"Come! Come!" An eerie voice from a creepy mansion was calling out to someone. That person was a simple man dressed in a blue suit and brown hair. He was walking like he was in a trance and he had to keep going. At the same time, the gang was driving towards a friend's place.
"It was cool of your friend, Michele, to invite us down to her place, Lucy." Gray said.
"Michele's great. We had a lot of fun when we were kids since the Heartfilia family and the Lobster family have done business with each other for a long time. In fact, she's like a sister to me." Lucy said. "That's why she wants to meet all of you. She's just interested to meet the rest of you guys."
"I'm sure she's great. Especially since she might have great food for being such a rich girl." Natsu said as he and Happy can just imagine the delicious food.
"Hey! Look over there!" Erza said. They drove by the creepy mansion and could see the man going inside. "Someone's going into that creepy mansion."
"That's strange." Gray said. "Let's hurry over to Michele's place. Maybe she should knows something." Thinking that's a good idea, they hurried to where they were going.
...
The Lobster Family
"Michele!" Lucy called to her friend as she was happy to see her with Michele's father. The gang arrived at Lucy's friend's place with both of the girls glad to see each other again.
"Lucy! It's so great to see you again!" Michele said as the two long friends were happy to see her again. "I'm so glad to meet all of your friends."
"It is great to have all of you here, but I wish it was at a better time." Michele's father said.
"Why? Is something wrong?" Gray asked.
"It's my Uncle Drew. He seems to have vanished." Michele said.
"Wait a minute. We saw someone walk into a creepy old mansion on our way up here. That could have been him." Erza said.
"Really?! We better get up there and see it." Michele's father said as they thought this requires some investigating.
...
The Mansion
When being told that Michele's Uncle Drew might be at some old mansion, everyone got moving to that mansion. They arrived, but there was no sign of anyone anywhere.
"Uncle Drew?! Are you here?!" Michele called.
"This place is deserted. No one is here." Natsu said as they all looked around. Suddenly, they heard some sort of noise and saw the doors were opening up. Someone was walking out and it looked like the man, but he had long white hair with a dead-look in his eyes.
"Uncle Drew?!" Michele said as they were all shocked as to how he looked.
"What happened to him?!" Michele's father questioned as something clearly bad has happened to him.
...
The Lobster House
After finding Drew, they all headed back to the Lobster house. Once they got there, they saw Drew down. He looked like he was exhausted, but they needed to know what happened to them.
"What happened to you, Drew?" Michele's father asked.
"It happened not that long ago." Drew said as he tried to explain. "I heard some sort of voice. As soon as I did, I was in a trance. I couldn't stop myself and soon found myself at the mansion. That was when I saw him: the Reaper's Ghost."
"Reaper's Ghost? Do you mean...the Grim Reaper?" Natsu questioned.
"Reaper was the name of the family that owned that mansion." Michele's father explained. "They've been at odds with us for years until they ended up loosing everything while we prospered."
"So what happened?" Erza asked.
"He gave me a warning." Drew said.
...
Flashback
When Drew was in a trance, he couldn't stop himself. He went inside the mansion, but that was where the ghost was waiting for him. The ghost was dressed in all black with a hood and cape and had a skull face.
"The Lobster family fortune belongs to me. Return it to me or this will happen to all." Reaper Ghost said and he used some sort of magic. That's what caused Drew's hair to change color and grow longer. He could also feel his breath leaving his body and all his strength just fading away.
End of Flashback
...
"That's what happened to me. It was like he reaped the life out of me." Drew said. "He probably spared me to give you all that warning."
"Yikes. Might not be thee reaper, but he surely sounds like one to me." Lucy said as they all got a little spooked from that story.
"Well, I'm calling a doctor to have Drew get looked at." Michele's father said as he reached for his phone. He dialed for help, but nothing happened. "That's strange. Something's blocking the signal."
"We can help, sir. We solve mysteries." Erza said.
"And it sounds like we got caught in another one." Gray said. "Why don't you head into town, sir? Maybe you can get some help. The rest of us can stay behind and keep an eye on things."
"Who takes the first watch?" Natsu asked.
"Happy, of course. No one would expect a cat to be on watch." Gray said. Happy didn't like the sound of that. That's why put on some black shades and acted like he was blind. Gray wasn't having any of that as he just took them off. "That isn't funny, Happy. Now, keep watch." Happy figured he had to try.
...
Later
Happy was suppose to be keeping watch over Drew while Michele's father was out to get some help. However, dogs are better at watching than cats seeing as how Happy just fell asleep.
"Come! Come!" That eerie voice came through the window and it reached Drew. Drew couldn't resist as he was pulled into a trance again and started walking away. By the time Happy woke up, Drew was already gone. Happy realized he goofed and had to alert the others. He reached for a trumpet and sounded like an army alarm and alerted everyone.
"Hey! What's with the alarm, Happy?" Gray said.
"I see why. Drew is gone." Erza said.
"He's not the only one. I don't see Michele around." Lucy said.
"You don't think they both went back Reaper Mansion, do you?" Natsu said.
"I don't know, but that's a good place to start." Gray said. Seeing as how they have a real situation on their hands, they need to get moving before it's too late to save Michele or her family.
...
Reaper Mansion
The gang made their way up to the mansion in hopes of finding Michele, her uncle, and maybe some clues to this mystery. They made their way inside and searched around for anything.
"I don't see a thing." Lucy said.
"Keep your eyes open. You never what's going to pop out of where." Erza said.
"Maybe there's a secret passage way or something." Natsu said.
"Don't be silly. That sort of thing only happens in the movies." Lucy said. The five of them kept walking until they passed a bookcase. When that happened, the case opened and revealed a hidden room with Michele tied up and gagged inside and the ghost himself. He crept his way out of the hidden room and left Michele in there. The gang searched around and didn't see a thing.
"Anyone find anything suspicious?" Gray questioned.
"Not yet." Natsu said. "Ghosts are slippery little guys with different tricks. Maybe he's hiding in a vase." Natsu grabbed one and searched inside it. "Nothing. At least this one is clear."
"Quit clowning around. There has to be something." Gray said. Happy searched around himself. He jumped up a chair and searched around. When Happy jumped down, he felt something strange about the chair. He looked down and got spooked when he saw Drew.
"Look! Happy found Drew!" Erza said.
"Mr. Lobster? Sir? Can you hear me?" Lucy said as she tried getting him to move, but it looks like he's out of it. "Nothing. He won't wake up."
"Do you think we're too late? What did the ghost do to him?" Erza questioned.
"I'm not sure, but at least we found him." Gray said. "It would help if we found a clue as to what happened here."
"I think I found one." Natsu said.
"You did? What? Where?" Gray asked.
"Him." Natsu said as he pointed to the hand that was on his shoulder. They all looked behind him and saw the Reaper Ghost himself.
"It's the ghost!" They all said. Happy got scared and ran right into a closet. Even put up a sign around the knob. With Happy taking cover, the four of them faced the ghost.
"You four are not part of the Lobster family." Reaper Ghost said. "For that, I will spare you. However, I am giving you a warning. Either bring me the fortune or stay out of the way. These are matters that do not concern you. Continue to interfere and you shall their fate. You have been warned." That was all the ghost said before he turned away and left them to think about this.
"He sure knows how to talk to people." Erza said as they all felt a little creeped out.
"Come on. I say we follow him." Gray said.
"Follow ugly? You've got to be kidding." Natsu said.
"We've got to if we want to find Michele and save her uncle from whatever he did to her." Gray said. "As for Drew, I think he'll be okay here. We don't have time to take him back."
"Hold it. Where's Happy?" Erza said.
"You want to bet he's in that closet." Lucy said as she spotted the door with the sign. "Out to lunch? There's no way." She opened up the closet and saw that Happy actually was eating a piece of chicken in the closet. The chicken was eating chicken.
"How about that. He could have at least invited me." Natsu complained.
...
The Gang
The gang tried following the Reaper Ghost to see where he went or where he's keeping Michele. They searched around the mansion, but there was no sign of him anymore.
"Great. We lost him?" Erza said. "Where could he have gone?"
"Wait. I see him. He's out there by that shed." Lucy said as she pointed out a window. They all looked and saw the ghost outside with him standing near a shed. When he believed no one was around, he walked away from the shed. "I wonder what he was doing in there."
"Only one way to find out." Gray said. "Happy, go down there and see if the coast is clear." He was telling Happy to do it, but Happy was refusing.
"Would you do it for a fishy treat?" Lucy asked, but Happy wouldn't go. "How about two?" Happy was starting to budge but still nothing. "Okay. I'll give you three, but that's my final offer." Happy decided to take it. Once he got all three treats, he made his way outside to have a look. The others stuck close by while Happy searched around. When Happy reached the shed, he pushed the door open and waved his paws around to keep anything away. When he saw there wasn't anything, he just whistled to them.
"It looks like it's all clear." Natsu said. The others went to check it out and see if there's anything inside.
"There's nothing in here." Erza said.
"I wouldn't say that." Lucy said as she found a couple cases with various products. "Look at all this. There's make-up, haircare products, and white wigs."
"What would this stuff be doing in here?" Gray questioned.
"What would a ghost want with this stuff?" Erza questioned.
"Maybe he's got a ghoul-friend that's trying to be the next top ghoul model." Natsu joked.
"Well, we found some clues here, but they don't really fit together." Gray said. "Any ideas as to what we do now?"
"I say we get back to looking for Michele. She's got to be around here somewhere." Lucy said as they all walked out of the shed. Suddenly, they heard it slammed shut and saw the Reaper Ghost standing there.
"I warned you, but you chose to disobey. For that, you're all about to pay." Reaper Ghost claimed.
"You want us to pay? Okay. Wait here while we all get the money." Natsu said as the five of them ran back into the mansion with the ghost chasing after them.
"For a guy who is probably nothing but bones under that robe, he's pretty fast." Lucy said.
"We've got to find some way to lose him." Erza said.
"I think I see something. Follow me!" Gray said as he led the way. They all ran into an upcoming room. Coincidentally, it was the same room that the ghost came out of earlier. Luckily for them, the bookcase closed the path and the ghost just ran by it. All of them listened outside and could hear that he was moving further and further away from the place.
"I think we lost him." Erza said.
"I told you there were secret passages and such in this place." Natsu said. They all took a moment to relax until they heard a muffling sound. They all looked and saw Michele was in the room with them.
"Michele!" Lucy said as she was so glad to see her unharmed. She reached for the cloth around Michele's mouth and removed it. "Are you okay?"
"Better now that all of you are here." Michele said.
"What happened to you?" Erza asked.
"I saw my Uncle Drew heading for this place. I followed after him, but that ghost grabbed me when I got here." Michele said.
"That's weird. Why didn't that ghost do to you what he did to your uncle?" Erza said.
"Unless that ghost is just one big phony." Gray suggested. At that moment, Happy spotted something on the floor. He poked at Lucy's leg and showed it to her.
"Hey! There's something on the floor!" Lucy said as she grabbed a slip of paper. "It's a number for a guy named Erigor."
"Erigor? Who could that be?" Natsu questioned.
"Hmm... I think I see what's really going on." Erza said as she was putting the pieces together. "We still need to trap that ghost."
"And I think I know how we can do that." Gray said as he got an idea.
...
Natsu and Happy
"Yoo-hoo! Mr. Spooky! We got the money you want!" Natsu called as he and Happy searched around for him carrying a chest. Suddenly, Natsu felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back and saw the ghost was right there.
"Aw! You brought me the fortune." Reaper Ghost said as he took the chest. "Stay until I see this." He opened the chest and expected to see money, but he ended up getting hit in the face by a boxing glove. "It's a trick!"
"Ha! Loser!" Natsu shouted as he and Happy ran off.
"I will reap your very souls!" Reaper Ghost shouted as he chased after them. The two of them ducked behind a curtain. They tried hiding, but Happy's tail was sticking out.
"I sure hope he doesn't find us here." Natsu claimed, but the ghost had him. He readied his fist and tried hitting him, but ended up hitting an anvil.
"Yeow!"
"Come on/ Time to set the trap." Natsu said as he and Happy ran off some more.
"Get back here!" Reaper Ghost shouted and chased after them. Natsu and Happy kept running until they passed through under some stairs. "I have you now!" The ghost was about to reach him until the others passed by and dropped a net on him with him getting all tangled in it.
"Ha. I wonder how he likes being tied up." Lucy said as they had the ghost now. After securing the ghost, they all waited for Michele's father to come back and they were telling him everything that happened.
"I can't believe you all caught the ghost." Michele's father claimed as he was astounded.
"It's easy because he's no ghost. Watch." Gray said as he pulled off the hair and mask to show a man with silver hair.
"I know that man! His name is Erigor, a known conartist." Michele's father said. None of them understood how he fit in this until they heard groaning and saw Drew was awake.
"What happened?" Drew questioned. "What is this? Why is this man dressed as a ghost?"
"You can't cut the act, Drew." Lucy said as she pulled at his hair and showed it was just a white wig with Natsu holding him by the arms. "Sorry, Michele. I'm afraid your uncle is the mastermind behind all of this."
"He is?!" Michele said as she and her father were shocked.
"He wanted the family fortune all for himself." Gray said. "He contacted Erigor to help him with his scheme and split the profit with him."
"We knew something had to be strange when we found those white wigs and other products." Erza said. "He made it look like he was attacked by some sort of ghost. To ensure everything would go well, he hired Erigor to help him and make it more convincing."
"I followed my uncle here, but I saw his hair move. I knew it had to be some sort of wig." Michele said.
"So they had to take you prisoner to ensure you wouldn't tell anyone." Michele's father said.
"I still can't believe it. Uncle Drew, why would you do something so horrible?" Michele asked.
"Because I want all that money. It would have been all mine if it weren't for these meddlesome kids." Drew said.
"Well, he and Erigor will have plenty of time to think about what they've done." Michele's father said. "You kids did great work here. I think a nice dinner should be your reward."
"Now you're talking." Natsu said as he went to check out the food. When he did, he saw most of it was gone. "Where'd it all go?" He heard a burp coming from under the table. He looked under it saw Happy was stuffed with food." How about that, the hungry cat strikes again."
