Once Aldrich saw the mysterious leader, he shot his glare at him.

"You again?"

"Yes, former King Aldrich. Me," the mysterious leader said walking down the aisle.

As the mysterious leader did, shudders of fear were heard from the audience. Most especially innocent children hugging their parents. As for Runa, she had a suspicious look on her face. Hearing a recognition between Aldrich and some... black-hooded person had made her wonder, How did they know each other? Where and when did they meet?

As for Leo, he and Lariel's hands slipped away from each other and turned to Aldrich.

"You know him, father?" Leo asked him.

"Yes, Leo. I know him, yet I never saw his face under the black hood," said Aldrich.

Once the mysterious leader came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, the first thing he replied to him was "Of course not."

Leo, Aldrich and Lariel shot glares at him while letting out an angry growl.

"I know, I know. I'm uninvited. But I have a little gift that will help you celebrate the day your son has his own queen," said the leader.

With that being said, an exclaimed cry suddenly escaped Leo's mouth. "Ow!" His right arm shook whatever is biting him away. And out came the rat, who had bitten Leo. As the rat walked by the leader's side, Leo's left arm held his right upper arm as he grunted in pain. He then, looked over his arm and was horrifyingly shocked to see two red punctured holes. The next thing he felt was kneeling to the ground.

Gasps of horror escaped everyone's mouths. Most especially Sparkles, Clifton, Runa, Solomon, Aldrich, the five chao, Clifton, Bashiri, Billie, the Freedom Fighters and mainly Lariel.

"Oh no!" Billie and Sparkles reacted.

"Mon Dieu!" Antoine reacted.

"Chao-chao!" Rosy said.

"Leo!" they all said as they rose from their seats and ran their way towards him.

Lariel kneeled beside Leo as her right hand laid on his back. The rat was now transformed into Venia herself. After a few other friends ran to Leo's aid, Venia rose into a standing position with an evil smirk as the mysterious leader laughed evilly.

With that, the Freedom Fighters, Aldrich, Solenan, Solomon and mainly the Royal Guardians — except Leo, who's still grunting from the pain on his right upper arm — sent a deadly dagger glare towards Aldrich and Venia.

"You!" Runa and Lariel said in unison.

"Now, you are going to be in the dark side! Just like the Underworlders!" the mysterious leader told Leo.

Now, it was Leo's turn to move his head up, rise into a standing position carefully, but quickly and glared at him deadly. "No! Whoever you are, I will never be in the dark side!"

"Are you sure, young king? Because as your journey in life continues, you will suffer from the venom that can turn you into a mobian with the darkest personality," the leader said.

Leo's glaring expression was turned into a silently shocked expression. His eyes widened and his mouth was still closed.

"Yesssssss," said Venia, with her tongue rattling like any snake can do. "And when you do, there will be no life left in you."

All faces from Aldrich, Runa, the five chao, the Freedom Fighters, Solomon and the Royal Guardians were plastered in horror and shock. You could see Runa with her right fist near her chest as her eyes looked down. Fear and worry struck through Runa after Venia said those words. Tears started filling her eyes, but she managed to hold them in.

"Good luck, Royal Guardians—" the leader said. Then, he turned to the Freedom Fighters. "—and to the Freedom Fighters, too!" He turned to Runa. "But mostly Runa 'cause she might not be ready to play her part," said the leader.

Runa was quite shocked to hear the last sentence from the mysterious leader.

With that, he raised his cape. Before anyone could see the rest of his features, he and Venia disappeared in the black smoke.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

After the disappearance of the mysterious leader and Venia, Leo was immediately taken to the Medical Bay in the Sky Patrol. Aldrich informed the audience that the wedding ceremony is postponed.

Right now, Leo was lying down on one of the beds in Medical Bay. The Freedom Fighters and the Royal Guardians were gathered around as Tails scanned the tiny snakebite on Leo's right upper arm.

"This is a serious situation, you guys. For a shapeshifter like Venia, her venom managed to make it inside his body. So, finding a cure will not be that easy," he said.

"It's true. For a high-classed snake like Venia, this incident is pretty rare, so there's never been a cure," stated Rotor.

"Zat must not to be true! There should be ze cure to heal ze king!" said Antoine.

"He's right, you know! We can't risk losing the current king of the Leone Kingdom!" said Rover.

"I am?" Antoine asked Rover.

"Of course, I'm right! That's our friend we're talking about!" replied Rover.

"Well, according to what I've heard, something about a cure to the venom isn't always the way we think. The one thing that matters is treating the snakebite, even if it's venomous," stated Intellizo.

"Does that mean King Leo is going to turn evil?" Cream asked with tears in her eyes. Her arms were wrapped around Cheese as she said that.

"Choo-choo," Cheese whimpered.

Sally laid a hand on Cream's right shoulder. She smiled reassuringly at her as she said, "He'll be alright, Cream. I'm sure he won't turn evil. Right now, we need to find the cure or perhaps, make one."

"I hope so, Sally," Runa said, her voice slightly cracking and tears filling her eyes.

"Choo-choo," Shania said patting her right shoulder gently.

"Choo-choo," Rosy said with tears in her eyes. Bearace flew beside her and pulled her into a hug. Rosy immediately hugged him back ad tears started rolling down her cheeks.

"Well, hopefully the residents of Shinōkoku will know," said Solomon. "They seem to know more about the kingdoms and this whole land than us. Plus, some residents are famous with healing particles."

"Chao-chao? Chao-chao?" Mystico asked Solomon.

"Mystico is asking if there are other kingdoms besides the Leone Kingdom," Runa translated.

"Of course! Although, you guys haven't been in any yet. Apart from the Leone Kingdom, of course," replied Solomon.

Once Bashiri and Billie heard what he said about Shinōkoku, their heads looked down in sadness. Tears filled their eyes, but they managed to hold them in. The others turned to the two in concern.

"Everything alright, you two?" Bunnie asked them.

"Something wrong?" asked Sonic.

Silence filled the air.

"It's okay. Take your time," said Amy.

It took a few moments before Bashiri finally spoke up. "Shinōkoku... is destroyed."

"What?" Leo asked in quite a shock.

"I'm sorry, your kingdom is destroyed?!" Clifton asked Bashiri in a slightly bigger shock than Leo's.

Bashiri nodded. "A few years ago, the dark lord known as Blake destroyed our kingdom. I tried to get others to safety, but it wasn't enough. After all is in ruins, I had no other choice but to look for another place to live. And that day, I ended up living with Billie in Kung-guó."

Concerned expressions were plastered on their faces. Somehow, the feeling about the dark lord destroying Shinōkoku felt familiar to the Freedom Fighters.

"I'm sorry that happened," Runa apologized in concern.

"Chao-chao-chao, chao-chao-chao-chao?" Bearace asked the two.

"Bearace is asking you if there are still some healing particles now that Shinōkoku is destroyed," Runa translated.

"I'm afraid the particles didn't survive the destruction. But I know someone, whom I think can find the cure to the venom," said Bashiri.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

Soon, in Kung-guó...

As the whole group walked through the gates of Kung-guó, the Royal Guardians — except Runa and the five chao — were not surprised about those features because they've been there before. The others looked around in awe and interest.

"This bamboo forest is beautiful. The village is nice! Everyone is happy here!" Cream complimented.

"Chao-chao!" the six chao agreed.

"This place. Wish I could stay and research during vacation," said Rotor.

"No kiddin'! I wish Espio was here with us. He'd like it here!" said Sonic.

"I'm glad you like it, guys!" said Billie. "Now, let's do less sightseeing and more healing Leo!"

While Runa was looking around with interest, that same strange feeling struck through her once again. For her, it felt like there's still hope. Through someone. And that someone... must be calling her. Mystico was the first to notice and patted her right shoulder. Same goes with Juniper on the other side. "Chao-chao?"

All she could reply was "I'm fine. Thanks."

Bashiri was the second to notice and wondered what's going on with her, but she decided to ask her later because healing Leo from the darkest fate is more dire and important.

Nonetheless, Runa was forced to catch her attention. "Hey, Bashiri?"

Bashiri turned to her.

"Have you ever felt something you feel like you want to do, but cannot explain?" Runa asked her.

"Uh, no. I wish we would like to talk about it, but we have to focus on meeting up with a friend of mine and Billie's. She's a healing expert," said Bashiri.

Runa nodded in reply.

As Billie heard the conversation between the two girls, some kind of gut-feeling struck through him. He felt like he wanted to talk to Bashiri about something important in private, but he's saving it after the whole situation was solved. That's right! He was planning to confess his feelings to Bashiri! But nervousness occurred in him because he didn't want to feel rejection. And so, he chose to focus on healing Leo.

Soon, they have arrived in a place they call the house of healing.

Inside was filled with red posts placed on the walls. Each space between them was around one meter. That space happened to be a translucent light brown window with brown wooden patterns on it. The floor was hardened and wooden and the only things available were a shelf on the far right corner full of glassware (plates, teacups and a few teapots) and a low-leveled table with a teapot at the center and a teacup on each side.

Right behind the table was a female elderly panda with a bun on top of her head and blue eyes. She has a double chopstick-like hairclip on her bun and wears a Chinese red Longpao-like outfit. Upon seeing the group, her delightful expression appeared on her face.

"Oh, Bashiri and Billie! It's so good to see you again!" Then, the panda noticed how many friends they were bringing. "I see you've brought guests."

After introductions of the Freedom Fighters and the Royal Guardians were told, both Bashiri and Billie bowed respectfully at her.

"We're in a desperate, serious situation, Lulu. The king of the Leone Kingdom known as Leonir the Lion has been bitten by a venomous snake," said Bashiri.

Lulu's right fingers covered her mouth in shock. "Oh, that sounds urgent!"

"It's more than that, Lulu. Venia was the one sending venom in his body and we're hoping you know where to find the cure to heal Leo," said Billie.

"Indeed," said Leo taking a few steps forward. Then, he bowed to her respectfully. "As I continue the journey, this infection is worsening me. If we don't act fast, I will—"

It was cut off by a sudden infectious element in his forehead. This caused his left hand to move to his head. His body somehow slouched as he tried to keep his mind in balance. So far, his mind was a bit woozy, but he's still fine. Lariel and Runa immediately rushed to his aid. Lariel laid her left hand on his right shoulder while Runa did the same on the other side.

After a few moments, Leo finally picked up his senses. "Don't worry. I'm fine now."

This brought Lulu into fear as in the history of Mobius, there's hardly any experience like this. With that, the first words escaped her mouth. "I see it. I fear a new darkness is about to rise."

"What new darkness? We all know what happens if the infection worsens even more," said Sonic.

"It's worse than that, Sonic. I'd like the door to be locked and you to gather around me. This topic is no business for anyone else outside my house with you guys as the exception because it's important," said Lulu.

With that being said, everyone looked at each other for confirmation. Sonic shrugged, knowing that there's no other option left. With that, Sally and Amy slid the doors shut and everyone gathered around in a big circle to hear what the topic is all about.