Insert disclaimer here.
Cold Passion is a manga series that predated 
City Hunter. Don't be surprised if you've never 
heard of it before. 

The basic premises: 
Two con-artists working under the names of 
Apple and Elm have broken into a large multi-
national corporation. Their mission: revenge. 
And a little to the side.

C&C requested. Maybe, I somebody manages to 
convince me, I'll continue this. Consider the 
story a teaser for a crossover. Three guesses as to 
what it is. The first two don't count.

Oh, and by the way, this is a revision of one of 
my old stories.

***
The Fallen One/The Winner
A Cold Passion fanfic
By SeventhOne

***
"Liar!"

***
"Grandfather! No . . . can't call you that. I'm not 
your grandson any more."
The old man smirked.
"No need to pretend you don't know me. I've 
found out what you've been doing all this time." 
The old man pointed at him. "It's for that girl 
isn't it? The girl called Elm."
For a moment, the boy stood still. 
"I have something to say to you."

"This is very confusing," thought Elm as she 
watched the entire conversation from around the 
corner. 
"Be quiet," said the woman behind her.
Elm squirmed in the woman's grasp. She was 
very confident in her own strength, but the 
woman obviously had training. She looked 
around the corner again. Apple left the hall with 
his "grandfather." 
"Leggo of me! I have a lot of questions for 
Apple! If you don't I'll beat you up!"
The woman took no time to react. Elm felt her 
wind being knocked out of her.
"I'm sorry, but you'll have to remain quiet."
"A . . . pple."
Apple didn't hear.

***
The door opened. Four stood within; an elderly 
woman, two bodyguards, and what appeared to 
be a dwarf. The woman rushed over to Apple.
"Allen!"
"Ah . . . long time no see . . ." She slapped him. 
". . .Mother."
"Please don't use violence wife. Violence does 
no good," said the dwarf as he desperately 
reached up for her hands. 
"Shuttup!" She screamed, addressing no one in 
particular. "You embarrass me boy! How could 
have I raised a son like you!? You are the scum 
of this corporation!"
Apple winced, clutching his burning cheek.
"Allen. Don't make Mommy mad," said the 
dwarf.
"Didn't I just tell you to shut up!?"
". . . Can't we settle this peacefully?"
"If I'd known he was like this earlier, I wouldn't 
have asked the doctors to save him from that 
stupid suicide! He deserves to die!"
Apple's expression changed. He looked . . . a bit 
sad.

***
Voices rang through the hospital.
"Be quiet! Can't you stay still for even a 
moment?"
"No! I don't want to be bandaged up!"
"You know? You're not one bit cute!"
"Don't you dare speak with me like that!" The 
voice paused for a moment, then continued 
softly. "So you actually care about me? Well, I 
do have to thank you."
The other voice didn't respond.

***
"Well, a little bit, anyway."

***
". . . hurts."
Elm blinked open her eyes, then fell back. 
"Where . . . am I?"
"I'm sorry. Perhaps I used a bit too much force."
Elm turned to see the woman, standing in a 
corner of the room.
"My name is Rumi, and I am the Administrator's 
secretary."
"Where am I!? Where's Apple!? Don't hide . . ."
<Mother. Father.>
Elm turned around. A window, no. It was a one-
way mirror. Apple on the other side, talking with 
an elderly woman.
<I thank you for raising me, but . . . you didn't 
raise me as a son. You rose me as a heir to the 
company.>
Apple turned away, his hands in his pockets.
<You knew from the start that I had a high IQ. 
You've given me tutors on marketing since I was 
three. You were always so busy, I remember. We 
never met, all those years. Just tutors, tutors, 
tutors everything. Well I thank you. Thank you 
for what? Thank you for giving me a shitload of 
knowledge I didn't need. No, you didn't give me 
any love. You just wanted me to make money.>
He looked back at his parents.
<No friends, no family. Hell, I can't even 
remember you so much as even offering to give 
me a pet dog. Money's everything, everything's 
money. Not that it mattered to me. Money was 
like water to me. I just didn't drink any of it. 
Stuck it down the well of your throat!>
He paused, looking down at his feet. 
<And at twenty-three, I was an executive.>

***
"What kind of numbers are these?"
A hand held out a stack of papers.
"You can still add thirty percent to the 
production rate!"
The hand it revealed to be Apple's. He is slightly 
younger, his hair moussed back.
"Take your pick. Fire the incompetent ones. I'll 
take control personally."
"Yes, sir."

***
<At the time, they told me I was hot. Yeah, real 
hot stuff. And you know what? I believed it. 
That's how arrogant an asshole I was. I can't 
believe that was me. I can't even imagine myself 
doing that . . .> Flash. <. . . on second thoughts it 
wasn't me. It was the bastard personality that 
was in this body before me. Frankly, I'm glad 
he's gone. I hope I never have to meet him again. 
Bastard.>
Apple turned to the one-way mirror and traced 
"Apple" on it. 
<What happened next?>

***
Allen sat at the computer, highlighting the names 
of several dozen employees.
"Rumi? Get over here. I want you to tell these 
people they're fired."
"But . . . these people . . . they're not all that 
bad . . ."
"You know what I mean. The people on this list 
are the most socially active people in our 
company. But that's got nothing to do with 
ability. We need workers, not negotiators."
"But . . ."
"You're just a secretary. You have no need to 
worry about these things."
". . . Yes."

***
<. . . and two weeks later, the price of our stocks 
fell like they'd never fallen before . . .>

***
"What?"
"The shareholders are angry, sir."
"That's impossible! How could they do this to 
me, the frigging bastards!"
"You're the bastard, Allen."

***
<Grandfather's all purpose wisdom, eh? No
siree, I didn't know any of the stuff he told me. 
Didn't have enough experience. He blamed me 
though. He cursed me, told me how I'd sped up 
the company's gears, and forgotten to oil the 
important ones. No, that's not true. In theory, 
everything I did was for the better of the 
company. That is, if it had a clean slate. But no. 
No it didn't. Turned out that the company had a 
lot of deals I didn't know about. Apparently, 
certain 'Elder,' ahem, didn't feel the need for me 
to know. If I'd known, the shares wouldn't have 
fallen. And that . . . wouldn't have happened.>

***
"Why haven't I learned any of this before?"

***
"Sir! Sir! That company's saved!"
No response.
"Sir?"
Allen'd collapsed on the table. A bottle of 
sleeping pills had spilled all over the floor.
Rumi screamed.

***
"What have I been working for? What did I hope 
to achieve? Nothing means anything anymore."

***
<. . . I was discovered early. Saved in the nick of 
time. But what came of it?>

***
"That time, it was really, really bad."

***
<Mother. You're right. You should have left me 
to die.>
"No . . . the Apple I know is a child . . . an 
innocent, kind child . . . he can't do anything 
without me." Elm stared through the glass, 
shocked at the thought.
"The young master was saved, but his 
personality was shattered. He sat there, staring 
out into space. That was how he spent his time. I 
had to teach him to speak again. I fed him every 
day. He'd become like a child again."
Elm looked at Rumi.
"I've been a serving girl in his house since I was 
five. He was two years younger than me, and I'd 
been his older sister back then. He doesn't 
remember how cute a child he was . . . I watched 
him fall. The little cherub turned into an imp 
with the education they gave him. He no longer 
saw me as an older sister. Pretty soon, he ceased 
to see me at all."
"What . . . happened to him?"
"He became a child again. I can't say that I was 
sad. This was the only way a fallen angel could 
be redeemed, and I took it upon myself to do 
that. 
I became his second mother."

***
"Mr. Allen," said the man, "here are the 
textbooks. Perhaps you'll think of something."
Allen hugged on to Rumi.
"Don't . . . let them . . . Mommy!"
She hugged him back.
"I won't. I promise I won't . . . son."

***
". . . I nursed him back to health, and slowly, 
very slowly, his memory returned. . . . For some 
reason, his personality didn't revert. His ways 
were still childish, and for the sake of the 
company's name, his grandfather kept him in 
isolation."
Rumi turned away.
"Then he disappeared. He left a note telling us 
not to worry, that he would be back. He said he 
just needed some time to himself."
"That's when I met him," though Elm.
"I see." 
Elm turned. A boy was standing in the door.
"Taro!"
"I understand now. He has no grudge against the 
company. Leave him Elm. He is of no use."
<I will not let you do as you please out there, 
Allen! You are here to stay. I'm going to re-
educate you!>
<I don't think so.> Apple pulled out a gun. 
His mother gritted her teeth. <Guards! Get 
him!>
If this had been Batman, there would have been 
a lot of, "Smack! Pow! Oof!" Needless to say, 
Apple was on the ground in seconds. 
<Damn, that always works in movies!>
<You'll not leave my sight from now on! I'll 
teach you some manners!>
<No! I've got nothing to learn from you!>
"Elm. Let's leave."
<No! I won't stay here!>
"He's the one who tried to destroy our home!"
But he's also the one who tried to save it.
<I just want to be with Elm! That's all!>
"Apple!"
She jumped through the mirror and thew off her 
jacket. Throwing it on to the heads of the two 
bodyguards, she kicked them against the wall.
"Who's that girl!?"
"It's the girl from the Shannon home. She's heard 
everything." Apple's grandfather briefly 
considered what he was going to do.
"Sorry, but I'm not going to let you touch 
Apple!"
The old man just laughed.
"Ironic, isn't it," he said, "The one who ordered 
the demolition of the Shannon home is the boy 
you're protecting right now."
The girl stopped for a moment. Then she smiled.
The old man flinched. 
"Damn you!" The bodyguard got up and threw 
himself at Elm, sending her through the window.
"Elm!" screamed Apple. 
He and the boy from the observation room ran 
toward the window. At the last moment, the boy 
stopped. Apple continued. 
"Elm!"
"He . . . actually jumped."

***
Wind whistled past Elm's closed eyes. She felt a 
hand grasp hers.
"I'm sorry Elm . . . I've hurt you."
And they fell on to something soft.
"A curtain?"
A piece of cloth was suspended between two 
helicopters. From one, a man and a woman 
yelled over the sound of the propellers.
"Caught ya!"
"Chime! Poca!"
"We rushed over as soon as we could!"

***
"Damn it! You won again thief!"
They stood there, looking as Apple and Elm held 
each other on the cloth.
"How did it end like this!? I'm his mother! His 
mother!"
"Wife . . ."
Grandfather faced Rumi. 
"You've worked hard, Rumi."
"Thank you."
"But . . . you've fallen in love with him, haven't 
you? . . . I'm sorry if this has been taxing."
She blushed.
"It doesn't matter . . . At least I was able to do 
my best for him."
She looked at the old man.
"Today, when I saw him, I was proud. Proud that 
he's become the man he is."
The old man smiled.
"Perhaps."

***
"Elm, I . . ."
"What's the next job?"
"I'm . . . going to buy out the company."
"Yup. Get it back from Granddaddy."
"Okay!"

***
Perhaps the thousands out there who enjoy their 
lives haven't actually enjoyed anything at all. 
Perhaps it is the pain of living in suffering that 
shows us the light. Perhaps for every tear shed in 
this world, there is a smile. And perhaps a smile 
that has risen from a sea of tears is the brightest 
smile of all.
Goodbye Grandfather. When you meet me again, 
I shall be a different person. I shall prove my 
worthiness to you.
A life in paradise isn't for me. In the end, I shall 
be the winner.