"The Platinum Prowler Strikes Again!"

If it hadn’t been for Em’s promise of covering her tab, Mel would have been anywhere else that night. Mel figured that a few mixed drinks would help her overcome any regrets she’d come to have for partying at ArtistCon’s kickoff celebration. The combination of anime fight scenes being projected onto the walls and the dj spinning songs sung by synthesized vocalists was making her second guess the choice she’d made. Additionally, not that any of the men in the room were particularly appealing to her, it wasn’t helping her situation that the girls in helmets and full body armor were getting the most attention. Here she was, in her cutest crop top and short shorts and she might as well have been cosplaying as a tablecloth.

“C’mon Mel. You’re not going to stand here and pout all night, are you?” Em asked Mel, nudging her in the ribs under her folded arms.

“They’re throwing a beachball around…” Mel said, downing her umpteenth whiskey sour.

Em chuckled but it turned into a scream of, “Watch out!”

Simultaneously, the beachball and a young man who was trying to catch it came bouncing toward them. It seemed he had forgotten that he was carrying a pitcher of beer, and as he reached for the ball it knocked the beer out of his hand and all over Mel.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I swear. I didn’t see you there,” the guy said, quickly retrieving some napkins from a nearby dispenser to dry off Mel’s soaked shirt.

“Don’t touch me!” Mel hissed at him. “You should watch what you’re doing. Also, while you’re at it, don’t just start pawing at people you don’t know without their permission.”

“My bad. It’s not like I did it on purpose,” he said, shrugging.

“I don’t care if it was on purpose or not. You ruined my outfit! Do you know how much I paid for this shirt? I’ll never be able to get the stains out. Not to mention, I’ll be smelling like a damn brewery all night.”

“No big deal,” said Em, motioning for him to pass her the ball and throwing it into the crowd once he had done so. “I’ll take care of her. Just go on and enjoy yourself. No worries.”

“Yeah… alright,” he said, not even looking back at them as he walked off.

“Well, I guess that’s it. I’m going home. Told you I shouldn’t have come,” said Mel.

“You’re not getting off that easy,” said Em, waggling her finger. “Go to the bathroom and give me, like, ten minutes. I’ve got an idea.”

“Whatever, you’ve got five minutes tops and I’m out of here!”

Em ran off and Mel slunk into the bathroom, hoping not too many people would see — but no one was paying attention anyway. They were too busy ogling the girls with wings, waving around their wands. It brought Mel a sense of relief and yet, strangely, added to her annoyance.

Just as Mel was about to bail on Em and order herself a ride home, Em came bursting into the bathroom. She was carrying a garment bag in one hand and a metallic mask with a blonde wig attached to it in the other.

“Oh, hell no!” Mel shook her head and started walking towards the door.

“C’mon Mel,” said Em. “I did not just flirt with the janitor to open the dressing room, for me, for nothing. Besides, you’ve been complaining about none of the boys looking at you all night because, how did you put it? You weren’t ‘Jessica Rabbit enough for them?’”

“It’s called sarcasm. Those dudes are all sweaty losers and are going home to their videogame character pillows tonight, anyway.”

“Not all of them are that bad. Plus, just let yourself have some fun. Not everything always has to be so serious!”

“I’m fun. I’m plenty of fun! I just need the right crowd and this ain’t it. But I guess I have to admit, that guy that spilled the beer all over me would have had some potential, if he wasn’t such an idiot,” said Mel, grinding her teeth. “Too bad I’m not a fairy princess. Doubt he would have spilled beer on me if I was.”

“You’d be undeniably badass if you put this on,” said Em, pushing the bodysuit toward Mel. “Trust me. I’m always the center of attention when I’m wearing it.”

Mel bit her lip and hesitated for a moment. She wouldn’t have even entertained the thought of it if she was just a bit more sober and a bit less aggravated — but she wasn’t, so she reached out and said, “Give me those.” She grabbed the gear and went into a stall.

A few moments later, after tugging and pulling the latex costume onto herself and struggling to zip it up, Mel walked out of the stall. She grimaced. “I look ridiculous. I can’t believe I’m wearing such a dorky —”

“Oh, stop. You look great. You’re sure to be the belle of the ball,” Em said, giving Mel a reassuring smile.

“Yeah. I’ll definitely be ringing somebody’s bell if I get hit by another god damned ball.”

“Don’t be so dramatic. Go out there and try to have some fun — and don’t forget your mask and wig!”

Mel stopped and grabbed the finishing touches of the costume, begrudgingly placing them on her head.

“Don’t you want to take a peek in the mirror and see what you look like, first?” Em asked Mel, as they traipsed back out into the hallway.

Two men walked past the pair and stopped abruptly upon seeing Mel.

“My god! That’s the most detailed and accurate cosplay of Platinum Prowler I’ve ever seen!” said one of the men.

“Can we take a picture with you?” said the other.

“I, uh —“ Mel began.

“She’d love to,” said Em, taking the phone the man was handing her and snapping a few shots while Mel did peace signs and finger guns.

“That was great. Thank you so much. Again, you’ve really got Platinum Prowler’s look down, perfectly!” said the first man, as Em handed the second his phone back.

“Yeah but Platinum Prowler would never do those goofy things with her hands. She’d do her signature poses, like this,” said the second man as he did a bunch of things that looked like he was playing charades to Mel.

“Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind,” said Mel, before halfheartedly imitating the gestures the second man had just demonstrated.

The two men walked on to the bathroom and Mel said, “Now that I got the moves down, I think I’m good. Save the mirrors for the evil queens. I’m the Platinum Prowler.” She curled her hands into fists and put them on her hips.

Em chuckled. “Our hero has arrived! Now let's go in there and save the day.”

Mel and Em made their way back to the table they had been seated at earlier. Mel couldn’t help but notice the number of people who were suddenly looking in her direction. It was a sharp contrast to the reception she’d received earlier when she was dressed in her street clothes.

“Oh my god!” The man who had spilled the drink all over Mel, earlier, came running up to her.

“Not you again,” Mel said, sighing heavily.

“Have we met before?” he asked, looking between the two women.

“Yeah, I’m the one you spilled your drink all over!” said Mel, lifting her mask so the man could get a better look at the scowl on her face.

“I’m so sorry, I wouldn’t have recognized the two of you…”

“See,” Em said, pinching Mel’s cheek. “You weren't the only one getting overlooked.”

Mel put her mask back down and scoffed. “Seems like it. This better for you?” she asked, looking back over at the man. “You won’t spill beer on me now, will you?”

The man laughed and shook his head. “I wouldn’t dare spill anything on the powerful Platinum Prowler. I get it if you totally hate my guts but what would I have to do to get a picture? You’re dressed as my absolute, all-time, favorite and —”

“Spill a pitcher on yourself!” said Mel.

“R…really?” the man stammered.

“She’s kidding. Couple drinks? On you. And I don’t mean literally,” Em said, smiling and waving her hands around as the man’s face turned a bright shade of red.

“The name’s Jim, by the way.” Jim motioned to the bartender for a round of drinks.

“I’m Emily but you can call me Em and this is my best friend Melanie,” Em replied.

“Mel’s fine,” Mel said, suddenly taking more of an interest in Jim and his offer of alcohol.

“Are you two going to be here tomorrow? I drove six hours because last year the pros put on a hell of a show and I’m expecting a repeat performance. You won’t want to miss it. I might just explode when the ‘real’ Platinum Prowler takes the stage. I even got a pass for a meet and greet, afterwards,” Jim said.

“Actually —“ Em started.

“Actually, I’m in the show,” Mel lied.

Em smiled and raised her eyebrows at Mel but then straightened her face up and looked back at Jim. She said, “Yeah, she’s going to be part of a big fight choreography tomorrow, but I’m sure you already know that.” She looked back at Mel and said, “Isn’t that right, Mel?”

Mel choked and spluttered on the drink that had just been delivered to the table.

Jim’s eyes lit up and he said, “Hey, that’s right! It’s one of the things I’m looking forward to most but are you telling me you’re really her? I thought the cosplay looked great but… wow! Would you mind… would you mind if…”

“Spit it out Jim!” said Mel.

“I’m also going to be in cosplay tomorrow and maybe we can take a picture together, then?”

“I don’t know about —” Mel began.

“She’d love to, Jim!” Em interjected.

“I would?” asked Mel.

“You would?” Jim jumped up and almost knocked his drink over onto the girls, again, but caught it just in time. “Oh shit. Wouldn’t want to ruin your gear! But yeh. Sounds like a date! I mean… not a date… but… well… you know!”

“It’s a date, Jim!” said Em.

“It’s not a date,” said Mel. She looked at the twinkle in his eyes and the surprisingly handsome smile he flashed. “But if you want to call it a date, who am I to stop you?”

***

Mel came to ArtistCon, the next day, dressed in the metallic leotard, matching mask, and wig. All eyes were on her as she entered the convention center. Fans came rushing up to her in droves, asking her to strike Platinum Prowler’s signature poses and to take pictures together. She felt bad for Em who was getting brushed past and was being asked to hold phones to snap pics — but Em seemed unbothered.

“Sorry, I’m stealing your shine, here,” Mel said, muffled by the mask.

“Eh, it’s kinda nice to not have people hugging on me and trying to pinch me and all that weird crap, for a change,” said Em, shrugging. “I’ll just do my performance and get out. Speaking of, I need to go to our final rehearsal. Don’t forget, I need that costume delivered to the dressing room by noon.”

“I’ll be there,” Mel said, nodding. “See you then.”

The girls waved at one another and Em went off.

Time melted away, quickly, as Mel mingled with the ArtistCon crowd. She kept looking for Jim amongst the masses but she couldn’t spot him. There were at least a thousand people in attendance. Noon was approaching and she was surprised to find herself disappointed that she hadn’t seen Jim’s face amidst the others.

Mel made her way towards the backstage area so that Em would have plenty of time to change into her costume. Mel decided she'd hang out in the dressing room instead of watching the show alongside the audience — most of whom she’d entertained, over the last several hours, by jumping through hoops. Truth be told, after all the strangers groping her and asking for photographs, she just needed a few minutes alone. All the attention was nice but it was eating away at her that she hadn’t heard from Jim yet, but she wouldn’t allow herself to be the first to reach out. It wasn’t her style.

Mel handed the costume to Em and Em patted her on the shoulder and reassured her, “Don’t worry. He’ll be here.”

Mel reconsidered the notion of being alone while the performance played out and was just about to join the spectators when her phone buzzed. A text from Jim said, “Taking my seat now. Can’t wait to see you kick some butt out there. Just don’t kick mine when you’re done… didn’t mean to stand my favorite superhero up!”

“Get ready to witness the performance of a lifetime,” Mel texted back and silently prayed that whatever Em was about to do would bring the house down.

Mel paced back and forth until she heard cheering and applauding as the characters began to take the stage. She peeked through the curtain, trying to see if she could spot Jim. After a few moments, she saw him sitting near the middle of the pack, a wide smile on his face. A choreographed fight ensued.

Mel knew very little about what would be considered good or bad in this circumstance but, judging by the “oohs” and “aahs” from the audience, she wagered that it was going well. After a short while, the performance came to a close, accompanied by an uproarious ovation. Em bowed and returned backstage.

“Come on,” said Mel. “Let me put on the costume.”

“Give me a second, girl,” said Em, taking off her headwear, sweating profusely, and handing it to Mel.

“The rest too! C’mon, c’mon.”

There was a knock at the door but it flew open before anyone could respond. Jim came whooping and hollering into the room.

“That was fantastic. Bravo, bra —” he began but then noticed Mel and Em, halfway through the exchange of the costume. “Um, what’s going on here?”

“Listen,” said Mel, revealing her face. “I’m not the Silver Siren. Em is. I don’t really know anything about this stuff. But I know I’d still like to maybe go on that date with you.”

“I’m sorry.” Jim shook his head. “Like I said, the Platinum Prowler’s my girl, and after what I just saw… Em, you really fully embody everything I love about her. Mel, I don’t think it’s going to work out between us. But… Em. Maybe I could get a picture with you doing some of those moves you just did out there and then we could maybe even go —”

“Yeah, Em,” said Mel, grimacing and pulling out her phone. “Show us one of those cool kicks you do and I’ll take a picture of the two of you.”

“Um,” said Em.

“It’ll really make Jim’s day to take a picture with his girl,” Mel scoffed.

Em awkwardly mimed doing a roundhouse kick to Jim and Mel took a picture.

“Here, now take one of me,” said Mel, tossing the phone to Em who just barely caught it. “Like this, right?” and she kicked Jim in the jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I swear. I didn’t see you there!” Mel put her arm around Em, whose eyes were wide and mouth was agape, and then she said, “You know, this cosplay thing was actually kind of great. I think I’m finally getting what you meant about having more fun. I think, with a little practice, I’ll be ready to take the stage with you next year.” She took the mask from Em and stepped over Jim.