“Use the canister!” Marcus is yelling from beneath the net, but Jeremy isn’t paying attention. The cricket ball he hurled a moment earlier hits the troll on the forehead with a meaty thwack. The troll narrows its huge yellow eyes at Jeremy.
“Come and get me!” Jeremy calls from the end of the street. A peculiar feeling has come over him, a tingling sensation that radiates from his spine. Marcus is still calling for him to use the canister, but Jeremy knows that he doesn’t need to.
At the far end of the street the troll starts towards him, flinging cars aside with its hands. One car tumbles over another and the alarm of one falls silent as the troll crushes it beneath one enormous foot. Jeremy stands with his legs slightly apart, the amethapeel canister resting on the asphalt beneath his feet.
Halfway down the street the troll stops for a moment and bellows, showing its thick, wedge-shaped teeth. But Jeremy’s not afraid. A smile starts at the sides of his mouth as he watches the troll stomp closer, a smile that grows to a grin and after that it requires all of Jeremy’s effort to hold back laughter.
I’m invincible, he thinks to himself. I’m invincible. And he knows that he’s not merely hoping this is true, but that he knows it. He can feel it in every fibre of his being, in the prickling of every hair that’s standing up on his arms and at the back of his neck. He can feel it as a tickle in the back of his throat and as a warm feeling that rises in his chest like love.
The troll continues to hurl things aside, the wall of one building crumbles and a red and white striped awning flutters away.
The grey-skinned monster tears a car door free and hurls it at Jeremy. It hits the ground a few metres ahead and sends up sparks, before shearing harmlessly past his face. The troll picks up a tire and it tosses it forward, roaring as it bounces past Jeremy and shatters a shop window somewhere behind him.
Grunting with exertion, the troll pauses to lift an entire car above its head. Jeremy watches as the nose of the vehicle catches in a power line that’s strung between buildings, causing the wire to snap in two with a crackle of electricity.
One end of the power line falls towards Jeremy and he extends a hand to catch it. Insulated rubber strikes his palm and the exposed end of the wire buzzes.
The troll rushes forward, heavy feet stamping the ground. But the car it is holding is too heavy and causes the creature to lose balance. Only a few meters away the car hits the ground with the sound of shattering glass. The troll catches its foot in one broken window, tripping over and tumbling towards Jeremy.
Jeremy does not move so much as an inch. The electrical wire flails in his fist, but he holds it tight. With one final bellow the troll comes to rest, face down on the street in front of Jeremy.
Still grinning, Jeremy lowers the power line to touch it against the leathery skin of the troll and all of the lights on the street go out.