Optimus Prime's Mystery Incorporated

*Welcome readers to the fun sparkling chapters that show what the bots and cons do when they aren't hanging out with Penny and the others. So here we go!*

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"Thanks for joining me on another library expedition Optimus. I usually take trips alone or with my mom so I'm enjoying the time we have together!"

"Thank you for inviting me and the other bookworms of our family. It's nice to take a break from being inside the house."

Optimus and Tanya were very close friends that did almost everything together, but the one thing they both enjoyed was heading over to their local library. Optimus would check out books about knights and medieval times while Tanya lived romance and historical fiction. Both would be by themselves if it wasn't for the fact that Soundwave, Ultra Magnus, and Starscream were with them.

"You never bring home books with jets or planes! I want to read those books!" Starscream complained, crossing his arms.

"My mother told me to find books on science and business so that we can get started early for my future in college." Ultra Magnus had said.

"Soundwave: Would like to use computers without being pestered." Soundwave's excuse had been.

So that was the reason the three of them were following the book duo. Tanya was a bit frustrated that she couldn't get some quality Prime Time, but nonetheless let them come. When they reached the library however, several police cars were stationed outside the building!

Tanya spotted the head librarian, Mr. McGregor and ran over to him. "Hi Mr. McGregor, what's going on?"

The older man frowned down at her. "Tragic really Tanya! All the books in my children's section have been stolen along with some from the teen section too! The culprit managed to swipe them all from under my nose!"

"That's terrible! How could someone do such a thing?!" Tanya gasped, not believing what she had heard.

"Did you find anything that would help make the case go faster?" Optimus asked, coming forward.

Mr. McGregor shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I'm going to have to close the library down for the day. A shame really since my regulars won't be able to share their love of reading." He walked off, his face downtrodden.

"I think we should help Mr. McGregor with his little problem." Tanya decided, balling up her hands in a fist.

Ultra Magnus raised an eyebrow as he looked at the building. "This looks like a really big problem."

"A problem that requires our keenest eyes and attention." Starscream agreed, getting a bit eager. "Just like Scooby-Doo!"

Soundwave displayed a smiley face on his screen.

"Well gang, it looks like we have a mystery on our hands." Optimus proclaimed, getting smirks from the others. "Isn't that what they ways say?"

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The five kids sat at a table the next day in the lunchroom to discuss their plans for the case. Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack were temporarily placed at their school until Galthea could get her house "kid proof". Notebooks and pencils were sprawled across the table along with various juice boxes, cookie crumbs, and sticky jelly stains.

"According to Nancy Drew, we should assess the situation and look for the most probable suspects." Tanya mentioned, waving her favorite book series.

"That is a great idea if we knew who came into the library that day." Ultra Magnus pointed out. "We should follow the Sherlock Holmes way of solving mysteries! He was the world's greatest detective!"

Starscream shook his head. "I still think that Scooby-Doo solves mysteries better than your book people. What we need to do is go to the scene of the crime and find clues!"

Soundwave was quietly doing some hacking work with his mini laptop while Optimus was deep in thought. What could they do to help poor Mr. McGregor and his library? They were just kids, how were they suppose to excel when adults failed?

"Look at what we have here. The two biggest bookworms, the mute, the screechy kid, and the newbie all at one table. This must be my lucky day!" Marion stood over the group, glaring down at them.

"Marion, don't you have something else to do then bother us? We are kinda busy here!" Tanya said, giving him a glare back.

"I would have something to do if that stupid library was open! How else am I suppose to finish that book report Mr. Adams assigned to us!" The bully said. "I could force Stacks to get me a couple of books, but she's nowhere to be found. So I figured that you two bookworms might "help" me do my book report!"

"That sounds like a you problem Taft!" Starscream retorted, grinning at him. "We have more-HEY!" The small seeker was picked up by the scruff of his neck by the fifth grader.

"Just because me and your brother are cool doesn't mean that you can tell me what to do screechy. I'm not asking, I'm forcing Prime and Tanya to do my report!" Marion said, spraying the seeker with his spittle.

"I'm going to have to decline on that. But what you said about Stacks is a good idea. Maybe she has some clue on what is going on about this library." Optimus said, getting a nod from Soundwave. He turned back towards Marion. "Now if you don't mind, can you drop my comrade please?"

Marion snarled as he dropped Starscream. "Fine! There are other nerds that can do my work for me!" He scanned the lunchroom before stalking over towards the other table.

"Gang, let's go to the schoolyard. I know exactly where to find Stacks." Tanya said, standing up from the table.

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The playground was a breeding ground for bacteria, colds, and cliches. The treehouse was occupied with popular kids, the jungle gym held the daredevils, and the swings had the bird watchers. The sandpit was ruled by kindergartners with their sticky hands and faces. Fifth graders took the whole basketball court to play dodgeball. And in a small corner of the schoolyard, right in between the second and third grade windows was a large hole. Inside the hole was a small Hispanic female with long light brown hair in a ponytail wearing a white blouse with overalls and beat up purple Vans. She wore big rimmed purple glasses and a sparkly headband. A reading light was propped on the bridge of her glasses while stacks of books sat around her. Some were from home, some from the school library, and the others were from various kids to get rid of their summer list. This was Sarita "Stacks" Sanchez, the school's resident reader and writer in the second grade.

Tanya and the bots approached her hole, gazing in awe at the books around her. At first they thought she was the culprit until they saw that some, if not all, books had the school library logo on it.

"Hey Stacks!" Tanya greeted her fellow reader, making her look up for a second. Stacks smiled at her, placing the copy of "A Wrinkle In Time" to the group of books beside her.

"Hi Tanya! How's one of my favorite customers?" She greeted back before she noticed the others. "Who are your friends?"

"I'm Optimus, and these are Ultra Magnus, Starscream, and Soundwave. We too enjoy reading like you." Optimus said.

Stacks stood up, papers and pencils falling from her lap. "Nice to meet you! We must get acquainted more later." She turned towards Tanya. "Did you hear about Mr. McGregor's library? All those poor books are gone!"

"That's why we're here! You are always at the library every day after school! Maybe you know what happened to the books?" Tanya asked, Soundwave secretly recording the whole meeting.

Stacks tapped her chin. "Nothing I know about. I usually leave around six o'clock because mom wants me home before the sun goes down. I end up staying a bit longer sometimes if I have homework. But I'm usually in the adult section. The computers are faster over there and not much goes on."

"Are you sure that you didn't see anything? Surely there are some suspicious people that you see come in and out everyday?"

"We could really use your help! Is there anything you can tell us?" Starscream begged the small girl.

"Well there was one person I saw the other day before the incident, but you wouldn't believe me if I told you." Stacks said, gathering the rest of the papers that had fallen out of her lap from the ground.

"Trust me, we could use the information." Optimus said, getting a bit impatient.

"I saw Marion Taft! I heard that the fifth graders were going to the library a lot more for the book report, but I saw him wandering between the children's and teen section! He did look like he was looking for something!"

The bots and Tanya looked at each other and nodded. Looks like this case was getting interesting.

"Thanks for your help Stacks." Tanya said, digging into her lunchbox to pull out the other half of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "Here's your payment."

Stacks took the sandwich and smiled. "You always know what I want. I hope you guys come by sometimes to borrow books! I got a fresh shipment of classics from the middle schoolers down the street!"

The group bade farewell to the bespectacled girl before regrouping underneath the large tree.

"Looks like Stacks had some information that we could use. I wondered why Marion was acting strange." Starscream clenched his servos. "I say we confront him on it!"

"Not so fast. Just because we got the word of mouth doesn't mean the mystery is solved. We need to find some evidence to back up her claims." Ultra Magnus said.

"That means after school we need to go visit the library and search for some." Tanya took out her notebook. "This mystery just got a bit more interesting."