When they reached the apartment complex, Sonic put Amy back down, and they walked the rest of the way. While Amy had moved after the incident with G.U.N., Sonic had remained in his old apartment. Sonic said nothing, as his thoughts were consumed with what the ebony cat had said, as well as the information he was given by the fire chief. Who told them no one was in the building? According to the chief himself, the cat who had spoken to them was not black, like the feline who had trapped Amy. Sonic dug through his memory for a glimpse of a second cat in the building when he was there, but all he could recall were flames, the black cat, and Amy. No second feline existed, even in the corners of his eyesight.

"Sonic!" The cobalt hedgehog came to a sudden stop, looking over his shoulder, where Amy was standing a ways behind him. She had a confused look on her face, and motioned towards a door. "You walked right by your apartment."

Sonic blinked, then shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He blushed a little as he opened the door, motioning for Amy to go in ahead of him. The small living space had not changed at all. It opened directly into the living room, and the furniture was still in exactly the same place. Amy snickered. "I can tell you're a guy."

"Not now, Ames," sighed Sonic, rolling his eyes. "I have to get this blood off my fur before I go insane. I want you to look at this letter and tell me what you think." Amy glanced at the scrap of paper she was given, smudged with a little blood and just as dusty as Sonic was. Upon reading what it said, she gasped and glanced up to ask Sonic where it had come from, but the hedgehog was gone. She released an exasperated sigh. Of course he would leave her with an ominous note stained with blood before taking off. She sat on the couch and placed it on the coffee table, grabbing a pad of paper and a pen from the drawer.

It did not make sense that the sender would revert back to "ransom-note" style communication. With all the technology, it would have been far easier to send an e-mail from a public computer with a random account, or call Sonic's home and leave a voice-altered message. There was absolutely no reason she could think of to send a letter whose characters were cut and pasted one by one. It would have taken far more work and time than any of the alternate methods she could think of. The sender had to have been making a point with this particular method that they could not make in another, easier form.

The cerise female jumped as Sonic entered the living room, shaking the leftover water off of his quills. His emerald green eyes were somber and concerned, which was uncharacteristic enough to throw Amy into a quick explanation before he had to say anything. "I think we should look at the note itself, more than the poem. Start big and go small, y'know?"

Sonic nodded. "Makes sense. Got anything?"

"Not really," sighed Amy admittedly. "All I know is that there's something about the cut-and-paste style of the letter. It seems too old-fashioned and out-of-place. There's no convenience."

"Yeah. Not to mention really cliché."

"Agreed," Amy laughed. "Anyway, I've never been that good at the puzzle solving bit, but I know who is."

"Tails," Sonic chortled, showing the first sign of lightheartedness since the fire. "Of course. I'll call him and see if he can meet us here. Then maybe we can get some answers."

While Sonic walked over to the phone to call the vulpine, Amy glared at the paper, as if that would make the answer obvious. She reread it over and over again, occasionally whispering to herself to see if there was a play on the words. The only thing she found was that the poem did not flow at all. "It's a sucky play on a happy children's poem," she growled.

"Yes, but it's made a point," replied Sonic, entering the room again.

"Tails?" inquired Amy, ignoring Sonic's statement.

"On his way. Now, did you get anything while you were muttering? It was a bit distracting, hearing you reading that over and over while trying to talk to Tails."

"Sorry. The only thing I see is that all the capital letters are the same font."

"So? Times New Roman's pretty popular."

"Yes, it is. Except this isn't Times New Roman."

"You know your fonts that well?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Forget it. If you really want to know, it's Sylfaen. Only used in the Megalo Station Times."

"So it's probably all one headline?" asked Sonic.

"Or a bunch of different headlines. Either way, it has to be from the same newspaper. That could be telling us where these people are."

Sonic nodded, looking at the letter. He snatched up the pad and pen and began scribbling on it.

"What are you doing?" asked Amy, leaning over his shoulder to see. Hastily written on the sheet of paper were the following letters:

I A O U E R F L O T A N N K

"These are all the letters from the Megalo Station Times, according to you," explained Sonic. "If they're all one headline, then they should spell something."

"But we have no clue how many words it is, or whether or not it's the entire headline, or even just one headline!" exclaimed Amy.

"Yeah, I know, but it's a start. And we can at least work on it until Tails gets here."

"I guess," sighed Amy. "I'll make some lunch for us. You get started."

Leaving Sonic with the note this time, Amy scavenged around the kitchen for something remotely edible. "You really should stock up more often," she called.

"I'm rarely here, Ames!" Sonic snapped back, looking at Amy, who was digging through a cabinet.

"No excuse."

Ignoring Amy's nagging, Sonic tried to focus on the letter in his hand. He had to admit, "Iaouerflotannk" wasn't getting him anywhere. Every vowel possible was there, and there was no way to tell how many words they formed. One? Two? More? Eggman had been laying low for a while, and he was not quite so cliché as to send this note. That enemy was out of the question. Sonic sifted through all the enemies he could think of through the years. The list was painfully long. Eggman-Nega, Metal Sonic, Pir' Oth Ix, Chaos, Dark Gaia, Black Doom… there's too many, and none of them would do something like this!

A knock at the door shook Sonic out of his circular argument, and Tails entered without waiting for a reply. The fox smiled cheerfully at the sight of his adoptive brother, and adjusted the small pair of glasses on his muzzle. Apparently, the kitsune had spent a few too many hours poring over blueprints and books in poor light. Even so, it did not deter from the fox's cheerful countenance. "Hey, Sonic! You said something about a puzzle?"

Sonic sighed and motioned towards the paper on the table. "More of a conundrum. But, yeah, we need you. Here's what we have so far…"

And the plot thins... *ahem* Woot! An update! Sorry this took so long. School's starting back, and as much as I hate to say it, it gets priority. Still, both this and Tales of Knighthood will continue to be updated. Just don't expect them to be very steady or anything. Anyway, hope the letter gives you something to chew on 'till the next chapter.

~Wolf~