Chapter 7
The next morning, Ronin awoke on his own, feeling as though he had caught up on every missed moment of sleep in his life. After he got up, Ronin opened the closet to find a wide variety of clothes ranging from traditional to contemporary. Settling for a comfortable pair of sweats and a loose shirt, he went down to breakfast which was promptly served just as he sat down. A large breakfast consisting of the types of things that Ronin ate in his previous life was presented. Ronin selected a cheese omelet, pancakes and orange juice. As he finished, the door gong chimed. A few minutes later, Spark came into the dining room visibly shaken. Ronin noticed immediately and said: "What is it Spark?" Spark took a moment to compose himself before announcing: "My Lord Raiden, you have been summoned before the Elder Gods."
"Summoned?" Ronin echoed a moment later. "I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. They are Elder Gods after all." Ronin got up and went to his bedroom immediately and waved Spark after him. He said: "Help me find something suitable Spark, something that fits the role of a minor god." Spark chose for him a pair of off-white pants and matching shirt. On a lark, Ronin grabbed a straw hat from a nearby shelf and looked himself over in the mirror on the inside surface of the closet door. He saw himself as he expected, what he didn't expect though was the electric arcs flowing across his eyes. Ronin didn't see them except in the mirror as they traveled across his eyes and certainly didn't feel them, but accepted that the office would change him somehow.
After dressing, Ronin went back downstairs and to the door. As he stepped out, he ran the images through his head that the former Raiden and given him on how to open a portal and did so. Summoning a lightning bolt from his hand to travel on, he thought to himself: "To the Temple of the Elder Gods."
Ronin arrived on the front step of a temple the size of an Egyptian pyramid. Dark clouds swirled around the peak of the pyramid as Ronin entered. A minor functionary met him at the door and said: "Greetings Lord Raiden, the Elder Gods are expecting you. Please follow me." Ronin did so and was escorted to a large amphitheater with a raised stone platform in the center. In front of the platform were three alcoves, each glowing with a different color, red, blue and green from left to right. The chamber itself was lit on two sides with rack upon rack of large wax candles. There were too many candles to count but the light level was as bright as day. Climbing the platform, Ronin then knelt in the center somehow feeling it was the right thing to do at the moment and waited.
A deep, distorted voice came from the center alcove, the blue one and said: "Greetings Lord Raiden. We are aware of your recent change in status and must now test you to ascertain your fitness for the office for which you have been selected. Do you have any questions?" Ronin said: "I have many questions but the first must be why you would wish to test me? Fujin told me of the selection process to find me and how the previous Raiden then read my soul and the souls of the other two candidates before selecting me for his final test."
The voice from the center alcove said: "The previous Raiden was looking for a replacement and may have chosen in haste. We will be the final judges of your fitness for his office. Ronin knew there was little point in arguing with an Elder God and simply said: "What is this test and in what form shall it be?" The red alcove spoke this time. It said: "The test shall have three aspects, but one overall theme, Mortal Kombat." The green alcove spoke then: "You will face three opponents, one at a time. You must face yourself; face your enemy, and then your greatest fear. If you succeed, then and only then will you have proven yourself worthy."
A portal opened before him and Ronin was instructed to enter. When he did, he found himself in an arena unlike any he had ever seen or been in before. The platform he found himself on had no walls or ropes and its surface was far above the ground. When Ronin walked to the edge of the platform that was decorated with a dragonhead image in the center, he looked over the edge to see a pit filled with three foot tall spikes. He could see the skeletal remains scattered around the floor when another portal opened on the far side of the platform and a person came out of it.
The person was him, yet there was something off about the image. The eyes were shadowed in dark circles and showed only pain. Dressed in a black gi and matching belt, the image attacked Ronin with no words. He defended himself by blocking and evasion when he understood what the image represented. It was his dark half, the side that was cold and remote in his previous life. It also represented the point Ronin had found himself at before Raiden had approached him with the offer of his office.
This was the self that thought suicide would have answered his plea for guidance. The thought of "face yourself", entered Ronin's mind unbidden as he knew what to do and stood straight up. Holding both arms outstretched he said: "Join me brother. We are the same, you and I." The shadow image's fist struck Ronin's face but instead of pain, the fist became like a shadow and passed through him harmlessly. The image itself turned into a shadow and was absorbed into Ronin's body the way a gust of wind would break around a circle instead of blasting against a flat wall. The red alcove voice sounded throughout the arena: "Flawless victory."
Another portal opened in the same place as the last as an image of Shang Tsung entered the arena. The image pointed at Ronin and said: "Your soul will be mine." The image took a fighting stance and came for Ronin. He remembered seeing the real Shang Tsung consume the soul of his own warrior and Ronin felt fear for the first time in a long time. A fierce battle ensued. Both kombatants were bruised and bloody when Ronin finally understood what had to be done as the thought entered his mind: "Face your enemy."
For evil to flourish, one must fear it. With this flash of insight, Ronin conquered his fear and using the same four hit combination that he used to open the fight with Reptile, Ronin sent the image of Shang Tsung to the ground and focused his ki into his hands. As the image ofthedemon sorcerorstood, Ronin stepped forward and blasted the image in the chest sending it flying away and over the edge. A bloodcurdling scream echoed throughout the arena, followed by a meaty, scrunch-splat sound. The green alcove voice said: "Fatality."
Finally, one last portal opened in the same spot as before. Ronin felt his injuries heal instantly as he prepared to face his greatest fear. The image to step forth from the portal was his father for one moment, his mother the next, then his older sister and finally his older brother. In turn, each image started to berate him for failing them. His father's voice said: "I'm ashamed of you. You're not a man; you're a shell, an empty shell that has no legacy!" His mother's voice was next: "My son the failure. I am ashamed of you! You weren't good enough to make Eagle like your brother; you weren't good enough in school. You couldn't hack the military life. You're not good enough!" Ronin's sister was the next image and berated him for not having a family of his own to share with her the way she had shared hers with him, and finally his older brother just stood there and looked disapprovingly at him.
Each image assaulted the barriers of Ronin's self-image. When the barriers crumbled, so did Ronin as he fell to his knees and cried. In his mind, Ronin heard the thought: "Face your greatest fear." The last piece of the puzzle fell into place. Ronin stood and wiped his eyes as he said: "Everyone fears failure but unlike most, I faced each failure, learned from it and moved on. I never looked back on any of them except as another learning experience. Father, I will make my own legacy, I don't need yours to know I am a complete person. Mother, I was never good enough until I finally found my own calling, now, my power is in my own hands. I don't need to be told I'm good enough, I already know that I am! Sister, I may not have a family of my own to share with yours, but I will always be around to look after your descendents. In one form or another, they will always know me. Brother, keep your approval for yourself. I don't need it anymore!"
When the portal opened in front of Ronin, he stepped through and found himself back in the audience chamber of the Elder Gods still kneeling on the platform before the alcoves of the Elder Gods. All three alcoves were glowing with their respective colors, red, blue and green, when the blue alcove spoke again. "You have proven yourself worthy, rise, Lord Raiden. You are the God of Thunder and Protector of the Realm of Earth. Rise and face us as an equal. Our counsel will always be available to you. Farewell." Ronin stood and walked through the portal that opened in front of him and wasn't surprised to find himself back on the front step of his new home.