The Wreckening

It was late. The city was nearly completely asleep. It was a city much like many others; nothing special or defining about it. Just an average city based on... Where is this location?

???: "The Wrong Place At The Wrong Time."

A voice -- but from where?

???: "I Know What Must Be Done."

Whatever was speaking seemed to have its wits about it... But what was it going to do? The sky was dark. People were asleep. The city only stayed alight from those who worked at night, which weren't very many. Not as many as one would like to believe. But those that were awake would hear the voice of this unknown entity as if something spoke into their very minds.

???: "Prepare To Meet Your End."

The people who roamed the city streets and buildings in the late of night were thrown into disarray by the sound of a voice in their heads. They weren't sure where it was coming from nor to whom it belonged, but a lot of them that weren't alone said nothing of it. They collected themselves and shrugged it off as if nothing happened... Yet, they couldn't help but feel like they were looking at each other, silently blaming the next for the sound of the unknown voice. Many even felt like they were going crazy when they heard something speak to them that wasn't their own voices in their heads.

"I'm dreaming..." someone said, rubbing sleepy eyes, "Just tired. Probably shouldn't be out on the road..." He was driving home from his double shift at work and it was taking its toll on him. He was being compensated, but he wondered about his mental health after hearing that voice. "Prepare to meet your end...?" he repeated, "... What the hell...?"

???: "Useless No-Name, No-Account Character..."

This time, the voice spoke directly to the one in the car, having heard what he mumbled under his breath.

???: "This Is Your... Final Destination."

Without warning, bullets rained from the sky seemingly from literally out of nowhere, showering the car on the relatively empty road with the onslaught before it could reach the intended point. These were no bullets, however... And they didn't come from nowhere. They were seeds. Seeds made out of 'Dimensional Energy', which bred a certain special type of fruit... A Pumpkin.

From all within the car, the 'Pumpkin Seeds' began to grow from seeds into vines, which snapped and whipped about hungrily in search of nutrients to grow. The energy from the car engine fueled the ones that were shot into the front of the car, causing these pumpkins to sprout up from the hood and totally blow up the engine. With the engine shot and the pumpkins blocking the view, the man in his car should have met his untimely death by crashing into another car on the road... Or by becoming fodder for the 'Pumpkin Seeds' that needed to grow into... 'Pumpkin Heads'.

Man: "Final Destinati-- AH!?!"

Like some lame movie where a series of randomly unexpected events naturally happen to end the lives of the ones who were part of it, the man met his untimely end by the actual supernatural force that caused pumpkins to grow out of his car and crash it into another.

The person in the next car -- another man, on his way to the club -- shot through the windshield at a high speed and onto the ground nearby. He looked up, his drab attire dirty and scraped from the crash, and saw the growing pumpkins that were coming from the car he crashed into... As well as the dead man that was within the remains of the car. "H-Ho shit!!" the living man cried, stumbling to his feet. As he did, he slipped and rolled down the grassy knoll that was by the roadside, which was elevated slightly, being built upon a hill.

When the living man reached the bottom of the hill, he scrambled to his feet and ran for his life, screaming. "PUMPKINS!!" he yelled, "KILLER PUMPKINS!!!"

??? "You Cannot Escape..."

The baritone voice echoed across the land as a warning to the man who ran toward the city... But he wouldn't get too far. By hand of fate, the cars exploded in a magnificent display, shooting car parts all over the place and high into the sky. Unfortunately for the living man, he was still within range of the car parts descending from the sky and... Was crushed instantly as he was making his way toward someone that was beyond the knoll.

Likewise, pumpkins fell from the sky, too, raining down just as they'd done as seeds, being propelled by the explosions. "Pumpkin Patch..." the voice bellowed, each of the raining pumpkins growing carved faces that were malignant in their appearance and nature, "... Destroy." Apparently, the ground of pumpkins that came from the 'Pumpkin Seeds' were known as a 'Pumpkin Patch' to the entity, but the number of them was only within the tens and had not even reached the hundreds. The dimensional pumpkins fed from every energy source there was and grew exponentially as they flew through the air, easily becoming car-to-house sized and dropping down with an explosive might. Houses lined up across the other side of the road would be bombarded with these tens of giant exploding dimensional pumpkins, taking with them anyone inside and taking down any houses nearby.

The housing complex on the other side of the road was thoroughly bombarded by the dimensional pumpkins, leaving many dead or injured. By chance, someone who witnessed the death of the other person was exploded out of her house by the pumpkins and landed out in the driveway, scarred and marred. She was alive, however.

"Help... Me..." the woman tried to cry, reaching out to the distance. "Pumpkin... Bombs... Terrorist... Attack..." She could barely speak, let alone explain what she'd seen. "Someone... Dead... People... Dying..." She witnessed also the destruction of the line of houses that were near her own and crawled to the houses on the other side of the street that weren't destroyed, managing to make her way to a wayward doorstep.

The man who heard her cries as well as the explosions came out to check just what was going on and saw the smoldering houses burnt up in a line. "Wha...? What did this?!" he shouted, looking down to the woman, then to the destruction, then back to the woman. "Pumpkins?" He was clearly skeptical. "Terrorists?!" To his conclusion, he figured that the bombs were shaped like pumpkins and that someone was bombing the city from above... But when he looked up, he saw only a clear night sky. He also heard no plane nor engine at all prior to the explosions.

Still, the woman needed help, and this was clearly the work of some sort of terrorists. That said and done, the man dragged the woman inside. By this time, she was unconscious. "Ohhh... This is bad!" the man said in a panic, "I... I need the police! No, I need... An ambulance!" Quickly grabbing a communication device, the man dialed a number for emergencies and requested that someone send the ambulance. "Th-There's been an explosion... Lots of explosions... And... And I have someone hurt here... And she says it's the work of terrorists!" He looked to her. "She... She isn't breathing! Please, hurry!"

After a short time, various cars made their way to the scene. They consisted of the fire department, the police department, and the medical department, all here to get the situation under control. The fire department sought to put out the fires whilst the police sought to get more information and evacuate the civilians. Meanwhile, the medical department collected bodies -- dead or alive -- that were part of the explosions and took them in.

Silence from the voice became due to the chaos that its initial assault inflicted upon the land. Things were going well. Yet, it was not time to reveal the face or name of the voice, as it remained ambiguously watching over the series of events that unfolded. Where there came a halt in the destruction, it would rear it all back up with its supernatural powers.

???: "... It's Not Over Yet..."

The voice finally spoke again once there were more people around, likely gaining their attention... But just what were they looking at? Did they even know what was truly going on?

Chalked up to 'terrorism', -- which, technically, it was -- the entity continued to prey on the feeble creatures that seemed to just be living their own normal lives and not bothering anyone. Was this force a villain of some kind...?

Regardless of what the motives or intentions of the voice were, the time came for it to act again.

A short time after it spake, there were more explosions around the houses that were destroyed, causing the flames to grow larger and more powerful in spite of the fire department's effort to put out the flames. There came to be a malignant gaze that bore through the flames -- or, perhaps was one with the flames -- and the fires became united to create a burning bright entity something like a burning, pumpkin-headed scarecrow. Only the upper torso of this monstrosity could be seen and it was all aflame, but it was clear that this being is what the voice was attached to. This being...

Pumpkinhead.

Raising a single arm up into the air, the fiery Pumpkinhead gathered a great deal of some distorted energy into its fist, then slammed down upon the tiny cars and people with tremendous force, that which literally broke the dimensional structure of the realm. A cracked void remained as the ground where impact was made and the cracks continued to spread throughout the residential area, shattering underneath houses and taking them down into the void of what was known as the 'Shattered Dimensions'.

Destruction slowly but surely started to overtake the city, the cracks in the ground leading to the Shattered Dimensions stretching across the open roads and small plains near the outer limits of the city. From there, it was only a matter of time... Before this realm was completely engulfed in 'Shattered Dimensional Energy'.

Pumpkinhead narrowed his blazing eyes and turned toward the heart of the city, which was now illuminated by his splendorous burning. With all of the people in this section killed off, he needed to go toward where the people gravitated to... But the crack in the dimension that he left would become an enormous hole soon enough, for pieces of this dimension subtly sifted like broken glass into the abyss below.

The last thing the poor Variable Civilians saw was the burning face of the flaming Pumpkinhead before their lives met their untimely and likely undue end by his hand... Literally. The dimensional crack in the ground brought down houses and other structures alike; cars and people, as well. These people had nothing to defend themselves against Pumpkinhead, for they were mere mortals fighting against an entity that seemed to be a God... Or a demon. Whatever the reason why he was destroying this place, it wasn't just. It was just... Cruel and destructive.

Word spread around the city in a flash thanks to newscasters and media attention, as well as word of mouth and sight of eye. People awoke from their slumber and instantly went into a panic, trying to skip town.

News: "Evacuate the city immediately! An unknown force has come and is destroying everything! Leave everything behind if you value your lives! We will be going off air soon enough, so this is your only chance to see this report!"

Naturally, they would just set it to 'replay' for as long as there was a media connection. Helicopters found themselves flooding the sky as well as military grade aircrafts. No one bothered sending units to the ground after seeing what happened to it when it was shattered. It would just be a waste of lives and resources. Until things got under control, all they could do was try to destroy this fire entity.

"Target confirmed," someone in a military jet spoke into a communicator, "Damage to the central part of the city is minimal. Nothing has reached downtown yet." With other airborne units circling around, they sought out Pumpkinhead and wondered how they were going to bring him down. "I've never seen anything like it..." the pilot said some more, "... It's a huge, pumpkin-headed fire that seems to be growing at a rapid pace! I feel like if we blow it up, that will just make it stronger."

For now, everyone who was part of the forces seeking to take down Pumpkinhead agreed with that, and they each continued to wait until he was susceptible.

As the various aircrafts hovered about the sky, circling Pumpkinhead as he grew larger, the cracked hole in the dimension continued to expand. As it did, Pumpkinhead drew his burning legs out of the flames and took a step out toward the downtown city area, crushing and burning and exploding several houses in the process. When he raised his other leg out of the fires, the flames rose up with it and left the original space where they'd been ignited barren and charred.

He planted his other fiery foot down upon the open terrain near the residential area, which was near the open road going in and out of the city limits. The grass burnt up in nigh but an instant, roasting the ground and leaving barren land immediately all around.

"Be Warned," Pumpkinhead said to the people, "I Am Here To Destroy You And Your Dimension Out Of Reform. Not That It Matters Why I Am Doing This, For You Will Not Live To Tell The Tale."

Reform? What sort of reform could Pumpkinhead be speaking of where senseless mass destruction would accomplish such? Sure, it had been done in the past in many a different dimensions, but did it do anything at all? Did Pumpkinhead truly wish to accomplish reform by destroying everything? And what was one little dimension going to do for the entirety of the dimensional nexus that existed? No matter what, Pumpkinhead knew what his end goal was, and the first step to it -- most literally -- was destruction of anything and everything that stood in his way.

Pumpkinhead: "Begone."

After but a single utterance, flames spewed out of Pumpkinhead's mouth that were red and hot, able to burn up and explode everything that they came in contact with. He swept this fire through the sky and swiped every aircraft that was in the air at the time, each of them exploding in a spectacular way.

Pumpkinhead: "..."

Falling silent, Pumpkinhead continued to trek toward the center of the city, burning up houses, land, and generally everything else along the way.

Much destruction came to be from the flames of the Pumpkinhead, which was both made of these flames and spewing them out of his mouth. None of the planes or copters survived the sweep of fire, and the explosions made it so that there were no bodies left behind.

With Pumpkinhead and the dimensional void swiftly encroaching upon the downtown area, people continued to flee as fast as they could. This, however, caused traffic jams rather immediately, and no one was going to take a plane after what they'd seen happen to the military jets. They prayed their safety in their own cars and on public transportation.

Pumpkinhead continued to grow. There was no stopping the flaming monster now. Taking up a good portion of the western side of the city alone, he was only a few steps -- most literally -- away from burning down the entire city. And why? No one would understand.

"... That's Right..." Pumpkinhead grumbled, raising a blazing hand, "NO ONE Will UNDERSTAND!!!" With a vicious swipe, Pumpkinhead's fire swept all across the road leading out of the city -- well, the nearest one, that is. All of the cars were caught in the flames and burnt up and exploded, just like the planes once did. Pumpkinhead's eyes narrowed as the streets burned and countless lives were claimed. "You Don't Know... What I Have To Do..." His voice bellowed all across the city, but it wasn't as if he was speaking to anyone in particular... Especially since they were all going to die. "... But I Will Reform This Wretched Normality That Goes On In Existence... That Which Makes The Worlds Corrupt, Ignorant, And Most Of All... Apathetic." Pumpkinhead was not just doing this out of a destructive selfishness, as it might have seemed. Though obscure, his goal was on the table now... Not that it mattered to anyone that was going to die.

Pumpkinhead: "Your Apathy... INFURIATES ME!!!"

In his fury, Pumpkinhead took a massive stomp on one of the taller buildings of the city, crushing and exploding it in a violent fashion. Thereafter, Pumpkinhead snatched up a taller skyscraper by the body and plucked it from the ground easily, roaring as he did so. He clenched his hand with the skyscraper in it and the entire building burnt up into nothingness. Half of the city was up in flames, and it wouldn't take but a few more moments for the rest of the city to burn up as well, for all of the fire was part of Pumpkinhead, who helmed it.

The last thing that people of this world would see was hell in the form of a fiery pumpkin-headed entity.

"He's... A monster!" people started to say as they met their doom in some fiery shape or fashion. "I hope that SOMEONE survives!" As the city burned, the people looked back in horror and attempted to speed up traffic by driving off of the roads and onto the sides of the streets, but couldn't find their way around the viaducts and underpasses that they came to when they reached the interstate. The flames seemed to mask the presence of the shattered dimensional energy for the time being, and many people knew nothing of it since the flames were so brilliant and consumptive. Who could have seen that there was a giant gaping hole in the dimension coming for them on the ground?

Still, word got out to the rest of the country and eventually the world. People from all over inspected the area where Pumpkinhead attacked and also planned to retaliate in some way... Once they figured out how, that is. They were stumped at the moment, since they weren't able to put out fire with a weapon... But they did have an idea that might be a bit more destructive. In the long term, it would save the planet, but in the short term, it was going to harm a lot of people... Though not nearly as much as Pumpkinhead. Perhaps, that is what made it best.

The Shattered Dimensional Energy that was this broken void-hole spreading behind and between the fire would start to reach other cities in the vicinity, cracking like glass, but rupturing like earth in an earthquake. The next town over that people were trying to flee to would be swallowed up whole by the abyss, leaving nothing but an even larger gaping hole in the ground. The crack stretched all around the country in a matter of moments after that, the void it brought breaking off the land mass into the body of water that was on this planet.

All the while, Pumpkinhead knew that the planet would eventually grow to high alert once he began to grow to a more lethal size. It happened the same way every time, and he wasn't new to destruction in the fashion of growth from a spark. Consuming the entire city, Pumpkinhead stood upon the country that broke off from the continent and glared over to the nearest land mass, which was part of that continent. "Let's See You Do Something About THIS!!" he shouted, swerving the country in the body of water and causing a miniature tidal wave to occur. It would definitely be large enough to damage another country, but not an entire continent. Pumpkinhead... Needed to grow more before that was possible.

Though, it was always possible for him to simply end everything where and as it was. But where is the fun and the lesson in that?

"That's it!" one of the heads of the world stated as he watched over Pumpkinhead's destructive force, "That's what we need to do to him!" That was the conclusion, anyway. "I don't know how he knew what we were going to do to him, but HE'S the one made of fire, after all! If we can create a tidal wave as large as that country, we can easily snuff him out!"

The world heads were definitely understanding of this, as they'd already come to that conclusion, as stated before. It would be, in the long term, much less destructive than letting the world burn by the hands of a dimensional pumpkin-flame. "That's quite enough," another head said. "Yes, we will be acting on this plan of operation, but..." He glared at the rest of the world powers, locking his fingers before his face, "... We need to do this as a unit. There is no way that one of us can accomplish this task alone." He suddenly leaned back in his chair, letting out a heavy sigh. "Ultimately, we might end up destroying more than what we are seeking to." He leaned forward again, furrowing his brow. "But we didn't come here to make easy decisions, now did we?"

The rest of the heads agreed, nodding profusely. "So, we'll call in our orders to drop our bombs in the same spot in the ocean?" a female world power asked.

"Precisely," the man who seemed like the head of the world powers stated. "That should create a tsunami large enough to wipe this fiery fiend off of the map... Before he wipes US off of the planet!"

"Still," another person said, raising up, "There's no guarantee that we won't damage other places! You cannot control where the tsunami goes... Only how it happens."

The other head made a very good point. However, this was already thought of. "That is well within calculations," the man who spoke before said, "We'll just have to grit our teeth and bear it."

Each of the world powers agreed.

"Very well," the man said, "We'll launch and drop all of our bombs at once into a single point in the ocean and cause a catastrophic explosion that will create a tsunami large enough to douse the flames. He's broken off from the main continent, -- to his disadvantage -- so he cannot spread the flames. This is why we must act now."

Again, each of the world powers agreed.

"Well, get to it!" the world leader said as the other world powers made their calls to their countries. In less than an hour -- if they even had that much time -- there were bombs and missiles dropped and launched from all over, aiming at the singular target in the ocean that would bring their plan into fruition. The explosion was cataclysmic, and the tsunami that followed was even more so. It easily dwarfed the country that Pumpkinhead resided on and had broken off from the continent, using a great deal of the natural water from the planet itself to rise so high. The sea level dropped when this tsunami was created, as a large portion of the ocean was made into this tidal wave of terror.

This would surely put an end to Pumpkinhead.

Pumpkinhead did not flinch at the sight of water, despite being made of fire presently in this form. In fact, he found the Variable Civilians to be quite foolish to attempt something so destructive. It actually enraged him further that they would put their own people in jeopardy for the sake of destroying him, but he knew that he was the greater threat of the two options.

Even so, his rage would build.

The tsunami of all tsunamis was coming at him and he was just about done devouring the country with his flames. However, the crack in the dimension that harbored the Shattered Dimensional Energy was not yet filled with an equivalent amount of energy, and thus was continually growing larger. It was so large, it was about the size of a country, itself. The tsunami that was rolling toward Pumpkinhead was inevitably sucked into the Shattered Dimensional Energy void that had yet to be taken care of, filling it and restoring the dimension's structure to normal... At the expense of its volume and size.

As for the now significantly scaled down tsunami, Pumpkinhead himself increased the heat of his flames based on his anger and began to boil the air around him -- all across the country. The tsunami would not only evaporate, but also serve as more fuel for Pumpkinhead to grow larger and more powerful.

"You Have Failed..." Pumpkinhead mocked in a serious tone, "That Attack Has Been A Disservice To You, Yet A Boon To Me." Rapidly boiling the very air around him, a steam cloud the size of the country enveloped Pumpkinhead and eventually boiled up into pure energy. When the steam subsided and Pumpkinhead came back into visibility, he was fathoms larger than he was before -- so large, he was about half the size of a large continent. "I Wouldn't Think About Trying To Use Water Again," Pumpkinhead warned, towering over the continent in question and standing atop the ocean... Which came to a boil rather quickly, as well. He was angry. VERY angry.

With such anger, Pumpkinhead grasped the edge of the continent, speaking with a voice that bellowed across the planet, "You Have No Care For The Lives Of The People On This Planet, Do You? Your Only Concern Was To Destroy A Greater Threat Than You Are To Yourselves. How Selfish." The fiery claw gripped the edge of the continent tightly, slowly lifting it up from the sea. "My Destroying Is Work Towards Something Greater... Your Destroying Is Work For Yourselves." Pumpkinhead knew that after making an example of a few dimensions, he'd have the entire nexus of dimensions' attention about straightening up the way they functioned. The Veritas -- where Pumpkinhead hailed -- was a paradise and a utopia, but with so much advancement, there had been traffic that was like a pollutant to the dimension of the Veritas. "You'll Be The First To See... Why You Put The People First Over Yourselves!" Surely, they must have thought that they had, but their thoughts were misguided. The fact that they risked so many lives at all instead of evacuating the planet -- as they probably could do -- was the deal-breaker for Pumpkinhead.

With great force, Pumpkinhead spun around and flung the continent like a discus toward the nearest moon of this planet, which it would hit, dent, and knock out of orbit. "All Of Those People Are Dead," said Pumpkinhead to the rest of the world, "Your Leaders Were Going To Sacrifice You Because Of Me. But I Tell You, They Have Only Made Things Worse For Themselves By Attempting That At All." The flaming figure raised a foot up and stomped on the next continent, flipping it out of the water and into its hand like a skateboard.

Plenty of people died from that.

"Now, Witness..." Pumpkinhead began to say, growing larger and larger as the waters boiled hotter and grew lower, "... YOUR END!!!" Pumpkinhead raised the hand bearing the continent up into the air and, growing larger still, brought the sea level so low that solid ground could be seen. This was so that he could fling the continent down into what would have been the depths of the sea and have it shatter in its entirety upon the ground whilst also breaking open a hole into the planet's innards.

There weren't many land masses left, but all of them fell once the waters were evaporated into nothingness. There was nothing protecting them from what Pumpkinhead would do next.

Kneeling down, Pumpkinhead placed his claw on the open wound on the planet, where magma spilled and spurted out, absorbing it into himself slightly whilst also gripping at the planet's core. With a swift and powerful tug, Pumpkinhead tore out the electromagnetic field of the core like ripping out someone's insides and caused the core to destabilize as well as spew its hot liquid uncontrollably. Pumpkinhead simply ate it up.

Pumpkinhead's legs merged with the spewing magma that rose up to be at some sort of sea level, making the entire planet a lake of fire.

Everyone and everything burned.

The damage was catastrophic. Not only was a planet completely lain waste, but also one of its continents sent the moon out of orbit and off toward a different planet. There were no survivors on the random planet that Pumpkinhead destroyed, and the electromagnetic field that was generated by it which kept other planets balanced was now gone. This shift was noticed and dealt with immediately by the Otherworlders that existed on one of the farther planets away within that solar system; those with better technology and spatial development.

Aliens, one could call them, -- but still part of that particular solar system -- took to the field once they witnessed Pumpkinhead in all his enormity and felt the shifting of the planets. Their planet was larger than the one destroyed by Pumpkinhead and was colonized quite thoroughly. It was very technologically advanced. The people did not resemble humans, however, because of the environs that their planet harbored. Instead, they resembled slime that had a quasi-psychical form at the upper torso and sludge as the lower torso. Amorphous by nature, these alien Slimes were highly intelligent and were willing to try to speak with Pumpkinhead before he destroyed anything else.

A spaceship the size of a moon was launched toward Pumpkinhead, being about the size of his head or length of his arm. It didn't take long to travel since they were in the same solar system, and when the aliens got there, they began a dialogue with Pumpkinhead.

"We have seen you destroy one of our sister planets and all its inhabitants," the alien on the communication device spoke out to Pumpkinhead, "We would hate to engage in further violent interaction and ask that you reconsider your rampage for the sake of life itself. We are a thriving solar system that has wronged no one. We have no idea why you have brought such hostility to us, however we aim to remedy the situation, if at all possible, without violence. Your rampage is ill-gotten and should be stopped at once."

'Noise...' Pumpkinhead thought angrily, the emanation reverberating in a manner similar to how he was being communicated with through space, '... More NOISE...' The aliens would be capable of hearing Pumpkinhead as he thought, since direct vibrations were the way that they were both communicating with each other, but it was clear that Pumpkinhead had no intention of talking anymore about why he was destroying this dimension.

"You'll Never Understand..." Pumpkinhead finally said, raising a molten leg from the planet's surface, drawing with it a majority of the ocean of lava that was overflowing on the planet, then stepping on the next nearest planet and letting the lava seep down the sides of the planet and melt away its surface, "You Don't Live OUTSIDE Of This Dimension... Not OUTSIDE Of This Solar System..." Pumpkinhead lifted his other leg up and motioned to step on a moon, but it was far too small and ended up being quickly consumed by the burning lava. Pumpkinhead lost balance for a moment, but quickly grabbed the planet he was on -- which was larger than the first -- and brought his leg to meet that surface as well, hanging off of the planet as if it were a bar. "So Don't Talk To Me About What's Right Or Wrong..." Pumpkinhead cocked his available fist back, the fires condensing into what seemed almost solid and continued to say, "... UNTIL YOU LEARN WHAT IT MEANS BEYOND YOUR MEASLY LITTLE EXISTENCE!!!"

Pumpkinhead was the one that destroyed the 'Lost World', as it was called in the Veritas... Well, he was not the originator of the destruction, as that was Khrona, but as part of Khrona, Pumpkinhead was the finisher when it came to the complete demolition of the Lost World's original dimension. The flame that put it out was Pumpkinhead's... And it wasn't his first time doing even that.

With a swift thrust of the fiery fist, Pumpkinhead punched at the starship in an attempt to knock it back to the planet from whence it came and damage the planet in the process.

During that time, whilst the planet Pumpkinhead was on melted, Pumpkinhead's lava legs cooled and became like tree roots, which dug into the planet and sucked out its nutrients as a plant did from the earth naturally. Not only was it sucking out nutrients, but also the core of this planet as well, draining it into Pumpkinhead so he could get larger. His body was starting to solidify from the bottom up, and was no longer remaining as a raging fire... However, this had yet to reach his upper torso, which was all flames. By the time he was finished with the spaceship that he was trying to knock the daylights out of, he would be completely solid.

It was clear that there was no talking to Pumpkinhead, as he had his own ideals in mind. However, the aliens were an advanced and intelligent race that believed civilized and logical conversation could persuade anyone... Though it seemed like they were only angering Pumpkinhead by trying that sort of thing.

But it was their way.

Veering the ship to the side as the enormous fist came close, they were barely missed, but missed all the same. "Please, stop this!" the commander pleaded, "We can talk about this! You don't have to destroy anything or anyone else. The universe is a changing force that can become whatever it needs to be. If you find the universe to be the problem, it means that you have an issue with the very realm you deal with, not its people." This was the way the commander sought to coerce Pumpkinhead into ceasing fire, but the being didn't seem to have any other thoughts than destroying what it thought was impure. To that, the commander said, "If you try to purge what is unclean with your own hands, you will end up staining your hands in blood and become impure yourself! Don't you recognize that there is a natural order that commands and changes what it will when the time is right?" The commander paused. "I don't want to have to open fire on you. You seem intelligent. I'd rather us work this out by deescalating the situation and chatting on our home planet. Will you join us?" The offer was on the table, and the commander was hoping Pumpkinhead was reasonable enough to take it...

Pumpkinhead: "No."

Withdrawing his fist, Pumpkinhead became completely solid, the fiery pumpkin-shaped head becoming a black pumpkin with scars on the narrowed eyes. His body was like that of a plant and felt simultaneously; earthy, but also fabric. With this, he continued siphoning the planet he was on until it made him so large and the planet so tiny and fragile that it broke away underneath him. "Some Universes Were Made Wicked," Pumpkinhead explained, only to his own disdain, "And Some Have Been Allowed To Sink Into Impurity." Pumpkinhead narrowed the carved eye sockets it had, a fire igniting within the pumpkin head of Pumpkinhead, who floated in open space now, grasping onto two planets with his astronomical hands. "You Speak Only From Your Experiences In THIS Universe, And THIS Universe Is One That Is Apathetic. Look At All You Can Do, Yet What Do You Do With What You Can Do? You Serve Yourselves Instead Of The Dimensions, Or Even The Omniverse. You Don't Even Do Your Part For The Multiverse, And You're Concerned About One Universe In An Infinite Sea? You Are But A Droplet. And Unfortunately For You, One Drop Of Poison In A Drink Taints The Entire Thing. So You See..." Pumpkinhead turned to meet the eye of the sun, which was quite large and bright. "... No... No, You Don't See," Pumpkinhead deduced, "But I Will Show You... As Your Final Parting Gift."

Hoisting himself up into more open space, Pumpkinhead grabbed his Pumpkin Head and hurled it at the sun, which it would strike and explode. The explosion was enough to trigger a chain reaction in the sun's properties that made it swell, slowly, but surely. It began to swallow planets nearest to it as it grew larger and the headless Pumpkinhead would wait patiently for the star to engulf him in its swelling. The star was going to explode.

The sun didn't swell for too long before it actually exploded, seemingly prematurely -- which it was, granted the means -- and without hesitation, consuming the entire solar system and anything nearby within the blast. The explosion was so grand that it illuminated space with ripples of energy bursting from the core of the sun's remains, leaving a nebula in its wake. This massive explosion would wipe out the starship and the planet it was on as well as anything else within that solar system at the time.

But, as for Pumpkinhead...

When the debris of the destroyed star cleared, there were piercing red eyes gleaming from the nebula. Without warning, there was a vacuum that drew in all of the remaining energy in the area and formed a pumpkin-shaped star-head that was now the new Pumpkinhead. His body was too dark to be seen, but his head was a bright, glowing star... A black star, at that. Still bright, all the same... Bright enough to illuminate the darkness of space.

"Next..." Pumpkinhead grumbled, peering off to the side to see what other stars could use violent destruction before he grew to be the size of the galaxy.

After the stunt Pumpkinhead pulled, the 'Will Of The Universe' was stirred. It was an ambiguous force of nature, but it was omnipresent as the entirety of this universe, itself. That said, it was affected by everything that went on, including destruction.

Pumpkinhead could not be stopped by planetary forces, that was clear. After consuming and becoming a star, though there were planets that were larger than some stars, Pumpkinhead was too large and powerful a being for any number of forces to take down on their own. He was after the dimension's very mechanics, and those mechanics would fight against him, just as the alien commander spoke before.

For now, all of space was silent -- well, as silent as outer space was, that is. The universe kept in motion and continued its normality... Or, so it seemed.

Pumpkinhead: "..."

The silence of space was not broken by Pumpkinhead. In fact, he was much too busy listening to the sounds of the vibrations of the universe to make any emanations of his own -- besides the radiation of his glow as a star. Pumpkinhead felt the pull of the universe's electromagnetic fields trying to sway him into the natural direction that this galaxy flowed in.

But this was a battlefield, and Pumpkinhead knew this.

Instead of flowing with the current of the galaxy that he was in, Pumpkinhead remained halted where he was, letting his luminescence shine light upon the other nearby stars in the galaxy. The stagnancy of Pumpkinhead would throw off the natural order of the galaxy and either cause something to come into contact with him... Or cause the galaxy to fall apart. Granted, Pumpkinhead was just one star out of a plethora in the galaxy, but he was powerful... And he exuded power when he thought deeply.

His sun-head glowed brighter and grew larger as he thought, pushing against the electromagnetic waves and forces of the rest of the galaxy and its stars and planets and other celestial bodies. It was a strain on him whilst he was only this big, which made his head hurt somewhat, but as long as he was growing larger, he'd eventually consume the galaxy and every last star within it... If things went as planned. This still was a battlefield and Pumpkinhead did not know what was in store. He could end up destroying all of the stars instead of consuming them. The only sure thing was that something was getting destroyed by him here.

That was the only certainty.

Space was only silent to those who hadn't the means of hearing the very fine wavelengths that the universe beheld. In fact, though quiet at surface value, it was actually quite noisy... Silently noisy. As oxymoronic as that is, it was a fact of the matter; the universe made unheard noises.

Now Pumpkinhead, who was feeling the pressures of the electromagnetic forces at work throughout the galaxy, should have been feeling and hearing everything that the stars and other celestial bodies were saying. He should have been, as a single star in a galaxy, moved by the electromagnetic forces at work and hearing the waves as they emanated in the same fashion as him. He would be forced to move in tune with the spiraling galaxy and pushed by the electromagnetic waves of the stars around him. They would react against his growth and suppress it, and he would be forced to move in circles for the rest of his days within that galaxy, never to come out.

This would be the fate of Pumpkinhead. To walk with the stars of the galaxy in step with them in a spiraling cycle for the rest of his days... That is, if he weren't already a universally powerful entity that knew the ways of the universe.

Pumpkinhead's star-head did stop growing after a while, and was nowhere near as large as some stars, but was also still larger than others in this galaxy that he was in. He could grow larger by consuming them. However, that would have to wait until the power of these electromagnetic forces were put at bay. They gave Pumpkinhead a severe headache, all of those forces pushing against him all at once, trying to force his motion and his head's shrinkage. But, that was not the best way to deal with this being... And very few knew this about him. Mostly because the others were destroyed by him.

"Guuuuuuhhhhh..." Pumpkinhead groaned, a black stellar mass resembling a disembodied claw rubbing at the glowing head of his, "I Don't... Have Time For This..." Shaking his head, the fire in his eyes became ever more fervent, and he decided that he would make this noise and this pain cease right this instant. "... Photosynthesis," he called, letting his technique do as it did. Like a plant, Pumpkinhead was able to absorb light for nutrients... However, the amount of light he was able to absorb was greater than any plant. With that knowledge, usage of 'Photosynthesis' would draw in all of the light of the nearby stars all at once, causing the smaller ones to go out completely and the larger ones to dim significantly, likely damaging the lifeforms that were within whatever solar systems survived the 'Photosynthesis' of Pumpkinhead. In almost an instant, Pumpkinhead not only snuffed out about a third of the stars in the galaxy, but also grew exponentially larger to the point where his head was larger than any of the stars that were within this galaxy.

The galaxy revolved around Pumpkinhead now, and each of the electromagnetic forces that once moved in turn against him were bending to his will and way with just a thought. The remnants of the galaxy swirled around Pumpkinhead's bulbous star-pumpkin-head, streaming into it all until it grew large enough to consume the entire galaxy with its presence alone. Pumpkinhead's body could still not be seen at all, but his head was larger than several galaxies that were within this universe. "Now I Can Do Some REAL Damage..." Pumpkinhead said with a bit of a chuckle, already prepared to wipe out half the cosmos with a single move.

Pumpkinhead may have halted the impeding forces upon him from the one galaxy he grew from, but there were still others far larger, far more numerously populated, and far more intense than the single one that he consumed. Now he would be swirled and lost in the cosmic cocktail of the universe, which would easily throw him to and fro, like a river whose current is more powerful than someone swimming in it. It wasn't a difficult feat, and it didn't require the universe to do anything but be as it was. Pumpkinhead would find himself spiraling with the galaxies and accomplishing nothing but being pushed and pulled around by their powerful forces.

Though powerful, Pumpkinhead did not seem swayed by the cosmic forces at work, even when forcefully swayed physically. Even as this astronomical monstrosity, he was still a marble in comparison to some of the other galaxies around... All to his pleasure. "... Once This Languorous And Apathetic Universe Loses Its Cogs, It Will Fail And Collapse Upon Itself, Leaving The Dimension... To Me." Pumpkinhead thirsted for the sweet nectar of satisfaction that would come with the destruction of this dimension, and was already nearing it with every move. He'd killed more than could be counted, most likely, just by swallowing ONE galaxy... That just meant that the REST of them were going to be that much more delicious for him.

Under the light of the galaxies, Pumpkinhead's body of stellar darkness could be seen now, and Pumpkinhead cycled through one he was caught in like a whirlpool. They were all like whirlpools, to be quite honest, but countermeasures could be made toward those encumbering swirls.

Because Pumpkinhead was larger than a lot of galaxies now, this time, he went with the natural flow of the one that he was within, letting himself spin to his heart's content. He went around and around for quite some time before he gained enough momentum to launch himself out of the galaxy and into the next, larger one. The people of the one that he'd circled through were probably dead by the speed of their galaxy suddenly intensifying, but that was all to Pumpkinhead's benefit, as well.

Once within the larger galaxy, Pumpkinhead grabbed hold of one of the larger stars and expended some of his 'Nature Energy' or 'Naturia' into it. This caused that particular large star to become like a pumpkin, having fiery jack o' lantern eyes and a mouth to boot. This was Pumpkinhead using his "Pumpkin Flare," which generated a massive explosive pumpkin out of 'Nature Energy'. As a Force Of Nature himself, it was no problem to tamper with another force of nature with Nature Energy. The 'Pumpkin Flare' -- which was what this star was now -- would detonate in a catastrophic fashion, releasing waves of Naturia in conjunction with the star's own burning energy to wipe out all forms of plant-life within the entire galaxy and then some of the other ones nearby, immediately killing whatever lifeforms survived on plants and oxygen without hesitation. If the fire from the explosion didn't kill them, the lack of plant-life -- and the ability to grow it back -- would.

With that, the galaxies should have been imbalanced and out of whack. The one Pumpkinhead was in should have halted its swirling and other smaller galaxies should have been wiped out altogether. Pumpkinhead sat patiently within the halted galaxy, picking off stars like they were grapes from a vine and devouring them just the same.