The three friends sat around Sonic's living room, poring over the letter and Tails' scribbled notes. Amy had given up trying to find food in Sonic's vacant house, and relented to ordering a pizza. The cobalt hedgehog seemed the most keen on solving the puzzle before them, but Tails was making the most progress. He pointed to the letters Sonic had written out. "The best way to start solving a scrambled word is to choose common word endings. We have an 'e' and an 'r', which could be an adjective. Harder, faster, things like that."

"The other letters don't let us spell harder or faster, Tails," commented Sonic.

"No, but those were just examples. Here, Sonic, I want you to take the letters and write out all the words you can spell with them. Amy, you look at the poem itself. Try and associate things in the poem with past events or things you have planned."

"What're you going to do?" inquired Amy, taking the letter.

The kitsune grinned. "I'm going to solve it."

Apparently, the challenge triggered Sonic's competitive side. "Oh, yeah?" he growled playfully, glaring at Tails with a glimmer of mischief in his emerald eyes.

"Yeah."

"Oh, it's on!"

Amy, feeling indignantly left out, chimed in: "Whoever solves it first gets the last slice of Vanilla's blueberry cobbler!"

"Hey, that's mine!" objected Sonic.

"Prove it, True Blue!"

Bolting off in different directions, all three of them were determined to solve their part puzzle and claim the last of the creamy, juicy treat for themselves. Tails sat at Sonic's writing desk, glaring at the papers on the table and oftentimes pushing the glasses up on his muzzle. He scribbled quickly and furiously, writing down whatever he felt was important or could prove to be a useful detail.

Sonic had chosen to leave the apartment altogether, running towards a field a few miles away where he could run, think, and write down whatever he needed to on a scrap of paper he had taken with him. Amy was lying on the couch, reading the poem over and over again, hoping to notice something she missed before. They all had the same problem: not knowing what it was they were looking for.

The first one to come up with something was Tails. "Amy, Amy!" he cried, leaping to his feet and racing over to the female. Amy immediately covered her scribble-paper, in case Tails was trying to read her notes.

"What?"

"I know what the headline is! I just have to cross-reference it against Megalo Station Times, to double check if it was an actual headline, and what the article was. I'm gonna go and do that, you stay here and wait for Sonic. I'll call you from Station Square Library, alright?"

"Sure, Tails, but hurry!" Amy watched as the fox bolted out the door, his tails waving wildly with excitement. She turned back to the letter, then nearly smacked herself for her stupidity. She had not thought to ask him what the headline actually was, and now she would have to wait for him to call. Curse my slow reflexes.

***

Tails' sapphire eyes scanned the computer screen, filled with headlines from papers two years back. If there were any significance to this article to the sender, it would probably be here. If not, he would be forced to check the archives. He hoped to avoid that situation. The older library had absolutely no useful search engine, so every headline had to be found manually, the article scanned for information. It was a painstakingly long process that involved numerous breaks for coffee, but it proved fruitful in the end.

"Aha!" exclaimed Tails, clicking the headline of the article he was searching for. He was answered by a chorus of shushing from the other occupants of the library, and he laid his ears back, embarrassed. He gazed at the screen, recognizing the unique Sylfaen font of the Megalo Station Times. His heart skipped a beat when he realized his guess at the headline had only been partially correct. "Luktani of Aeron," his guess, was definitely included, but that was not all of it. Not to mention, the article was very recent. He had not noticed his search had gotten so close to present time. Shaking his head, he focused on the article:

String of Murders Linked to Luktani of Aeron

In a recent chain of events, police in Megalo Station have decided that the murders plaguing the city have the signature of the professional assassins of Aeron. Each site was burned to the ground after the murder, often with a ring of fire still burning around the victim. It was believed Aeron's leader, Luktani, had killed a G.U.N. Special Agent from Station Square, but he returned soon after the cat disappeared. Now, it seems as if the assassins are making a comeback.

Every victim has had the signature of the ring of fire around them, as well as a note left at each site demanding the same Special Agent that was "killed" by Luktani to come to a location that we cannot disclose. G.U.N. refuses to tell us which Special Agent Aeron is after, but they say Luktani herself is nowhere near the city. Megalo Station police assure us they are doing everything possible to prevent another murder. A recent survey suggests that the public would rather have Sonic Kizer Hedgehog going after this killer, but Megalo Station authorities refuse to alert the hero to the issue.

Tails gripped the computer desk tightly, glaring at the screen. Luktani was back, and no one thought to tell Sonic! G.U.N. obviously knew, but did not tell him that there was a deadly killer searching for him specifically! Forcing himself to focus even when he was so angry, Tails printed out a copy of the article and stepped outside the library to call Amy. He paused before he called, gazing at the darkened sky with the pinpricks of light scattered above.

This entire ordeal with Luktani was supposed to be over. Sonic was okay, Luktani had disappeared, and even G.U.N. had been reasonable. At least, they had been with him. For whatever reason, they still refused to work with Sonic and his resignation. Now they refused to tell him about Luktani at all? Surely they had their reasons. He just was not entirely sure what they were yet. Tails sighed. It would all fall into place. Maybe Sonic knew something. With a ray of hope that Sonic could shed some light on the mystery, he dialed the apartment.

It rang twice before the female picked up. "Well? Any luck?"

"Is Sonic back yet?" inquired Tails, ignoring the question.

"Yeah, lil' bro, you're on speaker phone," answered Sonic.

"Good. I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first?"

"Good," stated the two hedgehogs simultaneously.

"Well, the good news is I solved the puzzle and I know how to fix this problem. Kind of."

"And the bad news?" pressed Amy.

"Luktani's back, and she's looking for Sonic."

"What?!" exclaimed Sonic. "What, for the love of Chaos, does she think she's doing?! I told her to stay far away from here!"

"Sonic, calm down," barked Tails. "And what are you talking about? Didn't she almost kill you?"

"Er, uh, yeah," Sonic stuttered, trying to backtrack. He had tripped up over that lie numerous times since Luktani had left, and it was getting harder and harder to keep his promise to Knuckles that their skirmish would be a secret. "But she's looking for me? Personally?"

"Sort of. She wasn't at any of the murder sites herself, but her assassins were. She wants to meet you somewhere, but the article didn't say the exact location. G.U.N. knows, though."

"Dang," muttered Sonic. "Alright. I'll visit with G.U.N. in the morning and see where Luktani wants to meet. Thanks, Tails."

"Anytime, Sonic. Be careful."

"I will."

"Bye, then. And good luck!"