Inside Elsa

Exile

Joy's eyelids felt so heavy, she struggled to open them. But once she did, she saw that Headquarters was a mess.
The chandelier crash had knocked Elsa out so hard, it caused a shock in her brain that vibrated through Headquarters. Thus causing her Emotions to fall unconscious.
Joy tried to get up, but felt some sort of weight on her body. She turned her head and found that Fear was on top of her. Despite their hatred towards each other, Joy couldn't help but smile in the skinny Emotion's embrace.
But her comfort turned to worry once she saw a Core Memory lying on the floor. And not just any Core Memory, the one that powered Winter Island! Fear was surprisingly unaware that it was back, but if he found out, who knows what he could do?
Fortunately, Sadness was waking up, so maybe she could help.
“Psst! Sadness!" Joy whispered.
“Yeah, Joy?" Sadness mumbled, getting off the floor.
“Could you put that Core Memory back in the hub?"
“Yeah, I can do that," Sadness replied. But as she reached down for it, it started to turn blue.
“Wait, wait, wait! Never mind! Never mind! Don't touch it!" Joy pleaded.
Sadness immediately retracted her hands.
“No, no, no! I did it again!" she muttered.
“Don't worry about it, I'll handle it," Joy assured.
Very carefully, Joy tried to free herself from Fear's embrace without waking him up.
“Here, let me help," Sadness insisted, lifting Fear's torso so Joy could crawl out.
Once she was free, Joy grabbed the Core Memory on the floor.
“I got it!" she said softly.
“Yay," Sadness cheered..... dropping Fear by mistake.
“G'oh! What the..." he exclaimed, waking up in an instant. “What's going on?"
“Nothing," Joy and Sadness said at the same time. Joy hid the Core Memory behind her back.
“Are you two hiding something?" Fear asked suspiciously.
“Of course not," Joy replied. “Why would you think that?"
“There's a Core Memory behind you and I doubt you want me to see it," he answered, approaching her.
For a minute, Joy thought that as long as he didn't see the memory's content, she could get away with it.
“What?!" she exclaimed in a very fake voice. “How did that get there?! You little Dickens, you need to go back where you belong!"
But before Joy could put the Core Memory back, she noticed most of the Personality Islands were glitching. The only exception was Monarchy Island.
“Joy?" Fear asked, a little disturbed. “Weren't there only five Core Memories?"
“Only five?" Joy wondered. “Are you sure you know how to count?"
Fear didn't answer. Instead, he grabbed the Core Memory from Joy's hands and looked inside.
“I don't remember this one," he mumbled. Then he looked out the window and saw a now disabled Winter Island.
“Hey, how did that get there?" Sadness laughed nervously.
“Sadness, did you know about this?" Fear asked.
“Oh, well, I, uh..." she mumbled, not sure what to say.
“Fear, does it matter?" Joy interrupted. “Let's just put it back, and..."
“No!" he yelled, pulling it away. “Joy, don't you get it?! Elsa's powers are dangerous! She shouldn't love them, they cause destruction!"
“Because of you!" Joy argued. “This whole thing started because of you! ‘Fear will be your enemy.' Does that ring a bell?"
“What makes you so sure they meant me?"
“Elsa's powers are driven by us!" Joy answered. “If she just keeps fearing them, she'll never learn how to control them!"
“Joy, I have to keep her safe!" Fear yelled. “This ends NOW!!!"
Now Joy was raging mad. Before Fear could send the Core Memory to Long Term, she attacked him.
Sadness, confused and worried, backed away from the two. But then she tripped on the button that sends all the memories to Long Term.
As Joy kept slapping Fear's face, he let go of the Core Memory and punched her in the nose, which even surprised himself.
Joy checked her nose for blood, but instead noticed the Core Memory was about to get sucked up the tube. She grabbed and held on to it, but she ended up getting herself sucked out of Headquarters!
“She's gone!" Sadness exclaimed. “This is bad!"
Fear was speechless. All he wanted was to protect Elsa, but he never expected this.
“Joy's not in Headquarters," Sadness muttered. “Without her, Elsa can't be happy. What are we gonna do?"
Fear had never been so lost before in his entire life. What if Joy was right? This was all his fault?
“I... I don't know."
•••••••••••••••••••••••••
In fact, Joy was nowhere near Headquarters. That tube had sent her through the air, all the way to the other side of the memory dump, and she landed in a crate full of memories. Fortunately, she could tell the Core Memory apart from the regular ones.
“Okay, I got it," she sighed, holding the Core Memory close. “Where am I?"
Joy looked around and saw endless corridors and shelves filled with memories. That could only mean one thing, she was in Long Term Memory.
Not too far away was Winter Island, which was down. Then, Joy had an idea. She would cross the bridge that connected Winter Island to Headquarters. Then when she got back, she'd plug the Core Memory back in and Winter Island would be back to normal.
But she had to hurry, Elsa was waking up.

“I'm coming, Elsa."

Good news! Inside Out won a dozen Annie awards, including Phyllis Smith for doing the voice of Sadness!
Even better news! They're making a Frozen holiday special! ❄🎄❄🎄❄🎄❄

Peace out! Warm hugs for everyone! 💖