CHAPTER 7: RIVALS UNITED

The day after Christmas, Charlie Brown and Snoopy came home from Frieda's family cottage. He would call Frieda later and he wanted to unwind for a bit. Snoopy would do the same. After touching base with Woodstock and learning nothing was out of place in his absence, Snoopy went on top of his doghouse and took a nap. Charlie Brown's relaxation would be cut short by his still-angry sister.

"Well what are you going to do about it?!" Sally stormed, interrupting her brother's rest.

"What am I going to do what?" asked a confused Charlie Brown.

"About my Sweet Babboo?!" she yelled. "He deserted me on Christmas Day. I was all alone by myself!"

"Did he even say he was coming over?" Charlie Brown said.

"Well, no," Sally stammered, "but I shouldn't have to ask him to come over; he should know automatically! Now I want to know if you're going to punch his lights out for me?! Defend the honor of your sister!"

"Okay, first of all, Linus was NEVER inclined to come over to keep you company. Second, you two aren't even dating, despite your delusions of grandeur. Third, he NEVER ONCE said that he WAS coming to see you at any time. And lastly, I am not punching out my best friend for something that he's not even at fault for."

Sally stood for a moment to let that all sink in. Then she just left in a huff, still angry she didn't get her way. Charlie Brown sighed. "She's gone off the deep end, all right," he said to himself.

Later, Mamba and Python were hanging out at Ace's Ice Cream Shop. They were enjoying sundaes. Mamba had a chocolate sundae, while Python had a strawberry one. They were having a good time, until Violet came in. She wasn't with Patty or Shermy, so she came by herself. Python was nervous, Mamba was cautious, but both wondered what she wanted with them now.

"Hey girls," Violet began. "Lucy, could I talk to your friend alone? I promise I won't give her a hard time."

"It's okay," said Python to Mamba. "I'll call you if I need help." Mamba obliged and got up. Before leaving, she said to Violet, "Watch yourself, Gray. That's all I'm gonna say."

"Margaux," she began, "I've always held myself to a higher standard than most kids. I even put down a lot of them; no one more so than Charlie Brown, mainly because he was an easy target. No one ever stood up to me until Lucy did when I saw you two at the mall. She made me realize that I was hurting a lot of people. I had already begun to see what my own abuse of Charlie Brown had done to him, and I do plan on apologizing to him for it, as well. But I wanted to start with you."

"Okay," said a cautious Python.

"I am so sorry for the cruel things I said about you," Violet said, through sobbing. "I knew Charlie Brown almost all of my life, so it was different in his case, but I never even got the chance to know you because of my stupid vanity! I never even gave you a shot before teasing you endlessly. I want you to know, even if you don't forgive me, you won't have anymore troubles from me. I can promise you that."

Python let what she just heard sink in for a moment. Then she looked Violet in the eye and said, "You know something, Gray? I will forgive you. But mind you this doesn't make us friends all of the sudden. You brought a lot of hurt to a lot of people, including myself. But if you are truly sorry for being the selfish, snobbish, self-centered little witch you've been, you need to apologize to those folks as well. And beg for their forgiveness. Not just me, but other like Pig Pen, Linus, and especially Charlie Brown, who you treated worse than even me. Just because you're better-off than they are doesn't mean you're better than them, either. So as I said, I do forgive you for how you made me miserable when I first moved here, but I'm not going to forget, neither. And just so you know, even though you apologized, and even though I have forgiven you, we are NOT friends. We're not even acquaintances. You're you and I'm me. No more; no less. If it's any consolation, though I don't consider you a friend, you can take relief in the fact that I no longer consider you an enemy, either. Now if there's nothing else to talk about, we're done here. But remember what I said. If you are sorry for what you've done in the past, apologize to those other folks you've wronged, too. And with that, I hope you have a nice day."

Violet slumped out of there and left slowly. Mamba rejoined Python and finished the half-melted sundae. "Everything okay, Py?" she asked.

"Yeah," Python replied. "Violet and I are cool." All of the sudden, Rattler burst in quickly and ran towards Mamba and Python.

"Girls," she said, almost out of breath, "Cobra sent me to get you. We have an emergency meeting. We need to leave like an hour ago!"

The three girls left Ace's and headed directly for the hideout. When they got there, Mamba and Python were shocked to see Cobra and Black Widow, the Spiders leader, side by side. Plus members of the Spiders were there as well.

"Uh, what's going on?" asked a confused Python.

"Girls, we know who this new gang is," announced Cobra.

"It's a start-up gang called the Lizard Ladies," added Widow. "And they want to meet with us a week from today."

"So both of our gangs are setting aside our differences and joining forces if this gang means any of us any kind of harm," said Cobra. Mamba and Python were startled by this new revelation. They knew of the rogue gang, but the Serpents and the Spiders on the same page? Could they stand up to this new gang together?

TO BE CONTINUED…

NEXT EPISODE, TRAGEDY STRIKES!