The blond boy poked his head around the corner of the building, carefully scanning the area with his soft, cascading blue eyes. He quickly ran from his perch to behind a tree.

"Okay... One, two, three!" he cried, running to the large gate. He slowly opened it and slid his small frame out. "Yeah! I made it! I made- Yaah!" he screamed.

"Hey, watch where you're going, kid," a tall redheaded man said.

"You tripped over me, you loser!" the kid shot back, adjusting his baggy jacket. "And it's not "kid", it's Jim!"

"Whatever, just get out of my way," said the redhead as he brushed past the boy.

"Oh yeah? Well, you can stick it!" he yelled after the cocky man. He was abruptly interrupted by a whistle and sirens, accompanied by a nice little spotlight focused on him.

"The subject is approximately eleven years old, four feet in height, and seventy-four pounds. He answers to the name Jim Hawking. He is announced unarmed and dangerous," a voice informed into a mega-phone.

"Dangerous?" Jim cried as he spun around to see an army of nuns heading toward him. Thinking as quickly as he could, he jumped into the fountain full of dirty green water. He felt himself being pulled out of the water by a nun. "Heh, heh... Hi," he said cheerily, waving innocently.

He was dropped harshly on the ground. He sighed and leaned up against a wall with green writing reading 'Jim wuz here, age 6'.

"Did you try to escape again?" Kit asked in her German accent. "To no avail, might I add, Jimmy."

"How far did you get this time?" Emily asked, flinging a long yellow pigtail over her shoulder.

"I was there! I tasted freedom!" Jim spat. "Until this major jerk TRIPPED OVER ME! He got me caught! I swear, if I ever see him again, I'll-"

"Kids, I'd like to introduce to you Mr. Gene Starwind. He's interested in adopting a child," Sister Amber announced cheerfully.

"My name is Ozania, and I'm eight years old! I want to be a cook and I like to read and-"a short curly redhead giddily rambled.

"It's you! You're the jerk who stepped on me!" Jim declared, pointing a gloved finger at Gene.

"You're that stupid little kid from earlier. How'd you get here?" Gene asked suspiciously.

"Hello? Jim lives here," Megami answered for her friend.

"Yeah, I'm an orphan here at Lucky Dagg Orphanage. Not exactly the perfect place to spend your childhood," he said, crossing his arms around his blond head.

"And Jim's been trying to escape since he was four!" the tanned-skinned Ed piped in.

"You keep out of this!" Jim cried as he pushed Ed out of the picture.

"Why?" Gene asked. Jim and Edward stopped fighting.

"What?" Jim asked.

"Why are you running away?"

"Because I can't stand it here. I mean, we're lucky if we get food everyday. And besides, no one will adopt me."

"I'll take him," Gene said to the nun.

"You... You'll WHAT?!" Jim cried.

Yes, that's it, peeps. My very first fic. I oddly feel like a parent... I don't own Outlaw Star. If I did, why would I be here? Anyway, please R & R. I accept flames.

In chapter two, find out-

.Why does Gene want to adopt a kid?

.What happened to Jim's parents?

.Who is this Edward I speak so fondly of?

Thank you for reading! --Chocolate Bunny