Swore to myself I would finish this by summer's end, if possible. I promise.

Thanks for those reviews FernClaw, Hordak's Pupil, Miriam1, queendragonfire, cabot007, princess moon shadow, CSI Junkie Aly, ImmortalPhantom22, Le Pecore Nere, Pushiemon, inukagome15

17. Ahead On Our Way

"Ah! Phantom!" the weather ghost purred, turning his attention to the young hero that floated in the air beside his companions. "I was wondering when you were going to show your sniveling face around here! And here you are, after your little 'victory' against Skulker!" He puffed out his chest, trying to look important. "But now that you are finished with him, I can start my spree of revenge on you!"

Phantom's hands were alight, his eyes blazing with fury. "Why are you doing here, anyway?!"

Vortex smirked. "Under orders of Plasmius, of course. He offered me quite a reward if I managed to capture you and that stupid lieutenant without any harm done to either of you." His hands flared, his eyes sparking. "But that isn't going to be possible now, is it? As you stuck me in that ridiculous thermos of yours a couple of months ago, I need to destroy you for that!" An ectoplasmic ball gathered in his hands, and he fired it at Phantom, who immediately put up a ghost shield and gritted his teeth in concentration.

Sam took a deep breath. "We have to take him down!"

"He'll only get more ticked off!" the hybrid countered, listening to the ghost's angry howls and the clashing of ecto-energy on ghost shield. "I don't know what you want me to do while you try and get him into that thermos holding two ghosts. Maybe Alexx and Sam can try and distract him while Tucker and Natalia injure him enough on the side! I know Calleigh is trying to find Horatio, so..." He nodded his head. "See what you can do with that!"

The small alliance sprang into action. Tucker grabbed the gun from Sam and rushed out into the open, firing at the weather ghost as best as he could. Natalia joined in the fray, aiming and landing a direct hit to the shoulder. Vortex whirled around and howled angrily, shooting a blast at Natalia. Her eyes widened with disbelief and surprise as she ran out of the way, hearing the last bit of glass shatter behind her as the blast hit a window. She breathed out slightly and whirled around, looking at Tucker and feeling her heart race. "I'm still not used to this!"

Tucker shrugged. "It takes a while to get used to this sort of thing," he admitted before yelping and running from an ectoplasmic blast Vortex sent his way. "But I've been spending a while with Phantom, so... it's an everyday occurrence now."

"So, you think you could consider this... ghost a criminal?"

The technology geek laughed. "Oh, yeah. Definitely."

"Quit yapping and get shooting!" Phantom called over the din, putting his shield down and allowing himself to be thrown headlong into the battle. "We've just got to weaken him a little bit more!"

Sam and Alexx meanwhile began to throw various insults at the weather ghosts from afar, and Natalia and Tucker began another assault on his left flank. Vortex didn't know where to turn to- the name-callers on his right, or the assailants on the left. He began to roar in confusion, and Phantom took this opportunity to aim the thermos at the ghost. "Time for you to see your new home!" he yelled humorously, the beam of light sucking Vortex in with the others.

The ghost shrieked madly, clawing his way out as best as he could, but Phantom gritted his teeth and waited for him to be completely sucked in. Suddenly, he was gone, and Phantom snapped the cap on, collapsing to the floor. "Holy... crap," he managed to gasp out.

Natalia merely stood there, weapon in hand, as Phantom morphed back against his will. Alexx gasped, backing up slightly. "What the... what the hell just happened?"

Sam gave Tucker a weary look. "Should I tell her, or do you get to be the storyteller this once?"

The boy grinned as they walked out of the office, carefully avoiding the glass shards that now lay on the floor. "Allow me..."

Plasmius frowned. "Odd. Computer, pull up the data on Subject W."

"As you wish," the Maddie computer replied calmly. A picture of Ryan appeared on the screen, his vitals showing, DNA compounds, and everything in between. "Anything else, sweetheart?"

"That will do it," he replied, turning his attention to the screen and floating slightly. He read the screen, his eyes narrowing with each word and number shown on the screen. "Let's see here- if he truly is supposed to be the perfect test subject, then why..." He crossed his arms. "Why in the name of the ghost zone is he managing to resist all the testing I am implementing on his body? And he's not even trying to resist. He succumbed to me a day ago!" His gloved hand slammed down in frustration. "Chocolate muffins! What is going on?"

Plasmius turned away from the monitor and snarled softly under his breath. Where were those bumbling idiot lackeys of his, anyway? They should have been back with Daniel and Horatio by now. He turned on the computer monitor behind him to reveal video feed of the battle in the lab from a hidden camera. His blood froze as he watched Phantom suck in Vortex and collapse on the floor, morphing into his human state. His hand clenched up, his eyes beginning to smolder. "Oh, so that's how it is. He's decided to help those infernal CSIs now in helping to bring me down and find Ryan, has he? He's probably let them in my little secret..."

He whirled around, smashing the button to the containment center where Ryan was now kept with a fist. The door flew open, and Plasmius stormed into the room, jolting Ryan out of his daze. He was now bound up in the room, shackled to the wall of the containment chamber. He shook the bonds slightly, his voice slightly muffled by the glass. "What do you want now?!"

"I want you to shut up!" Plasmius shrieked madly, his hands flaring with pink energy. "You and your team are a thorn in my side, Ryan Wolfe! And I am tired of this resistance!"

Ryan's eyes widened. Yep, the man had completely lost it. He backed away as one could in a glass chamber, opening his mouth. "What are you talking about?"

The bachelor clenched his fist. "Two people can play the same game, my fellow CSI. If you want to have the others save you... it can be arranged." His mouth curled into a vicious grin suddenly. "I will allow them to come and save you... and then, I can destroy them in front of you. Especially Horatio- I know how much that man means to you."

Plasmius smirked as Ryan snarled and tried to break free from his bonds. "You take that back, you bastard!"

"I would... if it wasn't the truth," the hybrid laughed. He was so close to victory, he could practically taste it. Daniel and Horatio would be in his grasp when they would go and rescue Ryan, and then... then he would get his wish.

Destroy one person, convert the other to his side.

Not that difficult, actually.

Hah! I updated! And since school is out, expect some pretty good updates. -grin- Anyways, thanks for reading!