Hi! Sorry it's been so very long since I updated this! But last night, the name of this story came up on top of the To Do list and I wrote two chapters before I fell asleep. So here at last is Chapter Four. Since it's so short I'm also going to post Chapter Five today. I really do apologize for taking so long with this, and I promise to try to get the last two chapters done and posted a LOT faster:D
Octaveleap, thank you so much for your fantastic reviews! I'm really flattered. Honest--I couldn't stop grinning all yesterday! It's because of you this story got pushed up above my pending report on 19th Century Nationalism this weekend, so Thank You! ;)
And now back to the story. I really hope you like it!
Chapter Four
"At last!" Gargamel cackled, hopping over the nearest Smurf house to stand in the clearing at the center of the tiny mushroom village. "The Smurfs' village is mine, all mine!"
Mandrake held up a warning finger. "Not so fast, Gargamel…" he started, but the failed wizard was in no mood to listen to warnings.
"Don't you tell me what to do, you green-clad little twit!" he snapped. "This is the opportunity of a lifetime! If your spell worked, none of these Smurfs should know who I am. They will fall helpless before me!"
"Think again, human!" a diminutive voice shouted gruffly. Gargamel barely had a chance to glance down before a powerful shock of electricity caught him in the leg. Howling in pain, the singed wizard tried to run but a second jolt left him stunned. He crashed to the ground, crushing two little Smurf houses as he fell.
"Heh, got him!" another little voice shouted. "Looks like Handy's lightening smurfer actually worked!"
"C'mon, Smurfs!" the first voice rallied. "Let's tie 'im up before the shock wears off!"
A cheer rose up among the hidden Smurfs at that, but it was nothing like the bright, happy cheers that had always made Gargamel feel so nauseous. This one was cold and frightening. If he hadn't been paralyzed from the electric shock he had just received, Gargamel would have shuddered at the sound.
As the failed wizard lay there helpless, the Smurfs who had captured him began creeping cautiously out into the open. Like wary phantoms, they crawled out from under fallen leaves, climbed up from beneath camouflaged trapdoors, and slid down the trunks of several nearby trees.
Gargamel was alarmed by their appearance. The grungy, earth-tone coveralls they wore were a far cry from the clean, white Smurf pants and hats he was used to seeing, and their demeanor was entirely different. They seemed thin and hungry, and their large eyes were sharp with suspicion.
"My word," Gargamel exclaimed. "Whatever has happened to you Smurfs?"
"Nothing's happened to us," a particularly burly little Smurf smirked, punching his fist into his hand. "As for what's gonna happen to you, that's a different story all together."
"Yeah," a gaunt Smurf added with a cruel, gap-toothed grin. "We're gonna make an example outta you. You're gonna serve as a warning for all those other humans who want to chop down our forest and plow up our homes."
"We're gonna show you all why it ain't healthy to mess with us Smurfs," a third Smurf shouted out, this one with a missing arm. Gargamel swallowed, letting out a weak, nervous laugh.
"But I have no intention of harming your forest, or your village!" he said desperately, struggling against his bonds as the wretched-looking Smurfs began a slow, menacing advance. "Mandrake!" he shouted. "Mandrake you useless imp, get me out of here!"
Gargamel suddenly found himself in the center of a whirlwind. Dried leaves and pine needles swirled around him, lashing his face and arms as he spun dizzily. Then, all at once, the spinning stopped. Gargamel staggered several paces and nearly fell onto a nearby tree, clutching his stomach with a moan. Mandrake watched all this with an unabashedly broad grin, cackling in wicked glee.
"Stop that laughing, you malicious little runt!" the failed wizard growled angrily. "What just happened? I demand to know why those Smurfs were acting so strangely!"
Mandrake shrugged, still grinning. "OK," he said. "But you're not going to like it."
"Just tell me!" Gargamel shouted.
"OK, fine! Keep your hair on!" the little imp smirked. "What little of it you have left, that is…"
Gargamel glared. The veins of his neck began to bulge and his face flushed red. It was all Mandrake could do to contain his laughter at the sight as he said, "In this reality, the human towns have spread deep into the forest. They chopped down trees to make space to graze their sheep and cattle, and to grow food crops. And there's nothing to hold them in check. That old hovel you lived in has long ago been razed to the ground and the stones used to build farm walls. As far as the humans are concerned, the forest is in their way. They need wood and land and, since they don't believe in Smurfs, they see no problem in chopping down their home. Many Smurfs have died in the battle to protect their forest—unseen and unknown, mistaken for mice or ghosts. The ones you met are the few that have managed to survive."
"But this is terrible!" Gargamel exclaimed. "What am I supposed to do now if the Smurfs have been all but wiped out?"
"Nothing," Mandrake smirked. "You don't exist, remember? And in this reality, with the Smurfs already at the brink of extinction, you have no purpose either."
Gargamel scowled. "Enough of this," he snapped. "Take me to see Mummy. Once you see her, lonely and alone in that shack she calls home, you'll see I still have a purpose!"
"If you say so," Mandrake shrugged. "Hold on!"
"To what?" Gargamel groaned as, once again, the forest around him began to spin…
Chapter Five coming up!