Dark Waters

Chapter Twenty Six: Aftermath

Chapter Twenty Six: Aftermath

Central City. The present.

Rainier Mizu stood on top of a building rooftop alone. Kenny had already left for home half an hour ago and Rainier had opted to stay out for a while longer.

He took a deep breath. To tell the truth, he was still upset about the events back in their home earlier that day.

***

"...reports of gang violence...."

Click.

"...a group of armed individuals..."

Click.

"...the rising death toll on the most recent gang war incident..."

"ARGH!" Rainier shouted out his frustration, and threw down the TV remote to the floor, causing the item to spark.

Daniel's head popped out of his room. "That is the third TV remote control you broke this week." He reminded his older brother. "I am not going back to the appliance store to buy you a new one." He yelped in surprise as a shuriken suddenly appeared embedded to his door frame and very close to his right ear. "Fine! Be that way! What the hell crawled up your ass anyway?!" He shouted as he slammed the door shut after him.

Rainier took a deep breath and counted to ten to calm himself down. He knew he'll probably have to apologize to Dan later if he didn't his brother annoyed at him later tonight when he needed patching up after patrol, but he just couldn't help it.

"Is something bothering you, my grandson?" A voice spoke up nearby.

Rainier blinked and tried not to look surprised as he turned and saw their grandfather and current head of the clan, Master Yoshi, standing there, leaning on his cane and eyeing the sparking TV remote on the ground with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, hi there, Sensei." He winced as his eyes followed the direction of the remote. "Don't worry; I think we still have another spare that Dan bought last week. I'll clean it up and no harm done."

Judging by the skeptical look on the ninja master's face, Rainier was sure Master Yoshi was not convinced. "Rainier, kneel." He sternly ordered.

Rainier barely kept himself from making a groan. Oh no, here we go again, he inwardly groaned as he kneeled before his grandfather.

"Now, Rainier, what troubles you?"

Rainier took a deep breath. "Well, I don't get it, Sensei. I thought once we gotten rid of the Dark Flame Grandmaster everything will be all right. But from what I'm seeing here it actually made things a hell lot worse! Have you seen the news lately? Kenny tells me it’s a riot out there!" He began. "Not to mention that Leo could still be out there and we haven't yet searched for him." He paused. "I'm sorry, Sensei, but I'm beginning to think if fighting Natsu was a bad thing. At least people wouldn't get hurt the way they are right now."

"Come on, it can't be that bad," Mikey stepped into their room overhearing their conversation. "We beat the bad guys, right?"

"I'm afraid it’s not that simple, Mike." Daniel began as he sat on the sofa.  "His disappearance created a vacuum and nature hates a vacuum."

Mikey looked confused. "Huh?"

Daniel sighed. "Let me put it this way, little bro. With the Dark Flame Grandmaster gone, there's no one keep the smaller fish from taking a bite of the city."

Mikey blinked. "Ohhh, why didn't you say that in the first place?"

Daniel chose the smart thing to do and decided not answer that remark.