No one believed him and he was more isolated than ever as a result. What made it worse is the isolation wasn't the other smurfs simply ignoring Brainy. Plenty were but the majority, whenever he briefly left his mushroom to gather supplies for the ever more tempting plan, were mocking him. They didn't believe him which he supposed wasn't too shocking but they could of at least taken the possibility of Gargamel having more essence seriously. Instead they were focusing all their energy on ridiculing Brainy, not caring that he was becoming more withdrawn than ever. That or they didn't notice. Again, the brainiac was convinced them not noticing equalled them not caring but he wasn't going to voice that. A few hours prior he had been thrown out of the village again and his wrist was sending a stabbing pain through it. Moving it throbbed and it was covered in deep purple patches, the colours contrasting heavily with his complexion.

At this point he had gathered almost all the ingredients except for the ones that were a rarity. Ones he knew Papa had in his mushroom but he knew there was no chance he would just hand them over. Brainy may have technically been his apprentice but for a while it had been similar pattern to before Clumsy broke friends with him. The title was there but he was ignored in favour of 'better' smurfs who weren't useless. A hindrance. Nothing. He assumed that with Papa at least that wouldn't happen as he was always forgiving and nice. Then again, his spiteful thoughts cut in; he had thought the same about Clumsy. It was breakfast time and he had been hungry enough to leave his mushroom and go to where other smurfs were and eat something other than the supply of snacks he had hidden.

Hoping to avoid attention he sat in the furthest corner from the entrance stirring the oatmeal around. He was hungry but trying to get the motivation to eat when the others were around, probably judging him was quickly putting him off his food pretty quickly. Especially when he could hear traces of whispers of comments, again calling him a liar. Each time he looked up from the food at least a few smurfs were scowling at him. That was why he had gone for the oatmeal instead of the pancakes most smurfs were having. That would have meant going where the biggest group were getting lost which, with a quick glance he confirmed, included Hefty. A long time ago Hefty chucking him out had just sucked but over time, as landings got worse and it became more often, he grew to be almost scared of the other smurf. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice somesmurf sit opposite him. As a result, when he looked up, having sudden unexpected company made him jump slightly.

"Morning Brainy," Gutsy said, also with a bowl of oatmeal rather than pancakes.
"Morning..." Brainy replied, quietly, trying to figure out why Gutsy was being nice to him. Nosmurf was nice to a 'liar' or someone most smurfs didn't like. He assumed Gutsy's smile was fake but it seemed so genuine...
"I thought you'd go with pancakes, they're chocolate chip," Gutsy commented, eating his food whilst Brainy kept staring into the bowl regretting coming here. He was trying to calculate the odds of Hefty having a go at him for 'bothering' Hefty. "Chocolate is still your favourite, right?" Mildly surprised someone actually remembered Brainy nodded. "So why oatmeal? I mean I love it but you don't seem so keen..."
"I thought I was in the mood," Brainy said with a loose shrug. "Not too hungry now though..." From the corner of his eye he could see Hefty glaring at him and instantly started thinking about how he could get to his mushroom before he got kicked out again.

"Are you gonna eat it?" Gutsy asked, nodding to the bowl.
"I don't want to but we aren't meant to waste food..." he replied, reluctantly taking a bite. His system may have hungry but the now cold food felt like glue in his mouth and he struggled to force himself to swallow it.
"I'll have it if you don't want it, I don't care if it has gone cold," Gutsy offered. Brainy pushed him the bowl which he quickly made a start on. "Oh, Papa said he wants to see you after breakfast." Brainy was surprised that more than one smurf wanted to interact with him in a day, especially as the one so far wasn't being horrible which was odd.

"I'd better head off then," Brainy said, getting up from the bench, quickly leaving before anysmurf, especially Hefty, could intersect his path. He wanted to go back to hiding in his mushroom but maybe Papa wanted to talk to him about something positive. He doubted it but at least it helped to try and be positive. Even if it wasn't he had to pretend to be okay because weakness never went well for him. This needed to go well. If things kept going wrong then he would definitely go through with his plan which had many clear paths to disaster. He went to Papa's mushroom and reluctantly knocked on the door which opened almost immediately.
"Ah, Gutsy gave you my message?" Papa said. Brainy nodded. "Come on in." He did, sitting in the chair that Papa gestured too. A long, heavy silence lingered in the air.

"So did you need anything?" Brainy asked, tapping foot slightly. The silence created a tension deep within him. Whether it was good or bad news didn't matter. He just needed to know so the fear wouldn't be worming its way through him as much.
"Not exactly," the older smurf said. The tone...his expression. It confirmed to Brainy that whatever it was wasn't good. "It's more something I have to tell you...I don't think you should be my apprentice anymore." Brainy flinched but Papa was avoiding looking at Brainy as he broke the news so didn't notice. Brainy wasn't exactly surprised but he was surprised how strong the pang of pain was. Even Papa was acting like everysmurf.

"Why?" he asked, slightly surprised on how calm and even his voice was. There wasn't a note of the pain he was feeling, the sadness or the unexpected anger that felt like hot coals. If he was going to trust anysmurf to not turn out like everysmurf else it was Papa.
"Well..." Papa began but his voice trailed off as he sighed. "Look, there is no denying that you are smart Brainy and you would have potential. You just...your advice. You seem to think you are better than everysmurf and arrogance isn't a good trait. Plus you seem to never learn the issues with it." The sharp disbelief shot through him and instantly his respect for Papa took a permanent hit. Even Papa hadn't bothered to notice that he was isolating himself for a long time and avoided giving advice. Brainy hadn't even thought he was better than everysmurf in the past: it was the exact opposite. He knew he wasn't enough or useful, like Handy or Chef or Gutsy, and he was trying to be even a little useful. Instead he got his reputation for being the village headache. He had lost all of his friends, even Clumsy. Now this. Too many hits, too much damage.

"Fair enough," Brainy replied, flatly. It had been confirmed that nosmurf wanted him, even Papa. It was a realisation that the plan may be a good one if it worked and if it failed then there was a distinct possibility that he wouldn't have to deal with pain anymore.
"Also I wanted to talk to you about how you have been lying about Gargamel," Papa said.
"Really? You too?" Brainy muttered, giving Papa a disbelieving look. Why did he even bother trying anymore? "It wasn't a lie."
"There is no way it is true," Papa said. "Lying isn't going to get you any favours from the others." Brainy didn't look too bothered. "Now why did you lie? If you were trying to get attention-"
"I'm not lying!" Brainy exclaimed. "Are you so set on your one track bias that you refuse to accept any possibility?" The bespeckled smurf realised he had said that aloud and instantly fell silent, wishing the floor would swallow him up.

"I expect an apology for that," Papa said, crossing his arms. "Or you're grounded." Grounded. As if that was a punishment! No being made to socialise, plenty of time to just be alone where smurfs couldn't hurt him or judge him.
"Fine. Ground me then," he said, quietly. He knew this was going to end with Hefty kicking him out of the village but he didn't care. All the emotions Papa had sent briefly into him were gone along with every other feeling. He was emotionally numb, his emotions shattered. He finally left the mushroom but on the way he swiped the ingredients left he needed, no longer caring that it was stealing. This plan would probably make everysmurf happy anyway.

It took him a while to get to his mushroom since he was kicked out again but as soon as he did he collapsed to the ground. His back was pressed against the door and his knees were pulled up to his chest, arms wrapped around them. He rested his head against his knees, breaths unsteady as the only ties he had left to the village were severed.

Gutsy headed to Brainy's mushroom, hesitating by the door. There was so much he wanted to say to the bespeckled smurf. Already everysmurf knew about his argument with Papa and he wanted to say that he thought Brainy was right to stand up for himself. He wanted to say he believed him about his escape from Gargamel and everysmurf was wrong on how they were reacting to a very real, very likely, threat. There was so much to say but every time he didn't. He raised his hand to knock then sighed, letting his hand drop, having no idea how to word all of this and he didn't want to mess up. He slowly walked away, looking back at the closed door. Maybe next time.