I Die to Rise: Resurrection System-Chapter 103: Riot Protocol!

[Before the Riot]

Razor arrived at the Walk and searched for Urm, just like Lena told him to. And she was right, it was impossible to miss him.

The massive ox-Minari stood head and shoulders above the other prisoners, arms crossed, watching the yard with a quiet authority that had earned him respect among the people of the Walk.

"Hey," Razor greeted, walking up to him and forgetting momentarily he was still in disguise.

Urm and the other Minaris around him, including Riley, tensed immediately when they saw a guard approaching. Then Urm relaxed himself, reading something in Razor’s body language. "How can I help a guard of the Circle today?"

"Lena and Kurt sent me," Razor whispered, leaning in. "I’m here to start the... you know. Riot." He put a hand beside his helmet in that conspiratorial gesture people used when trying to speak discreetly.

Then he grabbed Urm for show and shoved him against the wall to keep up appearances.

"I see," Urm said calmly, turning his head as he was pressed against the concrete, while nodding subtly to the rest of the Minaris to put them at ease. "But in that disguise of yours, it may be easier said than done."

Razor scoffed. "What do you mean? I was built to start riots."

He let go of Urm and stalked over to the toughest-looking prisoner he could find. A seven-foot-tall man with a snake tattoo running across his face and a butt chin that looked like it could crack walnuts.

"Hey, you!"

The prisoner’s eyes darted left and right, then he pointed at himself in a gesture that meant ’me?’

Before the prisoner could say anything else, Razor punched him square in the face, sending him staggering and dropping to the ground.

That was his big plan. Antagonize a prisoner, start a chain reaction of violence, watch the chaos unfold.

Unfortunately for him, the prisoner was smart enough not to mess with a guard.

"I apologize if I did something wrong," the man said, standing up and dusting off his uniform as he flashed Razor an innocent smile. "My daughter always said my face rubs people the wrong way. I’m trying to be better, see?"

"The fuck?" Razor scratched the top of his helmet, disappointed.

Urm approached from behind. "Mind if I give it a try?"

Razor sighed, his shoulders slumped. "Be my guest." Ego clearly bruised.

Without warning, Urm hoisted the fully armored Razor overhead like he weighed nothing. Razor’s legs kicking uselessly in the air as he was completely taken by surprise.

A ripple moved through the Walk immediately as prisoners stopped moving and heads turned.

"That’s Urm..." someone whispered.

Another voice shouted, "The ox is about to speak!"

Then Urm’s voice boomed across the entire block, carrying to the next corridor and the one after that.

"LOOK AT THIS!" He shook the ’guard’ like a rag doll. "They dress us in rags! They sell us like meat while they drink champagne upstairs! How many of your brothers and sisters have they thrown into the Hole?! How many more are we going to let them take?!"

Then he started it. A deep, rhythmic, unstoppable chant while moving Razor up and down above his head.

"RIOT!"

The word hit like thunder, and he roared it again, louder.

"RIOT!"

The Minaris picked it up first. Riley’s voice sharp and fierce, the others joining in a heartbeat. Then the next block. Then the next. The chant rolled outward like a wave crashing through the entire Walk.

"RIOT! RIOT! RIOT!"

Tables flipped. Cameras smashed. Prisoners surged forward like a tidal wave of rage. Someone ripped a baton from a guard and turned it on him.

Another guard was dragged into the crowd, screaming. Collars started flashing warning red across the entire Walk, but the chant only grew louder.

Urm dropped Razor, who hit the floor like a broken doll, and looked straight at him with a small, satisfied nod.

Razor stood up slowly, arching his back. "My hair, now my back. The fuck is wrong with you people?"

***

[Present Time]

Cassandra reached into her clutch and retrieved a small finger-sized detonator hidden in her fist. She gave Lena a smile that said something’s about to go down, then pressed the button.

The C4 explosion she’d left in the VIP blimp as an insurance policy detonated, and the sudden blast sent everyone flying backward, bodies tumbling across the deck in a wave of chaos.

However, both Lena and Cassandra leapt back with perfect timing, making it seem like they’d been thrown with the rest when in fact they’d anticipated the blast.

This meant they didn’t suffer the temporary disorienting effects, and Lena’s tail immediately shot out, wrapping around Lady Naga’s control device and yanking it from her grip.

"The blimp is compromised," Cassandra announced, standing up and rubbing her temple as she feigned disorientation. "We’ll take the one docked at the Walk instead!"

"I think I speak for everyone when I say none of us are going to the Walk with whatever is going on there," one of the elite buyers said, and murmurs of agreement rippled through the group.

That was when Lady Naga realized her new toy was missing, along with the control device meant to keep her in check.

"Foolish product," Lady Naga hissed. "Doesn’t she know the Warden can always replace the control device so long as she has that collar on?"

"Hmm. Let me see if mine still functions properly," an elite said, turning the dial on his own device.

His purchased prisoner began screaming, clutching their head as though an invisible crown was being tightened around their skull with the Band Tightening Spell.

He turned the dial back and switched it off. "Excellent. And when it’s dialed to the highest setting..." He mimed a head popping with his fingers. "Off goes the head."

Then he started laughing.

Cassandra maintained her smile. Given her sadistic nature, she didn’t have to pretend much to look excited by the screams. "If you’ll excuse me."

She left the auction hall and found Lena, who stood there, waiting by the elevator for Cassandra to show up.

"You’re good," Lena said as Cassandra got in, then pushed a button to take them down.

Cassandra gave her a wicked smile. "I’ve had practice."

The air suddenly warped as Kurt stumbled into the elevator via warp king, appearing between both ladies with a bottle in hand like he’d been there the whole time.

He took a long swig of the Warden’s expensive brandy. "Bloody hell..." He looked up at them standing on either side, a crooked grin on his face. "Well, this is a nice view."

"What the—" Lena started.

But Kurt interrupted, pointing two fingers at her collar. "Let me get that for you." With Theft, he stole it off her neck, and suddenly the collar was in his grip. "There we go. Can’t do that trick too many times in a row."

Lena touched her bare neck, eyes wide as she tried to process what just happened. "You’re not an Untouched, are you, tiger?"

"I have no bloody idea what an Untouched is, love," Kurt admitted with a tired laugh as he tossed away the collar he held. "Sounds like something posh people made up to feel special."

Cassandra stepped forward and her gaze sharpened. "Riley?"

Kurt nodded. "Safe. She’s in the Walk with friends."

When the elevator opened up to the path that led to the Walk, Kurt could already hear the sound of heads exploding, and could only hope his mates weren’t among the onslaught.

They each picked up the pace, sprinting towards the Walk which was now surrounded with chaos, bodies, blood and brain matter.

The Warden stood on an elevated platform, inputting numbers into his detonator and flipping the switch. And for every time he punched in a prisoner number, a collar flashed and a rioter’s head vanished in a red mist.

"Every minute this continues," the Warden’s voice boomed through speakers, "ten more die."

The chanting faltered. Some prisoners stopped, looking at each other, fear overtaking rage. But not everyone stopped. The hardcore rioters kept going.

So the Warden switched tactics. Random numbers now as warning shots. "You want chaos? I’ll show you chaos."

He started detonating collars faster—not just rioters, but anyone nearby. Bystanders. People trying to flee.

The message was clear: riot and EVERYONE pays.

Kurt scanned the chaos. Hundreds of prisoners, screaming, running, dying. He needed to find the rally point, which was the eastern blimp dock, exactly where Urm said they’d wait.

He grabbed Cassandra’s wrist, pulling her through the crowd, while Lena followed close behind.

Bodies pressed in from all sides. Blood underfoot. Screams echoing off the walls. And near the eastern dock, Urm could be seen, along with Riley and a guard he hoped was Razor.

"There!" Kurt shouted over the noise, pushing forward.

They linked up seconds later, breathless, covered in other people’s blood.

"We’re going to have to lure the Warden to one of those," Kurt proposed, pointing at the nearest blimp.

"And how the fuck are we gonna do that?" Razor asked.

They all looked at him in unison. Essentially, with great disguise came great responsibility.

"Fuck..." Razor sighed.

Kurt pulled him close. "Should be easy. Just tell him you found the Untouched. Lead him to our blimp. As easy as riding a three wheeled bike."

"So a Tricycle?" Razor lifted an eyebrow.

"See? Already know your stuff," Kurt answered.

Then he got to work with their collars before Razor left. He moved quickly through the group, using Plastic Man to shape his fingers into perfect lock picks. One by one, he unlocked collars.

Riley’s. Razor’s. Urm’s.

And they all fell to the ground with heavy thuds.

"I don’t know what the hell you just did." Razor rubbed his neck. "But I’m sure as fuck not complaining." Then he turned and walked toward the Warden, helmet still on, playing the role perfectly.

"Sir!" Razor called out. "I found him! The Untouched!"

The Warden turned, eyes narrowing. "Where?"

"On one of the blimps. He must be planning an escape."

"No one is escaping today." The Warden’s finger hovered over his device. "What is his prisoner’s number?" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Razor smirked behind his helmet. "You’ll want to see it for yourself"

The Warden hesitated, but the seed of curiosity was successfully planted. So he followed.

Meanwhile, the others boarded the blimp, but Urm stopped at the entrance, refusing to enter.

Riley turned. "Urm?"

The massive ox-Minari shook his head. "I’m staying."

"What?" Lena stepped forward. "This is your chance Urm... our chance."

"Maybe," Urm said calmly. "But there are more people in this prison. Minaris like Riley who’ll need someone watching their backs. I can’t leave them."

Riley’s eyes filled with tears, and she threw her arms around him. "Thank you."

Lena hugged him next, tail wrapping around his arm briefly. "You’re a stubborn bastard."

"I’ll miss you." Urm smiled faintly, taking a few steps back as he blended into the crowd.

Kurt on the other hand was more concerned with how they would take off as he stepped up to the cockpit and looked at Cassandra. "Alright, I know we’ve been winging it so far, but does anyone actually know how to fly this thing?"

Cassandra smirked. "Why do you think I’m here?" Her family built the Circle. She’d learned to fly these blimps as a child.

She slid into the pilot’s seat and Kurt watched as she started powering up the engines. "Beautiful Cassandra. The gift that just keeps on giving," he said with a smile.

As the blimp got ready to take off, the Warden stepped onto it with Razor, flanked by three other guards who stayed outside.

The moment he crossed the threshold, Kurt slammed a portal shut behind him, cutting off his escape.

Lena moved fast, yanking the Warden’s gloves off and stuffing them into his mouth, gagging him before he could let a word out, while Razor tied his hands with his own necktie.

"Remember me?" Kurt asked, crouching down. "Maybe this will ring a bell."

He stomped the Warden’s head into the floor of the blimp, just as the engines roared to life, and the blimp began to rise.

Guards stationed at the edge of the Walk rushed to giant mounted cannons, taking position to fire as the barrels swung toward the escaping blimp, tracking its ascent.

One guard’s finger moved to the trigger.

Then Kurt dragged the Warden to the edge of the blimp and held him over the railing, clearly visible against the sky.

"HOLD FIRE!" a senior guard screamed into his radio. "The Warden’s on board! HOLD YOUR FIRE!"

The cannons stopped rotating. Barrels aimed but didn’t fire. No one wanted to be responsible for vaporizing their boss.

Thus, the blimp kept moving, rising higher, heading toward the Garden.

The Warden’s hands were bound behind his back, but his jaw was still free. He worked his tongue against the gloves, pushing them forward bit by bit.

While everyone was celebrating, watching the Walk shrink below and laughing about their escape. No one noticed him in the corner, working methodically.

Finally, with one violent shake of his head, the gloves flew free from his mouth, and he quickly stumbled to the edge of the blimp and screamed with everything he had.

"ACTIVATE BLACK HEAVEN PROTOCOL! CODE ZERO-ZERO-NINE-ONE-THREE-ZERO-ONE-FOUR!"

The guards froze, stared at each other, then they ran.

Kurt yanked the Warden back and gagged him again, tying him even tighter. "What the hell is the Black Heaven Protocol?!" He asked no one in particular.

***

Deep below the Circle.

Beneath even the Hole.

A chamber opened, revealing a large humanoid silhouette that stood inside the darkness.

Two eyes ignited, red lights flickering to life as it stepped forward into the dim light.

BLACK HEAVEN I

ACTIVATION CONFIRMED.