Chapter 4: The Opera Populaire!
The next morning, Danny woke up bright and early to Jazz's obnoxious squealing and poking to wake him up. He got dressed, ate some breakfast, said good bye to his parents and friends, and left for the airport with Jazz.
"Isn't this great Danny?" Jazz asked enthusiastically. "Yeah," Danny said dryly. "What's wrong with you? This is so awesome! You're actually going to be in one of the most popular shows ever, aren't you excited?" Jazz asked.
"Not really," Danny said. "Why not?" Jazz asked. "Come on Jazz, I can't be that great, and besides, who's going to stop the ghosts?" Danny asked.
"Tucker and Sam can," Jazz said. "But what if they get hurt?" Danny asked. "Danny, don't worry, it'll be fine, besides, I locked up the portal before we left, it's all good," Jazz said.
Danny smiled at his sister and said: "Thanks." "You're welcome, come on, I think they called our flight number!" Jazz said picking up their bags and heading for the plane.
After they boarded the plane and were half way there, a little boy wandered over to Jazz and Danny. "What're you two doing going to Paris?" the boy asked in a childish voice.
"We're…uh…" Danny started. "We're going to the Opera Populaire so Danny can be in the show the Phantom of the Opera," Jazz said.
"He-he's the phantom of the opera?" the boy asked shaking a little bit. "No, he's just going to be in the play, don't worry little boy, the phantom of the opera isn't real," Jazz said reassuringly.
In a seat in front of Jazz, a man who had been reading the news paper peered around his chair and shot a disapproving look at Jazz. Jazz was too busy talking to the boy to notice and Danny was staring out the window hoping to ignore Jazz. The man then disappeared back behind his paper.
"Now why don't you get back to your parents, it's not safe to stand on a plane," Jazz said to the child.
"Okay, I was just going back to mom from the bathroom anyway, good luck on the show Mr.," the boy said leaving.
Jazz sat up and looked over at Danny, who looked like he was trying to drown everything out.
"Danny, it's okay, it's nothing to be ashamed of," Jazz said. Danny rolled his eyes and turned to face Jazz.
"What do you mean 'there's nothing to be ashamed of'? It can't be all that wonderful running around on stage with a mask on!" Danny snapped.
"Danny, just give it a shot, if you really don't want to do it, we can go home," Jazz said calmly.
"Would you mind?" Danny asked suddenly looking guilty. "What do you mean?" Jazz asked.
"Would you mind if I didn't want to do it?" Danny asked. "Of course not Danny, it's your decision," Jazz said.
"Thanks Jazz," Danny said feeling a little better. "You're welcome Danny," Jazz said smiling.
After a long flight, they finally reached Paris the next day. As Jazz and Danny got off the plane, the man that had been in front of Jazz rushed off, his long black cape flowing in the breeze as he passed. Neither of them saw his face for he went by so fast.
"Man, that guy seems in a rush," Jazz said. "Paris must be a busy place," Danny said as the man disappeared before Danny could finish speaking.
Suddenly, Jazz tugged on Danny's sleeve and said: "Look!" She pointed to a man holding up a sign that said: Danny Fenton-Phantom of the Opera.
Danny and Jazz walked up to him and Jazz said: "Hello." The man looked at them. He had a round face and a thin brown mustache. "Yes," he said in a French accent.
"Uh, this is Danny Fenton," Jazz said introducing Danny. "Ah yes, Mr. Fenton, good to meet you, I'm Gerald, and I will be your director," the man said bowing slightly after shaking Danny's hand.
"Uh, hi! This is my sister Jazz, I hope you don't mind she's here," Danny said. "Oh not at all, the more the merrier, now come along, we best get going," Gerald said.
The two kids followed him out to a long black limousine. "Wow!" Danny said. "Come along now," Gerald said opening the back door. Jazz and Danny slid in and Gerald closed the door.
After a while, they arrived at a large building. "Come on in," Gerald said as they entered. The building was incredible. There was a circle of beige columns with small candle holders on each of them. Golden statues of women were set at the brim of the staircase. Hanging from the windows were scarlet red curtains with gold trimming along the edges.
"This is incredible," Jazz said completely in awe. "Yeah," Danny muttered. He did think the opera house was amazing, but he still wasn't too thrilled being there.
"It is incredible, isn't it? What's even more incredible is they restored it so well, anyway, come with me, I'll bring you to the stage," Gerald said.
He led them to an auditorium that seemed as big as Broadway. There were thousands of seat filling the humungous circular room. Up near the top were small, individual boxes with seats. Danny could've sworn he saw someone looking at him in one of them, but whoever, if Danny had even seen someone, was there has disappeared the moment he realized Danny saw him.
The large red curtain was open and at least a dozen men were talking amongst themselves on the stage. "Who are they?" Jazz asked.
"Others who auditioned for the part of the phantom, but none of them were good enough I'm afraid," Gerald answered bitterly.
Danny noticed that some of the men were looking at him funny. Danny tried not to catch their eyes.
"Everyone!" Gerald announced as he clapped his hands for attention. The men and some women turned in his direction.
"This is Danny Fenton, the one we were told about, " Gerald said introducing Danny. Danny smiled sheepishly. Some people waved and smiled at him but others pretended that they hadn't heard Gerald and looked away from Danny.
"Alright Danny, why don't you get up there and show us your stuff," Gerald said patting Danny on the back.
Danny gulped and walked up to the stage. The men all stared at him from behind and Danny tried his best to pretend they weren't there. As the music started, Danny tried his best to remember the words and started singing:
Sing once again with me
A strange duet
My power over you
Grows stronger yet
And though you turn from me
To glance behind
The Phantom of the Opera is there
Inside your mind
Danny noticed the music stopped shortly before he finished singing. He looked around to see shocked faces staring at him, including Jazz.
"Uh, that's all," Danny said hoping he could leave. Gerald finally stood up and clapped. Jazz suddenly joined in the clapping. Soon everyone in the theater was clapping.
Danny was in awe. There was no way he was that good. He smiled anyway and was about to get off the stage when he heard a voice saying: "Bravo…brava…bravisma…"
Danny looked up in the box were he could've sworn he saw some one and hoped to see someone there again, but no one was there. He heard the same words repeating again and thought it was coming from the box, but no one was there.
Danny sighed and got off the stage. He decided to forget about the voice and hope that he would be leaving soon.