Smurfocalypse

Chapter 23: Melee Grave Round 2

Round 2 is scheduled to take place this very day. Since Falconer was successful in leading his team to victory. Hefty decided to challenge their abilities even further by holding a second round in which he himself would participate amongst the ranks. Hefty had plenty in store for the promising team. This was certainly without doubt going to be the hardest challenge he has ever made for any recruits ever. The Smurfs fill the stands, eager to watch some more action, and it was time once more for the knights to take to the arena to begin the second round. Round two's teams are as follows.

TEAM HEFTY

1. Hefty Smurf

2. Gutsy Smurf

3. Clumsy Smurf

4. Clockwork Smurf

TEAM FALCONER

1. Falconer Smurf

2. Boxer Smurf

3. Valor Smurf

4. Archer Smurf

5. Zealous Smurf

"But your team is short one Smurf!" Falconer says.

"Oh trust me… That don't matter." Hefty says.

Falconer grew uneasy in response to Hefty's intimidating statement. The crowd was wild in the stands as the usual procedure was done before the signal was given. Both teams took their respective sides and the signal was given. Immediately all hell broke loose, Falconer commanded Zarus to soar forth and the usual formation formed.

"That old strategy again? Do you honestly think the same strategy is going to work twice?" Hefty asks.

"Heh.." Falconer responds.

The battle continued on as Hefty and Gutsy held their spears out in front of them and ran full speed towards Valor and Zealous. Clumsy distracted archer by taunting him and then evading his attacks. Valor and Zealous had their spears out too and were running full speed at Gutsy and Hefty, they collided and spears shattered to pieces as it met with the armor. Then they drew their swords and Gusty drew his dagger. Naturally they wanted to target Gutsy because he had no shield but Hefty made sure that didn't happen by keeping the two of them very, very busy. Valor and Zealous both struggled to hold their own against a Smurf with the strength of several Smurfs, to block each attack was risking being knocked over. Valor struck to the right and his sword met with Hefty's shield sending him back a distance in recoil having accomplished nothing but adding to his beating. Zealous handled the left and his sword met with Hefty's sword, then his face met with Hefty's shield.

"Come on.. You can do better then this!" Hefty shouts.

The two Smurfs could not believe the amount of power Hefty had over them. They could not get anywhere near Gutsy, he was gone and had ran past them with the others long ago and now were half way to Falconer. At the rate this was going, their defeat would come on swift wings, it would be quick but ever so painful.

"Don't look now Smurfs but Gutsy is beating the Smurfing crap out Boxer!" Hefty says while easily countering their blows.

Tempted to look back and shocked at what they were hearing, Valor and Zealous continued their fierce struggle with Hefty while at the same time hearing Boxer and Gutsy fighting it out in the background. Gutsy fought with super Smurf strength but Boxer had the upper hand, he was equipped with boxing gloves and powerful arms that made maintaining balance a challenge with each punch. Gutsy had dropped his weapon, eager to duke it out hand to hand with Boxer. Gutsy is one of the strongest Smurfs in the world, being able to knock a human to the floor was quite an amazing feat. But however, Boxer was stronger. He had trained his arms constantly his whole life just like Hefty but more intense. After one last uppercut to the jaw, Gutsy found himself unable to withstand anymore damage and after about a half an hour of fighting Boxer he was down. This was no surprise to those who hail from Uncle Smurf's village, every Smurf their learned the hard way that Boxer's punch could shatter stone… and bones. No Smurf was able to last more than the exact time it took to fight a boxing match in the ring with Boxer Smurf. Hefty was astonished by Boxer Smurf's power, never before had Gutsy been so easily defeated at hand to hand. It of course was arguable that the gloves are what won the match but every knight is entitled to at least one weapon that matches his/her specialty in combat. Gloves or no gloves, Gutsy was down and that's all there was to it.

Valor continued to struggle in combat with Hefty as almost every move resulted in eating shield for breakfast. Valor was quite sure that if not for his mouth piece, by now surely he would be toothless. The ringing in his ears was so intense he wanted to pull his eardrums out, throw them on the ground and jump up and down on them while screaming in shear rage. Clank,….. Clank….. CLANK! Blow after blow to his helmet only intensified the echoe of noise, creating a pandemonium in his head so great as to make a deaf man hear once more. But still Valor never gave up, he tried every technique he knew on Hefty only to have it result in a painful counter attack. After awhile it dawned on him that the moves he was using were taught to him by the very same Smurf he seeks to use them on. It became clear fairly quickly after this realization that almost nothing he could possibly throw at Hefty would be successful.

"I have to admit.. You two are very well skilled.. But you lack originality. Using my own moves against me is just plain foolish!" Hefty says.

"Then Smurf this on for size!" Zealous screams.

Zealous leaped into the air and rotated his body around in a 360 before slamming his sword into Hefty's shield arm, this caught Hefty off guard and he staggered a bit backward While Valor delivered blow after blow into Hefty's armor, but to no affect. Hefty was standing perfectly still, his armor absorbing the blows effortlessly. This is when it became obvious to the two that Hefty had on his actual armor instead of training armor. Valor and Zealous were wearing their usual weighted training armor whereas Hefty had on his combat armor.

"In battle.. It is not always guaranteed that your opponent is going to play fair.. Especially not these demons.. They do not value honor only destruction. How can you be prepared for such dirty schemes if you have so easily fallen for this simple and obvious trick?" Hefty says.

"I thought his armor looked a little Smurfy.." Valor said.

"Me too but I just figured it was different because he is the captain." Zealous says.

"a common mistake… that is if we were humans! But in this army every Smurf is treated equally when it comes to armor. No particular model stands out from the standard types." Hefty says.

The two Smurfs realize there was little hope in their current situation for defeating Hefty, a already seemingly impossible task was now even harder then it already was. Sensing his teammates were in danger, Falconer called to his mighty bird Zarus to aid the to Smurfs. Currently it was a mere stare down between the 3 Smurfs as Valor and Zealous were clueless on how they would avoid being eliminated. Hefty waited patiently for their next attack when Zarus soared down from the skies and swooped up Valor and Zealous in his talons, the falcon carried the two of Falconer's location and let them go before resting on Falconer's arm guard. Hefty caught on right away what had happened and glared at Falconer from across the arena, drew his sword, and began his pursuit once more.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the arena Clumsy was closing distances between himself and Archer, dodging all of Archer's arrows with ease as each shot began to lack more and skill. Archer was hysterical on the inside, never before had he witnessed a Smurf so fast, so skilled, and so… clumsy. Clumsy would dodge arrows while every now and again stumbling over his own two feet but avoiding elimination by using his hands to support him, keeping him a fair distance from the ground. Just as Archer was certain nothing would prevent his elimination, he caught a glimpse of Boxer as he dashed out in between the two and immediately began hostile contact. He thrusts his right fist out with much might, nearly hitting Clumsy as he realizes what was going on. Clumsy comes to a stop and makes a stance, standing perfectly still. The stance was so bizarre to Boxer (note that karate originated in Japan and would not be introduced to Europe until the 1900's) that he had almost lost concentration. Boxer began unleashing every attack he knew on Clumsy, with both speed and power included in this deadly combo, Boxer was sure he would put this goofy looking unarmed Smurf in his place in no time. Boxer was shocked to learn very quickly that his combo was being dodged almost effortlessly. Clumsy rolls to avoid one last attack by Boxer and then catches him by the arm in his next attack, using the force of Boxer's fury against him, Clumsy flings Boxer over his back and onto the floor flat on his back where even though he was perfectly conscious, he was eliminated. Clumsy left Boxer laying flat on his back, completely stupefied and staring into the sky. Clumsy's victory was so quick that Boxer had trouble believing what had happened to him.

It would now seem that nothing would stop Clumsy from eliminating Archer, as no Smurf was close enough to rush to Archer's aid and Archer's aim was being influenced by panic. Clumsy smoothly dodged arrow after arrow, closing distance until he was an arm's length from Archer. Archer's next move would shock even Hefty. He thrusts his bow out in front of him, revealing bladed edges along the shaft. These blades were not the dull and far less durable training blades that every Smurf was using, but these were real. It came to a shock to learn that Archer was using real weaponry to Hefty. Clumsy was alarmed to see the real blades and was cut off guard by them resulting in being slashed across the chest.

"No Smurf will get close this time! Back off!" Archer yells.

The shock of being so badly injured caused Clumsy to stumble backward, trip over his own feet and land flat on his back. Archer prepared another arrow and took aim at the opening in Hefty's helmet. Archer no longer was playing around, he was aiming for Hefty's eyes. He took aim and fired the arrow, only to have it hit Clockwork instead, the fragile training arrow shattered into several pieces upon hitting the automaton's new and improved body. The new recruits had yet to learn that Clockwork Smurf was not a natural born Smurf, they also don't know of his mysterious and unusual strength so what happened next would leave the new recruits utterly confused and terrified. Clockwork charged Archer down with unhesitant speed. It was as though his recklessness was so great that he had lost care for his very own safety, at least one would assume that provided they did not know that Clockwork's new body was virtually indestructible in this particular time period. Archer strikes Clockwork with his bladed bow in a desperate attempt to defend himself only to have his fine crafted bow break in response to the incredible stress it received upon making contact with Clockwork's body. The bow now lay in two pieces on the ground in the middle of them, Archer's eyes were as wide as an owls and he looks first at his broken weapon and then into the expressionless eyes of his opponent. Clockwork stared Archer down for a moment while Archer became hysterical. He went so far as to grab the arrows from his quiver and attempt to jab them into Clockwork's chest only to have them shatter like glass upon contact. This whole time Clockwork just stands and stares.

Meanwhile Hefty Slowly approaches Falconer and the others, ready to test their strength some more. Falconer stood behind Valor and Zealous, staring Hefty down while trying to come up with a plan. Zarus, his faithful bird of prey sat upon his master's armguard and awaited orders, it shook its body ruffling it's feathers and then tended to an itch on its back. Valor and Zealous approached Hefty with much courage, although lacking any new plans to come out on top, Hefty had gone far enough and they knew that they must maintain a fair distance between Hefty and Falconer. Valor and Zealous found themselves being brutally pounded once more by their own attacks as they tried to defend themselves from Hefty's counter strikes. The 3 of them were so focused on Hefty that they entirely forgot about Archer and Clockwork. That is, until their battle was interrupted by a punching noise followed by screaming and Archer flying through the air and nearly pulverizing Falconer before smashing up against the ground and needless to say: being eliminated. Falconer's eyes widened when he realized he was almost eliminated by his own team mate flying through the air. However, this distraction was a golden opportunity to get Zarus back into flight. He gave the command and Zarus took flight, spreading his mighty wingspan, he took to the skies most gracefully.

Zarus began soaring back and forth past Clockwork's face, trying to make him dizzy and distract him from joining Hefty in his battle with Valor and Zealous. The two Smurfs fought with everything they had, they struck full force with all their might at Hefty. Valor struck with his shield first before performing a stab with his blade into Hefty's armor, he then attempted to shove Hefty backward by applying all his strength into his shield, which was blocking Hefty's sword at the moment. He actually got Hefty to stagger a tiny bit, that's when Zealous struck Hefty with his shield as hard as he could hoping it would send Hefty to the ground. His attempt was fruitless however and earned him the most unwanted reward of receiving Hefty's sword in his gut. The blade hit the armor with such force it actually pierced it a little and sent Zealous staggering backward. Hefty then drew his attention to Valor and struck him so hard in his arm that it caused him to throw his weapon to fling from his hands and land several feet away. Valor was not about to allow this unfortunate even to bring him down however, and he continued to try to fight off Hefty with his shield. This of course was ineffective and resulted in Valor's elimination, Valor had struck with his shield but with no weapon his whole side was unguarded, Hefty struck with his sword and it sent Valor falling sideways and landing face first in the dirt.

Zealous now was alone with Hefty, One good smack with Hefty's shield sent him reeling for cover back to Falconer. Zealous had no clue how he was going to defend himself against Hefty alone. He continued to run, not looking back. Hefty chased him down and gave spared him a painful elimination by wrestling him to the ground and pinning him. Now Falconer was once again alone and without anymore team mates to defend him, was forced to face Hefty alone. Falconer's greatest weapon: his falcon Zarus, was roughly on the other side of the arena from him, distracting Clockwork as ordered. Falconer stood unarmed and virtually defenseless at the mercy of the great knight captain Hefty, who also just so happened to be the strongest Smurf he has ever met. Daring not to turn his back to run, or even to take his eyes off of Hefty. Falconer stood in wait of Hefty's attack, Hefty slowly approached Falconer, he stopped and offered to Falconer the generous gift of Mercy.

"Falconer.. It's two against one and you saw my strength. You are without weapon and completely defenseless. So I offer you a painless defeat. Peacefully surrender and allow me to take you prisoner and I will end this tournament. This is my offer." Hefty says.

"Are you out of you Smurf! Its just starting to get good! Surrender?! Don't make me laugh!" Falconer says.

Hefty shakes his head.

"A true fighter would be smart enough to know the odds are against him and therefore be smart enough to know when enough is enough.. I guess I will just have teach you the hard way that retreating is most favorable." Hefty says, drawing his sword.

"Oh yeah?! Well you haven't seen anything yet!" Falconer says.

"Is that a fact?.. Look." Hefty says, pointing to Clockwork who had Zarus tied up.

Falconer's eyes widened and he began to panic.

"L-Let him go!" Falconer screams.

"Afraid I can't do that Falconer.." Hefty says.

"B-But! Please Hefty! Don't hurt him!" Falconer pleads.

"That's Captain Hefty to you. And I would never do such a thing.." Hefty says.

"Wait… "Captain Hefty"?.. Does this mean we..?" Falconer says.

"Yup.. You pass. Your all officially Knights of the Smurf table." Hefty says as he whacks Falconer upside the head with the side of his sword, instantly knocking him out.

"Never let your guard down…" Hefty says to Zarus before Clockwork unties him and he flies to his master's side.

"I'm not entirely sure that's how you knight some Smurf Hefty.." Gutsy says, standing up.

Oh… I wasn't knighting him.. I was Smurfing his lights out so we would win and finally be able to go home.." Hefty says.

Hefty and Gutsy laugh, the crowd gives their appeal to the days fine performance, and every Smurf goes back to the village for some well deserved rest. This was an inside look on how life as Smurf Knight plays out. The fighting was over, and new recruits were made knights. Hefty's forces grow stronger with each coming day. They are living examples that the will to survive can bring a creature to do anything. And so Smurfs enjoy their period of peace. Free of demon and wizard alike.. But in the distance, the bad luck continues to catch up with them. A fate that can never be avoided.