Into the Void

The Black Mass

Once GingerBrave finally finished his story, the group was left shocked. The part where he had to flee from his dimension wasn't what shook them the most. It was when he brought up the monster and how it gobbled up his friends one by one. Now, he was alone all shaken from that experience, and has grown afraid of going outside. The way GingerBrave explained everything that happened to them almost made the young cookie cry, for his voice trembled as he did so. When the group listened, they all couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Even SMG4 and Mario were listening, even though the red-clad man was the only one bawling his eyes out and flailing on the floor like a child throwing a tantrum.

"GingerBrave, I'm sorry..." Frisk said as she looked down at the floor. "It must have been traumatizing, losing your home and friends like that."

"Yeah. If anything like that happened to my folks back in my world, I'd be just as devastated," Morgana remarked.

"It was horrible!" GingerBrave exclaimed. "That monster, it just came out of nowhere! One moment, everyone in the Cookie Kingdom was having a good day! Next thing you know, that thing showed up and ruined everything!"

"Yeah, that's how everyone felt when the World Collision began," Sonic said, only to get sour looks from his peers. "I'm not helping, am I?" he asked as soon as he saw their faces.

"That monster devoured my home and even my friends," the cookie continued. "There was nothing else I could do! It's my fault! Everyone I know and love is gone and all I did was nothing! If I was strong enough, if I only knew that would happen, my friends would be okay! Everything would be okay and I wouldn't be here!"

"Hey, don't say that!" Jesse firmly replied. "What happened to your friends and dimension was beyond your control! Besides, you're not alone. Other dimensions are going through what you have right now."

"But I-"

"No buts! Listen, GingerBrave, I know what it's like to lose someone you care about, but my friends and I are going to fix this. We are going to find this monster and if it's possible, we'll get your friends back and everything will be back to normal."

"You promise?" GingerBrave looked up at the brunette, who placed a hand on the former's head.

"I promise." Jesse grinned as the cookie exchanged the smile.

Meanwhile, SMG4 raised his hand and said, "Uh, question." With that, everyone turned to look at him. "I hope you all don't mind me asking, but what is this monster you speak of? The one GingerBrave explained just now."

"Yeah," Mayday chimed in. "What are we even going to fight in the first place? We don't even know what's happening or what to expect."

Meanwhile, Max turned to the hologram on her watch and said, "Care to explain, Ned? You know about it more than I do."

As everyone turned to look at Max, Morgana asked, "Know more about what?"

With a sigh, Ned said in a serious tone, "It's an entity from a dimension called the Void."

In response, everyone in the room gasped in shock as their eyes grew wide. However, Zuke said, "Uh, could you elaborate, please?"

And so, Ned began to explain, "It goes around devouring worlds and infecting inhabitants within those dimensions. The World Jumpers of Planet Specter sealed it away many years ago, but now that it escaped, we have to lock it up again."

"Lock it up? How did you guys do it?" Jesse asked.

"Many years ago when the multiverse was still new, the people of Planet Specter began to form a new and improved civilization for themselves."

"New and improved?" Kasane repeated. "Like technologically advanced?" she asked.

"Precisely. At the time, Planet Specter was growing into a new world of technology and science, but interdimensional travel wasn't discovered. Eventually, the royals sent several troops outside of Planet Specter to find more life across the universe. But as they went around, one of those fleets was attacked by a monster from the darkest depths of the universe."

Jesse raised both his eyebrows as he and the others listened.

"This monster was a mass of darkness that consumed the entire fleet. However, a sole survivor escaped the attack and journeyed his way back to Planet Specter. He traveled for days until one day, he crashlanded on a desolate planet with seemingly no way off it. He wandered around for weeks until he suddenly fell into a dark cave. Over there, he found something that would one day be of use to him and his people: a blue stone that emitted an uncanny power.

"That stone was his only source of comfort as he stayed on that planet." Ned continued. "But eventually, the monster that attacked his crew found him and tried to eat the planet along with him. He was about to meet his demise when suddenly, the stone's light shone and it warded off the beast and sent it away. The survivor couldn't believe it at first, but then, he thought of his home and next thing you know, he was teleported in front of the gates of Planet Specter's palace."

"Could it be?" Morgana muttered to himself.

"As soon as the guards found him and brought him before the royals, the survivor explained everything that happened and even gave them the stone. Turns out, it had the power to travel to several different dimensions, and that stone was the Galaxy Stone. With its power, we realized the monster was devouring newly formed dimensions and was soon coming to ours."

"So what did the first World Jumpers do?" Frisk asked.

"With weapons created using the Galaxy Stone's power, the first World Jumpers went around the multiverse to fight off the beast. However, as we cleared every dimension, they suddenly started merging with Planet Specter. While the first World Jumpers were busy clearing the worlds, others back at home were trying to come up with ways to prevent the merge. It took a while for the scientists to figure it out until finally, with the data gathered by the first World Jumpers, they were able to create the Dimension Machine.

"Meanwhile, the first World Jumpers found themselves in a dark dimension called the Void. Over there was their final battle against the monster. But as they fought, they were contacted by the scientists at home. They placed the Galaxy Stone into the Dimension Machine for the first time and not only did it stop the merge but it was also closing the Void. With that, the monster was sealed away and unfortunately, so were the first World Jumpers." With that, Ned was finished explaining.

"That explains so much!" Morgana exclaimed. "I knew Planet Specter has a lot of history just like every dimension within the multiverse! And that monster, you guys knew what it was. It was so fascinating!"

"I suppose being a World Jumper, are you required to know things like that?" Kasane asked as she looked at Max.

"There are history lessons that come with our training, so yeah," Max replied.

"Uh, question," Zuke said, raising his hand. "Does this monster have a name?"

"It doesn't," Ned answered. "We never gave it one."

"In that case, let's give it a name right now!" Sonic placed a finger on his chin. "Hmm. How about..." There was a brief pause before he snapped his fingers and said, "The Black Mass!"

"The Black Mass?" Mayday repeated as she raised an eyebrow.

"'Cause, you know, GingerBrave said the monster was a large mass of dark slime, so I think Black Mass sounds fitting."

"Hmm..." Mayday looked down with her hands on her hips. Then, she nodded and said, "I like it! Once we see the Black Mass, we're gonna kick its butt back into the Void! Hehe!"

Meanwhile, Kasane frowned at the orange woman and blue hedgehog. Then, she turned to look at Jesse, only to find the brunette looking down with a raised eyebrow and a finger on his chin. SMG4 and Mario were looking at him as the red-clad man began waving his hand in front of his face. Then, SMG4 stopped him by smacking him in the back of the head.

Suddenly, the group heard knocking and turned to look at the doors. SMG4 was the first to step up so he can answer the door, but before he could, they opened as six different people barged in screaming, "Monster! Monster outside!"