Night can hold quite a romantic feel to it. As a young lady came out of her house, she saw a black car drive up. She was excited about her date as she walked to the car and stepped inside with it driving away with her inside.
"Thanks for agreeing to go out with me, Aisha."
"Well, you're a hard guy to say no to." Aisha claimed. "It is such a beautiful night."
"Yeah, but you never know what might come out of the dark!" Her date showed his real face as he a fiend like head with pointed ears and razor-sharp teeth. He was dressed in all black and wore a black coat with yellow buttons and a high collar. Seeing what she got into, she screamed as the car drove away into the shadows.
...
Magnolia High
Even though the gang are solving mysteries, they still attend regular school. At their school, they have their big homecoming dance is coming up. Everyone seemed rather excited for it.
"So, the big homecoming dance is coming up." Gray said as he and Natsu walked through the halls. "Any special lady you want to ask?" There actually was someone Natsu wanted to ask for he spends everyday with her. He looked down the hall and saw by her locker. Gray could see what he was thinking. "I see... You want to ask Lucy."
"Well... I..." Natsu didn't really know what to say.
"Better do it. With someone like her, it's only a matter of time until some other guy sweeps her off her feet." Gray said as he tried Natsu to get going, but he seemed rather nervous. "Come on. Don't be a chicken like you are with ghosts." He gave Natsu an actual push in Lucy's direction. Natsu took a deep breath and walked over to her.
"Hey, Lucy." Natsu said.
"Hey, Natsu. What's up?" Lucy asked.
"Well, has any guy asked you to the homecoming dance yet?" Natsu said.
"Not yet. I don't want to go with some guy. I want to go with someone who is actually nice." Lucy said. That was a good sign for Natsu. He was about to go for it until they heard someone banging on a locker.
"Stupid locker. Come on and open."
"Here. Let me help with that." Lucy said as she came over. "Sometimes these lockers stick. You just need to put a little more pressure on the switch." Lucy pushed up on the switch and was able to get the locker open.
"Thanks." The guy said with all of them get a good look at him with him dressed in all black and had black hair in a scissor-cut. "My name is Johnathan Jameson. I'm new here and I don't know my way around."
"I be happy to show you around. My name is Lucy and that's Natsu."
"Hi." Natsu said not really sounding excited.
"Hi. I appreciate the offer, Lucy." Johnathon said as the two of them walked off together and Natsu already annoyed.
"Couldn't do it?" Gray said as he walked over.
"Not when the new guy was asking for help and she clearly wasn't going to say no." Natsu said.
"Hey, guys!" Erza called as she came over with an article in her hands. "I got something tell you guys."
"Don't tell me. A guy finally asked you to the homecoming dance." Gray said.
"No. In fact, I'm choosing not to go." Erza said as she tried to act like it didn't bother her, but the guys had a feeling that it did. "More importantly, I'm talking about this article. It talks about how a girl narrowly escaped the grasp of Shadow Boy."
"Shadow Boy? Who's that?" Natsu questioned.
"He's a local legend around here." Erza said. "He lures in beautiful girls and tries taking them away. This also isn't the first time this happened. Several people have claimed they actually saw him."
"Weird. You think we should investigate?" Gray questioned.
"Possibly. This does look like this is something we should look at. Where's Lucy?" Erza questioned.
"She's a little occupied at the moment." Natsu said with annoyance. Solving the mystery of Shadow Boy might help keep his mind off things.
...
Natsu
Natsu and Happy roamed around the streets of Magnolia at night. The two of them were looking for anything about Shadow Boy, but it seemed like the gang was coming up on empty.
"Happy, do you think I got a shot with Lucy?" Natsu asked, but Happy looked like he didn't know what Natsu was talking about. "I mean, she is really nice and smart. Still, is it even a good idea considering that we work together?" Natsu knows he should be investigating something about Shadow Boy, but he can't stop thinking about Lucy and the thought of going to the dance with her. When he looked down at Happy, he could see a smug face on Happy. "What? I'm capable of having a relationship." He tried talking to a cat about this, but that was when his phone went off and saw it was Lucy. "Hey, Lucy. Did you find anything about Shadow Boy?"
"Not yet. I got a little distracted by Johnathan." Lucy said.
"Johnathan? What about him?" Natsu questioned as he didn't like the sound of.
"We just hung out for a while after school. He's a pretty cool guy." Lucy said.
"Why were you with him?" Natsu said.
"I was just being nice. He's new and doesn't know anyone." Lucy said. "Anyway, I think we should call it a night and continue another day. Erza and Gray tried talking to that Aisha, but she wasn't really in the mood to talk about it. We'll try again another day."
"Okay." Natsu said.
"Is everything okay, Natsu?" Lucy asked as she could tell something was bothering him.
"Nothing. Bye." Natsu said as he just ended the call. Happy looked at him with some concern. "Don't look at me like that. I just don't want to hear her talking about the new guy. Let's just head home." Natsu was ready to leave until he saw a strange figure in the reflection of a window. He turned around and it looked like Shadow Boy when he saw the figure run into an alleyway. "Shadow Boy?" Thinking it was Shadow Boy, Happy wanted to run. However, Natsu grabbed a scared Happy and ran towards the figure ran. The two took a look around the corner, but they saw something jump out and gave them a good scare.
"Natsu, it's just me." Natsu was surprised when he saw it was Johnathan coming out.
"Johnathan? What are you doing here?" Natsu questioned.
"I was just out for a stroll. Didn't mean to scare you or your cat." Johnathan said. "Are you okay?"
"Peachy." Natsu said, but he thought it was rather strange that Johnathan was out here.
"Well, I'll see you at school." Johnathan said as he walked into the shadows and gave the illusion that he disappeared into the darkness. That had Natsu even more suspicious of him.
...
The Next Night
The gang continued investigating Shadow Boy, but they never got any solid leads as to who he really is or what he's really after. Natsu and Happy met up with Erza and Gray, but Lucy wasn't with them. He was also telling them what he and Happy saw the other night. They just drove around the streets, but Erza and Gray weren't convinced on Natsu's theories.
"Natsu, you can't just accuse of Johnathan being Shadow Boy." Erza said.
"You don't find it weird he showed up right after Shadow Boy did?" Natsu questioned.
"Maybe, but that isn't enough evidence." Gray said. "You weren't sure if you really saw Shadow Boy. Happy, didn't see anything. Happy, do you think Natsu is right?" Even Happy himself wasn't so sure if Natsu was right.
"I'm telling you that something is up with that guy." Natsu said. "Where's Lucy? She should be hearing about this."
"She told me she meet up with us later. She had something else to do." Erza said.
"Sorry, Natsu. I think you're just jealous that Lucy seems to like him." Gray said. Natsu is certain that can't be why, but he might have a chance as she spotted something in the mirrors.
"Well, don't look now, but I think we might get to see for ourselves." Natsu said as something bumped against the van. They all looked back and saw Shadow Boy himself driving after them as he rammed his car against the van again.
"I've heard of road rage, but this is silly." Erza said.
"Hang on, gang. I'll try to lose him." Gray said as he stepped on it, but Shadow Boy chased after them.
...
Chase Scene
I know a place where I'm going
And the place where I'm going just around the ben
And you know there's a lot that I can show you
And if you wanna go there I can get you in
"Happy" is the secret word
And if you're happy it will get you through
And I love you, you know it's true
And I can make you happy if you love me too
Gray drove around to try and lose Shadow Boy, but Shadow Boy is hot on their tail. Gray was doing his best, but he ended up driving into a building and Shadow Boy still went after them. Everyone inside the building ducked out of the way as they both drove around until they came out of the roof.
I'll take you to the place where I'm going
And the place where I'm going isn't far away
Baby, if you want to get going
Let your love start showing
And I'll take you today
Can't you see
You've only been dreaming
But I can make your dreams come true
Cause I love you, you know it's true
And I can make you happy if you love me too
It was a rough ride as they were all jumping off rooftops. It was hard, but they soon ended up back on the road and started driving away again, but Shadow Boy still chased after them. The rough ride knocked Happy around until he ended up falling out of the back. When Happy pulled himself together, he saw a car coming and jumped and waved his paws to get the attention. The car pulled over. When Happy jumped up to the window, he got scared when he saw Shadowy Boy and his sinister grin. He just forgot that ride and found other means.
Baby, there's a place where I'm going
And if you want to go there come along with me
There's so much that I want to show you
And I can make those dreams come true
Cause I love you, you know it's true
And I can make you happy if you love me too
Happy grabbed himself a skateboard and pushed himself as best as he could. He passed right by Shadow Boy and laughed at him. However, Happy didn't see where he was going. He ended up crashing into speedbump and was flung into the air. He ended up falling against Shadow Boy's windshield wipers. Laughing at Happy's misfortune, he turned the wipers on and tried shaking him off. Gray kept driving around until he made too sharp of a turn and ended up crashing near the cemetery.
...
"Sheesh, Gray! Who taught you to drive?!" Natsu said as they were recovering from that rough ride. They heard Happy squealing as he flew through the air and smashed against the van. They all looked and saw Shadow Boy pulled over and stepped out to get them.
"Run for it!" Gray said. Natsu grabbed Happy and they all ran out of there. They ran into the cemetery in hopes of loosing Shadow Boy. The four of them hurried off passed the gravestones until they saw a mausoleum.
"In there!" Erza said. All of them ran inside and shut the door in hopes that Shadow Boy didn't see them. "That was close."
"Happy, are you okay?" Natsu asked, but Happy looked like he was going to be okay. "Where are we anyway?" Erza took a flashlight and shined it around until they spotted a name on a crypt.
"Porla?" Erza read.
"Porla?! That's the Fiend Hatter!" Natsu said. The memory of him gave Happy a good scare.
"Jose Porla, the Fiend Hatter... I remember him. He was a criminal that was thought gone, but he took up the identity of the Fiend Hatter to continue his crimes." Gray said as they all remembered their encounter with the Fiend Hatter.
"Hold on. Isn't Jose still in jail, alive?" Erza said. They all remembered he was and thought this was weird.
"Open it. Let's see what's inside." Gray said. All of them opened up the crypt, but there was no body in there. There other items in there as Gray and Natsu reached in for them. "This is the Fiend Hatter's old costume."
"And take a look at these photos. They're all of us with X's over them." Natsu said as he showed those photos.
"Guys, if Shadow Boy is the one behind this, this means he's after us!" Erza said.
"But what's the connection between Shadow Boy and Jose?" Gray questioned. They all wondered what this meant until they heard a knocking on the door. They all feared it was Shadow Boy until they saw it open and it was Lucy.
"There you guys are!" Lucy said.
"Lucy! What are you doing here?!" Natsu said.
"I was on my way to meet with you guys when I saw the van crash and followed your tracks here." Lucy said. "Are you all alright?"
"We're fine, but Johnathan tried to run us off the road." Natsu said.
"Natsu, we don't know if Johnathan is Shadow Boy." Gray said.
"Johnathan? That can't be." Lucy said. "I was with him earlier today. He actually asked me to the homecoming dance and I said yes."
"You... You what?" Natsu said as he didn't like the sound of that.
"I agreed to go with him because he's new, and he seems like a nice guy." Lucy said, but Natsu is worried Lucy might be Shadow Boy's next victim.
...
Later
The night of the dance arrived. However, Natsu was worried about Lucy. That's why he dressed himself up in a suit and was getting himself ready to go.
"Natsu, I'm telling you that this is a bad idea." Gray said as he was video chatting with him and Erza on the computer. "You can't just go and swipe someone else's date."
"I've got to do something to help Lucy. She could end up being Shadow Boy's next victim." Natsu said.
"Again, we don't know for sure that Johnathan is really Shadow Boy." Erza said. "You're really going to walk up to the dance without a date. Just imagine what people are going to think." Her saying that is what had Gray convinced something else was going on.
"Just because no one asked you, Erza, doesn't mean I shouldn't go." Natsu said. "I know what I'm doing. I'll talk to you guys later." He ended the cat and finished fixing himself up. "Do I look good, Happy?" Happy confirmed he with the way he went meow. "Perfect. Let's go." Johnathan or no Johnathan, Natsu refuses to let Lucy fall into Shadow Boy's hands.
...
Lucy
Lucy was at home and finished getting ready for the dance. She got dressed in a beautiful pink dress and stepped out of her home with her ready to go.
"Lucy!" She was surprised to see Natsu and Happy arrive.
"Natsu? Happy? What are you doing here?" Lucy questioned.
"Listen to me." Natsu said as he grabbed her by the shoulders. "You can't go to the dance with Johnathan."
"What? It's too late. He should be here soon." Lucy said.
"You've got to trust me, Lucy." Natsu said. "I'll take you, but you have to trust me on this." Lucy wasn't sure what got into him, but she knows Natsu wouldn't say something like this without a good reason. Before they could talk anymore about it, Lucy's phone went off and saw it was a message from Johnathan.
"Might as well. Johnathan just texted me saying he'll meet me at the dance. Something came up." Lucy said. Natsu will take what he can get.
...
Erza
As for Erza, she just sat around at home. She just hung around there until she heard a knock on the door. She looked opened it up and was surprised to see Gray in a suit.
"Gray? What are you doing here?" Erza questioned.
"Call it a hunch, but I had a feeling that you really wanted to go to the dance." Gray said with Erza not sure what to say. "Erza, you're a great girl. You don't need some date to go to a dance. If it's really that important to you, I'll take you as a friend."
"Wait right here." Erza said with excitement as she hurried back inside. Gray just waited a few seconds before she came out looking stunning in a beautiful purple dress.
"Wow! How did you do that so fast?!" Gray said.
"Let's go! We're gonna be late!" Erza said as she took Gray's hand and hurried off to the dance.
...
The School
Everyone was arriving at the dance as they were all excited for it. Natsu and Lucy arrived themselves with Natsu holding out his arm for her. Lucy took it and the two of them went inside with Happy waving his paw at them. Just then, the Myster-V arrived with Gray and Erza stepping out and Happy spotting them.
"Happy! What are you doing here?" Erza said.
"I sure hope Natsu isn't doing something stupid." Gray said. "Well, ready to go, Erza?" Erza was ready to step inside until she looked to the side and saw a familiar black car.
"Look!" Erza said as she pointed to the car and the three of them saw Shadow Boy step out and head to the school. "Shadow Boy?! What's he doing here?!"
"We need to warn Natsu and Lucy!" Gray said as the three of them ran inside. Everyone was gathering in the gym and enjoying the dance. Natsu was even able to get a dance in with Lucy.
"Enjoying the dance?" Natsu asked.
"Yeah, but I do wonder where John is." Lucy said.
"Stop worrying about him." Natsu said as he took her hand and was about to continue dancing with her as he felt like he was on cloud nine.
"Happy?! Guys?!" Lucy said and ruined the moment when they saw the three of them arriving.
"Guys! We just saw Shadow Boy! He's here!" Gray said. Suddenly, the lights went off and people got scared away from the stage as Shadow Boy stood right there.
"I hope you saved a dance for me, Lucy!" Shadow Boy called. He leaped off the stage with everyone running for their lives as they tried to hurry out of the gym.
"This way! It's us he's after!" Gray said as he lure the gang out of a different exit with Shadow Boy following them. They all kept running and tried to find a place to escape. Luck was on their side when Lucy saw the door to the boiler room was unlocked.
"In here!" Lucy said as the five of them ducked inside. Natsu watched through the door as Shadow Boy ran right past them.
"I think we lost him." Natsu said.
"Will someone please tell me what just happened?" Lucy questioned.
"Shadow Boy is after us for whatever reason and it has something to do with Jose Porla." Gray said.
"The Fiend Hatter? Now that you mention it, his face does look just like the Fiend Hatter's." Lucy said.
"It does... What he just said to Lucy..." Erza said as she was putting the pieces together. "I think I know what's really going on, but we still need to catch him." With a plan in motion, they all ready themselves to reveal the truth of Shadow Boy.
...
The Gym
Shadow Boy searched around for the gang. He knew they didn't leave yet and he refused to just let them go. He went back inside the gym and looked around for them until he heard music playing and lights going off.
"What is this?!" Shadow Boy called.
"What you want: me." Lucy said as she stood out and was ready for him. Shadow Boy took the chance as he charged right at Lucy to attack her, but that was when Happy shined a light right in Shadow Boy's face. Natsu trigged a pulley system that caused a net to fall right on Shadow Boy and captured him.
"Let me out of this!" Shadow Boy demanded. The gang came out and glad they had Shadow Boy. That was when the lights came on and saw Principle Precht and the sheriff came in.
"Principle Precht! You got the sheriff!" Gray said.
"Well, when you hear all your students running out of their homecoming dance in a scream, you tend to worry." Precht said. "So what's going on?"
"Let me introduce you to who the Shadow Boy is." Natsu said as he walked over to him and pulled off the mask. "Johnathan Jameson, or his real name being...
"Johnathan Porla!" The gang said.
"Porla? As in Jose Porla, the Fiend Hatter?" Sheriff questioned.
"The very same. We now know what this was really about: revenge." Natsu said as he looked at John. "You're Jose's son, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I am." Johnathan said. "Dad and I didn't get along, but he was really the only family I had. When he was arrested, I was more heartbroken about it than I thought. So much that I wanted revenge on those who put him away."
"So you heard about the legend of Shadow Boy and tried to bring it to life by having Lucy become your victim." Erza said. "After you got her, you were going to come after us next. He was planning to pick us off one at a time."
"And I would have gotten it if it weren't for you meddling...schoolmates." Johnathan said. That was when the sheriff took him away so he could reunite with his father.
"Well, I'm sure this is a dance no one will forget." Precht said as he exited the room. Despite what happened, Lucy still seemed upset.
"You okay?" Natsu asked.
"Yeah... This just wasn't how I pictured the dance going. I wanted to go with a nice guy and I thought I did, but he ended up being another creep." Lucy said. Natsu felt bad for her, but the others had a way to fix that. Gray and Erza started playing music with Happy shining a light on them. Natsu held out his hand for Lucy to give her the dance she wanted. Seeing what he was doing, Lucy took that hand and danced with the nice guy like she wanted. The others couldn't stop smiling from seeing this.
"Still glad you came Erza?" Gray asked.
"Yeah. This is one moment I wouldn't want to miss." Erza said as they were happy for their friends. Looks like Lucy ended up getting charmed by a nice guy after all.
