Spectacular Sides
The Origin of Phantom
Summary: Spectra receives a surprise visitor, though it isn't who she was expecting to show up at her office.
Characters: Spectra and Bertrand
Written: September 2014
Note: This is set during chapter 23 of Spectacular Specter.
Chapter 23.5
Spectra paced around her office, barely containing the rage burning a hole in her chest. Her fingers kept curling and straightening, wanting to dig her long, red nails into something to satisfy her anger. When the door to her office opened, she could barely reign in her emotions enough to plaster her fake cheerful smile onto her face as she turned to face whomever had entered.
"Oh, it's only you," Spectra muttered, letting her false face fall when she saw the short man closing the door behind him. "Sometimes, I think this job wasn't worth agreeing to." She walked over to lean against her desk. "Listening to all those stupid teenagers whine about the littlest thing is really starting to grate on my nerves." Reaching into the pocket of her red suit jacket, she retrieved a small compact then flipped it open. "Ugh! Look! I'm already developing wrinkles." She tilted her head up, examining her reflection in the mirror.
"I can hardly see any wrinkles." The man moved away from the door and came to stand before Spectra. "You look as young and beautiful as always."
"Oh, don't be such a brown nosing kiss up, Bertrand!" Spectra snapped the compact shut with a click and shot the man a withering glare. "You'd have to be absolutely blind not to see the wrinkles." She placed the compact down on her desk, tapped a red painted nail upon the top of it, then folded her arms. "So what news do you bring me?"
Bertrand huffed, his gaze turned away as he straightened his coat. He mumbled something, but even straining her ear, Spectra couldn't make out his words. "We failed to acquire what we were looking for." He frowned, frustration flashing in his green eyes. "But what of the boy I told you about?"
Her lips curled into a smirk. "You were right. He definitely has potential. He's ripe with rage and despair. A perfect specimen." Spectra's mouth pursed, and the anger flared through her again. "If I could just get my hands on him. But - Argh!" She felt the urge to rip out some of her vibrant red hair! But she would never risk ruining her beautiful appearance. "That darn teacher keeps getting in the way. If he hadn't been present, I could have gotten that Fenton kid."
Bertrand scratched thoughtfully at his chin. "Well, there are," he glanced toward Spectra as a small, devilish smirk spread onto his face, "ways of removing such obstacles."
Spectra returned the smirk, knowing the "ways" Bertrand meant. After all, they had eliminated people who stood in their way in the past. But she shook her head, leaning back on her arms. "No, we were told to be discreet with our involvement. Find targets and lure them to us. If we kill another teacher, that pesky Police Chief might start putting the pieces together and figure us out."
"Unlikely," Bertrand responded in a huff.
Spectra laughed in amusement when she saw the expression on his face. "Did I hit a nerve there? I'd be careful with that big ego. The moment you start feeling too overconfident is when you start making mistakes that get you caught."
Bertrand's face twisted and turned red. "I would never get caught!"
"I certainly hope not." Spectra smirked to see the man with his feathers ruffled. "I would hate to lose my little helper."
"I am not some sort of elf!" Bertrand shouted, his face becoming all the redder.
"And you apparently don't have a sense of humor." Spectra sighed in disappointment, wishing the people she worked with would lighten up a little sometimes. They could all be such dry stiffs who left her wanting to reach for a cigarette. If it weren't for the fact that the teenage angst made high schools a spa treatment for her, she probably would have refused to work for these people. "And how are things with that other little project the bosses had their eyes on?"
"She has potential." Some of the red faded from Bertrand's face with the change in topics. "Though she might take a little work."
Spectra huffed to herself. So she was missing out on all the fun again. With her special skill set, she knew blending into the local high schools was the best job for her, but it also proved her theory that she was at the bottom of the totem pole in the organization. She didn't like being on the bottom and following the orders of other people.
A knock on the door interrupted any further conversation they might have had. Spectra froze for a split second before shooting a look to Bertrand, but the man was already making his way toward the window in her office. A surge of jealousy rose in her as she watched Bertrand climb out the window. How nice it must be to be able to slip away unseen!
Spectra pulled her attention back to her work. After walking to the door, she pulled it open, forcing a bright smile onto her face. She almost let her mask slip when she saw it wasn't the young man she hoped would stop by her office. Though disappointed, she smiled and stepped aside, opening the door wider for the student to enter.
"Please, do come in." Her green eyes followed the teenager as he stepped into the office with a nervous look upon his face. If she recalled correctly, she had seen the young man hanging around the Fenton boy earlier. If they were friends, perhaps this could work to her advantage. After she closed the door, she ushered the boy over to the chair before her desk. "Now tell me." She took a seat perched on her desk. "What's troubling you?"
Author's Note: I decided to make this into its own separate story so there aren't these jarring breaks occasionally thrown into Danny's view point of the main story. But I wanted to sometimes show things going on from other points of view. *whispers* Maybe we'll even get to see what's going on with Dan sometimes~