Inside The Game/Part 9

At the same time, as the Smurfs were celebrating Empath's victory, Hefty suddenly reappeared, looking as he did before he got transported into the world of Gametron. "Michty me, laddies, look who just arrived," Duncan said as soon as he saw Hefty materialize out of thin air.

"Hefty! You're back!" Handy said, sounding very surprised.

"I guess I am, Handy," Hefty said as soon as he got his bearings. "You wouldn't believe all the trouble I smurfed through just to get home."

"You should have smurfed it, Hefty," Snappy said. "Empath was smurfing the Game Master's tail playing that game against him in multiplayer and winning."

"Oh, so that's how I finally smurfed home," Hefty said, realizing what had happened. "Well, Empath, what were you expecting...for me to smurf you a pat on the back or something?"

"You don't need to thank this smurf if you feel totally uncomfortable doing so, Hefty," Empath said. "Seeing that you're safely home among us is all the honor this smurf will ever need from you."

"Well, I still think Empath needs some gratitude for what he's smurfed you, Hefty," Duncan said. "Trying to smurf you home by winning a game is not something that I would smurf lightly by any means."

"Ah, just let Hefty smurf his way and leave him alone about that, Duncan," Handy said. "If he doesn't want to smurf Empath any gratitude, that's his problem."

At that moment, Papa Smurf had entered the workshop with Smurfette and Polaris. "I can see that you smurfed quite an adventure when you were smurfed away from us like that, Hefty," Papa Smurf said as he greeted Hefty.

"It's not something that I would want to repeat smurfing through, Papa Smurf, but it was surely an adventure worth smurfing about," Hefty said. "There were these smurfs in this world called Gametron that looked something like us, only they were smurfing these glowing outfits, sort of like what Empath and Polaris wear."

"And apparently some of those people were friendly and some others were hostile, if what this one is sensing from your memories is accurate, Hefty," Polaris said.

"I wonder if there were any females in this world that you have visited, Hefty," Smurfette said, sounding curious.

"There was this one who reminded me of you, Smurfette, but her heart was already smurfed to someone else there," Hefty responded.

"I hope that after all this, you have smurfed a valuable lesson in smurfing games on the Game Wand when the tavern is closed, Hefty," Papa Smurf said, trying hard not to sound like he was being too harsh with Hefty on the subject.

"I know it was wrong, Papa Smurf," Hefty said. "I just wanted to be the first to boast about beating the game before anyone else did. Now I'm just glad to have survived the game when I was smurfing it for real."

"And I'm certainly glad that you did smurf home, Hefty, even through all you had to smurf in order to do that," Smurfette said, giving Hefty a kiss on the cheek.

"Come, laddie, let's celebrate your return with a smurfy glass of Vita-Juice for you," Duncan said, putting his arm around Hefty's shoulder as they walked out of Handy's workshop together.

"If you're going to smurf a glass with me, Gutsy, that's fine with me," Hefty said.

"Of course I will, Hefty," Duncan said. "And the name is Duncan."

Polaris stayed behind with Papa Smurf as the other Smurfs left Handy's workshop together to celebrate Hefty's return. "This one doesn't understand the reason for celebrating Hefty's safe return if he actually deserves punishment for violating the rules concerning the Game Wand, Papa Smurf," Polaris said.

"I think Hefty has been punished enough by having to smurf his way back home in the world that he has been smurfed into, Polaris," Papa Smurf said. "If anything, it should help make Hefty a better Smurf to realize the potential dangers of disobedience before it's too late for him to smurf anything about it."

"This one apparently still has a lot to learn from the Smurfs when it comes to the appropriate application of forgiveness and punishment when dealing with such infractions to your laws, Papa Smurf," Polaris said.

"When you love somebody very much, you will know how to properly discipline those whom you love so that they will smurf their lessons well, Polaris," Papa Smurf said.

To be expanded on.