Chapter Nine- Battle Plans
Mira sighed in defeat. If the Smurf essence was truly gone, then there was nothing they could do. What's worse, now Gargamel knew that more Smurfs were here besides Clumsy. Until the portal could be opened again, the Smurfs either had to be extra careful or never leave Patrick and Grace's apartment again. Neither option sounded pleasant.
"So where do we go from here?" Mira finally asked.
"Back to Papa." Gutsy said. "So we can spend a little more time with him before he's gone."
Smurfette looked close to breaking down, but she found that she truly had no more tears to cry. Mira slowly stood up and started walking down the path, cradling her bag of books and Smurfs in her arms. The Smurfs stayed silent on the way. Hefty shook a little. Then, he punched a minute hole in the bag before slumping to the ground and burying his head in his hands. Gutsy put a hand on the athlete's shoulder comfortingly. Dabbler put an arm around Smurfette's shoulders, pulling her into a protective embrace. Brainy glanced towards the books and his eyes widened.
"You have spell books!" Brainy exclaimed. "And you can do magic! Maybe you can heal Papa!"
Dabbler shook his head. "Only the essence can save him. It's true that we'd need a spell to use it, but it's all useless without the essence." Brainy's face fell.
Mira frowned. "There's something I still don't understand."
"What's that?" Gutsy asked.
"I don't understand where these powers of mine came from." Mira said. "It's like they just came to me yesterday."
"Well, what have you been doing the last few days?" Smurfette asked.
"Nothing out of the usual." Mira answered.
"Think hard." Brainy instructed. "Has anything unusual happened in the past few days?"
Mira thought for a moment. The most unusual thing that had happened was that she met the Smurfs and put an IV in one of them. But apart from that, it seemed like nothing odd had given her these powers. Then, something stood out in Mira's mind; something that happened when she, Gutsy, Hefty, and Brainy were last at Belvedere Castle. The shield she created and the blast she launched were both blue, like the color of the Smurfs' skin.
Blue...
The Smurf essence!
Mira suddenly remembered that, when she and Clumsy went to Belvedere the first time, she had found that flask of blue liquid and took a sip of it. It had to have been the Smurf essence; and by drinking some of it, Mira gained powers. It's a good thing I didn't drink the whole thing. Mira thought in amusement. I might've turned into an actual Smurf.
Then, something clicked in Mira's head.
"What does Smurf essence look like?" Mira asked suddenly.
"Uh...it's blue and it's a liquid." Brainy said. "It also sparkles a little."
Mira's eyes widened and she suddenly broke into a sprint. "We gotta get home!"
"Why?" Hefty asked. He and the Smurfs yelped as they bounced around in the bag.
Mira didn't answer. She kept running and running, not stopping to catch a cab. The Smurfs didn't have a chance to speak because they were bouncing around so much. Mira burst through the door to the apartment building and went charging up the stairs. The Smurfs yelped and shouted as they were jumbled and tossed around in the paper bag. Mira unlocked the door to Patrick and Grace's apartment as fast as she could. She thoroughly surprised Grace as the soon-to-be mom was washing dishes in the kitchen. Mira didn't listen when Grace asked what was going on. She dumped the Smurfs out of her book bag and rushed towards the office. She grabbed her backpack from the corner and started grabbing things and tossing them aside. Finally, she found what she wanted and went running back to the Smurfs and Grace.
"Is this it?" Mira asked.
Dabbler stared at the thing in Mira's hand. Then, his eyes widened. "That's...this is..."
"The Smurf essence!" Brainy finished happily.
"I knew it!" Mira cheered. "I must've thrown it in my bag by mistake!" She turned and ran back to the office. "All of you stay here. I know what to do."
"What are ya doin'?" Gutsy asked.
"Just trust me." Mira assured. "Nobody bother me." Mira shut the doors to the office.
"Can we trust her?" Dabbler asked.
"Aye." Gutsy nodded. "There's not a doubt in my mind."
Mira grabbed "L'Histoire des Schtroumpfs" from her bag and approached Papa. She stopped when she saw Clumsy, asleep with his head on Papa's chest. Mira felt...uncomfortable...no, unworthy...to be witnessing such a tender scene. Little Clumsy, who had been so worried about Papa, had obviously been here most of the day. He never left his father's side. Mira was the same with her mother; she remained by Willow's side up until the day she died.
Mira knelt beside Papa and Clumsy. "Clumsy." Mira said softly, gently rousing the Smurf.
Clumsy moaned in his sleep and opened his eyes. "Mira?" He whispered as he lifted his head. "What're you doing here?"
"I need you to leave." Mira urged gently.
Clumsy instantly became wide awake. He shook his head. "No. No, I won't leave Papa."
"Clumsy, I can save him." Mira explained. She held up her book and the flask of Smurf essence. "I can't do that if you're in the way."
"I won't get in the way." Clumsy promised. He scooted backwards so he was two feet away from them. "I'll stay right here and won't bug you. I promise."
Mira didn't fight it. Clumsy was clearly not moving, and frankly, she didn't mind too much. Mira opened her book and started flipping through it until she finally found the spell she needed. She cupped one of her hands and poured some of the essence into it. She glanced into the book every few seconds as she spoke the incantation. It was in French, but Mira was so focused on the spell that she only picked up a few words; words like pain, heal, and help. She could only hope that that was good. As Mira recited the incantation, she noticed the blue liquid in her hand rise up and form a small sphere in the air that floated a few inches above her hand. By the time Mira had finished the incantation, the sphere had compacted into the size of a marble and started glowing.
"Clumsy, I need you to hold this." Mira said calmly. "Just stay there and I'll hand it to you." Clumsy nodded and the sphere was now floating in his hands. Mira cut away Papa's bandages before taking the sphere back. She moved her hands and let the sphere float down to Papa. Mira gently pushed the sphere down and it disappeared into Papa's chest.
"Is that it?" Clumsy asked.
"Yep." Mira nodded. "Let's just hope it works."
"Why wouldn't it work?" Clumsy asked.
"This spell heals wounds and cures sicknesses." Mira explained. "It can't bring back the dead."
Clumsy looked terrified as he stared at Papa, hoping and praying that he would wake up.
Everyone outside was restless. Patrick had arrived home and was given the entire story. He and Grace were on the couch, his arm wrapped around her shoulders and she glancing nervously towards the door every thirty seconds. Brainy was wringing his hat in his hands again. Dabbler was pacing across the table. Smurfette sat on the edge of the table, staring at the door. Gutsy, Hefty, and Grouchy sat together, trying to distract themselves, to no avail.
"What's taking so long?" Grouchy sighed. "I've had enough suspense these last few days to last a lifetime."
"We all have." Gutsy agreed.
"Magic's a delicate thing." Brainy said. "One wrong move and it could end disastrously."
"Gee, thanks for adding to the stress." Hefty said sarcastically.
"We need a plan." Smurfette said as she stood to face them.
"A plan for what?" Dabbler asked.
"To attack Gargamel." Smurfette said simply. Everyone stared at her.
"What are you talking about, Smurfette?" Patrick asked.
"I've had enough of Gargamel hurting our family." Smurfette said. "We need to find a way to keep him away from us until we can get home."
"How in Smurf's name do we do that?" Grouchy demanded. Smurfette became silent. It was clear what she wanted to do and her intentions were good; but how to accomplish this goal was a whole different story.
"Smurfette's right." Hefty agreed. "We just have to think this through."
"Gargamel doesn't have the essence." Brainy said. "But he still has the wand and the essence extractor. We have the essence, books of spells, and Mira, who can do magic."
"If you take away the wand and the machine, Gargamel does seem less dangerous." Patrick noted.
"Now how do we do that?" Dabbler demanded. "It's not like he's just gonna hand over the wand."
"Mira jammed a wrench into the machine." Brainy said. "That should buy us some time."
"But there's still the wand." Dabbler argued. "And Azrael."
"That doesn't mean it's hopeless." Gutsy said. "If Mira can do magic, then I'll bet ya anythin' that she has the guts to face Gargamel."
"How many times is she going to risk her life like that?" Grace groaned.
"She the only one who can do it." Hefty reasoned.
"So Mira takes care of Gargamel while we do...what?" Grouchy asked.
"Some of us have to take care of Azrael." Brainy piped up. "And it sure as smurf won't be me."
"What if half of us take care of Azrael," Patrick suggested. "And the other half destroys the machine?"
"Perfect!" Smurfette said happily. "It's sure to work!"
"So, to review." Brainy said in his lecturing tone. Everyone resisted a groan or sigh. "Mira will take care of Gargamel, half of us can take care of Azrael, and the rest of us will smurf Gargamel's machine into a pile of scrap metal."
"Dibs on the cat!" Hefty and Gutsy said simultaneously.
"I'm in!" Grouchy laughed.
"We'll be right behind you." Patrick promised.
"Mind if I come?"
Everyone turned to the speaker, and their jaws dropped.
Standing at the office doors, with his wounds gone, looking healthier than ever, and beaming with pride, was Papa Smurf.
"Papa!" the Smurfs cried.
Papa was suddenly tackled by a hug from Smurfette. He laughed as the other Smurfs gathered around, hugging and crying.
"My little Smurfs." Papa sighed as he held his children close. "Thank heavens you're all safe."
Mira came out of the office and slipped away into the kitchen. When she glanced towards Patrick and Grace, Patrick mouthed, "Thank you." Mira only smiled and nodded. Patrick and Grace turned their attention back to the Smurfs as they came back to the table. They were all still teary-eyed and smiling; even Papa still had joyful tears in his eyes. The Smurfs climbed onto the coffee table and stood before their human friends.
"Thank you Master Winslow." Papa said gratefully. "Thank you for protecting my family."
"Of course." Patrick nodded. "Your family is our family." Grace nodded in agreement.
"What happened to Mira?" Clumsy asked. The accident-prone Smurf was still by Papa's side, but he looked happier than he had been in days.
"She went into the kitchen." Grace said. "Mira!"
Mira peered around the corner. She suddenly seemed shy and nervous to approach Papa. After all, she had abandoned him for a cute boy who turned out to be a shallow, low-life idiot. She left Papa alone as he lay on his deathbed. When Papa turned to look at Mira, she shrunk behind the corner a little. She could remember her mom talk about Papa in her stories. It was almost like Willow had a crush on him.
"You're Mira, then?" Papa asked. "Willow's daughter?"
Mira slowly walked up to Papa and knelt down to be more eye-level with him. She nodded. "Yeah, Willow's my mom."
Papa nodded in understanding. "Well, that explains why I thought I was dead for a moment. You look so much like her; I thought I was seeing a ghost."
Mira looked at the ground. "Listen, I'm sorry. Everyone here trusted me to help you and I almost let them down. I came close to screwing up and it would've cost you your life. So...here." She pulled out a wooden spoon and handed it to Papa. "Hit me on the head as hard as you can." She closed her eyes and prepared for the pain. Papa looked back and forth between the spoon and Mira a few times before tossing the spoon aside.
"Smurf hug!" Papa called.
"What?" Mira asked. She yelped as the Smurfs all jumped onto her, knocking her to the ground. She laughed and held the Smurfs close. They, Patrick, and Grace laughed too. Mira sat up as the Smurfs finally got off her. Only Clumsy remained.
"Thank you." Clumsy said. "For saving Papa."
Mira smiled warmly. Then, she lifted Clumsy up and kissed his cheek. Immediately, Clumsy started blushing, his whole face going pink and purple. Everyone laughed at the little Smurf's expense.
Suddenly, there was a hard pounding on the door.
"Open this door!" someone shouted. "Surrender the Smurfs!"
Everyone stared in shock.
"Gargamel!" Mira whispered fearfully.
