Inside Out reImagined

The Second Impression

"Want-to-be friend and tutor?" Joy only managed to repeat after the teacher.

"I think that's supposed to be 'wannabe'," Fear was quick to point out.

Yet, Disgust took this as the perfect opportunity to take off and prove that everything they planned yesterday was worthwhile. "I knew this was a possibility, and there are only two ways it could go! One, Bully Prime gets us vulnerable and right by her side, learns all of our weaknesses, then attacks! Two, we can't dismiss the possibility that her 'tutoring' is actually a lesson on how to be evil!"

"I'm pretty sure we know her name by now, so if you would stop saying 'Bully Prime' for once..." Joy replied, pointing to the winding tube to the side of Headquarters, where a Mental Note — unmistakable for its pearly white, standing out among both the grays and the greens, purples, and reds — had recorded the teacher bursting in.

"Why would I, if the name is not nearly as descriptive? When we were on the hockey rink, I might also call out player positions or numbers rather than names." Disgust nonchalantly interrupted.

"Will you let Joy speak for once?" Fear suddenly shouted out from the side, catching the other emotions's attention where Joy could not.

Having the silence to herself, Joy continued: "Right, if I may. I think this is an excellent opportunity to stop crafting a fictional character with no basis in reality, and actually observe, uh... Show..."

Fear had already walked over to the Mental Note upon the prompt to use the girl's real name, and walking back to his spot, he uttered, as confidently as possible: "Zhou Shilan?"

"Yeah, that. We can observe..." Evidently, Joy still struggled to remember the Chinese name. "...the real girl, and we'll see that she's nothing like the Bully Prime caricature!"

"And then, we can amend the action plan I crafted, and see just how much of it stays! Actual, great thinking there, Joy." Disgust replied, and Joy sighed in relief.

Anger, on the other hand, thought that the discoveries that Fritz noted mattered more than some Chinese girl. "Why are you agreeing with Joy? The Mind Workers said it! She's out of sync with herself! She's no longer Riley's happiness, and who knows what else she has stopped being!"

Fear wasn't going to lie — an emotion being out of sync with themself was one of those Headquarters scenarios that, if it were ever written out, would probably be lost in the middle, but quickly found due to the red font of danger. Yet, Joy's unpredictability meant that she could erupt in wrath at any point in time, and for the time being, he did not risk angering her.

Instead, he allowed himself to take care of Riley's business, pointing out: "Right, that's not the matter right now! The matter right now is that we're saying yes to the teacher's deal, right?"

"Right." Disgust confirmed, and the two directed Riley's further actions.

Thus, after what must have been quite the awkward silence on the outside, Riley finally spoke: "Of course. I'd be glad to accept. I always feel like I learn best with my friends. And I would also gladly... not be isolated."

The teacher then must have muttered something in one of the Chinese languages, and promptly, the girl's face lit up. "You say yes! This is start of such a beautiful friendship! You're Ri-lyu from Meiguo, right?"

"Not gonna lie, I know pure innocence when I hear it, and this is it. And I don't know why you would say otherwise." Joy noted.

Disgust was quick to respond: "Because nothing about Bully Prime has been invalidated. In fact, in most of my scenarios, she starts friendly towards Riley. That's the strat of letting our guard down, and I expect the undisputed queen of remembering to know that."