Thanks again for the reviews everyone, it's awesome to be getting so much interest. A big shout out to all the 'guests' out there, I appreciate you too! I've been super motivated by you all so here is a new chapter for you.

A few clever cookies have made some great observations about the story and the direction it will take. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.


Irma lay quiet and still. Her parched lips were slightly open but no words had passed them for days now. Dull brown eyes stared sightlessly at the wall while the thin pink lines that ran through the dark metal cast an eerie glow over her skin and clothes.

Her head no longer felt like it was going to explode which was one small thing to be grateful for. The aliens seemed to have extracted everything they needed and had now forgotten she even existed.

She hadn't forgotten about them though.

She could feel them all the time, deep inside her head as a constant chatter of monotone voices. Sometimes they faded to a low buzz, too faint to make out words. Other times she was forced to clap her hands over her ears to try and drown them out. It didn't work of course, it was coming from inside her head.

Thinking about her family helped. If she concentrated hard enough the voices sometimes faded away altogether. What she wouldn't give to be back in her kitchen with her dad, laughing and joking with him while they cooked a late dinner. Or sitting beside her mom while she played the piano, leaning against her arm like she had when she was little and smelling the perfume on her clothes. She wondered if they were out looking for her, but then she remembered how she'd seen herself standing on the sidewalk, waving goodbye with that cruel smirk. Her place had been taken. But her parents loved her, they knew her better than anyone. Surely they would realise that she'd been replaced by an imposter?

Irma thought about 'other Irma' all the time. Pictured her in her bedroom. Scoffing over her collection of textbooks and mocking the clothes in her wardrobe. Was she going to school in her place? Would her friends and teachers realise something was off? It was almost impossible to imagine that sneering doppleganger slotting into her life without someone noticing.

But so what? It's not like anyone would be able to find her here.

When the door to her cell opened Irma couldn't even summon the strength to move. Instead she watched from the corner of her eye as blurry metal feet entered her field of vision. The buzzing in her head increased with their arrival and she whimpered when they picked her up off the floor. With one at each side to hold her up they propelled her out of the room and down an endless corridor. Her glasses had been lost long ago and she took some comfort in the fact that she couldn't see anything clearly. Having everything look fuzzy at the edges made the whole thing seem surreal.

It wasn't until they led her to an airlock that worry pushed past her numbness. The first portal hissed open, when they reached the outer door she caught a glimpse through a small window. They were taking her outside?

The second door rose smoothly on it's tracks and with it a cool breeze washed over her face. As she sucked the first lungful of alien air she was hit with an overwhelming sense of wrongness. Everything was pink and grey. She drew another painful breath, squinting at the twisted pink trees and swirling taffy sky. Yet another breath and spots danced in front of her eyes, further obscuring her vision of the vast islands that seemed to float far away in the distance. She blinked hard. Her knees hit the smooth ground and she felt the unyielding grey surface beneath her palms. This was the Kraang's home planet?

"I...can't...breathe..."

Pulling air was like trying to inhale sand. She reached out towards the closest machine, scrabbled desperately at it's foggy outline. It stepped back, raised the gun it held in it's hands and pointed it at her. With her last ounce of energy she raised an arm to shield herself a second before she was coated in a shower of pink foam.

A wave of tingles travelled over her arm, swiftly moving to the rest of her body as she fell down, down...down...into nothingness...


Wow, these are so fun to write! Sorry Irma :(

Please review :)