TAILS AND THE SHARP-WIT WITCH

PART 2

Tails instantly panicked. With the little options he had, he jumped onto the coat rack where Pin's cloak was, pretending to be a fur jacket of the sort.

"Why hello there, kiddo!" Frankly felt a large, evil grin form on his face. Pin oddly wasn't frightened at all. "Mind if we barge in?"

"Depends, last time you tried, you made—" Frankly's rather giant build caused parts of the front door's frame to break. "… A giant Frankly-shaped hole in my shack. Thanks. Just don't make a mess!"

Right on cue, the UFO-shaped bot nearly knocked things over with his very long arms, Pin panicked and quickly snatched up the vial that was bubbling from the seeds that were dropped inside. "Arms! I said be careful! That's my 'Rose Red Bloom' concoction! It's gonna give me the spell I was searching so long for!" She scolded the badnik, holding it away from him.

Frankly, out of curiosity, lifted the vial out of her hand and examined it, only to have red smoke explode in his face. He blinked for a moment, before rubbing his face in annoyance. "What's it for exactly?" The green one in a yellow shell asked, waddling over to Pin.

"Does exactly what it sounds like, Humpty! I'm gonna have the power to summon thorny rose bushes and vines with it! Couldn't have done it without someone's help though." Grabbing it back from Frankly, Pin chugged the potion without much thought.

With his grin widening again, Frankly leaned over the girl. "A friend, eh? Were they a little fox kid?"

"Mhmmmphhmm!" She replied while drinking.

"… What'd she say?" Arms wondered, before Pin finally swallowed the potion.

"I said… Maaaaaaaybe?"

In response, Frankly leaned even closer, to the point where they were making direct eye contact. "Would you happen to know where he is now?"

Her eyes averted to Tails still hanging his body off the coat rack. "Not really, but I'm sure he's… Hanging around~" Humpty turned around while she was speaking, and noticed the small fox, while Arms and Humpty remained oblivious. "If you're trying to scare me, I told you this before, it doesn't really work! You're too much of a doofus. By the way, where's Revor?"

Tails took his slow chance to try and escape while they were chatting. "He got lazy and ditched us, probably to play his stupid instruments!" Frankly replied as he backed off finally. "Also, what do you mean I'm not scary?! That's what I'm built for along with my sheer strength!"

"Uh… Guys?" Humpty pointed out, tugging at Frankly's arm, only to be shoved away.

"Not now, Humpty! Most are terrified when I come stomping into town! Why, Dr. Robotnik built me for the exact purpose of being the horror that is recycled parts!"

"Guys?" Humpty repeated, this time tapping Arms, who seemed oblivious entirely to both that and Tails making his way to the exit.

"You should have seen the look of the other bots when the lightning that brought me to life struck!" By now, Tails was nearly out the door. Humpty's patience for once, wore out entirely as he took out his ray-gun.

Pin took notice and flicked her wand up, making vines show up to comically bind Humpty. "Eep!" He yelped, falling on his back, in which Frankly and Arms finally saw Tails.

"There he is!" Arms pointed out, before Frankly made a rush to catch the fox, while Arms felt himself nearly knocked down. "W-wait! Frankly! Don't leave without us!" Pin just chuckled to herself, holding the wand.

"Sorry Humpty, I can tell you're… Tied up at the moment!" Both Arms and Humpty paused, before visibly laughing at the bad joke she had just pulled out.

Both the violet-colored badnik and the plunger of TNT were standing around, the former holding a phone that had wires coming from his chest compartment. "Dr. R, can you hear me?"

"What is it, Davy Sprrrrocket?!" Dr. Robotnik answered, on the phone while taking a bubble bath.

"Well, uh… The hedgehog is on the run over here along with his friend! They split up and are lost in the Wood Zone!… Would it be uh… Too much to ask for… Back-up?"

Robotnik's eyes widened. "Why… Do you need back-up?! Shouldn't you be getting him yourself?!" He shouted, making the robot named Davy flinch and his coon hat spin in place. "I don't build you all just to sit around and ask for me!" Fixing his metal hat, Davy gulped.

"B-but your nastiness…"

"But what?!" He snapped back.

"That girl from before is somewhere around these parts… Remember what happened last time?" Davy stammered. "I mean, imagine if her and the hedgehog meet! We'd be toast! We don't need help catching that pest, just some extras to help deal with—"

"Fine! I'll rrrrround up the rest for you! But if you fail me despite this, Davy!… I'm going to demote you and the others on the same line of duty as Coconuts and Lucie!… Speaking of, Lucie! Brrrrrring me my towel!" The disgruntled devil-bot emerged, wearing a maid's uniform and holding a large bath towel.

The TNT badnik appropriately raised a brow as he listened in. "Is she still wearing her maid outfit?" He grinned, in which Davy paused before hanging up… And instantly kicked Dynamight away.

"Cut it out Dynamight!… Absolutely, Dr. R! Don't worry, we'll get 'im!" Davy finally hung up, putting the phone back in his chest compartment and closing it. "C'mon! I don't wanna be on sanitation duty, especially ever since Lucie was put in charge of it!"

"… Why not?" Dynamight asked again, before the two walked off in hopes of finding Sonic.

Tails thought getting away from Frankly was impossible at this rate, especially when he came to a screeching halt upon bumping into another robot. The rusty-red colored one that was with the group earlier.

"Hey little buddy. In a hurry?" The badnik greeted, picking Tails up and looking behind the fox. He was going to fight back, but the robot had promptly dropped him in the bushes right near him. "Just keep your voice down for a moment."

Frankly saw the robot, and came to a stop. "Revor! There you are! Did that fox kid run by here?!" Tails made sure he wasn't seen or heard at all, as tempting as it was to make a getaway now.

"Uhh… I think I saw him go that way." The one called Revor pointed to the left, while holding a bass guitar in his other hand.

"Thanks! But for cryin' out loud, make more of an effort to catch him!" Frankly scolded, before running off into that direction. Revor waited, before using one of his stretchy arms to pull Tails back out of his hiding spot, and drop him on the ground.

"You'll be safe for now, kid. Frankly often doesn't turn back." He began strumming the guitar, while Tails just stared for a moment.

"Why did you help me just now?"

Revor shrugged. "We're after Sonic, not you. At least, I think that's the case. Why prioritize in someone we're not after? Also, I have a feeling Pin wouldn't like it if we did." Tails lit up at the mention.

"Pin? The witch— I mean, sorceress, right?" Tails glanced up at the robot, who at first seemed scary, but… When he thought about it more, seemed rather cool-looking. "She told me that you guys weren't so bad off the clock, you know."

The badnik grinned, lying against a tree. "I'm just lazy most of the time, I could get serious if I wanted, but nah. That is how most of them are. We act mean, except in downtime." Revor lifted one of his eyelids. "Speaking of whom, here comes babycakes right now." Tails turned around, seeing Pin holding up her wand.

… Using it to immobilize Arms and Humpty. "There you are, Revor and fox-boy!" With that, she finally released the two badniks. "Alright now, let's all play nice here! You two aren't going after him, got it? We're gonna all be best friends here!"

"Best friends? With him?" Arms wondered, his eyes being a little crossed from the impact of being dropped onto the ground.

"Yes, with the mobian!" Pin tapped him lightly on the head with her wand. "At least until either the other bots, or this fox's friend shows up… What's your name exactly?"

Tails then sat down, found himself rather amused at the situation this had turned into. "Miles Prower. Most just call me Tails though, because of the obvious." Humpty was extremely nervous about the situation, but was eased into it as Pin sat next to him near a rock.

"Wait… Yours is a nickname too?" Arms wiggled his titular arms upward, going from skeptical to overjoyed. "Me too! Robotnik called me the 'Armed Robotic Made for Stretches'! But he called me Arms instead, and I can't figure out why… Also, is Frankly coming back?"

"I don't think so, man." Revor replied as he tuned up the guitar.

"Good! He's mean to me! I can't believe he ditched us!" Arms complained, wrapping one of his long arms around Tails. "I think we'll get along better than I thought! Right Humpty? He doesn't seem too hasty like the hedgehog!" With that, the five of them began their assorted discussions.

Davy had finally caught up with Sonic, and he was just hoping that this would work. "That hedgehog had pulled a similar trick on my and Arms before… Now let's see how he likes a taste of his own medicine!" He carefully approached Sonic, holding a red bar connected to wires in his hands.

Gently, he tapped him on the shoulder, making the hedgehog jump. "Gah! Oh, another one of you guys, huh? Searching for a fight, are you?" Davy just grinned under his metal jaw-piece, handing the strange, red stick over.

"Don't let go!" With that, Davy Sprocket ran all the way back to where the wires trailed off to, meeting up with Dynamight. "Man, I can't believe he fell for that! What goes around, comes around, chump!"

Sonic pondered for a moment, before he saw a large shadow cast over him. He turned back around, seeing Frankly. "Well! I wasn't able to find your friend, but what better than to find the hedgehog himself!" He cackled, before being handed the red stick.

"You sure are good! Here's your reward!" Confused, Frankly was forced to hold the bar as Sonic ran off.

Davy Sprocket meanwhile, pulled on Dynamight's plunger, before shoving it back down and hearing a loud explosion. "Success!" The pioneering robot yelled. Yanking the wires out of Dynamight, both he and Davy checked their work, only to find nothing there.

"Whoa, did we blow him into dust?!" Dynamight wondered aloud, before hearing a whistling sound, as if something was falling through the air. Davy was puzzled, until he looked up, and instantly moved out of the way.

All of Frankly parts dropped onto the ground, his own head promptly hitting Dynamight and knocking him over. "What in the heck was that for?! Whose side are you on, you two?!" Frankly's head shot up, growling before clamping down on Davy Sprocket's leg.

"Yeow! Cut it out! It was a mistake! W-where'd the hedgehog go?!" Davy then proceeded to shake Frankly off, hoping back-up would arrive…

Sonic came to a screeching halt at what he was seeing. Tails was sitting around with three other badniks, and an unfamiliar girl with a wand.

"That's really cool, Pin… Heheh, get it?" Revor commented, while Pin was summoning icicles, and messing around with them so they formed a snowflake made up of icy crystals. "Lemme try something…" Turning up his guitar, Revor struck a couple powerful notes, in which Pin had to use her pigtails to cover her ears.

All the icicles shattered into little specks of snow and ice that were powdered onto the ground. "Wow!" Tails said in awe. "That was amazing!… By the way, Humpty was it? You said you were good with repairing things. Do you think you could give me pointers? I was thinking of fixing up a plane that Sonic has."

Unable to hear the conversation from afar, Sonic prepared his ambush. "Don't worry Tails! I've got ya buddy!" He homed his attack onto the green badnik, who seemed unaware until Pin noticed.

"Humpty! Watch out!" In response, Humpty's head instantly sunk into his yellow shell, making Sonic meet with nothing but an extremely thick force, one that was too tough to crack. He recoiled, his quills all messed up from the impact.

Sonic took a moment to pull out a comb and brush them down back the way they were, looking irritated. "So you're the witch of the Wood Zone, and you are affiliated with these guys! Hold on Tails—" However, the fox tugged on him.

"Wait Sonic! It's not what you think! She isn't a witch, she's just a sorceress!" Sonic didn't really understand what the difference was, and Tails could tell. "She uses her magic for good, not bad! And most of those rumors about her weren't true! And these badniks aren't so terrible when they aren't… Well, doing bad."

Revor just waved at the hedgehog while Pin shielded Humpty, holding up her wand. Arms just glared at Sonic, remember him. "Hey! You're the one who dragged Davy and I across the water, and then into a mountain!" He was about to stretch his arms out to try and grab him, but Pin also blocked him.

"First off, Tails is telling the truth, I did nothing wrong!… So far. Heck, I can get you guys out of this mess without hurting any of the badniks if you wanted. You two are being chased around by the others still, right?"

Sonic was rather skeptical, folding his arms. "Oh really now? Why do we want help from you?" Feeling amused, Revor just gave the hedgehog a gentle noogie.

"If I know anything about the others, is that they'll call for back-up because of you two being in the same area as babycakes over here." Revor then looked up, seeing the giant aircraft. "Speaking of which, here they come now. You should ask for Pin's help."

With that, Pin glanced back over to Arms and Humpty. "You two need to also not squeal on the fact that I help these two! Alright?"

Arms thought about it for a couple seconds. "Ummmm… I'll do it for Tails, just not the hedgehog! I wanna talk with him more at some point!" Despite him being a badnik, Tails was rather happy to hear that come from him,

Humpty on the other hand, was extremely torn. "B-but… If we don't catch him, w-we'll be in really big trouble! I d-don't want to—"

"Aw c'mon Humpts, pleeeeeease?~" Pin cooed, making Humpty sink back into his shell again. "I promise you won't get any heat for it!"

Increasingly embarrassed, Humpty gave in, nodding. "O-okay, I won't say anything!" Pin gave a smile, urging Sonic and Tails to follow her.

Davy Sprocket lead the others around, until he came to a halt upon seeing Pin with the others. "Alright Pin! Where's the hedgehog?! I know you had the fox with you earlier!" Frankly demanded, being put back together along with Skweel.

"The who?" Pin asked, faking her innocence.

"Um… H-he was never here, just the fox." Humpty replied sheepishly.

"What?! But the four of us ran into him!" Skweel grunted.

"Maybe you got unlucky? Or lucky? Which one is it?" Arms wondered. Spike meanwhile, grew impatient and grabbed Pin by her shirt.

"Where is he, squirt?! We know you hid him somewhere! Otherwise, we're totally throwing Davy under the bus for lying!" Davy Sprocket shuddered, still remember the threat Robotnik gave him on sanitation duty.

Pin merely shrugged. "I think he and his friend left before you got here. They're fast ones, aren't they?… What, am I not a good enough prize?" Spike then dropped her, increasingly frustrated.

"No! Do you know what he's worth, lady?!" Dragon Breath retorted.

"Hmph… I am going to simply blame the rocker for this. No doubt he was lazy." Ffuzzy Logik grumbled, in which the rocker badnik lifted his head up from his guitar.

"Uhh, what's that supposed to mean?"

Before long, all of them were bickering with each other on whose fault it was for letting Sonic and Tails get away. Only three of them knowing well enough that it was entirely Pin's doing.

Sonic and Tails reappeared outside the woods, watching the commotion and holding a weird bottle. "Man!… Invisibility potions, who would've thought? Also nice of her to give directions outta here!"

Tails just smiled. "You know what Sonic? I feel like I learned something important… That one shouldn't just base things off what others say or what we see at first glance! It's better to make our own judgments!" Sonic patted him on the head.

"You're sure right, kid!" Then, both of them took back off into the town, hoping to clear things up.

THE END

((We're not gonna see Pin after this 'til the end. Apologies for no Scratch and Grounder. Hopefully Frankly, Davy, Dynamight, and Skweel were enough to suffice temporarily. I think because of that, I found this slightly weaker than the previous episode.))