“This is amazing,” I mumbled.
“It’s all because of you,” Simon said. I think he overstated my involvement. I had gathered the people in town, but he and Amanda had rallied the troops. “But you haven’t seen the best part.”
It got better?
There were couples wearing geeky t-shirts and carrying bags from Legends. I couldn’t help but chuckle as somebody walked by with a chainsaw statue of a superhero under their arm. It was one thing to bring the attendees, but to see them spending money? An injection of income benefitted every small business in Firefly.
“Jason!”
I almost didn’t recognize him in his costume. White spandex with red undies and a giant V on his chest. He came charging forward, hands out as if he were flying. His cape whipped back and forth as he navigated the crowd. He stopped short, hopping as he struck a pose. I see he and his father had practiced together.
“Citizen…” Simon whispered, pointing at Lucas. “Stand back…”
“Oh!” Lucas pointed at me. “Citizen, stand back! This is a job for Valiant!” He held his hands out as heflewaround us.
I had convinced myself the convention was for me, a little slice of the big city in our small town. As Lucas made ‘pow’ noises, fighting invisible villains, I realized it wasn’t for me, at least not me now. My younger self needed to see he wasn’t weirdo, or at least he wasn’t theonlyweirdo.
“Jason,” Lucas whispered. “It’s me.” He lifted his mask, and I feigned surprise. “I’m not the real Valiant.”
“I would never have?—”
“The real Valiant is over there.” He turned and pointed to a crowd of people gathered around a table. TherealValiant? It couldn’t be, not in Firefly. I looked at Simon’s face for guidance. What was going on?
“I called in a favor.”
It wasn’t Simon who made miracles happen. I made an audible gasp as Lucy emerged from the crowd. While Simon and Lucas had donned store-bought spandex suits, Lucy had chosen a ferocious vigilante as her avatar. The leather hugged her curves and the heels… how the hell did she expect to fight crime in those shoes?
“Hellcat?” If Lucy confessed to a side gig fighting crime, I’d believe her. “How did you…”
“I have a friend who makes costumes for movies. If I’m going to be a superhero…” She gave her ass a light slap. “I’m going to look hot doing it.” Other than the hair color, she could have been the actress who played Hellcat. The similarities were mind-boggling.
I snorted. Amanda would destroy this poor woman.
“He owed me for a late-night house call after a few too many shots.”
“Well, the outfit is perfect on you.”
She shook her head. “Oh, this? He threw this in on top of the other favor.”
Simon gave me a light shove toward Lucy. She held out her hand. I wasn’t sure if I could handle more surprises. At any moment, I was going to yell, “Big feelings.”
She took me by the hand while Lucas snagged my free hand. I had thought about Lucy’s comment the night before. If I were going to keep seeing Simon, this relationship would consist of more than two people. The speed atwhich Lucy invited me was almost as heartwarming as Lucas jumping up and down with excitement as we moved through the crowd.
“Holy shit,” I gasped.
“Bad words,” Lucas said. “You owe the jar.”
“Holy crap,” I corrected.
“Better,” he said.
Standing in front of a cloth backdrop, the actor who played Valiant in the Centurions movie shook the hand of an adoring fan. He wrapped an arm around her, giving the thumbs up as she took a selfie with him. Everybody knew Chris Wilde. He had grown so popular that after his debut, the studio offered him a spinoff.
“How in the?—”
“The man who made my costume used to date him.”
This had gone from amazing to surreal. The bigger conventions had famous people posing with patrons. They could afford to bring Hollywood’s best. When I discovered how much it’d cost to get a celebrity, I decided to focus on local talent.
