Karma Girl

by Jennifer Estep

  The phone hit the brass railing. For a moment, I thought it would go overboard and be lost in the depths of the deep, blue sea. But the silver phone bounced back toward me and landed on the deck. I hoped it was still on and that Grandfather hadn’t been cut off.

  “Where is it? Where’s the sapphire?” Hangman growled, advancing on me again.

  I shrank back, eyes frantic, looking for a place to hide, a weapon, something, anything that would keep me alive until the Fearless Five arrived. But there was nothing, not even a cracked oar to help me. Hangman stretched his massive hand toward my throat, no doubt to throttle the life from my body. I panicked, and my power flared to life.

  Wind screamed into the sail, and the ropes holding it in place snapped like toothpicks. The sail tumbled down, landing on top of Hangman. The ubervillain cursed and tried to free himself from the heavy canvas. I leaned down, grabbed my phone, and ran all of ten feet to the other end of the boat.

  “Grandfather!”

  “Hang on, Bella! They’re almost there!”

  Sure enough, in the distance, I spotted a rapidly moving black speck. Come on, I begged. Come on!

  With a mighty, angry roar, Hangman ripped free of the sail. There was only one thing left to do. I kicked off my shoes and climbed up onto the railing—ready to swim for it. But a hand latched around my ankle and dragged me down before I could leap over the side. That same hand tossed me up in the air like a tennis ball before catching me right side up.

  Hangman put his hand around my throat and lifted me up so that my face was level with his. My feet barely reached to his knees. I tried to plant my toes on his utility belt to take some of the pressure off my neck, but my feet kept slipping off the cold, hard metal.

  I stared into his face. Hangman’s eyes were as light as the sky—colorless, really, except for the cold rage burning in the depths.

  “Where’s the stone? Tell me now, and I’ll make your death quick and mostly painless. Otherwise, I’ll give you to Prism. She won’t be nearly as pleasant as I am.”

  “I…don’t…know…” I wheezed, trying not to black out.

  “Fine. Have it your way.”

  Hangman’s grip tightened, and stars exploded before my eyes. Then—

  POP!

  The smell of smoke and roses filled the air. My eyes flicked behind Hangman’s shoulder. Debonair stood behind him, hands clenched into tight fists. My heart swelled with relief.

  “Let her go,” Debonair snarled, his eyes glowing with rage. “I’m the one you want. I’ve got the sapphire. Not her.”

  Hangman threw me aside like I was a wadded-up piece of paper. I hit the railing, momentum pushing me overboard. I willed myself to stop and somehow avoided flipping over into the cold water below. I slumped to the bottom of the boat, dazed by the hard hit I’d taken but not seriously injured. Despite my dislike of my supposed superpower, sometimes, it was good to be lucky. Very, very good.

  Hangman launched himself at Debonair, who teleported out of the way at the very last second. Hangman slipped on the tattered sail and banged his head against the side of the boat. The thief reappeared by my side.

  “Are you all right, Bella? Did he hurt you?” Debonair asked, cupping my cheek with his hand.

  I jerked my head away from his familiar, comforting touch. “I’m fine. Now leave me alone.”

  Confusion and hurt flashed across his face. “What’s wrong? Why did you run away?”

  I glared at him. “Why didn’t you get a message to my grandfather?”

  He didn’t have time to answer. The Fearless Five pulled along beside us in a sleek, black vessel. Hermit manned the wheel while Karma Girl, Striker, and Mr. Sage stood on the deck ready to board the sailboat.

  Striker raised a bullhorn to his lips. “This is the Fearless Five! Hangman, Debonair, put up your hands! Both of you! Now!”

  Hangman struggled to stand, his feet still tangled in the ripped sail. “To hell with that!”

  He grabbed a grenade from the belt around his waist and dropped it on the deck. Then, he held his hands up and zoomed away into the blue sky, the sail flapping around his ankles.

  I watched, horrified, as the grenade tink-tink-tinked around the sailboat. It skidded to a stop, and a red light on the top began to blink. I tried to move, to launch myself overboard. But my power pulsed, and my bad luck boomeranged around the way it always did at crucial moments. My feet slid out from under me.

  Suddenly, Debonair grabbed my waist.

  POP!

  The world disappeared as he teleported me over to the Fearless Five’s boat. A second later, the grenade exploded, sending fire and smoke and bits of boat hundreds of feet into the air. Debonair forced me to the deck, covering my body with his, as the debris rained down on us. Striker did the same to Karma Girl, while Hermit and Mr. Sage crouched underneath the boat’s wheel.

  The boat bucked and heaved from the shockwave of the explosion, making me sick. But the seas eventually calmed. The smoke and ash and fire faded away, swallowed up by the cold water. We all got to our shaky feet.

  “Are you all right?” Debonair asked, helping me up.

  “Fine. Now let go of me,” I snarled, pushing him away.

  “Bella?” Karma Girl asked, approaching us. Striker followed behind her.

  “I’m fine, Karma Girl. Really, I am.”

  The two superheroes looked at each other, then moved to flank Debonair.

  “We need to talk to you, Debonair,” Striker said, his eyes going to me. “About a lot of things.”

  But the thief didn’t pay any attention to the two superheroes. He kept staring at me, hurt shimmering in his sapphire eyes. For a moment, I wanted to go to him, to tell him I was sorry for running away, for leaving him behind. Then, I remembered how he’d lied to me about Grandfather. The notion faded.

  Debonair leaned forward. “We’re not through, you and me. Not by a long shot.”

  “Yes, we are. Leave me alone. Please.”

  Debonair stared at me. Then, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine in a rough, hard kiss that left me breathless. He stepped back. Debonair gave me a smirk and bowed with a small flourish.

  “Stop!” Karma Girl said, her eyes beginning to glow neon blue.

  But it was too late.

  POP!

  Debonair had already teleported away.

  PART TWO

  AN EXCEPTION TO THE RULE?

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Anything, Hermit?” Striker growled.

  Hermit’s fingers glowed a bluish-white color over the keys on his laptop as he used his superpower to plug his brain into the computer and sort through billions of data bytes. Mind melding, Hermit called it. After a moment, the glow disappeared, his fingers returned to their normal mocha color, and he shook his head. His eyes were wide and apologetic behind his round goggles.

  “Lulu?” Striker asked.

  The pretty woman with spiky, blue-and-black hair tapped away on another computer. “Nothing. Not a trace of either one of them. Hangman went up, up, and away, and Debonair just went poof. They’re both gone.”

  The six of us sat in the main stateroom in the Fearless Five boat—Striker, Karma Girl, Hermit, Mr. Sage, Lulu, and me. It was a little like being trapped in a color wheel. Hermit wore a black-and-white checkerboard outfit with matching goggles, while Karma Girl dazzled in her silver spandex. Mr. Sage was clad in green and white, while Striker wore a tight, black-leather suit that reminded me of Debonair. Lulu and I were the only ones not in costume. Fiona Fine would have been here too, in her orange-red catsuit, if she and Johnny hadn’t been on their vacation.

  “How are you feeling, Bella?” Mr. Sage asked, his blue eyes soft and kind as he took my blood pressure.

  “A little shaken up,” I admitted. “I’m glad you guys showed up when you did.”

  It was one thing to be the daughter of a murdered sometimes superhero. I could afford to be angry and bitter and bitchy in the safety of my own home. It was quite another to
be attacked, kidnapped, attacked again, and rescued all in the space of a day and a half. I was exhausted—physically, emotionally, sexually.

  “Are you sure they’re gone?” Striker asked.

  Lulu nodded. “Unfortunately. We left in such a rush I didn’t have time to grab all my gear. This laptop you had on board is a piece of junk, along with the rest of this stuff. There’s no way to track them with this.”

  The computer hacker gestured at the monitors and keyboards that surrounded her. It didn’t look like junk to me. The stateroom had almost as many gadgets and maps and pieces of computer equipment as the Fearless Five’s underground library did. It always amazed me how much time and money superheroes spent on their toys. Then again, there was a reason the Fearless Five were the preeminent superhero team in Bigtime. And right now, I was grateful to be among superheroes—instead of sleeping with the fishes in Bigtime Bay.

  “All right then, I’ll set the course back to the cove,” Striker said, punching in some commands on a large control panel.

  He took off his black mask, and the others followed suit, revealing their true identities—Sam Sloane, Carmen Cole, Henry Harris, and Chief Sean Newman.

  “Your blood pressure and temperature are fine. I’m a bit worried about that bump on your head, though. And I’m afraid you’re going to be quite stiff and sore in the morning,” Chief Newman rumbled in his Irish brogue. “But other than that, you’ll be fine.”

  In addition to masquerading as a superhero, Chief Newman was also the Fearless Five’s resident doctor.

  “Thanks,” I said, flashing him a smile as he took the tight cuff off my right arm. “Where’s Grandfather? He didn’t come with you?”

  Carmen shook her head. “He didn’t want to leave the phone. He told us to come on and that he’d wait at Sublime until we brought you back.”

  Sublime was Sam Sloane’s mansion on the outskirts of Bigtime. It was one of the most impressive homes in all the city, but few people knew that a maze of caverns under the mansion housed the members of the Fearless Five and their gizmos. I hadn’t known about it either, until Fiona had taken Grandfather and me there when we were frantically searching for Johnny when he’d been kidnapped by ubervillains.

  “I just sent Bobby a text message telling him that you were safe and sound,” Lulu said.

  “Grandfather doesn’t do so well with computers. Maybe I should just call him.”

  Lulu smiled. “Don’t worry. I programmed it to flash on the big screen in the library. There’s no way he can miss it.”

  While we motored back to the Fearless Five headquarters, I filled the superheroes and Lulu in on everything that had happened on the boat, including Hangman’s mention of someone named Prism.

  “Prism?” Carmen asked. “What a strange name. I wonder what her power is. Have you ever heard of her, Sam?”

  The handsome businessman shook his head. “No. Have you guys?”

  Both Henry and the chief shook their heads. Lulu cleared her throat, and all eyes turned to her.

  “It’s probably nothing,” she said.

  “Which means it’s definitely something,” Carmen replied, picking up a Rubik’s Cube and twisting the cube around in her hands. “Spill it, Lulu.”

  “Well, you guys know about my other interests outside the Fearless Five, right?”

  The chief laced his fingers together and stared at the younger woman. “You mean your network of spies and information traders? Or your friendship with a notorious bomb maker? Or perhaps the corporate espionage you’ve been dabbling in recently? You have lots of interests, Lulu. Not all of which are legal. We’ve discussed them on many occasions, but apparently with little success.”

  The computer hacker looked a bit sheepish, despite her mane of multicolored hair. “Yeah, well, this is about Jasper. I talked to him last week, just catching up and stuff, and he mentioned the name Prism. Said somebody by that name wanted him to do some work for her, but he turned down the job.”

  Jasper was one of Lulu’s many shady friends. He specialized in blowing up things in Bigtime, but he’d also helped out the Fearless Five on more than one occasion.

  “Well, we’ll just have to go pay Jasper a visit and see what he knows about the mysterious Prism,” Carmen said to Lulu.

  “I want to go too,” I piped up.

  The others stared at me like I’d hit my head a little too hard. Maybe I had.

  “I would think you would want to go back to headquarters or even home,” Carmen said in a soft tone. “We know how you feel about superheroes and ubervillains, Bella.”

  “I know.” I shifted under her curious, probing stare. “But I was the one who got attacked and kidnapped and almost blown to bits. Twice. I want to know what the hell is going on. Besides, maybe if we show Jasper this, it will help.”

  I pulled the Star Sapphire out of my battered purse and set it on a table in front of me. Somehow, I’d held on to it again through all the commotion. Lulu reached over and picked up the gem.

  “Look how big this sucker is.” She turned it around so the sapphire caught the light streaming in through the portholes. “You know, Henry, if you wanted to get me something for Christmas, this would make a very nice engagement ring.”

  Henry pushed his glasses up his nose. “But you already have an engagement ring.”

  Lulu held up her pale hand. A not-so-small emerald sparkled on her finger. “But just think how much better they’d look together.”

  Lulu grinned at Henry, and I just had to laugh.

  *

  Twenty minutes later, we stood on deck as Henry steered the boat into a small, secluded cove that branched off the bay. He aimed the vessel right at a sheer rock cliff. I looked at him, then at the cliff, then at the others. Everyone else seemed unconcerned by the fact we were going to get splattered against the sharp rocks in another three seconds.

  I closed my eyes, bracing for the hard, jarring impact, but it never came. Something cool slid over my skin, and a white light flared against my eyelids. I opened them and realized we were in some kind of watery cave. I looked back. The cliff face stood behind us, looking as solid and real as ever.

  “It’s a 3D hologram,” Henry explained, seeing my confused look. “The cliff’s not really there.”

  “Neat trick.” I shook my head.

  The boat sailed on through the cave. Lights set at various intervals in the rocky walls cast a dim, yellow glow on the rocks, highlighting the specks of fool’s gold and rose quartz embedded in the grayish stone. A few bats hid in the darker cracks and crevices. The creatures were small, no bigger than my hand, and had their wings wrapped tight over their inverted bodies, sleeping. The air smelled of the salty sea, with just a hint of sulfur. Everything was quiet except for the drone of the boat’s engine and the occasional splash from a passing fish.

  We rode in silence for another five minutes before coming to a steel door that stretched from the top of the cave down below the water line. Something told me this door was very real. Henry held out a small clicker that looked like a garage door opener and punched it five times in rapid succession. The steel door rattled up, revealing a metal dock flanked by all kinds of boats, life jackets, and other sailing equipment. Henry steered the boat into an empty slot. Two more just like it took up the other spaces.

  “I didn’t know you guys had an underground harbor down here too.” I marveled at the expensive, high-tech equipment. I’d only been in Fearless Five headquarters a few times, but whenever I came down, it always seemed like the superheroes had added a whole new wing of stuff.

  “It’s a fairly recent addition,” Sam said, tying the boat to the wide dock. “I got tired of storing the boat in the marina. People took pictures of it all the time, and we could never get to it when we needed to.”

  We’d just stepped onto the floating dock when a booming voice called out. “Bella!”

  Grandfather appeared at the far end of the room. I ran to him as fast as I could with my various aches and pains. I
threw my arms around him and hugged him tight. The static pulsed around me, fueled by my intense relief, but it didn’t make me fall or trip or suddenly go sideways. For now, anyway.

  “Oh, Bella, I’m so glad you’re safe,” Grandfather said, stroking my snarled, frizzy hair.

  “Me too,” I whispered. “Me too.”

  Despite my protests, Chief Newman ushered me off to the sick bay while the others trooped to the library to see if they could find Hangman or Debonair. I spent the rest of the afternoon being poked and prodded and pricked in all sorts of uncomfortable, unmentionable places. I also managed to break a thermometer, three plastic syringes, and a heart monitor just by looking at them.

  At the end of the torture session, the chief said he’d keep me overnight for observation before letting me go home tomorrow.

  Grandfather sat by my bed, holding my hand during the examination and cleaning up the various messes I made. Once the chief left, Grandfather peppered me with questions about the attack at the museum and, more specifically, about how Debonair had treated me. I answered most of them honestly, telling Bobby that the sexy thief had shown me the utmost respect—except for the part where he refused to let me go and all the sex we’d had. You just couldn’t tell your grandfather about some things, no matter how hip and cool he was.

  “Well, I suppose I can understand his reasoning,” Bobby grumbled. “He was trying to keep you safe.”

  If you considered safe sleeping with a notorious playboy and thief, sure, I suppose Debonair had kept me safe enough. At least we’d used protection. That was probably the safest thing we’d done during our time together.

  “Did you call Johnny and tell him what happened?” I asked, changing the subject.

  Bobby nodded. “He wanted to come home immediately, but I told him there was no reason to now. I hope that was all right with you. He’s going to call and check on you in the morning.”

  “Of course.”

  I was fine now. There was no need for Johnny and Fiona to cut their vacation short. Unfortunately, the Bulluci family had gone through a lot worse than this before. On a scale of one to ten, one being a minor fender-bender and ten being my father’s murder, my ordeal didn’t rate more than a four—at least not in Bigtime.