Rise of the Crusader

Time went by very quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it had been two hours since Raphael and the others went into separate stores in the mall.

Devon and Aiden were already at the place, where Serena said they should all meet up after two hours. The duo had been there for quite some time, and there was no sign of Serena or Raphael.

It was only until after another thirty minutes went by, that the figure of a woman with black, long glistening hair appeared in front of them. "Serena is already here." Seeing Serena in front, Aiden's voice rang out.

"Now, where is Raphael?" Aiden muttered.

Serena approached the duo with her hands full of bags, "Don't you ever get tired of playing video games, and reading comic books?" Serena couldn't help but exclaim as she stared at the bags in Aiden and Devon's hands.

"Well, it's your point, you can buy whatever you want with it." She said, "Raphael isn't here yet?"

Aiden and Devon nodded their heads when they heard Serena, and seeing how quickly the expression on her face changed, the two of them gulped.

Serena turned around, she was perhaps about to go on a rampage in the academy when she saw Raphael running their way. "Sorry, I'm late. I was so confused on which items I should get."

"There were so many similar products there with different specs, it was so difficult to choose among them." Raphael had a smile on his face as he complained about the equipment in the stores.

"So, you didn't buy anything?" It was Aiden that spoke. He had looked around, and there was no bag is in Raphael's hand, so it had to be the that Raphael didn't get anything in the mall.

Aiden was, however, stunned to hear Raphael's response. "Of course, I did. I bought everything, in fact, I only stopped till I had zero points." Raphael scratched his hair, seemingly disappointed.

"Oh, wait, you did what!!!!!!" The two bags which Aiden was holding dropped when he heard Raphael. Even Devon was left startled by what his roommate said.

The only person who wasn't stunned by it was Serena, as she nodded her head, "I thought as much. I would hurry the academy, so they would send you the proceeds from the ice gun quickly."

"I'm sure there were a lot of things you didn't get. She said.

Raphael nodded his head, he and Serena then began walking towards the academy exit. " What did you get?" Raphael asked. "Nothing much, just a few shoes and clothes," Serena replied.

This time around, it was Raphael who was left stunned. He stared at the numerous bags in Serena's hand, he couldn't help but shake his head.

Suddenly, a blonde female putting on the academy's uniform appeared beside Serena, "I will have this delivered to your room, lady Serena." With that said, the girl took the bags in Serena's hands and disappeared as though she was never there in the first place.

Raphael and Serena then continued walking towards the mall exit. They were at the door when Serena's voice rang out. "There's this student I want you to meet in the tech division, I'm certain the both of you will get along." Said Serena.

"What is it?" Serena exclaimed, as Raphael abruptly stopped walking.

"I have seen the academy map, the distance from the mall to the tech division is very far, there's no way I'm flying to that place with you." Raphael had a stern look on his face when he said those words.

Serena burst into laughter when she heard him, "Come on, Raphael. You know, for someone who is very good at creating gadgets, why haven't you made something that would help you get over your fear of height."

A different kind of glow appeared on Raphael when he heard Serena, "Hmmm" He paused, "Why haven't I thought of this." Raphael muttered in a low voice.

His fear of height had always been something that develop ever since he was a kid. Raphael could still picture that man who fell from the tower in the city, anytime he shut his eyes closed.

Serene shrugged her shoulder, "The academy midterm test is only a couple of weeks from now. A flaw like that is something that can affect you a lot in the test." She said.

"So, shall we?" Serena seemed to have assumed that after everything she said, Raphael was going to fly to the tech division, but she instead saw him shake his head in response to her words.

Raphael turned towards Aiden and Devon, who hadn't moved away from where they were standing earlier, and his voice rang out, "This is much more faster. Aiden, Aiden!!"

"1 million points were spent in a single day!" Aiden murmured.

One of the most difficult things to do in the academy was to earn important, and to Devon and Aiden what was even more astonishing was when a million of that points were spent just by one single person in one day.

"Devon! Aiden!!!!!"

Devon and Aiden were still lost in deep thoughts when they heard Raphael's voice. Devon was the first to react, he tapped Aiden on the shoulder, then seeing, Raphael waving his hand at them, the two of them jogged forward.

Serena shook her head when she realized what Raphael had in mind. "Aiden, can you take us to the tech division?" Before Raphael could even get the word out of his mouth, Serena's voice sounded.

"Sure, why not."

With that said, Aiden stretched his right hand, and a second after, a dark spiraling portal appeared in the mall. Serena walked into the portal, Raphael was supposed to follow as well, but he kept staring at the portal which had just been created.

"Is something wrong?" Aiden couldn't help but inquire when he saw how Raphael was moving about the portal. Raphael kept speaking to himself in a low voice that neither Aiden nor Devon could hear him.

"How long can the portal stay open?!"

"About 2 minutes. My longest streak still remains 5 minutes, though, but I fainted right after." Aiden didn't think twice, and the instant he heard Raphael's question, he replied quickly.

Raphael placed his hand on his chin, then with a smile on his face, he walked into the portal. "Any idea why he asked." Aiden turned towards Devon, who shook his head. "I have no idea." The duo then walked into the portal.

.....

"What took you so long!!"

As soon as the portal emerged, and Raphael walked out of it, Serena's voice rang out. Her hands were folded across her chest, and a stern look could be seen on her face.

Raphael, however, didn't respond to her, and instead, he stared at the place which he had just walked into. "Did Aiden make some mistake," Raphael asked.

After seeing several buildings in the academy, this wasn't what Raphael imagined the so-called tech division to be like. Staring at the white room with plain chairs and tables, a frown appeared on Raphael.

Raphael's disappointment at the division was justified, as he had already imagined the tech division to be a place filled with different kinds of machines, only for him to be inside a white room filled with students all reading what seemed to be a magazine.

"Dumbo! This is the waiting room. The tech division has security measures that even someone like Aiden is unable to enter their place anyhow." Serena said.

There was pride contained in her voice when she spoke about the tech division.

Raphael was about to speak when two figures came out of the portal." I can't remember the last time I was here!" It was Aiden's voice that sounded.

As Serena saw Aiden and Devon emerge from the portal, she nodded her head, "Now let's go in." She then approached the only door in the room and pressed a series of codes on the security lock beside the door.

CREAK!

The door creaked open, and Serena walked inside. Raphael didn't waste any time, and he also went in right away, the same applied to Aiden and Devon.

After the trio walked in, the door shut closed.

"What do you think?!"

A few seconds after the four of them walked in, Serena spoke. She then turned towards Raphael and seeing, that stunned as well as the dazed expression on his face, the smile which was on her widened.

Raphael's mouth opened slightly, "Wow!" Raphael mumbled. It seemed to be like all the places he had ever set eyes on were garbage when compared to this.

And If paradise really existed, then this was it for Raphael. Seeing, the machines, electronics, tools, and equipment that were inside this place, he couldn't help but be delighted.

"Welcome to the tech division, Raphael!"