"Yup, never going to recite that," Hilbert shook his head. It was the day Hilda officially became a Sparrow Scout. She was reciting the sparrow scout speech.

"C'mon, it's not that bad," Johanna encouraged her son without taking her eyes off Hilda "Going outside and getting badges can be engaging."

"Ouch, and here I thought you were still on team stay at home all day," Hilbert rolled his eyes with a smile "Damn."

"Oh, don't worry, you'll leave that team too, eventually." Johanna smirked.

The two heard someone yell out "STINGBALL!" before the sparrow scouts started throwing dodgeballs around the room.

"I doubt-" said Hilbert before having to dodge a ball that went his way. "That was terrifyingly close."

"Yeah, but it should be over soon." Johanna smiled.

"I'll never understand the appeal of being a scout," Hilbert voiced out in a bored tone. "What's so fun about the running around all day doing chores?"

"Asks the one who builds inventions all day," Johanna had a sly smile on her face.

"Hey, those were a sense of accomplishment,"

Johanna smiled. "Yup, to a scout, so are the badges; just like your inventions," she said with glee as she ruffled Hilbert's hair. "And they have less of a possibility to have you harmed."

Hilbert rolled his eyes and rested his head on his hand before looking back at Hilda, who was now learning about her new sparrow scout assignment. Soon, Hilda finished talking with her new friends about the assignment and went back to Johanna and Hilbert with a big smile on her face.

In the car, the family talked together as Hilda and Hilbert sat together in the back while Johanna drove. "So, did you earn a lot of badges when you were a sparrow?" Hilda asked her mother with a bright smile.

"Well, I had the most badges in my flock by the time I moved on," said Johanna with a smile as she drove.

"Well, I'm going to get at least one more than that starting tomorrow," said Hilda cheerfully.

Hilbert could do nothing but pout as he listened to the conversation, feeling a little left out; something that Johanna picked up on.

"Feeling left out, are you?" Johanna joked.

"Maybe you should've joined too," added Hilda with a triumphant smirk.

Hilbert blew a raspberry at Hilda with a scowl before Johanna cut into the conversation.

"On second thought, I think it's good that you didn't, Hilbert, you wouldn't have enjoyed badge collecting at all."

"He would've either cheated or given up because he couldn't cheat," Hilda chuckled.

Hilbert glared at his sister. "Hey, don't be a kiss ass; there's no rule against creating something to do the job for you."

Hilda giggled at that reaction. "You're supposed to do the job yourself, but I guess that's too much for your weak stick arms,"

Hilbert frowned heavily upon hearing that. "Smartass…" he grumbled knowing that Hilda was right; his arms were very weak compared to hers.

"Well, if you want, we could make some wooden windup toys together later." offered Johanna, trying to console her son a little.

Hilbert sighed before agreeing. It wasn't long before the family made it back home.

The next day, Hilbert was eating breakfast with his sister. "Hey, mom, do you know what happened to my old drone?" Hilbert asked in confusion. "I can't seem to find it anywhere."

Johanna tilted her head as she prepared some cucumber sandwiches. "The one you used to find the great raven?" She asked. "I'm not sure. I haven't seen it since then. Maybe an animal took it."

"Guess I'll have to make a new one," Hilbert sighed. "Thankfully, the printer wasn't destroyed with the old house."

"Printer?" Johanna was curious.

"A 3D printer for my inventions. Do you really think I make everything by hand?" Hilbert raised an eyebrow. "Magic can be so convenient."

Johanna frowned at that response. "Your sister has a point; you depend too much on machines. You should do things yourself from time to time,"

"Why? I don't need to."

"You'll get lazy and one day it might not work out for you for that same reason," Johanna advised calmly.

Hilbert rolled his eyes "Lazy? Oh, please."

Before Johanna could reply, the sound of knocking on the door was heard.

Hilbert went to the door to see who it was, since Hilda was getting ready in her room and his mother was busy making food. Hilbert frowned the moment he saw who it was. "What are you doing here?"

"To hang out with my bestest friend in the whole world" replied Vivian cheerfully.

"I believe I'm your only friend in the whole world," Hilbert rolled his eyes.

"Same thing," countered Vivi with a giggle.

"Vivi!" exclaimed Johanna joyfully, as she approached the small redhead. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, hello, Miss Johanna. I'm just here to ask Hilbert if he and Spark want to go hang out with me,"

"That's wonderful! Let me prepare some snacks for you." Said Johanna with a big smile as she headed into the kitchen.

Before Hilbert could do anything to refuse, Spark came running towards Vivi, letting out sparks in cheer. Vivi beamed at the sight of the small robot. "Hello, little bot. How are you doing today?" She said before the small robot jumped into her arms.

"Ugh. And NOW I'm forced to go with you." Hilbert whined while scowling.

Vivian nudged her friend playfully. "C'mon, it'll be fun. Besides, your mom looks very excited about it. Can you really say no to that face?" Hilbert sighed once more as he looked at his mother. She is happy for him. In their old house, he didn't befriend anything or anyone, he avoided confrontations as much as possible. He even avoided doing stuff with his own sister. The fact that he now had a friend was a big joy to her.

"Ugh," the boy grumbled.

Vivian was right, he couldn't say no; not when she looked so happy about him going out of the house with a friend. "Just please, don't do anything too crazy." Said Hilbert tiredly.

"Like what?" asked Vivi playfully.

"Like something that would get us killed," deadpanned Hilbert. "I already had dealt enough of that thanks to Hilda."

"Sounds easy enough. Anything else?"

Hilbert couldn't let out a word before Johanna excitedly entered the conversation to tell them about the snacks. Hilbert let one final sigh before he packed some stuff in his bag and headed out with Vivi and Spark.

"Yeesh, what did you do so Johanna would be this happy that you're leaving the house?" asked Vivian as she and Hilbert walked together.

"I just like staying at home and making sci fi stuff all day, okay?" Hilbert frowned.

Spark let out multiple zaps saying 'You haven't even done any of that lately. You've just been using that printer.'

Vivian raised a brow. "You have a 3D printer for your stuff?" She asked "You should stop using it unless it's an emergency. You'll get rusty and possibly become roadkill. Learn to do things by yourself."

Hilbert frowned "Ugh, not you, too."

"Hilda!" Hilbert and Vivian heard someone call. The two looked at the source of the voice and saw David and Frida.

"Uh, Hilda?" Said David in confusion, tilting his head. "and Vivian?"

"Hello!" Vivian replied with a smile and a wave.

"Hi, Vivi,"

"Hello, Vivian." Said Frida with a smile. "You know Hil-...wait, you're not Hilda."

"Oh, I'm her brother. Hilda is still in the house waiting for you." said Hilbert calmly.

"Thanks, sorry for the mistake," Frida replied sheepishly.

"It's okay. It's not that big a deal," Hilbert quickly said before turning around and walking away slowly. "Good luck with the badge thing."

Vivi quickly followed him with Spark in hand, leaving David to ask why that metal hamster toy looked as if it was staring at him. As they walked, Hilbert wondered a little about Vivi's relationship with David and Frida. Vivian said he was her first and only friend, yet she seemed to be on very good terms with the two.

Before he could voice any of his thoughts out, Vivi spoke. "How did you get into this type of science in the first place? It doesn't seem like something a twelve-year-old would be messing with."

Spark let out a few zaps, agreeing with Vivian and asking the same question. Hilbert felt uncomfortable revealing too much about himself, so he answered after taking a deep breath. "The two that I used to live with had a lot of experience in the subject. That's all I'm going to say." He said in an irritated tone.

"Your paren-"

"DO. NOT. CALL. THEM. THAT."

That shut the girl up. Suddenly, Spark let out a loud zap interrupting the conversation. The two looked at the small robot, who pointed at the wall they were about to bump into.

"Well, that's enough tension for one day," Vivi was unfazed.

"So, what are we doing here?" Asked Hilbert raising a brow.

Vivi stared at Hilbert silently before sneezing.

"I knew it. Good thing I brought the materials for another battery with me," said Hilbert tiredly before Spark started making zaps in a panic. "Relax, I'm not turning it on here."

"So, what's special about that thing?'

"It's a battery that stores magic from sunlight. So far, the only results I got were either nothing, fire, or explosions. I can't risk burning plants around here."

"What are you doing here?" Hilda was suspicious.

It wasn't long after Hilbert and Vivian arrived near the wall that Hilda and her friends appeared there too. Hilda noticed her brother approaching. "What's with you standing here like a ghost?"

"We got here a bit ago," replied Hilbert calmly "Is this where you're going to do the badge mission thing?"

Hilda crossed her arms upon seeing Hilbert's battery in the distance. "Yes, and I see what you're making. Don't activate it here," she warned her brother.

"Wasn't going to, I'm not drunk," he replied as he turned around. "Now if you'd excuse me, I'll go back to doing my thing."

Hilda, in turn, rolled her eyes as well. "Sure," she said as Hilbert left.

"Is that toy moving?" asked David as he saw Spark.

Spark, who was running around cheerfully, instantly snapped to David's location, and glared at him, making him jump back in fear.

"That's just Spark. Hilbert created him," said Hilda calmly with a smile.

"Created him?" David asked, shivering as he imagined Hilbert in a Frankenstein-like setting.

"You can explain it while we're working," Frida cut in. "We got a schedule to keep."

"Right." Replied Hilda with a smile as she began working. "Just don't call him a toy again. He considers it offensive."

"Oh," said David, realizing why the small robot was glaring at him. He looked at Spark and apologized. "Sorry for calling you a toy."

After stopping his glare at the boy, Spark nodded in affirmation and headed towards Hilbert.

"I swear, you two are so different yet so alike," Vivian popped in.

Hilbert huffed. "I'm nothing like that drunk psycho."

Vivian snorted in laughter. "Says the hobo that creates stuff that explodes on his face,"

Hilbert rolled his eyes as he continued working on the battery. "Not if I don't enable it," he said calmly "When I started including magic in my inventions, there were a lot more casualties than now."

"Really? How much are we talking about?"

Hilbert put a hand on his chin and went silent for a few seconds before speaking. "Pretty much over a dozen each week."

"How can you keep track of that?" Vivi was confused.

Hilbert shrugged. "I'm pretty good at math, but I couldn't discover the equations that use magic with just that," he said before he inhaled sharply. "Not to mention the angry complaints I get from people as a result from my inventions."

Vivi burst out into laughter after hearing that. Hilbert glared at her as a result.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Vivi apologized while still laughing.

The next day, Hilbert and Vivi came to an area they never expected. Everything around them was dirty. As the two stood in shock, Hilda and the others arrived at the scene.

"Holy crap! What happened?!" Frida cried out in distress.

"We don't know. We just got here too," said Vivi with a shrug.

"All our work," said Hilda dejectedly. "It's gone."

"If you want, I could help you fix this." Hilbert offered, feeling genuinely bad as he saw the ruined place.

"No, that'd be cheating! You won't even do any of the work!" Hilda angrily cried.

"Alright, alright, you could've just said no," Hilbert raised his hands in defense.

Before another word could be said, the sound of rustling through the bushes was heard. Everyone looked at the source and saw a bush shake.

"What the hell was that?" Frida wondered.

Twig took up a battle stance and Spark got ready to electrocute something.

"Better stand back," Vivian warned the others. "We might get ambushed."

Suddenly, the vitra appeared with a shovel in hand and attacked the group. Hilbert, in this moment, had to admit that being hit with a shovel is not a fun experience. Thankfully, Twig and Spark quickly subdued the vitra.

"Damn!" the vitra shouted.

Once the short attack was dealt with, the group began talking to him.

"Whoa, he looks like an onion," Vivi commented, causing the vitra to give her the bird.

"What's the big deal?" Hilda asked.

"'What's the big deal?'" the vitra mocked the blue-haired girl. "I'll tell you what the 'big deal' is! You trespassed on our property!"

"What do you mean?" David asked.

The vitra facepalmed himself as he started explaining what he and his gang were doing.

"So let me get this straight," Vivian asked. "Apparently those things Hilda and the others pulled from the ground are your friends?"

"Yeah, you got that right," the vitra barked. "Only reason we were near the surface is because we need some sunlight!"

"Yikes. Sorry about that," David rubbed her elbow in embarrassment.

"Look, if you were disturbed from our recent actions, how come you didn't pop in to stop us?" Frida asked.

"I expected better from you little rascals to at least care what you are doing!"

Frida got offended and tried to defend herself by explaining what caring meant to her as a sparrow scout, but all that did was give an opportunity for the vitra to snatch her sash. Frida leaped into the gaping hole to chase the vitra and as soon Hilda joined her, Vivian went in as well.

"Give him hell!" Spark shouted.

Hilbert didn't know why she'd risk anything, but there wasn't much on the line anyway.

"Aren't you gonna follow them?" David wondered.

"What? No! It's cold! And dark...and dirty," Hilbert looked at the vitra hole. "Not to mention scary looking."

"I can understand that." David nodded. "I get that feeling, too."

Hilbert was relieved to know that there was someone who wasn't insane out there. The two cowards sat down and waited until the rest got back. Twig was annoyed that Hilbert didn't even join his sister to help her friend. Spark shared a similar look as he and Twig held on to the rope.

Inside the vitra hole, Hilda was still trying to locate the vitra so she could find Frida. She managed to chase him around, and just as he was about to get away, Vivian suddenly landed on him.

"Damn," Vivi commented. "These vitra make a soft landing."

"Ugh," the vitra complained. "Would you get the hell off me?!"

Before Vivi complied, Hilda interfered. "Only if you help us find our friend Frida."

"Fine," the vitra rolled its eyes. "I'm still keeping the sash for now."

Soon, they reached their next destination where Frida is. With the help of Vivian and the vitra, Hilda managed to pull Frida out of the hole. After that, the vitra made a deal with them that Frida gets her sash back if they help reclaim his friends back before they get killed.

"Hey, where's Hilbert?" Hilda wondered.

"Stayed behind with David," Vivi shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe to help him hold the rope so he won't let go."

Hilda at first got annoyed yet again about her brother not joining the adventure to help her out, but she decided not to complain seeing as how fragile David was and how he needed the assistance.

Soon, the kids made it out of the hole. David was surprised to see the vitra with the gang.

"What's up with him?" Spark made some noises referring to the vitra.

"His friends are going to be shredded if we don't get them out of that mulching machine," Hilda explained. "And we don't have much time to stand around. Right, Hilbert?"

Hilbert felt a bit offended at this remark. "Yeah, sure. Let's go get his friends back."

Later, the gang made it to the gate. It was locked, but it was nothing they couldn't handle. After climbing the gate, they made their way to the machine. David handled a cart to carry any vitra they saved. While the Sparrow Scouts collected them, Hilbert and Vivian tried to disable the machine.

"Ooh, at the top!" the vitra cried. "Georgie-boy! He's the last one!"

Hilda rushed to the top of the machine to save the last vitra. But as she grabbed it, she was close to the sawblades. Part of her hair was cut off due to being close to it. Hilbert screamed in panic while struggling to find a way to turn the machine off without the person running the thing realizing it, he didn't bring anything that could help with that. Things got worse when his sister fell off the edge of the machine. She managed to grasp it, but she could only hold on to it for so long.

"Crap!" the vitra cried. "Georgie-boy!"

"Oh no! I can't look!" David fearfully covered his eyes.

"Yes, you can!" Frida ushered as got behind the cart. "Push!"

However, this was short lived, as one of the wheels got loose and fell on the ground, causing the cart to tip over. Frida and David yelped as they tried to get the cart back in position. Vivi noticed the commotion. She rushed to a soft area which was a mattress. With the help of David and Frida, the kids moved it to Hilda's location, where she made a soft landing.

"Phew," Hilda was relieved. "One more minute and I would have been mincemeat."

That last part made Hilbert wince.

"You know, saving your friend from dying should qualify as a badge," David said.

"Yeah, too bad there is no badge like that," Frida muttered.

Soon, everyone returned to the previous area they were in. As promised, the vitra were placed back in their respective places and Frida got her sash back. But all is not well, as the Sparrow Scouts knew their work was still undone. The three kids walked back miserably, knowing they wouldn't be getting their badge. But Hilbert was the one that was the most miserable, not to mention full of guilt. How could he be so useless? He did nothing there and his sister could've died because of him!

"What are you looking so glum for?" Vivian wondered as she and Hilbert walked together to their respective homes. Hilda had already gone home by this time.

"I was useless out there! I couldn't do anything! You did all the work!" Hilbert felt guilty about the whole situation.

"Of course, you were useless!" Vivi was angry, confusing Hilbert who didn't know what he was expecting. "Do you except to have gadgets help you for every situation at all times?"

"…Kinda?"

"No! You can't just slack off and let some machine do the work for you!" Vivian grabbed Hilbert's wrists. "You need to use THESE more," she said as she shook his hands around before she used them to poke his head. "And use THAT better."

"I... don't know how," admitted Hilbert feeling a little embarrassed that what his mom and Vivian said was becoming true. The girl facepalmed.

"Maybe tomorrow, it's getting late," Vivi was frustrated as she was looking at the moon. "You know, it's a bit of a shame that those three couldn't get that badge. If it weren't for bad luck, it would've been so easy."

"...Yeah," said Hilbert with a frown, knowing how much his sister could be desperate for a badge later. Eventually, he realized something. "...Maybe WE could get the badge for them."

Despite Vivian still being frustrated at her friend, she agreed to the idea on one condition: "Look, if we are going to do this, you're going to have to put in a lot of work. Not just make something to do the work for you."

Hilbert sighed and looked at his hands. He had to do this, but there was no way he and Vivian alone could do everything in one night. Hilbert remembered he had a robot to help them out. It was dark out in Trolberg, but duty called for him. Soon, the two kids and robot started working.

The next day, Hilda, Frida, and David wondered how they got not only the badge, but also praise for adding signs to warn people of disturbing the sleeping vitra. And most of all, Frida wondered how the picture of the completed project was in the failed one's place. The three kids entered Hilda's apartment.

"Hilbert!" Hilda called for her brother as she, David, and Frida entered his room.

"Yes?" answered Hilbert who was in bed, his voice full of drowsiness. His hair was a mess.

Hilda showed him the picture of the completed beautification project. "Was this your work?"

"Yeah, and before you say anything, I did... work for it, kind of? I made a robot to help, but I still worked. So, I guess I half earned it?" Hilbert asked in a sleepy tone "But you half earned it too, so it's all right. You got your first badge now."

Hilda couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Wait, you went out in the middle of the night and worked for my-" Hilda couldn't even finish the sentence before David stopped her. He pointed at Hilbert, and she noticed that he had already fallen asleep.

Hilda and her friends silently left the room, leaving Hilbert to rest.

And that day, Hilda felt proud of her brother.