The Seminar written by Holl-B Kraft I'd just like to tell everyone that I hope they like my story. This is really hard to do, especially considering that I'm only a Sophomore in high school. I'd also like to say that this contains a little romance, but not from the individual you may be thinking of. If anyone would like to send me suggestions on stories to write, please mail me either here on AOL, or my internet address (cvev69b@prodigy.com) All the new characters in this story are copyrighted by me! All other characters are copyrighted by Sega and DIC Please write back to tell me how you liked this!!! Sonic was waiting by the Power Ring pool with Sally. A new mission had come up, and this time, it didn't involve Robotnik. There was a Freedom Fighters seminar coming up north of the Great Forest, and they were almost ready to go. Everyone was leaving Knothole to attend this seminar. What Sally and the other Freedom Fighter groups were planning on, was building an underground system between all of the Villages, providing easy transport and shipment of supplies. "Okay Sonic, how many power rings do we have?" Sally wondered. "Thirty." "Good. That should give us enough power for weeks. Ready to go?" Sally smiled. "Yup. Let's go gather everyone up." Sonic and Sally went back to Knothole to help with the final preparations. "Boy, I sure hope this works," sighed Dulcy, "My back is going to kill me!" Dulcy was loaded with all the supplies on her back, and the rest was being carried in the cruiser. Bunnie helped as much as she could with her robotic strength. At the seminar, there was going to be a lecture on de-roboticization, and she was definitely going to that. As was Uncle Chuck. Tails had packed up all of his sneakers, socks, and gloves, as did his mentor, Sonic. He was going to a lecture for the newer Freedom Fighters. "This is going to be so much fun, isn't it Sonic?" Tails smiled. "Remember Tails, this seminar isn't just for fun. We need to learn while we're there too!" Sonic reminded the bouncy little fox. "Okay Sonic." he replied. Sally gathered everyone up. "Freedom Fighters, and Freedom Fighters-to-be, this is going to be one of the most important things that you do in your entire lifetime. Robotnik may be gone, but we still need to stay fit and alert. Sonic and I have tried our best to find as many Roboticized individuals as possible. With the help of Sir Charles Hedgehog, we've been able to bring them out of the trance and let them make their own decisions." Sally stepped off to the side and brought out a Roboticized mouse. Her eyes were red, yet she was able to have her own will. She stepped out into the crowd. "This is Tabitha," said Sally, "She's the first person after Uncle Chuck to have been brought to her senses. So far, we've been able to restore thirty Roboticized individuals back to their senses." The Knothole Freedom Fighters took this time to start cheering. As soon as everyone had settled down, Tabitha spoke up. "I've been Roboticized for five years now. When I was ten, I went on mission with some of the southern Freedom Fighters only to be captured by Robotnik. The first mission I went on was my last, but let me tell you, I've been wanting to destroy that goon ever since I was four! FREEDOM FIGHTERS FOREVER!!" she concluded. The crowd began to cheer more. "Now everyone, it's very important that you check in with the group you've been assigned. When you hook up with your group, you will undergo a vigorous training session. After this has been completed, you will then go to your lectures. Now, are we ready?" Sally shouted. "YEAH!" came her reply. "Then here we go!" "Lupe! It's great to see you again!" smiled Sally. "And you as well." the gray wolf smiled. "I've never seen so many Freedom Fighters in all my life!" Sally exclaimed. "I know, it is wonderful." Lupe replied. Suddenly Bunnie ran up to Sally. "You wanted to talk to me, Sally-girl?" she asked. "Yes Bunnie, I did. Have you seen Rotor? I need his help. We're building a tunneling machine and I need him." Sally explained. "Hmmm...I haven't seen him all day! Where in the world did he get off to, you suppose?" "I think I saw him with Sonic." said Lupe. "Do you know where they were going?" asked Sally. "I'm really not sure, but I think they went into the forest for a walk." the wolf explained. "So Rote, what's up?" Sonic asked his friend as they walked a trail. "I don't know, to tell you the truth. Although....ah.......never mind ... forget I mentioned it." Rotor said uneasily. Sonic stopped dead in his tracks. "Rotor! You know you can tell me anything. Other than Tails and Uncle Chuck, we're the only sane guys here." "But what about Antoine?" "I said 'sane' Rotor, not 'insane'. Now really, what's up?" "Okay. Well, the thing is..........I'm very lonely........." Rotor whispered. "Lonely?" Sonic repeated, looking confused. "Yeah, lonely. My family's been Roboticized and I just feel left out. Now that my workshop is gone, I feel even worse...d- do you know what's wrong with me?" Rotor asked. "I know exactly how you feel Rotor. You've gotta understand, I've had to live with out my uncle for eleven years. Uncle Chuck is the only family I've got. Don't worry about it. You wanna know why? We're your family Rotor, and we care about cha a lot! We'll find your folks Rotor. Someday." Sonic smiled. "Thanks Sonic." "Just one more question, bud. Why did this come up all of a sudden?" "Oh...today's my parent's anniversary." Sonic didn't reply. "I'd like to welcome all of you new Freedom Fighters to this lecture. First order of business is the training session!" declared Bunnie, as she paced the stage. Sally then stood up. "As you know, Robotnik is gone, and that means the battle is over right?...Wrong. We need to rise above ourselves and begin to exceed the limits of advanced civilization. We, as Freedom Fighters, have the power to prepare for any situation." "Now we're not saying that Robotnik will ever be back," continued Uncle Chuck, "but we are saying that we need to keep in shape." "So, in case we ever get attacked by anyone, we'll be up to it! Are we ready?" Sally asked. The crowd cheered. "Good! Now, if you are a new Freedom Fighter, go visit..." she trailed off. Rotor stood behind the stage by himself. No one saw him except Bunnie. She quietly left the stage to see what was wrong. "Hiya sugar." she smiled as she approached him. "Hello Bunnie." he replied. "Aw, now, Rotor, hon, what the hoo-haw is goin on here? You've been disappearing constantly, and we can't even find you! Now, sugar, you know you can tell me anything. I'm all ears." Bunnie giggled. Rotor cracked a tiny smile. "Alright, here goes." He then proceeded to tell Bunnie about how lonely he was and how he was depressed. Bunnie sat there and listened to every word. When he was finished, Rotor let out a big sigh. "Aw, Rotor, you should've told us! It ain't good when you hide your feelin's!" Bunnie exclaimed. Just then, Bunnie heard Dulcy calling her. "I've gotta go, sugar. I hope you feel better." Bunnie then got up, pecked Rotor on the cheek, and walked away slowly. "Where were you Bunnie?" asked Dulcy. "I was talkin to Rotor, he's havin some problems." "Oh." was all Dulcy said. When the silence was broken, it was because of Bunnie, "Whad y'all need me for, Dulcy-girl?" "Rosie's cooked up some lunch. Wanna get Rotor?" Dulcy asked politely. "No, let him be alone for awhile. He needs to think." Meanwhile, in the destroyed Robotropolis, Snively began to gather up his newest patrol of Swat-bots. To no one in particular, he said, "This will be the best attack ever planned!" He turned to a Swat-bot. "Is the ship ready?" "Ready, sir." it droned. "Good..." "HEEEEEE-YAH!" cried Tails as he demonstrated his Kung-Fu to his friends. "Wow! That was neat Tails!" said a little skunk named Nina. "Thank you. Bunnie's been teaching me a lot more lately. I almost got my white sash!" The little skunk walked over and talked to him face-to-face. "You're cute." was all she said. Nina then turned around and walked back to the crowd of eight, nine, and ten-year-olds. Tails just stood there, his mouth hung open. Someone shouted from the crowd. "Do a flying kick again, Tails." "Uh, yeah...flying kick..." he stuttered. "What's wrong, Tails? Are you tired?" asked Nina. "No...it's just-" Tails was cut off by Sonic. "Hiya T2! Watcha up to?" Sonic questioned. "He was showing us some of his Kung-Fu, Sonic, sir." Nina said. "Sir? Now, Nina! Call me Sonic." he grinned. "I, uh, ohhhh...." Tails suddenly fainted. "Whoa! Tails! What's wrong?" Sonic gasped. "I think he's just a little tired, Sonic." grinned the little skunk. Bunnie and Sally sat in their tent. "Have you talked to Rotor yet, Sally-girl?" Bunnie asked. "Why no, what's wrong?" Sally wondered. Bunnie then related the story to the princess. "Poor Rotor." Sally sighed as she brushed away a stray tear. "What's the matter, sugar?" "Well, I remember the times with my father, and-" Sally began to cry on Bunnie's shoulder. "Don't cry Sally," said Bunnie, "you'll rust my arm!" Bunnie giggled. Sally laughed. "You know what, Bunnie? I'm gonna go over to Rotor and tell him how much I'm hurting. I'll tell him he's not alone. In fact," Sally slid off the bed and started to shuffle through her pack, "I'll make him some hot chocolate." she said, showing Bunnie the packet of cocoa. "That's good, Sally-girl. You are the sweetest friend I've got." Tails slowly began to awaken. "Wh- where am I?" he whispered. "You're back in our tent, big guy. I heard about what Nina said. Are you all-right?" Sonic asked. "Yeah...I guess so." "Ya know, your ol Aunt Sal used to do that to me when I was your age." Sonic grinned. "Really?" Tails wondered. "Sure thing. She was just flirting." "Flirting? What's that?" Tails asked as he propped himself up on his cot. "It's a kinda hint from a girl that she likes you." Sonic informed. "EWWW! That's disgusting." Tails said, gagging. "Yeah, I know, it's pretty harsh. You'll learn to like it someday, though." "Not me, Son. I'll NEVER like that!" "That's what I said Tails, and now I got Sal!" Sonic replied. "Well, I don't like Nina." "Have you even tried to start a conversation with her?" Sonic quipped. "Well...um.....no...." Tails quieted. "Then how do you know you don't like her?" "I...I just don't! She's a girl!" Tails exclaimed. "That's a reason?" Sonic smiled. He liked what was happening. What was happening to Tails, had once happened to him when he was ten. "I guess not." "Look, Tails. I'll be honest with ya. Nina's a nice girl. She obviously thinks you're good looking from all that training you're doing. I don't she one reason why she was silly to have said what she did." "Really?" Tails asked his mentor. "Serious." "Okay...," Tails said in a very low voice, "I guess I can talk to her." "That's my pal! Now come on, we need some help with the Tunneler." replied Sonic. He then helped the fox up and took him outside. "Rotor?" Sally called into the walrus's tent. "Yeah?" came a reply. "I brought some hot chocolate. Do you want some?" "Okay." answered Rotor. "I came to talk for awhile," said Sally, "about my father." "Your father?" Rotor said in disbelief. "Yes. I came to tell you that you're not alone. I hadn't seen my father for over eleven years. After I went in the void, I found out that I can never be with him again. You are fortunate Rotor. You can find your parents, and when you do, you can have some chance of de-roboticizing them. I, on the other hand, will never see my daddy again." Sally quietly sipped her hot chocolate as a tear slowly ran down her cheek. "Oh, Sally. I'm really sorry. I never realized..." "Rotor, I'm not saying that your mourning in vain, but what I am saying is, appreciate the family you have. We're always here, Rotor. Always." and with that, Sally left the tent. "Clear out everyone!" shouted Bunnie as Dulcy began her landing lessons. Dulcy suddenly took to air. "This is great! I can actually feel a perfect landing coming up." Dulcy smiled. Bunnie had her fingers crossed. "Good luck, sugar-dragon!" Dulcy circled over the meadow a few times before she went in to land. When she did, it wasn't very pretty. She ended up falling on her stomach and scraping her chin on the ground. Bunnie ran over to her. "Are you all right, Dulcy?" she panted. "OOOOOoooooh....thanks ma.......I'm fine........" she warbled. "Wanna try it again?" Bunnie asked. Dulcy cleared her head by shaking it side-to-side. "No...I think I'll work on it later. It's starting to hurt!" Nina sat by the lake with her friends. Tails came up to her and sat next to her. "Hi." he said. Nina's friends got up and left, sensing that they wanted to talk privately. "Hi Tails. I'm sorry." Nina said. "For what?" Tails wondered. "Well," the little skunk slumped, "I made you faint, and I probably embarrassed you in front of everyone!" "I wasn't embarrassed, just shocked." Tails told her. "I'm glad, because I meant what I said." blushed Nina. Tails became nervous. "Um, Nina, that's what I wanted to talk about." "Yes?" "Well, I think you're very nice and everything, but..." Tails suddenly began to stammer. "It's okay Tails, I know what you want to say." smiled Nina. "You do?" "Yup. Don't worry, I understand. That's what all guys are like." Nina then proceeded to kiss Tails on the cheek. "Now, I was wondering, can you teach me to fly with my tail?" Tails just fainted. "C'mon Sal, I'm bored!" cried Sonic. "We're not going back to Robotropolis. Or what's left of it." "But Sal, I wanna go check to see if there are any others who are still roboticized." "No. Sonic, we destroyed everything. Nothing is left there!" Sally exclaimed. "Aw, Sal, it's just that I am so bored without ol Melonhead chasin my tail!" said Sonic. "Sonic, we've got a seminar going here. We can't just leave! I said no and that's final! Royal order!" Sally shouted at the hedgehog. Sonic sighed and left the tent. "How many Swat-bots do we have totaled?" demanded Snively. "Approximately 500, sir." droned the Tech-bot. "How many Worker-bots?" "Eleven hundred sir." "Do you have any idea as onto how long it will take to build up the army that we once originally had?" Snively wondered. "Completion will probably take place this fall, sir." the bot reported. "Try to increase production. We must have as much as a chance as we did before." "Yes sir." Uncle Chuck had already tried out the tunneler finding that it didn't work. What the problem was, was that there were too many existing tunnels from the Doomsday pods. The only choice was to follow up throughout those already existing tunnels, and to try to find connections between villages. Uncle Chuck went down into the ground with Tabitha and a couple other Roboticized individuals, who were prized for their unique night vision. They proceeded down the tunnels for an hour before stopping. Uncle C huck insisted that the band stop because her was almost sure he heard something. He called for Tabitha to come and confirm his suspicions, since she had extremely sensitive hearing. "I think I do hear something, Sir Charles. It's very muffled though." "Good girl, Tabby. Now do you think you could make it out if we got closer?" wondered Uncle Chuck. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure it's nothing though." "You're probably right. We're probably very near to the hot springs." sighed Uncle Chuck. "Let's go to the left, Sir Charles." said a raccoon. "Lead on, Alvin." Little did the Freedom Fighters know, the sound that Uncle Chuck had heard was the working of bots, trying to build up a wall from the main tunnel at Robotropolis, therefore making it impossible for anyone to crawl through and sabotage. Later that day, Uncle Chuck's squad made it to the surface. They had found that they had emerged in the meadow near Knothole. "We did it!" smiled Uncle Chuck. They then started making their way back through the tunnels placing more markers and light systems to show where they had been. The group made it back to the seminar by nightfall. "Well, did you guys make it?" Sally asked anxiously. "Yep! We marked the tunnels and lighted them too." replied Tabitha. "Alright! Good job you guys!" "Now what, Sally?" asked Uncle Chuck. "Well, we start sending supplies and build up our forces. I'm sure Dulcy will be glad to hear this. Now we don't need her to fly the supplies in!" said Sally. "Well, I guess we'd better get to bed. We have to pack up and go home tomorrow." "See ya tomorrow." said Tabitha. "G'night." Back at Knothole, Sonic was helping Sally unpack. "Sal?" "What?" asked Sally. "What...what if Robotnik isn't gone?...What if he...he made an identical robot of himself to fool us..." Sonic stammered. "Sonic! That's absurd!" Sally exclaimed. "Yeah, I guess...but you never know..." replied Sonic. "We destroyed him!" Sally informed him. "Oh yeah? Then why wasn't Snively with him?" Sonic shot. "He must have been in the Death Egg when we destroyed it. Either that, or he was in the ship, we just didn't see him. Either way, he's gone, and so is ChromeDome himself!" "Maybe you're right." Sonic caved in. Just then, Tails walked in, holding Nina's hand. "Well hello Tails, hi Nina." Sally said in a pleasant voice. "Hi Aunt Sally! Hi Sonic!" said Tails with a smile. "Hi Princess Sally, hello Sonic." piped in Nina. "Hey Tails, what's up?" asked the blue hedgehog. "Um, well, I just wanted to ask if I can take Nina with me to our Secret Place." Tails asked. "Our Secret Place?! That's only for the two of us!" exclaimed Sonic. "I didn't mean ours Sonic," Tails smiled, "I meant ours." he said, motioning to Nina. Sonic and Sally exchanged surprised glances. Sally broke out of her confusion to ask, "Is it in the Great Forest?" "Yes, Aunt Sally. It is." "Okay. You can go." Sally smiled. "C'mon Nina!" barked Tails. "Okay! Bye Sonic! Goodbye Princess Sally!" said Nina, as Tails grabbed her hand and led her out of the room. As soon as they were out of hearing distance, Sonic spoke up. "Looks like Tails is hooked too!" "Too?" said Sally suspiciously. "Yeah!" Sonic smiled. "Well, Sonic Hedgehog," said Sally, "I think we better go unpack Tails things while he's gone." "You're right. Let's go." Sonic replied. As they walked out, Sonic put his arm around Sally. "How were your seminars, Rotor?" asked Bunnie. "Good! I learned some new things on androids. I'll need 'em since that mess up on Ro-Becca." he smiled. "Are you feeling any better, sugar?" Bunnie asked with sincerity "Yeah. Sally really woke me up." "Well, I'm glad you're all right." Bunnie paused, "Wanna come over to my place for some tea?" "Well...sure...I guess." "Oh good! I've been wantin' to try out Antoine's cookbook. It's got a whole section devoted to teas! C'mon, sugar." Rotor got up and followed Bunnie to her hut, where she then put on a kettle of water. When the tea was ready, Bunnie and Rotor sat down and had a long serious chat about their childhoods, and how badly they missed their families. It was late when they finally finished. "Thanks for the talk, Rotor. I've been wanting to get the same things off of my lil' ol' mind." Bunnie said. "Anytime...well, goodnight, Bunnie." said Rotor "Goodnight, sugar." THE END! ;)