Chapter 1: The Escape Artists

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Author's note: I'm both a Mutant X and Sailor Moon fan, so I wondered what would happen if Adam had a daughter he had never met. I created two characters for this story. The first one, Hope Landos, has Sailor Uranus's ability to cause earthquakes. The other, Darien Talodine (named after the Sailor Moon character by the same first name), has Sailor Mercury's ability to control water. In this story, Mason has hooked Adam up to a machine that sucks- literally! It sucks the blood out of a person, mummifying them alive. The Mutant X team, along with Hope and Darien, must outwit Mason to get Adam back and to reverse the Vampire Machine, it's technical name. Review, SVP. Thanks!

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Looking down the hallway of the living quarters of Genomex, a slightly red-haired girl slowly made her way to the escape exit. She had to find her biological father at all cost, even though she knew Mason Eckhart hated him. Her late mother, Aurora Landos, had sent her a letter two weeks ago that held the greatest secret she had never known- Mason was not her father. She had always known that Mason had something against her for some time, but could never put her finger on it. Now, as she finally slipped out, into the alleyway that led to the street, she recalled the name her mother had written as her biological father's name- Adam Kane.

Finally out of the lab rat house, she prayed that somehow she would be able to find Sanctuary- or that someone from there would find her and take her to it. Being Mason's guinnea pig for almost twenty-two years had caused her mind to move from creative to survival mode. There was something that Erkhart hadn't known, however- she had a special gift, or mutation. The first and most important was the ability to make earthquakes. That one she had never been able to officially use because of Mason's expiriments with mutants, which had frightened her into secrecy.

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As she slipped into the coffee shop nearest her, the auroma of french vanilla slowly worked it's magic on her frayed nerves. She cautiously sauntered over to one of the booths, where a young man with brown hair held a fragrant, warm cup of double shot french vanilla cappuccino out to her. As she took it from him, she saw that his hand was shaking slightly, a nervous tick he had attained a few weeks ago. He was as afraid as she was about her escape.

"Hope! You made it out- I was scared you were going to get caught," the guy said, relief flooding his voice.

Blushing, she realized that she might have been a teenie bit too cautious, causing her to be late for their meeting. "Sorry, Darien- I guess I had planned this thing way too carefully. The good news is, I escaped undetected. With Mason there all the time lately, the alarm system has become useless. Thank goodness his cohort in the security room had the day off."

Looking concerned, Darien said, "Well, don't relax quite yet. If he finds out before Brennan and his friends come get us, we'll both end up being disected like frogs." Quietly, Hope nodded. They had made it this far, but one single slip-up could jeopardize their disappearing act.

"And it looks like you 'froggies' live to hop another day!" A male voice, unfamiliar to Hope, interrupted their discussion. A big smile made it's way to Darien's face as he stood up and walked over to one of two guys, who had apparrently heard him reminding Hope about their possible fate. "Hey, Darien- how are you, man?"

"Pretty good, Brennan." Darien said, as the two of them shook hands. Then, turning around, he said, "Hope, this is Brennan and the other guy is Jesse. Jesse, Brennan, this is Hope Landos- I told you about her."

She went over and shook hands with both newcomers. She knew that they were probably as eager to get away as she was, but did not want to look suspicious to the coffee house personel. They delayed a few minutes, each getting their own java, as well as Brennan ordering an extra one. As soon as all were ready, they sauntered out to a van, where a blonde woman, looking a little older than Hope, sat in the drivers' seat, and got in.

"Here you go, Shalimar- your favorite flavor." Brennan said, handing the blonde one of the coffees. "And we have them with us."

"Good- now let's get out of here before Eckhart sees us," Shalimar said, turning the van on.

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It seemed like an uneventful ride for a while, and, since it was past midnight, Hope was beginning to drift off to sleep. Suddenly, the vehicle started to shake, and there were thumps sounding on each side of it, jolting her out of limboland! Looking out the windshield, she saw that they were in a wheat field, but that they were no longer in a van. It was like one of those flying machines in sci-fi movies, only much sleeker and smaller. And soon it was no longer on the ground, being hit by grain and chaff. It was--flying?