Upon finding a dark corridor, Chase pushed them down it, and joined them there. “Get down! Get down!” she ordered, as she dropped into a crouch.

The other four got down. They huddled against one of the corridor walls, draping themselves in shadow. They waited. For what, they weren't sure. The walls were too high to see what might be chasing them, what might be going on around them. It would be a pretty ineffective maze if they could. All they could really see of the world outside the maze was the patch of clouds overhead.

They watched it until the wall they were sitting against shook violently. Alicia almost let out a yelp of fear, but kept quiet.

Those who dared to look up saw that Agent Han had alighted upon the wall. She was a little worse for wear herself, but not as much as Chase. Her sword was in her hand, and it was dripping with Chase's blood. She glanced down at the exact place where they were hiding. Her cool eyes gouged at the darkness, tried to pierce it.

After a couple of torturous seconds, he moved on. She gave the wall another shake as she kicked off it, leaping to inspect the next corridor, and then the next one.

They breathed a collective sigh of relief. When she was sure she was gone, Maxine whispered, “Who was the hell was that?”

“It bad girl with blade,” said Chase. This didn't really tell them anything they didn't already know. “Her fight me and want to get me. Her hurt Mel C., not know if will hurt more. Must get you all safe!”

“Chase, hold on,” said Torey seriously. He remembered what they'd talked about before, about putting himself in danger on her behalf. So he phrased it as a question: “Do you need help?”

“Yeah, Chase, you look like you're in rough shape,” Kirk added. “Let us help!”

Chase smiled. “No. Can beat.” She wasn't sure if this was a lie or not, but she said it. “All get safe.” She took Torey's hand. “You too, Tor. I lead there.”

…..........

Lawrence's doorbell was going crazy. He looked over at the door from the horror movie he was watching, then pushed himself up off the couch, scooping up the bowl of trick-or-treat candy from the coffee table as he went. “Yeah yeah, I'm coming,” he grumbled.

When he opened the door, he was shocked to see Caitlin and the rest standing there, holding Melissa C. “Whoa!”

“Lawrence!” gasped Caitlin. “Are your parents home?”

“No, they went to a Halloween party,” said Lawrence quickly. He looked at Melissa C. “What's going on?”

They told him everything they knew as the five of them hauled Melissa C. down into Lawrence's basement.

They heaved her up onto the metal operating slab. “Sounds like an EMP,” wheezed Lawrence. “I...I don't know if there's anything I can do about that.”

“You have to try,” said Caitlin. “Please.”

“What...what the hell is going on here?” asked Flor skeptically. “Why did we bring her to this guy's house? Shouldn't she be in the hospital?”

“U-um...” said Caitlin nervously.

“H-h-hospital? Her in a hospital?! Melissa C., go to the hospital?” ad-libbed Lawrence. He planned to repeat that in different ways until he thought of an explanation.

Willard spoke up. “He said it was an EMP, Flor. That's an electromagnetic pulse. She must have some kind of, like, device in her heart or brain or something that she needs to live, like a pacemaker. So if it stopped working, a regular doctor wouldn't be able to do anything about it fast enough. You would need somebody who knows machines and stuff.”

“P-p-precisely,” said Lawrence, relieved.

…..........

Quietly, stealthily, Chase and her small party crept toward the exit. They kept to the shadows and spoke very little, in case Agent Han came back their way and might see them or overhear them. Walking in silence, watching Chase lead them to the exit, Maxine thought about what Torey told her. So there was something else to this girl? Something more than just being a dumb blonde cheersheeple?

Should she have been surprised? Babysitting with Alicia had shown her...well, she still didn't know if Alicia had anything to her other than cheerleading, but Maxine at least saw that Alicia had good qualities. There were things about her to like. Torey had mentioned Chase surprised him. Well, Alicia had surprised her in some ways. She at least knew it was possible.

Now, she was curious. She wanted to know more about Chase, herself. Then, maybe she'd understand what about her appealed to Torey. But how could she learn about her? There were ways, such as starting a regular conversation like a normal human being, but the fact that Maxine didn't want to appear interested ruled that out. She found herself in a very difficult position.

As they walked, Torey and Kirk took point. Chase brought up the rear, protecting Alicia and Maxine in the middle. Maxine let herself fall back towards Chase.

“Hey, Chase?” she whispered.

“Hi, Max,” said Chase. “Glad Hal to you!”

“Yeah, sure. Glad Halloween to you too,” she said. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure!”

Maxine gave her the same question she asked Torey. “What, uh, what do you see in Torey?”

Chase looked confused. “What see in Tor?”

“Yeah. I mean, why are you dating him? You're a cheerleader, right? Wouldn't you usually date a football player or something?”

Chase looked at Kirk and Alicia. “Like Leash do?”

Maxine nodded. “Yeah, like Leash do. I mean, does. What I mean is, isn't it normal to want to date someone who you have something in common with? Torey doesn't do any sports and he doesn't go for all that school spirit crap. So what do you like about him?”

The blonde scratched her head and pondered this. “Well, Lin say all boy love cheers. I love cheers too, so have much same with all boy.”

“Is that right?” asked Maxine, annoyed. “Well, that's not true! Not every guy falls for that ditz-in-a-short-skirt routine-”

Chase continued, “But Tor also much nice. Him brave and watch out for friends. Him show spook films. Then can talk of films and him hear. Am not so good at talk yet but him hear.” She looked at Maxine. “Why you like Tor, Max?”

Maxine turned red. “Wh-why do I like him?” she echoed.

“Yes. Max know Tor long time? Must good friends.”

The gothy girl looked at Chase for a moment, looked away and considered her words. “I guess I like him for the same reasons you do, Chase,” she admitted.

When they reached the exit, Kirk, Maxine and Torey quickly made their escape, but Alicia stayed behind for a second. She gave Chase a hug. She surprised Chase by asking, “You look worried, Chase. Is she strong?”

“Yes. Much strong,” answered Chase seriously. “Please not tell Tor. Act like not big deal.”

“I know. I won't.” She paused. “You can't come with us...?”

“It me she want. I go, then she just come for me, then you all in harm. Must stay.”

Alicia smiled into Chase's ear. “That's okay. You can beat this girl, I have absolute faith in that. It's hard to worry about you too much now that I've seen the amazing things you can do.”

Chase could tell Alicia was worrying plenty, but took the sentiment to heart. She gave her a final squeeze, then let her go. She smiled. “Thanks, Leash. Get safe. Will see you soon.”

Alicia gave her a wave, then turned to catch up with the others. As soon as she was gone, a cold voice behind Chase commented, “Well isn't that sweet?”

Chase whirled around. There was Agent Han, standing on top of a wall. The girl hopped down, brandishing her sword. “Nice little life you've put together here. Friends, loved ones...Maybe it is making you a little soft.”

Chase ran at her, swinging the scythe. Agent Han blocked, countered with a swing of her sword. The two girls battled it out, blades clashing brilliantly and sending showers of red sparks into the cold night air.

A low swing of the sword, aimed at Chase's knees. She dodged by backflipping over it, landing perched on top of one of the maze walls. Agent Han joined her there, and their battle continued above the maze, its secrets and confusing twists and turns suddenly exposed and laid bare.

“Which one's softened you up the most, I wonder?” asked Han. “That big, tall boyfriend of yours? You're a strong girl. A tough one. It must be hard to find a pair of arms that can make you feel safe. The way a girl wants to feel when a man holds her. Are these the first you've found that have done the job?”

Chase felt herself turning red. Her scythe missed Han, and Han punished with a kick in the side. Chase expected to hit turf. Instead, she shattered glass. She had landed in the mad scientist's lab, right on top of a table of exotic beakers, flasks and tubes.

Agent Han jumped down into the lab. Boxes lined the walls, painted silver to resemble ambiguous computing devices. Holes were punched in their surface, with white Christmas lights poking through and blinking intelligently. There were other tables, with flasks of bubbling colored liquids flowing through elaborate curved tubing. Off to one side was an enormous jacob's ladder device, the kind no mad scientist's lab would be without: two long, thin vertical rods mounted in a plain metal base, with arcs of crackling electricity sprinting from bottom to top at a very fast rate.

Han's boots shook the table, and made the jars that hadn't been broken hop in place. Some landed askew, and rolled off onto the ground.

Chase wearily tried to stand, but Han kicked her in the side, sending Chase rolling onto the floor. “Or is it one of your cheerleader squadmates? One of the girls who took you in and accepted you, ignoring how different you are? That redhead, perhaps?” Han smiled and jumped down off the table. “Having a friend like that, somebody who'll hug you and support you and say whole-heartedly that they believe in you...That might make anybody soft.”

She slashed her sword down at Chase. This time, Chase's acute eyes caught the turn of the sword. She could see Han was trying to knock her out again. Reacting faster than thought, Chase did something Han didn't expect. She reached up and stalled the blade's flat with her forearm.

“You shut up of friends!” Chase replied. She forced the sword away with her arm, pushing Han onto her heels, and jumped up to her feet. She twirled scythe around in her hands, settling a battle stance. She was ready for round two.

Agent Han smiled. “So it is her.” Chase threw herself into a new wave of scythe slashes. Han blocked them, but in short order her smile replaced with a frown of concentration. Now that she was mad, Chase had found a second gear to kick into.

Whoosh! Agent Han ducked under a high swing of the scythe. Chase slammed a knee into her face, sending her staggering backward.

A roundhouse kick to one side of the head, a scythe handle to the other. Chase had found a hard-hitting tempo, and Agent Han was unable to respond. In the space between senses-rattling blow, her ears picked up the sound of a pulsing electrical hum behind her.

Whack. Chase struck Han under the chin with the handle end of the scythe with enough force to knock her off her feet. Han sailed backwards into the jacob's ladder.

An eruption of sparks and sound as her body met the charged object. A powerful current of electricity danced through her, playfully pushing a scream from her mouth.

The device shorted out and the girl was released, falling forward to her hands and knees. She coughed, and a spatter of red painted the grass below her.

She wiped her mouth and looked up at Chase. “You know, I don't think I can afford to hold back anymore,” she said with a nasty grin. “I'm sure my bosses would rather have me bring you back dead than not at all!"