As soon as the fight was over, Chase froze, aghast. What had she just done? Seeing Alicia and Caitlin in danger had made her attack without thinking. Now that she had time and liberty to think, she felt a bit sick with herself. These Paranske Falls cheerleaders weren't villains here. She still didn't completely understand the details of what Serena was doing to them, but she knew they weren't responsible for their actions. They were victims here as much as Alicia, Caitlin, or heck, herself, were. It felt wrong to use violence against them.

But at the same time, if stopping this girl meant Chase would be free to go on to stop Serena and liberate her from Serena's clutches...maybe it was necessary. She felt a rush of anger at Serena for putting her in such a position, forced to hurt innocent cheerleaders to stop her evil.

“Sorry,” Chase told the girl's sleeping form remorsefully. “Know you not bad. It Sir make do bad thing. Stop you quick, with not much pain.”

But there was little time to feel guilty. At that moment, Serena's backup arrived. Two Paranske Falls cheerleaders simultaneously smashed into the room through the two basement windows, the sounds of breaking glass forming a cacophonous harmony.

The two girls landed on their feet, and rushed at Chase together. One brandished a crowbar, the other a croquet mallet. Chase kicked the one with the iron in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her, then swept the leg of the other, tripping her up.

The first one recovered and came at Chase again, holding the crowbar high. Chase jumped up, wrapped her legs around the girl's neck, then threw all her weight backwards, flipping the girl over her and sending them both to the floor. Chase hit with a roll and recovered instantly, while her opponent landed much less gracefully.

WHOCK! Just as Chase was rising to her feet, the second girl swung the croquet mallet like it was a baseball bat, finding the side of Chase's head, right above her ear. Pain exploded into Chase from the point of impact, but she clenched her teeth and forced herself up to her feet. As she rose, she slammed the dome of her skull into the second cheerleader's jaw, then butted her with her forehead, right on the bridge of her nose. The girl stumbled back on her heels. Her knees wobbled weakly for a moment, and her grip on the mallet's handle visibly softened. She almost lost it, but remained upright. Chase headbutted her again, and this finished the job. The girl's legs buckled and fell backwards to the floor. She was done.

Chase felt cold steel around her ankle, then glanced down. The girl she flipped over had hooked the claw of the crowbar around her. Before Chase could react, the girl yanked on the crowbar, tripping Chase to the floor. The girl got up on her knees, raised the heavy piece of metal, and brought it down on Chase's back. The thin metal of the folding chair absorbed some of the impact, keeping Chase from breaking any bones, but there was still plenty of impact left over to ensure Chase would have quite a bruise.

The girl climbed up onto her feet, then swung the crowbar again. There was more power this time, but the crowbar also had to travel further to reach Chase, who had time to roll out of the way. Chase was able to find a crouching position, and suddenly she had an idea. She pounced at the girl's face like a coiled spring. Serena made the mistake of having her drone duck rather than block or swing the crowbar, allowing Chase to end up behind her. Chase spun on her heel and leapt up onto the Paranske Falls cheerleader's back, wrapping her legs tightly around the girl's waist.

Chase was in position. Her hands still firmly cuffed, she pushed her mouth through the girl's long hair to the back of her neck, and bit down on the patch.

She got a mouthful of makeup, but that was it. The patch was on very firmly. Chase pinched the sinister object with her teeth and tugged it every which way, but try as she might, she couldn't peel it off.

The girl reached the crowbar up, over her head and behind her back, and hooked it onto Chase's chair. She yanked on it, attempting to break Chase's leg-lock, but Chase's legs were like stone. Chase let go of the patch and instead bit the girl's wrist, trying to get her to drop the crowbar. Chase's bite strength was nothing to sneeze at. Ordinarily, she probably would have had this girl in tears. But once again, Serena did not register any of the pain her drone felt. The girl held tight, without so much as flinching as blood trickled down her arm and down Chase's chin and neck. Chase realized any damage she dealt to these drones would not affect Serena in the slightest.

Chase untangled herself from the girl and jumped backwards away from her. The crowbar, still hooked on Chase's chair, was jerked loose from the girl's bloody hands and clattered to the floor. Chase tucked her foot inside the tool's wicked hook, then twirled it around her ankle a few times to build velocity. When the spinning implement was barely a black blur, she let it fly.

With a painful, ringing CLAAANG, the crowbar collided with the back of the Paranske Falls cheerleader's head. The weapon vibrated in the air, filling the echoing basement with a residual, fluctuating ring before it clanked to the floor. The girl staggered and fell to the floor, down for the count.

Alicia checked her and announced she was okay. Chase sat back down on her chair, feeling miserable as Lindsey began to quickly free her hands. “Did try to take off patch! Not work.”

“Yeah,” said Caitlin. “It was worth a try, but it makes sense Serena would ensure these patches couldn't come off accidentally, like a band-aid in the shower or whatever.”

Alicia gave it her own try. She picked and pulled at it, but was unable to even wriggle a fingernail under a corner. “Ugh, yeah. We would probably need some kind of adhesive remover to get this off.” She looked around. “Maybe there's some around here...”

“There's no time. We need to hurry up and get out of here,” said Lindsey hurriedly, freeing one of Chase's hands and working on the other one.

Chase nodded. “Sir must have more cheers on way. Us must go. This place great risk to stay.”

Lindsey finished freeing Chase, and the foursome fled the basement. One by one, Chase boosted Alicia, Caitlin and Lindsey out the basement window, then picked up the croquet mallet and tossed it out the window as well. She'd need a weapon. Her teammates helped her up, and they all ran for it.

Now outside, they could see they had not, in fact, been in Serena's house. They were still in the Paranske Falls suburbs, but they weren't exactly sure where.

“N-now what?” asked Caitlin, as they ran down the sidewalk. The road sloped downhill, with a concrete retaining wall running alongside them. “What are we gonna do next?!”

“Us find Sir and HURT BAD!” announced Chase decisively.

“Well yeah, but how?!”

As they reached an intersection, Alicia said, “This looks kinda familiar...” She pointed to their right. “I think her house is the other way!”

Chase hesitated, then shook her head and kept going the same direction. “Us not go. Sir plan for us do. Us go, us fight on Sir's terms. Best if flee now, make Sir come us.”

If Chase was alone, she probably would have attacked Serena at home without fear. But she wasn't alone. She had Alicia, Lindsey and Caitlin with her, and keeping them safe and out of danger was her number one priority. Her encounter with Mary Rose and the Lawman Creek cheerleaders had taught her that much. She wasn't going to let Serena even get close to putting one of those things on her friends' necks.

Suddenly, a Paranske Falls cheerleader surprised them, running along the top of the retaining wall and jumping off, dropping a diving kick into the back of Chase's head. As Chase stumbled forward, the girl landed behind her and aimed a high kick at the same spot.

Whop! Chase whirled around and blocked the girl's leg with her forearm. The girl swung her opposite hand forward, and Chase glimpsed a stun baton clenched in her fist, crackling with electricity. Chase deflected it with the mallet, disarming the girl and sending the neutralized weapon clattering to the sidewalk.

The disarming flourish had left Chase's mallet hand high and to the side. It only took one smooth, simple, almost instantaneous motion to hammer the mallet into the side of the girl's head. The girl sprawled sideways into the street, hitting on the hood of a parked car and rolling off, coming to a rest on her back, halfway in the gutter.

“Chase! Look-” started Alicia. A strip of leather around Chase's neck. A belt. Another Paranske Falls cheerleader! Hands cinched the belt tight, trying to choke her out.

Chase jabbed the butt of the mallet's handle hard into her attacker's stomach. The belt loosened, and the girl stepped back, doubled over and clutching her solar plexus. Chase turned around and clonked her on the head, knocking her out as well.

“Whew...” said Alicia, relieved.

Chase scooped up the stun baton. She looked it over for a second, trying to figure out how it worked. When she discovered the button on the side that, when held down, made the baton spark to life, she tossed it to Alicia, who caught it with a yelp.

“Leash, Cait and Lin keep zap stick,” said Chase. “Stay as group. If need to, use.”

“Aaah!” shouted Caitlin, pointing down the street. Three more cheerleaders were running toward them. The Sunnycrest four turned and fled in the other direction.

“Th-they just keep coming!” said Alicia in disbelief. “What do we do?”

Chase looked around. She had to draw Serena out, lead her somewhere where Chase would have the advantage. But where?

Her eyes, and mind, immediately went to the mountainous woods looming over the town. She would definitely have the advantage there. Then, she cast an uneasy glance at her squadmates. This wasn't like when she fought the Lawman Creek cheerleaders. Chase wasn't alone. She had her friends to consider. Alicia, Lindsey, and Caitlin would be severely disadvantaged in the woods. They weren't built for it and weren't used to it. To flee there would be putting them in danger.

Her mind raced as fast as her legs as her pursuers chased them. Where could they go where they would be safe? Chase knew these girls wouldn't slow down. Serena wouldn't feel their exhaustion, wouldn't feel their cramps or have to take their heavy, laboring breaths. She would push them tirelessly until they collapsed.

The suburbs changed to townhouses and offices, and these changed into restaurants and hotels as they entered Paranske Falls' downtown area, its tourism hub. Suddenly, there were cars and people everywhere! Massive tour buses driving by, families snapping pictures.

They passed a huge map, enclosed in plastic, and Chase abruptly stopped.

“Chase! Wh-what are you doing?!” panted Alicia. She looked back at their tails, trying to pick out the Paranske Falls girls among the tourist throng.

Chase said nothing as she looked over the massive map. In addition to the eateries, inns, souvenir shops and rental places Paranske Falls had to offer, it also showed a detailed layout of what the toursists were really here for: the town's surroundings and all their natural splendor. Colored dots and dashed lines indicated scenic nature trails, rivers, lakes, hot springs, and other such attractions.

Chase got an idea.

.........

Caitlin looked over her shoulder uncertainly as her sneakers crunched coarse dirt.

“Are they still back there?” asked Alicia.

Way back behind them on the hiking trail was the trio of Paranske Falls cheerleaders, climbing at a normal, measured speed. The Sunnycrest girls were separated from them by a couple families of tourists, who gabbed excitedly and occasionally halted their progress to catch their breath or snap a picture of the view, completely unaware of the violent conflict they were caught in the middle of. The view was indeed exceptional, but the Paranske Falls cheerleaders paid no attention to it, keeping their eyes eerily transfixed on their prey.

“Yeah, they're still following us...” said Caitlin. “But they're keeping their distance.”

Good. Just as Chase hoped. As long as there were witnesses around, Serena would not attack. And the deeper Serena allowed them to penetrate the woods, the more the scales would tip in Chase's favor.

The hiking trail was only wide enough to be navigated in single file, so they settled on Caitlin bringing up the rear, then Lindsey, then Alicia, then Chase out front. They walked, speaking little, the tension of the hidden standoff suppressing all speech. On the inside, though, they pored over their options. Chase had bought the group time to think of a plan, and their very minds depended on them making productive use of it.

“Maybe we should tell one of these people?” asked Lindsey, looking at the tourists. “Maybe they can get help?”

“To tell them is risk them,” said Chase. “Then Sir want get them too.”