Chapter 1The King in Chains
Rain hammered the prison transport truck as it stopped outside the giant steel gates of Blackgate Prison.
The guards looked nervous.
Not because of the weather.
Because of the man sitting silently inside the truck.
Rico Varez.
The former mafia king.
Handcuffed.
Bleeding slightly from his eyebrow.
But smiling.
The prison gates slowly opened with a loud metallic roar.
Inside Blackgate, prisoners crowded near the bars, whispering his name.
โThatโs Ricoโฆโ
โThe mafia bossโฆโ
โI heard he killed an entire gang aloneโฆโ
The guards forced Rico out of the truck.
One officer pushed him hard.
โInside, youโre nobody.โ
Rico looked at him calmly.
โThen why are your hands shaking?โ
The officer stepped back.
Inside the prison, violence ruled every corner.
Fights.
Drug deals.
Blood on the walls.
Every cellblock belonged to gangs.
But the strongest gang inside Blackgate was The Reapers, led by a brutal prisoner named Marcus Kane.
A giant man covered in scars.
The moment Rico entered Cellblock 7, silence spread.
Marcus stared at him from above the stairs.
โThis prison already has a king.โ
Rico slowly removed his prison jacket and sat on a chair in the middle of the room like he owned the place.
โGood,โ Rico said.
โKings should meet face to face.โ
The prisoners backed away.
Everyone knew a war had just begun.
That night, two Reaper gang members entered Ricoโs cell with knives.
The lights flickered.
One attacked.
Rico moved instantly.
CRACK.
The first man hit the wall.
The second tried stabbing him, but Rico grabbed the knife and slammed him onto the floor.
The entire prison heard the screams.
When guards arrived, both attackers were unconscious.
Rico sat calmly on the bed, blood dripping from his knuckles.
โTell Marcus,โ Rico said quietly,
โnext timeโฆ send better men.โ
The next morning, prisoners discovered something shocking.
The cafeteria tables had changed overnight.
The Reapersโ symbol was burned away.
In its place was one word carved deeply into the metal:
MAFIA
Marcus Kane stared at it furiously.
Across the cafeteria, Rico drank coffee peacefully while prisoners slowly gathered behind him.
The balance of Blackgate Prison had started to change.
And everyone could feel it.
End of Episode 1
Next Episode:
โBlood on Cellblock 7โ
