Chaotic. This is what Frida would describe on her day with Kelly. Recently, the two kids have set a child's hair on fire. Kelly even made a fire pun about it.
"Wasn't that too much, Kelly?"
"Hey, that kid said he needed warmth from that blizzard few days ago!" the teen laughed.
"She had to be sent to the hospital since she had third-degree burns!"
"Well, that's more college she'll get than usual," Kelly smirked.
Frida ignored the joke and decided to stop walking. "Look, let's just do something casual; do you like popsicles?"
"Perhaps," Kelly snored. "Ever used them with yogurt before?"
"Uh, no?"
"It enhances the taste, but it can make you drunk like the girls in the bar." Kelly brushed her hair.
Frida couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You drink?"
The teen rolled her eyes. "Duh. Everyone drinks their problems away. Don't you?"
The girl had nothing to say about this.
Back with Hilbert and the gang, he was walking deeper in the forest. He couldn't help but notice that Victoria Van Gale was peering at Spark. "I take it you never seen him before?"
"Well, to be frank, I never built such an invention like this. Especially that has intelligence. Do you believe you can give me some pointers on how to create it?"
Hilbert groaned. "We can talk about that some other time. We got a goal to focus on first."
That is, if I don't trap you guys, the crazy lady mumbled.
Vivian popped in. "What?"
"Nothing!"
Eventually, the group made it further into the house. After the kids opened the door, they were quite astonished with how pleasant the place looked. It looked very comforting, something Hilda would appreciate.
"My, my," Victoria covered her mouth. "This is such a pleasant area."
"I'll say," Vivian commented. "It feels like a nice motel to lay back on our asses."
"I'll take this over the dingy tent last night," Spark beamed.
Hilbert couldn't help but have a suspicious feeling about the cabin. The fact that it was empty makes it odd that there aren't any portraits of its owners. Plus, it seemed a bit too clean for their taste. At first, he noticed something odd about the window, though he dismissed since it looked like it was dirty.
"So, Ms. Gale, was it?" Vivian asked.
"Please, Victoria or Van Gale can do,"
"Right. Van Gale, is this your place?"
"I can't say that it is," Victoria inspected the living room. "I don't even have luxury such as this."
"I can already see why…" Hilbert poked at a picture frame of a boy. Something about this person seemed familiar to the inventor kid. He was confused why the other two figures were obscured.
Vivian checked out the couches. She threw the cushions on the floor and started leaping on them like a frog. "Watch out, the floor is lava!"
"Peculiar," Van Gale smiled. "I haven't played this since I was a little girl."
"Let me guess; you were teased about it," Hilbert sighed.
In another part of the forest, Alfur and Twig were scurrying around the forest. They managed to win a game of elf poker so that they could get directions to Hilda. They were astonished to see that their destination was a tree. Once they climbed up the ladder, they were more impressed with the amount of treasure in it.
"This is a beauty!" Alfur cried. "I haven't seen this much gold since my old home!"
Twig nudged the elf to inform him that this was not the time to admire the riches. The deerfox sniffed for Hilda's scent, but he didn't have much luck. Soon, the giant that Hilda encountered the other day returned.
"What the hell?" Alfur was shocked.
"You must be allies to that blue bastard I collected," the giant bellowed. "I could sure use a snack!"
"Oh God, no!" Alfur cried.
As the giant roared, he ended up being smacked in the face. It was Raven! He managed to save the two in time while the giant ended up falling down a bottomless chasm.
"Phew, that was close," Raven sighed. "Yow two alright?"
Twig licked Raven's face as Alfur got up. "Yeah. We almost became a croissant for that beast just because we were looking for Hilda!"
"You're looking for her, too? I was also looking for the boy version of her!"
"Hilbert," the elf corrected.
"Yeah, he was hanging out with some red-haired girl. Kinda looks like his girlfriend." Raven chuckled.
"She's Vivian," Alfur snorted. "Anyway, you got any leads to Hilda?"
"I thought you had some!"
Twig interrupted the scuffle when he whined. Upon his direction, there was a cabin in the distance. It had glowing lights as seen from the windows.
"There's our girl," Alfur pointed.
"About time. Her mother is really worried about her," Raven crowed. "We should hurry up and get this over with. I don't wany any hunters up on my ass."
Twig barked and galloped towards the cabin. Alfur knew that he and the others had no idea what they were up against.
In Frida's house, she and Kelly were watching some TV. Frida was watching a show about some children going on adventures together. It seemed to make her guilty, knowing the subliminal messages that were presented whenever the cartoon kids would engage into conflict. Kelly noticed this and switched to another show.
"Hey, I was watching that," Frida whined.
"You didn't seem to enjoy it," Kelly switched through channels. "You need something that can make you grow older than you know it."
The TV switched to Channel 25, where it was showing a cartoon called Ordinary Cartoon. Its about a female beaver named Ronnie and a female penguin named Mckenzie who slack off in their jobs while they deal with the hardships of life. Frida couldn't help but feel annoyed when she noticed Mckenzie trying to make a move on some male pigeons, only to be shot down awkwardly.
"What the hell? She isn't even trying!" Frida cried.
"Tell me about it," Kelly munched on some popcorn. "She's pulling a Mckenzie. How pathetic."
A few clips later, Frida and Kelly witnessed Mckenzie and Ronnie doing some donuts on a golf cart. They were joined by a phantom named Drinks and a human girl named Darla (otherwise known as Damn Donnie). She constantly made insulting jokes about her father.
"Woo, I'm glad I'm not Darla. My dad would have been on my ass." Kelly snorted.
"Drinks seems like a relaxed person," Frida commented. "Too relaxed."
Eventually, it came to the moment where Mckenzie and Ronnie were arguing about cleaning up their room before their boss Beatrice could fire them for not doing the deed. Eventually, push came to shove, and Mckenzie started to call out Ronnie for his actions. Frida even started to get some guilt since she knew where they were coming from.
"I can't believe Ronnie would rob Mckenzie's chance of going to college like that!" Kelly burped. "She's such a dick!"
Frida said nothing since she's still thinking about her blowout with her friends. She's starting to have second thoughts on her callout to Hilda. But she ended up being interrupted when she noticed Kelly poking her cheek.
"What's with you, squirt?"
"Oh, it's just that if we can go outside again to the forest. I'm hoping we can go by the river," Frida asked.
"Eh, fine. You might as well bring refreshments. It soothes down your stress." Kelly gave Frida a soda as she headed out.
Frida seemed interested in drinking it, though she decided to save it when they got to the river.
Back with Hilda, she was grunting with frustration. No matter how many actions she did to escape the cabin, it proved to be futile since she kept going back inside somehow. Even the risky routes like breaking part of the house did not work.
"Hey kid. Watch out for the…" Woodman tried to warn Hilda.
He was interrupted by some screaming. The girl angrily walked back to the chair, unaware that her hair was on fire.
"Fireplace." Woodman kept playing his guitar.
"Ugh, this is hopeless!" Hilda complained as she sat on the chair. She got more pissed as Woodman kept summoning items that weren't helpful. The only good thing that came out of it was that Hilda received a new copy of Frida's book. But other than that, she became desperate. "I want to see my friends and family!"
Speaking of the devil, here they arrived. Twig, Alfur, and Raven entered the cabin. Sadly, they didn't leave the door open, and they are now trapped. After getting the memo, they started to brainstorm some ideas to escape their trap.
"Let's try dialing 911, they can bust us out!" Raven suggested.
"Only for them to think we are idiots, and they'll bust us to send us to prison," Hilda deadpanned. "Next!"
"I can sneak in the creeks and get out," Alfur sheepishly added.
"Which the house can see and drag you back in, oy."
"How about we just panic?" Woodman shrugged his shoulders.
"No, I'm not going to act like a hobo, for christ sake," Hilda sighed. I can't believe I'm thinking about this, but I wish Hilbert was here right now. He would have the right inventions to help us out of a jam. I just hope he can find it in his heart to forgive me.
The boy was looking around the cabin that he and the others were in. "Hey, Vivian. Did your family built this place?"
To his surprise, he did not receive a reply. He assumed that Vivian was playing hide and seek again.
"Vivi, is this cabin yours?" Hilbert asked again.
Again, no response. This started to annoy the kid, so he went around the rooms to locate his acquaintance. He didn't have Spark with him since the robotic animal played tic-tac-toe with her while he was investigating. Hilbert checked out the kitchen, bedrooms, and bathrooms, but they were nowhere in sight. The boy was getting a bit anxious since the rest of the group didn't show up. He did feel bumping on one of the walls. Upon opening the door, he noticed Vivian tied up on a chair.
Vivian's eyes widened and tried to warn her friend of a figure behind him, though the duct tape on her mouth wasn't helping.
"Is this some new game you are playing, Vivi?" Hilbert rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to make myself look like a reta-"
WHAM!
Hilbert ended up falling on the floor. Vivian groaned in defeat.
A few minutes later, Hilbert was snoring. His eyes were barely open. He heard some whispers telling him to wake up, but he kept sleeping. This was interrupted when he received a huge smack on the face. "OW!" His eyes opened immediately. He noticed that he was tied up on a chair. He tried to break out of his restraints, but it was no use. He even felt some red hair behind him. To his shock, he was sitting behind the tied up Vivian.
"Ugh, about time the smartass woke up," a grunt was heard.
Hilbert immediately recognized the voice. Upon the reveal, he was pissed off. "You…"
Victoria Van Gale had a stern look on her face. "You bastards are all the same, you know that? You tend to destroy my life's work and barge uninvited. You're just like cockroaches."
Hilbert took offense. "Hey, I usually have my work destroyed and get pulled in to adventures I don't want to partake in! And you don't see me whine with the world's smallest violin playing in the background!"
Victoria Van Gale smacked Hilbert on the face again. "You damn idiot! You kids always mock me these days! Guess who's being mocked now?!"
Vivian made some grunts that sounded like "Us?"
Van Gale beamed a smile as she ruffled Vivian's hair. "Looks like we got a smart aleck here,"
Hilbert just realized something. "What the hell did you do to Spark?"
"Spark?" Van Gale made a grinch-like smile. "Oh, you mean this rusty bucket of bolts." She held up a cage containing Spark.
Hilbert's pupils shrank in horror. "Spark!"
"I'm ok, Hilbert!" Spark tried to break free, but he got electrocuted. "This hag looks like she's going to sell me to the black market!"
"Shut it, Astro Bot," the crazy weather hag shook the cage. "You're my ticket to untold riches!"
"You better not harm him," Hilbert growled.
Victoria Van Gale scoffed. "Of course, I won't harm him. He's too valuable to be destroyed. Speaking of which, I have to get going. Trolberg Black Market won't be open for too long!"
Vivian made some muffled shouts that were "What about us?"
Victoria Van Gale held up a lit candle, some rope, and a heavy battle axe. The axe leaned toward the two children while the rope started to get burned by the flame, little by little. "Hope you get the point, because your problems will all be over!"
The crazy lady suddenly disappeared with Spark in a puff of smoke. Hilbert shouted in horror as the axe headed closer for the two. "Well, guess this is it, Vivi."
Vivi grumbled some noises, assuring that this isn't the end.
"What do you mean? We are facing a death outcome from this!"
Vivi ended up moving her chair by jumping. Hilbert was confused until he noticed the rope holding the axe gone. Then it fell towards the kids. The boy closed his eyes, accepting his fate. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes, surprised that it never came. He realized that the axe sliced through their restraints, not harming either Vivian or himself. Hilbert just remembered, and he helped remove the duct tape on Vivian's mouth.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Vivian shouted in pain.
"Oh, God! Are you ok, Vivi?!" Hilbert cried.
The girl rubbed her mouth. "I'll rip apart that son of a bit-"
"Vivian! We have to get Spark back from Victoria Van Gale!" Hilbert grabbed her hand and tried to exit the cabin, but they ended up going back inside the place. No matter how many times they tried to escape, they were back where they started. "Damn, this is impossible,"
Vivian grunted. "I think I know how we should get out,"
"Really? How do we do that?"
Vivian gave a sly smile to her friend. He quickly caught on.
In the Trolberg Plaza, Victoria Van Gale was at a table with a cloth. She disguised herself, since there were wanted posters seeking her arrest. The crazy hag grabbed everyone's attention. "I, Mabel McCulkin, have invented something original that will improve your lives. Behold!" She revealed the cage that contained Spark.
Many Trolberg citizens were amazed. They were curious to see what Spark can do.
"Can it heat up hot dogs?" a child asked.
Victoria beamed a smile. "Of course it can, sweetie,"
"What about creating water balloons?" another kid asked.
In the distance, Kelly and Frida were walking around town. Frida felt drunk from the amount of root beer she had. Kelly smirked, knowing she was getting to Frida. The two ended up noticing the crowd in front of them.
"What the hell is up with this place?" Kelly wondered.
"Must be a mosh pit," Frida slurred. "My mom went to one when she got pulled over for grand theft auto."
Spark was starting to suffer inside the cage. As Victoria Van Gale forced him to accomplish many tasks, he started to feel some sort of burn. He noticed Frida in the distance. Spark realized that if he can get free and hide with Frida, he could return to his master.
"Shush there, rust bucket!" Victoria smacked the cage.
Just as Spark was forced to do more tasks, Van Gale smiled as she earned some money from citizens so she can profit from them thanks to Spark. But as she collected her money and announced that she would return to her home to make duplicates, she noticed that another person had a question. "Yes, do you need something?"
"I was wondering if the robot animal can do one thing. Can it do tricks like a normal pet can do?"
Victoria analyzed Spark. "I suppose it does. It can sit, roll over, jump, and play dead."
The young voice spoke again. "Can you demonstrate the playing dead aspect?"
Van Gale felt unsure, but she didn't want to lose the customers she has gained. So, she let out Spark on top of the table and presented his new trick.
Kelly and Frida got a closer look at the table holding Spark. They had no clue what was in store.
"Huh. Must be some sort of tinker toy that lady has," Kelly scoffed.
"Hey…" Frida started to catch on. "Isn't that Spark? Isn't he supposed to be with-"
BOOM!
Everyone's faces were covered in smoke. Even Kelly and Frida didn't dodge it. Victoria Van Gale was knocked out of the explosion. Suddenly, a voice was heard. "Spark!"
The robotic animal jumped. He realized that voice. It was Hilbert! He and his friend Vivian came to get him back. Spark leaped into his master's hands.
"Are you ok, Spark?" Vivian asked in concern.
"Well, apart from the fact that I've been treated like crap and manipulated by a crazy hag, I've been better." The robotic hamster replied.
"Spark, I'm sorry I let you get caught by that bastard. I should have been more aware of her actions,"
"No worries, Hilbert," Spark comforted the boy. "It happens to the best of us."
Victoria Van Gale woke up from the explosion. Unfortunately for her, the disguise she wore burned off. She noticed that Spark was with Hilbert and Vivian. "What the hell?! How did you bastards escape?!"
"Simple, really," Hilbert dusted his hands. "We found out the cabin was magic and kept making stuff appear on demand."
Vivia popped in. "So, we filled it with tons of crap until we put that cabin out of its misery! It exploded like Hilbert's many inventions!"
Victoria Van Gale was flabbergasted for a moment before her anger rose back. But as she grabbed Hilbert and started strangling him, she ended up feeling electrocuted. Hilbert started gasping for air as he was let go.
"Let me go, you wretched pigs!" Van Gale cried.
"We already did, hag. Look how that turned out," a policewoman argued.
Vivian was concerned about her friend. She hugged him. "Are you ok, Hilbert? She really did a number on you."
The boy grunted. "I'm fine, Vivi. That hag couldn't get me killed if she wanted to."
Eventually, the crowd got a closer look at the situation. Once they recognized Victoria Van Gale and the wanted posters around her, they gasped.
"Not to worry, citizens!" the chief of police advised. "This bastard will be sent to the one place she can't harm Trolberg again; behind bars."
Victoria Van Gale struggled to resist arrest as she was getting handcuffed. As she was being led to the paddy wagon, she leaned her head towards Hilbert and Vivian. "I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling bastards! And your runt of a hamster too!"
"Yeah, yeah, save it when we get to the station, convict!" the cop shoved Van Gale into the backseat. After putting on her seatbelt, she kicked the door to close it. "Your sentence is going to get increased."
Victoria Van Gale got up and poked her head out. "Damn you, Hilbert! I swear on my parents' grave, I'll get you and your sister for this!"
Suddenly, she screamed before she fainted. The cop sighed as he pulled out a needle from Van Gale. "It gets exhausting to hear her like this. Alright, everyone. Nothing to see here. Go back to your usual day."
The citizens soon cleared up. Only Hilbert, Vivian, and Spark stood. Though they were surprised to see Frida with Kelly.
"Huh? Frida?" Hilbert questioned her appearance. "Who's the teen with you?"
Frida recovered from being drunk. "Oh, Hilbert! I didn't expect to see you here. And it seems that Vivian and Spark are with you as well."
"Yeah, we get that," Vivian got to the point. "Question again; who is the gal with you?"
"Oh, where are my manners. This is Kelly. She's my new friend,"
Kelly blew her hair. "I take it you are the runts Frida has good intentions with?"
Vivian crossed her arms in an upset manner. "As a matter of fact, yes. We have good intentions with Frida."
Hilbert couldn't help but look at Kelly. Something about her seemed very familiar to him. Eventually, Kelly noticed this and frowned. "What's the big deal, bastard? You might have a crush on me, but you don't have to stare at me, you creep."
Hilbert widened his eyes. "Hell no!" He gagged at the nearest trash can.
Frida couldn't help but laugh as Vivian rolled his eyes. "Hey, I don't mean to upset you, Frida, but did you manage to make any progress finding your book recently?"
"Sadly, no luck. I kept looking around the school and library to see if I left it there, but the book was neither in those places. This is a travesty."
"Yeah, sorry about that, Frida. I just hope things can get better for the rest of us."
"I'll say," Hilbert blinked. "I feel anxious about what happened to that crazy idiotic brat. She always drags me on adventures against my will. It won't kill her to take it easy occasionally."
"Yeah…" Frida inhaled sharply. She was uncomfortable talking about that sore subject.
"You want us to pay for that book, Frida?" Vivi asked in concern.
"No, don't worry about it. It was my fault. I was careless that day. I should have been more responsible."
Kelly tapped her foot impatiently. "Look, as much I want to talk about what the hell happened today, I just want to get back home already. I had enough chaos to deal with."
"Says the girl that lit a kid's hair on fire for cotton candy," Frida muttered.
"Yeah, that's fine. We should get going too," Vivian held Hilbert's hand. "Our parents are worried sick about us!"
"Uh, yeah," Hilbert said in a sour tone. "Take care, Frida."
Frida shared a glance. "You too, Hilbert."
As the two kids and robotic hamster left, they resumed their conversation.
"It's best we don't let our families know about this,"
"I can't argue with that, Vivi," Hilbert sighed. "Mom wouldn't be able to handle what happened to us, considering what Hilda just went through."
"That's understandable," Vivi patted her friend on the back. "You should let your mom rest easy. It makes it easier for you and them."
Spark spoke. "I hate to be a mood killer, but when do you plan to patch things up with your sister?"
Hilbert said nothing as he walked. He still was upset that his sister wished that he was never born. It was the only thing he kept thinking about Hilda. But Hilbert knew that the sooner he patches things up with her, the sooner things can go back to normal, or at least not become bad again.
Soon, the trio reached the apartment of Hilda and Johanna. Vivian sighed as she put her hands on her friend's shoulders. "Hilbert… good luck."
After seeing his acquaintance walk into the night, the boy faced the building. He gulped in a nervous manner.
"You're still unsure about this, are you?" Spark eyed his master.
"I don't know how I can handle this, Spark…" Hilbert looked at the ground. "What else could I say?"
"If you want, I can get us inside without Hilda and Johanna spotting us,"
Hilbert gave no response other than a weary nod. Spark's body became big enough for his master to climb on. The robotic hamster's legs extended long enough to reach Hilbert's window. In no time at all, the duo safely got inside the apartment. Once they made it to Hilbert's room, they felt some rumbling.
"Hilda!" Johanna's voice can be heard.
"Mum! I'm so glad we made it back! There were some complications…"
Hilbert sighed as he snuck by the bathroom to take a bath. He needed to wash off the dirt from his body considering he has been away from home at least a day and a half. Once he finished bathing, he walked back to his room just as Woodman was giving ensuring Hilda that the wilderness will always be a part of her, even if Trolberg is her home.
"One more thing, Hilda. Don't forget what we discussed about when we were in the cabin."
"Oh. Yes, I can do that," Hilda's tone was a bit sad. She noticed Spark approaching her. "Hey, Spark. It's good to be back home."
"I'll say,"
This surprised the girl. "You went out too?"
"Yeah, we were looking for you. Even Vivian helped! And we ran into some crazy weather hag."
Hilda rolled her eyes. "Let me guess: Victoria Van Gale?"
"Yeah. But let's not get sidetracked. We should get some rest. It's been a crazy day for all of us," Spark looked at Hilbert's door before Johanna confronted them.
"Hold up, where is Hilbert?"
"He's in his room. We came back safely as well. It's best not to disturb him, he's been through a lot." Spark rolled into a ball and curled to the kitchen.
As Hilda opened the door, he noticed that it was strangely quiet in her brother's room. No inventions, let alone explosions, were made here recently. The girl noticed Hilbert sound asleep on the bed. Hilda knew she had to apologize to him for her actions, but the problem was that she had trouble getting the right words out. Not to mention she had to get the right words to make up with Frida after their fight.
Hilbert said nothing as his sister closed the door. He still had a frown on his face along with an upset stomach. He had no idea how he would get to be on good terms with Hilda again. This is too much of a mess for even the inventor to invent a solution. The boy closed his eyes, shedding a single tear that streamed down his cheek.