The Once And Smurfy King/Part 4

It was late at night in the Smurf Village when all the Smurfs were asleep. A group of Smurfs were waiting and watching outside Sophia's house, hoping that she would go to sleep sometime soon. After a long while, the light went off in her house and everything appeared dark as they knew Sophia must have went off to sleep.

"Well, lads and lassies, there's our chance," Malcolm said.

"I don't like what we're trying to smurf with Sophia, stealing her story before she even finishes smurfing it," Goofy said.

"We're not stealing anything, Goofy, we're just borrowing it," Gillian said.

"Yeah, we promise to smurf it back to her when we're finished smurfing what she smurfed so far," Meaghan said.

"Remember our plan," Bruno said. "We smurf in and out of there fast with the book. We don't want to smurf the attention of the night watchsmurf, got it?"

"Don't worry, laddie, I've got this smurfed down to a science," Malcolm said as he approached the back of Sophia's case very quietly.

The other Smurfs in the group watched with caution as Malcolm opened the window shutters and crept inside without making any noise. He looked around to see if there was anything that resembled the book Goofy said she was writing in, and then he saw it lying right on top of a table, next to a quill and inkwell. He carefully took it from the table and started to head back toward the window to make his escape when he heard a whistle from outside. It was his fellow Smurfs signaling for him to remain still, as the night watchman Smurf was making his rounds through the village to see that there was no suspicious activity going on. Malcolm hid deep in the shadows while his fellow Smurfs outside did the same, keeping as quiet as they could possibly be until the immediate danger was past.

After a while, Malcolm heard another whistle, which was a signal that it was now clear for him to escape. He carefully crawled back through the window and closed its shutters so that Sophia wouldn't know anybody had been inside...at least until she found that her book was missing. He knew that he and his fellow Smurfs wouldn't hear the end of Sophia telling the others that a burglar had come into her house to steal her work, but they would deal with that when the time came. For now, though, they got just what they wanted from her.

"Here it is, lads and lassies...the book of her unfinished story," Malcolm said as he handed them the item in question.

"Good work, Malcolm," Bruno said. "I guess you deserve the nickname Gutsy Junior after all."

"I don't know if we should be smurfing through Sophia's unfinished story, you Smurfs," Goofy said.

"What's the matter, Goofy...are you too afraid to smurf your own friend's work to see what she may have smurfed about your Papa Smurf?" Meaghan asked.

"Of course not, Meaghan," Goofy said. "But this is what she wants to smurf private until it's time to be published, that's all."

"We just simply don't tell anybody what we have smurfed from her book, not even Sophia," Gillian said.

"Enough talking...let's smurf open the book and see what's smurfed in it," Bruno said, sounding very eager.

They went behind a big tree and then lit up a candle as they opened the book to see what was written on the pages. But when they did, they were surprised to find out something that they didn't expect. "This book...there's nothing smurfed in it at all!" Goofy said.

Malcolm looked through all the pages, and saw that they were blank. "Michty me, it smurfs like Sophia knew what we're going to smurf and tricked us into smurfing this," he said.

"A very clever obsmurfation, Malcolm," a voice broke in. The group of Smurfs turned and saw that Sophia was awake and had found out what they have been doing. "Did you think I would just let you smurf off with my work when it is yet unfinished, and not smurf it under lock and key in a place that none of you are able to smurf?"

Goofy just looked at Sophia and made a slight chuckle. "Uh...you're not going to tell Uncle Empath what just happened tonight, are you, Sophia?"

"Why, Goofy, I would never expose you to the reprimand of our village leader," Sophia said. "But I just might smurf it to your friends, if they don't promise to smurf my unfinished work alone until it's ready."

"Smurf your work alone?" Malcolm said. "Uh, sure, lassie, that's what we will promise to do...isn't that right?"

Bruno, Meaghan, and Gillian immediately spoke up and made the same promise to Sophia right on the spot.

"I see that you are very reasonable Smurfs, even if you are so eager to smurf the master work of a Smurf who is about to become a legendary writer in her own time," Sophia said, sounding very pleased. "Now if you don't mind, it's time for me to smurf off to bed, so I will need my book back in case I need to smurf all over with my work."

"Well, here you smurf, Sophia," Bruno said as he handed the book back to his friend.

After Sophia headed back to her house, they all let out a sigh of relief. "Well, that was very close," Meaghan said.

"Yeah, but the whole thing was all for nothing," Gillian said. "Now we'll never find out what it is that Sophia smurfed in her story."

"I don't smurf what's the big deal, if we all knew what really happened years ago when Uncle Brainy became King Smurf," Goofy said.

"But none of us even smurfed in that time, Goofy, which is the whole point," Malcolm said. "All we knew about what happened is what our parents had smurfed us, and believe me, it doesn't even smurf for much of a story for how long the whole thing had lasted."

"Are you starting to question the actual history of what our parents had smurfed through, Malcolm?" Bruno asked.

"My Papa Smurf and Uncle Tapper were both out of the village when the whole thing was smurfed, Bruno," Malcolm said. "They were so eager to smurf a human village for the first time that they didn't even let the other Smurfs know that they were gone."

"Well, maybe things did smurf a little differently from how we were smurfed, and only Uncle Brainy knows the truth, which is why he hardly smurfs much about that time," Gillian said.

"We're not going to find out until that story gets finished and published, so I think it's better to just leave Sophia alone until then," Goofy suggested.

Malcolm sighed. "I agree with you, laddie. I just feel jealous that I can't smurf anyone's mind like Uncle Empath or even Liana."

"You wouldn't like what I would find if I could smurf your mind, Malcolm," Meaghan said with a hint of a smirk. - By morning, Sophia was up and ready to continue her writing. She ate a light breakfast and went off by herself to write the next few chapters of her story. She was now at a point in the story which reminded her of the previous theft with the attempted burglary of her unfinished story -- where it was now night in the Smurf Village, and a Smurf was seen sneaking out of his house wearing a mask and a cape. He crept quietly in the shadows, trying to keep himself out of sight from the patrolling guards as much as possible. He was going to a specific house in the village for reasons only he and some others knew about.

He knocked quietly on the door of the house as soon as he got there, and a small window opened in the door, showing a pair of eyes on the other side. "Why did the smurf cross the smurf?" the pair of eyes asked.

"To smurf to the other side," the masked Smurf whispered back.

"Good...you may enter," the pair of eyes said. The door opened, and another Smurf wearing a mask and cape quietly greeted him as he entered the house and went down into a cellar where other Smurfs with capes and masks were also meeting together.

Duncan, one of the Smurfs wearing a mask, greeted the visitor as he sat down at the table with the others. "Ah, now that every Smurf is here, let's smurf down to business," he spoke. "Fellow Smurfs, the time has come for us to smurf an end to our oppressor. You know who I'm smurfing about?"

"No, who?" Dimwitty asked.

Another Smurf whispered the answer into Dimwitty's ear.

"Oh, I get it...LORD SMURF THE FIRST!" Dimwitty said a little too loudly, causing the other Smurfs to shush him.

"The tyrant has smurfed power by smurfing promises that he has not smurfed, and...," Duncan started to continue, but was soon interrupted by Brainy.

"See, I have smurfed you so," Brainy said. "If you had only voted for me instead of that Smurf, we wouldn't be in this smurfdicament in the first smurf. Besides, when I smurf promises, I always intend to smurf them, and..."

Tuffy bonked Brainy on the back of the head with his fist to get him to shut up.

"And now we have just smurfed an unprecedented injustice, laddies," Duncan said. "A Smurf has been smurfed into prison today for a ridiculous reason. This Smurf that I'm talking about is a hero."

"What...Lord Smurf the First is a hero?" Dimwitty said, sounding confused. "But I thought..."

"No, you idiot, he's smurfing about Jokey Smurf," Grouchy responded.

"This time he's smurfed too far, and we're not going to smurf up with this anymore," Duncan said. "Down with you-know-who!"

"Yes, yes, I know who!" Dimwitty said excitedly. "Down with Jokey Smurf!"

"It's time for us to smurf into action as the Rebellion Of The Smurfs, and our first act will be to free the Smurf who has smurfed his freedom for us," Duncan said.

"The thing is, we can't keep smurfing here to find new recruits to our cause," Tuffy said. "Lord Smurf the First's forces will find out where we've been smurfing our activities from and smurf us down for good."

"That's why the minute you Smurfs rescue Jokey, you must smurf into the woods to set up a smurf of operations there," Smurfette said. "I'll stay here and see if I can smurf any other Smurfs who would be willing to turn against Lord Smurf the First."

"That way Lord Smurf the First will suspect nothing, as long as Smurfette can keep him and his loyal guards from thinking she's got anything to smurf with the Rebellion," Duncan said. "Okay, laddies...to the prison we smurf!"

"Good luck, boys," Smurfette said as she saw every Smurf quietly leave the house together.

"I didn't know that Lord Smurf the First was smurfed into prison," Dimwitty whispered as they walked in line behind each other.

"Shhh...be quiet," one of the Smurfs whispered back.

"I hate shhh's," Grouchy whispered. - Scaredy was standing outside the prison door, watching for anything in the night that moved. He didn't like being a night watchman because he was afraid of what moved in the dark, but he was chosen to be a deputy of the guards and he wasn't going to shirk his duty no matter what.

"Hey, psst," a whispery voice called out to Scaredy.

"Who...who's there?" Scaredy said as he cautiously approached where the sound was coming from. He soon turned and saw a bottle of what appeared to be smurfberry wine sitting on the ground with a card attached to it.

"Mmmm...a bottle of smurfberry wine," Scaredy said, sounding relieved. He read the card attached to it as he uncorked the bottle. "'Courtesy of Lord Smurf the First'...how nice!"

He took the whole bottle and drank it in one swallow. He hiccuped as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and then all of a sudden he was out like a light.

The masked Smurfs were watching Scaredy from the shadows. "Good...the sleeping potion has smurfed its trick, laddies," Duncan said. "Let's go."

They quietly crept past Scaredy as he slept like a baby, then made their way inside the prison to the door of the cell where Jokey was being held. "Oh, smurf it all...the door is locked," Tuffy said.

"No time to smurf for the key...we'll have to smurf it down at the count of three," Duncan said.

Meanwhile, outside the prison tower, Tracker was just about to relieve Scaredy of his night watch duty when he noticed that his fellow guard was lying on the ground, asleep with a bottle in his hand. He had a feeling that somebody must be breaking into the prison to free Jokey.

Inside the tower, Duncan, Tuffy, and Grouchy were ready to break the door down. "Get ready laddies," Duncan said as the three Smurfs stood some distance away from the door. "One...two...three!"

The three Smurfs charged straight for the door and knocked it down, waking up Jokey when he was sleeping. He was at first startled to see three Smurfs coming to his rescue, and then he was amused. "Boy, you look really smurfy in those masks," Jokey said loudly while laughing.

"Shhh, be quiet, Jokey" Duncan warned. "We're trying to smurf you out of here."

"SOUND THE ALARM! THE PRISONER HAS ESCAPED!" Tracker shouted, waking Anonymous from his sleep in his royal bedroom.

"Quick, let's smurf for it, laddies," Duncan said, as the group of masked Smurfs fled down the stairs with Jokey following them.

"Follow me, Smurfs!" Anonymous shouted, with another Smurf as his guard following right behind him as he headed straight for the prison. He saw the masked Smurfs just as they were leaving the prison with Jokey. "There they are! Smurf them!"

"Gosh, Lord Smurf the First sure don't look happy now that we smurfed his prisoner," Dimwitty said.

"I hate smurfing prisoners," Grouchy said.

"Stop right there! That's an order!" Anonymous shouted as he chased the masked Smurfs who were fleeing from him and his guards.

"So smurfy of you to come and smurf me free," Jokey said, sounding grateful. "In fact, I've got a little present for you just to smurf my appreciation for..."

"Never mind the presents, Jokey," Tuffy said. "We've got to smurf to the forest while we can in order to escape."

"Remember, Lord Smurf the First," Brainy said as he turned to look at his pursuers, "that good always smurfs out in the end, and that someday you'll be smurfing dust, because as the saying smurfs,..."

But as Brainy was too busy lecturing, he paid no attention to where he was going until he found himself tripping over a rock. The guards quickly came and captured Brainy, dragging him away.

"Really, Lord Smurf the First, I did nothing," Brainy protested. "It wasn't me! I'm totally innocent!"

"Smurf the others, smurf or alive," Anonymous ordered the guards as he sent them out into the forest to chase after the fugitives. "Don't let them escape!"

"You smurfed the king, Smurfs...let's smurf out and find them," Hefty said as they entered the dark forest. - By the following morning, Hefty and the guards returned to report to the king. "We smurfed all night, Your Royal Smurfiness, but we smurfed no sign of the fugitives," Hefty said. "It's like trying to smurf a needle in a haysmurf."

"Well, gentlesmurfs, I'm giving you three days to smurf in the fugitives, bound and smurfed, so get smurfing," Anonymous commanded.

"Yes, Your Lordship," Hefty said as he and his guards briefly bowed before their king.

Just as the guards were leaving the throne room, Smurfette had just entered. "Oh, Your Majesty, you seem so upsmurfed," Smurfette said. "Is there anything that I can do to make you feel smurfy?"

"I do not remember asking you to smurf me any company, Smurfette," Anonymous said. "What is it that you really want."

"What I really want is for my king to be treated like a king, and that's what I'm going to smurf for you," Smurfette said. "The Smurfs need to smurf you for how strong and brave you really are as their king, and that you are worthy to smurf the respect of others who are willing to smurf you night and day...even as your personal consort."

Anonymous seemed to like the idea of Smurfette being his "personal consort". "Have Greedy smurf me the finest cookies that he can smurf me from his kitchen, along with some fresh smurfberry wine from Vino," Anonymous commanded. "I'll see if there's anything else that you can smurf for me, Smurfette."

"Oh, yes, my king, right away," Smurfette said, bowing before Anonymous before leaving to fulfill his order.

When Smurfette was alone with Greedy in his kitchen, she said quietly to him, "Lord Smurf the First seems really upsmurfed. I have a feeling that the other Smurfs who rescued Jokey are now smurfing in the forest."

"I sure hope the other Smurfs are able to smurf out of sight while they smurf up their base of operations, Smurfette," Greedy said. "In the meantime, we shouldn't let Lord Smurf the First know that we know what he's up to."

"Don't worry about that, Greedy," Smurfette said. "A girl Smurf knows how to smurf things a secret."

Meanwhile, in the prison tower, Brainy was now wearing prison stripes, but nonetheless he felt proud of what happened to him. "I can smurf it now: 'Brainy Smurf, the hero, the defender of liberty'," he said to himself, smiling. "The others will come to smurf me free and I will smurf in triumph." - Two days later, Poet was heading off into the forest with a basket in his hand when he was stopped by Hefty. "Hey, you there!" he demanded. "Just where do you think you are smurfing off to?"

"Oh, I'm just smurfing into the forest to smurf some blueberries for Lord Smurf the First," Poet answered.

"Hmmm...all right," Hefty said after briefly scrutinizing his fellow Smurf. Poet walked off, whistling the Smurf song as he entered the forest. He went as far as he could to make it look like he was picking blueberries from a bush when he stopped to look and make sure no other Smurf was around, and then he ran off into the forest as fast as he could.

"Hey! Where are you! Hey!" Poet called out.

"Stop!" a voice said as Poet passed near a bush. Poet stopped running and began to wonder what was going on as the voice continued to speak. "Don't smurf back." A pair of hands covered Poet's eyes with a blindfold. "Smurf your hands behind your back." Poet put his hands behind his back, where they were soon bound with rope. "Smurf forward."

With no choice but to do what the voice was telling him to do, Poet moved forward, following the directions of the voice as he continued to travel to a part of a forest that he knew nothing about. The walking seemed to go on forever, and then the voice said, "Halt." Poet stopped, wondering what else was going to happen next.

"Now which will it be: 'Long live Lord Smurf the First' or 'Down with Lord Smurf the Worst'?" the voice asked.

Poet felt a lump in his throat. "Well, uh...you know me, what do you think?" he replied.

"Answer us," the voice said sharply.

"Oh, smurf it all!" Poet said. "You can smurf what you want with me, but...DOWN WITH LORD SMURF THE WORST!"

Soon he could hear the cheers of other voices. Poet felt relieved as he was soon loosed from his bonds and the blindfold came off so he could see where he was now. He was surrounded by a group of Smurfs who have built a camp for themselves out in the forest.

"Welcome to our base camp, laddie," Duncan greeted, giving Poet a hug.

"Real smurfy, isn't it?" Dimwitty said.

"Here, I've smurfed a little present for you," Jokey said, as he approached Poet with a gift.

"You smurfed just in time," Tuffy said. "Tonight we're going to smurf a blow against Lord Smurf the First."

"Oh, I'd love to hear what you smurfed in store for him," Poet said, sounding eager.

Meanwhile, back in the Smurf Village, Hefty reported what had happened to his king. "...and Poet said he would smurf blueberries, so I let him leave the village, and he hasn't resmurfed, and he's the sixth one in two days..."

Anonymous sat on his throne, burning with anger at the news. - That night, there were Smurfs working in the shadows of the Smurf Village, using paint and paintbrushes for a purpose only they themselves knew. They kept as quiet and out of sight as they could until their purpose was complete.

"Are you finished?" one of the Smurfs said to the other after a good deal of time had passed.

"We're all set," the other Smurf said. "Quick, let's smurf out of here."

By morning, Anonymous was attended to by Vanity, who brought the king his royal vestments to wear. "Oh, your Royal Smurfiness, you smurf so handsome whenever you smurf on your royal crown and cape," Vanity gushed as he watched Anonymous standing before the mirror putting on his crown and cape.

"I'm glad to have a Smurf of your taste as my personal servant in charge of my wardrobe," Anonymous said, smiling.

"What shall my king smurf today?" Smurfette asked politely as she greeted him with a kiss.

"Today I will smurf into the village and smurf hands with the common Smurfs, Smurfette," Anonymous said. "I might as well smurf something that will smurf up my popularity. You make sure that the palace is well-smurfed while I'm gone."

"Oh, your smurf is my command, your Grace," Smurfette said, smiling as she watched Anonymous leave from the palace inside his palanquin.

Anonymous soon spotted a few Smurfs gathered around a bulletin board, laughing at something. He ordered the Smurfs carrying his palanquin to stop so he could get out and investigate the matter for himself. "Greetings, my good Smurfs," Anonymous said. "What is it that you are..."

Anonymous suddenly reacted in shock as he saw a message painted on the bulletin board: DOWN WITH LORD SMURF THE WORST.

He turned and saw that the village itself was littered with similar messages painted everywhere. They read:

SMURFS UNITE AGAINST LORD SMURF THE WORST

YOUR KING LORD SMURF THE WORST IS A TYRANT

WE WANT FREEDOM

LORD SMURF THE WORST IS UNJUST

WE WILL NOT SMURF FOR LORD SMURF THE WORST

And there were many others.

"How dare they!" Anonymous shouted, swearing profanities as he looked around. "Who's responsible for smurfing up the walls with these unsmurfy insulting messages?"

"It's the rebels, your Grace," one of the Smurfs said.

"Smurf this scandalous graffiti off these walls RIGHT NOW!" Anonymous commanded. "I'll smurf them what a foolish thing it is to mock and defy Lord Smurf the First!"

As Anonymous walked away, the Smurfs laughed as they saw LORD SMURF THE WORST pinned on the back of his royal cape.

Meanwhile, inside the prison, Brainy looked rather impatient. "Well, they're certainly smurfing their time in smurfing to my rescue," he said to himself.