A Karma Girl Christmas by Jennifer Estep Read Free Book Online Page B

you—”
    The air whirled violently through the warehouse, drowning out the rest of my words and causing the remaining toys on the Christmas tree to sway back and forth. My head snapped right and then left as I wondered once again what new ubervillain had come out of the woodwork to wreak havoc on my holiday, but it wasn’t an ubervillain at all.  
    One second, there was only empty air in front of me. The next, Swifte was there, striking a cocky pose in his shimmering, opalescent costume. He stood like that for a second, making sure that we all got an eyeful of him in all his shimmering glory. Then, the speedy superhero turned to me and grinned.
    “Karma Girl,” he chirped in a cheery tone. “You’re looking well, all things considered. Love the silver spandex, by the way. Have you been working out?”
    Well, at least someone noticed my efforts. I started to ask Swifte why he was here, but my inner voice whispered, and I realized exactly who had called him. I looked at Lulu, who shrugged.  
    “Once I saw how many toys the villains had taken off the tree, I put out a citywide call to the other superheroes,” Lulu said. “I figured we’d need all the help we could get.”
    “And naturally, I was the first one here,” Swifte said, striking another heroic pose, despite the fact that there weren’t any cameras around to capture him strutting his stuff. “Good thing too, because those toys aren’t even close to where they’re supposed to be.”
    I shook my head. “Even you’re not that fast—or strong enough to carry everything across town in time for Oodles’s opening.”
    Swifte just grinned at me. “Nope, but my friends are—and they should be getting here any second now.”
    He turned toward the open warehouse door, and sure enough, one by one, they started trickling inside.  
    Granny Cane. Black Samba. Halitosis Hal. Pistol Pete. Wynter. The Invisible Ingénues. Okay, so I couldn’t exactly see the Ingénues, since they were, well, invisible, but they called out a cheery hello so I knew they were here.  
    Practically every superhero in Bigtime walked through the warehouse door. Even Debonair popped! in using his teleportation superpower. In minutes, I had an army of heroes standing before me, ready to make sure the kids of Bigtime and their families got the Christmas they deserved.
    “All right, everybody, listen up,” I said, a smile spreading across my face. “We’ve got some toys to deliver.”
    #
    With Swifte’s superspeed, Black Samba and Granny Cane commandeering several city buses, and everyone else’s assorted powers, we managed to get all the toys and decorations back over to Oodles o’ Stuff. Using his teleportation power, Debonair was even able to transport the solidium tree back into its spot inside the store.  
    Just before nine on Christmas morning, I once again found myself inside Oodles o’ Stuff. The Mintilator and Caveman Stan had managed to strip hundreds of items off the tree, and I was trying to put everything back where it belonged—but not having that much success, because all the superheroes kept talking at once, offering their suggestions.
    “I think the tea set goes over here, dear,” Granny Cane said, pointing her cane at a spot on the tree.
    Wynter shook her head and hefted the box in her hands. The motion made the giant snowflake pulse like a strobe light in the center of her ice-blue costume. “I don’t think so. That branch is too small for this big box.”
    “I’d say put it a little higher on the tree,” Swifte chimed in, zipping around both of them.
    And on and on it went, until my head was pounding just like it had been after Caveman Stan had hit me. I was just about to step in and tell them that it didn’t matter exactly where the tea set went, when Fiera shoved her elbow into my side.  
    “Incoming,” Fiera muttered under her breath.
    I rubbed my side and turned around, wondering what she could possibly be talking about. A second later, I