"Sadness!" Joy turned another corner, frantic and out of breath, but there was still no sign of the blue emotion anywhere. She ran a hand through her hair, exasperated and afraid. If only she hadn't abandoned Sadness. Joy honestly couldn't blame the smaller emotion for hiding from her.
Still, she had to find Sadness. Riley needed them, and she needed them now.
The rest of Family Island was crumbling. She could see it from where she stood, and another wave of dread washed over her with each piece that slowly fell into the memory dump below. "Sadness!" she shouted again.
Sadness could hear the crumbling as well, and buried her face into her sweater to suppress a sob.
"Sadness!" Joy's voice was becoming raspy from all her fruitless calling. Sadness, meanwhile, only continued to run, hoping she would never be found. Their chase went on, until the deafening sound of the quakes in Riley's head came to a frightening end, leaving nothing left of Family Island.
Joy felt herself grow weak. Her legs gave way beneath her and she fell to her knees, staring out at the wasteland of Riley's mind. She was at a total loss. That was their last possible route back to Headquarters, and now it was gone. There was no way home. No way to save Riley. It couldn't possibly get any worse.
Suddenly, there was yet another tremor, and much to her dismay, Joy was soon proven wrong.
The tall pillar way off in the distance, standing firm and shining bright with it's radiant white glow, suddenly began to dim. A black shadow, like tar, began to slowly engulf it, and soon the entire tower started to sway. Joy, and even Sadness who was weeping behind a shelf of memories, could see it as it rocked in place. Their eyes widened in stunned, frozen horror as the tower's structure collapsed on itself, sending the now completely blackened Headquarters tumbling down into the endless abyss as well.
Joy's fatigue was completely forgotten as she shot back up to her legs and ran to the nearest cliff, crying helplessly as her home plummeted.
No.
No, no, no... please, it couldn't end like this!
How was it possible that even Headquarters could collapse? It couldn't be true.
Joy screamed, falling to her knees again and buried her face in her hands. Nearby, Sadness did the same.
After so much noise... after so much screaming, panic and chaos... Disgust was unnerved by the eerie silence that engulfed them now as the three of them sat there in the dark.
Their faint glows barely illuminated the endless pit they were trapped in. It'd been a miracle they'd found each other at all in this darkness. Had it not been for Anger's furious shouting and Fear's hysterical shrieks, she would probably still be wandering aimlessly, completely alone.
At first they had ran for what seemed like hours, trying to find a way out, but the sea of dim, fading memories was endless. It didn't matter how far they went, nothing seemed to get them any closer to the towering cliffs above them. Their cries for help also went unanswered. After a while it became abundantly clear to each of them that there was no one was coming for them, and that realization had been enough to shatter what little was left of their wavering morale.
Fear's trembling form was lying on the ground beside her now, curled up in tight a ball and rocking back and forth, whimpering. She couldn't really make out what he was blathering. It was all a jumbled mess of pitiful weeping. She half-heartedly rubbed the blubbering emotion's back, keeping her eyes off him. She was never one for offering comfort, but she felt she at least owed him this last bit of kindness.
Anger sat one the other side of her, head down and fists clenched at his side. She didn't need to look up to know that his body was shaking. She could feel it in the pile of faded memory orbs surrounding them.
What she didn't expect to hear, however, was sniffling.
Part of her wanted to crinkle her nose in disgust. A natural instinct of hers, of course. It was especially warranted now since she should probably be furious with the red emotion. It was his fault they were down here in the first place. If he hadn't given Riley that that asinine idea.
Him suddenly slamming his fists into the orbs around them startled her out of thoughts though, and one glance up made any resolve she had to stay mad instantly melt away.
There were streams of tears flowing down the red emotion's face as he slammed his fists down yet again, sending several memories flying. He slammed down his fists over and over, throwing a pathetic fit as he sobbed, face contorted in both anger and grief until he finally collapsed, letting his head hit the ground.
Disgust gave a tired, empty sigh, not having the energy or drive to do anything. There wasn't a single want left in her for even sarcasm anymore, and she instead raised a hand and gently placed it on his back, saying nothing.
After several moments, she heard him grumble.
"It's all my fault. Me and that... t-that stupid, stupid idea..!"
Still no sarcastic quip from her. No bitter reply or agreement.
"Riley's on some godforsaken bus alone... mom and dad don't know where she is—she's... she's never gonna be herself again."
Disgust let her head droop, but still said nothing.
"I just... I just wanted to make things fair for Riley again." Anger growled, body shuddering under the weight of his own anguish. Anguish he never knew he was capable of feeling up until that very moment. "I just wanted to help her! I was supposed to—! Supposed to do ANYTHING but this! AARGH!"
He broke down sobbing again, giving one last weak fist slam to the ground.
Disgust bitterly blinked back her own tears that were threatening to leak out, and sighed again, not stopping her apathetic rubbing on Fear's back. The quivering purple emotion said nothing either.
Several of the faded memories withered away around them, leaving weak trails of dust behind. But even the dust soon followed suit, leaving nothing of the memory but the soft echo of a child's faraway laugh.
Riley's.
Her soft giggling was all around them, and it made their guilt weigh down heavier upon them with each agonizing second. They'd let her down. All three of them felt it, and each carefree giggle from the distant past ate away at them.
Disgust didn't bother holding back her tears now. Dignity be damned. It didn't matter anymore.
"It's not like... I didn't disagree with you or anything..." she finally muttered, feeling disgusted with herself for the first time in her life. "Quit taking all the blame."
Anger slowly raised his head up, his face still visibly damp, even in this darkness. His scowl didn't let up as he furiously wiped his eyes, but Disgust knew full well that said scowl wasn't aimed at her. All his anger was directed at himself for once.
"It's just a dream."
Both of them jerked slightly in alarm upon hearing an actual coherent sentence emerge from Fear's broken, quivering form.
"...j-just a dream.." his voice mumbled, far away and noticeably delirious in the way it wavered with every unhinged murmur. "We never moved... we're still in Minnesota... s-still in... Minnesota with mom.. and dad... and our friends and.. everything's ok... it's just a bad dream."
Disgust blinked, lip curling in revulsion.
Or perhaps it was actually pity.
Anger gave a cringe of his own, for once unable to bring himself to snap at his fellow coworker.
Through matching bitter glares, Anger and Disgust managed to share a knowing glance. There was nothing they could do now, but at the very least they could reluctantly let their former punching bag have one last tiny shred of comfort.
"That's right," Anger muttered. "It's just a dream."
"Riley's just having a nightmare," Disgust added solemnly, wiping a clump of mascara from her face. "She's gonna wake up soon. So just relax."
Fear kept on mumbling to himself, finding solace in his denial as Disgust continued to rub his back. He didn't notice their bodies starting to fade. He didn't notice both Anger and Disgust shutting down and just letting it happen, not trying to fight it at all. Within moments they were gone, and the gentle rubbing on his back faded away with them.
He rocked himself further, still muttering his mantra as his own body faded.
"..it's just a dream... just a dream..."
Riley would wake up soon, he desperately convinced himself. And everything would be over.
"...it's all just a dream."
And he was gone.