Welcome to Gaia! ::

The echo of a familiar clicking chilled the cold and desolate soul. His murderers even found a way to him in the void of his mind, their insufferable and foreign language haunting the eternity of his being. Pumpkinman found no escape from the green devils even after death, which the armor plated aliens took delight in committing.

The screeching laughter of the Rikti found a spot in his place too, griping the hero's heart with despair even more. If there was a body to do it with, Pumpkinman would've been shivering a bit. Why did death have to be such a terror when in life, the man never feared the release of his worldly bond. In fact, while dressed in his black and moderately orange costume, the past hero never felt fear. It was as if what he fought for prevented such humanly distractions from corrupting his heart.

Nothing had ever felt so awkward to Pumpkinman as the event that followed the horrifying screeching and clicking of the Rikti. Silence was now the normal sound easing his sensitive ear drums. What made the suffering end, and where was it? Pumpkinman desperately searched himself for the answer but found none. All he did was continue to wait and embrace whatever came next.

The empty and colorless void was then filled with the image of a sky, the blue tone as simple as one would have known. A cloud even floated lazily above, demonstrating it's usual sense of easy-going humans came to appreciate. This was not at all his sensing told him though. The smell of sweat overcame the distant picture, accompanied by the sound of fatigue and pain. Grunts, sighs, and long breathes harmonized together to welcome Pumpkinman back to his past.

Even the feelings people take for granted seemed odd to the hero, as if he was just brought into life. The dampness of the grass beneath him and the familiar clothes he had worn for that duration he walked the planet all comforted him in his passing on. A strange and dry taste alerted Pumpkinman that all five of his senses were in order, but for what reason? Why was he experiencing all of this when he was dead?

The man, who had spent more time in an endless void than any mortal could claim to remember, struggled to change the image before him, and it did after much effort. He was now looking at the battered remains of his rival, Euan, who was on the ground before him. More ache and Pumpkinman could seethe face of that woman, who could do something significant. The only thought that came in response was teleportation, and it seemed to fit.

Minds are very complicated things as Pumpkinman now realized from personal experience. He was no longer dead, or what seemed like it, but alive, and in a world full of color and vibrancy no doubt. But despite the years he had known this reality, it still seemed distant and unreachable, even now. The costumed hero's senses clearly disagreed, but continued to function as if just waking up on any average day.

Even fatigue and confusion couldn't stop pride from taking over Pumpkinman's emotions, leading him to find strength to sit up, pulling away from the woman. These human emotions came flooding back to him, glad to be out of their cage just as their owner was. According to the position of the sun, it was obvious that Pumpkinman didn't experience a long period of unconsciousness. It was obvious something made him wake up from the voids of near-death but his mouth was still working to get back it's power. Instead, all Pumpkinman did was sit there, looking at the woman and Euan, calmly astonished to be able to once again see, feel, taste, smell, and hear again.