"You have red blood." Crescent said, a bit bewildered. The shivering girl looked up, a faint hint of annoyance masked on her face as she responded.

  "Yeah, birth defect and blah blah blah. It's not that interesting… Are you not cold? I started shivering out of nowhere." Crescent blinked, raising her brow slightly.

  "Cold? You're cold? It's boiling. I have red blood too; I was just a bit surprised… I wasn't expecting to find you so—" The words planning to leave her lips next died then and there as the shivering girl's eyes widened.

  "You-.... You have red blood? Like red red?" Solar questioned. Crescent paused, looking down at her, agitated from the overwhelming heat and grateful her outfit doesn't have sleeves.

  "Yes, yes, yes, yes! My blood's red; I work for Victor. You will too from now on, blah blah blah. Can I explain when we get the hell out of this dimension? It's boiling; I feel like I'm being cooked alive." Solar pauses.

  "You're hot? How? It's freezing. I've never felt this cold in my entire life." Crescent is about to speak up again, but a painfully familiar voice cuts through the air, gaining the attention of everyone in the courtyard. When she finally looks up, the color drains from her face. That damn Arvello boy and her annoying partner, Dusk Kraimont, arguing over goodness knows what like middle schoolers as they try (and fail… painfully) to bring the other down.

  With a sigh, Crescent takes Solar's wrist, trying quickly just to drag her to the commotion, but the moment they touch, the heat and frost dissipate, leaving them stunned. But as too much is going on for them to address the matter then and there, they opt for just holding hands and heading for the commotion.

  "What are you morons arguing about now!?" Crescent yells, catching both their attention. The two boys pause, looking between Crescent and Solar. After untangling from each other's grasp, Dusk was the first to speak.

  "Hey, Moony Toon, you found her! That makes this, like, way easier. Now we just need to bring her to Victor and—"

  "Hell no, I'm not going to that prick." Everyone paused. Looking at Solar with confusion. After a moment of silence (longer than necessary) Crescent spoke up, her voice loud and bewildered.

  "You… You know Victor?" Everyone froze, awaiting her response. Solar looked confused, taken aback at the shocked glances toward her.

  "Who doesn't? The guy's a narcissist." She said everyone stayed silent, their faces contorted in shock – well, most of their faces. Riven was quiet too, just weirdly not as shocked as everyone else.

  "I figured no one would willingly work for the guy who put us all into that training prison to deal with problems in the dimensions he created." Another long pause, the information hitting the two others like a freight train. The dimensions were created by Victor? How… what…? There were simply no words for what was going through both their heads. The only one who looked normal was Riven. He was… strangely calm. Just as Crescent was about to confront him about it, he spoke.

  "I had a vague idea, but damn… he made all the dimensions? I thought it was just ours," he said. Calm. Too calm. So calm that it pissed Crescent and Dusk all the way off. You could almost see the steam leaving their ears as they glared at him.

  "You... You actual prick, you knew about this, and you didn't think to even tell any of us?" Dusk complained, his right eye twitching. Riven shrugged, his body language condescending.

  "I figured my replacement would be competent enough to figure it out. I suppose you aren't… oh well."

  He smirks, earning a glare from Dusk, his fist clenched as he fights the urge to cave Riven's skull in. Solar could sense the tension. It wasn't only between the two boys; all three of them had this kind of air about them. An air that screamed about a complex past.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  To break up the fight, she quickly brought back the main subject and began explaining everything from the beginning. Why he made all this, no one knows, but when Victor discovered that he could create dimensions, he went insane. He developed a God complex so big it ruined everything he once cared for. He became a dictator, treating each dimension like something insignificant. The only one he couldn't control was dimension #0000, because he didn't create it. That's where he's originally from. For years and years he's been creating and destroying dimensions on a whim. With every dimension he creates, making him stronger. As long as they stand and he rules, he will grow stronger.

  The three exchange glances, their faces an amalgamation of worry, rage and confusion. Their boss was a complete psycho – okay, well, they knew that… Kinda. But come on! Hearing almost the whole story is making it all feel real. At least realer than it was 10 minutes ago.

  "So… you've been destroying dimensions to weaken him?" Riven asks, his head slightly tilting as he looks at Solar. She nods, her eyes filled with unadulterated rage and determination. Her fists were slightly clenched at her side, tightening even more before unclenching slightly.

  "If I can weaken him enough, I can overthrow him and we can all go back to the original dimension." Solar replies, but then a different look places it upon her face. Frustration? Melancholy? It looks like both and yet neither.

  "I can't do it on my own… every single time I destroy one, he creates another and sends people after me." They all look up. intrigued.

  "We weren't the first he sent?" Dusk asks, a curious expression taking form, tinged with mild amusement.

  "I knew he was a suspicious coward. He was too scared to deal with it himself, so he sent us out after the weaker guys failed. " Crescent continues, a smile laced with disgust and anger taking form. But then she pauses, her head whipping to the side to face Riven, the memory of their conversation with Victor before coming here coming back. Her brows furrow as she points an accusing finger at him.

  "You fucking prick! Is that why you rushed us into the mission after I pointed out that he was acting weird? 'Gained a heart' – what total bull—" Riven interrupts her rant.

  "Arvella, dear, calm down." Crescent's eye twitched. 'Calm down' – two words have never pissed her off more than that. Okay, that's not entirely true, but nonetheless, she was fuming.

  "Calm down? I was right. You knew I was right, yet you brushed me off, and now you're telling me to calm down!?" She almost lunges at him, but Dusk puts his hand on her shoulder, stopping her. She took a breath and Dusk shifted his position, holding her by the waist to pull her closer, hugging her from behind for a moment before releasing her.

  The sight made Riven roll his eyes, his expression painted with envy as he glares at them, not even trying to hide it. The tension Solar noticed? Yeah, that got turned up to 11. Solar, unsure of what else to do, tries to calm the situation down by switching topics.

  "Well… now that you guys know, are you down to help me wreak havoc?"

  The thought made their expressions shift. It's not like they're loyal to that damn company, let alone the sketchy man who runs it. They took their key cards off their necks, discarding them on the floor. Dusk did at least. Riven and Crescent pocketed theirs. A smirk creeps onto their face during the silence, the thought of bringing Victor down appealing to all of them.

  Honestly, it was a no-brainer. At the same time they all gave Solar their answer.

  "Always."