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"Oof!" There was the scuffing sound of small pebbles and grit being crunched underfoot then a dull thud as something hit the ground. "Ow...what the hell?"

Irma had the umbrella raised to strike again but when a decidedly human and very male voice yelped with pain she lowered it uncertainly. Whoever she'd just skewered with her umbrella they weren't Kraang.

The beam of light that had blinded her a moment ago was now lying off to one side and she realised it was just a torch, she could see the glint of it's silver handle in the dimness. There was another groan from the mystery person and she hurried to pick up the torch, snatching it up with trembling fingers and fumbling it for a second before sweeping it towards the voice.

"Jeez, could you point that thing a bit lower please?" The guy grumbled from his position on the ground as he threw up one hand to shield his face. The other was rubbing at a spot high on his right shoulder.

"Oh, uh, sorry." She stuttered, shifting the beam so it was illuminating the ground by his feet instead. Don't apologise, she chided herself, he may not be Kraang but he's still a strange guy out in an abandoned block the middle of the night where Kraang whispers are coming from.

"Did you poke me with an umbrella?" His tone rose incredulously and she gripped the handle of her makeshift weapon a little harder.

"Who are you?" She answered his question with one of her own, putting as much steel into her tone as she could muster but wincing when the end result sounded a lot more tremulous than she would have liked. Regardless she pressed on. "What are you doing here?"

She stabbed her umbrella at him threateningly and he held both hands out in a gesture of supplication, "Easy there tiger," his voice was laced with the beginnings of humour, "don't shoot." Irma glowered at him wordlessly, annoyed by the smirk in his tone. "Mind if I stand?"

"Okay," she allowed, "but no funny business." She shook the umbrella warningly, keeping the tip firmly trained on him. His answering huff sounded suspiciously like a laugh but he said nothing as he climbed to his feet. As soon as he was standing she lifted the torch to his chest and at once saw a teenager a bit older than herself, tall and broad shouldered. His jeans and blue t-shirt were smeared with dust as though he'd been crawling around in the rubble for a while. A backpack hung from his shoulders and a pair of odd looking goggles pushed his messy blonde hair back from his brow. Her gaze was just taking in the strong line of his jaw which had a streak of something dark along it when she noticed his hand moving towards the waistband of his jeans.

"Hey!" She moved forward threateningly, heart in her throat. "Don't move!"

"I'm just getting my other torch. Fairs fair after all," he said soothingly, "you can see me but I can't see you. You could be a Kraang droid for all I know."

A Kraang droid? Irma's mouth opened to issue a sharp reply but no sound came out as she realised that she didn't exactly want to be seen by this guy. For one thing he was properly dressed and she'd left her flat without any thought beyond shoes and a weapon...

"I'm not the only one who needs to explain what they're...are you wearing pink pyjamas?"

Now he was definitely laughing at her. Irma lifted her chin, forcing herself not to cringe back from the light that was now aimed at her chest and illuminating her choice of night wear. Regardless she could feel a hot flush crawling up her neck and she fought the urge to wince.

"Space Hero's fan huh?"

"It was all they had at the clothing bin." She lied haughtily, "And I wasn't exactly planning on being seen by anyone tonight."

"Well that makes two of us," he moved the beam of light away from her and she wilted with relief, quickly running a hand over her hair and stifling a groan when she felt the tangled mess. Why hadn't she tried harder to get that haircut when her mom had suggested it weeks ago? Not to mention her stupid pink glasses...

"Look, I don't know what your reason is for searching through rubble in the middle of the night, but we should both probably get out of here." Mystery guy was shining his torch back the way he'd come and as he turned Irma's gaze was drawn by the bag strapped to his back. She could have sworn that the whispers had gotten louder as it had come into view. "The Kraang have been increasing in numbers again lately and there's always a chance they'll..."

"Increasing?" Irma blurted, eyes darting to his. "What do you mean increasing?"

He cocked an eyebrow at her, "You didn't think they'd just give up did you?"

She could feel her mouth opening and closing, the strength drained from her arms until the tip of her umbrella bumped on the ground. "What...?"

"Hey, you okay?" He came towards her, gripping her upper arms and peering into her face. As he drew nearer the voices rose sharply and when his hands landed on her skin it was like a live wire being jammed into her brain. She stumbled back, saw his face twist with shock as she dropped the umbrella and the torch so she could press her hands to her temples.

"They're coming." She whimpered, not knowing how she knew but certain of it all the same.

A dull echo reverberated through the rubble around them, the crumbled wreckage humming with tremors caused by an unseen force. A pink glow bled from the twisted path that led deeper into the broken bones of the building and with it came the sound of a robotic clicking, horrifyingly close and familiar.

"Run!"

His low hiss spurred her into motion and without another thought she did as he said, fighting her way back through the maze blindly and feeling him hot on her heels. "Go go go go go!" He chanted breathlessly as they pounded their way through the jumble of bricks and mortar. The gap in the fence loomed before her and she pushed her way through frantically, falling once before picking herself up and whirling to watch him shove his larger frame through the hole. He met her eyes, his one free arm waving at her in a sharp gesture. "Keep going!" Then he was grunting, teeth clenched as he tried to wriggle through the gap.

"Come on!" She lunged forward to pull at his upper arm, straining then falling when he abruptly slid free.

Rough hands helped to her feet then a large palm planted itself in the middle of her back and pushed. "Don't look back."

But she did, just for a second, and while the sight of him running in the opposite direction filled her with relief, the pink glow shining through the gap in the fence didn't. She had just enough time to see it was getting stronger before she snapped her head forward and pelted for home as fast as she could.

Hope you liked it, the next chapter is coming very soon, I already have it written :)

Review please!