Pocket-Sized Avengers: Assembling the Heroes P.1 (Chris and Tony)

Once upon a time, I pulled an "Elsa" and decided to interview each of teammates to discover their backstories, and all about the times they had before they were found by She. I figure now is as good a time as any to publish it, considering we're trying to reach a goal of two blog posts a month. (A fair warning to you that this is going to be a hefty read without any pictures, as none of the dolls interviewed had access to a camera in their previous homes.)
Without further ado, let's assemble the heroes.

***

Chapter one: A Heart of Iron
Tony, aka Iron Man, aka Iron Man Avengers All Stars figure number forty-nine, was cruising high above the stocks of the warehouse, whistling to himself along the way. He wasn't all that good at carrying a tune, but no matter. Music made the days seem shorter, and that was exactly what the doctor had prescribed.
Tony was his own doctor.
He felt it was his job to fly around to monitor the activity around the warehouse after it closed, and to help out whenever a doll needed saving. But there was never anything to monitor, and no doll ever needed saving. And even if there was, Tony knew that he would never feel ready enough to step in and make that change.
What he really wanted was a mission.
Yeah, like a real job. A challenge to tackle. Or an opponent, if need be. Tony wasn't against necessary violence, and the energy blasts from his hands assisted with that. Problem was, no other doll seemed to hate him enough to fight him, and no other doll seemed to like him enough to be his partner.
Oh, and he wanted a partner. Tony couldn't forget about that. The other action figures of his kind had gone to find their magnet match through a local psychic doll named Magenta, and he had heard the stories. Many of them found love, true love. But many of them also found heartbreak when they found that their magnet mate lived in a different warehouse across the world, or worse, that their match had already expired, and their soul was no longer in the doll that held the magnet.
Tony couldn't risk going to Magenta alone. He would need someone there, beside him, for emotional support. And so far, there weren't any takers.
A small voice spoke to him. You're gonna have to start meeting people, Tony. 
"What? Who is this?" He asked. "Jarvis?"
No, this is your conscience. Just you. It's always been just you.
"I get it, I get it." Tony replied to himself. "I'll find people, me. Or we'll find people. Whatever it takes."
Wait, what's going on over there? Said Tony's conscience.
"What is- oh. I see," Tony zoomed in on some activity going on not far from where he was flying. It looked to be a pair of dolls locked in combat on a tall shelf. And combat was dangerous, especially when you were so high up and falling down would be your expiration. "I'll take care of it. Thanks, me."
Tony began his descent on the scene, running over all the ways he could confront them. So far, he had eight different plans, but the one thing he hadn't planned for was... him. One of the combatants was a Captain America action figure, the same brand and year he was, and when he looked over his shoulder at Tony, they both froze.
Earth to Tony. You still have to control the suit.
"Right, yeah. I do. I know I do."
Then why are we falling?
"We're fal-" Tony didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. The energy repulsors on his hands and feet gave out with an ear-deafening silence. He tumbled forward, arms flailing and eyes flashing with colors and lights, knocking right into the second combatant, a Red Skull figure. Boxes tumbled from the shelf and fell upon both of them, but Tony was more ashamed than in pain.
"Hey!" Said a voice from outside of the mess. "Are you okay?"
Tony pulled his head around to meet eyes with the man which had stopped him in his tracks. He got out just in time to see the Captain America doll running towards him trip and fall over in his tracks.
Tony held back a laugh. "Yeah, yeah, I am. Sorry, Cap. Usually I'm not this clumsy."
"Me neither," Cap stood and offered Tony a hand up. "I'm Chris. Thanks for helping me out back there."
"Back there? We're still here. And you should probably do something about cherry-flavored Voldemort over there."
Chris took a glance over his shoulder. Red Skull was pinned under a box, his legs struggling to kick it off. "Oh yeah. Maybe."
"Need help finding him a containment unit?" Tony asked.
"No, that won't be necessary," Chris walked over and lifted the box off of Red Skull without much effort. "Sorry, Johann. I win this round. That'll be twenty CostCoins."
(Loki here. CostCoins were apparently the currency of the realm in the warehouse. It is only dropped change, but it was worth a lot to these dolls, who had nothing. They came up with the name CostCoins after humans would ask, "how much does it cost?" before buying anything.)
Red Skull kicked himself upwards. "Twenty? I thought we agreed on ten before!"
"It was ten. But then I had some extra help," Chris pointed a thumb over at Tony, who was standing cluelessly in plain sight of the villain. "So it'll be ten for each of us."
Red Skull's face contorted into an ugly scowl. "That's cheating."
"What if I gave you thirty next time you win? To make up for the twenty for my partner and I?"
"Yeah... I'm his... partner." Tony whispered to the inside of his helmet. No one had ever called him that before, except in his dreams.
Red Skull considered this. "Fine. Here," Red Skull found his packaging and took out 2 small and thin silver coins. "But nothing more! Now help me clean this up from your 'partner' falling on me."
Chris, Tony, and Johann rearranged the boxes in silence while Tony's mind buzzed with at least ten more plans- a plan to keep Chris in his life- if only for a second longer.
"Listen, Cap. I don't mean to be too forward, but... would you be interested in taking a walk with me after this?"
Chris, broad-shouldered and blue-eyed, smirked slightly. "Yes. I'll like that. Thank you, Tony," then he paused. "It is Tony, isn't it?"
"Oh, God. Yeah, yeah it is. I never told you my name?"
"No. I guess we must have been distracted with... other things."
Tony nodded fervently. "Yeah. You know something? I don't really get out much. So this..." Tony gestured to the frowning Johann and the toppled boxes. "... this is everything."
Chris nodded. "No, I understand. My fights with Johann is just about all I get to do around here. Things will be better once a human finds us."
"And how do you think a human will find us?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean...," Tony fiddled around with his hands a bit. "All they have to do is order us online, we get packed away, and show up at their doorstep a couple of weeks later. We're all chosen at random. Don't you think there is an 'easier' way to determine our fate?"
"Can I repeat my first question?" Chris asked, laughing awkwardly. "I'm sorry, Tony. I don't know what you're trying to say."
"Yeah. You know what? Maybe it isn't important right now. Let's just get these boxes done."
You've only known him for five minutes are you're already talking about the future? Said Tony's conscience.
"I can't help it, look at him. He's exactly the kind of doll you can talk to like that."
"Who are you speaking to?" Chris said.
"Nobody," Tony replied quickly. "Will Johann be okay if we leave him for a walk?"
"Oh yeah, he's fine. He probably wants to blow off some steam after losing," Chris lifted the last box above his head, one nearly four times his own weight, and slipped into into place on the shelf. "Let's go now. We have a couple of hours before the warehouse opens again."
Tony walked to the edge of the shelf and peered over. He wasn't afraid of heights, and Chris didn't seem to be, either, but he wasn't too keen on climbing down.
"We're going to have to fly down if we don't plan on expiring today."
"That's the goal," Chris said, joining Tony by his side. "How do we fly?"
Tony wasn't sure if he should reply. If he gave an answer that Chris didn't like, he had just lost his first and only friend. But if Chris did like it... well, what was there to lose?
"Hold onto me. I can fly the both of us."
Chris took a step back. "Promise you won't make a crash landing this time?"
"Promise." Tony held out an armored hand, and Chris grabbed and shook it without hesitation. His touch was firm, as to be expected from a super-soldier, but it was also warm, which was not to be expected from a doll made of plastic. When Tony let go, the warmth remained for longer than he thought possible before dissolving into tingles on his palm.
"Is something the matter, Tony?" Chris asked, who began to massage his own hand. Could it be he had felt the same tingles?
It's static electricity. That's all.
Tony nodded and came a little closer. He held out one arm, almost like he was getting ready for a hug, while he activated the other one's repulsion. "Ready?"
Chris said nothing, but he took Tony's arm and wrapped it around himself. Tony was glad that he had a permanent mask to cover his face, otherwise Chris might have seen his small smile.
Don't lose focus. Don't think about who you're carrying. He's someone you've just met.
"Don't drop me." Chris said.
"If I do, I'll give you ten CostCoins." Tony replied.
Chris chuckled. "Oh, great," He pressed a hand to Tony's chest. The usually-blue arc reactor shone orange between his fingers. "I might expire, but at least I'll have ten CostCoins to cover a proper funeral."
"I won't let you expire," Tony mumbled, too quiet for even another doll to hear. He fired up his boots and kicked away from the shelf. The two of them drifted slowly to the ground.
"So I'm your partner, huh? I thought our characters weren't supposed to get along."
"Tell that to Johann," Chris chuckled and seemed to shake his head. "He's a real villain, but I can't seem to make any real enemies."
"You say that like it's a bad thing. I make enemies everywhere I go."
Chris shook his head, and what he said next made Tony feel like his arc reactor had suddenly shut down. "Not me, Tony. Not me."


Chapter two: Heroes Collide
Tony and Chris went on their walk, and hours passed. Tony and Chris met up again many hours later, and days passed. Tony and Chris began moving their boxes closer and closer together, and weeks passed. Tony had given up hope that he would ever find someone to fight, but he had found something better: someone to trust. They play-fought Johann together, they stayed up all night together, and they even did aerial tours together. The two had become basically inseparable.
Which was slightly worrying to Chris.
He had been in the warehouse for a while now. He had gained sentience as soon as his paint job was finished in the factory, and from that point on, it had been two and a half years without a human. Chris had always hoped that once he was found by a human, so too, would he find his magnet mate. Dolls rarely met and married in the warehouse; mostly they just kept to themselves. Tony once tried to set him up on a blind date with a Black Widow figure, but there were no sparks between them. The entire time, all Chris wanted to do was return to his box and talk with Tony.
Tony himself didn't care much about finding love. Chris knew that he wasn't completely content in the warehouse, but judging by his character, Chris doubted Tony wouldn't be completely content anywhere. The only times he didn't hear Tony complain was when they were together.
Yet on a particular night, the warehouse was buzzing with an energy that propelled Tony from his box at roughly 2:00am to wake Chris and ask him if he wanted to see Magenta, the man that could change their lives.
"Who's Magenta?" Chris had asked through the sleepy gruffness of his voice, blinking in the blinding blue light of Tony's arc reactor.
"Haven't you heard the stories? He's the last of his kind? The one who will tell you your magnet match? You really need to get out more, old man."
"I do get out," Chris protested. "I had a date once."
"That was months ago. Please don't tell me that was the last date you had." Tony begged.
"And the first," Chris sighed, escaping his box and now fully awake. "Isn't Magenta just a myth?"
"I thought so too, but this place is big. He could be out there. And look what I got to prove it," Tony presented Chris with a couple of indecipherable doodles written on a gum wrapper. "I was able to purchase a map to his lair from another doll for eighty CostCoins."
"You bought a map? At two in the morning? For eighty CostCoins?"
"Yeah, that's what I just said," Tony tapped Chris's arm. "Glad you were paying attention."
"Are you sure the map is real?"
"No. But that's what makes it interesting."
Chris regarded Tony, shining blue eyes against shining eyelights. It would be good to get out, even if it was so early. And it would be even better to get out with Tony. There were only so many times he could fight Johann before getting bored. What else was there to do besides fly around and take walks? This was the chance of a lifetime, a chance to find his true love.
"Okay. Where is this Magenta?"
The pair set off, into the "bad" part of the warehouse, where boxes had been carelessly knocked from the shelves, CostCoins littered the floor, and the "stable" dolls were few and far between. They got many offers for psychic readings along the way, from certain masters of the mystic arts or the like, but they weren't going in for just any old reading. This was Magenta.
"Ever been here before?" Chris asked casually on their way.
"Come on, Cap, does this look like the face of a man who has met the love of his life?"
"I- I can't see your face, Tony."
Tony slapped a hand on his walking partner's back. "Exactly. Once I do, I will have a face."
Chris chuckled to himself and nearly tripped over Tony's feet in distraction. "Sure, you will. And then I'll be attending your wedding."
"What made you think you were invited, old man?" Tony asked, his voice oozing playfulness.
"I'll invite myself. I'll crash your wedding, in fact. You'll never see it coming."
"In a bright blue suit? I think not," Tony said. "But seriously. I've never seen this man- this psychic- really, ever in my life. I've only heard the stories. And honestly, I'm a little scared of him."
"Oh, don't take it so seriously. All he does is read your mind, tell you your soul mate, and you determine if your life if ruined or made better from there." Chris grinned.
"Of course. Silly me, I had nothing to worry about this whole time. I'm glad you're coming with me, though, Chris."
"I wouldn't miss my chance for the world," Chris replied. "It's a strange world, Tony, and one that I'm lucky to participate in."
"Mm-hm." Tony sighed.
The pair continued their walk in a silence rarely felt between two people. It wasn't the kind of silence you felt you had to fill, but one you wanted to savor, just to listen to each-other's footsteps in sync as you walked side by side. It was Chris who finally spoke again when the psychic's lair was in view.
"So who do you think will be your magnet match? I saw you making eyes at Natalia the other day. Does she interest you?"
(Natalia, as they told me, was the eighteenth Black Widow figure there.)
Tony rolled his shoulders back. "Yeah, but you know the Black Widows. They're stone cold. And you know me. I'm a natural flirt. What about you? Any women you like?"
"Not yet." Chris replied, feeling suddenly anxious.
"I wouldn't worry about it, Cap. Magenta will tell you your match. I know any woman would be lucky to be with you."
"Yeah, thanks," Chris whispered, but he still couldn't get something out of his head. The whole way to Magenta, he was restlessly thinking, speculating, and worrying about it. Well, maybe it wouldn't hurt if he told Tony. And if their relationship was broken forever after he'd said it, then so be it. An unfortunate truth was more important than an uncomfortable silence. Yes. He was going to say it.
"Tony, what if I don't like wom-"
"And I thought people were starting to doubt me," said a strong, yet soft voice. A body emerged from the shadows, the body of a Magneto Marvel Legends figure. He had a large splotch of hot pink paint over to the side of his lips, the factory flaw that gave Magenta both his mystic "birthmark" and his name. "Are you two here to have your fortunes read, or have I mistaken you for passers-by, like the rest?"
"Not this time," Tony said, completely obvious to what Chris was about to say. "Are your services still offered?"
"As long as I am here, they are. Please, come in." Magenta bowed away, revealing his lair on the inside of a cardboard box. No other doll in the warehouse has a private space of their own except him, and for good reason. He was the last of the Magneto figures, unable to be sold for his birthmark, but Magenta was a pioneer. He used his talents of detecting magnets to start a matchmaking business of his own. Because of this, Magenta was respected among every doll, but also feared. Not only could he detect magnets, but he could manipulate them, too, and respect is a far different feeling from trust.
The interior of the box was smoky and fragrant, for reasons unknown. Bubble wrap was the substitute for cushioned furniture, and a piece of cardboard was bent into a little end table were Magenta would do his reading.
"First, I must request you pay me twenty CostCoins." Said Magenta once they had all settled in.
Tony and Chris both slid two familiar silver coins across the table. Magenta gave no reaction to the money, but placed it safely in a drawstring bag before proceeding to talk.
"Are you adverse to flashing or colored lights?"
"No." They said.
"Perfect. That is my favorite part."
"When comes the reading?" Tony asked. "I wasn't expecting a carnival ride."
Magenta glared from behind his hooded helmet. "Patience. The experience is part of the reading. It will help you to visualize your magnet mate and you, together."
Magenta pulled out another drawstring bag, reached inside, and spread a shiny gray powder all across the table. "These are fine iron filings. Using this dust, I will paint you a picture of your love lives," He spread the powder across the surface of the table. "This represents the world of dolls. Each particle is one individual, existing as they are," Chris leaned forward, studying the powder. Tony did, too. "But when they come together, they become something different."
Magenta passed his hand over the table and the dust began to tremble. Each particle vibrated and began to bounce, some higher than others. Magenta shut his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were glowing white, absent of an iris or a pupil. He raised his hands, and two particles raised with him. The voice in which Magenta next spoke seemed to come from inside of Chris and Tony's own heads.
"These iron grains represent each of you. One for the man out of time, the other for the man with the iron heart."
Tony and Chris exchanged glances. Their faces looked almost human in the dark.
Magenta passed his hand over the particles again, and they all lifted from the table, hovering a little under the other two in the air. "First we shall begin with-"
Magenta paused, as if his dialogue had been cut off from external force.
"Start with who?" Said Tony. "What is it?"
"Something unusual has occurred."
"Something bad?"
"No. Just... interesting," Magenta grinned somewhat mischievously, the white of his teeth glowing the same color as his teeth. "Let me show you." He commanded the other grains higher, until they were mixed in with the original two. Magenta swirled his hand, and the grains did, too, becoming a whirlwind of iron that moved faster and faster, like a hurricane in front of them. Colors appeared: red, blue, gold, and white, and began spiraling and pulsating through the tornado. Chris tore his eyes away. He had lost sight of the particle that was meant to represent himself.
Suddenly the whirlwind stopped, and Magenta reached inside and parted the mess in two. Each half formed itself into a heart shape, one red and one blue.
"Now, if you'll allow me, I will use your magnet to call for your magnet match. When yours stirs within you, so will theirs. This is how you will know your soul mate."
"Wait, which one of us?" Tony asked.
Magenta didn't answer. Instead, he raised his hands, palms outwards towards his guests.
"Magenta! Which one of us?"
Chris gasped as if he was being strangled. There was electricity in the room, and it had struck him to his very core. The heart in front of him, the red one, was beating at the same rate as something that was in his chest. His magnet? Chris grabbed around in the dark for Tony's hand, willing for him feel it, too, to feel the pulse he had himself never felt before.
"Tony, do you...?" Chris didn't know what to say. Overcome with emotion, he choked on his own words. He looked to his left. Tony was sitting, slumped over in his chair, the dizzying spin of the blue heart reflecting off his metallic armor. The blue heart was beating in sync with the red heart, too.
"Have you seen enough?" Magenta asked, his voice cutting through the haze of their minds.
Tony nodded, still hypnotized by the heart in front of his face.
Magenta's hand swept through both of the hearts, dispersing the particles and ending the unfamiliar heartbeat in Chris's chest. The iron filings lowered back onto the table. Magenta blinked again and his eyes returned to normal. The reading was over.
"Wait, is that all?" Chris asked. He stood, but his legs felt like jelly, and dark spots appeared before his eyes from the light show.
Magenta folded his hands. "Yes, you both have your answer. You paid twenty CostCoins and I showed you your magnet mates. You can leave now."
"Wait, 'you both'? Then who is my magnet mate?"
"Look behind you."
Chris turned, running right into Tony. His forehead smacked against the helmet Tony wore, but the realization was more startling.
"But that can't be." Chris said, refusing to look Tony in the eye. He leaned over Magenta's table. "We can't be magnet mates. We're best friends."
"That's the best kind of magnet mate," Magenta replied. "The two hearts beat in sync with the magnet I assign them. Yours I made blue, and his was red. The fact that they were beating at the same time, without a discrepancy between them means that you two are much closer than best friends," Magenta sighed, got up, and began packing away his bag of iron filings. "I do not make the rules. I only make them easier to read."
Chris almost begged him for another reading. A different one. One where he was assigned to someone he had never met, someone he could fall in love with in the classic, romantic, way, not trip and fall on his face immediately. Tony put his hand on Chris's shoulder and spun him around, and Chris could no longer avoid his gaze... or his fate.
"Chris. We should go." Tony said, his voice soft and emotional.
Chris nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Magenta."
Magenta did not reply. His smirk was enough to leave on, and it had burned its way into Chris's mind.
The two of them left Magenta's lair and walked in silence back across the warehouse, but not the same silence as before. This silence had words that hung between them, words dying to be said, but not words that dared to be spoken. Chris cursed himself. If only that date with the Black Widow doll had gone well, but now he couldn't even remember her name. All he could think about was Tony, and the day he would eventually have to leave him.
"Tony?" Chris said, his voice squeaking.
"Yeah, Cap?"
"You do realize what this means, right?"
Tony nodded in defeat, yet determination. "Yeah," he hadn't looked Chris in the eye until then, and it was almost like his true brown irises- Chris was sure they were brown, it was such a true color- were desperate to escape his mask and see his one and only face-to-face as most other dolls could. "We're going to have to end up together, wherever we go, whatever we do, whatever it takes. I'm not losing you."
Chris was flattered. "But... how do we do that?"
Tony stepped back and raised his hands. It was clear he already had a plan. "We assemble a team of other dolls just like us. The greatest team ever built. They'll have to package us all in one set. And no one will be the wiser."
Chris wanted to believe his magnet match. He really did. But it would be nigh impossible for dolls to accomplish such a task in a world ruled by humans and their wills. "I hope you're right, Tony." He mumbled.
For what felt like weeks they wandered the facility, gathering other All Star Avengers figures, never once letting them know the real reason they were doing this. But the real reason didn't matter much to them. The other dolls had their own purpose for being part of what was soon to be called...
The Pocket-Sized Avengers.
(To be continued in part two, coming in August.)

-Loki