Tbh, I don't know how I got this idea. I guess I saw Rise of the Guardians and Inside Out recently, and I just... mashed the two together? Either way, all the credit and rights go to their respective owners, Dreamworks and Pixar/Disney. I don't own anything. I REPEAT I DON'T OWN ANYTHING, so no copyright intended :).

The car was rolling down the road and Riley had fallen asleep. Fear was doing dream duty that night. He swirled the coffee in his mug and shook his head at the dream Dream Productions had spit out.

"Ugh. I can't believe they've made a Unicorn Fairy Adventure part 8. Nice job ruining a perfectly good original."

Fear shook his head in dismay when the dream suddenly ended and the lights in Headquarters flashed on. The other emotions came out with sleepy expressions and all gazed at the monitor. Joy squealed and hugged the others.

"We're here! Oh, I love movie theaters!"

"Yeah, but Mom and Dad won't buy any popcorn... that's sad," Sadness droned. Disgust snorted.

"Eww! Popcorn can ruin our blouse, not to mention is totally unhealthy."

Joy shrugged and hopped to the console, making Riley excited. Fear looked at the others curiously.

"So what are we watching?"

"Something probably stupid," Anger grumbled.

Joy rolled her eyes and punched a few buttons. A memory of the trailer came up and started playing in Riley's mind.

"It's called Rise of the Guardians. It. Looks. Amazing!"

Without waiting for the others to answer, she hopped over to the bin of daydreams. The trailer didn't have much information, so the rest was up to Riley's imagination. All the emotions gathered around the console anxiously as Mom and Dad paid for the tickets and they made their way to the theater. Joy bounced away briefly and pulled over five chairs as the movie began. Everyone was into it, even Sadness was sitting up with wide eyes. Then came Pitch. Fear shrank at the villain's first scene. He pulled a lever on the console. Riley's grip on her mother tightened, making the other emotions groan.

"Seriously! Can't we go through one movie without Riley being scared of something?" Disgust spat.

But Fear wasn't answering. He was staring at the screen, his hand actually resting on the button. Joy looked to see several purple balls being created. She giggled nervously and gently led Fear away from the console. His feet moved, but his eyes were vacant... strange. Sadness looked at Joy worriedly. A part of Joy wanted to be able to say why Fear was being like this. She kept drawing a blank. Instead, they all settled down and watched the rest of the movie, not aware of a shadow slithering on the floor behind them.

Joy stretched as she rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes. After the incident with Fear, she had given him the rest of dream duty off. The Train of Thought came rumbling in to deliver its daily load. Joy walked over to the pile, inspecting all the thoughts. Weird... Riley's opinions about horses had changed. Sure, she still liked them, but now there a hint of fear to them. The emotion bit her lip and looked up to see Sadness trudging down the stairs. She did her best to smile brightly, but Sadness could tell something was wrong.

"Joy? What happened?"

"You think something happened? No, no. Well, um... nothing much... just a change of Riley's opinion."

"Should we visit the opinion machine?"

Joy hesitated. Ever since she and Sadness had gotten lost, a new safety elevator and bridge had been added. None of the emotions had tested it though...

"But... Riley needs to be happy."

"Don't worry. If anything happens, we have the bridge and elevator."

Joy considered this, eventually nodding. She slipped out of headquarters and into the new elevator. A path had been carved around long-term memory. Joy raced down this new path. Branches broke off in certain directions, like Imagination Land and Dream Productions. As she passed the Dream Productions path, a guard held up his hand. The emotion skittered to a stop and gave him a questioning look. The guard cleared his throat.

"Ma'am, have you seen a shadow?"

"Shadow?"

"Yes. It was slinking around Dream Productions. Not only did it try getting onto the set, but it escaped and has avoided the entire force."

Joy shivered and nodded, saying she'd be careful. Walking past the guard, she started running again. This time however, she passed the road that led to the opinion machine. Instead, she jogged to a small and curvy path that looked rarely used. She pushed down the lump in her throat as she crept forward quietly. Up ahead was a staircase that led to the subconscious. As she neared, the corner of her eye caught something darting the other way. How had she not thought of it before? The only way to change an opinion was for a new addition in the subconscious. A shadow on the wall next to her lengthened, growing in size until it actually came off the wall. The guards at the doors of Subconscious held up their clubs. The figure simply waved his hand, and the guards' eyes widened and they froze in complete terror. He turned back to face Joy and she gasped.

"You? You made your way to Subconscious?"

Pitch sidestepped, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Yes... I suppose I did. And who are you?"

"I-I'm the Joy in Riley's brain."

"Riley?"

Joy blinked, confused. All the others fears knew they were in Riley's mind. Why didn't he? Pitch gave Joy an innocent smile and bowed deeply.

"Please. Would you be so kind as to tell me all about this Riley?"

"O-Okay. This is Riley's mind. You are a subconscious fear of Riley's. I am Joy, the thing that makes Riley happy. So... that's basically all the information you need to know."

"Can you take me to that control center?"

Joy didn't even try to hide her surprise. Pitch smiled triumphantly and stood straighter. The emotion wanted to help him, to answer his questions, but... she couldn't. The only others who had been in HQ where the mindworkers building upgrades. Besides, how would Fear react when he saw the Boogeyman? Just as Joy was about to deny him, he held up a hand that commanded silence.

"It's okay. I can find my way to Headquarters on my own. And when I do, I will rule Riley's mind."

Joy was about to protest, but he had already disappeared into a shadow and was shooting along the ground. Joy ran forward anxiously. Up ahead, he was already crossing the bridge. No, no, no! He crossed it easily, and slithered up the wall, not even bothering to take the elevator. In Headquarters, Sadness was driving. Riley was reading a book called Marley and Me, and Joy wasn't really being missed at that moment. Fear shivered, sensing something. Disgust noticed him and scoffed.

"Great. What's got you all riled up now?"

"There's something here."

They all paused to stare at Fear. With each passing second, he got even more agitated. Finally, he snapped, sobbing and crawling up into a little ball. Sadness looked around and screamed at the intruder. Pitch was standing in the shadows watching them. He came out and smirked, golden eyes shining.

"What do we have here? A control panel? I've always wanted to drive at one."

"Yeah, punk? You're gonna have to get past me!" Anger screamed.

Pitch laughed, and stepped forward menacingly. Anger walked in front of the others, the top of his head sizzling. Just before he was going to explode, Joy ran in from the elevator. Everyone turned to the incoming emotion, who had her hand up defensively again Pitch.

"Stop. Can't we just talk?"

The Nightmare King scanned her over. She was brave and had good intentions, but not always did the right thing. She reminded him of someone... Pitch cleared his throat and took a step towards Joy. The others tensed, ready to attack if he tried anything.

"Why do you care about Riley so much? Do you know how many nightmares I've given? I'm beyond caring for one child."

"You should care. If anything happens to her, it happens to us. You're part of her now, and there's no way to go around that."

Pitch glanced between Joy and the other emotions. His stomach did a turn as he realized they were right. But what would happen to him? Almost as if sensing his question, Joy smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry. We'll find a place for you."

The boogeyman turned to her in surprise. His gaze softened slightly, but quickly got hard again.

"I won't spend my days just being in Riley's mind. I want more, I'm tired of hiding under beds... and I refuse to hide in her mind!"

He shot forward so quickly that the other emotions didn't have time to process. Pitch lunged at Joy, arms outstretched. His finger grazed the side of her face before his eyes widened in shock. He was hovering in mid-air, trapped in a beam of light. Fear was behind him with a strange looking container. Pitch grasped at the air as the light slowly sucked him in. Joy blinked and touched her cheek tentatively. A wince escaped her, making the others rush over quickly. After a quick examination, it was deemed that she was fine. Fear held up the container with a confused expression.

"What do we do with him? There's no way Subconscious can hold a shadow."

"I say we just leave him in there," Disgust suggested. Sadness shook her head.

"I read the manual. That little container of light won't be like that forever. Once it runs out of power, he'll be free again."

Joy's eyes lit up with an idea. The group turned to her expectantly.

"What if we took him to the Daydream Factory? They have equipment over there that can hold and contain thoughts. Pitch is a thought, isn't he?"

"What if Riley starts having daydreams of Pitch? That's the last thing we need."

Joy's smile faded a bit.

"But there isn't any other way. And I don't believe in throwing him into the abyss."

Before they could continue, the lights around them dimmed. Riley was sleeping.

"Why is she sleeping?" Fear squeaked.

The emotions rushed up to the console, but couldn't figure out the problem. Joy gulped, unsure what to do. She grabbed the container from Fear and gripped it firmly.

"I'm going to take this to the mindworkers. Maybe they'll know what to do with it."

"Hurry, Joy. We still don't know why she's sleeping."

Joy gave a curt nod and scampered out of Headquarters. She stepped outside to see that the sky was red... it had never been like that before. Her heart pounded loudly as she began running. This couldn't be a coincidence, this had to do something with Pitch.