Welcome to "The Phantom of the Auditorium, my first full-length D.P. fic! I first got this idea when I was talking with my good friend Snowy (a.k.a. John) He said, "Wouldn't it be funny if Danny dressed like The Phantom of the Opera?"

We had that conversation months ago, and, after planning, extreme daydreaming during math class, and a whole boat load of sugar, I finally decided to write it. It's a lot like the movie, but with a D.P. twist. I highly recommend both the book and the movie, tough the book is a bit difficult to read. (Keep a dictionary handy if you decide to read the book)

Anyhowl, read, review, and enjoy the show!

Characters (c) Butch Hartman
Original PotO story and Lyrics (c) Andrew Lloyd Webber and Gaston Leroux
This Crazy Idea (c) Me

Prologue

"The Opera Ghost really existed. He was not, as was long believed, a creature of the imaginations of artists . . .Yes, he existed in flesh and blood, although he assumed the complete appearance of a real phantom; that is, to say, of a spectral shade"
Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera

The sun was almost set, falling slowly into the bowl of clouds. They had a breathtaking appearance, stained with all shades of red, orange, and yellow, colors created from the dying light. It was warm, with a chilly breeze blowing every now and then. The trees, beginning to shed their leaves, cast strange shadows, painting the grass with dark shapes. Indeed, it was a beautiful evening.

Jazz Fenton walked into the park, sighing happily. She was glad to get away from the hustle and bustle of her house. It was usually filled with the sounds of crashing, her father's bragging, and the occasional explosion of a faulty invention. The sixteen year-old often came to the central park at twilight, when hardly anybody was there. Jazz loved the solitude of the place. It gave her peace, time to think. "Pure bliss", as she would say. She sighed again, flopping onto a bench beside the path. Jazz sat there for a while, drinking in the calm scenery...

...but gave a start when shouting came to her ears.

"Move, Maddie! Faster!"

"We've got him now, Jack!"

Jazz recognized the voices of her parents. Ducking behind the bench, her aqua eyes caught sight of a ghost speeding through the air, with Jack and Maddie on it's heels. Jazz squinted her eyes, trying catch a better glimpse of the ghost. He looked a lot like her brother, Danny. Jazz was the only one in her family who actually knew that Danny was half-ghost. But she never dared to tell her parents, nor did she let Danny know that she knew his alter ego. The town saw him as a menace, as they did with all ghosts, and gave him the name, "Inviso-Bill"

The trio dashed past her hiding place again, and Jazz finally got a good look at the specter. He looked extraordinarily like Danny, but much older, maybe seventeen. He had black hair that was slicked back on his head, and piercing yellow eyes. He was wearing a black tuxedo which was accented by a black cape and a porcelain mask that covered the right half of his face. He stopped, looked at Jazz, then sped of again.

Jazz took action. Avoiding her parents, she broke into a run. As she galloped through the trees, she kept one eye on the strange ghost. "I gotta help him," she thought. "Not all ghosts are evil, and he's not bothering anybody." Finally, after a few minutes of running, she caught up with the ghost. As Jazz approached, he backed away a bit, looking very frightened.

"No, don't be afraid," Jazz said softly. "It's allright. I want to help you."

Still, the ghost looked frightened, but he nodded nonetheless.

"C'mon. I know where you can stay." Jazz extended her had to him and, surprisingly, she felt the ghost's cold fingers grasp her own. She led him out of the park and into the abandoned side streets. They could still hear Jack and Maddie, their voices and the beeping of their odd mechanisms becoming louder as they got closer. Jazz looked around franticly, but there was nowhere that they could reach in time not to be seen. The sounds of her parents were still getting closer. They would be caught...

Suddenly, the ghostly teen wrapped his cold arms around Jazz's waist. She felt her weight begin to lighten, and she no longer saw the ghost, nor her own hands in front of her face. She knew the apparition had made them invisible. Soon, they were floating through the air, out of sight and reach of the ghost-hunting couple. Jazz directed the ghost toward her high school, Casper High. They landed gently on the ground, just outside the auditorium. Jazz motioned for him to go inside.

"You'll be safe here," she said. "There are secret passageways under the stage that nobody knows about. You can stay as long as you like."

The masked specter turned from Jazz, reaching into his cape. When he was facing her again, he had a blood-red rose with a black ribbon tied onto the stemin his pale grasp. He placed it in her palm, and gave a silent bow. Then, as he began to phase through the wall, he spoke.

"Thank you, my dear." His voice was a deep, floating whisper. "You have my gratitude." And, with that, he was gone.

Clasping the rose gently in her hand, she breathed in it's warm, floral scent. Jazz smiled, and began to turn toward home, feeling deeply proud of herself. After all, she had saved an innocent soul from capture. She wished that she could tell Danny, but decided not to. It wasn't time for him to know.

Unaware to Jazz, the masked apparition was laughing to himself in the depths of the auditorium. His yellow eyes blazing, he chuckled hoarsely in the darkness.

"Let the games begin..."