A/N: Sorry for the long wait on this folks, we were busy with other fics. So now we're picking up where we left off, with Ocean, River, and the rest of the Safety Patrol coming across some incriminating graffiti. Let's see what happens next, right now!

Universal Runners Investigations: United Cases

Ocean's First Wave

Act II: Pacific or Specific?

Back at Safety Patrol HQ, Folsom, having heard about the profits and vandalism, was chewing out Vallejo in front of everyone.

"First, our school's bake sale money is swiped, and now school property has been defaced! You better tell me you have some progress in this case!," she snapped.

"Just some minor progress," Vallejo said. "A few small shreds of evidence, which are currently being looked at as we speak."

"Well, you better turn this minor progress in to major progress and fast. Because so help me, if the thief and vandal is not caught by tomorrow, the Safety Patrol HQ will make a great teachers-only sauna!"

Folsom then stormed out of the HQ, as Vallejo turned to Ocean and said, "Kid, you better keep using your head for this case."

"Already convinced after seeing my -Scenario Puzzle-?," Ocean asked.

"A little, yes. But we have little to no evidence or clues right now, so I need that puzzle ability thing of yours to crack this case and recover the bake sale profits. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Ocean replied as he saluted in a serious manner. As Vallejo turned and left, Fillmore and Ingrid approach the twins with the latter holding a piece of paper.

"O.C., this case might be pretty difficult for you even with your special brain power of yours," Fillmore said with concern. "Are you sure you can handle this?"

"As long as a certain twin of mine is there to back me up," Ocean said to his sister.

"You know I'll always be by your side, bro," River replied.

Ocean smiled, and then noticed the paper Ingrid is holding.

"Is that the list of Ernie's fellow committee members?," he asked.

"Yeah. And about the oil can you found, Tehama found no fingerprints, just like the crime scene and the graffiti area and she's currently searching what kind of oil right now, along with that ripped fabric you found, too," Ingrid detailed.

"Well, while she does that we best go have a chat with the other committee members," River suggested.

"I know where their room is. Let's jet," Fillmore said.

As they head to the bake sale committee room, Fillmore and Ingrid are more curious about Ocean.

"So O.C., I heard from your sis that your dad also has that brain power, right?," Fillmore asked.

"Yeah, it's his secret behind his successful cases. He first used it to solve an old cold case a couple years ago," Ocean said.

"Well this puzzle power of yours, you don't use it in everyday life do you?," Ingrid asked with worry. "Because from what I've seen, it takes a lot of brain activity to use it, and too much stimulation on the brain could be…unhealthy, you know."

"I know that. My dad and I already aware about not using it everyday except we're working on the case," Ocean said. "He taught me that with any great superpower you can think of, there is great responsibility. Once, some people actually created devices that has features like the -Scenario Puzzle- and tried use them for their own sinister plans. That's why he's kept it a secret from everyone except with the police department he's working with after he stopped those people."

"Yeah, just like Ocean just did now with you and the other Safety Patrolers," River said.

"Also, there's some cons to my ability, too," Ocean continued. If I attempt to combine Puzzle Cards with information that doesn't add up, make sense, or is unrelated, the ability's -Scenario Life- will go down a little. If it goes down to zero, I will get a really big headache and become disoriented, and sometimes even pass out, which will forced me to rest and I won't be able to use the -Scenario Puzzle- for a while.

As Ocean said this, he imagined some Puzzle Cards attempt to fuse with each other but bounce off each other instead, as if it failed to fuse and some kind of Fleur-de-lis-shaped meter goes down slightly. He then imagines the meter goes down to zero.

"So you can't put them together all willy-nilly," Fillmore asked.

"Yep. One time, our sisters, who love to make him play these "riddle-games", made him play four-in-a-row in one day. The game is they take something valuable of his, hide it, and leave behind a bunch of clues, both real and fake, to make him try to find it. That time they took a new Gunpla model he'd just finished. They often make it hard to tell which clues are fake and which are real, and they nearly exhausted him and his ability. Luckily, our dad made them stop and got O.C. back to his room to rest."

"Ouch," Ingrid said with sympathy. "Are your sisters mean?"

"No, not really, they're just really amazed at my ability and like to play games with it," Ocean replied. "Even though it causes a real headache for me. But I usually bounce back soon enough."

"It's more of a friendly rivalry,' River added.

"Sounds like me and my sister," Ingrid said with a small smile.

Inside the bake sale committee room, the officers noticed a boy and three girls chatting amongst themselves with plates of leftover bake sale food with them. The four approached the members.

"Hey, guys! Guess who's here!, the boy said to his fellow members.

"Oh, Officers Fillmore and Third, We're so glad that you're on the case for our missing money," said one of the girls, who then pointed to Ocean and River. "But who are those two?"

"I'm Ocean Waters and this is my twin sister and partner, River," Ocean said as he showed his badge as River does the same with hers. "We're new officers and this is our case too."

"Oh, Ocean! I remember, I hit you on the nose back at the Ceremonial Hazing earlier," the boy said. "I'm actually a pitcher for the baseball team."

"That explains it," Ocean, said, rubbing his nose in annoyance before asking in a serious tone. "Anyways, we're going to ask each of you some questions about the theft, so we can check your alibis. Do you have time for it?"

"Don't worry, we're free," the boy said. "I'm Lucas Daniel, by the way. Lead salesman of the committee."

Lucas Daniel: Bake Sale Committee Member

"I'm Pepper Ayton, head baker of the committee," said the first girl.

Pepper Ayton: Bake Sale Committee Member

"I'm Kady Cooke, the head of the bake sale committee," said the second girl.

Kady Cooke: Head of the Bake Sale Committee

"And I'm Sydney Cooke, Kady's sister and secondary baker," said the third girl.

Sydney Cooke: Bake Sale Committe Member/Kady's Younger Sister

"Well onto our alibis," Lucas said. "As I said, I was at the Ceremonial Hazing at the time."

"I was in the library, doing some last minute studying before a quiz," Pepper said. "Check with Mr. Lendrum."

"Syd and me were at my locker, putting my books away," Kady told the officers.

"My sister has a lot of books to carry, considering she's in four honors classes," Sydney added.

"Well do any of you recall seeing anyone acting suspicious in the halls at the time?," Ingrid asked.

"No, not that I recall," Pepper replied, shaking her head no.

"I didn't see anyone," said Kady.

"Me neither," Sydney said.

"Sorry," Lucas said, shaking his head.

"Well if you can recall anything, give us a shout out," Fillmore said, handing them each a card.

"We will. You guys just focus on finding that money."

"Oh, trust me, we are," Ocean said with assurance.

After they were done questioning the committee members, the four officers were now discussing about the case at the hallways.

"So we can cross Lucas off our suspect list, since he was at the hazing," River said.

"Which leaves us Pepper and the Cookes," Ingrid said. "Let's check their alibi's out."

Then, Fillmore's walkie-talkie rang up with Tehama's voice.

"Hey, Fillmore," Tehama said over the walkie-talkie.

"Got something, Tehama?," Fillmore said answering his walkie-talkie.

"Yeah, the oil is a lubricating one, one that's often used to stop doors from squeaking. As for the fabric, it seems to be part of a sweater. Our thief must have gotten it caught on something when they made their escape."

Just then, Ocean realized something, " Of course, I know how the thief escaped from the cafeteria without making any noise!"

Suddenly in Ocean's mind, the puzzle cards, -Culprit's Mysterious and Silent Escape Route- and -Low Squeaking Kitchen Door- combined each other, creating a flash of white light in Ocean's mind.

THIS IS IT!

"Maybe the thief used the lubricating oil to stop the squeaking sound of the kitchen door, so they could escape through it without the squeaking noise blowing their cover. I'm guessing they lubricated the door hinges during the ceremony, too."

"Wait, during the crime? But that would mean Ernie should have seen the culprit then. Plus, why can't the thief lubricate the cafeteria doors instead?," River asked.

"Just like you said, sis. The thief didn't want to be seen by him. I'm guessing they chose the door to the kitchen because there were counters blocking them view, and since Ernie was sitting in front of it a little far away, it would've been practically impossible to see the thief by then. Also, this also all but confirms that one of the committee members is the culprit."

Back in Ocean's mind, another two puzzle cards, -Unlocked Kitchen Door- and -Kitchen Only Accessed by Cafeteria Lady, School Volunteers, and Cooking-related School Clubs- combined each other like the last two, creating a flash of white light in Ocean's mind once again.

THIS IS IT!

"Ingrid, when was the last time the kitchen's door got closed before the robbery?," Ocean asked Ingrid.

"On the door's electronic log, it said, 8:56 AM, today," Ingrid answered.

"So my theory right now is that one of the bake sale committee members got the keys to the kitchen and used it as their escape route. And they did that while wearing gloves too, to avoid leaving fingerprints on the doorknob, and the keys, too, so fingerprint analysis can't help right now. But I can confirm one thing is that one of the committee members is the crook behind this bake sale profit theft."

"Well, we have three suspects now. We should get to HQ, tell Vallejo what we found and then check out the girls' alibis," Fillmore said.

But just as they were about to head back to HQ, Ocean noticed a suspicious hooded person holding some kind of spray can.

"What the-?," Ocean said in confusion. He then realized when he saw red paint dripping down from the can's nozzle.

"Hey you, freeze! Safety Patrol!," he shouted, flashing his badge. The hooded person turned to see Ocean and his friends. "I suggest you give us the spray can and-"

Before he can finish, the hooded person quickly throws an object from his pocket, hitting Ocean in the face and causing him to stumble and fall in the process, before running off.

"What was that?!," River exclaimed as she ran over to her brother.

"Dawg, what did you do that for?," Fillmore asked

"That guy's got a spray can with red paint dripping from it," Ocean said as he recovered. "He's the one who vandalized the kitchen walls!"

"Let's move!,"

The four Safety Patrollers dash after the hooded person, running through the halls, past students and around objects.

The hooded person then grabbed another student's skateboard and began riding it, picking up speed and getting farther away from the quartet. Fillmore, however, realized were they all where and where the hooded person was headed.

"He's heading towards the auditorium!," he said as he noticed a side hall coming up. "Girls, split up! Cut him off on the other side."

Ingrid and River charged down the side hall, while Fillmore and Ocean continued after the suspect down the main hall. The hooded person continued to skate and reached the auditorium entrance area, and started to skate down the still-going hall.

But then, Ingrid and River jumped in front of him, the latter of whom carried a volleyball she'd swiped. With that, River kicked the ball at the hooded person, hitting him in the leg, causing him to tumble off the board and onto the ground, where Ocean and Fillmore grabbed him at last.

"Good shot, Riv," Ocean complimented.

"Thank you very much," River replied.

"Okay, time to see who our mystery guy is," Ocean said as he removed the hood to reveal a boy in blue beanie.

"Hey, he's not one of the committee members!," River exclaimed, surprised and angry. "We just caught some random punk!"

"Doubt it. Think this kid might tell us about the can of spray paint he's got there?," Fillmore said.

As my dad always says, 'Sometimes even seemingly unrelated evidence can lead us closer to the truth'," Ocean said. "And he might tell us something about that graffiti back at the cafeteria kitchen."

Back at Safety Patrol Headquarters, Ocean, River, and Vallejo waited in the room behind the interrogation room, glancing through the one-way window at them interrogating the suspect.

"Wow, this place even has an interrogation room? It really is almost like a police station," Ocean said impressed.

"Well, we need all the resources we can get to solve this school's crimes," Vallejo told him. After a few minutes, Fillmore and Ingrid came out of the interrogation room to join with Ocean, River, and Vallejo. "So?"

"Nothing. He's too stubborn to say anything," Fillmore replied.

"We've been in there for almost two hours and he won't say anything about the vandalism or the robbery," Ingrid said.

"Maybe I can take a crack out of him. My dad's taught me some of his interrogation skills," Ocean requested.

"I dunno," Vallejo said. "You're still new here, kid. I'm not sure if…"

"Hey, I've already made an impact on this case by piecing some key evidence together. I think I can handle a simple punk kid like him."

"I'll go too. We can do the old good cop-bad cop thing, see if he'll crack," River asked.

Vallejo sighed as he said, "Well…okay. But don't do anything drastic."

Then, Fillmore and Ingrid came back in with the twins as Ocean approaches the boy in a serious expression.

"I suggest you stop beating around the bush and talk," he said.

"Or what?," the boy said in an arrogant, defiant tone.

"Let's just say detention will be the least of your worries."

"Am I supposed to be scared or something?"

"You ought to be," Ocean said as he picks up the boy's file and reads it. "So, Joey Griffin. Got a rap sheet about 3 quarters of a mile long, including multiple incidences of tagging."

Joey Griffin: Delinquent/Tagger

"What's it to you, piggy?!," Joey asked in an angry tone.

"Should I kick this guy's butt for being annoying?," River asked.

"Do that and you might get suspended on your first day," Fillmore said. "Folsom has a zero-tolerance policy on fighting."

"Great... At this rate, we may never solve this case until graduation."

"Don't be so sure, Riv. I think this guy needs a little push," Ocean said.

"Like bribery?"

"No," Ocean replied as he stared with a weird manner at River. "What we need is that we have to show him something."

He then took the spray paint can and set it on the table.

"What were you doing with this spray paint, and were you near the kitchen with it today? "

"The graffiti? Yeah, I heard about that. Must have been a random tagger. You know, someone who likes vandalizing some lockers or bathrooms with graffiti or markers. And about this spray paint can, I just found it," Joey replied with a casual tone.

"Where did you 'find' the can?," Ingrid asked.

"What, seriously?! Come on, I only found it near the door. Someone must have dropped it. Probably the tagger that wrote something like "So long, suckers! Safety Patrol sucks!" or something.

"Is that all you know?," Fillmore said.

"Yeah, baldy. Of course."

And if I mean someone, I meant the tagger that wrote something like "So long, suckers! Safety Patrol sucks!" or something.

THINK AGAIN!

"Hey, what's with you all of the sudden?!," Joey asked Ocean, startled by his sudden outburst.

"Sorry, that's what my dad said whenever he finds a contradiction,"

"Contradiction?"

"That means something didn't fit into the crime's puzzle, like what you said just now!

"Huh?!"

"Can you please cut to the chase before this turns into a crazy contradiction party like in that one video game, please?!," River asked, annoyed.

"Oh, sorry," Ocean said with a blush as he pulls out a picture of the graffiti and puts it on the table to show their suspect, and said in a serious tone, "This was taken at the crime scene and unfortunately, even if it's something, what you just told us doesn't fit the graffiti tag."

Ingrid took a closer look before she said, "You're right. I remember what it said: "goodbye X! we have NOW the keys TO OUR RICHES! DUMB SAFETY PATROL DORKS!"

"And you said that it said, "So long, suckers! Safety Patrol sucks!", Fillmore said to Joey. "Something tells me you just lied to us because you're hiding something aren't you?

"Hide is right. Remember what he said in the graffiti: "we have NOW the keys TO OUR RICHES!" I have a feeling he didn't tag it randomly," Ocean said.

"Yeah, remember what happened back at the hallways when you confronted him?," River asked.

But just as they were about to head back to HQ, Ocean noticed a suspicious hooded person holding some kind of spray can.

"What the-?," Ocean said in confusion. He then realized when he saw red paint dripping down from the can's nozzle.

"Hey you, freeze! Safety Patrol!," he shouted, flashing his badge. The hooded person turned to see Ocean and his friends. "I suggest you give us the spray can and-"

Before he can finish, the hooded person quickly throws an object from his pocket, hitting Ocean in the face and causing him to stumble and fall in the process, before running off.

After the flashback, Ocean realizes that she's right as he pulls out something from his pocket, which is some kind of baseball.

"Yeah, and this is the one that hit my nose the second time, unfortunately. Plus, it was signed by Derek Jeter," Ocean said. annoyed.

"The famous baseball shortstop who played 20 seasons for the New York Yankees and a five-time World Series champion," Fillmore said as he remembered something. "He stopped by X last week at our school's last baseball game as a special guest by Folsom. Some of the players got him to sign some of their baseball stuff."

"And an autographed ball like this from a guy like him must be very valuable," River added.

"So valuable anyone would do anything to have it from themselves,"

"I suggest you either fess up, or you're going to detention with cafeteria duty! For an entire month," Ocean growled in a serious voice.

Shocked at the threat, Joey froze in panic, which in Ocean's mind, he imagines the negative colored barrier around the suspect quickly breaks like glass.

"Okay, I'll talk, but please, don't make me do cafeteria duty! I can't stand the hairnets or the B.O. of those lunch ladies, man!," Joey cried.

"Good, so what's with the graffiti, tagger boy?," River said, angrily.

"I stole that baseball from Lucas Daniel's locker earlier, I admit it," Joey confessed. "I was so jealous about him getting that baseball autographed by Mr. Jeter, that I stole it to keep for myself! And in order to get you officers off of my back, I tagged the kitchen to keep you distracted! But..."

"But what?"

"After I finished tagging, I heard someone coming. I thought it could be one of the cafeteria ladies, so I ducked behind the baking counter. But I only saw someone coming in and out of the kitchen door and while trying to get out of the kitchen through the other door, they accidentally leaned onto my still-wet tag. I never saw their face though. And after they left, I also left the kitchen so nobody can get me. That's all, no lies this time!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, that it, that's the crop, I swear!," Joey said as he then smiled. "And by the way, you're kinda cute when you're angry."

River, still glaring, grabbed Joey by the shirt, and snarled, "Don't get any ideas."

Later, in the school hallways, the quartet of officers was searching for Lucas.

"I can't believe that kid is just a baseball thief and that graffiti is nothing but a unrelated tag," River said.

"Don't worry, sis. It's not a Red Herring, it gave us a clue to the thief," Ocean reassured her. "Our suspect could be running around the school with that red paint stain and not know it."

"But maybe they might've noticed it, and changed clothes at some point," Ingrid said.

"Plus, we didn't see any of the bake sale committee with red stains on their shirts," Fillmore added in.

"We might not figure that out it now, but we will soon. Until then, we better return this baseball to Lucas," Ocean said.

"Oh no, it's gone! My special baseball is gone!," Lucas's voice yelled panicked.

"And looks like we're just in time."

When they got to the locker, they saw Lucas frantically searched his locker for his baseball as Sydney and Kady looked on.

"His Derek Jeter autographed baseball is gone. It's like, the most valuable thing in the universe to him," Sydney told the officers.

"He's my favorite player in the world. The baseball is one-of-a-kind proof for me having that once-in-a-lifetime encounter with him," Lucas said frantically.

"Uh, Lucas. About your baseball...," Ocean said as he showed it to him. "We got it. Joey Griffin stole it from your locker earlier, but we managed to grab him during our investigation."

Lucas, overjoyed, took it back from Ocean, saying, "Oh, thank you, thank you so much! I thought I'd lost this forever!"

"Well, at least this turned out to be a happy ending," Kady said, glad that her friend had his ball back. She then turned and opened her locker, but as she did, a red envelope fell out. Everyone looked and saw that envelope said "BAKE SALE TAKE."

"Hey that's the envelope we had the bake sale money in!," Lucas said.

"What?!," Kady gasped in shock. Fillmore picked it up and discovered…

"The money's not here," Fillmore said. Everyone looked at Kady accusingly.

"Sis?," Sydney asked her sister, uncertain of what to say. Kady could only look back at them in shock and dismay.

A/N: Whoa! Could Katy really be the thief? Or is there something more sneaky going on here? Stay tuned for the final part, coming soon, to find out!