Langua started touring Runa around the whole Langcomn land. As Runa looked around its surroundings, she saw that the other Langcomns were wearing clothes made of leaves, leopard's skin and bamboo as suspected, but not in the way she thought. Runa could tell who's male and who's female. Not just by the hair, but it's also the clothes and they both have different natural looks.

For the males, each has a jacket and shorts with traditional colors. When you look beyond where the clothes come from, it's actually made from a sheep's wool. They also wear samurai-like helmets with two leaves at its front center. You see, the leaves at the front center represent their gender. As for the looks, you can see two tusk-like bug teeth in their lower lips. The biggest ones come from the male chiefs of the Langcomns. Their helmets have five leaves at its front center.

For the females, you already know the looks of them when they become chiefs. As for the citizens, they're wearing clothes made out of leaves and leopard's skin. Their helmets have one leaf at its front center.

As Langua and Runa walked around the land, it's finally time to have a chance to look at Runa's surroundings. Village houses on the ground, cottages in between them, a small garden with handy tools and even the training session where they have to learn to be military guards of this place were scattered around this place.

Once they're far from the village, Runa was introduced to a cave. And inside the cave... was a magenta glowing beast. As Runa examined the details, she saw that it has a lion's body. Its head is more of a beast from popular fantasy stories. It has two horns on its head and fangs appear in its teeth. This place is served for those who violate the rules in the Land of Langcomns and when they're guilty of their wrong doings, especially extreme ones.

Langua and Runa moved on to the chief's palace. This is exactly how it all started. To Runa, this palace doesn't look like they're royalty in fantasy stories, but that's okay because — well, what could she say? It's the Langcomns they're talking about!

The tour started on the second floor where Runa got to see what the bedrooms look like. Turns out, it has at least five bedrooms. One for the male and female chiefs and the others for their children. Each of them is filled with luxury and at the same time, traditional and simple things are decorated. Runa was impressed at those designs. They're well-balanced when it comes to decorating your home, especially in your bedroom.

Soon, Langua and Runa moved on to the last two destinations. One of them is the throne room. It's a big room, but everything's all blank except the throne before them and the mats on each side. This allows the Langcomns to sit down in any form they want. If someone needs a chair, they need to get permission from the chief's advisor. The throne has different shades of brown and it's made of wood. In its left armchair, when you press one button, a cylinder-like post rises up. The post has a lateral line running across it. This indicates that the top part is actually a lid. And when you open it, there's glass underneath.

"This is where we usually keep the amulet," Langua told Runa.

Runa turned to her in a mix of confusion and surprise. "Really?"

"Yes. Our very first chief made an idea about it. It's the one way to keep it safe from the evil hands."

Soon, Langua and Runa moved on to their last destination. The dining room. Inside, it's like holding a banquet. Runa could tell by how long the rectangular table is. About 5 meters. Runa had to sit down for lunch along with Langua since it's almost twelve o'clock in her communicator. The maids were ordered to give a few dishes to the prisoners since they're a few of those Runa was happy with. In addition to that, her male advisor was requested to go with them, too.

Lunch was served.

Right before Runa was a bowl of seasoned soup. Made from sliced cabbage, minced vegetables, a teaspoon of minced tamarind, a pinch of minced chili and a pinch of palm sugar. Runa scooped up the small amount of broth and blew it gently. Then, once she felt like it's getting warmer, her spoon reached her lips and the soup entered her mouth. You couldn't miss the surprised look on Runa's face with her mouth closed as she'd never had a taste of soup like this before.

They both ate in silence until Runa raised her hand to ask Langua in a soft voice, "This may seem a bit... intense, but who's the meddling scientist you're talking about?"

Langua sighed in response. Then, the next words she could hear from her... was the complete history.

"It all started out over a thousand years ago..."

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

Meanwhile...

Clifton and Sonic were seen walking around randomly while kicking stones nearby them. Their hands were behind their backs. Then, in a few seconds, Clifton was seen yawning with his left hand covering his mouth. Omega was seen keeping Clifton company since — in my opinion — he's the valuable member of Team Dark.

Leo and Lariel were seen sitting on the ground with his legs crossed. Leo had a humble expression on his face while Lariel had a concerned look on her face. This indicated that she was wondering what was going to happen to Runa. Same went with Sara, Lucy and Bubbles. Surrounding them were the five chao keeping them company, thus giving Lariel some reassurance. Bearace was also seen yawning with his right arm.

"My calculations state you are bored," Omega told Clifton.

"Of course, I'm bored! We've been waiting for Runa for more than ten minutes!" said Clifton.

"Yeah, no kidding. Who knows what would happen to Runa?" Sonic asked.

"For the last time, Sonic. Please! Keep your shoes on!" Amy said.

"Patience, Clifton and Sonic. If you have faith, you'll know Runa will come back safely sooner than you think," said Leo.

"I am having faith! But I feel like it's fading away!" Clifton told Leo.

"Yeah, same here," Sonic said.

"Let's keep our hopes up, Clifton and Sonic. If I feel like something bad is happening to her, we'll call her," said Lariel.

"I was about to say the same thing, Lariel," Nicole said, smiling at Lariel.

Lariel turned to Nicole, surprised. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Well, you're in luck. You should go tell the same thing to Bearace," said Clifton, his eyes gesturing to Bearace.

As Bearace heard his name, his head immediately whipped in Clifton's direction, then Leo and Lariel's. Then, the same process happened. Back and forth. After a few times, you can see a surprised expression on his face.

"Chao, chao?"

"Well, obviously. You feel the same thing as Sonic and I do when nothing serious is happening. Well, for me, I get to have fun when nothing serious is happening, but when it comes to free time..." Clifton sighed in exhalation. "I didn't know what else to do except sitting around."

"Chao-chao-chao-chao, chao-chao-chao, chao-chao. Chao-chao-chao-chao-chao, chao-chao-chao," said Bearace. Roughly translated, "You're probably right about that, but I'm sure Runa will come back safely soon. We just have to keep our hopes up for our friend."

"Too bad we don't have Runa here. Makes me wish she could teach one of us how to speak chao," said Intellizo.

"I'm sorry, Intellizo, but she can understand any language in her amulet. There's no other language teacher apart from that," said Billie.

"Makes me wish we brought Cream along. But then again, she and the others are guarding the Sky Patrol," Sally said.

"Yeah, no kidding," Amy said.

Clifton then, turned to Lariel with a concerned look on his face. "Guess you're worried about her, too, huh?"

You can hear a sigh of worry escaping her mouth. "Feels like it. Something tells me something bad is gonna happen to Runa. At the same time, I have to keep up my faith that she'll come back safe and sound."

"Yeah, I'm starting to think of the same thing," said Clifton.

As for Rouge, she was standing behind Shadow with her hands on her hips. Shadow was seen standing there with his arms crossed. By his facial expression, the public could tell that his expression was blank, but in reality, he was thinking of what would happen to Runa when she got out of the cell.

Little did he know, the maids had served lunch to the whole group in the cell. Just as Rouge was about to speak to Shadow, she heard a bang on the cell door and lunch had arrived. She turned her head to the cell door and a grateful smile appeared on her face.

"Ah, looks like lunch is ready," Rouge said as she slightly turned her head to Shadow. "You'd be welcome to join in, Shadow."

Just as Shadow was about to speak up, a new voice joined in. "Perhaps, you might wanna have time to listen to our origins."

This time, everyone's heads — including Shadow's — turned to the door cell to see the same male advisor Langua ordered him to go with the maids.

"I'm Comono. Langua's younger brother and trusted advisor," he said.

After a few moments of deep thought, Shadow finally agreed to join the others for lunch.

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

Back with Runa and Langua...

"We used to live on another planet. And on that planet laid an orb buried underground. With this orb, we're able to understand each other. In addition to that, as I said before, we naturally have the same powers as yours," Langua said to Runa.

Back with the Comono and the others...

"But each of us have a unique ability that can only be used when needed. I have the power to transfer thoughts into anyone's minds, Langua has the power to see things through the Amulet of Communication," Comono said to the Royal Guardians, the Freedom Fighters and the humans.

With Langua...

"And you, Runa, have the power to seek souls when needed. But then, something tragic happened."

With Comono...

"Our planet was destroyed by the black hole. We lost our homes. We lost our needs. And worst of all, we lost everything. But we, the remaining Langcomns, had evacuated to the ship created by our own technology. The remains of the orb, food and water were with us, too. We all worked together to find a home to stay in."

Back with Langua...

"Until, finally, we encountered a part of this jungle where we allowed ourselves to make food from edible plants surrounding it. We made this place our home. This place, which we're currently in right now."

Back with Comono...

"For many years, we spent time building our homes. At the same time, some of the orb was used to forge into a sacred artifact."

With Runa...

"The Amulet of Communication?" Runa asked Langua.

"Yes, Runa. The Amulet of Communication. The very first chief named it. We made a promise to protect the amulet from the wrong hands. And we've been keeping that promise for years. Until one day..."

Back with Comono...

"Professor Lucas came in from another land to this one and asked for the amulet. Langua got so mad she ran off to her own bedroom. That time, I got to hear the rest of the details."

"Wait, Professor Lucas? Who's he? What are those details?" asked Sonic.

Just as Comono was about to speak up, a female seductive voice caught everyone's attention. "That can wait."

Everyone turned their attention to where the voice came from. Right before their eyes was a red-orange hare with a darker shade of red on it. She has brown fur on top of her head and her muzzle is light yellow-orange. Same goes with the interiors of her ears. She also has yellow eyes and wears a black gothic-edgy-like outfit.

She wears a belly top with sleeves that reach up until a spot near her elbows. She also wears fingerless gloves, leggings and leather shoes with its soles capable of making no noises. Her fluffy tail can also be seen through the hole in her leggings.

The back of her left hand was on her hips. Her right arm was stretched down to the ground and her hand could be seen stretching her fingers out. Her legs were crossed. An evil seductive smirk appeared on her face. And her eyes were looking straight at Shadow.

"'Cause I'm here to rescue all of you. Especially you, handsome~"

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

Back with Runa, her shocked eyes shot their directions towards Langua. No. No, it can't be him. He's a gentle and caring scientist to all of us. Plus, he treats me like a real father. There must've been a big misunderstanding at that time.

"And now, we're out there, hunting for the amulet. I'm yearning to get it back, for I made a promise to protect it from evil. The others are hesitant, but I keep telling them to focus on this mission," concluded Langua.

That's ridiculous. Please, stop getting carried away, Runa thought. Then, the rest of those words were said out loud. "Listen to me, Langua. I know there's some big misunderstanding when it comes to the Amulet of Communication," she said, her eyes reverting to her amulet, then back to Langua. "Maybe you might wanna look carefully, put pieces of a puzzle together and figure things out, not jumping to conclusions."

"I'll try, Runa. Sometimes, things that go my way can get completely carried away," said Langua.

After a few moments of silence, the new feeling struck through Runa again. Some gut-feeling told her she needed some information about what this new feeling was.

"Hey, Langua. Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course! Ask away!" replied Langua as she sipped another spoonful of soup in her mouth. Quietly.

"Well, there's some kind of strange feeling I've been feeling whenever I see Shadow. It's like I'm predicting something I thought it's not correct, but it is. For example, I feel like Shadow's gonna use Chaos Control on Pound the Tiger, but it's blocked by Eclipse. And the moment I feel it... it's like I've been feeling whatever he's feeling without even sensing it on purpose. Have you or any other Langcomns experienced that?"

Langua's eyes widened in quite a shock. After she sipped another spoonful of soup, she had a smile on her face. "That's a good question, Runa. That, my friend, is how the Langcomns breed. They feel what the other feels and does."

Runa's eyes widened in astonishment and realization. Her hands covered her mouth with a blush furiously igniting on her cheeks. "You mean... like finding a soulmate?"

"Something like that. That is a unique way of romance for the Langcomns," Langua answered.

Runa was speechless. Her hands slowly laid on her lap. In all honesty, since she heard about the unique way for the Langcomns to find their soulmate, she's not even sure if she's part of the species while being a hedgehog at the same time. Just like how Shadow is part hedgehog and part Black Arm.

Before Runa could start wondering, a faint sound of the helicopter rang in her ears.