Chapter 7: How to Smurf Fried Worms (The Final Chapter)

The mocking words of Doctor Smurf ran through Handy's head as he tried to put himself together mentally and rejoin Hunter, Sporty, and Miner on their seemingly hopeless struggle to make it above ground alive. When Handy reunited with the group he informed them of the unlikely chance Sloppy was alive and they all as a group performed a short memorial service for Sloppy as they had Scaredy and moved forth down the large tunnels that they now knew were formed by the body of an oversized worm creature that apparently has taken a liking to Smurf flesh. Of course every last one of them were terrified of pursuing this creature but the possibility that Painter still lives urges them to continue their search for the beast.

They followed the path for what seemed like hours, just walking nearly blind down a long tunnel coated in a strange ooze that apparently this creature's body is covered in. They followed the sounds of rock busting apart and the rumbling of the earth as the massive creature moves about, morphing the very earth to suit its needs without care or consideration of consequences. Then, like a train, the worm came to stop gradually decreasing in speed until coming to a halt, the creature shortly began snoring and it echoed around the walls of the freshly made tunnel, piercing the ears of the Smurfs.

"Alright Smurfs, it seems to be asleep so everyone gather around, I have a plan." Handy says.

The small group of Smurfs gathered around Handy as he examined closely the worm's ooze.

"It smells of gas.." Miner says immediately.

"Gas?.. What do you mean gas?" Handy asks.

"Some places underground have empty caverns that are Smurfed to the brim with natural gas. It usually be very dangerous to Smurf open flame near it." Miner says.

"I thought this goop Smurfed a little funny" Sporty says, ridding his hands of the slime by throwing his hands down to his sides fast.

"I don't get what your saying Miner.. The candles are Smurfing just fine." Hunter says.

"Aye, that be unusual indeed.. But be warned this goop is dangerous somehow." Miner says.

"Anyway.. Smurfs, the worm has stopped to rest.. So I propose we Smurf it while its sleeping and see if Painter is ok." Handy says.

"How are we going to Smurf this Handy?" Miner asks.

Handy removes his pencil from above his ear and places the eraser to his lips as he comes up with his plan to stealth fully and safely investigate the worms stomach.

"Ok… I have an idea. Sporty, there is no Smurf faster then you am I right?" Handy asks.

"Of course not! Any Smurf wants to test that I am ready anytime any day!" Sporty says.

"Ok, and Hunter! I bet you would love to prove to the other Smurfs that you Smurfed down a huge worm!" Handy says.

"You bet Handy. I would really be recognized then huh?" Hunter says.

"Miner, you still have that rope around your waist?" Handy asks.

"I do Handy.." Miner answers.

"Ok… This may seem like a dangerous task. But if it is Smurfed right we should be able to do it safely. Sporty and Hunter will have the candles… Since we only have two candles left it will be up to you two to do this. I need Sporty to run as fast as he can to the worms location and tie the rope around his waist. Then I need Hunter to hold onto the other end. Sporty will Smurf down into the worm's mouth and look around for Painter. If he is ok you will bring him out and the 3 of you will make a run for it back to this spot." Handy says.

"What happens if the worm wakes up while I'm inside?" Sporty says.

"Hunter will Smurf you out with his knife." Handy says.

"Why don't we just do that to begin with?" Hunter asks.

"Because… you might wake it up and then we will be done for anyway." Handy says.

"What will you two do?" Hunter asks.

"Not much we can do with no light" Miner says.

"We should get started, time is smurfing short." Hunter says.

"Right!" Sporty says, fastening the rope around his waist and sprinting as fast as he can to the end of the tunnel where the gigantic train sized worm sleeps.

Sporty makes it to the worm in record time and immediately begins searching for the mouth. When Hunter shows up minutes later, Sporty has him tie the other end of the rope around one of the worm's sharp fangs. Hunter ties the rope tightly around one of the rather large teeth nearest to the lips and then holds onto to it for support and gazes down the throat of the ugly creature. It had razor sharp teeth trailing far down its throat for as far as the light radius of the candle would allow which was maybe a foot and a half but even so that was an unusual amount of teeth. Sporty was going to dive down it when Hunter stopped him by putting his arm out in front of him and then pointed down to all the teeth. This horrifying sight nearly frightens Sporty to the point of screaming but he secures the scream by placing his hands over his mouth. Sporty began gradually inching his way down the massive throat of the beast, every so often resting on a tooth, he made it about as far down as a couple feet when he realized he was not going any further down. He looks up at Hunter who shrugs, pointing to the rope, it was fully extended. Hunter begins pulling Sporty up when Sporty raises a hand in protest. Sporty then does the unthinkable, he lands on a tooth and unties the rope from his waist and then, with a running start dives head first into the dark pit that was the beasts throat.

Hunter reaches his arm out and yells his name, which echoed from both the beasts throat and the cave itself, reaching back to Miner and Handy who shot up in horror and shouted back to Hunter wondering what happened. To make matters worse, the worm awakens due to the noise and woops its head back and forth as though to shake the sleep from its eyes. Its eyes were bright red, red as blood, And they laminated the cavern same as they had when they first encountered it, but more intense in such a way that the light reflected off the cavern wall a bit and made visibility to those behind it possible. It shook its head violently back and forth, slamming the side of its face into the cave walls and although Hunter held on the best he could he eventually was shaken loose from the tooth and he fell several feet to the ground, landing on his leg and breaking it, the noise echoing throughout the cave as he screamed in pain an fear. The worm turned in Hunter's direction and stared into his eyes with those deep, expressionless, red eyes and for a brief moment they were staring each other down. Hunter backed against the cave wall as far as he could away from it, its breath smelled strongly of the gas Miner mentioned. Hunter saw his long life flash before his eyes as the worm opened its mouth, revealing all of its ugly teeth.

"Y-you wont Smurf me alive! Don't come any closer!" Hunter screamed, grabbing his gun and aiming at the worm's eye.

"Hunter! What is Smurfing on out there?! Get your knife!" Handy cried.

"I…. I'm sorry Handy" Hunter said, tears coming down his cheeks.

The worm persisted and without a moments hesitation, Hunter pulled the trigger of the Smurfgun. The sudden burst of flame caused a massive explosion which conflicted with the surrounding gas and filled the entire tunnel with flame, rock and debris shot into the air and one last cry of the worm was heard before the aftermath of the explosion comsumed more and more of the tunnel, the explosion was so incredible it actually made a hole in the earth's crust exposing sunlight which currently could not be seen.

"By Smurf Handy! It be smurfin this way!" Miner yells.

"Smurf for cover!" Handy yells, as they both run for their lives from aftermath of the great explosion which was gaining on them fast.

Miner turns around only to see a huge bolder coming at him which he strikes with his pickaxe with great agility and smashes to a hundred pieces. It eventually gets so close that Handy and Miner have no choice but to take a dive and cover their heads with their hands. The aftermath ripped threw the cave and critically damaged both Miner and Handy. They both fell victim to unconsciousness, one that they were very fortunate to wake up from in some ways more then others. They both painfully crawled to the light, led on only by the will to live. Each time they forced themselves forward it they entered a world of pain that they couldn't even describe. It hurt so much but they made it, in no time they were laying miserably on the cold ground staring up at the sky, they were bleeding bad and their legs were broken but yet there was the sky, it burned their eyes to look at it. They laid motionless until they heard a blood curdling sound. It sounded like one gasping for air but then a fluid prevented the gasp from carrying out so it turned to a gurgle. Handy weakly turned his head to see Sporty laying on the ground on his stomach facing Handy, his arm was missing and blood was everywhere, he was also badly burned and covered in worm guts.

"H-….Handy…. Pl-please…I don't wanna die!" Sporty managed to voice out, tears streaming down his face.

"I-… I know… M-me.. Neither.." Handy says.

"Handy…. H-help.. Me… please…" Sporty painfully words out.

Sporty then layed his head on the ground and was motionless. It was obvious he had passed. Handy looks up to the sky and weeps heavily. Nobody wanted to go home more then Sporty.. And now he wouldn't even get to. Handy regrets heavily ever going down there with Miner.. And he will forever regret dragging his dear friends along with him. So ends the tragic journey of 7 brave Smurfs who choose to boldly pursue the world without the aid of Papa Smurf. Handy learned much through this tragic experience and also learned that demonic beings roam the underground for reasons he does not understand. What was to be a simple one night stay in the village mines resulted in absolute terror. Handy takes another look at the sky…. And then closes his eyes.

Thank you for reading "Smurfs Down Under" this branch is now at a close. To see what happens next you should continue reading the main story: "The Smurfocalypse" I really do hope this story did not offend anybody fore I understand how a Smurf death can really bring strong emotion into your mind. Trust me I had trouble killing off characters some of my favorite Smurfs starred in this side story. Bare with me it will all make sense soon enough.