(Cover art done by Edward Miller)
Later on that evening while the team was out on patrol together as a group Nyreena looked like she was in a bit of a fog which concerned the others quite a bit. Hoping to break her out of it Danny floated over next to her and shaking her shoulder he asked, "Uh, Nyreena? Ghost Zone to Nyreena, are you in there?"
Not hearing him at first Nyreena remained silent but finally hearing him she shook her head a few times and looking over she answered, "Huh? Did you say something, Danny? I'm sorry if I missed it."
Looking at the others then back at Nyreena Sam asked, "Are you feeling okay? Ever since you joined up with us after your dance class you've been a bit...distant. Did something...happen while you were there this afternoon?"
Really not sure how her friends would understand about her meeting the Phantom Nyreena quickly thought for a few moments then answered, "Oh, well, it's that I finally found the right kind of music for my dance for the recital. Though it's only a week away to the show I finally managed to find it."
Unsure about her answer Tucker decided to go along with it and replied, "That's great. At least now it's one less thing to worry about and one more thing to get excited for, right?"
Nodding in agreement Nyreena said, "Yeah, that's true. Now that I finally have my song I can relax and just focus on making my performance the best it can possibly be. You guys are coming by the way, right? It would mean so much for all of you to come and see it."
Giving her a reassuring smile Danny said, "Of course. We wouldn't miss seeing your dance and showing our support for our friend. Besides, we all got our tickets the moment they went on sale right after you told they were. We wouldn't skip out on this for the world. Right guys?"
The others nodding in agreement Sam replied, "No way possible. Don't worry Nyreena, we'll be right there in the audience rooting for you all the way."
Very happy that her friends had her back Nyreena said, "Thanks guys. Knowing that you'll be there makes things a lot easier to handle." As they moved along a strange started to fill Nyreena and it troubled her, making her stop mid-air and try to figure out what was troubling her. The others noticing that she had stopped and turning around to rejoin her Danny asked, "Hey, are you alright? You've got that certain look when you're sensing something bad."
Still trying to figure it out Nyreena looked over and answered, "I'm not entirely sure. I was just flying along when it hit me and I've been trying to figure out what's causing it." Wondering what to do about that Tucker suggested, "Do you want to try following it and see if it leads to where it's at?"
Seeing it as a good idea Nyreena nodded and focused her senses and tried to hone in on where the feeling was coming from. When she thought that she had something she said to the others while pointing in a certain direction, "I think I got it. It's coming from somewhere in that direction."
Looking at where she was pointing Danny nodded and said, "Cool. You take the lead and show us where to go then we'll split up and look around to see what's causing the trouble."
Nodding in reply Nyreena flew ahead while the others followed behind, making their way over to a building that didn't seem suspicious in the least. Everyone looking at each other in confusion as to why they were led there they dismissed it and set about looking around the place; Tucker looking around the ouside while Danny and Sam phasing inside to search and Nyreena going up to the room to check things out.
As she landed on the roof and started to look around Nyreena kept on her guard in case there was something, or someone, on the roof as well that had a dark intention. And right she was for being cautious for indeed someone was there as well that was the reason for the ill sense she was feeling. While she continued to slowly look around her newly gained "shadow" was silently following her movements, waiting for the right moment to surprise her. As for who the shadow was it was a young man that looked slightly older than she was with shoulder-length silver blonde hair, wearing a deep red shirt unbuttoned from the middle down to bare his chest underneath a black jacket with matching pants and boots, a black half-faced mask resting on the left half of his face, a red-lined black collared cape, and a rapier with a human skull-shaped hilt strapped to his waist. Watching her look over every inch of the roof he couldn't help but admire her determination to find something and it made him smirk a little at the prospect of what she was going to find.
Deciding to make himself known he stepped out from his hiding place while her back was turned and leaning against the door to the roof he said, "Well this is certainly something. What is a beautiful young lady like you looking around for on a what you thought was an abandoned roof? It certainly can't be anything truly important, but I think I can make it important."
While she looked around with a careful eye Nyreena suddenly felt her sense triple in power as they detected the source of her ill feeling then when she heard the voice from behind he it made her gasp in surprised, unsheathe her sword, and swing it around to point it at the young man who surprised her even more when she saw him for the first time.
Seeing how she reacted the young man lightly chuckled under his breath and said as he eyed how close her sword was to him, "If this is how you greet people when you meet them for the first time you must make quite an impression on them. Or in them, if you're not being careful enough with that."
Listening to the way he spoke to her Nyreena felt uneasy by it but what was really unsettling to her was that he had a similar look to the Phantom, however this look was more foreboding and had a truly dark air that matched the dark sense about him. Trying to keep her resolve up and look like she wasn't thrown by his initial appearance she replied, "For strangers and enemies it's always how I greet them so that they know that I mean business."
Slightly smirking at her response the young man casually walked around her, somehow not even slightly worried about the sword, and said while making a paced circle, "I see. I must say you do make your point very well however I'm not entirely convinced that you're able to prove it by what I've seen of your reaction to making my presence known to you."
Looking at him with an incredulous look Nyreena glared at him as he circled around her, keeping her sword aimed at him as he moved, she growled under her voice at the last part at the last part of his remark and replied, "I don't have to prove myself of making my point. Especially to someone by the likes of you. After all, why should I when I am who I am?"
Stopping and arching a curious eyebrow at that the young man asked with a bigger smirk, "And, uh, just who might you be, by the way? I'm rather quite curious as to know just you are myself. If you tell me I'll be more than happy to tell you who I am, since I'm sure you're curious as to know."
Mentally hesitating for a few moments she considered his offer as well as suspecting him of trying to trick her into falling for a trap. Figuring that it was best to keep this guy talking until her friends regrouped and made their way up or if all else failed sent them an urgent telepathic message telling them that she need their help. Deciding to tell him who she was, but not who she really was, she lightly sighed and still holding the young man at sword point she replied, "Very well. I am Sapphire, daughter of Lord Pariah Dark and the future queen of the Ghost Zone. Now, who are you and what are you doing here in Amity Park?"
Straightening himself up as he listened to her introduce herself the young man graciously bowed to her when he heard that she was a princess and said, "I must say it's truly an honor to meet you, your Highness. Never in my life did I imagine that I would meet a princess, especially a beautiful one like you." Then leaning back up he then introduced him with a suave smile, "As for myself I am known as the Angel of Darkness, and as for my business here in this quaint little town I'm afraid that is for me to know and know alone. I do hope that you can understand but I do have my reasons and I have to be sure that what I'm looking for is here so that any...unwanted violence can be prevented from happening."
Quickly recognizing the nickname it made Nyreena think about the Phantom and how he took his name from the Phantom of the Opera's many names and made it his own. However, not liking the sound of what the Angel said she tightened her grip on her sword and moving her stance into a defensive one she said, "So what you're saying is that if you don't find whatever you're looking for you're threatening to bring harm to the city? Then I have no choice but to stop you here and now before you have a chance to do anything that will harm anyone in the process. Whatever your reasons might be I don't trust there for one second, and for that matter I don't trust you either. So as far as I'm concerned you have two choices at this point. Either you leave and never return or you face me here and now and send you packing to prove that I do mean business."
Chuckling at first then laughing harder the Angel drew his rapier and crossing it with her blade he replied while closing the distance between them, "Then I guess I can make the only choice I can since I'm not leaving without my prize in hand. So let's see how well you can handle that blade of yours, shall we?"
Deciding that that was the final straw Nyreena angrily growled and pushed the Angel's blade off of hers and swung her sword at him, making the Angel block and return the favor. As they were dueling Nyreena decided that it was time to call the rest of the team for backup and focusing her telepathic power to contact them she mentally called out, "Guys, I found the source of what was troubling my senses but I need your help taking him down. We're on the roof so please hurry!"
The moment they heard the message in their heads Danny quickly helped Sam phase out the of the building and down to the street where Tucker was waiting for them. Once the two landed Danny helped his friends get situated then when they were ready he helped fly them up to the roof and after landing they saw the reason why Nyreena asked them to back her up. The moment they saw the Angel they were quite unsure of what to make of him.
While they continued to duel the Angel noticed them out of the corner of his eye and snorting at that he said, "Well, it looks like we have some newcomers to see our little duel. Friends of yours by any chance?"
Noticing the side glance he made Nyreena saw an opportunity and as soon as he asked his question he opened himself and she took it, pulling her sword out of the way and kicked him in the stomach sending the Angel back a foot or so which gave her the opportunity to join her team. As she backed up to them she answered, "Why yes, they are. They're also my teammates and my most trusted allies and together we can go up against anything that stands in our way of protecting this town from all the evil that that tried to hurt it."
Recovering from the kick to his stomach the Angel looked over at her and really seeing who was with her he stood as tall as he possibly could and said, "But of course. You're friends with none other than Danny Phantom himself and I know how much of a 'hero' he is from the stories I've heard about him. And here I thought that I was probably going to avoid him altogether since technically I'm not a ghost and therefore not a concern. I guess that now it's going to be the complete opposite. And it also means that we'll be seeing each other again sometime in the near future and do battle once again."
Then giving a bit of a chuckle he added, "All the more reason to looking forward to it. I'd say that we call our duel a draw for now, your Highness, and catch up next time in a more...casual circumstance, eh? So for now I shall say adieu until we meet again. And next time, I will not be so kind as to leave you all where you're standing."
Reaching inside the back of his cape he pulled out a pellet in his hand and slammed it against the roof, quickly creating a smoke cloud that engulfed it just as the team tried to rush forward and stop him. Taking a few moments to clear the air the team saw as the smoke faded away that the Angel had made his escape in the confusion and was nowhere to be seen.
Everyone letting out a sigh of frustration Danny looked over at Nyreena and asked her, "So...who was that exactly? He kinda seemed a bit...out there with the way he spoke."
Taking a few moments to finish calming down Nyreena looked over and answered, "He called himself the Angel of Darkness, which he took from one of the names of the Phantom of the Opera. And I have to agree with you on that. With the way he kept talking about finding something that's apparently here in the city and threatening anyone with harm if he didn't find it...it just didn't sit well with me at all and I had no choice but to tell him that he was not going to do a single thing and show him out of town. Which led to our duel and me calling for backup."
Quickly getting curious about what the object was in question was Tucker asked, "Did he happen to mention what he was looking for in case we need to find it first before he does?"
Shaking her head Nyreena replied, "I'm afraid not. I tried to get him to tell me but all he wanted to say was that he had his reasons and he wanted to be sure that whatever he was looking for was here before any unwanted violence was made."
Sighing again Sam grumbled, "Well that's just great. How are we supposed to stop this loon when we don't even know what he's after? It could be something so simple we could miss it altogether."
Nodding in agreement Danny said, "You're right, Sam. Without knowing what the Angel's after we don't have a clue on how to figure out a way to stop him. But we can't give up knowing that he's out there and he plans on threatening anyone if things don't go his way. We have to be on the lookout in case he decides to show himself again and causes some serious trouble."
The others nodding agreement Nyreena said, "If anybody else agrees I think our patrol for the night is well over with. We've got a lot to do if we're going to be ready the next time the Angel makes an appearance." Everyone definitely nodding in agreement to that they made their way down to the street and on their way to their homes to ponder on what they could do to anticipate the Angel's next move.
A short time after they left the Angel stepped out of the shadows on a nearby roof, having watched the team soon after he disappeared, and having a wide smirk on his lips he mused, "Hmm, they truly think that they have a chance of trying to stop me from achieving my long sought goal of finally being free from my wretched curse. In the end it won't matter for nothing can stop me from reaching my goal to find the young woman destined to break the curse with our true love that my putrid brother and I have to share no thanks to our...dear father. And what those fools don't realize is that I've already found her...or to say that she found me without even realizing it."
Heartily chuckling at that he then produced an un-bloomed black rose out of thin air and toasting it he said, "Soon princess, you'll find this token of affection and when you do you shall fall for my undying love and be mind forevermore." Placing a kiss on the bud he set it down on the ledge of the roof then curled his cape around himself and disappeared back into the shadows, eagerly anticipating the moment he and Nyreena would meet each other, and in his mind, have the advantage he needed to succeed.