Unfinished Smurfs

Chapter 5: Joke's On You

Jokey Smurf likes to think of himself as a pretty fun guy. Sure, he was spiteful and a little mean at times, but he just wanted to get a laugh! He was harmless, mostly, even with the exploding presents.

He was a nuisance, a menace, an annoyance — nothing more and nothing less. He wasn't the Smurf you called when you needed help, but he wasn't particularly dangerous. In fact, for all his mischief, it was generally accepted that he was a relatively weak Smurf.

And that had been true, once upon a time. A couple hundred years of dodging the consequences of his pranks had led him to become, well, not strong... He was agile, fast, flexible. But still not strong. Not a fighter, not somesmurf anysmurf would expect to rescue them.

He was the class clown, the funny guy, and he was fine with that. Until Boxer moved to town, and apparently took issue with Jokey's everything. Worse than the teasing, the mocking, the humiliations — he never fell for Jokey's pranks.

"Aww, poor little clown, did you smurf some help with that?" he teases when Jokey can't lift his overfilled Smurfberry basket.

"Oops, you should smurf where you're going," he says after tripping Jokey into a mud puddle.

"Again with the presents?" He scoffs, taking the box from Jokey's hands before he can give it to Brainy . "Can't you ever smurf up something original?"

"Maybe you should stick with the gift boxes!" He guffaws when Jokey's big prank backfires because of him. The other Smurfs laugh too, and Jokey tries to remember that it's the same as him laughing when his gifts explode in their faces – but it's not, it's really not.

Because none of them ever feel like crying and hiding after one of his pranks. Mostly they just yell or laugh along. He'd apologize if they ever–

"Are you crying? Can't take what you smurf out, huh?"

Boxer's right, just this once, because he shouldn't be crying. It's just a prank, the same prank that he was going to pull on another Smurf (except it isn't, because it went wrong, it wasn't supposed to–). He shouldn't be crying, he should be able to take it.

But this is his thing. It's what he's good at, his namesake, his life! And now everysmurf's laughing at him for messing it up. It's the difference between chuckling when Clumsy hammers in a nail wrong or when Handy does it wrong.

And everysmurf's laughing and pointing, and Boxer won't stop talking, and he just... feels so humiliated. He can't take it anymore, turning on his heel to run to the safety of his Mushroom, wiping away the tears that have slipped out already.

He doesn't hear the other Smurfs stop. He doesn't see the guilty looks. He doesn't witness the arguing about whether they went too far or if he's overly sensitive to his own jokes. Is it cruelty or karma? Nosmurf can agree, but they don't like that he actually got his feelings hurt, whether he deserved it or not.

But Jokey doesn't know that, he thinks they don't care. He sits in his Mushroom, under a blanket, cuddling with his stuffed animals in a fort made from pillows and joke boxes. He sniffles, wondering if he did deserve it.

His pranks are annoying, he knows that. Other Smurfs rarely like them, and their angry shouts and frowning faces just make him laugh harder. He's spiteful and hates being pranked back, he has no sense of when it's inappropriate to make a joke — he knows all this and has reveled in it for years.

So maybe he deserves the burning embarrassment that's settled in him, because maybe he has made a Smurf or two feel like this before. Maybe their yelling is just a cover for the tears they hold back. Maybe their laughter is just a defense mechanism.

Maybe they all hate him as much as he hates Boxer.

(But he has a limit, doesn't he? There are some Smurfs he never pranks, there have been times when he apologized, things he knows better than to mock – he never actually bullies anysmurf... right?)

It's a sobering thought.

For all his trouble, Jokey has always been basically helpful. He picks Smurfberries, gathers firewood, joins in the search whenever somesmurf goes missing. But he gives a bare minimum, really, usually only doing enough for himself or to satisfy the Redcaps.

After the Crying Incident, he decides to be more helpful. He's still going to pull pranks, it's just who he is, but he has to make sure the village doesn't hate him. He wants to be a good Smurf, somesmurf others can rely on when he's not pranking.

So he looks for something to help with. Maybe he can carry Stargazer's telescope, or feed Wooly's rabbits, or plow the fields with Farmer? He tries them all, and... it doesn't really go well.

"Jokey!" Stargazer cries, frantically wiping ink off his telescope, ignoring the ring around his eye. "You almost stained the lense! It would've taken me a week to fix it."

"Aw, c'mon, I was careful!" Jokey assures him , doubled up in laughter. He can't help it – the look on Stargazer's face is priceless! And the telescope's fine, so no harm no foul.

(It doesn't occur to him that other Smurfs don't see things that way, that being so careless with somesmurf's prized possession is reason enough to be angry; the only item he really cares about is his jokebook, and he's already got it memorized).

"Jokey!" Wooly shouts, staring at the open pen. "What did you do?"

"It was an accident..." Jokey says quietly, wincing as he holds his aching arm, damaged by a kick from one of the rabbits. "I was jus' tryin' ta help ya feed 'em!"

"Yeah, sure you smurfing were." Wooly growls, rolling his eyes. "Just get the smurf out of my sight."

(For once, he does as he's told, running into the village to tell Alchemist that Farmer needs some help finding his rabbits. For once, he's quiet and cooperative when Doctor takes a look at his arm, not in the mood to joke — because, for once, he was actually telling the truth. It was an accident, this time).

"Why can't I Smurf out?" Jokey asks, dodging a half-hearted swipe from Farmer's pitchfork, kept at the entrance to the fields by the other Smurf.

"'Cause ya'll just loosen mah wagon wheels or somethin'," Farmer answers with a frown. He sighs and lowers the pitchfork, shaking his head. "Listen, Jokey, it's nice of ya ta offer, but ah don't want yer help. Ya've never cared 'bout contributin' afore, why should ya start now?"

(That wasn't true, he contributed plenty! His jokes boosted moral, when they weren't lowering it... He helped out, when he had to... He, he, he...)

Jokey returned home after a long week of failures, interspersed with decreasing joy derived from his usual pranks. Joy that was offset by so many things, including more of Boxer's mocking, that it wasn't really worth it.

"I'm an important part of this community," Jokey muttered to himself, pacing. "I am! It doesn't matter what they smurf, I am. I... I..."

He didn't actually do anything, though. And, sure, he wasn't the only Smurf that didn't do anything beyond the basics – Lazy barely even did the basics, for Smurf's sake! – but still.

Still.

Still, he wanted to do something! He wanted to prove that he was more than just pranks, wanted to help, wanted to prove Boxe– everysmurf wrong. But the village didn't really have anything it really needed, no particular job that didn't already have somesmurf doing it, no niche for him to fill.

Which is what led him to the Dojo. The one thing the village didn't — never — had enough of was fighters, warriors, protectors. The Smurfs that dealt with foxes, hawks, Gargamel, and any other threat. Smurfs just weren't violent enough to ever have more than a handful of protectors at a time.

Jokey stood right inside the entrance to the Dojo, using long-perfected skills to remain small and unnoticed as he watched different Smurfs train.

Martial and Berserker were sparring off to the side, fists flying as the fire marshal flipped over the giant, both of them intimidating blurs. In another corner, Boxer was dodging a blow from Hefty, nimble on his feet as he gave the strong Smurf a black eye. As different Smurfs practiced different styles around the large mushroom, each seemingly a ball of violent and destructive energy, Warrior Smurf calmly walked between them and gently threw out instructions or corrections.

Jokey wondered if the Redcap ever got scared, being this close to so many combat Smurfs, none matching her in wisdom but all much younger and most much bigger. She was a renowned warrior once, but surely her own students must easily surpass her in her old age?

That theory got shattered when she started to duel with Swashbuckler, nimble and quick and fierce, not a trace of her age showing in her graceful movements. Jokey watched in awe until the match was over, impressed and intimidated, feeling weaker than he ever had before.

He slowly backed towards the door, internally scolding himself for this insane idea. He'd always been impulsive and reckless, but thinking he could become a fighting Smurf? That was just plain stupid.

He'd go home, maybe prank Brainy to lift his mood, and forget this ever happened. He was the useless town prankster, he should just accept it and move on.

"Jokey?"

//The person who catches him watching them is Warrior. She's the one that sees the potential in him and not only gives him a chance, but convinces him to give himself a chance.

//He learns how to use his agility and pranks to protect others.

//The end.