Hey there! Well, this scene is one of my favorites in the whole story of Phantom of the Opera, because this chapter has one of my favorite songs in all of Phantom of the Opera! And it's totally not because 'Masquerade' gets stuck in my head every time I hear it. Not at allll. Haha, well anyway, I've been rewriting this story so that the writing style is updated, and I couldn't find the original script I had used to write this in the first place, so this is the first chapter where the new script doesn't entirely match with what is already written here, so I don't know if this is still true (I also don't have internet connection right now, so I can't even check), but for those of you who are counting, I think that this is the first and second scene of act two. But, I honestly don't know, or remember, anymore, so sorry if that isn't correct! Oh yeah, and this is also another chapter where a lot of the singing happens really quickly, so there's not really a lot going on at the same time, so it's really just line after line of dialogue. Anyway, here's the chapter, and I own Darla, Jordan, Brandon, and a few others, and other accounts own other characters. Enjoy!

Fireworks lit up the sky with extravagant explosions of purples, reds, blues and golds, as France's socialites piled into the Opera Populaire for the much anticipated Bal Masque. Trumpets and horns were played outside as the horse-drawn carriages pulled up outside, and all the gentlemen and ladies walked into the Opera with their colorful masks and bright clothes. There were masks of peacocks and lions, dragons and knights, and clowns and monsters. Two skeletons approached each other, each wearing an opera cape, and each with a beautiful woman on their arm, and they blinked at each other for a moment.

"M'sieur Firmin?" Mike questioned.

"M'sieur Andre?" Leo questioned.

They both raised their masks, revealing themselves, and they laughed. They turned and walked into their Opera, and they both took a glass of champagne that was offered to them with a smile. "Dear Andre what a splendid party!" Leo congratulated, and Mike nodded.

"The prologue to a bright new year!" Mike agreed.

"Quite a night, I'm impressed!" Leo said, with a proud grin.

"Well, one does one's best…" he laughed.

They raised their glasses, chinking them together. "Here's to us!" they cheered.

"I must say, all the same, that it's shame that the 'Phantom' fellow isn't here!" Leo laughed, and they stopped in front of the camera that was placed out front, posing with celebratory grins.

. . .

Inside, everyone was dancing and singing merrily. It was a joyous time – everyone just felt like they should be singing. They had a lot to sing about. "Masquerade! Paper faces on parade… Masquerade! Hide your face, so the world will never find you! Masquerade! Every face a different shade… Masquerade! Look around – there's another mask behind you!"

On the landing on the grand staircase, there were more party-goers that were dancing, and Jordan was amongst them. While they were all aware that most of the dancers and stagehands weren't invited to the all-important Bal Masque, Jordan just assumed that she was supposed to be someone's date, but she couldn't figure out for the life of her whose date she was supposed to be. She eventually just chuckled to herself and shrugged it off, watching and laughing as the dance continued. "Flash of mauve… Splash of puce… Fool and king… Ghoul and goose… Green and black… Queen and priest… Trace of rouge… Face of beast…. Faces… Take your turn, take a ride on the merry-go-round… in an inhuman race…Eye of gold… Thigh of blue… True is false… Who is who…? Curl of lip… Swirl of gown… Ace of hearts… Face of clown… Faces… Drink it in, drink it up, till you've drowned in the light… in the sound… But who can name the face?"

"Masquerade! Grinning yellows, spinning reds… Masquerade! Take your fill – let the spectacle astound you! Masquerade! Burning glances, turning heads… Masquerade! Stop and stare at the sea of smiles around you! Masquerade! Seething shadows breathing lies… Masquerade! You can fool any friend who ever knew you! Masquerade! Leering satyrs, peering eyes… Masquerade! Run and hide – but a face will still pursue you…"

Alexandra and Will, Mike and Leo, and Piper and Sarah made their entrance, walking down one of the two side staircases, grinning down at all the drunken guests. Alexandra, Will, Mike and Leo had their own glasses of champagne, also. "What a night!" Alexandra sighed happily.

"What a crowd!" Will agreed.

"Makes you glad!" Mike said.

"Makes you proud. All the crème de la crème!" Leo added, rather proudly too.

"Watching us, watching them!" Alexandra grinned.

"And all our fears are in the past!" Sarah said softly.

"Three months…" Will exclaimed.

"Of relief!" Leo said.

"Of delight!" Alexandra said.

"Of Elysian peace!" Mike said.

"And we can breathe at last!" Leo cheered.

"No more notes!" Alexandra said thankfully, holding Will's arm.

"No more ghost!" Will added.

"Here's a health!" Piper toasted.

"Here's a toast: to a prosperous year!" Mike said.

"To the new chandelier!" Leo laughed.

"And may its splendour never fade!" Alexandra and Will cheered.

"Three months!" Leo cheered.

"What a joy!" Piper said.

"What a change!" Sarah agreed.

"What a blessed release!" Leo and Mike exclaimed.

"And what a masquerade!" Piper said, and once they reached the bottom of the stairs, she twirled her fan gracefully before she joined Sarah near the side.

. . .

Brandon and Darla walked together through one of the quieter halls, toward the main ballroom. Darla smiled, admiring her new acquisition: an engagement ring around her neck, hanging from a silver chain. Brandon smiled softly as he watched her twirl it between her gloved fingers, and she looked up at him with sparkling eyes. "Think of it! A secret engagement! Look – your future bride! Just think of it!" she whispered happily, and he paused, frowning only slightly, taking her hands.

"But why is it secret? What have we to hide?" he asked, kissing her knuckles and kneeling to look into her eyes. "You promised me…"

He gently cupped her cheeks and leaned down to kiss her, but she reluctantly pushed him away. "No Raoul, please don't, they'll see…" she said softly, motioning to the other guests.

"Well then, let them see!" he chuckled, looking back into her eyes. "It's an engagement, not a crime! Christine, what are you afraid of?"

She smiled slightly, but still looked conflicted. "Let's not argue…" she sang softly.

They turned, starting again to walk toward the main ballroom. "Let's not argue…" Brandon agreed.

"Please pretend…"

"I can only hope I'll…"

"You will…"

"…understand in time…" they both sang, and Brandon smiled, taking her hand as they began to dance. Jordan noticed them at the bottom of the stairs, and she snorted, noticing how close they were. They must be hating that… she chuckled.

As the music headed toward the climax, a couple of the stagehands snuck upstairs and started taking as many bottles of alcohol that they would carry from the bar, but everyone was too preoccupied with the dance and having a good time, so nobody noticed. They were laughing and hollering the whole time, and it was clear that the partying wasn't just here. Everyone was having a good time tonight, as they should. It was well-deserved. Brandon and Darla's eyes did not leave each other, though, as they smiled at each other, and as the others gathered on the stairs and small white flower petals began to fall as confetti, they paused, before they leaned in and kissed each other again. If Jordan could've broken down in a fit of laughter at that point, she would've. When they broke apart, they laughed and pressed their foreheads together, before they smiled and turned to watch the finale of the dance.

"Masquerade! Paper faces on parade! Masquerade! Hide your face, so the world will never find you! Masquerade! Every face a different shade! Masquerade! Look around – there's another mask behind you! Masquerade! Burning glances, turning head… Masquerade! Stop and stare at the sea of smiles around you! Masquerade! Grinning yellows, spinning reds… Masquerade! Take your fill – let the spectacle astound you!"

At the height of the dance, the lighting in the ballroom flickered and dimmed, and the music drastically changed. Jay suddenly appeared at the top of the staircase, dressed all in crimson, with a death's head visible inside the hood of his robe. With steps that echoed in the now dead-silent room, he descended the stairs towards them. "Why so silent, good messieurs?" Jay asked, with a threatening tone that made sure nobody would dare interrupt him. "Did you think that I had left you for good? Have you missed me, good messieurs? I have written you an opera!"

He reached into his robe, and pulled out an enormous bound manuscript. "Here I bring the finished score – 'Don Juan Triumphant'!" he said, throwing it to the ground at Mike's feet, effectively terrifying the man. Jay drew his sword, waving it around. "Fondest greetings to you all…"

Brandon and Darla watched as the scene unfolded, and Brandon noticed that the air around Darla began to change as she stared up at him. Darla was a bit upset, as she was developing another headache, while she had thought that they were over. Jay's face became blurred as she stared at him. Brandon gently touched her back, hesitating leaving her here, before he turned and rushed away, ordering a couple of the guards to follow him. "A few instructions before rehearsal starts… Carlotta must be taught to act, not her normal trick of strutting around the stage…" Jay hummed, sticking his sword in the overly large feather sticking up from Carlotta's hair, messing it up. Will stepped up to defend her, but Jay held the sword to his stomach, poking him back with a slight smirk. "Our Don Juan must lose some weight – it's not healthy in a man of Piangi's age. And my managers must learn that their place is in an office, not the arts…"

Jay turned slowly, flashing his bright blue eyes at Darla, and her breath got caught in her throat. "And as for our star, Miss Christine Daaé… No doubt she'll do her best – it's true, her voice is good. She knows, though, should she wish to excel, she has much still to learn, if pride will let her return to me, her teacher, her teacher…" he said, announcing it to the room, before looking back down at her.

They stared at each other for a moment, and Jay's expression softened. Darla timidly began to walk forward, toward him, almost as if she were in a trance, and he began to walk down to meet her. Brandon, whom had gotten his own sword and was quickly trying to put his sword belt on, saw this, and he quickened his pace. He needed to get down there now. When they were only inches away, Darla stared up into his eyes, but Jay's gaze drifted when he noticed the secret engagement ring hanging from her neck. He frowned, before reaching and snapping the chain from her neck, and shooting her a terrifying glare. "Your chains are still mine – you belong to me!" he growled, before he turned and rushed back up the stairs, and exploded into a fiery blaze, disappearing. They gasped when Brandon rushed down the stairs, jumping down the hole that Jay had disappeared down. It snapped shut right after.

Brandon fell into a maze of spinning mirrors, and Jay seemed to be everywhere but nowhere all at once. In front of him, behind him, on his left, on his right… Brandon swung his sword blindly into the dark, but Jay only appeared in another mirror. His magic lasso fell from the ceiling, and Brandon quickly pushed himself away. Before Jay could have another attempt on his life, a hand reached out from the darkness and grabbed Brandon's shoulder. He whipped around, coming face to face with Piper. She said nothing as she led him out from the maze.

Brandon followed closely at Piper's heels as she quickly walked through all the halls in the Opera, holding a lantern in front of her so she could see. "Madame Giry, wait…" Brandon pleaded.

"Please Monsieur, I know no more than anyone else…" Piper replied, attempting to leave him again, but Brandon followed her.

"That's not true!" Brandon said.

Piper took a shaky breath, shaking her head. "Monsieur, don't ask…" she said, turning down the hall to her room. "There have been too many accidents…"

"Accidents?" Brandon repeated, almost laughing. He grabbed her arm before she could slip into her room, giving her a desperate look. "Please, Madame Giry, for all our sakes…"

Piper stared at him for a moment, almost pitying her brother, as she knew that he was really worried about Darla, and what might happen to her here. She bit her lip nervously, before she looked down to the ends of the hall, making sure that they were alone, before she sighed. "Very well…" she said quietly, and she slipped into her room, with Brandon right behind her. She closed and locked the door behind them. "It was years ago… There was a travelling fair in the city. Tumblers, conjurors, human oddities…"

"Go on…" Brandon encouraged.

"I was very young… studying to be a ballerina – one of many, living in the dormitories of the Opera House. At the fair, there was… I shall never forget him: a boy, locked in a cage…" she said, trailing off.

"In a cage…?" Brandon repeated.

She nodded, looking down as her eyes began to water. "He wore a bag to hide his face… he was called the Devil's Child." she explained. "When everyone left, I fell behind, and I… he killed the man who was his captor, and his abuser. He strangled him with a rope, monsieur… and I brought him here. I hid him from the world, and its cruelties… He has known nothing else of life since then, except this Opera House. It was his… playground, and now his artistic domain… He's a genius. He's an architect, and designer… he's a composer, and a… a magician! A genius, monsieur!"

"But clearly, Madame Giry, genius has turned to madness…" Brandon said gently, and she didn't say anything else. There was nothing else she could've said.

~Batman's Favorite Daughter~