Rise of the Crusader

"She…" Serena stuttered.

Raphael's eyebrows furrowed, he clenched his hand and then drew a deep breath. "What happened to her?" Raphael asked.

While Raphael had managed to compose himself better, the intent which was brimming out of his body seemed to come from the depth of purgatory. Even as he stared at Serena, those blue pair of eyes glowed with killing intent.

Serena gulped, and a stern expression immediately surfaced on her, as she saw the people in the room all staring at her.

"What are you staring at?!" Serena yelled.

As they shifted their gaze back to the papers in front of them, Serena turned towards Raphael. "We can't discuss it in this place, let's go somewhere else." With that said, and Serena moved towards the door exit.

The expression on Raphael's face only became much more dreadful as he advanced towards the exit.

And immediately as they stepped out of the room, Raphael paused, he glared at Serena before saying, "What happened to my mother, Serena?!"

"I want you to calm down, Raphael, and listen to what I have to say," Serena said.

Serena could see the grim look on Raphael's face and to some extent, she knew that if she were to tell Raphael what occurred, there was no saying what he would do.

"Okay, I'm calm." Raphael blurted.

However, the expression on his face didn't change in the slightest, and instead, the murderous intent he had around him increased significantly.

"She…" Serena gasped heavily, "She was under attack. We weren't able to get there on time, and by the time we did, she was already injured. And as for the metahumans you hired, they were all dead by the time we got there." Serena said.

Raphael shut his eyes closed when he heard Serena, and it was only after a few seconds that he opened them back, and then said, "Where is she?"

"She is in the research and support division," Serena responded.

Raphael immediately turned around and began walking down the corridor. However, he had only just taken a few steps when Serena appeared in front of him.

"Raphael, I'm afraid you can't see her at this moment," Serena said. "She is in the support division block, and those people won't allow you to see her until they are done with their work."

Serena's words didn't seem to hold any weight for Raphael, as a second after she spoke, he moved away from her. Raphael didn't bother to respond to Serena, and instead, he began walking towards the building exit.

"Raphael, fine, if you don't believe me. Let's head to the division together, but you would still have to wait till they are out of the theater, before you can see her." Serena muttered and then chased after Raphael.

It wasn't up to a minute after Raphael and Serena left the corridor that Elisa stepped out of the room.

"They should be heading to the research and support building, are you not going to follow him." Beside Elisa was Melinda, and as she saw the look on Elisa's face, Melinda spoke.

"I don't know," Elisa responded in a shaky tone.

…

A few minutes after Raphael and Serena left the elite division building, they arrived in the research and support building.

"You can't go in?" The same woman that Raphael encountered when he came to the research and support building with his other classmates was standing in front of the huge story building.

And as she saw Raphael heading towards the front door, she quickly intercepted him. "Are you lost, or did you get your head hit as a child." With her hand folded across her chest, the woman exclaimed.

"Y-You…"

The woman had just spoken when Raphael launched toward her. He seemed like he was going to make a move on her when he suddenly moved past her.

A bone-chilling frown immediately appeared on the woman's face when she saw Raphael heading to the building, and she was about to move when Serena held her.

"It's fine, he is with me," Serena said. She stared at Raphael who was already in front of the door and then turned towards the woman, "If you had tried to stop him, he would have killed you, and I won't have been able to stop him."

Serena heaved a deep breath and began walking towards the story building.

As for the woman, she was drenched in sweats when she heard Serena. She had heard the seriousness which was present in Serena's tone and even the look that Serena had on her face as she spoke.

"Hmmm…" The woman shook her head and returned to her position.

Meanwhile, when Raphael entered the building, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as he saw the inside of the building. It was nothing like he imagined.

Raphael had come to believe that one of the reasons why they refused for people to come into the building was because it was too crowded. Even a marketplace wouldn't have this many people roaming all about.

"Raphael Queen, I am here to provide any assistance you might need here. How may I help you?"

Raphael was still staring at the inside of the building he was in when he heard a robotic voice. He turned towards the direction that the voice was coming from, and he couldn't help but be perplexed.

In front of Raphael was a flying robot. The flying robot was similar to a drone, with the only difference being the blue eye that was at its center.

"Raphael, Queen, I am here to provide any assistance you might need here. How may I help you?" The drone repeated it in an earlier question.

"Where is my mother?" Raphael asked.

"Your mother, " The robot paused. "Yvonne Queen is still in the operating theatre." The robot responded, "Is there anything you would like to know, Raphael Queen?"

"Can you take me there?"

"Request denied!! The theatre is off limit to outsiders, and members with low-ranking." The robot voice sounded again. "Is there anything else you need, Raphael Queen?"

Raphael's hands were clenched into tight fists, he was about to shake his head when his face suddenly lit up. "How is she? Is the situation critical?" Raphael inquired.

At this moment, Raphael knew that if there was someone or something that would tell him the truth about what was going on, then it would be the flying robot. If he were to ask Serena how about his mother's condition, there was a high chance that she was going to lie to him or ignore the question.

But, there was no way a scenario like that would happen if it was a robot telling him about it.

"Request denied!!!!! Low-level authorization." A second after Raphael spoke, and the robot voice rang out. "Yvonne Queen's condition is critical." While there was no response to Raphael's first question, he got an answer to his second question.

Raphael bit his lips hard when he heard the robot, "Where are the theaters located?"

"The theaters are…" The robot paused, "Low-level authorization." It loud voice rang out afterward.

Raphael's mouth opened slightly, he was about to speak, when a female voice sounded. "That's enough Raphael." It was Serena that spoke, and a second after, she appeared in front of Raphael.

"Are you going to take me to where my mother is, or do I have to turn this place upside down to find her?" Raphael asked in a displeased tone.

"Sigh… Okay, Raphael, let's go. Stay close." Serena began walking toward the elevator on the first floor at a steady pace.

Though the first floor was packed with a lot of people they knew better than to not collide with Serena. But, as for Raphael, the story was quite different. He was bumped in the shoulder a few times, and it was only after a few minutes that he was able to arrive at the elevator door.

"She will be fine, Raphael. It is the best of best metahumans in the research and support division that's taking care of her." Serena muttered as she stepped into the elevator with Raphael.

"Yvonne is also like a mother to me, so there's no way I wouldn't offer the best for her. Once we get up there, you have to stay calm regardless of what you see."

There was, however, not a single response from Raphael. Raphael didn't even glance at Serena, instead, his eyes were fixed on the door. And once the elevator stopped moving, and the door opened, he stepped out immediately.

The floor they stepped into was completely different from the first floor. This place wasn't noisy, and it also wasn't crowded, in fact, it didn't seem like there was a soul on this floor.

"This way." Raphael had walked straight when the elevator door opened, but he was quickly called back by Serena who turned to the left.

Raphael quickly made a turn and followed Serena. He moved at a steady pace, he wasn't ahead of her, and at the same time, he wasn't too far behind.

"There she is." As Serena and Raphael appeared in front of a room window, Serena's voice rang out.

Raphael had come across a few people inside the rooms he saw along the way, so when he heard Serena, he paused and then stared at the window.

The window was a one-way glass, so Raphael was able to see the inside of the room, but the people inside weren't able to see him. And inside the room were several instruments and figures, all fully clothed, and they are attending to the person on the bed.

"Who did this?!" Raphael's cold voice rang out as he saw the woman on the bed.

Serena heaved a deep breath, "Raphael, I don't want you to freak out, but we have words that the queens had a role in this incident."

"The Queen's?" Raphael mumbled.

...

AN- Support MVA with golden tickets, power, and gifts for more chapters.