Empath The Wartmonger/Part 5

Soon Hefty and Duncan were together standing on a ledge, both holding a lily blossom filled with honey, while Tuffy and Papa Smurf watched from behind.

"Remember that you only have one chance to do this, as I have told Brainy and Clumsy one time when they tried this plan before, so wait for my signal," Elderberry warned.

"And whatever you do, don't drop it until you see the yellow of his eyes," Acorn added.

"We know what to do," Hefty said. "We're not going to smurf it up like Brainy and Clumsy did that time."

"Do you see Empath coming yet, Papa Smurf?" Tuffy asked as Papa Smurf was looking through a telescope for any sign of Empath.

"I think I see him, Tuffy, and he seems to be smurfing our way," Papa Smurf said, spotting Empath through the telescope. "The other pixies should be smurfing his attention right about now."

"Just hold on, laddies, we're going to smurf Empath down so that Papa can smurf him the reversion potion," Duncan said.

And soon enough, as Empath was heading in the direction where the trap was to be sprung, he saw Pansy, Lilac, and Bramble along his path. "Hey, Wartmonger, your mother was a tadpole," Bramble said as the three of them razzed him.

"Why, you dirty little pixies, nobody makes a mockery of Empath the Wartmonger," Empath said as he started to chase after them.

"Here they come," Elderberry said as she and Acorn hid behind a fern and watched Empath approaching with the pixies. "Remember to wait for my signal."

"Come on, Empath, smurf the bait," Hefty said as he and Duncan waited for the signal.

"Now," Elderberry said as Empath came close to the target spot. Hefty and Duncan both dropped the blossom with the honey right on top of Empath, causing him to be stuck inside the blossom, trying to fight his way out.

"Yes, we did it," the Pussywillow Pixies cheered as the three who were being chased stopped flying and joined the others around Empath.

"I don't know how long the honey's going to keep him smurfed up inside the blossom, so we'd better smurf him down while we have the chance," Duncan said as he, Hefty, Tuffy, and Papa Smurf joined the pixies.

"We'd better keep back, my little pixielings, just in case," Elderberry warned.

The pixies stood back as Hefty, Tuffy, and Duncan grabbed the blossom with Empath still inside it, struggling to get himself out of the trap. Soon the blossom ripped, and the three Smurfs found themselves wrestling with Empath to get him under control.

"Empath, we're your friends," Duncan said as he struggled with Empath. "Those Wartmongers have smurfed you into something you're not."

"Smurf for yourself, Gutsy, because Empath is not my friend," Hefty said.

"He's been smurfed too strong for us, Dunk," Tuffy said. "Don't know how long we can..."

Empath used his strength to knock all three Smurfs off him. "You dare to interfere with a Wartmonger's job, you can also join the pixies when I bring them back to King Bullrush as my prize," he shouted.

"He must really think that he is a Wartmonger, Papa Smurf," Tuffy said.

"Stand back, my little Smurfs," Papa Smurf said. "This containment spell should smurf the trick."

With the reciting of an incantation in an arcane language, Papa Smurf caused a bolt of mystical energy to shoot forth from his hands to completely envelop Empath, who struggled to break free of the containment as the three Smurfs and the pixies looked on. But Empath proved to be too strong for the containment spell to hold, as it dissipated after about a minute when he flexed his strength.

"Great Smurfs Of Fire! How can he be impervious to a containment spell?" Papa Smurf said, surprised to see the results.

"Your pathetic little spells aren't going to stop me from capturing the pixies," Empath said as he laughed at Papa Smurf.

"Fly to safety, my little pixielings," Elderberry cried out, and so the pixies spread their wings and took to flight to keep themselves out of Empath's reach.

Empath prepared to jump into the air to capture at least one of the pixies, but was suddenly stopped from doing so when another being flew straight into him and pummeled him to the ground. It was Polaris Psyche, who had arrived on the scene to deal with Empath.

"Well, that's great...Empath's star-smurfed friend comes to the rescue once again," Hefty said sarcastically as he watched.

Empath tried to fight against Polaris Psyche, who proved to be the stronger of the two as he continued to strike Empath down with many punches while avoiding Empath's. Soon the fight was over, and Empath was lying on the ground unconscious.

"Polaris Psyche, are we glad to see you," Papa Smurf said, sounding relieved.

"This one has seen what has become of Empath and wished to help in any way possible to prevent him from bringing any harm upon you or the pixies," Polaris said.

"We'd better get working on the reversion potion if we're going to restore Empath back to normal, Papa Smurf," Elderberry suggested.

"Mother Elderberry, who's that Smurf with the pale skin?" Acorn asked as she saw Polaris standing there.

"This one is a Psyche, and this one is currently a member of the Smurf Village and a friend of Empath Smurf," Polaris answered.

"We should smurf Empath back to your hiding place in the hollow while he's still out for the full count," Duncan said as he and Hefty picked up Empath and carried him.

"At least he shouldn't be bothering anybody right now," Tuffy said as he and Papa Smurf followed closed behind. - Back in the Smurf Village, Smurfette decided to have a word with Brainy about his becoming the temporary leader of the village while Papa Smurf and Empath were gone.

"I can't believe this!" she said, sounding very angry. "You want me to be your servant girl to smurf you fresh smurfberries while you smurf orders to the other Smurfs? Who do you think you are, King Smurf?"

"Oh, come on, Smurfette," Brainy said, trying to explain himself. "Every Smurf here has to smurf their weight around here to do what I smurf while Papa Smurf is gone. It's not like you have to smurf this forever."

"Tell me one good reason I should get singled out to smurf on you hand and foot, Brainy Smurf, because I have better things to smurf my time with than to be your servant," Smurfette said.

"You should know that great leaders do need to smurf their time of refreshment, Smurfette, and since an intelligent mind like mine does require those times, there's no Smurf that I find better suited for the task than you, so that is why I am smurfing you this job," Brainy said.

"Well, Brainy, it's going to be a cold day in smurf before I should smurf you the pleasure of...," Smurfette began to say before she suddenly disappeared from the village, leaving Brainy talking to no one.

"Uh, Brainy, what happened to Smurfette?" Clumsy asked as he appeared on the scene to talk to his friend.

"I don't know, Clumsy," Brainy said, looking rather stymied at the sudden disappearance.

In the next moment, Smurfette reappeared somewhere else, where she continued with what she was saying to Brainy. "...being your personal servant." Then she looked around and noticed that she was no longer in the Smurf Village. "Huh? Now where am I?"

"You're here in Toad Castle as my prisoner," another female voice spoke. Smurfette looked and saw that there was a female Wartmonger in the same dark room with her.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Smurfette asked.

"I am Princess Chamelianne, and there's only one female Empath should ever have in his life, so that means you are not to be in it," the female Wartmonger answered. - Back in the Pussywillow Pixies' hiding spot, Hefty, Tuffy, and Duncan watched over Empath as he continued to lie unconscious on a leaf while Papa Smurf and Elderberry were working together on the reversion potion.

"So that's how Psyches live, unable to feel or express any emotion?" Holly asked as she and her sister pixies talked with Polaris.

"Emotions are considered the enemy of logic and reason, fellow Holly, which is why the Psyche Master forbids the Psyches from being able to express any emotion and why we must live to purge ourselves of emotion on a daily basis," Polaris answered.

"That sounds like a really terrible way to live if you can't feel happy or sad about anything," Pansy said.

"Well, I think that he's so attractive the way that he handles himself," Lilac said.

"It's too bad that you can't marry him or even be a part of his world, Lilac," Bramble said.

"That doesn't mean that a pixie like me can't dream about it, can I?" Lilac replied.

"This one is unaccustomed to whatever mating practices exist among pixies in your world to provide any sort of companionship, fellow Lilac," Polaris said.

"I'm sure that the two of us can learn about each other and what we both enjoy together," Lilac said suggestively.

Soon Papa Smurf and Elderberry emerged from the tree stump they were both working in together. "The reversion potion is ready, my little Smurfs," Papa Smurf said as he held the vial that contained the potion.

"Here's hoping that it will smurf the trick, Papa Smurf," Duncan said as he received the vial. Hefty opened Empath's mouth while Duncan poured the potion into it, watching to see what will happen.

Empath swallowed the potion, and soon the Smurfs and the pixies saw that he was transforming back into a normal Smurf again. He opened his eyes and saw who was with him. "Papa Smurf? Duncan? Hefty? Tuffy?" he asked. "Where am I...and what happened to me?"

"You're in Pussywillow Hollow, Empath, and you've been transformed into a Wartmonger by somebody in order to go after the pixies," Papa Smurf answered.

"How are you feeling, laddie?" Duncan asked.

Empath looked at himself and realized that he was just wearing a hat and pants. "This smurf is feeling a little underdressed, but otherwise this smurf is still functioning, Duncan. These females with the wings must be the Pussywillow Pixies that this smurf was after."

"You are correct, Empath," Polaris said. "This one senses that somebody must have manipulated your mind to make you believe things in order to come after the pixies."

"But who among the Wartmongers would be able to do that?" Holly asked.

Empath thought about that for a moment when suddenly it came to him. "Princess Chamelianne," he said. "She wanted this smurf to help free the female Wartmongers from their enslavement, but then this smurf was captured and forced to fight Horrible Hunk Hopper when this smurf got transformed into a Wartmonger. After that, things got a little hazy."

"Well, it's a good thing we got you smurfing back to your senses now, laddie," Duncan said. "This princess must be up to no good if she's the one who's been smurfing with your mind like that."

"Great, now the Wartmongers have a telepath," Hefty said. "How are we supposed to fight against them?"

"Why do you think Empath is just as bad as her, Hefty?" Tuffy asked. "I don't see him trying to manipulate our minds or smurf any sort of crazy stuff on us."

"That doesn't make him or Polaris any less dangerous to smurf around, Tuffy," Hefty said.

Suddenly Empath could see and hear something in his mind that was going on. "It's Smurfette! Princess Chamelianne has captured her and is now torturing her to get her out of this smurf's life forever!"

"Great Ancestors," Polaris exclaimed. "If Smurfette's here in the hollow, then we should come to her rescue as soon as possible."

"We aren't going to let you smurf in there by yourselves, laddies," Duncan said. "Either we're smurfing this thing together or we're not smurfing it at all."

"There's no time for us to discuss this, Duncan," Empath said. "This is my problem that I have to deal with myself."

"And this one will be coming with you, Empath," Polaris said, as the both of them rushed off in the direction of Toad Castle.

"My, those two are certainly brave to head straight in the direction of Toad Castle by themselves, Papa Smurf," Elderberry said as she also watched them depart.

"We're not going to let those two smurf into any danger if we can help it, Elderberry," Papa Smurf said. "Hefty, Tuffy, Duncan, you're smurfing with me."

To be expanded on.