"Hey Rudy." Tails called through the intercom.

"Yeah?" Rudolph answered.

"Are we getting close?" Tails asked as he stared at an oncoming fog.

"Yes, once we get fully inside the fog, land the plane." Rudolph stated.

Tikal turned back to Rudolph, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Will do." Tails said as he slowed the X-Tornado upon entering the fog. Once landed, everyone jump out the X-Tornado and tried to look around.

"Damn this fog is thick." Sonic sighed, "I can hardly see the nose in front of my face."

"Tell me about." Tails said as he walked next to Sonic.

"So Rudolph," Knuckles began. "Where do we go now? Rudolph…? Rudolph…?" Knuckles began to ask as he looked around causing everyone to follow suit.

"Rudolph!" Tikal called out. "Rudolph! Are you still here!?"

"I'm fine." Rudolph called out through the thick fog. Then slowly, the group saw a dim green light through the fog, and slowly the green light expanded pushing the fog around the group away. Soon the group, though still surrounded by fog, was covered in a lightly green, transparent dome.

"Whoa!" Sonic grinned as he looked around. "What is this?"

"It's a protective barrier." Rudolph said. "But I warn you, you'd do best to stay within my barrier."

"Why?" Tails asked.

"Because," Rudolph began, "This fog isn't ordinary."

"What are you trying to say?" Blaze asked.

Rudolph smirked slightly, "This fog is actually a poisonous gas."

"WHAT!!?" everyone shouted at the same time.

"Poison!?" Knuckles shouted, "All of us were just in this fog a few seconds ago!"

"Why didn't you tell us ahead of time!?" Sonic yelled as he grabbed Rudolph.

"Would you have listen to me?" Rudolph asked with a grin.

"Oh shit we're gonna die!" Sonic yelled as he let go of Rudolph and fell to his knees.

"Rudolph," Tikal began with tears in her eyes, "How long do we have?"

"You don't have to worry, none of you were exposed to the poison long enough for the gas to take effect." Rudolph stated allowing everyone to calm down.

"Wait, so we're going to be ok?" Tikal asked with her smile returning.

"Yeah, just so long as everyone stays in my barrier." Rudolph said as he began to walk with everyone following. "Remember, stay close at all times."

"So then," Sonic began. "Did you set us up like that for a joke?"

"Kinda." Rudolph smirked.

"Glad to see ya lighten up a little." Sonic grinned as he playfully punched his shoulder.

"So… Rudolph, right?" Shadow asked.

"Yeah? What is it?" Rudolph asked.

"This poison… you said it has a delayed reaction… how does it work?"

"Hmm, well it's simple really." Rudolph began. "In order for the gas to take effect, you must spend a lot of time breathing it in or otherwise it won't work."

"How long?"

"2-5 minutes at the longest. But you'll know if it takes effect."

"What are the symptoms?"

"First it feels as if your blood is boiling, then your bones stiffen so you can't move and your throat swells up as well. After that your fur falls off and your skin peels off causing you to bleed from every pour in your body leaving you either to die from loss of blood or suffocation." Rudolph finished leaving everyone in silence.

"So this poison also works as an acid?"

"Yes."

"Hmm. Can this gas ever become a liquid?" Shadow asked intrigued even more than when the conversation first began.

"No, it stays a gas at all times. But the gas is incredibly think so it won't rise even in hot weather."

"Before we leave, I'm going to get a sample."

"WHY!!?" Sonic asked.

"To use on people who piss me off." Shadow grinned leaving Sonic to gulp.

"Sorry, but you're forbidden to take any." Rudolph said as he turned to Shadow. "This poison is one-of-a-kind, if an outside source got a hold of it, they could create a cure and ruin the whole purpose of its creation."

"Fine." Shadow sighed.

"Uh why are we here again?" Sonic asked.

"To hide Tikal from Robotnik." Tails answered.

"Great, leave Tikal here all alone completely surrounded by a poisonous gas to die… yeah… good plan dude." Sonic said sarcastically.

"I never said she would be alone." Rudolph said.

"Really?" Sonic asked, "Who on Mobius could survive in this place?"

"Only one creature that I know." Rudolph said as the group came to a large clearing in the fog. The group saw a very large canyon that stretched for miles with the bottom unseeable due to the fog covering the bottom of the canyon with columns and pillars of stone rising from the fog.

"Whoa, where are we?" Sonic asked.

Rudolph grinned as he stared as the ravine, "The Land of the Vultures."

"Vultures?" Blaze asked.

"Yeah."

"Don't they prey on the un-evolved animals?" Tails asked shaking a little. "And other animals too?"

"Only the dead ones."

"Then why did we bring Tikal here?" Knuckles asked.

"Because, this place is the safest place for her, and besides, my tribe and theirs are on good terms with each other." Rudolph said as he began to glow a bright green color and the group was lifted off the ground by his barrier. "Do me a favor, don't move."

"Why?" Sonic asked as they began to fly to the center of the canyon.

"This technique takes a lot of concentration, and I don't think you want to fall down there."

Everyone looked down at the bottom, "Point taken." Sonic sighed.

Soon the group began to see the small tribe of crows that Rudolph spoke of though no crows could be seen. Once they landed, many crows began to appear as if out of nowhere and surrounded them with spears.

"Wow. What a welcome." Sonic grinned.

"Shut up." Knuckles grunted as he backed away from the spears.

"What? It's just like Hawaii but instead of necklaces made of flowers, they got sharp, pointy spears."

"STATE YOUR BUSINESS!!!" One of the vultures shouted.

"This is MY business!" Rudolph yelled back.

"What!? You TRAITOR!!!" the vulture shouted.

"I'm no traitor!"

"Then why are you here, and why did you bring them!?"

"I… I need your help with the princess from the Northern tribe-" But before Rudolph could finish, vultures begun lunging their spears towards the echidna princess. But Rudolph quickly jumped in front of their paths leaving him to be stabbed through his chest and stomach instead. Tikal stood behind him, staring and crying but then Rudolph rose his right arm then swung it down breaking all the spears. Then he pulled each half that still resided in his body out and threw them to the ground. Rudolph glared at the vultures as his wounds began to heal, "Stand down now." The few vultures that challenged him began to back away slowly.

"Rudolph…" Tikal whispered.

Rudolph turned back to Tikal with a smile, "I'm fine. These wounds will heal in minutes." Having heard that, a smile grew on Tikal's face. Then out of the crowd of vultures, a tall, darker vulture walked up to Rudolph with a smile slowly growing on his face.

"Hello Rudolph." The vulture said with a smile.

"It's good to see you again Lord Mathias." Rudolph said with a smile and a bow.

"I trust you have a good reason for why you've brought these outsiders here to our domain."

"Please I beg you… can you please watch over Princess Tikal until my return." Rudolph asked as he got on his knees.

Mathias quickly glared at Tikal and then looked at Rudolph, "Rudolph, I shouldn't have to remind you of what their tribe did to ours, yours and mine."

"I haven't forgotten."

"Then why?"

Rudolph turned to Tikal, then turned back to Mathias, "She's… different… and… special."

Mathias smiled as he placed his hand on his shoulder urging him to stand. "Fine my boy, we will watch over her."

Rudolph smiled as he and Mathias shook hands, "Thank you."

"Yes, princess!" Mathias called causing Tikal to walk over to the two.

"Tikal," Rudolph said with a smile, "This is Lord Mathias, he has promised to protect you until I get back."

Tikal turned to Mathias and bowed, "Thank-you very much." But then everyone heard a crash come from within a large building. Everyone ran in the build to see a white bat standing over a pile of broken pottery.

"Damnit!" she yelled, "I can't believe there's no treasure here!" the bat turned around to see a group of vultures staring at her. "Whoops! Gotta fly boys!" she said with a smirk as she began to takeoff, but then Rudolph near instantaneously tackled her to the ground and pinned her to the ground by her throat.

"Rudolph!" Everyone called.

"What!?"

"Let go of her!" Shadow called.

"Why should I!?"

"If you don't, I'll kill you!"

"Try it! I'll take you both out!"

"You don't understand dude!" Sonic called out. "She's our friend!"

"Friend!?"

"Yeah so let go of her!"

Rudolph grunted as he slowly released her. She stood there coughing and wheezing,

"What the hell did you do that for!?" She yelled as she tried to kick Rudolph, but he quickly caught her foot and slammed her to the ground again.

"Don't try me." Rudolph grunted. "Male or female, I will kill you, make no mistake."
Rouge rubbed her leg as she stood up, "Hmph! I never thought I'd ever meet an echidna who could take me down."

"You're lucky your friends are here, I WAS about to kill you."

"What were you doing here anyway!?" Shadow asked as he walked up to Rouge.

"She was stealing, what else?" Knuckles said as he shook his head.

"Yeah so what!?" Rouge shouted back.

"So what?" Rudolph asked as he walked towards Rouge. "You just trespassed on The Vulture's Land." Rudolph said as Rouge looked around at all the vultures. "The penalty for that is for them to eat you."

Rouge gulped, "You're joking, right? I'm not even dead yet."

"Yet?" Rudolph asked with a smirk, "Who ever said that they wouldn't kill you first?"

"I can't let them eat me!" Rouge screamed.

"Why not?" Rudolph asked. "They haven't had bat in a long time. I'm pretty sure you taste just as good as you look."

"Come on Rudolph." Tails pleaded. "You're really not going to let them eat her, right?"

"I might."

"But she could help us find Robotnik."

"I DO know where Robotnik is." Rouge jumped in.

"You do, do you?" Rudolph asked as he turned to Rouge.

"Yeah, and if you let me go free, I'll tell you where he is."

"Not bad, but how about this. You tell me where he is, or I'll feed you to them."

"O-o-ok. He's should be about 15 miles northeast from here. He's in a base that floats in the sky, you know, like the Angel Island."

"Fine." Rudolph said as he turned away.

"So I can go free right?"

"Who said that?" Rudolph asked causing Rouge to jumped, "Fine, you can stay with us. But if you cross me, I will kill you. Simple as that." Then Rudolph signaled the other vultures to follow him outside.

"Are you ok?" Shadow asked.

"Yeah… I think so." Rouge said with a breath of relief.

"Heh, I never seen you so scared before Rouge." Knuckles grinned.

"Shut your mouth you knucklehead!"

"How did you get here anyway?" Sonic asked. "Didn't you go through that fog?"

"I could tell it wasn't an ordinary fog. So I just used my wings to blow it away as I walked here."

"Hmm. That's smart." Knuckles nodded.

"Well if I were you," Sonic began, "I'd stay wit us."

"Why!?" Rouge asked shocked. "I need to get as far away from that freak as possible!"

"Remember what he said, if you try to run, he'll kill you. And trust me, he'll keep that promise."

"Fine." Rouge sighed in defeat. "I guess I got no choice then. Shall we go outside?"

"Might as well." Shadow sighed as the group walk out and over to the entrance.

Rudolph grabbed Tikal by the hand and walked her over to Mathias. "Remember, you gave me your word." Rudolph said with a smile.

"Yes you don't have to worry." Mathias responded with a smile.

"Thank you." Rudolph bowed, and then he turned to Tikal, "I-we, won't be long, ok?"

"Ok." Tikal responded with a smile.

"So Rudolph," Sonic called. "You ready to go and find Robotnik or what!?"

Rudolph turned back to Sonic, "Yeah, let's go." But when Rudolph took a step forward, he felt someone grab his hand. He turned to see Tikal staring at him holding him by his hand, and when he turned around completely, Tikal surprised him with a hug. Rudolph stood there stunned for a few seconds, then returned the hugged.

"You'll come back, right?" Tikal asked clutching him tighter.

"Yeah."

"You promise?"

Rudolph paused for a moment, "Yeah, I promise."

Tikal let go of Rudolph and smiled. "Ok, I'll hold you to it."

"Got it." Rudolph smiled, then he turned and walked over to the Sonic and his friends, then they flew off. Once they landed on the outside cliff, the group began to walk towards the X-Tornado.

"So who are you anyway?" Rouge asked.

"My name is Rudolph." He said neither without emotion nor without looking at her.
Rouge waited a few seconds before, "Don't you want to know who I am?"

"You're a thief, there's nothing else needed to know."

"Hey look here you dirt echidna!" Rouge shouted as she jumped in front of him. "I'm much more than a thief!"

"Couldn't care less. Now get out of my way."

"Why should I?"

"Because I'm not your friend, I won't hesitate from ripping your pretty head from your neck." Rudolph said causing her to jump leaving Rudolph to walk by her.

"What's his problem?"

"He doesn't like you." Knuckles stated.

"Why? He doesn't even know me."

"You're a thief. Why would he like you?" Knuckles as he walked past her to stay within the barrier.

"Hmph! Whatever." In little time the group reached the X-Tornado and with Rouge riding on the same wing as Shadow, they were off.