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.

7. Light vs Dark, Part 2

Tiger Lover 16: Hello. I'm back. Been a while I know, but all my chapters are far and in between. Ok, there's a lot I have to say, including 2 very important announcements I have to make, but I think that's all better left for the notes at the bottom of the page. First off, I want to say that, again, I'm only half satisfied with this chapter. The first half of the chapter... really wasn't what I had been hoping it would be. For a while it seemed to work the way I intended it to, but things just started to get repetitive and, I was worried it was getting a bit boring, so a few bits that didn't really seem necessary were left out and some parts not written, and I had to rewrite a bunch of it. It's a really complicated scene, and I was always worried about how it was going to work, So I'm sorry if this chapter doesn't really live up to expectations. It doesn't live up to mine at least, but I have a whole story left to make up for that, some things need to remain open ended anyway for the sake of the plot. Hope it doesn't feel too rushed, or on the other hand too long, this is another pretty long chapter and in some parts I'm worried it may drag. Oh well, overall it fulfils it's purpose, so I'm happy with that. It's the chapters that come after this I'm really looking forward to anyway. I'll talk more in the second authors notes, for now please enjoy the finale to this introductory arc.

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Chapter 6, Light vs Dark: part 2

(Charlie Brown's mindscape)

Charlie Brown suddenly found himself surrounded by endless darkness. The frightened Guardian stared around himself, praying that this was just a hallucination or some weird dream. His mind was a bit blurry, but he could faintly remember Joe's body turning to black smoke, and how it had surrounded and sunk into him.

But what did that mean for him. Where was Charlie Brown now? The boy's immediate, and most horrifying thought was that this was the Realm of Darkness, where the Dark Witch herself resided. But then, if that were true, then where was the Witch? Surely if he were in her Realm she'd come to kill him straight away. Charlie Brown hoped this wasn't the Realm of Darkness after all. But still... where the heck was he!?

At the risk of complete and utter destruction, Charlie Brown stepped forward and called out "Hello?"

No response. In fact, there was no sound at all in this place. The eeiry silence worried Charlie Brown even more, and he decided he would have to get out of here as quickly as possible.

Remembering his experience from last night at his house, Charlie Brown focused his energy and attempted to open a portal, if not back home then at least to the Light Palace, where it wasn't so dark...

Nothing happened. Try as he might, Charlie Brown was unable to open a portal, or even light his hands up at all. That couldn't mean anything good.

For a while Charlie Brown just stood still in the darkness, too afraid to break the silence. The lack of sound created an atmosphere of suspence, and Charlie Brown waited, in fear, for something to happen...

...

...

...

"YOU BLOCKHEAD"

Charlie Brown leaped ten feet into the air, landing unsteadily on his feet and spinning around, looking for any sign of the booming, familiar voice that had called out to him.

"You're so wishy washy, Charlie Brown!" Another, equally familiar voice called out. Then more voices that Charlie Brown knew shouted out from the shadows.

"Failure face!"

"Get out of here, blockhead!"

"Chuck, you can't do anything right!"

That last voice Charlie Brown was able to identify without question as belonging to Peppermint Patty. But... where was she. And just why was she insulting him? Why were all of these voices, those certainly of his other friends, mocking him?

Bemused, Charlie Brown continued to look around for any sign of life other than himself in this dark place. Finally, when he was turning around for the seventh time, someone appeared. Materialising right before his eyes was Lucy. But Charlie Brown knew the moment he saw her that she wasn't a good sign. For one thing she had a frown on her face. Not so unusual for Lucy, but this frown was worse than any Charlie Brown had ever seen on the crabby girl. And he had seen her angry LOTS of times. And of course, her anger seemed to be directed squarely at him.

"You blockhead! You screw up even the most meaningless tasks! Why do you keep trying even though you're a conceited failure!?" The crabby girl, or perhaps merely a halucination of her, screamed in Charlie Brown's face. Immediately after that she cried out another insult, though this seemed out of sink with her previous yells, as though she were using it in a completely different situation "You drive me crazy!"

"I-Lucy, I... I-" Charlie Brown stammered, not sure how he was supposed to react. He was even more shocked when Lucy suddenly faded away. He was not alone for long though, another of his friends appeared momentarily behind him.

"You're weak! You're a real jellyfish! You're dumb and ignorant and you have a silly face!" Spat the similarly angry illusion of Violet Gray. Her rageful scowl lingered for a moment after she too had vanished, to be replaced by an also volatile Sally.

"Some big brother you are!" His sister's echo screamed, pointing an accusing finger at Charlie Brown "You were right there when those big dumb bullies pushed me down, and you didn't do anything about it!"

This last statement finally gave Charlie Brown a slight idea about what was going on here. He knew for sure that Sally had once said those exact words to him once before. And so that must have meant that these illusions of his friends and his sister, and everything the voices were saying, were memories,

Charlie Brown reached out for the translucent form of his sister. He knew she wasn't real, but... another part of him felt otherwise. He held out his hand pleadingly and tried to explain, but she disappeared at that moment, as Marcie popped up to his right.

"I walk all the way over to your house to ask you a question, and all you can say is "Do I what?"" Marcie's angry, familiar remark "Forget it Charles-you're-not worth my time!" Those last words sounded rather disconnected, as though someone had edited them together rather poorly, but Charlie Brown was sure they were words Marcie had spoken to him at some point. As with Sally, Charlie Brown reacted to the fake Marcie as though she were real.

"Marcie, I didn't mean-" Charlie Brown tried desparately to say something, but she stuck up her hand to silence him.

"Forget it, Charles!" Marcie repeated, looking bitter and disappointed at the light blond boy. Her words made Charlie Brown feel hurt and guilty. Again Marcie vanished, and once more the figure of Lucy stood before him.

"Nobody will ever love you! Not with that frown and that round head of yours!" Lucy taunted, laughing derisively at his unappealing appearance. Charlie Brown clutched his heart, that last one actually hurt. The insults were upsetting him so badly, it was starting to hurt.

And it seemed the worst had yet to come. All around Charlie Brown more intangible illusions of each of his friends in turn were springing forth from the darkness, all with an insult, taunt or degradory remark of their own. Some of which included:

"I don't know why I put up with you!" From Schroeder.

"Boy are you stupid Charlie Brown!" Patty yelled.

"You're hopeless, completely hopeless" Freida said snidely.

"You never do anything! All you ever do is just stand there! You drive everybody crazy! I'm so mad I could scream! I AM SCREAMING!" Linus raged.

Charlie Brown looked on in fear as the memories of his friends critisisms haunted him, mocked him. It drove him to the point of tears, seeing every one of the people he cared about gang up on him to express anger and resentment towards him. And if the words weren't bad enough, there were also images like Patty pushing him off the swing, Sally grabbing him and holding him up by the collar, Linus, Marcie and Lucy giving Charlie Brown a kick after he said something stupid to each of them. And he even saw himself, running towards a football held down by Lucy, as she pulled it away. This particular memory must have replayed over a hundred times before being replaced by another image of him getting chewed out by Peppermint Patty and Franklin (Who's voices seemed almost artificial this time, but Charlie Brown didn't catch that).

The taunting sounds of his friends anger, mixed with disrespect, eventually caused Charlie Brown to scream out in agony and collapse on his knees, clutching his head as he begged the images to get out of his head.

"Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!" Charlie Brown wailed, his face flushed and his entire body trembling in fear.

And so it did stop. The illusions of his friends vanished, and their voices became distant before trailing off entirely. Charlie Brown stood alone in the darkness, silence filling the air once more. While Charlie Brown weapt, the shadows behind him began to rise up from the ground. A misty, shadowy figure appeared in the darkness: Joe Agte.

Smiling with pleasure as he watched Charlie Brown cry and mope over the torment he had just endured, Joe, his legs replaced by a cloud of purple mist, hovered forward in front of Charlie Brown.

"Make it stop?" Joe repeated Charlie Brown's words. Charlie stopped feeling sorry for himself for just a brief moment to look up over his hands at the shadowy villain "You mean deny you the truth? I can't do that, I'm afraid"

Seeing Joe Agate here, and that he was clearly more self aware and real than the images of his friends he had just witnessed made Charlie Brown's blood boil. He removed his hands from his face and glared at the evil boy.

"So-so this is all your doing, isn't it" Charlie Brown pointed the blame on Joe, who merely smiled at him "Where are we? What sick, twisted plain of existence have you dragged me to?"

To Charlie Brown's ire Joe laughed at his question, clearly he knew.

"Why, don't you recognise the inside of your own head?" Joe asked casually, Charlie Brown raised an eyebrow "This is your mind Charlie Brown. The deepest, darkest, truest part of your mind"

Charlie Brown's eyes widened in shock at what he had just heard, then his face controted with anger as he realised the shadow boy's intrusion.

"What are you doing in my head?!" Charlie Brown demanded. Joe smirked wickedly at him.

"Oh, I'm simply here to show you how people really think about you" Joe said, perfectly honest and sincerity in his voice. Charlie Brown norrowed his eyes, urging the dark warrior to continue. His smirk growing wider, Joe revealed more of his intentions "I dragged you far into your subconscious, to the vault of your saddest, most depressing thoughts and memories. I'm here to show you that the people you call friends are really not"

Charlie Brown stared at the bully in disbelief. He would not allow Joe to mislead him.

"That's a lie Joe! I have lots of friends, and they all care about me" Charlie Brown said defensively. Joe shook his head, the smile never leaving his face.

"You poor, misguided soul" Joe said almost pitifully. He looked Brown straight in the eye and told him "Those people you call your Peanuts gang, they don't really care about you. They associate with you, and they play for your baseball team, but none of that has anything to do with genuine friendship. The only reason any of them started hanging our with you as kids is because they didn't know what a sadsac, annoying, mopy little failure face you really were. And then when they got a taste of your true self, they all just felt too sorry for you to abandon you completely. They don't like you at all, they only call themselves your friends because they feel sorry for you"

Charlie Brown shook his head, looking away from Agate. "You're... you're wrong" Was all Charlie Brown could say. But he failed to hide the doubt from his face, and it made Joe happy to see it.

"You don't know that for sure though, do you?" Agate asked craftily "Secretly you do know I'm right. You're always going on about how no-one likes you, after all. You're always complaining about how your life sucks and nothing ever goes right for you. I mean, for crying out loud, that's enough reason that someone would not want to hang out with you, when all you ever talk about is your failures. But you're also a clutz, you screw up the most meager of tasks and you constantly get in everyones way. Your negative influence affects all those around you aswell, your baseball team is constantly losing because you're such a lousy leader, and you're always making things worse for your "Friends". Now tell me, would you want to be around someone like that?"

Charlie Brown's complection seemed to darken, as all the colour left his face. He looked down at the ground, worry and doubt plaguing his soul.

"You think of Lucy, Peppermint Patty, Linus and all of them as friends, but when do they treat you like one? They're always critiscising you" Joe said, snapping his fingers to summon forth another hologram of Lucy.

"You're a complete and utter blockhead!" Lucy screeched, highlighting Joe's point. He continued.

"They say the most cruel of things..." Another snap of his fingers, and Violet replaced Lucy.

"It goes without saying that you are an inferior human being!" She yelled with utmost venom.

"They take advantage of you all the time" Another snap, and a second Charlie Brown appeared talking on the phone.

"You need my help? Really?" The memory of Charlie Brown asked into the phone, Peppermint Patty on the other line "Could use another good pitcher on your baseball team, huh?" He asked excitedly.

"No, we just need you to wear the pelican costume Chuck" Peppermint Patty's voice replied, and past Charlie Brown's smile changed to a disappointed frown. Joe grinned at the detremental effect this was all having on the real Charlie Brown.

"You see, they all think you're some meaningless joke. Even your self-proclaimed best friend isn't at all fond of you? Should we replay that glorious clip of Linus yelling about how mad you make him?" Joe asked tauntingly, summoning forth the furious image of Linus. Charlie Brown covered his face, scared of what was to come. And so the reflection of Linus bellowed his critisism,

"You never do anything! All you ever do is just stand there! You drive everybody crazy! I'm so mad I could scream! I AM SCREAMING!" Linus roared. Joe dismissed his illusion and scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"And all that because you didn't talk to Heather before she moved away for a few months. I understand though, it must be SO annoying having to constantly listen to someone go on and on about a girl he's never even met, how's she's so perfect and he would never be able to get her to like him, and always chickening out when he tried to talk to her. I'm surprised Linus didn't snap at you much sooner than that actually, that sort of thing is enough to drive anyone crazy" Joe said with a hint of humour. He gave Charlie Brown a sly grin as he added "And that's just one of the arguments you've had. Though he pretends to care about your feelings and what you have to say, it's obvious to everyone but you that Linus is quite sick of your emoness. And if Linus, the one person who manages to put on a respectful facade better than any of your friends can hate you that much, what does that say about your other followers...?"

By now the colour was rapidly receding from Charlie Brown's skin. His eyes were sad and shallow, and his hand tremors growing worse than ever. Desparately he searched his mind for a reply, wanting more than anything to tell Joe that everything he had said was wrong. But... nothing came to him. All he could do was wallow in his own misery as Joe continued to put him down to his face.

"It's a sad truth, I know. But you have to know this. You need to know just how meaningless your existence truly is" Joe said coldly, Charlie Brown looked back miserably at him, despite the pain it caused him he couldn't help but hang onto every word "Your constant screw ups are a constant source of frustration and grief for the people you care about, and they don't share your feelings of friendship anyway. Tell me, where's the point in trying to save people who don't even want you in their lives? Every second you live, every second you're with your friends, you're dragging them all down into your pit of misery, making their lives considerably worse just by being there. Tell me, is that what you want?"

Charlie Brown, his face sunken and remorseful, could only shake his head in reply. Joe smirked, patting Charlie Brown's shoulder "It's a little known fact that your existence is pointless. You've never gone a day without failing at something and getting upset, nothing ever has and ever will go right for you. You think being Guardian of Light is some sort of honour, bestowed on you because you were someone special? Well come now, we both know it was a fluke. This sort of power was meant for someone who could actually utilise it to it's full potential and keep the universe safe. By accidentally gaining these powers, you've denied a real hero the chance to become Guardian, putting the universe in even graver danger by being an inefficient Guardian. Sparky knows this, the only reason he says any different is because he's now completely desperate, but even he knows the universe is doomed if you're the only hope of salvation. Everything he's said to encourage you is a lie! And you know it, don't you?"

Charlie Brown was on his knees and hands at this point, unable to even look Joe in the eye. This latest news filled him with guilt. And he couldn't deny any of it. He'd known all along he wasn't a hero, he'd known all along he was liable to screw things up. For all the power he had, Charlie Brown still couldn't defeat Joe in battle. And now look where that had landed him! And Joe was right, soon the entire universe was going to get covered in darkness, soon everyone who lived was going to suffer. All because of him, all because Charlie Brown, the absolute worst candidate, had been given the power of the Guardian. Charlie Brown tried with all his willpower to deny it, to believe that what Sparky said about him being capable was true. But then... what Joe said about Sparky, that he lied to him... he couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. But his heart had sank so low, his confidence shattered into so many pieces, all he could do was accept Joe's words as truth.

Joe watched as Charlie Brown shuddered on his knees, his skin chalk white and his body frail and weary. Joe smirked, now was the time. The boy's psyche was damaged enough, it would be so easy to take his life now. To kill him and assure victory.

But no... not just yet. Joe still wanted to see Charlie Brown suffer a little bit more.

"Poor Charlie Brown..." Joe said, faking a sympathetic tone as he floated around the fallen hero "Poor, poor Charlie Brown. All alone. No friends. Your family doesn't care. Your own dog just uses you as a servant. The whole world is against you. Even the Gods look down on you. No one cares about good ol' Charlie Brown..."

Panting heavily, Charlie Brown managed to lift his head up to look at Joe. Despite his misery, despite everything Joe had told him, it seemed Charlie Brown still had a bit of denial left in him.

"No... no, this can't be right" Charlie Brown said deliriously "My friends... they do care... last night, Linus said they all wanted to make ammends for the times they've treated me badly. They all came to cheer for me... they were going to miss me when I had to leave"

Charlie Brown could do nothing but grimace as Joe laughed at his face and grinned sinisterly.

"I do so love squashing your hopes" Joe said cruelly "No, Charlie Brown. Your friends really don't care. I would have thought all those memories I showed you clarified that. What Linus said just fits into my earlier statement about everyone feeling sorry for you since you're so pathetic. They just wanted you to think they truly cared because they all wanted to spare themselves the guilt of making you feel too bad about yourself, even though it's all lies. They've been doing that for years, and that's largely the reason you've grown to be so pathetic and weak!"

Charlie Brown shuddered uncontrollably, still trying to look defiant "They still came"

"Came because they had no other choice" Joe said craftily "They heard me say I would kill them all when I defeated you. The only reason they encouraged you to keep fighting and came to "Cheer" for you is because they knew they had no hope but to use you to save their own hides. They certainly knew you would lose, but they also realized they had absolutely no other chance of salvation. So they kept up their facade long enough to see if you would save them. False hope of course, but that's why they came, not because they care about what happens to you. And as for them missing you when you had to leave to fulfil your duties, that's the biggest lie of all! They're not going to miss you, your friends will be glad when you're gone!"

Charlie Brown shook his head, tears staining his sunken face as he tried desparetaly to deny what Joe was saying "N-no. No, they care! They... care..." Charlie Brown's face fell again, his tears leaking onto the floor in a puddle as Joe took great pleasure in his misery.

"No they don't care" Joe said savagely "What do you think I've been telling you!? They hate you, you're a pest to them. The bane of their existence. Your "Friends" may have told you they'd miss you, but really they'll be happy to have Mr Wishy Washy, Failure Face out of the way to stop glooming up their day. Why, I bet they were even planning a party to celebrate your abscence!"

Joe grabbed Charlie Brown's barely-existing hair and pulled up his head to look him in the face as he spoke his next words "That is the truth Charlie Brown. I have just told you the full, honest truth about your friends. About you. Unlike your little Peanuts gang I don't lie. You're a failure, a friendless, freaky little emo kid that no-one likes. And no matter how much you try to perservere, no matter how many times you try to improve yourself, none of that is ever going to change. You'll never be a hero, and no one will ever like you"

Finished assaulting Charlie Brown's soul with his cruel words, Joe released his grip on the boy's hair and allowed Charlie Brown to fall on his face onto the ground of his mindscape. Joe's harsh words and mental torture had by now crushed all sense of hope within the hero, any happy or even slightly positive thoughts had been pushed so far back into his mind that all Charlie Brown was able to comprehend was his own overwhelming sadness and self-pity. All Charlie Brown could do now was cry, as Joe stood triumphantly over him.

"The life of a blockhead is such a sad, lonely existence" Joe said softly "Better to die than live a life without joy. Better to die than live a life where all you'll ever know is suffering. Would you like me to kill you Brown?"

Charlie Brown didn't reply, his voice seemed to have been lost with his confidence. Not really needing an answer anyway, Joe just took his silence as a yes.

"Goodbye Charlie Brown. I'd say it was nice knowing you, but I wouldn't want to lie" Joe said with a hint of irony. The Warrior of Darkness forged a sharp dagger from the shadows of Charlie Brown's mindscape. Slowly he lifted it into the air, ready to finally put an end to Charlie Brown's existence. After what he had just been through, Charlie Brown didn't even care to register what was happening. After a few seconds of stalling, Joe prepared to bring the dagger down into the centre of Charlie Brown's head...

"Charlie, NO!"

A blinding light suddenly erupted from behind Charlie Brown. Joe was blinded by the intensity of the light, and a mysterious force seemed to be pushing him far backwards into the depths of the mindscape. The suddenness of what had happened was just enough to make Charlie Brown look up in surprise. Noticing straight away that his surrounding had brightened up significantly, Charlie Brown turned to see the ghostly figure of Sparky hovering before him.

"Charlie, you must not listen to what this deranged hooligan has to say. He claims to offer you the truth of your existence, but every word he has thus far spoken to you has been a lie!" Sparky's fatherly, empowering voice seemed to have awakened a new life in Charlie Brown. While he was still depressed and frail, the presence of someone he knew on good terms seemed to bring back a few more of his senses.

"Sp-Sparky...?" Charlie Brown asked, shocked by the presence of the spirit in his mind. Sparky reached out and held Charlie Brown's hand. Surprisingly solid for a spirit, Sparky proceeded to lift Charlie Brown back onto his feet and wipe the tears from his eyes.

"Do not believe a thing Joe has told you about yourself, or your friends. Despite what Joe believes, and despite what you fear to be the truth, you are not a complete failure. You are NOT a pathetic excuse for a human being. You are the embodiment of all that is good in human kind" Sparky stubbornly, and truthfully told the platinum blond boy "It is true that you have your faults, many even. But so does everyone. You think Joe is perfect? It is because of his faults that he is here torturing you now. Your friends each have as many faults as you do, whether it be insecurity, crabbiness, ignorance or snobbery, every human being has something wrong with them. Everyone makes mistakes. Just because you have the unfortunate habit of failing at many tasks does not make you worthless, nor does it make your friends despise you. For all of your faults Charlie Brown, you still succeed where many others would fail: You never give up. Even when all odds are stacked against you, you still carry on, and even when you fail you always get up and try again. That is a vital quality that so many others lack, and what makes you a truly wonderful, heroic person"

Charlie Brown's dark, lifeless complection seemed to brighten up ever so slightly as Sparky spoke to him, and more colour flooded to his face as Sparky continued "I know life has been rough for you Charlie. I know that it seems the world is against you. But that is a fear that you must overcome. Because the truth, the real truth, is that you have a lot in life to live for"

At this point Joe Agate's shadowy form reappeared and pushed Sparky out of the way, glaring resentfully at the dog spirit.

"Like what! Nothing in Charlie Brown's life is worth living for! He sucks at EVERYTHING he does and everybody hates him. His "Friends" don't give a damn about him! Does that sound like a lot to live for?!" Joe screamed, determined to keep the spirit from ruining all his hard work. Charlie Brown lowered his head and sighed. Sparky merely glared and shoved Joe aside.

"I would not expect a vile and conniving brat like you to understand anything about the good in life, let alone the values of friendship" The spirit said coldly as he hovered passed Joe to address Charlie Brown again "As I have said, you are a good and honest person. And despite what Joe has told you, your friends do not hate you. If they had despised the very fabric of your existence half as much as Joe claimed, then they wouldn't have stuck by you for all these years. And no, that is not because they feel sorry for you. No one would fake friendship with a person for 5 to 9 years simply out of pity. It was genuine friendship that kept you and your friends together for this long, because they really wanted to be with you. Despite your obvious faults, and even when you have done something to anger or annoy them, your friends still stand by you as they always have. Not through pity, but genuine, and cherished friendship"

A certain twinkle of life seemed to shine in Charlie Brown's eyes, which were no longer shallow and sunken into his face. He looked hopefully at the spirit, wanting more than anything to believe him to be right. Joe snorted loudly.

"Yeah, and that's why they're always criticising him and putting him down. Get real. If Charlie Brown's self-proclaimed friends really cared about him, they wouldn't go out of their way to treat him like S*#!. Didn't you see my clip show earlier?!" Joe yelled defiantly at the spirit, who merely narrowed his eyes and sucker punched the Agate boy to keep him quiet.

"As a matter of fact I AM aware of that horrible collection of bad memories you showed Charlie earlier. And I must say, if your intentions, as you claim, were to show Charlie Brown how his friends truly felt about him, then you failed spectacularly. You showed Charlie Brown only the worst moments he's had with his friends. There have been plenty of times where they were there for him, where they showed they really did care" Sparky explained. Facing Charlie Brown, Sparky held out his arms and summonned dozens of floating balls of light around Charlie Brown.

Charlie Brown watched as the ball of light grew and assumed shapes resembling a stretched out television. And like a television, these squares of light showed a collection of moving images. Memories of Charlie Brown's past that couldn't have been more different from the ones Joe had shown him.

Looking between the various screens Charlie Brown saw himself with Lucy, both very young and the latter looking surprisingly innocent. Charlie Brown was teaching Lucy about the swing set, and gently giving the girl her very first push on the swings, all the while Lucy laughed and cheered for Charlie Brown to push higher. It then cut to later when Lucy hugged and thanked Charlie Brown for the good time. The screen next to it showed Charlie Brown sitting in a chair by Linus's bedside, no doubt from the time Lucy had attatched Linus' blanket to a kite and sent it flying away to parts unknown. Charlie Brown promised to be there to comfort Linus in this desparate, frightening time, and Linus was so grateful to his loyal friend. On yet another screen was Charlie Brown with Sally. The present Charlie Brown recognised this as the time Sally had gotten a new pet hamster only to have it die a few weeks afterwards. The Charlie Brown from the memory cradled his crying sister, promising things would be alright and that her furry friend was in a happier place now. Sally hugged her brother tightly, the two sharing a truly tender moment as brother and sister.

Charlie Brown's eyes grew wider and wider as he continued glancing between the screens. Dozens and dozens of happy memories swam before his eyes. Among them were Schroeder standing up for him when Violet gave him a used valentine after valentines day, Snoopy hugging him after returning home from Lila's, Marcie telling him she thought Charlie Brown was real special, Rerun's extereme gratitude for Charlie Brown winning back his marbles from Joe Agate, Franklin consoling him at the wall, Peppermint Patty noticing his sadness and actually kissing him on the cheek while saying "Poor sweet baby", four year old Charlie Brown and Violet exchanging valentines, Violet at first complaining it wasn't a very big one until Charlie Brown pointed out it was the biggest he could afford and she had an instant change of heart, and Charlie Brown's entire group of friends lifting him in the air and singing "Champion Charlie Brown!". And there were many more memories, many, many more good times where his friends showed true and undeniable respect and friendship for Charlie Brown. Truth be told, if I tried to describe them all to you, It would take me a whole nother chapter to do it.

All the while Charlie Brown looked on in awe at the memories. So many good times... he had forgotten so many of these happy memories, all these fun times he'd had with his friends. He could feel his heart warm as the memories washed over him, reminding him that his friends weren't as heartless as Joe made them out to be.

After more than three hundred instances occured on the screens they suddenly faded away. Charlie Brown held out his hand pleadingly, not wanting the happy memories to stop. Sparky floated down in front of him, a comforting look on his face.

"I can never deny that your friends have treated you unfairly in the past. Some more than others. And though there may be times where you feel your friendship with them is in doubt, though they have all lost their patience with you many times, your bonds have never been broken. They stay with you because they want to be your friends, because you have always been a key part of their lives, and they want it to remain that way" Sparky explained tendernly to the wide eyed boy "And don't ever let Joe convince you that they all hate you just because you have a few arguments. All friends have fallings out, all friends have times when they got on each others nerves and say nasty things. Even best friends don't get along all the time. That was the case with Linus that day, nothing more. Your problem has always been that you take everything too personally Charlie Brown, whenever a friend of yours says one bad thing or throws a fit, you take it to mean that nobody likes you. Well that's wrong. You know your friendship is genuine when you can have arguments, but still remain on good terms afterwards"

These words actually brought just the smallest hint of a smile back to Charlie Brown's face, and for the first time since he'd been plunged into his mind he felt a sense of hope. And Joe Agate couldn't be more furious at this.

Floating up to the side of the spirit, Joe got up in his face and said "Oh please. I mean sure, they're all very good at acting like they care when they want to, but have you actually seen for yourself how they act around him normally?! If you asked them truthfully, they'd all admit Charlie Brown's nothing more than a nuisance to them!"

To Charlie Brown's surprise Sparky actually gave a smug smirk at that response.

"You must be getting desparate Joe" Sparky laughed, Joe gritted his teeth at him "Well then, why don't we ask the children how they feel?"

Charlie Brown was uncertain what Sparky meant. His attention was caught by another light that seemed to be shining to the left of him. He turned to see the pearly white form of Schroeder standing before him. But unlike the memories that had been shown to him thus far, this apparition appeared as self aware as Sparky or Joe. And Charlie Brown realised that Sparky had somehow brought Schroeder into his mind.

"Charlie Brown, I don't know what's been said and done in here, but I just want to tell you how I feel" The real Schroeder began "You are a good person, the kindest and humblest of us all. I know you're a terrible manager and all that, but I still respect you, even look up to your ability to pull yourself up after everything that goes wrong. You're a true and loyal friend, and lately I feel like I just haven't been doing enough to support you. I owe a lot to you after all, you introduced me to the piano and brought a lot of joy to my life. I know there are times I haven't stood up for you when I should have, which is why I'm saying now, don't give up! You can't let Agate get you down, you're a better man than he'll ever be! I know you can snap out of whatever trance he's put you in, I know it"

Joe lunged forward and punched Schroeder's pearly white form, making him fade away.

"Like I said before, he's only trying to encourage you in an effort to save his own skin!" Joe roared. Charlie Brown looked down, pondering over Schroeder's words and what Joe was offering him. He looked up and narrowed his eyes at the shadow boy.

"No" Charlie Brown breathed, Joe's eyes widened "No, I felt it... he was telling the truth. He does believe in me"

It was evident from the look on Joe's face that he was starting to get worried. Sparky however was looking very pleased with this progression, and called forth next the apparition of Lucy.

"Charlie Brown, I sure hope this is getting through to you, because there's a lot I need to tell you" Lucy began, Charlie Brown had never seen her look so remorseful "I know I treat you badly, I know I put you through more grief than anyone else in your life. I've been real spiteful to you, giving you substandard psychiatry, punching you when I get mad, ordering you around and making fun of you, and of course that silly old football gag. Well... I've been thinking over it a lot since yesterday, and I finally realise just how horrible it all is. Because I do care about you Charlie Brown-I really do care. You were the first friend I had, when we were little you showed me all about the world, you looked out for me more than my own parents. And throughout the rest of my life you've always been there, even when I was being crabby you were always there to support me, always there to be my friend. And I've never showed you that same level of respect. But I really should"

Lucy put her hands together over her heart, looking into Charlie Brown's eyes with true tenderness and a great heaping sense of remorse "I'm so sorry Charlie Brown. I know words alone can't make up for it but... in case I never get another chance to say this to you, I really am sorry for all the mean things I've done to you. I really wish you didn't have to go off and be the Guardian of Light, because I feel I'll never be able to make up for all of it. Because believe it or not Charlie Brown, you're the best friend I have. You're honest, you're loyal, and even though you never lead us to victory at baseball I still think you're the greatest manager ever. You're a good man Charlie Brown, and maybe I don't deserve to be your friend. But that doesn't matter now, what matters is that you pull through this. I believe in you Charlie Brown, I know I've never shown faith in you before but this time I really do believe you can succeed. And I promise, on my life, that when you wake up, I'm going to hold a football for you to kick, and I am NOT going to pull it away. I promise never to pull the football away again!"

As soon as Lucy was done making her promise her body started to slowly fade away. Charlie Brown watched the raven haired girl disappear with a look of amazement, as though everything she said had brought him great inner happiness. Of course Joe was quick to appear by his side and deny everything.

"Um, hello, are you really falling for this garbage?! What have I just been telling you these last twenty minutes or so? She-is-LYING! Sure, she says she feels remorse, but she's only telling you that to spare her the guilt if she doesn't. She's not being sincere about it. It's all a bluff!" Joe furiously spat in Charlie Brown's face. Charlie Brown put a finger to his chin, giving Joe a thoughtful look.

"If that were true, then why did everthing she say make sense?" Charlie Brown asked.

"Because she's crafty! Lucy is a crafty little witch who knows how to manipulate people! I mean, open your eyes man, you've known her long enough by now to know she's a lying, hypocritical, self-centred bitch who doesn't give a damn about other peoples feelings!" Joe yelled at Charlie Brown. He was shocked to see the young Guardian glare back at him.

"And if you'd known Lucy as long as I have, you'd know for all her faults she does have a tender, caring side. Just ask Rerun" Charlie Brown replied. Joe was shocked and terrified by Charlie Brown's sudden defiance, this was not at all how things were supposed to be going. He had to do something. Joe had to act fast, or this whole plan was going to go to hell.

"And what of... Violet" Joe said in a stroke of inspiration. Charlie Brow's frown vanished and he looked uneasy, making Joe grin wickedly "Yeah. Even if you think Lucy's telling the truth about feeling sorry and that she does actually care, you can't tell me Violet would honestly feel that way. She's spent the last five years doing nothing but bemoan you! Every day she rants about what a loser you are, every day of every year she goes out of her way to make you feel miserable. Sure, she sometimes acts nice and still plays for your baseball team, but she obviously doesn't have the slightest bit of appreciation for you"

Charlie Brown looked down sadly at his feet at that. He didn't know how he could possibly argue with that. Joe laughed viciously.

"See Brown, she doesn't care. Just like none of them really, honestly care about you! Violet hasn't even properly considered you a friend in years, and neither has Patty or any of the others!" Joe bellowed at the saddened Charlie Brown before turning smugly to Sparky "What do you got to say to that?"

Sparky smiled "I say we ask her opinion aswell"

Before Joe could react Sparky leapt at him and pinned him down to the ground, while nearby an apparition of Violet sprang up. Charlie Brown looked up at her, noticing she had much the same look as Lucy.

"Charlie Brown, I... I really don't know how to say this, but I'm sorry too. I mean I'm really sorry. I know I treat you like dirt, worse than that even. These past few years I feel our relationship has deteriorated completely, and I really feel horrible about that. You were my best friend Charlie Brown, back in the days where it was just us, Shermy and Patty I really looked up to you. Though you could be annoying, you were still the best friend I could have asked for. I really don't know what went wrong, but as time went by I just became a real witch to you. I know that was wrong of me, and I can never tell you just how sorry I am for it. The truth is, I think I was just jealous... after Linus and Lucy came along you started making loads of new friends, and we started spending considerably less time together because of it. And that made me sad and jealous, I liked spending time with you, and with all those new friends I thought I was getting slowly shoved out of your life. So I took out my feelings by ridiculing you and making you feel pathetic. Selfish, huh?"

From behind Charlie Brown, Joe was struggling to break free of Sparky's grip to put a stop to Violet's speech, but with him unable to slip free Violet continued "There's no good excuse for how I've treated you Charlie Brown, but that's all I got. And it pains me to think that the way I started treating and thinking of you is what really drove us apart. You're a really good, caring person. Sure you may have your faults, but when it comes to heart you're a way better person than I am... yeah, it does feel funny for me to say that, but it's the truth. I have many regrets, and I wish I had the time to make it up to you. I know I probably won't, with all this Guardian business, but I just want you to know I really do care. I want you to know that from now on, I'll be here for you Charlie Brown. No more insults, no more cruel tricks. And when you're done saving the world I'll throw you the biggest victory party ever"

Charlie Brown looked on in amazement as Violet leaned forward and put a ghostly hand on his shoulder "I understand if you don't believe me, or just simply don't forgive me. I wouldn't expect you too, with all the grief I've put you through. But I had to tell you the truth before you left" Violet pulled back her hand and gave Charlie Brown a look of encouragement "Now toughen up Charlie Brown, I know you can make it out of this. You can beat Agate, just believe in yourself. Believe in yourself like I believe in you"

Charlie Brown watched as Violet slowly faded away, looking genuinely surprised but incredibly happy at everything she had just said.

"Oh come on now" Charlie Brown turned around to find that Joe had freed himself and was floating with his arms folded "Is this gonna be the routine now mutt, are you going to just bring everyone here into Charlie Brown's mind so they can lie to him like this? And are you going to just keep eating it up, Charlie Brown? Open your eyes man, you can tell there wasn't a hint of sincerity in her from a mile away!"

Sparky floated passed Joe and huffed "Or perhaps that is just how you see it, since you clearly have no good left in you"

Joe growled at the canine spirit and turned furiously on Charlie Brown "And I don't see how you're so happy now, a moment ago you were wallowing in your usual pit of misery. So what, a little false kindness and you're A-Ok? I mean, seriously!"

Charlie Brown looked down at his feet, his expression uncertain. Clearly despite the relief his friends apparitions had brought him, there was still plenty of doubt left in the boy. Sparky knew he would have to fix that.

With a wave of his hand Sparky crafted several chains of light from Charlie Brown's subconscious and sent them forth to restrain Joe. The darkness weilder could do nothing but shout and curse as the chains dragged him off and out of sight. Charlie Brown watched curiously as Sparky floated down behind him.

"Now then, since we've got a moment away from Joe why don't we pick up the pace a bit? It's not like your friends will get much chance to express their thoughts after this is all over and we have to depart, after all" Sparky said in a conversational tone. Charlie Brown watched as Sparky snapped his fingers. His attention was then diverted to a light at the other side of him, forming into the shape of Marcie.

"Hi Charles, can you hear me? I hope this message gets through to you, Sparky says it will but I've never tried talking to someone inside their own mind before, so I can't be sure. Anyway, I want to say that Sparky's right, we do care about you. And why shouldn't we Charles, you're a swell guy. You may not be the bravest person in the world, you may not be the toughest or the smartest person I've ever known. But Charles, you're the best" Marcie's apparition spoke, and on her face was an expression that Charlie brown couldn't help but think of as admiration "I don't care whether you're a winner or a loser, I like being your friend Charles because you're so thoughtful and giving. I'm sure Sparky's already covered this, but I'll say it again, don't listen to anything that creep Joe tells you. You're not a failure. A failure would give up after one bad day and never try to do good at anything again, but that's not you. You always try your best at everything, and you do have a lot of talents. I couldn't nearly keep up with you during the decathlon, and I'm sure you would have won it if you'd been paying attention. Ok, maybe that's not the best example, but I think my point is clear. for all the times you lose, you always pick yourself up and try again. And I think that's really inspiring Charles. So don't doubt yourself, ok"

The ends of Charlie Brown's lips began to curve into the first hint of a smile as Marcie spoke, before she finally vanished and Sally appeared to his left.

"Hi big brother. I'm speaking to you from outside your head. Weird huh?" Sally said with all her usual childish innocence. Charlie Brown chuckled slightly to himself as Sally spoke her part "Big brother, don't feel down. You've got nothing to feel bad about. If anyone should be feeling upset with themselves, it should be me"

Charlie Brown rose an eyebrow at this comment as Sally elaborated "You know, sometimes I think I really don't deserve a big brother like you. I mean, sure, I'm not as bad as SOME little sisters I know, but I don't always treat you with a lot of respect... Well, hardly any respect at all really. And that's just me being the silly person I am, I sometimes overlook things that I should pay more attention to. And one of those things is you. You're always there for me when I really need you, every time I need a shoulder to cry on or something like that. But when was the last time I did that to you? I dunno. I remember when you lost that spelling bee and locked yourself in your room, I never once thought to try and cheer you up. I didn't think about it at the time, but now I realise that was real selfish. It wouldn't be so bad if it were only that one time, but I'm always taking you for granted. And you wanna know the really worst part? Now that I realise it I don't have time to make it up to you. After you're done beating up Joe Agate you'll be going off to fight some intergalactic war, and I might never see you again" Sally's voice trailed off as her spiritual form looked sadly at the floor "You can't tell how empty that makes me feel inside"

Charlie Brown watched his sister's form with a sympathetic look as a pearly white tear slid down her face. He lifted a hand to her semi-translucent face and wiped the tear away. She looked up at him as their eyes met.

"I will be back Sally. I'd never go away forever. And you don't have to feel so bad. You're my little sister, you're supposed to be annoying sometimes. And I know this sounds silly coming from me, but you're being too hard on yourself. You're a great sister" Charlie Brown told her honestly, and Sally's eyes face lit up.

"Thank you big brother" Sally said, drying her eyes "I'll stay out of your room until you get back, I promise"

Sally's illusion faded away shortly after, while one of Peppermint Patty popped up.

"Hey Chuck, how you feeling?" Peppermint Patty asked in the closest thing to a conversational tone any of his friends had used so far. Charlie Brown couldn't help but inwardly chuckle at her forwardness.

"Oh, not so bad. A bit weirded out by all this, but I'm not feeling quite so down on myself now" Charlie Brown replied honestly. Peppermint Patty chuckled.

"Great to hear it Chuck" Peppermint Patty said. After a moment silence she continued "Well, guess as long as I'm here I better say my part. Let's see, where to begin?"

Peppermint Patty's ghostly form paced around Charlie Brown's mindscape for a moment, a thoughtful look on her face. After half a minute of this routine she stopped and shook her head "Well, I'm guessing everyone from Lucy to Violet has said everything that really needs to be said, so let me just say, I always believed in you Chuck. For all the times I've teased you about being a bad baseball player or whatever, truth is I always knew there was a lot of potential in you. Before all this Guardian stuff started no one would have believed me, but I knew from day one you were someone special Chuck. You always give it your all at everything, and even though everyone treats you like dirt, you never let that get you down for very long. You just get up and try again. Agate may call that stupidity, but you know what I call it Chuck? Inspirational"

"Inspirational?" Charlie Brown wondered, to which Peppermint Patty elaborated.

"Yeah, inspirational. You see Chuck, now you're probably not going to believe this, but I wasn't always so confident about myself either" Charlie Brown could only stare in disbelief at Patty's comment.

"You? Since when?" Charlie Brown asked.

"For a long time before I met you actually" Peppermint Patty replied sadly "You know, half the time my childhood was a pretty crummy time for me. I got lousy grades in school, the other kids made fun of me for looking like a boy, and..." Patty paused for a minute, not sure if she should continue. But then she realized she had to share her burden, get it off her chest "I'm sure most of you realize I don't have a mom. Well that's because she died while I was very little. Ya see, my mom had some health issues just before she got pregnant with me. When I was born it nearly killed her, and even after that it left her pretty work. She couldn't work anymore, so she spent the next three years between home and the hospital, spending most of her time looking after me. Then one day, I can hardly remember most of it, but mom was going into hospital and she looked worse than she usually did. She didn't come back for a while. Then one day my dad came home, and he said mommy wasn't coming back. he tried to explain to me about death, but I was too young to understand it, and I just wanted mom to come home. I just couldn't believe that the woman who'd loved and cared for me for all my life up until then was gone..."

Charlie Brown had never seen Peppermint Patty look more sad and depressed than she did now. The look on her face, he realized, was very much like the look he would wear when he was at his most depressed. For a moment there was silence between the two of them, Charlie Brown wanted to say something, but no words came out of his mouth. When he was about to give a word of comfort, Peppermint Patty finally continued.

"So yeah, things don't go well for me either. It didn't help the next few years that my dad worked a lot, and sometimes even had to leave me at home on my own all night while he was working. For the longest time I could remember, I just felt so alone. But I didn't want to show it, I never really wanted people to think I was just some miserable little kid that no one would want to know-that's not a comparison, don't think of it like that-so I tried to act like everything was alright. I let me feelings go, ran around like an goofball and had fun. I realised I was pretty good at baseball, so I mostly used that to distract me from how I felt. But before I met you, I didn't really have that many friends" Peppermint Patty, who had been looking at the floor for most of that last exchange, finally looked up at Charlie Brown, and a small smile spread over her face "But when I did meet you, that's when everything changed"

Charlie Brown, as per usual, was confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that you changed the way I felt about myself Chuck" Patty replied "At first we only really saw each other to play baseball, and since you were pretty bad at that I didn't really think much of you at the time. But at the same time, I saw something else in you. And I wanted to get to know you more outside of baseball. As we started to hang out more, I started seeing a lot more of myself in you. You always had it pretty rough too, everyone was always mad at you for some silly reason and you never seemed to win anything. But, and I know this is starting to sound really repetitive but it needs to be said, you never quit. You always tried and tried and tried some more to do good at things, and you never let petty arguments stop you from being friends in people. There was just this quiet determination in you that spoke to me in a lot of ways, and I think that's what made us such close friends. Over time, as we started seeing each other practically every day, I started to forget about all the crummy stuff that happened to me, and after a while I even started to feel good about myself. Through you and everyone else I had a whole lot of friends now, playing with your team was what inspired me to create my own winning baseball team, and that's brought me a lot of recognition. And, well, basically just by knowing you, you made my life a whole lot better Chuck"

"You made me see the good in myself, that no matter how hard things get I shouldn't give up, and it was worth always trying. I guess it worked a little better for me than it did you in a lot of things, huh? But if I'd never met you, I don't know what I would have turned out like. Truth is, I owe everything to you Chuck. And what have I done to show it? I yell at you like a drill sergeant, make you feel awkward and I really don't think I make an effort to make you feel good about yourself. Which is what I should have been doing, since you did just that for me. Forget everything Agate's told you Chuck, you are a great, amazing person. And I know you'll make the perfect Guardian, because you're an inspiration to us all, you set an example of what we should all be like at heart. And if you can make me feel good about myself, you can more than easily save the universe, especially if the worst you have to contend with is that arrogant brat. I mean, what has he got to show for himself anyway, for a so called loser you've got way more friends than that creep will ever have" Peppermint Patty emphasised that last part, and something inside Charlie Brown clicked at that thought.

"You know, Patty... you may have a very good point there..."

"Of course I've got a point Chuck! Now quit moping around in here, you've still got Joe's butt to kick, and a lot of apologies to accept. Trust me Chuck, it'll all turn out alright" Peppermint Patty's voice rang with confidence as she said that. When she was done speaking Sparky floated past, stopping just to the left of her.

"Now, before I let you leave Patricia, is there anything else you'd like to let him know?" Sparky asked smoothly. Charlie Brown was astounded by the huge blush that spread across Peppermint Patty's face at those words, he wondered for a moment what was wrong with her. Patty began to mutter and splutter like mad, she sounded even worse than Charlie Brown whenever he did try to get anywhere near the Little Red Haired Girl. When she noticed he was looking right at her the stuttering became even worse.

"Well, I-I-I... uh, um, er... I-um, well... I g-guess... um" She took a deep breath and continued, though still extremely nervous "Well I... this-this isn't easy for me to say Chuck... I mean, really isn't... I... well you see, I... I... well I... kinda... well, I... maybe... l-l... I sort of... I..." Peppermint Patty twirled her fingers nervously. Finally she stomped hard on the ground and groaned loudly "Aw screw it! Chuck, I lo-"

But, tragically, Patty was never allowed to finish her confession, for at that moment Joe Agate's solid form suddenly swooped down and smashed Patty's echo out of existence. Charlie Brown stumbled back in shock as Joe got up and looked furiously at Charlie Brown.

"That's quite enough I think!" Joe yelled, desperation and fear evident through his forced menace "If she really meant any of that, she would have told you years ago. They ALL would have. There isn't a word of truth in anything those blockheads have said, it's all just something they've come up with now to trick you, to save their own lives and avoid the risk of you getting back at them for all the abuse they've piled on you if you decide to go rouge. Why won't you just listen to me, why do you believe them! Why do you even consider listening to what they have to say after all you've been through? It makes no sense! You're not a guardian, you're just some undeserving snot who got these powers by accident. You're not a hero, you're just some annoying little worm who belongs among the amoebas. AND FOR THE LAST F###ING TIME. THEY. HATE. YOU!"

Charlie Brown looked to the black floor, his expression completely hidden. Sparky looked on in wonder, unsure whether he should be worried or not. Above Charlie Brown Joe seethed, forming a dark dagger in his hand with the intention to just stab Charlie Brown while he was distracted. He lifted the weapon up and prepared to strike Charlie Brown in the head. Sparky called out... but there was no need. The instant before the dagger came down into Charlie Brown's brain, his hand shot up and grabbed Joe's wrist, holding it back, though he did not take his face away from the floor. Joe struggled for a moment to pull his hand free.

"Joe... just shut up!"

Agate was momentarily shocked by the response. And he was even more shocked, and reasonably terrified when Charlie Brown's body was covered by a glorious glowing light, and he raised his head to reveal a look of defiance on his face. Charlie Brown released his grip on Joe's hand, making the dark boy stumble for a moment, before Brown struck Joe in the chest with a palm strike, sending him flying back a dozen feet. Joe tried to steady himself, only to see Charlie Brown determinedly marching towards him.

"I've heard enough Joe, and I've had enough. You don't know my friends, and you don't know me. So just shut up!" Charlie Brown spoke in a voice so confident that nobody would have at first believed it to be his. Agate began to back away fearfully, only to find himself up against some sort of invisible wall as Charlie Brown got closer to him.

"You say they don't care, that this is all an act on their part. But no one would go through all this trouble if that were true. You say I'm not meant to be the Guardian of Light, that this power was meant for someone else. Well, I agree with you, I wish this power had gone to someone else, but the fact is it chose me. And there has to be a purpose to that. I've already decided that no matter how strange or not right this whole thing may feel to me, I would do my best as a Guardian. So I won't be put down about that"

Charlie Brown was now merely steps away from Joe. The Agate boy channelled some darkness to his fist and prepared to punch at his nemesis, only for Charlie Brown to block the attack and push Joe back against the wall, holding him up by his neck.

"And anyway, even if there was the slightest truth in everything you've said, Peppermint Patty's got a point. Why should I listen to you?! You're more likely to lie to me than anyone else I know, that's practically you're whole life lying and manipulating people. And you know what, I just realized, that part where you showed me Marcie saying I wasn't worth her time? She never said that! You just randomly spliced things she'd said together to make it look like she'd said it. How many other so called "memories" did you show me that were made up?!"

Joe did not reply, but the look in is eyes was all the answer Charlie Brown needed.

"I may be a blockhead. I may be a loser, a geek, and a failure face. But I don't care. None of that really matters, what matters is that I'm now responsible for looking after everyone in this universe. and I REFUSE to fail at that too. You can ridicule me all you want Agate, but I've just decided, I don't care anymore. Because I am the Guardian, I am Charlie Brown, and no one can take that away from me. Especially not you! Now do me a favour. Get-out-of my-HEAD!"

The light surrounding Charlie Brown's mental form escalated to blinding levels. As it grew the light engulfed Agate, who's scream echoed as the light filled all of Charlie Brown's mindscape. Sparky smiled victoriously before he too vanished into the light.

---

The Peanuts gang stood over their unconscious friend, anxiously awaiting some sort of reaction. Up until now Charlie Brown had remained completely immobile, and the kids weren't sure how much of an effect their telepathic messages were having. Nervously they waited, praying Charlie Brown would be able to overcome Joe's evil influence and pull through.

And then, in the blink of an eye, it happened.

One second Charlie Brown remained unconscious. Then the very next second, his entire body began glowing a brilliant, blinding light. The Peanuts covered their eyes, unable to look at such brightness. But what they could see was a shadowy mist rising into the air, and they could hear Joe's pain-filled screams as the dark warrior was expelled from Charlie Brown's body.

The dark mist gathered over to where the Dark followers were standing, slowly morphing back into Joe. Immediately after taking form the villain placed a hand to his throbbing forehead and collapsed on his knees. The villains gathered around him in worry as Thibault and Eggman tried helping him up.

"What the hell happened?" Thibault immediately demanded. Joe swatted him and the evil scientist away. His vision at first blurry, Joe quickly regained his sight and turned to Charlie Brown. Joe's eyes widened in shock... and horror.

No longer unconscious, Charlie Brown was now floating above the ground, a massive aura of golden light blazing around him. The heroes eyes shot open, and a smile spread over his face. To the shock and amazement of not only Joe, but everyone else who saw him, Charlie Brown was smiling at his archenemy, looking more confident and sure of himself than he had ever been in his life.

Joe got to his feet and backed away nervously, fear overcoming him as he watched Charlie Brown float in place with that brilliant aura of light. In mere seconds the various cuts and bruises that adjorned Charlie Brown's body vanished as he was completely healed, a far sight better than the still battered Joe.

Charlie Brown looked back to his friends. They smiled at him, glad to see their messages had gotten through to him. Charlie Brown smiled appreciatively at every single one of them. Floating a few feet behind him, Sparky watched on in pride for his successor.

"Thanks guys" Charlie Brown said with sincerity. His friends smiled wider as Lucy waved her hand.

"Just finish him off already" Lucy said encouragingly. Charlie Brown chuckled at her choice of words and turned to Joe with a look of authority.

"It's over Joe. You have no choice but to surrender" Charlie Brown declared. Joe stared fearfully at Charlie Brown. He knew he hadn't a chance now, but Joe still refused to accept defeat.

"In your dreams Brown! I'll fight you to the death!" Joe roared. Joe rose into the air, stretching out his arms and summoning forth the power of the shadows. Knowing full well he would need every last ounce of dark power he could reach, Joe called forth every remaining shadow in Birchwood, and every small ounce of darkness within ten miles of his surrounding area. The darkness surrounded Joe, creating a large shadowy aura around himself as every one of his injuries healed.

Charlie Brown simply watched as Joe summoned forth the darkness. His friends, until now simply in awe at his power, now looked at Charlie Brown with expressions of growing worry.

"Well what are you waiting for? Finish him now before it's too late!" Violet yelled urgently. Charlie Brown shook his head, still smiling.

"No, I think I'll let him have his fun" Charlie Brown replied. To the bemused looks of his friends, he added "Trust me, I know what I'm doing"

Up in the air Joe finished drawing forth all the shadows within his reach. Completely regenerated and his powers engourging, Joe looked down at Charlie Brown under his nose and hovered downwards. He flared his dark aura around him, trying to look as threatening as possible. It enraged Joe that Charlie Brown still looked calm and collected.

"You're right about one thing Brown, this battle does end here. But no, I will not surrender. I swear I'll just kill you where you stand!" Joe roared. Joe channelled his entire dark aura into his hands and fired a mighty shadow beam at Charlie Brown. The Light Guardian, completely relaxed, simply lifted one hand and covered it in light. The shadow beam collided with Charlie Brown's glowing hand, but as it struck it split off into several more beams firing in several directions up and down, none of them touching Charlie Brown.

The students gasped in shock at this development. Joe disperced the beam in shock over how easily Charlie Brown had blocked it. The now confident hero grinned again.

"Are you done yet?" Charlie Brown called. Joe spluttered, unable to comprehend what just happened. Finally he growled and furiously flew at his enemy. Joe launched several rapid punches at Charlie Brown, but the hero blocked them all with ease. The Peanuts watched in amazement as Charlie Brown continuously blocked Joe's attacks with minimal effort. After a full thirty seconds of just blocking, Charlie Brown decided he might as well fight back and grabbed Joe's right fist, squeezing it tightly.

VERY tightly it seemed, as Joe let out an agonising scream as Charlie Brown effortlessly crushed his hand. A few seconds later Charlie Brown released his grip, gave Joe two seconds to shake the pain out of his hand then sent him flying with a powerful light punch to the face.

Joe crashed hard into the fence. He spent the next few seconds reeling from the attack. Unable to believe the force in which he had been slugged, Joe got up and flew at Charlie Brown, forming a dark blade in his right hand. Joe reached Charlie Brown and prepared to slice him in half. But Brown blocked the attack... with a sword made of light!

Joe widened his eyes at the light blade Charlie Brown had formed. Charlie Brown smirked at his bemusement and motioned him to continue. Joe glared at his foe and began striking rapidly with the blade. Charlie Brown blocked the strikes with his own weapon just as easily as he blocked Joe's punches. When he finally swung back, Charlie Brown's sword sliced Joe's sword of darkness in half at once. While Joe was stunned by what had happened, Charlie Brown quickly reconfigured the light sword into a sphere and blasted Joe with it.

Joe Agate flew twenty feet into the air from the force of that attack. Staring down with disbelief and silent rage, Joe channelled energy to each of his hands and tossed two spheres of darkness down at Brown, who blocked them both with a light shield. A light shield, might I had, that looked twice as thick as any of those he had previously formed.

Losing himself in a rage, Joe began pelting Charlie Brown's barrier with dozens of dark spheres. He rounded off this series of attack with a mighty dark beam. But still, Charlie Brown's shield would not shatter. As a matter of fact there were very few cracks in it. Joe, his anger reaching boiling point, screamed out his rage and dived at Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown lowered his shield and flew up to confront Joe.

Joe threw another punch at Charlie Brown, who simply grabbed his fist. Joe tried punching Charlie Brown with his other hand, but Charlie Brown grabbed that too. The dark warrior struggled to pull free as Charlie Brown smiled directly to his face.

"You sure you want to keep this up Joe, we can call it quits anytime you like" Charlie Brown offered. Joe growled and prepared to headbutt the Light Guardian, who did the exact same thing. Their heads clashed and Charlie Brown and Joe Agate fell to the ground, on their feet but in a daze. This time around Charlie Brown recovered first and blasted Joe with a light beam, sending him crashing into the mountain of rubble that once was Birchwood Middle School.

The students stared in shock at Charlie Brown. It was just inconceivable to them that he could go from battered and bruised, then unconscious, to being this unimaginably powerful. That didn't stop the Peanuts and other good students from being very happy at his astounding progress though. And for the Dark Followers, now they were REALLY starting to worry.

Charlie Brown stared at the ruins of the school for any sign of Joe. Finally, he noticed a few rocks shaking, and moments later Joe tore his way back to the surface. The battered warrior of darkness panted heavily, looking over to Charlie Brown with pure rage.

"How is this happening?!" Joe yelled, glaring with full fury at the Guardian "How can you possibly have gotten this strong so fast?!" Charlie Brown just gave Joe a sly grin.

"Well, I owe it all to you and your little mind trick. You almost convinced me to give up for a moment there, but Sparky and my friends showed me I really am appreciated. Thanks to your stunt, I finally realize that I'm not as pathetic as I always thought I was" Charlie Brown explained "I mean, I'm still a blockhead, but despite that my friends have still stuck by me all these years, still came to support me here despite that they were risking their lives. And you know what... for the first time in a long while, I feel... happy. Completely happy. No doubts, no insecurities. For the first time since I was four years old, I feel genuinely good about myself, knowing that I am actually liked"

The Peanuts looked on at Charlie Brown with proud smiles. It genuinely warmed all of their hearts to know that simply telling Charlie Brown how they felt had done him all this good. Over in the crumbling school, Joe was besides himself with anger at his own failure, and the Witch for suggesting that stupid technique.

"Just my luck, I try to kill a guy and I end up making his life better. Grr!" Joe growled. The darkness weilder got up and flew at Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown got into a fighting stance, but was caught off guard as Joe instantly vanished from sight. Joe reappeared momentarily behind him, striking Charlie Brown in the back with a powerful darkness-infused kick. Charlie Brown was pushed onto the ground. He flipped around to face Joe, but was blasted in the face by a dark beam. Joe followed up this attack by assaulting Charlie Brown with a barrage of dark spheres.

As clouds of dust formed to shield Charlie Brown from sight, Joe grinned with sadistic pleasure, thinking he had dealt some serious damage to his enemy with that attack. So you can imagine how disappointed he was when the dust settled and Charlie Brown appeared to only be suffering mild injuries, which healed up nearly instantaneously with his healing powers anyway.

Charlie Brown looked up at Joe and smirked. Joe frowned and leapt forward to punch him out, but Charlie Brown was too quick. He lept past Joe and grabbed him by the arm, throwing him into the air. Joe steadied himself in the sky, only to be knocked out of the air again by a light sphere, making him crash into the ground. As Joe struggled to get up, Charlie Brown looked at him with an expression of understanding.

"You know what else I realized when you were in my mind?" Charlie Brown asked the downed Agate. Joe glared suspisciously, but motioned for him to continue anyway "I figured out the real reason you hate me so much"

Joe snorted, not impressed by this supposed "Realization"

"It's not that hard to figure out, you're the blockhead that put a dent in my reputation and I want revenge" Joe shot back. But Charlie Brown shook his head.

"It's more than that Joe, isn't it" Charlie Brown said knowingly, and Joe tensed up a bit "Ever since I saw you declare how you wanted to kill me on those television sets, I couldn't help thinking that a game of marbles was hardly a good enough reason for anyone to want to commit murder. I know I also kind of made you a laughing stock, but still, your motives just seemed a little far fetched. Surely there had to be more to it than that. And there is, isn't there"

Joe continued to glare at Charlie Brown, he seemed almost worried about what he was about to say. The students were all listening closely to Charlie Brown's little speech too, wondering what he considered to be Joe's true intentions.

"You see, though I've been too oblivous and wishy washy to realize it until now, I have a great life. I have two loving parents, a little sister who looks up to me, even when she nags, a loyal dog and a whole bunch of great friends. I might not have a perfect life, but I do have everything I need to be happy" Charlie Brown explained. Everyone thought he was going off topic for a moment, before he looked down at Joe with a surprisingly sympathetic look "But you... you don't have anything like that, do you?"

This comment seemed to anger Joe more than anything. All the other students stared questionably at the Guardian.

"Though you go on and on about what a worthless excuse for a human being I am, the actual truth is that you wish you could have what I have" Charlie Brown said wisely "You may think being a bully gains you respect, but the truth is everybody hates you a lot more than they could ever hate me because of how you act. And you don't have family like me, we've all heard about what an abusive jerk your dad is, and that you don't have a mother. And you don't even have many friends either. The closest you have is Thibault, and even him you consider more of a cronie to help with your bullying. Though you refuse to admit it, perhaps not even to yourself, the reality is you wish you could have my sort of life" Joe's anger seemed to be at it's peak as Charlie Brown finally revealed the full reason the bully hated him "You hate me... because you're jealous of me"

Everyone, from the Peanuts, to the Dark Followers, to Sparky and even the Witch's reflection in the mirror were stunned speechless by Charlie Brown's claim. And Joe, his temper seemed to finally explode out of him.

"JEALOUS!?" Joe screamed in a primal rage "OF YOU!? HA! Don't make me laugh! Who could ever be jealous of you! You're stupid, ugly, pathetic and the biggest sack of crap in the universe! I COULD NEVER BE JEALOUS OF YOU!"

Charlie Brown shook his head, looking almost whistfully at the fuming villain.

"If you choose to deny it then that's alright. I won't try to persuade you otherwise, it's just not worth my time. But it is the truth Joe, and one day you're going to have to accept it. And you should be able to realize it. I mean, if I of all people can figure that out, then it must be the truth" Charlie Brown said simply. Joe snarled.

"Oh whatever! Just stop talking!" Joe yelled, floating up from the rubble of the school and rocketing towards Charlie Brown. The hero sighed, wishing Joe would just feel remorse and end this peacefully. Joe reached where Charlie Brown was flying and threw a dozen punches at him. Charlie Brown of course was able to block them easily and struck back with his own barage of punches. When Charlie Brown was through Joe was left looking a lot more like he did before recharging.

Joe held his chest, gasping in pain, and aimed another shot at Charlie Brown. Deciding this fight had gone on long enough Charlie Brown dodged the punch and blasted Joe in the chest with a light sphere. Joe crashed into the ground and rolled five feet. Joe shook off the attack and looked up, only to see Charlie Brown firing a light beam at him. Joe gasped and leapt back out of the way, though the resulting explosion from the beam hitting the ground sent him flying back over the rubble.

Over with the Dark Followers, the kids were in a panic. Most were already thinking about making a break for the crowd of kids on the other side, but too worried Joe might see them and blast them to smitherines. Only Thibault was still supportive of Joe, yelling for him to "Break his neck already". Eggman however was a lot smarter than Thibault and knew this battle was indeed a lost cause.

"My boy, you can't keep this up! I think it would be wise to make a tactical retreat!" Eggman yelled to the leader. Joe sent Eggman a dirty glare.

"You mean run away?" Joe asked pointedly.

"Exactly!" Eggman yelled urgently. Joe scoffed at him.

"No way!"

"Listen to the fat man Joe!" The Witch's voice commanded, and Eggman held up the mirror so her reflection could have a better look at Joe "Our mental assault has backfired, and caused him to unlock a greater portion of his inner potential. At your current level of control over your powers you're no match for him! Retreat now or you'll lose everything!"

Joe glared at the Witch in the mirror. He looked to Charlie Brown, contemplating. This battle was getting a little uneven. It may be wise to just get out while he could... but no. NO. He would never let Charlie Brown have the satisfaction of running him off. He would not surrender, he would NOT lose to Charlie Brown!

So defying the orders of his superior and Eggman, Joe floated high up into the air. Charlie brown prepared to fly after him, but Joe launched a dark sphere into his eyes. Temportarily blinded, Charlie Brown was then subjected to a dark beam that sent him crashing into the ground. It didn't hurt too much, but it gave Joe enough time to rise up into the sky, beyond the clouds and far out of sight. Joe flew until he had reached the atmosphere. It was too cold for him to continue any further, but this position was suitable.

With his only thought being how much he wanted to kill Charlie Brown, Joe raised his arms and prepared to summon forth the greatest darkness of all. The endless blackness of space!

Joe summoned forth all the darkness he could, absorbing it into his body. Into his soul. His dark aura flaring like mad, Joe's injuries healed and his eyes reddened. With a nasty grin, Joe finished absorbing the power of space and began slowly lowering himself down to earth.

Back on the ground Charlie Brown was shaking off his earlier attack and scanning the skies for any sign of Joe.

"Coward must have taken Eggheads advice and ran away" Peppermint Patty summarised nearby "Ha, I knew he was a wimp"

"Don't be so sure Patty" Sparky said, also scanning the skies for Joe "If he had wanted to retreat he would have summoned a portal to the realm of darkness. No... he's planning something. I just don't know what"

Everyone waited anxiously for what was to come. They all looked up to the skies, to the point Joe had vanished past the clouds. Charlie Brown in particular squinted his eyes, readying himself for whatever Joe had in store.

After an eternity of waiting, the clouds began to darken. Every cloud in the sky, up until now white and fluffy, turned dark and stormy. Thunder echoed from the skies as an exceptionally dark shape formed at the heart of the clouds. Charlie Brown tightened his fists, watching as Joe Agate emerged. His aura was flaring as wildly as Charlie Brown's had when he awoke, and even from this distance Charlie Brown could tell he was grinning with unbrivalled confidence and malice.

"This is it Brown!" Joe's voice boomed once he was a mere thirty feet above Charlie Brown "This is the moment we've all been waiting for. It's time we bring this all to a close! It's time to do... or DIE!"

Joe channelled every last ounce of darkness he had acquired into his palms. The storm clouds swirled in sync with his attack, and black lightning struck as Joe prepared the attack that would decide this fight.

"Uh, Charlie Brown, I think now would be a very good time to-HURRY UP AND DO SOMETHING!" Lucy screamed urgently, her and everyone else terrified by what they were seeing in the sky. Charlie Brown only nodded, staring at the swirling void of darkness gathering around Joe. Focusing his mind only on his positive thoughts, on all the things Sparky had shown him in his mind, Charlie Brown summoned forth all the light inside him and channelled it into his hands. Mentally, Charlie Brown called out to every ray of light in the world. From the street light and the bulbs that lit up every house in Birchwood, to the sun that was hidden behind the swirl of dark clouds. Charlie Brown held up his hands, ready to shine this light into the face of evil.

It all happened very fast. As Joe and Charlie Brown each finished charging their attacks, the rivals each let out a scream of rage and unleashed the full might of their attacks. The beams of light and darkness, humungous is size, clashed in the air, the mere intensity of their energy struggle shaking the earth and causing the winds to spiral out in a rapid gale.

Joe pushed with everything he had, firing forth every ounce of darkness he had. His grim scowl turned into a smirk of foul pleasure as his mighty dark beam quickly started to overpower Charlie Brown's light beam.

"Yes! YES!" Joe laughed maniacally as he continued to push his darkness forward, finally ready to obliterate his enemy.

On the ground Charlie Brown seemed to struggle to keep up his attack. He was quickly starting to fall onto his knees, the intensity of Joe's beam against his seemingly overwhelming him. At that moment however Charlie Brown looked to his friends. They were all staring at him in worry, terrified he wasn't going to make it. But they still refused to give up faith.

"Come on Chuck, you can do it!" Peppermint Patty yelled, determined to see him through this "You can't let him win after all that! Show him what ol' Charles Brown is really made of!"

Her words brought a smile to Charlie Brown's face, and served to engourge the fire in his soul. Remembering who and what he was fighting for, Charlie Brown got back to his feet and stretched his arms as far as he could, putting every last ounce of power he had into his attack. His beam immediately doubled in size, pushing Joe's dark beam back to the centre position. Joe's eyes widened in shock, and they grew wider still as the light beam pushed his dark beam back even further.

Joe strained himself to keep up the attack as the beam of light reduced his own dark beam to half it's original size, rapidly making it's way to the Warrior of Darkness.

"No! NO! No, this can't be happening!" Joe yelled deleriously. His eyes saw what was happening, but his mind just couldn't.

The beam struggle grew more one-sided with each passing second. Charlie Brown continued to push forth with everything he had, but despite channelling all the darkness of space, despite putting every drop of power he had left into his own attack, Joe's dark beam was being vastly overpowered, to the point it was now only three feet in length. Joe strained every muscle in his face as he tried desparately to channel more shadows, more glorious darkness. But nothing... he could put nothing more into this attack. Joe was forced to deal with the horrifying fact that he had drawn forth all the darkness he could-and he was still losing!

"H-how! How are you doing this?! HOW ARE YOU BEATING ME!" Joe furiously demanded as Charlie Brown's attack got closer still. Charlie Brown norrowed his eyes, channelling even more power as he sternly called out to Joe his response.

"Because you only fight for yourself! All of your power comes from your hatred for me. But my power comes from love for my friends! My will to protect them, my determination to keep safe those that are precious to me safe is where I draw strength! And that is why you'll never win... because anger and hatred can never triumph over the power of friendship! It sounds cheesy, but it's the truth!" Charlie Brown declared. His beam of light had gotten so strong that it had nearly overpowered Joe completely, and the dark boy was forced to reconfigure his beam into a dark shield just to hold back the awesome might of Charlie Brown's attack. The Warrior of Darkness grew more disillusionned every second. This wasn't the end-it just couldn't be the end!

"NO! You can't win-you shouldn't win-YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO WIN!" Joe screamed in his last moments of desperation "You aren't worthy of victory! You're a failure! You're a fool! You're a wishy washy, dunderheaded, clumsy, meaningless waste of space! You're... you're... You're a blockhead!"

Back on the ground, Charlie Brown looked down at the ground, mulling over those words.

"You're right... I am a blockhead" Charlie Brown admitted. But he didn't say it with sadness, with grief, or even the smallest hint of self-pity. Charlie Brown said it with pride "I am a blockhead! And proud of it!"

Joe's shield finally cracked from the pressure, and Joe was engulfed by the light.

"AAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHH!"

Joe's screams of anguished echoed all around as the light swallowed him up. The light was so intense that it engulfed the whole town in it's brightness, and was visible even from the depths of space.

After a while, silence fell. The light began to subside, and everyones eyes slowly but surely adjusted to the reduced volume. The dark clouds had vanished in the flash, being replaced by blue skies and simple sunshine. Gasps filled the air as the students bore witness to the final outcome.

Charlie Brown was last to regain his vision. He stared up in wonder at the sky, and then his eyes slowly drifted downwards. He saw Joe on the ground. The villain was covered from head to foot in bruises and marks, his skin burning. His clothes were torn, his signature green cap being almost completely incinerated. Still somehow conscious, Joe tried to move. He struggled for a while to make even the simplest movements, but somehow despite it all he still got to his feet. Charlie Brown watched blankly as Joe struggled to stand upright. Painfully he raised his head, his face worelorn and a large gash across his forehead. With every fibre of his being seemingly in agony, Joe tried to step forward.

"You... I... it's not... I wo-" Joe gasped as he could hardly breathe another word. Finally the pain overcame him, and Joe fell on his face. No longer could he fight. The chosen warrior of darkness had been utterly defeated. Charlie Brown was victorious.

Charlie Brown blinked as his mind registered what he was seeing. His friends and classmates, eyes wide as dinner plates, looked from Joe's broken body to Charlie Brown standing there watching in amazement.

"Did I really just do that?" Charlie Brown wondered. For the longest time his friends simply stared in silent shock at him. Then Linus finally found the sense to speak up.

"I think Charlie Brown just won" Linus said unsurely... ... ... "HE WON!"

Linus leapt into the air as he cheered those wonderful words. Then all at once the Peanuts broke out in applause, followed soon after by every other student of Birchwood Junior High. Charlie Brown could still hardly register what was happening as Peppermint Patty ran forth to hug him.

"Chuck, you did it! You totally saved the day!" Peppermint Patty told him ecstatically.

"I did?" Charlie Brown asked as his mind finally started to accept what had happened, and a smile lit up his face "I really did, didn't I!"

Charlie Brown suddenly found himself swarmed by his friends as they started hugging him. Probably the first group hug the entire Peanuts gang, Snoopy and Woodstock included, had ever had. Everybody was too happy to even care that they were getting covered in Pigpen's dust.

"You did it Charlie Brown, you beat Agate and saved the whole school" Pigpen said excitedly.

"I knew you could do it Charlie Brown! I knew it all along! You're a hero!" Rerun was cheering in comical fanboy fashion.

Charlie Brown spent the next few minutes being hugged and praised by his friends. After all the crazyness he'd just been through, it all felt really, really good. Charlie Brown's friends eventually separated so they could say their lines individually.

"Like I said Charlie Brown, you are indeed a remarkrable person" Linus said his piece first, Charlie Brown clapped hands with his best friend. Charlie Brown then felt a sharp pain in his shoulder as he turned to see Lucy had given him a friendly, but hard bump on the shoulder.

"Wait to go, you ol' blockhead" Lucy said kindly. Charlie Brown smiled at her as he nursed his shoulder, that was probably the first time anyone had used the word blockhead to describe him in a positive context.

Snoopy jumped up on his owner, giving him a good long hug which Charlie Brown returned tenderly.

"I'm so glad you're alright round he-er, Charlie Brown. Heh heh, I guess I still need to get used to thinking that" Snoopy thought with a chuckle. He released his owner and gave him a lick on the cheek before stepping back. Charlie Brown wiped the dog spit off his cheek, a little disturbed, as Marcie walked up by his side.

"That really was something Charles. I never doubted you for a second" Marcie said sweetly, then did the unexpected, or perhaps totally expected of her, and leaned forward to kiss Charlie Brown on the cheek. Charlie Brown's entire face reddened and he smiled awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. Marcie took a step back next to Peppermint Patty, who gave her an almost indignant look.

"What was that?" Peppermint Patty asked jealously. Marcie giggled.

"Don't be mad sir. Next time you can be the one who kisses him" Marcie's reply was actually enough to make the tomboy blush and babble incoherently. Franklin looked at Marcie, for a second he seemed put down by what had just occured between her and Charlie Brown, but whatever it was he shrugged off as he approached Charlie Brown and patted him on the shoulder.

"I always knew you'd prove them wrong someday Charlie Brown. Great job buddy" Franklin told Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown smiled at his friend as Sally rushed up to hug him. Hug him TIGHT.

"I don't care if you won or lost, I'm just so glad you're alive" Sally said, a smile on her face and happy tears in her eyes as she squeezed him harder "Promise you'll never worry me like that again"

"I... won't... if you... just... let me... br-br-breathe" Charlie Brown gasped as his sister slowly suffocated him. Sally realised she was hugging to hard and relased her brother, who stumbled a few steps backwards in a daze. Sally gave her brother a worried look, but he smiled and assured he was okay. A few of his friends chuckled lightly.

As Charlie Brown caught his breathe Violet and Patty walked directly into his line of sight. Charlie Brown was delighted to see that even Violet looked overjoyed.

"I've got to admit... for everything I've ever said about you... what you just did, that was pretty amazing Charlie Brown" Violet told him. Charlie Brown smiled impishly.

"Well... it wasn't all that great" Charlie Brown said humbly. Violet rolled her eyes.

"I thought you were past the state of putting yourself down" Violet noted. Charlie Brown looked down awkwardly, but Violet still smiled at him "Really though Charlie Brown, there's no need to be humble. You were pretty spectacular back there, I don't think anyone could have done a better job at this Guardian thing than you. And I mean that completely" Violet placed her hands behind her back, staring remorsefully at her feet "I meant everything else I said as well. I should have treated you better than-"

Charlie Brown held up a hand to silence her, looking very understanding "I know Violet. You don't have to repeat yourself. I know you didn't mean to treat me so badly, and I forgive you. Just knowing you do care is enough for me" He said simply. Violet smiled at his response, giving him a look of... no, no Charlie Brown must have been imagining it. But for a second it appeared she was looking at him in admiration.

Violet began to step back into the crowd of Peanuts. Patty leaned forward and gave Charlie Brown a hug. "What she said" Patty said, gesturing to Violet. She gave him a smile and rejoined Violet. Charlie Brown thought he should say something, but he was then suddenly hoisted into the air as the mad rush of grateful students finally made their way forward to cheer for him.

"Let's all give it up for Charlie Brown, the bravest of us all!" Roy declared. The Peanuts happily joined in to the explosion of cheers as the entire student body celebrated Charlie Brown's victory. Floating not too far away from this scene, Sparky watched as Charlie Brown was hailed and cheered by his friends and peers with a look of fatherly pride.

"Well done Charlie... well done" Sparky silently congratulated his successor.

"NOOOOO!" Sparky's attention was caught by that anguished scream. He knew exactly who it was.

Far away from the rest of the cheering students, the Dark Followers were in shock. All of them stared in disbelief at Charlie Brown, shocked that the boy long known as a failure face had triumphed over Agate. Thibault was especially distraught, being the one who screamed. He just couldn't accept the fact that Joe could have lost to that blockhead, and now all of their plans were ruined. They were screwed!

Eggman was the first in that group to approach the downed Joe, followed shortly by Thibault and the rest of them. The scientist noticed Joe was still trying to move, so helped him sit in an upright position.

"Well, that could have gone better" Eggman commented. Joe shook the dizziness out of his head and tried to get up again.

"I can't... give up. I won't let Brown win" Joe said weakly. Eggman and Thibault pulled him back down to the ground.

"My boy you are in a right mess. If you tried fighting Charlie Brown any more you'd just end up killing yourself. Just accept defeat and get out while the going is good" Eggman said pointedly.

"Yeah Joe" Thibault nodded, then he snidely added "Face it, you goofed up big time"

Joe snarled at his short friend, but could do nothing more than lower his head in shame.

"Boy, we sure bet on the wrong horse" Molly Volley commented as the other Dark Followers voiced their agreement.

"It's completely unthinkable that Charlie Brown could have beaten Joe in a life or death battle. But by God, that dumb pumpkin head is tougher than he looks" Freddie added bitterly.

"I think maybe now might be a good time to quit" Tapioca Pudding noted, to which the others unanimously agreed.

Sparky watched the villains speak. Noticing the Mirror of Twilight was still in Eggman's hand he hovered over to the evil scientist and asked to speak into it. Eggman held up the mirror, and the grouchy, furious face of The Witch greeted Sparky.

"Don't feel too bad sister, this plan was doomed from the start" Sparky told his sister's reflection, who growled at him.

"It almost worked. I almost had your foolish little Guardian in my clutches. Absolute victory would have been mine!" The Witch bellowed, shaking a fist in the mirror. Sparky smiled and shook his head.

"You really haven't changed much, have you?"

"I swear Sparky, I WILL defeat your new champion. My plans are far from over, I swear the Realm of Light SHALL fall into darkness" The Witch vowed. Sparky rolled his eyes.

"I think you'll have a hard time achieving that now that Charlie Brown is Guardian of Light" Sparky said confidently. The Witch sneered at him.

"He may have vanquished Joe, but he's still just a foolish little boy. What makes you so sure he won't perish against the next villain I send after him?" The Witch asked snidely. Sparky smirked knowingly.

"Simple. He is the Hero of Light" Sparky replied. These simple words seemed to have a shockingly strong effect on the Witch, as she began hyperventilating and even fell out of the frame of the mirror for a brief moment. She shot back up soon after and laughed.

"OH PLEASE. We both know that's just a bunch of balony the Ancients came up with so they wouldn't feel too guilty about sealing me away instead of just plainly killing me and sealing away my power" The Witch said, trying hard to remain in denial. Sparky's grin widened.

"Polokus has never had a false prophecy yet, my sister. Trust me, when the time comes, Charlie Brown and the forces of light will defeat you, and seal you away for good" Sparky replied confidently. His sister's reflection glared in disbelief.

"If you want my advise, dear sister, you should surrender now while you can. You'll never succeed now" Sparky added before he began to float away back to the heroes side. He stopped for a moment to address the Dark Followers "You're all free to rejoin your fellow students any time you like, by the way" And he hovered back to the crowd of students lifting Charlie Brown up, deciding it would be safe to leave the trumphed villains to their own devices for just a short moment.

Boy, how wrong he would turn out to be.

The Dark Followers watched Sparky leave and looked to Joe. They all wanted to leave, there was definitely no point siding with the bad guys now that they'd lost. But Joe just looked so sad sitting there beaten to a pulp that they felt sorry for him, and decided to at least wait a moment to see what became of the bully.

Joe shook off some of the pain in his head as he looked up to see Charlie Brown nearby, being cheered on by his friends as the students chanted his name. The bully's blood boiled and his desire to pound the boy grew a thousand times.

"Mark my words Brown, I'll get even. Someday soon, I'm going to make you regret ever being born" Joe silently promised his enemy.

"But that day is not today" The Witch's voice pointed out. Joe turned to see her disappointed face in the mirror "I'm ashamed of your lack of progress Joe. But I suppose you haven't proven entirely useless, so for the time being I'll still take you on as my apprentice. Now, return to the Realm of Darkness. Immediately"

Joe nodded his head. Now was definitely the time to flee. But not too suddenly.

Channelling whatever possible power he had left, Joe pushed Eggman and Thibault aside and just about managed to get to his feet and take a few steps forward.

Over at Charlie Brown's side, the hero noticed Joe getting up and asked to be put back down. The students placed Charlie Brown back onto his feet, the hero then took a few more steps forward to get a better look at Joe. The Peanuts watched anxiously as the rivals stared each other down, wondering what that rat Joe was up to.

At first Joe just glared at Charlie Brown for a while, and then he let out a defeated sigh.

"Well Brown, I hate to say it, but you win" Joe confessed, his pride rapidly evaporating "Clearly I have misjudged your abilities and the power of your bonds. But be aware, I shall not make that same mistake again. So let's just see how you do next time... WITHOUT YOUR PRECIOUS FRIENDS"

In a flash Joe threw his arms forward. An enormous swirling vortex of darkness appeared on the ground below the kids Joe had recruited. The Dark Followers struggled and screamed, but were quickly sunk into the darkness. Thibault and Eggman wasted no time in hopping into the portal aswell.

Charlie Brown's eyes widened in shock, and he shot forward in an effort to stop Joe from getting away. But when he was only half way to the bully, something much worse happened. Charlie Brown was halted by a loud tearing noise from behind him. He came to a stop and turned around to find that a dozen or so dark portals had popped up nearby his friends.

The Peanuts stared in shock and horror at the dark portals. What proved more horrifying was the long, shadowy hands that suddenly reached out of the portals to grab several of them. The Peanuts gasped and struggled as the hands began pulling them in.

"NO" Charlie Brown cried, forgetting about Joe completely and making a beeline to his friends. His first instinct was to rescue his sister first, but Sally was already dragged into the portal before he got there, and the vortex closed up immediately after. To add to Charlie Brown's horror, Peppermint Patty had tried grabbing onto Sally to pull her out, but got dragged in too.

Charlie Brown froze, fear overcoming him. He couldn't believe it, his sister and one of his closest friends were gone! Gone somewhere he didn't know where, somewhere he might never find them.

It was only the screams of several more of his friends that snapped Charlie Brown out of these horrid thoughs. Charlie Brown could only watch as Pigpen, Freida, Schroeder and Franklin disappear into the dark portals.

"No. NO" Was all Charlie Brown could think. Desparately he rushed forward to save his friends. He reached Linus, but he was pulled through before Charlie Brown could grab onto his leg. Charlie Brown then made a break for Lucy, but the fussbudget was dragged into her portal long before Charlie Brown reached her. Panic rose up in Charlie Brown as, one by one, all of his friends were dragged into the vanishing portals of darkness. Eventually only Snoopy and Woodstock were left behind, and the hand stretching out of the final portal had already grabbed Snoopy by the nose.

In a last desparate move, Charlie Brown rushed forward to grab hold of Snoopy. He pulled back on his pet beagle, refusing to let the darkness take him too. A second hand reached out of the darkness and touched Charlie Brown's head. But immediately after contact with the Guardian the hand recoiled in pain, as though it had been burnt, and retreated back into the portal. At the same time, the hand that had hold of Snoopy released it's grip and retreated, sending Charlie Brown falling back on his rear.

Nearby, Joe watched Charlie Brown with an evil smile. Satisfied with his last act of spite, Joe fell backwards into the vortex of darkness and vanished along with the others.

With Agate's departure silence fell over the school. The students all stared on in open mouthed shock, too scared to move or make any sort of reaction. Sparky was even more taken aback by this sudden turn of events. He felt helpless, he had seen what was happening and he could do nothing to save the young ones, all because he wasn't solid enough to pull them to safety. With much worry, Sparky allowed his eyes to drift towards the one who was most affected by Joe's fiendish trick.

Charlie Brown was still on the floor, staring at the spot where the final portal had closed in the same speechless shock as everyone else. Snoopy was shaking in his arms, glad he was rescued but scared for the others that had just been lost in the madness. Woodstock, by much fortune not a target in Joe's ploy, fluttered up to Charlie Brown's shoulder, patting it tenderly. This did nothing to comfort Charlie Brown, in fact Woodstock's pats actually made it quicker for Charlie Brown's mind to register the full blunt of what had just gone on.

And then he cried. Charlie Brown put his face in his hands and cried. Misery and grief swam over him like never before, and Charlie Brown felt empty inside. Sparky, his expression anguished but comforting, floated down to his protégé and patted his shoulder.

"I am so sorry Charlie Brown" Sparky spoke soothingly. Charlie Brown's only response was to cry even more, as Sparky stroked his head with his barely made solid hand "I know this is hard on you Charlie, but it's going to be alright, I promise"

"NO. No it's not!" Charlie Brown cried out, looking at Sparky with his face contorted with grief and self hate "Don't you get it, I screwed up! After all that, I still failed! I let Joe do that to the people I care about, and now my friends are all dead because of me!"

"They are not dead Charlie-"

"I know, but they're as good as! I know what those were, those were portals to the realm of darkness, Joe tried to use them on me. And in that case, there's no way we can save them in time. They're going to die, or worse be turned into heartless, and if that happens I wouldn't know how to change them back. They're gone, gone forever, and it's all my fault for being so... so useless!" Charlie Brown collapsed on the floor again, crying his heart out. Nearby the students all looked on in mourning. Peggy Jean tried to go up to Charlie Brown, but was held back by Roy, who shook his head and gave her a "Give him time" look. Peggy Jean stepped back and looked sadly at the boy she once loved.

Sparky watched with sad understanding as Charlie Brown lay there in misery, Snoopy and Woodstock trying hopelessly to cheer him up. A look of fierce determination spread over his face.

"Charlie Brown, your friends are not dead, and neither are they in the Realm of Darkness!" Sparky said sternly. His words managed to shock Charlie Brown out of his grief for just a moment, as he looked up at him.

"Wha-what?" Charlie Brown wondered.

"Your friends are not too far gone Charlie Brown, gather your wits and we may just save them" Sparky said importantly. Charlie Brown didn't understand.

"But... how?"

"Well, let's just say I don't think Joe's kidnapping routine went quite the way he'd intended it" Sparky said. Charlie Brown stared at the ghostly guardian uncertainly as he spoke further "Open a portal to the light palace. You can have a moment to gather your thoughts and I shall explain everything there. Understand"

Charlie Brown nodded, though still uncertain and scared. With much difficulty. Charlie Brown just about managed to open a portal of light as the students watched on in wonder. Sparky turned to the group, his eyes wandering over the destruction caused by the earlier battles.

"Um... Just tell your principal I'll send him a cheque for the damages. And any other damage caused to the city. For now I recommend you all go home and stay safe. I'm sorry you all got dragged into this" Sparky meekly told the students. He motioned Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Woodstock through the portal, which vanished behind them, leaving the students of Birchwood Middle School watching on in confusion and worry.

---

Within the Realm of Darkness, Freddie Fabulous, Melody Melody and all the other children that had agreed to side with the Dark Empire shivered with fright as the Witch's shadowy form floated over and around them. Unfortunate victims of Joe's last stunt, it seemed they were all now trapped here in this Realm. But at the very least, they weren't subjected to the Witch's wrath. That was all on Joe, and to a much lesser extent Thibault and Eggman.

"Idiots! That's what you all are, IDIOTS! Especially you!" She pointed an accusing finger at Joe, still battle worn and barely able to lift his head up to her.

"I told you to leave, I told you that you'd already lost. Then what do you do?! You keep fighting anyway! And now Charlie Brown's more powerful than ever! Honestly, the only good thing that came out of this was that you weren't captured so my brother and the Ancients couldn't seal away the portion of my power within you. But that's not a victory! You failed, and I do not tolerate failure" The Witch told Agate with venom. Joe spat out a broken too and a bit of blood as the Witch hovered passed him.

"Alright, I get it already. It doesn't matter, I'll kill him next time" Joe said nonchalantly. The Witch's ruby eyes flared with anger as she got right up in Joe's face.

"You're lucky there's even going to BE a next time, you twerp!" The Witch howled "Your sorry excuse for a plan nearly botched up our whole invasion. I swear to you Agate, if you ever screw up this bad again, you're not just fired as my apprentice. You're DEAD!"

The Witch scoffed at Joe and floated away from him. The warrior of darkness shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. When he had a better sense of what he was doing, Joe called out "I did one thing right. I captured Charlie Brown's worthless friends, that'll undermine his confidence and make it much easier to kill him next time"

The Witch stopped. She turned her head to face Joe again and waved her hand around.

"Do you actually see any of those brats here. No, none but the brats that joined up with you. In your moment of defeat you forgot you can't yet teleport people with more light in their heart than darkness. By dragging them through all those portals you've only succeeded in scattering them into White Space" The Witch explained coldly. Joe cursed softly.

"Well... that'll still be a hard blow to Brown's confidence" Joe tried to reason.

"Until they find them again" The Witch pointed out in a nasty tone "Face it, you screwed up"

Nearby, Eggman stood in thought "What we need is to start recruiting" Eggman voiced his opinion, gaining the attentions of The Witch and Joe "As much as there are heroes in the Realm of Light, there are also villains. Villains who we could very likely convince to side with us. We've discussed this before, remember. We just need to hurry up and recruit, then we'll overpower our bald headed friend. Quite simple"

"Conquering the Realm of Light requires more than a few mere team ups Ivo" The Witch corrected, but sighed in agreement afterwards "But that is the best place to start. While Charlie Brown concerns himself with those scattered brats, we'll begin making our preparations" She looked down at Thibault "Take Joe to a bed or something. His healing power will restart itself soon and he'll recharge. You just stay out of my way until I have use for you" Thibault nodded, despite his extreme sexism and inner resentment about working for a woman, he wasn't about to argue with The Dark Witch. With little regard to Joe's comfort, Thibault hoisted him up and dragged him off somewhere in the shadows.

"And what should we do with this lot" Eggman asked the Witch in regards to the other young ones. The Witch spared a brief glance at the terrified youths and shrugged.

"Give them blankets and whatever. Maybe we'll find some use for them. If not, they would always make good heartless" The Witch responded. Eggman ushered the children away to a safe location as the Witch just floated around, contemplating her next course of action. After a moment of silence Eggman reappeared.

"In the interest of maintaining my own life I would like to say I'm sorry for failing to contribute anything to this mission, my dear" The scientist said with a respectful bow.

"I never really expected you to do much of anything in that situation Ivo. Though once you have reacquired your old toys I'll expect you to start pulling your own weight around here. Ancients help you if you don't" The Witch said. Eggman wasn't able to tell whether or not that was meant as a threat.

"I promise on Sonic's life" Dr Eggman replied. The Witch sensed his worries.

"You needn't fear destruction Ivo. To tell the truth I've grown accustomed to you. Not having anyone to talk to for a few million years it's good to have someone around whom I can discuss matters with" The Witch said half pleasantly.

"Oh. Well, thank you, you're very welcome" Eggman said uncertainly.

"Save the pleasantries for later egghead. We've have much to discuss regarding our coup" The Witch said. Eggman nodded.

"So, what do you think of this Charlie Brown" Eggman asked off handedly. The Witch came to a sudden stop. After a minute of just standing there Eggman looked up to see a contemplative, somewhat cautious look on her face.

"I think we need to kill him. Now"

---

Back in the Light Palace, a portal opened up. Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Woodstock and Sparky exited the portal, at which point Charlie Brown asked "So what's happening? What do you mean we can save them?"

Sparky motioned for Charlie Brown to take a seat, but he refused to sit down until everything was sorted out. the spirit took a moment to choose his words carefully before explaining himself.

"Well Charlie, it's like this. Joe attempted to drag your friends into the Realm of Darkness through portals. But, he forgot an important factor of dark portals, he cannot forcibly drag people through them unless their hearts contain a greater portion of darkness than light, or if they have chosen to align themselves with darkness. While Thibault and the other children that rooted for Joe to win might have made it through to my sisters Realm, your friends very likely did not. Joe is a beginner like yourself, I highly doubt he has mastered the art of portal making. The most likely outcome is that your friends ended up in White Space"

Charlie Brown's spirits, sunk to an all time low by the tragic event that had just transpired, began to rise ever so slightly.

"So what does that mean, we can summon them back here?" Charlie Brown asked hopefully. He was put out by Sparky's heavy sigh.

"Not quite that simple I'm afraid" Sparky replied. Charlie Brown urgently motioned for him to continue "We still don't know exactly where they are in White Space, and tracking down their locations will be difficult. By the time we do, I assume they'll most likely have ended up on another world within the Realm of Light, due to the unstable method in which they were sucked into the barriers. At which point, we would have to travel the worlds to find them"

Charlie Brown did not like the sound of this "But that could take forever! What if come out in a volcano, or the middle of the ocean, or who knows where? Anything could happen to them before we find them!"

"Exactly. Which is why we will have to find them as quick as we can" Sparky nodded. Charlie Brown did not maintain much confidence in this situation.

"And if we don't?" Charlie Brown asked miserably.

"Do not think about that. Remain hopeful, always hang on to hope. Otherwise your powers will cease to function properly, and you will be unable to help any of them whatsoever" Sparky said sagely. Charlie Brown sighed miserably, but realized there was probably no other way around it.

"So how do we track them down?" Charlie Brown asked.

"Just leave all of that to me. You just go to sleep, rest. After everything you've just been through, you'll need it" Sparky replied as he assumed a meditative stance. Charlie Brown was aghast.

"I can't just go to sleep! My friends have just been scattered across the universe, how am I supposed to sleep knowing THAT! I need to be out there finding them!" Charlie Brown argued.

"You're of no use to anyone in the panicked your in. And as I've said, it will take time for me to determine everyones location, you'd only be torturing yourself mentally by staying awake to dwell on what you've just endured. Sleep, it will only be for a few hours, then I promise we'll dedicate every moment of our time finding your friends" Sparky tried to reassure his apprentice. But of course, Charlie Brown was in no state to be reasoned with.

"But I can't do that, my friends, my own sister are out there, lost and in who knows what kind of danger! I can't just-" Charlie Brown was cut off as Sparky suddenly floated down and pressed his semi-solid hand against Charlie Brown's forehead. The worry and stress faded from Charlie Brown's eyes, as did all conscious thought, as he began to fall into a dreamless sleep. As he fell backwards one of the armchairs near the TV area sprung forward to catch him. Perhaps he was weak as a spirit, but old Sparky still new a few tricks.

Snoopy and Woodstock, silent up until now, likely due to the shock of everything that had transpired, hopped up onto the arms of the chair and examined the sleeping Charlie Brown. Snoopy turned curiously to Sparky.

"A necessary precaution. He'll awake shortly. I suggest you sleep too, otherwise please don't cause too much mischief" Sparky told the two animals. A moment later Snoopy had curled up on Charlie Brown's lap with his head rested in his owner's hand while Woodstock was nustled up with them, using one of Snoopy's ears as a blanket. Sparky watched Charlie Brown sleep for a while. It always astounded him how peaceful people could look in their sleep. He hoped Charlie would have calmed down a bit by the time he awoke. He could not blame the boy for how he was acting, he was actually handling the stress better than anyone could have been expected to. Another reason he would make a good Guardian.

"Sleep well Charlie. I promise you, everything will be alright. By the time you wake up, I will have found where they are" Sparky silently promised his apprentice.

"Can it not wait but a moment?" Came a new, unearthly voice with a faint echo. Sparky's ears rose in surprise at first, but after registering the voice he knew what it was about. He turned to the corner where the diamond statue of Polokus was located. However, it was the real thing, from the long yellow arms to the big purple top hat.

"It's time we talked" Polokus spoke again in his other worldly voice. Sparky nodded curtly and bowed before the Ancient.

"I suppose it is, my lord of dreams" Sparky said with utmost courteousy. In the next few moments the other statues of the Ancients began to come alive. Aslan's statue became real first, his entire body a brilliant gold but for his emerald green eyes. Next came Odin, then God, then Master Hand, followed by Exodia. The six Ancients and Sparky gathered in a circle before the statue of the final Ancient, Arceus, who came to life shortly after.

Immediately after the diamond statue had turned to flesh and gold, Sparky and even the other Ancients bowed before their leader, the Original One himself. Arceus bowed back to them, a signal for them all to rise to their feet.

"Sparky, my old friend. I am sorry for what has become of you" Arceus spoke to the ghost guardian in a voice that was truly noble and kind.

"Many thanks, my high lord, but it is alright. I knew it was always a matter of time before I fell in battle. But my death is of no worry to me, my concerns reach far greater than that" Sparky replied in his most respectful tone.

"Indeed. We are all concerned with the Witch's freedom. And we must not waste time making preparations to reseal her" Odin spoke next.

"I understand Odin, and I promise that I have already devised a strategy. As soon as Charlie Brown's friends are rescued, we shall begin uniting the heroes of this universe to aid us in this war" Sparky replied.

"The children are of far less importance, we must ensure the protection of the worlds in this Realm before anything else" Odin said sternly, to which Sparky bent the knee.

"Forgive me, lord Odin, but I have promised Charlie Brown I would help him find his friends now. We cannot leave them to suffer" Sparky said, having expected Odin's defiance and anticipating it would go further.

"His duty and yours is to the Realm, Guarding the worlds comes before anything else" Odin said coldly. The other Ancients seemed more supportive of Sparky and Charlie Brown's plight.

"The Guardians duty, and our duty is to the people first and foremost. Charlie Brown's friends have been misplaced across the worlds, it is only right that we find them before anything unfortunate should happen" Aslan argued.

"Then he can search for them while he is uniting the heroes" Odin stubbornly replied "The point is, The Witch isn't going to wait around. Even now as we speak, she is no doubt initiating whatever other plans she has concocted over the Eons to plunge the worlds in darkness. That is what we must concern ourselves with"

Sparky nodded "I understand, and I shall do everything I can to lead Charlie Brown to victory against my sister" Sparky was a bit disturbed by the foul look Odin sent towards the sleeping Charlie Brown.

"Of all the warriors in the universe, why him, a mere child had to be chosen, I shall never know. I have seen how this boy is, he is fearful, weak and lacks the willpower needed of a Guardian. He is the wrong choice for the new Guardian of Light, if we continue with him as the Realm's defender we are sure to fail" Odin said sternly.

"And who would you rather have as the Guardian. Your son Thor?" God asked in a booming voice "If the choice was up to you Odin, there would be no one worthy of Guardianship. Charlie Brown may be young, but so are many of the greatest heroes these worlds know. You judge him too harshly, I am sure Sparky made the right decision"

"That actually brings me to the part I am most curious about" Arceus suddenly interrupted. Everyone turned curiously to him as he looked down upon Sparky "Why did you lie to him. Before you told Charlie Brown that you had no say in who your powers chose to become the new Guardian, but you did. It was always your choice who should succeed you. And why did you insist there was no way to give his powers to someone else, when we all know that can indeed happen. Why did you tell him otherwise?"

The accusing eyes of the Ancients were upon Sparky (Except for Master Hand, who had no eyes, but he still somehow shared the others' look). Sparky bowed respectfully "Because of the second lie I told him, that there had been no prophecy to foretell that he would be chosen to become the Guardian. I did not tell him there could be another Guardian because he would have chosen immediately to have someone else take up the role. And I... I believe there should be no other. I believe that Charlie Brown is the Hero of Light of which Polokus foretold"

Silence followed Sparky's explanation, as the Ancients all looked contemplative.

"... Can this be true, Polokus?" Exodia asked, in a voice that was deep and metallic, but which also contained a great deal of humanity deep down.

"In my dreams, I did foretell of a future Guardian who would go on to defeat the Witch once and for all, and bring a never ending era of peace to the worlds. And seeing his progress from afar, Charlie Brown could very well be the Hero. What do the rest of you think?" Polokus queried.

"I believe the boy has very much potential, and that if he is trained well he could very well be the chosen one" Aslan answered immediately.

"I agree with your beliefs. I have my doubts, he is after all very young and inexperienced, but with time... he could be" Exodia said thoughtfully.

"I honestly do not know what I believe. However, the boy has sure proven himself a capable Guardian. With time, he could be the Hero of Light, but that has yet to be seen" God said vaguely.

"I believe I needn't repeat my opinion" Odin sneered "But I shall anyway. The boy is too young, too meek to be the Guardian. If you believe him to be the Hero of Light, Sparky, then I'm afraid your mind may be fading with age"

Odin's words disappointed Sparky, but he would not let the All-father's opinion affect his own. He turned to Master Hand next, expecting his opinion.

"Hmm..." A voice boomed from Master Hand, despite the obvious lack of a mouth on him "Well, I'm afraid I must agree with Odin on some points. Charlie Brown is young and I don't think he could be the Hero of Light for which Polokus foretold. I don't, however, share the belief that he would not make an appropriate Guardian, if given the proper training. Perhaps I could arrange a little test of his-"

"We are at war with the Realm of Darkness, we do not have time for any of your games Master Hand" Odin coldly interrupted. The godly hand shook himself in a downtrodden manner.

"Oh... yes. Well, I still think we should give him a chance. You never know, the unlikeliest of competitors can emerge the champion" Master Hand suggested. Everyone turned at last to Arceus for his opinion, the most important opinion as far as any of them were concerned. Arceus hummed thoughtfully. His face held little expression, but it was clear from his eyes that he was thinking deeply.

After an eternity of silence, Arceus looked down once more to Sparky.

"I believe you made a wise choice in your successor" Arceus said kindly. Sparky smiled thankfully, as Odin looked aghast.

"Oh very well. He shall still never be the Hero of Light" The kind of Asgard insisted.

"Do not be so sure of that, my friend" Arceus replied "The Witch's return is no coincidence. Everything happens for a reason. For all we know at this point, Charlie Brown could very well be the prophesised one" Arceus gave the other Ancients a moment to process those words before moving on "But whether he is the Hero of Light is of little concern right now. What matters is making preparations for the upcoming war. I shall inform my children Dialga and Palkia of what has transpired, and I shall send the lake Guardians to awaken the worlds most powerful legendary pokemon"

"I shall inform the fairies of the Witch's return, the Glade of dreams shall be well protected. And of course I shall dream up as many brave warriors as I can to battle the heartless" Said Polokus.

"I shall meet with the kings and queens of Narnia and assemble the armies of my world aswell" Aslan agreed.

"I feat I have no armies to summon, nor can I be of much use while my physical form remains bound in chains, as it should be. But with my spiritual form I shall help plan our strategy" Exodia offered.

"Unfortunately the armies of Asgard cannot be of much help in this matter, as we are already facing the threat of Surtur, who is almost as grave a danger as the Witch herself. But we shall do what we can" Odin said grimly.

"I have already assembled the armies of Heaven and strengthened the barriers against hell. We shall do all we can to prevent the Witch from summoning the undead for her cause" God explained.

"And I... I have very little to offer, since I do not have my own self-created world or armies to fight with, but I can train the heroes our new Guardian united so that they are at the best of their abilities" Master Hand suggested. After a brief silence he sighed "It's just a shame we can't be more involved in all this, due to these accursed restrictions we have placed upon ourselves..."

"These restrictions were created for a reason" Arceus sternly reminded the Hand "But fear not my friend, as long as we plan our every move carefully, things should work out for the best"

"For the best" Odin laughed, a very dark, mirthless laugh. "The Dark Witch is freed. She has warriors from the Realm of Light to act as her agents of chaos. A war the likes of which we haven't seen since the dark ages is about to begin. And by the time it is over, millions, billions, perhaps trillions of people are likely to be dead, and that's the more positive outcome. What part of all this sounds to you like it will "Work out for the best"?"

The deities shifted nervously, even Arceus looked fearful.

"Only one thing matters and is for sure, we cannot afford to lose this war. We must do everything we can, or all our efforts to make this a universe worth living in shall be in vain. My friends... be ready"

---

Tiger lover 16: Well, bet you weren't expecting that huh folks? Yeah, I needed to have the Ancients appear at some point, and a good reason to have all the other peanuts characters more fully involved in the story. So the next few arcs will focus on Charlie Brown tracking down his friends and recruiting heroes. Lazy storytelling much? Well tough, that's what you get! Just kidding. If any of those last scenes feel rushed, they are a bit. I just wanted to get this chapter out of the way quick. To be honest, this chapter's been kinda a pain to write. The first scene in Charlie Brown's mind, that's kinda a disappointment to me. I based it Lucy on that awesome episode of Spectacular Spider man, episode 12 where Spidey and Venom have a mental battle with the spirit, or perhaps memory of uncle Ben helping Pete out. Obviously this isn't the same thing, it's not quite as satisfying really. I'll go back and edit it in the future, but I really don't want to worry about it now because, frankly, it's beyond my current skill level. And with finding a job my main priority right now, I have to focus my mind on priorities. Sorry about that. I wasn't really sure exactly what I wanted the scene to play out like, so it was difficult planning it out, and while trying to write as I thought it would naturally play out... made it harder and a lot more complicated. Yeah, I admit I'm a good writer, but not a great one. If you want genius writing you should read Zerobens marvel stories. It's the next few chapters I'm more interested in writing right now though. On that note, I've got those announcements to make. First of all, I'm no longer the only person writing this story. As of next chapter, my good friend toonwriter is helping me to write this story. We were going to write a peanuts/pokemon crossover, but neither of us really had the time, so he agreed to help me with this. The guy has a great sense of humour, which is exactly what I need for the next few chapters since, while no where near kiddy they're much more lighthearted that this opening arc, which is generally dark. And hopefully that'll mean the next chapter will be up a bit quicker. We've been meaning to collaborate for a while, so it's all good. Hopefully he won't sacrifice time on his other stories to help me though, I'm dying to read the next chapter of P-Nuts protectors. I said earlier, if anyone still remembers, that there'd be too announcements. Well, here you go then, I now have the full list of series I'll be using in this story. Not saying there won't at least be a reference to any more, but this is all we're planning to include at the moment. Might change if toonboy has another one of his power rangers nostalgia trips, but here's the list for now:

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 (Probably just Aslan, might include world but less likely)

Jackie Chan Adventures*

Xiaolin Showdown*

Code Lyoko

Naruto

Kingdom Hearts (Just the heartless, might introduce keyblades)

Ratchet and Clank

Young Justice*

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

Ben 10 Ultimate Alien

Tiger Lover 16: Well, there you have it. Hope this chapter wasn't too much of a disappointment. I couldn't include everything I want, but why stuff all the character developments into one chapter. I've got whole arcs coming up which I can use to resolve some issues and set up new plot points. Well, I'm sure there's more I wanted to say, but I can't remember now. Oh well, you folks all have a nice day. I'll see you soon with a new chapter. Oh right, now I remember. Regarding my other stories, It's the Philosopher's Stone and You're Amazing, Charlie Brown. Don't worry, they haven't been abandoned, I'm actually writing them now. It'll be a while for both of them, I'm never good at meeting a deadline, but they'll be up as soon as I can get them done. Promise. Well, see you folks.