A Summary of September

Hello, all! It's Elsa again, and wow, it's good to be back on the blog. It feels like I haven't written in ages, but if I'm honest, there wasn't much for me to write about personally. Life was generally the same day to day, and She and Loki had much more interesting story to tell than I. That was, until September, when my life changed drastically. I won't say if it was for better or for worse, but I'll have you know that two new dolls were welcomed into the Room She Lived In during this month.
Read on to find out who they are!

***

Someone really ought to change the calendar, I thought. September 1st, while still technically summer, feels more like autumn than any other day of the year. The other dolls could feel it, too, that much was obvious. The humans had brought down typical fall decor from the attic to change the look of the house from cool and spacious to cozy and stylish. Wreaths made of gold and orange leaves were hung in every doorway, pumpkins were piled by the flowerpots, fairy lights were strung up on the ceiling to make up for the lack of sunlight during the day. As a fun activity for the dolls while the humans were away, She left us in charge of decorating her room to prepare for the upcoming season. Nessa with her artistic flair for most things, was in charge, which would have us finished in about an hour, had she and Vision not been attached at the hip.

They were a cute couple, no doubt about that. Certainly a contrasting one. Outgoing, optimistic Nessa, paired with the shy and calculating Vision. Wasn't there a human saying that goes "opposites attract"? Could the same go for dolls and their magnets?

My task was to make a maypole with orange, black and yellow ribbon. It looked more like Halloween than anything else, but at least the children were having fun. I enjoyed watching them run about me, chasing each other around the maypole as I held it steady. Kate was always getting tangled, Meiling wanted to spin the ribbon the fastest, and Adrina was always trying to order her brother around, while Oliver cared more about which color should be used next than anything else. Still, as messy as it was, I could tell exactly which child had played their part in its construction, and for some reason, that pleased me.

"It's done! It's done!" Meiling shouted, jumping up and down.

"Yes, it's done," I decided, tying off the end of each ribbon and propping the maypole up against the wall. "Ta-da! Great job, guys!"

"High-five?" Kate asked, because that was her new favorite thing.

"Yes, we can all get high-fives." I went down the mismatched row of children, waiting for them to make the first move and smack my hand before moving on. As soon as they had done so, they scattered like seeds in the wind, back to their respective parents, all except Kate.

"Up, Aunt Elsa?" She asked, stretching out her little arms at me.

"No, sorry, Aunt Elsa has to work still." I explained.

"Awww..." Kate pouted.

It broke my heart to break her spirit, but she was not mine. "Go run off and find Natasha, okay? She'll give you a piggy-back ride."

"Okay!" Kate replied, her momentary sadness gone as she skipped away in search of her mother.

"Remember to ask nicely, okay?" I reminded her, but the girl was already out of earshot. I watched her leave and wondered, for a second, what it would be like to be on the receiving end of that run, the one she belonged to, the one she felt the most safe with, the one whose piggy-back rides could be considered more than just fun, but bonding.

A home.

Why don't you and Steve give a child a home? Your own child? Half of me thought.

No, no, that's silly. We've barely been married a year! I could never ask him that now. Said the other half.

But what if he feels the same way? What if he also wants a child, but is too afraid to ask for the same reason?

I guess I could try. I'll bring it up at the date.

I had to ask Nessa permission to go, since I had no idea how far along we were in her decorating plan. I found her practically wound around her boyfriend, Vision, as they painted small rocks cheerful colors to use as charms around the Room She Lives In.

"Do you two want any help with the decorating?" I asked.
Nessa unraveled herself from Vision's arms long enough to reply.
"Actually, you can take a break if you like, Elsa. We're pretty much set. Aren't we, honey bunches?" She cooed.
"Almost, love muffin." Vision said in turn. Such loving words sounded completely alien coming from an android, but perfectly natural. The two of them had been together ever since the human's trip to California (or Caliofrotnia, as Olaf called it) and they were extremely comfortable with letting the world know it. I had to envy their boldness. Steve and I were close as peas in a pod, but it was difficult to express those feelings when around thirty-four dolls in the same room as you. Almost as if on cue with my thoughts, Nessa said, "You and Steve should go on a date. Take some time for yourselves! You do enough for us already."
"Yes, I agree. Dates are nice." The tongue-tied Vision added, watching Nessa until she met his gaze. Nessa noticed, grinned, and pulled his chin down to her height until their lips met in a playful kiss.
"Dates are always nice with you, honey bunches."
"That's because you make them worthwhile, love muffin."
I could tell we weren't going to get anywhere if we kept on like this. I had never been a third wheel before, but I didn't plan to become one, either.
"Okay, I'll go find Steve. Thanks!"
Speaking of love muffins, She's mother had recently baked some pumpkin muffins Steve and I just had to try. So that was what we did. I was able to pull him away from a garland he and Kristoff were working on and set a table for us in the path of sunlight by the back door. It was the place of our first date, which I will always remember as a wonderful time, despite everything that happened afterwards.
It was such a comfortable atmosphere, just the two of us alone for a chunk of time in our small world. It would have been enjoyable, and carefree, had I not been constantly thinking about how I wanted our small world to get a little bigger. Steve had no idea, I could tell. He happily took his muffin and coffee with me just like this was any other date.

I started with small talk. It would be better to ease him into the idea of kids. "Gosh, when's the last time we went on a date? A real date?"
Steve shook his head in disbelief. "I couldn't tell you. Isn't that crazy? We've got all this time and all the ways to spend it except this." He took my hand and begun rubbing his thumb across my knuckles, our engagement bracelets (well, wedding bracelets now, really) shining like blue and red glass. In his eyes my future shimmered, still there, still promising me there could be more to this relationship than husband and wife.
I wanted us to be a mother and a father.
"Steve, I have to tell you something."
"Anything." He retracted his hand and brought the muffin piece to his nose, not realizing the bomb I was about to drop on him.
"I want to raise a child with you!" I blurted, then sucked in my breath and waited for Steve's reaction. So much for easing him into it.
"No kidding!" He laughed, playing off his shock. "I assumed you did. I've seen the way you look at Carol and Meiling, and Olaf and Idina and their little ones, and..." Steve waved a hand in the air to make up for all the names in the PSA. "The rest of them. I'm not surprised, Elsa. Not at all."
"Well, would you?" I asked. "Would you want to, too?"
Steve got very quiet and very focused on his muffin. "Yes. Yes, I'm ready for that next step."
I let it go. "Oh, great, because I was so nervous you would say no, and then I'd have to deal with these feelings for the rest of my life in silence, and even though none of us don't know how long that is, I thought it might be a little better with a kid to mentor, you know, to take care of and see that they grow up good and-" my speech was interrupted with a kiss from Steve.
"Elsa, we would not be magnet mates if we did not see eye to eye."
"Most days," I agreed. I felt my nerves melting away. "So, what kind of child would you want?"
"You mean like, a boy or a girl?"

"I suppose that's a good place to start."
 Steve and I both looked at each-other, giddy with anticipation, both waiting for the other to say something first.
"I don't want to disagree." I said finally.
"If we do, we'll just get two kids," Steve shrugged. "It's been done before."
"Yes, but I don't know if I'm ready for that kind of responsibility!"
"True, true," Steve said, licking his lips and coming up with a plan. "On three, okay?"
"Okay."
"One, two thr-"
"Girl!"
Our words overlapped, and we knew what that meant.
"So it's settled, then. We both want a girl."
"I guess so," I giggled. "Girls are trickier than boys, though. I'm surprised you said that, Steve."
"Funny, I thought boys were trickier. Either way, I'm up for the challenge."
"What should we do now?"
"Come with me. We can tell She about this together."
"But our muffins," I whined. "Why cut our date short so early? We were having such a nice time."
"Imagine sharing muffins with our little one." Steve told me, raising his eyebrows.
That was such a lovely picture, it was all he had to say to get me going. We went to She, personally. This was more than something that could be put on the Request Sheet. We decided to adopt a child who was a "used" doll, a doll not unlike my sister, Anna, who had come from a different home that, for whatever reason, could no longer keep her there. It wasn't meant to be a work of charity, it was meant to help them find a forever home. Steve and I described our perfect child to She, who took notes that were invisible to us, and then told us to come back within a week's time.
By that time, our child would have arrived.
And on September 9th, She called us to her side.

"Special delivery," She told us with a giddy smirk, bringing a small cardboard box into the room. I grabbed Steve's arm immediately, seeking comfort in his touch before the big moment. "It's a girl, like you asked, and found on Ebay, like Anna. I hope you like her."
"We'll more than just like her," Steve said. "We'll treat her as family."
She placed the box on the floor in front of us. It was surprisingly still, almost eerily so, and that's when I began to get worried again.
"I'll leave you two alone to introduce yourselves. No one ever forgets a first impression."
"Don't I know it," I muttered. "Do you have anything to open the box?"
"Yeah, here. Be careful with it, okay?" She handed us a boxcutter, blunt and retractable for safety purposes, and for that, I was grateful. It would be terrible to harm our child before we'd even met her.
I gave Steve the job of slicing the box, since my hands were glowing too fiercely for me to concentrate. Once he had, we pushed away the cardboard flaps together, until we could make out the doll that was inside.
And there she was, our little girl.
Tucked away behind balls of newspaper, the doll lay curled into the fetal position, both hands set in firm fists. Her thick black brows were furrowed against a dark brown face, and her wide lips were set into a stern line. She had ordered us a mini Moana doll, and that's exactly who she looked to be.
"It looks like she's sleeping," Steve whispered. "Do you think She's having a nightmare?"
"I hope not. Let's wake her carefully just to be safe."
Neither of us were sure how to do that. I was beginning to wonder if we knew how to do anything.
"Nudge her shoulder," Steve told me. "That usually does the trick."
I reached in and tapped her arm. The little doll was pushed easily onto her back, and the newfound chill of waking up had set in. The girl stirred and blinked her large black eyes until they focused on our faces, faces that probably looked very large and imposing from inside the box.

"Good morning, darling." Steve said, always the first to brave new words.
"Where am I?" The little doll asked groggily. She rolled away from the bubble wrap until the box let her go and she was standing right before us, not any taller than my forearm.
"You're in your new home," I explained, trying to mask the emotion in my voice. This was exactly the kind of child I had been wanting. "We are Steve and Elsa."
The little doll fixed us with a curious look, switching from me to Steve, and back to me again.
"What's your name, sweetie?" I asked, my voice gentle as to keep her comfortable. I knew how frightening it could be to get a new home. But the Moana doll didn't show a speck of fear anywhere.
"Thalia," she replied. "That's the name I've had since I was made," she paused and scrunched up her nose in suspicion. "Wait. I know you. You're gonna be my new mommy and daddy, aren't you?"
"Well, yes, if you want us to," Steve said, touching my arm. "Who told you that?"
"Brielle, from my old home," Thalia explained. "She said for me to call me her nanny. She said that I didn't have a mommy and daddy, but one day I might, if the humans sold me. And she told me that when the humans took me away and put me in a big dark box that I shouldn't be worried, because that meant I was going somewhere else," Thalia dropped her oar and looked around. "Is this the somewhere else?"
"Yes, this is the Room She Lives In. You'll be staying with us, and you'll have a very big family from now on." I told her.
"For how long?"
"For how long?" I repeated.
"Yeah... 'cause Brielle told me that... she told me that humans can't keep dolls forever."
We chose our next words carefully. This parenting thing was not as easy as it looked.
"Well, do you think that other dolls can keep a doll forever?" Steve asked.
Thalia rubbed her eyes. "I don't know."
"We'd like to keep you forever, if you'd let us," I added. "That's what good mommies and daddies do. Forget about the humans. As long as we're together, the rest will fall in place." The last part sounded really good, but in reality, I had pulled the phrase from a refrigerator magnet in the humans' house.
Thalia was still doubtful. "How long is forever?"

"However long you want it to be," Steve replied. "Thalia, dear, don't worry about this too much. We're happy to have you with us. Do you think you'll be happy here?"
"Do you have a bathtub?"
A bathtub? That question came right out of the blue. Dolls didn't need to take baths. Did they do that at her old home?
"Yes, there's a bathtub here. Why?"
Thalia's face lit up and she scurried past us and ducked into the box again, returning with a plastic canoe that she struggled to scrape along the carpet.
"This is my canoe... that I came with. I use it to sail inside bathtubs. But my mast broke in the box," Thalia pointed at a part where the plastic had cracked in two, splitting the sail from the rest of the canoe.
"Hm, maybe Moana can fix it? She seems to know a lot about sailing." I told Steve, not intending for Thalia to overhear. She did anyways.
"You have another Moana?"
"Yes, would you...?"
"Can I see her? Pretty please? Pretty please?" Thalia yelped, ditching her canoe and running to the door.
"Hold on, sweetie, hold on!" I called. "You don't know this house yet. Let us take you to Moana."
"I can find her!" Thalia insisted. "I'm a Moana, and Moanas are wayfinders!"
Before either of us could stop her, Thalia was using she's dresser next to the door like an obstacle course, getting higher and higher until she was able to jump up onto the doorknob, using her entire body's strength to spin it open. She tumbled to the ground, not caring how hard she fell, and ran out into the hallway.
"Thalia, slow down!"
"Thalia, be careful!"

Steve and I warned, but it was no use. Thalia was motivated, and when she was motivated, she was unstoppable. She skated down the handrail of the stairs like a slide and landed both feet on the ground on the first floor foyer. I knew Moana was outside, and the back door was on the left side of the house. Going right would led you to the garage, and well, it was all a dead end from there. Thalia didn't know this and started going right.
"Wrong way, Thalia sweetie!" I shouted from the top of the stairs. Once she ran the other direction and was out of our view, Steve turned to me.
"Independent little thing, isn't she?"
"And stubborn. Like you."
"I am not stubborn!"
"Just proved my point," I laughed. "Steve, are we way in over our heads?"
"Are you trying to say this wasn't a good idea?"
"No, no, not at all. I think it was a very good idea. But Thalia is, well, very energetic. Are we going to be able to keep with her?"
Steve shared with me a word of advice that I swear I shall never forget. He said, "I didn't say it was going to be easy. I said it was going to be worth it."
"I don't remember you telling me anything like that before." I replied. But I cherished his statement, every word.
Thalia trained herself to spend her days between two worlds. During the day, she was adventuring with Moana, and at night, Steve and I would put her to bed. It was an activity nearly every doll enjoyed, since children require so much to get them to sleep. Tea would have to be made, stories would have to be read, songs would have to be sung. The blankets had to be right at the base of her chin, the pillow had to be cradled in her arms. Our little girl was adorable at any time of the day, but at night, when she was most relaxed, she could almost treat us like the mommy and daddy we were supposed to be, with crawling into Steve's lap and letting me brush her hair. These quiet, contented moments were the ones I cherished the most. I could see why Olaf and Idina were always doting on their children. How could you not be? They were the most wonderful things on earth.

Still, life passed by without too much change. While Steve was teaching Thalia how to play air hockey in the basement, I was helping She, Nessa, and Vision finalize the rest of the fall decor.
"This maypole is adorable, Elsa," She said, hanging it from her closet door. "It's a shame you didn't have Thalia in time for her to help out."
I sighed. "Oh, trust me, decorating is the farthest thing from her mind. She can't stay still, not even for a second."
"The maypole would have been done in no time at all, then," She said with a smirk. "Anyways, I think the black ribbon you used was a good choice. It'll match all the Halloween decorations I'll probably be buying this year."
"I almost forgot about Halloween!" Nessa cried. "How could I forget about Halloween? It's like the best holiday of the entire year. Besides Christmas, and Easter, and-"
"Valentine's Day?" Vision added from atop She's bed, where he was teaching himself how to read.
"Yes, that too. I can't wait for us to spend our first Valentine's Day together, honey bunches!"
She coughed loudly. "Speaking of Halloween," She pulled an old tote into her lap. "I've got this old wig from a few Halloweens ago that I can't bear to get rid of. Can any of you tell me what to do with it?" She removed the lid and titled it so that the tote's interior was eye level with us dolls. A straight, somewhat unruly pink wig lay inside.
"What were you that year?" Nessa asked, immediately reaching in and taking the wig. "I've never heard of a Halloween costume with pink hair."
She looked embarrassed. "Cotton candy."
Nessa laughed. "As a costume?"
"Hey, don't knock it 'til you try it. I got so many compliments, it was insane," She paused. "Wait, no, that was the year after. Yeah, nobody knew who I was supposed to be. And the thing is, I spent good money on this stupid wig. I think if I brush it up again, it'll be in good condition, but..." She took the wig from Nessa's hands and tried to slide it on over her head. The band was not going to stretch any further, and she'd barely made it back over her ears. "It's practically child size. I can't throw it away, but I can't keep it the way it is. Any ideas?"

"Hmm..." Nessa thought. "Make into one of those Victorian hair wreaths. That would be a good fall decoration."
"Absolutely not!"
"I was kidding! What if you took the hair and donated it?"
"It's synthetic."
"What if you weren't going to donate the hair to a human, though?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, wouldn't a doll love to have super long pink hair? I know I would," Nessa lifted one of her braids. "But something tells me that would not work for me."
"I like your hair just the way it is, love muffin." Vision commented.
"Thanks, honey bunches. But seriously! Get another doll and give them extensions," Nessa gasped. "Ooh! Get a Rapunzel doll. She's always been my favorite Disney princess. And what Rapunzel doll wouldn't want even longer hair? They probably wouldn't care what color it is."
"Good point," She raised the wig and started combing through it with her fingers. "It's going to need a lot of work done before then."
"Plenty of time to order a Rapunzel doll offline." Nessa winked.
She groaned. "Fine, you got me. Looks like my collection will be getting even bigger this month," She looked at me suddenly. "Not that there's anything wrong with that."
"No," I agreed. "I would like a Rapunzel, too. I think she would be fun to have around."
And so it was settled. A Rapunzel Disney classics doll was to be expected in the mail within the next week, same as Thalia. And while the rest of the dolls eagerly waited for her arrival, Steve and I had our hands full with Thalia, who seemed to be getting more and more active as the days went on. The only time we could catch a break was when she was with Moana, her favorite "aunt", as it were. The times matched up perfectly to where Moana was with Thalia the moment She came to me with news about Rapunzel.

"She's here," She whispered, her voice strained with excitement as she showed me a picture of the the new doll on her phone. "We've already started talking. Last night, I went down to the kitchen and braided her regular hair in with the wig. She loves it more than anything."
"She's a good fit for us, then!" I exclaimed. "Where is she? She will probably want to see the face of another doll."
"I took her to a mirror so she could see what I'd done. It's in the library upstairs. She's been there ever since."
"Got it." I said with a nod. I knew exactly where the library was. It was the one place I could find Loki on his off days with the PSA.
The library was oddly quiet when I got there, however. No sing-song voice, no sounds of exploration, no running or dancing.
"Rapunzel?" I called out. "Are you in here? She sent me."
"Come in." A small voice replied. I turned the corner, where the bedroom met the bookshelves, and saw Rapunzel standing in front of the mirror. Yes, She had chosen correctly. This Rapunzel was exactly as I had imagined her to be. She was slow in her movements, yet not exactly careful. She had an intent, dreamy look in her eyes, and she was awash with color: vibrant, glittery purple, soft gold, pastel pink.
She caught me in the reflection of the mirror and turned around, greeting me with a dreamy smile. "Isn't this the most magnificent library?" Rapunzel asked distantly in greeting. "I wish I could read."
"It's easy. You just have to get started," I said. "I'm Elsa. Nice to meet you."
Rapunzel seemed to ignore my last statement and instead began admiring her extra-long pink and yellow braid in the mirror by the human's closet. She twirled, letting her skirt fan out and her hair follow, then paused, readjusting a ribbon here and there, and twirled again.
"Do you like my hair?"
"Of course." I said.

"I've never had pink hair before. Back at my old home, my human gave me gold thread and rhinestones to wear in my braid, and that made me feel like the most special doll in the world."
"And what happened to those?"
Rapunzel exhaled in a raspberry noise. "They got taken away from me. I'm a 2016 classic doll, and when the newer version came out and my humans found her, she got my gold thread and rhinestones."
"And then what did you do?"
"Hm? Oh. I ran away," Rapunzel said, pausing her twirls to fluff out her new plaits. She had said it so casually, like her rebelliousness didn't matter at all. "I escaped through the window when my humans were away and ran to a different house. The new people didn't know where I'd come from, so they sold me. And now I'm here," she looked in the mirror thoughtfully and held her hair, obsessed with the weight of it. "And I think I like this better."
"Well, we're glad to have you with us," I said. "But- if you don't mind me asking- weren't you afraid of breaking the Code of Dolls?"
Rapunzel's lips opened in a small "oh". "What Code?" She asked.
My small world stopped revolving. Never had I ever heard about a doll not knowing the Code. Even Olaf, naive as he could sometimes be, always had his brothers remind him to play dead when humans were around. Other than that one special case, I just assumed that dolls were made knowing that.
"You know... when dolls have to play dead around humans?"
"Oh, yes! That silly thing. No, we never followed it. My human was a collector. He had every Disney classics doll that ever entered the market, including me. And as soon as I arrived, he told me not to worry about it; the Code had already been broken. I was like what? Really? That can't be right, humans can't know... but he did. And everything was perfectly fine. Up until he took my presents away. I mean sure, they weren't mine originally. Nothing was 'owned' by anyone in that place. I inherited the thread and rhinestones from the 2015 Rapunzel doll, and it was only natural that the 2017 Rapunzel doll inherit mine when she came. But I had a full year of the most wonderful hair. I don't think humans realize how important hair is to a Rapunzel doll."
"I imagine so." I replied, not sure what else to say to that story.
"Anyways, I'm rambling. I see you have a big collection here, too."
"Oh, yes. And they were very happy to hear you were coming to live with us, especially Nessa. She's an Anna ornament, but Rapunzel is her favorite Disney princess."
Rapunzel blushed. "Really? Even when she's her own princess?"
"Well, you can still love who you are and have role models. Your movie inspired her to paint. Now she practices with Bob Ross nearly every weekend. I'm sure they would love to paint with you, too."
"Um, Elsa? I don't know how to paint. I've never done that before."
"No problem! They'll teach you," I insisted, offering my hand to lead Rapunzel into the Room She Lives In, where the other dolls were. "But first, you have plenty of dolls to meet."
"Fifty-seven of them? That's how many were in my old human's collection."
"Goodness, no, I can't imagine there being that many dolls in one house."
The corner of Rapunzel's lips twitched upwards in a small smile as I led her across the upstairs hallway. "She might get there one day, eventually." I heard her whisper before the door to the Room She Lives In opened to its latest guest.

Looking forward to our new adventures as a family,

Queen Elsa Rodgers

Pocket-Sized Avengers: Assembling the Heroes P.3 (Wanda)

Chapter four: A Blazing Soul
There were muffled voices coming from outside. Voices that spoke of the past and of destiny, not machines that cluttered and clinked, nor the deadpan tone of humans working paintbrushes over plastic. They spoke strange words, words that sounded unreal. Words that begged to be listened to, if there was a listener.
And in a small gray capsule nestled between sheets of cardboard, there was.
Human, they thought, or at least with a human form. They began to move, slowly, quietly, as an animal awakes from hibernation.
How long had they been asleep? If they hadn't been sleeping, how long as they began alive? The body opened and closed their eyes, seeing nothing both times.
"...another soul, probably Tier Four..."
"And Rogue?"
"Definitely."
They could identify two voices now. The first one, male, and the questioner, female.
And which one was this entity in the box?
"...we'll need to keep a close eye..."
"Doubtless."
"...and restraints, if need be..."
"...borrowed some from..."
The female voice got closer, as did the sound of light and miniature footsteps. Instinctively, the person inside shrunk down further into the box and began making fists, preparing to fight. A soft weight rested in the lid of the box. A hand.
"Well now, shall we wake him?"
The male voice followed. "Him? We have been told the Rogue was a her."
The box-dweller felt a sharp tingling on the back of their neck. They knew this gossip was about them. And if they knew nothing else, about the world or themselves, they were not a her.
Something overcame the doll then, something big. The doll felt a rush of heat, then a lurch of power as they went flying into the air, breaking through the box with a great war. They saw before them a body, their body, probably, and it was a woman's. That was the first hint that something was wrong.
Two other dolls were there, waiting, the male and the female that she had heard earlier. Both were shellshocked at the sight of a flying doll that seethed with magic and chaos.
Her eyes burned and her voice crackled with fire. "Who are you? What's happened to me?"
The woman, bald and clad in all yellow, inhaled and stepped forward without fear. "Well, I can answer one of those questions. I am the Ancient One, and this is my assistant, Karl Mordo. If you want your second question answered, we might be able to help you. But you will need to come with us."
"Can you control your power?" The man beside her asked, her voice slow and soothing.
The doll looked down at her hands. There was a red aura around them, pulsing and swirling like fog on a haunted night. It was amazing to see, but no gift like this came without danger. She slowly drifted towards the ground, only stopping when her feet connected with a solid, flat surface.
"I... I think so." She murmured, letting her hands relax by her sides. The magic faded, and a weight was released from her shoulders. To see such a light die in her own hands was exhausting.
The man nodded, impressed, his eyes only leaving her hands to look the doll in the eyes, beckoning her to follow him. The Ancient One had already turned away with a swish of her cloak.
The doll looked behind her at the box, with its zip ties having been snapped away. She had done that, with this power. If these people were going to help her use them, there was no point in staying here. She swallowed hard and allowed them to lead the way.
They traversed over more boxes and packages of toys, some as tall as mountains, and some as low as empty lakes. The Ancient One didn't speak at all, the only noise coming from her being the swish of her cloak over the objects they passed. She didn't look behind her, either, putting complete trust in the the man in the green tunic.
"Do you have a name for yourself, rogue one?" He had asked her.
"No."
"It is Wanda, then," he decided. "You are a Scarlet Witch figure. Most of your kind have that name."
"Okay... is that what I am, then?"
"A doll, or Scarlet Witch? You are a Blazing Soul. Surely this is not your first time in plastic." The man chuckled.
"You know, you can call me whatever you want, I'm still not going to understand it," Wanda replied, getting impatient. "You're a Karl Mordo figure. Do 'most of your kind' have that name, too?"
"Would it surprise you to know that my name is also Karl Mordo?" Karl said.
"A lot surprises me, considering I just came into existence," Wanda folded her arms. There was a softness in her chest that she wasn't familiar with. Feeling awkward, she dropped her arms again. "I know this isn't my first pony show, Karl Mordo. I've been a doll before. Many times. But I don't think I've ever seen this power before. The red stuff," Wanda crimped her fingers again and watched the alluring magic dance around them. "What does it all mean?"
"The Ancient One will explain everything once we return to base."
"Where's base?"
"Here." The Ancient One suddenly spoke, stopping short of a man-made, or doll-made cavern carved into the side of an empty cardboard box. The inside was sparse, just a couple of fabric strips for rugs, or beds, or something, and there was a stash of Tootsie Rolls in one of the corners.
"Quaint." Wanda nodded.
"Quaint works for us," the Ancient One agreed, unoffended. She gathered her skirts and stepped inside. "Come in, Wanda. We have much to discuss."
There was already someone inside. A dark-skinned girl dressed in primary colors sat criss-cross on one of the rugs, deep in meditation. It was broken when she heard the footsteps of the Ancient One before her, and her eyes immediately noticed Wanda. She froze, as if she had seen a dead man.
"It is rude to stare, Kamala." The Ancient One said.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Kamala stood and brushed herself off in a hurry. "You look familiar to me."
"There are other Wandas." The Ancient One reminded her.
"Yes, but not one like this one," Karl said, a touch of pride in his voice. He touched Wanda's shoulder. "We have finally found another Blazing Soul. Like you."
Kamala muttered something in Arabic before grabbing eagerly onto Wanda's hand. "Oh, gosh! Nice to meet you! It's always nice to see another Blazing Soul. Blazers, as I call them. Haha. Good to see a woman, too! There's not enough of us ladies, right?"
"Right." Wanda agreed, but she felt like an impostor. "Woman" was not the right word for her. She may have been built as one, her mind was a different matter.
"Well, I've got to go, thanks for letting me use the base."
"Of course," said the Ancient One, and then, quieter, "Is it Loki again?"
Kamala bit her lip, changing suddenly. Wanda noticed her shoulders shake a little. "Mm-hm. I've been made chief assistant a while ago. It's too late for me to bail."
"We could hide you, Kamala. We're good at that. You can help us find other Blazers." Karl softly touched her arm, begging her to stay.
"No!" Kamala shouted, pulling away with lightening speed. Her arm, as it seemed, was made of elastic. "No. I can't," she blinked rapidly and looked towards the door. "I've got a group to take care of. Clint number 42 recently lost his wife to his own hand. It was a mistake. It was all a big mistake. And I wasn't able to help him. Another teammate had his hand broken that same day. I had to stay."
"I wouldn't expect anything less of you," said the Ancient One. "It's in your nature to stay."
"Mm-hm," Kamala wiped her eyes, even though nothing could be there. "I have to go. I do. Thank you. I promise to visit later. Goodbye." Kamala sprung through the doorway and into the night, stealthily creeping amongst the boxes until no human shape could be found.
The Ancient One breathed deeply and held it for a long time. Then she sat in Kamala's place.
"I apologize. That wasn't the best way to start our introductions."
"Life is tough around here," Karl added. "We're here to make it better in the only way we can. Providing sanctuary."
"Our focus is to find and save dolls like you from those who seek to steal your power. They are the bounty hunters. We are the liberators for the Blazing Souls."
Wanda sat on the second rug. She tried her best to shake Clint number 42 from her mind. She couldn't imagine doing that, not in this life or her previous ones. Staring into your loved one's face as the light died from their eyes, and knowing that their expiration was your own doing. Every second his situation dwelled longer in her head, the more it hurt, until the pain became almost her own.
"Wanda? Are you alright?"
Wanda broke her daydream. "Yeah. I will be once I learn what I am."
The Ancient One beamed matronly. "Karl, the door, please."
Karl rolled a slat of broken wood in front of the doorway, bathing the base in darkness. He took the rug next to Wanda, and she suddenly recalled a time, maybe, if it were real, a time when she had sat on a rug next to someone else, ready for their teacher to tell them a story.
What the Ancient One did wasn't much different. She painted a picture with golden shapes and discs, illustrating the four tiers of doll reincarnation. The fourth tier was Wanda's, and that made her a Blazing Soul- a rare type of doll imbued with strong and mystical powers.
"And what happens after the fourth tier? Expiration?"
"Nobody knows," said the Ancient One calmly. "There is no proof of Tier Five. There is no proof that expiration is the end. We can only hope that it is something nice." She tapped one of her hexes and the hologram drifted forward, passing through Wanda like a ghost.
"Blazing Souls are hunted for their power. The bounty hunters believe that the only way to gain a Blazer's power is to kill them."
"Forceful expiration." The Ancient One said, twitching slightly the word "kill". "We don't like using the word kill. It is too harsh a word, even for the bounty hunters."
"Right," Karl nodded. "Forceful expiration. Ever since the Ancient One and I teamed up, it has been our goal to find and protect as many Blazing Souls as possible. Kamala Khan is one of them, as you saw earlier. But... she has been found by the bounty hunters. And she works for the worst one of all."
"Loki." Said Wanda, happy to know at least one thing before it was told to her. She knew that, by being a doll, she was immediately given all of her character's information. Still, there was something about Loki that was untouchable, inaccessible. Wanda Maximoff had been around for most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but her character and Loki's had never collided. She wondered what he was really like, if the one in the warehouse was just a bad egg. She wondered if it was deadly of her to wonder these things.
"Exactly," Karl said, getting up and going into the corner for three of the Tootsie Rolls. "Now on to a lighter subject. An old man named Paul works here, and every Friday he carries a handful of Tootsie Rolls in his pocket. They were supposed to be for his friends, but..." Karl shrugged. "Some get dropped. You could say we're good at finding more than just Blazers."
The Ancient One reveled in a chuckle and took one of the candies from Karl. Wanda was offered one, too.
"Please, dine with us. You are family now." Karl said, making earnest eye contact with her.
Family. Alright. Wanda searched her memory for that word elsewhere, but that part must have been locked. She took the Tootsie Roll carefully.
"So what do we do now?" She asked.
"Train. Meditate. Find other Blazers."
"And we'll help you, too, Wanda, don't worry. We didn't forget about you already." Said the Ancient One.
Karl looked around the room, lost, and blatantly ignoring the space Wanda occupied. "Oh, I already have."
They all shared a good laugh, forced and tired as it was, but that was what family felt like then.
As time passed, Wanda learned to hone her powers. Better than any of the other Blazers he'd seen, Karl had said. Maybe even better than the Ancient One.
The Ancient One gave Karl the side-eye, but there was a smile in her voice when she said, "We shall see."
Since there was no need for dolls to sleep, the days and nights were spent mostly the same. Two hours to train. Two hours to meditate. One hour for dining, rinse and repeat, with one hour's free time. Not like free time was any different from regular time. All it did was leave Wanda without a distraction from the noise in her mind. She began to dread free time because of this.
Some days were better than others. Some days Wanda could confidently look at her reflection in the sheen of her plastic packaging and feel comfortable, beautiful, even. Other days, she avoided the mirror like the plague, not wanting to see the truth. On these days her spirits were low, and her stress was high. She would think of all the things she could have been, and reasons why she was it. Obviously she had done something wrong. But what? What could have been so awful to cause for this sort of punishment? It killed her to not know the answer. Still, the Ancient One saw it differently. She largely blamed Wanda's mixed emotions on the fact she used to be a Rogue Soul- a soul that burns wildly with a motivation that can't be explained by anyone, a soul that ravages the world in search of the one thing that might make them whole.
It was a good solution to one of her problems. It wasn't the solution Wanda was looking for, but sometimes you don't look for solutions yourself.
Sometimes they fall right into your lap.
And the day came when it did, when Wanda was torn between discomfort and ease, when the three of them gathered in the base to talk.
"Hm?" Wanda asked, nostrils full of the faux-chocolatey scent of Tootsie Rolls once again. It had became the trio's nightly routine to dine this way- sitting in a circle like monks, each with a chunk of the candy to smell and wind down for the night. There was comfort in this routine, but the days had began to melt into weeks, and then months. Wanda thought that the boredom would kill her... if the bounty hunters didn't find her first.
"I've heard that you can buy your way out of here with enough CostCoins." Said Karl.
"Fascinating," said Wanda, but she didn't really believe so. She could hex her way into a human's home if it came to that. She would just have to wait until the daylight hours, get close enough in range to an unsuspecting employee, and they would unknowingly be putty in her hands. Wanda shook her head. She had moved past that. Maybe past Wanda would do things like that. Present Wanda was different. "Are you going to do that, Karl?"
Karl gave her a close-mouthed smile and patted her lightly on the shoulder. "You are my focus for now, Wanda."
"That's nice, Karl. Thank you."
"Karl is my most loyal ally," the Ancient One chipped in. "I've had other assistants before him and they all..." she sighed. "Found other things to do with their time. But Karl is extremely devoted to our cause. And for that I am grateful." The Ancient One raised her chunk of Tootsie Roll in a sort of toast to Karl.
"Such flattery," Karl replied. "What is it, my Finding Day?" He laughed abruptly, and it died away just as quickly. His eyes were downcast, his mouth moved little as he spoke. "I just want to make sure all the dolls get where they need to go."
Things went quiet. The awkward, sad sort of quiet. Before Wanda's mind could fill with her emotions again, the Ancient One cleared her throat.
"Speaking of which, Karl has suggested to take you to Magenta tomorrow, Wanda, if you wish."
"Who's Magenta?"
"Oh, we forgot to tell you that!" The Ancient One said, letting true excitement into her voice for the first time since Wanda had known her. She clapped her hands and brought another spell into existence. She manipulated the glowing disc until it showed the face of a man, rough and blotched with something on the side of his mouth. "He's the matchmaker of our little world. He reads magnets, and is able to tell you your magnet match for a small fee. But he deals in other things, too. I saw your curiosity when I told you about the four tiers of reincarnation. Karl is thinking that he may be able to read your past, and tell you where your soul had once been."
Wanda shivered. Someone to tell her who she used to be? Nothing could have been better. That's all she really wanted to know. The minute after Magenta told her she used to be a man, that she was supposed to be a man, she was convinced that all of life's problems would cease. No more bounty hunters, no more talk of Blazing Souls or Kamala Khan or Clint number 42.
"I'll do it. I'll go."
"My, you certainly are eager!" The Ancient One exclaimed, getting up from her rug and offering Wanda a hand. "Karl is taking you tomorrow. After the alarm chimes that the work day is over."
"You aren't going?"
"No, I'm staying in the base. I feel like Kamala will need my assistance soon," Her smile was half proud and half sad, the smile that only a mother could give.
The Ancient One hugged her then. It was Wanda's first.
"Be safe. The outskirts of district five are rife with bounty hunters. Follow Karl closely. He knows the way to Magenta."
Wanda was the first to pull away, not fully knowing how to react to love. "You've been before, Karl? What did he tell you?"
Karl crossed his arms. "I didn't go for me."
"Are you too chicken?"
"Am I what?"
"Chicken. Like, you're afraid of how he will read you."
"No," Karl protested, his face lined with worry. "Tell you what. I'll get a reading done tomorrow, too, when you go. To see who my magnet match is."
"Ooh, really? I'll like to stay and see that."
"Not if he kicks you out first."
"Har-har, Karl. You better be up bright and early. Er... dark and late. I want to head out before the last chime rings."
"Sure, Wanda."
The Ancient One cleared her throat. "That's enough out of you two. The warehouse will be opening soon."
The Ancient One shooed them out of the main room, into the cardboard tube that created a tunnel for them to climb back into their respective boxes. Wanda settled into the clear plastic liner and heard the crunch of Karl's next door.
"Don't sleep in!"
"How could I? You'd be pestering me all day."
Wanda made a raspberry noise with her tongue. Karl echoed back. Like children.
"I said that's enough." The Ancient One called from far away.
Wanda sighed. She was too excited to sleep- not that dolls need sleep anyways- it was just a precaution in case the warehouse workers needed to ship them away. Yet she shut her eyes and sleep seized her, pulling her into a dream unlike any other.
In the dream she was running. Her body was larger, her step heavier. She neck-high in soft, cheerfully-colored fabric, fabric that passed down each broad shoulder and slim leg. Her dream self passed by a dusky, clear glass, a door, and saw that she was not a she.
This was the man she knew she once was, the man she was meant to be.
Wanda was struck by these new features, pleased by the firmness in her chest, the thickness of her brow, but they felt alien now. Undeserved. Half of her belonged here, half of her wanted to be in her current body again. She wasn't sure which was the truth, which one she should desire more, or aspire to be. There was more conflict in the dusky mirror of that glass door than anywhere else in that store.
The store the dream had put her in was obviously closed for the night. No shoppers milled around in the square outside, no security mingled around the merchandise inside. She caught a blinking red light out of the corner of her eye and turned to face it- it was a security camera. Instinctively, she reached into the pocket of her man's overcoat and pulled out a thin roll of black electrical tape.
Ah, so this was her purpose here.
The next parts of the dream came in a series of events- like a montage. She'd perform one action, then black out, then see another scene.
She'd jumped up to the camera- blackout.
She unrolled the tape with a shrill stretching noise- blackout.
She pressed tape over the blinking red light of the camera- blackout.
She heard otherworldly movement in the store- blackout.
She saw a doll awakening in her box, stretching and groaning, unassuming- blackout.
She extended the blade of a boxcutter- blackout.
She went to the doll's box and slit open the plastic- blackout.
This one felt longer than the others.
She saw the doll in a pile on the floor below, cut into pieces.
Blackout.
Wanda shook herself awake, gasping.
She felt unclean, monstrous.
She knew she wouldn't want to talk about this.
She knew she didn't want to think about this.
She knew exactly what this meant for her past.
She knew now what a Rogue Soul was- and why other dolls were so terrified of them.
"Wanda? Is that you?" The Ancient One called, her voice distant and unsure.
"Yeah! Yeah, it's me." Wanda panted, uncertain. She realized this was the day someone would tell her what she already knew.
And then everyone would hate her as they ought to.
"Come to breakfast." The Ancient One said.
Wanda rose and crawled, stiff as a corpse, from her box to the main room, where Karl and the Ancient One were already standing in wait for her.
"Morning, Wanda." Said Karl, raising a chunk of Tootsie Roll in the air. "Care for a snack before we go?"
"No, thanks." She declined. The sight of food made her sick.
"You know, Karl told me he was surprised to have woken up before you," The Ancient One commented. "Given that you were so excited yesterday," The Ancient One noticed the troubled furrow of Wanda's brow. "Is something the matter?"
"No." Wanda lied with a shrug.
"Alright, if you insist. Are you both set to go, then? Let me say goodbye before you do."
The Ancient One lifted Wanda's chin with a curved finger, waiting for something from her, but Wanda still said nothing. She wondered if the Ancient One could read a person's dreams through their eyes.
"Be good. Don't worry so much. Magenta may look intimidating, but he is a good man. I should know," The Ancient One giggled a little, which was unlike her. Wanda's head then hit her chest as the Ancient One pulled her into her arms. "Here Karl," she ordered. "Let's do... what is it the humans call it? A group hug. A group hug before you go."
"Well, alright," Karl laughed, rolling his eyes. Wanda felt his left arm wrap around her back as the right one laid on the Ancient One's shoulder. It was an uncomfortable embrace that gave Wanda a different sort of comfort. No matter what sort of person the nightmare made her believe she had been, she was still loved.
The Ancient One ushered them out of the base and waved from the doorway, giving her last warnings to Karl as they walked away.
"Conceal yourselves, travel under shelves if you must, don't stop for anything, don't look anyone else in the eye..."
"I think she worries too much." Karl said, shaking his head once the Ancient One and her voice had disappeared.
"She's just trying to protect us."
"I have Blazing Soul with me. Our enemies will need protecting!" Karl exclaimed, patting Wanda's shoulder. He withdrew his hand when he saw she wasn't laughing along with him.
"Why so quiet today? Are you finally getting nervous?"
"Tired," Wanda replied, her voice raspy. She titled her head, watching the subtle tremor in Karl's step. "But you're nervous. Afraid your princess is in another castle?" She said, forcing a laugh as she elbowed Karl's side.
Karl did not react.
"I am nervous." He agreed. And that was that.
They traveled in near silence. Occasionally there would be a scraping noise from one of their shoes, or the wispy thread of sounds trickling in from a nearby party, but not much else. Wanda hardly noticed the atmosphere, with all she had to think about.
I've never been to a party, I wonder if I'd like them. Will Magenta tell me the truth? What is he like? Is he known for telling the truth? God, all this walking. I didn't realize he'd be so far away. What district is this? Maybe I wasn't a man in my past life, men seem to have a better sense of direction. But then why do I feel so unnatural in this body? Am I supposed to be somewhere else? Should I be on the lookout for bounty hunters? Will they find me here? Better get ready to use my powers, just in case. Okay, Karl, speed it up there, bud. It's like you're walking a funeral march. Wait, did I remember my CostCoins? Yeah... yeah I did.
"You sure you know were we're going?" Wanda said.
"Of course. I have been down this way many times."
"The Ancient One told me Magenta lived in the slums. This isn't looking too... slummy yet."
"I take the back way. To avoid confrontation."
"Ah. Bounty hunters, right?"
"Them... among other things." Karl sighed and pushed a low-hanging strip of packaging tape out of the way like it was a jungle vine.
"Like what other things?"
"Oh, you know, the usual. Hagglers, the homeless. Dolls that want your money for one reason or another," Karl stuck his pointer finger in the air. "But all CostCoins lead to one source."
"Magenta?"
Karl swallowed and ducked again, leading Wanda beneath an industrial metal shelf. They passed stray balls of lint, an uncapped Sharpie marker, and thousands of cardboard tabs. This had to be the slums, Wanda thought. She let Karl crawl on ahead as she prepared herself to have her fortune read for the first time. She would finally be given a past, a past that her nightmare would confirm or deny, and then her future would begin from there.
She closed her eyes for only a second, concentrating.
A tight hand clasped shut around her mouth.
A tighter one pushed her back from the tunnel's ending light.
Wanda choked on the hand, spitting it away, and was about to scream before a voice spoke.
"Shh! Wanda! It's me, Kamala Khan."
"Kamala?"
Wanda blinked, realizing that the blur of eyes and mouth before her was the visitor from a few months back. She looked different now, with her eyes shining and her breathing rushed. Wanda knew this was serious.
"Don't go out there. Don't follow Karl. You're in dangerous territory. The bounty hunters are here, and I know that because I'm part of them, but I am not one of them. I want you to save yourself. Turn back and run."
"To the base?"
Kamala turned away. "The base has been destroyed. As soon as you left, it was gone. There's nothing left."
"The Ancient One?"
"Either dead or as good as dead... we can only pray that she is on the run. I know, Wanda, I loved her, too. She was like a mother to me. But now is the time to take action. You need to go. Go now!"
"But Karl..."
"Forget about him. He'll find his way out. There's no price on his head, unlike you." Kamala stretched out her arms and pulled Wanda back to the other side of the shelf.
"Wait, no! He's my friend. I'm not leaving without him."
"But your safety..."
"How many are out there?"
"Everyone."
"Loki?"
Kamala froze. "Yes."
"Let me go. I'm not afraid of him."
"Wanda- you don't understand. He wants your power more than anything. Taking that power will kill you."
"If he wants my power, does that mean his is not enough?"
Kamala bit her lip. "I don't know. He doesn't use them around us."
"Even better," Wanda pulled away gently from Kamala's dress. "Take care of yourself, Kamala. You're just a kid, I can see that. You deserve better."
"And you don't?" Kamala argued. She was already almost out of range.
"We'll see if I do." Wanda decided. And she brought herself into the other side of the light.
There was more people standing outside than she knew how to count. She always imagined the bounty hunters were a gang of four, maybe five. At least as many as the Ancient One had mentioned by name. But here there could have been dozens, hundreds of dozens, all of them bowed in waiting for command from the infamous Loki.
Yet he was just standing there, talking with Karl, neither of them fighting or escaping. This was not the Loki she had been told about, surely. He didn't look very friendly, only the abuse of the dolls obeying him could have hinted at that.
He was decidedly handsome, with chiseled features and hair as black as the darkness from which she had come. He was stunningly dangerous, and his lips spoke of her death before she had even met him. He changed, however, when their eyes met, and those same lips shriveled into shock when her blazing red met the teal of his eyes.
He wasn't worth her fear.
"There you are, little rat," Loki called out, mocking her, strengthening her loathing against him. "It seems that your hiding game is over, thanks to Karl here."
"Karl?" Wanda screamed.
Karl Mordo looked away. She wasn't worth even a final glance.
"What, you thought he was your ally?" Loki asked, approaching her. "Everyone turns to the bounty hunters eventually."
"Karl," Wanda tried again, her voice straining with desperation. "Look at me."
"Because he can offer something no others can. Freedom. See this?" Loki beckoned at the kneeling doll closest to him, and they handed him a large silver coin. "Money. Money is the only way to freedom here. And we have more to offer than you could ever imagine."
"And then what? If you are so rich, why do you want my powers?"
Loki sniffed. "Freedom is more than a happy home, little rat. It is... perfection. And I should be, I could be... I will be. As soon as I become Tier Four. You're all that's standing between me and my destiny."
"So you're not even a Blazing Soul? I could kill you with a flick of my wrist."
"You can certainly try." Loki smiled, and Wanda understood.
Loki's minions were rising slowly to their feet, finally catching on to the smell of death in the air.
Wanda tried for Karl one last time.
"They got the Ancient One, Karl! She's gone. Everything we had is gone. And you're going to let them win?"
Karl looked. His eyes were unsurprisingly unapologetic. There had never been a soul inside him. Not a decent one, anyways. "We're just trying to help you." He replied monotonously.
It was a lie, it was all a lie. Karl was the worst liar she had ever known.
Wanda choked back a sob.
"I'll never forgive you." She said, and then she erupted with a strong heat, red as blood, red as fire. Wanda's head ached and her eyes seared, but the pain felt amazing. No wonder Loki wanted to kill her. This was real freedom.
"Seize her!" Loki commanded. "That power will be mine."
The minions started rumbling towards her. Wanda blasted each one back with an energy beam from her hand. She aimed recklessly, firing and dodging, firing and dodging. When they grabbed at her head, she learned to duck. When they grabbed at her heels, she learned to fly.
Loki sent minion after minion, none of them a match for a Blazing Soul. Each one fought until they fainted or skittered away in surrender, sure to be punished by Loki later. She wasn't going to have that.
She sent forward a ribbon of light that seized Loki by the throat and brought him into the air with her. He clawed at his neck helplessly and he tried to force himself to cease breathing. Wanda could see him reminding himself he was a doll, that he was not alive as humans are, that he didn't need air to survive. The struggle did not convince him.
"You took everything from me," Wanda growled, her voice sounding like a vengeful god's. "You're nothing but a Rogue Soul. I used to be one, too. And you want to know what happened to me?" Wanda grit her teeth and began to loosen her magic's grip on Loki's throat to focus on his joints, planning to tear him limb from limb. "I died."
Loki screamed in agony while his minions down below watched. Some in horror, some in delight.
"You were... a Rogue?" Loki gasped.
She nodded. "And I learned my lesson. Did you?"
Loki chuckled as the last of the magic left his throat. Wanda suddenly became chill, and the air smelled like death again. "I... will... never!" Loki shouted, whipping out a scepter and aiming the pointed end at Wanda's shoulder.
She threw him off just in time, sending his tortured body into an array of boxes. She herself fell into a quarry of cardboard, able to see everything yet not participate. Wanda had never seen such chaos, such destruction. And it was all from her.
It was worth it.
The minions scrambled after where they presumed her body to be, and Wanda covered her face, exhausted and bracing for the end.
"She went this way! This way!" Cried the juvenile tone of Kamala Khan, who pointed the hungry bounty hunters down a different path. They shrieked in fury and shoved around each-other, desperate to be the first to please their master, who they had forgotten in the mess of it all. The noise faded, and that was the end of it.
Wanda rolled over, under a crowded, cave-like shelf, and tried to steady her quaking nerves with a few deep breaths. She was safe, for now. She knew that from now on, every day would have to be a dance with death. Wanda could be up to the challenge, but for how long? Kamala and Karl were both bounty hunters, the Ancient One no longer existed. She had no where to go, no one to aid in her mission for survival.
Wanda believed she would have a short and unhappy existence.
She believed she was, and had always been, alone.
Until the cave spoke.
"Psst. Over here!" Someone whispered behind her, their breath brushing Wanda's ear.
She fired at them before even taking a glance over her shoulder.
"Easy! We're just trying to help you."
"That's exactly what Karl said before he betrayed me!" Wanda cried. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw three action figures crouching there under the tarp, just as much in hiding as she was. There was a Captain America doll, an Iron Man doll, and one other that Wanda could not yet identify. He was hiding too well. Almost like he had been doing it for a long time.
"Who is Karl?" Captain America asked.
"Karl Marx?" Iron Man piped up.
"You really don't know?"
"No, we don't. Now please, come with us. We're heading out of this place."
"District five?" Wanda said. It wasn't much, but if she could escape the realm of bounty hunters, anything had to be better than that.
"No. The warehouse. We're leaving this whole damn place. Find ourselves a real home, with a human."
A home. A real one, maybe. With windows to see the sunshine, and love to fill the days instead of fear. God, that would be so nice. She could only imagine her room back at the Ancient One's base-though it was gone- magnified tenfold, with color and light. She would be taken into the arms of a human and give Wanda her own special place in that home. That would probably be the nicest thing that could ever happen to her.
But Magenta. She'd be leaving the man who could give Wanda the only thing she wanted.
She had come to a crossroads.
Which one was more worth it in the end?
Die early- but have identity? Or live in mystery- but live forever?
"I used to work with Loki," a gruff voice spoke up. "He won't rest until you're dead. It's best if you leave and never come back."
The words had come from the third doll, the one who had been hiding in the shadows. He looked like he'd been through more than he liked to let on. There was the telltale tattoo on his wrist that she'd heard about, the engagement tattoo he shared with his dead wife.
"You're Clint number 42," Wanda realized, pointing a shaky finger his way. "I'm so sorry."
Clint 42 cleared his throat, probably thankful his purple glasses could disguise most of his emotion. "What's done is done. Let's all let go of the past."
Wanda decided it then. She was done with death.
The Captain America doll smiled, a smile unlike Karl's. "We could use a gal like you."
"A gal. Yeah." Wanda said, her spirits falling. "I'm a girl."
"Then you're the girl for us," the Iron Man figure replied, beckoning her to come with them. "Come with us. We're going to find a home together."
Wanda hadn't expected that. She thought they would find her a box and send her away to brave the world alone. But this... this was a family. Another one. "The four of us?" She asked.
"Four... plus a couple more," the Iron Man titled his head from side to side. "It's a collection."
Wanda took a glance over her shoulder.
And what she saw behind her was a life she had already outgrown.
She faced forward again. She took a deep breath.
"I'm in."
(To be concluded in part four, coming in October.)

-Loki