A/N: So, now time to see the aftermath of that soocer incident! ... It won't be pretty.

Disclaimer: Don't own Inside Out.

Riley gasped and stopped short as Sadness fell to the ground, the soccer ball landing next to fallen blue emotion. She felt no satisfaction in the strength of her kick, only horror.

The others raced toward them, the competitive atmosphere of the game having its energy completely redirected into a different purpose: making sure that Sadness was okay.

"S-Sadness?" Riley asked nervously, stepping closer. "Are you okay?!"

The blue emotion seemed to struggle to get up, and the part of her face where the soccer ball had hit looked distinctly darker than the rest of her. Like something was wrong.

Joy and the others quickly reached Sadness, Joy racing to get her cousin's glasses as Fear helped her sit up.

Disgust recoiled as she saw Sadness's face. "Oh my GOSH, how hard did that ball hit you?". She winced. "That does not look good."

It looked even worse than Riley had first anticipated. Not only was Sadness's skin a darker blue where she had been hit, but there was also something else there. Something red.

Riley's eyes widened in horror. She recognized that red stuff from what Panic had said before. It was blood. Sadness was losing blood! If she got sick like that, she might not get better! And what would happen if Sadness lost too much of it?

Anger, however, turned away from Sadness to stare up at someone else. Riley. "What the HECK were ya thinking?!"

"I'm sorry!" Riley pleaded, wishing there was something she could do to help. "It was an accident!"

But the look on Fear's face hurt most. When she chanced a glance at him, he looked at her for a fleeting instant with a look of fright and hostility. He shuddered, wide-eyed, and hurried to check on Sadness as fast as he could, making sure she wasn't permanently damaged.

Riley's formerly elated mood began to sink rapidly. Sadness was hurt. Perhaps severely hurt. And it was her fault. And the expression on Fear's face made it clear—he suspected that her hurting Sadness, in fact, wasn't an accident, that she had done it on purpose. She wanted to step in to help, but the way Fear especially had looked at her convinced her that wasn't the best course of action.

And while Joy was tending to Sadness, she noticed the look of horror on Riley's face as the part-emotion stepped back, looking ashamed as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"You okay, Sadness?" Joy asked.

Sadness winced, barely able to move as her glasses were returned. "My.. my whole face hurt-ow!"

Fear started trembling as he noticed that Sadness didn't seem to be moving her face as much as normal. "Oh Imagination, what if her jaw's broken?!"

"I think if that happened she wouldn't be talking, genius!" Anger snapped, though he was clearly worried as well.

"But I heard a crack! It might have a fracture!"

"And either way, it's bleeding," Delight said quickly. "Someone call the hospital—"

Fear was already on it before Disgust had even finished the sentence.

"Okay," Joy said quickly, helping to make Sadness more comfortable given her condition. "The ambulance is coming, we'll all be there with you, and maybe you'll need to get an ice pack or something, maybe bandages, but probably not surgery..."

"Surgery!" Fear cried.

Riley winced, feeling even worse. She had no idea what surgery was, but whatever it was seemed bad.

Joy tried to smile to ease her cousin. "It'll be okay, you'll see! Soon the six of us will—"

"Better not make it six."

Joy blinked, looking at Fear. "Huh?"

Shaking a little and making sure to stay close to Joy, Fear gave a quick glance in Riley's direction.

Joy took the hint, her eyes widening in shock by his mention. Her eyes narrowed a bit, fighting the urge to smack him on the shoulder.

"It was an accident!" she told him. "How were any of us suppose to know Sadness would end up hit?"

"Maybe because probably Riley was injected with some sort of strength serum?" Fear suggested, his own brows furrowing. "You saw it in her face when we started playing this game! Next thing you know she'll be going after the rest of us!"

Joy stiffened before looking in Riley's direction. The blonde merely stood there, gripping her hands together as Anger and Disgust nursed Sadness as best they could. Riley appeared as if she desperately wanted to help, but it was obvious Anger and Disgust would refuse that.

Sadness might not want that either. The injury made the part of her cheek not obscured by blood look a little like a darkened blueberry past its prime. The moans were painful to hear, and for a moment Joy thought she saw a tear slide down her cheek.

Nearly chewing her lip, she turned back to Fear who gave her a nearly bitter expression. For a moment she thought she saw some Aggravation in him. But that was impossible, not even Anger was like his own father in the best way possible.

"Joy..." Fear murmured through gritted teeth, "just look at Sadness. Don't say Riley didn't intend to do this! After all, Sadness was the one who actually lowered her guard down for her."

"That's not true..." Joy denied. "Riley was just having fun. We all were."

"Wel, Riley's idea of 'fun' is pretty much seeing us all get hurt!" he countered. "Now Sadness needs to go to the hospital where they might have to take some teeth out, she'll probably need stitches, stay a whole month in bed—"

"You're getting way over your head," Joy told him, almost harshly. "What about the time Disgust threw a baseball and you got it right in the eye?"

"For Imagination's sake, that was different!" Fear rebuffed. "Disgust wasn't trying to kill me!"

"Neither was Riley," Joy said firmly, narrowing her usually lit up blue eyes. "It was a complete accident and Sadness will be alright."

Both turned to where their blue friend lay. Disgust held onto her hand, rubbing it gently as she knelt over her. Anger made sure she was comfortable, using his hand as a pillow for her head to rest on until someone else arrived. Riley just stood there, distant from them but very much being eaten by her own guilt.

No more was the happy mood in her blue eyes. Her expression looked much paler, almost as if she was on the verge of fainting like she did on her first night. Joy hoped for none of that. She needed to know that it was an accident and Sadness was not one to hold a grudge. The blue emotion's eyes were closed and her head resting on Anger's palm.

Riley gazed over Sadness, feeling guilt prick her heart as if it were riding a cactus. She couldn't believe what she had done! She never thought she would kick that hard! She was surprised Sadness's glasses didn't break upon impact...

This was nothing like her dream! No one was considering her as she hoped, and friendship was far from her reach at this point. In fact, she was certain they all hated her. Even Fear. For the most paranoid of the bunch, that look he gave her was enough to freeze an entire lake. It scared her, and pained her deeply.

Maybe even Joy hated her. After all, Sadness was her cousin, and the blue girl's eyes were now closed, Fear's voice rising in alarm...

Was this what Aggravation had been talking about? That if she tried to reach out to others, it would be all for naught? And she would always be rejected even if she tried hard enough to interact? For that given moment she felt Aggravation must have had a point. As much as she refused to believe anything he said regarding her being, just seeing Sadness on the ground made her reconsider everything.

She gasped in fright when she heard loud wails in the distance. She turned to see some red boxy vehicle with a red cross on its side swerve toward them. She took a step back, unsure of what to make of it, part of her mind screaming at her to run away and hide. Maybe they would take her away, somewhere where she couldn't hurt anyone. Or back to an environment like her container at the lab, only some place where she would be deconstructed as if she had never existed in the first place.

Her worries were only somewhat settled when Joy spoke.

"Oh, look!" Joy exclaimed. "The ambulance is here!" She tried to give everyone a hopeful smile. "Sadness will be fine!"

But no one was convinced, their eyes glancing over at Riley who looked away. Soon paramedics exited the vehicle before stopping in front of Sadness.

"It looks like it's swelling," one said quickly before gesturing to another. "There may be a fracture in her jawbone..."

Soon two of them carefully hoisted up Sadness and placed her upon a stretcher. Her friends watched helplessly as she was aided in others' hands. Their friend hadn't moved one bit, as if the force from the ball would soon knock out her entire brain into a deep coma. At least that's what Fear believed as she was carefully hauled into the back of the vehicle.

"What happened?" one of the paramedics asked.

Anger frowned as bitter feelings rise in him. He felt flames flicker atop his scalp seeing his friend being so unconscious.

"Ask her," he growled, pointing a finger toward Riley.

The blonde's eyes widened fearfully as she was spoken about. Almost like someone accused of committing a crime. This seemed like one, given how she was responsible for all this. When the paramedic looked in her direction, she was met with the familiar odd expression of seeing someone so different. And possibly dangerous.

"I..." Riley tried to speak.

Joy rushed in to help, standing with her friend behind her. "It was a soccer mishap!" she assured the paramedic. "We were too into the game and my cousin just got hurt!"

"Well, it looks serious..."

Joy took a deep breath, looking over at Riley as Sadness was being wheeled into the ambulance. She took Riley's hands. "Riley," Joy said carefully. "I'm going to check on Sadness, okay? To make sure she's alright, just wait here..."

Riley managed a nod, only half-hearing Joy's words. Having Joy's hands leave hers as she followed after the stretcher had Riley feel like she just received an electric shock.

The paramedic raised a brow before glancing over at Riley once more. Looking at something he never seen before, that's how every person that wasn't Joy thought of the odd being with the non-colorful skin and non-particle hair.

"Well," he began unsteadily, turning to the others as Joy went with Sadness, "we better get you people with your friend."

"Our friend," Anger corrected hotly. He sent a glare in Riley's direction. "She's...she's just some thing my dad made for no reason."

That comment ripped through Riley's heart like a hacksaw. She felt her legs tremble, almost giving out as she hugged herself. She hated herself even more right now.

Riley hung back, wishing she could catch Joy's eye as her other friends—her proper emotion friends—loaded themselves into the backseat of the ambulance. She could see through the window that Joy was bent over, trying to comfort her injured cousin. She saw Joy wrap her arms around the blue emotion in a tight hug, the teardrop-shaped emotion's lips barely moving in her semiconscious state.

The doors to the ambulance closed, and the loud noise and lights started up again which caused Riley to cringe from the sudden volume. She watched sadly as the vehicle sped away, the vehicle looking as if it were flying in its haste.

Riley felt as if everything that kept her functioning and alive had just stopped.

Joy had left.

Joy had just gone in the ambulance and left with her friends.

She implied she'd be back. But the ambulance had sped off.

She had abandoned Riley. Probably hated her as much as the rest did and didn't dare to face her.

Riley felt as if her legs had become jelly, threatening to give out beneath her though she managed to keep herself upright. A worn-out weakness was overcoming her again. With the horrible feeling of guilt sinking into her skull, she made the decision to do the only thing she could think of: go back to Joy's home.

The only problem was, she had no idea where it was from here. The park in the center of the city was big enough, and even though she, Joy, and Delight had been around the city, parts of it were completely foreign to her.

She'd just have to guess. Recognizing at least where she and Joy had entered the park, she took a deep breath and started to walk in that direction, making sure to avoid the sight of others if possible.

What had once been so open and inviting to Riley the past few days now suddenly seemed intimidating and unwelcoming, as if all of Cerebral City had figured she had committed a terrible crime and she didn't deserve to be around them. Or that she was too dangerous.

As Riley continued to walk, she turned her wrist to glance at the armband. Her eyes widened slightly. The percentage was at 87. Not quite enough for the alarm Panic had installed to sound, but it was nearing there, and significantly lower than it had been for the past few days.

Riley swallowed, her throat feeling dry. It had never been this low when Joy was around. With Joy there, her best friend, she felt whole and complete and wanted. She even at times forgot that the armband was even on her wrist to begin with.

But after what happened, having hurt one of Joy's best friends and lost their trust—even losing Joy's trust, maybe forever—all her previous doubts were coming back. The armband's weight on her wrist seemed noticeable all over again, as if it was signifying to her that she would never be an emotion in the truest sense of the word. Never like Joy or Delight.

She tried to stay out of sight of others, but those who did see her either started whispering, moved away from her, or even ran off.

She felt just as Anger had said: a created thing who existed for no particular reason.

She glanced up at the sky as she tried to find her way, trying to avoid others so that they wouldn't talk about her or ask questions. Anger's accusation played over and over like a death knell in her mind.

Why had she been created, anyway? Aggravation wanted to keep her from experiencing the world, and what social interactions she attempted seemed to end in either ridicule or disaster.

With her steps slowing in despair, Riley's eyes became glassy. Maybe the reason Aggravation had wanted to keep her away was to prevent her from hurting others. Maybe Anger and Fear were right. She was too different. Too dangerous.

And perhaps Joy and Delight giving her a chance was just futile dreams. And look what had happened as a result.

Joy's friends hated her. Even Joy herself probably hated her. Trying to go back to Joy's house would only result in more rejection. Being considered a dangerous threat who would hurt them as soon as look at them.

Creeping into a small alleyway, Riley could feel tears sliding down her face as she sat down. She was lost but what did that matter? She doubted she could even show her face at the one place where she could have called her home. Joy and Delight must be so disappointed with her right now, even afraid of her like everyone else. They had defended her as someone completely innocent in the world who just needed a chance, and she ruined it all because she thought sports was her best new skill.

Riley doubted she could ever touch a ball again. Or anything, for that matter. She might end up hurting someone else near and dear to Joy, maybe even worse than what had happened with Sadness. She could have followed Joy into that ambulance, but given what Anger said, how the others agreed, and how Joy had left, even Sadness likely wouldn't want that. Riley felt even more awful that the blue girl was unconscious, probably going to have to get things hooked up to her while she was in her comatose slumber. And it was all Riley's fault.

The band on her arm felt even heavier, but the weight in her heart could practically sink her to the bottom of some pool of water. She watched as the numbers steadily decreased, feeling weaker by the minute as she watched the numbers go down. She may not know anything about adding and subtracting numbers, but she knew at least that some numbers were lower than others. And it just kept getting lower. Lower meant she was getting less stable. It meant that she was... what was the word? Dying?

A beeping sounded from the band. The alarm. Her stability was at 85.

Scowling in despair and self-loating, she switched the alarm off, the silence greeting her once more. She never thought she'd welcome silence so much.

So her stability was at the warning point now. What would happen to her if it went much farther below, she didn't entirely care at this point. After all, what did it matter what happened to her? Like Anger said, Aggravation made her for no reason.

And in any case, even Joy had left her. Without support from Joy, who did she have?

No one, really. Joy would probably tell her mother what happened and she'd refuse to have Riley stay in their house anymore.

Riley hung her head. Maybe she was a failed experiment that they had tried to improve the moment she woke up. But it became an official failure given she refused to think of herself as merely a creation, but so much more. Well, seemed Aggravation was right at this point. She had caused nothing but trouble to his son and his friends. Worse, she probably hurt Joy too.

Was their friendship over now? Was Riley really going to be alone up until her last moments when this band said she was getting close?

Pretty much. Her life was basically over now. There didn't seem to be much a point of going on.

Riley laid her face upon her knees, drawing them closer as the cold seeped through the alleyway. She shivered, the yellow jacket Joy had given her unable to conceal the chill. She might just freeze to death before whatever else could happen to her. Probably no one would find her for days and she might have faded by then.

She dared to move one of her hands from being wrapped around herself, looking carefully at it. It still was dulled in color compared to everything else in this world, but a little more pale, more devoid of what life she had. And she noticed, as she squinted, that her skin seemed to look a little more... well, particley. Like Joy and her friends.

And yet it was different. Her structure was a bit more fuzzy, almost looking like it was breaking apart. And maybe it was just her despair causing her to feel out of focus, but part of her almost seemed to be near-transparent.

She felt tired. So, so tired...

She only had a vague idea of what "dying" was, but she knew that it was going away from this physical-ness. Something like sleep but different, maybe like when she had first been forming in that container... She still didn't know how exactly those here on Terracordis died, or what happened after they did.

Maybe her body would disperse into particles? She would revert back to her original form when she had been progressing? Or simply just be a shell of her original self and slowly dilapidate as time went on?

Either of those seemed possible at this point. And she wouldn't care.

Sniffing, Riley sobbed quietly as she remained there for however long. Until her bracelet told her she would soon meet some sort of fate.

A/N: Don't worry, next chapter isn't going to be a depressing epilogue of death, I assure you.