Act 3: Caught Red-Handed

News of Stainless' most recent attack spread like the wildest fire, and Principal Folsom was not happy about it at all. She confronted Vallejo in his office very displeased.

"Listen, Vallejo, I just had to sign for Tommy's release and OK the ordering of 200 brand new brushed steel bathroom stalls. If you don't have this stain hoodlum in custody by final bell, this headquarters will make a nice faculty yoga studio!"

"Principal Folsom," Montoya spoke out, "We're doing everything we can. Perhaps we should look at something a bit more… outside the box."

Folsom raised an eyebrow at the rookie before sighing. "And what do you suggest, Ms. Montoya?"

"Well, I have a firm belief that there is someone who sees a different angle in this whole case, someone who might be able to help. He's doing time at the detention building."

"You mean Randall Julian?" Fillmore asked. "Makes sense."

"Well, yes, but that's not who I was talking about." Montoya said. "I meant Vic Sage." Suddenly, everyone gave surprised stares over to her.

"Vic Sage? That little weirdo?" Folsom asked. "Every time we cross paths, that kid's been hounding me with impossible questions. Not to mention, he broke into my office at least five times. I'm just glad this is his final year in middle school, so when we reach the end of the year, he's out of my hair forever."

"But I just remembered he asked a good question earlier." Montoya said. "He asked where Stainless' name came from. Why would he call himself that? He might know more. Just let us question him."

Folsom was silent for a moment before responding softly. "Fine. Just get some results." She walked out the door surprising everybody.

"Wow. She must like you, Montoya." Vallejo said. "I've never seen her calm down that quickly before. All right. You, Fillmore, Third, Nygma, you question Sage."

"HE'S GONE! HE'S GONE!" the counselor shouted as soon as the four approached the door.

"Whoa! Sir, calm down!" Ed responded. "Who's gone?"

"Randall Julian!" the counselor responded. "He escaped!"

Sharing distressed looks, the four kids ran over the open cell door where Julian was usually locked in at. They dropped their jaws as they saw the words "FLAVA SAVA" written all over the walls and floors.

"What happened?" Third asked.

"You all happened." A familiar voice called out. The kids followed it to the adjacent cell.

"Vic Sage?" Fillmore asked.

"You four left behind a small pencil by accident." Sage said from the other side of the cell door. "You saw what he could do with a miniature gold pencil. Imagine what he could do with a number two pencil."

"Where did he go?" Fillmore asked.

"Don't know. Don't care." Sage answered. "Right now, my mind is focused on something else."

"Like Stainless?" Third asked.

"No. Something more important than that vandal with the temper tantrum."

Ed groaned. "We're wasting time. This guy clearly has no understanding over what's important."

"What's important?" Sage asked. "Come on in."

The kids nodded to the worried counselor who buzzed the door open. As they entered, they looked around to see a dim room with several walls decorated with pin-up boards that were covered with pictures connected with strings. The desk was blanketed with sheets and photos. At the furthest wall, with the mother of all pin-up boards, was a boy with brown hair and blue eyes. Like Randall Julian, he wore an orange jumpsuit.

"You're the ones who don't see what's so important." Vic said. "The school's on the precipice of anarchy and so far, I'm the only one who sees it. Who's the crazy one now?"

"Nobody said you were, Sage." Fillmore said.

"The whole school says that." Vic said. "They think all I have are conspiracies on my brain, which is a very common misconception. There's actually one conspiracy that the common man chooses to ignore. Compared to that, all the written down lessons the teachers send to me is child's play. It's actually good I'm not in some common classroom. Now, I can focus on the bigger picture."

"But can you help us find Stainless?" Fillmore asked. "We need to catch him before he strikes again."

"It's already too late. Wheels are already in motion. Stainless' work is done."

"What does that mean?" Montoya asked. When he didn't respond, she stepped up closer to him. "Vic, we need to know more. We have to find the truth. If you've already solved the case, you have to help us."

"And what's in it for me?" Vic asked. "I already told you, I'm right where I need to be." Again, there was a silent moment that Vic himself chose to break. "All right. Look, as I told you, helping you out will put my investigating behind schedule, and it's already behind already ever since what happened to Parnassus."

"Parnassus?" Fillmore asked quietly.

"So if you want me to help you, you'll have to help me get back on track." Vic said. "If I ever need your help, and I likely will, you'll provide. Maybe together, we can save this school."

"Save it from what?" Ed asked.

"Now that… is the question." Vic answered giving Ed a migraine.

Montoya thought hard for a moment before making up her mind. "I'm in."

"Are you sure, Montoya?" Fillmore asked. "Sage keeps talking about something very vague."

"We don't have a choice." Montoya said. "If there's anything you need, Sage, you can at least count on me."

"…I knew I liked you." Sage said as he dug into his pile of papers on the desk. "I told you before that there's a reason he called himself Stainless. I also told you that his work is already done. He set something into motion. That was his plan all along. The only difference is he was only after one bathroom, the original. His plans changed after Tommy Howard was wrongfully arrested and the case was thought to be closed."

"I don't get it." Ingrid said.

"Stainless' whole motive was because he wanted something and he was ignored. So he made them listen. Ah, here it is." Vic pulled out the school paper and passed it to Ed. "Look for yourself."

Ed looked down at the newspaper and saw the front page covering the first Stainless attack. He looked over to a certain person and widen his eyes.

"You got something, Ed?" Fillmore asked.

Ed smiled as he raised his head up. "What has neither nails or bones, but has four fingers and a thumb?" He passed the newspaper over to Fillmore who shared his surprise.

"A glove." Fillmore said. He pointed at the head of the bathroom renovation head. "Robin Spencer. Look for yourselves."

Ingrid and Montoya gasped. The former went, "She's cutting the ribbon to the new bathroom with her left hand." And the latter went, "And she's wearing a glove."

"Disco." Fillmore said.

"She destroyed her own bathroom stalls? Why?" Montoya asked.

"Because they were not the stalls she wanted." Vic replied. "She was the head of the steering committee, so she was responsible for providing the best for her station. She wanted brushed steel for her bathroom stalls since they were impossible to vandalize. She requested it to the school 43 times, but they denied them all and went with the cheaper option."

"And what better way to prove the anti-graffiti walls were necessary than to do it herself?" Montoya asked. "Stainless, as in stainless steel walls!"

"Correct." Vic said. "Like I said, Stainless is throwing a temper tantrum. She'll likely be overseeing the delivery of the brushed steel walls at the loading dock right now. You'll catch her there."

"Thanks, Vic. We owe you one." Fillmore said as he and the others ran off. Vic was left alone in his room.

"Oh, you owe me plenty. In fact, you owe the school more than you could possibly understand."

As predicted, Robin Spencer was at the loading dock. She watched as the brushed steel walls were wheeled out of the truck and carried across the room. She smiled proudly seeing them pass.

"Good ol' brushed steel." She said. "You're gonna take me to the top. Oh, I've wanted you so badly."

"How badly?" Fillmore asked taking Robin by surprise. He, Ingrid, Ed, and Montoya approached her. "Badly enough to vandalize the original stalls yourself?"

"I… I don't know what you mean." Robin said nervously.

"Oh, I think you do." Fillmore said. "I think you couldn't handle it when your brushed steel stalls were shot down. I think you wanted to prove that anti-graffiti stalls were necessary. I think you became Stainless."

"That's ridiculous!" Robin defended herself. "You have no proof!"

"We do now." Ingrid said as she forced Robin's red glove off. Around her wrist, she was covered with red ink. All of a sudden, Robin threw her clipboard and ran off in a sprint.

"Why is she running?" Ed asked. "There's nowhere in the school she can go now that we know she's Stainless."

"Who cares? After her!" Montoya chased.

Robin ran across the many stacks of stall walls trying to lose the cops. She managed to find a good temporary hiding place while the others stopped to predict her movements.

"I'm going to be known as the student who put an end to graffiti once and for all." Robin cried out. "So what if I have to deface a few stalls to do it? This is just the beginning. Student council president. Valedictorian. Best dressed in the yearbook. The sky's the limit. And everyone will know the name, Robin Spencer!"

"No, Robin." Fillmore said as he appeared in front of the culprit. "It all ends here."

"Sorry, officer, but I'm afraid Stainless is about to make a clean getaway." Robin knocked over a few stalls to run.

Ingrid pushed a rolling bucket of mail towards Robin which Fillmore jumped into. He crashed through several crates of macaroni, but he didn't slow down. That's when he noticed a certain box in the cart with him.

"Vallejo's fishing rod." Fillmore said as he unpackaged the product he found. He swung it over sending the fishing hook flying right past Robin. She was about to head out the door, but that's when the hook got caught in a pile of bubble wrap. Fillmore pulled it creating a wall of bubble wrap that Robin got herself caught in.

The rest of the Safety Patrol arrived right in time to grab Robin and put her in custody. While

Montoya read the girl her rights, Fillmore set down the rod he just used. Unfortunately, he set it down at the wrong place. Right next to it, the door swung open and crushed it. The person who forced it open suddenly was none other than Vallejo.

"What's going on? Tell me you got Stainless!"

"Right here, chief." Montoya said displaying Robin Spencer like a work of art.

Vallejo let out a sigh of relief. "Then I'm going to be able to fish in peace after all."

Ed chuckled. "Uh, Vallejo…"

"What?" The chief suddenly realized the problem when he looked behind the door. "FILLMOOOOOOOORE!"

Vic Sage was resting in his room looking at the photos he strung up. He kept his focus on them until the door opened up. Right behind him, Fillmore himself entered.

"I take it you closed the case?" Vic asked.

"Yeah. Robin Spencer is caught. Though, we did destroy brushed steel stalls and macaroni art in the process."

"And Randall Julian?"

"It was easy to predict where he'd be." Fillmore said. "I managed to talk him out of vandalizing the teacher's lounge bathroom and return to custody. He won't be a problem anymore."

"I see. Then why are you here?"

Fillmore had on a serious look as she stepped closer. "When we talked earlier, you mentioned Parnassus. I want to know why."

Vic turned his head toward Fillmore with a judgmental glare. "You want to know why. Because now that he's gone, the school's going to fall apart. You created a power vacuum, and now, everyone's going to be after the secret."

"What secret?"

"THE secret. The darkness that X Middle School is obscuring within itself. It may display itself as a top-of-the-line school where only the best and brightest can learn from, but the brighter something is, the bigger shadow it casts. Something is drawing in the most bizarre criminals that ever walked these school walls, and they don't even know it. I don't know what it is, but finding that out is my top priority. Brad Parnassus had his part in keeping the chaos at bay while he was in control, but since you and your friends got him expelled, you left an opening for people worse than him."

"Are you telling me us catching Parnassus was a mistake?"

"I don't know if it was or not. All I can say is everything has consequences. Remember, you couldn't catch Robin without ruining new bathroom stalls. And just like what happened at that loading dock, X Middle School is in for a real mess."

"We're the Safety Patrol, Vic Sage." Fillmore reminded as he began to turn around. "We'll keep watch."

"I have no doubt you'll do your best, but I worry it's not enough." Vic replied. "You didn't just open Pandora's Box, you tore the lid from its hinges. Get yourself ready, Cornelius Fillmore. Treasured friendships will be tested. Dark truths will be revealed. Noble choices will be questioned. If the Secret isn't uncovered before it is too late, it will be the last sane thought ever had within X Middle School."

Fillmore gave one last look at Sage before leaving the cell. Still, Vic Sage's words lingered in his mind leaving him to feel concerned.

Author's Note: That's the end of my rendition of To Mar a Stall, the first ever Fillmore episode. As you can tell, I'm adding a lot more plot in this fanfic. If anyone has an idea for canon episodes to include or self-made mysteries to pitch to me, I'd love to hear them.

If you're wondering why I haven't included the bathroom scene where Fillmore and Randall Julian have their final confrontation, it's because I felt like it's strictly between the two of them and I didn't want to rewrite something that I couldn't change. So sorry for not including it.

What secrets could be lurking within X Middle School? What is Vic Sage so afraid of? Find out more in upcoming chapters of Riddle Me This, Fillmore. Any and all comments are welcome.