Feeling Blue: A Smurfs Fanfiction

Chapter Twenty-Six

Blue didn't get it. One moment was the start of the summer holidays which he wasn't looking forward to, the next his parents were rushing around. Things were being thrown into suitcases and he was told to grab any books he wanted to bring with him. He hadn't received much explanation aside from his parents about what was going on except for the help the smurfs needed help. His backpack was filled with books and he sat on the sofa, watching his dad go back and forth finding all his work supplies. He was on the phone, giving vague explanations to his boss on where he was going. The smurfs were staring at the television screen, waiting to see if Gargamel came back up on it.
"Is Gargamel a bad guy?" Blue asked. He hadn't seen him much before except for when he made his Dad fly and turned Grandpa Vicster into a duck. That sounded like something a bad guy would do but he couldn't really remember the context.
"Pretty bad, yes," Brainy said, mildly. He knew it was an understatement but Blue was still a child so he didn't want to make things too dark.

Blue frowned.
"Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?" he complained. "Why are we going away? I thought you were too busy with work for a holiday, Dad." Grouchy and Clumsy were rather surprised: when they had come before Blue had been a lot more cheerful: they assumed humans changed a lot more than smurfs did given how unsurprised his parents were at his complaining. Then again Brainy had drastically changed so maybe the one defining trait wasn't as prominent as they thought it was.
"Later, Blue," Grace said. Blue huffed and turned to the smurfs.
"Can one of you explain?" he asked. "I don't understand..."
"Long story short, Gargamel captured Papa so we need to rescue him. If he gets too powerful...it would be bad," Brainy summarised. He tried to leave out the details but it was at least something. Blue looked less annoyed now someone had explained and returned to reading his book.

"Okay, flight booked for about six hours from now," Patrick said, shutting down his laptop and putting it in his satchel. "Grace, got everything?" She nodded. "Alright, lets head to the airport. Check in will take a while given how much sneaking we'll have to do." He glanced at the smurfs. Given they would no longer be able to pass as Blue's toys as Gargamel had explained what a smurf was and what they looked like. "Brainy any ideas?" Panic flashed into the brainiac again: he had spent years trying to avoid giving advice given how everysmurf reacted prior and now he was meant to give it constantly? He was meant to know everything? It made his head pound and a lot of the time the pressure wiped his mind blank.
"Um...do airports have beams on the ceilings?" he asked.
"A few but they wouldn't have an easy way up," Patrick replies.
"There is that weird thing the bags go through though," Grouchy commented.
"Yeah but it is see-through at the end quite often," Grace interjected. "So sneaking under that isn't an option either."
"How about.-" Brainy began but the idea instantly flooded him with doubt. "Actually no, never mind."

Gutsy frowned slightly.
"What were you going to say, laddie?" he gently pushed. "It may be a better idea than you think."
"It really isn't," Brainy muttered but Gutsy didn't break eye contact. It quickly made Brainy give in (although he wasn't entirely sure on why Gutsy was always able to make his thoughts slightly fuzzy). "I could use magic to cause damage to the machine between one of you going through and one being on the other side. Then we could sneak out of your bag, directly into the other's and people working there would probably be distracted..." The others stared at him. "See, bad idea!"
"No, it's a great idea!" Gutsy exclaimed. "Could you do that though?"
"Hopefully..." Brainy said. "I'm not that good though..." The looks went from impressed to unimpressed. "...What?"
"You nearly bet Gargamel singlehandedly," Grouchy deadpanned. "I hate that you can't figure that out." Brainy was now even more perplexed: that sounded like a compliment but an unexpected one he was pretty sure he didn't deserve. Plus Grouchy being nice to him was rather uncharacteristic of him.

They all got into the taxi, heading to the airport. The radio was on, explaining that Gargamel's plane had touched down. Apparently his first performance was going to be that night. Unfortunately they weren't announcing which hotel this time in case Papa's friends attempted to save him. Really, Brainy mused, it was really weird how easily manipulated the communication device people were and how humans would often turn on anything not conventional or be steered by money. That did explain though why Gargamel was so admired despite his...personality.

Eventually they all got out.
"You guys okay?" Patrick asked, widening the crack in his bag so they could have more air.
"This is not going to be fun for hours," Grouchy grumbled. "It is really crowded!"
"I promise as soon as we get a hotel you can have space for ages," Patrick said. "But if you guys get caught it is game over."
"I know, I know," he mutters. "I can still complain though." They headed in and checked in their suitcases before heading off to security.

"Okay Brainy, ready?" Gutsy asked as Grace went though and the bag got nearer to the machine. He nodded but had paled considerably and his grip on the wand was so tight that his knuckles were a very light blue, bordering on white.
"You've got this. Breathe," he said, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. The unexpected warmth was comforting and significantly calming. He took a deep breath and just as the bag was going to go through the machine he pointed his wand into it, sending one of the biggest zaps he could. Instantly it came to a screeching halt. As expected that stopped the line and the smurfs took advantage of the situation to go through the machine into Grace's waiting (and already scanned) bag. She quickly scanned them to make sure they were all there and when they were she closed the zip, leaving it open an inch. Patrick came through via another machine.
"Good going," he said, quiet enough that others wouldn't hear but loud enough that Brainy heard. He wasn't entirely sure his magic skills were a 'good' thing but the compliment was still appreciated. "Okay, we have a while. Where should we get food?"
"McDonalds!" Blue enthused, spotting the golden arches in the distance. "Please, please, please?"
"Alright, alright," Patrick chuckled.

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Hours later the plane touched down in London. It was coming up to dinner time: Blue was hungry again given McDonalds was over eight hours ago and cranky from the long flight. The smurfs were cramped from spending so long on the flight in the bag. They were also incredibly bored as they weren't able to talk in case someone heard them. Grouchy was even more grouchy than usual provided he couldn't complain. Brainy had zoned out, turning over plans in his head and using a small crack of light to read a spell book he had brought with him. One spell in particular stood out but the dangers of it made him hesitate. A last resort maybe, especially as it was an ancient spell with some of the instructions torn and faded.

They exited the plane and went through the long, long trek through customs. They got their suitcases and sat at a restaurant whilst Patrick tried to find a last minute hotel. They got a table away from everyone else so they could properly open the bag and talk to the smurfs, albeit quietly.
"Want some fries or something?" Grace offered. All of them, minus Star who had never been to this dimension, nodded eagerly remembering how good they were. "How you holding up?"
"Ugh cramped," Grouchy muttered, trying to stretch and accidently elbowing Brainy in the face. "Oh smurf, sorry."
"It's fine," Brainy said, rubbing the spot slightly. "I agree to be fair but I've been in more uncomfortable places."
"Like where?" Blue asked, curiously, because the backpack looked far from comfy. Oh like being around the other smurfs who spent years making my life miserable. Or getting kicked out of the village and getting injured more times than not.
"It doesn't matter," he lied, faking a relatively convincing small smile. No one had time to push it as a waiter came over so the smurfs had to duck back into the bag.

By the end of the meal they had a family room booked in a Premier Inn for two weeks in case the rescue mission took a while. Starting in the morning they would find a way to track down Gargamel and there would have to be away to save Papa. It didn't matter how hard it was or would be, they would have to find a way.