Karma Girl

by Jennifer Estep

  “Jasper?” Bobby asked. “The Jasper who lives downtown in that big brownstone?”

  Lulu nodded. “The one and only.”

  “You know him?” I asked.

  Bobby shrugged. “I’ve had use for a few of his items over the years.”

  “Oh really? Like what?”

  Bobby winked. “Oh, this and that.”

  I opened my mouth to question him further, when Lulu interrupted.

  “We should get going,” she said. “It’s after four now. Erica, I mean Siren, is set to go on the air at seven-ten sharp.”

  “Then, off to Jasper’s we go,” I said.

  *

  Lulu and I went to the equipment room. I changed into a fresh superhero suit, one that didn’t smell like frozen fish sticks, while she gathered up a couple of things we might need, including the earplugs my father and Henry had been working on and some more of the gas-blocking and RID pills. Then, we went back to the library, grabbed Bella and Bobby, and loaded up the van.

  Just after five in the morning, Lulu and I stood in one of the nicer neighborhoods in Bigtime. A massive brownstone that even finicky Joanne James wouldn’t have minded owning towered above us. Bella waited in the van, keeping the engine warm. Bobby sat in the passenger seat and peered out the window. The streets were still and quiet, and the air was cool and smelled of impending rain. The streetlights flickered on and off, confused by the grayish dawn.

  Wide, shallow steps led up to the brownstone. Lulu hit a button on her wheelchair, and four jack-like devices sprang out from the sides. The jacks hissed as they planted themselves on the ground. They lifted the wheelchair several inches off the ground—high enough so Lulu could roll herself up onto the first step. She started to repeat the process, but I was too impatient to wait. I picked up Lulu, chair and all, and carried her to the front door.

  “I can make it up and down stairs by myself,” Lulu protested. “I’ve been doing it for years.”

  “We don’t have time for you to be stubborn and independent,” I said. “Now wake up Jasper.”

  Lulu punched a box on the wall, and a security camera swiveled over to see who was calling at this early hour. I could almost see the lens in the camera widen at the sight of me. I wore my costume, and my hair crackled and sparked with fire. I didn’t think Jasper got many visits from the members of the Fearless Five. Well, except from Carmen and Lulu.

  The box clicked on.

  “What’s the word?” a male voice asked over the static.

  “The word is silent night,” Lulu replied.

  The camera lingered on us. Jasper wasn’t going to let us in. I clenched my hand into a fist. Sparks and smoke hissed out from between my fingers. We’d get in one way or another. I’d make sure of that.

  The door buzzed open.

  “I thought the word was boom-boom,” I whispered.

  “He changed it right before Christmas.” Lulu shrugged. “Jasper has a strange sense of humor sometimes.”

  No kidding. We entered the brownstone. A tall, thin man appeared at the far end of the hallway. A bathrobe hung on his bony figure, and his hair stuck out at those weird angles that were only made possible by a good night’s sleep. We made our way toward him. I moved slowly, keeping my hands in sight and the fire to a minimum. I’d been in the vicinity of one of Jasper’s bomb blasts before, and I’d been sore for a week as a result. So, I didn’t think it would be a good idea to startle the bomb guru. He might do something stupid, like try to blow us up.

  “Lulu, how it’s going?” Jasper asked in a cautious voice, his eyes flicking over me.

  Lulu extended her hand, and she and Jasper engaged in a series of slaps, high-fives, and other strange finger signals. “Fine, Jasper. Just fine. I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry about ole Fiera here. We didn’t come here to bust you. In fact, quite the opposite. We need some supplies.”

  Jasper looked at me. “You need supplies?” he asked in a rather disbelieving voice.

  I shrugged. “I’m going up against a couple of ubervillains bent on taking over Bigtime, and I’m four team members down. I can use all the help I can get. Or rather, all the bombs you can give me. And anything else you think might come in handy.”

  Jasper stared at me. Suddenly, a smile creased his face. “Well, then, who am I to turn away a potential customer? Plus, any friend of Lulu’s is a friend of mine. Come in, come in.”

  He turned and led us farther into the dark brownstone.

  “You know I’ve long been a fan of your work, Fiera,” Jasper said in a conversational voice. “Your fireballs are most impressive. The intensity of the heat, the explosion on impact, the massive damage they cause. I’d trade my explodium bombs for them in a second.”

  The odd praise pleased me, even if it was coming from a somewhat mad bomber. “Thanks. Lulu’s told me a lot about your work too.”

  Jasper gave the computer hacker a pointed look that would have cut glass. “Not too much, I hope.”

  Lulu patted him on the arm. “Don’t worry, Jasper. Your trade secrets are safe with me.”

  “Good to know,” he said. “Good to know.”

  Jasper punched in a security code and went down a flight of stairs. I picked up Lulu and followed him. It looked like Intelligal’s lair, except it was much tidier. Wires and bits of metal were stacked in neat piles on top of several worktables. Soldering irons, pliers, and other tools hung from slots in a tall rack attached to one of the thick walls.

  “You’ve done some redecorating, Jasper,” Lulu said. “The last time I came here, this place was a mess.”

  Jasper shrugged. “I decided to get a little more organized. It was either that or blow myself up tripping over things.”

  Lulu and I froze. We stared at each other, then Jasper. The bomb guru paid no attention to our sudden nervousness.

  Jasper pulled out a legal pad and a pencil from a desk in the corner. “So tell me what you need.”

  Lulu outlined Siren and Intelligal’s scheme to take over Bigtime and, subsequently, the world. “So as you can see, Fiera here needs some help.”

  “What I need, specifically, is a way to disable Intelligal’s chair. Of course, I’ve tried many times myself. Fireballs, superstrength, collisions. Nothing seems to put much of a dent in it, except whatever Intelligal used to make it self-destruct.”

  “It’s probably made out of solidium,” Jasper said. “It’s very rare and very expensive, but it’s the strongest, toughest metal known to man. Explodium won’t even scratch it. At least, not by itself. You have to mix some other explosives with it.”

  “I don’t want to scratch it,” I snapped. “I want to completely destroy it. Think big fireball. Think catastrophic damage. Think crumpled lump of charred, twisted metal. That’s what I’m aiming for. First the chair, then the VAMP device. Maybe even the ubervillains if they get in my way.”

  Jasper looked at me as though I were the love of his life. His eyes went all soft and warm. “Ah, a woman after my own heart.” He took my hand and pressed a kiss to it. “For you, my lady, only the best.”

  I stared at Lulu. Her lips twitched, and I could tell she was trying to keep from laughing. I rolled my eyes.

  Jasper spent the next few minutes puttering around, grabbing strange-looking objects out of various safes and lead boxes hidden throughout the room. Finally, he pulled out a small, square box. He bowed to me and cracked open the lid. Nestled inside were ten round, brown-colored objects. They reminded me of chocolate-covered bon-bons, although I doubted they tasted as good. My stomach rumbled. I’d have to eat some more food before I went toe-to-toe with Siren and Intelligal.

  “For you, Fiera, only the best. This is something new I’ve been working on. Explodium has become rather passé this last year. Everybody’s working with it these days, and you can practically buy it on the street corner,” Jasper said. “But this, this is something special. I call it obliteron.”

  “Obliteron?” I asked.

  “Obliteron, be
cause it not only destroys matter, it pretty much obliterates it.”

  I nodded as if I knew exactly what he was talking about. As a superhero, I’m used to the creative, colorful, and sometimes ridiculous names my fellow heroes and ubervillains call themselves. Halitosis Hal was a prime example. But obliteron? For a bomb? Oh my.

  Jasper picked up one of the bon-bons and rolled it around in his hand. “Obliteron is a special form of explodium, a mixture of it and a few other key radioactive isotopes. I’ve managed to put my own stamp on it with these little beauties. Inside each of these thick, plastic shells is a liquid ball of obliteron.”

  I eyed the bon-bon. “If it’s as dangerous as you say, do you think you should be tossing it around like that? I don’t want to get blown up before I get to the ubervillains.” That wouldn’t help anybody, especially not Johnny, my father, and Henry.

  Jasper waved his hand. “Oh, in this form, it’s perfectly harmless. You see, I’ve encased it in a special, highly protective plastic shell. You could even play baseball with it, and it wouldn’t detonate.”

  “So how do I arm it?” I asked, reaching for the small ball.

  Jasper held it out of my reach. “All it needs is a little heat to fire it up. The plastic disintegrates, and the obliteron becomes active. There’s a twenty-second fuse, but I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that. A flare-up from you will more than do the trick. Along with a stabilizing agent, the outer shell also contains a form of heat-activated, superstrong glue. Once the shell starts to melt, it will stick to any surface you throw it at. So once it’s hot, let it fly. When it blows, well, let’s just say that you don’t want to be anywhere near it.”

  I thought about the observatory. Some of the rooms were cramped, and I had no idea where Siren and Intelligal would set up their VAMP device. I didn’t want the others to get caught in the crossfire. “What’s the blast radius?”

  “Like explodium, obliteron produces a limited blast range, about thirty feet or so. But it packs a hell of a punch and it burns superhot. A couple of these balls would be more than enough to bring down any building, any structure in the greater Bigtime area.”

  I eyed him. “Like, say, the new paper mill they were going to build out next to the ice cream factory? The one that was going to infringe on part of the observatory’s wildlife sanctuary? There was some sort of explosion out there a couple of weeks ago late at night when nobody was around. The damage was so severe that construction was halted. Permanently, I believe.”

  “I didn’t have anything to do with that,” Jasper said in a hurt, offended tone.

  I kept staring at him.

  “I might not be as heroic as you are, Fiera, but I’m not a bad person. I might blow things up, but I never sell my goods to anyone who’s going to use them to hurt other people.”

  “So who do you sell your wares to then?”

  He shrugged. “People who want to collect on insurance, mostly. I also get a lot of business from the construction crews in town. A few of the more radical environmental groups. Sometimes, the bomb squad even calls me in to consult on cases. Now, do you want the obliteron or not?”

  “I do.” I didn’t really have a choice. Not if I wanted to save the others and the rest of Bigtime. Besides, I could always come back and bust Jasper later.

  Jasper nodded. “Good. Let me package them for you. Don’t fire them up until you’re absolutely sure you want to blow something up. Unlike some of my other work, these can’t be diffused.”

  He rustled around the underground laboratory, fishing a heavy, lead briefcase out of one of the safes. Jasper carefully put ten of the obliteron bon-bons in the dark, foam-lined depths. Then, he turned and handed it to me.

  “Let me carry them. Better not to take any more chances than necessary. I’m not as hot under the collar as other folks around here.” Lulu shot me an amused look out of the corner of her eye.

  I gritted my teeth at the bad pun and tried to remain calm. Now was not the time to set Lulu’s hair on fire. I would do that later. After I’d rescued everyone and reduced Siren and Intelligal to weeping, wailing heaps on the floor.

  Lulu took the case from Jasper and set it on her lap. I eyed a clock on the wall. Just before six. Time to go.

  “Ah, before you leave, there is the matter of my fee,” Jasper reminded us in a soft voice.

  Lulu and I looked at each other.

  “How much?” she asked.

  Jasper tapped his finger on his lips. “For ten of my obliteron delights? I’d say an even two million would cover it.”

  I winced. There went my fat fee for designing Joanne James’s latest wedding dress. Unless... The bomber wore a tattered bathrobe that had definitely seen better days. The slippers on his feet had holes in them, and his socks were threadbare. Plus, everything was the same, drab, gray color. Rather like Jasper’s pale skin. I really, really hated gray.

  “How would you like some clothes instead?” I said. “I happen to know a designer who does incredible work. She makes men’s suits that are to die for. Very bold. Very colorful. Just the thing for you to entertain prospective clients in. Or to wear for a night out on the town with your lady. I’m sure she’d be happy to outfit you with a whole new wardrobe.”

  Jasper just blinked.

  *

  Ten minutes later, Lulu and I left Jasper’s brownstone.

  “I can’t believe Jasper agreed to waive his two million dollars for a closet full of clothes,” Lulu said, maneuvering her wheelchair down the sidewalk. “I think Jasper’s taken one too many blows to the head recently. Or all the radioactivity is making him go soft.”

  “It’s much simpler than that, Lulu. The truth is that everybody wants to look good,” I said in a smug tone. “Even mad bombers. And they’re not just clothes. I plan on outfitting Jasper with the finest menswear Fiona Fine Fashions has to offer.”

  Bobby saw us coming. He hopped out of the front seat and opened the side door of the van. Too impatient to bother with the chair lift, I picked up Lulu and deposited her in the van, along with the precious case of Jasper’s bombs.

  “Did you get everything you needed?” Bella asked from the driver’s seat.

  “And then some,” I said, slamming the door shut. “Now, let’s go take those bitches out.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  We drove through the streets of Bigtime in silence. It was early, and most folks hadn’t yet started their commute into the city from the outlying suburbs. Most of them probably hadn’t even had their first cup of coffee yet. The sun was just creeping above the tops of the skyscrapers that housed The Exposé and The Chronicle.

  I took the opportunity to eat the emergency bucket of food I had stashed in the van. It was mostly junk food, stuff like candy bars and peanut butter crackers that would keep forever. But all that sweet, sweet sugar was more than enough to give me a boost of energy for the big battle ahead. I wasn’t psychic like my father or Carmen, but I had a feeling I’d need it.

  We pulled into the long drive that led up to the observatory a little after six thirty. We didn’t see anyone. No cars climbing up the hill. No buses pulling in with sleepy, cranky students. Even the guardhouse at the bottom of the steep hill was empty, although the door looked like it had been ripped off its hinges, along with the gate that blocked the road up to the observatory. I wondered if that’s what Siren had needed the others for—a little extra muscle.

  But other than the mangled gate, everything else seemed normal, and the place was deserted. Except for two maniacal ubervillains lurking around somewhere. Plus, my hoodwinked teammates and the man I loved.

  Bella drove the van to one of the garages attached to the side of the observatory. She parked on the lowest level, out of sight from anyone who might be watching from inside. The only other vehicle in the garage was a small SUV bearing the colorful SNN logo. I rattled the door. Locked. I put a little muscle into it, yanked the whole thing off, and set the crumpled metal aside. I rustled through the interior of the ve
hicle, but there was nothing inside besides your usual assortment of bad CDs, gum wrappers, and empty fast-food cartons.

  “Anything?” Lulu asked, smacking her computer, which sat on top of Jasper’s case of bombs on her lap.

  “Nothing. But at least we know they’re here,” I replied. “Something wrong over there?”

  “Stupid case,” Lulu muttered. “I’m trying to pull up the blueprints that I downloaded of the observatory, but the radioactivity from Jasper’s bombs is interfering with my laptop. The case he gave us isn’t quite as secure as it looks.”

  “Why don’t you let me hold on to those?” Bella asked, sliding the case out from under Lulu’s computer. “It might be better for us all.”

  “A little luck certainly couldn’t hurt,” I quipped. “As long as it’s good.”

  Bobby laughed. Bella glared at her grandfather.

  “All right, folks, gather round,” I said.

  My three troops clustered near me.

  “Okay, here’s the game plan. I go in first. Every single time. If we run into Siren and Intelligal, you guys stay back out of sight. Let me take care of the ubervillains. If the situation gets really desperate, Bella can toss me a couple of the bombs so I can even things out. I said it before, and I’ll say it again—I don’t want any of you trying to play hero. That’s my job. Under no circumstances are you to engage Siren or Intelligal by yourselves. Agreed?”

  I looked at each one of them in turn, giving them my I’m-a-powerful-superhero-so-don’t-even-think-about-messing-with-me look. It seemed to work, because they nodded.

  “Okay then. Let’s go get our boys back,” I said.

  *

  We took a few minutes to get our gear together. Lulu passed out the earplugs Henry and my father had been working on and hooked them into her laptop. Like our other equipment, the earplugs were equipped with microphones so we could all talk to each other. Then, Lulu piggybacked her computer onto one of the electrical boxes that lined the empty parking structure. She started to disable the alarm, but someone had already done it.