"WHAT!" Pachacamac shouted as he rose from his throne at the two echidnas that stood before him.
"You heard what we said." Rudolph said calmly. "I'm staying with Tikal."
"We love each other father." Tikal said as she took Rudolph by the hand. "I hope you understand."
"Oh I understand alright!" he yelled. "I understand that he has somehow brainwashed you my daughter! But do not worry, you will be separated so that he can never influence you ever again! Guards!" Pachacamac shouted as his solders instantly surrounded Tikal and Rudolph.
"Take this brown echidna away from m daughter at once!"
But before they could take a step, Tikal yelled, "Stay where you are! Do not harm him!"
Every guard looked around at one another before Pachacamac shouted, "What do you think you are doing! You are under MY command! Now seize the brown echidna at once!" And on his command, every guard rushed for Rudolph only to be stopped by a sky blue energy field. When Rudolph turned to Tikal, she was silently praying and glowing the same sky blue color. When she opened her eyes and turned to Rudolph, the two of them smiled at each other and then turned back to Pachacamac.
"Father, can't you see?" Tikal began. "Despite our looks, our ideas, our beliefs, all echidnas are alike. There's no reason for this hatred, this violence, this discrimination. Its time for this to stop once and for all."
"Please Lord Pachacamac, try to understand," Rudolph began. "No matter what our differences, we are the same. Even if we don't seem like it, we are."
"The same!" Pachacamac shouted. "How can…" but then Pachacamac stopped as soon as he noticed the relic hanging from his neck. "The… Chaoskey…" Hearing this, Tikal dropped her barrier. "Explain yourself! How do you have the Chaoskey! That belongs to the Holon family!"
Rudolph looked down at his birth right and he held it in his hand. "This item use to belong to my father."
Pachacamac stopped and stared at Rudolph as if he were in a trance, "You-you're father…? Malark is you're father?"
Rudolph instantly glazed towards Pachacamac, "You know my father?"
"He… he was my closest friend… my best friend… he disappeared so long ago… I never knew he started a family… with the Southern Tribe." Pachacamac spoke quietly as he stared towards the ground.
"See father," Tikal said quietly with a smile as she walked towards he father and hugged him. "Even your closest friend was able to see the good in Rudy's people, don't you think its time for us all to come together as one people and rid of this awful segregation once and for all?"
Pachacamac looked up to his daughter, then to Rudolph. "I… I believe so."
"Then sir," Rudolph began as he knelt before Pachacamac, "Can I ask of a favor?"
Pachacamac looked down to Rudolph and a small smile began to form. "Yes, anything you want my boy."
"Rudolph… where are you?" A black female echidna asked herself as she clutched her chest and stared out into desert as she leaned on a tree.
"There's no way he's alive Queen Diana." One black echidna said as he walked to her side. "We all saw our village, what ever had enough power to do that much damage had enough power to finish him along with it as well." Diana remained quiet, "And either way, I say good reddens. If he wasn't smart enough to leave when he had the chance then he dissevered to die." But the very instant he ended his sentence, he was held up by his throat by the angered female.
"DON'T YOU EVER SPEAK OF MY SON IN SUCH A WAY EVERY AGAIN! UNDERSTAND!" She shouted with the male nodding in fright. "Good." She said as she dropped the echidna. But as the echidna knelt on the ground coughing, his glaze instantly turned to the desert. When she followed his glaze, she saw what looked like an army of Northern Kingdom solders heading straight for them.
"How! How did they find this place!" The male echidna asked as he stood up.
"It doesn't matter, assemble the troops! If they want a war, then they got one."
Before long, the Southern Tribe's army was ready to face the on coming threat with their queen leading them. But as they began to close the gap, though Diana is unable to sense Chaos Energy, she could feel a familiar presents, and as she peered closer to the on coming army, she could see her son, Rudolph leading them. Diana instantly dropped her weapon and ran as fast as she could to her son, pulling Rudolph into her arms in tears. "Rudolph! I knew you were alive."
"Yeah mom, I'm just fine." Rudolph said as he returned the hug. "And look what I got." Rudolph said as he pulled away from his mother to show her the Chaoskey.
"That's my son. You would make your father very proud." But then Diana turned to the army behind Rudolph. "Rudolph, why are they here?"
"Lord Pachacamac wants a truce. This unarmed army is a sign of peace. Its time that we rejoined our two tribes into one."
"Really?" Diana asked in disbelief.
"Yes." But then the two were cut off by the sound of the screaming warriors as they charged for the unarmed Northern Kingdom army.
"STOP!" Diana shouted causing her army to cease running.
"Why did you order us to stop!" one echidna shouted.
"These people didn't come here for a fight. They want peace."
"They must be lying!" but then everyone noticed Rudolph standing in front of the army. "See! I knew it! He's betrayed us and now he wants to kill us all!" The leader shouted as everyone yelled with him and charged for the army of solders. But as they got close, suddenly a green transparent wall shot from the ground skyward preventing the armies from making contact.
"ENOUGH!" Rudolph shouted causing everyone to settle down. "Look! No one is fighting today! Its time that we stopped this idiotic and pointless violence once and for all! Can't you see, everyone… every single person behind me came here of their own free will with no weapons and no tricks to offer peace. We may be different due to our ideas, beliefs, and even our fur color, but in the end, we all live life the same way, to live a life of happiness and peace. We all want to end this, but let's end with peace instead of violence." Everyone stared at Rudolph as he slowly let down the barrier and they slowly loosened their forms. And just that moment, the remaining Southern Tribe members slowly made their way to the large crowd and a small black echidna child ran up to one of the warriors and stared at him. The warrior looked down at the child and slowly picked him up.
"Hello there." He said with a smile, "Do you want to go home?" The child smile and responded with a nod.
Rudolph couldn't help but smile and then he turned back to his people, "Now do you see? It's time that we went home, all of us."
Tikal's sight didn't leave the front gate as she awaited for Rudolph's return. As she waited, Sonic and his friends walked over to Tikal. "Hey Tikal." Sonic called, "What's up?"
"I'm just worried about Rudy." Tikal said without turning her attention from the desert.
"I'm sure he's fine." Knuckles said as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "After all, it's barely past noon. It'll take awhile before he returns."
"But what if his people don't want to come?" Tikal asked as she stared towards the ground. "What if they shunt him like they did in the past?"
Sonic just grinned, "I wouldn't worry if I were you."
"What do you mean Sonic?" Tikal asked as she turned to the blue hedgehog.
"Just look." Sonic grinned as Tikal turned her attention to the incredibly large crowd of echidnas heading towards the kingdom.
"Looks like he did it." Tails said as he peered out onto the desert.
"Damn! That's a lot of people!" Sonic cooed.
"It doesn't matter." Knuckles grinned, "We have enough room here to fit them all."
"That's good to hear." Then Sonic turned to Tikal, "Aren't you gonna go get him?" Tikal turned to Sonic with a smile and then ran towards the crowd.
"Rudolph!" Tikal called as she ran into the echidna's arms.
"Hey remember what I told you." Rudolph said with a smile.
"Oh yes, Rudy." Tikal responded with a smile.
"Rudolph," Diana began as she stared at Tikal. "Who is she?"
Rudolph turned to his mother with a smile, "This is the princess of the Northern Kingdom. Her name is Tikal."
Diana just stared at the two, "Why is she holding you?"
Instantly, both Rudolph and Tikal began to blush, "Well mom, I… well we're… together."
"I see…"
"Are you mad?"
"Not at all." Diana replied with a smile. "I'm glad you've finally found someone to spend the rest of your life with."
Tikal could help but smile as she tightened her hold on Rudolph, "Thank you so much."
Rudolph just smiled as he walked to the entrance with everyone following him. Once he reached the main gate, he could see Sonic and the others waiting for him, "What are you guys doing here?" Rudolph asked with confusion.
"Waiting for you, what else?" Sonic said with a grin.
"I'm surprise you didn't leave by now."
"Heh, as soon as this treaty goes through, I'm out of here. I hate staying in one spot for too long."
"Heh well then good reddens." Rudolph replied with a grin matching Sonic. Then Rudolph turned to his mother, "Pachacamac is expecting us, we shouldn't be late." Then everyone made their way through the streets of the kingdom until they came to the entrance of Pachacamac's castle with Tikal, Rudolph, and his mother entering the building. As the three entered, Pachacamac stood waiting for them standing in front of a desk with a piece of paper on it.
As Diana walked up to Pachacamac, she herself noticed the document on the desk and stared at Pachacamac, "What is this?"
"This… is an agreement, stating our alliance."
Diana stared at Pachacamac before she sighed, "Fine. It seems fair enough." But before she could reach for the paper, a green energy ball shot the treaty, igniting it on fire. When everyone turned to the direction where the shot originated, they could see Rudolph holding his hand towards the desk.
"Rudy," Tikal began as she looked towards him, "Why did you do that?"
"There's no reason for it."
"What are you talking about?" Pachacamac asked as he stepped towards Rudolph. "That treaty was suppose to be our sigh of peace."
"If you really want to establish peace, then some stupid peace of paper isn't going to change anything. We need just need to get rid of this idiotic segregation and announce our reunion and peace with one another."
Pachacamac and Diana stared at one another before they turned to Rudolph, "Will do it your way then."
"Good, is there a way to get everyone to come to the palace gates as soon as possible?"
"Actually everyone should be outside right now."
"Really?"
"Yes, I made an announcement for everyone to report here so I can present the treaty."
"Well its time you made a new announcement. Don't you agree?"
"I guess I have no choice." Pachacamac said with a smile as he walked over to the front door with Tikal following him.
"You know," Diana began. "You're not a bad diplomat. You'll be a great ruler one day."
"I just want what's best for my people, it's what dad would want."
"And now you're making his dream a reality." Diana said as she hugged he son. "I know he would be so proud of you."
"Thanks mom." Rudolph said with a smile as he returned the hug. "We should be out there."
"Then let's go bring your father's dream to life." Diana said with a smile as she and Rudolph walked out the doors to see every echidna of all colors, shapes and sizes, all waiting for Pachacamac to speak.
"Everyone silence!" Pachacamac called with everyone slowly soon becoming quiet.
"Father," Tikal whispered. "You didn't have to be so rude."
"Sorry. Everyone, thousands of years ago, our tribe stood together as one, one passion, one single heart beat, and yet we let our ideas or religion fuel our rage and desire to hurt one another and force ourselves away from each other until we ended up where we are today, on opposite sides. Now though we still share the anger and hatred that our ancestors had for each other, we can not forget that we all came from the same place, even if you won't emit it even to yourself, every single echidna here knows that we all are just alike. So let's start a new era, one where despite our different ideas, we can and will except and understand one another. Its time that we all rejoined as one race, one kind…" Then Pachacamac turned to his daughter, "… We owe it to each other and our children to give them as much happiness as possible, from now on, we ARE one race, one tribe once again." After Pachacamac finished, though it remained quiet throughout the kingdom, there was a warm feeling that everyone could feel as they looked at their counterparts and like Pachacamac said, slowly growing to understand each other though no words were being exchanged. "Now I think we should celebrate the reunion of our tribe."