Natsu and Happy got themselves a break this time. While the rest of the gang was solving mysteries, Natsu was called in to help out a place called Camp Pinewood. It was a fun camp with Natsu and Happy watching over three campers.

"There we go." Natsu said as he finished toasting three marshmallows with him making smores for his campers. "One for Wendy, one for Chelia, and one for Romeo. Eat up." He said as he gave each of his three campers some smores. Each of them tried one and loved it.

"Delicious, Natsu." Wendy said.

"Yeah. Thanks for making them." Chelia said.

"They're great, but I would love to hear more about your mystery solving stories." Romeo said.

"Sure, Romeo. Just let me make one more for me and..." He was about to make more, but he saw Happy ate all the marshmallows.

"Seems like you're all having fun here." A fellow counselor said as she came right over. "Natsu, thanks again for filling in for a counselor while his leg is healing."

"No worries, Lisanna." Natsu said. "It's a nice break for me and Happy from all the mystery solving. Speaking of which, I think we're going to need to get some more firewood."

"We'll lend a hand." Wendy offered as the three of them going with Natsu and Happy into the woods. The five of them were gathering some firewood with it looking like a peaceful time for Natsu and Happy. However, trouble does seem to find them. As Romeo was helping get some wood, he spotted something strange.

"Hey, guys. Look at this." Romeo said. All of them gathered and saw a strange set of footprints. "What kind of animal made those prints?"

"Not sure. Looks like it belongs to something that walks on two legs." Chelia said. Then, they heard a strange laughing-like sound. "That almost sounded like a hyena."

"But there are no hyenas here." Wendy said.

"It sounds like it's coming from the construction zone ahead. Stay close." Natsu said. All of them went further into the woods and found themselves at the construction area. They looked around for something that made the strange sound, but there wasn't anything. "Nothing here." He said, but he heard the sound and was proven wrong. Out came a strange looking creature with black claws and legs, but had orange fur like a fox with it's head that of a sabertooth tiger with blank white eyes and had purple feather-like pieces coming out of it. "Spoke too soon!" Whatever that monster was, it charged right at Natsu and Happy with both of them running from it.

"Oh no!" Wendy said as she didn't like the sound of this.

"Hang on!" Romeo said as he acted quickly. He took a metal rod and threw it between the two. The creature stepped on it and slipped right on it. "What is that thing?"

"I've never seen anything like it before." Chelia said. The creature got back up and just took off. Lucky for them. "That was so freaky."

"Hey! What happened?!" A few other campers came by with one of them a boy with blonde hair in a tail.

"It was unreal, Declan! A weird monster that sounded like a hyena and had sharp teeth and feathers was here!" Wendy said.

"You're lying. You guys didn't see the Snipe." Declan said.

"Snipe?" Natsu questioned as Happy didn't like the sound of that.

"Yeah. The monster that lives in these woods." Declan said. At least they now know what that thing was.

"What's going on here?" All of them looked to see a man looking skinny with silver hair came right over. The camp owner. "You all know this site is off limits to campers."

"It was the Snipe, Clark. We saw it here." Natsu claimed.

"Have you been telling these kids monster stories, Dragneel?" Clark said. "I don't want to hear any of that nonsense. You all know you're not allowed here."

"But there was something here." Natsu said, but Clark didn't believe him and just pointed his finger and told them to leave the place. Whether the others don't believe him or not, there really is something in this camp.

...

The Next Day

They resumed with camp activities, but Natsu couldn't stop thinking about what happened the other night.

"I'm sure it wasn't a monster, Natsu." Lisanna claimed. "There is a type of animal called a snipe, but those are really just little birds. What you're talking about is just a common camp myth."

"Well, what we saw last night was no little bird." Natsu said.

"It must have been something scared by the construction." Lisanna said with frustration. "I swear that Clark wants to turn this great camp into a place strictly for adults. Anyway, try to forget about it. Try focusing on the fact we'll get to sleep under the stars tonight." No one seems to believe Natsu and Happy about the Snipe, but a few did since they saw it.

"Did you guys hear that?" Romeo said. "We're gonna be sleeping under the stars."

"Yeah. That sounds like it's going to be fun." Wendy said.

"No. I mean that we could help Natsu and Happy." Romeo said.

"Yeah. We could sneak away and look for clues." Chelia said.

"I don't know. Couldn't we get in trouble for that?" Wendy questioned.

"We've got to do something to help. We're the only ones that believe Natsu and Happy." Chelia said. "They don't have their usual friends to help them out this time."

"Going monster hunting?" Declan said as he overheard them talking. "You guys are so pathetic." He mocked and laughed, but that only made them want to do this even more.

...

Later At Night

Since the Snipe hasn't made any reappearances, Natsu and the others could stay focus on camp activities. He and Lisanna were leading a group into the woods for a great place to gaze at the stars.

"You kids wait. The stars are beautiful here. We're almost at the spot." Lisanna said as she was really excited.

"Uh... Do you mean that spot, Lisanna?" Natsu questioned as he saw something unusual. They all looked and saw a tennis court placed there.

"A tennis court! I can't believe Clark! This place was perfect for gazing at the stars! All these lights will make it harder to see them." Lisanna said as she hated what change has been made.

"Well, it's too late to go back. The lights will probably go out soon anyway." Natsu said. Happy certainly wasn't complaining since it means it will be bright for a while. All of the campers set up their sleeping bags and tried sleeping under the court. Once the lights went out, Romeo and the girls saw this as their chance to sneak away. The three of them crawled out of their sleeping bags and tried to sneaking out of there. However, Happy did spot them and tried to alert Natsu about it. "What? Happy?" Natsu woke up and Happy showed his campers were sneaking away.

"Okay, so what do we do now? How do we find clues about the Snipe?" Wendy questioned.

"Maybe we can try to track it." Chelia said.

"Hold it!" Natsu called as he was able to catch them. "What do you three think you're doing?"

"We want to help, Natsu. Aren't you going to solve this mystery?" Romeo questioned.

"I probably would, but I need to keep an eye on you guys and I don't have my friends to help me this time." Natsu said. As he was talking, Happy spotted something and tried to alert Natsu about it. "Not now, Happy."

"Natsu, something weird is going on." Chelia said.

"Maybe, but it could be dangerous for you guys." Natsu said while Happy still tried to get his attention.

"But what if that thing attacks the camp?" Wendy said.

"Maybe I can call my friends and... What, Happy?!" Natsu said as he was getting annoyed with Happy right now. Happy finally showed him what he saw and they all spotted the Snip heading for the court. "It's the Snipe!"

"What's it doing?!" Romeo said. All of them watched carefully at what the Snipe was doing. It looked like the Snipe was heading for the power box and it used it's claws to tear the fuses apart. "We've got to do something. It could start a fire." They had to do something...and they did. Wendy accidentally broke a stick and alerted the Snipe of their presence.

"Oops." Wendy said. The Snipe went at the five of them, but all of them made a run for it. The Snipe tried to chase them through the woods, but the Snipe quickly lost sight of them. When the Snipe kept on moving, the five of them came out from hiding in the trees.

"Why did the Snipe attack now?" Chelia questioned.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling Clark isn't going to like this." Natsu said as he just knows what he's going to do.

...

The Next Morning

"Attention, campers! I just found out that someone damaged the new tennis court! Because of that, I am cancelling the big canoe race today!" Clark announced with a lot of campers disappointed that.

"Unbelievable. That tennis court shouldn't have been there in the first place." Lisanna claimed. "How is it someone like him got in charge of this place in the first place?"

"I don't know, but I think he was planning to do that from the start. Gives him a good excuse to work on that sunbathing tower." Natsu said as he looked towards the lake and saw a tower being built by the dock.

"Natsu, what are we going to do?" Wendy said. "The Snipe could ruin everything at camp."

"Still blaming things on monsters. I think you losers were the ones that ruined the tennis court." Declan accused.

"Beat it, Declan." Natsu said as he ushered Declan away. "Anyway, Happy and I will figure this out." He claimed, but Happy wasn't looking forward to this.

...

The Next Night

Seeing how serious things were getting, Natsu had to solve the mystery of the Snipe. Without the others, he's on his own this time. He might have Happy, but Happy wasn't liking this at all.

"I know you're scared, Happy, but we've got to do this for the camp. We've got to figure out what's going on." Natsu said, but Happy wasn't going to like this. Suddenly, they heard rustling and Happy jumped right on Natsu with his nails digging in. They thought it was the Snipe, but they saw it was just his campers again. "What are you three doing here?"

"We want to help. We don't want anything to happen to the camp." Chelia said.

"Besides, you shouldn't do this alone." Wendy said.

"You two usually have a team helping you. Let us be your team." Romeo said.

"Well... Okay, just as long as you guys do what I say." Natsu said as he was glad to have some help. "Now, if only we knew more about the Snipe. We might be able to figure out where to find it."

"Wait. Listen." Chelia said as they all got quiet and could hear the laughter-like sound of the Snipe. All of them followed the laughter and soon found themselves at the lake. They could see the Snipe had an axe with it and was chopping on the wooden legs of the sunbathing tower. "It's the Snipe again, but why is it attacking the tower?"

"And it's using an axe. How could it be smart enough to use one?" Romeo said. They just kept watching the Snipe chop away on the tower until it finally came falling and crashed right into the lake. When that happened, the Snipe just took off. When it was gone, Natsu and his campers went to check it out.

"Good thing the tower wasn't finished and was just wood. That could have been bad for the lake." Wendy said.

"But why did it do that?" Chelia said as this creature is acting very strangely.

"What was that crash?" They all saw Clark coming over, and that's bad for them once he saw his precious tower. "No! My sunbathing tower! What did you all do?!"

"It wasn't us! It was the Snipe!" Romeo said.

"Blaming this on monster stories again?! Well, that's it! I'm closing camp!" Clark said, but all of them were pleading for him not to do that. "I have to. It's getting unsafe around here. We wouldn't want anything to happen to you "precious children"."

"Yeah right. You want to turn our camp into a place for adults only!" Romeo accused.

"You can't! We love it here!" Wendy said.

"I bet you're the monster just to get rid of us!" Romeo accused.

"That's enough of this nonsense! Just to get out of here! Natsu, control these campers while you still can!" Clark threatened.

"Come on, kids." Natsu said as he got those three out of there before the situation got worse for them.

"I can't believe that guy. Lisanna was right about him." Chelia said.

"Natsu, what are we going to do? We are going to solve the mystery, right?" Romeo asked.

"Yeah, because that's the only way to prove what's been going on and maybe save this camp." Natsu said. "Romeo, you might have had the right idea about Clark. He doesn't believe the monster is real; maybe he's the monster and is trying to close the camp so he can change it how he wants."

"But why ruin his own projects just for that?" Chelia said as that part made no sense. Just then, Happy noticed something on the ground and pointed right at it.

"Look! The Snipe's footprints again!" Natsu said.

"And they lead right to it!" Wendy said as they all looked ahead and saw the Snipe right there and was coming at them again. "Now what?!"

"We run!" Natsu said as they all made a run for it.

...

The Chase

There's a chill in the air

(Chill in the air)

You hear a creak on the stairs

(Creak on the stairs)

You gotta lock all your doors

(Lock all your doors)

Is there anybody out?

Natsu and Happy ran from the Snipe as it chased them back to the lake. When they got there, they dressed like lifeguards and placed a life preserver on it. When they did that, they pushed it into the water and made a run for it.

They're out to get you

To capture you and make you spellbound

Howling and prowling

You're shivering, quivering, and spellbound

The girls ran towards the archery range and ducked down behind the targets. Lucky for them, they were able to grab suction arrows and bows. They took aim and assaulted the Snipe with those arrows and forced it to run off.

You cannot run

And you cannot hide

Yeah, you gotta face it, baby

Things go bump in the night

Romeo kept on running around, serpentine through the trail with the Snipe following after him. He kept running around until Natsu pulled back a branch and released it with the Snipe getting hit by it.

Wherever you run

And wherever you hide

Yeah, you gotta face it, baby

Things go bump, bump, bump in the night

Natsu and Happy ran behind some trees with the Snip following after them. It was actually behind the same tree. Each of them stuck out their heads (actually with the melody) until Natsu and Happy saw the Snipe and ran off again.

...

Natsu and his campers continued to run from the Snipe until they found themselves at an old treehouse. The Snipe chased after them, but it didn't bother going up the tree. It just turned around and ran off.

"That was weird." Chelia said. "Why didn't it come after us?" The Snipe's strange behavior didn't make any sense to them until something came to him.

"I think I know." Wendy said as she took out a map of the camp. "Here's where the Snipe has appeared. The construction zone, the tennis court, and the tower. It appears at the new places, but this treehouse has been up here for years."

"You're right, Wendy. The Snipe has only appeared in the places Clark has built over." Natsu said. "I think this is the part where we have to try and trap the Snipe."

...

The Woods

"Keep digging." Natsu said as he and his campers were digging around in the ground. "Once we lure the Snipe to this pitfall, we'll throw the net from the tennis court right on it and it will get tangled in it." He explained, but Happy had a thought about that. "Yes, I know we've been doing the pitfall a few times already, but it works as long as we get it here." Just then, they heard something moving in the bushes and saw a shadow come over them.

"It's the Snipe!" Wendy alerted as the Snipe showed up before they were even ready. All of them were a little scared until they got a good look at the monster. It was a lot shorter and the costume was lousy. Natsu reached over and pulled it off to see it was Declan.

"Declan!" All of them complained.

"Ha! Scared you! You guys are such losers!" Declan said.

"Declan, now is no the time for this!" Natsu said.

"Why? Because of your "the Snipe" will come get me. You guys are pathetic." Declan mocked.

"Looks like he might!" Chelia alerted as they all saw the Snipe coming at them. All of them tried to run for it, but the pitfall still helped as it just caused the Snipe to trip and fall.

"That works too." Natsu said as they surrounded it. "Now, let's see who is really under this mask." Natsu reached for the mask and pulled it right off, but all of them were shocked as to who it was.

"Lisanna?!" They all said.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Natsu." Lisanna said.

"I... I don't get it, Lisanna..." Natsu said.

"It wasn't you or your campers I was after." Lisanna explained. "Clark was ruining this camp with all the new construction. I had to bring story of the Snipe to life to try and scare him away. With you and your campers performing your meddling ways, you guys were just always at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"And Declan was only made his attempt to be the Snipe just now just to scare us." Romeo said.

"And Lisanna was targeting the places Clark built to try and stop him from ruining our camp." Wendy said.

"But I still don't understand why, Lisanna. Why go so far?" Natsu said.

"It's because of Clark." Lisanna claimed. "It's obvious he hates kids. Someone like him shouldn't be in charge of this place." Natsu could see that the other campers and Happy all felt the same. Something about Clark had to be done.

"You know, Clark still hasn't seen the monster." Natsu pointed out as all of them liked where this was going.

...

Clark

Clark was up in his office and was continuing on turning the camp into a place just for adults. That was until he saw he heard something out his window and saw the Snipe threw itself against the window.

"Aw!" Clark was seeing the monster now. He tried making a run for the door, but he saw another Snipe open the door and cut him off. It didn't stop there. More and more Snipes were coming into his cabin and he was believing in it now. "AAAAAAWWWWWWW!" He screamed loudly, and at a high pitch one like a baby, with him literally running through the wall like the coward he was. When he was gone, they all took off the masks with Natsu and his friends laughing at what they just pulled. It seems like Clark is running as far as he can and might not come back to the camp for a long time, which means he can't destroy it. For once, it seems like a monster was helpful.