punch. He propelled his bodyweight forward in the next instant, firing back his own overhand right that hammered into the other man’s jaw. The punch mashed the Irish guy’s lips into his teeth, and he staggered back from the blow as Farrell followed it up with a left hook that also connected, sending him back. That lit the dynamite, and beside them everyone else started brawling.
The guy across from Archer suddenly snapped his big hand forward and grabbed the smaller man’s collar with his right hand, gripping it tight. Archer knew what the guy was planning. He would hold him with one hand and beat his face relentlessly with the other, like a club, using his strength to his advantage. Pound on him until he decided to let go, until Archer’s face was a pulpy, bloody mess or when he was unconscious. Probably both. The bigger man knew the strength he possessed and he would use it to smash the smaller man. No need for technique. Sheer power would be enough.
But the guy had made a mistake.
He’d extended his arm.
Check.
Archer reacted fast. He slammed the guy’s arm up hard with his left palm, hard enough to get out of his grip. In the same moment, he threw his body forward, wrapping his right arm around the guy’s neck, tight under his chin. The big guy had the power, but Archer had the speed. He ducked his head under the guy’s shoulder in the same motion and locked the fingers of his right hand on his left bicep. He put his left arm to the guy’s forehead and started to squeeze, his grip as tight as a vice, strangling the guy’s neck like there was a snake wrapped around it going for the kill. A front-on choke, an arm-triangle, applied in less than a second.
Checkmate.
He’d taken the big guy by surprise and he started trying to fight his way out of it. He was as strong as an ox, but it wasn’t happening. He wasn’t getting out. Now his strength advantage meant shit. Archer was strong for his size, and he cinched it tighter, squeezing his arms, his grip locked up and secure. He heard the guy gargling as the choke-hold took away his oxygen, thrashing and scrabbling as he tried to escape. He was going out. Archer tightened the choke.
As he squeezed his arms as hard as he could and kept his head to the guy’s massive shoulder, Archer saw Farrell and the two other guys had knocked their opponents down, continuing to beat on them on the sidewalk. Across the street, he heard people shouting, calling from them to break it up, some of them probably calling the cops.
But he ignored them all and looked over at the woman.
He couldn’t believe it.
Two of the guys had gone for her. Two-on-one, and the one was a woman.
But she hadn’t opted to use the gun in her waistband.
Instead, Archer saw that one of them was out cold, face down in the gutter, motionless. He wasn’t even twitching. He watched her block a punch from the other guy and moved in close, clasping her hands behind his neck in a clinch. She pulled his head down and then started firing hard and vicious knees into his chin, one after the other, the guy’s face taking each one like a sledge-hammer, smashing his nose and cheekbones as he tried to fight his way out of it. She was relentless, a perfect balance of ferocity and technique. He took about nine or ten of her knees then collapsed out of her grip to the pavement, his face a bloody mess, his eyes rolled back in his head.
At that same moment, Archer felt the big guy in his choke give a final thrash and gargle, then he sagged and a shitload of slack bodyweight suddenly weighed down his arms. He wasn’t faking it. The big guy was out. Archer eased him to the concrete, which was no easy task. Dropping him meant the guy could hit his head on the stone and Archer didn’t fancy a murder charge.
And before the others could react, he grabbed his wallet and I.D from where Farrell had dropped them on the sidewalk and took off across the street, sprinting hard. There was a saying with any street fight that the loser went to hospital whilst the winner went to jail, and he didn’t fancy being around for when the cops showed up.
As he crossed the street and headed down