Author's notes: I'm sorry about the late update. My prereaders are either having personal or computer difficulties. Either can be very annoying. PlatinumPlayer's help led to quite a few changes including an extra scene. Both he and James Axelrad have really helped making sure that Chloe didn't get too OOC. HeeHaw's suggestions are very helpful as well, though sometimes I have difficulty implementing them. I'd also like to thank everyone that reviewed. Your very nice comments makes it much easier to continue writing with everything that has been happening lately.

Disclamer: I own neither Noir nor Ranma ½

The Fourth Sapling

By: brindani

Chapter 12: A Dish Best Served Cold

Thick streams of crimson trickled towards the drains, small bits of white and pink bobbling along with the current. Muffled footsteps resounded in the warehouse, walking through the course fluid. Ranma paid the sticky fluid rolling over his feet no mind, slowly moving to the only other person still intact along the ground. Ranma stopped before his father, gazed into once energetic eyes now lowered lifelessly. He could almost imagine the Old Man was simply knocked out after one of their morning spars. He had the inane desire to slap Genma in the face to wake him up. Ranma knew better; knew that no matter how hard or numerous, slapping would never again wake his father.

"Chloe," Ranma's voice was flat, and cold. In the now empty warehouse it echoed, drowning out the sound of draining. Moments later, said girl splashed down next to Ranma's rigid body. Ranma did not shift his gaze.

"Who did this?" Ranma's voice held no emotion. A voice used just as easily to ask if the weather would be nice the next day. Chloe forced the pleased smile from her lips.

"They are very secretive, difficult to find. I do not have a name, but I traced their location to a secure room in an office downtown."

"Where?" Chloe almost swallowed, Ranma cold persona filled the word, sending shivers down her spine. She would never have imagined that the playful boy she remembered from the Manor hid a mighty warrior. She quickly handed a slip of paper to the young man. Ranma took it, slipping the paper into his soiled pocket.

With tenderness Chloe had never seen from Ranma, he undid the bindings that held his father, gently cradling the body in his arms. He stared at the unresponsive body, a brief flaming aura flashing around him. The blood around him flashed, clouds of bloodied smoke rose around him yet left those in the corona of flames untouched. Abruptly, the flames vanished just as fast as they appeared. Without another word, Ranma quietly left through the main entrance.

Chloe watched him leave outside the ring of scorched blood. He held a smoldering inferno within, hidden by a frigid frost. Her eyes narrowed. He was acting like a warrior, cold and calculating, but he still allowed such trivial things to bother him.

Looking up to the barren blood stained cross, Chloe frowned. She had never known her own parents; never even given them a second thought until now. The closest thing in her life was Altena. Then again, if it was Altena's lifeless body strapped to the cross… perhaps she did understand.

Nodding her head, Chloe left the area, the stench was becoming unbearable.


Ranma had done it. She buried her Old Man in secret. Her Mother's tear streaked face the only other witness to the impromptu funeral. Now there was no time for grief, or tears; there was only revenge and Ranma would have it in spades.

She stood across from an office building, standing tall amongst its many high-classed neighbors. Chloe's information led here. Inside on the fourth floor of the west wing, Ranma would find what she was looking for.

Ranma's eyes remained locked on her target far above as a shadow detached itself from a nearby alley. Chloe strode out, her cloak billowing behind her.

The redhead nodded to the new arrival, receiving one in return.

"You will need help." Ranma nodded, to Chloe's surprise. The pigtailed martial artist she knew would have insisted on going solo. Taking a closer look, Chloe nearly shivered. Ranma's eyes were even harder and colder then in the warehouse, examining every detail around her, cataloging each for later. Where a positive glow once surrounded her, now only frosty calculation remained. Mentally shaking the feeling away, Chloe revealed what she carried.

Handing it to Ranma, she took a step back, allowing the martial artist to examine the box. It was made of cedar, nearly 30 cm by 50 with a small ornate metal latch. Opening the box, the Redhead examined the contents. It was a gun, not very large, containing a handle with a good grip. Aside from the gun, there was a full clip and a long cylindrical piece. Ranma shot Chloe a questioning look.

"A Beretta 9000s quipped with an attachable silencer." She answered anticipating the question.

"Are there any spare clips?" Chloe was a little surprised. Every time a gun was suggested for the previous mission, Ranma steadfastly refused. It appeared that Altena was correct. The older woman had given the package to Chloe before she left, saying that Ranma would need it.

Ranma accepted the proffered clips, placing them behind her in an unseen pocket. Setting down the case, she removed the gun from the styrofoam, screwing on the silencer and locking the clip into place. Standing silently, she gazed at the instrument of death; the weapon that would deliver her revenge. With a foot, she flipped the ornate box into the air, the box exploded midair, two chirps hitting it dead center.

"Do you have any spare knives?" Ranma asked, ignoring the small bits of debris falling around them.

Chloe raised an eyebrow before revealing a spare belt containing 35 knives in small pouches with a nylon holster. She was rewarded by a small cold smile. Ranma accepted the belt, efficiently attaching it around her waist.

"Here." Chloe handed a small headset radio to Ranma. She settled the lightweight radio against her ear before her eyes hardened.

"Let's do it." Ranma announced turning towards the building.


Tom's large mouth opened wide, ushering a loud yawn before wiping at his tired grey eyes. 'Damn, I hate the night shift.' He thought, mournfully staring into his cup of coffee. 'I hate cold coffee.' He shivered in aggregation. Whipping around he balefully glared at the black suited man in black that had been tapping him for last two minutes. 'But I hate rookies most of all!' He finished as his eyes seared into the new guy Central dumped into his lap.

"What is it, Rookie!?" He barked.

"Uhhh, sir did you want the rest of your corndog?" Smith said, cautiously backing away while tentatively pointed towards the untouched meal on Tom's cafeteria tray.

Tom grumbled under his breath before throwing the corndog at the man's head. Smith neatly snatched the meal out of the air with a smile. "Take the stupid thing. Just remember that you earned an extra hour of target practice tomorrow." Tom said, his eyes becoming fierce.

Smith shuffled back from his mentor, afraid he really overstepped his bounds this time. He wiped his brow when the fire extinguished itself, replaced by another large yawn.

"God damn it, it's too friggen early to have to deal with you. Good thing this blasted shift is over in twenty minutes." Tom said, eyeing the clock on the far end of the cafeteria. He was looking forward to seeing his new wife of two weeks. He sat down, eyes glazed as he remembered again the honey moon and just how much he loved her energetic fingers.

'Of course that is part of the reason that I got stuck with Chuckles here.' Tom thought dourly as he watched his newest assignee wolf down his corndog. 'Couldn't marry my supervisor so had to get reassigned to the central office of Tokyo. Of course, as soon as I arrive I get orders to take out some kid. Vindictive son of a bitch manager really nailed me when I refused. Damn guy hides in his office ordering hits on little kids. It just doesn't sit well with me, capping kids.' Thoughts of his own expected child drifted across his mind. 'Damn, I must be getting soft. Fortunately the greedy bastards from Omega team were more then happy to take up the slack.'

He glanced up at the clock and smiled. 'Two more minutes and I'm out of here.'

"Intruder alert, Intruder alert. All inactive agents are to initiate dragnet protocol four. Alpha team has section three. Beta team has section seven…"

Smith slowly turned around, mouth poised above the final bite of corndog, to watch wide eyed as his mentor cuss at the speaker for a full twenty seconds before standing.

"Come on, Rookie, looks like someone is itching to piss me off tonight." Everyone else in the cafeteria had already stood, heading for the door with guns drawn.

Smith dutifully stood, popping the last tidbit into his mouth before wiping his brow of sweat and his lips of ketchup.

The frustration on Tom's face faded, replaced with professional calm. Touching his earpiece, he activated his connection. "Central, this is Alpha team leader heading to section three."

"Roger, team Alpha has three minutes to make their sweep."

"Copy that, Central." Waving his hand, his team followed him out the door into the hallway proper.

Every nerve in Tom's body shook as he ducked back into the cafeteria. Squatting, he found a knife vibrating above where his head was seconds ago.

'Damn their good.' Seven of his men lay in the hallway. Those who survived, ducked behind doorways. If nothing else, his Alpha team was well trained. Only problem was that their twenty were down to thirteen and they had no idea of how many they were up against.

All of these thoughts flashed across Tom's mind in milliseconds. He quickly opened the box next to the door. 'And they always patronized me for carting around my namesake.' He thought, revealing his personalized Tommy gun, modified from the M1928 with a lighter frame and slightly larger drum. It may be antiquated, but it suited him just fine.

Ducking back out into the hallway, Tom cracked the door open, ducking just in time to avoid another knife. Moments later, he returned fire. A blur of motion rounded the corner. He didn't even blink as he noticed three more men fall like flies.

He squeezed off another round. The corner hiding the enemy exploded, driving them back. They hastily retreated from the deadly stream of lead death.

Carefully, he kept an eye on the corner before tapping his ear piece.

"Central, this is team Alpha, we have the intruder penned down in section four. Requesting backup."

"Roger that team Alpha, Beta team will be there in three."

Tom frowned, Beta team was always slow getting off their asses. Knocking off another section of the corner covering the intruder, Tom waited cautiously. They had them trapped in a dead-end hallway. There was no way of getting out without coming under fire.

Issuing some complicated commands with a hand, Tom did not look back as the rest of his men entrenched themselves along the hallway. He may not have been there long, but his men were all professionals.

"Are we going to be all right, sir?" A voice squeaked behind him.

Tom's eyes narrowed. 'Almost all of them.'

"They took out ten guys in the blink of an eye. We didn't even get a look at them!"

"Shut up, Smith." Tom's inattention cost him. Turning back, he found a sickly purple sphere rolling towards them. "Damn it." Tom knocked Smith back into the room, diving away from what sent his senses screaming. No one in the hall survived.


Frigid blue eyes surveyed the mess in the hallway before nodding. Two figures darted out of hiding, streaming up the next flight of stairs. As they emerged, they found themselves surrounded; seven men rushing down the hallway from each side. Ranma's gun happily chirped while her other hand flipped out three knives.

Chloe wasn't doing quite as well. Three knives flashed from each hand, but the last man on her side brought his gun to bear. Chloe grabbed for another knife, concentration on high. She never noticed the man coming from the next floor up directing his gun towards her head. Putting pressure on the trigger and…

BANG.

Chloe flipped around, reaching for more knives. She watched as the man hiding on the stairwell fell forward, a shot to the head.

Ranma nodded in her direction, "Got your back."

A ghost of a smile appeared on Chloe's lips before she pointing to the end of the hall. Ranma's eyes followed narrowing as they settled on a very thick iron door.

"Care to take it down?" Ranma's caped companion asked.

"No," Ranma answered, casting a speculative look along the ceiling.

Chloe gave her an askance glance.

"I want to meet this person face to face. I want them to suffer as they made my Pops suffer. We've taken them by surprise so far, but eventually they will organize. A shredded metal door will be a dead giveaway." Ranma's ice cold eyes lanced Chloe, sending a tingle of excitement through her body. She was starting to like this new Ranma. "Can you cover for me, while I have a nice chat with our little friend?" Ranma asked.

"Yes." Chloe answered, promptly opening a nearby door, ducking in. Ranma shot another person coming from the next level before hopping up and prying an air vent off. Entering into the vent, she reattached it before crawling along.

She was rather surprised that they made them large enough to crawl through. Hadn't these Soldats ever watched an action flic?

Even in her smaller form, the duct was cramped and dusty. She repressed a sneeze as she crawled along, actively scanning with her senses. When the redhead made it to the room, she kicked out the corresponding vent, leaping down.

BANG.

Ranma's gun went flying, landing against the far wall.

'Damn.' Ranma thought, slowly turning around with her hands up. Ranma was left gawking. Next to a solid oak desk with several neat stacks of papers as well as a bottle of exotic red wine, stood Nabiki in a blue business power-suit.

"Saotome, of everyone I was expecting to come popping up, you were near the bottom of the list." Nabiki said holding a gun at Ranma's heart.

"Nabiki? You're suppose to be in Tokey-U. What are you doing here?" Ranma demanded softly, keeping her arms well within sight as Nabiki had not lower her weapon.

"What, you mean that bull cover story I fed my family? It was only an excuse to get out of the house and take my first steps into the real world." Nabiki smirked as Ranma's face frowned. "That girl that stole you away changed my life. Her little letter threw open the doors for everything I ever wanted."

"But why would you?" Ranma asked silently.

"Why? I just told you, they offered me everything I wanted. They promised something greater then money and they delivered beyond my wildest dreams." Nabiki humphed, never taking her eyes or gun off of the pigtailed girl. "I once thought money was all that was important. I mistook its importance because it brought power and influence over others. I associated all power with money. They showed me how wrong I was. The Soldats have so much influence and power it transcends mere money." She finished, using her left hand to take a sip of her vintage wine.

"I've discovered new, ever more powerful means of control since I came here. Each make my old petty life seem like a toddler playing in the sand." Ranma remained solid, staring at Nabiki in fury.

"That's not like you, Ranma. You've always got something to say. Where is your witty comeback; your vaunted attempt to put me off guard by making me angry? I thought your fighting style was based on it." Nabiki's lopsided grin grew, pleased by the turbulence her words cause. "Then again, making my Glock 19 angry would probably be bad for you health, wouldn't it?" She patronized as if talking to a small child.

Nabiki raised a brow when Ranma did not take the bait.

"I guess it really doesn't matter. Even you could not get past my guard in such close quarters. I'm sure if I even blinked wrong you would be all over me, but you'll never get the chance."

Zap!

Nabiki's eyes widened as she watched her gun arc away, flipping into the far corner.

"What!? But how…?" Nabiki exclaimed, grunting as she was roughly shoved to the ground.

Ranma slowly lowered her arm, pointing her index finger at Nabiki. Her face neutral, an icy calm swirling around her.

"You are far too slow."

"Is that how you knocked my gun away? Moving faster then I could see?" Nabiki asked pushing herself up against the wall.

"No, I used a technique."

"You didn't call out an attack, and I certainly didn't see anything." Nabiki said, slowly shifting herself against the wall.

Ranma sneered back. "You certainly don't have to call some frivolous name to use a special technique. That is silly; something I use to do that literally telegraphed my next move for my opponent. It was lucky for me that stupid idiots always returned the favor.

Now, allow me to demonstrate." Ranma pointed her index finger at Nabiki, thumb raised as if a gun. On the tip, a blue sphere clouded with a haze of black shimmered into existence. The small ball was incredibly tiny, roughly the size of a pea.

"Bang," Ranma whispered, laying her thumb flat to the index finger, the sphere shot forward, flicking blood from a thin cut of her cheek. Her eyes widened as she looked behind her. There was a hole leading straight out of the building. It scared Nabiki out of her mind, she fumbled backward away from the pea sized hole in the wall.

"That is how I disarmed you." Ranma said, staring down at Nabiki's quivering form coldly.

"What was that?"

"Didn't you recognize it? It was a Mouko Takabisha." Ranma answered coolly, already another sphere shimmering on the end of her finger.

"I've seen Mouko Takabisha before and what you did was nothing like it." Nabiki argued, trying to buy time as she regained her wits enough to slowly move towards her gun.

"You must be referring to the old version. That antiquated thing was slow and clumsy; meant only to cause concussive damage in a protracted battle. It worked well enough for a non-lethal fight, but it was hardly appropriate for, how did you put it, the real world. I compacted it, forcing the energy into a single point. The compact energy makes it proportionally faster." Ranma explained, having turned away from Nabiki as she did.

Nabiki covertly crawled along the wall warily watching Ranma's back, reaching her gun. She aimed it towards Ranma's inattentive form, covered by her arm.

Click

Nabiki blinked.

Click

Click

Click

Nabiki became desperate; she pulled her gun into view before gasping. Half of it was sheared off.

"Did I mention that those 'bullets' go through nearly anything?" Ranma asked turning fully towards the fallen girl.

"No I'm afraid you forgot to mention that part." Nabiki drolled, eyeing Ranma's gun across the room, wishing it was closer.

Psssshht.

Ranma tapped her headset; eyes lancing Nabiki as the girl kneeled to jump for Ranma's gun. Those cold blue penetrating eyes caught hers. Like a snake to a field mouse, the pigtailed assassin's made her shake in terror. Their frosty blue depths promised suffering the world had never seen.

"They are coming in greater numbers. We should depart soon." Chloe's muffled voice differed from her ear.

Ranma pressed the switch on the side. "Go on ahead. I'll leave shortly. I have one more thing to attend to." Ranma replied giving Nabiki a deadly look.

"Rendezvous at the church?"

"I'll meet you there."

The voice disappeared. Ranma depressed the switch her eyes never leaving Nabiki's

"Why did you order my death?" Ranma asked, wisps of chilled air rolling off of her body.

Nabiki shivered as the temperature dropped dramatically in the room. The cold fury hidden in redhead's eyes convinced Nabiki that Ranma was serious, but the martial artist made a mistake she could exploit. She was trying to find answers. Summoning all of her courage, Nabiki broke the compelling lock Ranma's eyes held her in.

"The orders were from higher up. If I didn't follow them, they would have killed me. Besides, there isn't an assassin alive that could take you on. You are the best there is. Or are you saying some two-bit assassin ever stood a chance against you?" She was surprised when Ranma brushed the stroke to her ego off with a scoff.

"So you ordered a two pronged attack, bugging both your home and my parent's house to find out where I would be before striking." Ranma said, her glare not lessening a wit.

Nabiki blinked, Ranma should not have known about either the bugs or the multiple groups assigned to the project. She was wrong about the number, however. They had also bugged Ukyo's shop on the chance she went there.

"Yes…" She agreed reluctantly. She did not like how this was going. Ranma should have taken the bait. Instead, she bypassed the diversion completely. That wasn't good. Nabiki was no match against Ranma. Her only hope lay in waiting, eventually the search squads would come. Once they came, she would be saved. Unfortunately, Ranma wouldn't stand for her delaying tactics.

"How could you do it? You ordered those men to attack me in your own home."

"They had strict orders not to hurt my family." Nabiki answered, pushed into the defense. Something she was quite unfamiliar with in a verbal debate.

"Come on Nabiki. I know you're smarter then that. What do you think Akane was going to do when people invade her home? Did you think she was going to dutifully hide under the bed hoping the bad men would go away?"

"What are you talking about? I arranged for a school activity that kept her away from the house."

"Your information is out-dated. That's not like you Nabsy. Not only was Akane there, but she was also shot and nearly killed by your men."

Nabiki's eyes widened in shock.

"That's not possible, I ordered them to leave my family alone." Nabiki cried, her mouth opened wide in horror.

"Now we're going in circles. Do you really think anyone in their right mind, much less an assassin, would stand by while Akane charged at them? If I hadn't been fast enough, they may have gotten Kasumi too." Ranma's words shook Nabiki, leaving her wide-eyed in the corner.

"No! It's your fault, you should have protected her. You should have taken them out faster." She accused desperately. She could order a hit on anybody in a second, but her own family, they were one thing she held higher then even her own lofty goals.

"This coming from the person that sent the men in the first place?" Ranma replied with a raised brow.

"It's not possible. There was no report of anyone hurt. They said you escaped without a scratch. They were desperate; they had to have you killed at all costs. I mentioned your parents…" Nabiki quivered as she found herself knocked into the opposite wall. She tenderly held her throbbing jaw. Ranma had hit her; a woman. It was almost as shocking as seeing the pigtailed girl here.

"You told them about my parents." Nabiki found new depths of fear as she gazed into the flaming blue eyes scant inches in front of her own.

"B…b…ut your father is almost as tough as you are. They were bound to get tired of chasing you two once they realized it was impossible." She said desperately as she saw her chances for survival shrink by the second.

"You really don't understand anything do you?" Ranma asked, her frosty gaze going sub-arctic, freezing Nabiki stiff.

"What do you mean? I know more then you can dream of." She cried out, a scared child faced against the legendary boogieman made flesh.

"Then I'd better add delusional in there as well." Ranma said drawing closer by the second to Nabiki's cowering form. If you fire enough bullets at someone, you're bound to get a lucky shot in."

"What do you mean?" Nabiki asked, realization and horror seeping through her terror.

"They got that lucky shot. They brutally beat Pops and then shot him to lour me into the open. They killed him before my eyes Nabsy." Ranma emphasized, her face brimming with frigid rage. "Now the only thing left to do is to take my revenge." Ranma said, abruptly stepping back, pointing a sickly black sphere towards Nabiki's chest.

"No! I never intended this to happen. They forced me to do it. They lied to me! They never said Akane had been hurt. I can help you get the people that ordered everything. I can find out who they are for you. Please, I have to get revenge for what they did to my sister."

"My revenge takes precedence and pawn or not, Nabiki Tendo must die."

"NO!"

Ranma dropped her thumb.

Red splattered across the far wall, dripping slowly to the ground.


Author's end notes: To tell the truth, I'm not sure what to say after that last scene. It came out much better then I expected. Ranma has taken his revenge, or has he? There is a new focus, the ones responsible for ordering his death are at large. How will he find these people and where the hell are the original Noir girls! Unfortunately, they will be taking a backseat for awhile.

The scene with the agents was deliberate. In all of these shoot-em-up anime's you never really see any personality behind those guys in dark suits and glasses. They're just drones meant to be knocked off without having the corresponding emotions that come with killing a real person. This was an attempt to give them a little personality and show a little more of a human side to them, no matter how brief.

Reviews are much appreciated as they help me improve as a writer and encourage me to continue with this story that has truly gotten far larger than I had ever expected. Please take a moment to leave a response.

Thank you,

brindani