Let's see what the old Peanuts gang is up to...
Part 1 - Pigskin
Many months have passed since Chuck snapped. Though it has been so long, the grisly vision of Lucy's lifeless body prone in her own vital fluids with the football impossibly wedged in her mouth still lay fresh in everyone's minds. They still remember the smell of her blood upon the grass of the open field, which has not seen a game since the incident. Even now they can recall in vivid detail the soulless expression on their former friend's face as he withdrew into the woods. The once tame and timid Charlie Brown, the round-headed boy once too afraid to talk to the Little Red Haired Girl down the block is now a cold murderer. It has been eight months since anyone has heard or seen from him, but the atrocity of that day is still felt in the town.
His faithful companion, Snoopy, is no longer the happy free soul he once was. No one has seen him dance since that day. No longer does the ace fighter pilot sit atop his Sopwith Camel, hunting for the imaginary and elusive Red Baron. No longer does Joe Cool hang about the water fountain. Now, it's just plain old Snoopy, just sulking in his red doghouse, patiently awaiting for the return of the master that once fed and cared for him. If his master should ever return, Snoopy knows he will not be the same person who left. And deep down inside, he fears for what might happen if he does come back.
Chuck's sister, Sally, hasn't been the same since her brother's attack. Losing both her bigger brother and her good friend in one single act of mindless rage has fractured the young girl's mind. Trading in her trademark aqua-blue dress and blonde curls for black tees, torn fishnets, and raven tresses with pink highlights. Black - her new state of mind - Sally still talks about her now deceased friend, but only about the death of her, and the eventual death of us all.
Schroeder, Lucy's one love interest, seems to have been unphased to the average passer by. Though, like before, he stis at his piano, prattling away on his keys, tickling the ivories. But now, he no longer recites Beethoven. The only thing now eminating from his instrument are sombre arias of days past, a dirge of sorts dedicated to the girl who once sat at the edge of his piano. The girl he will never see again. The girl he never had a chance to tell her how he really felt.
And we now come to Linus.
In October, we now instead of retreating to the local pumpkin patch in hopes of catching the Great Pumpkin in action. In December, he was absent from the annual Christmas pagent, no longer reciting the Gospel of Luke onstage in the lone spotlight. As a matter of fact, no one was at the annual Christmas pagenat, as God seemed to have abandoned the town since September. Linus was missing in action at all his key events. No longer interested in his monthly rituals, Linus now has other matter to attend to - the matter of revenge.
He now retreats to a lone cave over in the other end of town. Instead of his normal routines, he now focues on a new regimen: one of kung fu, tae kwon do, weight lifting, and firearms practice. He is training himself to become a ruthless fighting machine. One that is necessary to combat the murderous evil that killed Lucy.
Linus took a long look at the blue rag strewn on the cavern floor. Contemplating about what it meant to him, he tied the ends of his once prized possession to the ends of a discarded broomstick, breaking one end off, and sharpening it. It is no longer his security blanket. It is now his war banner. And he will not rest until he himself victoriously impales his flag through the blockheaded menace that took his sister from him.
"I'm coming for you, Chuck..."
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Please Don't Kill Me, Charlie Brown
Part 2 - Blanket