Fandemic

by Jennifer Estep

  I swallowed down the sadness clogging my throat. “So what did Blue have to do with you?”

  “Believe it or not, I was a total brat when I was a kid,” Kyle said, grinning. “Once I figured out how to use my power, I started messing with people. Picking pockets, stealing watches off people’s wrists, snatching their food and drinks before they could eat them.”

  “Until…”

  “Until one day, when I swiped this guy’s wad of cotton candy in Paradise Park. He was in costume so I knew that he had some sort of power, but I didn’t care who he was or what he could do. Even though I wasn’t all that swift back then, I was a stupid, arrogant kid, so I didn’t think that anyone else was as fast as me. I didn’t expect the guy to run after and catch up to me, but he did, and it was Bustling Blue.”

  Kyle stared off into the distance, his eyes soft with memories. “He gave me a good, stern talking-to and told me that if I could run that fast as a kid, then I might as well grow up, be a good guy, and use my speed to help people.” He grinned. “And that if he ever saw me stealing cotton candy again, he’d make me eat cones and cones of it until I was sick of the stuff.”

  He laughed at the memory. “Good ole Bustling Blue. I wonder what ever happened to him?”

  My stomach twisted. I didn’t have the heart to tell him. Not yet. Let him enjoy his happy recollections at least a few minutes longer.

  We turned the corner and reached one of the entrances to Paradise Park, which was one of Bigtime’s most popular attractions. The park was open twenty-four hours a day, year-round, and featured all sorts of rides, carnival games, food carts, and more. Cheery calliope music trilled through the air, and the scents of funnel cakes and other fried foods made my stomach rumble, despite the hearty lunch I’d just eaten at Quicke’s. Maybe Fiona was rubbing off on me.

  Kyle stepped onto a cobblestone path, and we went deep into the park, eventually wandering through an area filled with marble fountains spewing water up into the air. Given the clouds of chilly mist that hung in the air, this section of the park was deserted, except for a single Snowdom truck parked on a nearby access road. But the truck was dark and closed up tight. I guess nobody wanted ice cream when it was this cold outside.

  We walked to the far side of the fountain area. In the distance, wooden booths covered with bright, glittery signs had been set up on one of the park’s many snow-covered lawns. Kids and their parents were already lined up, eager to meet their favorite heroes, and I spotted a woman wearing a khaki fisherman’s vest going from booth to booth, checking things off on a clipboard. Chloe Cavanaugh, Abby’s event-planning partner, who was handling things while Abby was on vacation with Wesley.

  Kyle stopped and looked around. But the fountain area was deserted, so he felt safe enough to lift his mask up onto his head, revealing his face to me again.

  Rascal started sniffing around the fountains, so I put my purse down on a nearby bench and tied his leash to one of the iron slats so that he could explore a little bit but not wander off too far.

  Kyle crossed his arms over his chest, and we faced each other.

  “What’s wrong, Piper?” he asked again. “Why all the questions? Is this about last night? And our…talk?”

  “Yes, but it’s not what you’re thinking. Something happened to me after I saw you, on the way back to my apartment.” I swallowed again, dreading what I had to tell him now. “It has to do with the guy you mentioned. Bustling Blue. He had been hanging around Fiona’s store, and I had gotten to know him over the past few months…”

  I blinked back the tears that had gathered in my eyes, drew in a breath, and told him about finding Blue’s body and all the things he’d said before he’d died, all the warnings he’d given me. I also told Kyle what Fiona had said about the fabric scrap and color being a match for Frost’s costume.

  Kyle’s jaw clenched tight, his hands curled into fists, and he started pacing back and forth in front of me. Emotions flashed in his eyes almost as fast as he could run. Shock. Disbelief. Disgust. Anger.

  Yeah. That’s how I felt too, every time I thought about what Frost had done to Blue.

  “Poor Blue.” Kyle stopped pacing and shook his head. “Having your blood, your powers drained out of you… It’s every hero’s and villain’s worst fear. He didn’t deserve that.”

  “No, he didn’t,” I said in a quiet voice. “He didn’t deserve any of it. Neither did the other people that Frost murdered.”

  Kyle frowned. “Are you sure that Frost is behind all this? And not some copycat villain? Because he’s been missing for more than a year now. Nobody’s seen him since Karma Girl and the rest of the Fearless Five blew up the old Snowdom Ice Cream Factory while he, Malefica, and Scorpion were inside. No one’s heard anything from Frost or the other two villains since then.”

  I shrugged. “I suppose it could be a copycat. I don’t know. But I was worried about you, and I wanted to come and warn you in person.”

  “Thanks for the heads-up. I appreciate it. But you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be on guard now.”

  Kyle nodded and started to walk past me, but I stepped in front of him.

  “Can we talk?” I asked. “Really talk? Finally try to figure out things between us? Please?”

  “There’s nothing to talk about.”

  “Yes, there is,” I insisted. “Because I still love you. I’ve never stopped loving you.”

  He dropped his head and leaned forward, like he was going to slam his mask back down over his face and race away from me as fast as he could, just like he had last night. But this time, I was ready for the move. I stepped up and grabbed his gloved hand, clasping it in both of mine and raising it up so that it rested against my heart, which was beating hard and fast.

  Kyle looked at me, but for the first time in months, he didn’t pull away, and I almost thought I saw a bit of wary hope spark to life in his blue eyes. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part. Either way, I hurried on, getting the words out as fast as I could.

  “I was an idiot, going on and on about Swifte the way I did,” I said. “But I was hoping you would open up and share your secret identity with me. That’s all I was trying to do.”

  He shook his head again. “I wish you didn’t know that I was him. I wish I could be sure that you loved me, and not just the idea of me as a superhero.”

  “I don’t love you because you’re Swifte—I love Swifte because he’s a part of you.”

  Kyle sighed. “That may be true, but what happens when I can’t be Swifte anymore? When I get old and wrinkled and worn-out, like Blue?”

  “Then I’ll love you even more,” I said. “Because I’ll be old and wrinkled and worn-out right there with you. We’ll sit on the front porch of our house in our rocking chairs, and you can tell our young, whippersnapper grandkids all about how cool it was to be the fastest superhero in Bigtime.”

  He stared at me, that wary hope burning a little brighter and warring with all his fears and insecurities. He was wavering, thinking about my words, actually hearing them more than he ever had before.

  “Please, Kyle,” I said in a soft voice. “Give me a second chance. Give us a second chance. Let me prove how much I love you, Kyle Quicke. That’s all I want. That’s all I’ve wanted for months now.”

  He stared at me, still, silent, and stoic. As far away as ever before, even though he was standing right in front of me.

  “At least tell me one thing then,” I said, trying a different tactic.

  “What?”

  “After we broke up, why didn’t you get Mr. Sage to mindwipe me like you did all the other people who discovered your secret identity?”

  He blinked, as if surprised by the question. “I don’t know,” he said in a low voice. “I guess that…I thought that…you deserved to know. And to keep on knowing. About me and Swifte and why I had to end things between us. I didn’t want you to think that I had hurt you for no reason, and that’s what would have happened if Mr. Sage had mindw
iped you. You would have hated me, and I…I just couldn’t stand that.”

  “But why trust me to keep your real identity a secret? Why me, out of all the people who’ve found out over the years? Why take the risk?”

  The corner of his mouth lifted up into a wry smile. “I’ve always trusted you, Piper. More than anyone else I’ve ever met. Besides, I know you, remember? You would never reveal a hero’s real identity. You know how much danger it would put the hero in, not to mention his friends and family.”

  He was right. Those were some of the many reasons why I didn’t shout everyone’s real identities from the rooftops. The heroes had these colorful, code-named personas to protect themselves and their families from ubervillains and the like, and I respected that. I didn’t even tell Abby, my best friend, about who was who, and I hadn’t said a word to her about Kyle being Swifte or why we’d really broken up.

  Still, Kyle’s words touched me more than he knew. Because even though we weren’t together anymore, he had trusted me with his most precious secret for all these months. Hope flared to life in my heart. He wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t still care about me, if he didn’t think there was still a chance for us.

  More and more feelings, more and more words bubbled up in my chest, and for once, I let them all out, laid it all on the line, laid myself and my heart right out there in the open for him to see.

  “Even if you tell me no, even if you push me away right now, I’m not going to give up on us. Never again. I’m going to keep telling you how much I love you until you finally believe it. No matter how long it takes.” I grinned. “Who knows? Maybe being stubborn is my own personal superpower.”

  Kyle kept staring and staring at me, so I moved even closer to him, looking up into his eyes. He didn’t pull back, and he didn’t race away like he had so many times before. So I took another chance. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulled his face down to mine, and planted a soft kiss on his lips.

  Nothing happened.

  Kyle just stood there, not making any effort to kiss me back and not showing any signs that he wanted to do so ever again. Hurt welled up inside me, but I kept right on kissing him, pouring all the love, all the passion, all the feeling that I had for him into this one desperate kiss.

  And still, nothing happened.

  More hurt flooded my heart, and my cheeks burned with embarrassment. Disappointed, I broke off the kiss and started to pull back—

  WHOOSH!

  In an instant, Kyle gathered me up in his arms, slammed his lips back down onto mine, and kissed me and kissed me and kissed me some more.

  Heat roared through my veins, chasing away the chill from the fountains’ mist and the brisk winter air. I sighed and melted into his embrace, threading my fingers through his silky hair, even as my tongue danced against his. In an instant, my heart felt lighter than it had since the night of our breakup. We were together again, now, here, in this moment, and I was determined that this wasn’t going to be the last kiss, the last touch, the last bit of happiness between us. It would take some time, but Kyle and I could get back on track—together. I knew that we could, and I was going to do everything in my power to make it happen.

  Rascal started whining, then growling, but I tuned out the puppy, so caught up in the feel of Kyle’s lips on mine, his hands cupping my face, his body pressed up against mine, that nothing else mattered.

  I don’t know how long we stood there kissing, with the fountains’ mist washing over us in cold waves and the calliope music blaring in the distance, but we finally, slowly, reluctantly broke apart, both of us panting, our breaths mixing, mingling, and frosting together in the winter air.

  Kyle leaned down and rested his forehead on mine. I tightened my grip on his shoulders, not wanting him to speed off and disappear on me like he had so many times before.

  “Does this mean that you finally forgive me?” I asked in a husky voice.

  “There’s nothing to forgive,” he whispered back. “I’m sorry for being such an insecure idiot.”

  I tilted my head back and grinned at him. “I might be able to forgive you for that.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “If…”

  “If you kiss me like that again. Right here, right now.” My grin widened. “And then later on tonight, when we’re alone together in my apartment.”

  Kyle grinned back and leaned in, his hot gaze dropping to my lips again. “Oh, I think I can manage that…”

  Rascal let out a bark, followed by a low, angry growl, but all I was focused on was Kyle and his lips inching closer to mine—

  “How very touching,” a snide voice called out.

  Kyle and I jerked apart to find a man standing a few feet away.

  He was a thin guy, even leaner than Kyle was. So thin that he looked like he had been sick for quite some time. His hair was so light and blond that it was almost white, although his eyes were a bright, piercing, almost neon-blue behind his mask, one with distinctive, icicle-shaped edges. I’d never seen him in person before, but he looked different than in all the photos I remembered. He was not only painfully thin but he had long, red, jagged scars marring what I could see of his face outside his mask, as though an animal—or more than one—had clawed and clawed at him.

  According to the rumors I’d heard, he had been attacked by the animals he’d been experimenting on when Karma Girl and the Fearless Five had defeated him. That would certainly explain the red, vivid scars that stood out against his pale skin like puckered, bloody scratches. But what chilled me to the bone was the ice-blue costume he wore—ice-blue forty-two, to be precise.

  Frost.

  One of the most feared ubervillains to ever haunt the streets of Bigtime. Here. In the park. With Kyle and me. With Kyle wearing his costume but not his mask. And having just heard me talk all about Kyle’s secret identity as Swifte.

  Frost was holding a complicated-looking gun bristling with all sorts of buttons—the same freezoray gun I’d seen him use in countless news stories and live SNN feeds from battle sites.

  The same gun he had leveled at my heart right now.

  I blinked. From one second to the next, Kyle moved so that he was standing in front of me, protecting me from the ubervillain. Rascal was still growling and straining at the end of his leash, which was tied to the park bench, but the puppy wasn’t anywhere close to Frost. Good. That was good.

  Kyle pulled his mask back down, covering his face and morphing into the superhero that I knew and loved so well.

  “Frost, man, long time, no see,” Swifte drawled. “I wish you had kept it that way.”

  Frost shrugged.

  “Where have you been all this time?” Swifte asked, taking a step forward, his hands clenching into fists, his gaze locked onto the freezoray gun, waiting for a chance to take down the ubervillain.

  Frost shrugged again. “After Malefica’s debacle with Karma Girl, I spent several months recovering. Since then, I’ve been laying low and focusing on my experiments. Perfecting some new projects that I had been thinking about for quite some time.”

  Anger burned in my heart. My hands clenched into fists, and I stepped up beside Swifte. “Like murdering people and stealing their superpowers?”

  For the first time, Frost deigned to look at me, although his blue eyes were cold and completely empty, as though I were a bug that was far, far beneath his notice.

  “Well, you don’t have to worry about that, since you have no powers worth stealing. In fact, you don’t have any powers at all, do you, Ms. Perez?”

  My blood chilled a little more. “How do you know my name?”

  Frost smirked at me. “Did you know that you’ve been featured on SNN quite a few times? It seems like you’re always getting yourself into some sort of trouble that some idiot superhero has to come and bail you out of. SNN had quite a good shot of Swifte here embracing you after one of your fiascos a few months ago.”

  “The runaway bus,” I whispered.

  I’d been so shocked to disc
over that Kyle was really Swifte that I hadn’t paid much attention to the SNN news coverage of the bus accident, although several folks in the Slaves for Superhero Sex club had texted to tell me congrats on locking lips with Swifte and had begged for all the juicy details. But Frost had been watching the coverage—and me too.

  “That was what first got me interested in you, Ms. Perez,” Frost said. “I’ll admit that I was a bit bored during my recovery, so I started following you around as part of an experiment. I didn’t think that it was statistically possible for someone to accidentally get into so much trouble, but you proved all my theories wrong. Quite fascinating, actually. Your repeated misfortunes almost make me believe that some things as silly as bad luck and karma actually exist.”

  “You’ve been following me around?” I asked. “Why?”

  “Like I said, I was bored—at first. But then, you volunteered for that little library project and started chatting up all those old, nobody heroes and villains. I’d forgotten just how many heroes and villains there are in this town—and how many different powers they had that were worth taking.”

  “So you did kill Bustling Blue,” I whispered. “And all the others. You murdered them for their powers.”

  And I had helped him do it.

  I had painted a target on Blue’s back and all those other folks just by talking to them. Just by being my idiot superfan self, seeking them out and wanting to hear their stories. I had never even thought about the possibility that someone might be following me—or what he might do with the knowledge of where all those retired superfolks were.

  My heart squeezed tight with shock, guilt, and shame. Hot, queasy nausea boiled up in my stomach, and I had to fight back the urge to be sick on the spot.

  “Of course I killed them,” Frost sneered. “Those old farts weren’t using their abilities anymore, so I took them. I did them a favor, putting them out of their misery. There’s nothing sadder or more pathetic than a washed-up hero or villain. They were all just wasting away in those nursing homes or sitting inside their apartments, waiting to die. But I set them free, and I ensured that their powers would finally be put to good use.”