Disclaimer: after a while this gets really old, ya know? (Sigh) but if it is necessary then it must be important… Yeah right! (brings out puppets that look suspiciously like her and Erik) This is me (waves Authoress puppet) And this is Phantom! (Waves Erik puppet). Still with me? Good! This is me not owning Phantom (Authoress puppet starts to cry). Aw, see how sad I am? ( Erik puppet awkwardly pats Authoress puppet on the head, supposedly to be a comforting gesture.) (Real Erik enters) What on earth are you doing? (Hides puppets behind back) Nothing!

A/N:OK. Here's the deal, I know have eight lovely pages on word that are filled with Cameos! This chapter is only an introduction to the chaos yet to come. I'm working on all of the cameo chapters so don't be alarmed if you don't see you're name in this chapter, Everyone will be used in the story! Which by the way I'm still accepting cameos so don't feel as if you missed out if you didn't review. So enjoy this chapter and please Review!


Invasion


She should have lied. Tammy pat the neck of a good tempered chestnut mare. It had been the first time she had been out of Philippe's sight all day. She knew she had claimed to like men who were possessive and made sure every one knew that the women they loved were theirs. Now, however, she doubted what he felt for her was love. She wanted to go back to the lair, back to a quiet evening with Erik. No more meeting new people, no more feeling trapped in conversations, and no more being so goodie-goodie too shoes nice! What she wouldn't give to have a rapier, honey, and feathers right about now.

"Tamara," a deep voice rumbled from behind her. Surpassing the urge to pick up the nearest sharp object she plastered a pleasant smile on her face before turning to face her escort. "Monsieur, I believe I saw a pair of the most beautiful looking black Arabians on the other side of the market."

"How many times must I tell you to call me Philippe?" He took her hand and guided her away from her quiet companion. "We will see them in due time, first I want you to meet a friend of the family."

"Oh. Can't we just send our regards in the form of a lovely letter later" Tammy knew if it was one more old woman and her husband she just might crack. She normally got along with nearly every person she met, thus was the advantage of being an actor, but this many people in one day was fraying her already taught nerves. Hopefully she would do a good job faking a headache and she would be able to go home soon.

He chuckled, "Creative solution, mon cher, but I would surely hear no end to it if we don't at least touch fingers."

She suppressed the urge to roll her eyes, "I'm not your dear." They made their way to a small group of people. For the first time that day Tammy was surprised, instead of the distinguished matrons of the ton they were her age. Raoul stood opposite them looking as somber as ever. Dressed in the highest fashions of the day, two gentlemen, one fair in coloring the other much darker, were chatting amiably with each other about what sounded like a new business venture. Their dates, both blondes possibly related, looked almost as bored as she was. Philippe quickly began the introductions. "MM Gabriel Rousseau & Tristan Auclair and the Mlles Rachelle & Nicolette Devereux. Monsieurs and Mademoiselles may I present Mademoiselle Tamara Delarox."

The green eyed fair haired gentleman (Gabriel) took her hand and bowed over it, "Enchanted, I'm sure."

"I'm sure," She smiled. Tristan took her hand next murmuring his greeting, all the while his steely gaze swept her face looking for what she guessed would be familiarity. She glanced at Philippe who was watching his friends closely. Almost as if…

A tiny switch in the back of her brain flipped her light bulb on. He wouldn't… but all of the people she met. OH! He was creative! He must have drove himself insane trying to find her name in the books or papers. Hard to find someone when they didn't exist. The only written document of her existence in this time was a small scrap of paper threatening a Spanish diva, and even then no one could link it to her. For no one had seen The Siren let alone known her true name.

Ruthlessly she suppressed the wolfish grin that threatened to grace her features and just settled for a smile. A little to brightly she addressed the two women, now clearly twins, "wonderful to meet you. It's hard to believe we haven't crossed paths before. None the less, I was just telling Philippe of these wonderful Arabians on the other side of the market. Shall we?"

She left Philippe's side to join the young women who had identical faces of confusion. Tammy smiled, she just might get some entertainment out of this afternoon after all.

Philippe watched her lead off the two women, his gaze focused on her until she had disappeared in the crowd. Gabriel was the first to speak, "She is an interesting creature?"

Philippe glowered, "interesting or not I haven't the faintest clue who she is."

Tristan raised a dark eyebrow, "you? The man at the center of all the most interesting scandals, not to mention the most informed man on the face of this earth, does not know who a simple woman is? I find this surprising."

Gabriel frowned, "didn't you try the papers and all those books you insist on keeping around?"

Philippe solemnly nodded, his friends were not doing him the slightest bit of help at the moment. He had been up all night tearing through every book he could find but none of them mentioned a Delarox of any kind. If her father, brother, or any of her ancestors for that matter had done anything notable at all it would have been somewhere.

Her brother brought up an interesting dilemma in itself. For being the overly protective man that Tamara painted him as he wasn't around her often. He had never met the man yet she spoke of him in the most fondest terms if the subject was ever brought up. The fact was that this man was hardly ever brought into conversation, but from what Philippe gathered her mysterious brother was a man not to be crossed. His age was never mentioned but Philippe imagined him as an older man, perhaps in his forties. What bothered Philippe the most was that her brother seemed to dislike society with a passion and wished his sister to adopt the same ideals.

This brought him back to the crux of the problem, the woman herself. He had never heard anyone speak like her and she seemed fairly experienced for living most of her life in the country. She carried an aura of haughtiness and sophistication like a cloak, if you had a moment to just talk with her you would see she was much more intelligent and quick then you would first perceive. Yet with all of this he knew of her he had the nagging suspicion that their was much more to her than this, her background was as mysterious as the lady herself. She was challenge personified and he loved a good challenge.

Tristan clasped Philippe's shoulder, bringing him back from his thoughts. "do call us if you find yourself in any trouble with this one."

Philippe grunted ,"as long as I find out who she is, and you sirs," He glared knowingly at his two closest friends. "would do best to keep your hands to yourselves."

Gabriel grinned, "Honestly Philippe we're not the ones with half of the ton after us for that tiny mishap with that Duclaire girl."

"yes," Tristan agreed. "well only have to steer clear of her family for the rest of our lives, and her reputation was salvaged before any real damage was done."

Philippe momentarily reflected on the excitement of last year with the "Cinderella Bet". It was far better than his comrades made it out to be, he had smoothed things over with the Duke and Duchess.

He scowled, sometimes he was just too nice of a man.

XxX

Erik narrowed his gaze at a group of what appeared to be oddly clad girls currently enthralled with his pipe organ. He had stealthily followed them to this room, making sure his presence wasn't known, and now they were clustered around the instrument like a pack of wolves. One of them, a tall with dark brown black hair tied back into a half pony tail and green-blue eyes, leaned closer to examine the theatrical organ. She was dressed in black pants and swallowtail jacket. Her crimson shirt was a stark contrast to the rest of her dark outfit, the silver buttons on her waistcoat and the silver cross around her neck shone in the flickering candle light. She straitened and addressed the girl next to her, "if we were ever in any doubt as to where we are that" She gestured to the organ. "would confirm any suspicions."

The slender blonde, about equal to the brunettes height if not a few inches taller, turned to her and raised a brow, "Roxanne, I don't think there was ever any doubt to where we are," She zipped her gray jacket closed hiding the teal shirt underneath. She shivered, "the cold alone could have told you that."

Roxanne scoffed, "well maybe, Sheridan, you wouldn't be so cold if you hadn't worn flip-flops and jeans instead of something sensible."

Sheridan wiggled her pink toes before glaring at her friend, "well, excuse me for not expecting to sucked into a black time traveling vortex while going to get the mail."

The two girls traded quips until it caught the attention of the other members of their group. A dark blonde, whose hair was braided, in high heeled boots, black leather pants, and black tank top took charge of the situation. Unzipping her black bag she pulled out a long belt, cinching it around her waist she pulled out a few small shiny objects that looked incredibly sharp. She regarded the two girls over the rims of her glasses, "Are you two done? If you haven't noticed we are in a little bit of a situation."

The two girls met her hazel gaze before falling silent. Both reluctantly giving up the fight. Placing her bag on the floor she smiled, "that settled, it's clear to me we have three options."

"And, Rebecca, they would be?" A raven hared girls with red streaks asked. She was one of the few cloaked girls in the, as he now termed 'pack'. Her cloak was a black with red lining. The red distinguished her black trousers and forest green long sleeved shirt. The most interesting part of her outfit had to be the silver embroidered snakes that twisted up her arms and met just below her collar bone. The silver heads faced each other mouths opened and teeth bared , as if one was daring the other to try and strike first.

Rebecca bristled for a moment, "I was getting to it Ashe. We can either a) find Erik and glomp him to a hearts content, b) find the fop and put our weapons to good use, or c) try and figure out how the heck we got here."

"Time to vote" Sheridan leapt onto the organ bench. "all in favor of a, finding Erik and glomping him?"

To Erik's horror every hand went up without a moments hesitation. He didn't know what glomping meant but it couldn't be good. Clearly out of his field of expertise he turned to leave. He was about to run for it when Sheridan's voice carried over the crowd of excited whispers. "All wishing to have our own fop hunt in which we may torture and maim?"

Once again every hand went up, only this time a ripple of excitement was clearly seen as each girl pulled out their own weapon.

Roxanne stepped forward, "clearly we don't need to vote on the last point… Let's find Erik!"

A cheer rang out from the pack and they began to scatter. For the first time in his life Erik stared danger in the face, and he retreated to a safe distance. (translation: he ran for his study and bolted the door!). He backing away from the door he tried to think. Surely the Phantom of the opera could handle a few giggling girls. His grip tightened on his Punjab instinctively. A cold heartless smile twisted across his face. He would be rid of these girls and give them a scare they would never forget.

XxX

Tammy learned something that cold November afternoon. No matter which century you lived in and no matter what technical advances were made there was one subject you could always start a conversation with and every women would immediately talk about, and that subject was… men.

"Tristan," Nicolette, dressed in a pale lilac carriage dress with white lace gloves and parasol, let out an exasperated sigh, "has to be one of the most incorrigible men I have ever met."

"yes well," Rachelle, dressed in a similar style dress but in blue, chided, "at least you're beau pays attention to you. If Gabriel could concentrate on anything other than his business endeavors I would be ecstatic."

Tammy rolled her eyes. She had spent the whole of the afternoon listening to Tristan this and Gabriel that. Normally, she was a firm believer in being strong and trying not to be rude in all situations unless it called for it. But even she had her limits. The blonde and brown eyed sisters turned on her. Rachelle, arms crossed, raised a brow at her, "You've been silent all day, I'm sure the Comte de Chagny has his faults too."

Tammy shook her head, "I don't know the Comte well enough to say, except for the fact that he has insisted on introducing me to every person at this auction. But I've seen my fair share of men and seen enough faults to know what to stay away from."

Nicolette and Rachelle traded looks before sizing up their prey. Tammy hadn't been in society long enough to know that the Mademoiselles Devereux were notorious for their knack for matchmaking. Both with identical grins, Rachelle began the interrogation. "Please, I pray, elaborate."

Tammy, surprised, began, "well, you should never have to work to get a man's attention. If he's interested he'll let you know it, and normally it'll be obvious. An ideal man would never be unrespectable but also willing to bend the rules if the situation calls for it."

Nicolette smiled, "those are all well and good, but what do you want?"

Tammy blinked she raised an eyebrow, "what do I want? Well…" She thought, her eyes loosing focus. "as far as looks go I really couldn't care less, as long as he was tall, I like tall men… and dark hair. Personality, however means a lot to me. I want him to challenge me, make me think outside the box and challenge the way I view my world. He would pull my mind out of the clouds and dreams and give me something real. He would be so loving and possessive that he would stop at nothing to make me his, even…" She snapped back to reality. Mentally shaking her head she looked at her companions before sighing, "even if it meant changing history."

Rachelle's voice was soft, "that's… one of the most beautiful things I ever heard."

Nicolette looked at the other two, "well you have the Comte, that's good enough for most women."

Tamara glared, " yeah, most women" One thing though, since when had she ever been most women?

XxX

The phan girls had split into pairs of two and were now searching the entire house leaving no inch left untouched. Two girls were currently searching the kitchen. One had long blonde hair fashioned in an elegant knot on top of her head, a few stray tresses had escaped to wreath her face and draw attention to her deep soulful eyes. She was clothed in a deep blood red scarlet dress made of the finest silk that it rippled like water when she moved. Her necklace was and delicate intertwining design with dark rubies and shining diamonds. She opened cupboards looking for any sign of where Erik might have gone.

Ashe looked up from her pursuit of the broom closet, Beth, do you really think he would fit in one of those small itty bitty cabinets?"

Beth looked up, "hey you never know what a Erik will do if he feels his territory invaded."

Ashe flicked her cloak aside, "we're not talking about a wild animal here. He's a human being."

"Yeah, I know" Beth opened a cabinet of pots and pans. "he's just unpredictable."

Ashes moved a few mops before looking up, "hey you hungry? We haven't eaten since we got here."

Beth brightened, "lets raid the fridge!"

Ashe smiled, yet rolled her eyes, "hello! 19th century no fridges just pantries."

Beth sighed, "ok fine, fridge pantry, either way I need food!"

They both bolted for the door leading off the side of the kitchen not connected with the hall way. Ashe reached the door first and grabbed the polished brass doorknob. On a second thought she put her hand at the level of her eyes, she was after all in Erik's house and Punjabs run rampant. With small tug she pulled open the door. A rope was flung over her head and it was slowly tightening around her neck but she held it off. She sighed and sent a meaningful look to Beth, "and you called him unpredictable."

Beth shrugged, "hey, a girl can be wrong."

Erik materialized from the shadows. Amber eyes spitting fire, His voice grew low, almost a growl, "Why aren't you afraid?"

Ashe lifted the rope away from her neck a wolfish grin spread over both girls features. Beth stepped closer, "being afraid is one thing excited is another thing entirely."

Ashe glanced at Beth, "the question remains, do we glomp him now or call for the others?"

Erik slowly started to back up, until his back connected with the shelves stocked with food. A panic started through him his veins turning to ice. Ashe and Beth ran forward, "Get him!"

Erik threw a small capsule on the floor, a red smoke filled the room. It filled the girls lunges as they fell into coughing fits, eyes watering. Slowly the cloud dissipated when they discovered that cloaked fiend had escaped. Beth frowned, "drat!"


HI me again, hoped you enjoyed that. As I said above everyone who submitted a review will be in the story, but writing all of you in is taking some time because I want your cameos to be really good! So be patient, and It isn't to late to submit cameos just refer to the last chapter for the info you need to include in your review! So thanks for reading PLEASE REVIEW! I'll up date ASAP!