Rain: A Manifesto

Absolutism and Betrayal

I awoke, stiff and chilled. My eyes were open but I could see nothing. I veered off my back and looked forward, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness. The ground that I was on was a cold metal. As my vision began to return, I noticed that the ceiling was only about nine feet tall. I stretched my limbs and pulled myself to my feet. I steadily took a few strides forward, only to be stopped by bars between me and a hallway that I could not quite see; as my eyes were not fully focused yet.

I quickly realized that I was in a containment cell. I then remembered my encounter with the men in the swamps, and my disgraceful defeat at the hands of the warrior who could camouflage himself. I stepped away from the bars, slowly moving toward the back of the cell. As I neared the back wall, I tripped over something and landed back on the cold steel. I picked up what I had tripped on, and as if I wasn't in enough shock already… a human skull lay in the palm of my hand.

I ran back toward the front of the cell and rest my head on the bars. "By the gods." I whispered to myself as I squinted my eyelids. "Oh, by the elder gods!" I let out in a raging barrage.

"Hey, boy." A voice called to me from across the hall. "Stop your yowling or the guards will do it for you."

I lifted my head and saw the outline of a man in the cell across from me. His voice was rough and low.

"Where am I?" I asked as I wiped a handful of sweat of my forehead.

"You are in the fortress of the Iga-Koga Society." The man answered quickly and surely. "Must've done something they didn't like if you ended up here. But they only bring you here if they feel you are valuable."

"Does that mean we live?" I asked hopefully.

"Probably not. Most likely they're going to ask us some questions, get their answers, and then kill us when they have what they need. What's the difference between then and now right?" He said with a dry laugh.

I closed my eyes in gloom as I rested my back against the wall near the front of the cell and closed my eyes, attempting to forget what was around me. Eventually, I fell into an uneasy sleep.

I was soon awakened by the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway. Two men dressed in garments similar to those worn by the bandits in the swamp stopped in front of my cell and stood tall with their arms crossed.

"Get up." One of them hissed as he slid a key into the keyhole.

I obeyed and rose to my feet. The cell door opened and one of the two men grabbed the back of my neck and pushed me in the direction of their choice. I could see the man from the cell across from mine peeking out with his eyes widened.

The apparent guards pushed me at full strength through the depths of the dungeons. Almost every cell showed me a face of pain, terror and sorrow. I tried to avoid looking into any of the cells, for it just made me sick.

Eventually, I was forced to a flight of stairs. About half way up, I slipped and fell forward. "Get up!" Yelled one of the guards as he kicked me in my already run-down ribs. I gasped for air and held on to my rib cage with all the strength I had left.

They once again grabbed me by the back of the neck and continued to thrust me up the stairs. At last, they had taken me to the top. They opened the doorway that exited the dungeon and outside was another dark hallway lit by bright torches. They continued to push me, although more subtly now that they were in the presents of other masked men.

They led me through the long hallways to a black marble doorway, plated with gold on the outer frame. One guard pushed open the door, while the other kicked me inside the room.

I lay face first on the cold floor. "Escorts, you are dismissed." I heard a crackled and low-pitched voice assert. The men who "escorted" me slammed the door behind them as they strolled out of the chamber. I lifted my head, and in front of me was a man in a black robe and mask with similar attire of the other men in the fortress. He appeared old, as his visible skin was wrinkled and timeworn.

"Please stand." The man requested as he leaned back in his thrown.

I managed to pull myself up despite my much compromised body. I held my ribs and waited for this man to kill me.

"Please forgive my men for attacking you. They were returning from a mission and assumed you a spy."

'He is asking me to forgive him?' I thought. 'He must be warming me up before my painful interrogation.'

"We believe it is better to take a chance on killing someone than to take a chance letting them live." The man continued as he got out of his thrown and walked down the set of stairs to my level. "Now, my men tell me that you killed Baidon."

My brain caught fire as I thought this would definitely be my death worthy crime. He continued to give me an emotionless and blank stare. His gaze involuntarily made me shake in terror. "I'm… I… I…"

"Baidon was one of our best assassins." Asserted the man. "He was undefeated in battle."

I stood silently as he walked towards me into the light. "I am Grandmaster of The Iga-Koga Society. We are the paladins of the shadows, the executioners of progressivism, the guardians of the Imperial Sovereignty of Outworld! Now held by the discombobulation of Shao Kahn!" His antagonized emotions flowed through his voice as his eyes sharpened themselves, piercing my vision as they undressed my concealed tremor.

He moved closer in towards me. "The men tell me that you have power over water and lightning. Those are rare elemental abilities indeed." He said with a more relaxed tone. The room grew silent except for the crackling of the torches on the wall. "Show me." He ordered as the door behind me opened. A single guard walked through the door pushing a prisoner.

As they came closer, I saw that the prisoner was the man across from me in the dungeon. "Kill him. And do it swiftly." Said the grandmaster as he placed his hands behind his back and stood erect.

"I invite you to join our cause." He unsheathed his concealed sword and raised it above his head. "Do you accept?"

I glanced into the prisoner's eyes. They were taken by fear and enhanced by shock. Was I prepared to give my life for the sake of not having to take another?

No. I was not. I extended my arm and closed my eyes so I did not have to look into the prisoner's. I sent a lightning bold crashing through the open window and into the defenseless captive's body. I heard an entrenching scream and a sluggish fall to the floor. I slowly lifted my head and opened my eyes. The guard was standing over the prisoner with his hands out in a disoriented manner. The prisoner lay dead in front of him; his skin still smoking and melting.

As I stood still, increasingly disgusted with myself, the grandmaster slowly stepped close to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Your response is satisfying." He rendered as he was visibly smirking under his mask.

His words meant nothing to me however. The smell of burnt flesh was ever so close to causing me immediate sickness. I grew weak-kneed as the site of the melted body burned into my eyes. The feeling of taking a life is indescribable. It was different when it was the men in the swamp. They attacked me, I was only defending myself. This man on the other hand, had never done me any kind of wrong before. He was just a terrified, defenseless conscious life.

"Your training begins now." Said the grandmaster. "Chameleon!" He called as he glanced towards the back of the room. An invisible figure appeared from thin air from out of the shadows and began to walk towards me. He was indeed the same warrior who put me out of commission in the swamp.

"It is my pleasure to introduce you to your new student…" The grandmaster awaited my continuation of his sentence.

"Rain." I blurted out as soon as I realized that he was looking for my name.

"This is Chameleon, our most valuable assassin. He will train you in the essential techniques of kombat and form you into one of the greatest warriors that the Iga-Koga has ever bred."

I was instantly instilled with fear at the site of Chameleon. His eyes, his skin and his wardrobe were in a consistent pattern of changing color; many of them very vibrant. He was possibly the most physically fit being I had ever seen at the time. That's when a query came to me, was kind of a being was he? He was definitely not an Outworlder, nor a Tarkatan, nor a Shokan or Vampire. His scaled skin and glowing eyes gave me the impression of some sort of… reptilian creature.

"It will be difficult to train such an unfit individual, but I will replenish his figure and enhance his strength. His abilities however, are undoubtedly apparent." Chameleon spoke softly but seemed to draw out his "s" sounds slightly, almost like a snake hissing. He also had a tone of bitterness and rage buried within the sound of his rasped voice.

"Very well." The grandmaster said quickly as he turned his back and sat in his raised throne. "I then leave the student to you, Chameleon."

Chameleon bowed to the Grandmaster; therefore I took a clue and did the same. My new trainer and I walked back out into the hall and as we made our way through the aisles, he spoke quickly. "Your first assignment is to get some rest, and meet me in the Eastern training room at dawn. If you are late, you will be punished with a sparring match against me. If you are early, you will be rewarded with a sparring match against me."

I thought for a minute and then smiled slightly at the humor in Chameleon's statement. "Yes master." I answered stiffly.

"No titles." Chameleon responded immediately. "I want no kind of friendship or master-student interaction with you other than training. If you want a friend, talk to the prisoners in the cells."

"Yes mast… I mean Chameleon." I said as I was quick to correct myself.

"Student quarters are on the 4th floor. Your barracks are in the Kaiden room. Sleep off your pains and be ready for tomorrow."

Before I could look towards Chameleon and speak again, he was gone. He simply vanished from sight. I looked around that area for a minute before deciding to move on.

I walked up the stairs, exploring the scripture and art on the walls as I moved. They looked like they had been inscribed many years ago. The scripture was of a language I had never seen before and the paint looked very aged. I reached the fourth floor and continued down the hallways. Each room had a strange name. Titles such as Locus, Tao Feng, Natarn. None of these words had any meaning to me.

Eventually, I reached the Kaiden room. I slowly crept in through the cracked door, and tip toed to an open bunk. About half of the beds were empty and every student in the room was asleep. I quietly patted the bed down, lifted up the ragged sheet and lay down in a bed for the first time in what seemed like years.

I don't know how I managed to fall asleep that night. I am still to this day overwhelmed by all that had happened to me at once in two days. It was the first time that I had met the other side of me that I didn't know existed. I had only known myself as a courteous and consciences individual. But it was on that night that I seized my first sense of betrayal. And I reveled in it.