagle cried out in his head, but he could do nothing but scream as Lucy tossed him head first into the portal. The Peanuts all stared in open mouthed horror at the portal, and then turned furiously on Lucy.

"What, better the beagle than any of us, right?" Lucy said reasonably.

"I'm afraid I don't see your logic" Sparky responded, slightly irritated.

The Peanuts gang all watched as the vortex continued to spiral endlessly, each worried for the fate of their canine companion. Charlie Brown stood at the front of the group, praying to God, or rather, the Ancients, that his beloved dog was alright. The kids waited for what seemed like an eternity of nothing happening, and then...

Snoopy's head popped out of the centre of the portal. He looked thrilled.

"Woodstock, you have got to see this" Snoopy said directly to his birdy companion before disappearing back through the portal. The kids sighed in relief while Woodstock cheered and excitedly leapt forth into the portal after his friend.

Now knowing it was safe to use this portal, the Peanuts gang lined up one by one to enter it. Of course Lucy fought her way to the front and was the first in, followed shortly by Violet and Patty. Peppermint Patty, Schroeder, Franklin and Rerun went next, followed by each of the kids in turn until only Linus, Charlie Brown and Sparky were left.

"I still can't get my head around all this supernatural weirdness" Linus said while examining the portal. As he began to enter it however he turned back to Charlie Brown and, with a smile, added "But that doesn't mean It's not totally cool"

Charlie Brown had a small smile on his face as he watched his best friend vanish into the vortex.

"How long do you want us all to stay?" Charlie Brown asked.

"When my sister realises you are no longer in this world she'll recall her forces. So tomorrow we'll settle your affairs, inform your parents and be on our way" Sparky answered.

"Oh... ok" Charlie Brown sighed, trying to hide his disappointment.

"I realise this is almost cruel of me to separate you from them, but the fate of the universe comes before anything else" Sparky said, beginning to enter the portal himself. He stopped long enough to add "But the choice is still yours. You don't have to leave if you don't want to"

Charlie Brown watched as Sparky disappeared, leaving him alone in the living room with the portal. He thought briefly over what the Guardian spirit had said and hopped into the vortex. For a split second his vision was obscured by a blinding flash of light, then suddenly his new surroundings became visible.

Charlie Brown gaped in wonder and amazement at the room he was in. This room alone was the size of the entirety of Charlie Brown's house, the walls consisted of fine white marble and were decorated with golden and purple tapestrys, paintings and indescribable platinum and silver ornaments. The room was also filled with countless enemities such as a flat screen tv the size of a movie screen and several regular sized high definition tvs, every game system and video game known to man, a bookcase that stretched out as far as Charlie Brown's living room and as tall as his house in one corner of the room that held what looked like ten thousand books, several extremely cozy looking couches, beanbags and chairs, a snow cone machine, a music player, a solid platinum piano, several golden tables with a dozen gold chairs each, five platinum refrigerators and a golden grate with purple flames. There were also diamond statues of the seven Ancients scattered around the room, with Arceus's statue of course being the biggest, and there were at least ten golden doors leading to presumably other areas of this palace, each with a diamond doorknob.

Charlie Brown marvelled at the many wonders of this room. He noticed each of his friends were also looking around in amazement, even Violet's mansion of a house was put to shame by this palace. And considering this was only one room of it, that was saying an awful lot.

"Wow! Talk about the lap of luxury" Franklin said, walking past Polokus's statue and admiring the golden silk tapestry depicting what seemed to be Sparky and his sister.

"I never want to leave this place" Pigpen said, hopping onto the first couch he could reach. The resulting dust cloud caused the whole thing to become messy. He picked up the romote lying near by and switched on the grand sized television. The tv turned on to show the movie Wreck It Ralph by Disney.

"This movie's not even finished at the theaters yet" Rerun excitedly pointed out, taking up a seat on a cleaner couch away from Pigpen, along with Freida and Lucy.

Marcie, the bookwork of the group, had immediately made her way over to the bookcase, and was examining the thousands of novels, manuals, autobiagraphy's and every other type of book imaginable. Some of them, like "A History of Magic" by Bathilda Bagshot, and "A Trainer's Guide" she realised must have come from other worlds.

"Incredible" The bespeccled teen said as she began reading a book on Chi spells.

Snoopy and Woodstock, predictably, had headed straight for the nearest platinum refrigerator, which was stocked full of all kinds of delicious delacacies and snacks. And every time they took something out to eat, an exact duplicate of that food item appeared to take it's place.

"I have just GOT to get me one of these. I'd never have to wait around all day for suppertime to come again, I can have suppertime ALL DAY LONG!" Snoopy cheered. He then thought briefly over what he'd said and added "Of course that would make me extremely fat. But it would still be great"

Schroeder walked past Snoopy and Woodstock, now consuming an entire cake and corn cob respectively and downing it with soda. The piano prodigy was of course fascinated by the platinum piano, it was by far the finest instrument he had ever seen in his life.

"Can I play it?" Schroeder asked Sparky, who was watching over the excited children like a loving grandfather.

"Play to your hearts content" The spirit replied. Schroeder squealed like a fangirl and hopped onto the golden stool by the piano, and immediately he began playing some of Beethoven's music.

Charlie Brown watched on as his friends enjoyed themselves with all the luxuries this room had to offer, all clearly forgetting that their lives might possibly have been in danger just a minute ago. Charlie Brown was eager to join them in having fun, but he remembered that Sparky had brought them here for a reason. His friends were here for their own protection, and he was here to train in using his powers.

Charlie Brown approached Sparky and asked "So... what now?"

Sparky gave Charlie Brown a gentle smile.

"Now you may all relax for a moment. In ten minutes I will lead you to the training room, so we may begin your training. Your friends may come watch, if they so wish, otherwise they are free to have fun here in the living room. But don't worry now, as the kids say you should "Take a breather"" Sparky explained. Charlie Brown gladly replied and went to sit down on the couch with half of his other friends.

Peppermint Patty and Marcie positioned themselves to either side of Charlie Brown, the latter still half buried in her book while the former held a large bag of popcorn.

"You sure got a sweet deal Chuck, this place is fit for a God" Peppermint Patty said, stuffing her mouth full of popcorn and offering Charlie Brown some. Charlie Brown took out a handful of popcorn as Marcie chimed in.

"Well, technically that's true sir. Sparky explained that as the Guardian of Light he was practically the next step down from the Ancients, and they're Gods"

Peppermint Patty mumbled a reply, but it was impossible to make out what she said through her mouth full of buttery popcorn.

The three friends sat there enjoying the movie on the giant screen (Well, two of them did, Marcie just read on). Charlie Brown wasn't really sure what else to do. He figured that their stay here might be the last time he saw any of his friends for a very long time, and he knew he had better make the most of it. But then again, Sparky had only given him ten minutes to take a break, and that was hardly any time to do anything. He could barely have a good conversation with any of his friends, especially when they were all so engrossed in all the fun things the palace had to offer them. The new Guardian sighed at this thought. But then again, the most important thing was that they were safe and enjoying themselves. He wished they could stay, all these possessions looked like fun, but what good were video games, movies and snow cones if he didn't have friends to enjoy them with?

Charlie Brown noticed a crystal-covered clock on the wall next to the large screen tv and estimated that he had already used up five minutes of his time thinking. With a slight groan and knowing the upcoming training session was bound to be strenuous, Charlie Brown desided the most he could do was enjoy this comfy cough and relax.

While Snoopy and Woodstock rode around the room on an SUV they had found, Sparky flying desparately after them to try and make them stop, Charlie Brown just sat and ate popcorn with Peppermint Patty. Of course there were a few moments where their hands touched and Patty gave Chuck one of her "Sly dog" comments, considering Charlie Brown was a teenager now these comments embarrassed him even more than when he was eight. But he appreciated them nonetheless, he would sure miss these moments in the future.

CRASH!

Charlie Brown and friends jumped at the deafening noise and turned to find the SUV Snoopy had been driving had crashed into the statue of Arceus. Oddly, though perhaps not too surprising, the statue was completely unscratched. The car... not so much.

"That was a birthday gift from those delightful transforming robots too" Sparky sighed as he observed the destroyed vehicle. Linus and Rerun ran forward to pull Snoopy and Woodstock out of the wreckage, the mischief making animals didn't seem at all shocked by the impact, in fact they looked thrilled.

"Sorry about that, Snoopy's just... Snoopy" Charlie Brown couldn't find the right word to describe his imaginative pet. Sparky shook his head nonchelantly.

"Never mind, we can repair the damage later" Sparky waved his ghostly hand "Now, let's discuss present matters. Ten minutes have passed since you all arrived here. So Charlie Brown, do you desire a longer break or should we begin your training?"

While the other Peanuts looked on uncertainly at the mention of training Charlie Brown replied "Well... I'd like to just wait here but... I guess the right thing to do is start training, isn't it?"

"I'd say so" Sparky nodded approvingly. He noticed the unsure looks on the kids faces and chuckled "I would have thought it obvious that I wanted to start training Charlie Brown to use his powers as soon as possible. Seeing how my sister already feels confident enough to send her minions into the Realm of Light it is imperative that the new Guardian be tought how to drive them out. And since Charlie Brown's already here, why wait?"

There was a collective "Oh" among the gang, all of whom suddenly looked excited.

"So now we get to see my brother shoot lazers and stuff, right?" Sally asked cheerfully while clapping her hands.

"That and more, Sally" Sparky replied, seeming equally as excited as the Peanuts gang. Charlie Brown realised he must have been the only person with butterflies in his stomach over the thought of the upcoming training session.

"Do they have to watch?" Charlie Brown suddenly asked, worrying about making a fool out of himself.

"What are you kidding!? There's no way we're missing more of your light shows, I want to see what your powers can REALLY do" Lucy said determindly. From the firey tone in her voice Charlie Brown knew he wouldn't be able to argue.

Charlie Brown turned expectantly to the former Guardian. Knowing what was on his successor's mind Sparky nodded and hovered towards the golden door besides Exodia's diamond statue.

"The training room is along this hall. I must ask that you all follow me closely, do not wander off. The Light Palace is fifty times larger than the Buckingham palace of your world's England, with thousands of rooms, and many, many doors leading between them, so it is very easy to get lost if you do not possess a map or follow me. Also, several doors in separate hallways actually lead to other worlds, so aimlessly walking through doors here would be an enormous mistake" Sparky forewarned the kids, who marvelled at the scale of this palace.

"Man, are you ever going to get lost living here" Non-peppermint Patty commented to Charlie Brown, who subconsciously nodded.

Being a spirit Sparky did not open the door for the Peanuts, but merely floated through it, poking his hand through the golden door afterwards and gesturing for them to follow. A bit disturbed by that action, Charlie Brown stepped forward and pulled on the diamond knob. After Charlie Brown had lead them through the door, Sparky lead the kids down a hallway with what seemed like hundreds more doors on either side of them.

"Behind these doors you will find rooms such as the kitchen, a laboratory, several bathrooms and shower rooms, a cafe, sports and exercise room, my jewel vault and the library" Sparky explained as the gang walked on through the seemingly never ending hallway.

"Library? What about all those books back in that lounge we were just in?" Peppermint Patty said incredulously.

"Oh, those are just for when I want to do some light reading" Sparky said calmly. Noticing the odd looks he was receiving he added "I have a lot of free time on my hands..."

At last Sparky stopped at a large blue door marked with a punching bag logo. Sparky politely gestured for the kids to step into the room.

Charlie Brown's first opinion of the room behind the door was... 'Huh?'

The supposed training room was completly bare. No weights, no treadmills, no targets, no punching bags, no training or exercise equipment of any kind. Just four white walls and a floor.

"Well, it's got the room. So where's the training?" Lucy immediately quipped when she noticed how empty the room was.

"The room is only empty because it is not presently being used. Whenever one wishes to train here, the room will magically alter to suit their needs. For example..." Sparky cleared his fruit and announced to the ceiling "Target session 001"

And out of thin air a trio of targets appeared at the far end of the room.

"Whoa" The kids gasped in amazement.

"Or if you would prefer a nice little jog... Running exercise" At Sparky's word the size of the room expanded, reaching the size of a football stadium. The floor was also recoloured to resemble a racetrack.

"Neat" Complimented Peppermint Patty, an avid runner.

"Or perhaps a little combat training. Heartless battle simulation Level 1" Sparky instructed the room, which suddenly shrank back to it's original size and blankness. But that was nothing compared to what happened next.

Five round shadows appeared on the ground before the Peanuts. The kids stared in wonder at the dark patches, and they all recoiled in terror as the shadows began to rise up out of the ground. The shadows contorted into a shape that was very vaguely humanoid, but with sharp claws on it's hands and feet and long antennas growing from the head. Finally, adding an element of life to the shadows, a pair of glowing yellow eyes opened up on each of their faces.

The Peanuts stared in shock at the seemingly living shadows, they weren't exactly the scariest looking monsters imaginable, but the mere fact that they were walking shadows was enough to frighten anyone.

"Be aware that these are only allusions, but they present an exact relication of what my sister has transformed her followers into" Sparky began as the shadows moved around eratically "These creatures are called heartless. They are formed under circumstances where a person's heart has been completely engulfed by darkness, and their sentient minds torn away. Once innocent and good people, the heartless are now puppets to my sister, acting only on her command, though in battle their instincts guide them. With luck the magority of you shall never have the displeasure of encountering the real thing, though you Charlie Brown, will likely be faced with thousands of heartless during your time as Guardian of Light"

Charlie Brown gulped at the thought of thousands of these shadow monsters charging against him as Sparky dismissed the allusions.

"Assuming you wish to stay I will put up some chairs for you all" Sparky said to the other Peanuts. He looked upwards and commanded "14 rest chairs required" And immediately fourteen comfortable armchairs appeared near the corner of the room. The kids exchanged looks and went to sit down in the chairs.

"Got any of that popcorn left?" Freida asked Peppermint Patty when they were all properly seated.

"No, I ate it all. Hey Sparky, think this room could poof us up some popcorn?" Peppermint Patty yelled to the spirit, who shrugged.

"It's a training room, not a mess hall" Sparky commented dryly "If you want food I can lead you to the kitchens"

Not wanting to miss a thing nor prelong Charlie Brown's training, Patty and Freida shook their heads. Sparky nodded ok and floated to Charlie Brown's left side.

"Well, you've already had a go at channelling your energy Charlie, so perhaps we should start with something slightly more practical. Before we begin I would like you to channel some more of your inner light. Alright?" Sparky instructed. Charlie Brown nodded and began concentrating on positive thoughts. A light aura appeared around him as his energies were charged.

"Very good. Now, typically in a fight a person would mainly use their fists to attack. And as it so has it most of the techniques you will learn as Guardian shall be performed by first channelling light into your hands. You can channel light energy to any part of your body of course, mainly for the purpose of healing. I will explain more on that as we continue. For now, I would like you to command all of your energy into your right hand. We'll start it simple, I would just like you to break a few very hard objects by punching them" Sparky explained. Charlie Brown did as instructed and redirected the light circling his body so that it was all within his hand. His friends watched eagerly, excited to see how this went.

Sparky looked up at the ceiling and instructed "Begin New Guardian training session, Part 1"

Getting used to everything weird that was happening to him, Charlie Brown was not surprised when several heavy items suddenly popped out of thin air in front of him. He was however, surprised by the choice of training equipment. A boulder, a metal statue of a beagle, a giant block made from what looked like metal but was entirely black, and a wall of diamond.

"Now, I would like you to focus on maintaining that build up of light in your hand, as for your first exercise I want you to shatter each of these objects in turn into a thousand tiny pieces with only one punch" Said Sparky. Charlie Brown stared at him uncertainly.

"Are you sure about this?" Charlie Brown asked.

"As sure as I am that Mario wears overalls" Sparky replied. Charlie Brown stared even more uncertainly "Oh, right, that reference doesn't apply to people in your universe... anywho, you have nothing to fear Charlie. This is a very simple exercise. I simply want to make sure you can control your light long enough to make an attack. Now, we'll begin with the rock. Keep your hand shrouded in light and form it into a fist. Keep your mind on positive thoughts at all times, and then punch the rock as hard as you can. Don't worry about hurting yourself, if you do this right you will feel no pain as you break the rock"

"And if I do it wrong?" Charlie Brown asked nervously. Sparky's eyes fidgeted.

"Well... try not to think about that. Positive, remember" Sparky said a little too keenly. Charlie Brown gulped, but decided he'd have to shrug off the worry to get this done.

The Peanuts leaned forward in their seats, eager to see Charlie Brown break a rock with his bare-er, semi-bare hand. Noticing that the light in his hand had subsided while he was listening to Sparky, Charlie Brown summoned more light to his hand, this time skipping past the part with the aura around his body. Charlie Brown looked square at the rock. Trying to ignore the possible pain he might feel, Charlie Brown held back his hand and fired a punch...

"... Yow!" Charlie Brown clutched his wrist and shook his hand around, trying to reduce the pain in it. The Peanuts recoiled in their seats at the sight of Charlie Brown's pain, what a disappointing first try.

Sparky sighed and told Charlie Brown "You have to keep out all negative emotions, focus on your happy memories at all times. Only when your mind is at ease and free of doubts can you use your powers effectively. Now, try it again, and ignore the possiblity that you might hurt your hand. That's why your light faded before you hit the rock"

Though he was understandably discouraged by his botched first attempt, Charlie Brown agreed to try again straight away. His hand had notably stopped throbbing in pain after only five seconds, Charlie Brown wondered what that meant but desided to ignore it for now.

The new Guardian cleared his head and started to think of happier times. For a third time light rushed into his right hand. Charlie Brown waited for a moment to calm himself and make sure he was feeling good before punching the boulder again.

And what do you know, it worked. Charlie Brown punched the enormous boulder with all his might, and the whole rock cracked from the pressure, shattering into many smaller pieces. Charlie Brown's jaw dropped as he stared at the pile of rubble now lying before him, astounded he had actually got that right the second time. Over in the corner his friends were cheering.

"Well done Charlie. I told you you could do it" Sparky said proudly, Charlie Brown smiled appreciatively "But of course that's just for starters. Before we can move on to part two of your training, I will need you to break the rest of these objects, beginning with the statue. Feel up to it?"

"I'm ready" Charlie Brown replied instantly. Shattering an enormous rock with one punch seemed to have built up a bit of confidence in Charlie Brown. Sparky smiled at this, that was just the direction Charlie Brown needed to be going in.

Maintaining a positive attitude (A very unusual thing for him) Charlie Brown walked up to the metal beagle statue. Snoopy leaped behind Marcie, shaking in fear at what was about to become of that nice statue. 'Why can't it be a cat?' The beagle thought, covering his eyes.

With a deep breath, Charlie Brown punched the beagle statue in the chest. The metal ornament fared no better against his strike than the boulder, huge chunks of the statue went flying around the training room. The statues head happened to land on the arm of Marcie's chair, directly in Snoopy's line of sight. The beagle yelped and shot up onto the ceiling, bumping his head on the marble ceiling and bouncing off Lucy's head as he fell down. The aggravated fussbudget made to punch Snoopy, who ducked under the attack and proceeded to slurp her with his tongue. Lucy screamed out in disgust as Snoopy hopped over the other Peanuts and back to his chair.

Sparky watched the scene with Snoopy unfold with a curious look, but ignored it and turned his full attention back to Charlie Brown, who was now punching the enormous metal cube. But unlike the boulder and statue, the cube didn't completely break apart when he hit it. It did crack, but the damage done was almost substantial compared to Charlie Brown's last two targets.

"Did I do something wrong?" Charlie Brown asked.

"No, you simply need to put more energy into it" Sparky clarified "The more light you channel, the stronger your attack will be. This cube is made out of a rare metal unknown in your world, but it is harder than steel. To break it you not only have to keep your thoughts positive, but you must also command, with your mind, for more of your inner light to flow to your hand. This may take a few tries, but once you've practised a few times it becomes simple"

Charlie Brown wasn't sure how simple it sounded to him, but he wasn't going to argue. Noticing the cracks in the cube had repaired themselves, but deciding to ignore it, Charlie Brown once again channelled light into his hand. The aura around his hand was the same size as before, so Charlie Brown thought for more light to go into it. And Surprisingly, the light around his hand did grow bigger, and he felt stronger than before.

"Ok, I'll try again" Charlie Brown said. He stared intently at the cube and punched it once more. And once more, the cube cracked under the force of his punch, but not to the point it fell apart like the rock and statue.

Charlie Brown sighed in disappointment, as did most of his friends in the corner.

"Come on Charlie Brown, put some muscle into it!" Freida yelled, trying to sound encouraging but coming off as slightly rude.

"Patience Freida" Sparky said softly, then looked at Charlie Brown "The point of training is to keep trying until you get it right. Don't be discouraged if you make any mistakes or aren't progressing at the rate you would like. Just keep at it Charlie Brown, you will get it right"

Charlie Brown was getting to like hearing Sparky talk to him. No-one had ever had as much confidence in him or shown this much support, and the spirit elder always managed to encourage him. So due in part because he didn't want to let the spirit down, Charlie Brown channelled even more energy into his fist and punched the cube again with all his might. Perhaps it was his determination not to let anybody down, but this time the cube finally shattered under the might of Charlie Brown's attack.

"Alright Charlie Brown! Woo hoo!" Rerun celebrated. Charlie Brown smiled at the younger boy's appreciation for him.

"Very good Charlie Brown. Very good" Sparky praised. Charlie Brown scratched his head impishly, then glanced over at the last remaining structure, the diamond wall.

"So, do I have to break that next?" Charlie Brown asked cautiously. He knew how a lot of people said diamonds were one of the hardest substances on Earth. Whether that was true or not he wasn't sure, but he did have his doubts. Sparky noticed this and smiled encouragingly at the thirteen year old.

"Yes, the Diamond wall is the final phase of stage 1. But to break it, I want you to use both your hands" Sparky explained. Charlie Brown sighed in relief at that one.

"Ok then" Charlie Brown replied.

"Well then this should be an easy one" Commented Patty as the gang watched Charlie Brown approach the diamond wall and surround his fists with light.

"Yeah, if can break all those other things with one punch he can easily break that diamon in two" Franklin added confidently.

"Think Sparky'll let us keep the shards?" Violet asked. Some of the greedier Peanuts fantasised for a moment about what they could buy with a pile of diamonds.

Charlie Brown meanwhile was taking a deep breathe. Eyes locked firmly on the diamond wall in front of him, Charlie Brown held back his arm and fired a punch from his right hand at the wall's centre, followed immediately by a left hook. But to everyones surprise, the diamond was only slightly cracked.

"I should also mention that this is not the same sort of diamond you are accustomed to. This diamond comes from the Glade of Dreams, diamonds there are harder even than those found on your Earth. This phase of the task is about patience and endurance anyway. To shatter this diamond wall you will have to punch it continuously until it breaks, not stopping once or allowing your light to fade" Sparky explained. This gave Charlie Brown an "Ooooh" moment, but came at an annoyance to Linus.

"Then why didn't you explain that to Charlie Brown before he punched it?" Linus asked. Sparky shrugged innocently.

"The author likes surprises" Sparky replied, leaving the kids confused as to what the heck he meant. Realizing they would only become more confused if he tried to explain Sparky did not bother to clarify his statement and instead spoke more to Charlie Brown "It is important that you maintain control over the light long enough to break this diamond. Most battles you will face against my sister's minions will probably go on for a long time, and you will probably be pushed to your limits plenty of times. Learning to maintain control over you powers over long periods of time is vital before we proceed any further with your training. So, ready?"

Charlie Brown had a slightly hard time keeping up with everything that he was being told, but nodded his head and started to try again. Summonning more light into his fists, Charlie Brown made sure to keep his thoughts happy and pleasant as he began wailing on the diamond structure. After a good dozen jabs large cracks were starting to form over the diamond, and it looked like he was going to break it. But, to everyones dissapointement, as Charlie Brown was making his way up to two dozen punches the light around his hands began to subside, and he ended up injuring his right hand again as he punched the wall with a bare hand.

The Peanuts sighed in unison. So close. Charlie Brown shook the pain off, after watching the cracks he had made in the diamond magically disappear he sighed too and looked down in disappointment.

"My boy do not feel discouraged. I have already said the purpose of training is to improve upon yourself and keep going until you get things right" Sparky said quickly "It may take you a few attempts before you are able to fully shatter the diamond, but that's to be expected. If I thought you would shatter it on your first try I wouldn't ask that you attempt it. Just remember that, I know it's hard for you not to feel discouraged, but I'm afraid you're going to have to stay positive for once Charlie Brown. Just keep going"

Feeling less disappointed after that quick pep talk, Charlie Brown agreed to try again.

And again.

And again...

And again, and again and again. Charlie Brown continuously punched the wall of diamond many times and still it would not crack, either the light would subside right as he was about to shatter the gem completely or he just got worn out and had to spend a few seconds catching his breathe. Charlie Brown continued punching at the wall for what felt like well over an hour, and still he was making only very slow progress. Naturally, despite being impressed at first by Charlie Brown's super strong light punches, the Peanuts were quickly growing bored. They all waited in vain for Charlie Brown to finally shatter the annoying diamond so he could move on to something more interesting for them to watch.

After a long and irrate silence, Violet finally prepared to comment on the situation. Remembering that she was trying to improve her behaviour and treatment of Charlie Brown, and noting that Franklin was sitting only two arm chairs away from her, Violet made sure to choose each word carefully.

"You know, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but this lack of progress is getting on my nerves a little. I wish Charlie Brown would just hurry up so we can move on" Violet said. Everyone nearest to her nodded.

"He is taking his time, and it doesn't look like he's getting any closer to his goal" Patty supplied, watching as Charlie Brown came just a few punches away from shattering the diamond wall completely before his hands lost their light aura again.

"We just have to be patient, that's all" Pigpen said reasonably.

"To heck with that" Lucy snapped, jumping out of her seat and making her way towards Charlie Brown. The Peanuts grimaced as they saw Lucy march up to their friend, worried she'd do something to make everything worse.

Lucy approached Charlie Brown, still catching his breathe from that last failed attempt and looking more put down than ever with this long string of failures. Lucy put on her widest smile and said "Wow, you're getting good at this aren't you?"

Charlie Brown looked over to Lucy and gave her a questionable look.

"Um, I guess... still need to do better though" Charlie Brown replied, unsure of Lucy's intentions. Sparky watched Lucy with a hint of caution, but decided to leave her be for the time being.

"You know Charlie Brown, it is really cool what you can do. Your powers are sooooo awesome" Lucy praised, Charlie Brown smiled weakly and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, they're not all that special" Charlie Brown insisted, but Lucy shook her head.

"Oh but they are Charlie Brown, you're so cool with those powers" Lucy said, a sly grin creeping up her face as she spoke on "I bet everyone back home would admire you so much after seeing you with these powers. Why, I bet even that Little Red Haired Girl would admire you"

Charlie Brown blushed and widened his eyes at this comment. Suddenly looking hopeful he asked "Really?"

"Of course. Girls LOVE superheroes, and you've got some pretty super powers right now. I bet old Heather would fall head over heels in love if she saw you with these powers" Lucy was saying in matter-of-fact tone. Charlie Brown's face split into a goofy grin as he fantasised.

"Gee... that would be great" Charlie Brown said gleefully. A satisfied smirk on her face, Lucy left Charlie Brown to his own devices for a minute and returned to her comfy seat in the corner.

"What did you do Lucy?" Linus asked his sister sternly.

"Watch and see" Lucy replied confidently. The Peanuts all raised an eyebrow at Lucy before turning back to Charlie Brown. The young Guardian of Light was channelling light energy into his hands again and punching the diamond wall. But to everyones shock, Charlie Brown managed this time to keep up his attack until the cracks in the wall grew so large that the diamond was finally forced to fall apart, signalling Charlie Brown's success over the first phase of his training.

"And who says I don't give good advice" Lucy said smugly to herself.

Sparky observed the shattered pile of diamonds Charlie Brown had just successfully created and hummed. He made a quick glance in Lucy'd direction, wondering if he should comment on what she had said, but decided to shrug it off since it had actually done Charlie Brown some good. He floated downwards over an exhausted Charlie Brown, who was both happy over his success but also seemed to be in disbelief.

"Well, that's a remarkrable improvement Charlie. If you can just continue to hold on to your positive thoughts in that manner you should do fine to utilise your powers in battle" Sparky praised, enjoying the smile it put on Charlie Brown's face "But no time to rest yet, there's still much I have to teach you"

"Ok then. So, what's next?" Charlie Brown asked. He was still a bit apprehencive of everything that was going on and unsure how fit he was to be a Guardian, but he was really excited to see just what sort of amazing things he could do with these powers.

"Well, phase one of your training is all about learning to gain and maintain control of your powers. Phase two is using that power in more... interesting ways" Sparky replied, perking everyones interests "As Guardian of Light, you can obviously manipulate the light to achieve all manner of techniques. For this stage of your training you will only learn the basics, such as generating light beams, spheres and shields. The former two can be used to attack, while the shield is obviously to defend yourself and others around you. As you further your training I will also teach you to create light constructs, but I'll talk more about that when we come to it. Now, before this phase of your training is complete I want you to be able to produce a sturdy shield and fire spheres and beams of light from your hands off by heart, while we shall also work on perfecting your aim for the latter two. Still following me?"

Charlie Brown was a bit lost on some things, such as what was the point of making a sphere out of light, but not one to argue he just nodded his head. Sparky recognised he was still a bit uncertain, but for Charlie Brown it was probably best to let him figure things out as he went along.

"Alright then" Sparky said, looking once more to the ceiling "Begin New Guardian Training Session Phase 2"

The rubble that had become of the objects Charlie Brown shattered vanished into the vast whiteness of the training room. The Peanuts wondered for a moment what sort of contraptions would spring up for this part of the training. The answer was a little underwhelming.

Three targets like you would use for archery popped up in the far end of the room, and an old tennis ball machine in another corner of the room. Charlie Brown and friends stared questionably at the choice of training gear.

"There's more to come, but for the moment this is all we will need" Sparky clarified.

"Ok. So, what do we do first?" Charlie Brown asked, Sparky shrugged playfully.

"Whatever you want. The choice is between creating a shield made of light, shooting a beam of light or creating a sphere of light. Which one you attempt first is entirely up to you" Sparky replied. Charlie Brown mulled things over in his head.

"Which ones easier?" Charlie Brown asked. Hey, who wouldn't ask that.

"Hard to say, since I'm the only Guardian of Light who's ever existed" Sparky said unsurely "Personally I always found shileds to be the easiest to conjure"

"Alright, so what do I need to do to make one?" Charlie Brown questioned.

"Well, first and most obviously you need to channel light into your hands" Sparky began, Charlie Brown did so "Then, you need to put your hands in front of you. Then, while your conscious mind must be focused firmly on happy thought, you must use your subconscious mind to command the light into your hands to expand into a barrier in front of you"

"Is that all?" Charlie Brown asked.

"Basically, yes. It's no more difficult to create a shield than open a portal. But, as you must focus firmly on where a portal of light will take you, also you must focus on how hard you wish to make your shield. To create a light shield that can withstand powerful attacks, you must focus your mind. Think of the happiest things possible with your conscious mind, while at the same time commanding with your subconscious mind for the shield to appear and remain strong in the face of attack. It can be complicated, but that's why we're here, to teach you how to do it right" Sparky commented.

Charlie Brown pursed his lips, pushing the growing sense of doubt to the back of his mind he began channelling light to his hands. It was surprising, but already lighting up his hands and channelling his inner light had become second nature. Charlie Brown couldn't believe that he was suddenly doing so good at using these new powers, when he usually never succeeded at anything new he tried. But he mustn't think like that, no bad thoughts for this training.

Charlie Brown stretched his glowing hands out in front of him. While he wasn't mostly thinking about happy memories like when Snoopy used to actually act somewhat like a normal dog, another side of Charlie Brown's mind was commanding the light to take shape and form a shield. Sparky was right about it being complicated, trying to think about one thing while he was supposed to be concentrated on positive thoughts was far from easy to do. But, after a mere ten minutes, Charlie Brown got it right.

The light shield Charlie Brown produced was not like a medieval knights shield, or any type of shield that existed. It was more of a circular barrier of translucent light that protruded from Charlie Brown's hands and was large enough to block his entire body from anything coming at him from the direction he was facing. (If that didn't help you understand it, just think of the Invisible Woman's forcefields).

The Peanuts "Ooooh"'ed and "Ahhhh"'ed at the barrier, they didn't get long to admire it though because Charlie Brown was so surprised he lost control a few seconds after and it dispersed. The kids responded with a disappointed "Awwww!"

Sparky on the other hand was thrilled by this progression.

"Excellent work Charlie. You know, I've never had to train anyone to use my powers before, but you're doing far better than I could have hoped" Sparky showered Charlie Brown with praise, which the poor old kid could only think of as undeserved "Now that you've forged a shield, we need to test your ability to keep it sustained under pressure" Sparky turned to the Peanuts gang as he said this "Would one of you like to volunteer to help out in this next part?"

The Peanuts were caught off guard by this question, they hadn't expected to take any part in Charlie Brown's training other than watching it first hand. After a brief discussion amongst the group, Linus hopped forward.

"So, what do you need me to do?" Linus asked.

"Oh, it's quite simple. I just need someone solid to operate the tennis ball machine" Sparky explained, gesturing to the machine in the corner. Linus nodded his head, realising that should have been obvious.

"I see. So you want Charlie Brown to block the balls with his shield" Sparky nodded to confirm Linus' statement. Charlie Brown suddenly had a nervous spasm.

"Isn't there another way we can do this?" Charlie Brown asked meekly. With all the baseballs he'd had hit back at him over the years he had developed a slight fear of balls flying at him.

"I'm afraid this method is the least likely to cause you harm" Sparky replied, sensing the boy's worry "Don't worry though, it shouldn't take long to master shield making"

With his orders set Linus walked over to the tennis ball machine and readied it to fire a ball Charlie Brown's way. Charlie Brown twitched nervously, but managed to shake off the worry with the refreshing memory of his time as "Mr Sack".

"Ready Linus?" Sparky asked the younger boy.

"Ready" Linus replied confidently.

"Ready Charlie Brown?" Sparky asked the Guardian.

"I guess" Charlie Brown replied half heartedly. Sparky gave him a minute to get his positive thought in order before making sort of move.

Charlie Brown took a deep breathe and summoned another light shield. Sparky nodded to Linus, who fiddled with the controls of the tennis ball machine until he figured out how to make it fire a single ball at Charlie Brown's shield. The ball flew at great speed towards the barrier, bouncing off it's glowing surface. Charlie Brown twitched as the ball struck the shield, which concerned him but not Sparky.

"Alright, now try it with three balls at once" Sparky told Linus. The blanket carrier nodded and made the machine launch three balls Charlie Brown's way. The first ball made the barrier giggle, the second caused a few cracks, and the third ball smashed through the middle of the shield and struck Charlie Brown dead on in the face. The Peanuts winced at this sight as Linus clasped a hand to his mouth and frantically started apologising.

"Good grief" Charlie Brown sighed on the floor, feeling like a loser.

"Don't fret Charlie, just get up and try again. This training is trial on error, after all" Sparky encouraged his protege, who just gave an incoherent mumble and got to his feet.

Charlie Brown focused on some more happy thoughts and sprung up another shield. Sparky had Linus fire another three balls at Charlie Brown, this time the shield managed to survive the three hits, though it was still heavily cracked.

"Very good. But before we move any further you should try and polish up your technique. Linus, kindly fire another three balls when Charlie Brown is done setting up a new shield" Said Sparky.

And this was the routine for the next half and hour or so. Charlie Brown would set up another shield made of light after every three balls fired at him, trying to increase his control over the shield so that it was less cracked after each go. A few times Charlie Brown lost concentration and was hit in the face with another tennis ball, but these instances became fewer and far between as the minutes rolled on. When Charlie Brown was able to create a shield that only sustained a few crack after three balls, Sparky had Linus move on to firing five balls at a time. Fifteen more minutes went by, and finally Charlie Brown was able to maintain a light shield without having it take any damage from the tennis ball attacks.

"Well, it seems we can move on a little bit further" Sparky said optomistically.

"About time!" Sally called out, as all the other Peanuts yawned in the corner.

"Er, yes. Anyway, you could do with a little more training in creating more resilient shields, but since we've not a great deal of time we should probably move on to light beams or spheres" Sparky explained, staring expectantly at Charlie Brown. Realising what he wanted to know from him, Charlie Brown replied that he'd like to do light beams next.

"Very well. Linus, thank you for your help, you may retake your seat" Sparky said to Linus, who nodded and rejoined his friends by the armchairs. Sally used her tired state as an excuse to yawn and rest her head on his shoulder. Linus quickly leaned to his right so her head hit the arm of the chair.

Sparky motioned for Charlie Brown to stare at the targets and began explaining the second part of Phase 2 "Now then, to produce a beam of light you need only channel light into your hands, you can do it with only one but it is easier to put both together. Then you need to extend your hands out in front of you and command that light to shoot forth in a concentrated steam"

"Ok... I have a question" Charlie Brown began, Sparky looked receptively at him "Does every technique I need to learn involve me covering my hands in light and thinking for it to do something"

"More or less. Your powers come from your the light within your heart, and are manipulated by your imagination. They are limited only by your own sense of imagination and willpower, sort of like the Green Lantern power rings of the DC world. I don't expect you to get that reference either" Sparky explained. Charlie Brown thought for a moment before shrouding his hands with light.

Realising Sparky wanted him to hit one of the targets with a light beam, which Charlie Brown wasn't even sure he could make yet, the young Guardian stretched out his hands, directing them so his opened palms were facing the bullseye mark from his perspective and began channelling even more light into his hands. With as many happy thought rushing through his head as possible, Charlie Brown then commanded the light to shoot forward as a beam.

And Charlie Brown was quite surprised when the light did just that. So surprised that he ended up throwing his hands up so that the beam flew ten foot over the target. Charlie Brown was discouraged by his poor marksmanship, while his friends were fascinated by his display.

"This is why I said the Shield was easier to learn than the light beam or sphere. Though it is easy to shoot a beam of light from your hands it is more difficult to aim it precisely. While your mind is already juggling with happy thoughts and commanding the light to take form, you must also maintain physical awareness and watch where you are shooting the beam, and also how your body reacts. It's a difficult taks, but, as I may have said before, you just need to keep practising" Sparky told Charlie Brown, who nodded wearily.

"Come on Charles, you can do it!" Marcie yelled, trying to encourage her friend. Judging by the smile on his face, it seemed to be working.

Charlie Brown stared determindly at the target as he outstretched his glowing hands again. Eyes locked firmly on the bullseye and mind focused on pleasant things, Charlie Brown fired another beam of light. It was a marked improvement, only five feet over the target this time.

"Better, but aim a little lower and try not to jump when you launch the beam" Sparky instructed.

And so Charlie Brown shot ten more light beams in an effort to strike just one of the three targets. But, as was so often the case with our fair blockhead, all of his efforts resulted in failure. Though he was no longer shooting the beams several feet above the targets, his lousy aim still resulted in them missing the targets completely, sometimes only by a couple of inches, sometimes further.

And the more they watched, the more Charlie Brown's friends grew bored. The prospect of Charlie Brown training to use his godly powers sounded immediately exciting, but when everything Charlie Brown was being taught took so long for him to get right, and all the Peanuts could do in the meantime was sit and wait, it did start to drive each of their patience just a little.

Lucy in particular had started to growl when Charlie Brown missed the mark for the thirteenth time in a row, and as he was preparing for beam number fourteen she finally snapped "Would you just hurry up and HIT IT!"

Charlie Brown jumped at Lucy's loud voice, just as he was firing the beam... which struck the middle target dead in the centre and blasted it into dust!

Charlie Brown gaped at the pile of ash that used to be the centre target, as even his friends looked on in shock. Sparky also was staring wide-eyed at the destroyed target, then hummed as his eyes wondered to the eldest Van Pelt.

"Lucy, I'd like to ask you to please yell at Charlie Brown again as he is preparing to fire a light beam at the left target" Sparky said craftily. Lucy smiled as she realised what he was getting at and nodded her head vigorously.

Charlie Brown, also aware of what was on Sparky's mind, positioned his outstretched hand in line with the target to the left of the one he'd just destroyed and channeled light into his hands-

"DON'T MISS" Lucy shrieked, Charlie Brown jumped again and the beam he fired hit the target dead centre. Sparky smiled victoriously.

"Again, both of you" Sparky instructed. Charlie Brown aimed for the final remaining target on the far right, as Lucy prepared her next exclaimation.

"You better hit it!" Lucy yelled. And SMASH, the third target was incinerated.

The Peanuts clapped and cheered as Charlie Brown waved his hand in thanks to Lucy and she examined her fingers, a smug smirk on her face the whole time.

"An unconventional way to learn proper accuracy, but an effective one it seems" Sparky said proudly. Charlie Brown looked at him with a smile as he awaited further instruction "But, as Lucy will not be there to yell at you during a proper fight, you will need to learn how to fire a beam without having her say anything. But, as the shock of her yells seems to help your aim, I want you to launch a beam at two more targets with her yelling you on. Then, for the final target I want you to simply imagine she's yelling at you before you fire. With any luck, you should hit the remaining target all on your own. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, but it sounds illogical" Charlie Brown answered honestly.

"It does indeed" Sparky chuckled "But we'll try it anyway. That is if Lucy's willing to comply"

"I'm good" Lucy agreed immediately.

"But wait, there aren't any more targets" Schroeder pointed out. Then three more targets suddenly appeared by the blank white wall "Oh... never mind"

And so, following Sparky's very unusual new training regime, Charlie Brown fired two more beams at the targets. Aided by Lucy's exceccively loud yelling, both beams hit their marks. This Charlie Brown wasn't worried about, it was getting the final target that would prove the real challenge.

Charlie Brown took a deep breathe and collected his thoughts. The Peanuts leaned forward, now gripping their seats as they waited to see whether Charlie Brown could get the last target by himself. Luckily, having put up with Lucy and her crabbiness for most of his life, it wasn't hard for Charlie Brown to imagine her screaming at him in his mind. So when he fired the next light beam, it did in fact hit the target.

Charlie Brown's friends clapped their hands in celebration for his success, joined quickly by Sparky as the spirit dog floated down in front of Charlie Brown.

"See, that wasn't too hard, right"

"I must admit... this isn't going so bad" Charlie Brown replied. He couldn't believe it, but this training was actually easier than he thought it would be. Though Charlie Brown had worried immensely before he got to this room, he was actually doing a pretty good job at mastering his powers. And for someone with as little confidence as Charlie Brown, this was all very uplifting.

But despite this success Charlie Brown did not move on to the next exercise straight away. First Sparky had him fire a beam at another six targets. With the mental clip of Lucy barking orders at him popping up in Charlie Brown's mind each time, he managed to hit them all. Maybe not always in the centre, but he still blasted the targets hard enough to reduce them to dust anyway.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way, time to begin the final task in Phase 3 of your training: Light spheres" Sparky explained dramatically "I suppose you're wondering what I mean when I say "Light sphere" don't you?" Charlie Brown nodded at this "Well it's exactly what the name implied, you channel light into your palm, then subconsciously command the light to hover above your palm and shape into a sphere, preferably half a foot in diameter. Would you like to give it a try?"

Not exactly like he had another choice, Charlie Brown agreed and held up his right hand. After channelling some light into it, Charlie Brown squinted his eyes as he tried to picture the light forming into a ball over his palm. Slowly but surely, the light around his hand began to gather up and hovered just above Charlie Brown's palm, and under his mental influence it began to form a sphere. But much smaller than Sparky had instructed.

"Try adding a little more light to it Charlie" Sparky instructed kindly.

Charlie Brown channelled more light into the sphere, which grew only slightly bigger.

"A little more" The spirit insisted.

Charlie Brown focused more energy into the sphere, which again did not grow too much larger.

"A little more still"

Charlie Brown overdid it this time and channelled way too much light into the sphere, which grew to massive size and went out of control before exploding in Charlie Brown's face, covering him in soot and burns.

"... Too much..."

Over in the corner Snoopy's stomach started to rumble. Not one to let himself go without food, Snoopy raised his hand and called to Sparky "May I be excused to go grab a bite to eat?"

Sparky looked over to Snoopy and, after giving it some thought, agreed.

"Alright Snoopy. Linus, you take Snoopy back to the rest area you were brought to upon first entering the Light Palace, I don't trust him going back on his own and you're the most responsible" Sparky instructed. Linus gave the spirit a salute and prepared to leave with Snoopy.

"Don't worry Sparky, I'll make sure Snoopy doesn't get up to his usual schenanigans" Linus promised as he and Snoopy left the training room. Woodstock of course decided to tag along with his beagle buddy. Sparky watched apprehensively as the trio left.

"I wonder if I shouldn't have let them go without me... oh well, too late now' Sparky thought to himself as he turned back to Charlie Brown struggling to form a right sized sphere.

With Linus walking behind them to make sure they didn't wander off (And they did try a couple of times) Snoopy and Woodstock headed back to the foyer to grab a bite to eat. The noticed that it seemed to take them at least five minutes to get there, longer than any of them thought it was. But then again, they were too busy looking around excitedly at all the doors before to really pay attention to how long they were taking.

Upon reaching the sitting room Snoopy darted straight for the platinum refridgerator, quickly gobbling up a cooked ham as Woodstock ate a slice of bread. After the beagle offered him a bite Linus helped himself to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Finishing their respective snack quickly, the trio shut the refridgerator and headed back through the door besides Exodia's statue and down the hallway back to the training room (Again, Linus had to keep Snoopy from running off through many of the other doors).

As soon as Linus, Snoopy and Woodstock walked through the door however they were met with a surprise, as Charlie Brown stood nearby with a perfectly formed sphere of light in his hand, which he proceeded to hurl at a newly appeared target. The other Peanuts began cheering as the trio just blinked in surprise.

"Aww, don't tell me we missed the whole thing" Linus moaned disappointedly. Everyone suddenly stared at him and the two animals in surprise.

"Well finally you're back, where've you been?" Lucy asked irritably as though they had been gone for a long time. Linus stared questionably at his sister.

"We just went back to the sitting room, we were only gone twelve minutes" Linus explained simply, but it seemed this only confused the others.

"Twelve minutes? Try half an hour" Freida replied. Now they were all confused.

"Ah, yes, that's yet another thing I forgot to mention" Sparky began as the Peanuts began staring expectantly at him "You see, this training room is designed so that time slows down when you're inside it. It's based roughly off of the hyperbolic time chamber of the dragon ball world, though not quite as effective. You see, we have actually been in here now for over two hours, but in comparison only fourty six minutes have passed everywhere outside it, that includes on your world and all the others. It will allow Charlie Brown as much time as he need for training before you all need to go to bed"

The Peanuts jaws had all fallen. A room where time ran slower than it did outside. How cool was that!

After letting the Peanuts marvel over this fact, Sparky congratulated Charlie Brown for apparently perfecting the light sphere technique and announced "Clear room"

And the ash piles that were once targets and the automatic tennis ball machine vanished, to be replaced by nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"Um... so what's next?" Charlie Brown asked in confusion.

"For Phase 3 of your training you will not require any equipment. In fact, it's better to have the room empty for this part of the training" Sparky explained, much to Charlie Brown and friends' curiosity "Now, as you might have noticed from your lack of bruises from the tennis balls shot into your face, your powers serve more purpose than to bring harm to your enemies. After all, you are a Guardian, not a mercenary. You also have the ability to heal yourself and others"

"Really?" Charlie Brown asked, highly interested.

"Indeed. Unlike the abilities you have learned thus far, your healing ability is constantly at work. If you cut yourself, the cut will patch itself up withing seconds. If you break a bone, it will repair itself within minutes. And if you are infected with cancer or a fatal disease, your inner light will boost your antibodies to fight it off. But don't think this makes you immune to injury, your healing abilities have their limits. Your body will only recover from a certain amount of pain and damage before your healing energies are exhausted, and will need to be recharged before you can regain your healing abilities" Sparky explained. Charlie Brown nodded as he spoke, amazed and, admittedly, quite pleased by this bit of news. He was always hurting himself some way or another. Being able to heal himself sounded like it could really come in handy.

"So then Charlie Brown doesn't need to practise this part, if it's always working?" Freida questioned.

"Yes... and no" Sparky said cryptically, then addressed Charlie Brown directly as he continued "While your body may be constantly healing itself, you can speed up the process by channelling light to that part of the body. If it sounds simple, then it is, but only just. Healing energy comes from the purest light in your heart, so to use it you would have to focus your mind on your absolute happiest thoughts. Think you can do that?"

"I think... maybe" Charlie Brown replied in his usual self-doubting tone. Spary sighed mentally at this, but knew Charlie Brown would feel more confident after succeeding.

"Alright then. Lucy, could you come over here for a minute, We'll need your help for this part" Sparky called to the girl in the blue dress, who blinked in surprise at being asked to help out but hopped forward eagerly anyway "Now, before Charlie Brown can heal himself, he first requires an injury to heal. In this case, we'll go for a black eye. So Lucy, I'd like you to slug Charlie Brown in the face as hard as you can"

"Excuse me!" Charlie Brown yelped, not at all liking that plan.

"I understand your reluctance, but this training is all for your own good Charlie. And it won't hurt for more than a second anyway" Sparky said reassuringly. Charlie Brown was anything but reassured.

"So wait, you're actually giving me permission to punch Charlie Brown in the face?" Lucy asked the spirit oddly. Sparky nodded.

"Try not to enjoy it too much though" Sparky joked. Lucy frowned and put her hands on her hips.

"Hey, I may be crabby, but I'm not sadistic" Lucy said firmly... well... maybe a little bit, she admitted to herself. But she wouldn't enjoy this.

"Ok then. I know it might seem silly of me to ask you this considering what's about to happen, but just try to relax and think positive Charlie Brown" Sparky instructed "It's the only way you'll get things done after all"

Charlie Brown gulped and closed his eyes, desparately trying to keep his thoughts happy as Lucy held back her fist.

"Alright Lucy, on the count of three I want you to punch Charlie Brown in the eye. Charlie Brown... try not to think about that and focused on your most happy of thoughts. Ok then. Three... two... one!"

POW

Lucy slugged Charlie Brown with immense force, sending the poor boy flying backwards and landing on his read. Charlie Brown, now adjourned with an ugly black eye, winced a little and tried desparately not to think of how painful that punch was and channelled light around his face, specifically focusing it around his eye area. At first it didn't seem to have any effect, though after a few seconds the bruise around the eye started to fade. And then thirty seconds later, the black eye was completely healed up. Unfortunately, Sparky seemed displeased with this outcome.

"No, that didn't work" Sparky said plainly, Charlie Brown groaned as he explained further "If you had succeeded in channelling healing energy to your eye it would have healed near instantly. I'm very sorry to have to tell you this Charlie, but I'm afraid we'll have to try again"

Charlie Brown got to his feet, groaning at the prospect of receiving more slugs from Lucy. Something told him this was going to take more than a few tries.

And that something was dead right.

Over the course of twenty minutes Lucy continuously punched Charlie Brown in the face, and each time she did the Guardian would channel light around his black eye in an effort to heal it quicker. But it never seemed to have the effect Sparky desired, and Charlie Brown was forced to endure even more punches from his heavy fisted friend. Of course there was never any lasting soreness on Charlie Brown's face, but the impact of Lucy's punches still hurt like heck.

Then finally, as the situation was beginning to look hopeless, an improvement was made. Lucy punched Charlie Brown in the face, he tried to think positively despite the sharp pain, light shrouded Charlie Brown's face, and his injury then healed in only fifteen seconds, half the time it was normally taking. Sparky smiled as he noticed this, if only small, acheivement.

"Finally we're progressing" Sparky said excitedly, and Charlie Brown sighed in relief... "But it still needs improvement" Charlie Brown facepalmed.

And thus, Charlie Brown was forced to endure another round of Lucy's punching. At this point though he seemed to be improving his healing time on every attempt... by one second. After another ten punches and Charlie Brown reducing the time it took to heal his black eye to only five seconds, Sparky finally appeared satisfied.

"I think that should do for healing. For now anyway. I don't suppose you wish to continue much further with this exercise, do you?" Sparky asked lightheartedly. Charlie Brown responded with a surprisingly loud and uncharacteristic "NO!" as Lucy took her place back with the other Peanuts.

Charlie Brown waited for Sparky to explain the next technique he would have to learn, thinking that anything would probably be better than what he had just endured. However, he was completely unprepared for what Sparky had to say.

"Ok, now it is time I explain the final technique I wish to teach you tonight. That is not to say this will conclude our training for today, but rather after this we will only be working on polishing off the skills you have already learned and working on applying them in battle. But that's phase 4. Right now, I am going to teach you how to fly"

Charlie Brown gaped at the dog spirit, as did most of the Peanuts. Fly? Charlie Brown had almost forgotten that was one of the abilities Sparky mentioned he now possessed while talking to Rerun earlier. Suddenly the young teen felt ill.

"You want me to fly?" Charlie Brown asked nervously. His friends began whispering excitedly, thinking that this would truly be interesting to watch.

"But of course. The ability to fly through the air is a very handy skill to have, and quite fun too" Sparky said encouragingly. But Charlie Brown couldn't believe that. For while most people probably would find the prospect of flying to be pretty exciting, Charlie Brown could only think of how uncomfortable it would be to float unsupported in the air, and of all the things that could go wrong with such an experience.

"Um, are you sure there's nothing else I need to learn first?" Charlie Brown asked quickly. Sparky sighed.

"No, I have already said this is the last technique I need to teach you. But don't worry about it" Sparky said as gently as he could "Flying is not as difficult as it sounds, and the feeling of unpleasantness should only last for a moment. I assure you Charlie Brown, nothing will go wrong"

Charlie Brown thought that was easy for Sparky to say, he was intangible, he couldn't crash or feel pain. And he had probably been flying around places for millions of years, depending on how old the universe was, after all that time it was bound to be second nature to him. Charlie Brown didn't have that luxury.

Despite the growing sense of dread building up inside him Charlie Brown still listened closely as Sparky explained how he would be flying "Now, to a Guardian, flight is merely levitating ones-self through applying light to the feet. I want you to channel a good amount of light energy into your feet Charlie, then I want you to command that light to steadily lift you a foot off the ground. We'll start your flight training pretty low to the ground, so as to avoid any unfortunate accidents, but I am going to need you to use full concentration to make this work. Understand"

Charlie Brown nodded meekly. Sparky sighed, he was wondering why Charlie Brown was still feeling unconfident after completeting all the prior training exercises so successfully. But then again he reminded himself, this was Charlie Brown. Building self confidence in him might be an ongoing battle.

Already feeling a bit queesy despite being planted firmly on the ground, Charlie Brown began channeling light around his feet. Trying to hold back the mental groan of worry, Charlie Brown gently commanded the light on his feet to lift him up a few inches.

The effect was near instantaneous. One second Charlie Brown thought for the light to lift him up, he hovered five inches off the ground. The Peanuts gasped in awe as Charlie Brown floated off the ground, very unsteadily and looking like he was going to fall over.

"Steady, Charlie Brown. Keep it steady" Sparky cautiously instructed. Despite feeling a sense of panic Charlie Brown managed to fet a slight grip on himself and leaned forward, putting himself in an upright position as he continued hovering unsupported off the ground.

"There, now that wasn't so bad was it?" Sparky asked cheerfully. Charlie Brown's response was to hold his stomach and turn slightly green. Sparky rolled his eyes, but chose to ignore it "Still a tad short of a foot though. Remain calm and float a little higher"

It was only the fear of falling backwards and banging his head against the floor that encouraged Charlie Brown to focus his thoughts to remain mainly positive as he hovered a complete foot off the ground. Sparky floated a few feet away from where Charlie Brown was flying and motioned for him to follow.

"Alright, now all you have to do to move is imagine yourself to fly in my direction. It helps if you lean forward a bit. Alright?" Sparky explained. Charlie Brown took a deep breathe then leaned forward. Still fightin back the feeling of dread, Charlie Brown then commanded the light in his feet to move him forward. And would you believe it, it worked perfectly. Charlie Brown hovered over right in front of Sparky easily. He didn't go too fast and end up crashing into the wall. He didn't lose control and fall on his face. Nothing bad happened, he just flew forward like he was being asked, and it was quite easy.

"Good job. Now I want you to fly to the other side of the room and back" Sparky instructed. Again, Charlie Brown did what was being asked of him, and he did it without any difficulties, it all just seemed to come naturally to him, more so than any of the other techniques he had been taught. This thought brought a smile to Charlie Brown's face, which in turn caused Sparky to smile for him.

And what came as an even bigger surprise to everyone in the room was when Charlie Brown actually managed to accomplish the entire flying lesson without making any of the usual screw ups. After Sparky had made him fly around the room a few more times to get used to the feeling of moving about off the ground the spirit encouraged Charlie Brown to fly higher, reaching up to five feet off the ground. Though Charlie Brown initially was subject to a few shaky nerves over being this high, soon after he was no longer bothered to care as he gracefully flew through the air, either at breakneck speeds or a short flutter.

Charlie Brown wasn't sure what it was, whether it be the freedom of being completely off the ground or the simple fact that he was doing it so easily, but he actually really enjoyed flying. And it showed as Charlie Brown effortlessly twirled around in the air. Needless to say, his friends were spellbound by his performance. By the time Sparky had finally called him back down to the ground, Charlie Brown could hardly believe he had been so worried about flying.

"Wow, perhaps flight should be Phase 1 of the training, considering how easily you handled it" Sparky said, surprised but immensely pleased with his successor's performance. Charlie Brown could only grin with pride, he'd never gotten so good at anything so fast before, so I think you can imagine he was feeling really proud of himself.

"But don't get ahead of yourself now. As hypocritical as it might sound considering what I've just been teaching you Charlie, it is not wise to become too immersed in one's own joy. Overcondidence can be equally as dangerous as underconfidence, in that it can lead to mistakes and carelessness. Of course you should be proud of yourself, you've done an excellent job mastering the techniques I've shown you, but for Phase 4 of your training you'll need plenty of focus" Sparky explained seriously. Though he couldn't help but feel slightly put down by what was being said, Charlie Brown nodded in agreement to the spirit.

"So... what is Phase 4?" Charlie Brown asked the important question. Sparky looked utterly serious as he began to answer.

"Phase 4 is putting all that you have learned to use. And by that I mean, learning to use your powers in a fight" Sparky began, Charlie Brown and his nearby friends listened very closely "Utilising your powers does require you to focus on feeling positive emotions. When confronted by an oppenent in a fight there will always be some level of concern and worry felt, particularly if it's a powerful opponent you are facing. So before you may go out into the battle field and engage in a real battle with an evil force, you must learn both how to keep your thoughts positive under the threat of attack, and also learn how to actually fight, since I believe you haven't had much experience brawling"

"I'll say, Chuck's the most pacifistic person I know after Marcie" Peppermint Patty called from the corner.

"Yes Patty, that does add to my point. Now, Charlie, I don't suppose I need to explain to you how I'm going to teach you how to fight?" Sparky said simply. Charlie Brown looked to him in wonder for a moment, and then it occured to him.

"You want me to fight those heartless simulations" Charlie Brown said. Sparky nodded to confirm it.

Charlie Brown could only gulp at the thought of being faced with those monster shadows, even if they weren't the real deal they had still looked scary when Sparky made them appear earlier.

"Be aware that the heartless simulations created in this room will not do you actual harm. You will feel as though you are being injured as they attack you, but that is merely an effect the room will apply to your psyche, to make the danger appear real. I want you to fight a few swarms of heartless, using each of the techniques I've taught you in this past hour to defeat them. Of course the primary objective is to develop your fighting skills, what better way to do so than through first hand experience?" Sparky asked rhetorically. Charlie Brown could think of a dozen ways he'd like to learn fighting skills better than to fight against a swarm of living shadows. But he didn't dare say that aloud.

The Peanuts gang watched on in anticipation as Sparky gave Charlie Brown a moment to rest and assemble his happiest thoughts and memories, whatever it took to keep himself calm in the face of danger. The kids couldn't help but be a thousand times more eager than Charlie Brown, this entire training session most of them had just sat here doing nothing, having to watch as Charlie Brown repetitively attempted to perfect his newly aquired powers. It was interesting, but the amount of time it normally took Charlie Brown to get a grip on each individual technique did get them all bored and restless. An actual fight sounded much more thrilling and intense, and it would undoubtedly be worth watching.

After a few minutes Sparky asked Charlie Brown if he was reasy to battle. Charlie Brown nodded his head weakly and Sparky turned his head upwards.

"Begin New Guardian Training Session Phase 4, Heartless combat"

Across the vast white room dark blotches began to form across the floor and walls. The shadows started to wriggle and expand, soon rising up out of the ground. And just like that, a total of twenty heartless illusions surrounded Charlie Brown.

The Peanuts shuddered at the sight of the shadow monsters. Maybe they weren't real, nor did they appear exceptionally scary, but the heartless were still terrifying. Charlie Brown felt the bile rise up in his stomach, though he tried to remain calm he couldn't help shake the feeling that he was in for a rough time.

"All of you remain in your seats, these heartless may be simulations, but they will still attack you if you get anywhere near them. Don't move" Sparky sternly instructed the Peanuts gang. None of them argued. The spirit floated far back to the corner of the room, but not before giving Charlie Brown this last bit of encouragement "Just believe in yourself Charlie. You've done well to gain control over your powers, all you have to do now is have faith in yourself, and I promise you'll succeed. If you need to stop we'll end the simulation, but remember, you CAN win this if you try. Good luck"

With Sparky no longer floating over Charlie Brown like a halo the heartless began to inch forward to their target. Charlie Brown kept his guard up. The shadows kept making these strange erratic movements, as though they were going to charge at him but then pulled themselves back, which really made the young Guardian anxious. Deciding he couldn't risk waiting too long to make a move, Charlie Brown focused on happy thoughts and lit his hands up with light.

This action appeared to terrify the heartless, and finally one of them leapt forward. In a moment of panic Charlie Brown lashed out at the false heartless, punching it in the face with enough force to send it flying ten feet backwards, landing on it's feet. As that heartless recovered from the attack, two more sunk back into the ground and made their way towards Charlie.

The shadows on the ground circled around Charlie Brown. The near-bald teen tried kicking at the ground with light covered feet, but it didn't appear to affect the heartless while they were sunk into the ground. After half a minute of this swarming went on, one of the shadows rose up behind Charlie Brown and held back it's clawed hand.

"LOOK OUT" Sally screamed. Charlie Brown jumped at her voice and turned around just in time to see the shadow prepare to stab him with it's claws. Charlie Brown managed to grab the heartless' hand and keep hold of it. The shadow struggled to pull it's arm free as Charlie Brown raised another fist. But before he could deal a hopefully decisive blow, the second heartless rose up and tackled him, knocking him over. The heartless duo prepared to lash out at him again, but Charlie Brown managed to shoot a light beam at the last second. The heartless turned to dust just seconds after the beam had struck them.

Panting heavily (Though more from fear than exhaustion) Charlie Brown shot up to his feet and observed the mob of heartless surrounding him. The destruction of those last two heartless had seemingly sent the shadows into a state of fear, and they were obviously keeping their distance for the moment. Charlie Brown only just managed to keep his hands lit with all the worry he was feeling.

The heartless were much quicker in their next attack. A trio of heartless sunk into the ground and floated around near where Charlie Brown stood. The young Guardian watched every move these shadows made, ready to strike them back if one of them rose up. Unfortunately, while his attention was focused on the three shadows on the floor, Charlie Brown failed to notice the shadow five feet in front of him pull back it's arm and dash forward, striking Charlie Brown in the chest and cutting three large gashes across his chest.

Charlie Brown landed on his back, reeling from the attack. The heartless on the floor began rising up, ready to gang up on him. They would have sliced him to pieces in seconds too, if Charlie Brown had not erected a light shield to ward them off. The shadows momentarily scratched and clawed at the shield, but quickly retreated backwards, too afraid of the light to make further contact with it. But that didn't stop a few more of the little monsters from stalking up behind Charlie Brown (The shield only protected him from one side).

"Uh, Chuck!" Peppermint Patty called, gesturing behind Charlie Brown as he looked at her. Still keeping up his shield, Charlie Brown turned around to see yet another heartless running up behind him. With a quick glance to the heartless once more slashing at his shield, Charlie Brown realised he had no choice but to quickly drop the shield and fly up out of the way. The heartless charging from behind crashed into the apparent leader of the pack warded off by the shield. The heartless that had been tackled growled and bonked the other shadow on the head. Said heartless responded by punching the other in the face. In what looked like a childish fit of anger, the two heartless began brawling amongst themselves, both trying to scratch the other out of existence.

Up near the ceiling of the training room Charlie Brown watched the heartless fight with a look of bemusement. Realising this was a chance he could not afford to miss, Charlie Brown formed a light sphere in his left palm and tossed it downwards, incinerating the fighting heartless.

The Peanuts cheered for Charlie Brown, who himself was feeling pretty good about what just happened. The Guardian looked downwards at the heartless desparately clawing at the wall, trying to no avail to scale it and reach the seemingly bald hero. The knowledge that the heartless couldn't climb soothed Charlie Brown's nerves, and he thought he could just blast the heartless from up here and win this easily without putting himself close to any more danger.

But of course that plan wasn't meant to work.

Some of the heartless clawing at the wall suddenly stopped trying to climb it, seemingly realising that it was pointless trying to scale the wall. So instead, a trio of the shadows sank back into the ground, the round patches of darkness easily moving up the walls and onto the white ceilings.

Charlie Brown's eyes widened as the shadows reached the spot directly above him. The new Guardian tried to lower himself down out of their way, but the centre heartless leapt out of the ceiling and grabbed hold of him, sending Charlie Brown crashing into the ground.

Charlie Brown struggled on the ground as the heartless had him pinned down. He just barely managed to throw the creature off of him and destroy it with a hard light punch, only to then be dogpiled on by five more heartless. The shadows slashed at Charlie Brown, and while no cuts or gashes opened up Charlie Brown still felt the horrible sensation that his body was being torn apart. Unable to push off so many ravenous shadows, Charlie Brown closed his eyes and thought he was done for.

Don't give up!

Charlie Brown's eyes opened. It wasn't Sparky, it wasn't any of his friends. It was a voice inside his own head that was telling him not to surrender, and that same voice was telling him to keep on fighting 'til the end. He still couldn't push the heartless away, nor was he able to squeeze passed them. But another, much better idea suddenly occured to him.

As Sparky watched the heartless mercilessly slash at his apprentice the former Guardian thought now would be a good time to call off the exercise. But suddenly, the heartless shot back away from Charlie Brown, terrified. The reason for this became quickly apparent to Sparky and all who were watching. Charlie Brown had surrounded his body in a blazing aura of light. And, as the heartless feared the light, they had jumped back straight away. Charlie Brown knew this wasn't enough to hord all the monsters off, but it did shock them enough to get them off him, and gave him just enough time to disintegrate three more heartless with a light beam before barrel rolling to a safer distance.

The eyes of the Peanuts gang widened, realising their friend was out of danger they breathed a collective sigh of relief as Sparky looked on proudly.

For a moment the heartless just swayed on the spot, slow to register everything that had just went down. Finally regaining some sense of composure the shadows turned to Charlie Brown and prepared their next attack. The Guardian lit his hands up with even more light, not about to give up yet. Three more heartless sank into the ground as another two charged head first at Charlie Brown, who flew over them and blasted them in the back with a light beam. Charlie Brown smirked, but any sense of accomplishment was short lived as one of the sunken heartless emerged from the ground beneath him and headbutted him. Charlie Brown rolled through the air and landed with a thud several feet away, the other two heartless emerged at either side of him.

Charlie Brown made to get up, only to have the heartless grab both his arms. With amazing strength, Charlie Brown lifted the two pests off the ground and shook them around, but they refused to let go. The heartless that had previously headbutted Charlie Brown snuck up from behind and scratched at his back while he was distracted. Charlie Brown screamed in agony as the other two heartless released his arms and slashed at his shoulders. Feeling like his arms had nearly been severed despite the lack of visual injury, Charlie Brown flew upwards to get out the the shadows way. Unfortunately for him, two of the relentless shadows grabbed on to his legs, holding him in place long enough for the third to make a running jump for the hero.

Tackled to the ground, Charlie Brown tried to get up quick, but the annoying shadows were still pinning him down by the legs. Charlie Brown managed to shake them off by channelling light around his legs and then kicked the duo into dust. Rolling onto his back, Charlie Brown saw the third heartless running at him again. Panicing, Charlie Brown summoned a light shield at just the right moment. The shadow crashed face first into the shining barrier, slowly sliding down onto the floor. Before the heartless could snap back to focus Charlie Brown had vaporised it with a light beam.

Before he could be subjected to any more surprise assaults Charlie Brown floated up in the air, out of reach from the remaining heartless. After taking a moment to regain his composure and allow his healing powers to work their magic, Charlie Brown looked down at the remaining shadows. From the twenty heartless that had terrorised Charlie Brown at the start of this fight, only seven remained. This fact filled Charlie Brown with a euthoric joy, he was more than half way through and he still fet like he could go another dozen rounds with these monsters. If he kept fighting like he had been, then he might actually win. Him. Charlie Brown. He had never felt so sure of himself before.

While the Peanuts watched Charlie Brown anxiously, the heartless watched him cautiously. One of the shadows began to sink into the ground to scale up the wall, though this only served as a prompt for Charlie Brown to swoop down and leap into action. One duo of heartless charged straight at him, Charlie Brown dodged to the side and grabbed one of them by the antenna. Channelling light over his arm to increase his strength, Charlie Brown swung the shadow around and smacked it against the floor a couple of times before throwing it into the second heartless as it was about to attack.

The first heartless dissolved into dark mist, while the heartless it had been thrown into merely recoiled on the floor. Charlie Brown prepared to vaporize it with a light beam, but turned this attack instead on a heartless lashing out from behind him. The shadow that had scaled the wall leaped down from the ceiling and tackled Charlie Brown to the ground, the round headed boy managed to roll over on top of it and sent the shadow to it's tomb with a few good light punches to the face. Charlie Brown got to his feet, noticing the heartless he had last been fighting getting up he created a light sphere and threw it at the shadow. with Lucy's screaming voice popping up in his mind he managed to hit the shadow dead centre. For a moment Charlie Brown found himself wondering why he had never thought to use this method for pitching baseballs.

Back in the corner of the room the Peanuts were all cheering, calling for Charlie Brown to finish off the remaining heartless, they were all so surprised, some even shocked beyond words but all pleased nonetheless that Charlie Brown was so close to absolute victory. But none could match the joy Charlie Brown himself was feeling. He only had three more heartless to defeat before he succeeded at this training exercise, he was doing so well that the remaining heartless no longer looked like imposing figures to him, but rather cowering shadows waiting to be shined out. Floating over the scene however, Sparky looked down solumnly at his successor and the three shadows.

'Victory may be close Charlie, but don't celebrate until you know you have succeeded. The tide of battle can always turn'

The three remaining heartless stared blankly at Charlie Brown, who was just floating in place and waiting for them, an uncharacteristic sure smile on his face. The heartless suddenly began inching backwards, slowly moving closer to one another. When their shoulders all touched the shadows suddenly began sinking into the ground, their three shadowy patches merging together into one enormous shadow on the ground. Charlie Brown stared at the shadowed patch in confusion, as did his friends, and Sparky looked intruiged.

Charlie Brown stared intently at the shadow on the ground, waiting with light covered fists for whatever trick the shadows were planning to pull on him. For what felt like an eternity nothing happened, the shadow just remained motionless on the white floors of the training room. Then, finally, a hand rose up and sunk into the ground before the shadow. But this was not the stubby little hand of the small shadow creatures Charlie Brown had just spent the last ten minutes fighting, and it was attatched to a much longer arm.

Charlie Brown's eyes widened in shock as a figure slowly rose up from the shadow on the ground. This was most certainly not the same kind of creature Charlie Brown had been fighting, it was much more frightening. It bore a clear resemblance to the smaller shadows, but it was over twice as tall, had long arms and legs, much longer lightning bolt shaped antennas, blue veins running along it's body and large muscles to boot. And it's eyes, though they looked the same as on the smaller heartless, when Charlie Brown looked into them he saw they held infinitely more evil and savagery.

The Peanuts all gasped, recoiling in their seats at the sight of the new monster. Charlie Brown was even more terrified, the light had faded from his hands and all he could manage to do was fearfully look up at the heinous figure of the heartless. And Sparky... only looked amused.

"Hmm, interesting. I've never seen simulated shadows combine into a Neo shadow before" Sparky whispered to himself. Noticing the neo shadow crouching down into a fighting position and Charlie Brown still looking horrified, Sparky called out to the boy "Do not be afraid Charlie! This is where we truly decide if you are ready to weild your powers in combat. Though this Neo Shadow may seem formidable, and it is, you must never give up hope. Though this creature may pose more of a threat than the others, you can still defeat it so long as you give it your all! Prepare yourself Charlie, this is where the real battle begins!"

The Neo shadow growled at Charlie Brown, stretching out it's long, razor sharp claws, obviously desiring to hack Charlie Brown to bits. Charlie Brown's friends watched on in fear for what was to become of him, the young Guardian looked straight into the cold yellow eyes of the heartless and sighed. Trying desparately hard to ignore the bile rising up in his stomach, Charlie Brown managed to focus in part on some happy memories and lit his hands up with light once more.

For a moment the two combatants just stood there. The Neo shadow was first to make a move, with breakneck speed the massive shadow lunged to the side of Charlie Brown. Before the near-bald teen could even register what was happening the Neo Shadow dealt him a massive uppercut to the chin, then gave a powerful kick to his stomach, sending Charlie Brown crashing into the left wall.

There were gulps all around as Charlie Brown pushed himself back onto his feet. While he was still shaking off the impact the Neo shadow rushed forward. Charlie Brown saw the beast coming and fired a light beam straight at it. The Neo shadow merely dodged to the right and dashed further forward. Worried, Charlie Brown instead aimed a light punch for the oncoming heartless. The Neo shadow blocked the punch with it's palm and socked Charlie Brown in the face, then slashed him across the chest with it's claws. Charlie Brown gasped in pain. He wanted to clutch his aching stomach, but instead made to punch the Neo shadow in the gut. The muscular heartless grabbed his wrist however, and flung him around and smashed his head into the ground. Before Charlie Brown could even gasp in agony the shadow followed up with a kick that sent the boy rolling into the middle of the room.

The Peanuts gaped in horror at what they were seeing, and even Sparky worried that this might be too great a challenge for Charlie Brown to overcome at this point. On the floor Charlie Brown struggled to move. The pain may have only been a hallucination the room was making him experience, but it was still agonising to endure. With all his might Charlie Brown struggled into a kneeled down position and surrounded his body with healing light, knowing the shadow wouldn't come too near him while he was lit up.

While this may have been true for the smaller shadows however, it unfortunately turned out to work differently with the Neo shadow. While the light aura did keep the heartless at bay for a few seconds, it also agitated the Neo shadow and caused it to rush forward and deal Brown a massive slash to the face. Charlie Brown was once again sent flying, only this time he thankfully managed to land unsteadily on his feet.

Healed slightly but not quite enough to his liking, Charlie Brown stared down the heartless readying it's next attack and began forming light spheres in his hands. The Neo shadow observed the glowing yellow orbs in Charlie Brown's hands closely and planned it's next move carefully. It sank into the ground and slid up to underneath where Charlie Brown was standing. Frightened and knowing what was about to happen, Charlie Brown flew upwards to get out of the shadow's way. The Neo Shadow shot out from the ground, hand held out to grab Charlie Brown. Thinking quickly, Charlie Brown dropped both his light spheres down onto the heartless. By his first stroke of luck so far in this fight, both spheres hit their target, and the Neo Shadow plummeted back down to earth.

Cheers erupted over from the corner where Charlie Brown's friends watched, and even Charlie Brown looked extremely relieved. But Sparky continued to look serious, knowing that attack would hardly constitute a victory. And he was dead right. While the Neo Shadow remained relatively motionless on the ground for one short, to Charlie Brown glorious moment, it quickly got back onto it's feet and glared up at Charlie Brown.

Charlie Brown stared in disbelief at the Neo Shadow. How did it survive two light sphere attack at once? This probably had to do with it being a lot stronger than the smaller shadows. And in that case, Charlie Brown had no idea just how much force it would take to bring this shadow down.

While Charlie Brown worried, the Neo Shadow stood back and ran at the wall. With surprising athletic brilliance, the heartless managed to run right up the wall and, once at a suitable height it kicked off from the wall and pouned on the floating Charlie Brown.

The opponents landed hard on the ground, the Neo Shadow easily pinning Charlie Brown down. Charlie Brown struggled to loosen himself, but the monstrous shadow maintained a firm grip on him while slicing at his chest with a free hand. Charlie Brown felt the full torture of having his stomach cut open the whole time. It was only by covering himself once more in light that Charlie Brown managed to push the Neo Shadow off of him and deliver a hard punch to it's face. Charlie made to follow up with another punch, but the heartless grabbed his hand and headbutted him. Charlie Brown staggered backwards in pain as the Neo Shadow swiped at him, sending the boy sliding ten feet away.

Charlie Brown panted and spluttered, feeling the full pain of the shadows attacks overpower his healing ability for a moment. He was at a huge disadvantage here, no matter what he did this Neo Shadow could easily outmatch him. He could barely land a hit on it, much less a finishing move, and it was a lot faster, stronger and smarter than the small shadows e had already been struggling against. How was he supposed to beat an opponent like this? He tried to think of a way to out-manuever the beast, but he was given hardly any time to think as the Neo shadow lunged at him again, kicking off from the ground and tackling hard into Charlie Brown.

The Peanuts winced and gasped as Charlie Brown was continuously pummeled by the Neo Shadow. No matter what move he made, the heartless was still able to outmatch him. To say they were all worried for him was putting it mildly.

"Aw man, Chuck's really taking a beating" Peppermint Patty said anxiously as the Neo shadow dodged a light beam and slugged Charlie Brown in the face.

"I don't know how he's going to get out of this" Freida said nervously.

"He's not" Violet sighed remorsefully, and everyone looked at her for clarification "We all know how it is with Charlie Brown. The only times he doesn't fail something straight away he's usually just setting himself up for a bigger failure. And unless he gets a sudden boost of power, I'm afraid this is going to be another one of those times"

"I really hate to admit it... but that sounds about right" Shermy said sadly, and they all lowered their heads in mourning. Except for Linus, who was humming thoughtfully.

After a moment of silence from the Peanuts, Linus spoke up "I have an idea that will either guarantee Charlie Brown a victory... or backfire horribly"

"What is it?" Lucy asked as she, Peppermint Patty and Sally looked curiously at Linus, who motioned for them to lean in closer so he could whisper his idea to them. When he was done the girls all pulled back, looking uncertain.

"That's a crazy idea" Peppermint Patty insisted "... But I guess it's worth a shot"

"Yeah, might as well" Lucy agreed, though she then grabbed Linus by the shirt and threatened "But if this goes wrong, it's gonna be YOU who pays the price. Got it!" Linus gulped and nodded fearfully at his older sister. Lucy released her grip on her brother as the four of them suddenly leapt out of their chairs and ran onto the battle field. The other Peanuts blinked at the sight, then once they registered what was happening they urgently called for Linus, Sally, Patty and Lucy to come back, but to no avail. Sparky also noticed what they were doing and prepared to stop them, but then froze in mid-air. Catching on to what the kids were up to, Sparky pulled back and decided, just for this moment, to let things play out.

Charlie Brown was down on the ground again, struggling to get up as his healing factor was finally starting to slow down. The Neo Shadow looked down hungrily at him, knowing this was it's perfect chance to finish the fight the heartless raised it's claws and...

SNAP

The heartless retracted it's aching right hand, and tried to shake off the pain. The large shadow turned around furiously, seeing that it's attacker was Linus with his security blanket fashioned into a whip.

"Hey you big dumb blockhead, pick on someone your own size!" Linus called to the heartless. Charlie Brown's eyes widened in horror.

"Linus... no" Charlie Brown gasped, but the Neo Shadow had already started to charge at his best friend, claws raised to slice him into pieces. Until it was hit in the back of the head with a baseball.

The heartless turned around to face it's new attacker, which turned out to be Peppermint Patty tossing another baseball around in her hand. Lucy and Sally stood by her side, each holding a small stack of the balls.

"Good thing I always carry a few spare baseballs with me, huh?" Peppermint Patty asked as though she was very clever. Sally looked down questionably at the multiple baseballs in hers and Lucy's arms.

"And, just how deep are your pockets again?" Sally asked uncertainly. She didn't receive an answer as the heartless charged at the girls. Only to once again be distracted by Linus's blanket smacking it's head. The Neo Shadow made to ram him again, before his attention was once more caught by one of Peppermint Patty's baseballs. This cycle repeated itself multiple times as Charlie Brown desparately channeled light around himself, trying to force himself back onto his feet to get the heartless away from his friends.

After about a minute Peppermint Patty finally ran out of baseballs. And as luck would have it, Linus also managed to miss the Neo Shadow when he attempted to distract it away from the girls, so the savage heartless was now running full speed to assault Patty, Sally and Lucy. The girls gulped, with Sally quickly hiding behind Peppermint Patty as the tomboy and Lucy tried to look threatening in the face of danger. The Neo Shadow leaped up, ready to pounce on the girls like a wild cat. About a second before it could tackle them however, Charlie Brown jumped out of nowhere and pinned the beast down, grabbing the shadow monster by the neck and trying to hold it back.

"What are you thinking! Get out of here!" Charlie Brown yelled. Patty and Sally sighed in relief as Lucy huffed.

"Um, saving your life, what else?" Lucy asked semi-sarcastically. The Neo Shadow let out a wretched roar as it struggled to break free from Charlie Brown's hold. Charlie Brown was struggling even more to keep the shadow contained.

"My life's not in real danger, but you could end up feeling a lot of pain if you get in this thing's way! Get to where it's safe!" Charlie Brown ordered. And it was the firmest order he had ever given to anyone. The girls were surprised at this, but desided to obey him nonetheless and ran towards where Linus was standing.

A few seconds after the Neo Shadow broke free of Charlie Brown's hold. After disappearing into the ground, it popped up right in front of the three girls once more, causing them to bump into each other as they screeched to a halt. The heartless glared down menacingly at the girls, who this time couldn't help but hide their fear.

Charlie Brown was once more in a panic. As the heartless glowered down at his friends and sister, his only thoughts were that he had to protect them. He had to keep them safe, no matter what. Pushing aside all other thoughts, Charlie Brown's conscious mind was suddenly taken over by previously unknown instincts. And acting on these instincts, Charlie Brown managed to launch a light beam from his palms with enough speed that it struck the Neo Shadow right in the face, sending it down onto it's back.

Peppermint Patty, Sally and Lucy stared in shock at the temporarily down heartless and looked back to Charlie Brown, who himself looked bemused that he'd actually landed that hit successfully. Shaking his head of these thoughts, Charlie Brown urgently motioned for the girls to keep going. They did so while exchanging smiles. It seemed Linus's plan was working.

As the girls finally rejoined Linus, the Neo Shadow raised it's head and shook off the pain. Seeing the four friends gathered and prepared to flee, the Neo Shadow immediately made a beeline for them, only to have CHarlie Brown fly in it's way with light covered fists.

"Oh no, this is between you and-" Charlie Brown was cut off as the Neo Shadow grabbed him by the head and shoved him aside, continuing after the other Peanuts, who it seemed to have recognised as easy prey. Linus and the girls gasped as the huge Shadow closed in on them, only to suddenly fall flat on it's face. The heartless struggled to move forward for a moment before looking back to find it's leg caught up in a chain made entirely of light. Not too far away, Charlie Brown was holding the other end of the chain, and looking entirely perplexed at how he had made it. It was this moment of uncertainty however that caused Charlie Brown to lose focus on keeping the chain solid, causing it to fade away and the heartless to charge once more at his friends.

Still looking confused at what the heck just happened, Charlie Brown shot off the ground and made to tackle the heartless again. This time he managed to grab it by the antenna and throw it away, giving his friends more time to escape. The Neo Shadow's glowing eyes settled on Charlie Brown, it's attention clearly fixed on him once more.

Charlie Brown made to punch it out, but the heartless dodged and swiped at his face, then kicked him in the gut. Charlie Brown managed to block the next two attacks aimed at his gut, but was left vulnerable to another swipe at his eyes, blinding him long enough for the shadow to kick him away. The Neo Shadow glared down at Charlie Brown, apparently wondering if it should finish him off. It would be easy to do while he was blinded. But no... right now it had other objectives.

A short trek away, Linus and the others had nearly made it back to the seats where the other Peanuts were gathered, though they were all motioning them to keep away unless they drew the heartless straight to them. The kids were only a few feet away from the seats when a shadow suddenly formed on the ground before them and the Neo Shadow shot out. Before they could even react however the heartless struck them all with one powerful swipe of it's muscular arm, sending the four unlucky Peanuts flying across the room. The other young teenagers and small animals shuddered at the heartless standing before them, though for some reason none of them appeared to grab it's attention as the monster ran towards the four he had just attacked.

Over at the other side of the white room, Linus, Lucy, Sally and Peppermint Patty were all shaking off the impact. Linus looked up to see the Neo Shadow slowly stalking over to the group, which he nervously and silently pointed out to the others, who watched with equal terror as the heartless drew steadily closer.

Charlie Brown was finally regaining his vision when he saw the Neo Shadow moving towards his friends yet again. Charging in without thinking, Charlie Brown prepared to clobber the heartless with a barrage of light punches. The Neo shadow however simply dodged them, scratched Charlie Brown across the face, then fell back on it's hands and pulled back it's feet, before launching at Charlie Brown with a jump kick that sent him flying into the wall. Undeterred by this momentary distraction, the Neo Shadow continued towards the four unseated Peanuts. Those that were seated were in a terrified uproar.

"This has got to stop, it was bad enough when Charlie Brown was getting clobbered but if someone doesn't pull the plug on this training Linus and the others are going to get hurt even worse" Pigpen put it firmly.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Sparky knows when to call it off" Rerun said hopefully.

"If he were going to cancel the training session surely he would have done that by now" Franklin added thoughtfully.

"Maybe we should ask him" Marcie said, looking to where Sparky had been floating during the whole fight... only to find that the spirit was gone "... Or maybe not?"

"Huh? Hey, where'd he go!" Patty yelled, as all at once the kids began to panic at the absence of the spirit coupled with the incresingly grim circumstances for their friends.

"He can't have just flown off, not when Peppermint Patty and Linus and everyone are in danger, what's he thinking!?" Freida panicked.

While the Peanuts were all having a fit over the apparent abscense of Sparky, none of them realized that Sparky had not left the training room at all, but rather he had turned invisible, and was now floating close to Charlie Brown's fallen body.

The lack of visible injury on Charlie Brown appeared quite astonishing as he weakly lifted himself into a crawling position and painfully raised his head. The Neo Shadow moved closer and closer to his friends, claws sheaved and ready to slice. Charlie Brown looked on in plain terror, his usual sense of failure and pity took over he felt he could do nothing more but watch as his friends were brutalised by the overpowered shadow. That was when Sparky began to whisper into his ear.

"You're not going to just let this happen, are you?" Sparky's voice softly echoed. Charlie Brown looked around briefly for the spirit, but his eyes quickly settled back onto the heartless and his frightened friends.

"Things seem rough. The thought of beating this creature seems like a pipe dream at best. But are you going to let that stop you?"

Charlie Brown's face fell into a thoughtful frown as the voice continued.

"They are your friends, Sally is your sister. Do they not matter to you? Do you not have the desire to protect them even with your own life? Or are they not so important that you would just lie here and let that monster have it's way with them?"

Charlie Brown panted, looking more worried still "N... no"

"So if they matter so much to you, why are you just laying here? You are not dead yet, are you? Why don't you get to your feet?" Sparky voice was questioning, but also demanding. Simulateneous with his words, Charlie Brown began to push himself up, and made unsteadily to his feet.

"This battle isn't over. The heartless still stands, ready to cause more pain to those you love. You have to fight"

"I..." Charlie Brown gasped, his vision slightly blurry as he watched the heartless proudly stalk towards his defenseless friends. Tears welled up in his eyes, and it was with great shame that he replied "I... can't... I can't do it"

"Does that matter? You can still stand, so that means you can still try. Would it not be worth more to try and save them, rather than leave them to suffer?" Sparky's voice whispered. Charlie Brown looked thoughtful for a short moment before nodding.

"It does not matter if you can't succeed. All that matters is that you give it absolutely everything you've got. At the very least you can buy they more time to get away. So, don't just stand here, fight!"

The girls all stepped back as the heartless drew near. Linus tried to scare it off by whipping his blanket at it, but the Neo Shadow simply slapped the cloth away with the back of it's hand. Out of ideas, Linus began walking backwards aswell while Peppermint Patty tried to look intimidating by raising her fists.

"No battle is fought without reason. When you walked into this fight your only reason was to defend yourself, and perhaps also to prove to yourself that you had worph. But now you have another reason to fight... them. Your friends are in danger, and only you can save them. It does not matter if the odds are impossible, it does not matter if you are easily trounced, all that matters is that you keep them safe. At least, that's all that should matter. As long as your loved ones are protected, then the remaining outcome is inconsequential."

A faint aura of light began to build up around Charlie Brown. Then, as the boy's determination grew, so did the light around him. Spurrned on by Sparky's unseen encouragement, Charlie Brown's will to fight had been reignited by the growing desire to protect his friends.

"To protect those you cherish, to dedicate every ounce of your life to safeguarding the people you love. To carry on defending them, even if it calls for self-sacrifise, even if all odds are dead-set against you. That is what it means to be a guardian. That is what it means to be a hero!"

Charlie Brown's aura exploded in a golden blaze, blinding the Peanuts watching from the safety of the seats. The Neo Shadow, which had raised it's claw ready to strike down Linus first, sensed the enormous surge of power and turned around to find Charlie Brown, completely healed and glaring at the heartless with a look that plainly and furiously said "Back off"

"The time has come Charlie Brown. Don't give up. Fight!"

"Hey blockhead... leave my friends alone" Charlie Brown growled at the Neo Shadow. The shadow looked at him with a blank expression for a few seconds before casually turning back to the four Peanuts, their wide eyes locked on Charlie Brown, and raised it's claw. Charlie Brown frowned and fired a beam of light at the heartless, hitting it straight in the back and sending it flying right through the gap between Sally and Lucy straight into the wall.

The four kids stared in amazement from the heartless slanted against the floor to Charlie Brown, who was flying forward to stand between them and the Neo Shadow. At first looking bewildered, excited smiles quickly crept up their faces.

"Ok. That was AWESOME" Sally said cheerfully. Charlie Brown couldn't help but smile as he looked over his friends.

"Are you all ok?" Charlie Brown asked earnestly. Peppermint Patty grinned and waved her hand nonchelantly.

"A little shook up from the flight, but we're all cool" Peppermint Patty replied calmly. Charlie Brown smiled, until his attention was caught by a low snarl as he saw the Neo Shadow get to it's feet again, crouching into a fighting position. Charlie Brown faced the heartless with his own battle pose.

"Just back away carefully. Get to where it's safe, and watch out" Charlie Brown instructed. His four friends nodded and voiced their support and prepared to creep back to their seats as the Neo Shadow prepared to charge. Before she left, Lucy whispered "Be careful you old blockhead. And go get 'im"

Despite the use of blockhead, long deemed an insulting term, this was perhaps the most encouraging thing Lucy had ever said to Charlie Brown. And it raised his spirits slightly that she had said it.

Seeing four of it's would-be-victims escaping, the Neo Shadow pounced forward and ran like a wild cat towards them. Charlie Brown erected a light shield to block it's path, and the shadow began furiously slashing at the barrier. After enough swipes it managed to break the shield, but was then immediately met with a punch to the face from Charlie Brown. Angered, the Neo Shadow struck him back. Charlie Brown flew backwards through the air, but managed to steady himself and flew right at the Neo Shadow, tackling it to the ground. The two combatants rolled across the ground, each punching or scratching at the other as the heartless simultaneously tried to slip free from Charlie Brown's grip. After the Neo Shadow managed to roll on top of Charlie Brown, the young guardian kicked it u into the air with his feet and then blasted it in the chest with a light sphere, which sent the heartless crashing into the ceiling before falling with a thud on the ground before Charlie Brown.

Charlie Brown panted slightly, but otherwise looked completely ready for another round as the heartless got up and rapidly fired several claw striked at him. With his light covered fists however Charlie Brown was able to block most of these attacks, and even managed to grab a hold of the Neo Shadow's wrist and flip it over onto it's head.

Charlie Brown's friends gasped as they watched the fight, before continuing on their way to their seats. The Neo Shadow looked up and saw them running, and began to charge after them. Charlie Brown leaped up and landed on the Neo Shadow's head to stop it, but as the heartless crashed onto the floor it kicked him off, sending Charlie Brown down on his own face. The heartless crawled over Charlie Brown and began to leap, only to have Charlie Brown grab it's leg and pull it down. The Neo Shadow made to kick Charlie Brown in the face, but the boy easily dodged that, got up and charged a light sphere into his palms. The Neo Shadow rose to it's feet, but was immediately impacted by said sphere and sent crashing into the wall.

The Neo Shadow shook it's head as it barely recovered from the assault. It looked over once more to Linus, Sally, Lucy and Peppermint Patty, only to find they had finally retaken their seats, all letting loose a heavy sigh of relief as they did so. With a growl over it's failure, the Neo Shadow turned once more to Charlie Brown, who was charging a large amound of light into his palms again. The Neo Shadow's eyes retracted in a menacing manner, and the heartless made to charge towards Charlie Brown.

The Peanuts watched on anxiously as Charlie Brown and the Neo Shadow readied their next Neo Shadow ran closer and closer to the boy, filled with blood lust and claws ready to cut Charlie Brown's head clean off. Charlie Brown made no other reaction to the charging beast other than to continue charging light energy. His friends watched on with their fingers crossed, Charlie Brown's continued lack of motion worrying them.

"Come on, fire!" Lucy yelled, worried as the heartless was quickly closing in. But Charlie Brown ignored her, eyes locked firmly on the Neo Shadow and waiting for just the right moment.

The Neo Shadow was quickly closing the gap between itself and Charlie Brown. It raised it's claws, only a moment away from shredding Charlie Brown. That's when Charlie Brown finally thrust his hands forward, unleashing the energy he had charged up in a gigantic burst of light. The heartless, only a few precious inches from Charlie Brown when the attack was launched, was immediately engulfed by the attack, as all of the Peanuts were blinded by the beam. Charlie Brown's face contorted as he strained himself to keep the beam going. The Neo Shadow's dark sillhouette was for a short while visible withing the giant blast of light, but after a while it's form began to dissolve until it was completely gone.

The beam continued until the intensity of it's light engulfed the entire room, then in an instant all returned how it had been moments before, only this time without the heartless. The Peanuts blinked to regain their vision, when their minds registered what had just went on they widened their eyes in Charlie Brown's direction. As for Charlie Brown himself, he at first continued to frown in the direction the heartless had been. Then slowly, as though he were coming out of a trance his expression softened, and he looked more surprised than anyone.

...

...

"Did I just do that?" Charlie Brown asked himself. Over with the Peanuts, the youngsters remained silent for some time, none of them knowing quite what to say.

Then after a while, Linus finally offered something "I think Charlie Brown just one... ... ... HE WON!" Linus jumped into the air as he cheered this. His enthusiastic exclamations were quickly followed by loud cheers from the other Peanuts, Snoopy and Woodstock included, as they all burst out into applause for their friend. Charlie Brown for his part just stood their, silent and motionless. He didn't make any sort of reaction at all until his friends all ran forward to congratulate him and Peppermint Patty wrapped him in a bear hug.

"You did it Chuck, you beat the heartless! YOU DID IT! Aw Chuck, I could kiss ya!" Peppermint Patty cheered. Upon both registering what she had just said, Peppermint Patty released Charlie Brown from her grip and they turned away from one another, both beet red and looking awkward. Charlie Brown was about to say something when he was suddenly hugged by Sally.

"Oh big brother, I'm so glad we're alive! I'm so glad YOU'RE alive! Don't you ever, ever, ever worry me like that again!" Sally was happily saying as she hugged her brother tight. Through his gasps for breath Charlie Brown managed a small smile.

"It's alright Sally, we were never in any real dang-" Charlie Brown stopped when he realised Snoopy and Woodstock were both hugging his head, Snoopy even began licking him repeatedly before pulling away, looking as though the taste of Charlie Brown's head was not to his liking.

One by one the other Peanuts began appreciatively hugging Charlie Brown and praising his performance. At the back of the crowd, Violet silently waited her turn with a smile.

"I gotta admit... for all the times I've called him a failure face... that was pretty darn heroic" Violet thought to herself, smiling even more as Charlie Brown was clearly enjoying the attention he was suddenly getting.

Nearby Sparky's spirit was slowly turning visible again. Looking down at the friends gathered around Charlie Brown, Sparky could only smile. Grudgingly, he floated down to interrupt the chattering friends as Charlie Brown looked up at his smiling face.

"Congratulations Charlie. I think I speak for the whole universe when I say you've passed this part of your training with flying colours. You have right to be proud of yourself, my child" Sparky said with the air of a loving grandfather. Charlie Brown smiled wider, not having quite the right words to express his gratitude.

"I have a question" Pigpen piped up "When Linus, Sally, Patty and Lucy ran into the middle of that fight, why didn't you stop them?"

Sparky smiled, glancing over the four mentioned Peanuts "Perhaps the question you should ask is why did they do it" Everyone turned to Linus, who smirked proudly.

"Well, I saw that Charlie Brown was struggling out there against that heartless. I knew he was going to win if he kept up the way he was going. Then while thinking of how on earth he might get out of that situation, I remembered the time he beat Joe Agate at marbles. When he did that, he wasn't playing for himself, he was playing to win back Rerun's marbles. So then it hit me; maybe if Charlie Brown was fighting for the benefit of someone else, he might do a bit better. A big gamble, I know, but I had to do something, Charlie Brown was getting creamed. So, after explaining my idea to Sally and the others, we decided to get involved so that Charlie Brown would be fighting for us instead of just defending himself" Linus explained, all the while Sparky nodded and smiled.

"And that's exactly why I let you run out onto the battlefield" Sparky replied, and everyone looked at him again as he explained "Charlie Brown was never going to get a grasp over the true extent of his abilities merely fighting for himself. A Guardian of Light's job is to protect the entire Realm of Light and everyone in it, it is from our love of all life and our desire to protect everyone we love that we Guardians draw our true power. While Charlie could put up an even fight just defending himself, it wasn't enough to overcome a powerful opponent like that Neo Shadow. But when he saw you in danger, his newfound Guardian instincts began to kick in. His desire to protect you overcame his fears and worries, and he put your lives before his own. And as the danger to his friends grew worse, Charlie's will to defend grew stronger. And so did he. At that crucial moment before the Neo Shadow struck the four of you down, Charlie unlocked a greater amount of his hidden power, allowing him to defeat the heartless"

"Wow... this Guardian stuff is really deep" Franklin noted. Sparky nodded.

"It is indeed. And this is only the start of his training" Sparky turned to Charlie Brown "You still have a long way to go, the truth is you have only thus far unlocked ten percent of your full power, and it could take years before you reach your full potential. But I'm sure you'll keep at it, correct?" Sparky asked. Charlie Brown smiled and nodded respectfully. Sparky smiled aswell before looking to Linus, Sally, Peppermint Patty and Lucy once more "And while I discourage such actions in the future, and I must ask that you never do anything like that in an actual battle, I must still thank you. Without your interference Charlie wouldn't have succeeded here today"

Lucy smirked smugly and examined the back of her hand "Aw, it was nothing"

The Peanuts rolled their eyes at this comment as Charlie Brown looked up at the spirit and asked "So... what now?"

"Well, you've completed the main phases of your training, but like I said there is always much more to learn. So now you all have two options, either go back to the rest room and enjoy the rest of your evening, or you can continue to train until it is time to retire to bed. It's your pick" Sparky replied. Charlie Brown thought for a moment, noticing that all his friends were staring at him.

"Well, I don't know. What do the rest of you want to do?" Charlie Brown asked his friends. The others placed a finger to their chins in thought. After a minute Lucy made a reply.

"Well, while that room was really cool and fancy, I really want to see Charlie Brown kick more butt" Lucy replied. The other Peanuts voiced their agreement, and Charlie Brown agreed too.

"Alright then. There's plenty of techniques I can teach you, but no point going over those tonight. Let's just review everything else you've learned. Everyone else, please return to your seats, this might take a while" Sparky explained.

And after that the rest of the night was pretty much routine. Charlie Brown practised more on the powers he had developed and worked to improve his performance. Occasionally he was pitted against a smaller horde of heartless, with the experience he had already had he managed to defeat them all a lot more easily. Though he did stumble a bit, being Charlie Brown, it was soon clear the new Guardian had gotten the hang of his new powers.

Charlie Brown continued for what felt like the next hour or so, taking a short break once every fifteen minutes before getting back to training. During one of these breaks, Charlie Brown and Linus were left alone in one corner of the training room as Sparky regailed the Peanuts with tales of his epic adventures protecting the Realm Of Light. Linus, knowing there must be a lot on his best friend's mind right about now, inched closer to Charlie Brown and decided to speak up.

"So, I see the trainings going great" Linus began with a word of encouragement. Charlie Brown smiled and nodded in response.

"I know. I can't believe it" Charlie Brown replied, surprising Linus with his proud smile "I mean I really can't believe it. My whole life I've never done anything as good as I am at this training. You know, when Sparky first told me I'd have to defend the universe from an evil Witch, I thought he was joking. Then I was terrified. Surely I wasn't cut out for this kind of thing, surely I was going to get myself killed if I tried. But now... I don't know what it is, whether it's just an instinct I inherited off Sparky, or if it's just me feeling confident in myself for the very first time, but I honestly think I might be a good Guardian of Light after all. Don't get me wrong, I'm still worried I'm not, that's what I'm like after all, but I don't feel half as worried as I did at first. I think if I try, I really can be a hero"

Linus couldn't help but return Charlie Brown's smile of pride, it made him feel really good to finally see his best friend actually believe in himself for a change.

"Well Charlie Brown, I think you'll make a pretty great Guardian too" Linus said encouragingly. Charlie Brown smiled.

"Thanks Linus. And thanks for helping me out back there-don't ever worry like that again of course, but still thanks" Charlie Brown replied. Linus chuckled.

"You're welcome" Linus said. There was a moment of silence after that, a slightly awkward one as Linus tried to say what was on his mind "So, after this you'll be going on to defend the whole universe"

Charlie Brown's smile faltered, as the knot regrew in his stomach.

"Yeah, I guess that's going to be difficult" Charlie Brown admitted. Linus patted his back encouragingly.

"Don't worry, just do what you did today and I'm sure you'll do just fine" Linus replied, and Charlie Brown appreciated the support. He sighed however, as something much more depressing filled his mind.

"What I'm worried about isn't just whether I'll do good as a Guardian. What I'm worried about is having to leave. I really don't want to go away, I'd miss you guys too much" Charlie Brown explained. Linus looked down sadly and sighed.

"We're all going to miss you too. At least it's not going to be forever" Linus said semi-optimistically. Charlie Brown hummed thoughtfully.

"Say Linus, there's something else on my mind" Charlie Brown began, Linus gave him an imploring look "Well, it started with something Lucy said earlier about everyone wanting to finally start being nicer to me. And everyone was acting very strange when I explained about my powers, I expected Violet and Patty to laugh, but they didn't. I expected Lucy and Violet to ridicule me and say I'd be a terrible Guardian, but they actually seemed to support me. Only Sally reacted like I'd expect her too. And everyone's been real patient and nice to me since this all started, and I was sure everyone was mad at me about that baseball game. So, why's everyone acting like that all of a sudden?"

For a moment Linus stayed silent, contemplating the right words to answer that.

"It's because we all feel like a bunch of jerks for how we acted" Charlie Brown stared questioningly at Linus when he said that "You know how we all treat you Charlie Brown, even me sometimes. We all get mad at you for everything and blame all our problems on you, but you've done so much for each of us. You're a great guy Charlie Brown, the greatest of us all really, and we treat you like dirt half the time. Some more than others, but you really don't deserve how people act to you. Franklin put it to us straight, and after some thought we decided we really needed to start making it up to you. Really unlucky coincidence how you have to leave now, huh"

"Well that's just my luck I guess" Charlie Brown replied, surprised by the answer. He thought long and hard over what Linus said, and the thought that his friends really wanted to act nicer to him was really encouraging. And of course it added a few extra knots of misery over having to leave them. Linus shuffled his feet and spoke up again.

"I hope you get time off to visit soon, we all really want you in our lives Charlie Brown. It's just not going to be the same without you" Linus said. Charlie Brown smiled at him.

"I'll see what I can do about that. Thanks Linus" Charlie Brown said kindly.

"Don't thank me, thank Franklin" Linus replied, gesturing over to Franklin among the other Peanuts. It looked like Sparky was just wrapping up his tale.

And he had, as he floated forward slightly and called "Alright Charlie, ready to continue fighting heartless?"

Charlie Brown looked at Linus, who nodded encouragingly. Charlie Brown smiled, there were plenty of things he wanted to say to his best friend, but so little time to say them.

Charlie Brown got up and continued his training. The routine target practise and heartless fighting went on for another half an hour, before Sparky finally decided enough was enough.

"Ok, I think we'll leave it there for tonight. Outside of this room it is now ten o'clock, past your bed times I believe" Sparky announced to the room. Everyone groaned, but followed Sparky as he led them out of the room. Unsure where they were going, the youngsters followed Sparky back to the room they had originally arrived in and through another door at the other side of the room, leading of course to another hallway full of doors. But these doors served a different purpose, as Sparky explained.

"These are the bed chambers. Each of these doors leads to a differently designed bedroom. I've never really had need of these rooms, since I so rarely have guests, but they should suffice for you all, I hope. I don't know what sort of rooms you're used to sleeping in, but that's your choice. No opposite gender roommates" Sparky explained. Lucy and Sally both moaned loudly, while Schroeder and Linus sighed in relief. Sparky chuckled as the Peanuts began looking between the doors for suitable rooms.

"Charlie, your room is behind the largest door with the sun symbol. Or at least, that's the room I always slept in, but it's your choice" Sparky said to his successor.

"I'll sleep there. Is there a doghouse for Snoopy to sleep on?" Charlie Brown asked.

"Well... yes. I am a dog myself, so, yeah" Sparky chucked. After a few minutes the other Peanuts seemed to find rooms they liked and began saying goodnight to each other. Everyone looked to Charlie Brown last, all clearly having a lot they wanted to say.

"Um..." Lucy began. Charlie Brown realised this was the first time they all had to talk to each other without being distracted by something since arriving in the light palace, and everyone wanted to do as Linus said and apologise to Charlie Brown for the way they had been acting towards him. But being tired, and with everything else on their minds, that was obviously difficult right now.

"Well, uh... Charlie Brown..." Violet began, but shook her head and sighed "Never mind, I'll tell you in the morning"

"Oh, yeah... in the morning" Charlie Brown sighed aswell. After and awkward silence Violet waved goodnight. Everyone else said their goodnights to Charlie Brown, Sally also giving him a hug, before entering their bedrooms for the night. Charlie Brown watched silently after his friends for a while before Sparky floated down by his side.

"Are you alright?" Sparky asked. Charlie Brown nodded, but Sparky saw through him "I know this is a difficult time for you Charlie, but trust me, it's going to be alright. They're going to be alright. We'll sort it out so that they'll all be safe and happy at home, ok?"

Charlie Brown was quiet for a moment before sighing "Ok"

Another moment of silence passed as Charlie Brown contemplated everything he was going to have to do. The whole universe was in danger, the Dark Witch wanted to shroud everything in darkness. And here he was, still worrying about his friends above all else. Was that selfish? Or was that being a Guardian. The on thing he wanted right now, he realised, was to keep them safe from harms way. And he was going to have to do that for all the people in the universe. It was a big responsibility, but was he really the person that could live up to it. Charlie Brown decided, he would have to make himself that person, for their sakes.

"Snoopy, Woodstock, you can just run along to bed. I'll be with you soon" Charlie Brown instructed to his pet and his bird buddy, who exchanged uncertain looks and nodded before hopping off to the room Sparky had described as Charlie Brown. Sparky raised an eyebrow, then realised what Charlie Brown was thinking.

"Not going to sleep just yet?" Sparky asked knowingly.

"No, I still need to get better. I need to do everything I can if I want to be a good Guardian. I need to train some more. Is that alright?" Charlie Brown implored. Sparky smiled proudly.

"Ok, but only for one hour. Guardians need to sleep too you know" Sparky said like a mother telling her child how long they had before going to bed. Charlie Brown smiled thankfully to the Guardian and slowly began walking back towards the training room.

---

Meanwhile, in the Realm of Darkness, a place where everything was pitch black and mostly empty apart from the occasional sight of the residents, Joe Agate was having a bit of a training session of his own. Following the teachings of the Dark Witch, the bully had learned basically the same techniques as Charlie Brown had been taught, but with darkness in rue of light, obviously. The only other big difference was that Joe was having a much happier time smashing stuff up.

Right now Joe was engaged in a battle with a number of armoured heartless. The Witch, Eggman and Thibault watched with sinister glee as Joe tore the false heartless apart.

The Warrior of darkness started by obliterating two heartless straight away with a couple of dark spheres. He allowed the remaining heartless to charge at him, as they pounced to dogpile on the boy. Joe expertly leapt over them, firing a beam onto the back of a Large Body type heartless and tearing a big gaping hole through it's chest. The heartless staggered and fell to the floor, but faded away seconds from hitting the ground.

Two of the normal heartless variety popped up at either side of Joe, who simply grabbed the antennas of the one on his left and threw it into the one on his right. The heartless recoiled on the floor as Joe towered over them, a merciless look on his face as he obliterated them with a beam of darkness from his hand.

The armoured heartless charged once more to dogpile on Joe. The Agate boy merely waited until they pounced and held up his hands, blasting the heartless with massive bolts of dark lightning. The heartless illusions squirmed in pain as the lightning engulfed them, and they soon dispersed aswell.

Joe smirked with pleasure at what he'd just done as a final shadow heartless tried to sneak up behind him. But Joe sensed it's presence. He channelled some more darkness into his left hand and formed it into a sword. Spinning around, Joe used this dark blade to slice the heartless' head clean off. The shadow's headless body fell to the floor as the creature slowly started to fade away into darkness.

Joe walked away from the scene of the carnage while wiping the dust off his hands. His three cohorts looked pleased.

"Well I must admit I had my doubts, but you were right my dear. This boy really knows how to utilise the darkness to it's full potential" Eggman said to the Witch, who placed her scabby fingers together in a calculating manner.

"Indeed" The Witch said, her eyes glowing with sinister intent as she watched Joe approach her.

"Alright Joe, that was wicked cool man! I tell ya, Charlie Brown won't last five seconds against you!" Thibault praised his friends ability, Joe grinned smugly and walked past him, looking up into the face of the Witch.

"I just have one question" Joe began. He lit his hands up with darkness as an evil grin crept up his face "When do I get to fight Brown?"

"Tomorrow, my dear boy" The Witch said, shrinking the size of her body and floating around Joe Agate in a shadowy manner "You have done well with your training, so take a rest. Sleep, relax, for tomorrow you may finally have your revenge"

Joe's grin grew wider as he imagined all the inhumane ways he planned to torture Charlie Brown when next they met. Oh, tomorrow had better come quickly.

"So, where's Charlie Brown too now anyway?" Thibault asked curiously.

"I don't sense my brother's power on your world anymore, so I imagine he's just been doing his own bit of training at the Light Palace" The Witch said as she tapped her chin with one finger, thinking, wondering... "Buuuut no need to worry. If he's half the sadsac you make him out to be, I'm sure he'll still be an easy target by tomorrow"

"But his current whereabouts do beg the question: How are we supposed to send Joe to confront Charlie Brown when we denizens of the darkness do not have access to the Light Palace?" Eggman pointed out.

"Well, there are two ways we can go about that. Either we can wait for him to appear on one of the worlds I can transport Joe to in the Realm of Light" The Witch began, being continued by Joe.

"Or we can lure him out" Agate concluded. Eggman and Thibault nodded approvingly.

"And I trust you have a plan in mind for this?" The scientist questioned.

"Oh, I've got a plan alright" Joe said, his creepy smile growing wider still as he placed his fingers together in the same way as The Dark Witch...

---

Tiger Lover 16: Well, that's that done. Chapters all finished. To be honest I wasn't sure how to handle Charlie Brown's training, since he needs to do a lot for the fight next chapter, so I decided to skip over a lot of stuff that would have been repetitive anyway and leave a few things to the imagination. I like the ending scene with Joe too. Again, I didn't want to be repetetive, and as for Joe I wanted to give the impression that he can easily handle his own powers anyway and that he's a bit better at them than Charlie Brown even. I have a few issues with this chapter, in particular I think the quality sort of dropped after Charlie Brown was halfway through the fight with the Neo Shadow, it all didn't come out as good as I wanted it after that, but I promise next chapter will make up for it. The next chapter features the most epic battle I've ever written and a lot of other great scenes, I'm more proud of it than the rest of these chapters. I hope I explained the workings of Charlie Brown's powers properly here, again I could have done better, but that's all in the past. Additionally I've changed the listings for the series that will be featured in this story. First and foremost, Phineas and Ferb is cut. Sorry, I'm disappointed by that too, but after reviewing the plot it wouldn't have fit in as well as I'd have hoped. So, what other changes have I made. Well, here's the new list. Remember, stars mean they will be featured in the next arc:

Peanuts (Main series)

Mario*

Sonic*

Powerpuff Girls*

Spiderman, plus wider Marvel universe*

Ed Edd n Eddy

Crash Bandicoot*

Harry Potter*

Pokemon*

Dragon Ball Z*

Simpsons

Spyro the Dragon (Mix of original series with elements of the Legend series, probably no reference to Skylanders, though that might be features as an alternate universe)

Rayman

Chronicles of Narnia

Jackie Chan Adventures*

Xiaolin Showdown*

Kim Possible

Code Lyoko

Naruto

Kingdom Hearts (Just the heartless, might introduce keyblades)

Ratchet and Clank

Young Justice*

Lilo and Stitch

Yu-gi-oh (Just Exodia, probably not full crossover)

Ben 10 Ultimate Alien

Hey Arnold (optional)

Tiger Lover 16: The Hey Arnold world is classed as optional because I'm still reviewing those characters' place in the plot. I'm also considering Star Wars, but that's still optional. I'll have the final listings next chapter, so if there's any other series you'd like to see in this crossover, tell me now or you won't get another chance. Well, that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, I'll be going back to edit it in the future and make improvements. So for now, bye.