"Need to use the bathroom?" Jack tilted his head at Reicher, suggesting they move to a less crowded area to handle the situation.
Reicher nodded. The two stood up together. Seeing Paul still frozen in place, Jack sighed and patted his shoulder.
"Oh, I'll go with you," Paul said, snapping out of his daze and quickly following them.
The prison bathroom and shower area were connected, with the toilets inside and the showers outside. A few prisoners were showering as they walked in. After relieving themselves, Jack and Reicher came to the outer area, stood by the sinks, and leisurely began washing their hands and faces with towels.
Jack, feeling a bit smug, asked Reicher, "Now tell me, who's Big Jack and who's Little Jack?"
Reicher was silent for a moment before answering, "I'm Big Jack." After a pause, he added, "You're Huge Jack."
Paul, waiting nervously outside, was completely confused by their conversation.
At that moment, eight burly men crowded into the shower area, blocking the entrance. The two leaders glared at Reicher and Paul, whispering among themselves.
Jack overheard one of them asking why there were two guys with glasses, and he understood. He pushed the still-stunned Paul back and looked at Reicher.
The bald leader, with a fierce face that screamed prison bully, pointed to the prisoners still showering. They quickly wrapped themselves in towels and hurried out, not even rinsing off the soap.
Reicher grinned at Jack and gestured for him to go ahead. The eight men were already closing in, standing between the sinks and the three of them. No one spoke.
Two of the men held makeshift weapons—one had a sharpened toothbrush handle, the other a small metal shiv. They stood in front of Jack and Reicher.
Clearing his throat, Jack imitated Reicher's earlier bravado and began to taunt them: "If you knew what was coming, you'd turn around and leave immediately."
"I'll give you a chance. I'll count to three."
"One."
Before he finished, he swung his wet towel and delivered a swift kick to the groin of the man with the toothbrush handle. The guy's mouth formed an 'O,' dropping his weapon and collapsing to the floor in pain.
Meanwhile, Reicher headbutted the man with the shiv, knocking him down. Both prioritized taking out the high-threat targets first.
"Argh!" One of the thugs threw a punch at Jack, who blocked it with his left hand, grabbed the attacker's head, and slammed it into the sink, causing blood to pour out.
The thug's partner tried to stab Jack with the fallen toothbrush handle, but Jack caught his wrist, chopped his arm, and pushed him back, causing the sharp handle to pierce his own abdomen. Jack followed with an uppercut, knocking him to the ground, blood oozing from his mouth.
The thug who had been hit against the sink tried to grab Jack from behind, but Jack twisted his fingers back, causing him to scream in agony and lose his fighting ability.
With the immediate threats neutralized, Jack used one of the incapacitated thugs as a human shield, pushing forward and making the two at the door back off in fear.
Jack pushed the human shield at one of the thugs, sidestepped a punch, locked the attacker's arm, and broke it with a sharp snap, followed by a stomp that broke the leg with a sickening crack, exposing bone.
Reicher, meanwhile, had taken down two more thugs and was slamming a third into the wall, the impact breaking ribs with a dull thud and a scream.
The last thug pushed away his fallen comrade just in time to see Jack's fist flying at his face. Despite his resilience, he was seeing stars and barely holding on. Clearly, he had trained in boxing, shielding his head with his arms. The prison alarm blared.
Seeing Reicher was done, Jack didn't want to waste time. He grabbed the thug's arms, kicked him in the stomach, lifted him, and threw him back.
In terror, the thug flew across the shower area, crashed into the sink, flipped, and landed at Paul's feet, knocking him out cold.
In less than five minutes, the eight thugs lay on the floor, while Jack, Reicher, and Paul remained standing.
Paul, covering his mouth, looked in shock from the thug at his feet to Jack, not understanding how this seemingly gentle guy could be so brutal.
Minutes later, a group of guards finally arrived. The leader, holding a rubber baton, looked at the scene in shock.
"Why are you here? Hurry, follow me before the warden sees," he said, not even glancing at the groaning thugs, and led Jack and the others out.
"My report says you should be upstairs awaiting trial. Why are you in the life sentence area?"
"Because your people put us here," Reicher replied angrily.
The unfamiliar guard led them through the corridors to a large, empty cell upstairs and warned them sternly, "If anyone asks, you were always here. Understand? What just happened has nothing to do with you."
With that, he turned and closed the door.
Jack surveyed the room, went to the private bathroom, washed the blood off his hands, and threw a damp towel to Reicher, signaling him to clean his forehead wound.
"So, who are you? Frauds who rely on others don't fight like that," Reicher asked calmly, wiping his forehead.
"We'll talk when we get out. There's a lot we need to discuss," Jack said, glancing at Paul, who was huddled on the bed like a frightened quail.
___________________
Read Ahead
P@treon.com/Mutter