Falling into Specter's trap, the four of them are being forced to do the dirty work. Whatever it is he's after is buried right under the school, and he's having them search through it. Not wanting to abandon their friends, not even Happy, the four of them made their way down the hole and got to digging.
"Anyone even got any idea what we're suppose to look for?" Natsu asked.
"I'm not sure. All I know is that it belonged to the founder of the town." Lucy said. "I guess we'll know what it is when we find it."
"But when we do, I'm gonna show the creepy, sneaky, deceptive, creep..." Erza put her frustration towards the ghost in all her digging until she hit something. "I got something! Help me out!" They all moved quickly and cleared the dirt away until they came across a metal and wooden box with a lock on it.
"You think that's it?" Gray said.
"It must be." Lucy said as they all reached down and was able to get it out. "It does feel like there's something in here."
"Well, what do we do now? We can't just give him what he wants, but we've got to do something to help Happy and Principle Precht." Erza said.
"He could also pin the whole thing on us." Lucy said as it looked like they were running out of options.
"Hold on. I think I have an idea." Gray said as he had them huddle up that could get them to catch that ghost.
...
The Specter
The Specter waited around for them to get back up with what he was looking for as he also kept guard over his prisoners.
"Hey! Mr. Spooky!" Natsu called. He made his way over and found Gray and Natsu standing out of the hole.
"What is it?!" The Specter said.
"I think we found what you're looking for, but it looks like it's stuck on something." Gray said. "He might need a little getting it loose."
"This is why you don't work with children." The Specter complained and walked on over until he was standing over the edge of the hole. Just as he was about to look down, Gray and Natsu got a hold of his arms and tried patting him down. "What are you doing?! Get your hands off me!"
"I got the key to the chains!" Gray said as the girls came out.
"This is for framing us!" Erza said as she hit him in the back with a shovel and knocked him into the hole.
"And we still have what you were looking for!" Lucy said as she held on the box. Now that they got the drop on him, the four of them got moving. Gray hurried to the doors as he unlocked them and removed the chains. Natsu and the girls ran over to the hostages and tried getting them free.
"I got you, little buddy." Natsu said as he tried untying Happy. However, they couldn't get much further as the Specter was able to climb out of the hole.
"Nice try, brats! Now give me that box!" The Specter demanded.
"Wow! He must be in good shape if he was able to climb out of that so soon!" Gray said.
"Sorry, Happy! We'll be back after we run for it!" Natsu said as all four of them ran for it.
"Get back here!" The Specter shouted as he chased after them. As for Happy, he was able to get one paw free and tried using his nails to cut through the ropes. In a movie or such, this would probably be the good place for some background music.
...
Chase Scene
Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you?
We've got some work to do now
Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you?
We need some help from you now
The four of them ran down the halls with the ghost chasing after them. They made their way up some stairs with the ghost going up as well. Gray hung back and held out his leg as the ghost made it up the stairs and caused him to trip and fall.
Come on, Scooby Doo
I see you
Pretending you got a sliver
Erza ran into the bathroom with the ghost chasing after her, but she pushed him out when she showed it was the girl's bathroom.
But your not fooling me
Cause I can see
The way you shake and shiver
Lucy was chased into a science room, but she used her brain power to mix some chemicals together. When she handed it to the ghost, a small explosion went off in his face.
You know we got a mystery solve
So, Scooby Doo, be ready for your act
Don't hold back
And, Scooby Doo, if you come through
You're gonna have yourself a Scooby Snack
That's a fact
The ghost chased them into a hall. When they all went in one door, he was about to go after them, but he saw them come out a different door and go into another room. He kept trying to chase them down, but every time he got to one door, they all came out a different door and went into a different one.
"How'd they do that? These rooms aren't even connected." The Specter questioned.
Scooby Dooby Doo, here are you
You're ready and you're willing
If we can count on you, Scooby Doo
I know we'll catch a villain
The ghost chased after three of them down a hall, but Natsu helped out as he took a janitor's bucket of water and tossed it down on the floor. When the ghost passed by, he ended up slipping and ended up going back down the stairs. That was a sure way to give a ghost the slip.
...
"Did anyone else here music in the background?" Natsu asked as they kept running through the halls.
"This is no time for going bananas!" Gray said. The four of them kept running with the box in their hands, but the Specter suddenly showed up.
"Enough is enough! Give me the box now!" The Specter demanded. It seemed like they just couldn't escape from this guy. Just when it seemed like he had them, a small furry savior came in. Happy charged at the ghost and jumped right on his face and acted like a wildcat. "Aw! Get off me! I hate cats!" The ghost tried to shake Happy off, but what Happy did was jump away at the last second and had the ghost smash into the lockers. Luckily, Happy came with some of the rope and moved with incredibly speed. As it was stated before, Happy was like some sort of cartoon come to life for he got the ghost tied up with incredible speed.
"Wow! Nice work, Happy!" Gray said.
"We actually got him!" Erza said as they all couldn't believe it. They actually solved a mystery and caught a fake ghost.
"Kids!" They all looked to see that Principle Precht was free as well with him running down the halls. "Are you all okay?"
"Yeah. How did you get free?" Lucy asked.
"It was thanks to your cat. He used his claws and cut through both his and mine rope." Precht said. He took a moment and was impressed with what he saw. "This is all incredible. I am so sorry that I accused you children. I just love this school so much that I didn't want any harm to come to it or its reputation."
"Well, we're sorry we thought it was you for a moment." Lucy said as they all cleared the air and was being forgiven.
"Hey! I think hear sirens outside!" Gray said as they all heard it themselves.
"That must be the police! I called them as soon as I got free!" Precht said.
...
Outside
It wasn't just the police outside either. There were reporters outside trying to get an exclusive. With the sun starting to come up, Natsu and all of them came outside with Precht holding on to the tied up ghost.
"What is going on?" The sheriff asked.
"It's all good, Sheriff." Precht said. "These four brave kids and their little cat actually managed to capture the criminal. This school owes them a big thank you."
"And now to see who has really been behind all of this." Gray said as he walked over to the ghost and pulled the masked to reveal his true face.
"Mr. Nelswood?!" All of them said as they were all quite surprised.
"Yes. You never would have thought it was me, did you?" Mr. Nelswood questioned.
"This doesn't make sense. What could be in this box that's so valuable that the most boring teacher in school could come up with something so elaborate?" Erza questioned. Happy decided to find out as he motioned for the box to be lowered to him. When Lucy brought it down, he jiggled the box around and played with the lock to loosen it until he used one of his nails and actually managed to pick the lock. They all opened up to see gold, gems, or money. All that was in there was a pot.
"A pot?! All this trouble for a pot?!" Gray said as that was anticlimactic.
"Oh! I get it!" Natsu said. "The founder of the town always enjoyed playing games like hiding objects. This must have been one of them, which is why it was hidden under the school. This guy has a hobby of collecting pottery."
"Yes. That piece of pottery belonged to Fiona Magnolia. It would have been the most valuable of my collection." Mr. Nelswood said.
"Get this crazy man out of here! He still damaged the school and put innocent students in danger!" Precht called as the police came and got him.
"I would have gotten away with it if it weren't you meddling kids and your dumb cat!" Mr. Nelswood called before he was taken into a police car. The ending might not have been what they imagined, but it was still amazing that the five of them was able to catch this guy and solve the mystery.
...
The Gang
"I can't believe we solved a real mystery." Gray said as the five of them walked down the streets and were impressed with themselves.
"I just can't believe it was all for a pot." Erza said with all of them having a laugh.
"Well, we were able to pull it off when we all worked together." Lucy said.
"Which brings up a good question. What do we all do now?" Natsu asked. Now that the mystery is over, they don't have much reason to stick together.
"I don't know." Lucy said.
"I guess...we'll see each other around." Gray said. Natsu ended up a little disappointed and Happy could see that. He thought he actually made some friends. It seemed like it was already over when they were about to part ways.
"Hold on!" Lucy said. "I have heard there are other strange things going on, people say it's more haunting."
"More mysteries. I am so in." Gray said.
"So am I. What about you guys?" Erza asked.
"I'm in if the rest of you are. Happy?" Natsu asked, but Happy seemed a little against the idea.
"Happy, come on. It won't be the same without you." Lucy pleaded.
"I got this." Natsu said as he pulled out those fishy treats. "Would you come for a fishy treat?" Happy couldn't resist as he jumped up and took the treat out of Natsu's fingers and was now onboard.
"Great. We can take my dad's van again." Lucy said.
"Hold on. If we're going to drive that around, let's add some changes." Gray said. Once they got the van, they did fix it up with fresh tires and such, but Gray added more to it. He took white paint and sprayed on an MV with a magnifying glass underneath, and they were on both sides of the van.
"MV? What does that stand for?" Erza questioned.
"Myster-V. That's the name of the van." Gray said, but they all weren't so sure about the name. "I considered the Mystery Machine, but I think that name is already taken."
"What does the V stand for?" Natsu asked.
"For Vehicle of Van." Gray said. "It also sounds pretty close to mystery which is what we do."
"Well, at least we'll get where we need to go with it." Lucy said.
"Come on, gang." Gray said as they all hopped inside with them driving off to solve more mysteries, find more clues, and find more creeps to unmask. The mysteries are only beginning.
