Controlled by Fear

Author's Note: Obviously, I don't own Disney-Pixar's Inside Out, to do so would be wishful thinking on my part. Anyway, this story is rated PG, it is, however, a very dark story, just to warn you, now.

Chapter Four-The Accident.

Ten year old Joy watched the TV screen in front of her on a typical Saturday morning, wondering if she should change the channel to something more interesting than Beast Wars as its opening theme song came on. The plots on this TV series were all the same, there were no relatable characters and the only other TV program on was Sesame Street. True it was geared toward a younger audience, but it was hopefully a way to overcome her struggles in math and one of the few times in her life when she felt completely safe, besides her daydreams and movies. In Joy's mind, her five emotions were just as bored with watching the mindless TV as their host was.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but this is more boring than Dream Duty," Fear grumbled, "Sesame Street's much safer than getting bored to death. The writers of this Beast Wars program can't even pick a complicated plot line."

"Fear, for the last time she can't watch Sesame Street, she's too old for it!" Disgust snapped, rolling his eyes at Fear.

"The robots have to fight evil, we've seen that one before," Fear muttered, as the storyline for this weekend's episode started.

"Let's turn the channel to Sesame Street, that's always fun to watch!" Bliss yelled excitedly, running over to the Idea Bulbs.

"If these Y7 programs had interesting stories, we wouldn't need to watch programs for younger kids!" Anger yelled, pounding the console's intercom with his fist. A loud crackle filled the air, as well as sparks as electrical circuits broke, the microphone still holding onto the console by half of the wires that hadn't gotten smashed. A dead silence filled the air as all five emotions stared down at the now broken intercom. Fear felt her girl tense and stiffen, then sigh and slowly relax. Still staring at the console, Anger muttered two words that summarized their situation. "Uh-oh."

A cold feeling quickly seeped into the room as Joy sat straight up, her back stiffening as she listened to every sound around her except the TV. Fear shoved Anger away, pressing buttons and twisting levers for Joy to look around her living room. The console turned purple at Fear's familiar touch. 'Is it Dad, is he awake? I know he's an early riser, but he usually sleeps in on Saturdays.' The worrying thought echoed around the headquarters as Joy quickly twisted her neck to see everything, her whole body tense with anticipation. Fear looked through Joy's eyes, trying to figure out what got her girl on such high alert. The only sounds above Joy's beating heart and shallow breathing were the TV and her parents still asleep in their bedroom. Joy had always been a jumpy kid, but she also had good hearing which she quickly learned to take advantage of. There was no one but herself in the room she was sitting in and her parents were still asleep in their bedroom. Joy turned toward her living room window, as Fear pressed a button to retrieve a memory of the wind making a loud, low, moaning sound at times. This time, there wasn't even a sound of a breeze. 'It's probably just my imagination,' Joy guessed, shrugging and turning back to the TV screen, inhaling and slowly relaxing her tight muscles as she exhaled.

"Great going Anger, now we'll have to call the mind workers to come fix the intercom," Disgust snarked.

"It was an accident," Anger confessed, coming as close to an apology as he would make.

"Well thanks to your 'accident' we'll now have to get a new intercom. Go back to your Chair of Anger, you've done enough damage for one morning," Fear snapped. Joy jumped slightly, stiffening, again. 'I know that wasn't around me, it's almost like voices inside my head.' All five emotions froze at their host's thought.

"What has gotten my girl so spooked? She's never scared for no obvious reason," Fear asked out loud. 'Now I know I'm hearing voices, they sound almost like mine, but have different personalities or separate personas than myself.'

"Fear," Sadness timidly spoke up, "I think Joy's spooked because she can hear us."