CHAPTER 47 : A CHILD, TO BE PROTECTED

Hazim and Nur slowly stood up, Mikael turned towards them, and the back of their necks had fully healed. A red light emerged from Hazim's eyes as he moved to face Mikael. Nur gathered the remaining dirt and stones from her body and created a large earth hammer.Mikael quickly formed two axes from his shadow powers. Mei was seen using her powers on Nasuha. Kyoko, on the other hand, crawled and retrieved her severed left leg, bringing it closer to the wound."Can I heal it?... Please, let it heal..." Kyoko muttered. Chyou, seeing what Kyoko was doing, mimicked her, placing his severed right hand back in its place."Argh..." Syakir felt an intense dizziness and sat down, holding his head. Lilly placed her hand on Syakir's back."Syakir... What's wrong?" Lilly asked."I can't... I can't... control... this dimension... fully..." Syakir groaned, his right eye looking normal while his left eye turned red."Aaaarghhhh!" Hazim unleashed a laser beam toward Mikael, and a black wall appeared, blocking the attack. Nur appeared behind Mikael, swinging her large hammer. With both of his axes, Mikael deflected the attack. Nur dragged Mikael, almost causing him to fall."K-Kill him, quickly!" Syakir ordered.Nur gathered the earth from her hammer into her hands and tried to slam Mikael with it, but Mikael swiftly shattered the hardened earth on both of Nur's hands with a strike from his axes.Black liquid gathered and enveloped Nur's entire body, hardening her. She could no longer move.Hazim attacked Mikael again with his laser beam, but Mikael easily covered Hazim's eyes and body with the same black liquid. Syakir gritted his teeth."Arghhh... Fuck... Fuck! I can't control them... properly..." Syakir groaned.Meanwhile, in the Mind Dimension, Syakir was dodging falling buildings around him. A giant Mei was hurling and collapsing buildings all around Syakir."With your power... You could help so many people!" Mei said, as one of the buildings hit Syakir, pushing him down.A Star Beam blast destroyed the building, and Syakir flew upwards, but Mei slapped him, sending him flying again."This is all an illusion! You're just messing with my mind! Don't think I don't know! I won't be fooled by something like this!" Syakir spun around, shooting lasers in every direction. Mei suddenly appeared in front of him and slapped his chest, causing him to fly even farther.He crashed through his apartment and then through the alley where he had saved Lilly, before slamming into the wall of a dimly lit room.Syakir knelt, with three cages containing Nasuha, Nur, and Hazim behind him, their chains in Syakir's hands. Mei walked toward him with a piercing glare."Stealing other people's powers... Taking someone's will... Disgusting. You're weak, and you'll never control anything again!" Mei gripped the chains in Syakir's hands and crushed them."No!" Syakir screamed in both the Mind Dimension and the real world. The wires connected to the back of Hazim, Nur, and Nasuha's heads disconnected and recoiled back into Syakir.Nasuha collapsed, unconscious, followed by Nur and Hazim. The three of them were no longer under Syakir's control."Argh!" Syakir groaned, slamming the floor as he knelt in front of Lilly."She... broke my control!" Syakir fumed. Lilly just looked at him."We can't win, Syakir. Let's run," Lilly said."Fuck this... I had everything... Why? Why are they so strong? My power... My power is useless against them!" Syakir ignored Lilly, too focused on his defeat in the Mind Dimension.Mei was checking on Nasuha when Mikael approached them both."Nasuha is okay... Thank goodness, but I don't think she'll wake up anytime soon," Mei said. Mikael looked back, seeing Nur and Hazim trapped in the black liquid."Look after them too... I'll take care of the two Mutants up there." Mikael glanced upward, sending black liquid to climb the roots where Syakir and Lilly were.Mikael appeared in front of them, instantly forming a scythe and swinging it at Syakir. Lilly quickly threw a gray seed, producing smoke that enveloped the entire area.Lilly took Syakir with her, jumping off the root. Mikael chased after them, but several thorny roots blocked his path.Lilly landed in front of Mei, holding Syakir in her arms."Don't run... Just surrender. He forced you to become a Mutant, didn't he?" Mei said sternly. Lilly glanced at her while setting Syakir down."He saved me... I still owe him," Lilly replied."But he's just using you!" Mei raised her voice."It's all the same... Everyone uses each other. I'm using him too," Lilly said, her words causing Syakir to look at her with a confused expression. Lilly immediately threw a red seed towards Mei, but Mikael managed to deflect the seed before it exploded in front of her.Lilly pulled out two dark green seeds and dropped them. The seeds suddenly grew larger and opened, revealing Strays inside the seeds. Syakir quickly inserted his wires into the back of the Strays' heads."Kill him!" Syakir ordered. Both Strays from the seeds immediately attacked Mikael."There are reports of a monster battle in progress. Any nearby units, please investigate and report back immediately."The police radio echoed the command, and Shaurya and Rose immediately turned to their radios."This is Inspector Rose! Where? I'll head there now!" Rose said desperately.Both of Khairul's black blade arms began to crack. He was gasping for air, in pain and exhausted. Khalid was still fighting Zaki, his armor completely destroyed. A direct punch from Zaki to Khalid's chest shattered the chest plate of the Beast Tiger armor."Kurgh!" Khalid collapsed weakly, and Zaki just stared at him."Ah... You're such a waste. Why do you care so much about that boy? Don't you realize he's not that good of a child? It's not worth fighting for him," Zaki said to Khalid."You're his father, but you don't know your own son at all, huh? Let me tell you something..." Khalid stood up again, half of his helmet shattered, revealing the left side of his face, blood flowing from his forehead, but a smile spread across Khalid's face."Khairul is a hero... His late mother would be proud... I'm sure of it. He saved so many people. He didn't give up... He kept fighting... But you? No one will ever be proud of you. Your late wife would be beyond disappointed to see what you've become... She wouldn't love someone like you anymore..." Khalid said, and Zaki's expression immediately turned grim. In a blink of an eye, he grabbed Khalid's head and slammed it hard into the ground, completely shattering the Beast Tiger helmet."K-Khalid!" Khairul shouted, stepping forward, but the wound on his thigh reopened, spraying blood and causing him to stop momentarily."You don't know anything... Go to hell!" Zaki placed his hand over Khalid's face, but Khairul quickly shoved Zaki away from Khalid."Aaarghhh!" Khairul swung his right arm, but Zaki deflected it, causing Khairul's black blade to shatter into thousands of pieces."I won't... let you kill anyone else!" Khairul swung his left arm, but Zaki broke that blade as well."Arrrhhhhh!" Khairul punched Zaki's face, even though he no longer had weapons on either arm. Zaki tried to strike back, but Khairul caught his hand and punched Zaki's face again."Ah... Not yet... Not yet! You haven't suffered enough!" Zaki slashed Khairul's stomach, spilling his intestines from the wound."Urgh..." Khairul collapsed weakly, trying to cover the wound in his stomach."I'll kill all your friends up there... and hang their bodies in front of you!" Zaki grinned as Khairul weakened, blood pouring from him."N-No..." Khairul's voice was weak, and Zaki jumped towards the roof.I've never felt pain like this...Heal... I'm begging this time... Heal...You must fight... Don't... Don't let him hurt anyone...Zaki appeared on the roof. Kyoko noticed him first and tried to launch an attack at Zaki, but Zaki punched Kyoko's face so fast that she immediately lost consciousness."One..."Without wasting time, he struck the back of Chyou's head, knocking him out as well."Two.""Chyou! Kyoko!" Mei was shocked. Zaki grabbed Mei by the neck and slammed her down hard, causing her head to bleed."Three..."Zaki's body grew more muscular and grotesque. Mikael attacked Zaki first, stabbing Zaki from behind and knocking him back down again. Syakir and Lilly were frozen after witnessing what had happened. All of HOPE's members on the roof had been knocked unconscious and gravely injured in the blink of an eye. The two Strays they had used earlier had also been killed by Mikael."He's... really a monster..." Syakir muttered."It looks like... this time we've won..." Lilly said as she looked at all of HOPE's members in front of her, her expression turning somber."Ahahahahaha! W-Who would've thought, huh? Things changed just like that?!" Syakir laughed and smiled."No time to waste... I'll control them." The wires from Syakir's fingers moved again, but he ignored Nur and Hazim, who were still trapped. Suddenly, the black liquid binding them disappeared."Are you a Mutant or a Stray?" Mikael asked as he looked at Zaki in his monstrous form."N-Nooooneeee off thaaattt mattterrsss..." Zaki replied. Mikael put his scythe behind him."Harboring a grudge against your own child and doing all of this? Children are supposed to be protected!" Mikael snapped."I dddooonn'tttt fucccckinggg careee!" Zaki immediately attacked Mikael. Their swings, from scythe to sharp claws, clashed repeatedly, but Mikael was pushed back and fell out of the building.Mikael transformed his scythe into a spear and stabbed Zaki in the chest, managing to push him back until Zaki slammed into the wall of a building behind them."M-Mikael..." Khairul called out. Mikael turned towards him, and his expression changed to one of horror upon seeing Khairul's intestines spilling out from his wound and Khalid lying unconscious, with his Beast Tiger armor shattered."I-I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm... weak..." Khairul muttered."I'm here, kid... I'll kill him for you. You've done as much as you could. Just focus on healing yourself." Mikael replied, and Khairul lowered his head, tears streaming from his eyes and mixing with the blood on the ground.I want to fight... I... want to..."Leave it to me, son," Mikael urged again, but Khairul kept his head down."Kaaarghhhhh!" Zaki attacked again, Mikael transforming the spear back into a scythe, spinning his weapon with his left hand while using his right hand to control Zaki's shadow, creating spikes that pierced Zaki's body from every angle.Mikael stabbed Zaki in his side and dragged him, crashing into the wrecked cars nearby.Zaki retaliated by throwing parts of the wrecked cars at Mikael, who dodged and deflected them. Zaki took the chance to get close to Mikael, attempting to pounce, but Mikael managed to send a barrage of black spikes, pushing and stabbing Zaki repeatedly."Star Beam!" Suddenly, a Star Beam struck Mikael, sending him flying back and skidding along the ground."Mikael!" Khairul shouted. Mikael lay weak on the ground, his clothes slightly burnt, and his mask melting, revealing his exhausted and pained face."I won! Hahahahaha!" Syakir laughed proudly as Lilly took him along with Kyoko, Chyou, and Mei down to the ground using her vines. It was clear that all three of them were now under Syakir's control, with Kyoko's left leg and Chyou's right hand nearly reattached. Their expressions were blank.Above them, Nasuha was floating, her eyes and hair glowing. Khairul could only watch as he lay on the ground, weak, powerless, and gravely injured.We... lost...Khairul was speechless as Zaki stood up again after Mikael's earlier attack. He looked towards Syakir, who was controlling the members of HOPE."Do you see it, kid? Do you... see it?" Zaki's body shrank slightly, and his voice returned to normal. He walked towards Khairul, forcing him to lift his head and look to the side."This is what happens... because you're alive. Because you didn't just die! You made your friends fall into our hands... You hurt them. You killed them... This is all your fault!" Zaki taunted Khairul."J-Just... kill me..." Khairul begged."Huh? What?" Zaki pretended not to hear."Just kill me! Let them go... Please... Stop... Stop... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... Sorry I'm alive... I should've died... Let them go... please... Just kill me..." Khairul sobbed, utterly defeated, with no will left to fight. Zaki seemed to enjoy watching Khairul's misery."Kh... Khai..." Mikael tried to stand, looking at Khairul. His condition and words ignited something in Mikael's spirit. Pain, suffering, and old regrets flooded his mind, including his failure to save his daughter...And now, his failure to save his new team... His new family.Get up...Get up! You can still fight...They need you...Don't... Don't... give up!The sound of police sirens echoed in the distance, and Mikael's steps halted. Everyone present turned towards the sound. A police car arrived and stopped in front of them all, with Rose and Shaurya stepping out and aiming their guns."Rose... Shaurya..." Mikael was stunned to see them. Rose glanced at Khairul, who was severely injured and slumped weakly, and her anger flared instantly."Hahaha... What are you going to do with your little gun?" Zaki sneered. Rose stepped forward, and Shaurya, hesitantly, followed behind her."No matter what... I won't let you hurt Khairul anymore," Rose replied."You're lucky, Khairul... You have a new father... a new mother... If they die... you'll be in even more misery, won't you?" Zaki taunted Khairul."No... Please... that's enough... enough..." Khairul pleaded, his voice filled with despair. Seeing Khairul's pitiful state, Rose fired several shots at Zaki, but he merely allowed the bullets to hit him, opening his arms wide.Rose's bullets were depleted, but the wounds on Zaki healed instantly. Rose lowered her gun as Zaki looked at her with a sinister smile."Is that all? Alright... I'll kill you now," Zaki said, and Rose quickly moved to reload her gun."Sister Rose!" Shaurya pushed Rose aside just before Zaki's swift arm could strike her.Shaurya fired a few shots at Zaki, but they missed, and Zaki punched him aside, sending Shaurya skidding across the ground. Rose sat in front of Zaki, panicking, unable to do anything else."Aargh!" A laser beam suddenly struck Zaki, burning his side. Rose took the opportunity during Zaki's surprise attack to distance herself."I don't know... what you did to me... But don't hurt anyone else... Don't hurt Khairul!" Hazim shouted, his eyes smoking as he glared at Zaki from afar with a furious expression.The ground beneath Zaki's feet began to shake and crack, and chunks of earth floated upwards, smashing into Zaki repeatedly."Turn me... back to normal! Now!" Nur shouted as she used her powers to cause a small earthquake across the area.