Hexus: Neo

}27{ Mutant

[1:28PM, January 19, UTC +08:00]

"Hold it in. I can't risk making this sphere any bigger."

"I'm trying."

"Well, try harder."

DAMILARE replied with a hiss through clenched teeth as he endured the ripping sensation coursing along his spine. Adam shot him a glare before turning to look around the news truck at the scene in front of them. The area around Sydney Airport was crawling with security, reporters and medical personnel, all wearing either gas masks and protective gloves or full biohazard safety suits. Adam motioned for them to move, and Damilare had to take a moment to compose himself before he followed Adam across the parking lot. The sun's heat and glare almost blinded his infra-red vision, and he tried to ignore the tension pulling in his back as they walked past an oblivious camera man who was drinking iced tea, curved around the security guards and followed a team of people carrying metal cases into the terminal building.

He sighed in relief at the air conditioning, and winced at the pain that tore around his shoulder blades. He could already feel his skin stretching and wasn't sure how much more he could take. He reached forward and grabbed Adam's shoulder to call his attention.

"What the hell?" Adam hissed as he tightly gripped Damilare's hand and pried it off. Damilare looked at the hand and realised in horror that his fingernails had formed into claws and he had stabbed into Adam's deltoid muscles. He tried to formulate an apology but the urgency of his original problem overtook his mind.

"You... you need to...expand it now."

"For fuck's sake," Adam seethed. "I'm trying to bend light around us and cancel the sounds we're making at the same time. There's already a distortion from the sphere that some people might notice, and if I increase it, it only makes us more obvious."

"Adam, please. I don't think I can-"

Damilare screamed as his wings and tail ripped out of his back and reptilian scales flushed over his skin. He grimaced at Adam's wide-eyed stare; he had really done his best to hold them in but nowadays, his body parts practically had a will of their own. There was a sound of confusion from somewhere behind him as Adam closed his eyes in annoyance and grunted. A wave of magical energy exploded from Adam and the room went silent. Damilare turned around as he tried to pull his stubborn appendages back in. The people behind him – who, based on their disturbed facial expressions, had seen his extra body parts appear outside of Adam's cloaking sphere – were no longer moving, their open mouths and wide unblinking eyes staring blankly in his direction.

"Come on, let's get this over with."

Adam moved briskly, and Damilare followed him towards the site of the reported bomb blast, weaving around the stiff bodies in biohazard suits that were trapped in pockets of time. Damilare scanned the area. The ground and walls had been sterilized, as expected. There was a strange tingling in his senses, like a subtle response to his magical probing, and he looked up. He sensed a large number of bacteria around one of the lighting fixtures, but what was even more disturbing was the unusual rate at which they were multiplying.

"Found anything?"

"I think so."

"Hurry up then. I can't keep this up all day."

Damilare huffed as he flew up and swiped his fingers over the film of bacteria. Adam made a sound of discomfort and Damilare looked down to see him rushing off towards the restrooms. Damilare felt a drop in the level of magical energy as he went after Adam, and noticed that the people around him had slowly started moving. He ducked into the men's room just as the spell shut off and everything went back to normal time.