"Runa."

Runa's eyes opened to a sudden whisper that's calling her all of a sudden. She slowly got back up on her feet and her hand reached her forehead to support her blurry vision. She found herself in a dark room. No person, no thing, no animal, no place, nothing. She was confused by the sound she just heard. Where did it come from?

"Runa."

It's that sound again. Runa immediately whipped around to where the sound came from. What's going on? What's happening? Why was she hearing this whisper all of a sudden?

"Runa."

This time, when Runa heard a whisper, she started analyzing it. This voice was as calm as her father's, but it's also deep like Shadow's. Not only that, but overall, it had a hint of a deep, raspy voice. She didn't know why, but it felt so... unfamiliar, but at the same time, it was.

"Connect with him."

Connect with him? What does that even mean? Who's the "him" the voice is talking about? Runa thought.

Then came another sentence.

"Stay strong."

Before things started to get confusing, a hand forced Runa to wake up.

The scene switched to reality where Runa's eyes shot open. The first thing she saw was a black blur with the brown blur beside it. As she fluttered her eyes to see better, a certain young, enthusiastic voice called out to the others, "Guys, look! She's awake!"

Runa noticed that everyone else gathered around to see if she's okay. All including Leo, Clifton, Sally, Bunnie, Antoine and Lariel. The ones who were mostly up close were Shadow and Leo.

"Runa, are you alright?" Shadow asked her.

Runa groaned as she slowly rose into a sitting position. Her hand reached her forehead to do so to help recover her dizziness.

Once Runa's in her sitting position and her dizziness was recovered, she managed to answer Shadow's question, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Oh, thank goodness," Amy said, sighing in relief.

"How long have I been out?" Runa asked

"You've been unconscious for three-in-a-half hours," answered Rouge.

"Three-in-a-half hours?" Runa asked in confusion.

"Affirmative. We were taken to a place far away from Central City," she heard Omega's robotic voice.

That's when Runa turned to look at her surroundings. The walls were made of sunbaked stone bricks. Their color is like sand in the desert. Between them were a few small pieces of vines. Some long ones were hanging from the ceiling. She looked up and saw the details of the ceiling. It's shaped like a dome like the ones she saw in the mall that she and her adoptive family were always going to. It's also the same color as the sunbaked stones. As for the floor... well, let's just say it's hard for a person to sleep on. The tiles on the floor are a bit darker shade of peach. Right before her was an opening. Filled with aligned iron bars.

Wait. Are we... imprisoned? Runa thought.

As for the chao, Team Dark, the humans, the Freedom Fighters and the Royal Guardians, they're the ones looking over to see if she's still okay.

Everyone gave Runa some space, so that she could slowly get back up on her feet. And so, she did. Then, her hands dusted off her clothes as a curious question popped in her head.

"And one question. Where are we?"

"I dunno. Feels like we've never been here before," said Clifton.

Sonic shrugged. "Yeah, I could say the same."

"All of us have never been here before," stated Lariel.

"Indeed," Antoine said.

Nicole, who had gone out of Sally's handheld computer before she passed out, spoke to the others. "I'm not sure where we are either, but I think we're in a place where there's no technology." Her head lowered down in sadness. "I... couldn't find a way to make contact with our allies."

Sally laid a hand on Nicole's shoulder. "It's alright, Nicole. We'll find a way out of here."

"I hope so," Nicole replied.

"Chao-chao. Chao-chao-chao-chao-chao. Chao-chao-chao-chao-chao-chao-chao-chao," said Shania.

"Chao-chao-chao-chao, chao-chao-chao-chao-chao-chao. Chao-chao-chao-chao-chao, chao-chao-chao," said Mystico.

The rest of the chao nodded in agreement. "Chao-chao."

"So what is this place your chao friends are talking about?" asked Tails.

"Shania said it's true. This place is known to be a secret territory no one wants us to pass. Anyone who intrudes it will receive disastrous consequences," Runa translated. "And Mystico said we don't know the name for sure, but everything they said is all I know. Same goes with everyone who's heard of it. The rest of the chao agreed with them."

"Don't tell anyone about your events here..." a female high raspy voice says.

All heads whipped around to see some kind of alien they've never seen before. Her skin is magenta and translucent. She has golden brown eyes and wavy purple hair. She wears a samurai-like helmet with a palm leaf. The stem is glued at the center of it. Her outfit is more like someone living in the wild with a belly top made of a leopard's skin and skirt made of leaves. Her helmet is made of bamboo and leaves. In her right hand is a spear made of bamboo, with a magenta, crooked, diamond-shaped crystal placed on top.

The same raspy voice was heard as the glow around her suddenly appeared,"...But you're in the land of Langcomns."

"Langcomn? What's that?" Intellizo asked in confusion.

"Oh, that's right. You didn't know," said the leader.

"Don't know what exactly?" asked Sonic.

"We have a territory that's been kept secret for over a thousand years. Not even a single person knows this place. That is until that meddling scientist came in and stole the sacred artifact we must protect," she explained.

"Could that be Eggman?" Rover asked Bashiri.

"I'm not sure. We can't jump to conclusions that quickly," answered Bashiri.

"Yeah, I agree," Rotor said.

Once Shadow heard the words "sacred artifact," a thought immediately ran through his head. The Amulet of Communication.

"That's right. The Amulet of Communication. It allows the user to communicate with other people, and creatures big and small. Even those who wanted to explain, but they couldn't. Its purpose is exactly the same as us, but it can only seek souls when you need it. Especially in extreme cases. Which is why it must not fall into the wrong hands. And now, it comes to our attention that you're the one stealing it."

"What?!" Tails reacted in shock.

"Excuse moi?" Antoine said, offended.

"Ya sure about wanting to make us criminals? We'd never done a thing like stealing that sacred artifact you have," Bunnie said.

"I agree with my wife here," Antoine said. "We have not done such a thing as zis."

Sally rose into her standing position and raised her hands up in defense. "Whoever your name is, I'm sure this is a big misunderstanding."

"Yeah, a big misunderstanding!" Amy and Bubbles exclaimed in unison, agreeing with Sally.

"Oh, and just in case you didn't know, I'm Langua. Current chief of the Langcomns. You were imprisoned because we learned the one thing about this meddling scientist," she said.

"What's that?" Amy asked.

"It's none of your business," answered Langua, then her eyes were directly on Runa, "But you're coming with me."

Just as Runa was about to ask why, a force pulled Shadow to run in front of her and went into his protective position much to Team Dark, the chao, the humans, the Freedom Fighters and the Royal Guardians' surprise.

A teasing chuckle was heard from Langua, "Not to worry, lover boy. I'll take care of her just as you will eventually take care of her."

Everyone else's — except Shadow's — surprised expressions shot their directions towards him. You can see Runa's eyes widening in surprise while also feeling a blush creeping on her cheeks.

"Lover boy?!?!" they — except Shadow — all reacted. Although, you can hear Runa stuttering a bit at the start of the sentence.

As for Shadow, his eyes widened in quite a shock on how much Langua knew about the new feeling inside of him. Then, his head shook in denial. "No. I'm not like that. I just don't want her to get hurt."

"You think so? If you ask me further, again, it's none of your business. Come with me, Runa. We'll talk more about our history," said Langua.

"No. I won't let you do that to her," said Shadow.

"Didn't I tell you that I will take care of her just like how you will take care of her? I promise you that I'll keep her safe from harm."

"How do I know if we could trust you?" Shadow asked Langua.

"The amulet and I are one. I can sense everything in that amulet. Not only that, but there's still at least some power inside of her that I keep connecting with. I prepare her extra power just in case the amulet is lost, but it won't last long. But now, we are all connected in one power. In short, I trust her and she should trust me."

Just as things are about to get wrong, Runa laid her hand on Shadow's left shoulder. "It's okay, Shadow. I'll be careful with her," she said softly.

"You're not going to regret your decision, are you?" asked Langua.

Runa turned to Langua and shook her head.

Runa gently slipped her hand away from Shadow allowing him to face her. But he didn't. Instead, he never made a single move.

Shadow didn't know how to respond to Runa's sudden physical touch on his shoulder. No one had dared to touch him apart from Rouge and Maria and he felt fine with it. But with Runa, it crossed his mind to stop her from doing that, but his gut told him to do nothing with her. A strange feeling was developing inside of him again, but he brushed that off, ignoring it as a result.

"Are you really sure you're gonna accept Langua's decision?" Sally asked Runa in concern.

Runa turned to Sally to give him an answer, "I have no other choice, Sally. But don't worry. Langua and I are one. Our powers are the same. According to my gut-feeling, she would never intend to hurt me."

"That's right. Now, any last words before coming with me?" asked Langua.

"Affirmative," answered Omega. Then the next words Runa was going to hear directly shot through her. "Stay safe out there. If you need any backup, we'll be on our way."

"Omega's right. We'll always be there for you whenever you're around us or not," Rouge told Runa.

"I could say the same with Rouge and Omega," said Bashiri.

Then all of a sudden, Runa was engulfed in a hug by Clifton and all her five chao friends.

"No! Don't go, Runa!" Clifton told her.

"Chao-chao!" the five chao said. Rosy's tears started to roll down her cheeks as she thought it was time to say goodbye to Runa.

"Okay... Take it easy. Can't breathe."

"Oh, right. Sorry, Runa," said Clifton as they unwrapped their arms around Runa. "My bad."

Sara folded her hands and a pleading expression appeared on his face. "Don't go, Runa! You're one of our best friends!"

Bubbles did the same. "Yeah, please, don't go!"

"You're the only family we have!" Lucy exclaimed, holding Junior in her arms.

"Woona!" Junior exclaimed.

"Don't worry—" Runa said as she turned to the following mobians, humans and chao. "—Sara, Clifton, Bubbles, Lucy, Junior, Rosy, Bearace, Mystico, Juniper and Shania. It'll only be temporary. I'll come back for you soon, okay?"

"Please do!" Bubbles said in a mix of worry and sadness.

"Of course."

Rover approached Runa. "Take care of yourself."

"Stay safe out there, Runa," said Billie.

"Be careful out there," said Tails.

"Stay cool, Runa!" Sonic said, giving Runa a thumbs up.

Others — except Leo and Lariel — gave Runa reassurance and encouragement. Words like "Stay safe," "Please, come back, safe and sound" and "Be careful" were heard.

"I will. You too," Runa replied to them.

Then, Runa's body turned to Leo and Lariel waiting for their final words to her.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Runa. I just want you to come back safe and sound," said Lariel.

"Don't worry, Lariel. Like I said, I have no other choice. I'll come back safely soon, okay?" Runa asked her in a reassuring voice.

"Okay."

Tears were starting to fill Leo's eyes. He looked down and sighed in defeat. Well, not exactly defeat. He was about to lose his only student apart from his adoptive son, Clifton. Lariel was the first one to notice. Her right hand was laid on Leo's right shoulder to give him silent comfort.

Then, Leo looked back up at Runa, his tears still filling his eyes. "I could say the same as the rest of us. Come back safely, Runa."

Runa nodded in reply, "I will."

When Runa turned to Shadow, she saw the mix of emotions in his eyes as he was about to lose her just as he lost his special friend. Concern, sadness, worry, and worst of all, fear.

With that, Runa ran towards him and wrapped her arms around him, "Don't worry, Shadow. I'll be there for you. Even when you're alone."

Shadow was tensed when he felt her arms wrapped around him. Apart from Amy hugging him from behind, mistaking him as Sonic, he had never felt arms wrapped around his body before. Shadow had nothing to do with it now that Runa's hugging him, but after a few moments, he wrapped his arms around her, too.

The next thing Runa heard from him was his concerned voice, "Be careful out there."

"I will. You, too," she replied as they broke away from the hug.

Then, Runa's body turned to the cell door. Langua used her electric spear to open up the cell door. A big bang was heard, then as it opened, there came a loud squeak ringing in everyone's ears. Then, her hand gestured for Runa to come out.

Runa nodded indefinite response knowing it's now or never and that she couldn't turn back.The next thing she did was to walk out of the big cell.