The Smurfocalypse chapter 108: The Search for the Savant Cure Part 12: The Power Couple Fights Back!
There was quite the predicament happening outside Bloodstone cavern. It seemed Smurfstorm had made her choice to sacrifice Smurfblossom's life for what she perceived to be the greater good. Jupiter and Falconer watch in horror as Smurfblossom fights for her life. They were outnumbered, and it was difficult to picture a reality where Falconer and Jupiter could fight four Smurfs at the same time. Luckily for them a miracle was about to occur. In a nearby tree concealed by the darkness Archer stood on a tree branch with his bow aimed for the rope that was squeezing the life out of Smurfblossom.
"I only have one shot at this, and I have to be quick." Archer thought as he aimed.
Archer fired his bow sending the arrow flying into the moonlit clearing. In a flash his shot cut the rope which Smurfblossom was hanging from and then flew into a nearby tree trunk. Smurfblossom screams as she falls from the tree branch, and then out of the shrubbery sprinted Farmer. Farmer runs up and catches Smurfblossom breaking her fall safely.
"Looks like we made it just in time." Farmer said as he held Smurfblossom.
"Farmer! Thank smurfness… I thought I was dead." Smurfblossom said as Farmer puts her on the ground.
Archer slides down the tree he was standing in and joins the others now fairly increasing their odds of survival.
"Well done. I am genuinely impressed, but this doesn't change anything. I will put an end to Hefty Smurf." Raptor said.
Meanwhile in the cave Smurfstorm finally finished dragging Hefty inside. She sits him against the cave wall, and reaches into her bag for a candle before lighting it with a match. That's when she sees the bloodstones laying all around them. Some in baskets, some in sacks, and some just scattered around.
"Do you have the stone grinder Hefty?" Smurfstorm asked.
Hefty nods.
"It's in my pack." Hefty said.
Smurfstorm takes Hefty's pack and reaches inside for the special tool Handy made Jokey to craft Jokeybox materials. She takes the device out and grinds a bloodstone into a fine powder before reaching into her own pack and retrieving a canteen. She then pours the powder into her canteen and shakes it before handing the concoction to Hefty.
"We don't have much time. Quickly, drink this." Smurfstorm said.
Hefty takes the canteen and begin to quickly chug the concoction. As he drinks some of his wounds start to disappear and his strength begins to return. Once he finishes he burps and hands the canteen back to Smurfstorm before clenching his right fist and flexing as though he were testing himself to see just how much power had returned to him. In a brief instance Smurfstorm smiles warmly relieved to see Hefty's strength return. Hefty only caught a glimpse of her in the candlelight, but the sight of her smile brought warmth to his heart. This moment didn't last long however, and then her serious expression returns.
"Thanks Smurfstorm." Hefty said.
"Don't get used to it… I thought I told you not to die on me." Smurfstorm said.
"We have to save Smurfblossom!" Hefty said standing up.
"I'm confident the knights have already thought of something, but they're outnumbered." Smurfstorm said.
"Follow my lead!" Hefty said drawing his sword.
Hefty was about to execute an attack from within the cave when his Smurfy talkie started to produce sound from inside his pack. He quickly answers the device.
"What's going on out there?" Hefty asked.
"Hefty! Raptor is going to attack! We need backup!" Falconer said.
"I'm on it!" Hefty replied before returning his Smurfie talkie to his pack.
"We're going to form the Leaf Tornado!" Hefty said.
"Right!" Smurfstorm said generating her Smurf essence.
Hefty grabs his sword with both hands and swings it into the ground with all his strength releasing a gust of wind which Smurfstorm fired her Leaf Storm into. The attack flies out of the mouth of the cave and rips through the clearing just in time to stop Raptor from executing an attack. The elderly Smurf leaps into the air to avoid the attack and it flies past him before he lands. Then Smurfstorm and Hefty exit the cave.
"I believe this fight is between you and me Raptor!" Hefty shouts.
Raptor scowls as he glares at Hefty.
"Hefty!" Smurfblossom said.
Morale was immediately boosted as the knights see Hefty standing tall once again.
"I'll give you what you want Raptor, but this fight is between you and me. Nobody else has to get hurt." Hefty said.
"I agree to your terms. Let's settle the score once and for all." Raptor said.
Just then Terry took flight and soared down from the trees landing in between Raptor and Hefty.
"There's no way I'm going to stand by and let you harm master Raptor!" Terry said retrieving a whip which shined with visible imbued magic.
"And you're not going to interfere with their match…" Smurfstorm said aiming her bow at Terry.
Terry scowls at Smurfstorm, and then grins.
"Fine then… We'll just have to play a little game of our own." Terry said.
"Terry stand down. These Smurfs are not like other opponents we've faced. They aim to kill us like the blackhearted." Raptor said.
"That's all the reason why I have to fight! To protect Blood Mountain!" Terry shouts.
"Fighting me will only lead to your death." Smurfstorm warned.
"Ha! Arrogant little thing aren't you?" Terry said.
The fight between Terry and Smurfstorm begins, and the other Smurfs clear the area to form an arena, a staple setting for Smurf warriors to fight in. The two of them now alone in the arena stare each other down. The stage was finally set for Smurfstorm to show Hefty her true power.
"Once this is finished you and I will settle things, and as promised nobody else has to die besides one of us." Raptor said.
"Fine by me!" Hefty said.
"I hope you watch closely Hefty because my skills are going to rock your world." Smurfstorm thought.
"Master Raptor… This is my moment of glory! I will purge this evil in the name of true justice, and maybe then we can go back to how things were…" Terry thought.
The Raptors of Blood Mountain weren't always a village of hardened warriors. There was a time not long ago when they were normal hard working Smurfs just trying to get by with what little they had. However, Vanity craved the power of the bloodstones and lead a conquest alongside his fellow blackhearted against these once peaceful lands. Raptor was enjoying his retirement, and the Smurfs he poured his blood, sweat, and tears into raising up were giving back the best they could. There was farmland, a smithy, a kitchen… Everything that makes society possible in these lands. The blackhearted came and took all of that away in pursuit of the bloodstones leaving behind a war torn society where almost every Smurf was dead and only those that had the power to repel Vanity and his forces remained. Since that day Raptor vowed to protect the mountain's precious resources from any and all who would choose to use it for evil. Terry went from being an innocent, kindhearted Smurfette to being who she is today just so she could stay alive. Yes, not even the Raptors of Blood Mountain were safe from the blackhearted. Now Smurfstorm and Terry must fight until one of them is no more.
Just before the fight began one of the remaining Raptors, a Smurfling wearing bone armor resembling the Compsognathus ran to her. He had a sheathed longsword strapped to his back.
"Miss Terry wait! Please don't do this!" The Smurfling pleaded.
"Compy?" Terry asked turning around.
"Why do we have to fight each other? Why can't we just get along?" Compy asked.
"Compy… Your way too young to understand. This is just the way things were meant to be." Terry said.
"You're wrong! We don't have to fight Hefty Smurf! We could come to an agreement and try to get along!" Compy said.
Compy turns to Raptor.
"Master Raptor please! Please do something! Talk some sense into them!" Compy pleads.
"Compy there is nothing we can do to undo the damage both sides have caused here tonight. I took a Smurf's life… And now unfortunately we all have to face the consequences." Raptor said.
"Master Raptor…" Compy said.
"I have failed all of you by acting irrationally. Even if I survive tonight I will not be staying. There is no room in our world for Smurfs that behave as I did." Raptor said.
This caused the remaining Raptors to face Raptor. There was clearly nothing that they could do to come back from this, or so it seemed.
"All of you stand down. Allow Terry to do what needs to be done, and then it will be my turn. Nobody else has to die. This is my final gift to you… Please don't squander it." Raptor said.
"You won't hurt anymore of us Hefty Smurf?" Compy asked.
"It is as Raptor Smurf said. If you choose to stand down you will not be harmed, and that applies to you as well Terry." Hefty said.
"I can't! I don't want to live in a world where Master Raptor is killed!" Terry shouts.
"Then allow me to remove you from it." Smurfstorm said.
"Miss Terry don't!" Compy said.
"Some Smurf get him out of the arena!" Smurfstorm demands.
The remaining Raptor steps forward. An adult Smurf with a brown beard wearing bone armor resembling the mammoth with a war hammer on his back steps into the arena and drags the Smurfling off back into the woods.
"The time for talk is over! Prepare to die!" Terry said as she generated her Smurf essence.
Smurfstorm generates her own Smurf essence causing the leaves to rustle in the trees again.
"I'll end this briefly with my Cancel Whiplash!" Terry said as she spreads her wings.
Terry kicks off the ground and takes flight soaring towards Smurfstorm. She pulls back her whip and prepares to execute her attack only to be barraged by Smurfstorm's Leaf Storm causing the sharp leaves to tear into her armor and flesh causing cuts to appear all over her body. She continues to fly towards Smurfstorm, and Smurfstorm loads her bow and sprints towards Terry before sliding across the ground under her and firing. Terry swerves to the left and avoids the shot before circling around and soaring towards Smurfstorm again. Smurfstorm leaps into the air and fires another arrow which Terry again avoids. Then she picks up speed closes the distance between herself and Smurfstorm, and cracks her whip right across Smurfstorm's face sending her out of the air and into the ground with a thud.
"Stormy!" Smurfblossom yelled.
"That's it. The battle is over." Raptor said with confidence.
Smurfstorm stands shakily. The entire left half of her face had a bloody wound from the whip that was beginning to swell. Then she tries to generate her Smurf essence, but her aura flares out.
"What the… I can't use my Smurf essence!" Smurfstorm said.
"Ahahahahahaha! Of course you can't! I'd be shocked if you could!" Terry said.
"What did you do to Stormy!?" Smurfblossom asked.
"I canceled her Smurf essence. Don't you nincomsmurfs realize by now? I have a silence type Smurf essence." Terry said.
"A silence type?" Hefty asked.
"Then there were no magic ropes binding me… She canceled out my Smurf essence? Is that even possible?" Smurfblossom thought.
"I can only hope you're familiar with silencing? It's when you cancel out a magic user's magical abilities." Terry said.
"But Smurf essence and magic are two different things." Farmer said.
"With enough training and sparring I've managed to adapt my silence type Smurf essence to cancel out Smurf essence. Consider canceling the Smurf essence equivalent to being silenced as a magic user." Terry said.
"Heh… I don't need my Smurf essence to defeat you!" Smurfstorm claims as she loads her bow.
"There is a clear weakness to this strategy…" Hefty points out.
"Oh? Well tell me then Hefty Smurf, since you pride yourself on being a brute and you know so much about combat what would be this weakness that you speak of?" Raptor asked.
"Silencing is temporary. A Smurf I've grown to trust very much back home has done extensive research on the subject. Only a high level wizard can permanently seal magic, or in this case Smurf essence. It will wear off eventually." Hefty said.
"Impressive… Perhaps you're not such an airhead after all." Terry said.
"So then… I just have to not get hit again, and wait for my Smurf essence to return… Brilliant strategy Hefty. I'd expect no less from the strongest Smurf in the universe." Smurfstorm thought.
"Brainy pulled through for us yet again… Maybe my opinion of him is outdated." Farmer thought.
How will Smurfstorm fare without her Smurf essence? Can the experienced warrior hold out until it returns? Her life literally depends on it.