Outlaw ½: Act 1 Frozen in Time

By

triviatrap1982

I don't own Ranma ½, or Outlaw Star. They're owned by Rumiko Takahaishi, and Takehiko Ito.

Ranma Saotome was having his normal day...well as normal as it could be. He was eating breakfast quietly, and he was also angry. He was angry at Akane for blasting him off, without trying to get his side of the story...though she got it a lot slower than usual. He was also angry at Genma for trying to force him to do something he didn't want to do...which caused Genma to be in his Panda form. Ranma wasn't buying it, and promised death to Genma if he tried anything dumb. He was just generally angry this morning. He had a reason for it. Once he finished breakfast, he decided he just was going to go to school on his own. He knew there was a huge risk in getting into a fight and being late. Akane she saw he left without her. She hurried, finished, and caught up to him. He was in no mood to be arguing.

"So...are you here to argue?" Ranma asked keeping his cool. No matter what, he still wouldn't blast another girl for any reason.

"No...I wonder where you are off to in such a hurry," Akane shot back.

"Where else would I be from 8 to 4 every day?" Ranma returned back.

"You were going to school without me?" Akane asked.

Ranma just nodded. He knew whatever he said would cause a misunderstanding (he has admitted at times that he needed to keep his mouth shut). Akane noticed his forced silence and decided that she wasn't going to set him off. She knew also full well that he didn't want to run into the Furinkan Wrecking Crew. That is a gang of fiancées who tried to get in his pants...and a gang of angry guys who just want to pummel him for having more than one fiancée...which was through no fault of his own. Of course...he also was on the lookout for Happosai...the master of the Anything Goes styles of martial arts...however; he also was known to be a vindictive pervert. Ranma they did run into Ryoga...who somehow went through Akihabara to get to the corner market.

"How long did it take you to get a loaf of bread?" Ranma asked.

"Shut up! I still owe you a beating!" Ryoga hissed.

"Yeah, whatever," Ranma said, "you should be lead by Kodachi so you don't get so lost."

"That...was low," Ryoga returned. "Even if true...that was just dirty."

"Are you going to walk with us to school or stand there looking like an idiot?" Ranma asked.

"I'll walk," Ryoga said. "It's because you were so nice."

Ranma knew he was sarcastic, but let it slide. He was trying his hardest to actually avoid any fights. Ranma knew with his luck...he would run into the usual people he had to deal with. He'd have to deal with Mousse and Kuno. Mousse and Kuno both relied on weapons to try to defeat him...and that never went over too well. Nabiki was not far behind she was looking to see exactly how much she could profit from an imminent fight. She looked around to see if the fiancée squad would look around to see who would attack first. Ryoga was just there, and he got the message that to not fight. Kuno on the other hand...didn't, and it started, right when they entered the gates. Ryoga went to the side because he wasn't going to get blamed for this one, no way. He just only wanted a loaf of bread, and he still was starving.

"DIE, RANMA!" Kuno shouted.

"Already with this bullshit..." Ranma cursed.

"PREPARE TO DIE!" Mousse shouted as he had trauma instruments coming from his robes.

"Yup...it begins again," Ranma huffed.

"Hey, there be no fighting before school!" Principal Kuno shouted. He didn't get far. Angry students had flared their Ki to warn him of death if he even thought of interfering.

"Damn...did it get worse since the last time I was here?" Ryoga asked.

"Yup, it got worse," Ukyo said, as Mousse was sent through the wall and was knocked out cold.

"Wow, it's a good thing I didn't even try to engage Ranma...he really didn't want to fight," Ryoga said as Kuno's body snapped a tree in two, and he was knocked out.

"Whoa...that was way too quick for me to get bets off," Nabiki cursed.

"Ran-chan...are you okay?" Ukyo asked.

"Oh, Ukyo," Ranma said turning around, "I guess so."

"Okay...we better get to class before we're late," Ukyo said shuddering.

They got to class, and it was uneventful. Hinako was giving her lesson; while Ranma was taking notes he knew he couldn't afford to fail anymore assignments. Ranma had a gut feeling that something was going to go very...very wrong. He also had a feeling that his life was really going to be changed forever. He did fall into the spring of drowned girl...and he also was tossed into the pit of starving cats. No...this one would deal with a very perverted and vindictive gnome named Happosai. That afternoon, Ranma heard screams coming from the girls' locker room from clear across campus. He knew exactly who it was.

"I got some lovely panties!" Happosai said happily.

"Gotcha! Now you're going to die," Ranma said grabbing the master.

"You won't let me have my..." Happosai started.

"Nope, not happening," Ranma said putting him down, and backing away so he doesn't get blasted.

"Wait...what's going on?" Happosai asked.

"There he is!" A girl shouted.

"W-We can talk this out..." Happosai pleaded, knowing there was trouble.

The girls somehow, blasted Happosai into space. Ranma was sure to get away from the situation before they even came out of the locker rooms. He knew full well if there would be a misunderstanding, he'd been next to been blasted. Still, he was on his way home when he felt the rage of Happosai about a half kilometer away. That actually sent a chill up his spine. Before he could do anything, Happosai used a technique that put him to sleep. However, in his haste, he didn't notice that there was hole there that was outfitted with a cryogenic freezer Ranma fell in and the door closed. It latched shut and froze Ranma in slowing down his body's systems. Happosai went pale. He knew he went way too far. He got away before anybody could see. However, that was to be the last time Ranma saw any of his family and friends. The timing mechanism was set that it would open on a specific date. Time did pass, and it passed a lot. The timing mechanism was about to unlock, when there was a loud rumble. the capsule was dug up by two jacks of all trades. In this future time...money was still an issue. Once the lock opened...Ranma woke up. He looked around. He spoke up.

"What...the...hell...?" Ranma stammered.

"That's what I'd like to know," a taller red-head guy spoke up.

"Hey this thing was a cryogenic chamber!" The younger kid spoke up.

Ranma looked around. He was home. However...it was pretty different. A lot of things have changed and he frowned. He had to go look around. He still had a good idea of the lay of the land. He was stopped. He didn't know what was going on, however...the danger levels here were a lot higher than angry fiancées, angrier suitors...and that vindictive Happosai. Ranma got away from the group and found the spot where the Tendo Dojo was...it's no longer there. He spoke up, wondering what was going on.

"Damn...how long was I asleep for?" Ranma groaned out.

"You were asleep for a long-ass time," the guy spoke up.

"Was this spot of any importance to you?" the kid asked.

"Yeah, this was the spot of the old Tendo Martial Arts dojo, and the house that was off to the side," Ranma answered.

"How would you know that...I thought...that...?" the kid asked.

"We better introduce ourselves," Ranma said. "Since I have no Idea who you are..."

"Right...I'm Gene Starwind...and this is my business partner, Jim Hawking," Gene finally answered.

"You never did answer Jim's question," Gene reminded.

"Sorry, everything here is important to me...this well...was my neighborhood," Ranma answered.

"I suppose you want to see the school you went to then..." Gene said.

"I know the way," Ranma said.

The group went to where Furinkan High once stood. It no longer was there either. It was a spaceport where all sorts of space craft were waiting to be repaired and refueled. Ranma had seen enough to know that to his knowledge all of his friends and family are now gone for good. He stood there crestfallen hoping there would be some sort of 20th century thing he could recognize. There were none. He wanted to walk about some more, when Gene had an idea. He knew Ranma wasn't going to be open to space travel...but he had little choice but to ask him. It would be way too dangerous with criminals here...even with Ranma's martial arts skills...many of them just used weapons...that were stronger than what Kuno and Mousse could muster.

"Is there anyplace I can go?" Ranma asked. He was now actually homeless.

"You should come with us," Gene said with a smile.

"Wait, you got down here by rocket ship?" Ranma asked.

"We did," Gene answered.

"That's something I have wanted to experience!" Ranma said excitedly.

"You're not upset?" Jim asked.

"I am, but at the same time, I know I'm not going home at all...time machines still haven't been invented yet."

"That's true," Gene said. "I think that's for the better."

"We should get going then, we leave in fifteen minutes!" Jim reminded.

"There's one other person we'd like you to meet a little later on," Gene said.

"Okay, but if there's any martial artists...I'd like to talk to them," Ranma then bargained.

"I think we know one...but...she's a bit harder to get," Gene warned.

Ranma nodded. He knew that there would be a few people he would end up meeting that would really make the folks from back then sane. He also did strive to try to be the very best in his martial arts studies. He also had been through situations that in this ultra-modern era...would seem to be far-fetched. That is...he dealt with Herb, Mint, and Lime from the Musk Dynasty...he also dealt with Saffron who nearly killed everybody. There also was the Happosai induced big trouble in Nekenron, China. Throw in random Amazons that ended up getting engaged to him, either by complete accident...or Genma's double dealing. The one thing that still makes him cringe was when Ukyo's father lost his okonomiyaki cart. That still stings to this day. Still, Gene he brought Ranma aboard the Outlaw Star. Ranma looked and he still had his money. He frowned knowing full well it was a relic.

"I suppose I can't use this anymore," Ranma said speaking up.

"Nope, everything's electronic now...plus the currency wouldn't be useful anyway," Jim said grimly.

"You're not gonna be out of luck for food," Gene said. "Trust me; we know what it's like to live on poverty wages."

Once the three entered the ship. Gilliam he was online. He was his normal self, for an AI. He was sharp-tongued at times, he was quite helpful...and also he was quite pumped. He scanned Ranma, and he was intrigued. He knew a lot about the time period, but needed Ranma to fill it in himself. Ranma turned around and he bumped into a woman who was finished getting the supplies they needed to get back to Sentinel three. Ranma knew she needed help and jumped in. Gene was busy plotting the course back to Sentinel three. Jim was helping him out. The problem now arose on where Ranma would fit in for now. Once Ranma finished, he found his way back to the bridge. He couldn't just stay standing. He had to take a seat. He was going to get to meet the woman after take off, and leaving Earth's orbit.