Summary: Kwan pays a visit to the Masters' house after receiving a call from Elle.
Characters: Kwan, Elle, Vlad, and Jack
Written: July 2015
Note: This is set after chapter 61 of Spectacular Specter.

Chapter 61.5A

"Is it really okay for us to be down here?" Kwan asked as he glanced around in uncertainty. The laboratory was beyond what he imagined. When Dash told him his class took a trip to Axion Labs for a tour, Kwan was immediately jealous since he had always wanted to see all the various projects they worked on there. If he had ended up in the same class, he could have joined them.

"Oh sure." Elle waved off his concern as she walked over to a fridge containing various samples. "My dad is busy in a meeting or something right now, so he won't know we're down here."

"So, uh," Kwan raked a hand through his hair, still nervous about this whole thing, "you sneak into your dad's lab a lot?"

Elle tilted her head in thought. Her raven hair was tied back in a high ponytail, the ends brushing her shoulder with the action. "I didn't used to, but recently, I've been coming down here to investigate what's gotten my dad's attention."

"Which brings us to the whole ectoplasm thing you asked about over the phone?" Kwan worried a bit about her inquiry. When Valerie asked for his help, Kwan had to do research about ghosts, which provided him mostly with only theories and nothing concrete. Many of the articles were at least twenty years old. Building the rifle for Valerie, he took a few liberties, throwing in a few of his own ideas to create it. He could have done a better job with more time, such as making it functional, but Valerie wasn't exactly patient when she wanted to get something done.

"Yeah." Elle frowned, staring in concern at the fridge before her. "Remember how I told you I took some of that sample my dad had?" She glanced toward Kwan, waiting for him to nod. "Well," she pulled open the door to show off five shelves with at least a dozen sample vials on each one, "he seems to have gotten more."

"That is a lot of ectoplasm," Kwan mumbled, aqua green eyes widening as he stared at the samples. "Is it all from the same source?"

"Well, my dad codes all his notes, so I can't really read anything about what he's been doing." Elle shrugged. "But I did overhear him say the ectoplasm came from Phantom. I don't really know anything about ectoplasm though. Do you?" She turned to him with a hopeful expression.

Kwan rubbed at the back of his neck. "From what I've read, ectoplasm is supposed to be what make up ghost. One theory is that there's ectoplasm all around us, but it's invisible and hard to extract in any way, which is why it's hard to get any natural ectoplasm to study. When a person dies, usually from tragedy or with some kind of regret, those strong thoughts remain and latch onto the ectoplasm to develop a ghost. Sometimes they don't take full form, but the really strong thoughts end up taking on a form like Phantom did."

"So ectoplasm is basically like their blood?" Elle's nose wrinkled as she looked back at the samples. "What could my dad be doing with Phantom's blood? And why did he make more of it?"

Kwan shrugged. "Maybe he just wants to study it? I read a report that suggested ectoplasm could be a useful energy source, but it would need proper studies and testing to ensure it wouldn't have harmful effects on humans, especially with prolonged usage."

"You sure seem to know a lot about it." Elle eyed him, curiosity passing through her blue eyes.

"Ah, well, you know," Kwan laughed awkwardly, "I had a project to do, so I needed to read up on it."

Elle nodded, apparently buying the explanation. Then she sighed, her shoulders slumping. "I guess maybe I was getting worried for no reason. I," she turned her gaze away as she tugged on an earlobe, "feared maybe he was thinking of doing something bad to Phantom. But that's crazy, right? Why would he do that after he tried to help Phantom when Officer Walker tried to arrest him?"

"Hey," Kwan placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I'm sure it's nothing like you're imagining. It's probably just some innocent research."

A crease of worry remained in Elle's brow. "I guess," she agreed but hardly sounded convinced. She chewed on her lower lip as she rocked slowly on her heels. "Thanks for coming over and all. Though I guess this wasn't really some big spectacular discovery."

Kwan agreed they probably could have just had the talk over the phone, but Elle had insisted he stop by to check on things for himself. He threw on a cheerful grin. "Hey, it's all right. I mean, how often do I really get the chance to actually see the Masters' house?" He doubted he would ever get another chance to look around at Mr. Masters' personal laboratory.

"We're friends, though, right?" Elle managed to smile at her question. "You can come over again, if you want."

Kwan returned the smile with a nod. "Yeah, sure. Anytime you want."

They stared at each other, the moment leaning toward awkward as time stretched on, but then Elle winced. "We probably should go before my dad does realize we came in here." After she closed up the fridge, she checked to make sure everything was left as it was when they entered the laboratory.

Kwan took the opportunity to look once more around the laboratory and try to memorize everything he could about it for later. "What's that?" He pointed to some kind of containment unit nearby, which sparked with electricity at a nauseating rate. If he got stuck staring at that for too long, he could imagine the massive headache he would end up having.

"I'm not really sure." Elle shrugged then nudged him toward the exit. "A different research project on better energy sources?" She closed the door behind them then led the way back toward the front hall of her house. "I wish my dad would let me transfer over to your school. I'd probably have so much more fun hanging out with you all."

"But you go to that elite school, right? It's only for, like, children of the super rich."

Elle shrugged like it wasn't anything to brag about. "I've always felt out of place there. My dad just wants me going there because it's supposed to help prepare me to take over his company or something. But I just feel like I'm a major let down to him." She sighed, and Kwan glanced away, understanding the feeling. "If I was smart like you and Danny, maybe he wouldn't be so distant with me."

Kwan choked then shook his head. "I'm not that smart."

Elle rolled her eyes with a light laugh. "Were you and Danny hatched from the same egg or something? Because Danny says the same when people tell him he's smart."

The corner of his mouth twitched, but being compared to Danny was odd. Kwan was normally compared to the other jocks and always had to listen to people talk about how different he was from the rest. "I guess there are worst people to be compared to."

Elle nodded agreement. Then she stopped, catching Kwan's arm before he could continue walking down the hall. He realized the reason a second later when someone in the room they were about to pass spoke.

"Don't be ridiculous!" The man laughed, the hint of tension in his voice easy to miss. "I never loved her."

Beside him, Elle tensed, her eyes widening. Kwan touched her arm, but she flinched away from like his touch burned her. He couldn't describe the hurt on her face, and he could never imagine the pain of hearing a parent say something like that.

"May-Maybe it's not-"

Elle twisted around and darted down the hall before Kwan could finish.

"Elle!" Kwan shouted as he chased after her. He cursed the man, presumably Elle's father based on her reaction, for saying such a thing where his daughter could overhear him. Elle refused to stop at his calls. She was fast. Kwan was definitely impressed. If she didn't play any sports, Kwan could definitely see her doing well in track and field.

The chase led right back into the laboratory. Kwan heard the crash of shattering glass before he arrived. He skidded to a halt after entering the laboratory, watching in horror as Elle smashed the vials of ectoplasm samples. Her hands had cuts on them from where the glass broke and cut into her palms. Beads of deep red blood welled from the cuts, bleeding through the ectoplasm coating her hands. But Elle was numb to the pain in her anger fueled by hurt.

"Elle!" Kwan shouted, but she ignored him in favor of grabbing a wrench to continue smashing whatever she could in the laboratory. The wrench sang through the air and clanged against the metal top of a table. She looked like the heroine of a zombie flick with the cuts and the ectoplasm covering her as she fought off the undead. Kwan crossed the laboratory to stop her before she could do anymore damage, to the laboratory and to herself. The wrench flew in his direction. Kwan stumbled back to avoid receiving a nasty smack to the head. The tip of it clipped his chin. He gasped, clapping his hands to his chin as it throbbed.

Elle released a guttural shout full of pain and anguish, years of feeling inadequate and like a disappointment filling her voice. Kwan gulped, panic surging through him as he watched, frozen in place. The wrench slam into the containment unit. The glass shattered, raining onto the laboratory floor. A pulse of energy exploded from the containment unit, knocking Kwan off his feet. Elle's shrieks seemed to come from everywhere as electricity bombarded her body. Kwan's heart leaped into his throat, his eyes growing impossibly wide, as he watched the scene. He swore at some points he could see her skeleton shining through her skin.

"What are you - What is - ELLE!"

Kwan twisted his head around. Then he scrambled away with a startled shout when he saw the man who stormed into the laboratory. His skin was unnaturally blue, his eyes glared red, and his black hair was pulled back in a low ponytail. Most disturbing, however, was the way his skin was eaten away on one side, showing off muscle and his teeth through the holes in his cheek. Again, Kwan had the terrible thought of being trapped in a movie about the zombie apocalypse.

The red eyes snapped his way, and Kwan tried to stop shouting but the murderous glare only made him shout louder. The man breathed in deeply and released it slowly, his appearance shifting. His skin became pale, and the color faded from his hair, turning it gray. Then he swept past Kwan like the teenager wasn't even there and stormed toward Elle as the flickers of electricity died. Elle dropped to her knees as another body hit the floor by her. The man caught Elle in his arms as she pitched forward.

A hand slapped over his mouth, silencing his shouts. Kwan tilted his head back and stared up at the other man who had entered the laboratory.

"If you stop shouting, I'll remove my hand."

Kwan gulped but nodded. Once the hand fell away, he licked his lips, his heart still pounding. "You're Danny's dad, aren't you?"

"You know my Danny boy?" The man grinned widely. Despite the large difference in body sizes, Kwan could see a lot of Danny in the man's expression.

"Uh, well, sort of." Kwan's gaze drifted back to where Elle was. "What exactly is going on? And is that Mr. Technus?" He squinted at the body lying on the ground, which hadn't moved since the electric show had stopped. Everything happened so quickly it left his mind spinning and trying to catch up and put it all together.

"I," said the man holding Elle, "was hoping you could tell us what happened." His eyes flashed red again, and Kwan stopped breathing, fearing the man would launch at him ready to rip out his throat if he said the wrong thing.

"I-" Kwan shook his head, not even sure where to begin explaining.

A flash of green filled the laboratory. The man flew back, slamming into the wall where the containment unit stood. He crumpled to the floor with a grunt and groan of pain. The color drained from Kwan's face, and his gaze remained focused on something else. Someone else to be accurate. Elle stood where she had fallen. Her eyes glowed green like radioactive waste, though calling it ectoplasm green was probably more accurate. Her hair had fallen loose from the ponytail and spilled over her shoulders in a cascade of snow white. Her skin resembled the man who had entered the laboratory first: a strange blue hue.

Kwan swallowed thickly as he watched wisps of green lazily rising from her. His hands shook as he dug out his phone and punched in a quick text to Valerie.

[SOS. Masters' house.]

Author's Note: There will be another Side chapter next week!

jessiejr21: Lancer's awesome. 8D

YumiStar: XD Lancer knows all! *shot* I didn't even realize they knew each other until the last Side chapter.

Anonymous: Danny's a few months away from being 18. Dan's about 25.

SilverAxe: Lancer doesn't like the mercenary thing anymore than Danny does. He could talk himself blue in the face about why Dan should stop being a mercenary, but he also knows that Dan won't change unless he has a reason to change. He can see Phantom's having a good influence on Dan, but he also worries about what might happen if things go... badly between them.

ECTOglo: XD Woo! They're the same person! Now Dan needs to realize Danny and Phantom are the same person. XD

niyuu: Me too! Ah! I can't wait for when they finally figure it all out!

Tetractys: The world's a strange place. XD;; Even stranger in Amity Park. *shot* I actually wouldn't be surprised if Lancer already knew Danny was Phantom. XD;;;