Chapter 19: The City Sights
The next morning, after breakfast, the smurfs managed to get the noisy, restless smurflings dressed and fed. As Snappy, Sassette, Nat, and Slouchy expertly shepherd the chattering smurflings outside for their morning playtime, Brainy, Brainette, Sorcerer, and Sorcerette started the task of preparing Hefty and Toughette for their tour into the city.
Hefty was in the Smurfs dressing room holding up one shiny boot as he looked rather doubtfully at it. Sighing, he proceeded to pull it over his large foot. It was a somewhat comfortable snug fit.
"Are you sure putting on this crazy monkey suit is necessary?" Hefty complained loudly, struggling mightily to push his other foot into the footgear.
"Trust me, Hefty. You will be safer wearing that outfit!" Brainy's voice spoke through the closed door. The elderly smurf answered in a serious, nonsense voice.
Once he was dressed, Hefty opened the door and stepped out to present himself in his new outfit. Brainy stepped back to appraise him gravely from head to toe - Hefty was clad in black fake leather pants, jacket, and boots. Instead of a regular white smurf hat, he was holding a black smurf-sized helmet with one hand.
"Remind me again, why you aren't coming on this trip?" The brawny smurf wondered. Brainy looked over his brother and smiled approvingly.
"Because I've already had my share of adventures in the big city, and now it's your turn. Besides, you fit in that outfit better then I can." Brainy chuckled over his own humor.
"What's so funny?" Hefty growled. It always annoyed him whenever his intelligent brother tried to sound clever.
Sorcerer walked up to the smurfs from out of the second changing room. He took one look at Hefty and broke out in a huge grin.
"Hey, you look cool in that biker outfit, Hefty." Sorcerer declared happily. He was also wearing the same black biker outfit himself. "You looking forward to this trip, eh?"
The muscular smurf glanced at the younger smurf and shrugged. "Er, sure."
"Awesome! Lay me some skin brother!" Sorcerer crowed, holding his hand up in the air.
"Excuse me?" Hefty raised his eyebrow and looked at Sorcerer with a dumbfounded stare.
Brainy sighed. "Just put your hand out like this, Hefty." He instructed, demonstrating a gesture by holding out his hand, palm up. With some hesitation, Hefty mimicked Brainy's hand position.
"Alright!" Sorcerer shouted and slapped his hand down hard onto Hefty's.
"I don't believe it. He hit me!" Hefty cries out, completely shocked tremendously that not only another smurf had purposely hit him, but also Brainy just stood there and allowed it to happen.
"Relax, Hefty. This is just a new way of showing one's excitement." The red-capped elder explained patiently. "Come on, let's get going. We need to meet up with the Smurfettes up at the garage."
"Alright! Let the tour begin. OW!" Sorcerer Smurf whooped, dancing around in a cocky way.
Hefty cringed and turned around towards the young smurf. "What is wrong with you? Are you in pain?" He asked anxiously.
"Oh so naive… Don't worry, Hefty!" Sorcerer winked confidently and threw his arm over the strong smurf's shoulder. "I'll mold you into a modern smurf, yet."
Brainy stopped abruptly and spun around to face the younger smurfs. Scowling, he raised his cane and shook it at Sorcerer.
"No! There will be no molding of any kind. You will show Hefty and Toughette the town and all that they need to know in how to avoid the dangers! And that is it!" He scolded sternly.
"Ok, fine…" The young magical smurf held up his hands as though to ward off Brainy's anger.
He glanced at Hefty with a sheepish grin. Hefty shook his head and rolled his eyes skyward. A little subdued now, they quietly follow the grumbling red-capped smurf down the hallway.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Soon the smurfs arrived at the garage where the smurfettes were preparing two smurf-sized motorcycles for transportation. Toughette was standing off to one side, watching idly while Sorcerette and Brainette fuss around the motorcycles, checking the engines and so forth.
Hefty stopped abruptly; the first thing he noticed about his girlfriend was that she too wore dark, close-fitting biker outfit - black imitation leather coat, pants, boots and all. She was also holding a black smurf hat-shaped helmet against her hip under her arm. Her appearance was so breathtaking that Hefty couldn't help but to let out a little whistle in sheer admiration, and it caught Toughette's attention.
Noticing Toughette looking straight at him, Hefty moved closer to her. "You know," He began, "I just can't get over some of the outfit's smurfs wear in this strange new world," Then he grinned widely and continued in an obviously flirtatious manner, "and how smurfy you seem to look in them."
Toughette shook her head and smirked. "You're hopeless, you know that, right?" She teased.
"Ok, the bikes are ready to Rock and Roll, smurfs!" Sorcerette announced cheerfully, putting on her own helmet.
"Awesome!" Sorcerer Smurf hooted. He too placed his matching helmet eagerly on his head.
Hefty and Toughette watched in a perplexed manner as the young smurfs hopped on the strange metal objects on two wheels. Confused, Hefty turned to his elder brother. "Brainy, what are these things?"
"They are called motorcycles." Brainy answered, shaking his head in exasperation. "They are noisy instruments of transportation. I don't even know why I agreed to let Sorcerette and Sorcerer Smurf take you on these things."
"Would you relax, Elder…?" Sorcerer groaned, rolling his eyes skyward. He got off his bike and walked over to Hefty with a smirk across his face. "Ok Hefty, time to put on that helmet."
"The what…?" The brawny smurf looked at him in confusion.
Sorcerer reached over and took the black smurf-sized helmet out from Hefty's hand. "This thing, remember?"
"Oh," Hefty lowered his head, looking slightly embarrassed.
As Sorcerer helped Hefty adjust his helmet on his head, Sorcerette, likewise, assisted Toughette with hers.
"Looking good, Toughette…" Sorcerette chirped supportively, sticking her thumb up.
"Yeah, sure…what ever you say…" Toughette grumbled, patting her new headgear skeptically.
"Ok, let's get going then." The magical smurfette chimed as she hopped back on her bike. "Come on Toughette, you sit here," she added, patting on the empty seat behind her.
The tough smurfette hesitated for a moment, then walked bravely over to her and straddled the seat behind Sorcerette.
"You too Hefty, come on." Sorcerer Smurf also took his place on his motorcycle, and beckoned the strong smurf to join him.
"Be sure and hang on real tight, Hefty." Sorcerer instructed.
Hefty did as told and wrapped his arms all the way around the young smurf's chest tightly. Not realizing that because of his strength, he had put a lot of pressure on the young magical smurf. Sorcerer Smurf choked when Hefty nearly crushed his ribs.
"Arg! Too tight, Hefty...! …Can't breathe…!" He cried betweens gasps.
Hefty flinched. "Sorry!" He apologized and quickly loosened his grip.
Recovering quickly, Sorcerer let out a wry chuckle. "That's ok…for a second I forgot I am a big fan of breathing." He joked good-naturedly.
Brainy cleared his throat loudly to get their attention. "Now, I don't want you two going too fast." The elderly smurf warned, glaring meaningfully at Sorcerer and Sorcerette.
"Relax Elder! It's all taken care of." Sorcerer Smurf said with a sigh as he flicked the visor of his helmet down over his face.
"Are you two ready?" Sorcerette asked both Hefty and Toughette.
"No!" Toughette responded in a panicky tone.
"Good. Let's go then!" Sorcerette said with a grin as she too pulled her visor down over her face.
Both she and Sorcerer Smurf revved up their engines, making loud noises that filled the entire room and drowned out any other thing Brainy might have said. Then, accelerating their motorcycles forward at top speed, they raced down the corridor and out of the compound before Hefty and Toughette scarcely knew what was happening.
"HEY! Slow down…!" Brainy cried out after them, but by that time, they had already gone out of sight and out of earshot. The old smurf let out a loud growl in frustration. "What is wrong with young smurfs these days…" he shook his head exasperatedly.
Just then, a tender blue hand reached out and touched his shoulder. Surprised, Brainy looked around and noticed Brainette gazing at him with soft, loving eyes.
"Don't worry. They'll be alright." She assured him with a smile. Brainette leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Come. Let me make you some tea."
Mulling over what she had said Brainy smiled softly at her and nodded in acknowledgement.
"Yes. Some tea does sound smurfingly."
OoOoOoOoOoOo
For an hour, the four young smurfs traveled many miles down the mountain until they come within sight of a city where humans live.
As they entered the suburbs, Hefty's and Toughette's jaws dropped open and their eyes nearly pop out at the sight of towering buildings and other strange sights they have never seen before.
Sorcerette and Sorcerer Smurf, much amused at their reaction, carefully guide Hefty and Toughette to some of best and safest spots, especially the beautiful parks, where the smurfs could go to enjoy without worrying about been discovered by the humans.
At one moment, they even stopped to enjoy watching (at a safe distance) a few human children playing some games at the park's jungle gym. Soon after the smurfs found themselves riding through another park, and sat on a rocky beach to take a breather.
As golden blond smurfette perched on a large rock in deep thought, she was startled to notice a group of humans jogging right by them. It took her by surprise that they didn't even notice the smurfs sitting so close to the path. It was then Toughette realized something she hadn't noticed before. With a puzzled expression on her face, she turned to the magical youngsters.
"Look, I'm not complaining or anything," Toughette began, "But I just realized that ever since we entered the city, we've been passing humans, some of them up close, and they didn't even act like we were there." She asked, shrugging her shoulders in a gesture of confusion. "How is that possible?"
Sorcerette looked at her with a smile. "You know these outfits we are wearing?"
"Yeah…" Hefty and Toughette both replied in union.
"Well," Sorcerer sat straight up and begin speaking to them, "These outfits and our bikes are specially designed with a little magic to help cloak us from being spotted by humans."
"Oh," Toughette hummed thoughtfully.
Sorcerette's head bob up and down a few times quickly. "Yup, it was something that was designed by Gaia and the gargoyles."
"I see…" the tough smurf nodded.
"Come on, there is more to see, and the day is short." Sorcerer announced as they headed back to the bikes.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Sorcerette and Sorcerer Smurf decided that after the tour Hefty and Toughette needed a nice quiet spot to wind down, and they saved the best place for last - a park within the part of Vancouver known as Burnaby Mountain. There they took Hefty and Toughette up the hill, and soon the smurfs were sitting amiably and enjoying the view of the city below.
What a day it has been, they saw so many things, and yet it seemed there were not enough hours in the day to take it all in. For Hefty and Toughette, the whole week just had been an astonishing experience.
From the moment when they sacrificed their freedom to save the remaining eight surviving smurfs to the day when Sorcerette and Sorcerer Smurf woke them up in the cave – their world turned upside down.
The most amazing part of the tour was the matinee movie they just seen. Never before have the two tough smurfs from the medieval ages seen pictures that moved before their very own eyes.
Yes indeed, the new world would take some getting use to, especially all the loud, jarring noise coming from machines. It seemed that everything made noises of all kinds.
How could a smurf think with all of the honking, thundering, rumbling, and banging going on? Regardless of all the craziness around them, Hefty and Toughette had to admit that it was far more fascinating than the old world they left behind them, so long ago.
With an impish grin, Sorcerer turned to face Hefty. "So what do you think of this city?"
Hefty frowned and took in a deep breath. "It's so different from the world I used to know." He admitted.
"The Elders say the same thing." Sorcerette commented, nodding agreeably. "They told us that even though they were able to grow up with the changes it still astonishes them on how this world has developed over the centuries."
"Wow, that's for sure." Toughette likewise nodded and continued gazing at the bustling city down there.
Sorcerette let out a deep, regretful sigh and looked back over her shoulder at their smurf-sized motorcycles. "Speaking of the Elders, we should get back or Brainy might give us one of his 'you did not follow my schedule – your late!' speeches." She said, shaking her index finger in the air and trying to mimic Brainy's lecturing tone at the same time,
Hefty couldn't help but burst out laughing at that comment. "It's nice to know that some things have not changed much, after all."
As the four young smurfs head back to the bikes, Sorcerer suddenly had a wonderful idea. "Say Hefty, Toughette, would you two like to learn how to ride the bikes on the way back?"
Hefty and Toughette stopped dead in their tracks, paralysed with the thought of riding those noisy things. With a worried expression, they turned to look at each other. Eventually Toughette shrugged, and opened her mouth to reply.
"Well," She hummed hesitantly, looking steadily at Hefty, "I suppose if we are going to be a part of this world, we might as well learn how to be mobile in it."
Hefty nodded in agreement. "I guess you're right, Toughette."
Sorcerer gave them the thumbs up and planted himself right on the passenger seat. He patted gently on the empty driver's seat in front of him, inviting Hefty to take his place. With a gulp, Hefty gingerly saddled the motorcycle in front of Sorcerer. He glanced nervously down at the different gears and control panels, wondering silently to himself what he should do next. In fact, should he be even doing this anyhow?
"Ok, first things first, Hefty. Don't be nervous." Sorcerer chuckled softly, sensing the tension in Hefty. "Now, just reach over and push that red button. That will turn on the engine."
It took a moment of frantic searching for the hard-to-find button, but Hefty finally located it on one of the handlers. He took a breath and pressed it. The vibration of the engine suddenly rumbled to life underneath him, startling Hefty so much that he nearly jumped off. Sorcerer let out a chuckle and patted him reassuringly on the back, coaxing Hefty to calm down.
"So far, so good, huh?" The young magical smurf said encouragingly, "Alright, now the next thing you need to do is grab the handles and ease off of that bar there, which is called the clutch."
Hefty did as he was instructed, still feeling very much nervous over this whole thing. As he wrapped his hands around the handles he was suddenly reminded of an incident a long time ago, when Handy Smurf invented smurf-mobiles. Hefty smiled faintly to himself at the old memory, remembering how everyone in the village just had to have one, except Papa Smurf and himself. Back then, Hefty would rather walk, or jog to anywhere he wanted to go. However, in this case it was different. The new world seemed so much bigger now, and learning how to ride this thing might come in handy someday.
Hefty looked over to see that Toughette was already moving the bike forward a bit. Although it wasn't as smooth as when Sorcerette rode it, Toughette seemed to be catching on quickly through Sorcerette's instructions – not to mention her 'magical' support. Hefty realized then that Sorcerer too was giving him a little support with magic as well.
Hefty did not complain though. In fact, he began to feel more confident and was able to control it. Sensing it, Sorcerer Smurf removed his spell and allowed the strong smurf to ride on his own.
For the next several minutes, Hefty and Toughette rode the bikes around in the field for a couple of laps before Sorcerer leaned to Hefty's ear. "Enjoying the ride so far, Hefty?" He asked.
"Yeah, this is fun!" Hefty declared happily, feeling proud of himself for handling the biker so ably.
"Good," Sorcerer said. "Now it's time to take this lesson to the next level. Helmets secure!" he chimed, snapping his fingers.
The protective visors slide magically from the smurf helmets over their faces. "Now let's head back down towards the highway…don't worry, Hefty, I won't let us crash." He added, showing off his glowing hand that indicated he has some control over what the bike is doing.
"Ok then," Hefty sighed. Despite his handling of the bike and the Sorcerer's reassurance, the tough smurf could not help feeling quite nervous about the whole thing. "Here we go."
Both Toughette and Hefty Smurf turn the bikes towards the road that would take them down into the highway toward home.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Brainy paced the garage anxiously. He glanced down at his watch and his anxiety grew up a notch each time he saw the hours ticking away. With a grumble and a groan, he imagined a stern talk he would be having with the young Sorcerette and Sorcerer Smurf. He had told them to be back at a certain time, and yet they had not come home.
Brainy let out another groan as he pivoted on his heel with a little assistance from his cane he paced in the other direction fretting all the while to himself.
Brainette quietly came into the garage and watched Brainy, her beloved mate for the past five and half centuries, moving forth and back. She shook her head sadly. She hated it when he worked himself up like this. With an aggravated sigh, Brainette walked over to Brainy.
"Brainy, if you keep pacing you will wear out a path in the floor," She commented dryly.
"They're late!" Brainy snapped back, tugging at his beard in distress.
"I realize that, love," Brainette soothed, "but you must remember this is a big city. They probably got carried away in their tour."
As Brainy snorted and resumes pacing, the bespectacled smurfette gave a little smile as she tried to find a way to reassure him.
"Knowing Sorcerer and Sorcerette, they probably took Hefty and Toughette to see a matinee. They did say something about wanting to see the latest release of Cosmic Ninjas…or something like that." She said with a small shrug.
Brainy was about to make a sharp reply when he heard the rumbling noise of the motorcycles' engine. His attention quickly turned towards the entrance of the garage.
"It's about time!" He cried, watching keenly as the headlights come bobbing into view in the darkness. Soon the bikes roared into the garage, and immediately Brainy hobbled toward them, eager to give them what for.
Just as suddenly he let out a shocked gasp and stopped abruptly in his track when one of the bikes did a sharp turn, the tires squealed across the concrete floor as it skid slightly, and finally comes to a stop.
'How could he pull a stunt like that with Hefty aboard?' Brainy thought angrily.
Now even more eager to lecture the crazy young magical smurf, the red-capped elder raised his cane and began to shake it with fury at the driver. The smurfs straddling the motorcycle looked up at Brainy as though in surprise. Then the driver reached down, turned off the engine, and looked at Brainy once more, his face hidden behind the black visor.
"Sorcerer! You're late!" Brainy bellowed, "How many times do I have to explain the importance of safety and regulations in traveling with a passenger on that crazy contraption you call a motorcycle?!"
Before the white-bearded elder could say another word, the driver removes his helmet and grins at him.
"Geez, Brainy, you don't have to yell," Hefty said with a smirk. "And besides, I'm just learning how to ride these things."
Brainy stood speechless, almost beside himself with shock. "Hefty…?" he finally sputterrf, "You rode the motorcycle yourself…?"
"Yeah, well, with some help of course…" The strong smurf shrugged, unsure of what else to say.
Sorcerer took his helmet off, laughing at Brainy's stunned expression. "I think Hefty did smurfingly well for his first time, don't you think, Elder?" Sorcerer asked impishly, throwing his arm around Hefty's shoulder. "By the way, dude, nice execution move when we entered here!"
"Um, thanks…I think…" Hefty smiles sheepishly.
"You too, Toughette," Sorcerette said with a wink. "I think you and Hefty will fit in nicely here."
"Great," the golden-haired smurfette replied with a hint of sarcasm. She noticed Brainette and turned to her. "Say, I'm starving; you don't suppose there is food left in the kitchen?" Toughette asked her hopefully. "All of this sightseeing really packs an appetite."
"Sure," Brainette nodded. "There are four plates left in the fridge for you guys. Sorcerette, you show them how they can warm up their meals in the microwave, ok?"
"Sure thing, come on Toughette." Sorcerette motioned for the strong smurfette to follow her to the kitchen. Sorcerer nodded to Hefty and, left their helmets on the bike, before heading the direction of the smurfettes.
"Wait, Hefty," Brainy called out just before his now younger brother stepped through the door after Sorcerer. The brawny smurf stopped and looked curiously back.
Brainy beckoned for him to walk side by side along with him and Brainette, and then cleared his throat. "So, um, Hefty… What did you think of the city?"
"Loud," Hefty answered simply.
Brainy smiled. "Yes, it is rather noisy, isn't it?" He said, nodding in agreement. Out of curiosity, the red-capped elder asked, "You mind telling me what you guys did on your tour?"
Hefty took a deep breath as though collecting his thoughts.
"Well, we saw parks, streets, more streets, buildings…tall buildings – most of them made of glass, even." He explained, "We went to a sushi place, oh, and a moving picture show - a movie I think it's called. It had something do with ninjas in space. I can't remember the name of it though…"
"Cosmic Ninjas…?" Brainy suggested in a bland tone.
"Yeah, that was it." Hefty nodded as they entered the kitchen, "Very interesting indeed."
Brainette smiled and jabbed Brainy on the arm with her elbow.
"Told you." She declared proudly.
Brainy simply rolled his eyes skyward as he followed her through the door into the kitchen.