Toll!

Meanwhile, on the Hamilton side of the bridge...

Jadestorm emerged, running as only she can. She came to a stop next to the stud. "That's very kind of you," she said, "but no one owes these jokers anything. Except, perhaps, a lesson in ethics—and class is now in session." She assumed a Kung Fu stance, finishing with, "My name is Jadestorm, and I'll be your instructor. Pay close attention, because I don't like having to repeat myself."

Fahrenheit grinned. Over his shoulder, he shouted, "Fuji, sono kuruma o sutechimae."

To Jadestorm, he leered, "You know, you are taking this hero thing a little too much to heart. Let's say you and I forget this whole thing, go out to dinner. What do you say, you are certainly making my temperature rise, let me do the same."

"The only part of me that you're making 'hot' is my temper," Jadestorm answered, "I have nothing but contempt for those who take advantage of people who are weaker than themselves."

As Jadestorm made her position known, Flashpoint reached the car. A large Oriental man dressed in typical sumo gear, squatted, and raised his foot in the customary "stomp" of the sumo wrestler. Top Hat touched his arm, shook his head, and pointed at the bridge. Fuji awarded him with a sheepish look and gently placed his foot on the ground.

I think about now would work... Flashpoint thought to herself.

As the man called Fuji turned to the car, Flashpoint floated out of it, sheathed in flame, her red hair streaming out behind her, she seemed to have been birthed from fire.

"BAKEMONO, ONI, GAKI!" Fuji screamed, stark terror in his voice. Slowly, the behemoth fell backwards. Where he landed, a crack appeared in the deck of the bridge.

Flashpoint arched an eyebrow. Well, I've never been called that before. I wonder what it means… She winced slightly as she noticed the crack in the deck, as she knew that the authorities tended to look disfavourably on collateral damage in these little disputes.

Top Hat gaped at the woman and then at Fuji. Grabbing the radio off his belt he began to talk rapidly into it.

Oh no you don't... Flashpoint thought with determination.

"Surprise!" she yelled. Her hands came level with her chest and beams of bright red discharged from her upturned palms. The beams struck Top Hat squarely, knocking him into one of the bridge beams. His cane skittered across the bridge as he bounced off the support beam to lie unmoving face down on the bridge deck.

There was a slight pause, and then shouting as people began to panic. It was becoming quite clear that a battle was about to begin.

A panicky crowd in a restricted area. This will not help… nice job, Kat, Flashpoint thought with a grimace. She then turned to the nearest standing villain.

Off to Flashpoint's right a woman covered head to toe in a jade-like shell darted forward. As the jade woman reached Fahrenheit she suddenly dropped straight down, bending her left knee while extending her right leg straight out. The sweep caught him in his Achilles tendons and he dropped. A wave of heat spread quickly from the point of impact. Jadestorm felt the heat like a physical blow, spots danced before her eyes and she fell to the bridge stunned.

"You are really beginning to piss me off," Fahrenheit snapped, as he flipped to his feet, "unless that is your idea of foreplay."

Fahrenheit glanced towards his companions. "Che! Fuji, mata ka yo! Chikushoo!" Another woman stood over their unmoving bodies. Easy, he said… no superheroes, he said… Fahrenheit thought savagely. That's the last time I trust a gaijin. Time to leave.

"Okay raincheck babes, let's see how you handle this."

Reaching out, the man heated the metal around him. He could feel rage fuelling his effort. He felt satisfaction as the crowd renewed their panic. Now for the finishing touch, let's see how heroic these women are. With this thought, Fahrenheit fused the doors for 5 vehicles on either side of the bridge. That is going to cost me, he thought as he jumped to the side of the bridge. The water stretched far below him.

Flashpoint could see the pure panic on the faces of the people trapped in their cars. Oh, my God! They're trapped… With that thought echoing in her head Flashpoint flew to the nearest car. She could see the smoke escaping from under the hood. Reaching for her innate abilities, she produced a fine stream of heat. Using it as a laser she began to cut an escape for the people inside.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Fahrenheit had jumped up on the edge of the bridge. It appeared that he was going to jump. As the jade woman sprung to her feet, her fist started to glow, with an ingathering of green energy.

Can't let on that that hurt as bad as it did... Jadestorm thought, trying to shake off the last bit of disorientation, Can't go easy on him again. People could get hurt for real if I screw up. Got to keep his attention on me.

"Foreplay?" Jadestorm called out. "So having a woman beat you up turns you on, huh? For all that power you've got, you're still just a smalltime punk. A coward. A bully. And there's only one way to deal with bullies."

Blowing her a kiss, Fahrenheit jumped off the bridge. A long, loud whistle sounded.

Meanwhile, Tempest turned back to her foe. The woman had recovered from her brush with electricity. Angered, she raced toward Tempest, metal wings posed to strike. At the last second, the woman veered off.

Jadestorm slowly shut out her others senses. First sight, though her eyes were still open. Then touch, though she could still react. Then taste and smell. Her hearing expanded. She could hear her heartbeat, the wind. As she reached out to pinpoint the whistle…

"God damn men, always ruining your fun."

And a sonic boom went off in her inner ear. Disorientated she shut down her hearing, clutching the rail to stop from falling. Bluestreak finished his run around the cars, putting out the fires. He was pleased. He had been very careful not to knock the jade woman off the bridge.

Trying to disable with minimal injury only got me more hurt than any time since I became Jadestorm. Trying to use hidden powers only got me even more messed up. Clearly, playing nice with these people is not going to do these innocents—or me—any good. With this thought, Jadestorm sprang to her feet and glanced around ready to attack anything near her.

Before her stood a man wearing a royal blue bodysuit, apparently made out of spandex, and matching boots going half way up his lower leg. On his chest is a yellow circle with a blue lightening bolt. From slightly behind the man a fairly slim woman in a dark gray spandex body suit, lighter gray see through harem style pants, boots the same dark gray as the body suit deep auburn hair and a painted face, floats down to the bridge deck.

"Sorry for the commotion… but things were getting a little too hot for me around here. Need any help?" Bluestreak started to look around to make sure that everyone was safe and to see what happened to the other villains. "Where are the bad guys and what happened here…?" he asked, drawing out the last part of his question to prompt for names.

Before him were two women, one still helping people out of their cars dressed in a spandex suit alternating varies shades of red and yellow and the other was a beautiful, near-faceless woman, seemingly carved out of green jade. Her hands were encased in a mysterious energy of a shade of colour similar to hers. She looked ready to attack, balanced in a easily shiftable attack stance.

This man is obviously the source of the cold wind. I have no idea where he came from, and right now, I really don't care, either, Jadestorm thought. His back was to the two unconscious villains and the new lady that had set down, who was now looking down at the villains. She quickly checked the two downed villains.

"Thanks. I was beginning to think I couldn't get to all the cars in time." The air around the multi-costumed woman cooled somewhat. Flashpoint continued going around to the formerly smoking cars, checking to make sure that the occupants were safe.

"I am Bluestreak," Bluestreak announced, "Does anyone here know which way the guy with the top hat and megaphone went? I've got a score to settle with one of his associates," he asked with a slight grin concealed by his mask.

Bluestreak glanced around for the villains and felt his face go red as he realized that the villains were right behind him. The flyer and the other woman in the red, orange and yellow costume were bent over them. Both villains were unconscious.

"Just a moment," he addressed the jade woman. Then with a quick dart, he ran around gathering up materials and bound the villains before they regained consciousness, and then reappeared in front of her.

The jade woman stood still for several more moments, getting back her wind and her composure. The glow faded from her hands as she lowered them to her sides. Then she looked back at the man in the bodysuit and replied, "I am called 'Jadestorm'. As for where the other bad guys went, that's what I'd like to know. I don't hear them any more. In any case, we'd best help these people get on with their lives." With this, she turned to the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, you are free to go. The less time you spend around here, the better." Jadestorm gave the woman in red, orange and yellow a once over, "Impressive."

Flashpoint grinned. "Thanks."

"So… which side are you on?" Bluestreak asked the jade woman, quickly to cover his embarrassment, "Ours… or theirs," asked while pointing back at the villains.

Jadestorm stiffened up again. "The fact that you have to ask shows that the answer won't do you any good. But for the record: I got sandwiched between two of their friends, who appear to have got away. That should make clear which side I'm on. And if that doesn't, the fact that I'm standing here talking to you should. In any case, this was not my idea of how to spend a morning. I'm going to get back to what I was doing when they interrupted us all. Excuse me."

And with that, she turned on her heel and disappears into the confusion and cars, insta-changing back to normal at the earliest opportunity. Then she edged over to her car, still wondering where that stud got to, and negotiated the resulting traffic jam as best she could.

Flashpoint checked the remanding cars, helping people out of them. Six cars in total, she thought to herself in amazement. Six cars with the doors fused and the engine heated up enough to smoke if not explode. Shaking her head she approached the downed villains. To the woman in white she asked, "Are these two going to be OK?"

"My name is Tempest," the woman answered, "and yes, I believe so."

"Nice to meet you, Tempest. I'm Flashpoint."

Three cop cars screamed to a halt at the bottom of the bridge. The police boiled out of their cars and pointed their weapons at the would be heroes.

"Freeze!"

"No," a woman with a child in her arms shouted and placed herself between the police and the three heroes," these people saved us."

She pointed down at the two villains, Top Hat stirred, "These are the villains."

Several other people whom Flashpoint had rescued, muttered agreement and placed themselves between the cops and the heroes. The police looked at each other and slowly lowered their guns.

Looks like I'm gonna be late now. Flashpoint thought. Oh, well. I just hope that we don't get a supervising officer like Taglianetti out here to deal with the villains.