"See, Misery? Nothing bad has happened," Ruby said. "Well, nothing more than what happens to you on a daily basis," she added. "Do you want to go on the ferris wheel?" They'd reached the amusement park by now.
"Yeah! Yeah!" Iris cheered. "Bring on the fun!"
Ruby laughed. "I was talking to Misery."
"Well, I can come too, right?"
"Of course. We can all go!"
"Just as a warning, it's likely to either collapse... or explode," Misery said.
"Collapse? Explode? She may be right. Perhaps we shouldn't go," Scaredy Bat whimpered.
"He has the right idea. I'm your one-way ticket to impending doom. And the bad kind of doom. Not the cat."
Ruby ignored Misery and dragged her into the line for the ferris wheel. The others followed.
"I believe I will stay here, if that is all right?" Scaredy Bat asked.
"Sure, Scaredy," Ruby replied.
They approached the ferris wheel.
"If you're going to make me do this, I have to insist I at least ride in a separate car," Misery said. She boarded the only car that didn't have anyone else in it. Almost immediately, though, a couple got in and sat down.
"Warning: This car is out of order. Or at least it soon will be," Misery informed them. The two shared a disturbed look and backed out of the car. Misery hung a sign that read "DANGER" on the outside of it and no one else joined her.
The ride started. Ruby and Skull Boy found themselves holding hands and blushed. Iris enjoyed the ride by jumping up and down, causing the car to rock violently. "Faster! Higher!" she shouted gleefully.
Although the car Ruby and the rest were in was much heavier and also being rocked, while Misery was simply sitting quietly, it was Misery's car that suddenly detached from the rest of the ride and fell to the ground. The other passengers screamed at the sound of the crash.
"STOP THE RIDE!" Ruby shouted. The ride operator pulled a lever and the ferris wheel screeched to a halt.
"Everyone stay calm!" everyone in the ride heard being broadcasted through the intercoms. "Stay in your seats and we'll get everything worked out."
Misery, under the pile of debris, also heard this, as the intercom from her car was directly on top of her ear. The message woke her from her previous state of unconsciousness, but she did not yet get up.
"Iris, do you still have that worm whistle?" Ruby asked.
Iris nodded and took a small red whistle out of her pocket. "Never leave home without it!"
"Call Squig. We need to go make sure Misery's all right."
Iris blew into the whistle and Squig, her enormous pet worm, came flying towards them. "Hop on, everyone!" Iris directed, climbing out the window onto Squig's back. They all hurried on and Squig flew them down to where the remains of the fallen car lay. Just then, Scaredy Bat approached and saw the wreckage. He gasped.
"What happened?" he asked.
"The car just... fell! Misery's in there somewhere!" Iris cried.
Misery emerged from the rubble. "I'm right here," she said.
"Misery! Are you okay?" Ruby asked.
"I told you something like this would happen," she said.
The ride operator ran over. "There was a girl in there?!" he exclaimed. "Please, please don't sue me. We can't afford it!"
Misery sighed. "No worries," she said. "It was my fault anyway."
"How...?"
"Things like that happen to her a lot," Ruby explained. She turned to Misery. "I'm glad you're okay." She hugged her fiercely. Misery winced.
"Not that okay."
"I'm so sorry," Ruby said sadly. "This is all my fault. I shouldn't have made you come here when you didn't want to. This never would have happened if it weren't for me. I completely ruined your birthday."
"This wouldn't have happened, but something else equally bad would've. It has nothing to do with you. It's me. The universe just hates me, that's all. Anyway, it was fun until I fell."
"It's only eleven o'clock a.m.," Iris commented. "We can still make the rest of your day fun."
"If you want to, of course," Ruby added. "But look on the bright side- now you don't have to worry anymore. The bad thing already happened. And look! We all made it!"
"That... wasn't it," Misery said.