The floor was hard but felt warm to the touch. Papa Smurf slowly opened his eyes and wondered where he was. The last thing he remembered was being in his bedroom getting ready for bed when he felt himself being transported by magic.

He must have lost consciousness as he couldn't remember the journey or his arrival.

The room was very bright. It seemed to be an opaque white box of some kind. It was at least ten meters square and in the corner there was a wide black ladder leading up to a closed trapdoor. His eyes were still adjusting to the glare as he pushed himself up to a sitting position that's when he noticed that he was not alone as there was an awful snoring sound.

In the corner behind him lay GARGAMEL! But he was the same size as Papa and he had his back to the Smurf.

The evil wizard seemed to be sleeping soundly, curled up on his right side with his arms tucked around his neck. Slowly and carefully the leader of the Smurfs got up and went over to the sleeping human. He could see that he was not hurt but how come he was so small and how could he be sleeping at a time like this!

Papa gave Gargamel a not so gentle kick in the backside and jumped back in case he woke up enraged, but the wizard just groaned and turned over and then it was the Human's turn to wake up. At first Gargamel thought he was seeing things. A man sized Smurf was standing next to him.

"Get out of my dreams Papa Smurf! I was having a wonderful dream about...can't remember now. But it was great and now you're giving me a nightmare!" muttered the wizard with half closed eyes. He was not quite awake and thought Papa was in his dream.

"Wake up Gargamel! What do you mean by capturing me and putting me in this box? And more to the point what has happened to you!" shouted Papa.

Gargamel's eyes shot open and he jumped up into a sitting position and pushed himself against the wall breathing hard. "What's what's happening. What have you done to me you nasty little Smurf? I demand that you return me to my correct size this instant! "

"Don't have a go at me you failed wizard! I think you messed up a spell or something whilst capturing me and then trapped yourself at the same time. I wouldn't put it past you!" spat Papa Smurf.

"How dare you speak to me like that you little blue demon, I've got a good mind to strangle you right now for your insolence!" shouted Gargamel going red in the face and he started to stand up. His fists were clenching and unclenching.

"Ha! you wouldn't be able to strangle a chicken, you're all bark and no bite! Come on then if you think you can smurf me. Be warned that I know Smurf-Fu!" Papa got into position and winked at the human.

The enraged wizard ran at full pelt towards the Smurf and Papa did a mock 'Ole' as if the human was a charging bull and at the same time tripped Gargamel up.

The wizard went skidding straight into the opposite wall and banged his big nose.

"Ow, ow! That hurts. I think I've broken it. again!" screamed the wizard, writhing on the floor in agony.

"Well I did warn you. Now lets both think for a moment. I didn't bring us here and you certainly aren't clever enough to capture me by magic so who has done this to us and WHY? said Papa Smurf looking very serious. The human got up from the floor still nursing his nose but after a bit of prodding it seemed fine and not broken, just a bit out of line. Papa looked at the battered wizard and had to suppress a giggle as he now had a big red nose.

"True, if it wasn't you Papa then who would dare capture me the great wizard Gargamel? Once I get my hands on them they'll pay dearly for this!" fumed the angry wizard still holding his nose which made him sound all nasal.

Just then a parchment scroll appeared out of thin air near the ceiling which was at least ten metres high and fell onto the pair below. They both made a grab for it but Papa got it first. There was a bit of a scuffle between them until the Smurf did some more Smurf-Fu and got the Human in an arm-lock.

"Now behave Gargamel and let me read this!" scolded Papa. Sometimes he felt as if he had to be a father to this 'bastard' human who had never known his own father. And this 'Child' was always hard work. Papa called him a child as Gargamel was younger than most of the Smurfs.

Papa let the wizard out of the arm lock and Gargamel decided to play it safe and sat cross-legged on the floor, Papa came over and sat next to him. They unrolled the parchment together and started to read it:

You have both been captured by the great wizard Gruntag.

I am the most powerful Goblin wizard and I have been told that Papa Smurf and Gargamel consider themselves to be great wizards as well. But it is known far and wide that you both hate each other and that being locked up together would be your greatest test in learning tolerance and respect for others.

The Goblin King known as Snotfest the Great has tasked me with devising a prison which also doubles up as maze. You will climb each ladder together into the next chamber. Each chamber will contain a test or trial that you must undergo to prove your bravery and courage. You will both have to work together to ensure your survival!

Whilst you were both unconscious we injected you both with a truth serum. If you try to hide your true feelings or try to deceive each other then you will feel very ill and the greater the lie the worse the suffering.

And now it begins!

Gargamel and Papa finished reading the scroll together and they just looked at each other open mouthed. Papa was trying to think of something to say but the Human was already on his feet, punching at the ceiling and screaming his head off!

"How dare you treat me like this! You dirty Goblin. It's bad enough being outwitted by Smurfs but Goblins? That's just not right! I refuse to play your game, see! I'm going to sit here on the floor until you give the whole idea up and you send me back home. You can't make me do anything!"

And the angry wizard plonked himself onto the floor with crossed legs and arms and just glowered at the floor.

Papa was just thinking of joining Gargamel in his sit down protest when he noticed a puddle of water on the floor in a corner of the room. As he watched the puddle became bigger and bigger and soon it reached both wizards within a couple of minutes.

Gargamel got up quickly as he hated being wet but his shoes were now soaking and his bunions started to itch.

"Great! now we've got to catch our death of cold as well!" groaned Gargamel.

"Come we'd better move up to the next level. I've got a feeling that the Goblin is going to flood this room," replied Papa and he started to wade through the water which was now waist deep. Together they climbed the ladder side by side and climbed the ten meters to the trapdoor and they pushed against it.

But it would not budge! Together they pushed harder but it was stuck fast and the water was quickly coming up the ladder, they could see the swirling currents and the deepness of the water which was now a dark blue.

"Push harder, quick!" shouted Gargamel, the water was now almost to the ceiling and lapping at their chests. It seemed to have slowed down but it was bone chilling and Papa could feel his grip on the ladder slipping and then he was swept away by the swirling current.

Gargamel tried to reach out to him but could not grab him. He tried the trapdoor again but it was still stuck. He clung to the ladder for dear life and wanted to pretend none of this was happening. Papa was still swirling around in the current but was starting to go under.

This was when Gargamel made his most important decision. He let go of the ladder and swam after the drowning Smurf. He managed to grab Papa and together they swam back to the ladder.

"Thanks for saving me Gargamel!"spluttered the old Smurf. He was so cold that he seemed to have gone several shades darker blue! The human just nodded and together they made one last effort to open the trapdoor and this time it opened easily.

Gargamel hauled himself out first and then he took hold of Papa's wrists and pulled him out of the trapdoor and they closed it tight. They both collapsed on the floor and lay on their backs whilst the water from their clothing made a new puddle around them.

This room was different from the other below. It was bright red but still opaque and there were a couple of chairs in front of a warm fire. There were some dry clothes hanging on a clothes horse.

Both the Smurf and the Human got changed quickly back to back and once in their dry clothes they went to sit by the fire to warm themselves up.

Their teeth were chattering so much that for several minutes they could not talk to each other. Slowly Papa's colour returned to normal and Gargamel's blue lips and hands went back to normal.

"That Goblin wizard means business! I wonder what other torments he has in store for us?" asked Papa Smurf.

"Well I hope it does not involve water again!" answered his companion with a shudder. "Don't know why I'm telling you this Papa, but drowning is my biggest fear, always has been and always will be! But I do know how to swim. For some reason rescuing you made me feel good even though I put myself in danger as well. Oh what am I saying? It must be the truth serum they gave us. It's making me soft!"

"You just did what was right. If you can help others then you just do it," replied Papa and he put a hand on the wizard's shoulder. Gargamel looked at the hand on his shoulder but made no attempt to remove it.

In this prison maze they only had each other. He had no choice but to co-operate for now.

To be continued..