"Yeah?" Kellan asked. "Well, maybe you should find yourself a nice centaur or something."

"Huh?" the troll grunted, grabbing for her arm. "Don't be that way, baby. I just wanna- urk!" He stopped short when Kellan snapped her stun baton up between his legs.

"That big enough for you, baby?" she said. " 'Cause I'm betting that it's more than what you've got. Now, unless you take your hand off me right now, drekhead, they're going to change your name from Horse to Mare."

"Fraggin' smoothie slitch:" the troll muttered, one hand balling up into a fist. Kellan squeezed the trigger. There was a sizzling crack and the troll howled on an impossibly high note, barely audible above the pounding music, then fell like a massive tree. He lay there, twitching, as Kellan backed away a few steps. She heard a smattering of applause and a few approving hoots from women in the crowd next to the bar, then she turned and stalked back toward the entrance. People cleared out of her way, though only the clubbers closest to the bar even noticed the big troll rolling around on the floor groaning.

The ork bouncer at the door noticed Kellan as she headed out.

"Hey," he said. "Have any luck?"

"Yeah, all bad," Kellan replied, jamming her hands into her pockets. The drizzle had turned into a steady rain, drumming on the street, seriously dampening the spirits of most of the wannabes still waiting in line. Kellan strode past the line, pulling her phone out of her pocket to call another Grid-Cab. She thought about hitting another club, but she really just wanted to give it up and go somewhere warm and dry to crash.

She heard a commotion back toward the club entrance and looked back to see Horse and two other trolls outside, looking around the darkened street.

Horse was yelling. Then he spotted Kellan, grabbed his buddy's arm and pointed.

"Oh, drek," Kellan said. Then she turned and ran as the three of them came charging after her.

She ran as fast as she could, dodging around people on the street, but the three metahumans coming after her moved fast despite their massive size, and they clearly knew the area better than she did. She cut left into the first alley she found, hoping to lose them, only to discover a heavy chain-link fence blocking the end of it. She hit the fence at a run and started to climb, but it was slick from the rain and her boots weren't made to grab the mesh of the fence. She slipped when she was only halfway up, and a heavy hand grabbed the back of her jacket, dragging her down.

Kellan wriggled out of the jacket and dropped to the ground, leaving the big troll holding nothing but a handful of synthetic leather. Horse slammed into her, pinning her back against the cold, wet metal of the fence, his reeking breath in her face, his bulk making the mesh dig painfully into her skin. Kellan's stun baton was in the pocket of her jacket, out of reach, along with anything else she could use as a weapon.

The troll smiled evilly and grabbed Kellan's chin with one massive paw, twisting her head so their faces were mere centimeters apart. Rain dripped from his bushy brows and face as he ran his tongue along his tusk.

"You're not going to be so pretty after we're done with you, baby," he growled, "but if you just relax, you might enjoy it."

"Now we're going to have some fun," the troll grinned.

"Hey!" yelled a familiar voice from the end of the alley. "Back off!"

As the trolls turned to look at the intruder, Kellan could see it was the ork bouncer from the nightclub striding down the alley toward them, cracking his knuckles. He carried no weapons that she could see.

"I said back off," he repeated.

"Frag you!" Horse shot back over his shoulder, and his two chummers stood between him and Kellan and the bouncer.

"Bring it on, then," the bouncer invited, and the two trolls rushed him.

The first troll to reach the bouncer wore his thick blond hair in a buzz cut. He swung a massive fist the size of Kellan's head, but the ork ducked low in a blur of motion, spun around and hit Buzz Cut in the lower back with his fists, sending the bigger metahuman stumbling forward onto one knee in a pile of trash, cursing in pain.

The other troll, who had a heavy scar running across his pockmarked face, took a swing at the ork. The bouncer blocked the punch, nailing Scar with a kick to the stomach that made the troll double over and let the ork deliver a knee to Scar's face. There was a crunching noise and a spout of blood from the troll's broken nose as he stumbled back.

Then Buzz Cut got back to his feet and grabbed the bouncer from behind. He wrapped his massive arms around the ork's torso, lifting him off the ground. The troll's massive shoulders and biceps flexed as he squeezed, and the ork bouncer struggled in his grip.

Scar wiped blood from his face and shook his head, then reached into his leather jacket. There was a loud snap as he flipped open a heavy knife and advanced on the pinned bouncer.

Held tightly in the troll's grip, the ork smashed a booted foot into the bigger metahuman's knee, causing Buzz Cut to howl in pain and drop him just as Scar rushed in. He dropped below the swing of the knife then dove forward to tackle Scar, and the two of them tumbled into a pile of garbage.

"Finish him off, you fraggers!" Horse yelled impatiently as Buzz Cut shuffled toward the melee again.

Kellan kicked at Horse and immediately regretted it. For a moment, he had almost forgotten about her, but her kick missed its intended target and smacked him in the thigh, reminding him of the girl he had pinned against the fence.

He backhanded Kellan, sending her sprawling onto the wet pavement, and she tried to scramble to her feet before he could grab her again. Horse raised a hand in front of his face and short, chromed blades like scalpels popped out of his blunt fingertips. Behind him, Kellan saw Buzz Cut stumble back, clutching one arm and cursing, as Horse took a step toward her.

"I'm gonna cut you good, slitch," he said, grabbing the front of Kellan's shirt and hauling her up to her feet as his other hand swung back.

It was like time stopped for a moment, as Kellan brought up her hand in a futile attempt to fend off the razors at the tips of Horse's fingers. She felt a flush of heat, the pounding of her heart in her chest. A reddish haze obscured her vision, focused entirely on the troll in front of her. The jade amulet at her neck felt cold against her burning skin. Kellan saw her outstretched hand glow red and she could see the black shadows of the bones through her flesh. Then heat seemed to rush out of her like a wave.

There was a whooshing sound, and the troll burst into flames.

Horse's clothing, even his leather jacket, caught fire, instantly transforming him into a blazing torch. The troll screamed, dropped Kellan and began rushing about, trying in vain to put out the flames. He dropped to the ground where he rolled and kicked as his screams and the smell of burning cloth, leather, hair and flesh filled the alley.

The fight came to a standstill when Horse ignited, but the ork bouncer was quick to take advantage of the situation. While the trolls stared in horrified fascination at their chummer, the bouncer delivered a kick to the chest of Scar that sent him stumbling hard into the wall. His knife clattered somewhere in the alley as the troll slid down the wall and into a heap on the ground.

Buzz Cut looked from the ork bouncer to his chummers, one lying out cold, the other still smoldering and moaning in pain, then he slowly backed a few steps toward the open end of the alley, turned and ran.

Kellan slumped against the chain-link fence, staring in shock at the smoldering form of Horse, his clothing and flesh charred. It was like all of her energy had left her in a rush and she suddenly felt cold and very, very tired. She dropped down onto the ground as the ork bouncer came over to her and, when she glanced down, she noticed her hands were shaking violently.