Thanks to Lucy's quick thinking, she learned the truth. The phantom's real plan was to keep everyone distracted by using their curiosity against them. He wanted all eyes on Garden Fest while he was really going for the diamond that once belonged to King Henry VIII. When she realized the truth, she told the gang and hurried to the museum in their van.
"Hurry, Gray. We might be too late." Lucy said.
"It looks like we made it just in time!" Erza said as she pointed to the museum and could see it. Someone was climbing out of the roof. They pulled right over and hurried out. "He might already have the diamond."
"Happy, with your feline abilities, you've got do something to stop him! You've got to get the diamond!" Lucy said, but Happy was too scared to do anything. "How about for a whole box of your favorite treat, Fishy Treats." She said as she held up a box. Happy easily took it and practically inhaled every treat in the box. Happy felt fully energized and charged right in. You could almost hear trumpet music from Happy charging towards that phantom. Happy used his cat traits and made his way up to the building. As the phantom tried to make a run for it, Happy cut him off and climbed right on him.
"Get off me!" The phantom complained as he tried to get Happy off him. Happy ran around the phantom like a squirrel on a tree until Happy was able to grab the diamond and threw it away from him.
"I got it! I got it!" Gray said as he reached out and was able to catch the diamond.
"My diamond!" The phantom called as he was able to grab Happy and threw Happy right off the building. Luckily, Natsu was able to catch his little buddy. "Give me my diamond!"
"Get back in the van!" Gray said as they all climbed right in and drove off with the diamond so he doesn't get it. The five of them kept the diamond safe and drove out of there as fast as they could.
"I can't believe this was what he was after the whole time." Erza said as she held the diamond.
"He was pretty cunning. This might not be the first time he's done something like this, but even professionals mess up every once in a while." Lucy said. It seemed like they were in the clear, but Natsu spotted something in the mirror and could see him coming after them in a black convertible.
"Faster, Gray! He's gaining on us!" Natsu said. Gray floored it and tried to make it through the streets, but the phantom continued to chase after them. Gray tried to make his way around all the cars on the streets, but the phantom was still after them. Even when Gray made sharp turns, the phantom was still on their trail.
"He's still there!" Lucy said.
"He might be good in the car, but we luckily have something waiting for him." Gray said. "We just need to get to it." Gray tried moving through the streets as fast, but the phantom was getting closer and closer with him ramming the Myster-V. "We need to slow him down!"
"Got it!" Natsu said as he opened up the back of the van. "Eat cake!" He said as he actually took a piece of cake and threw it right in the phantom's face. That certainly worked as he was backing away from them.
"Cliché, but it worked." Lucy said. "Where did you get the cake in the first place?"
"Erza's secret stash." Natsu answered.
"You did what?!" Erza shouted.
"Hang on!" Gray said as he made another sharp turn and was getting closer where they needed to go.
...
Garden Fest
Gray was able to drive all the way back to the festival and parked the van, but the phantom was coming at them again.
"Come on! Hurry!" Gray said as they all hurried out of the van. They all cleared out of the van, but the phantom smashed his own car against the van and chased after them. The five of them hurried through the crowd to get where they needed to. People were beginning to clear out of the way when the phantom chased after them.
"Give me the diamond!" The phantom called as he chased after them.
"Almost there!" Gray said as the five of them kept running. They soon found themselves at the stage. Lucy looked back, but saw no sign of the phantom.
"Wait! Where'd he go?!" Lucy said as she got them all to stop and saw no sign of him anywhere.
"He'll be back, but we need to keep moving." Erza said as the five of them climbed up on the stage. However, the phantom already got there and was waiting for them.
"Give me the diamond! I will hurt you!" The phantom threatened.
"Why do you want this diamond so badly?" Gray questioned.
"As part of my collection." The phantom said. "I've already stolen other jewels such as Ruby of Isis from Egypt and the Neptune Sapphire from Greece."
"I've read about those stolen gems. No one ever found the culprit. That was you?" Lucy questioned.
"Yes, and that diamond is going to be the same. Now hand it over." The phantom demanded as he wanted it.
"I think it's time you faced the music. Now!" Gray called as he and the others covered their ears. The phantom turned around and saw Dragon Fire with some speakers and his guitar. All he did was play a loud chord and the sound of it blasted against the phantom, unable to handle the sound. While the phantom tried to block it out, Natsu and Gray acted as they both gave him a good push and put him right where they wanted.
"Hit it!" Dragon Fire called. Wind Tiger and White Flash released a rope and that triggered the trap. The phantom was standing right over a line that coiled around his ankle and pulled him right off the stage. From there, the phantom was pulled through the entire festival with him getting lashed around and smashing through some of the stands with him getting messy from food, being smashed through bags of manure, and paint being splattered against him. Then, at the center of the festival, the phantom was tossed into the air. He plummeted straight down and ended up getting caught and tangled in a net.
"Get me out of here!" The phantom shouted as he tried to free himself, but he was trapped in a mess. After that, everyone gathered around to see what was really going on. They actually did get a good show after all.
"I've got to admit, that was pretty cool." Blue Thunder said.
"You guys really know how to rock a good trap." Dragon Fire said.
"And look at that; your manager still isn't around." Gray said.
"Did someone call for me? Someone want to buy Blight merchandise?" Thornston emerged from the crowd and surprised the gang.
"Wait. If he's here, who's the phantom?" Natsu questioned.
"Let's find out." Lucy said as she reached for the phantom's disguise and pulled off the hat and clothing around his face to show...
"Wilbert Sparta?!" Everyone said as they were all shocked that it was really him.
"Wilbert Sparta? I don't understand. How can he be this phantom?" Jude questioned.
"I'm not saying anything without a lawyer." Wilbert said with him in a rotten mood now.
"That's fine. We can do all the talking, plus there probably is a lawyer in the crowd. They just don't want to represent you." Lucy claimed. "The reason you became a millionaire is because you're really a notorious jewel thief. You stole many jewels and became rich from it. When you said you were a jeweler, you meant you steal them. The diamond that belonged to a famous king would have been just another piece of your rotten collection."
"But he was at the museum when we first met him, and helped us out." Natsu said.
"That wasn't by chance. I'm willing to bet he set the whole thing up in another attempt to steal the diamond, but was planning to betray his partner to keep the diamond for himself." Gray claimed.
"Fine. You got me." Wilbert admitted since confessing was his only way out now. "Yes, I set the whole thing up as a plan to steal the diamond, but I didn't expect a ragtag mystery solving crew to be there. I knew once you all showed up, I needed to change my plans. I acted like I was your acquaintance so I could learn your secrets and try to stay one step ahead of you."
"That's why you attacked Natsu and Happy earlier. They were on their own when I told you our greatest asset was teamwork." Erza said. "Meeting with a "business partner" was really just you going to attack them. The whole phantom thing was just to hide your face."
"When that failed, you needed another plan. You wanted all eyes off the museum, so the message you left on the stage was just to gather attention, specifically the police." Gray said. "We brought you to Garden Fest and you saw that as an opportunity, but you wanted make certain all eyes were here."
"It almost worked. You didn't leave behind a single clue, but you slipped up and did leave this." Lucy said as she held up the piece of paper. "A piece torn off from a flyer about the museum's latest attraction. If you hadn't done that, we never would have found what you were really after until it was too late."
"I just can't believe a genius criminal mind like my own was outsmarted." Wilbert complained as the police were putting him in cuffs. "I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids and your freaky cat!" He said as he was being taken away. A fraud of a millionaire getting what he really does deserves. Since the phantom was now caught, the gang returned the diamond to the proper authorities for it to be returned to the museum.
"To think I wanted to do business with a criminal." Jude said as he was disgusted with such a thing.
"It's not your fault, Dad. He had everyone fooled." Lucy said.
"Which reminds me... I guess we still owe Blight an apology for thinking they had any part in this." Gray said.
"Nah. It's all good. You guys were just trying to do what you could." Dragon Fire said.
"And it wasn't so bad." Blue Thunder said as he climbed up on a bench. "Hey! Are all you people ready to rock?!" He called with all of them cheering.
"That's right. With this large of a crowd, you're sure to make it big." Lucy said. "At least some good came out of this."
"And it probably wouldn't have happened with you and your friends weren't meddling." Dragon Fire joked. "You guys are going to make it, right?"
"Of course." Lucy said.
"Well, what are we waiting for?!" White Flash said.
"Let's go and rock!" Wind Tiger said as the band was ready to live out their dream.
"I take it you're excited to see Dragon Fire in action." Natsu said to Lucy as he still sounded a little jealous. It was fun at first to tease Natsu, but Lucy has had her fun.
"Natsu, you don't need to be jealous. Dragon Fire seems like a nice guy, but I like you." Lucy said. "Do I need to prove it to you?"
"Would be nice. I'm not saying I don't trust you with another guy, but it's obvious he took a liking to you. How do you plan to show him it's me?" Natsu said. She might have been annoyed, but she did the only thing that seemed convincing. She grabbed his face and gave him the biggest and most passionate kiss she could. Once she pulled away, he was stunned. "I'll buy that."
...
The Concert
The concert was now underway with Blight taking the stage. Thornston was ranking in the money from this. The gang even got great seats for them to see their new friends on stage and really rocking. It was like Blight was taking a stand against those who oppose their kind of rock. Blight plans to rock this city.
(Dragon Fire)
Saturday night and I'm feeling alright
Live my life and I want to do it right
You come by and say I can't rock
You say it's a waste
I can't amount to anything
Trying to break my rocking spirit
Well, your kind is not around
(Give up)
You won't bring me down
(Give up)
You won't break my spirit
(Get out)
This is gonna be the city of rock
(Rock city)
(Rock city)
Feeling alive
Just letting the music flow
Hear it now
Feel it in your soul
You think I can't rock
Well, I'll prove you wrong
You gotta lose yourself to the beat
I won't hear your words
Don't bother trying to talk me down
Here goes
(Give up)
You won't bring me down
(Give up)
You won't break my spirit
(Get out)
This is gonna be the city of rock
(Rock City)
(Rock City)
From there, they just let the music played and the audience could really feel it. It was almost as if the music was alive, a feeling of magic and something majestic. You could really tell that Blight was talented.
Midnight night
I'm ready to fight
You can't stop my rock
Feeling good
So let's go
No one's going to take away my right to rock
The beat is a part of me
It's gonna knock you right out of your seat
(Give up)
You're won't bring me down
(Give up)
You won't break my spirit
(Get out)
This is gonna be the city of rock
The song ended and the crowd loved it. The gang surely did.
"These guys are awesome!" Gray said.
"You can say that again! Right, Happy?!" Natsu said as even he loved it until he realized he didn't see Happy anywhere. "Where's Happy?" Where was Happy? He actually made his way on stage and climbed right on Dragon Fire's head and threw a rock pose. Another mystery solved and a lot of fun has happened, but it's not over. The mystery fun isn't over yet.