Love is usually in the air, but it's science that's in the air this time. Magnolia High's annual science fair was underway and it did seem like there were impressive displays. The gang took a look around themselves and were rather intrigued with what they saw.
"Look at all these nerds." Gray said.
"That's not nice, Gray." Lucy said. "Some of these are quite impressive and good work. I wonder who is going to win."
"I think I see a clear winner." Natsu said as he pointed ahead to see a fellow student displaying what appeared to be a robot. The robot was a big one. It was colored silver and lavender with a bullet-shaped head, antenna for ears, what looked similar to teeth, and red eyes.
"Next, we have Hibiki Lates displaying his robot." A teacher said as she stood with a dashing young man. "Hibiki, is it true that you built this robot with your own hands?"
"I certainly did." Hibiki said. "I designed this robot to function as a bodyguard and an assistant." He showed what the robot could do as it moved around and lifted Hibiki off the ground and placed him on its shoulder. The fact that this robot was built by a student in the first place was impressive. Everyone seemed to love to it.
"I think we might have a winner." The teacher said as she handed Hibiki the blue ribbon and marked him the winner with everyone cheering, especially all the girls. Not only was Hibiki smart, but the girls all loved him.
"Will someone please tell me why girls go nuts over this guy?" Gray questioned.
"Hibiki's not a bad guy." Lucy said. "Just let him have his win."
"Doesn't he win first place every year?" Natsu said. Hibiki might win first place every year, but he was still humbled about it.
"First place again, Hibiki." A girl with glasses, tanned skin, and brown hair said as she came over. "I don't why even bother. You win all the time."
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Dora." Hibiki said. "You still got second. That's quite the accomplishment. Plus, your idea to use fruit as a power source like potatoes is quite the idea. It would certainly be ecofriendly."
"Oh, Hibiki." Another pretty girl in a silver shiny outfit and brunette hair came over to him. With a spray of her perfume, Hibiki was interested to her. "Congrats on the win. We still on for studying at your place?"
"Sure, Cameron. I am surprised you didn't enter. You're a great student yourself." Hibiki said.
"Oh, it's not my cup of tea." Cameron said as she put the moves on him. "I know I never would be a match for you, so smart and handsome."
"Thank you. I would love to continue to studying with you." Hibiki said as he got both arms around the girls. "I would also be happy to treat you lovely ladies to a nice dinner if either of you are interested."
"Hibiki really knows how to charm women. Look at how they're all over him." Gray said.
"Jealous?" Erza taunted.
"More like just annoyed. Good thing he keeps it clean in public." Gray said.
"Well, I say we get something to eat. Right, Happy?" Natsu said as he looked around for Happy. "Happy, leave the fish experiment alone!" He called when he caught him trying to swipe some fish from another student's project. Everyone began to clear out of the science fair with Hibiki leaving his robot. When the room was empty, the eyes on Hibiki's robot began to glow an ominous red.
...
The Next Day
"As we can see, balancing out this equation gives us the answer of down to two." Hibiki said as he answered an equation that looked rather difficult.
"Very good, Hibiki." The teacher said.
"Man, he's as smart as he is handsome." Natsu said. "Only Hibiki could figure out that difficult equation and bring it down to a mere number."
"So? Lucy might not be as smart as Hibiki, but she's pretty and smart like he is." Erza said.
"I know, but I wonder how they do it." Natsu said.
"It's called studying." Erza said as she tried implying Natsu should try it. Everyone was just going on with a normal day until they heard someone screaming. "Speaking of Lucy, that sounded like her!" The two of them and others all heard Lucy screaming and ran out to see what happened.
"Lucy, what's wrong?" Gray asked.
"Look at my locker!" Lucy said as they all saw her locker was torn open. "Someone broke into it! My diary was in there and it's now gone!"
"Looks like you're not the only one." Natsu said. They all saw some other lockers were busted open. They all checked and they claimed something from their locker was missing.
"Calm down, students! Calm down!" Precht said as he came by when he knew about the commotion. "I'm sure we can get to the bottom of this." Everyone wondered what was going on until Erza spotted something.
"Hold on. Look over here." Erza said as she walked over to a locker. "This one looks stuffed, but it's not damaged like the others." All Erza did was place her hand against it and it suddenly flew open with a whole bunch of stuff flowing out of there.
"My diary!" Lucy called when she spotted it. Everyone saw what they were missing and reclaimed it.
"Nicely done, Miss Scarlet. Now, we just need to know whose locker this is." Precht said, but Hibiki was rather nervous about this.
"Uh... Principle Precht... This is my locker." Hibiki said.
"Hibiki's locker?!" Lucy said as she and others were shocked about this.
"I swear I didn't take anything. I don't know how this stuff got in my locker." Hibiki said, but it already didn't look good for him.
"What's this?" Precht said as he grabbed some papers. "These are the answers to an upcoming exam! Mr. Lates, I think should discuss this matter in my office!" Being called into the office when he's mad? Never a good thing. Hibiki was taken to the office, but the gang was curious as to what was going on. Sensing a mystery, Natsu even got Happy to come in. They were also worried about him.
"Hibiki might be smooth with the ladies, but he's no thief." Lucy said.
"Yeah. No way this guy really swiped that stuff." Gray said. They all watched as Hibiki stepped out and did not look happy. "Hibiki, what happened?"
"I'm suspended until further notice, but I'm innocent. I didn't take any of that stuff." Hibiki said. "You guys solve mysteries, right? You've got to help me."
"Of course we will." Erza said.
"But who would frame Hibiki like that?" Natsu questioned.
"That's what we're going to find out. There isn't much we can do now. We'll have to come back when no one is around." Gray said. Seeing a fellow student in need of help, the gang really does have another mystery on their hands.
...
Later
Later at night, the gang went back to school and were able to sneak inside like before. Gray managed to get the door open and all five of them snuck inside to have a look around.
"They should have changed the locks after last time." Gray said. They all went to where the lockers were torn opened to see if they can really find anything.
"What could be strong enough to tear open these lockers?" Natsu said.
"I'm not sure, but I got something that can help." Lucy said as she pulled out a small kit.
"Lucy, is now really a time to be doing your make-up?" Natsu said.
"It's powder used to help find fingerprints." Lucy said. "These lockers look like they were forced open. Maybe whoever really did it left their prints behind. If we can get some samples that match, all we would have to do is find the one with the fingerprint." Lucy dusted some of the lockers to find those prints, but there was a slight problem. There wasn't a thing to be found on the lockers. "That's weird. No fingerprints."
"Whoever did this had to have been wearing gloves or used some sort of tool." Gray said. "There's got to be something else around here."
"I think I just found it. Look here." Erza said as she spotted a different kind of print: a footprint. "Check out this footprint. Look how big it is." They all had a look and thought that print did look a little strange.
"What could have made something that big?" Natsu said. Happy had an answer as he moved like a robot. "A robot, Happy? What makes you think that?" Happy pointed right behind them and saw what he was talking about.
"You should have stayed away." All of them were shocked to see Hibiki's robot moving and operating on its own.
"Hibiki's robot?!" Lucy said.
"I think it's starting to malfunction." Erza said.
"You shouldn't have gotten involved. Now you shall be deleted." Hibiki's Robot claimed as it wasn't some friendly robot.
"Oh man! Hibiki's created a monster!" Natsu said as they all thought they were in trouble. The robot swiped at them, but they all ran out of there. The robot chased after them to try and eliminate them. The five of them ran off and took cover in a classroom. The robot went after them, but ended up getting something else. "There you are, Mr. Robot. You're late." Natsu said as he was dressed like a teacher.
"I'm what?" Hibiki's Robot questioned.
"Late for detention. Are you looking to get in even more trouble?" Natsu said as he showed the robot to a seat and acted like a real teacher. "You should be ashamed of yourself for causing such a ruckus on schoolgrounds, not to mention chasing and tormenting poor innocent students and a little kitty."
"But I..." "I don't want to hear excuses!" Natsu interrupted.
"You stay here and think about what you've done." Natsu said. The robot seem to obliged as it just sat there and gave the others a chance to slip past it. When it realized it's been tricked, the robot let out an angry scream and tried going after them again. The robot ran down the hall and tried to find the five of them, but he actually missed them as they had themselves hidden and waited until the robot was gone before coming out.
"Looks like we lost that thing." Erza said.
"I don't know how Hibiki built that thing, but he clearly did something wrong." Gray said.
"Hold on. Where's Lucy?" Natsu said as he didn't see him anywhere.
"I'm in here." Lucy said as she came out of the janitor's room. "I found something really weird." She pulled out a filled garbage bag and opened it up. What was in there was a bunch of circuit boards and other robotic parts.
"That is weird. What are all those robot parts doing in there?" Gray questioned.
"Someone must have stashed it in here and thought the janitor would just throw it out." Lucy said as she pulled out a piece and actually sniffed it. "There's a strange scent coming off of them too. I wonder what it is." This mystery is already beginning to get weird. If they just dealt with a robot, why are there robot pieces being thrown out. Happy spotted something else strange as he got Natsu's attention and pointed down the hall.
"Guys, we're the only ones in the school, right?" Natsu questioned.
"Other than that robot, yeah." Gray said.
"So what do you think is going on in the office." Natsu said as he pointed at what he saw. All of them could see a faint light coming from the office.
"A light on in the main office? Let's check it out." Gray said. All of them went to the office to see what was happening in there. When they got inside, they could see a computer was on. Lucy went over to the computer and checked it out with her feeling it.
"It's still warm." Lucy said.
"Someone must have been on it recently." Erza said as she spotted paperwork everywhere. "What's all this about?"
"Let me see if I can pull up the history." Lucy said as she got to work on it and tried to see what happened on it. "It looks like someone was on the school's website."
"You're right." Erza said as she looked over the papers she found. "This stuff here holds the passwords teachers and faculty use. Someone must have been trying to get in as one of them."
"Other than that robot, what does any of this have to do with Hibiki?" Gray questioned as none of this was making sense.
"Who would want to frame Hibiki in the first place?" Lucy questioned as they tried to think of some suspect.
"Hey! What about Dora? She's pretty smart, like she could reprogram a robot." Natsu said. "Maybe she got tired of always coming in second to Hibiki and has decided to eliminate the competition."
"Maybe, but we need more proof." Lucy said. None of this was making much sense. Lucy tried figuring it out until she picked up a strange scent. "There's that scent again. What is it?"
"You shouldn't be here." All of them got spooked when they saw the robot was able to find them. "You shall be deleted."
"You'll have to catch us first." Natsu said as all of them ran out of there with the robot chasing after them.
...
Chase Scene
Do, do, dodo
Do, do, dodo
Do, do, dodo
Do, do, dodo
The robot chased them out to a football field, but they all started chasing him when they grabbed tractor.
He's handsome and charming
Got a power over me
They say I'm a fool
I say that he's cool
Natsu and Happy were chased into the cafeteria. The robot chased after them, but they took what was in the food and smashed it against the robot's face.
She's got a crush on him
But she doesn't see what's within
He's charming, but out of his mind
He seems nice, but has no heart
He's a monster
He chased the five of them into the library and...
"Shh... We've got to be quiet in the library." Lucy reminded them. That's when they got quiet and chased each other quietly through the library until they reached the exit. "That's better." Once they were out, they resumed a normal chase.
He's creepy, but he's so tall
He's crazy girl, don't you know?
He doesn't return my calls
But I love him so
Natsu and Lucy were chased through the science room, but the robot was scared away by a moving skeleton that was controlled by Happy.
She's got a crush on him
But doesn't see what's within
He's charming, bit out of his mind
He seems nice, but has no heart
He's a monster
The robot had them all cornered into a classroom, but Happy acted fast when he grabbed himself a pair of earmuffs. He placed his nails against the board and the irritating sound that comes from it is what drove the robot away.
...
"Nice thinking, Happy. Although, maybe give us a warning next time." Gray said as they were all recovering from that sound.
"Hey! It looks like the robot dropped something." Lucy said as she spotted something on the ground. It looked like a small glass bottle with a spray on it with something labeled on it. "Fateful #5?" She gave it a sniff as she smelled something on it as well. Lucy pondered on what that meant until it came to her. "That's it! That weird scent I've been sniffing is perfume."
"Perfume? What would a robot want with perfume?" Erza questioned.
"Maybe it doesn't want to smell like motor oil anymore." Natsu joked.
"I think I'm starting to see what's really going on, but we still need to trap that robot." Lucy said.
"How do we trap that metal menace?" Gray wondered. When he said that, he got an idea. "Hold on! I have an idea! Are there still some of those science fair projects out?"
"I wish. They've all been cleared out." Erza said. "Why? What do you have in mind?"
"I remember seeing one of those projects being about magnets." Gray said.
"I see what you're thinking and I think we can pull this off. There should be plenty of magnets in the science room." Lucy said. "We just need someone to lure that robot out." That was when the three of them looked at Natsu and Happy.
"Why is everyone looking at us?" Natsu said. Happy waved his paw and told him he won't do it.
"Really, Happy?" Erza said as she held out a fishy treat. Happy still was refusing, but was breaking. "You won't do it for two fishy treats?" Happy just couldn't resist as he grabbed a couple and took them. "That means you've got to go, Natsu."
"How do you figure that?" Natsu said, but all Erza did was give him a look. "Okay, I'll go."
...
The Robot
Hibiki's Robot continued searching around the school for the gang. It was tearing everything open to try and find them.
"Over here you giant trash can!" Natsu called as he and Happy got its attention. "I thought robots were suppose to be smart. I've seen coffee makers that are smarter than you."
"I will delete you!" Hibiki's Robot declared as he went after the two of them. Natsu and Happy ran through the halls and hoped the others had the trap ready. The two of them kept running through the school and tried luring the robot into the trap. Natsu and Happy kept on running, but the robot was gaining on them until it reached out and grabbed a hold of them.
"I don't suppose you're just going to let us go." Natsu said.
"I'm going to..." Hibiki's Robot was going to get rid of them until it felt something being pulled and was pulled right into the lockers. The weird part was that the robot couldn't get free. "What is this?"
"Just the use of good old fashion magnets." Lucy said as the others came out of hiding and got Natsu and Happy free from the robot's grip. "We just magnetized the lockers. Not so smart of you wearing metal." The robot was trapped now and had nowhere to go. Once they made sure the robot was secured, they called Principle Precht and Hibiki over to clear Hibiki's name.
"My robot caused all of this? I don't understand. What could have caused it to malfunction?" Hibiki said.
"Kids, this just further proves that Hibiki is responsible." Precht said.
"It wasn't your fault, Hibiki. Someone messed with your robot." Erza said.
"Our only suspect is Dora. Just like Natsu said, maybe she's tired of always coming in second." Gray said.
"True, but our biggest clue was this perfume bottle I found." Lucy said as she held it up. "Dora doesn't wear perfume, but I know who uses this specific brand. Isn't that right...Cameron!" Lucy pulled off the robot's head and they were all shocked to see it was Cameron.
"Cameron?!" Hibiki said as he was surprised it was her.
"I figured it had to be her. The scent came from the robot and the robot parts I found. Her cheap perfume gave it away." Lucy said.
"How dare you! That perfume costs me seventy dollars a bottle." Cameron said.
"But I don't understand why she did this." Precht said as Lucy helped Cameron out of the robot.
"I believe Cameron was being suspected of cheating." Lucy said. "It was her in the office that was trying to eliminate anything like that."
"But why frame Hibiki?" Erza questioned.
"Hibiki was the one she was getting all her answers from since he's a straight A student." Lucy said with Hibiki feeling so used. "She completely played him for her own personal benefit. When she was being suspected of cheating, she tried to make it look like it was all him.
"I'm starting to get it. So, she removed all the robot parts to fit inside and control the robot from the inside." Erza said.
"You mean she rather go through with something this complexed rather than just study?" Gray said as he just pointed out a simpler solution.
"Oh please." Cameron said. "Frankly, I don't understand why people like Lucy and Hibiki study. People like us can just charm someone to do our work for us so we can just have some fun."
"Wow. She really is shameless." Gray said as she just openly admitted she would rather have fun and have someone do her work than do it herself.
"Well, young lady, let's see what your parents have to say about that." Precht said as he escorted Cameron out of there and wrapped up another mystery.
...
The Next Day
Since Hibiki was cleared, he's no longer suspended and Cameron is the one expelled. Now that mess is over, things began to return to normal.
"I'm glad Hibiki is no longer in trouble." Lucy said as she and the gang walked in the school. "I can't believe Cameron completely used Hibiki like that just to end up throwing him away."
"Some girls are just that shameless." Gray said. "Maybe after this, Hibiki will take it easy around the girls or something."
"I wouldn't bet on it." Natsu said as he pointed ahead. They all looked and saw a bunch of girls gathered around Hibiki as they all tried comforting him or whatever. Hibiki appeared to be enjoying it. Not exactly what Gray was expecting. Perhaps some things just can't change or be understood.
