"Take a good look. These artifacts came all the way from Salem." Irene said. The gang was paying Erza's mother a visit at the local university she works at with Gray's father. She was showing them a series of small artifacts that were found in Salem, Massachusetts. "I plan to use them for my class tomorrow."
"Mom, it's so cool that you got this stuff." Erza said.
"Well, these are just fakes that I plan to use in my lecture tomorrow." Irene said. "The real artifacts are sitting at a museum."
"For a bunch of fakes, they seem real." Natsu said as he held up a small chest. "Weird. This one even came with a key." He said as he held up the key that came with it.
"I can't believe this stuff came from Salem. Isn't Salem famous for holding witch trials back in the sixties for when people were suspected of witchcraft?" Lucy asked.
"The very same." Irene said. "I owe having these pieces to my good friend: Professor White." She said as she referred to her friend in the beige suit with a balding head.
"Thank you, Irene. Of course, I had some help from Salem's local archeologist: Dr. Malvin." White said as he referred to the guy in a dark suit and fedora with black hair. "His help and knowledge of the artifacts has been splendid."
"I just hope that the curse did not come with us." Malvin said.
"Curse? What curse?" Gray asked.
"The curse of the warlock." Malvin said. "The story goes that a witch from Salem had a son before she was hunted down. Wanting to protect the home of his mother, be studied her own witchcraft and became a warlock."
"What's a warlock?" Natsu asked.
"A guy version of a witch." Lucy said.
"He swore to protect his mother's home, which is where the real artifacts were recovered from." Malvin said. "Before his passing, he placed a curse upon every item in that home. If anyone dares disturb it, the warlock would return from the Great Beyond and turn all into stone." That sounded rather ominous. "With that, I think it's best I call it a night. I bid you all a good night." Maxwell said before he left and the room and was leaving for the night.
"A bunch of folklore." Silver said as he placed his hands on Irene's shoulders. "We don't even have the real artifacts. Although, I have a feeling you would be one of those good-looking witches." He flirted with Irene with their kids getting uncomfortable. Silver and Irene have been getting close lately and it disturbs Gray and Erza.
"I think maybe it's time we head home and call it a night ourselves." Gray said.
"Good idea." Erza said.
"You all go on ahead. I still have some work to do." Irene said.
"Irene, do you mind if I use your office for a while? I still have a bit of research I like to get done before I leave for the museum." White asked.
"Of course not. Go right ahead." Irene said as everyone else cleared out. Moments passed and White was all on his own in the classroom. He was in the middle of reading for his work. That was when he heard the door to the room opened up.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" White asked. Someone did step inside, but he was surprised as to what he saw. It was a man wearing a red mask with V sticking out around the eyes and had a black goatee. He wore yellowish tunic with blue underneath it and his pants with him also wearing a mossy green cape and brown boots and gloves. He also carried a scepter that had the face of a devil on it. It had to be the warlock they were told about.
"You have disturbed my sacred ground! You shall pay for what you've done!" The warlock claimed.
"No! Wait!" White said, but this warlock was in no mood to talk.
...
The Gang
"Looks like you guys aren't use to your parents dating yet." Natsu teased Erza and Gray as the gang was on their way home.
"They're not dating. They haven't become an official couple." Erza denied.
"Yeah. They've only been on a few dates." Gray said as both of them were in denial.
"Really? Having a girlfriend myself, I know what's really going on back there." Natsu said with Happy making kissy noises. Even Lucy couldn't quite resist a chuckle. They all kept on walking until Natsu stuck his hands in his pockets. "Hey! What's in my pocket?!" He pulled something out and it ended up being a key. "Oops! It's the key that came with the fake artifacts! I must have taken it by mistake."
"That's not good. My mom might need that for her lessons tomorrow." Erza said.
"Well, we haven't been gone that long. Maybe we can go back and return it." Gray said as they turned themselves around and headed straight back to the school.
...
The University
The gang returned back to the university and went back to Irene's room to return the key.
"Look. The door is opened. Someone must still be there." Lucy said as they saw the door was wide opened. "Hello? Who's in there?" She said as they all walked in, but were in for a surprise. "Professor White!" Lucy called as she was in shock at what they all saw. They saw a stone statue of Professor White. It looked just like him and he looked scared.
"He's... He's a statue!" Erza said. Happy even checked it out and it was solid rock. "Where did this thing even come from?"
"Hang on. Weren't we told by Doctor Maxwell about a curse?" Lucy said.
"The curse of the warlock!" Lucy said as they were thinking that's what it is.
"No way. There's no way that curse is for real." Gray denied. "What is for real is that it seems like we got another mystery on our hands. Someone must be trying to bring that curse to life."
"So, what do we do?" Lucy questioned.
"If someone really is trying to make this curse real, they would have to bring that warlock back." Gray said. "Let's split-up and see if we can find this warlock." That sounded good to the others. They've walked right into another mystery...and possibly could be going warlock hunting.
...
Natsu, Lucy, and Happy
Lucy and the boys searched around for the warlock at one part of the campus. They snuck their way through the halls of a building to see if there was any trace of the warlock, but there was nothing.
"No sign of him." Lucy said.
"Maybe that means this stuff is working." Natsu said as Lucy realized he and Happy had all sorts of stuff with them.
"Garlic? Wooden stakes? Is that water suppose to be holy water?" Lucy said. "Natsu, that stuff is suppose to keep vampires away, not warlocks. Besides, we're suppose to find him. Now will you two get rid of that useless stuff."
"Fine." Natsu said with disappointment. He and Happy had a bag held out for them and threw all that stuff away. "Thanks." Just then, they realized someone held that bag for them. They looked and saw it was the warlock himself. "It's him!" The warlock tried attacking them, but just missed with the three of them running off. Natsu tried to get a door opened, but it was locked shut. "It won't open!"
"There's nowhere to run." The warlock said as he faced the three of them. "Now give me the key!"
"Key?" Lucy questioned.
"What key?" Natsu said.
"I bet he means that key we took by mistake." Lucy said.
"Indeed. Now give it." The warlock insisted.
"Don't give it to him, Natsu!" Lucy argued.
"If you don't, you will suffer for it!" The warlock threatened.
"Happy, do something and a whole box of fishy treats is yours!" Natsu said as he held up the box. Happy surely didn't wait to devour that box. Once he did, Happy did something strange. Rather than fighting, Happy did a little tap dance and tapped his way out of there.
"Unbelievable! He tap danced his way and abandoned us." Lucy said.
"But it was quite a show." Natsu said.
"Enough of this nonsense. Give me the key or you will..." The warlock was about to carryout his threat, but he felt something pull on his cape. He looked back and saw Happy nailed his cape to the wall.
"Nice work, Happy! Now let's get the others!" Lucy said as the four of them were able to make their escape. The warlock kept trying to pull himself free until his cape finally ripped and freed himself.
...
Gray and Erza
As for Gray and Erza, they were outside the campus and had a look around for this warlock themselves, but they haven't found him or a clue.
"Hey, Erza. Take a look over at the car." Gray said as they saw a car, but there was something off about it. "Isn't that Dr. Malvin in there? I thought he already left."
"Let's take a look." Erza said as they moved closer to the car. "Dr. Malvin? It's Erza Scarlet. Are you okay?" They both tried to get a closer look at him, but it was actually Dr. Malvin...as a statue. "Gray! He's been turned to stone, too!"
"I guess our warlock paid him a visit just as he was leaving." Gray said.
"Gray, I'm starting to get worried." Erza said. "What about our parents? What if this guy went after them? My mother isn't answering any of my messages."
"I'm sure they're fine. If this curse was real, it wouldn't go after them since they weren't even in Salem." Gray said. That was right when his own phone went off. "Speaking of which, it's from Lucy. She and the others have the warlock. Let's go!" Both of them hurried to meet with the others about this warlock. If this curse is real, they need to figure out how to stop it fast.
...
The Gang
The gang regrouped with Lucy and the others so they could get a look at this warlock. The three of them brought Gray and Erza back to where they left the warlock, but they saw he was already long gone.
"Oh no. He's gone." Lucy complained.
"I guess we should have nailed HIM instead of his cape." Natsu said.
"But he did leave a piece of it behind." Erza said as she took the fabric that was left and took a look at it. "Hmm... If he came back from the grave, this fabric would be hundreds of years old, but it sure doesn't feel like it."
"There's more. For some reason, that warlock is after that key Natsu took by mistake." Lucy said.
"Why would a warlock want a fake key?" Gray questioned.
"Why don't we ask him? He's back!" Natsu alerted the others. They looked down the hall and saw he was back, but it looks like he didn't notice them yet.
"Quick! Hide somewhere before he sees us!" Gray said as the five of them scattered. The warlock searched around for them, but he didn't see them anywhere.
"Not back here... Where are they?" The warlock questioned as he continued searching around for the gang. When he saw no sign of them, he just kept on looking around for them. All of them waited until he was gone before they came out of hiding.
"He's gone." Lucy said.
"Wait. Where's Gray?" Natsu questioned as he didn't come out yet. They did spot him as he came out of a room, but he looked like he saw something horrible.
"Gray? Are you okay?" Erza questioned.
"Our parents are fine, Erza. They didn't see me, but I saw them and can't un-see what I saw." Gray said.
"What did you... Wait! Never mind! I don't want to know!" Erza said as just the thought of whatever disturbed Erza.
"Let's keep our focus on the mystery." Lucy said. "Natsu, do you still have that key?"
"Yeah, right here." Natsu said as he showed he had it.
"Let's give this school's chemistry lab a look." Lucy suggested. "I think it's time we gave this key a proper examination and find out what it is that makes it so special." They are literally holding the key to this mystery, and they need to find out why that key is so special to solve it.
...
The Chemistry Lab
The gang was able to figure out how to get in the chemistry lab. Despite how Happy played with the test tubes and beakers, Lucy tried using the equipment in there to try and learn more about why a fake key would be so important.
"Lucy, I'm impressed you're not in college already." Erza said as Lucy seems to really know what she's doing. Her intellect is quite impressive.
"If I can get this right, we might be able to tell what this key is made of." Lucy said. "That could help as to why it's so special. Now, where's that magnesium-sulfur?" She said as she looked around for another piece with it being passed to her. "Thanks." She said as she took it until she realized something. "That better not be who I think it is." Her experiment was ruined as a scepter was smashed against the table and they saw he was back.
"Give me the key!" The warlock demanded.
"Can't this magician pull a disappearing act?" Natsu complained.
"Wait just a minute." Lucy said as she tried putting together another experiment by mixing chemicals. "Hold this." She said as she passed the batch to him and then it exploded into smoke. It provided the perfect distraction as they all ran out of the lab and slammed the door shut. "That should keep him occupied." She said as she and Gray kept the door shut.
"Kids?!" Another surprise visit came as Irene and Silver showed up.
"What are you all doing?! What's going on?!" Silver questioned.
"It's the warlock that Dr. Malvin warned us about! He's here, and he's in the lab!" Lucy said.
"And he's already turned both him and Professor White into stone!" Erza said.
"What?! That can't be!" Irene said as she was quite surprised by this.
"Hold on. Where's Natsu and Happy?" Silver questioned. That was when the Grays and the girls realized both of them gone.
"Oh no! Those two must have taken off in a different direction!" Gray said.
"And we've got another problem." Lucy said as she took a look inside the lab. "The warlock seems to have gotten out through the window. We better find them before he does."
...
Natsu and Happy
Natsu and Happy ended up in a different part of the campus, but it looks like they're on their own now.
"We lost the others, but I think we lost that warlock." Natsu said as he and Happy thought they were safe.
"Have you?" Both of them were surprised as they saw that the warlock already found them.
"He must be magic with how he appears like that. Run for it!" Natsu said as he and Happy tried to run for it. The two of them ran as fast as they could from him. The two of them took cover in a groundskeeper's shed with them shutting the door. "We might be okay in here." The two of them thought they were safe, but not alone. They heard a muffling and saw Professor White was in there with them tied up. "Professor White?!" Happy removed the gag so he could talk.
"Thank goodness you're here." Professor White said.
"How'd you get here?" Natsu questioned.
"That kook put me in here and left a statue of me back in Irene's classroom." White said. That was when Happy noticed something else in the shed and showed Natsu.
"Quick drying cement and molding casts. This must be how he's making stone statues of everyone. The curse really is fake." Natsu said. "We've got to get the others and show them this." Natsu opened up the door, but the warlock was right there.
"Give me the key!" The warlock said.
"Oops! Wrong door!" Natsu said. He tried shutting it, but the warlock tried reaching his arm through to try and get the key. Happy's quick thinking ended up with that warlock getting a mousetrap right on his hand and him screaming in pain and Happy giggling. "Nice. Now he's really mad at us. We better think of a way out of here." Happy tried to think of something that could help and spotted something that just might.
"Give me that key!" The warlock shouted, but he got something else. Natsu and Happy drove a tractor right through the door and took the warlock for a ride.
...
Irene's Room
"I just don't get it." Irene said as she was looking over the copies of the artifacts she had. "Why would this warlock be after these? They're fakes."
"Well, there must be something about them." Lucy said as they all tried to figure out what the warlock was after. Lucy examined the chest the key came with and was starting to put the pieces together.
"Oh no!" Erza said as she looked out the window. "I found Natsu and Happy!"
"Why is that bad?" Gray questioned.
"Because they're with the warlock." Erza said. All of them took a look and saw all three of them riding around. Natsu was trying his best to control the tractor, but he was doing a lousy job of it.
...
Natsu's Group
"I can't control this thing!" Natsu said as he couldn't stop it or couldn't see where he was going. That wasn't good. The tractor kept driving around until he crashed right through the doors of the gymnasium. When Natsu drove in there, it got even worst as there was gym equipment all over the place. It started with the tractor ramming into a low balance beam and caused all three of them to fly through the air. Then, the three of them bounced against a large trampoline, but Natsu could use that. He and Happy grabbed on to a pair of rings that were hanging from the ceiling. When the warlock fell and jumped back up, Natsu gave him a powerful kick that sent him flying and caused the warlock to smash against a basketball hoop. That surely finished it off.
"Natsu! Happy!" Lucy called as everyone else made it. "Are you guys okay?!"
"Yeah! Plus, I think I just made a court shot!" Natsu said.
"No way. You're hanging from the ceiling. That's got to be out of bounds." Gray said.
"Is not!" Natsu said. As they argued about that, Erza made her way over to the warlock to unmask him.
"Now let's see who this wacky warlock really is." Erza said as she pulled off the mask and even the facial hair.
"Dr. Malvin!" Everyone said.
"You blasted meddling kids..." Malvin said in pain.
...
Irene's Class
"So it was Dr. Malvin the whole time." Irene said. After unmasking Malvin, they all freed Professor White and did try to fix the damage done to the academy. "He tried bringing the curse to life, but I'm still baffled. Why did he do this all for a fake key?"
"I figured that out just before we went to help Natsu and Happy. The key isn't fake." Lucy said. "Both it and the chest are the real thing. Just look." She took the key and used it to open up the chest to show actual gold coins inside the chest. "See? Real gold coins. I estimate there's around half a million in here."
"Dr. Malvin switched it out with a fake while the real artifacts were sent to a museum so he could swipe it later." Gray said. "To cover his tracks, he tried to bring the curse to life."
"But when he came back and couldn't find the key, he must have thought one of us had it." Erza said.
"Well, I'll make sure that chest is sent back to where it belongs." Irene said.
"Nice work. I'm just sorry we didn't help earlier, but we were a little distracted." Silver said as he and Irene were blushing and their children bothered.
...
A Diner
After a mystery like that, the gang could use a nice dinner to help them relax. However, Natsu still had plenty of ammo to use on Gray and Erza about their parents.
"Those two look like they're so dating now." Natsu teased with the two getting annoyed.
"I'm sorry you two don't like this, but your parents obviously like each other." Lucy said. "You should be happy for them. They seem real happy together."
"It's weird, but maybe you're right." Erza said.
"Can we just change the subject?" Gray said as he didn't really want to talk about it anymore.
"That's fine." Natsu said, but he wasn't quite done with them. "So, Gray... What exactly did you see with your dad and Erza's mom." He said, but that only made things worst. "Sounds like something inappropriate was going on right on school grounds."
"I didn't know Erza's mom was a "bad" teacher." Lucy got in with the others laughing, but Gray and Erza just plugged their ears and kept lalalaing to block it out. The curse of the warlock might not be real, but it looks like Gray and Erza are suffering from another curse.