CHAPTER 12 : MIND DIMENSION

"My brother and I, we have powers," Mei said suddenly, sitting with Khalid in a cafeteria. Khalid turned to her with wide eyes, a piece of vegetable from his sandwich falling to the floor."Huh? What?" Khalid asked, confused."You heard me.""Yeah, I heard... but I don't understand. You and your brother have powers?" Khalid sighed. Mei exhaled, closed her eyes, and then opened them suddenly, her irises turning red and taking on a strange shape.Using her power, Mei suddenly entered Khalid's Mind Dimension. They floated in another world where stars surrounded them. Khalid was drawn to a black hole, and they returned to the real world."Ah!" Khalid almost fell from his seat, clutching the table. Mei's eyes returned to normal, and she smiled slightly at Khalid's reaction."Okay, okay, I get it. What was that?" Khalid held his head, feeling a slight dizziness."Out there, right now, there are many people with the same powers, but they've lost control and turned into monsters. Not many can control these powers," Mei explained, and Khalid looked back at her."If you told me all this, what can I do? I don't have any powers..." Khalid sighed."I can help you activate your powers; your dream of becoming a hero can now be achieved." Mei replied. Khalid smiled bitterly, recalling when he and Mei were children, watching superhero stories and playing together."Mei, that was our childhood dream. We've both grown up now...""But now we can achieve it. I've shown you my abilities. The world needs people like me now, who can control these powers. I've seen the destruction caused by those who can't control it," Mei explained, and Khalid tapped the table several times with his fingers."If something can change my boring life into something more meaningful... what's the harm in trying, right?" Khalid looked back at Mei, this time appearing more confident.Dreams... Killed by the reality of life.I have a dream; call it naive or weird or childish. I want to be a hero, like in legends, like on television...Surely, people with extraordinary powers or great abilities don't exist in this world, but I live with the morals and lessons those stories have given me.Being able to buy their costumes and feel, for a moment, like you're important in this world was enough for me before. But now, there's evil out there threatening the public, and I have the power to stop them.A dream comes back to life when someone starts to hope again.Khairul, Nasuha, and Rose stopped in front of a house, waiting. The automatic gate opened, revealing Khalid, Mei, and Kyoko waiting for them."Come in," Mei invited.They all entered her large house, following Mei into an empty room that had been soundproofed with some foam."Mei's Telepathy power allows her to enter people's minds, manipulate them, and read them. With her power, we can enter the Mind Dimension, where we can train without wasting much time. Mei's power allows us to learn about our powers quickly," Khalid explained, placing his index finger on his head."You're saying a lot of things we don't understand..." Khairul complained."Time doesn't flow the same in the Mind Dimension as in the real world. A day in the Mind Dimension is equivalent to 45 minutes in the real world," Mei said."I think it took me about three weeks in the Mind Dimension to master my powers in the real world; it was only 15 hours," Kyoko added."Alright, I get it; it's just like in Ms. Star... when she enters the Time World," Nasuha tapped her hand."Ah, that's in season 3, right?" Khalid said with a smile."You watch Ms. Star?" Nasuha looked at Khalid with a semi-excited expression upon realizing they had a common interest."Yes, I watch it," Khalid nodded slowly.Khairul watched Nasuha and Khalid chatting, then turned his gaze away and exhaled deeply."I can fully control the Mind Dimension, so don't be too afraid," Mei reassured them."I can enter too, right? To see what happens," Rose asked."Of course, but I warn you. The potential for you to activate your Mutant Cell in the Mind Dimension is very high. As you know, the Mutant Cell activates when your mind is under pressure. To enter the Mind Dimension, I have to go into your minds, see all your memories, both good and bad. You will see things that hurt you," Mei explained, and Rose smiled bitterly."Right now, I feel it would be good if I had powers. Might as well," Rose said, her tone sarcastic."Be careful what you wish for, Rose," Mei warned, her expression serious."Alright... I was just joking," Rose raised both hands.After preparing, they all sat in a circle and held hands. Mei's eyes turned red, and her irises changed shape, a red aura surrounding them all."Ready. We're going in now."Khairul opened his eyes; he was with Khalid in his old house. Khairul looked around, confused."This... my school?" Nasuha was at her school, with Kyoko alongside her."This is the Mind Dimension," Mei and Rose observed them through two small orbs, with Mei's hands emitting red rays surrounding the two dimensional spheres where they were."Why am I here with you?" Rose asked."You don't want to be a Mutant, do you, Rose? I told you? I can read your minds and know your true desires," Mei replied, and Rose looked disturbed."You're scared... You all are scared. The first key to controlling your Mutant powers is to face what scares you," Mei said."Are you scared of your house, Khairul? Why?" Khalid asked. Khairul clenched his hands and glared at Khalid."Don't ask me," Khairul replied."An important thing in a group is trust; knowing someone is crucial to gaining trust," Khalid said, and Khairul faced him."Try to unleash your power on your own, without any pressure to bring it out," Khalid instructed. Khairul glanced at his right arm for a moment."I don't know how," Khairul sighed."Try doing it." Suddenly, a kind of belt appeared around Khalid's waist, and he pulled out two cards from one of the pouches on the belt. There was a symbol and two slots to place the cards. In Khalid's hand, there was a card with a tiger logo and a sword symbol."Transform! Wild Card, Beast Tiger! Weapon, Claw Sword!" Khalid inserted both cards into the slots on his belt. His entire body then glowed, a shield forming and enveloping him, and a helmet shaped like a tiger's head appeared. Khalid pointed his hand forward, and the same light formed a sword with three blades."Beast Tiger!" Khalid transformed into Beast Tiger."What is this?" Khairul looked at him, puzzled."This is my Mutant power, Armored Hero. Since I was a child, my wish has been to imitate the heroes in the Armored Hero stories. The story of a man with various shields and weapons stored in his Hero cards. I want to save many people from the Strays; this is my choice... to become a superhero," Khalid explained, and Khairul turned his gaze away."My power isn't as great as yours. It hurts to use it; it looks ugly. It's the power of someone who has lost their way, not of a good person," Khairul replied."Our Mutant powers are a reflection of ourselves. Why do you feel your power hurts you?" Khalid asked."Because...""Because you are hated!" Zaki appeared from the side and suddenly punched Khairul in the face, causing him to fall to the floor."What?" Khairul turned sideways, terrified, as Zaki, in his human form, looked fierce."I understand now, Khairul. You were abused... right?" Khalid asked."What are you talking about—Urgh!" Khairul turned younger, and his father stepped on him. Zaki's hands began to choke Khairul. Khalid just watched him, doing nothing."Why do you live and she is dead?! Die! Die! Die!" Zaki screamed as Khairul tried to free himself but was not strong enough."Khairul. You need to fight back..." Mei's voice echoed."I-I can't!""You can. You choose not to fight back. You are stronger than other teenagers your age or older, and you know it."Khairul returned to his original form, while Zaki transformed into his monstrous form and continued to choke Khairul. Zaki's face made Khairul feel weaker; he began to stop resisting."Fight back, Khairul!" Khalid ordered."Shut up! You don't understand... It's all my fault.""The accident that killed your mother wasn't your fault, Khairul," Mei said."That accident happened because of me!"Khairul cried as he was still being choked. Behind Khalid's mask, his eyes looked at Khairul with sorrow. A tear also fell from Mei's cheek as she controlled Khairul's Mind Dimension."Khairul... You were just a kid then," Mei sighed."You don't understand, if I hadn't been so needy then, my mother wouldn't have had to take me out. We wouldn't have had the accident that night if I hadn't asked to go out."Memories of the night Khairul and his mother had the accident played back...My body felt hot, and I had a headache; I couldn't get out of bed. My mother sat beside my bed, looking at me with a worried expression."Dear... Khai is sick," my mother told my father, who passed in front of my room as the door was open."Huh?" Dad stopped at my door with a questioning face."Khai is sick. His body is very hot; dear, I'm worried... Let's take him to the clinic," my mother suggested. Dad sighed deeply, looking tired."Tonight? Let's go tomorrow. Who knows, he might feel better by then?" Dad replied, and I watched them from a distance. I wanted to go to the clinic; it felt like this headache was going to kill me at that moment."Mom, I want to go to the clinic... I feel really dizzy." I sighed weakly, and Mom turned to me with a sad expression."Dear, I'll just go take him to the clinic now," Mom said."But it's already late...Huh, suit yourself." Dad gave in to persuade Mom and then walked away, glancing at me for a moment before disappearing from sight."Come here, I'll help you walk, okay?. Mom's here for you, baby." Mom guided me to the car, a smile plastered on her face.Mom drove along the road to the bridge, which was quite dark because of the broken streetlights that night. I just held my mother's left arm while her right hand was on the steering wheel.I was spoiled; I was aware of it. Mom always listened to my requests. Back then, the way I got back at Dad was by making my mom hear my demands.I was stupid... I was greedy..."Allah!" A speeding truck skidded and rushed towards our car. Mom tried to swerve, but we still collided.What happened was a terrible misfortune.I could have just waited until the next day... to sleep off my dizziness...But I was greedy..."What happened in the past, you can't do anything about it now, Khairul. You have a new reason now; don't die. You want to protect Nasuha, right?" Khalid called out. Khairul opened his eyes again, starting to cry and grit his teeth. He held both of Zaki's hands that were still choking him."I can't... I can't get too close to Nasuha. I will hurt her. Just like how I hurt my mother." Khairul lamented."If you feel responsible for your mother's death, then there are even more reasons not to repeat the same thing. If you don't want to fight for yourself, fight for Nasuha, for others; someone wants you to live... Nasuha wants you to live, that's why her Mutant Cell is active, to keep you alive." Mei reassured him. Khairul recalled when Nasuha used Star Beam to launch Zaki into the air."Don't you see? I made the same mistake... just because I exist!" Khairul retorted again, letting go of Zaki's hands, allowing him to continue choking Khairul."Don't die, Khai.""Remember this, Khairul! Nasuha loves you; if you love her, unleash your blade!" Mei raised her voice, and Khairul opened his eyes again, Nasuha's face appearing in his mind once more."Aaaaarghhhh!" He began to fight Zaki again, pulling Zaki's hands from his neck. Blades emerged from both sides of Khairul's arms, tearing his flesh and causing blood to flow out.Khairul kicked Zaki away, sending him flying into the darkness."Hah... Hah... Huh?" Khairul gasped for breath, looking at the blades protruding from both of his arms."Two? Before it was just one..." He was confused."Your Mutant power is evolving. That's normal; when you accept your power, your true potential opens up for you," Khalid explained. Khairul sheathed both of his swords."You're right. I can't die again; Nasuha asked me not to die... That's why I'm alive now," Khairul said, glancing at Khalid."You look unsatisfied." Khalid smiled slightly."I don't like it... You watched my memories." Khairul scolded him."I'm sorry, but I had to so you could understand your Mutant power. You felt it, right? It's like you were born with that power," Khalid replied. Khairul clenched both of his hands and summoned his blades again."Yes...""The Mutant Cell chooses what powers they will give to humans... They have their own characteristics."Only by accepting your desires can you control it. Don't let yourself drown in your heart; don't ignore that desire either."You love her, don't you?" Khalid asked. Khairul shifted his gaze, then lowered both of his hands, with some drops of blood falling from the sword blades on his arms."Maybe," Khairul replied. Khalid smiled bitterly.The active Mutant power to protect someone is not for one's own desire. That's why you haven't lost your mind, Khairul; you may be a bit crazy, but... that is truly yourself.