"Sir, would you like another mimosa?"

Another mimosa? How many have I had?

Heck, who cares, I'm on vacation.

Rain fumbled for his drink on the side table, knocking it into the sand. The flute emptied into the waiter's sandals and they both stared at his orange feet for a good few seconds.

"Another mimosa it is, then."

Fumbled drinks aside, Rain was making the most of his exile. Sure, it was mostly a self imposed exile, but who could blame him? He and his clan didn't exactly see eye to eye anymore. After becoming SKT's undisputed star, Rain had amassed the largest harem of fangirls known to man. Streets were lined with devotees whenever he came home from a victory, and they screamed in delight for a chance to touch the beautiful one. He had become the pop star of pulp wars with his magazine covers, close up posters and life sized standees. And SKT were jealous.

The waiter returned with a new drink but still looked annoyed. His disposition changed, however, once he was able to get a good look at Rain.

"Excuse me sir, but you look familiar. You must be famous," the attendant asked sheepishly.

Rain tilted his glasses down, uncertain whether or not he should answer. The waiter squinted. "Wait, wait, no. The guy on the noodle pack has a sharper nose. My mistake!" The little man in sandals shuttled away like a crab, slightly embarrassed. Rain on the other hand wasn't even offended. He wasn't exactly famous anywhere else but home. And this was a pretty long way from home.

That too, had been a point of contention between him and his clan. When they shooed away his loyal groupies, Rain begrudgingly acquiesced. But when they failed to approve his request to fight abroad—he had global conquest in mind, of course—he felt deceived. He was their best commander and he had rallied popular opinion in SKT's favor, yet his clan had failed to treat him like a star. Once the perennial happy camper, disgruntled thoughts had been sown throughout that year. And it had all started with PartinG.

When the Rascal joined the SKT clan, he had already been well known for his antics as well as his foreign conquests. Still, he was a capable leader and knew how to win when it mattered. It was a gamble SKT were willing to take, even though he'd basically be a year long loan. He endeared himself to the family very quickly by riling up their rivals on every occasion, and his ceremonies became the stuff of legend. Unfortunately, they didn't expect him to have such a profound impact on their once uncomplicated ace.

It was a complete shock, then, when Rain put his foot down and chose to leave the clan. They could no longer meet his demands and it was possible that no clan in the region could. That was when Rain decided that it was a good time for a vacation, which was branded an exile in local papers. Perhaps it was PartinG's charisma that drew Rain to like him. Maybe it was the Rascal's growing fame as the team's bad boy. It could have even been his tales of debauchery abroad. Whatever it was, Rain had recognizably changed since the start of the year, and it reached its tipping point in SKT's loss in the final battle for royalty against their most bitter rivals, those KT bastards, in last year's rebellion. He had wanted more—fame, glory, fangirls—and SKT could not provide it even after all he had done.

Rain certainly embraced his banishment, but it still hurt to leave home. Thinking about it left him a bit upset, and he downed his mimosa with a twinge for the aftertaste. The waiter returned, presumably to refill his drink.

"Yeah yeah, another one," Rain groaned in resignation.

"Ah.. oh, sir, there's someone here for you. He says he's an old friend."

Rain dropped his sunglasses and looked over his lounge chair. There, by the bar, was PartinG, in a Hawaiian shirt and clutching a bag of sun chips. He waved. It looked like he had been enjoying his exile more thoroughly than Rain and he walked over with that patented grin on his face.

"YO Yoon Jong, my man! How've you been?" PartinG gleamed. He was obviously up to something.

"Well. My drink is empty and you're standing in my sun. Sit down, you rascal." Rain handed his glass to the waiter and signaled for two more. PartinG lay down on the beach chair beside him.

"I've got a neat idea!" Suddenly, PartinG was serious. "I want the capital."

Rain was slightly confused. "The capital?? We're supposed to be in exile," he thought to himself.

"The thing is, when you're banished, you don't really care what the clan thinks anymore," PartinG continued. "So I will just go back anyway. If it wasn't for that lucky kid Life, I would've already been king."

King. Rain liked the sound of that.

"I heard he got beaten pretty hard recently. Pretty good reason to go back home. Now's a better time than ever." The waiter returned and handed PartinG the first glass, which he handed to Rain. After receiving the second glass, PartinG offered a mischievous toast, "To brothers in exile; maybe it's not so bad doing nothing all the time."

PartinG took a few sips from his mimosa and stood. Rain sat up perplexed and asked, "You're leaving already? You only just got here."

"Yeah, I've got to take care of the preparations. SKT's doing pretty well again according to these rumors, and we can't have that can we?" PartinG pushed the sun chips into Rain's arms, "Happy vacationing."

Rain nodded his head and looked into the bag. It was empty. "Classic PartinG," Rain sighed, "I can't believe he's leading me on again."




It felt good to be back in action, Rain thought. He laid down a blanket of psionic storms in front of him and watched as the swarm evaporated. It would not be long until he reached the gate of the capital, where he expected the guard's commander Curious to block his way. He pressed on until the arch of the south entrance became visible. In front stood the stalwart Zerg commander.

"This is Zerg territory. Retreat and we won't pursue." he bellowed, the grinds of his throat echoing from the ramparts.

Rain was undeterred, "Do you really think I'd come back to this continent just to be turned away by a security guard?"

Curious had been known as the calm and collected general, but Rain's mockery had turned him into an irascible beast. He rushed headlong into Rain, only for the Protoss champion to blink behind him. The Zerg commander clumsily stumbled forward. "This'll be easier than I thought."

Rain continued to goad Curious into attacking before backing off. With each blink Curious became even more enraged. It didn't matter how fast or how hard he charged, there was no way for him to catch the clever Protoss. Rain blinked right under the gate as if to insult him, and taunted the Zerg with his hands. "Not much of a gatekeeper, are you? I'm already inside!" he hollered.

Curious' eyes bore into his skull. His madness grew. While others had ridiculed his position, he had learned to take pride in the doing the defender's dirty work. He had every qualification to become a field general, and yet he was resigned to keeping his post by a door. It was an important task that no one respected, but he understood its value. He raised his axe and lunged with both his feet off the ground. Curious had expected Rain to blink away, and prepared to bounce after landing. Instead, Rain stood there, psionic blades ready, skewering Curious under the gate he had sworn to protect. The laughter died, and soon, so did Curious.

The Protoss simply walked past in silence and marched into the capital like a funeral procession, leaving the body where it once stood watch.

From the south entrance, Rain's small Protoss force flooded into the capital, and fighting commenced everywhere. It was all a distraction, however, as Rain cut straight towards the throne hall. There, he knew, ruled ByuL in everyone's absence. He was the last obstacle of his conquest and revenge. Nestea's Stronghold, the inner circle of walls protecting the throne hall, had been barricaded and fortified, and it appeared as though ByuL had prepared to buckle down and survive a direct attack. Rain, however, had other plans.

While perched atop a precipice, the slope on the eastern side leading up to Nestea's Stronghold was kind enough to consider. The walls on that side of the keep were left without reinforcement, and the royal tower was located there, as well. As Rain and his elite guard neared the ascent, the Protoss army encircled the district and deployed their heavy immortal artillery facing the fort. The thunderous psionic cannons volleyed once, twice, thrice, intentionally avoiding the stronghold. Rain and his men labored halfway up the cliffside when the fourth volley sounded, and all they heard was a loud crash above them. They doubled the pace of their climb until they finally reached an embankment; there, in front of them, a fracture in the wall just large enough to enter single file.

ByuL's commanders were too preoccupied with trying to retain key positions in the city to notice that the heart of their defense had been infiltrated. The hallway leading to the spiring tower was conspicuously empty, which was slightly disappointing for the battle hungry commandos. Yet they raced up the stairwell with discipline, until a window gave Rain a view of the scampering fields below. His forces outside had been gaining ground, but this provided an easy opportunity to "get more ahead" as the sages recited. Rain's eyes washed with an ocean blue before a pearly maelstrom twisted them into whites, and then back to the way they were. He signaled for his troops to continue up the flight of stairs before glancing back at the creep below. The skies darkened behind them, and storms laid waste to much of the castle and the Zerg leader's army.

Soon, Rain reached the crown of ByuL's spire. There, hunched over topographical maps and wooden army figurines, was ByuL. He had been waiting for his lunch to cool, a humble bowl of rice porridge, while discussing his next move. Though his entire command was prepared for war, the general was still in his bedroom attire, as if to present the aura of calm. The drum of treads into the large hall called the meeting's attention.

"So, this is it? Where the great ByuL hatches his visionary strategies," Rain interrupted.

ByuL turned around and subdued his surprise. Any sign of weakness would embolden the Protoss commander, he thought. "Finally. I've been waiting for this." But he wasn't.

"Really, now? Is that why you're still in the royal slippers?" Rain's flair for mockery continued to improve, "it looks like you're ready to go to bed. How fitting."

ByuL's scabbard had been placed upon the table during their conference, and he slid his hand back to retrieve it. "I heard you outwitted Curious. You may have been too fast for him, but you're not going to fool me. I've studied you, Rain. You're predictable," ByuL explained with a grin on his face.

"Am I really," Rain answered. He knew that even with the edge in positioning, ByuL was still favored in a straight up fight. However, Rain understood that ByuL had prepared for him well and he had to try something unexpected. So, he recalled Curious' own directness and sprang straight towards ByuL with his psi blades drawn.

That, though, was exactly what ByuL had wanted. He had studied iaido—the martial art of drawing and sheathing a blade—and Rain had effectively offered himself as sacrifice. ByuL pulled his scabbard to his side, but in his rashness he failed to remember one thing: the bowl of porridge that he was to have for lunch. The hilt of his sword knocked it over the table.

The royal slippers offered no protection and his feet were scalded by his meal. That moment of negligence was just enough time for Rain to close the distance, and though ByuL drew as fast as he could, he sliced at the air while two psi blades wedged themselves between his ribs.

"You lucky sunofa—"

The blades expanded, piercing ByuL's heart for a final interruption.




Rain placed his beach chair in the castle lawn, tossed his armor to the side, and wore his sunglasses before lying down. One of his officers, clad in battlesuit and sandals, handed him a champagne flute. Glostalea didn't have oranges, only limes, however, and Rain didn't enjoy that twist in his favorite drink. He did, however, enjoy victory.

The officer returned, presumably with a better mix. Instead, he had a message, "Sir, there's someone here for you. He says he's an old friend."

Even without looking, Rain knew who it was. He closed his eyes and pretended to ignore his guest.

"YO! Yoon Jong! You da man!"

Rain felt a pair of hands on his shoulders before everything began to shake. His glasses had wiggled loose from his face and fell to the floor. They both heard a crack. The two friends stared at the shattered lenses for a good few seconds.

"What is it now, PartinG? Can't you see I'm trying to relax," Rain muttered, with his hands on his temples. PartinG had a different Hawaiian shirt on, and a different flavor of sun chips.

"I heard you were about to take Glostalea so I hurried right over. Couldn't miss this for anything! I told you you could do it. Too bad you went ahead without me though."

Rain sat up and looked at his friend. Perhaps he never would have come back to take the capital if it wasn't because of PartinG. How fitting that his great friend would be there on his big occasion. PartinG put his hands on his waist and gazed into the distance.

"Dang, what a beautiful sight to behold!"

Several districts were still burning, and Nestea's Stronghold had a giant hole in its eastern wall. Fruitdealer Market had turned into Moon Crater, and Mount Mvp, the foundation of this enormous city, had developed a sudden case of bullet acne.

"Well, okay, it isn't much. Oops. But hear me out."

Rain rolled his eyes and covered it with his palms.

"We missed the rebellion last year following SKT's orders. They totally cheated us, man. That scepter should have been ours!"

"I know the story, PartinG. What does that have to do with us now?"

"Well, guess why only ByuL was here? Another rebellion is brewing. The scepter's up for grabs. This is our chance!"

The officer with bad taste in drinks returned, this time with two glasses. Instead of mimosas, he brought two strawberry daiquiris.

"Plus, I heard three SKT generals are going to be there."

Rain looked around for a few seconds and wondered, "Why would I want to leave the capital behind after all that?"

"Well, why be the mayor when you can be king?"

King. Rain liked the sound of that.

Rain handed PartinG the first glass and received the second before offering a toast, "I guess we're heading west then. But I'm leading this time."

The two friends clinked their glasses and laughed. Their conquest wasn't over yet.