Gargamel's First Catch/Part 3

Back in Gargamel's castle, the evil wizard was preparing to step out. "Now you behave yourself while I am gone to collect some mandrake roots," he warned his captive Smurfs. "I will be back soon to make sure that you don't escape...not that I can see how you will. Come along, Azrael."

Azrael raised his head from the pillow he was resting on, meowing as if he was saying "Who, me?"

"I am not going to leave you here alone with that Smurf, you worthless fleabag," Gargamel said angrily. "I do not trust you, so get up and let's get a move on."

Azrael sounded annoyed as he got up from his pillow and left the house with his master. All he could think about was the Smurf in his cage.

Nabby sighed as he watched both the wizard and his cat leave. "It figures that me and my stomach would smurf me into this mess," he said to himself. "I'm really smurfed this time. I'll probably never smurf my village again...never smurf my brother's home smurfing...never smurf one of his goodies behind his smurf...never have him smurf after me for smurfing his goodies." He felt a tear forming in his eye as he thought about all the things he will miss. "I probably won't even get to smurf my final meal before I'm smurfed for good."

He went over to the bars and looked down upon the wizard's laboratory in despair, thinking of how it was going to end for him when he heard a voice going "pssst" from another direction. Nabby looked and saw a familiar face at the window.

"Be brave, little Smurf. We're here to rescue you."

Nabby recognized who it was. "Papa Smurf?" He saw that he also brought along the other Smurfs. "Oh, yes, I am smurfed! Quick, smurf me out of here!"

"Don't worry, laddie," Duncan McSmurf said. "We'll smurf out of that cage before that wizard smurfs back here."

"Tracker, smurf an eye through the door to see if the sorcerer returns," Papa Smurf instructed. "Hefty, I want you to smurf up to that cage and smurf it down."

Hefty gulped as he saw how high the cage was. He was afraid of heights, but he wasn't going to let his fear get the better of him. "Yes, sir, Papa Smurf," Hefty said bravely.

He looked to see how he will get up there, and then made a quick succession of hops from the floor onto the table and then onto the highest point on the table. The next leap toward the cage was going to be tricky, though. He pushed off with his feet with all his might and managed to grab the bottom of the cage. Nabby noticed that Hefty was starting to slip off and quickly grabbed him.

"Thanks, Nabby, I needed that," Hefty said. He then climbed unto the top of the cage with the axe he was carrying. "Well, time to smurf this cage down."

Nabby felt the cage shudder as Hefty chopped away at the rope that was holding it up near the ceiling. "Hefty, what are you trying to do?" Nabby cried out. "You're going to break my..."

Suddenly the rope snapped, and both Hefty and Nabby fell to the ground. "Good work, Hefty," Papa Smurf said. "Now we just need to..."

"Fellow Smurfs! The sorcerer is returning!" Tracker shouted as he was looking out the door.

"Quick, my little Smurfs, hide," Papa Smurf said. Every Smurf ran out of sight, leaving Nabby still in the cage for Gargamel to find as he arrived.

"Now how do you suppose this happened while I was gone, Smurf?" Gargamel asked as he was examining the cage and how it broke off from the rope. "Well, we can't have you trying to leave so soon from your warm bath now, can we?"

He went into the closet and pulled out a thick chain that he attached to the cage, hoisting it high above the room near the ceiling again.

"Let's see you try to break your way free from this," Gargamel said with an evil smile. He then turned to his spellbook. "Let's see now...do I have all the ingredients? I seem to be lacking the sulfur. I must have some of it lying around in my attic. Come, Azrael, we might as well take a look."

The Smurfs watched as Gargamel and Azrael headed for the stairs that would take them into the attic. They came out as soon as the coast was clear.

"Quick, I need three Smurfs to jump onto that cage," Papa Smurf said. "Hefty, smurf a rope onto the cage as soon as the others are on top of it. Duncan, smurf me over that metal file."

The Smurfs did as Papa Smurf asked. Nabby could see that they were going to try bringing a file to the cage so that he could cut his way through the bars.

"All set, my little Smurfs?" Papa Smurf said as Duncan tied one end of the rope to the metal file. "Now jump and smurf the rope."

The three Smurfs on the cage jumped while holding onto the other end of the rope, causing the metal file to be raised up to the cage for Nabby to grab.

"Michty me! I hear the giant smurfing again!" Duncan shouted.

The Smurfs all quickly ran for cover, causing the metal file to drop to the ground before Gargamel and Azrael came back from the attic.

"That's strange," Gargamel said, sounding puzzled. "How did that rope and this file get over there, near the cage?" He picked up the file and examined it with the rope still tied around it before putting it down. "Ah, no matter...I have all that I need for my experiment. I'll see to you later, my little blue captive...I have work to do." - And so into the evening, the Smurfs watched as Gargamel mixed all the ingredients together for the formula to create the Philosopher's Stone. "And now, ten drops of serpent venom," the evil wizard announced, counting each and every single drop into the boiling cauldron.

"There," he said as the last drop was added. "Now all that remains is to wait for the first rays of dawn to heat up the liquid." He let out a yawn as he turned away from the cauldron and toward his bed chamber. "And that will give me time to sleep, for I am really tired." He went over to his bed and covered himself with a blanket. "Soon I will be the richest and most powerful wizard in all the world. Just think of all the things I will be able to buy with the gold...even a nice chateau for my dear old Mummy. She deserves the best for all the hard work in putting me through the sorcerer's guild. Oh, I can't wait to show up all those wizards who never had any faith in my abilities."

Gargamel chuckled at the thoughts he was having as he drifted off into sleep. Azrael went back into the laboratory and settled down on his pillow to sleep. The only thing that was still on his mind was the delicious taste of a Smurf.