Empath's Honeymoon/Part 6

Empath and Smurfette traveled down the path to the seashore. There they saw several giant flowers as well as several giant green-spotted outcroppings that looked like they were eggs or rocks.

"Oh, Empath, look," Smurfette said. "Those flowers look like they're wilted."

Empath and Smurfette turned aside to examine the flowers. "Whatever these are, something nearby is causing them to lose their nutrients from the soil. It may be those outcroppings that are in the sand."

"How are we going to smurf those flowers back to health?" Smurfette asked.

Empath spotted a female figure on the beach. "Maybe she would be able to provide some answers," he suggested. They both went over to see the female figure, who turned out to be an elderly woman that looked like she was a gardener.

"Oh, kind sir and madam, could you help me with a problem?" the elderly woman asked.

"This smurf senses that you are the one smurfing care of the flowers over here," Empath said.

"My name is Flora, and yes, I do take care of those giant flowers," the woman said. "But since those Eggshell Turtles have been nesting in this area, my poor babies are all wilted. Could you please be a dear and help me remove them from the beach so that my babies can be healthy again?"

"We'll see what we can do, Flora," Smurfette said, trying to sound comforting. "Empath, can you sense anything from the Eggshell Turtles?"

Empath touched one of them and scanned it with his minds-eye. "It appears to be sleeping, Smurfette. Maybe a little ground punch will wake it up."

Smurfette and Flora both stood back as Empath took a moment to build up his telekinetic power to deliver a powerful ground punch. Then suddenly he punched straight down toward the ground, causing a shock wave that was powerful enough to dislodge the Eggshell Turtle from its resting place. It crawled around on all fours, looking very upset for being awakened from its sleep. Then suddenly it leaped up into the air, as if it was going to land straight on top of Empath.

"LOOK OUT!" Smurfette cried out.

Empath quickly dodged the attack as the Eggshell Turtle landed on its back, stuck in the sand and unable to move. "This smurf senses that the only way to defeat this creature is to pound it into the ground while it's smurfing on its back," he said.

Suddenly he leaped high over the creature, then landed straight down on top of it with his feet. The creature disappeared, leaving behind a small patch of flowers. At that instant, Smurfette noticed something. "One of the giant flowers is reviving, Empath," she said.

"You're doing it," Flora said, sounding amazed. "You're restoring one of my flowers to full health."

"That's one down, several more to go," Empath said.

And so Empath went through each of the Eggshell Turtles on the beach, awakening them from their sleep, letting them get stuck in the ground while lying on their backs, and then pounding them into oblivion, causing more small flowers to grow and also reviving each of the giant flowers.

Finally, when the last Eggshell Turtle was taken down, and the last giant flower was revived, Empath dusted off his hands. "Those turtles shouldn't be smurfing you anymore trouble, madam," he said.

"Oh, thank you, kind sir," Flora said, sounding grateful. "As a reward, you may have this." She then produced what appeared to be part of a broken star, all gold and shiny.

"You were keeping a part of the Mystic Star, Flora?" Smurfette asked.

"Of course I was, young lady," Flora said. "Be aware, though, that your journey to collect all five pieces of the Star will be fraught with danger on every side. Stay close to your companion lest you be taken captive and brought to King Tortarus as his prisoner."

"King Tortarus?" Empath asked, curious to know who he was.

"He's king of the Tortarians that live on this island along with the Utopii, whom I am friends with," Flora explained. "He'll stop at nothing to make sure the Mystic Star is never put back together, for that would mean the end of his evil kingdom."

"We'll smurf that in mind, Flora," Smurfette said. "Thanks for helping us."

As Empath and Smurfette head off from the beach, they didn't notice that a turtle-like creature was spying on them the entire time they were helping Flora. He quickly dashed away before either Empath or Smurfette could spot him.

"Well, that wasn't so bad, Smurfette," Empath said. "It almost felt like we were smurfing a game."

"I don't know about this, Empath," Smurfette said. "We could be smurfing ourselves in all sorts of danger trying to smurf together the Mystic Star."

"But it would be worth it to remove this King Tortarus from this island forever," Empath said. "Besides, compared to the things we faced before, how dangerous could he really be?"

"I don't think you should be smurfing fate asking that kind of question, Empath," Smurfette said.

To be expanded on.