Into the Void

Scattered

Ned was freaking out. One moment, he was communicating with Max and her team through his hologram; the next thing he knew, they were abruptly cut off. Sitting on the ground next to the portals with his knees close to his chest and his hands behind his head, Ned hyperventilated. He was worried that something had happened to her, the Pillars, and the three volunteers who accompanied them. Something like the Black Mass consuming them before they could go any further on their journey; the thought of it made Ned's eyes grow wide. As he kept thinking about it, he squeezed his eyes shut.

But then, he opened his eyes and heard a whooshing sound behind him. Turning his head around, Ned gasped when he saw a familiar blue-haired girl run out of the portal: Max. A group of strange, colorful characters was with her, but they weren't the Pillars or volunteers. Among that group were a green amphibious creature, four girls with one having a robotic arm, and two men dressed like plumbers. Turning his attention back to Max, he stood up and ran up to her.

"Max!" Ned called as the World Jumper turned to find him.

"Ned!" Max replied before she was trapped in a brief hug from Ned.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Ned let go of her, but his hands were now on her shoulders. "Where are the Pillars and volunteers? I don't see them with you."

"I'll explain later. Right now," Max gestured to the group behind her. "We need to get these guys inside. They've been through a lot."

Ned turned to the group behind his friend. Then, he turned back to her and nodded. With that, the two led the group to the palace; Max explained everything that happened on the way. Over there, they were taken to the infirmary, which has been converted into a shelter for people whose dimensions have been lost to the Black Mass. While there, Max treated her guests with cups of water, which they took gratefully. But when Max placed the tray, which held the last cup of water, on a nearby nightstand, she heard a tired moan on her left. She and the others turned to Melony, who was sleeping on one of the beds. Max watched as the melon-themed girl sat up and stretched her body with a yawn.

"Guys," the melon girl spoke. "I had this weird dream. These monochrome zombie things were invading the Mushroom Kingdom and Bob became one of them. The next thing we knew, this group of people took us to another dimension."

When Melony opened her eyes, her eyes widened when she noticed her surroundings were different. She looked around and saw her friends huddled together on the floor playing a card game.

"Guys?" Melony said, confused.

In response, Meggy placed her deck on the floor and stood up to walk up to her melon friend. Once she got close, she said, "Melony, that wasn't a dream. It happened for real while you were sleeping."

"Does this mean Bob became one of them too?"

"Yeah..." Meggy looked down at the floor.

"But what about SMG4?" Melony asked.

"SMG4 is-" Meggy stopped herself before turning around to face the others. Her mouth gaped open upon discovering that their blue-clad friend wasn't with them. Putting her hands on her head, she shouted, "We forgot SMG4!"

That was when the friends froze in shock.

"SMG4?" Mario's eyes went wide before he got up to look around the infirmary, making some of the other refugees uncomfortable as he did. "SMG4? SMG4?"

"Oh no, we did forget him!" Boopkins exclaimed, throwing his deck upward as he flailed his arms.

Standing up, Saiko turned to Max and shouted, "You! Take us back to our dimension right now! We need to get our friend!"