Breaking the Case

"Are you kids going to be alright ok your own? The library is supposed to be closed."

Penny had agreed to drive her kids, Ultra Magnus, and Tanya to the blocked off library. Although her maternal senses were tingling, she trusted that Optimus would keep them safe. After all, trust works both ways.

"We will be fine carrier. The team just needs to investigate the premises for clues." Optimus said, getting nods from the rest of them. "It should only take us a few hours."

"It's 2:30 now, but I have to be home by 5. Thanks again Miss Drake for driving me home." Tanya thanked the matriarch of her friends.

Penny waved her hand, smiling. "It's the least I can do since you get along so well with Optimus. You kids be careful out there." She unlocked the car door as they toppled out. "And Mags, please don't tell your mother that I let you go inside a condemned building. The last thing I need is for her to knock down my door and scream in my face about how I am irresponsible."

Ultra Magnus nodded. "You have my word Auntie."

The group stood at the steps of the library, faces full of confidence. This was it, they were going to go and investigate the premises. Tanya pulled out her flashlight and clicked it on.

"Alright everyone, let's go over the plan. Soundwave, hack the computers to get into the surveillance system. Starscream, you take the skies and see what you can find. Magnus, check the ground to find any clues. Optimus and I will look around the front. We will come back and converge in an hour or so." Tanya instructed before walking off in another direction. "See you then!"

The others looked at Optimus who was smiling at Tanya in an endearing manner.

"She does make a good leader.  Perhaps both of you will lead a group of kids one day." Starscream teased, getting a blush out of the Autobot leader. "I see the way you look at her. I wouldn't be surprised if you started dating in high school!"

"Leave him alone Starscream. Can't you see your making him even more flustered!" Magnus pointed out. "He and Tanya are far too young to be dating anyways!"

"I never said it wouldn't happen though."

Optimus left them before they made any other part of his face bright blue.

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Soundwave walked to the front desk and saw the main computer used for the head librarian. He used his tentacles to shimmy on the chair, almost falling off when he realized it was a spinny chair. Positioning himself in a more comfortable manner, he ejected Lazerbeak. The drone chirped and stood on the monitor while Soundwave hacked into the computer.

I need to find something that would help with this mystery, otherwise I am stuck using the same laptop at home where Bumblebee watches those Minecraft videos and Megatron likes to play World of Warcraft. He rolled his optics behind his mask. Or have to look at Knockout's beauty tips and Starscream's video logs.

The computer hummed to life as he started to work his magic. Maybe he would find the security footage of what happened that evening.

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Magnus looked at the toppled bookshelves with an inquisitive look on his face. He took out his briefcase and opened it up to reveal his Junior Detective Kit. Taking out the magnifying glass, he looked for clues.

While searching for evidence, Master Detective Ultra Magnus used his highly effective Holmes method of training. Sherlock Magnus was a serious fellow with a pension for the finer things in life. But right now he was helping a poor man with his broken library cases. He stopped, seeing something unusual in the pile of books. With his tweezers, he plucked what appeared to be a piece of oily black hair. Great Scott! He found a clue! Truly Master Detective Ultra Magnus was the greatest mind of his generation! But whom did the hair belong to?

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Starscream flew in his vehicle mode, surveying the area. He had not a clue about how the detective stuff worked, but he had a hunch on how it worked. After all, Scooby-Doo never lied! He went lower to see what he could find in the middle shelves, but was pulling no stops. Frustrated, he changed into his mech form and walked on the top of the shelves.

This is crazy! Whoever pulled this crime off has got to be covering their tracks! They're more clever than I perceived to be. He thought, jumping off the top. But no one is that smart unless they are an adult. This section always has children in it! So unless some adult stole all the books...

His train of thought was interrupted as he fell face first to the ground. Groaning, he turned to see what had caused him to take a tumble. To his shock, it was a rather large textbook! He picked it up, blowing the dust off the cover to reveal the title of the book.

"Writing 101: All Things You Wanted and Needed to Know About English." He read aloud. "But no elementary school student has this book! The only people I saw these books with were..."

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"Isn't this great Optimus? You and me in the library after hours."

"I agree Tanya. This is what you call quite an adventure."

Optimus was now holding the flashlight while Tanya walked beside him. The black girl was turned away and blushing to herself. To be honest, these moments she had with Optimus were small, but she made the most of them. While on the outside she was lightly blushing, on the inside she was squealing to herself. The young mech felt great when she was around as well. It was a feeling in his spark that told him so.

"How are we going to find any traces of clues?" Optimus asked her.

"The best way to find clues is to go straight to the scene of the crime." Tanya informed him, standing in front of the wreckage. "And thanks to my auntie, she has something we can use!"

Coming out of her bag were a pair of sunglasses. Optimus gave her a weird look before she placed them on her face. Turning on the lenses, she could now see in the dark and through the rubble.

"She calls these babies Unseen Glasses because they can see the unseen. I would say she's brilliant, but I don't see her much." Tanya smirked as she looked through the rubble. "Hey! Here's something you don't see at a library." Digging through the rubble, she found a food wrapper. "A Happy Hamburger food wrapper? Only pigs with hunger pains eat there."

"Why would there be a burger wrapper in a place with books?" Optimus wondered aloud. "This is all too strange."

"That's not all." Ultra Magnus came in with the rest of the group. "I found a lock of hair right at the end of the children section. It's greasy..."

"I also found a textbook that doesn't look like it belongs here. Writing isn't a course at our school. Plus," Starscream opened the book up. "I found initials W.P in here. Whoever that is might be a culprit."

"That is unusual." Tanya said, taking off the glasses. "What did you find in the security footage Soundwave?"

Soundwave nodded at Lazerbeak as he projected the footage. In the video, they saw people leaving the library after the closing. However, shadows moved in the book sections between teens and children. But to their shock, there was not one, but two culprits at the scene of the crime! One of them was a tall, lanky figure while the other was short. The short one gave something to the tall one and vice versa. Suddenly, the alarms went off as the two raced in opposite directions. The shelves fell down as the short one grabbed some of the books. The tall one went to the computer section and took out a small thing from the drive. Both of them exited while pushing over some cases to fool the guards. Then the feed cuts off.

"Woah, talk about double trouble. Looks like we have a double crook case." Tanya said, patting Lazerbeak on the helm. "And I think I know whodunnit."

"How could you possibly know?" Starscream asked her.

"I may have a feeling, but to be sure, do you guys know a scientist we can use to analyze the hair sample?"

The three looked at each other before nodding simultaneously. "Shockwave..."

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Next story arc!

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