Locke II and Pachacamac II continued to hand around with their buddies. They waited for Rutan to meet up with Laura. They were eating the food that Lara-Le and Gala-Na had given them before leaving.

"It's been almost an hour." Jani-Lu said to herself.

"Who knows," Rift piped up hopefully, "maybe they're on their way now."

"I hope so." Speed added while munching on a banana.

Meanwhile, Bian-Ca and Amanda-Su had gone off in private, and Amanda-Su finally had the courage to tell her friend about the secret that she found out ages ago.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" asked Amanda-Su.

"About why you've gotten all dressed up lately." Bian-Ca replied, "You've been acting so strange lately."

"I don't know what you mean." Amanda-Su tried to deny it.

"Come on. Be honest." Bian-Ca gave a wink. "I know you're in love."

"How did you know that?"

"Well, aside from seeing how are you dressed now, I have noticed that sometimes you are distracted when we are with our friends and hardly pay attention." Bian-Ca giggled, "I knew you were in love the whole time."

"Ok, you got me." Sighed Amanda-Su. "You know me far too well, Bian-Ca."

"But, who are you in love with, is my question."

"Promise not to tell?"

"Yes, just tell me. You can trust me not to tell."

"The person that I love is Pachacamac."

"Oh, wow." Bian-Ca gasped, "That surprises me. I thought you never get to like him. But I'm glad."

"Thank you." Amanda-Su smiled, "Don't tell him, please. I may get rejected."

"Do not get into pessimistic thinking. Think positive. I am sure that he likes you too. Laura has seen Pachacamac acting shy around you as well."

"For real?"

"Yes."

Both echidnas noticed that Rutan and Laura were already back. So they went to the rest of the group.

"We're back."

The group saw the two echidnas.

"There you are." Sighed Locke II. "What took you?"

"We were really worried." Pachacamac II added.

"Well, the point is that I brought her back, so everything is fine." Rutan smiled.

"Now we just have to find a way for Dad to forgive him and let him stay on the island." Laura told her friends, "I think Mom will help us on this."

"Well, it's time to go home." said Nick.

Everyone nodded, but then Locke II, Laura and Pachacamac II began to feel a bad feeling.

"We have to hurry." said the orange echidna.

"Something bad is going to happen on the island." the red female echidna tensed up.

"And we must be there to help." The red male echidna looked determined.

Seeing their expressions, they all rushed to go home.

Back on Angel Island, Sonic and Tails were in a panic.

"I can't believe we lost her again." Cried Tails. "This is the eight thousandth time!"

"Who's counting?"

Tails just groaned. "I thought you were gonna watch her!"

"Me?" Sonic argued. "You were gonna watch her!"

"I thought you were gonna watch her!"

"No, you were gonna watch her!"

"You were gonna watch her!"

"Aah, watch this!" Sonic stole Tails' wrench from his belt.

"Hey! Take that, you creepy hedgehog!"

"Fa-la-la-la-la…"

"Say it! Say it!"

Sonic and Tails are all-out wrestling when Knuckles approaches with Tikal, the orange echidna still with a disapproving glance at the red one.

"What are you doing?" Tikal asked casually, trying to take her mind off Knuckles' actions.

The fox and hedgehog quickly snap out of it.

"G-good question!" Stuttered Tails. "Now let me you ask one."

"Hippo-thetically..." Sonic coughed.

"Very hypothetical," Tails corrected, "there's this couple…"

"But they're not echidnas."

"No! No, they're not echidnas... yeesh."

Knuckles started looking amused, and despite her disapproval at what Knuckles had done, Tikal couldn't help admitting this was kinda funny.

"Definitely not echidnas." Sonic continued. "And, uh... uh... their daughter, um, say... vanished?"

"Laura is gone?"

"Gee…" Tikal said with sarcasm, "I wonder why? Surely it can't be because her boyfriend was… I don't know, banished from the face of Angel Island."

"Tikal!" Cried Knuckles, "You know what Rutan…"

"He said he wasn't part of it Knuckles!" She snapped, "And Laura knew Rutan better than any of us."

At that moment, someone knocked on the door. Knuckles and Tikal quickly put their argument on hold and opened up.

Most of their friends stood at the door: Julie-Su, Ralph, Remington, Shade, Eric, Teri-Lu, Sha-Quo, Rain, Simon, Floren-Ca, Melissa, Ivo, Manic, Mina, Amy, Cosmo, Vanilla, Sonia, Rotor, Nicole, Shadow, Rouge, Khan, Sally, Charmy and Cream.

"Hello everyone." Knuckles looked surprised, "What's going on?"

"Why are you guys so worried?" Asked Tikal.

"Have you guys seen Amanda-Su and Henry?" Asked Julie-Su and Ralph, as the flickies twittered anxiously.

"Or Rift." This came from Remington and Shade.

"Or Matthew and Jani-Lu." Eric and Teri-Lu came in.

"Or Bian-Ca." Simon and Floren-Ca said quickly.

"Or Mike." Ivo and Melissa said.

"Or Speed." Amy piped up.

"Or Alex and Flora." Cosmo said next.

"Or Nick." Vanilla gasped.

"Or Erick and Camilla." Sonia put in.

"Or Silver and Jewel." Shadow and Rouge chimed together.

"Or Casey, John, Susan and Scott." Asked Sally and Khan.

"Or Lorriane." Came Charmy and Cream.

"Or Stella, Boomer and Gadget." Rotor and Nicole came next.

"Or Melody." Manic and Mina asked anxiously.

"Or Jeremiah and Buddy." Sha-Quo and Rain finished.

"We haven't seen any of them." Tikal approached them, "Why do you ask."

"They disappeared." They all said in unison.

Hearing that Knuckles, Tikal, Sonic and Tails were left in shock (The latter two even more so, as they were unaware that their children had disappeared).

"Coz!"

"Cousin!"

"Sis!"

Jon, Kneecaps and Gabor burst in together with Demi-Na, Alexis and Alma.

"Have you seen Locke, Pachacamac, Jani-Na, Jane, Gideon or Emma?" Asked Kneecaps.

"No little bro."

"We haven't seen them all day."

Tension increased in the room. All the children had disappeared.

But before they could say anything Espio burst through the crowd.

"Guardian!" The chameleon cried, "The Dark Legioners are on the attack... heading this way! It's war!"

"Espio! Teri-Lu! Eric! Find the children!" Cried Knuckles, and the chameleon ran back out the door "We'll assemble the rest of the tribe. Move! Now!"

A storm gathers as the two tribes close on the field of battle; rain mats the echidnas' hair dreadlocks as they advance. The mobains skitter away from between the advancing echidnas.

Locke II, Laura, Pachacamac II, Rutan and the other children rush home as fast as they can. The two tribes face each other across the field; when all are assembled, they glare at each other.

"It's over, Knuckles!" Glared Lien-Da. "I have dreamed of nothing else for years!"

"Boy... does she need a hobby." Muttered Sonic.

"Last chance, Lien-Da: Go home."

"I am home!"

The lightning flashed and thunder crashed.

"Attack!"

The two opposing lines advance toward each other, first walking, then picking up speed until they hit at a full run. Lien-Da coaches her tribe from a high rock.

"Go for the eyes! Break their jaws! Hit them low! Get them! Do what you must!"

The children approach from a distance, but the dust of the battle is already rising.

"Oh no!" Rutan cried.

"Come on!" Laura rushed forward, and the others followed at full speed.

Back in the battle, Sonic and Tails didn't know what to do. They hadn't battled for quite a while.

"What do we do?" Cried Tails. "What do we do?"

"There's only one thing we can do, Tails:" Sonic looked determined. "'When the going gets tough, the tough get going.' That's our motto!"

"I thought our motto was 'Hakuna Matata'!"

"Tails, stop living in the past!" Sonic advised. "This is the present. We need a new motto!"

Tails and Sonic run screaming into the battle, throwing in their 'Blue Bomber' move from previously. A couple of echidnas were knocked out, but a few of them came rushing toward the hedgehog and fox.

"Like I said:" Sonic grabbed Tails' arm "Let's get going!"

Cream and Vanilla held Amy and Cosmo's hands while flying over a group of echidnas. When above the hedgehog and the seedrian were released to land on these and knocked them out.

Ralph, Julie-Su, Remington, Shade, Gabor, Jon, Kneecaps, Sha-Quo and Rain (The two last now living with the tribe permanently) were holding the 7 chaos emeralds. (Each had one in their possession, Jon and Kneecaps shared one just like Sha-Quo and Rain). They used the chaos energy to knock the enemies back.

Simon, Floren-Ca, Charmy, Ivo and Melissa guided a group of villains to Sonia, and she used her medallion, which became her combat weapon (an electric keyboard throwing laser beams) and sent the villains flying away.

Sally was working with Nicole and Mina down below. Nicole used her static electricity to power her and Sally up (Sally using her blade), and they went zipping around into enemies, knocking them over, and Mina was using her singing voice to distract the echidnas and get them to dance.

Manic, Khan and Rotor were working together too. They did a good 'Rocket Axcell' attack while bowled Manic into the enemies and knocked them into a pond.

Shadow and Rouge have been working on their own trick. Rouge would fly Shadow into the air, then he would send Chaos Spears down to their enemies, and a couple of hits from both of them would finish them off.

Although Aleena, Zokar and Ruby weren't as young as they were, they did help out by knocking enemies back into a hole trap Alma, Demi-Na and Alexis made earlier.

The children run down an embankment covered with fallen logs; Erick, Rutan and Amanda-Su nearly slip, but catch onto one of the logs and jumps down safely. The logs begin shifting.

"This way!" Locke II, Laura, and Pachacamac II grabbed Erick, Rutan and Amanda-Su's hands, and they raced along.

Riki-Le appeared on a ledge above Tikal.

"Where's your pretty daughter, Tikal?"

"Riki-Le!"

Riki-Le leaps down onto Tikal; the two roll down the hill, fighting fiercely.

Tails and Sonic are being chased by a number of echidnas. They get backed up against a wall, surrounded; then, they get an idea.

"Time for Rolling Combo!" Tails and Sonic then turned to their 'ying-yang' symbol look, and knocked out the remaining echidnas.

"Ha, that never gets old, bro."

"Agreed, little buddy."

Back on the battlefield, Lien-Da is laughing as she views the battle turning in her favor.

"Knuckles…" She cried as she jumped down, "you're mine!"

She and her two backup echidnas (Riki-Le weren't one of them) approach Knuckles, who is fighting off several enemies at once. The backup echidnas part, making way for Lien-Da and Knuckles to fight one-on-one. Just as they are about to land the first blows, the children leap into the scene, and stand between the two enemies.

"Children?"

"Rutan!"

Rutan stares at her, his eyes narrowing at her mention of his name.

"...Move."

"Stand aside."

"Daddy, this has to stop." Laura declared, finally putting her foot down.

"You're even weaker than I thought." Glared Lien-Da. "Get out of the way!"

"You'll never hurt Laura... or Knuckles and Tikal or their family and friends." Rutan held a firm gaze on his mum. "Not while I'm here."

Lien-Da just gasped, while Riki-Le gazed in wonderment.

"Stay out of this!" Knuckles told Laura.

"A wise Guardian once told me, 'We are one.'" She breathed. "I didn't understand what he meant... now I do."

"But... they..."

"Them... us. Look at them... they are us. What differences do you see?" She asked. "Aren't we all part of the Circle of Life?"

"Laura is right Dad." Locke II agreed.

"She was the first to notice." Pachacamac II nodded.

"She sure did well in that." Jane added.

"We wish we saw it sooner." Gideon and Emma put in.

"Laura is ready to take up her spot as guardian." Finished Jani-Na.

Knuckles pauses; the battle has stopped. As Knuckles and Laura look at one another, the clouds part and the rain stops. Finally, Knuckles and his daughter embrace.

Tikal, Locke II, Pachacamac II, Gabor, Alma, Gideon, Emma, Jon, Demi-Na, Jani-Na, Kneecaps, Alexis and Jane smile and join in the family hug.

"Oh, that's our girl…"

"Well done, little sis."

"Great job, big sis!"

"That's my niece."

"Great work, coz!"

"We're proud of you, cousin!"

"Nice one, cous."

"Well done."

"That was great!"

The Dark Legioners were all hit pretty hard by Laura's words.

"Riki-Li..." Cried Lien-Da. "now!"

"No, Mother!" Riki-Li sighed. "Laura's right."

She walks over to Knuckles' side, turning around to face Lien-Da.

"Enough."

Lien-Da's other echidnas look shocked

"If you will not fight... then you will die as well."

Some of Lien-Da's echidnas begin to move over onto Knuckles' side. Lien-Da's eyes begin to panic as her whole tribe leaves her.

"Wh-wha... Where are you going?" She stuttered. "Get back here!"

"Let it go, Lien-Da." Knuckles sighed, "It's time to put the past behind us."

Lien-Da was now fighting solo.

"I'll never let it go!"

What the echindas and their friends didn't realise, was that more logs piled up in the river, forming a dam.

"This is for you, Fintivous!"

Lien-Da leaps at Knuckles, but Laura catches her in mid-flight and rolls over with her; the two female echidnas tumble down the embankment.

"Laura!" Cried Knuckles, Tikal, Locke II, Pachacamac II, Gabor, Alma, Gideon, Emma, Jon, Demi-Na, Jani-Na, Kneecaps, Alexis, Jane and Rutan.

"I'm going in." The guardian decided, "You watch my back."

Because Knuckles also inherited the ability to glide from his father, he jumped down the slope, trying desperately to reach Laura, but she and Lien-Da have already fallen too far for him to catch up. Knuckles then judged the wind current. Too strong to glide safely, he realised.

Laura manages to catch a hold on the ledge, slowing her descent enough for her to jump onto a small ledge. Lien-Da clings to the rocks some distance below Laura, hanging by her hands and retractable spurs, a trait she inherited from Knuckles.

"Hold on, Laura!" Called Tikal.

The dam of logs breaks; the river suddenly begins to swell to many times its normal flow.

"Knuckles!" Tikal cried. "Knuckles— the river!"

The river was rapidly rushing to fill the canyon. Knuckles leaps from rock face to rock face, trying to reach Laura. Below, Lien-Da hangs precariously from the rock face. Laura is above on the ledge.

"Lien-Da!" She called below. "Give me your hand!"

Lien-Da swipes at Laura, growling. She slips further down the rock face; she glances at the tumbling water and logs below.

"Ahh... ahhh..."

"Lien-Da," She said gently, "come on... I'll help you..."

She slides further down the rock wall, scrabbling for traction on the rock, but is unable to climb up. A change comes over Lien-Da's face; she grins slowly up at Laura.

"No. ...Never!"

She lets go, and falls back-first into the churning water below. The water and logs carry her under, and the flow in the canyon gradually subsides.

Rutan and Riki-Le look down where their mother fell, close their eyes, and let out a sigh.